Posted by David Sherman on Monday, May 30, 2005 at 2:32PM :
In Reply to: WHAT! There are bad stocks? posted by chriscase on Monday, May 30, 2005 at 12:11PM :
You mean like the utility company my sister's stockbroker friend recommended a few years back? The one he said had a whole new business model and was growing like crazy capitalizing on the deregulation of energy markets? The one that cost me 8 grand when it collapsed after it turned out their business model was an old one originally developed by a guy by the name of "Ponzi"?
The lesson I learned from Enron is only buy stocks in companies where I understand what they really do. I had ASARCO for a while and it did great when it was sold off. They mine and smelt ore. That's easy to understand. I have some Union Pacific. They haul stuff around on trains. I can understand that too. And I have stock in a mortuary company. They bury people. That I can understand as well. That's it for my stocks. Enron turned out to be an unregulated bank disguised as a utility, and I think a lot of the so-called "rising stars" have still got some pretty good chefs in the accounting department. I've learned my lesson.