An emotionless system

There's a near-infinite amount of information in the world, and most of it is not actually information. A lot of it is simply untrue, but as far as investing-related information goes that's not where the problem lies. The real danger comes from information that is true but useless or even harmful. Surprised? Wondering how correct and truthful information can be useless, harmful and dangerous? Here's an example that I find obvious: a list of stocks that have risen the most in the last one day or one month, or, to use the common term, stocks that have momentum. Such a list seems valuable on the surface - after all, these stocks have done very well lately, so shouldn't they be good investments for the future? Not really. For one, stocks that have boomed recently may be experiencing a short-term price spike driven by speculation, rumours, as well as good old pump-and-dump. The price rise could have - and often does have - a