Who Do You Trust, starring Johnny Carson, was an old TV show (1957-1963).
The question is appropriate today.Numerous people write/talk about options and my observation is that too many of them simply get things wrong.Not intentionally.Not maliciously.But, wrong just the same.Most bloggers are dedicated to dispensing truth and are passionate about the material they blog about.I’ve mentioned several in this blog who do an outstanding job.I am not familiar with all option related blogs, but some of the ones I read regularly are written by Adam, Bill, Dr Brett, Charles, Don, Jared, Jeff, and Michael.
Some other bloggers do the best they can, but if they are newcomers to the options world, their efforts are not as helpful as they could be.
Then there are professional writers.Some produce books, some are reporters.Some write columns while others write opinion pieces.I’ve mentioned previously that these professionals have an obligation to their readers and that the obligation is to do sufficient research to get the facts straight and then report those facts accurately.It’s even better when the financial journalist can add a knowledgeable opinion to the piece.
Books
I can understand when someone writes about topics that are not well understood by that author.Many e-books were written in an attempt to make money for the author, not to educate the reader.I’ve read option books targeted to beginners, and although I have not read all the beginner’s books, I know of at least two that are so filled with mistakes and misleading statements as to make them far less useful to the reader than they should be.One of the reasons I wrote The Rookies Guide to Options is to provide a high quality primer.
Journalists
(Bloomberg editors, are you reading this?) The link is to yet another Bloomberg article containing badly drawn conclusions.It’s difficult to know if the people interviewed gave bad information (doubtful), or if the writer was unable to put together an accurate, finished article. It’s a shame, but the truth is that some writers are asked to cover areas in which they lack sufficient knowledge.But readers should not be damaged. I don’t know the solution, but please don’t take everything you read as gospel.
But these writers are widely read and bad information is spread.Thus, the question (in correct English) – whom do you trust? – must be asked.
If you find information that seems doubtful, please try to verify it before making trading decisions based on that advice or information.As I wrote once before: it’s a dangerous world out there.
