Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Antique Stock Certificate Show
If you collect or have ever thought of collecting antique stocks and bonds, and you happen to be in the Washington DC area on Friday or Saturday, you should check out the Eighth Annual Northern Virginia Stock Certificate and Bond Show! This event takes place on Friday, January 30th, and Saturday, January 31st, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Dulles Airport.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Stockerblog.com Exclusive: Interview with Natalie Pace – Part 1
Stockerblog.com had the pleasure of recently interviewing Natalie Pace, head of her own financial publishing and media company, and author of the book Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Investment Strategies for Lifetime Wealth from a #1 Wall Street Stock Picker
. She has been a repeat guest on Fox News, Forbes on Fox, Good Morning America, Time Magazine, USA Today, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, and other financial news media.
Stockerblog.com: What made you decide to get into stock investing, after losing money on real estate? In other words, why not just put your money in the bank?
Pace: I didn't lose money on real estate, I was underwater and when I did sell my real estate, I sold for a profit. And in the mean time, I was able to live there and not pay rent and got the tax benefits, but it was underwater. I'm glad you asked the question because that's an important message for people today, to realize about their real estate. If they're in trouble and they can find a way to modify their loan and stick it out, their investments return over time, but in the mean time, especially if it is your home, chances are you have a tax benefit staying there, and you get to live in it. Sometimes there are other win-wins out of an investment rather than just the ROI.
Stockerblog.com: What made you get into stock investing, in other words why did you really look into how to invest in stocks, choosing stocks, that type of thing.
Pace: Well actually I always thought that you should make money while you sleep. So I had been invested in stocks ever since I began my first real job, when I started making money. But what got me into it even more seriously, which was kind of funny, was when I did make money on that real estate that I sold, I had a chunk of money sitting in a certificate of deposit at 4%.
I wanted it to earn a little more so in August of 2000, I went to a broker that had been referred by my bank and he recommended that I diversify all of my money, every cent plus an additional $500 per month, into four mutual funds, and I can tell you that one was a telecommunications fund anchored by Global Crossing, another was an energy fund anchored by Enron, third was an Internet fund anchored by AOL, and the fourth was an international fund anchored by Japan. I looked at him and I said the telecommunications companies are cooking the books, you can't have 25 cents a minute long distance drop to 4 cents a minute and have profits.
Then there was Enron, and I lived in California when Enron was gouging our energy rates to the point that people were dying; there were old people and poor people during our heat wave that were not able to afford their air conditioning, so I refused to invest in Enron, just on principal.
I had told all my friends that at a 1999 Christmas party, and I lived in Santa Monica so a lot of my friends were very wealthy and very powerful, and they thought I was crazy, and told me that I didn't understand the new economy. I told them that I understand the old economy and if you make 9,000% gains on AOL, you should take your profits, because it cannot last until they start earning money. At any rate, I told everybody to sell and diversity in Christmas of 1999. In 2000 I just said 'No' to mutual fund investments, and in 2001 when stocks that I did like had lost 90% of their value and were trading for a song, I went in and tripled my money in less than four months, another year that people lost a lot of money. So at that point, all the girlfriends who had been listening to me in 1999 started coming back to me and have me teach them what I know.
Stockerblog.com: Did you ever think that you would become a stock picker, columnist, and head of your own financial web site?
Pace: Never in my wildest dreams, but it was totally meant to be. I was just a single mom trying to make my own ends meet, and when my girlfriends came to me, it was hilarious, because they said "Will you teach us what you know?" and I said "OK as a philanthropic thing I will teach you as a test group", and within a year, I had submitted a business plan. Then out of the blue, the daughter of the president of Oracle walked in to my life, so I gave him the business plan, and he said "I think you're a genius" and I said "Would you put that in writing?" and he say "Yes" and from there, within a year I was on Forbes.com, interviewing Steve Forbes. They were very supportive, and it just kept growing that fast.
Stockerblog.com: Can you tell me what your biggest investment success was, and why it was so successful?
Pace: I am a Forbes, not a Schwab, so my strategies are to provide the news and information for investors to make a lot of money. I can tell you the biggest successes we've had and it's been unbelievable. I have companies of the year and then I have company features of the month. My company of the year in 2003 was Taser International (TASR) and from the time I listed it to its peak, it earned 9,000% gains. So anyone who had invested $12,000 when I first listed it in January of 2003 would have become a millionaire. We took it off the list at a 5,000% gain.
Other big winners I had, I actually picked Google (GOOG) on the IPO and that was on Fox News, and I got to tell you, I was the lone ranger on that one. Everybody did not like Google. At that point they thought it was going to be over-valued, over rated, they didn’t like the way they were conducting their auction for the IPO and letting just anybody invest in it. There have been many, many more.
One other thing that I think is really important for people to know, in 2007, clean energy was the top performer. It earned 60 cents on the dollar and over half of the companies I was featuring each month were green and in that clean energy space. People made a lot of money. Suntech (STP) more than doubled that year, and we did tell people to take their profits early. MEMC Electronic (WFR) tripled that year, and anybody, even if they just had a clean ETF, and were rebalancing once a year, they probably would still be up this year, instead of down.
End of Part 1 of the Interview – Stay tuned for future segments of the interview over the next couple weeks, where Pace discusses her thoughts on her holistic view of investing and new bits of advice since the book was written.
Her latest book, Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Investment Strategies for Lifetime Wealth from a #1 Wall Street Stock Picker is available at Amazon. You can also check out Stockerblog's review of the book .
Interviewer does not own any of the above mentioned stocks.
Interview by Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com
. She has been a repeat guest on Fox News, Forbes on Fox, Good Morning America, Time Magazine, USA Today, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, and other financial news media.Stockerblog.com: What made you decide to get into stock investing, after losing money on real estate? In other words, why not just put your money in the bank?
Pace: I didn't lose money on real estate, I was underwater and when I did sell my real estate, I sold for a profit. And in the mean time, I was able to live there and not pay rent and got the tax benefits, but it was underwater. I'm glad you asked the question because that's an important message for people today, to realize about their real estate. If they're in trouble and they can find a way to modify their loan and stick it out, their investments return over time, but in the mean time, especially if it is your home, chances are you have a tax benefit staying there, and you get to live in it. Sometimes there are other win-wins out of an investment rather than just the ROI.
Stockerblog.com: What made you get into stock investing, in other words why did you really look into how to invest in stocks, choosing stocks, that type of thing.
Pace: Well actually I always thought that you should make money while you sleep. So I had been invested in stocks ever since I began my first real job, when I started making money. But what got me into it even more seriously, which was kind of funny, was when I did make money on that real estate that I sold, I had a chunk of money sitting in a certificate of deposit at 4%.
I wanted it to earn a little more so in August of 2000, I went to a broker that had been referred by my bank and he recommended that I diversify all of my money, every cent plus an additional $500 per month, into four mutual funds, and I can tell you that one was a telecommunications fund anchored by Global Crossing, another was an energy fund anchored by Enron, third was an Internet fund anchored by AOL, and the fourth was an international fund anchored by Japan. I looked at him and I said the telecommunications companies are cooking the books, you can't have 25 cents a minute long distance drop to 4 cents a minute and have profits.
Then there was Enron, and I lived in California when Enron was gouging our energy rates to the point that people were dying; there were old people and poor people during our heat wave that were not able to afford their air conditioning, so I refused to invest in Enron, just on principal.
I had told all my friends that at a 1999 Christmas party, and I lived in Santa Monica so a lot of my friends were very wealthy and very powerful, and they thought I was crazy, and told me that I didn't understand the new economy. I told them that I understand the old economy and if you make 9,000% gains on AOL, you should take your profits, because it cannot last until they start earning money. At any rate, I told everybody to sell and diversity in Christmas of 1999. In 2000 I just said 'No' to mutual fund investments, and in 2001 when stocks that I did like had lost 90% of their value and were trading for a song, I went in and tripled my money in less than four months, another year that people lost a lot of money. So at that point, all the girlfriends who had been listening to me in 1999 started coming back to me and have me teach them what I know.
Stockerblog.com: Did you ever think that you would become a stock picker, columnist, and head of your own financial web site?
Pace: Never in my wildest dreams, but it was totally meant to be. I was just a single mom trying to make my own ends meet, and when my girlfriends came to me, it was hilarious, because they said "Will you teach us what you know?" and I said "OK as a philanthropic thing I will teach you as a test group", and within a year, I had submitted a business plan. Then out of the blue, the daughter of the president of Oracle walked in to my life, so I gave him the business plan, and he said "I think you're a genius" and I said "Would you put that in writing?" and he say "Yes" and from there, within a year I was on Forbes.com, interviewing Steve Forbes. They were very supportive, and it just kept growing that fast.
Stockerblog.com: Can you tell me what your biggest investment success was, and why it was so successful?
Pace: I am a Forbes, not a Schwab, so my strategies are to provide the news and information for investors to make a lot of money. I can tell you the biggest successes we've had and it's been unbelievable. I have companies of the year and then I have company features of the month. My company of the year in 2003 was Taser International (TASR) and from the time I listed it to its peak, it earned 9,000% gains. So anyone who had invested $12,000 when I first listed it in January of 2003 would have become a millionaire. We took it off the list at a 5,000% gain.
Other big winners I had, I actually picked Google (GOOG) on the IPO and that was on Fox News, and I got to tell you, I was the lone ranger on that one. Everybody did not like Google. At that point they thought it was going to be over-valued, over rated, they didn’t like the way they were conducting their auction for the IPO and letting just anybody invest in it. There have been many, many more.
One other thing that I think is really important for people to know, in 2007, clean energy was the top performer. It earned 60 cents on the dollar and over half of the companies I was featuring each month were green and in that clean energy space. People made a lot of money. Suntech (STP) more than doubled that year, and we did tell people to take their profits early. MEMC Electronic (WFR) tripled that year, and anybody, even if they just had a clean ETF, and were rebalancing once a year, they probably would still be up this year, instead of down.
End of Part 1 of the Interview – Stay tuned for future segments of the interview over the next couple weeks, where Pace discusses her thoughts on her holistic view of investing and new bits of advice since the book was written.
Her latest book, Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Investment Strategies for Lifetime Wealth from a #1 Wall Street Stock Picker
is available at Amazon. You can also check out Stockerblog's review of the book .Interviewer does not own any of the above mentioned stocks.
Interview by Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Stocks Going Ex Dividend Early February
Investors occasionally use a stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends,' which is the technique of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets.
