Don't worry... there're always people who like to make up random things to pretend they are some expert. I'm just surprised at how quickly some people give themselves away by making inaccurate statements that are easily verified.
Just to add to the list of stocks that have sky-rocketed in 16 days, BTA... anyone?
For some people, the ASX seems to be just BHP. Of course it's not going to go up 123% in 16 days when they have a market cap over 100 billion dollars.
And finally... the aforementioned banks that collapsed engaged in 'trading', which is more akin to gambling (I'm not saying it's gambling).
There are people out there who 'invest' in stocks for long-term growth. And when you invest, there're things called stop losses and trailing stop losses... thus I don't know how it's gambling as in double or nothing.
And finally... just to name a living prove that investing can yield big returns, just go read anything about Warren Buffett. Of course, there's only one Warren and people are going to start telling me how what he's done is just unrealistic for the ordinary person.
Well... let me remind you of this. Running a successful multimillion-dollar business, becoming Prime Minister of Australia and launching a career after graduation as a trader in Goldman Sachs is also very unrealistic for a lot of people.. especially for someone who isn't even aware of the fact that stocks can more than double in 16 days.