If a player is cheating (by having unlimited funds), you don't just go "grow up and play". A rigged game generally can't be beat.
always ben rigged,it just got a lot harder when they lost lehman and bear stearns and enslaved merrill,the firms used to prey on each other when one position became known as too large, they are now working together and with the us taxpayers dollar to drain his acct
Seniors should be in the stock market. There is no reason for them not to be, even if they have to go through a broker that's going to get them into 5% front-loaded mutual funds that only do as well as the S&P 500. My father was buying and selling stocks as an individual investor from his 30's through his 80's.
Yeah, they should be in the stock market! What's that? A good bunch of them got wiped out in 2008 and decided to never trust the market again? Shame, that. They could always get in now. Of course, when they do, it'll wipe them out again (if they've got anything at all in the first place). Wall Street steals from seniors, widows and orphans. It is the ultimate predator, and never held accountable.
"There is no reason for them not to be, even if they have to go through a broker that's going to get them into 5% front-loaded mutual funds that only do as well as the S&P 500." that is wrong advice. they could buy over $1million spy for a$10 commission. instead of a $50,000 commission. that is a real miserable way that banks and brokers try to take advantage of seniors and other inexperienced investors. there is no guarantee that the mutual fund performance will equal the s&p 500. also you would have to pay taxes every year on profits that the mutual fund creates through turnover while taxes on the spy would be minimal. there is no guarantee that the market goes up in the near term or even in a 10 year period. they could buy over $1million spy for a$10 commission. instead of a $50,000 commission. that is a real miserable way that banks and brokers try to take advantage of seniors and other inexperienced investors. what is more interesting, loufah, is that you offered this dangerous advice.
The broker almost certainly doesn't deserve that high a cut, but you're paying him to get you out if the market dives. He watches it so you don't have to. The important thing is to be in the market and not to let your mony erode in a zero percent savings account. If it means buying a S&P 500 fund at Vanguard, that's fine.
there is practically no difference in cost between the Vanguard S&P Fund and SPY. Other than no commission to buy (or sell) at Vanguard.
With regards to "lack of volume" sentiment, please remember the higher we trade, the more expensive it is to purchase the same number of issues. Volume will naturally slow as a bull market matures into later stage accumulation. SP500 @ 1300 compared to today @ 1655 equates to a ~27% increase in leverage on a major market product like ES. $ basis, 100 shares of SPY 1300 = 78 SPY shares @ 1655 This is a rather obvious point, but not impossible to loose sight of.