Wall Street and Local Media, Part 2

I wanted to re-visit how the Wall Street PR machine affects even the smallest local media sources. Last week, I came across an interesting article in, of all places, the local Monroeville Pa community newspaper - the Times Express.

The article discussed gold as an investment vehicle. Instead of going to some unbiased investment source for input, the staff reporter went to a Wall Street mouthpiece - a financial advisor who works for Ameriprise.

This person, of course, adamantly advised against investing in gold. He said that gold would drop like a rock when the US stock market and the US dollar regained their strength. He did neglect to mention, however, if that would happen any time in the next decade.

The advisor also mentioned the old axiom - to buy low and sell high - and that people should dump their gold immediately since it was trading near alltime highs. He conveniently forgets centuries of history. History shows that gold has, through the ages, acted as financial insurance - protecting people's wealth in times of financial calamities.

I also wonder if he mentioned that old axiom to his clients about buying low and selling high when he discussed the stock market with them. I wonder if he advised any of his clients to get out of the market last year? Obviously not, since that would cut off his source of income.

The message is to take any investment advice you hear from someone who works for a Wall Street firm with a large grain of salt. Remeber that no one cares more about your money you do.