For the typical 9 to 5pm person, the SPY or SP500 index, is all the edge you have overtime. Betting on anything is too much work and too much room for error. And when I turn 66 years old, I can't afford an error.
the path to financial freedom is simple 1) play the positive expectancy game well.. for the amount of effort that ET spends in spinning the wheels, people could have advance their career much further, in any rewarding field.. salary can be double from 50k to 100k then to 200k and more... that significantly changes the game. 2) save and invest... don't spend on stupid stuff... the best stuff in life is free or cost very little... fresh air, the beach, the mountains, time with friends family... 3) catch a super-cycle... in the past decade or so, if you caught the US equities, or the real estate boom in multiple markets, with the residuals from 1) and 2) above, you would be in a very good position, set for life, or very close to it. trading is complete waste of time... like I said, if you want to play zero sum, bet on football, far more dumb money there. just look at all these discussion threads... ET is basically 98% dumb money... it's not an insult... just cold fact... amateurs have no chance.
%% Good points; but i see 80% or occasionaly 95% in the market much more than 97%. OK; 95% is close to 97%.........But even 95% can be wrong 5-7 months in a row. If one or 20% traded stocks with investment profits+ cut back trading before he or she lost a certain %; fine.And unless one is sales/small business; much more is made in stocks/RE doubles from 100k to 200k + than most salaries.I agree with you about 97% or 98%. And plenty of ways to public sector/private sector goof up RE trends ; sounds like you did wise, so congrats.
%% That other trader must have discretion; it looked easy @ first, but it never sounded easy to me.The worst thing about trading is when you make money with a 7-8% stop.And then you realize @10% it could have been profitable; but since that so seldom happens, the worst thing any could do is break a well tested 7%/+ battle plan Of course if that market keeps turning around @ 10% or 10.10%or 11% i would aim @ better entry, not increasing my risk/ breaking a well tested rule. Investing is easier because its easy to turn an investment into a trade, as long as commissions dont eat profits to much;QQQ + SPY anyway. FIRST time I saw VOO in postmarket trades ; regular investment/trade hours + volume hours may help also LOL
no... but I figured out long ago it's a waste of time... the formula of positive sum game+ save invest + catch super cycle is the way to go. positive sum is simple... get a job... unemployment rate at all time low... get a job.. instead of wasting time on ET, up your marketability and get that salary up from 50k to 100k to 200k etc. save / invest is simple.. brew your own coffee don't buy starbucks. catch super cycle is skill + luck... currently with 10-year at 2.6% while SP forward yielding 6% I think we are in the middle of the cycle and are going much higher... but you need to have this belief so when they shake the tree very hard you don't panic and sell out. Trump has 6 more years, so QQQ should have a double in it by the time he is done.. the most pro-biz prez ever... then maybe ivanka takes over and there is another double in it? you stick with it, should be set for life in a few years.. that's how you do it.