1/? Back when I first started investing, I had little money. Basically it was putting some money in an IRA or a regular mutual fund. Write a check, send it in. Brokers were too expensive for what I was doing. I had to diversify.

2/? Buying individual stocks -- well, that would have meant blue chips. Proctor & Gamble, Coke, McDonalds -- these were proven. Dot-com excitement and subsequent bubble burst came. I had sat that one out, thankfully.

3/? You started seeing big changes15-20 years when the internet began enabling regular people to invest in money for relatively small commissions. Brokers were charging $40 or much more, but newly minted online brokers at that time were between $10-$15 per trade. Access!

4/? It was buy and hold. Examine the P/E ratio. "What do the analysts say?" It was traditional -- for awhile. Around 2005, I began to notice market swings on emotion. If Home Depot had a bad quarter, the market punished Lowes.

5/? When Best Buy made much more money than they estimated, their stock dropped. Must be poor management. All of these were great boons for me to buy. Watching the giant international ETFs swoon and belch was entertaining. It was emotion playing out.

6/? Through competition, commissions dropped to zero through some online brokers. As this occurred, they consolidated with companies combining. Everyone could buy and sell stocks... FOR FREE! Yes, the little man (or woman) could buy and sell at will.

7/? Day trading, once considered a fad in the early 2000's had become a legit profession (probably starting around 2006 or so). This only increased over time. With smart phones and apps, people felt emboldened to trade with their phones throughout the day.

8/? Call me old fashioned. I don't trust my phone or the connection it's on. I don't trade from it. I'm rarely farther than an arm's length away from a computer with multiple layers of security beyond what my phone can provide.

9/? Every app on your phone makes you agree to terms where it can access many other things on your phone. You have data on your phone that resides nowhere else in your life. Not on your computer, not in your wallet.

10/? Your phone is the gateway to ALL data about you. I don't put my financial data on my phone. I just don't trust it. Maybe you do. But know that if you have FB Messenger, Zuck has every piece of data on your phone. It's in the terms of agreement. But I digress...

11/? So here we are. If 2020 taught us anything other than terms like "masking," and "social distancing," it also gave many younger people time to learn and experiment with investing. Hey, no commissions? Free to try.

12/? Hint: there are simulators for free through investopedia and others where you can play with fake money and see how you do. This is how I learned I suck at options trading and need to learn more. Cost me nothing.

13/? So now everybody can trade from their phone. This cool little app called Robin Hood comes along. You remember the story of Robin Hood, right? "Robs from the rich and gives to the poor." That rings the millennial buzzer right there!

14/? But that's a sign of the times and cultural shift in this country. CEO of RH is a young person, enabling all to trade. Great concept. I love it. I wish I had such great options when I was in my 20's and even 30's. Social media lights up with ideas for investing.

15/? Facebook, Reddit groups are active. People follow Twitter accounts for hints. Even the venerable internet is available for updating your account minute-by-minute including your watch lists and current investments. "Average investors" feel emboldened.

16/? It started before the pandemic, but people at home during 2020 saw great swings in crypto currencies. I cannot comment beyond their popularity -- I don't know enough to invest in them. For me to put money on them would be gambling.

17/? For many of our younger friends, gambling on sports is a way of life. I'm shocked at how much so many of my follows on here know about it. I've learned from you -- y'all are on that gambling game. I've only bet on one game online in my life and I lost money. 0-1.

18/? So many of you are great at it and more power to you. I guess my point is that with that knowledge and attitude, investing has become like gambling to you. I don't care. If that works for you, do it. But I will tell you who it pisses the hell out of...

19/? Wall Street. Traditional stock analysts. Jim Cram3r. You don't give a shit about price to earnings ratio or earnings reports. Fukkit. If 10 more states legalize weed, you push your money into MJ stocks for a few months -- only to move it to Pela ton or something later.

20/? Then comes a watershed event like today. Reddit group users figure out what hedge fund managers are up to. They pool $$ resources to counter it to put a few stocks in their favor. Wild price swings ensue.

21/? Individual investors find they can't make certain trades. Wall street investors are free to trade at will. Some reports emerge that that government and Wall street have shut it down to save the hedge funds who have donated richly to the politicians.

22/? The internet and social media explodes. Democrats and Republicans demand an investigation. Dave Portnoy picks a Twitter fight with a hedge fund CEO. Individuals are powerless. Without the ability to trade, they're stuck. It was not supposed to be this way.

23/? Robinhood CEO goes on to CNBC to plead his case. It's empty for the common people. Hedge fund managers admonish the public, "Why are your trying to hurt us (billionaires)?" The haves and the "trying to have" are at odds. The whole thing is a mess.

24/? So there will probably be congressional investigations. Maybe they're just for show. Big money, regardless of party is happy to keep you where you are. Many of you may not know that Congress is exempt from insider trading laws.

25/? I don't want to get too political, but I heard that a certain congresswoman from CA made millions by investing in an electrical vehicle company ahead of the announcement that the federal government was going to replace fleet vehicles with electric ones.

26/? If you or I did that, well we go to jail. At best, it's "Martha Stewart Jail." Congress is exempt.

So the next month or so will be interesting. How will the market react? With the impeachment trial, will this RH story burn out? I don't know how it ends.

27/? As for me, I will continue to look for:
1. Solid blue chips
2. Companies with great dividends
3. Companies who are market "disrupters," and change the landscape of an industry.
4. Innovators who can bring products and services quickly
5. Follow successful indexes.

28/?
All of these will (mostly) shield me from what happened today. I may throw a few $$ at crypto because some of you have me interested. But it would be like a bet at a horse race and nothing more.

29/29 I hope this thread was thought provoking to you. It is only my opinion. I am NOT a financial advisor. Just a regular guy like you. Have a great night and #GoGators.