What's wrong with this picture?

The Journal is running a puff piece today about job insecurity among Wall Street workers.

Derek Thornhill never imagined he would be canceling vacations and cooking dinner at home to save money. In 10 years working at Bank of America Corp., he rose to become one of the company's top equity salesmen.

But in January, Mr. Thornhill was laid off -- the day before he was expecting the annual bonus that typically accounts for 75% of his pay. Instead, he was paid 20 weeks of severance and a bonus that was only 5% of the previous year's. People in his position typically earn roughly $500,000 to more than $750,000, including their bonus.

Maybe it's just me, but I would be deeply reluctant to buy anything from a salesman being paid a half a million dollars a year. I mean an equity is an equity. When you buy stock from an organization that makes huge profits ($21 Billion in 2006) and pays its salespeople huge commissions, you are losing money, compared to what it would cost to buy that equity yourself.

Now it may be that Thornhill sells private placement equities that aren't publicly traded. In which case one would have even more reason to be suspicious.

When it comes to investing, I follow these three rules:

1. I only buy assets that I understand.
2. I buy them as inexpensively as possible.
3. I recognize that asset class, rather than individual asset selection, is the primary determinant of financial performance.

And if I must deal with a salesman to buy something, I choose the guy driving the Hyundai.

_________________________