RE: Took it from TILS, apply to SNG as well3 Nov 2020 21:48
Miggy, on gambling, you may or may not agree, but this is a point of view I have considered.
Gambling? When I first became aware of the newsreader at the end of the TV news saying 'the footsie is at..' it was around 470. I assume that was in the 1970s. If as an adolescent I'd bought a couple of dozen random shares then I believe I'd now have a good amount of cash. What's the Footsie today? 5800?
Alternatively, if I'd gambled since then, starting with a decent amount of cash, I'm pretty sure I'd have had no money left.. by the end of the 1970s. I do think that's one difference between the stock market and gambling; longterm the odds are probably stacked toward the punter rather than against.. I hope there are more too.
I can definitely see that buying stocks can be addictive; putting more and more in; convincing oneself that this or these is bound to be the one(s) that goes up and up when in fact there's just SO much we don't know about 'our' share and even if we did know, we don't know the wider picture with the competition etc. – 'Events, dear boy' as we're told McMillan said on politics.
Yes it's a risk but on the whole we should be ok if we don't get carried away. Is that naive? Plenty seem to do very well here (or claim to anyway) when I doubt that many who frequent the bookies could claim the same level of success. I spread my risk (I'm a novice compared to most) and I'm now a little ahead after 4 years, but with some great prospects. If a couple let me down I'll be disappointed. Even then I have some safer bets (better word than bets anyone?) which are less risky and I'm pretty certain will save the day if necessary. I also don't need to retrieve my cash in the next 5 or more years, which is handy.
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