Fast, Fun, and Almost Guaranteed to Lose
Since smartphones became mainstream in the 2010s, we’ve been running an unprecedented experiment: a casino in every pocket.
My oldest son just turned 13 and recently got a smartphone. This is terrifying. Anyone who has ever seen someone on a smartphone knows what it means to be in the machine zone, where time and space are suspended, and nothing else matters but continuing to scroll.
Technology is only going to get more addictive, so I feel like this article, “The Gambler’s Goal is Not to Win but Simply to Continue,” is an important read for him and everyone else.
The article cites a lot of interesting data points, but below are some of my favorites that relate to investing:
The median option purchased by a retail trader in 2020 had 4 days to expiry; by 2022, that collapsed to less than one day. Today we’re down to 30 minutes.
93% of traders lose money trading options
95% of bettors lose money on sports betting.
98.6% of Pump.fun tokens are worthless and 97% of Pump.fun traders have made less than $1,000 trading memecoins.
Investing should be slow and boring. Any time you are trying to make money in a way that is fast and exciting, you are probably going to lose.
Personal Note:
Last weekend, we took our families to Kalahari for a business retreat. It may have been more family and less business, but a wonderful time was had by all.
