Anchors on TV business channels are prime examples. Most people who make a pretense of stock investing expertise lack fundamentals in market and technical competence. Beginner’s luck is notorious on every stock exchange, but exaggerated images of expertise are more insidious and damaging.
Information, disinformation, and partial truths are the army, navy, and air force of stock market operators. It is a free-for-all, with victors and victims changing places even several times a typical trading day. One may stumble upon a gain by chance, but it is the methodical sifting of rare gems of facts, from virtual mounds of fantasy, that is the true recipe of sustained stock market success.
There are two routes to climb heights on a stock market range, and it is best to have feet in both paths in order to stay at or near the top. The first approach relates to the development of versatile, reliable, and current networks. Personal experience is best: insider trading may be out, but there is no stopping any investor from trading in stocks of competitors, distributors, and brands used in daily life. Secondary information can be equally valuable. Credit rating agencies and consumer surveys can unravel reams of invaluable information about stocks.
The other approach to enduring stock market gains is through continuing education in financial and economic analyses. It does not matter whether you have been to an Ivy League business school, or prefer to invest by sheer street smartness: there are always new things to learn from financial disclosures and from business appraisals. Stock market habits are so addictive that there is no retirement in life. It is a never-ending quest in search of positive Beta.
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