If you are interested in buying dividends, there are many stocks in many different industries to choose from. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks.
All of the following stocks have market caps over $500 million, and yield over 1%.
Xilinx, Inc. ( XLNX) Ex dividend date: 2/2/09 Yield: 3.5% P/E ratio: 11.0 PEG ratio: 0.91 .
Autoliv Inc. ( ALV) Ex dividend date: 2/3/09 Yield: 9.1% P/E ratio: 4.5 PEG ratio: 0.60 .
The Boeing Company ( BA) Ex dividend date: 2/4/09 Yield: 3.8% P/E ratio: 8.3 PEG ratio: 0.77 .
Bank of Montreal (USA) ( BMO) Ex dividend date: 2/4/09 Yield: 9.1% P/E ratio: 9.0 PEG ratio: 1.13 .
FirstEnergy Corp. ( FE) Ex dividend date: 2/4/09 Yield: 4.4% P/E ratio: 12.0 PEG ratio: 1.60 .
Lubrizol Corporation ( LZ) Ex dividend date: 2/6/09 Yield: 3.5% P/E ratio: 8.9 PEG ratio: 0.71 .
Corus Entertainment Inc. (USA) ( CJR) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 4.1% P/E ratio: 9.3 PEG ratio: 0.74 .
Enbridge Inc. (USA) ( ENB) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 3.3% P/E ratio: 11.3 PEG ratio: 1.14 .
International Paper Company ( IP) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 9.4% P/E ratio: 5.2 PEG ratio: 0.95 .
Linear Technology Corporation ( LLTC) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 3.6% P/E ratio: 13.3 PEG ratio: 1.01 .
Mine Safety Appliances ( MSA) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 4.7% P/E ratio: 10.4 PEG ratio: 1.04 .
Qwest Communications International Inc. ( Q) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 9.0% P/E ratio: 7.4 PEG ratio: 1.60 .
Shaw Communications Inc. (USA) ( SJR) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 3.8% P/E ratio: 13.5 PEG ratio: 0.91 .
Spectra Energy Corp. ( SE) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 6.8% P/E ratio: 7.5 PEG ratio: 0.83 .
PPG Industries, Inc. ( PPG) Ex dividend date: 2/18/09 Yield: 5.2% P/E ratio: 12.5 PEG ratio: 1.66 .
Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ) Ex dividend date: 2/20/09 Yield: 3.3% P/E ratio: 12.4 PEG ratio: 1.30 .
Dominion Resources, Inc. ( D) Ex dividend date: 2/25/09 Yield: 4.5% P/E ratio: 11.3 PEG ratio: 1.30 .
For more details on dividend definitions, check out definitions of dividend dates. If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the the High Yield Utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.
Author does not own any of the above at the time this article is written.
By Stockerblog.com
If you are interested in buying dividends, there are many stocks in many different industries to choose from. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks.
All of the following stocks have market caps over $500 million, and yield over 1%.
Xilinx, Inc. ( XLNX) Ex dividend date: 2/2/09 Yield: 3.5% P/E ratio: 11.0 PEG ratio: 0.91 .
Autoliv Inc. ( ALV) Ex dividend date: 2/3/09 Yield: 9.1% P/E ratio: 4.5 PEG ratio: 0.60 .
The Boeing Company ( BA) Ex dividend date: 2/4/09 Yield: 3.8% P/E ratio: 8.3 PEG ratio: 0.77 .
Bank of Montreal (USA) ( BMO) Ex dividend date: 2/4/09 Yield: 9.1% P/E ratio: 9.0 PEG ratio: 1.13 .
FirstEnergy Corp. ( FE) Ex dividend date: 2/4/09 Yield: 4.4% P/E ratio: 12.0 PEG ratio: 1.60 .
Lubrizol Corporation ( LZ) Ex dividend date: 2/6/09 Yield: 3.5% P/E ratio: 8.9 PEG ratio: 0.71 .
Corus Entertainment Inc. (USA) ( CJR) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 4.1% P/E ratio: 9.3 PEG ratio: 0.74 .
Enbridge Inc. (USA) ( ENB) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 3.3% P/E ratio: 11.3 PEG ratio: 1.14 .
International Paper Company ( IP) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 9.4% P/E ratio: 5.2 PEG ratio: 0.95 .
Linear Technology Corporation ( LLTC) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 3.6% P/E ratio: 13.3 PEG ratio: 1.01 .
Mine Safety Appliances ( MSA) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 4.7% P/E ratio: 10.4 PEG ratio: 1.04 .
Qwest Communications International Inc. ( Q) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 9.0% P/E ratio: 7.4 PEG ratio: 1.60 .
Shaw Communications Inc. (USA) ( SJR) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 3.8% P/E ratio: 13.5 PEG ratio: 0.91 .
Spectra Energy Corp. ( SE) Ex dividend date: 2/11/09 Yield: 6.8% P/E ratio: 7.5 PEG ratio: 0.83 .
PPG Industries, Inc. ( PPG) Ex dividend date: 2/18/09 Yield: 5.2% P/E ratio: 12.5 PEG ratio: 1.66 .
Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ) Ex dividend date: 2/20/09 Yield: 3.3% P/E ratio: 12.4 PEG ratio: 1.30 .
Dominion Resources, Inc. ( D) Ex dividend date: 2/25/09 Yield: 4.5% P/E ratio: 11.3 PEG ratio: 1.30 .
For more details on dividend definitions, check out definitions of dividend dates. If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the the High Yield Utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.
Author does not own any of the above at the time this article is written.
By Stockerblog.com
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Marijuana Stocks
On Thursday, January 22, CNBC will be presenting a program called Marijuana Inc., which goes into depth about the big business of marijuana. But besides the illegal uses of marijuana, there are many medical uses. For example, the Journal of Neuroscience reported that the active ingredient in marijuana can be used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers found that cannabinoids can help prevent mental deterioration through the reductions of Alzheimer's related inflammation.
Even members of the government are starting to change their tune on the drug. Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, who had historically opposed medical marijuana use, has done a complete turnaround and now supports the adult use of medical marijuana. He is now a lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project.
So are there any public companies that can benefit from the marijuana sector? There seems to be a grass roots effort to get this budding industry growing, or maybe it is just a pipe dream.
A couple years ago, a Canadian company, Cannasat Therapeutics Inc. (CTH.V), went public, which trades on the Toronto Venture Exchange. The company has been involved in the development of cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical products, which are utilized in the treatment of neuropathic pain, chronic pain, depression, anxiety and movement disorders. In addition, the company had owned, but recently sold, part of Prairie Plant Systems Inc., the only Canadian government licensed grower and distributor of medicinal cannabis. Cannasat is a very low cap stock and should therefore be considered very speculative.
Cannasat had entered into a collaborative agreement with IntelGenx Corp. (IGXT.OB) a few years ago to develop cannabinoid-based product based on IntelGenx's proprietary drug delivery technologies. IntelGenx is a very low cap stock and should therefore be considered very speculative.
Its rivals include U.K.-based GW Pharmaceuticals (GWPRF.PK), which makes Sativex, an oral spray created with tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol, and is approved in Canada for treatment of multiple sclerosis related pain and spasticity. This is a very low cap stock and should therefore be considered very speculative.
Amigula Inc. (AMJL) claims to be the world's first publicly traded marijuana company. They grow and distribute medical cannabis under a license from the Canadian government, which patients with multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, arthritis, glaucoma, AIDS, anxiety and stress use for pain, nausea, and lack of appetite. They also own 51% of Medical Cannabis Inc. This is a very low cap stock and should therefore be considered very speculative.
Pharmos Corp. (PARS) is a New Jersey based biopharmaceutical company which makes CB2-selective cannabinoids for inflammatory/autoimmune diseases. Their synthetic cannabinoid compounds, Cannabinor, has completed a Phase 2a clinical trial for pain relief with an intravenous formula. This is a very low cap stock and should therefore be considered very speculative.
Solvay SA (SVYSY.PK) is a Belgian pharmaceutical company that makes Marinol, which is made from Dronabinol, a pure isomer of THC, the main isomer in Cannabis.
Although a small part of the business, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX) makes nabilone, another form of synthetic THC, which is available commercially in Canada as Cesamet, and which has also received FDA approval.
On the other end of the spectrum, there is Psychemedics Corporation (PMD), which is a Massachusetts based provider of testing services to detect abused substances from the analysis of hair samples. It uses mass spectrometry to detect presence of marijuana, and other drugs. This is a very low cap stock and should therefore be considered very speculative.
If you like drug stocks, maybe you should consider Highest Yielding Big Pharma Stock, Gene Therapy Stocks, and Anti-Depression Drug Stocks.
Author does not own any of the above.
By Stockerblog.com
Picture courtesy of Wikipedia.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Book Review: Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is by Natalie Pace
When I first started reading Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Investment Strategies for Lifetime Wealth from a #1 Wall Street Stock Picker by Natalie Pace, I wasn't sure I was going to write a review about it, for a couple reasons. The author didn't attend an Ivy League school, didn't have a degree in finance, and hadn't worked for a major Wall Street firm. But the book grew on me and I realized that she became a successful stock trader in spite of the fact that she wasn't a Harvard MBA who worked for Goldman Sachs. This is why her success is all the more important and her story and her techniques are worth reading.
She discusses techniques on finding the best stocks, dealing with hot industries, establishing the most appropriate diversification, and dealing with stockbrokers and financial planners. She also talks about how Investment Clubs and be helpful for both learning about investments and hearing about new stock ideas. She covers the ins-and-outs of setting up a club and how it operates.
One informative chapter is called 'Top Eleven Signs the CEO is Rolling in Your Dough,' in other words, how to watch out for another Enron. One of the more important concepts from the book is her holistic view of investing. And her investment analogies (e.g. surfing) are great.
If you are looking for a refreshing approach to investing, I strongly recommend Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Investment Strategies for Lifetime Wealth from a #1 Wall Street Stock Picker,
Stay tuned for the exclusive Stockerblog.com interview of Natalie Pace, which will be posted in the next couple weeks.
Review by Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com
by Natalie Pace, I wasn't sure I was going to write a review about it, for a couple reasons. The author didn't attend an Ivy League school, didn't have a degree in finance, and hadn't worked for a major Wall Street firm. But the book grew on me and I realized that she became a successful stock trader in spite of the fact that she wasn't a Harvard MBA who worked for Goldman Sachs. This is why her success is all the more important and her story and her techniques are worth reading. She discusses techniques on finding the best stocks, dealing with hot industries, establishing the most appropriate diversification, and dealing with stockbrokers and financial planners. She also talks about how Investment Clubs and be helpful for both learning about investments and hearing about new stock ideas. She covers the ins-and-outs of setting up a club and how it operates.
