No doubt the reader has gone shopping for a big ticket item like a sofa or automobile and found him- or herself listening to the saleman wondering: "Is it really so important I buy this today?" Flush with the intention of buying, a second, more rational voice comes into play. "Yes, the arguments sound reasonable. True, the salesman seems sincere. And there's nothing outright false about any of this, but I just have to wonder if I could walk in to the showroom tomorrow and find a deal just as good."

Chances are you would be correct in this assumption. Salesmen are trained to use certain tactics to lure you into a sale. The advantage is always for them to make the sale now, while you are motivated to buy and are standing in the showroom. Later, who knows? Perhaps you'll read something which sours you on this particular brand or visit a competitor's showroom in the next county. Salesmen the world over have a repertory of techniques which can be used to lure in buyers and create a sense of urgency. To give the feeling that the purchase must be now or a great opportunity will be lost.

Many investment magazines are in fact little more than glossy media by which to pump stocks. Much like a furniture or automobile salesman, the writers can be counted on to use a standard repertory to lure and capture buyers. This should come as no surprise. Investment magazines receive a huge percentage of their revenue from mutual fund and financial service advertising. In some cases the revenue generated from these sources alone exceeds that received from subscriptions and newsstand sales. We certainly wouldn't expect an automotive magazine to write articles showing the gruesome injuries associated with auto accidents.

We wouldn't expect a cigar aficionado's magazine to detail the horrors of lung and periodontal cancer. It is doubtful whether we would ever see a cigar magazine suggest people stop smoking. Nor would we expect a car magazine suggest people stop driving. Similarly, should we expect to find a major investment magazine consistently arguing against the purchase of stocks and mutual funds? Certainly not so long as they have two dozen pages devoted to mutual fund advertising. True, a few pessimistic articles thrown in from time to time may help create the feeling of objectivity. But as for the bulk of the commentary, we should generally expect them to follow an editorial line friendly to those who keep their lights on.

But in either case, it is the public investor who loses out. Time and time again, mainstream investment magazines entreat their readers to buy when they should be selling, and tell them to dump-and-run at the moment they should be buying. It is a tragic legacy, but one which is unlikely to change, as few investors demand to see a past record of performance. Indeed, it can hardly be said that the fault lies entirely at the feet of editors and writers. After all, many investors cannot be troubled to take a quantitative, systematic approach to investing. Instead they seem to prefer the anecdotal, story-driven method which always seems to lead to failure. At the least, we could only hope mainstream publications would not actively push people into stocks at market peaks. This propensity is undoubtedly the most disturbing. My hope is to broaden awareness of their methods in the following pages.

In this issue I will review some of the popular ploys used by the glossy investment magazines to induce readers to buy stocks. From "Bait and Switch" to the "Salesman's Tease" the mainstream publications seem to crib from the pages of retail technique. Often it seems they have the reluctant investor firmly in mind as they craft a clever appeal to get them to call the broker once again. In many cases, I have no doubt that the writers really believe their own rhetoric; other times I suspect they are simply following the line they know they must in order to receive a paycheck.