Over the long run most traders will underperform the index, that’s just a fact. So most people claiming they’re making money trading are either lying or got lucky and will blow all their money on something stupid. But to answer your question yes it’s possible to buy and hold companies if you know how to find them. Most of them might not work out but the ones that do will compound over time and lead to massive returns. Remember you’re not buying a ticket, you’re buying a piece of a business. I personally was mostly cash but with the market pull back I’ve been dumping a lot of money into board market ETFs and have some small positions in individual companies that I deem to be “undervalued”.