Braingle: 'Stock Picker' Brain Teaser

Stock Picker

Logic puzzles require you to think. You will have to be logical in your reasoning.

Puzzle ID:	#24573
Fun:	(2.82)
Difficulty:	(1.82)
Category:	Logic
Submitted By:	MyllucsinDoubt
Corrected By:	Winner4600

Ok, so here is the deal. One day, you get a call from some random guy who says "Next week, ABC stock is going to move up. I'm not asking you to buy any stock from me, but just take a look." You do so (why not, it can't hurt...) and he was correct. Sure enough, next week you get another call from the "Lucky Guesser". His pick? "DEF is going to go down." And guess what! He was right again!

For five weeks, this guy predicts the behavior of stocks. The sixth time he calls, he says, "I've been right the past five times. This time I have a stock for you and I do want you to buy some shares through me. What do you say?"

Well, what do you say? Do you buy shares from this guy?

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Comments

tjsmom2005 Jul 15, 2005	Cute and Clever. That guy was trying a little too hard though, he should have just gotten a regular 9-5 job. It would probably be less of a headache than keeping up with who he told what and dialing all those numbers. Great teaser. I enjoyed it, and will keep it in mind any time someone asks me to buy stocks through them and proves they know what they are talking about!
cjenks Jul 16, 2005	Very cute! It makes me wonder how many people have probably actually done something this slick!?
dolphingurl12 Jul 16, 2005	I'm getting caller ID.
summachick Jul 16, 2005	I got that one. Cool
vikingboy Jul 16, 2005	sad thing is that this is actually used by scammers. Never buy something over the phone, at least not if they called you. I get calls all the time for "charity donations". I politely tell them that I do not donate over the phone, but if they could send me something I might. Never receive anything.
lizardqueen Jul 17, 2005	tht was ez! it was so noticeable!
gorillazgirl Jul 17, 2005	Honestly I don't think that anyone would ever buy stocks from a guy on a telephone but the answer was super noticeable!!
jannie_delta Jul 20, 2005	I actually got it.... i was thinking probability though...
ginny322 Jul 21, 2005	good one!
spongedum4 Jul 24, 2005	i guess i just didn't read it hard enough - i didn't know it - i feel so dumb
spongedum4 Jul 24, 2005	i guess i just didn't read it hard enough - i didn't know it - i feel so dumb
(user deleted) Jul 28, 2005	HA HA... a GOOD ONE.. I wouldn't have bought but I do see the logic!!.
luckyseven Jul 30, 2005	funny good one
thecowancannons Aug 02, 2005	nice one
EyeCon Aug 16, 2005	great teaser...and informitive to/ you may have saved some of us some embarassment and some $$$$$ too
cornfused Aug 16, 2005	Good one. I got it because I never trust anyone that says they are not trying to sell me something, especially after a couple of phone calls, and would be curious as to why he would be calling me. "Can you say scammer"?
(user deleted) Aug 16, 2005	This is just my second teaser that I have tried and I didn't get it right at all. I just thought "why not?" sure you should buy from someone who guessed right all those times. I feel dumb.
summerhottie627 Aug 16, 2005	I would have never bought, I wouldn't trust them, I didn't exactly know what he was doing, but I knew he was lying.
summerhottie627 Aug 16, 2005	i loved the teaser, its going on my favorites!!!!!
Barticus Aug 16, 2005	It's an old gag. I first saw it as an episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", starring E G Marshal and Jack Klugman. I later saw this gag remade as an episode of "Square One TV" called "Swamiscam". I don't think the scam was practical before the invention of email, but people have pulled it in recent years. When you start getting emails with stock tips, beware.
mbunap Aug 16, 2005	Because I trade regularly and am well aware of the practices at brokerage houses, I would never buy a stock based on anyone's opinion but my own. A broker's only interest is in making money -- for himself. Would not have answered the phone with an unfamiliar or unavailable number, so I did not put much thought into your teaser. My answer was "no" before I finished the first line. Though I'm sure I have heard of this scam before, I am embarrassed to say that your answer caught me by surprise. I forgot that this was Braingle and there had to be more to it than good judgement. This is not just a fun teaser; you may have done the less sophisticated investor a great service. I wish I had not approached it so practically and played it as the good teaser that it was.
timon_dmlybots Aug 16, 2005	Oh yeah!!
drussel3 Aug 16, 2005	Just a few years back, this was on an episode of "Ed". The scammer was "predicting" outcomes of sporting events, same concept.
jabdr Aug 16, 2005	I feel stupid. Other than knowing I'd never but from 'any' random caller, I didn't see the specific scam. Good one.
stalker Aug 16, 2005	i've been part of a scam that i almost got wraped up in before so i'm extreamly wary of things that are too good to be true. plus, who calls total strangers and offers them stock secrets on the phone?? SCAMER
ceeyaaa Aug 16, 2005	I already knew I would say no, but I didn't how he could be predicting the stocks..very informative...thanks
jhonertwert Aug 16, 2005	thats my type, EVILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL asssssssssssmooooodddeeeuuuuuuuussssssssss
