In the corporate world, there's a term for corporate bullshit - sonorous but essentially meaningless or vague phrases that a company uses in situations of failed strategies or even trivial uncertainty. In a new <a href="https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/19/jargon-watch/">study</a>, psychologist Shane Littrell shows that the tendency to "fall for" such corporate speak is linked to relatively low-quality decisions at work. For an investor, this can be another tool for filtering information and a way of assessing how much to trust the people whose companies you've invested in.

How to recognize corporate bullshit: risk signals for investors

Shell plc

Naturgy Energy Group, S.A.

E.ON SE

Enel SpA

TotalEnergies SE

Exxon Mobil Corporation

EDP, S.A.

Engie SA

RWE Aktiengesellschaft

Iberdrola, S.A.

Ministers of key EU countries - Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Austria - <a href="https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/five-eu-finance-ministers-call-windfall-profit-tax-energy-companies-2026-04-04/">have called for</a> the introduction of a pan-European tax on excess profits of energy companies. By design, a windfall tax could ease the burden on consumers. For investors, this means the risk of pressure on dividends, share buyback programs and free cash flow in the sector.

Tax on excess profits for oil producers: what is the risk of the EU initiative for investors? 

The Russian authorities have unveiled a plan which, according to their version, will legalize foreign crypto exchanges and at the same time tighten the rules of cryptocurrency trading for Russians. Market players say that this is more of an isolationist approach.

The digital curtain of the Russian Federation: what threatens platforms and users with the bill on the crypto-market

The rise in anxiety and burnout in developed countries is often linked not to childhood trauma, but to the structure of the economic system. If capitalism shapes behavior and perception, the investor may be less rational than he or she thinks.

Privatizing stress: how capitalism affects the psyche

The European Union<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/eu-pitched-turkey-join-its-payments-system-envoy-says-2026-03-19/"> has offered</a> Turkey<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/eu-pitched-turkey-join-its-payments-system-envoy-says-2026-03-19/"> to</a> join the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The proposal was made during an<a href="https://enlargement.ec.europa.eu/news/commissioner-kos-turkiye-strengthen-regional-cooperation-and-connectivity-2026-02-05_en"> official visit to</a> Ankara by EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Marta Kos in early February. How will the implementation of European banking standards in Turkey proceed if Ankara agrees, and how will it affect Russians?

"Unsuitable country": how Turkey's entry into the euro payments zone will affect Russians

Due to the soaring cost of oil in Europe and the United States, prices at gas stations have risen sharply. In particular, the cost of a liter of diesel <a href="https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20260309-france-launches-nationwide-petrol-station-inspections-as-fuel-prices-jump">has risen</a> by about 16% in France since the last pre-war day on February 27. Psychologist Mikhail Tegin explains why, when the cost of a barrel of Brent oil reaches almost $120, our emotions turn on inside in addition to analysis and calculations: we are ready to sell promising tech sector stocks just because it has become 30% more expensive to fill up the car.

 The psychology of the "empty tank": why do gasoline prices scare us more than nuclear war?

The main European indices collapsed following the Asian indices as investors react to the US and Israel's operation against Iran. Last weekend was a test for millions of people around the world: the images of Iranian bombing, US fighter jets <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2026-03-01/iran-latest?srnd=homepage-europe">shot down by</a> "friendly fire" and a deserted mall in Dubai are shocking: one of the first reactions is not a calculation of asset returns, but pure, evolutionary fear or at least anxiety. Psychologist Michael Tegin urges us not to fuss and to look at the facts: the market almost always recovers faster than we can imagine.

STOXX Europe 600 index down 1.9%: why our brains expect war to collapse

Black February: how AI triggered a sell-off on Wall Street

The share of equities in investors' portfolios has reached a record level since the end of 2024, so optimistic investors have not been for the past five years, a February survey of global fund managers conducted by Bank of America showed. Meanwhile, the amount of cash held in mutual fund portfolios is unusually low at just 3.4%. This bias in favor of riskier assets is dangerous, <a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/stock-market-sentiment-risk-3bc44ebe">writes</a> Barron's. Over the past few years, stocks have been growing, and perhaps the desire to invest in them now is a consequence of cognitive distortions, psychologist Mikhail Tegin does not rule out. In his column for Oninvest, he discusses how this makes us act against logic and to the detriment of our investment portfolio.

Mikhail Tegin

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Articles: 18

"Corporate bullshit": why investors are worse off when they start believing it