Before lotteries became our game of chance, the track was the next best thing. At the track there are many people who represent all kinds of analysis towards either breaking even or making a little more to dreaming of a winning on a longshot. There are generally very good reasons why the horse is a long shot. In a movie made in 1985 Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Jack West and Ted Wass stared in a MGM movie called The Longshot. The 4 characters are friends who regularly meet at the track, usually bet $2 or $5 on each race and generally broke even, but in the back of their minds are the thoughts of winning the long shot to change their lives. Each of them would have something a little different to spend the money on, but to go to the track on a regular basis is to think about the long shot and the potential winnings. In the movie, the gentlemen know that the inside confidential information on who will win and who will not win, rarely comes to them. They seemingly have a tip, which to them is the big tip, the one tip they have been waiting all their lives for – do they go for it or not? The questions rarely change and make the movie fun to watch.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, over the years and through various people being charged for trading on confidential information, people trade and benefit from inside information. Most people have some sort of information, they know a little, however whether the information is enough to move the stock materially and you could actually make significant money from the information is an unknown. One of the methods you can do this is buy options for calls and puts, of course if this is the only time you buy the options the regulators may notice. A better way to invest is try not to lose money by investing in profitable companies which pay a dividend will allow you to increase your wealth. When the general market goes down, you buy the best companies you can and watch the companies rise as the markets rise for when the general market is down, there is a flight to quality stocks or the best stocks. On your entertainment budget – play a lottery who knows maybe it will happen to you.

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