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I've worked in technology at very large investment banks for quite a while. I've seen the pattern of new software engineers coming in, learning a little bit abo

by 300bps 5y ago

I've worked in technology at very large investment banks for quite a while. I've seen the pattern of new software engineers coming in, learning a little bit about finance and suddenly they're day trading equities and equity options. They get lucky or not, but always give it back and more. Investment banks have literally rooms of people who spend 10 hours per day 6 days per week specializing in whatever security you're thinking of buying or selling. Literally - there are people that have a full time job specializing in out-of-the-money AAPL options with a 6+ month expiration. They also spend millions of dollars per year on proprietary data and software engineers to weaponize that data. If you're a full time software engineer spending 10 hours per week researching and trading while relying on free/low-cost data, you cannot compete long term with professional traders. It is that simple.

hippofluff 5y ago
Hi! We would have so much fun having a coffee/beer together over this/I would love to learn more about your experience. To say it simply, I agree! Like completely, my own opinion here (building on yours) is that it's really unwise/not smart for anyone, whether they are an engineer or not, to day trade/trade options/trade on short timelines. Stock Unlock is built around long term investing, and being able to more quickly learn how to understand a company. We don't push/have anything that would influence someone to trade/invest, our tools are very catered to a long term investor and facilitating their investment education journey and analysis. For example, we have no options anything in our site, no day trading charts. However we do have very in depth data visualization tools around historical financials/ways to compare companies financials/and ways to dive further into a companies executive team/all the other things you'd want to look at when considering a long term hold. Shameless plug, I am very "bullish" on also teaching the investing mindset, basically platformitizing great minds like Warren Buffet and Peter Lynch so people know what to expect when buying a stock in terms of price fluctuations/unpredictability of prices short term. If you're up for it I'd love to continue this thread, thanks for the thoughts!
- 300bps 5y ago
  our tools are very catered to a long term investor That's awesome! I'll have to check out your app. I am a big advocate for a three-fund low-cost index approach(1) but I acknowledge that there can be specific circumstances per investor. basically platformitizing great minds like Warren Buffet and Peter Lynch May I also humbly suggest researching John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard? There is a very active investment community on https://www.bogleheads.org/forum https://www.bogleheads.org/forum -- (1) Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund, Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund and Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund. Those three funds give a diversified exposure to the entire market. Using Vanguard (or Fidelity) is a great way to lower costs as is using a simple three-fund portfolio. The thing to avoid is the approach that many high-fee money managers use to put someone into 12-15 funds that have high loads and then rebalance monthly while they're marking up the buys and marking down the sells. I had a coworker one time realize that he was paying high five figures in fees per year to a certain unnamed popular money manager through their hidden fees.
  - hippofluff 5y ago
    I was unaware how active Bogleheads is, that seems like a great forum thank you for sharing that. If you try Stock Unlock I'd love to hear your thoughts ^_^ Wow 5 figures in fees... Not cool! On thing that personally kicked off this journey for me was the thought that I didn't have to have someone manage my money for me and that it brings great peace of mind and calmness when someone has fully understanding of how their money is invested. It just takes some time/care to learn the basics just like any subject Cheers friend!

by 300bps 5y ago

hippofluff 5y ago

Hi! We would have so much fun having a coffee/beer together over this/I would love to learn more about your experience. To say it simply, I agree! Like completely, my own opinion here (building on yours) is that it's really unwise/not smart for anyone, whether they are an engineer or not, to day trade/trade options/trade on short timelines. Stock Unlock is built around long term investing, and being able to more quickly learn how to understand a company. We don't push/have anything that would influence someone to trade/invest, our tools are very catered to a long term investor and facilitating their investment education journey and analysis. For example, we have no options anything in our site, no day trading charts. However we do have very in depth data visualization tools around historical financials/ways to compare companies financials/and ways to dive further into a companies executive team/all the other things you'd want to look at when considering a long term hold. Shameless plug, I am very "bullish" on also teaching the investing mindset, basically platformitizing great minds like Warren Buffet and Peter Lynch so people know what to expect when buying a stock in terms of price fluctuations/unpredictability of prices short term. If you're up for it I'd love to continue this thread, thanks for the thoughts!

300bps 5y ago
our tools are very catered to a long term investor That's awesome! I'll have to check out your app. I am a big advocate for a three-fund low-cost index approach(1) but I acknowledge that there can be specific circumstances per investor. basically platformitizing great minds like Warren Buffet and Peter Lynch May I also humbly suggest researching John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard? There is a very active investment community on https://www.bogleheads.org/forum https://www.bogleheads.org/forum -- (1) Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund, Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund and Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund. Those three funds give a diversified exposure to the entire market. Using Vanguard (or Fidelity) is a great way to lower costs as is using a simple three-fund portfolio. The thing to avoid is the approach that many high-fee money managers use to put someone into 12-15 funds that have high loads and then rebalance monthly while they're marking up the buys and marking down the sells. I had a coworker one time realize that he was paying high five figures in fees per year to a certain unnamed popular money manager through their hidden fees.
- hippofluff 5y ago
  I was unaware how active Bogleheads is, that seems like a great forum thank you for sharing that. If you try Stock Unlock I'd love to hear your thoughts ^_^ Wow 5 figures in fees... Not cool! On thing that personally kicked off this journey for me was the thought that I didn't have to have someone manage my money for me and that it brings great peace of mind and calmness when someone has fully understanding of how their money is invested. It just takes some time/care to learn the basics just like any subject Cheers friend!