Holy Grail Investments

Every year I go to the Money Show in
Orlando, Florida. Thousands attend. It is mostly
an older crowd with the youngsters about 40
years of age. I have been saying for years that
until you have lost enough money trying to make
a fortune you will not become serious about
investing. The under 40’s are shooting for the
moon and it has finally dawned on the over 40’s
(maybe it’s the over 50’s) that they must find a
better way to get rich.

The Money Show presents a forum of
recognized experts in their field. It may be
long-term or short term trading. It could be in
stocks, bonds, mutual fund, ETFs (Exchange
Traded Funds), oil and gas properties, options,
commodity futures, managed accounts and other
more esoteric venues.

Each one of the “experts” allows you
to listen to him speak (at no charge) to tell
you how he has found the secret to stock market
success and why you should buy his Holy Grail
service. You will receive his (daily, weekly,
monthly) market letter for the ridiculously low
price of from $250 to $5,000 or more. You may
not have found the Holy Grail, but he has.

Almost all of them have a “when to
buy” method, but very few have a “when to cash
in your chips” method and fewer than that will
have any way to protect yourself from losing it
all should their Holy Grail method turn into
Holy Cow.

The Orlando show occurs in February so every
expert has his predictions for the coming year.
The only bear I found was Martin Weiss, but he
wasn’t a bull in 1999 either. No one wants to
hear dire consequences of a bad year for their
stocks so the audience is fed the kind of food
they like. Everything is going to be even better
this years and with my super software (or
newsletter) you will make a better return than
ever before.

During the three day show there were 396
individual presentations most of which ran about
an hour more or less and then there were the
extra charges for having breakfast, lunch, tea,
whatever with one of the speakers. And these
weren’t cheap. You could also sign up for all
day seminars. In the Exhibit Hall there was
always an expert giving a lecture with a great
slide show on how his Grail (I am getting
hesitant about calling it Holy) will increase
your portfolio.

Many investors came to see the guru whose market
letter they were receiving. Very few of these
mavens are making anyone rich, but there are
some. My question to them is are they putting
their own money on the line or are these results
hypothetical?

After attending several of these seminars each
day with each presenter showing his magic
get-rich formula it would seem these folks would
go home more confused than when they came. There
is no Holy Grail of investing. At least I have
not found it nor do I know anyone who has. Do
not rely on someone else to make you rich.’ You
have to do it yourself.

The real Holy Grail translates into
two words – Hard Work.