Aren’t common stocks risky?
Risk is relative. Over 20 years, money has not been lost in a diversified stock portfolio since figures began to be kept in 1926. Common stocks, in general, can be volatile in shorter periods of time, though. Further, some stocks prove to be worthless as business failures occur. That said, business failures tend to occur among smaller, less experienced and capitalized companies than in more established ones. We diversify the risk of business failure by investing in regulated invested companies, each containing fifty or more companies.
