Quote: (01-11-2016 11:54 PM)rudebwoy Wrote:
The stock market is rigged to get your money, only a small fraction of people make money of it. Those people generally have connections or insider information.
It's "rigged" in the sense that you have hedge funds and investment houses that have access to supercomputers and an army of quants writing complex trading algorithems in addition to, yes, inside information. These are the 'small fraction of people you mention.'
A day trader obviously cannot compete with that with his scottrade, e-trade, trade-king account.
However, the whole 'rigged' thing is a bit overstated. Everyone has access to the vast majority of data that any of the aforementioned players have.
You can still make a decent return on your investments if done properly and avoid day trading. I'm not finished with the book but
The Intelligent Investor lays out the difference between the speculator and the investor almost immediately in the first chapter. Yes it's rigged towards lone wolf speculators but the fact is is that if you due your due diligence and invest for the long term (i.e. >1year) you should be owning shares in companies that actually make money and not penny stocks. People were saying back in the 20s that the market was rigged and that only those with connections could benefit from the markets.
When people are referring to the capital markets as 'casinos' they are referring to speculators speculating and not investors investing. There is a difference.
If you want big returns from the market, either get directly into the financial industry and work at a hedge fund or start a very successful business, become an accredited investor, and invest in a professionally managed hedge fund and benefit from the 'rigged system.' A dude day trading from his e-trade account "on the beach" is NOT going to be beating the market on a consistent basis unless, maybe, he worked at a hedge fund and is a financial genius. In that case, he sure as shit is not using e-trade.