Don't fight the tape

That is one of the cardinal rules of trading.  I think it may be applicable in life as well.  Reality is what it is.  No sense fighting it.  You can't win.

"Fighting the tape" is like Don Quijote fighting the windmill.  An utterly foolish and useless gesture.

Who knows what moves the markets and frankly it may not even be possible to know with any great precision. There are those who do know a few things, and some of those things can be taken advantage of.  But for the average schmuck, this is not possible.  Trying to understand the market may be impossible.  For that, you may need access to heavily guarded information.  Even a master spy agency could be challenged to get this information.

Update:

For clarification, in case it may be needed, "the tape" means price action for stocks.  Fighting the tape is synonymous with fighting the stock market.  Hopefully that makes sense.  I may have a tendency not to explain things adequately enough.  My apologies.