Havent you already shot your wad, Twad? Constantly championing something you have very little money in and admit you are just experimenting with?
There are an awful lot of young investors that cant afford the same experiment.
Oh, thats right, its all about the big bad whateveritis that prevents open discussion of things that you really dont even think are important. You know, the stuff thats been beaten to death and shown to be relevant or not? But then the jury is still out on global warming for some people.
Zero sum game? Well, maybe not exactly...but money goes in and money comes out. As far as I know the feds are the only ones who can make money appear from thin air.
Patrick, if you're really interested...there is some rare air over that 80% mark that you can pick up by dialing in a little bit of this and that. Reits, emerging markets, energy, a little extra international, commodities, rare metals...all sorts of things. Just not too much of the red hot stuff, eh?
As someone who made their money preying on the emotional swings of people, let me tell you thats not somewhere you want to put a fair share of your money.
Short story. I played the nasdaq for an awful lot of years. Watched it, bet on it, bought cubes, calls and puts. Looked at all the charts and graphs and read all the expert material on a regular basis.
In late 99 I wanted to dump everything I had when it hit 4000. Stupid level. Made no sense. But I decided to wait until after the first of the year to defer the humongous capital gains hit. I had no idea, no expectation, no reasonable line of thinking whatsoever that it'd jump another 1000 points, another 25%. When I did dump it a few days into 2000, I similarly had no idea it'd drop 80% in just a few short months.
Momentum goes a lot higher, a lot faster, than any newsletter or formula will advise. And it drops a lot lower, even faster. With no notice, no warning, and it doesnt feel bad when you're broke at the end.
I retired at 39 and enjoy a very comfortable financial situation that will last through the end of my life and probably assure my son is also financially independent. A whole bunch of guys I worked with are bankrupt, divorced and probably will have to learn to enjoy working until they're in their 70's.
Different sides of the momentum curve.
Thing is, when I was working and had millions a year coming to me...I never learned to do what my peers did and just duck and cover. I still took all the risks, did things the best I could, and stuck my neck out regularly if I thought it'd matter. So I try to make sure everyone gets the benefit of what I've learned.
On the other hand, some folks have a bunch of money and just want to stir the pot to make their boring life a little more interesting. Whether you make a lot of money or not isnt that important to them.