December 7
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| I was in my car the other day when I heard a commercial on the radio that got my attention: “Most investors took a huge hit with the Coronavirus crash. That pain suffering and financial loss didn’t have to happen, and we’ll show you how with a free demo of VantagePoint. Text the word FREE to 411411 to learn how we’ve applied artificial intelligence to protect your capital so you can navigate and thrive in volatile markets.” You will hear my extremely emotional response in a moment, but before that I need to point out: This is a criminal act. They are selling snake oil. They are scamming unsuspecting people. I heard this on a reputable national station reaching untold numbers of listeners. I’ve heard it several times since. I don’t know exactly where to begin. 1. If I were to make these kinds of claims I would be stripped of my license. If you are registered with the SEC as a registered investment advisor you can NEVER—never, ever, ever—make claims like this. These yahoos get away with it because of a loophole in the system. They are not selling “investment advice;” they are selling software. 2. When was the huge crash with the Coronavirus exactly? The market was down a month and a half. 3. “The pain and suffering of financing loss.” I see this tactic used quite often. These con men feed off of fear. It doesn’t matter if their “medicine” makes it much worse. They don’t care. 4. The part that completely floors me is where they say “We’ve applied artificial intelligence.” What does that even mean? It certainly sounds exciting and cutting-edge. Maybe they do have some sort of algorithm they could use to help smooth out my portfolio, right? No, they don't. Let’s think about this logically. If VantagePoint has this fancy software that will help you make all this money, why are they not using it for themselves? If their “artificial intelligence” can predict the movements of the market, wouldn’t the developers of this software be unfathomably rich? Why would they offer it to the public? They would be making so much money by “navigating and thriving in volatile markets.” Next, I went to their website. Front and center was: “Created by world-renowned trading software pioneer Louis B. Mendelsohn, VantagePoint forecasts Stocks, Futures, Forex, and ETFs with a remarkable proven accuracy of up to 87.4%. Using artificial intelligence, VantagePoint’s patented Neural Network processes predicts changes in market trend direction 1-3 days in advance. With this information, traders can confidently get in and out of trades at the optimal time. With nearly four decades and more than $10 million dollars of research and development invested, VantagePoint helps traders preserve their hard-earned capital and create real wealth.” This. Makes. Me. FURIOUS. Making the claim of 87.4% accuracy is ridiculous. Again, I would probably go to jail if I ran around touting these claims. But these guys don’t go to jail. They are only selling software. They use a “patented Neural Network process!” What could that possibly mean? I mean, seriously. It is just a bunch of fancy sounding words strung together. What is especially sad about these scams are all the unsuspecting investors out there losing all kinds of money day trading using this worthless software. Remember, day trading doesn’t work over the long term. Testimonials from the site: Jeff S. “In 2 months I was able to recoup my investment. I have since paid off my mortgage and car.” Sam A. “I started using VantagePoint 6 months ago and my account has tripled!” By now you clearly understand that this is a scam. I don’t understand how it can be advertised on national radio. I don’t even understand how this is legal. What is the total cost for the VantagePoint Software system? A mere $4,900. Be Blessed, Dave |
Family UpdateGrammy, Pop, my sister, and her boyfriend came to town to celebrate Chris’s big graduation day. My sister and her boyfriend turned it into a beach vacation, staying down on Lido Key. While relaxing on the beach toward the back row of chairs, the front row suddenly erupted in chaos, with beachgoers leaping up
Read MoreFamily Update Big week coming up at the Kennon house. Chris graduates next week, and the whole crew is descending on Sarasota: my sister, her boyfriend, and my parents, all making the trip down from Pittsburgh. One of the things I love about his school is that it is small, which allows them to give
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