As a rule, I get a lot of email, most of it important, but some of it, well, laughable. One I received this morning reminded of the famous quote attributed to PT Barnum, the creator of the circus, as we know it today. Supposedly, he said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Now this doesn’t speak well to the American showman, as it depicts someone bent on taking advantage of people. On the flipside, it also does not speak well to humans, as it depicts a species subject to immense gullibility.
I have warned about gullibility in the trading world many times, and I probably will continue to warn against it as folks write me about this or that “sure-fire” strategy or product. Today, however, I write not to warn about trading products or strategies; I write to give you the same laugh I got (hopefully) when I received the email below. After all, it is good to laugh in these anxious days of market craziness.
Hi,
I hope you take no offense in my sudden approach. I took a trip this weekend to London, England and was robbed luckily they didn’t really hurt me. My belongings including my cash, credit card and cell phones were all stolen. I’ve made contact with my bank but the best they can do is to mail me a new card which will takes about 5 working days to arrive here, while am currently concluding my documentation at the embassy so i can fly out. Please I need you to lend me some funds to settle some bills.
Please let me know if you can assist me in anyway.
Waiting for your mail.
I found this funny because it is so blatantly obvious it is a scam, yet the sender still sent it out. Now, if PT Barnum is right, this isn’t all that funny. If, however, he overstated the case, then this is funny because it is hard for me to imagine anyone with full possession of his or her faculties actually responding. Then again, maybe I should take this a bit more seriously, as the rackets in the trading world are still spending enormous amounts energy selling their version of the snake oil tonic that will cure every ill one might have …
Okay, back to real issues …
Housing starts were up almost 15% in June, and issued permits went through the roof. This is bad news for the troubled real estate market, as it adds more houses to an already saturated inventory of existing homes. On the other hand, it is good news for the troubled employment market, as building houses means more people working in a troubled industry. To me, it is a sign that the employment report coming out at the end of this month will be much, much better than the measly 18,000 new hires reported last month.
Trade in the day – Invest in your life …
