My Dad used to “play” the market quite a bit. But then he noticed that the “market maker” was playing around with some of the stocks he was acquiring. To say he was “ticked off” is putting it mildly. He closed out most of his positions and is now invested in just two and is holding them for now.
In any case he is totally convinced that the market now is completely manipulated and that most people should just stay out.
the market, on a daily basis, is now computer vs computer. it is a totally different animal than when I started trading in the mid-90s. at that time it was still a human-reaction-speed market. now, as a trader, the single biggest threat to me is not other traders but computers doing things intentionally to make me stop out, etc.