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Alternatively, even strong management can make for extraordinary success in a mature industry (Alcoa in aluminum). Some of the questions to ask might include: How talented is the management team? Do they have a track record? How long have they worked together? Can management deliver on its promises? If management is a problem, it is sometimes best to move on.
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6 Common Misconceptions About Dividends
During periods of low yields and market volatility, more than a few experts recommend dividend stocks and funds. This may sound like good advice, but unfortunately, it is often based on misconceptions and anecdotal evidence.
It is time to take a closer look at the six most common reasons why advisors and other experts recommend dividends and why, based on these reasons, such recommendations are often unsound advice.
Misconception No. 1: Dividends are a good income-producing alternative when money market yields are low.
Taking cash and buying dividend stocks isnt consistent with being a conservative investor, regardless of what money markets are yielding. Additionally, there is no evidence that money market yields signal the right time to invest in dividend-focused mutual funds. In fact,money market yields were anemic throughout 2009, a year that is also one of the worst periods for dividend-focused funds in history.
Many advisors also call dividends a good complement to other investments during times of high volatility and low bank yields. In an October 22, 2009 article, financial guru Suze Orman recommended the following dividend funds: iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index (NYSE:DVY), WisdomTree Total Dividend (NYSE:DTD)
Conversely, active securities with current disclosure tend to have tighter spreads because market makers believe they have sufficient knowledge of the company and the security to buy and sell with confidence.
If you are not interested in the opening price, bar charts are an ideal method for analyzing the close relative to the high and low.
Inter-dealer Quotation/Trading Systems allow broker-dealers to post and disseminate their ‘quotes’ (prices) to the market place and, in the case of OTC Link, negotiate trades at agreed-upon prices.
Portfolio Management Tips For Young Investors
Too many young people rarely, or never, invest for their retirement years. Some distant date, 40 or so years in the future, is hard to imagine. However, without investments to supplement retirement income, if any, retirees will have a difficult time paying for lifes necessities. TUTORIAL:Stocks Basics
Smart, disciplined, regular investment in a portfolio of diverse holdings, can yield good long-term returns for retirement and provide additional income throughout an investors working life.
An often stated reason for not investing is a lack of knowledge and understanding of the stock market. This objection can be overcome through self-education and step-by-step through the years, as an investor learns by investing. Classes in investing are also offered by a variety of sources, including city and state colleges, civic and not-for-profit organizations, and there are numerous books targeted to the beginning investor.
However, youve got to start investing now; the earlier you begin, the more time your investments will have to grow in value. Heres a good way to start building a portfolio, and how to manage it for the best results. (For related reading, see Top 5 Books For Young Investors.)
Start Early
Start saving as soon as you go to work by participating in a 401(k) retirement plan, if its offered by your employer. If a 401(k) plan is not available, establish an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and earmark a percentage of your compensation for a monthly contribution to the account. An easy, convenient way to save in an IRA or 401(k) is to create an automatic monthly cash contribution. Keep in mind, the savings accumulate and the interest compounds without taxes, as long as the money is not withdrawn, so its wise to establish one of these retirement investment vehicles early in your working life.
Another reason to start saving early is that usually the younger you are, the less likely you are to have burdensome financial obligations: a spouse, children and mortgage, for example. That means you can allocate a small portion of your investment portfolio to higher risk investments, which may return higher yields.
When you start investing while young, before your financial commitments start piling up, youll probably also have more cash available for investing and a longer time horizon before retirement. With more money to invest for many years to come, youll have a bigger retirement nest egg.
To illustrate the advantage of value investing as soon as possible, assume you invest $200 every month starting at age 25. If you earn a 7% annual return on that money, when youre 65 your retirement nest egg will be approximately $525,000. However, if you start saving that $200 monthly at age 35 and get the same 7% return, youll only have about $244,000 at age 65. (For additional reading, see Accelerating Returns With Continuous Compounding.)
Diversify
Select stocks across a broad spectrum of market categories. This is best achieved in an index fund. Invest in conservative stocks with regular dividends, stocks with long-term growth potential, and a small percentage of stocks with better returns, along with higher risk potential. If youre investing in individual stocks, dont put more than 4% of your total portfolio into one stock. That way, if a stock or two suffers a downturn, your portfolio wont be too adversely effected. Certain AAA rated bonds are also good investments for the long term, either corporate or government. Long-term U.S. Treasury bonds, for example, are safe and pay a higher rate of return than short- and mid-term bonds. (To learn more on investing in bonds, read Bond Basics: Different Types Of Bonds.)
