no shit metoxx, What a pack of freakin loonies... If you guys are traders, then i'm ashamed to be one... anyway, given your completely illogical views of the world, it's unlikely you'll be getting anywhere fast... so i doubt you'll be traders for much longer..
And who said a job has to benefit society? (Not that I agree that trading does not, it certainly does.) Try reading some Rand, ladies. [/B][/QUOTE] Atlas Shrugged. This book sure made me want to be a trader.
no need for a book, i'll shed some light on this issue. there is no issue. it's all in your head. but go ahead and continue to believe it isn't..
If all market participants were Mom and Pop investor, the markets would be lousy - super low volume, wiiiiiide spreads, and trading by appointment. Program trading alone does a huge amount of NYSE volume, 20-40% on any given day is not uncommon, I think. Worldco alone does a couple percent or more of the NYSE daily volume. If there were no "traders" at all, we would not have anything near to the markets we have today. Everyone would suffer. When Mom and Pop's monthly investment hit the market, much more of it would disappear instantly from high commissions and wide spreads.
A market only needs liquidity if we assume that we must be able to execute market orders at every instant during the "trading" day (notice that they don't even call it an investing day!). Why couldn't we create an electronic market that accumulates all orders and does a giant match-up at the end of the day? Is it really that important to be able to buy or sell a security at 9:30, 9:31, 9:32, .... etc.? (It seems to me that only traders need round-the-clock liquidity) And in a market with ONLY long-term investors, who cares what the spread is -- you put in a bid for what the security is worth as an investment and get shares if it reaches that price. And if you just want to buy or sell (for long-term investment purposes), what would be wrong with having to wait an hour or a day or a week for the volume of unmatched orders to reach an appropriate level of liquidity. No one expects to buy a house with a 60-second execution guarantee, why should investing (not trading) in securities be any different? Of course, as a trader, I'm glad we have a trading day and all the interesting inefficient pricing dynamics that come with it.
this thread is an example of one benefit of traders. the tug of war of opinion in the marketplace prevents it from being dominated by one force or another that would dictate (or unduly influence) price and availability. In an imperfect world, this is a very good thing.
this thread is a load of crap. for those interested, the field of 'ethics' can be studied scientifcally, and anyone that bothers to ought to reach the conclusion that engaging in 'trading' is emminently ethical.