888 is the tortoise, The Stars Group is the hare

When investors think of The Stars Group, they think big. World Series of Poker, huge promotional events, largest online gaming company, leveraged buyouts, crazy stock moves. When they think of 888, they think slow and steady, lone wolf, slow burn. The Stars Group was, is, and continues to be a trading vehicle. 888 is an investment. The wild moves in TSG feed on themselves, forcing investors in and out of positions due to the emotional extremes involved in holding it.

It’s easy to say “well just buy the dips and sell the rallies”. It’s much harder to actually do it. When a stock is tanking and your position is going deeper and deeper underwater, just try to pull the buy trigger. Wear a blood pressure and heart rate monitor. See what happens. When a stock is rallying and your position is going more and more in the green, just try to sell it. See what happens. See if your mind can break through the emotions that constantly stop us from actually pulling it off.

If most people bought dips and sold rallies, dips would be minor and rallies would be gentle. If everyone bought dips and sold rallies, there would be no dips or rallies. The reason big dips and big rallies happen in trading vehicles is that people sell dips in fear of losing more money and buy rallies in fear of losing out, amplifying them. While this does provide a great opportunity for trading experts to make a lot of money, the chances that any of us are actually trading experts is infinitesimal.

Anyone can win on any given trade once in a while. Almost nobody can do it consistently. If there were a 12-step program for trading addicts, recognizing this truth would be the first step towards a cure. Here’s a picture of what I mean: