Bad News #1: Your "loved ones" have decided to pull the plug in your 2nd year of being in the coma thinking you wouldn't want to live like this with no quality of life and all. Your mother tried to stop them but your "loved ones" went to court and the court ruled in favour of your "loved ones" to pull the plug. You have been dead for 28 years and your "loved ones" have already split your money and stocks and everything and have put your now 96 years old mother, healthy and kicking, in a nursing home. Your second wife is suing the children of your third wife for bigger share of your estate believing to be hers and your brother has since taken your third wife and is suing everybody for all of your estate. Good news #1: There is no good news. That's the most likely scenario.
Everytime this debate comes up it's binary. Daytrading or buy and hold XYZ stock. What about everything else in the middle? How about just buy and hold SPY. No company specific issues there.
zdreg, It is hard to convince us ET'er, especially day traders that buy and hold can win big if you give it a long time to compound. Ours are the instant internet, instant gratification time period.
IF all one does is buy and hold and do nothing in between, going to difficult to keep up with inflation and possible of stock ending bankrupt like Sears one day will. It in not 1970s or before where you had a pocket protector on your shirt and pencil sharper on your desk. This is electronic age and investing has become less fundamentals cause you can't trust what the CEO's bonus is relying. There is good profits by keeping long term stocks if you bought low and dividends much higher than 2009, plus you have to learn how to sell options and buy them to hedge when topping or buying more stock. You have to be able to read charting well and know your stats. Ge is a favorite stock, great option plays, but if you can't read H&S on monthly tops 12/16, either hedge with Puts, sell short or stand aside. 12/18, WOW triple bottom going back 20 years Buy/hedge, Put credit spreads, stock can triple or more, but sitting on it forever...unless GE is going to develop new products, people will maintain or buy elsewhere for better product. Longer term, have to be working your funds. IMO. My largest risks is scalping and day trading actually, too costly to do hedging. Just better to get in, and quickly get out.