When pitching a stock watch out for “weasel words” (weak modal verbs) and be sure to address direct questions!

By Paul Sonkin author of Pitch the Perfect Investment: The Essential Guide to Winning on Wall Street

On the evening of February 2, 2018 the Columbia Student Investment Management Association hosted a stock pitch competition for 2nd year MBA students at the Penn Club in New York City. Paul Johnson was the MC for the event and I was one of the judges.

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Over time I have become much more sensitive to verbal and non-verbal cues when evaluating a stock pitch. One type of unconscious verbal cue is a “weak modal verb”.  You might ask, “What is a weak modal verb and why should I care?”

Modal verbs are used to express if we believe if something is possible,...