Three Rules for Longevity as an Active Investor
If you’re in it for the long haul, you need to know the rules—that the news doesn’t matter much, the markets are random and active trading beats long-term investing.
Just when you think you know it all, you find there’s a lot left to learn. In my case, the lessons began in earnest after I finished my graduate degree in finance and got involved in the markets.
I worked as a trader for 10 years, starting on the floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange and then becoming a proprietary trader when the exchange went electronic. As the years went by, I focused on futures.
I was operating as a market maker, regularly putting thousands of dollars on the line against other traders—for a single tick. I didn’t care if the market went up or...
