There is a joke...
A centipede with arthritis sought the advice of a wise old owl. ”Centipede,” the owl said, ”you have a hundred legs, all swollen up. Now if I were you, I would change myself into a stork. With only two legs you will cut your pain by ninety-eight percent, and if you use your wings you can stay off your legs altogether.”
The centipede was elated. ”I accept your suggestion without hesitation” He said. ”Now just tell me, how do I go about making the change?”
”Oh,” said the owl. ”I would not know about the details – I only give general advice.”
Equity markets, especially when booming, breeds these kinds of general advice mongers. Brokerage houses will set up advisory services and engage in the business of selling advice. This is something you do when brokerage is not kicking in from the volume of transactions.
Soon there are times when stocks are out of fashion. Guess what – the advisory services have other things to you advise you on. Commodities, Forex, Precious metals, Debt, International Collectibles, Property and what have you.
The proliferation of such junk advisors creates and environment of mass conformism which gives you the feeling that if you are not getting any advice, then you are left out. The perception of “ being advised” (and consequently better informed) created by the advisory services gives you the illusion of being smart and actively participating in intelligent decision making.
The advice given by the advisory services suit the broker’s own philosophy and of the brokerage - not your personal goals. The broker has a burning desire to be right. He has a further desire of creating conformism within his clients so that there is a collective consciousness that acts as a unifying force protecting your broker’s deficiencies.
There is another thing. It is a lot less risky ADVISING OTHERS than to put your money on the line of investments based on the advice you just doled out.
There is no better advisor than you.
© Nitesh Kotecha
No comments:
Post a Comment