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Wouldn't ever do it. Stock market is for suckers. (Based on reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb and conversations with people that worked on trading floors.)
by hassy 15y ago
Wouldn't ever do it. Stock market is for suckers.
(Based on reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb and conversations with people that worked on trading floors.)
- krober 15y agoThis is what I tell myself, but I continually hear stories (friends of friends, of course) of people hitting it big and wonder if I just don't get it.
- beagle3 15y ago> I continually hear stories (friends of friends, of course) of people hitting it big and wonder if I just don't get it. For every hitting it big, there is an opposite (and often larger) story of losing it big. Often by the same people -- except they are happy to tell you about their wins and don't talk so much about the losses. It's not even a zero sum game -- the fees and spreads ("friction") are non-trivial.
- krober 15y agoGreat point, even then I'm taking people at their word. There's no shortage of hyperbole when people talk about "some guy I know".
- driverdan 15y agoSelection bias. You'll only see news about the extremes. You'll never see news about the average person who loses money or makes less than the market.
- rbarooah 15y agoWhere would you put your money instead?
- hassy 15y agoI'll worry about it when I have it. But my current thinking is along the lines of: 10-20% in highly speculative stuff (much more so than stocks) and the rest in super-safe stuff (much safer than stocks).
- peterbraden 15y agowhat's more speculative, and what's safer than stocks? If you're looking for low volatility, bonds are often touted as 'safer' - but look at how safe they've been over the last decade. There's a risk/reward balance in every asset, I don't think ruling out stocks based on the perception that they're risky is necessarily wise.
- hassy 15y agoearly stage startups and property for example
- intended 15y agoTaleb is not a source of investing advice - unless you were interested in trading, in which case he has a few points.
- hassy 15y agoTaleb is not a source of investing advice at all - he merely illustrates his philosophy with examples from finance as it's something he's more than familiar with. Stock market is a fool's game by its nature.
- actionbrandon 15y agoI'll rephrase for hassy. "investing" is for suckers. the only people making any money in the market are professional traders who aren't at all making decisions based on "trends" or "fundamentals". see: dynamic hedging by nasim taleb--a book that sits on many professional traders desks in which taleb makes more than a few points about trading.