One informative chapter is called 'Top Eleven Signs the CEO is Rolling in Your Dough,' in other words, how to watch out for another Enron. One of the more important concepts from the book is her holistic view of investing. And her investment analogies (e.g. surfing) are great.
If you are looking for a refreshing approach to investing, I strongly recommend Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Investment Strategies for Lifetime Wealth from a #1 Wall Street Stock Picker
,Stay tuned for the exclusive Stockerblog.com interview of Natalie Pace, which will be posted in the next couple weeks.
Review by Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com
$100,000 for a Bernie Madoff stock certificate: At Least Someone is Making Money Off this Scandal
Bernard Madoff has been accused of creating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, allegedly making off with $50 billion dollars. However, a seller on eBay (EBAY) has come up with an item to make money off this whole scandal. The seller found an old stock certificate of the Keystone Custodian Fund with Bernard Madoff's signature on the back. The certificate is being offered for $100,000.
Do any investors out there have personally signed letters from Madoff? If so, maybe Madoff's autograph can fetch a significant amount of money, helping to reclaim some of your losses.
Do any investors out there have personally signed letters from Madoff? If so, maybe Madoff's autograph can fetch a significant amount of money, helping to reclaim some of your losses.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Publicly Traded Companies Advertising in the Super Bowl
The Super Bowl XLIII is scheduled for Sunday, Feb 1, 2009. The kickoff time is 3:28pm PST. Most of the advertisers are publicly traded companies. They include:
Anheuser-Busch InBev (AHBIF.PK)
Audi AG (AUDVF.PK)
Bridgestone (BRDCY.PK)
Gannett Company, Inc. (GCI) majority owner of CareerBuilder.com, also part owner of Cars.com
Coca-Cola (KO)
Denny’s (DENN)
Dreamworks Animation (DWA)
PepsiCo, Incorporated (PEP) owner of Frito-Lay and SoBe Lifewater
H&R Block (HRB)
Hyundai Motors (HYMLF.PK)
Monster (MWW)
Super Bowl is a registered trademark of the NFL. No affiliation expressed or implied.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Does Anyone Know What Happens to a 2X or 3X ETF when it Drops Below Zero?
Many Exchange Traded Funds are designed to track double or triple the return of an index or the reverse of an index. So what happens if that ETF goes negative? Does your brokerage firm send you a bill? This warrants further research on my part, maybe for a more extensive article.
If you are looking for really low priced ETF's, here are a few that trade for less than $5. Shown is the recent price.
ELEMENTS CS Global Warming ETN (GWO) $4.92
ELEMENTS Rogers Intl Commodity Energy ETN (RJN) $4.84
Ultra Financials ProShares (UYG) $3.84
Internet Infrastructure HOLDRs (IIH) $1.77
B2B Internet HOLDRs (BHH) $0.24
Author does not own any of the above at the time this was written.
By Stockerblog.com
If you are looking for really low priced ETF's, here are a few that trade for less than $5. Shown is the recent price.
ELEMENTS CS Global Warming ETN (GWO) $4.92
ELEMENTS Rogers Intl Commodity Energy ETN (RJN) $4.84
Ultra Financials ProShares (UYG) $3.84
Internet Infrastructure HOLDRs (IIH) $1.77
B2B Internet HOLDRs (BHH) $0.24
Author does not own any of the above at the time this was written.
By Stockerblog.com
Three Great Books - Nothing to do with Investing
If you are looking for three great reads, that have nothing to do with stocks or money, here are a few you might want to take with you on a plane or weekend holiday at the beach.
Bones (Alex Delaware, No. 23)
by Jonathan Kellerman, is an attention grabbing psychological suspense and mystery thriller. The characters and suspects keep multiplying.
The Brass Verdict: A Novel
is a legal mystery written by Michael Connelly, the author who wrote Blood Work
. (Blood Work is one of my all time favorite mystery novels and movies; it has one of the most unique plots ever written in a mystery.)
If you saw the latest James Bond movie but didn't get enough James Bond, get Devil May Care
, a brand new James Bond novel written by Sebastian Faulks, in the style of Ian Fleming.
Bones (Alex Delaware, No. 23)
by Jonathan Kellerman, is an attention grabbing psychological suspense and mystery thriller. The characters and suspects keep multiplying.The Brass Verdict: A Novel
is a legal mystery written by Michael Connelly, the author who wrote Blood Work. (Blood Work is one of my all time favorite mystery novels and movies; it has one of the most unique plots ever written in a mystery.)If you saw the latest James Bond movie but didn't get enough James Bond, get Devil May Care
, a brand new James Bond novel written by Sebastian Faulks, in the style of Ian Fleming.
President Obama's Economic Programs
If you are going to be in the New York City area on January 21, check out the first event in the 2009 Henry Kaufman Financial History and Practice Lecture/Symposia Series with Wilbur Ross on 'President Obama's Economic Programs" on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 from 5:30 pm to 7 pm at the Museum of American Finance at 48 Wall Street (corner of William and Wall). For more info, call 212-908-4110. Tell them Stockerblog sent you.
The 100,000,000,000,000 Dollar Bill (that's $100 trillion)
It was on;y six months ago that Zimbabwe came out with a $100 billion bill. It finally happened; inflation in Zimbabwe is so bad, that the country finally issued a $100 trillion bill - that's 100,000,000,000,000 Zimbabwe dollars. This is happening because the government in July reported that they are experiencing inflation of 231 million percent - that's 231,000,000%. Yet the Libertarian think tank, the Cato Institute, believes that the real inflation rate is 89.7 sextillion percent - that's 89,700,000,000,000,000,000,000%.
By the way, that 100,000,000,000,000 Zimbabwe Dollar Bill is equal to about $300. And to think that just last April, the country had inflation of 'only' 100,000%.
By the way, that 100,000,000,000,000 Zimbabwe Dollar Bill is equal to about $300. And to think that just last April, the country had inflation of 'only' 100,000%.
Guest Article: Heaven, Hell, and Happiness by Robert and Emi Kiyosaki
Heaven, Hell, and Happiness
by Emi Kiyosaki and Robert Kiyosaki,
Authors of Rich Brother Rich Sister
Sunday School taught us that heaven was a place in the sky where people sat around, floating on clouds, playing harps. Hell was the flaming center of the earth, where the devil (with horns, a long tail, and carrying a pitchfork) lived, waiting for sinners.
As adults, we do not know if there is a heaven or a hell after death. There are heaven and hell here on earth, and one person's heaven can be another person's hell. A secure job with the government would be our father's heaven, but Robert's hell. Being an entrepreneur is Robert's heaven. For our dad, having to become an entrepreneur at the age of fifty was his hell.
Marriage can be either a heaven or a hell. Even though we may deeply love someone, life together can be a living hell.
Money can be the reason for heaven or hell on earth. Many financial advisors recommend, "Live below your means." They say this because many people are barely surviving -- in a living hell -- using borrowed money to live a lifestyle they cannot afford. For others, heaven is having more than enough money to afford their lifestyle.
Since one's heaven can be another person's hell, the question is, what creates a person's heaven or hell? While there are many possible answers, one answer is happiness . . . or the lack of it.
ROBERT: SELFISH AND UNSELFISH GOALS
As with so many things in life, for every action there is a reaction. If a person is unhappy, he may do something to make him happy, for example, like drink alcohol. Feeling low, he may go to a bar, drink a lot, and feel happy. The next day, he pays for his happiness with a hangover. Do this on a regular basis and that unhappy person becomes an alcoholic, still in search of happiness.
Others take chemical drugs to escape their pain and unhappiness. According to the Washington Post, today in America, more than one in every one hundred people are in jail, as many as 20 percent, for drug-related issues.
Being in jail is not my idea of heaven. Some people go shopping to relieve the pain. Money is their drug. The more money they have, the more they shop. Rather than finding heaven, they find hell, living under a mountain of credit card debt.
My drug of choice is food. When I am unhappy, I eat. While I'm eating, I feel happy. The problem is, the more I eat, the fatter I become. The fatter I become, the more unhappy I get, so I eat more, become fatter, and become even more unhappy. In my attempt to reach heaven through food, I wind up in hell. Many people seek to solve their unhappiness through religion. Many have so many problems they feel they cannot solve them, and they seek salvation by hoping God will save them from their hell here on earth.
So what is happiness?
I am sure this question will be asked through the ages. And I doubt there is one answer for all people. Like heaven and hell, one person's happiness can be another person's unhappiness, which is why I'm not attempting to tell you what to do to find your happiness. I have enough trouble finding and hanging onto my own true happiness.
One important lesson I learned from Dr. Fuller was the idea of having "unselfish goals." In other words, goals that follow the generalized principle of "the more people I serve, the more effective I become." This idea fit my mother and father's values of being of service to their community. In December of 1984, when Kim and I took our leap of faith, we took the leap with unselfish goals in mind. As I have already said, it was the worst year of our lives.
It was not a happy time.
Today, Kim and I have found happiness by having selfish as well as unselfish goals. Our happiness comes from being of service, feeling that our work makes a difference in people's lives, and that we are contributing to solving some of our world's current problems. We also have selfish goals, goals such as making enough money to create a standard of living that suits us. We would not be happy being poor, working at a job we did not love, working with people we did not like, living below our means in a dangerous neighborhood, not being able to afford health care or the finer things of life.
Work is an important aspect of happiness and unhappiness. Even though our work is often challenging and filled with problems, ultimately our work makes us happy. We realize that, for millions of people, their work makes them unhappy. For millions, work is just about money.
I have a classmate from high school who is very unhappy. Right out of college, she met a rich man, married him, and moved to his large home in Aspen, Colorado. Her husband inherited his wealth and has never really had to work. They have great kids and grandkids. Her days are filled tending to her show horses and doing charity work. Her husband spends his time at his club, putting on events to keep the members happy.
When I asked her why she was unhappy, her answer was simple: "Life seems empty."
When I asked her if her grandkids filled her void she said, "No. I love my kids and grandkids, but I am through with motherhood." When I asked about her charity work, she said frankly, "I do charity work to belong to the right social circles. Charity work is my access to the right charity balls and to be seen with the right people. I know the charities are important, but I am not passionate about the causes."
