As is the case with most subcultures, those of us who have spent years on stock and bond trading floors have developed a number of slang expressions. Some are more vivid than others.
The dreaded phrase "I just got my face ripped off!" indicates the speaker has just realized, or even worse, been told, that he or she has just agreed to buy a security at well above the current market price, or sell a security well below the current market price. It is as if the other party to the transaction reached out through the phone, grabbed your colleague by the face, and pulled it right off!
If you feel the financial markets are even less understandable now than they were during the height of the credit crisis and equity market meltdown in 2008-09, would like to compare the judgment of your broker or financial planning firm with what you can get from an unbiased expert with more than twenty years of market experience, or want to learn more about the potential upsides and pitfalls of investing your assets, then Crystal Research can help you.
Some Crystal Research LLC Second Opinion Guidelines:
- Analysis even unto its innermost parts
A play on the motto of Dan Stachel's alma mater, the Crystal Research LLC version means there really is no level of detail too small when it comes to understanding the risk/return profile of an investment. It also means there is no substitute for putting the time in to figure it out.
- Avoidance of risks you are not being paid to take
Never blindly accept the sales pitch of someone who is "talking from position", i.e. looking to earn a commission on a security his/her firm no longer wants on its books, without determining whether or not you are being incrementally compensated for each incremental risk you are taking.
- No negotiation with ourselves on information
Every investment has a minimum amount of information needed to arrive at the correct buy/sell decision. If the seller of an investment does not have time to answer your questions, it means they know of a buyer who is happy to purchase in ignorance.
- Wariness of investments that have a low probability of an extremely large loss
An adequate price discount to the buyer to compensate her/him for the possibility of a total loss on the investment, even if that possibility seems extremely remote, is extremely difficult to value, and therefore for the buyer to obtain. The most common Wall Street practice is to tell the buyer the worst case scenario is not possible, and hope the buyer accepts that.