redneck_woman Aug 16, 2005	Wow...this scam should have been written up in the guy who wrote "Catch Me If You Can"s second book "The Art Of The Steal". Very tempting scam to the naive and trusting (NOT ME!).
lorelle_b Aug 16, 2005	Haha...knowing how gullible I am, I probably would have bought...
bagogirl Aug 16, 2005	That was a good one!!!
nathalia Aug 16, 2005	good one.
pawz73 Aug 16, 2005	I'm one of those "less sophisticated investors", so really appreciated the mini-lesson. I knew not to buy, but had no idea there was so much more to the story. Thanks--great one!
gumdrop480 Aug 16, 2005	good job i knew i wouldn't buy, but wasn't sure what the rest of the answer would be!
brainybrain Aug 16, 2005	great job! i was stumped! i just hope that doesnt happen in real life. loved it!
libradawn Aug 16, 2005	I almost did not pay attention and caught it just before looking at the hint. I loved it! And my mother says I am not logical! Ha!
donfrench Aug 16, 2005	This actually happened to me, but it was no scam. A guy I worked for many years ago was always playing the market and raving about one stock or another. I always ignored him because he was only right about half the time. Then one day he announced that he had this inside information connection, someone who was working in the west wing. This much was conceivable becauase of certain circumstances that are not relevant to the story. And the stocks were all energy related and there was a lot of government involvement in energy at the time (as there is now). So my boss shows up with a new tip every few weeks, direct from the White House, supposedly, and they all panned out really well. So, after maybe four of these, I finally was convinced and sank all of my savings into the next tip from the insider. I bought it at the highest price it ever sold for! I couldn't believe it. I will never know if the tipster was for real and something just went wrong this one time, but it was a lesson I never forgot.
loveshellylove Aug 16, 2005	I said yes, he would buy the stock. Because he did'nt KNOW it was a scam. I would have probably fallen for it. -0888888888
loveshellylove Aug 16, 2005	Sorry about all the 88888888... my cat walked over the keyboard.
riddlelover Aug 16, 2005	Brilliant! I love it! in my favorites! Excellent job, and funny! Full smiley!
MTK_90 Aug 16, 2005	WOW~I LOVE THIS ONE!!! IM ADDING TO MY FAVS!!!
Angel3000 Aug 16, 2005	sweet that was funny
hit_the_sand Aug 16, 2005	At first it went over my head and I thought it was stupid......but now it really makes alot of sense! I still don't know how anyone would figure it out though...
sftball_rocks13 Aug 16, 2005	very clever and cute i really liked it!
elu93 Aug 16, 2005	Nice! I didn't get the explantation though...
shanniesue Aug 16, 2005	I didn't really think through the actual scam, but I remembered something a professor did in the ONLY business course I took in college. He asked everyone in the class to stand up and get out a coin. then he instructed us all to flip our coins. Everyone who got a heads up could continue standing. He did this until only one person was left standing and used it as an illustration of the stock market and how trying to predict what it's going to do was like flipping the coin. On that principle, I would have said no. Not a great teaser, but I will agree with the others who have said that it was very informative. P.S. to redneck... The guy who worte "Catch me if you can" (Frank Abagnale)... I graduated highs school with one of his sons, and got to meet him when he came to talk to a class I was in.
drift15 Aug 16, 2005	that was hella good...lol...and i mean it was GOOD!
rusty7 Aug 17, 2005	I thought it was rather dumb, not only could I see right off NOT to buy into the guys story, but for sure not to go and buy any KIND of stock. Made no since to me.
peapod826 Sep 24, 2005
MadDog72 Mar 19, 2006	Even if he could magically predict the behavior of stocks, if he knew the stock was going to do well, why would he sell it to you? He'd keep it and sell it when he knew it was going to drop in price. Unless he's a philanthropist, and the philanthropsit:scammer ratio is very low.
nidhikaila Feb 21, 2009	SUPER puzzle. loved it.
doehead Feb 21, 2009	Even if times were good,why would anybody do business with a goofball that they don't anything about?
bradon182001 Feb 21, 2009	I agree doehead. First thing I'd think is why would he call me? Then I would hang up. Fun teaser, really kind of appropriate for the current situation in RL, I think. Thanks for posting.
FatHead Feb 21, 2009	I was going to mention "Swami Scam" from Square One TV's Mathnet, but barticus beat me to it. Good teaser.
rt1819 Feb 21, 2009	Guess what! If you follow the pattern, ABC up, DEF down, etc., at the fifth you get NOP!!! So I thought the answer was "Nope!" lol I got the right answer but not for the right reasons!
piratechicken92 Feb 21, 2009	ok that was waaaayyyyy to hard
UptheHill Feb 21, 2009	NICE 1!!!!
zaya Feb 25, 2009	Love it! Nothing like working some common, real-world sense into a teaser.
MAPHESTIPHOLUS Feb 21, 2012	There is no way (given that scenario) when you might be misled. It might be the sixth week...or the ninth week!
cutebug Feb 21, 2012	Anybody that would agree to give that guy money give me your phone number.
JudyAWS Feb 21, 2012	I wouldn't buy just because it smells funny. Clever idea though.
ka-ching Feb 21, 2012	Not... entirely... sure... how this is a "teaser" as much as a story my mother would tell me to warn me against making uninformed decisions in life.