| Another group that routinely steps on the American dream is the mainstream media. A negativity bias runs through its news coverage. Good news is glossed over or unreported, while bad news - and its ramifications - are repeated ad nauseum. No wonder polls routinely show that only a quarter of Americans believe the country is on the right track. (This number remains almost constant through expansions and recessions and under both Democrat and Republican administrations.) Why is media coverage so negative? Because that's where the money is. Media companies prosper based on the size of their audience. And since human beings are hard-wired to be on a continual lookout for potential threats and dangers, the media pile them on (both real and imagined). It's not that the things the media reports aren't true. It's that they are regularly taken out of context and delivered without a counterbalancing perspective. (Mitigating factors make a story less sensational. And the less sensational a piece is, the less likely it is to be viewed, heard, liked, or shared.) If the mainstream media is unduly negative, social media - which helps put every idiot in touch with every other idiot - is even worse. With no reputation to protect, no integrity to uphold, and no credibility to safeguard, "stuff" from various sources circulates based on algorithms that have nothing to do with truthfulness. It's the negativity bias of cable news or supermarket tabloids... on steroids. I should also call out the doom-mongers in my own industry, financial newsletter publishing. There are editors and marketers who take all the bad news in the media and then hype it up to the most absurd conclusions imaginable. Why? Because it sells, year in and year out. After all, you are going to lose everythintg you've worked for your whole life unless you take Joe's Blow's letter and learn how to protect yourself from the coming currency collapse, stock market crash, economic Armageddon, and/or Greater Depression that lies dead ahead! Most of these guys - they do tend to be "guys," not women - have been saying much the same thing not just for years but decades. Their reasons get a regular update to reflect the new scary headlines... but the dystopian conclusions remain the same. Because fear sells. Or, as one perma-bear editor told me over dinner one night, "My job is selling gloom and doom to grumpy old men." That means that if you've reached a certain age... and you have a pessimistic outlook... and you've bought a frightening story about the prospects for the financial markets... you might be getting played like a fine Stradivarius. Sadly, that only makes it less likely that your financial goals will be met. These aren't the only enemies of the American Dream, of course. There are two other groups that occupy the far ends of the spectrum: intellectuals and politicians. We'll consider their motivations - and their negative impact on your dreams - in my next column. Good investing, Alex P.S. I'm thrilled to be speaking at the 50th Anniversary New Orleans Investment Conference from November 20-23, alongside financial powerhouses like James Grant, George Gammon, Rick Rule, Danielle DiMartino Booth, Brent Johnson, Peter Boockvar, and many more. This is going to be a true blockbuster event, and a rare opportunity to gain insights from some of the best minds in the industry. I look forward to seeing you there - click here to learn more, lock up the lowest available price, and join me in New Orleans! | 
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