No One Really Knows Anything About the Stock Market?

Spoiler: They do, don’t justify your loss with such lame excuses.

Picture this, you bought a stock at $100, and you went to sleep. As you wake up in the morning, it fell to $80. Many would go through their own very stages of grief — some would be in denial “Maybe it will go up again,” some would result in anger, which they would usually redirect to some unknowing internet user; while some, would be in denial — “well, it’s just not my day, after all, when it comes to the market no one knows anything!”

No, they know what they're doing.

People know what they are doing. When they invest, they know that their buys or sells are in accordance with their strategies. They know the kind of financial ratios they need to use, why they buy the stocks they bought, they know what to expect (although whether it will happen or not is another question.

Why do people say that then?

Personally, it’s just a figure of speech among experienced investors or traders. When they say no one really knows anything about the market, it doesn’t literally mean that no one knows anything about it — what they meant is that no one really knows the outcome of their decision will be.

They know how to choose and why to choose their stocks, what they don’t know is how will it actually be after they do it. These are two very different things.

Put it this way, you’re going out on a first date with a match you just found online. What you can do is you can look up what your date likes, their do’s, and don’ts, what sort of jokes they find funny… all of the sorts. Will you end up with what you want? No one can tell until the date is concluded, but as far as you can say, you did your very best to increase the odds.

However, if you didn’t take the time to look into the kind of person your date is, the likeliness of you getting whatever outcome you want from the date may not be as high.

As for finance, many new investors mistakenly believe that no one can actually know anything about the market. Of course, they know that experienced traders or investors have their own methods to select their stocks, but some are not bothered at all to learn these methods because they believe in this false pretext.

“Why should I waste my time learning it? Even the pros don’t know anything about the market,” or

“Even the pros lose their money, can’t be too harsh on myself.”

Yes, the pros lose their money, but they also make money

The chances of you losing money from investing are at most around 40%, while around 90% of traders lose their money from trading. Even the pros lose their money, that is true. However, many newcomers forgot to look at the fact that many of the pros also make money from their activities.

Let’s settle on one thing, losing money in finance is common, but losing money is bad. As much as it is common, you should do whatever it takes to avoid it, which is simply by learning the ins and outs of finance. The pros may lose their money in some cases, but they have done all that they can with their financial analysis, and chart pattern analysis, they went through hell and back reading through the databases they have.

"All the efforts just to lose money? Might as well chillax as I did."

Alright smarty pants, it’s your money anyway. But here’s an analogy — if your loved one is sick, and there are two surgeons. One is very peculiar and thorough with their knowledge and skills, while another is just swinging the scalpel with an “if you die, you die” attitude, I’d bet my confidence on the former, even when both procedures will come with their own risk.

Your point, being?

All of these nags are simply me venting my frustration on how many newcomers are misled by this inaccurate idea. In the end, they will never learn from their mistakes since they’ve shut the door to learning new things because they’ve put a big barrier in front of their faces saying, “No one knows anything about the stock market”.

No! They know a lot of things about the market. You’re the one who doesn’t know that you don’t know. If this kind of attitude persists, a lot of new investors/traders will lose their money, and most will just quit with nothing to salvage. It’s a sad view, knowing how investing can boost their financial wellness, all the potential that they could have for their retirements, healthcare, and more — are gone from a mistaken mindset.

How to fix it then?

Learn your way into the stock market. Of course, it’s not easy. Along the way, you’ll encounter ‘fake messiahs’ who are in fact ravening wolves — flaunting expensive lifestyles, guaranteeing constant returns, and of course, if you follow their tips, you’re sure to be flaunting the same luxuries. Per my own experience, getting into it is not easy, especially when you start from zero. There are a lot of these fake gurus and even guides-ish websites that are blatant promotions with zero regard for your safety.

To learn your way into finance, especially without a proper channel, you’ll have to have three things to keep in mind: be persistent, take it one step at a time, and be vigilant against these people that try to misguide you and rob you blind.

Bottom line

Learn. It’s the only way to win, or at least increase your chance of winning. A lot of people fail even before they try. Investing is (relatively) easy, and trading is a bit challenging, but both require you to know the ins and outs of it. Learning isn’t easy, but going in without any knowledge is simply like throwing your cash away. Can you give your money to people to manage? Yes, but that will also require you to know the basics. How can you tell if the person is not talking BS? You can’t help but to at least master the basics of investing or trading for you to begin investing/trading.

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