Financial Advice To Remedy Last Years Economic BS

I reckon that in 2008, just like any other year, those same magazines, books and Internet sites that promoted or provided investment guides probably did a whole lot better than those poor unfortunates who got hit by the economic crash in the final stages of 2008. I find it bloody hilarious that those same people who got it so wrong last year are now providing people with financial advice to get back the money they lost from following their advice from last year.



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This Post Has 16 Comments

  1. Brad Hart

    As a former investment consultant all I can say is the real money is in giving advice not following it. The same can pretty much be said about blogging any sort of advice too, the best money to be made is from the advertising revenue.

    Brad Harts last blog post..The Bullshit Behind Traditional Values

  2. BS Artist

    Thanks for that Brad, I sort of had the same feeling about those advisers. I mean if they know so much about the markets what do they need my money for. They certainly aren’t interested in increasing our wealth.

    1. Brad Hart

      I won’t say they don’t care, a lot of the people in the industry really do care. The honest ones do invest their own money in the same companies they recommend. The difference is that isn’t their only source of income and are a lot smarter about leaving it in or taking it out when the time is right. Part of it is also the inherent flaws in investor broker relationships.

      Take this for example. If I could spot a trend I knew enough to invest more or pull out as soon as I spotted it min-maxing profits and loss, but most of my clients who often times thought they knew far more than I did since I was only a twenty year old kid may take days to make a decision and by then it was too late. By the time it was too late and they had already taken a major hit they decide to leave and try something else rather than let me wait until it was back up before making a transition. You have to trust your broker, like you would a surgeon for the relationship to work.

      People in the industry are also a lot more diversified than the average investor which is why they can give a bunch of bad advice and still come out ahead. The most common advice given to new brokers is become an expert in giving one sort of advice to your clients because if you give all sorts they will never listen to you as an expert in the field. While true it does keep most investors and brokers from ever really developing a winning relationship. I advised on tech stocks at the time and when I saw the writing on the walls and started telling people it was time to get out and move investments my whole business fell apart.

      I won’t say I didn’t care whether the investments did well, I did because that is where the big profits lie. I however didn’t really get upset if investments went south since my week paycheck came from the number of transactions I made not how profitable those transactions were.

      Brad Harts last blog post..Dexter Star Marries Pushing Daisies Reunion More ER Another Buffy Alum on Practice

      1. BS Artist

        That comment was truly informative. I’ve never had a investment broker as far as shares go as I prefer to make and learn from my own mistakes.

        I do however go through a broker when my super is concerned as it means less hassle for me. The problem I have is the fees they charge. I always tell them that I don’t mind paying fees as long as I am making money but I don’t like doing so when my portfolio is going backwards. I’ve had a few brokers and they promise you the world and deliver peanuts.

        What I can’t understand is how they can charge you management fees when they don’t actually manage your account.

        1. Brad Hart

          Not every firm will charge management fees. Basically what a management fee should go for and used to go for is them actually managing your portfolio (imagine that). The service is actually still included in most contracts, but because of security laws in most countries they can only say so much about it and have to wait to be asked before fully explaining the service. The fee is there so people will ask, because even if they don’t include the fee they can’t tell you about that service without you asking first. Most people pay the fee, but still never ask.

          In the end the restriction was put in place for a good reason, it kept brokers from promising the moon and then not delivering.
          That said it has caused more harm than good in my opinion. There are plenty of good honest brokers out there, and they have to keep quiet on how they could help their clients because predecessors generations before screwed up.

          Brad Harts last blog post..Favorite Online Videos

          1. BS Artist

            So that was my problem, I never bothered to ask. Shit! But I distinctly remembered telling my last adviser, before I switched, that I wanted him to keep me informed of how he was handling my portfolio. Sure he says but he never delivered and so now he is history.

          2. Brad Hart

            I don’t know about Australia’s securities laws, but simply saying “keep me informed” wouldn’t have met the standard of asking specifically for the information under US law if I had screwed it up, so I wouldn’t have offered it up. I know it is a shitty thing to say, but with as many investors who I regularly had say “I am going to get you fired” or “I am going to sue you” I wouldn’t have taken the chance and said anything. The law is on the side of the investor rather than the broker, no matter how stupid or outdated the practices are.

            Brad Harts last blog post..Liveblogging The Golden Globes

          3. BS Artist

            Oh, I didn’t expect it to be legally binding as such, but we did have a verbal agreement and he failed miserably. No big deal, he lost my business and I have now rolled over my super to another company whose fees are a lot more reasonable.

  3. music man

    that is ironic. some people are just led around by any advice from a person in a position of authority, I am glad I didn’t listen to any of those investment tips

    music mans last blog post..Music Production Center

  4. peter

    Got you on my Blogger following list now. Must get Elly’s blog s there too. Can read you regularly.

    Cheers

    PETER

  5. Mitch

    Great find, Sire; how the heck are you following American news that I missed myself? The thing is, these folks make predictions based on the signs at the time they’re writing. Not everyone is Nostradamus; heck, we’re even debating if Nostradamus is really a prognosticator or just a guy who wrote a lot of sketchy stuff that people can interpret any way they want to. All of us go on gut feelings based on present information, but things do change. Let’s see, drought, fires, floods, hurricanes,… none of us saw those things coming in such a terrible way.

    Then again, I’d have never predicted the Dow reaching 40,000; that wasn’t even close to ever happening.

    Mitchs last blog post..Antivirus 2009

  6. BS Artist

    In regards to finding this stuff Mitch, its not what you know but which site your a member of. :wink_ee:

    Nostradamus, I reckon he just wrote a lot of sketchy stuff that people manipulate into making it some sort of prophetic vision.

    I remember once how my brother convinced me to go halves in a $10,000 bit of software that was so good it could tel you when to get in and out of different share purchases. Unfortunately I let him win and it was just like I said, there are way too many variables and unknown things that could happen in the future to lend any credence to it. Lesson learned me old mate, if it’s sounds too good to be true…..

    1. Brad Hart

      There is no such thing as a good, better, or bad year financially speaking. It all matters in how you play the markets. If you stock is in a fairly stable company then you should be buying more of it as the price slides. When the price starts going back up you easily sell below your original purchase price and still break even or turn a profit. Alternately just accept that these things happen in the financial world and accept you will be getting great dividends at a lower per share price.

      If you can spot a company in a downward spiral, not hard if you pay attention, then you sell their stock short. You have no idea how many investors make money doing this and this alone. It is riskier, but not a hard way to make money in a slowing economy.

      Lastly if you are lucky enough to have money you can invest long term now is actually a very good time to get into the market. Stock prices are low and you will benefit greatly over time by spending money on companies likely to still be around 5 or 10 years from now.

      1. BS Artist

        I’ve actually picked a share company in my portfolio that had been hit quite hard, lost about 70% of it’s value, but I’ve noticed that it had developed quite a good channel, so I bought an amount which I sold at a profit. I also sold enough of the existing shares to write off the profit. That allowed me to buy even more shares when the price dropped again. This way I am being productive rather than waiting for the share to obtain something of its initial value and at the same time I am increasing my portfolio for those shares.

  7. BS Artist

    I reckon that there is money to be made if people make the right choices.

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