You’d have to have been living under a rock, meditating in a Buddhist monastery high in the Himalayas or lost at sea to not know that global sharemarkets have been taking something of a beating over the past couple of months.

With headlines like “Local sharemarket sheds $50 billion in worse one-day fall since February” screaming at you from your morning newsfeed it can be difficult to keep a sense of perspective when the occasional, invariable, bout of market jitters occurs. There is more than a grain of truth to the old news adage, “If it bleeds, it leads”.

Some researchers suggest that humans may have a “negativity bias” hardwired in our subconscious, and that our brains are more sensitive to signs of threat than to those of opportunity.

In prehistoric times such a bias could well have been an advantage, keeping early humans safe from harm.  But in today’s world of global, instantaneous, round-the-clock news, that bias to action in the face of danger could end up costing you a fortune.

Here’s why.
Continue reading “Why financial news is making you anxious, impatient & poor”