I can’t believe how many people (i.e. MMO bloggers) are still insisting that now is the PERFECT time to buy shares! Buy low sell high, the price can’t get any lower can it? Well of course it can you tits! I’ve got plenty of real life examples of people in the last 3 months who chucked large amounts of money at shares in the hope of a “long term” investment who chances are will not see any sort of a decent return (outperforming interest rates at least). Perhaps most personal to me is my brother. Works very high up for a big bank, was offered a share issue on the basis that “they couldn’t get any lower”. Spent a six figure sum of money and within 3 days has seen his investment cut in half. Not only that but no dividends and the reality that he’ll probably be a long time dead before the global economy lets things get as out of control as they were when the shit hit the fan this time. Remember that this is a once in a 100 year event (the ridiculous boom followed by the thundering crash). There is a fair chance of nationalisation in which case he will never ever get a return on that money. Sweet. He’s not the only one, I could run of a long list of examples. Buying shares is not guaranteed to make you money, IT IS GAMBLING.
Investing in stock is investing in other people. You are betting that the company in question is going to start performing better. The current price reflects everything that is currently known about that company. You have no influence over that. It’s no different than picking a horse and putting money on that. This is what surprises me so much about the big MMO bloggers who think stock is great. So many of them boast about how they can turn a $10,000 investment into $50,000 via PPC or whatever in a few days. They appear to have huge confidence in THEIR OWN ABILITIES. Spend a little make a lot, you know the idea. If they are so cock sure why are they investing money in somebody else then and not their own ventures? Why buy stock which may double in value in 5 years time (back when times were good) when they could put that money into their own ventures and see enormous returns. Is it maybe cos a lot of the time it’s all bullshit?
My solution to the current economic crisis* is to just carry on what I’m doing, putting my money back in to what I’m doing and slowly but surely scaling everything that makes me money. I’ve got reserves and I could buy stock but I won’t. I’d rather use it to buy traffic, test a PPC campaign or whatever else I think will make me more money. Essentially I’m investing my money in myself at the moment because I believe that I have at least as much chance (if not a damn sight more in some cases) of performing better in the current situation then many publicly floated companies. And if it all goes wrong I don’t get to blame anybody else, it’s all down to me.
*I don’t feel any sort of crisis, sure I’ve seen eCPM figures drop but I’m still way above what I need to live on.
One Response to “Don’t Invest In The Stock Market, Invest In Yourself”
Internet Age
January 14, 2009
Quite a bold and very true post. That’s the problem with most of us, we are more confident in other people than ourselves. We should learn to be more confident in ourselves and not other people.
Great post, it inspired me lots.
|