The stupidity of punters

rite, past few months, i have had 3 conversations with diffrent people about financial things. here is a shot summary of what they each said (or did);

1) Person 1 has taken to spreadbetting a bit for their investments they bought a mining stock i think which is going down down down down. they said "there is some recent good news with the company, but that hasn't been priced in to the share price yet".

2) Person 2 met an IFA for what to do with some money they had just come in to. The IFA sold them a bank product which tracks the value of a simple moving average system on the FTSE (really like moving average crossover). It is capital protected, so what they really bought was a call option on a mechanical trend system. also paid a bunch in fees and commissions, and will also pay spreads and fees to the bank who run it!

3) person also had done a bit of spreadbetting, but was talkig about hedging eurusd with gbpusd etc

so, like, is this fair across the whole spectrum?

Why not... Not everyone can be as smart about those financial things as we few. What you're seeing right here on this awesome forum is a collection of truly first-rate intellects. Unadulterated geniuses (or is it genii?) we are, without a doubt.

Martinghoul said:

Why not... Not everyone can be as smart about those financial things as we few. What you're seeing right here on this awesome thread is a collection of truly first-rate intellects. Unadulterated geniuses (or is it genii?) we are, without a doubt.

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FYP.

ok same topic diffrent question:

how much do you need to know to be responsible for your money?

like there is always someone more cleverer than you in the world, and everyone gets it wrong or makes silly mistakes. But like, you know, one of those people was looking after their pension, and had wool pulled over their eyes by ******* IFA armed with glossy brochures!

p.s. martinghoul say my video is totally amazing then i can be famous like you

I'm not sure this is a fair assessment. Everyone makes mistakes or refuses to see the light because of their psychology.

I could be a great trader, but a terrible mechanic. A great Physicist, but a terrible biologist.

Everyone has their niche. One of my pet peeves is to say "most can't do X". Well, duh? What's simple to one person has been practiced over countless hours, whereas the other might not have any talent. The amount of stuff you can learn out there also precludes knowing X simple thing about Y simple subject.

It's a stupid statement. Why not help the person instead?

VielGeld said:

Everyone makes mistakes or refuses to see the light because of their psychology.

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Agreed. I wouldn't insult people who have made a mistake but learned from it. That's how knowledge evolves.

What about the people who just never learn. There are a nice handful of members posting on this forum that get duped over and over again and continue to believe they are right. There is no help for them.

Peter

I'm not insulting anyone, like I wouldn't try to service my car because I don't know about car mechanics. Or i wouldn't give myself medical treatment because I am not a doctor.

but people make money decisions on their own, and honest it aint rocket engineering to sift out the doozers like my examples.

Just to add, I would define "The stupidity of punters" as continuing to make the same or similar mistakes over and over again.

Peter

camembert said:

I'm not insulting anyone, like I wouldn't try to service my car because I don't know about car mechanics. Or i wouldn't give myself medical treatment because I am not a doctor.

but people make money decisions on their own, and honest it aint rocket engineering to sift out the doozers like my examples.

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Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you were, I was just making a statement. I wasn't being combative!

Peter

camembert said:

I'm not insulting anyone, like I wouldn't try to service my car because I don't know about car mechanics. Or i wouldn't give myself medical treatment because I am not a doctor.

but people make money decisions on their own, and honest it aint rocket engineering to sift out the doozers like my examples.

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It's all relative. In driving terms Michael Schumacher might think you're completely clueless at driving. The mechanic who does very basic maintenance might think you're a stupid punter, because you could do it yourself with minimal learning. The thing is, it takes time and effort to learn, and that's the same for the financial examples you list above. It might not take much, but until you learn it, you don't know how much or how little.

There are so many stupid things that people do in the world and we're all guilty of it. Nobody needs a mobile phone. People got by without them before, but nowadays we all have them. Stupid. You don't need to shampoo your hair. The only reason it feels greasy when you don't is because you've been shampooing it so long. Naturally it doesn't need shampoo. Stupid punters. You don't need to pay pounds for bottles of water, or for 'mineral' water. People do this all the time, even in restaurants when they have a tap for free. Stupid punters. I do lots of things like this, as stupid as they are. And when you say you don't medicate yourself, are you sure? You don't take vitamins? Never take a painkiller etc? There seem to be millions of people doing homeopathy with no idea of whether the thing actually works or not. The examples can go on and on.

