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Message:: [QUOTE="Morgan1878, post: 606941, member: 17869"]No argument that markets generally do not move in a straight line. All the more reason for diversification since different asset classes do not perform identically in all markets. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  I disagree that most people should have "all of their eggs in one basket." Ask the many people who invested too heavily in real estate the last few years or had all of their assets with Bernie Madoff. My experience with investors that are trying to make a fortune quickly is that for the most part, they fail due to greed which blinds them to the common sense notion that building wealth is generally a long-term process. I would never consider luck as a component of successful investing since there is no way to predict its presence or absence. It is capricious. Skill is another story. If you're an entrepreneur with a solid business plan and have all of your net wealth invested in your business, it is more than possible to realize sizable wealth with your skillsets and "sweat equity". Most people however are not in this category and do not have a sufficient understanding of markets to take an oversized position in one asset class and emerge with a happy ending.[/QUOTE]