Now, listen to this, and I'll tell you 'bout the Texas...
I'll tell you 'bout the Texas Radio.
I'll tell you 'bout the hopeless night
Wandering the Western dream.

    - Jim Morrison, 1971

It seems that every time I turn on the radio over the weekend, I'm assaulted by a slew of what amounts to financial "infomercials".  They are actually very similar to the late-night TV commercials hawking everything from weight-loss pills to miracle hair growth remedies.  And, they are just about as credible.

These shows always have a disclaimer that's run at the beginning and the end of the show stating that the show is "for entertainment value only and should not be construed as investment advice".  At least, the last part of that statement is certainly true.  Unfortunately, we all know that they really are investment advice regardless of the disclaimer.

Some of the most incredible claims come from insurance salesmen trying to sell insurance products as investments.  The claims are often outrageous and frequently just plain wrong.  Last year, we heard one such show making claims that we knew were false.  So, we contacted the Texas Department of Insurance and made them aware of it.  They didn't seem to care much and actually said that there wasn't much that they could do until someone who bought the product complained about it.  In their own words, "we have to wait until the fraud actually occurs."  They suggested that we talk to the Attorney General about deceptive advertising.  That got us just about as far.  Don't count on the State of Texas to protect you from these lies.

As usual, the securities regulators are a little more vigilant.  One of the biggest spenders on "infomercials" in the D/FW marketplace is a guy that tries to convince people that they can hire his firm to time the market.  The host of the show uses a lot of silly sound effects and promises the "world's best" cookies to people that will attend his seminars.  FINRA and the SEC finally cracked down on his advertising practices, but he's still on the radio constantly - just being a bit more careful.

Then, there are the real bottom feeders - the guys pushing life settlements.  Despite all of the recent investigative reporting, many are still out there making unrealistic claims.  We've written about one particular group before - and they still have a website where they claim that "Our clients have never lost a penny of principle!"  Really?  Would you trust an advisor that doesn't know the difference between principle and principal?

It seems obvious that you shouldn't trust this type of "advisor".  But, how do you know who you should trust?  We've talked about this issue in previous posts.  Scott Maxwell has written about it in his essay series.  There are several good books that have been published recently that explain it well.  One of those is The Investment Answer.  We've recommended it before.  Another good one is The Little Book of Bulletproof Investing by Ben Stein and Phil DeMuth.