The primary goals of a rule-based, or mechanical, approach are to take the emotion and the "noise" out of your trading decisions, and that includes eliminating as much noise from outside sources as possible. While some may like the background noise or "eye candy" of popular financial news shows (e.g. CNBC, Bloomberg, FBN), you should recognize that they are basically cheerleaders for the unsophisticated Buy and Hold crowd (and some might say cynically who provide the fodder that fuels market advances *and* declines), and while it may be useful to know when certain potentially market moving data may be released, that in and of itself seldom gives you a clue as to how the market will react. You can take the approach to always be in Cash when such an event is looming, or you can stick with your position and take your gifts and lumps as they come, but always within the limits of your stops.
I am so tired of having to watch The Obama flap his mouth with more lies and distortions daily that I have largely kept the tube off this week, and the quiet has been rather pleasant.
