Too many companies are losing huge sums of money on mindless financial risk taking, says Chris Mayer. Even when it has nothing to do with their core business. Chris says this should underline the importance of understanding exactly what you are investing in.

When ethanol comes out of the plant, the first thing they do is add a few drops of gasoline. This has nothing to do with performance or transport… It’s simply to poison the ethanol so people won’t drink it.