This is a horrible story, no doubt. Broadly, unless you have a million dollars to lose, you have no business putting your money in anything but mutual funds.

This is a horrible story, no doubt. Broadly, unless you have a million dollars to lose, you have no business putting your money in anything but mutual funds. Even there, only low-overhead index funds are a good call. For most people, buying individual symbols is very foolish. And options, etc., is simply insane.