Bill Cara

The value of accurate information

When it comes to misinformation and investing, I could talk all day. But the issue really comes down to one’s having enough experience and awareness to be able to filter out misleading information that is now ubiquitous.

There is a difference between misinformation and disinformation. The intent of the latter is flat-out deceit. An example of that is the continuously streamed bragging that the Trump economy has been the best of any US president in history when that is patently untrue. That is disinformation.

Pete Buttigieg just gave the Fox News audience an example of misinformation after the host showed a chart of post-election economic performance. Buttigieg then said he figured everybody knew that a new president could not perform until after inauguration in which case the data clearly shows how the Obama economy was superior to that of Trump. I don’t think Fox was trying to deceive, but Buttigieg proved a case of misinformation.

Later, Buttigieg posted this chart on Twitter

https://www.axios.com/trump-stock-market-performance-eclipsed-obama-c41ce790-13a1-400a-afd2-84f903e56745.html

I will not argue that Fox, NBC, or CNN is good or bad viewing. They are all far too political for my taste to be considered “news”. But, I have long argued that it’s up to us to filter out bad information. The purveyors of information may or may not have intended to deceive. It’s not for any of us to question another person’s motives — they will always sell themselves — but rather for us to understand our own ability to manage the information we receive.

If we make decisions based on bad information then we subject ourselves to the Garbage In Garbage Out principle.