DIGGER

Lessons Learned From Auction Rate Securities

As a victim of illilquid auction securities, I could not disagree more with the rationale that I and others like me should have researched the situation better and would, ipso facto, have learnt the potential risk. Most investors rely on the expertise of their broker, just as people with ailments rely upon their doctors. In my experience and sharing this experience with others in the same predicament who relied upon their broker's acumen,too many brokers touting these instruments were oblivious to the potential vicissitudes of these instruments - the what if. And recommended them as safe as government securities but with a better yield. Investors accepted this expertise and were, as I was and am, chagrined to learn that they were not as good as treasuries when the time came to sell. Usually, such problems stem from omission or comission in this case there's a combination of both