WSJ - “When Is it OK to Lie?”
OBVIOUSLY - THE ANSWER IS —
IT ISN’T OK TO LIE!
HOWEVER, here are two articles that DIRECTLY SPEAK to Wall Street’s lying, gaslighting, obfuscating ways …
to get you to CONTINUE TO DO THE FOOLISH THINGS …
THAT MAKE THEM MONEY - NOT YOU!!
Believe it or not, when researching something to discuss based on an article from TODAY in the Wall Street Journal, I came upon this article “When is it OK to LIE” from a few years ago by Elizabeth Bernstein dated June 5, 2017.
It’s a puff piece which explains why little white lies are often used innocently, but can have a negative affect in the long run … SHOCKER!
“… sometimes we tell white lies for selfish reasons — … even to manipulate.
This can damage our relationships, especially if … we are lying.
And even a lie thought to be inconsequential can cause serious harm.”
ESPECIALLY WHEN IT AFFECTS YOUR MONEY!!!
The FUNNY thing is that this article is published by the same people who wrote TODAY’s piece …
“Your Fancy, New ETF Might Be a Little Too Fancy”
by John Sindreu Jan 7, 2025 Exchange traded funds … are getting too complex for their own good!
Now WHY would WALL STREET MAKE UP NEW INVESTMENTS THAT DON’T WORK VERY WELL???
“… History teaches that financial complexity always creeps upward. Lately that trend has reached investor-friendly exchange-traded funds …
So Wall Street has found a new gold rush: packaging even the most sophisticated products in ETF form. About 30% of ETFs launched in the U.S. in 2024 referred to some complex strategy in their names, an analysis of Morningstar Direct data suggests—double the average of the previous nine years. What it says on the label is becoming increasingly creative, and what happens inside of those funds is increasingly obscure.
That complexity sometimes delivers a poor return compared with the plain vanilla variety. After a dismal December, the Simplify Enhanced Income ETF—trading under the ticker HIGH—ended 2024 with a total return of 1.5%, despite its prospectus saying that “it seeks to provide significant supplemental income to T-bills.” The SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF, or BIL, returned 5.2%.
take the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF, or JEPI, and its Nasdaq-focused sibling, JEPQ: They received $5 billion and $11 billion in net inflows in 2024, respectively, putting them on par with the top U.S. equity ETFs. While their options-based strategies reduce volatility from owning stocks, they also cap the upside, are easy to front-run, are tax inefficient and don’t shield against big selloffs. Arguably, they are products that almost nobody needs.
Even those offering investors the ingredients to shoot the lights out often wind up shooting them in the foot. The ProShares UltraPro QQQ, a $27 billion behemoth that promises to triple the daily return of the Nasdaq-100, has barely generated any return over the past three years as the technology-heavy index soared.
Yet, by their very nature, financial markets will eventually push one too many complex features into ETFs. Perhaps it will happen to this recent crop of products, leaving holders with a mix of losses in cash-like funds, stranded private assets and ill-conceived tax strategies that prompt angry calls from the Internal Revenue Service. The tipping point could still be years away.”