When I asked her what her soul wanted her to do, she snapped at me and said, "I'm doing enough. I'm good to my kids. I'm a good parent. I'm a good wife. I donate time and money to my charities. What else do you want me to do?"
Our conversation was over. It wasn't the time to get into the differences between selfish and unselfish goals.
One of the most valuable lessons I learned from my mom and dad was the answer to my question, "What is happiness?" The happiest days in their lives were the days they both worked for President Kennedy's Peace Corps. Dad took a break from the education department, and he and Mom spent their days, nights, and weekends working side by side at the Peace Corps training center in Hilo, preparing young people to be of service to the world. As a young man preparing to go to war, I saw the happiness that working together at spiritual work brought my mom and dad. I never forgot that happiness.
When Kim and I took our leap of faith in December of 1984, we were in search of the same happiness. The day we were married, in 1986, we didn't have much money and could not afford a band. Instead we handed out the words to "The Wedding Song" (also known as "There Is Love") by Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul, and Mary. We asked everyone to link arms and sing along with the music. The song conveyed to everyone in the circle the spiritual reason for our marriage, which spread from heart to heart. The following are a few words from this very beautiful song:
Well, a man shall leave his mother
and a woman leave her home
and they shall travel on to where
The two shall be as one.
As it was in the beginning
is now and till the end
woman draws her life from man
and gives it back again.
and there is love, and there is love.
Well then what's to be the reason
for becoming man and wife?
Is it love that brings you here
or love that brings you life?
And if loving is the answer,
then who's the giving for?
Do you believe in something
that you've never seen before?
Oh there is love, there is love.
Kim has been the greatest blessing in my life. We have been together virtually 24/7 since December of 1984. We have been apart only a few days in all those years. Our work nurtures our souls. Our work gives us life. Our work is our life.
Like most couples, we do have our rough spots. It is not always peaches and cream. It's not always wedded bliss or the fairy tale of living happily ever after. Through our work we share our love and our reason for being married. While we receive many blessings from our work, we believe the gift of true happiness is the greatest gift, a blessing that brings magic to life.
There are many people who believe the rich are greedy, and many of them are.Yet, I have met many greedy poor and middle-class people. They are simply greedy people with less money. The rich do not have an exclusive domain over greed.
When we were married, Kim and I co-created selfish and unselfish goals. We set four financial goals, and those goals became the four stepping-stones to guide us through the stream of life:
The first stepping-stone was to build a business that served as many people as possible. We wanted to serve people regardless of their wealth (or lack of it), race, or religion.
The second stepping-stone was to invest our money to be of service. The majority of our investment money is in apartment houses. We provide safe, well-managed, affordable housing to thousands of people.
The third stepping-stone of our finances was to tithe, or give money back. Even when we had very little money, we donated to charitable causes that spoke to our hearts. We do not give money directly to people in need. Instead we give money to responsible organizations that have a proven track record of sound money management.
The fourth stepping-stone was our personal standard of living. Even though we had nothing when we were married, we still wanted to live financially free, at a rich and wealthy standard of living.
All four goals required hard work, miles of travel, a lot of study, and often a good bit of disappointment. From the generalized principle of precession, which is the ripple effect, came the gift of true happiness in our lives.
Today, we have more money than we could ever spend. We have more than we need. This is why today we are focusing more and more on giving the money back, just as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are doing. Giving money back can be a full-time job. Just as making and investing money creates unique challenges, giving money back comes with its own set of challenges. There is an art and science to charitable giving. Again, rather than give the money to the needy and the poor, which would deplete the money supply, we are diligent in finding responsible, well-managed organizations that will protect our wealth and will use the money wisely for years, long after we are gone.
Kim and I believe in working to create heaven on earth -- while we are here and after we have left this earth. We find happiness working together in our life's work, just as working together for the Peace Corps brought true happiness for my mom and dad. Finding happiness by doing our spirit's work is the best gift Mom and Dad have
given their children.
This is not to say that our work is uniquely significant, special, or that important. Any work that adds value and is of service to life is important and special. For example, the person who drives a school bus has a very important and special task. I am glad there are people who want to do this job, and I would hope they love what they do.
I especially like comedians, because laughter is vital to a world that so often takes itself too seriously. The gift of laughter is a very important gift.
So what is your gift? When I am asked about how to find one's gift, I simply reply, "If you had all the money in the world, what would you do for the rest of your life? What would make your heart sing?" I also say, "One of the reasons a person does not give or use their gift is because they have been trained to go to school and get a job to earn money. So the question is, What would you do if you did not have to worry about money?"
In 1994, Kim and I had the luxury of retiring. She was thirty-seven and I was forty-seven. I thought retirement would be heaven. Instead it turned out to be hell. All I did was play golf, and if you've seen my golf game you would know why, for me, golf is the game from hell. In 1996 Kim and I developed our CASHFLOW® board game, I wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad, and we got back to work. Our objectives remain the same. We believe that too many people are slaves to money, and one way to financial freedom is via financial education. Our wish is to have you become financially free so you can give more of your God-given gifts and do the work you were born to do.
One of the greatest joys of our work is to have people like you read our work, even if you do not agree with everything we write. I know the world is filled with people with great ideas, great stories to tell, and great gifts to give.
The above is an excerpt from the book Rich Brother Rich Sister (Published by Vanguard Press; 978-159315-493-6). The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.
Copyright © 2008 Emi Kiyosaki and Robert Kiyosaki
Reprinted with permission of the publicist
Author Bio
Robert Kiyosaki, co-author of Rich Brother Rich Sister (Published by Vanguard Press; 978-159315-493-6), is a fourth-generation Japanese American, born and raised in Hawaii. After graduating from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York, Robert joined the Marine Corps and served in Vietnam as an officer and helicopter gunship pilot. Following the war, Robert went to work in sales for the Xerox Corporation and, in 1977, started a company that brought the first nylon and Velcro “surfer” wallets to market. He founded an international education company in 1985 that taught business and investing to tens of thousands of students throughout the world. In 1994 Robert sold his business and, through his investments, was able to retire at the age of 47. During his short-lived retirement, he wrote the international best-selling book Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
, and in 2006 coauthored with Donald Trump Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men - One Message
. An entrepreneur, teacher, and investor, Robert also writes a monthly column, "Why the Rich Are Getting Richer," for Yahoo! Finance, and a monthly column, "Rich Returns," for Entrepreneur magazine.
Barbara Emi Kiyosaki, co-author of Rich Brother Rich Sister (Published by Vanguard Press; 978-159315-493-6), grew up in Hawaii with Robert and the Kiyosaki family. While Robert took the path of war during the Vietnam era, Emi took the path of peace, exploring alternative and spiritual journeys. Emi began her studies at the University of Hawaii and then traveled to Colorado, Alaska, and India to deepen her studies and practice of Buddhism. Emi was ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1985 and today is known by her ordination name, Bhikshuni Tenzin Kacho. For six years, Tenzin was the Buddhist chaplain at the United States Air Force Academy. She has a Master of Arts degree in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Language from Naropa University. She is the assistant spiritual director and teacher at Thubten Dhargye Ling Buddhist Center in Long Beach, California, and is a visiting teacher at Thubten Shedrup Ling in Colorado Springs. She occasionally resides at Geden Choling Nunnery in northern India. Tenzin also works as a hospice chaplain in Los Angeles, California.
by Emi Kiyosaki and Robert Kiyosaki,
Authors of Rich Brother Rich Sister
Sunday School taught us that heaven was a place in the sky where people sat around, floating on clouds, playing harps. Hell was the flaming center of the earth, where the devil (with horns, a long tail, and carrying a pitchfork) lived, waiting for sinners.
As adults, we do not know if there is a heaven or a hell after death. There are heaven and hell here on earth, and one person's heaven can be another person's hell. A secure job with the government would be our father's heaven, but Robert's hell. Being an entrepreneur is Robert's heaven. For our dad, having to become an entrepreneur at the age of fifty was his hell.
Marriage can be either a heaven or a hell. Even though we may deeply love someone, life together can be a living hell.
Money can be the reason for heaven or hell on earth. Many financial advisors recommend, "Live below your means." They say this because many people are barely surviving -- in a living hell -- using borrowed money to live a lifestyle they cannot afford. For others, heaven is having more than enough money to afford their lifestyle.
Since one's heaven can be another person's hell, the question is, what creates a person's heaven or hell? While there are many possible answers, one answer is happiness . . . or the lack of it.
ROBERT: SELFISH AND UNSELFISH GOALS
As with so many things in life, for every action there is a reaction. If a person is unhappy, he may do something to make him happy, for example, like drink alcohol. Feeling low, he may go to a bar, drink a lot, and feel happy. The next day, he pays for his happiness with a hangover. Do this on a regular basis and that unhappy person becomes an alcoholic, still in search of happiness.
Others take chemical drugs to escape their pain and unhappiness. According to the Washington Post, today in America, more than one in every one hundred people are in jail, as many as 20 percent, for drug-related issues.
Being in jail is not my idea of heaven. Some people go shopping to relieve the pain. Money is their drug. The more money they have, the more they shop. Rather than finding heaven, they find hell, living under a mountain of credit card debt.
My drug of choice is food. When I am unhappy, I eat. While I'm eating, I feel happy. The problem is, the more I eat, the fatter I become. The fatter I become, the more unhappy I get, so I eat more, become fatter, and become even more unhappy. In my attempt to reach heaven through food, I wind up in hell. Many people seek to solve their unhappiness through religion. Many have so many problems they feel they cannot solve them, and they seek salvation by hoping God will save them from their hell here on earth.
So what is happiness?
I am sure this question will be asked through the ages. And I doubt there is one answer for all people. Like heaven and hell, one person's happiness can be another person's unhappiness, which is why I'm not attempting to tell you what to do to find your happiness. I have enough trouble finding and hanging onto my own true happiness.
One important lesson I learned from Dr. Fuller was the idea of having "unselfish goals." In other words, goals that follow the generalized principle of "the more people I serve, the more effective I become." This idea fit my mother and father's values of being of service to their community. In December of 1984, when Kim and I took our leap of faith, we took the leap with unselfish goals in mind. As I have already said, it was the worst year of our lives.
It was not a happy time.
Today, Kim and I have found happiness by having selfish as well as unselfish goals. Our happiness comes from being of service, feeling that our work makes a difference in people's lives, and that we are contributing to solving some of our world's current problems. We also have selfish goals, goals such as making enough money to create a standard of living that suits us. We would not be happy being poor, working at a job we did not love, working with people we did not like, living below our means in a dangerous neighborhood, not being able to afford health care or the finer things of life.
