Said another way one could argue that we are in the golden age of the individual investor. That might seem like an odd thing to say coming off what some people call a ‘lost decade for stocks.’ However over that same time period the technological advancements that made Web 2.0, like Facebook, Twitter andLinkedIn, possible have also led to unprecedented opportunities for investors not previously seen.
We are for the moment leaving aside the state of the markets at the moment. We could have written this same post a couple of months ago when the stock market was 20% lower. We are also leaving aside the issue of whether the zero interest rate policy of the Federal Reserve represents a “war on savers” or is simply the byproduct of necessary policies. The failure of MF Global and the systemtic risks it poses for all account holders are also outside the scope of this post.
This is not a novel theme for us. Indeed one thing we note in our forthcoming book, Abnormal Returns: Winning Strategies from the Frontlines of the Investment Blogosphere, is that investing has never been “cheaper or easier.” Some of this has to do with the rise exchange traded funds. In other respects it has to do with the blossoming of the options markets. In large part, it has to do with technology. In short, never before have investors had access to data, analysis, opinion and social tools that are commonplace today. Let’s take these points one by one.
- Easier: Investors today can with a brokerage account and a computer is now only a few mouse clicks away from a globally diversified portfolio of ETFs that in terms of expenses rivals what institutions paid a decade ago. For all intents and purposes the expense ratio on the big ETFs iscloser to 0.0% that 1.0%. Many brokers now allow online trading of individual bonds and overseas securities.
…read points 2-5 HERE
