Aren't you the smart cookie. Whoops, typo.

You felt that little rush of “I knew it” when you saw it. You thought you’d spotted something. That’s the same chemical hit people get from tabloid headlines and clickbait — cheap, quick, shallow. The only thing it rewards is your ego.

And you ran with it. No check. No verification. No pause to ask, “Who is saying this? Why are they saying it? What’s their skin in the game?” You just nodded along with a stranger’s words on the internet. Anonymous. Unverified. Unaccountable.

That’s not due diligence. That’s entertainment.

You aren't the smart cookie. There, fixed the typo.

You’ve probably told yourself you’re careful with money, that you “do your research.” No, you didn’t. You let someone feed you a story for free, and you swallowed it whole. Do you even realize how easy it is to manipulate someone like that?

Because here’s the thing: the loudest voice online is rarely the most informed. It’s the most persistent, the most provocative, the one that gets the clicks. And they got you.

You read a post written by someone who risked nothing, stood to lose nothing, and could say anything without consequence. Then you treated it like gospel. You didn’t ask to see documents. You didn’t verify names. You didn’t even look for a counterpoint. You just… believed it.

Be embarrassed.

Imagine someone came to you and said: “I heard from a guy at a bar that your friend is a thief.” And you just cut your friend off, no questions asked. That’s you, right now. The bar? An internet forum. The guy? A username. The theft? Invented.

That’s how people get taken. Not by the thing they’re suspicious of — but by the lie they’re too lazy to challenge.

And here’s the twist you probably don’t want to hear: scammers count on people like you. They thrive because you burn the good actors and reward the bad ones. You think you’re “weeding out” the bad guys, but you’re really clearing the field for them. You’re doing their work for them.

You probably think you’re immune. That’s cute. I hear from people like you all the time — right after they’ve lost their money to the real predators. They come crawling in with a new humility, telling me they “should’ve looked closer.” They want the safe, real alternative now. Funny how the timing works.

You were handed a test and failed it in record time.

Here’s the truth you won’t admit to yourself: you didn’t want to be wrong. You wanted to feel smart. You wanted to believe the first thing you saw because it lined up with your knee-jerk suspicion. And the internet rewards that. It pats you on the head and hands you a little cookie of confirmation bias.

You took the cookie.

And now here we are. You’re sure you’ve “figured us out.” You’re wrong. Dangerously wrong. Not because it hurts us — we’re fine — but because it means you are exactly the kind of mark con artists love. Quick to judge, slow to verify.

You’ve been playing with live ammo without even realizing it. The difference between you losing and winning in investing isn’t luck, it’s process. And your process, right now, is garbage.

Don’t like hearing that? Good. Sit with it. Think about what it means that an anonymous comment can sway you more than verifiable information from the source. That says more about you than it ever could about us.

You’ve been carrying around a fake “fact” like it’s a trophy. It’s not. It’s a loaded trap. And you stepped in it willingly.

And the best part? Even now, after reading this far, part of you still wants to dig in, still wants to cling to that anonymous post, because admitting you got played stings worse than losing the money. That’s why scams work. Pride is expensive.

So here’s your chance to do what you should’ve done the first time. Drop the pride. Pick up the facts. Read the rebuttal. Not a skim. Not a quick glance. Read it all, slowly, carefully. Then decide if you still want to bet on an anonymous username over actual, verifiable reality.

Here’s the link: https://www.steadfastequity.com/post/official-response-to-r-banking-on-reddit-from-steadfast-equity

If you’re smart, you’ll read every word. If you’re lazy, you’ll stay wrong. Your call.