Hi haha, I guess I am OP? - means, new to site? Perhaps? The question was just for discussion, and being curious, as I know many people buy individual stocks. ...
OP means "Original Post" or "Original Poster", just a shorthand way to refer to the start of the thread or the person who started the thread.
As far as his response, if you look at the way you worded the 'question', I think you will understand. Paraphrasing, ' Funds/ETFs perform better and cost less, so tell me why you buy individual issues ' , is kind of like saying 'Since they perform better and are cheaper, you must be deluded/stupid to buy individual issues.'
I kinda missed it, as the title was self-explanatory, I just skimmed the actual post. But if you really want to post a
question (many seem to post in question form, but are just looking for validation), then leave it open ended. Maybe something like:
' I see some advantages to ETFs/Funds, such as diversification and low fees. What are the pros/cons of individual issues? '
will come across as not being pre-determined.
As for myself, well, the pros of individual issues has been covered. You can be more flexible with cap gains/losses. If you feel you have some special insight, you can be more specific. For me, those advantages are not that great, so I'm mostly funds/ETFs. For others, they could be the right choice. But if you don't have the motivation/skills to analyze individual issues, I think you are better off with broad index ETFs/Funds.
-ERD50