re: My Take On The DIY Debate

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Say what you want, the guy in an earlier post just said he invested in a bond fund based on something Jersey said.

You may have the common sense not to, but I would be willing to bet you anything some people on here do just that

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NMO was the ONLY single stock recommendation I have ever made on this board, and I pointed that out when I made the recommendation. I am confident that just that one pick is better than anything you've EVER brought to your clients. And I'm not saying that because it went up. I'm saying that because of the risk profile when I recommended it.

It was a closed-end fund. You and your ilk are more accustomed to raping your clients by selling them into those garbage structures at issue and collecting 5% or higher commissions to do so.

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You assume 100% of the people in my field are clueless.

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I assume that very close to 100% of all people following the financial markets are clueless. This has clearly been borne out by the evidence, and I include people like Greenspan, Paulson and Bernanke. Don't feel too bad for being ignorant.

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You should know better. Is this a loaded question? There is never a "house" view. Everyone is different as is their circumstances. Advice is given according to the clients goals and objectives

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Nice cop out. Just answer the question.

I can't have an opinion on your opinions because you haven't opined on anything I care about, to be honest. I don't give a shite about indexed and managed funds. I just want to know if you have any idea what you are talking about with respect to finance and/or economics. If you can't offer any legitimate opinions on anything related to either of those subjects, I can't take your opinions of the things you comment on as is credibly, nor can I take your criticisms of others credibly.

I'm not trying to bait you, I'm trying to bring you into discussions where your professional designation has no bearing on your answers, and is purely a function of your intelligence or view of broader topics.

But yeah, like Zilla said, its an anonymous message board, its not like you came on here and said, "My name is Amsterdam Smith and I work for Smith Barney, my number is 225 123 4567 and I am here to give you financial advice." Is someone going to go to SIFMA (or whoever it is that regulates you guys) and say, "Hey this guy named amserstdam on tigerdroppings.com told me to do this and I lost 100k now I want to sue him?"

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FWIW I really dont care if you like my opinions or not.

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You keep trying to make this a personal thing and its not. It's not whether I "like" your opinions, I just don't "care" about the ones you have expressed because I don't care about the things you've commented on so far. However, as a person who is in the financial industry, your insights/opinions to the regular discussions in this forum is welcomed (at least by me). If you are choosing not to join in those discussions for one reason or another that's fine, but I don't think its fair to try and criticize others' opinions on certain matters if you are not willing to subject yourself to the same type of criticisms.

Go ahead, send me to GITMO...send me to a secret prison in Poland in one of those black aircraft that only fly at night...send me to Afganistan and lock me in a shipping containter in 120 degree heat.

No matter the torture, I will still refuse to pay for professional help to screw up something that I am perfectly capable of screwing up myself.

Ams, it is tough sledding these days for Financial Advisors. Most FAs didn’t see the market drop coming and clients watched their savings evaporate. But of course, the FAs still collected their management fees in most cases.

Perhaps, your firms need to enhance the value proposition (fees, services, products, etc.)to recover some lost credibility.

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Jersey by real life I am pulling from my own personal experiences of what I say, working for my clients. You automatically assume the worst case applies to everything people in my position do.

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I think you misunderstood the point he's making. What he's trying to tell you is that 99% of what you think you know about portfolio theory and asset pricing is bullshite. The Markowitz/Bachelier/Black/Scholes stuff is all based on a false premise. You'd do yourself and your clients a huge amount of good if you'd take off the "modern portfolio" glasses and start seeing the market for how it DOES behave instead of how the models say it's SUPPOSED to behave.

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The more you say, the more I think you really arent a part of this industry.

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Yes or no - have you ever been paid a commission to advise one of your clients into a closed end fund on the day of issue?

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How many people do you agree with on virtually all topics at work?

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How many irrelevant questions do you ask on a daily basis?

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I dont know a single advisor who views things quite the same as any other broker.

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Freudian slip?

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In fact I whole heartidly disagree with a lot of things that come from my friends in the business. We are all different. To lump us all together is just not accurate of reality. Its like saying I know one lawyer, so I know them all. Dont believe me? Go to 2 different advisors with the same problem. Bet you get 2 different answers

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It'll all be some variation of the same Modern Portfolio Theory tripe.

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I know several brokers and even now, they are still repeating the same meaningless platitudes about investing that you are here

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But you are buying it on the cheap.

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After all anything is possible. In my opinion in order accomplish this feat, you must be willing to dedicate a sizable portion of everyday to your portfolio and the news that is relevant to it. I have known some DIYers to spend between 3-6 hrs a day on this. Probably about right

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A broker won't even spend 3-6 seconds dealing with my portfolio on a daily basis.