In regards to my commentary on the individual investor and the stock market, a reader remarks:
Oh, I suspect it’s a game — the market is constantly gamed by those in a position to do so, to the detriment of most individual investors. It’s much more like pari-mutuel betting where it’s really your knowledge or guess against the rest of the people investing. Real company fundamentals have far less effect on their stock price these days than they did 30 to 50 years ago. And there’s still a ton of emotion involved.
Short term, yes, there’s pumping and manipulation and a great deal of emotion, and those who think they can become rich overnight are often left shirtless and bewildered. But none of these can carry, or suppress, a stock of a company over the long term.
