[AussieWog93]

>Replaced crypto with stocks, how does it read now?

It reads like a false equivalence.

I do own stocks in companies such as Woolworths (retailer), BHP (mining company) and Westpac (banking company). The fact that they produce goods or services that they can sell at a profit was a huge decision in my decision to invest (and a big reason why I didn't invest in crypto).

I don't have data, but I suspect this is how most stockholders think. They accumulate shares over their lifetime and rely on the dividends to pay for their lifestyle during retirement.

Yes, Wall Street Bets exists, but the average person with stocks is not a day trader leveraging themselves up to their eyeballs to gamble on some crazy contracts.

[inter_netuser]

and all of your investments did worse than Amazon or Tesla, that haven't been particularly profitable.

Amazon hasn't been profitable on paper for decades. Tesla took until 2021 to make a profit.

You'd underperform terribly if you were to wait until they make a profit, as markets are forward looking and you are paying attention to trailing indicators.

Profits today for an organization size of Amazon is execution of a plan put in place 5 years ago.

If you are about to dive into value investing: Berkshire made most of their money from Apple, which was a side bet made by a hired portfolio manager, not Buffett himself.