If all your broker or adviser talked about was how much money you were going to make, without talking about the risks of losing money, your broker or adviser may have been negligent, thus entitling you to a recovery.

State and federal securities laws prohibit brokers from making false statements or omissions of material fact in connection with the sale of securities. False statements often include guaranties, price predictions, or purported special information regarding an important contract, approval, earnings announcement or other newsworthy event.

Omission is the failure to disclose, among other things, risks known or discoverable by the broker about the investment, the broker's relationship with the issuer, the domination and control of the market for the security by the brokerage firm, the limited market for the company's stock, or the lack of any appreciable assets or operating history of the company.

If a broker really "sold" you on the promises of an investment, and these promises later turned out to be false, or you learned of things about the investment you wished you had known before investing, you should contact a securities fraud attorney to discuss your rights.