tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528393111359731672.post3218535327041833351..comments2024-03-24T00:19:53.054+00:00Comments on Green All Over: Empirical Evidence RequiredCassinihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05879449876804295094noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528393111359731672.post-91512662076314047572014-09-08T11:24:32.881+01:002014-09-08T11:24:32.881+01:00When asked I always advise people to invest in low...When asked I always advise people to invest in low cost index funds and to drip feed investment, so I generally agree with Cassini's practice.<br /><br />I disagree with this though:<br />"The S&P 500 last year (2013) was up 32.42% ... ask your friends from outside the financial world... not many would be close to that."<br />If they're holding US blue chips (a very common investment approach) then lots of them will likely have beaten the S&P, because they're holding the stocks the S&P is made up of and a fair proportion of stocks in that index will have outperformed the index.Martyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08253428823052846199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4528393111359731672.post-31147714692770845462014-09-08T09:26:26.128+01:002014-09-08T09:26:26.128+01:00I'm slightly puzzled, my comment explicitly st...I'm slightly puzzled, my comment explicitly stated that the average person (or fund) won't 'beat the market'. My point was that a) if someone wished to be excellent it's possible. <br /><br />Secondly, and this might be more interesting, I think it's rather obvious that a passive indexing approach will perform exceedingly well in a long, low-volatility bull market. It may not do so well in volatile or bearish market conditions (which is traditionally when commodity traders and big hedge funds tend to better). Judging an index fund only on how it performs in an epic bull run is quite misleading because the chief advantage of alternative approaches is being able to avoid downside or profit from it by shorting.<br /><br />You keep saying the average person has no self control etc., and here we are on common ground. I agree entirely that the average person lacks discipline, self-control and other attributes necessary to succeed. My point was if someone has those attributes or wishes to cultivate them, they have options better than an index fund. For that matter, judging by track records you yourself (not to imply you are average) would have done better investing in your football selections than the market.Prabhathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09331969664572948138noreply@blogger.com