stock market for beginners

Force Three takes the form of a trade, and is innocently called a Bond Swap... one of two reasons why your broker sold you those short - duration, odd lot positions in the first place. Now he has the opportunity to pick your pocket by exchanging them at a " nice tax loss " for another bond with " about the same yield ". He gets a double dip commission ( yeah, I know it ' s not on the confirmation notice, but a mark - up is applied to each side of the trade ), and you get a bond either of longer duration or lower quality. Somehow it ' s OK now to buy the longer duration bond. Really, this is how they finance their Christmas Shopping! If you don ' t fall for the swap con, he won ' t be too upset... the rapid turnover of your portfolio nets him a cool 3 % on each maturing issue anyway.

As if all of this isn ' t enough, Wall Street gangs up on you some more with a self - serving strategy that is blithely referred to by the Media as Institutional Year End Window Dressing... a euphemism for consumer fraud. In this annual Shell Game, Mutual Fund and other Institutional Money Managers unload stocks that have been weak and load up on those that are at their highest prices of the year. Always keep in mind: ( a ) that Wall Street has no respect for your intelligence and ( b ) that the media talking heads are entertainers, not investors. Institutions must show how smart they are by having quarterly and annual reports that reflect their unfailing brilliance, so they boldly sell low and buy high with your retirement nest egg.