I’ll tell you what I find fascinating. The average man (or woman) on the street wouldn’t dare to try to diagnose a serious illness – he’d go to a doctor; wouldn’t dare to do his own legal work – he’d go to a lawyer; wouldn’t entrust the preparation of his small business’s financial statements to a non-accountant – he’d use a CPA; generally wouldn’t try to sell his own house – he’d use a realtor… but when it comes to putting a substantial amount of money into some stock that he knows little about – no problem!! No professional counsel necessary. No discussions with management, no financial analysis, no discussions with other major holders, no reading of the footnotes. Nothing. Perhaps a reading of the stock’s yahoo message board, a perusal of the last quarter’s earnings release, a discussion with a know-nothing broker (sorry, that’s redundant) and a quick reading of some guy’s opinion in Forbes. No acknowledgement of the asymmetrical information flow between professionals and non-professionals. Nothing of the sort. They just pull the trigger. No problem. I’ve always been amazed at the willingness of the average person to make such financial decisions without any legitimate basis for doing so. But at least it’s a constant source of entertainment…
