Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of September 20, 2022

Article Excerpt

One key to investment success is to learn to watch for and understand human nature. It shows up throughout human activity, but especially when money is involved. In trying to make a sale, for instance, it’s only natural for the seller to play up the high appeal and low cost of the product being offered. This has led to a widespread marketing practice that you may have noticed: when sharp marketers try to sell a product, they portray its features as if they were obvious benefits—not at all the same thing. This is a proven, low-cost marketing technique. It can speed up the buyer’s decision to buy. However, it can also lead potential buyers into making risky or poorly thought-out buying decisions. This rule gets a lot of use in the marketing of fintech services, such as online brokerage services that claim they let you buy and sell stocks “commission-free.” The claim is perfectly true. That’s because the fintech passes the trade on…