Redditors are right about the unfairness of the market
One of the biggest misconceptions is that the stock market is a zero sum game. Its absolutely not. One person can make money without another person losing money. Is that always the case? No. But that doesn&#x27;t make it a zero sum game.<p>If I buy a few shares from someone, I could be buying them from someone who is up on that investment and wants to cash in on their profit. If that stock continues to do well, everyone wins. I make money, the person I bought the shares from makes money.<p>Who cares how much the other person made, I&#x27;m focused on myself. If someone does a good job, and opens their expertise to the public - like Cathie Woods and her ETFs - even more people can benefit. No one is hurt by her success.<p>Of course people lose money, but that&#x27;s not always and only because someone else is then making money from your loss.<p>Everyone knows nearly every hedgefund does worse in the long run. Maybe they have 2-7 incredible years. Years 8 - 12 though aren&#x27;t likely to go so well and they&#x27;ll end up closing up shop. Only the top 20-50 hedgefunds likely consistently outperform a market index fund. The other few hundred are running on luck or just doing poorly anyway.<p>Despite the issues of insider trading in this article, individuals are still able to do remarkably well by buying VTSAX (or whatever index&#x2F;mutual&#x2F;etf fund you like best) consistently over a long period of time.