Some traders have had long streaks of good investments, but then those fizzled out. That's not skill.

With 

• Stephen Roseman, Managing Member of Thesis Capital Management; and

• Bill Singer, Shareholder in the Securities Practice Group of the law firm Stark & Stark and Publisher of http://BrokeAndBroker.com and http://RRBDLaw.com

  Bill Singer:  On the other hand, I'd rather be lucky with my investments than right (so to speak), and if I'm making money hand over fist for all the wrong fundamental and technical reasons, that's still better than having a phenomenal understanding of fundamentals and tech issues but not knowing a damn about how to enter a trade and manage my positions. Hence, we often have the phenomenon of folks who spout off on television about all sorts of trends that they have detected but they don't know jack about trading those same ideas--and we also have the mirror image of that; namely, folks who are astute traders but have difficulty picking winners. If you've ever been to a racetrack, just listen to the winners and losers of any race, and you'll hear the same boasts and laments.

  While not a religious man, I have always had a passion for a line from Ecclesiastes, which offers yet another perspective on your query:

  "I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."

To read the entire Intelligent Investing Panel interview, visit:

http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/13/trading-money-manager-intelligent-investing-strategy.html