[krackerjack121]

Is anyone else taking part in the Financial Post stock picking challenge?

http://www.fpstockchallenge.com/

Rocky

 

[Berubeland]

Now I am Thanks

If you pm me I can give you the referral for referring me

 

[scomac]

Why? Maybe you should ask yourself what's in it for the sponsors before you get all hepped up in a contest that isn't really designed to teach or promote good investing habits.

 

[el oro]

It's oriented more towards trading rather than investing. I'm already in. If anyone here wins the gold bar and doesn't want it, I'll take it off your hands for a good price

 

[Berubeland]

I just think practice will make me a more experienced trader. It doesn't cost anything and I may win.

I'll bet the odds of winning that are better than the odds of winning the 649 and millions play that.

Also I don't understand why you think they are promoting bad trading?

 

[scomac]

I just think practice will make me a more experienced trader.

Why would you view gaining experience in a poor practice as a good thing?

I'll bet the odds of winning that are better than the odds of winning the 649 and millions play that.

Just because it is so doesn't make it desirable.

Also I don't understand why you think they are promoting bad trading?

Simple. High frequency trading drives up frictional costs. That reduces your returns. Secondly, high frequency trading (as practiced by retail investors) is almost solely based on sentiment. There has never been any evidence that trading based on sentiment and noise in the market place has ever been able to deliver market beating returns over time.

What you need to understand is that the brokerages, especially the low cost outfits that cater to "traders", don't give a damn about how you do with your investing. The only thing they care about is extracting the maximum dollars they can from you for providing a service. More trading means more dollars to them. It's classic economics 101 - elastic demand - reduce price, increase volume, generate more profits via volume rather than margin.

 

[moneymusing]

Brokers aren't in the business for smiles and buddies...they are in it for profit so clearly they are going to try to extract as much $ from their clients as possible but I don't feel that is grounds for not participating in a contest.

However since the contest is open to any particular strategy they are not reinforcing good or bad trading practice. The participants are doing that all on their own.

After participating in the contest they may realize that active trading isn't a strategy suited to them and that passive index investing would have made them more money. If that is the case, they would have learned the lesson for free.