How can you dispel an illusion unless you look directly at it? The magician distracts the eye with one hand while he does his manipulation with the other. You are looking in the wrong place and not seeing what is actually happening.

Wall Street has mastered this move even beyond the wildest dreams of Houdini. Investors have become so mesmerized by the smoke and mirrors that they believe the large brokerage houses are telling them the truth.

One of their master distractions has you believing that research is necessary to be able to pick a winning stock or mutual fund. All research is facts and figures which is nothing more than disinformation. Think. That long report by some analyst came from sources available to anyone and everyone, therefore, it is worthless. If everyone knows it then all that information is already reflected in the current price of the stock.

Just because you have information and it seems so good that doesn't mean the equity price is going to go up. Those beautiful pink, green and yellow tout sheets sent to you by some broker have you looking in the wrong place just as the magician does while he is picking your pocket. Sound familiar?

The annual report is a beautiful document. Slick paper and in full color, but those footnotes are hard to read. You know the old saying: "they give it to you in the big type and take it away in the small type". More of the magician's tricks. Did it occur to you that much of the content of the annual report is a year old? Is that going to tell you if the stock is going to go up tomorrow or next week?

Another distraction by the master magician is the prospectus. I have written these so I know how they can be manipulated. The most important thing to remember is they were not written for the investor. They are written so some Dilbert lawyer in his cubicle at the SEC in Washington will see that it meets all the regulations. There is practically no difference in the content of a winner and a loser.

So much of what comes out of Wall Street is sleight of hand and smoke and mirrors. You must stop and ask yourself, "Is knowing this going to make me any money?" In all likelihood it won't. Almost every analyst recommendation put out by brokerage companies is already ancient history and of no value. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Washington is now investigating allegations that analysts have become salesmen for their brokerage companies and are told not to issue negative reports on any company no matter how poorly they perform.

Become aware of the magician's tricks and watch out for that other hand he has in your pocket.

Al Thomas

Albert W. Thomas has spent most of his life in the field of finance. In 1965 he founded an insurance holding company, Security Dynamics Investment Corporation, after having been an agent and General Agent for several life insurance companies. In 1970 he became cofounder and president of Real Life Estate, Inc., that marketed a unique real estate and life insurance package.

After he became interested in commodities he bought a seat for his personal trading on the Chicago Open Board of Trade, which is now known as the MidAmerica Commodity Exchange. Later he became a full time trader and also acted as a commodity broker for a few select clients. By fellow floor traders Al is considered to be an excellent technical analyst much of which is outlined in his book IF IT DOESN'T GO UP, DON'T BUY IT! It became a best seller on Amazon.

In 1981 he sold his membership on the Exchange and with his wife, Carolyn, lived full time aboard their 41' ketch, the Aumakua (which means guardian angel in Hawaiian). They sailed in Florida and the Bahamas for two years.

He founded World Trading Group in 1984 that grew to the seventh largest introducing commodity brokerage firm in the U.S. with 35 offices from coast to coast, Alaska and Canada. It was sold in 1992.

Al is a graduate of Northwestern University with a B.S. degree in Commerce and is a member of MENSA. He is now president of Williamsburg Investment Company that syndicates his weekly financial column since 1999 to more than 300 newspapers and writes a financial market letter called Over My Shoulder that is quoted in Barron’s and many other publications. A 3-month trial subscription is available on his web site. He is a regular guest on several financial radio talk shows.

His favorite pastime is fishing.

Mr. Thomas is available for speaking engagements. Please call 321-453-5300 for more information.