Lessons from a Facebook first-timer

What do you do when everyone is active on Facebook except you? You get with the program.

Last week I – naively – said yes to going live on Facebook for CNBC in what our head of social media said was "a little Q&A session on the markets."

But what a week to do it in. The whole process was a real baptism of fire. First you freak out as you discover how "personal" it suddenly feels (vulnerability comes in many guises, especially for those of us who, believe it or not, might naturally be a bit shy). Next you freak out again as you realize you're talking about "small unimportant things". Like the global stock markets (many of which are in bear market territory). Or like the unapologetic surge in the Japanese yen taking it to fresh 16-month highs. Or the the unexpected move by the Swedish Riksbank to take rates further into negative territory.

Add to that Fed Chair Janet Yellen's Congressional testimony and whether her tone should change. And what central banks around the world are doing. On top of that, banking stocks were tumbling and there was the ridiculous plonk lower in the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield amid fears that a recession is around the corner.

But somewhere in between…that's when the magic happens. That's when you start discovering how lots and lots of people are reacting during bonanza market moves.

Just as I started talking and figuring out how this live Facebook thing works, gold suddenly went nuts, jumping from around $1,200 per troy ounce to over $1,250 and completely catching everyone off-guard.

So many of you getting in touch with us during the session, continue to be gold bulls. But are you putting your money where your mouth? You also continue to be buyers of the safe and "boring" -- i.e. no yield stuff.

A woman checks the Facebook Inc. site on her smartphone whilst standing against an illuminated wall bearing the Facebook Inc. logo
Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Then another shock came in the session: there was a massive drop in the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield taking it from 1.62 percent to 1.56 percent, so large I questioned whether I was looking at the right charts (I was). Again, if you have gone live, all you can do is react. And that's what we did. Together.

Incidentally, speaking of big moves, I spoke to Robin Griffiths this week who is the Chief Technical Strategist at The ECU Group. He says that while we are in a bear market, we're still in for a massive rally starting this week. In charting the DJIA, he says that the rally has the potential to retrace half of the 2009 bull run, but that it will end promptly "Wednesday the 23rd of March, after lunch.".

Back to the live-on-Facebook experience; a third thing that happens to you while you are talking to yourself, is that your subconscious takes over. Your stream of thoughts become your expressions. "Check out these crazy bananas" might not be the most appropriate phrase to describe banking stocks dropping 10-15 percent in a session. Or 'Fas-c-in-the-nating' to describe the drop in yields. But that's how the popcorn pops in this newbie-Facebookers head.

By the way. I'm not going to ask you to "like" the page. I prefer "follow" as you can follow something you don't necessarily like. But, if you want more market talk/interaction on Facebook, by all means join/press the little thumbs up button.

Louisa Bojesen is the presenter of CNBC's European Street Signs. Follow Louisa on Twitter @louisabojesen

Take a look at Lousia's Facebook Live talk on the markets here.


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