Peter,
Thanks for your post, and for your views on how you feel the market works.
I am not a trader, I am an investor, a long term value investor.
I am not looking to make a quick buck on today's trend, or the latest fad, or a market frenzy. Day traders are chasing fool's gold IMHO, mantras such as '2percentaday' are as laughable to me as salesmen selling eternal youth tonics in the wild west. I view the market a means to buy a stake in good businesses for the medium to long term i.e. ones that will make a positive return on capital over a very long time.
No one can know the future, but we can at least inform ourselves of the present and past performance of various companies, sectors & markets, and this helps to show what companies may be able to best cope with what the future throws at them.
Since there are so many companies out there pumping out results all the time, I am interested in sourcing software or an on-line tool to sift through this data to select companies that match certain performance criteria. For me these are Benjamin Graham's Value Investing criteria, which haven't changed for about 40-50 years now.
Do I think this will help me pick better companies to invest in - Yes, the same way as investigating the spec on a car will help select a better car.
Do I think this gives me an advantage over the market? Well I don't know and to be honest I don't give a cobblers.
All I want are good companies, with good management, of sufficiently large size, with very sound fundamentals and a great record of giving a good return on capital- if I get to invest in those at a good price the rest will take care of itself.