Thanks for your attention…

Ron

Friends,

Although I had stock for many years, I never had a broker, except Charles Schwab. Last year, I got a call from a guy from 1 Wall Street, who gave me a tip and asked me to invest in him to develop a relationship. He sent me information verifying his employment and qualifications that I looked up on his firm's website.

I went along with him and made a modest vestment in the tip. Over time until about the New Year the investment doubled. Since then, he has called and asked me to trade the stock three times in an effort to improve flagging earnings. There has been a net loss but not as great as the stock market itself. He left 1 Wall Street for a firm up the street, and then left them recently for a firm in Newark, New Jersey.

For the last month or so I've been getting the same kind of call from people with New York/New Jersey accents all giving me tips and asking me to invest in a small way to establish a relationship. I have not bought stock from many of these guys or even checked into their backgrounds or firms.

My thoughts about them are this:

1. Like my broker, they have either been laid off or told to sell because they are now broke and having to have to move to other firms to survive.

2. They belong to firms that are specializing in pushing stock and have a script they read from to try to light a fire under the particular stock they are trying to push. After they've created some hype, they sell their holdings and make a profit before the stock declines again.

3. They are scammers, who, by calling you and making you think like you are going to make a lot of money on the stock market now that is down and starting back up, get your personal information allowing them to take money from your checking and other accounts without your permission.

While most people are well aware of Internet phishing, telephone phishing is on the rise. It's always about making money that gets you hooked. I never have and never will give money to causes that call me over the phone. I never really know who I'm giving my money to. There are also very sophisticated websites that look like real websites. If you give them money, you are giving money to con artists in Russia or some other part of the world who have nothing better to do than fleece rich Americans.

That includes political contributions over the phone.