"The Con"

So as mentioned in my first post that nobody read or knows about, I hope to share some of my experiences and wisdom of the so-called shark tank, and just keep a conversation going about investing.  Here's one of my things which will probably be an underlying theme of my blog.  The "big money" or "Wall Street" has designed every aspect of the investment world in their favor.  It's cliche, but it is like Vegas insofar as they are the "house" and all the little guys out there who think they are there to make money, are really being swindled.  These guys don't invest in these investments they created, they are making too much money from all the fees and all the investing mistakes that all of us are making.  To an extent its a big con.

Have you seen the ads from some of the online brokers like TD Ameritrade where they show some guy at home watching stock charts and executing trades at just the right moment?  This is a total con.  I am living proof that this DOES NOT WORK.  Yes I've tried and lost, many times.  Now, you may have an argument to think that you are smarter than me, have better instinct, or have the magic touch.  That could very well be true.  But let me save you some time... you are actually pretty dumb if you think you can out-trade big banks, hedge funds, billionaire brokers, and super-computers located a block from Wall Street.  The commercials showing a guy day-trading, who presumably quit his day job because he's making so much money, is BULLSHIT.

So that being established, wouldn't it be really cool if we could reverse the con so that those who think they are con-ing, are actually the one's giving up the dough?  Now I wouldn't say this is the basis of my passion for investing, but it is part of my approach.  I am doing this because its kinda fun and I need hobbies, I don't want my savings to be lost to inflation, and I hate the thought of being swindled.

I know I need to wrap this up, but if you are the person that is thinking that your 401k is set, and your mutual funds have all the bases covered... you might be right.  And you very well may be getting great value from that. Let's go into that more next time.