The stock market - your choice

Ok I am not a broker, I do not work in, with, or for, the stock market. I certainly am not qualified to give any kind of financial advice. But I read a lot, and have some experience. I am a long term planner, strategist, thinker, and so the stock market attracts me. I have lived through some ups and downs in the stock market, with money invested, and have never been tempted to pull my investments, as I am focussed on that long term view. If you have a similar mindset, the stock market may work for you. The reason I like the stock market is that, over a prolonged period, it performs well. It never ceases to amaze me how volatile it can be to daily news. I have watched my investments drop and rise 5-10% in a day based off a few news reports. But with that long term view, you moving average these fluctuations and see the real trend. Provided you have good investments picked that is. And on this point. Do not pretend you can be better than anyone else. Could you perform an operation better than a surgeon? No. To use the stock market effectively I think you either pay (at the lowest fee you can) an excellent brokerage to handle your money for you (I don't know how you would find one), or you do your homework, study hard the basics, but then still invest your money into a low cost fund that tracks the movement of one of the major stock market indices. My approach is to invest my money monthly into a FTSE 250 index tracker with a low fee via an online platform such as Hargreaves Lansdown. Read this sentance carefully. Investing monthly spreads your cash investments out over time, so you invest when the stock market is performing badly and enjoy the (hopeful) subsequent rise in share value, but also invest some while the stock market performs very well, and then subsequently falls in value. This spreads your risk somewhat, to what is a more acceptable level for me. I also invest into the 250 most valuable companies, not just one. Again this spreads risk as it is unlikely that all 250 companies will be affects by a single World event, such as a shortage of gold, or a mineral, or a virus, for instance. Finally the low fee. This is critical. You can end up forking out huge costs in fees (from your hard earned investments) over 10, 20, 30, 40 year periods. Additionally. I do my home work. I mean it. I read, and re-read The Intelligent Investor . This will give you the basics of investing, to help you understand certain terminology, and how to invest for value. It is written by one of the most famous stockbrokers in history George Graham. His words and guidance make sense. As a result of this book I have also allowed myself to invest 10% of my portfolio into specific companies I have researched, and researched again. Right now, with coronavirus impacting the stock market, it is possible to find some resilient high value but bargain cost shares, which with a long term view, should grow into worthwhile investments. Finally let's talk about dividends. As well as a company increasing in value (observed through share price increases) you can also get additional value from dividend payouts to shareholders. This is another great source of income, which you can reinvest for further growth. Remember also that you can LOSE money on the stock market. So do your background research, and make your own choice whether to use this as a source of potential income. I will provide a separate review of The Intelligent Investor next time.