It's amazing to think that the majority of investors are 'beaten' year after year by speculative investments that so many experts 'saw coming'.
This year's top mid-to-large cap performers like Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) – up 66% – a2 Milk Company Ltd (Australia) (ASX: A2M) – up 60% – and Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) – up 45% – have been out-performed by a selection of tiny biotechs, marijuana and commodities companies.
The latest incredible result has been the resurgence of Bitcoin, which has doubled since January and has returned nearly 400% since the start of 2016 for more patient investors.
The Future
I've mentioned previously (here and here) how bitcoin, and digital currencies in general, could impact us in the future. However, I fear the recent surge is a far more speculative bet on increased digital and physical terror activity which relies so heavily on the opaque nature of the currency.
Keen readers would have noticed that the two most recent global cyber attacks have centred around Bitcoin, either via collecting ransoms in the currency or remotely using computers to mine the currency.
Time to jump in?
It's very easy with hindsight for the experts mentioned above to say now's the time to buy, however one needs only look at the 5-year chart of the currency to see how volatile it's been in it's short existence.
The issue for everyday investors is that the next move could be another surge higher or a very sharp fall lower. The Foolish way to invest, which is successfully over the longer term, would be to ignore short term flashes of brilliance from currencies like Bitcoin and co, which are impossible to predict. Therefore Foolish investors should ignore Bitcoin to find businesses that can smash their competitors over time and create you a fortune to retire on!
