Stock Picker
Logic puzzles require you to think. You will have to be logical in your reasoning.
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?
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?
Answer
Heck no! He's playing you like a puppet. The first week, he calls 100 people, says to half that ABC will go up, and to the other fifty claims it will go down. When ABC goes up, he called the fifty he'd correctly predicted to and told half DEF would go up, and half it would go down. By the time he's at week five, he has a few people (2-4) thinking he's a stock market god.Hide
Comments
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Posted by tjsmom2005 on 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!  |
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Posted by cjenks on Jul 16, 2005 Very cute! It makes me wonder how many people have probably actually done something this slick!?  |
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Posted by dolphingurl12 on Jul 16, 2005 I'm getting caller ID. |
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Posted by summachick on Jul 16, 2005 I got that one. Cool  |
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Posted by vikingboy on 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. |
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Posted by lizardqueen on Jul 17, 2005 tht was ez! it was so noticeable! |
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Posted by gorillazgirl on 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!! |
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Posted by jannie_delta on Jul 20, 2005 I actually got it.... i was thinking probability though...  |
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Posted by ginny322 on Jul 21, 2005 good one!  |
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Posted by spongedum4 on Jul 24, 2005 i guess i just didn't read it hard enough - i didn't know it - i feel so dumb  |
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Posted by spongedum4 on Jul 24, 2005 i guess i just didn't read it hard enough - i didn't know it - i feel so dumb |
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Posted by on Jul 28, 2005 HA HA... a GOOD ONE.. I wouldn't have bought but I do see the logic!!.  |
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Posted by luckyseven on Jul 30, 2005 funny good one  |
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Posted by thecowancannons on Aug 02, 2005 nice one |
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Posted by EyeCon on Aug 16, 2005 great teaser...and informitive to/ you may have saved some of us some embarassment and some $$$$$ too |
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Posted by cornfused on 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"? |
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Posted by on 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. |
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Posted by summerhottie627 on 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. |
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Posted by summerhottie627 on Aug 16, 2005 i loved the teaser, its going on my favorites!!!!! |
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Posted by Barticus on 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. |
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Posted by mbunap on 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. |
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Posted by timon_dmlybots on Aug 16, 2005 Oh yeah!! |
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Posted by drussel3 on 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. |
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Posted by jabdr on 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.  |
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Posted by stalker on 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 |
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Posted by ceeyaaa on Aug 16, 2005 I already knew I would say no, but I didn't how he could be predicting the stocks..very informative...thanks |
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Posted by jhonertwert on Aug 16, 2005 thats my type, EVILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL asssssssssssmooooodddeeeuuuuuuuussssssssss  |
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Posted by redneck_woman on 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!). |
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Posted by lorelle_b on Aug 16, 2005 Haha...knowing how gullible I am, I probably would have bought... |
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Posted by bagogirl on Aug 16, 2005 That was a good one!!! |
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Posted by nathalia on Aug 16, 2005 good one. |
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Posted by pawz73 on 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! |
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Posted by gumdrop480 on Aug 16, 2005 good job i knew i wouldn't buy, but wasn't sure what the rest of the answer would be!  |
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Posted by brainybrain on Aug 16, 2005 great job! i was stumped! i just hope that doesnt happen in real life. loved it! |
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Posted by libradawn on 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! |
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Posted by donfrench on 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. |
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Posted by loveshellylove on 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 |
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Posted by loveshellylove on Aug 16, 2005 Sorry about all the 88888888... my cat walked over the keyboard. |
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Posted by riddlelover on Aug 16, 2005 Brilliant! I love it! in my favorites! Excellent job, and funny! Full smiley! |
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Posted by MTK_90 on Aug 16, 2005 WOW~I LOVE THIS ONE!!! IM ADDING TO MY FAVS!!! |
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Posted by Angel3000 on Aug 16, 2005 sweet that was funny |
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Posted by hit_the_sand on 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... |
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Posted by sftball_rocks13 on Aug 16, 2005 very clever and cute i really liked it! |
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Posted by elu93 on Aug 16, 2005 Nice! I didn't get the explantation though... |
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Posted by shanniesue on 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. |
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Posted by drift15 on Aug 16, 2005 that was hella good...lol...and i mean it was GOOD! |
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Posted by rusty7 on 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. |
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Posted by peapod826 on Sep 24, 2005 |
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Posted by MadDog72 on 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. |
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Posted by nidhikaila on Feb 21, 2009 SUPER puzzle. loved it. |
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Posted by doehead on Feb 21, 2009 Even if times were good,why would anybody do business with a goofball that they don't anything about? |
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Posted by bradon182001 on 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. |
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Posted by FatHead on Feb 21, 2009 I was going to mention "Swami Scam" from Square One TV's Mathnet, but barticus beat me to it. Good teaser. |
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Posted by rt1819 on 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! |
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Posted by piratechicken92 on Feb 21, 2009 ok that was waaaayyyyy to hard |
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Posted by UptheHill on Feb 21, 2009 NICE 1!!!! |
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Posted by zaya on Feb 25, 2009 Love it! Nothing like working some common, real-world sense into a teaser. |
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Posted by MAPHESTIPHOLUS on 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! |
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Posted by cutebug on Feb 21, 2012 Anybody that would agree to give that guy money give me your phone number. |
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Posted by JudyAWS on Feb 21, 2012 I wouldn't buy just because it smells funny. Clever idea though. |
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Posted by ka-ching on 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. |
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