Kevin Duffy on the flawed ideology of the millennial trader

There are few certainties in life, among them death, taxes and the reluctance of young adults to accept advice from their parent’s generation (“OK, boomer”).  If severe losses of the past 12 months haven’t broken the resolve of the retail speculator, what will?  Why such conviction?  In a word: ideology.

Millennial traders have hardly been “milked” by Wall Street.  No one forced them to the craps table.  Instead, they were victims of an ideology that sees capitalism as exploitative, a view no doubt shared by most financial journalists...  Through their win-lose worldview, HODLers saw a chance to turn the tables on the wealthy fat cats; for a time it even worked.  Eventually the odds caught up with them and the dice came up snake eyes.  Yet when ideology was confronted by reality, many responded by going into denial.

~ Kevin Duffy, "The Hangover," The Coffee Can Portfolio, March 1, 2022

Doug Casey on mixing ideology and investing

I expect general financial, economic, and social conditions to be scary and unpleasant in the coming years.  They’ll be very tough to navigate for people who don’t have a grounding in economics and the markets. 

For one thing, we’ll see the moral and intellectual battle intensify between free marketeers and statists, between capitalists and socialists.  I’m an anarchocapitalist, with very well-defined views on these matters.  But it’s important not to confuse ideology with investment.  A socialist sees government intervention as “good,” a libertarian sees it as “bad,” but a speculator doesn’t clutter his mind with opinions.  A speculator doesn’t pass moral judgment on the way things are.  He tries to maintain a scientific “value free” approach.  His object is to make money, not make a political statement.

~ Doug Casey, "Doug Casey on How You Can Think and Act Like a Speculator," International Man, July 3, 2021