The open stance and the stock market have many similarities. Both also have pundits who compile, analyze, and present data as if their assumptions are the only assumptions. For instance, CNBC and the Golf Channel allow anyone who fits into their narrative to present their views for our consumption. And, by the looks of things, both outlets are becoming increasingly desperate for  viewers. It’s truly shocking.

For example, I was watching TGC the other day, and they showed a guy from GolfTec recommend a stronger leading grip to hit a draw. He turned his lead hand until his thumb was on the back of the shaft, and swung. I was in disbelief! Then, the Top Tracer video showed him hitting a pulled, duck hook. I thought it was a comedy spot. But, they were SERIOUS! 

On the other side of crazy, we have CNBC, who seats the most impossibly biased guests to pollute the waters of economic sanity. Liesman, Eisen, Frost, etc. justify any current, equities run-up with speculative, forward P/E ratios and soft/rearward-looking data like consumer sentiment. Meanwhile, they seem baffled when the markets descend on bad hard data like downward revisions to GAAP earnings, sales, revenue, and forward guidance. 

We know, however, that no matter how many phony numbers they roll out, it’s the hard data that matters, because hard data reflects relative Macroeconomic health. National debt, GDP, M3 money supply, U6 unemployment rate, and the price of gold to world fiat currencies are data points that truly zero in on what our symptoms foretell. Even THOSE numbers are dependent on political and fiscal change. But, at least, it’s a better starting point.

The point I’m fumbling with is that if you look at the incidental, you will miss the primary. If you want to trace any problem back to its root cause, you don’t work from the Micro to the Macro. We have to work the other way – from general to specific… from primary to incidental. In current terms, the Macro is our general disease. The Micro is our specific symptoms.

Our GolfTec goofball was fixing an incidental result with a fundamental change. It’s really outrageous, because our fundamentals should NEVER change. Not only is his advice RECKLESS, but it ignores our innate ability to adapt without altering golf fundamentals. But, there he is. TGC gave him a platform to punish people who don’t know enough to mute their TV. When will it stop?

Maybe my point is that watching talking heads on TV is our problem. We do seem to get a lot of bad advice from that group. However, naw… print media does the same thing. I just forgot for a moment. You know, actually, the only real measures we can take against the flood of muddied instructional water is to find higher ground built on a rock-solid foundation. Hence, just as your golf game is built on a foundation called set-up, your firmest footing is in an Open Stance – the Granite of foundations.

Open your stance, and play golf.

John Wright – Founder The Open Stance Academy

https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/first-five-years-open-stance-academy/

https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/testimonials/

https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/ricky-fowler-claims-another-title-open-stance/