We might think about what constitutes an "investor." To the purist, investors are venture capitalists, people who lend money to small businesses to get them started, and the like. These types of investments directly create jobs and services. I understand that somebody who buys shares of GE or IBM intending to hold them for the "long-term" is called an investor, but to me, this somebody is not looking to create anything, let's be serious. This "investor" just wants to park his money in paper that will presumably, over time, give him a higher return than a bond. This investor is no more, no less, important to the economy than the trader, who also puts his money in the same places, just for radically shorter periods of time. To me, they both are traders.
If you really want to be an investor, ask your mechanic if he wants to open an auto repair shop with your money and his expertise-- just one example.
What is so hostile about volatility anyway? Somebody in for the long-term, truly trying to "invest", shouldn't pay any attention to the price swings, unless he is on margin, which would suggest a desire to "get rich" by leveraging, rather than investing. |
