The Information Age


It is wonderful to be alive in the information age. We know in a matter of seconds the change in the value of gold in Switzerland, the death of a world leader or the birth of a peasant in Israel.

We are inundated with facts and figures and the emotional tribulations of both famous and infamous people. Can we possibly assimilate all this? Does it help us in our daily lives?

When you begin to analyze it you realize all this information is just an agglomeration of stuff and contains no wisdom. If you were to memorize the Encyclopedia Britannica would that make you wise? Not really. You might know all about everything and you could answer questions on any subject, but unless you could correlate the facts and understand their interaction it would be of not much use at all.

I am in the financial industry. Would it help me to make more money to have memorized the Morningstar Manual? Oh, I would know the PE ratios and earnings of every company and a lot more, but will all that information tell me if the price of a company's stock will go up? Again, not really.

Wall Street has the public believing the myth that you must do research; find out everything about a company, its competitors and that industry. Now that you have done that and all the figures say that according to conventional wisdom this is a "good" company does that mean the stock price will go up? Not really. When you do your historical study you will find there is hardly any correlation in price appreciation and the fact it is a "good" company.

Financial research is worthless. If it were wisdom everyone would be rich.

The reason Wall Street brokerage companies insist you do nonsense research is so you won't sue them when their "recommendations" don't make you any money. There is only one thing you really need to know. Is the price of the stock steadily going up? The simple way to do this is to check the weekly closing price for the past several years. You can get this data at the library. If it has a nice steady upward path what more do you need to know? Everything that is known about this company is reflected in the last price transaction. In that price you are seeing all the world's research.

Information per se is not wise. It is the intelligent application of information that is wisdom. Apply your own common sense wisdom. Don't listen to Wall Street.

Al Thomas' book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't BuyIt!" has helped thousands of people make moneyand keep their profits with his simple 2-stepmethod. Read the first chapter athttp://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Streetdoes not want you to know.

Copyright 2005


MORE RESOURCES:

Financial planning: It pays to start right
American Chronicle, CA - Aug 26, 2008
Assets can be your bank balance, investment in stocks, mutual funds, gold, property, insurances, vehicles etc. And liabilities are the loans to repay (they ...


Inheritance strategy: Pay off credit cards, evaluate the mortgage
CreditCards.com, TX - Aug 26, 2008
Stocks, mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs) are among different types of variable investments. With fixed investments, you receive a fixed rate of ...


Insurers to tap into real estate
Shanghai Daily, China - Aug 25, 2008
The investment channels could be widened to marketable securities such as bonds, stocks, mutual funds and real estate, according to the draft, submitted to ...


Money Tip: ETFs stable in turbulent markets
Baxter Bulletin, AR - Jul 25, 2008
Trading in exchange-traded funds has been stable and strong despite recent troubles in financial markets. Like mutual funds, ETFs are single investments ...


SEC Weighs Overhaul of 'Index' Annuities
Wall Street Journal - Aug 16, 2008
But the SEC wants indexed annuities to be considered "securities," just like stocks, mutual funds and even variable annuities. ...


Ibbotson Selected by ING Financial Advisers to Create Model ...
MarketWatch - Aug 13, 2008
Morningstar provides data on more than 280000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles. The company has operations in 18 ...


New investor email lists and leads posted - including active real ...
PR Web (press release), WA - Aug 20, 2008
... finance executives, owners of tax free investments, Canadian investment responders, individuals interested in stocks, mutual funds, rare coins, ...


Banking crisis a surprise most saw coming
The Age, Australia - Aug 5, 2008
And, as the FDIC site explains, it does not insure investments held in banks such as bonds, stocks, mutual funds, life insurance policies, or municipal ...


Easy-to-Use Solution Allows Retirement Plans to Offer Allocation ...
MarketWatch - Aug 6, 2008
Morningstar provides data on more than 270000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles. The company has operations in 18 ...


Investing early is best strategy
Miramichi Leader, Canada - Aug 19, 2008
You can invest in equity in many ways: stocks, mutual funds, indexes or private companies. Yes, there are risks, but there is also the potential for greater ...

Stocks-Mutual-Funds - Google News

home | site map
© 2006