In the 15 mile drive to bankruptcy court yesterday, the radio had two doom and gloom stories about the housing market and the dive on Wall Street, interspersed with no less than three, back to back, buy-my-book-and-get-rich pitches. I think the juxtaposition is not random.

When people are out of work or underemployed, they are open to ideas to “eliminate their debt in months” or make a bundle trading stocks. These appear to be avenues of escape for those in financial distress. We saw it the last down turn: everyone around me in Silicon Valley became a day trader of stocks or a realtor. After all, who could lose money dealing in California real estate?
As always, the only people likely to prosper as a result of these products are the sellers, not the buyers.