Ha $69,000 is not small change for me either! Just the more I...

Ha $69,000 is not small change for me either! Just the more I research the more I realise that the vast bulk of share trades (i.e. by $ value) are conducted by those managing large amounts of money. Though this is probably not the case for much of the TCN trades.

As for observer effect, I can't help but think about what impact my decisions have on the market price. Obviously if I put a bid on BHP there is almost no impact, however, that is probably not the case for TCN. Apparently even an increase in people googling a company can then be fed to a trading algorithm that can act on the data. I don't know what % are bot trades on the ASX but I think the number is higher than most realise - though I really don't think it matters much for long term investors.

Which leads to my last thought - How do day traders make a small fortune?......... Start with a large fortune! No offence to day traders but it is a tough game against algorithmic trading and HFT platforms.