Try to think about how much money you really waste on things that are not necessary over a year. Then compare with the waste or idiocy of those punters. Probably not that different after all.

camembert said:

rite, past few months, i have had 3 conversations with diffrent people about financial things. here is a shot summary of what they each said (or did);

1) Person 1 has taken to spreadbetting a bit for their investments they bought a mining stock i think which is going down down down down. they said "there is some recent good news with the company, but that hasn't been priced in to the share price yet".

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What's your issue with this? You buy into the efficient market hypothesis? You kind of sound like an idiot trying to use this as an example of how stupid other people are.

VielGeld said:

I'm not sure this is a fair assessment. Everyone makes mistakes or refuses to see the light because of their psychology.

I could be a great trader, but a terrible mechanic. A great Physicist, but a terrible biologist.

Everyone has their niche. One of my pet peeves is to say "most can't do X". Well, duh? What's simple to one person has been practiced over countless hours, whereas the other might not have any talent. The amount of stuff you can learn out there also precludes knowing X simple thing about Y simple subject.

It's a stupid statement. Why not help the person instead?

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I think that the people who say, "most can't do X" are not daft or thick. They are not interested. That's a different thing.

The things that I, and everyone else, at some time or other, did not get interested in until a certain age are many. A person who, really, wants help can usually find it if he is interested in the subject

It is no good trying to help someone who does not want help.

So, if someone punts because of a whim, he is taking his chance as a punter, not as a serious speculator or investor. These people may have a string of lucky punts, there is no telling, but punting has its downside, too, and unless he is interested he will never try analyse properly why he takes certain trades.

People are mostly stupid.

new_trader said:

People are mostly stupid.

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Yes, I have noted your opinion of your fellows in previous posts.

A John Wayne quote. "Life's tough, but it's tougher for stupid people."

new_trader said:

People are mostly stupid.

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50% of the population are of below average intelligence. That's why only 20% of traders are successful.

0007 said:

50% of the population are of below average intelligence.

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My politician (who it has to be said is a bit of a stupid bint) was actually outraged when I used that as an argument about the futility of aspiring to the target that 50% of the population should attend university.

The silly cow actually argued that 50% of the population where not below average intelligence, she actually argued that only a few where below average ! (and this was from a member of a government who used to rabbit on about evidence based policy !)

I think it was during that particular conversation I finally decided to leave the place for good.

ok its agreed most people are stupid about financial things like i am stupid about cars and medicine.

the hare said:

My politician (who it has to be said is a bit of a stupid bint) was actually outraged when I used that as an argument about the futility of aspiring to the target that 50% of the population should attend university.

The silly cow actually argued that 50% of the population where not below average intelligence, she actually argued that only a few where below average ! (and this was from a member of a government who used to rabbit on about evidence based policy !)

I think it was during that particular conversation I finally decided to leave the place for good.

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Amazing how politicians use stats. In Greece I understand that the railways were running profitably despite having more staff than passengers, and that they required no subsidy because the government bought their share issues which didn't show up on the books.

In UK only Labour politicians could argue that the ridiculous rise in improved exam result stats was due to better teaching and not fiddling of the books/standards etc.

0007 said:

50% of the population are of below average intelligence. That's why only 20% of traders are successful.

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We're getting brighter all the time , though, because only a short while ago only 5% were successful. I would not take people for granted, though, sometimes they are brighter than we take them for. A good motto is " If he looks dumb, he probably isn't"

Splitlink said:

We're getting brighter all the time , though, because only a short while ago only 5% were successful. I would not take people for granted, though, sometimes they are brighter than we take them for. A good motto is " If he looks dumb, he probably isn't"

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Good point!
I wana know which 50% group the succesful 20% occupy, being in mind the smart boys have the hardest time of it! (according to Tom Baldwin).. I know its been hell for me! erhmm..

Of course, it all depends what you mean by intelligence. I've known very "intelligent" people who couldn't organise a pissup-in-a-brewery.