Why ? Because there are no real interest rewards for savings.... And buy and hold "anything" is dead.... Look at Japan....ie....interest paid and other asset prices.... Over a decade without interest earnings. Now the US is on the same path. ................................................. This is why the prop model is here to stay ....and then some.... ................................................ Everyone must learn how to trade...."something".... .................................................... The "banks" are all about big leverage versus earning low single digits...."Individuals" are not in the same game....
For the "5%" of traders who trade profitably on an ongoing basis, this should be good news; more "futile" traders to trade against ...
i see your point. it does not really solve the problem though. there are only so many good investments so only some will succeed.
............................................................. Exactly.....this is normal.... What is not normal is a govt. forced 0% reward for savers.... THIS along with the dilution of the $ only spurs the need to be able to trade any asset.... Who actually has the intention of holding a long term US govt. bond ? What percentage of the marketplace.... ? Trading is the only reason the govt. will be able to sell its LT debt..... Savers are going to sit around and earn nothing and lose value due to dilution ?....For 10 to 30 years ????
LOL... I thought this was really funny. It seems that neighbors of the guy I trade with "bought" a program that will "make" them money from currencies. Last week they made 40%. Of course this is completely sustainable Sad as it is, to win, some have to loose... I just don't want to be the one loosing...
.................................................................... All businesses face this issue.... Ask any restaurant in Manhattan.... But....this IS THE USA......What it is all about..... Trading will be on the increase as a business..... ie ....The US will not be able to sell its debt.....without traders.... No entity is going to buy low interest LT Govt. debt to buy and hold.....
How pissed would you be if you saw them a year later and they are multimillionaires living in a mansion and driving ferraris? That would be a slap in the face to all traders, wouldnt it?
Gosh, that's a very good point, peilthetraveler ... christianhgross, would you mind finding out the name of the "program" please, so that we can all get ourselves a copy, just in case ...
So what happens to Pensions and 401Ks? They're too big to be nimble and have strict guidelines anyway. Regardless, my view is that all pension funds public or private are ponzi schemes. I just don't see how they can function when you have 2-3 generations overlapping in benefits. No population grows exponentially forever to sustain such a scheme. Economic growth too, is limited. In many ways, these large pools of capital screw up the market - they are beasts that constantly need to be fed. They were the drug addicts of securitization and other financial engineering. They took those drugs because whereas the real world has limits, they need 8-10% growth in perpetuity to survive, to pay the investors, and beat inflation. Yeah, that'll last. Anyone else have a different view on Pensions? morganist?
They were the drug addicts of securitization and other financial engineering... Probably true, but perhaps this can be dealt with by regulation; to better define what pension funds should be able to invest in, and what not. On the other hand, pension funds, investors and other "utilitarian" traders create important liquidity (increasing market efficiency by lowering transaction costs for all participants). Also, if markets consisted only of speculators and dealers (and not also of pension funds, investors and other "utilitarian" traders like these), it would be very hard for speculators and dealers to survive. Speculators and dealers need to have these other players present in the market, as these other traders trade with another prime objective in mind (i.e. investing ... or hedging, or asset exchanging, etc) rathen than just profiting from the trade itself. And this provides speculators and dealers with an opportunity to profit from the trade itself ... pension funds are an important part of the trading food chain.