Work is an important aspect of happiness and unhappiness. Even though our work is often challenging and filled with problems, ultimately our work makes us happy. We realize that, for millions of people, their work makes them unhappy. For millions, work is just about money.
I have a classmate from high school who is very unhappy. Right out of college, she met a rich man, married him, and moved to his large home in Aspen, Colorado. Her husband inherited his wealth and has never really had to work. They have great kids and grandkids. Her days are filled tending to her show horses and doing charity work. Her husband spends his time at his club, putting on events to keep the members happy.
When I asked her why she was unhappy, her answer was simple: "Life seems empty."
When I asked her if her grandkids filled her void she said, "No. I love my kids and grandkids, but I am through with motherhood." When I asked about her charity work, she said frankly, "I do charity work to belong to the right social circles. Charity work is my access to the right charity balls and to be seen with the right people. I know the charities are important, but I am not passionate about the causes."
When I asked her what her soul wanted her to do, she snapped at me and said, "I'm doing enough. I'm good to my kids. I'm a good parent. I'm a good wife. I donate time and money to my charities. What else do you want me to do?"
Our conversation was over. It wasn't the time to get into the differences between selfish and unselfish goals.
One of the most valuable lessons I learned from my mom and dad was the answer to my question, "What is happiness?" The happiest days in their lives were the days they both worked for President Kennedy's Peace Corps. Dad took a break from the education department, and he and Mom spent their days, nights, and weekends working side by side at the Peace Corps training center in Hilo, preparing young people to be of service to the world. As a young man preparing to go to war, I saw the happiness that working together at spiritual work brought my mom and dad. I never forgot that happiness.
When Kim and I took our leap of faith in December of 1984, we were in search of the same happiness. The day we were married, in 1986, we didn't have much money and could not afford a band. Instead we handed out the words to "The Wedding Song" (also known as "There Is Love") by Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul, and Mary. We asked everyone to link arms and sing along with the music. The song conveyed to everyone in the circle the spiritual reason for our marriage, which spread from heart to heart. The following are a few words from this very beautiful song:
Well, a man shall leave his mother
and a woman leave her home
and they shall travel on to where
The two shall be as one.
As it was in the beginning
is now and till the end
woman draws her life from man
and gives it back again.
and there is love, and there is love.
Well then what's to be the reason
for becoming man and wife?
Is it love that brings you here
or love that brings you life?
And if loving is the answer,
then who's the giving for?
Do you believe in something
that you've never seen before?
Oh there is love, there is love.
Kim has been the greatest blessing in my life. We have been together virtually 24/7 since December of 1984. We have been apart only a few days in all those years. Our work nurtures our souls. Our work gives us life. Our work is our life.
Like most couples, we do have our rough spots. It is not always peaches and cream. It's not always wedded bliss or the fairy tale of living happily ever after. Through our work we share our love and our reason for being married. While we receive many blessings from our work, we believe the gift of true happiness is the greatest gift, a blessing that brings magic to life.
There are many people who believe the rich are greedy, and many of them are.Yet, I have met many greedy poor and middle-class people. They are simply greedy people with less money. The rich do not have an exclusive domain over greed.
When we were married, Kim and I co-created selfish and unselfish goals. We set four financial goals, and those goals became the four stepping-stones to guide us through the stream of life:
The first stepping-stone was to build a business that served as many people as possible. We wanted to serve people regardless of their wealth (or lack of it), race, or religion.
The second stepping-stone was to invest our money to be of service. The majority of our investment money is in apartment houses. We provide safe, well-managed, affordable housing to thousands of people.
The third stepping-stone of our finances was to tithe, or give money back. Even when we had very little money, we donated to charitable causes that spoke to our hearts. We do not give money directly to people in need. Instead we give money to responsible organizations that have a proven track record of sound money management.
The fourth stepping-stone was our personal standard of living. Even though we had nothing when we were married, we still wanted to live financially free, at a rich and wealthy standard of living.
All four goals required hard work, miles of travel, a lot of study, and often a good bit of disappointment. From the generalized principle of precession, which is the ripple effect, came the gift of true happiness in our lives.
Today, we have more money than we could ever spend. We have more than we need. This is why today we are focusing more and more on giving the money back, just as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are doing. Giving money back can be a full-time job. Just as making and investing money creates unique challenges, giving money back comes with its own set of challenges. There is an art and science to charitable giving. Again, rather than give the money to the needy and the poor, which would deplete the money supply, we are diligent in finding responsible, well-managed organizations that will protect our wealth and will use the money wisely for years, long after we are gone.
Kim and I believe in working to create heaven on earth -- while we are here and after we have left this earth. We find happiness working together in our life's work, just as working together for the Peace Corps brought true happiness for my mom and dad. Finding happiness by doing our spirit's work is the best gift Mom and Dad have
given their children.
This is not to say that our work is uniquely significant, special, or that important. Any work that adds value and is of service to life is important and special. For example, the person who drives a school bus has a very important and special task. I am glad there are people who want to do this job, and I would hope they love what they do.
I especially like comedians, because laughter is vital to a world that so often takes itself too seriously. The gift of laughter is a very important gift.
So what is your gift? When I am asked about how to find one's gift, I simply reply, "If you had all the money in the world, what would you do for the rest of your life? What would make your heart sing?" I also say, "One of the reasons a person does not give or use their gift is because they have been trained to go to school and get a job to earn money. So the question is, What would you do if you did not have to worry about money?"
In 1994, Kim and I had the luxury of retiring. She was thirty-seven and I was forty-seven. I thought retirement would be heaven. Instead it turned out to be hell. All I did was play golf, and if you've seen my golf game you would know why, for me, golf is the game from hell. In 1996 Kim and I developed our CASHFLOW® board game, I wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad, and we got back to work. Our objectives remain the same. We believe that too many people are slaves to money, and one way to financial freedom is via financial education. Our wish is to have you become financially free so you can give more of your God-given gifts and do the work you were born to do.
One of the greatest joys of our work is to have people like you read our work, even if you do not agree with everything we write. I know the world is filled with people with great ideas, great stories to tell, and great gifts to give.
The above is an excerpt from the book Rich Brother Rich Sister
(Published by Vanguard Press; 978-159315-493-6). The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.Copyright © 2008 Emi Kiyosaki and Robert Kiyosaki
Reprinted with permission of the publicist
Author Bio
Robert Kiyosaki, co-author of Rich Brother Rich Sister
(Published by Vanguard Press; 978-159315-493-6), is a fourth-generation Japanese American, born and raised in Hawaii. After graduating from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York, Robert joined the Marine Corps and served in Vietnam as an officer and helicopter gunship pilot. Following the war, Robert went to work in sales for the Xerox Corporation and, in 1977, started a company that brought the first nylon and Velcro “surfer” wallets to market. He founded an international education company in 1985 that taught business and investing to tens of thousands of students throughout the world. In 1994 Robert sold his business and, through his investments, was able to retire at the age of 47. During his short-lived retirement, he wrote the international best-selling book Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!, and in 2006 coauthored with Donald Trump Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men - One Message. An entrepreneur, teacher, and investor, Robert also writes a monthly column, "Why the Rich Are Getting Richer," for Yahoo! Finance, and a monthly column, "Rich Returns," for Entrepreneur magazine.Barbara Emi Kiyosaki, co-author of Rich Brother Rich Sister
(Published by Vanguard Press; 978-159315-493-6), grew up in Hawaii with Robert and the Kiyosaki family. While Robert took the path of war during the Vietnam era, Emi took the path of peace, exploring alternative and spiritual journeys. Emi began her studies at the University of Hawaii and then traveled to Colorado, Alaska, and India to deepen her studies and practice of Buddhism. Emi was ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1985 and today is known by her ordination name, Bhikshuni Tenzin Kacho. For six years, Tenzin was the Buddhist chaplain at the United States Air Force Academy. She has a Master of Arts degree in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Language from Naropa University. She is the assistant spiritual director and teacher at Thubten Dhargye Ling Buddhist Center in Long Beach, California, and is a visiting teacher at Thubten Shedrup Ling in Colorado Springs. She occasionally resides at Geden Choling Nunnery in northern India. Tenzin also works as a hospice chaplain in Los Angeles, California.
Friday, January 16, 2009
What Is It About Texas and Pawn Shop Stocks?
If you are looking for recession and depression resistant stocks, one option is High Cash, No Debt, High Yield Stocks. However, another option is to buy the stocks of publicly traded pawn shop chains. A pawn shop is basically a company that provides a small loan at a high interest rate with a personal item put up as collateral. The item can be anything from a guitar to a TV to a diamond ring. Pawn shops have been reporting that business is booming, and that more and more middle class and upper class people are taking advantage of their services.
Here is a list of a few publicly traded pawn shop companies worth checking out:
Cash America International, Inc. (CSH) is a Fort Worth, Texas company founded in 1984, which owns about 500 pawn shops in 22 states. The stock has a PE ratio of 8.5 and a PEG ratio of 0.66 . They also pay a yield of 0.50% .
EZCORP Inc. (EZPW) is an Austin, Texas based chain of pawn shops. They has over 290 pawn shops in the US, and over 90 shops in Mexico. The stock has a PE ratio of 12 and a PEG ratio of 0.5 .
First Cash Financial Services Inc. (FCFS) is an Arlington, Texas based company with over 275 pawn shops. The stock has a forward PE ratio of 12 and a PEG ratio of 0.84 .
Besides pawn shops, another industry that may be considered recession resistant is the big pharma stocks.
Author does not own any of the above.
By Stockerblog.com
Financial History Can Help You With Your Financial Future
If you have any interest at all in financial history, and how it can help you with your financial future, you should check out The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
by Niall Ferguson. You can also listen to a podcast from the author.
by Niall Ferguson. You can also listen to a podcast from the author.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Book Review: Clean Money
The book Clean Money: Picking Winners in the Green Tech Boom
by John Rubino, goes into extensive but easy to understand detail about all the various types of green industries, including solar energy, wind power, geothermal, green transportation, biofuels, pollution control, and much, much more. This book has a lot of 'meat'. What that means is that it lists thorough descriptions of various individual stocks in each type of green industry. It even covers foreign green stocks. Even though the price of oil has dropped significantly since the book was written, it is still very useful in finding the best stocks in the alternative energy industry, which many analysts believe should do well under Obama. I recommend this book as an interesting read and a great resource.
