Understanding the ins-and-outs of all of the mining probably puts you a few steps ahead of the curve, as compared to the average cryptocurrency enthusiast. Most of us aren't into it that deep. Your deeper understanding of the usefulness of the different coins puts you in a different category of investor - probably with much better understanding of the long-term viability of various coins. As it is, many people are out there doing the same kinds of speculating on this stuff that's been done in the stock markets. As I said - LiteCoin WAS on sale - 13% profits to take in a day isn't doing bad at all.