There is a war going on for your investment dollars in this world. It's being waged between speculators and investors. Investment speculation depends on the old "pump and dump" strategy. Buy some hot stocks(gold and oil are the flavor of the month), promote them heavily and then dump them when the price soars. That's today's "plan".  

The speculations of yesterday produced financial institutions and banks who lost billions on subprime mortgages and asset back paper. This also applied to hedge funds who were burned on the same paper and the stock market.

The more speculators go in and out of the market quickly, the more they lose.

Investors on the other hand have a long term view of the market and pick up quality stocks at a good price when the other guys dump them. 

In this blog, I've written much about quality investing in housing, blue chip stocks and green technology. They're not going to turn a quick buck in a week or a month. They're an investment in our retirement, our children and the future of our planet.