Keep Costs to a Minimum
Invest with a discount brokerage firm. Another reason to consider index funds when beginning to invest is that they have low fees. Because youll be investing for the long-term, dont buy and sell regularly in response to market ups and downs. This saves you commission expenses and management fees, and may prevent cash losses when the price of your stock declines.
Discipline and Regular Investing
Make sure that you put money into your investments on a regular, disciplined basis. This may not be possible if you lose your job, but once you find new employment, continue to put money into your portfolio.
Asset Allocation and Re-Balance
Assign a certain percentage of your portfolio to growth stocks, dividend paying stocks, index funds and stocks with a higher risk, but better returns.
When your asset allocation changes (i.e., market fluctuations change the percentage of your portfolio allocated to each category), re-balance your portfolio by adjusting your monetary stake in each category to reflect your original percentage. (For more information, read Five Things To Know About Asset Allocation.),
Tax Considerations
A portfolio of holdings in a tax-deferred account, a 401(k), for example, builds wealth faster than a portfolio with tax liability. You pay taxes on the amount of money withdrawn from a tax deferred retirement account. A Roth IRA also accumulates tax free savings, but the account owner doesnt have to pay taxes on the amount withdrawn. To qualify for a Roth IRA, your modified adjusted gross income must meet IRS limits and other regulations. Earnings are federally tax free if youve owned your Roth IRA for at least five years and youre older than 59.5, or if youre younger than 59.5, have owned your Roth IRA for at least five years and the withdrawal is due to your death or disability, or for a first time home purchase.
The Bottom Line
Disciplined, regular, diversified investment in a tax deferred 401(k), IRA or a potentially tax-free Roth IRA, and smart portfolio management can build a significant nest egg for retirement. A portfolio with tax liability, dividends and the sale of profitable stock can provide cash to supplement employment or business income. Managing your assets by re-allocation and keeping costs, such as commissions and management fees, low, can produce maximum returns. If you start investing as early as possible, your stocks will have more time to build value. Finally, keep learning about investments throughout your life, both before and after retirement. The more you know, the more your potential portfolio return, with proper management, of course.
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If fair value is not equal to the current stock price, fundamental analysts believe that the stock is either over or under valued and the market price will ultimately gravitate towards fair value.
OTC Markets cooperates fully with securities regulators and those regulators are continually working to combat fraud; however, it is not possible to eradicate fraud from the markets. Accordingly, you must be very cautious when making a decision to invest in an OTC security.
The NYSE And Nasdaq: How They Work
Whenever someone talks about the stock market as a place where equities are exchanged between buyers and sellers, the first thing that comes to mind is either the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or Nasdaq, and theres no debate over why. These two exchanges account for the trading of a major portion of equities in North America and worldwide. At the same time, however, the NYSE and Nasdaq are very different in the way they operate and in the types of equities traded therein. Knowing these differences will help you better understand the function of a stock exchange and the mechanics behind the buying and selling of stocks.
Location, Location, Location
The location of an exchange refers not so much to its street address but the place where its transactions take place. On the NYSE, all trades occur in a physical place, on the trading floor in New York City. So, when you see those guys waving their hands on TV or ringing a bell before opening the exchange, you are seeing the people through whom stocks are transacted on the NYSE.
The Nasdaq, on the other hand, is located not on a physical trading floor but on a telecommunications network. People are not on a floor of the exchange matching buy and sell orders on behalf of investors. Instead, trading takes place directly between investors and their buyers or sellers, who are the market makers (whose role we discuss below in the next section), through an elaborate system of companies electronically connected to one another.
Dealer vs. Auction Market
The fundamental difference between the NYSE and Nasdaq is in the way securities on the exchanges are transacted between buyers and sellers. The Nasdaq is a dealers market, wherein market participants are not buying from and selling to one another directly but through a dealer, which, in the case of the Nasdaq, is a market maker . The NYSE is an auction market, wherein individuals are typically buying and selling between one another and there is an auction occurring; that is, the highest bidding price will be matched with the lowest asking price. (For more on different types of markets, see Markets Demystified.)
Traffic Control
Each stock market has its own traffic control police officer. Yup, thats right, just as a broken traffic light needs a person to control the flow of cars, each exchange requires people who are at the intersection where buyers and sellers meet, or place their orders. The traffic controllers of both exchanges deal with specific traffic problems and, in turn, make it possible for their markets to work. On the Nasdaq, the traffic controller is known as the market maker, who, we already mentioned, transacts with buyers and sellers to keep the flow of trading going. On the NYSE, the exchange traffic controller is known as the specialist, who is in charge of matching up buyers and sellers.