By Stockerblog.com
by John Rubino, goes into extensive but easy to understand detail about all the various types of green industries, including solar energy, wind power, geothermal, green transportation, biofuels, pollution control, and much, much more. This book has a lot of 'meat'. What that means is that it lists thorough descriptions of various individual stocks in each type of green industry. It even covers foreign green stocks. Even though the price of oil has dropped significantly since the book was written, it is still very useful in finding the best stocks in the alternative energy industry, which many analysts believe should do well under Obama. I recommend this book as an interesting read and a great resource.By Stockerblog.com
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The Short Madoff Stocks Play
Now that we know that the government is liquidating Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, it may mean that there will be some downward pressure on the stocks that Madoff's firm owns. Does this mean that there could be some short squeeze plays here? This is assuming that they still actually own the stocks that the company reported to the SEC as of September 30, 2008.
For example, his company reportedly owns over 2 million shares of the New America High Income Fund Inc. (HYB), a junk bond closed end fund. This amounts to about 1.8% of the shares outstanding.
Hicks Acquisition Co. I Inc. (TOH) is another Madoff stock, of which his company reportedly owns over 500,000 shares or about three quarters of a percent of all the company's outstanding shares. It is interesting to note that according to Yahoo Finance, Hicks is a Dallas, Texas based company, founded in 2007, with no significant operations. Yet the company has a market cap of almost half a billion dollars.
For an Excel database of some of the significant shareholdings of Bernie Madoff, which can be downloaded and sorted, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.
Author does not own any of the above.
By Stockerblog.com
For example, his company reportedly owns over 2 million shares of the New America High Income Fund Inc. (HYB), a junk bond closed end fund. This amounts to about 1.8% of the shares outstanding.
Hicks Acquisition Co. I Inc. (TOH) is another Madoff stock, of which his company reportedly owns over 500,000 shares or about three quarters of a percent of all the company's outstanding shares. It is interesting to note that according to Yahoo Finance, Hicks is a Dallas, Texas based company, founded in 2007, with no significant operations. Yet the company has a market cap of almost half a billion dollars.
For an Excel database of some of the significant shareholdings of Bernie Madoff, which can be downloaded and sorted, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.
Author does not own any of the above.
By Stockerblog.com
Top Yielding Stocks Going Ex Dividend End of January
Investors occasionally use a stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends,' which is the technique of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets.
If you are interested in buying dividends, there are many stocks in many different industries to choose from. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks.
All of the following stocks have market caps over $500 million, and yield over 1%.
Foot Locker, Inc. (FL) Ex-div date: 1/14/2009 Yield: 7.26% PE ratio: 10.0 PEG ratio: 0.66
PNC Financial Services (PNC) Ex-div date: 1/14/2009 Yield: 5.39% PE ratio: 13.0 PEG ratio: 1.53
Service Corporation International (SCI) Ex-div date: 1/14/2009 Yield: 3.03% PE ratio: 5.6 PEG ratio: 0.56
Teekay Corporation (TK) Ex-div date: 1/14/2009 Yield: 5.33% PE ratio: 15.5 PEG ratio: 0.97
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) Ex-div date: 1/15/2009 Yield: 3.82% PE ratio: 7.2 PEG ratio: 0.62
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSM) Ex-div date: 1/22/2009 Yield: 5.54% PE ratio: 6.6 PEG ratio: 0.53
The Clorox Company (CLX) Ex-div date: 1/26/2009 Yield: 3.38% PE ratio: 16.0 PEG ratio: 1.66
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD) Ex-div date: 1/28/2009 Yield: 9.43% PE ratio: 12.9 PEG ratio: 1.71
Morgan Stanley (MS) Ex-div date: 1/28/2009 Yield: 5.74% PE ratio: 15.8 PEG ratio: 1.32
Zenith National Insurance Corp. (ZNT) Ex-div date: 1/28/2009 Yield: 6.45% PE ratio: 9.2 PEG ratio: 0.92
For more details on dividend definitions, check out definitions of dividend dates. If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the the High Yield Utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.
Author does not own any of the above at the time this article is written.
By Stockerblog.com
If you are interested in buying dividends, there are many stocks in many different industries to choose from. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks.
All of the following stocks have market caps over $500 million, and yield over 1%.
Foot Locker, Inc. (FL) Ex-div date: 1/14/2009 Yield: 7.26% PE ratio: 10.0 PEG ratio: 0.66
PNC Financial Services (PNC) Ex-div date: 1/14/2009 Yield: 5.39% PE ratio: 13.0 PEG ratio: 1.53
Service Corporation International (SCI) Ex-div date: 1/14/2009 Yield: 3.03% PE ratio: 5.6 PEG ratio: 0.56
Teekay Corporation (TK) Ex-div date: 1/14/2009 Yield: 5.33% PE ratio: 15.5 PEG ratio: 0.97
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) Ex-div date: 1/15/2009 Yield: 3.82% PE ratio: 7.2 PEG ratio: 0.62
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSM) Ex-div date: 1/22/2009 Yield: 5.54% PE ratio: 6.6 PEG ratio: 0.53
The Clorox Company (CLX) Ex-div date: 1/26/2009 Yield: 3.38% PE ratio: 16.0 PEG ratio: 1.66
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD) Ex-div date: 1/28/2009 Yield: 9.43% PE ratio: 12.9 PEG ratio: 1.71
Morgan Stanley (MS) Ex-div date: 1/28/2009 Yield: 5.74% PE ratio: 15.8 PEG ratio: 1.32
Zenith National Insurance Corp. (ZNT) Ex-div date: 1/28/2009 Yield: 6.45% PE ratio: 9.2 PEG ratio: 0.92
For more details on dividend definitions, check out definitions of dividend dates. If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the the High Yield Utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.
Author does not own any of the above at the time this article is written.
By Stockerblog.com
Review of the 2009 Macworld Conference and Expo
Considering how bad the economy is and in spite of the absence of Steve Jobs, the 2009 Macworld Conference and Expo, held at Moscone Center in San Francisco, California was very successful. This is also in spite of the fact that Apple (AAPL) announced that they wouldn't be back next year. But that isn't the only disappearing act. There were a couple other major companies that were conspicuous by their absence, such as Adobe (ADBE). Adobe used to be one of the anchor exhibitors at the Expo, and one of the noteworthy producers of Macintosh software. Another MIA was Sony (SNE). Does anyone remember the old Sony beige 3.5 inch floppy disks?
So who was there in place of the biggies? There were approximately 400 exhibitors and most of them were small or private or unknown businesses, more small business exhibitors than I've ever seen at any of the previous Expos. It is amazing how many companies and employees exist because of the Macintosh, the iPod, and the iPhone.
For example, one local San Francisco Bay Area computer repair shop, called techrestore.com, had a DeLorean time machine automobile on display to attract visitors. And speaking of cars, Honda Motor Company (HMC) had an Acura on display, along with a very old working Mac Plus on display. Remember those? Actually, it was a Mac Plus case that had been gutted with a more up-to-date computer installed. Honda has a PE ratio of 14 and a yield of 3.6%. 
One of the surprise exhibitors was Google (GOOG), which had displays showing Google Maps and YouTube. Google has a PE of 19.
Other publicly traded companies that attracted a lot of people to their exhibits include Nikon (NINOY.PK) and NEC Electronics (NELTY.PK), both of which trade on the Pink Sheets, and Canon Inc. (CAJ) with a PE of 9, and Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ) with a PE of 12 and a yield of 0.9%, both of which trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
Of course, Microsoft (MSFT) was there, promoting Office 2008 for the Mac. The stock has a PE of 10 and a yield of 2.7%.
The show also had the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus again this year, which is a non-profit mobile recording studio that travels to schools across the company. Overall, the show and the exhibits were well received. Let's hope the Macworld Expo is repeated in the future, and let's hope Apple continues to be successful, since many people and many small companies rely on its success.
By the way, if you had followed the MacWorld Expo Apple Stock Correlation, it would have worked. I wrote about this back on October 28, and each year prior to that for several years. You would have made a profit of 2.7% in less than two months, buying Apple at 88.14 on November 17 and selling on January 9 at 90.58.
Author owns AAPL and MSFT.
By Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Robin Williams Review of the Election
Speaking of the election, here is Robin Williams' take on the 2008 election, which you may have missed since he gave this speech in England.
Uncle Jay's Review of 2008
Hey boys and girls. Have you forgotten what happened in 2008? You might want to check out Uncle jay's Review of 2008 in only two minutes. He covers everything from the election to the bailouts.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Guest Article by Natalie Pace: New Year. New You. New Nest Egg.
New Year. New You. New Nest Egg.
By Natalie Pace,
Author of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Investment Strategies for Lifetime Wealth from a #1 Wall Street Stock Picker
Build a better nest egg with 6 easy, sound strategies for 2009.
The stock market lost 38% in 2008, but if you lost more than 20%, your problem wasn't really the stock market, it was the design of your nest egg. Storms occur in markets, as they do in the real world, but your home shouldn't be flooding every time it happens.
You know intuitively that your retirement plan doesn't work. Your nest egg has drowned twice now in the last eight years. You were elated with your returns in 1999 and then devastated when your assets imploded during the DOT COM bust of 2000-2002. Same thing when Dow Jones Industrial Average broke through 14,000 in October of 2007, only to drop below 8000 in 2008. If you had a healthy fiscal plan, your nest egg wouldn't be sinking all of the time.
And contrary to what your financial advisor may be telling you, the markets returned only 4% over the last ten years, not 12%. That was less than a percentage point above Treasury Bills, at 3.3% annual gains, with a whole lot more risk.
Sound Nest Egg Strategies:
Rule #1: Always keep a percent equal to your age.
Modern Portfolio Theory, the cornerstone of a healthy nest egg, has been around for half a century and Harry Markowitz, the economist who wrote it, won a Nobel Prize in 1990. Many financial professionals are paid on commission to sell you mutual funds, so, if you weren't protected from the 2008 financial crisis, chances are that either 1) your guru just didn't know the theory, or 2) s/he wasn't paid to employ the theory, or 3) s/he had bosses who pushed sales hard and couldn't employ the theory, or 4) s/he was dumb enough to think s/he could outthink a genius Nobel Laureate.
Grade Your Guru
You wouldn't hire an architect whose buildings flood in a storm. Since there are so many ìprofessionalsî and ìpunditsî who are spouting off -- when in reality they drowned their clients' nest eggs in 2008 -- it's your job to take charge and design a better dream life. As TD AMERITRADE Chairman Joe Moglia says, "Nobody cares more about your money more than you do."
