Yes.
> From a national (USA) perspective I see people obsess over the markets (as they should given it's their life savings at play).
Warren Buffett, John Bogle, and various other investing "gurus" would disagree with you here[1][2].
There's a great deal of evidence that day-trading, (individual) stock-picking, and generally trying to make predictions based on subjective market data is ineffective.
Many of the investors who succeed in this arena are using HFT, better predictive algorithms than we have access to, and a short-term mindset[3][4][5].
If you want to protect your retirement assets, check out Bogle's books, Boglehead communities, and other passive-investing strategies. These don't forbid anyone from active investing, but they say to minimize your active bets, never listen to brokers/money managers, and stick with industries you know well.
1. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/08/warren-buffett-says-he-never...
2. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/13/what-warren-buffett-and-kevi...
3. https://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/what-is-the-random-wal...
4. https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0113/has-high-fr...
5. https://seekingalpha.com/article/2125833-how-to-beat-high-fr...