The definitions of the role of the market maker and that of the specialist are technically different; a market maker creates a market for a security, whereas a specialist merely facilitates it. However, the duty of both the market maker and specialist is to ensure smooth and orderly markets for clients. If too many orders get backed up, the traffic controllers of the exchanges will work to match the bidders with the askers to ensure the completion of as many orders as possible. If there is nobody willing to buy or sell, the market makers of the Nasdaq and the specialists of the NYSE will try to see if they can find buyers and sellers and even buy and sell from their own inventories.
Perception and Cost
One thing that we cant quantify but must acknowledge is the way in which the companies on each of these exchanges are generally perceived by investors. The Nasdaq is typically known as a high-tech market, attracting many of the firms dealing with the internet or electronics. Accordingly, the stocks on this exchange are considered to be more volatile and growth oriented. On the other hand, the companies on NYSE are perceived to be more well established. Its listings include many of the blue chip firms and industrials that were around before our parents, and its stocks are considered to be more stable and established.
Whether a stock trades on the Nasdaq or the NYSE is not necessarily a critical factor for investors when they are deciding on stocks to invest in. However, because both exchanges are perceived differently, the decision to list on a particular exchange is an important one for many companies. A companys decision to list on a particular exchange is affected also by the listing costs and requirements set by each individual exchange. The entry fee a company can expect to pay on the NYSE is up to $250,000 while on the Nasdaq, it is only $50,000-$75,000. Yearly listing fees are also a big factor: on the NYSE, they based on the number of shares of a listed security, and are capped at $500,000, while the Nasdaq fees come in at around $27,500. So we can understand why the growth-type stocks (companies with less initial capital) would be found on the Nasdaq exchange. (For further reading, see What are the listing requirements for the Nasdaq?)
Public vs. Private
Prior to March 8, 2006, the final major difference between these two exchanges was their type of ownership: the Nasdaq exchange was listed as a publicly-traded corporation, while the NYSE was private. This all changed in March 2006 when the NYSE went public after being a not-for-proft exchange for nearly 214 years. Most of the time, we think of the Nasdaq and NYSE as markets or exchanges, but these entities are both actual businesses providing a service to earn a profit for shareholders. The shares of these exchanges, like those of any public company, can be bought and sold by investors on an exchange. (Incidentally, both the Nasdaq and the NYSE trade on themselves.) As publicly traded companies, the Nasdaq and the NYSE must follow the standard filing requirements set out by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Now that the NYSE has become a publicly traded corporation, the differences between these two exchanges are starting to decrease, but the remaining differences should not affect how they function as marketplaces for equity traders and investors.
Conclusion
Both the NYSE and the Nasdaq markets accommodate the major portion of all equities trading in North America, but these exchanges are by no means the same. Although their differences may not affect your stock picks, your understanding of how these exchanges work will give you some insight into how trades are executed and how a market works.
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Advance fee fraud gets its name from the fact that an investor is asked to pay a fee up front or in advance of receiving any proceeds, money, stock or warrants in order for the deal to go through.
Variety A Bitter Spice For Investors
Customer confusion is a phenomenon that has emerged relatively recently and is normally considered in terms of conventional marketing. For instance, if you go into a big box store, you will be confronted with dozens of models of various products, which, to the average person, may look pretty much the same. This can be confusing and problematic for both customers and firms.
The same thing often occurs in the investment market, but the effects are even more substantial and the consequences for consumers may be far more serious than for other goods and services. If youve ever felt overwhelmed by the array of financial products in the market, read on for some tips on how to simplify your portfolio.
Customer Confusion
A number of studies reveal that while customers may initially be attracted to a wide choice of products, many eventually give up in despair or make the wrong decisions. For instance, Frank Pillar and his colleagues investigated the consequences of mass confusion and the burden of choice in the online world (Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2005). I also looked at the confusion phenomenon from a broader marketing perspective in Choice That Sends Out Wrong Buying Signals (Daily Telegraph, 2005).
What these studies suggest is that being spoiled for choice has serious implications, not just for the successful marketing of investment products , but on the gains or losses for investors. In the investment sector, the main victims are those that are financially inexperienced and rely on brokers and advisors to recommend products.
