Читать книгу Ignore the Hype - Brian Perry - Страница 16

Change is constant in this world, but the evolution of financial markets has not been a steady, uniform process. Instead, the pace of innovation has accelerated like a snowball cascading down a hill.

Consider, if you will, the impact that social media has had on the dissemination of financial news, or the increasing sophistication and competitiveness of today's institutional investors, or the rise of high-frequency trading and the manner in which it magnifies market movements.

All these developments and more have not only introduced new complexities for individual investors to consider, but have also accelerated the impact of prior evolutions. As such, the skill level required to successfully navigate the markets has increased exponentially. Phrased differently, the game has indeed become rigged in favor of those investors able to bring massive quantities of resources to their efforts.

With that in mind, the individual has only two choices. The first is to try to compete with better equipped players in a game that is clearly rigged against them. The second – the preferable – choice is to choose not to play the game at all.

Just so there is no confusion, let me state again, here at the outset of this book, that the game is inarguably rigged against the individual investor and that there are certain disadvantages that you are unlikely to ever overcome.

There – I've said it, and I'm not sorry. Consider yourself warned. Because the truth of the matter is that, given how markets have developed over the past several decades, the average person has little hope of competing with the big boys. To even attempt to do so often constitutes a fool's errand, and is likely to result in frustration, poor performance, and ultimately failure to meet one's financial goals.

That, in a nutshell, is the bad news.

The good news is that ordinary people just like you can still successfully and profitably invest in the financial markets.

Furthermore, in some ways you actually have important advantages institutions lack. The key to your financial success is to maximize the inherent advantages you possess while avoiding the temptation to mimic the behavior of the institutional investor.

Although you can still profit in the financial markets, doing so will likely involve adopting strategies and tools different from those you've used in the past. Success requires mental and emotional fortitude, a willingness to stand apart from your peers, and formulating a disciplined and repeatable approach to investing. On the plus side, while markets and economies have grown more complicated, your approach need not be overly sophisticated. In fact, you might even say that successful investing is simple.

Of course, just because something is simple doesn't mean that it is easy.