I just returned from a family vacation in Bulgaria. While rafting, seeing beautiful nature, and spending quality time with the family was great, for me, the highlight – okay, I may be exaggerating, and family time really was the highlight – was a conversation I had with a local, who lived in the Beli Iskar village with a population of 600.
He spoke zero English, and while the family was busy on ATVs, we sat for 45 minutes using Google Translate to communicate with each other.
To be honest, I think I was annoying him as I peppered him with questions about his schooling, whether his friends came back after university to live in the village, whether they have electricity in the winter or use firewood for heat, and many more. He had no questions for me and didn’t take much interest, until the end, when he finally asked me, “Do you like my village?”
It was clear that he had tremendous pride in where he came from and what his family had built. Even though it’s been a financial struggle (the average salary in Bulgaria is the equivalent of 4,000 NIS), their emphasis on family and values trumped the desire for wealth. I told him that it reminded me of where I grew up, and he was pleased.
In this week’s Torah portion, it says, “The One Who feeds you manna in the desert…in order to test you (Devarim 8:16). The commentators all ask the obvious question as to what the test is. According to the Sforno, the test is to see if the Jews would still follow the Torah when they do not have to worry about their livelihood.
Rabbi Yissocher Frand expands on this. “Yes, there is a great test in ‘bread raining down from heaven.’” Affluence without effort is a dangerous thing. It comes with a great deal of leisure time and freedom of action. What do we do with that leisure time and that freedom of action?
Do we use our leisure time and freedom of action to taste the forbidden? This is the great test of the manna. We are all aware of the test of poverty. We are all aware of the trials and tribulations of being poor. However, says Sforno, affluence also comes with great temptations. It puts a tremendous responsibility on a person.
This is the test of the manna, and it is the test for many Jews in these affluent times.”
Everyone is promising you the newest way to make a quick buck. Many of these outlandish claims center on investing in penny stocks.
What Are They?
Penny stocks are usually defined as very small companies with stock prices under $5 a share. Often, you will find these shares trading under $1 or literally trading for pennies. The headlines are enticing. Everyone wants to find the next Nvidia or Apple, and the potential of quick riches is often overpowering, and they fall prey to the enticing headlines.
If you can buy a stock trading at 20 cents, and if it only moves up another 10 cents, you have a 50% return. In addition, if you have $5,000 to invest, you can buy 25,000 shares. That’s sure more interesting than buying 80 shares of Exxon, or some other old and stodgy company.
It’s so easy. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the term “penny stock” generally refers to low-priced (below $5), speculative securities of very small companies. To quote the SEC: “Investors in penny stocks should be prepared for the possibility that they may lose their whole investment.” (Interestingly, italics are used in the original.)
Pump and Dump
One of my favorite movies is Boiler Room, which is about a brokerage firm that runs a “pump and dump”, using its brokers to create artificial demand in the stock of defunct or fake companies by cold calling investors and selling them shares at prices set by the brokerage firm, which include a large commission to the brokers (up to three dollars a share for a penny stock). When the firm is done pumping the stock, the investors then have no one to sell their shares in the market, and the price of the stock plummets. In the movie, Jim Young (Ben Affleck) is explaining to a young recruit the philosophy of the cold call. “And there is no such thing as a no sale call. A sale is made on every call you make. Either you sell the client some stock, or he sells you a reason he can’t. Either way, a sale is made, the only question is who is gonna close? You or him? Now be relentless, that’s it, I’m done.”
A few months ago, Ostin Technology Group became all the rage. TikTok videos telling people to invest in it were trending on social media. In the span of two months, the stock jumped from $2 to over $10 per share. All was great until a Thursday night, maybe an hour or two before the market closed, when suddenly the stock dropped from over $10 to around $0.15 in a matter of minutes.
Don’t try to get rich quickly. Put in the effort, work hard, save, and invest. That’s the tried-and-true way for a secure financial future.
The information contained in this article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. or its affiliates.
Aaron Katsman is the author of the book Retirement GPS: How to Navigate Your Way to A Secure Financial Future with Global Investing (McGraw-Hill), and is a licensed financial professional both in the United States and Israel, and helps people who open investment accounts in the United States. Securities are offered through Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. (www.prginc.net). Member FINRA, SIPC, MSRB, FSI. For more information, call (02) 624-0995, visit www.aaronkatsman.com, or email aaron@lighthousecapital.co.il.