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Health & Fitness

Do your Homework

Do your homework, no copying!

That is something that we are told from an early by our teachers and parents: for the most part, most kids do as they are told regarding their homework because it is the “right” thing to do. Cheating, copying, or using someone else’s work is penalized, and this continues all throughout life. From elementary school, to high school, and through college we are all instructed to make sure to do our own work, to not copy from others, and to never plagiarize someone else’s work or data. In the workplace, you are expected to perform the duties you are assigned without copying from others.

I do not think that these are radical concepts to most people. Why, however, do we ignore this basic lesson when it comes to our financial decision making?

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Let me clarify.

Talking heads, or experts, or hedge fund tycoons appear on a television show and talk up (or down) a stock, and people take their advice. Books advocating a particular style of investing or specific industry appear on the shelf, are purchased by readers, and are used as the basis for the investing strategy, and stock selections. Job reports and GDP data get released to the public – the market reacts, only to react differently when these figures are subsequently revised. Is there a pattern here?

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The point is that when it comes to your investing strategies, personal finances, or basically any decision regarding your money, it is essential that you do your own homework. Crunch the numbers, read the management discussions, download the financial statements, and make your own opinion. Remember, this is your hard earned money that you are putting at risk when you make financial decisions – you cannot afford to simply use someone else’s work as your own.

I have attached a few examples of revisions to illustrate the point, including a huge one from today.

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