Many smart people have tried to "beat the markets" and failed. From what I've seen of it, this sort of activity is at best a form of numerology. Also, in tryi

Many smart people have tried to "beat the markets" and failed. From what I've seen of it, this sort of activity is at best a form of numerology. Also, in trying to move money around slightly more efficiently than the next market analyst you're not really generating wealth as such, and your ideas and activities will leave no lasting value for society. You may not be a failure, since the skills acquired in analysing trends can be utilised in other areas. The process of having promising looking preliminary results, only to find that they are illusory is familiar to many scientists. Ultimately it comes down to what you really want to do with your life. Is your life only about moving money, or something else?