It’s information overload in the financial markets, and out of control marketing from the maniacs on wall street. What kind of returns are you looking for? Do you want Mad Money from the likes of Jim Cramer (“BUY BUY BUY”)? How about a daily dose of insanity from the Fast Money Team? When all else fails, there is always the 10 million plus links from the “Stock tips” google search. Beating the markets shouldn’t be to difficult this year, since the S&P, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq are DOWN 9%, 7% and 14% respectively so far this year. Those types of “returns” start to make the 1% bank yields look mighty attractive!

Is there any reliable way to achieve outsized returns in any market? Sure, plenty of sophisticated, experienced and good options traders continue to make 50% or more per year in any market, up, down or sideways. And many of those great traders and firms will try to sell you their systems and educate you on how to match their 50% returns. When you add it all up, however, it is nothing more than a market sum game. While some exceptional traders will continue make their living from trading in the markets, many more will go broke trying. The dollar sum (positive and negative, commissions withstanding) of the returns of all the traders in the world will always net out to the total return of the markets, year after year.

Trading the markets can be fun, but often consuming and addictive. The brokers will always win with the commissions they charge, assuming their expenses are lower than net commissions. For everyone else, it’s a market sum game. If you want an easy way to match the markets year after year, just throw your money at the index funds that do exactly that. If you can’t resist trying to beat the markets, then be prepared to learn everything you can, filter out the nonsense, and most importantly be careful!

Be sure to bookmark this site, www.geldpress.com , and check back often for FREE trading articles, and MORE.