"A fool and his money are soon parted"
-Proverb
For those of you who saw the movie (I'm one of them) you were either highly entertained (guilty!) or incredibly insulted by the content (get the stick out of your ass). The part that it didn't show were the lives that it destroyed. Not once did it show the person on the other end of the phone whose financial future was crushed by these con artists. Instead they highlighted sex that verged on porn and dropped fuck (oops) 506 times, which is more than any other movie. Did I also mention it was funny?
Regardless though you need to know how to protect yourselves from these goons. IF ANYBODY EVER CALLS TO SELL YOU A STOCK, HANG UP IMMEDIATELY! Don't worry for one second that you'll hurt their feelings. They have none. I've gotten countless calls from these jerks (usually from NYC Jersey area) who are just looking for a commission. While what Jordan Belfort did was extreme because he used a tactic called, "pump and dump" on penny stocks, it's not far off from what a lot of brokers do.
They tell you all the great wonderful things about the company in order to get you to buy it. On the other end their brokerage is selling the hell out of the company because they know it's crap. They do this in order to keep the price up while they dump it. It's highly unethical, but they do it all the time!
Do yourself a favor and never speak to a stock broker. They served a purpose at one point, but with online brokerages they should become extinct and go the way of the dinosaur.
If you want to invest in the stock market and reduce your risk for fraud, fluctuations, and cost, all the while maximizing your return. Then only invest in low cost index funds. It should only take about 1 hour of your attention every year.
RSS Feed