Due Diligence for Seniors
Mr. Minkow's thoughts on critical thinking are worth reviewing, I used to give a special lecture in Professor Paul Thagard's Critical Thinking at the University of Waterloo. Mr. Minkow identifies three factors an individual could use in making an investment decision, which makes the individual a target. First, the individual relies upon the testimony or authority of a close friend or relative, who appears to making a substantial amount of money. Second, the individual cannot know very much about actual market conditions or have access to detailed information about the market. Third, there must be "blind and unsubstantiated" acceptance that the returns are significantly higher than the "current, underachieving returns" of the victim.
What would be the easiest due diligence step, if you wanted to filter out frauds and scams?
Technorati Tags: investment fraud, zzzz best, university of waterloo, target, barry minkow, critical thinking, us senate, senate special committee, investment decision, investigative journalism, paul thagard, discovery institute, professor paul, frauds, accountability, terrific
Mr. Minkow suggests, and I agree, that the subjective method of decision making be replaced with an objective one. There are a number of different ways in which to do this, some of which have already been explored. But one of the most important lessons here is to simply identify your style of decision making: is it primarily subjective - relying upon the words of others with no serious testing, or is it primarily objective? If the former, you just might be the next victim.
Technorati Tags: investment fraud, zzzz best, university of waterloo, target, barry minkow, critical thinking, us senate, senate special committee, investment decision, investigative journalism, paul thagard, discovery institute, professor paul, frauds, accountability, terrific
