U.S. News & World Report has posted an article to help investors deal with the constant bombardment of unsolicited sales pitches and investment advice, which could be great, but is more likely substandard, and may be deadly. The article by David Ning, “7 Ways to Avoid Financial Product Scams,” purports to present “seven ways to pick out the gems from the duds.” Frankly, picking out “the gems from the duds” is not what the article is about. It does contain some pretty good general advice though. We have added some comments as well.