Wade Bruce Cook (October 9, 1949 – July 28, 2021) was an American author and self-proclaimed financial guru. Cook claimed to have started his success when he was a taxi driver in the 1970s. His first book, Real Estate Money Machine, was originally self-published in 1981. He filed for personal bankruptcy in 1987. An updated version of his book was published in 1996. His company was liquidated in 2003 after it had been forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy by creditors, and he served 88 months in prison for tax evasion. He offered trading advice through his website and publications for a period after his release from prison. Background In the 1990s, Cook was aggressive in his use of paid radio programs which he used to market investment seminars. He claimed he could teach people to double some of their money every 2.5 to 4 months. Obviously this claim was controversial, and there was eventually an agreement with the government to drop that claim. Cook was a proponent of rolling stocks (stocks that regularly vacillate between "predictable" highs and lows) and has been very vocal about stock splits being a good way to make money, claiming that many stocks rose post split (since the end of the 1990s bull market, Cook became less of a proponent of this concept). One of his more famous phrases was meter drop. Cook said that as a cab driver he learned that money was made every time the meter dropped, and that it was better to take many small fares rather than one big one. This translated to Cook's short-term investment strategy of buying and selling many stocks for smaller, quicker profits rather than buying and holding securities for an extended period in the hope that they will increase greatly. He charged US$5,695 per person for "Wall Street Workshops" that were offered across the United States. In 2002, Cook's company, Wade Cook Financial Corporation (WCFC), filed for bankruptcy. The stock now trades on the pink sheets for around "a penny a share". After the bankruptcy of WCFC, Cook kept a considerably lower profile, using the internet as his primary means of marketing. He continued writing books and launched a multi-level investment program. Wade Cook was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has been known to use references to religion in his writings and presentations. Financial and legal troubles In