Robert: I for one appreciate your tirades! I was a "novice" and still am, but I have learned a hell of a lot in the past few years.
I know that this is the DWCH thread but allow me to relate an experience about a "reputable" broker.
After having my A G Edwards buy stocks without my permission and then having him lie to me and to his company (who took no action even though they had his lie in writing), I gave up on my "full-service broker". Later, I started thinking that it was only me, until the following incident:
My friend, a full fledged novice in investing, has an A G Edward's broker. I noticed that his broker was a lot like mine. He made regular calls getting my friend to buy and sells stocks, often without much gain. If a stock lost ground, the broker ignored it and only concentrated on those that had gone up. When confronted about his bad advice, he said "I'm not a mind reader."
His latest trick was to advise my friend to sell two stocks that he had only been holding a little over a month because "the stock wasn't moving like he expected." My friend sold the stock and bought the two new stocks that the broker recommended. (The broker supposedly didn't charge him a commission on the two he sold). Immediately, the two stocks he sold soared 50% or more. Of the two stocks that he bought, one has since lost 50% and the other has gained 5%. My friend is devastated!
I went on to investigate the company that lost 50% and was shocked. It was obvously not suited for a conservative investor like my friend. (DTMC: Check it out and give me your opinion.) Whereas the stocks he sold were right up his alley (MARY is one of them.)
We all know that you should NEVER take the advice of a stock broker without doing your homework. But all of us probably learned this the hard way! The point is; there are a lot of people out there who are blindly following the stock brokers. They think that they are doing their "homework" by reading the company prospectus or the press releases. They rely on their stock brokers to do the most important job "lead them in the right direction." This obviously isn't happening in many cases and the ones to get hurt are the individual investors.
Thanks to a few people like you, persisting in getting the word out even under a great deal of criticism, some people might be spared the hard lesson!
Thanks |