Bears get lucky in bear markets. Bulls get lucky in bull markets. Sound nest egg strategies work in any market!
HOW TO GRADE YOUR GURU
• Add up your losses. If you lost more than 20% in 2008, your guru isn't making the grade.
• Check your allocation. If you didn't start 2008 with a percent equal to your age SAFE in Treasury Bills and/or high-rated bonds (GM, Fannie, etc. DO NOT QUALIFY), your guru isn't looking out for your best interest.
MY GRADES
NEST EGG:
The pie charts and strategies outlined in Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is saved Bill (a handyman) and Nilo (an office administrator) Bolden's nest egg, while Nilo's bosses lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Since employing my strategies, they haven't lost anything.
TRADERS:
Before I give you the details on my track record this year, which was outstanding, please note that novices have no business trading individual stocks in this financial storm anymore than beginning surfers should race into the jaws of a tsunami. Don't trade individual companies in 2009 unless: 1) you know how to buy put options and have had a few years of successful trading long and short, and 2) are willing to take your profits early and often. Obviously, if you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to focus on sound nest egg strategies first and education second -- perhaps at my Get Rich and Enrich Retreat. (Check out the banner ad on the home page at NataliePace.com for more details.)
70% of the companies I featured in my 2008 monthly article and stock report cards were winners. Of those winners, more than half (58%) were shorts, i.e., companies that we expected to go DOWN in value.
ACT NOW TO GET IN GREAT FISCAL SHAPE!
Blind faith lost you a lot of money in 2008. 2009 is poised to be another stormy environment in stocks, which means that if you don't pull your head out of the sand and get a better dream life plan, you're going to be get buried.
My Golden Nest Egg Formula
• ALWAYS KEEP A PERCENT EQUAL TO YOUR AGE SAFE. Treasury bills are the safest investment today. (High-rated bonds, money markets and CDs are traditionally and will be again in the future.)
• DURING RECESSIONS, OVERWEIGHT 15-20% ADDITIONAL INTO SAFETY. Cash is King in a recession, i.e. not losing is winning. You will not be stuck overweighted in cash forever. If the markets continue to drop in 2009, as they are poised to do, you'll be glad you employed this defensive strategy. And you will have cash to invest, while those around you are scrambling to hang on and/or are forced to sell low to cover basic needs.
• REMAINDER IN YOUR NEST EGG SHOULD BE DIVERSIFIED INTO 10 ETFS. You will find detailed pie charts in Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is.
• EMERGING INDUSTRIES, NOT DYING COMPANIES. General Motors and Ford Motor Company combined are worth less than one-tenth of Toyota Motor Company's $102 billion. It is not just that Ford and GM have more expenses. GM and Ford lost market share this decade because their gas guzzlers were far less popular than the fuel-efficient Prius and other Toyota models.
• KNOW WHAT YOU OWN, i.e., not mutual funds. The top mutual fund holdings in the U.S. in 2007 included some of the most poorly run companies, including General Motors, AIG, Fannie Mae and Phillip Morris Tobacco Company. ETFs allow you to target sections of the stock market by size (small, medium and large), style (value and growth), industry (gold mining, clean technology, international, biotechnology, etc.) and more.
• DON'T TRADE. If you don't know how to take your profits early and often and/or if you don't know how to buy put options, do not buy and sell individual companies at all in 2009. (Own companies you love in ETFs where you are more protected from the price fluctuations of any one individual company.)
If you used this 6-step formula and rebalanced only once a year (say in January), you could have captured your gains in 2000 at the NASDAQ high. Likewise, in January of 2008, you would have captured your Dow Jones Industrial Average gains before the major fall-off and redistributed. Identifying where your gains are coming from allows you to increase your assets and redeploy your holdings back into a sound, dream life blueprint – which is a combination of Modern Portfolio Theory, ETFs, common sense and basic investing recipes.
These strategies and more are outlined in my book, Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is. Buy it now as part of your New Year; New You; New Dream Life! And be sure to forward this article to a dozen of your closest friends, family, clients and co-workers who need to get fiscally fit.
©2008 Natalie Pace
Permission to publish courtesy of the publicist.
Author Bio
Natalie Pace, author of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is (Published by Vanguard Press; 978-159315-491-2), is adding a splash of green to Wall Street and transforming lives on Main Street. She is the founder and CEO of one of the most respected independently owned financial news organizations in the world. She has been ranked as a #1 stock picker from TipsTraders.com and has partnered with Forbes.com. She has repeat guest appearances on Fox News, Good Morning America, Time Magazine, More Magazine, USA Today, NPR and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. She currently lives in Southern California.
By Natalie Pace,
Author of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Investment Strategies for Lifetime Wealth from a #1 Wall Street Stock Picker
Build a better nest egg with 6 easy, sound strategies for 2009.
The stock market lost 38% in 2008, but if you lost more than 20%, your problem wasn't really the stock market, it was the design of your nest egg. Storms occur in markets, as they do in the real world, but your home shouldn't be flooding every time it happens.
You know intuitively that your retirement plan doesn't work. Your nest egg has drowned twice now in the last eight years. You were elated with your returns in 1999 and then devastated when your assets imploded during the DOT COM bust of 2000-2002. Same thing when Dow Jones Industrial Average broke through 14,000 in October of 2007, only to drop below 8000 in 2008. If you had a healthy fiscal plan, your nest egg wouldn't be sinking all of the time.
And contrary to what your financial advisor may be telling you, the markets returned only 4% over the last ten years, not 12%. That was less than a percentage point above Treasury Bills, at 3.3% annual gains, with a whole lot more risk.
Sound Nest Egg Strategies:
Rule #1: Always keep a percent equal to your age.
Modern Portfolio Theory, the cornerstone of a healthy nest egg, has been around for half a century and Harry Markowitz, the economist who wrote it, won a Nobel Prize in 1990. Many financial professionals are paid on commission to sell you mutual funds, so, if you weren't protected from the 2008 financial crisis, chances are that either 1) your guru just didn't know the theory, or 2) s/he wasn't paid to employ the theory, or 3) s/he had bosses who pushed sales hard and couldn't employ the theory, or 4) s/he was dumb enough to think s/he could outthink a genius Nobel Laureate.
Grade Your Guru
You wouldn't hire an architect whose buildings flood in a storm. Since there are so many ìprofessionalsî and ìpunditsî who are spouting off -- when in reality they drowned their clients' nest eggs in 2008 -- it's your job to take charge and design a better dream life. As TD AMERITRADE Chairman Joe Moglia says, "Nobody cares more about your money more than you do."
Bears get lucky in bear markets. Bulls get lucky in bull markets. Sound nest egg strategies work in any market!
HOW TO GRADE YOUR GURU
• Add up your losses. If you lost more than 20% in 2008, your guru isn't making the grade.
• Check your allocation. If you didn't start 2008 with a percent equal to your age SAFE in Treasury Bills and/or high-rated bonds (GM, Fannie, etc. DO NOT QUALIFY), your guru isn't looking out for your best interest.
MY GRADES
NEST EGG:
The pie charts and strategies outlined in Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is saved Bill (a handyman) and Nilo (an office administrator) Bolden's nest egg, while Nilo's bosses lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Since employing my strategies, they haven't lost anything.
TRADERS:
Before I give you the details on my track record this year, which was outstanding, please note that novices have no business trading individual stocks in this financial storm anymore than beginning surfers should race into the jaws of a tsunami. Don't trade individual companies in 2009 unless: 1) you know how to buy put options and have had a few years of successful trading long and short, and 2) are willing to take your profits early and often. Obviously, if you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to focus on sound nest egg strategies first and education second -- perhaps at my Get Rich and Enrich Retreat. (Check out the banner ad on the home page at NataliePace.com for more details.)
70% of the companies I featured in my 2008 monthly article and stock report cards were winners. Of those winners, more than half (58%) were shorts, i.e., companies that we expected to go DOWN in value.
ACT NOW TO GET IN GREAT FISCAL SHAPE!
Blind faith lost you a lot of money in 2008. 2009 is poised to be another stormy environment in stocks, which means that if you don't pull your head out of the sand and get a better dream life plan, you're going to be get buried.
My Golden Nest Egg Formula
• ALWAYS KEEP A PERCENT EQUAL TO YOUR AGE SAFE. Treasury bills are the safest investment today. (High-rated bonds, money markets and CDs are traditionally and will be again in the future.)
• DURING RECESSIONS, OVERWEIGHT 15-20% ADDITIONAL INTO SAFETY. Cash is King in a recession, i.e. not losing is winning. You will not be stuck overweighted in cash forever. If the markets continue to drop in 2009, as they are poised to do, you'll be glad you employed this defensive strategy. And you will have cash to invest, while those around you are scrambling to hang on and/or are forced to sell low to cover basic needs.
• REMAINDER IN YOUR NEST EGG SHOULD BE DIVERSIFIED INTO 10 ETFS. You will find detailed pie charts in Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is.
• EMERGING INDUSTRIES, NOT DYING COMPANIES. General Motors and Ford Motor Company combined are worth less than one-tenth of Toyota Motor Company's $102 billion. It is not just that Ford and GM have more expenses. GM and Ford lost market share this decade because their gas guzzlers were far less popular than the fuel-efficient Prius and other Toyota models.
• KNOW WHAT YOU OWN, i.e., not mutual funds. The top mutual fund holdings in the U.S. in 2007 included some of the most poorly run companies, including General Motors, AIG, Fannie Mae and Phillip Morris Tobacco Company. ETFs allow you to target sections of the stock market by size (small, medium and large), style (value and growth), industry (gold mining, clean technology, international, biotechnology, etc.) and more.
• DON'T TRADE. If you don't know how to take your profits early and often and/or if you don't know how to buy put options, do not buy and sell individual companies at all in 2009. (Own companies you love in ETFs where you are more protected from the price fluctuations of any one individual company.)
If you used this 6-step formula and rebalanced only once a year (say in January), you could have captured your gains in 2000 at the NASDAQ high. Likewise, in January of 2008, you would have captured your Dow Jones Industrial Average gains before the major fall-off and redistributed. Identifying where your gains are coming from allows you to increase your assets and redeploy your holdings back into a sound, dream life blueprint – which is a combination of Modern Portfolio Theory, ETFs, common sense and basic investing recipes.
These strategies and more are outlined in my book, Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is
. Buy it now as part of your New Year; New You; New Dream Life! And be sure to forward this article to a dozen of your closest friends, family, clients and co-workers who need to get fiscally fit.©2008 Natalie Pace
Permission to publish courtesy of the publicist.
