. . from anything else in life? You place your bets - and the more carefully you place them, the more "lucky" you are likely to be.

Luck is the overriding factor in every aspect of life, from the family you are born into, to career success, to being killed by a falling tree branch.

But, as to the worthlessness of this stock "after-market" - if it did not exist, companies would be unable to raise any money to expand except by "private placement", a much more difficult and limited course, or by loans from bankers, and you know what nice folks they are.

Why would anyone buy stocks if there were no market through which to sell them when the need for cash arises?

Yes, of course you can go the "high risk" route, betting on stocks that are rising fast. Perhaps you will become very rich - or end up sleeping on a park bench. You can end up on that park bench investing in nothing too.

. . it's going to be a loooooooooong time to even break even if you can't recover your principal - and for that, you need an active market.

Well, you could pass the investment on to your descendants if you're into that, but what if you have a sudden need for cash? For that you need a market.

I get calls every week from guys trying to sell me shares in oil and gas well drilling. The returns can be pretty good, but I'll have nothing to do with them, because I know it's almost impossible to cash out.

I've also carefully read the terms for these, and other private placement investments (medical stuff, etc.). The company has all the rights, and the investor has practically no rights at all.

On the open market you buy and sell as you please - the company and it's terms aren't involved at all.

Liquidity is king.