Re:Insider trading has been rife on Wall Street, academics c...
by mancerayder on Monday February 12, 2018 @03:22PM
(#16361703)
Great. So that boils down to "skills." Which is essentially what this very active thread is implicitly all about.
But here's the problem. While everyone is arguing back and forth about competing against Wall St., game theory, probability and the quibbling over "gambling" which turns out to be nothing more than a convention in conversation (others below admit that index funds and housing are also betting, but to a lesser degree), what no one is addressing is what specific trading strategies we're competing against here.
IF you are a day trader and you compete against other retail day traders and Wall Street trading floors, automated trading systems, high frequency and such, that's one thing. IF you stock pick but pick your stocks for multi-quarter or yearly outlooks, and you absorb information about -- not the stocks -- the companies, following news and understanding what their risks are, then that is a totally different strategy.
Much of Wall St. cares across quarters and short-term. Many retail investors too. I would only advocate medium and long-term stock picking.
Everyone brings up Buffett and his advocating of index funds. What no one here has mentioned is that he's a value investor, buying up stocks when companies are, in his estimation, undervalued.
You folks are guilty of sweeping the individual under the rug in favor of the overall statistics. As if the individual who wishes to buck the trend is, at best, lucky, and at worst, an imbecile.
If you're not interested in the area of stock picking, then that's understandable. But if you're pre-emptively convinced that you can never win, because your knowledge is average, well I suggest that if you're an intelligent person that you reconsider. Again, no one here is advocating day trading or beating Wall St at their own game.
You are missing out by not taking a chance on companies that you think might expand in the coming years. Nothing is guaranteed, and I think many folks on here seem to miss that part of the equation.
But here's the problem. While everyone is arguing back and forth about competing against Wall St., game theory, probability and the quibbling over "gambling" which turns out to be nothing more than a convention in conversation (others below admit that index funds and housing are also betting, but to a lesser degree), what no one is addressing is what specific trading strategies we're competing against here.
IF you are a day trader and you compete against other retail day traders and Wall Street trading floors, automated trading systems, high frequency and such, that's one thing. IF you stock pick but pick your stocks for multi-quarter or yearly outlooks, and you absorb information about -- not the stocks -- the companies, following news and understanding what their risks are, then that is a totally different strategy.
Much of Wall St. cares across quarters and short-term. Many retail investors too. I would only advocate medium and long-term stock picking.
Everyone brings up Buffett and his advocating of index funds. What no one here has mentioned is that he's a value investor, buying up stocks when companies are, in his estimation, undervalued.
You folks are guilty of sweeping the individual under the rug in favor of the overall statistics. As if the individual who wishes to buck the trend is, at best, lucky, and at worst, an imbecile.
If you're not interested in the area of stock picking, then that's understandable. But if you're pre-emptively convinced that you can never win, because your knowledge is average, well I suggest that if you're an intelligent person that you reconsider. Again, no one here is advocating day trading or beating Wall St at their own game.
You are missing out by not taking a chance on companies that you think might expand in the coming years. Nothing is guaranteed, and I think many folks on here seem to miss that part of the equation.