A Stock Market Scam

A Stock Market Scam

In A Stock Market Scam John Allen Paulos explains how people focus on the good and filter out the bad. He starts off by explaining that because stalk market advisors tend to use complex language, it's really easy to scam people and make a profit. He elaborates on how a stock market advisor makes two contradictory predictions to two different groups of potential investors. He focuses on the group with the correct "prediction" and further divides that group to repeat the process until five hundred people have received six consecutive correct "predictions". If they wish to get the seventh prediction they must pay five hundred dollars, resulting in 250,000 dollar profit. This will cause a fad and people will follow along. Another example he uses for filtering out the bad and emphasizing on the good is when he talks about casinos. When someone wins at a casino tons of lights go off and everyone sees but when someone loses there is no recognition. He also mentions how the radio, TV, and film have caused people to no longer be satisfied with their "local celebrities." All in all, this deliberate or subconscious act of filtering out the bad and focusing on the good creates the optimum environment for scams to thrive.