Author Bio
Natalie Pace, author of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is
(Published by Vanguard Press; 978-159315-491-2), is adding a splash of green to Wall Street and transforming lives on Main Street. She is the founder and CEO of one of the most respected independently owned financial news organizations in the world. She has been ranked as a #1 stock picker from TipsTraders.com and has partnered with Forbes.com. She has repeat guest appearances on Fox News, Good Morning America, Time Magazine, More Magazine, USA Today, NPR and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. She currently lives in Southern California.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
How to Get Into Disneyland or Disney World for Free
A Single Day Theme Park Ticket at Disneyland costs $69. At Disney World, the cost is $75 for an adult and $63 for a child. And for your kids under 10 years old, the cost is still a hefty $59. If you want to save on some of these costs, you can if you are planning on going during your birthday. Disney has a special web site that describes how you can get into Disneyland or Disney World for free on your birthday.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Has Madoff Made Off With Your Money? Here's what to do!
If Madoff has made off with your money, you should have received claim forms from the trustee. If you haven't, you can get the form by clicking here.
You should also read the instructions. Please note: the claim form should be sent to the trustee, not the SIPC nor the SEC.
You should also read the instructions. Please note: the claim form should be sent to the trustee, not the SIPC nor the SEC.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
High Yields and Debt Free
If you are looking for the perfect stocks, maybe your criteria for perfect includes stocks that pay high dividends. You probably also want stocks of companies that have no debt. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com came up with a list of 35 different debt free stocks with dividends over 4%. Most of these stocks have price earnings ratios below 18 and price earnings to growth ratios below 1.8. Here are a few worth taking a closer look at:
Pioneer Southwest (PSE) pays a yield of 14%, has a P/E ratio of 9.6, and a PEG ratio of 1.18. The company owns and operates oil and natural gas properties with 25 million barrels of oil equivalent of proven reserves.
AllianceBernstein (AB) pays a yield of 11.3%, has a P/E ratio of 5.9, and a PEG ratio of 0.74. This investment management company provides mutual funds, institutional investment services, managed accounts, hedge funds, and other investment vehicles.
Corporate Executive Board (EXBD) has a yield of 7.8%, with a P/E ratio of 10.3, and PEG ratio of 0.93. The company provides management research and decision support tools to corporations.
Lorillard (LO), the tobacco company that sells Newport, Kent and True cigarettes, is another debt free stock with a yield of 6.5%, a P/E ratio of 11.6, and PEG ratio of 1.36.
To access the entire Excel database of the 35 different high yield debt free stocks, some with yields over 15%, that can be downloaded, changed, and sorted, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.
Author does not own any of the above.
By Stockerblog.com
Pioneer Southwest (PSE) pays a yield of 14%, has a P/E ratio of 9.6, and a PEG ratio of 1.18. The company owns and operates oil and natural gas properties with 25 million barrels of oil equivalent of proven reserves.
AllianceBernstein (AB) pays a yield of 11.3%, has a P/E ratio of 5.9, and a PEG ratio of 0.74. This investment management company provides mutual funds, institutional investment services, managed accounts, hedge funds, and other investment vehicles.
Corporate Executive Board (EXBD) has a yield of 7.8%, with a P/E ratio of 10.3, and PEG ratio of 0.93. The company provides management research and decision support tools to corporations.
Lorillard (LO), the tobacco company that sells Newport, Kent and True cigarettes, is another debt free stock with a yield of 6.5%, a P/E ratio of 11.6, and PEG ratio of 1.36.
To access the entire Excel database of the 35 different high yield debt free stocks, some with yields over 15%, that can be downloaded, changed, and sorted, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.
Author does not own any of the above.
By Stockerblog.com
Friday, January 02, 2009
Happy New Year: Count Your Blessings
Happy New Year to all my readers. No matter how bad things get or what happens with the economy, we need to keep things in perspective.
I have friends who tell me "My stock portfolio is down 40% for the year." And I respond, "You mean you have money to invest in stocks? You're lucky to have stocks. Do you know how many people don't have any investments at all and can barely afford their mortgage or rent? Count your blessings!"
I have friends who say "My house has dropped in value by 35% during the year." And I respond, "You mean you live in a house? You mean you own a house? You mean you are able to afford your mortgage payments? I personally know half a dozen people who lost their homes due to foreclosures during last couple years from the mortgage crisis, and there are hundreds of thousands of others. Count your blessings!"
I have friends who say "My boss is a jerk." (Although they usually use much stronger language than that.) And I respond, "You mean you have a job? You mean you get a regular paycheck? Do you know how many people are out of work or are about to lose their jobs? Do you realize that there have been a lot of people who have been out of work for a year? Count your blessings!'
I could go on and on about the people who whine about their other complaints, such as tennis elbow, but its not finance related. So my message to my readers, and myself especially, is Count Your Blessings.
Happy New Year!
By Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com
I have friends who tell me "My stock portfolio is down 40% for the year." And I respond, "You mean you have money to invest in stocks? You're lucky to have stocks. Do you know how many people don't have any investments at all and can barely afford their mortgage or rent? Count your blessings!"
I have friends who say "My house has dropped in value by 35% during the year." And I respond, "You mean you live in a house? You mean you own a house? You mean you are able to afford your mortgage payments? I personally know half a dozen people who lost their homes due to foreclosures during last couple years from the mortgage crisis, and there are hundreds of thousands of others. Count your blessings!"
I have friends who say "My boss is a jerk." (Although they usually use much stronger language than that.) And I respond, "You mean you have a job? You mean you get a regular paycheck? Do you know how many people are out of work or are about to lose their jobs? Do you realize that there have been a lot of people who have been out of work for a year? Count your blessings!'
I could go on and on about the people who whine about their other complaints, such as tennis elbow, but its not finance related. So my message to my readers, and myself especially, is Count Your Blessings.
Happy New Year!
By Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com
Nine Stocks Selling for Over $2,000 per Share
Do you think the Warren Buffett stock Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) is alone as a high priced share? There are plenty of others that sell for over two grand each. Here they are:
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-A) Recent price: $99,510.00
Bactolac Pharmaceutical Inc. (BTCA) Recent price: $30,000.00
Sterling Sugars, Inc. (STSU) Recent price: $19,300.00
The Seibels Bruce Group (SBBG) Recent price: $5,510.00
American Bank Holdings, Inc. (ABKH) Recent price: $5,000.00
Yadkin Valley Company (YDVL) Recent price: $4,000.00
Acap Corporation (ACPC) Recent price: $3,750.00
Eupa International Corporation (EUPI) Recent price: $2,800.00
LICT Corporation (LICT) Recent price: $2,495.00
You can find more high priced share stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.
Author does not own any of the above.
By Stockerblog.com
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-A) Recent price: $99,510.00
Bactolac Pharmaceutical Inc. (BTCA) Recent price: $30,000.00
Sterling Sugars, Inc. (STSU) Recent price: $19,300.00
The Seibels Bruce Group (SBBG) Recent price: $5,510.00
American Bank Holdings, Inc. (ABKH) Recent price: $5,000.00
Yadkin Valley Company (YDVL) Recent price: $4,000.00
Acap Corporation (ACPC) Recent price: $3,750.00
Eupa International Corporation (EUPI) Recent price: $2,800.00
LICT Corporation (LICT) Recent price: $2,495.00
You can find more high priced share stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.
Author does not own any of the above.
By Stockerblog.com
How to Get High Yields from Chesapeake Energy
If you think the price of natural gas and oil is going up, and you like the prospects of Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK), especially with its 5.5 PE ratio and 0.47 PEG ratio, but you are still concerned about the stock market, why not consider some of the Chesapeake Energy convertible preferred stocks? Especially since Chesapeake only yields 1.9%.
A preferred stock is a stock that pays income, similar to a bond, but with no maturity date, although it may be callable. There is no growth potential with a preferred stock. But if the company goes out of business, the preferred stock is paid off before the common stock. However, a convertible preferred stock is a preferred stock which can be converted into shares of the company's common stock, thereby providing capital appreciation potential.
Here are three Chesapeake convertible preferreds worth taking a closer look at. Please note: depending on what site you are using, the stock ticker symbol may be different from place to place, so I have included a couple different stock symbols for each. Before investing, please check with your brokerage firm to make sure that the one you are interested in matches that data for the one you are planning on buying.
Chesapeake Energy Convertible Preferred (CHK-PD) (CHK-D) 4.5% Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock paying annually $4.50 yielding 7.52% with an ex-dividend date of 2/26/2009 .
Chesapeake Energy Convertible Preferred (CHK-PE) (CHK-E) 6.25% Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock paying annually $15.63 yielding 11.20% with an ex-dividend date of 2/26/2009 .
Chesapeake Energy Convertible Preferred (CHKDG.PK) (CHKDG) Cumulative Convertible Preferred Bond paying annually $5.00 yielding 9.43% with an ex-dividend date of 1/29/2009 .
If you like high yield investments, check out highest quarterly dividend stocks and highest monthly dividend stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.
Author does not own any of the above.
By Stockerblog.com
A preferred stock is a stock that pays income, similar to a bond, but with no maturity date, although it may be callable. There is no growth potential with a preferred stock. But if the company goes out of business, the preferred stock is paid off before the common stock. However, a convertible preferred stock is a preferred stock which can be converted into shares of the company's common stock, thereby providing capital appreciation potential.
Here are three Chesapeake convertible preferreds worth taking a closer look at. Please note: depending on what site you are using, the stock ticker symbol may be different from place to place, so I have included a couple different stock symbols for each. Before investing, please check with your brokerage firm to make sure that the one you are interested in matches that data for the one you are planning on buying.
Chesapeake Energy Convertible Preferred (CHK-PD) (CHK-D) 4.5% Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock paying annually $4.50 yielding 7.52% with an ex-dividend date of 2/26/2009 .
Chesapeake Energy Convertible Preferred (CHK-PE) (CHK-E) 6.25% Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock paying annually $15.63 yielding 11.20% with an ex-dividend date of 2/26/2009 .
Chesapeake Energy Convertible Preferred (CHKDG.PK) (CHKDG) Cumulative Convertible Preferred Bond paying annually $5.00 yielding 9.43% with an ex-dividend date of 1/29/2009 .
If you like high yield investments, check out highest quarterly dividend stocks and highest monthly dividend stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.
Author does not own any of the above.
By Stockerblog.com