Comment by otherme123

There is nothing that stops you from buying stock and holding it forever, Buffett does this.

There are very stable companies in the stock market, like Cocacola. But they are not glamurous and don't give headlines.

And there are enormous fish in the private market, e.g. Cargill.

Stock markets are great if you have a company that needs money to expand quickly, and don't mind to share ownership. Stay away from IPO-jackpot stuff, and it shouldn't be that awful.