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And you consistently beat the market, overcome the fees and taxes, and are happy with the returns, is there any reason to really consider going long?
I can sum up my investment experience quite simply. When I have gone long, it has only caused me stress and grief. I've probably broken even in the past 5 years when going long stocks, although I have had some spectacular picks in the small caps after I refined my strategy. My best picks have come from stock picking news letters. With that info, I do the homework and make a decision on whether it's a good pick or not. This strategy has also been quite rewarding, but I shy away from it.
In general though, I hate going long for two reasons. The stock market scares me long term. Going long also ties up money that could be used to day trade. And I love to day trade
So anyways, I have heard millions of reasons why not to day trade. If your good enough at it though, is there any reason to stop?
If your good enough at it though, is there any reason to stop?
If you're good at it, stick with what you are good at.
Some people can pick stocks and "go long" as you say. Some people can gauge the market and trade. That being said, it's often the case that people are good at trading one type of stock and suck at other types.
Stick with what you are good at.
You CAN trade bull or bear markets, but like mathjak107 said:
mathjak107: never confuse your genius with a bull market.
I've seen people think they are geniuses branch off into stuff they aren't familiar with then crash and burn.
It is also said that a bear market rally feels better than the real thing. ( I learned that expression from Richard Russell of DTL. )
And you consistently beat the market, overcome the fees and taxes, and are happy with the returns, is there any reason to really consider going long?
I can sum up my investment experience quite simply. When I have gone long, it has only caused me stress and grief. I've probably broken even in the past 5 years when going long stocks, although I have had some spectacular picks in the small caps after I refined my strategy. My best picks have come from stock picking news letters. With that info, I do the homework and make a decision on whether it's a good pick or not. This strategy has also been quite rewarding, but I shy away from it.
In general though, I hate going long for two reasons. The stock market scares me long term. Going long also ties up money that could be used to day trade. And I love to day trade
So anyways, I have heard millions of reasons why not to day trade. If your good enough at it though, is there any reason to stop?
If you're breaking even going long the past 5 years your picks must be pretty horrendous.
I can reach into a big and chances are I'd pull out a ticker that's up double digits since then.
Markets have been pretty yawnworthy for awhile. Everyone should be doing well.
I see all of these supposed "day traders", and yet none of them make consistent money over long periods of time. Thus, none of their successes can be counted as any more than flukes.
Put your money in in a low-cost index fund and you'll beat the vast majority of these traders after taxes/trading fees (important). I let my money work for me, and focus on making more of it through my day job to add to my investment accounts.
I've probably broken even in the past 5 years when going long stocks
My first thought after reading this line was to wonder how you define "long"? The last 5 years have been pretty much nothing but straight up, how could you possibly be at break even with any kind of decent long positions?
And you consistently beat the market, overcome the fees and taxes, and are happy with the returns, is there any reason to really consider going long?
I can sum up my investment experience quite simply. When I have gone long, it has only caused me stress and grief. I've probably broken even in the past 5 years when going long stocks, although I have had some spectacular picks in the small caps after I refined my strategy. My best picks have come from stock picking news letters. With that info, I do the homework and make a decision on whether it's a good pick or not. This strategy has also been quite rewarding, but I shy away from it.
In general though, I hate going long for two reasons. The stock market scares me long term. Going long also ties up money that could be used to day trade. And I love to day trade
So anyways, I have heard millions of reasons why not to day trade. If your good enough at it though, is there any reason to stop?
You need to measure your performance against what you could get by simply buying an S&P 500 Index fund. Also, how long have you been "successful" day trading? If you don't have at least a 5 year track record, then you don't have enough to go on, and I really don't even think 5 years is enough data.
I don't completely blame you for not wanting to be long in stocks 100%. That's why they invented balanced funds. They hold up a lot better in down markets, with fewer years of negative performance. Most of us can't handle the ups & downs of a 100% stock portfolio. The better balanced funds have come close to or beaten the performance S&P 500 Stock index with fewer down years. Here's a list of my favorites that have beaten the S&P over the last 19-20 years:
Vanguard Wellington
Dodge & Cox Balanced
Oakmark Equity & Income
Mairs & Power Balanced
Of course, a lot of people don't like balanced funds because they're booooooring. I was like that. It's unfortunate. Because if I'd bought a balanced fund, or one similar to the ones above (I actually had Vanguard Wellington in my retirement plan from 1996-2006 as well as Income Fund of America, which was very close in performance). If I'd put money consistently in one of those funds for the past 18 years and just let it ride, and forgotten about buying individual stocks, switching from one mutual fund to another, etc. I'd have at least 50K, maybe 100K more than I do right now.
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