Have I stopped listening to stock analyst....?

"If stock market experts were so expert, they would be buying stock, not selling advice."
                                                                                                    - Norman Ralph Augustine 

Probably selling stock ideas to investors is the most easiest thing to do. And our fascination towards  earning a quick buck makes this job even easier for them. Most of the analyst and brokers that I have heard on the television always prefer to swim with the tide i.e. their views change with the market conditions.

After each show the disclaimer of these analysts is that, " I have no personal holdings in the stocks that were discussed or recommended". It is like someone saying that the food of this restaurant is the best though I haven't ever tasted it. Probably this could be a way in which the big fishes of the market get out and the small fishes like us get trapped. The discussion on the ulterior motives of these individuals might go on, but we aren't concerned about it. We are more concerned on how can we avoid falling in such traps.

We all know the solution to this problem - Market Research. It sounds like a lot of work, but trust me we just need to start. It is a lot simpler than it appears, you just need to dedicatedly invest time in understanding the basics of investing. Once you get the basics, probably you would be in a position to eliminate 50% of the analyst's advice. The point to be noted over here is the classic marketing strategy of knowing your target audience, if you know that the people whom you are passing on the advice are actually illiterate in investing than you probably don't need to come up with some extraordinary idea to fool them.

So, start studying how market works by exploring the power of search engines and not your television. In my upcoming posts I will recommend some links and books for studying investments.

Stay updated, happy investments ;)