I am beginning to think the entire global market is a suckers game unless you are a trader. It is obvious to me that buy and hold is bullshit unless you can sit on your money for 25 years(who honestly could do this besides the richest of the rich?). I think active investing such as starting a business, venture capital, angel investing, real estate etc is the way to go. You have more control.
I think your right, I make more money trading than I ever did holding a stock. I have a small business that I live off of so all my trading money is just icing on the cake. I don't think I will ever buy and hold again unless the market turns into a huge bull market or another dot com rally comes our way.
If I'm not mistaken, I believe Enron said it wouldn't go under and it did. Worldcom said it was financially sound, but their shareholders lost everything while Bernie Ebbers ended up behind bars. As recently as last year, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers both denied the rumors that their demise was imminent. They both got axed. Trust me, folks. They're all part of the fucking liars club. Don't believe anything these MOFOs tell ya. Yes, government is no different either, especially when it comes out of the mouth of Bernanke.
There could be money in buying and holding some ETFs. At these levels many have nowhere to go but up. In most cases I would agree that buy and hold doesn't work but there are certainly opportunities now. Trading will still outperform buy and hold for the individual with the right skills but don't rule it out completely. After we have an up move I agree that buy and hold will be less effective. The biggest problem is that people buy but when do they take profits? Most never do and sell with a loss after holding too long. You need to have a timeframe and price target established before opening a position and then take profits! Buying and holding until retirement is a gamble to what the market is doing when you need the cash. Too many are learning the hard way.