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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1331 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 27, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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That isn’t quite true. “Amateur investors” includes everything from sensible people who manage their 401ks with a little panache and a slight preference in sector exposure to “day traders” of the WSB type who gamble on far out of the money options or who put their life savings into heavily leveraged short ETFs.

Among the latter, most data shows perhaps 1% make money consistently, far below professional active managers. In addition, their losses are far higher, while many active managers (loathe as I am to defend them) only marginally underperform the market.

I did not say amateur investors (the larger group). I said amateur traders, who attempt to take their activities quite seriously. Around 10% of them succeed consistently, afaik.

What separates a trader from an investor? You can discuss this professionally (traders execute to balance liquidity, market depth, optimize, PMs strategize, order etc), but its not relevant to amateur investing where the PM/trader distinction is definitionally irrelevant.

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