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This is so true and I am glad that I am not the only one who thinks that way. In addition to that one could argue that investing in stocks (whatever the industr

This is so true and I am glad that I am not the only one who thinks that way. In addition to that one could argue that investing in stocks (whatever the industry may be you are investing in) is a bad thing if you are not an insider. My brother who is a hacker and economist at the same time showed me studies that determined/proofed that the stock market is very irrational (I mean we all knew that but those studies showed this with scientific methods). I will ask him about those studies again - may be interesting to others as well.

6thSigma 14y ago
The day to day of the stock market is irrational, but long term investing isn't. If you're putting money in the stock market and not looking out 5+ years, you are simply gambling.
- far_far_away 14y ago
  This heavily depends on how the companies you are investing in perform in the mid-term. It is true that the stock market out performs other kind of investments but this is only true if you are not investing in let's say 2-3 companies but rather in an index or something similar. Investing in an index is much much less exciting than investing in 2-3 companies.
  - 6thSigma 14y ago
    > It is true that the stock market out performs other kind of investments but this is only true if you are not investing in let's say 2-3 companies but rather in an index or something similar. It depends on what those 2-3 companies are. An index is certainly safer, but if you are good at determining growth prospects then you should absolutely be picking your own stocks.
mdkess 14y ago
I think the strategy of buying a diversified portfolio of large, boring companies doing core things that everyone needs is a pretty safe bet. If you're investing, I think that you should have a gambling account too, because it's fun and keeps you interested. It should be far less than 10% of your portfolio, and you should recognize that it's play money instead of real savings.

6thSigma 14y ago

The day to day of the stock market is irrational, but long term investing isn't. If you're putting money in the stock market and not looking out 5+ years, you are simply gambling.

far_far_away 14y ago
This heavily depends on how the companies you are investing in perform in the mid-term. It is true that the stock market out performs other kind of investments but this is only true if you are not investing in let's say 2-3 companies but rather in an index or something similar. Investing in an index is much much less exciting than investing in 2-3 companies.
- 6thSigma 14y ago
  > It is true that the stock market out performs other kind of investments but this is only true if you are not investing in let's say 2-3 companies but rather in an index or something similar. It depends on what those 2-3 companies are. An index is certainly safer, but if you are good at determining growth prospects then you should absolutely be picking your own stocks.

mdkess 14y ago

I think the strategy of buying a diversified portfolio of large, boring companies doing core things that everyone needs is a pretty safe bet. If you're investing, I think that you should have a gambling account too, because it's fun and keeps you interested. It should be far less than 10% of your portfolio, and you should recognize that it's play money instead of real savings.