One thing you will never see on this website is a claim like the following: “Stocks Ready To Soar! Hot News Alert, Huge Profits 1000%+! Stock Near Explosive Breakout!” So when this ridiculous claim appeared in one of our adsense areas, we immediately banned the advertiser. There was no need to visit the site. Only an unscrupulous provider would run an ad like this.

All marketeers engage in “puffery,” talking up their products, and there’s nothing wrong with that per se. But extravagant marketing claims such as the above are at best misleading, and at worst downright fraudulent. If you see similar language in your mailbox at home, it belongs in the garbage can. If you get an email from one of these characters, hit the spam button and move on.

Keep Your guard Up at All Times

Unfortunately, there is no shortage of shady characters out there. Run a Google search on “penny stock,” and you’ll see. And if you make the mistake of giving your contact information to any one of them, rest assured that you will be deluged with spam and junk mail for the rest of your natural life.

If you’ve read our introduction to contrarianism, you’ll recall that the four great enemies of investors are ignorance, fear, hope, and greed. Spurious stock hypesters know this, and their marketing messages tend to be based on one or more of these. The most common form relies on a combination of greed and ignorance. Our first banned ad is a typical example.

1000% gains! Turn $5,000 into $1 million! Stock set to explode! Statements like these are designed to ignite your greed. Of course, most investors know that claims like these are unrealistic. Most, but not all. The advertisers rely on the ignorance and inexperience of some investors to prey on them, enticing them with promises of grand fortunes made overnight. Even knowledgeable investors who should know better can sometimes be sucked in by the urge to gamble and hope for a big score.

Penny stocks are one of the more common vehicles, but unscrupulous marketers target all areas of the markets. So caveat emptor.

Lastly, if you see an ad like this in any of our advertising areas, please contact us and let us know. We can’t control the content of the ads that end up in our adsense areas, but we will ban any spurious advertisers we become aware of.