Risk aversion should be properly directed
Buying and holding, in this market especially, is a risk that should be avoided. www.aestocks.com has posted consistent and steady returns for the past four years. Many investors unfortunately think of an active system as risky, and therefore avoid it for something they see as more conservative. A solid active system like AEStocks.com actually limits exposure to the overall market fluxuations, which proves to be a huge advantage. If you are running across a minefield; would you rather run the length of a football field, or dash 10 yards and then move to the sidelines? Short focused efforts, with the properly safeties built in (via limit orders, trailing stops, etc), can greatly reduce your risk when dealing with stocks. Look closely at your trading strategy to see if your natural sense of risk aversion is actually sending you through a much longer minefield.