BuzzYou are correct that for an investor to achieve satisfactory...

Buzz

You are correct that for an investor to achieve satisfactory results or in line with the market index is not that hard.

It is significantly harder though to achieve outstanding results which would be determined as being 15-20% pa CAGR over an extended investors timeframe, say 20 or 30 years.

Its that kind of timeframe and return that can produce genuine wealth.

I also fully accept that trading is a much harder path to achieve success as like you say it relies on a persons ability to time the market, which IMO is very difficult to do with any consistancy.

The important thing to remember is that entering the market is not a zero sum game, there are losers and winners, like the poor mob that got fleased in MEO on Monday.