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>Small investors can make money in the market. I know several who became quite wealthy during the dotcom days. But once again, those are special circumstances.
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But look at what the dotCom market really was.
It was a frenzy based on a "model" that held no water made no sense. It was a time when the stock market was out of control, with money pouring into ventures that were paper tigers. Anyone can get lucky in such conditions. I have a friend who did quite well then too and when I warned him about potential problems his answer was something like '...as long as I'm not the last man out I'll do fine', and he did.

But the point of the stock market is not to avoid being the last man out. The SEC and other governing bodies are supposed to be there to ensure that listed companies are legitimate and truly do have value or real potential value.
And everyone believed that the market "analysts" were supposed to be unbiased and offering considered advice.

A person can do all the homework they can but they'll never figure out how the price of gas at the pumps is set. Same goes for the stock market, only far more complicated.
For example, large investors can walk into the CEO's office and have a "chat" and (essentially) direct the CEO on certain matters, threatening to sell their stock if they don't comply. You and I, with a few thousand shares at best, have no hope of ever doing so. And that 'chat' is kept quiet, so as the CEO shifts the company's direction in compliance all of the PR material remains unchanged. All we have is that PR material and market 'chatter' to go on. And that chatter will not include, in 99% of cases, the re-direction mandated by the large investor in his chat.

The real stock market is a "good old boys network" and you and me are not part of it.
Sure, as an additional revenue source the brokers have made a place for you and me and have given us the impression that we can be fully plugged in if we use their services. But that's all a sham. The information made available to us is carefully controlled and has no relevance to the real decisions being made in the CEO offices or in the boardrooms.

And, as the stock market has evolved in recent years, only more profits this quarter satisfies the big investors. That truly is an impossible goal and is a large reason why deception has become de-rigeur in corporate accounting procedures and marketing material. And it is the major reason why out-sourcing overseas to impoverished nations that allow full exploitation of its population is so popular. And it is the reason why pension funds are rifled, with their remains passed on to the government to honour at pennies on the dollar. And it is the reason why maintenance is cut to the bone (or less) and then results in huge government bail-outs to get some done again to get facilities temporarily up-to-snuff. It is the reason why companies spend so much (tax deductible) money on lobbyists to get ever more money out of the governments that surround them (and from off-shore governments as they plan to move there).

What is a "blue chip" stock these days?... General Motors?... Microsoft?... Bank of America?... Dell?... WalMart? Yes today, no tomorrow. Because there is far too much deception necessary to keep the image floating, and sooner or later facts will come out that cause the deceptions to unravel and the truth to become clear.

What's worse is that as these corporations offshore more and more of their work their stocks go up. That they leave a trail of unemployed people and drastically cut tax bases is immaterial to the stock market, because those are someone else's problems - yours and mine! When General Motors builds all it's cars in China and Microsoft develops all it's software in India (then China) and Bank of America administers all its 'assets' from China and Dell ships all its products directly from China there will be few jobs left and people won't even be able to buy things at WalMart any more.

Ah, the absolute beauty of corporations and the stock market!