Nothing against discount brokerages, but may I suggest that it might be the “right answer to the wrong problem”. I was always enamored of the metaphor of “leaning your ladder against the wrong wall”. Recently, after many years of meandering and sometimes successful trading (i.e., went all in on a stock that tripled), I’ve decided that, like medicine, sometimes one can be too smart for one’s own good. I hired what I’ll describe as “an institutional portfolio manager”. (Yeah, have to a 500k$ portfolio to get into that game!) But, I’ve concluded that the “casino” (aka Wall Street) is no place for the DIY crowd like I once was. The electronic trading, the specialists, the “financial consultants”, mutual fund’s crass graft, and all the other machinations have taken the “game” to a new level. The globalization of finance has convinced me that the dollar is on a fast road to perdition. Even gold coins now carry a hefty 12% markup over spot. SO there is no “good” investment for the little guys. Even at cheap transaction fee!

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