In  reading the book by Extreme Money by Satyajit Das, FT Press, 2012, there is a chapter about the history of the stock market. Everyone believes the market exists the way the do now and seem to be operating.The reality is in 1696, the first exchange in  England, the stockbrokers, known as jobbers, sold shares in frequently dubious companies to investors. Not long after that one of the companies the South Sea Company stock increased over 900% which caused great excitement and a bubble in Europe. In 1720, the great profits promised no longer materialized as the company went bankrupt. Since that time dirty tricks, financial engineering of the books have shown up on a regular basis. Sometimes being cynical means keeping your money.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, one method to avoid the fraud and hucksters on the market is to keep the bulk of your money in stocks in dividend paying ones. All companies have a black mark in their history, but with dividend paying ones at least you know they are consistently profitable over the years. If they have been steadily increasing the dividends, that is even better. There is a place for possible wealth makers, but if you think long term and dividend payments you will achieve wealth.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.