Too Many Choices
For instance, investment magazines and the financial sections of many newspapers display a remarkable array of products, categories, sub-categories and statistics. This often confuses consumers.
Take theThe Wall Street Journal Europe, which has a section on international investment funds. In August 2007, the total fund listing for Alliance Bernstein, which is just one organization, contained more than 60 funds: five conservative funds, seven balanced and various permutations of growth funds, value funds and so on. For less experienced investors in particular, choosing which fund or combination of funds will work best for them can be very difficult.
Too Much Complexity
Some products such as (certain types of) certificates, options and derivatives are notoriously complex and each constitutes its own esoteric world. An article from the highly-regarded Swiss Neue Zuercher Zeitung entitled Confusion Over Complex Financial Products (July 2007), makes this exact point. Referring to the collateralized debt obligation (CDO) market, the article points out that because of the high level of complexity, these products are difficult to evaluate and rate.
Furthermore, the markets for all investments are in constant flux. This means that even if you have clarity at one point in time, confusion can arise later as a result of ongoing developments relating to interest rates, market sentiment, economic data and many other factors.
The Dangers of Confusion
With the truly overwhelming selection of assets in the financial markets, many investors find it nearly impossible to make efficient and effective purchasing decisions based on the right criteria. In fact, they are often totally unable to figure out what they really need or even understand what they are being offered. When investing becomes a stressful ordeal, customers minds tend to shut down in protest. Their wallets either go back into their pockets or their money ends up in the wrong place.
In addition, inexperienced investors are particularly vulnerable to misselling. As a result, cases abound in which people put large sums of money into the hands of a broker, having no idea how their money will be handled. In a worst-case scenario, the money is plugged into products that are totally unsuited to the unwitting investor.
The growing number of choices in the market can mean that even experienced brokers may not be able to cope with the changing array of funds in the market and, as a result, may limit themselves to a very narrow range. In other words, brokers may sell specific products either because they are genuinely good, or simply because they are familiar. The latter reduces confusion - even for brokers - but can be financially dangerous for their clients. Unscrupulous brokers may also stick to the products that bring in the highest commission. This truly unethical behavior is also facilitated by consumer confusion.
Coping with Confusion
There is a right and a wrong way to cope with confusion about which products belong in your portfolio. The wrong way is to cop out and put everything in cash or in one product or asset class. This leads to a poorly constructed and inadequately diversified portfolio. Conversely, some investors have a hodgepodge of all kinds of assets that do not fit together at all. This is also poor asset allocation and it too can prevent an investor from realizing appropriate returns.
Find A Trustworthy Advisor
Learning enough to make good investments or finding people you can rely on and trust are good ways of working through the customer confusion problem. Some effort is essential in order to avoid falling into the classic investment traps. That is, you need to make sure you either knowhow to invest well, or you need to know that you are relying on people who merit your trust.
However, given the extraordinary complexity of the investment world, it is necessary to accept some limitations to the above. In this business, even an expert does not know everything. For example, a bond specialist may not be the best person to turn to for guidance on equity investments or foreign products. In order to get the best financial advice , you need to consider where peoples expertise lies and where it ends.
Keep It Simple
Even if you have good advisors, dont let your portfolio get too busy. Limit your portfolio to a variety of asset classes and items that both you and your broker understand. For example, the conventional wisdom is that if you have a portfolio of individual stocks, 10-15 stocks is about all that you can cope with without becoming overwhelmed. It simply is not possible to keep tabs too many bits and pieces in a portfolio.
For this reason, despite what they often promise, funds with 40 or more holdings tend to track the market as a whole. That is, individuals or fund managers with overloaded and excessively complex portfolios tend not to manage them actively and effectively. As a result, a market indexfund that is designed to move with the market may be more effective - not to mention much less confusing.
In the same vein, if you have 30 different funds, it is likely to be very difficult to manage, monitor and control them all effectively. For some investors, a mixed fund that does all this for you might be the best way to avoid confusion. Such funds contain a combination of asset classes such as stocks, bonds and alternative assets and they do all the monitoring and rebalancing. If they do it well, it is probably the simplest and least confusing way to invest for those with limited time or little inclination to manage their own money.
The Bottom Line
If confusion is to be avoided, you need to keep your portfolio simple and sensible, but at the same time, sufficiently diversified. Take the time to find this balance, and avoid becoming overwhelmed by new products. Investing neednt be complicated, and if you avoid confusion, your portfolio will reward you for it.
Support and Resistance Zones
Because technical analysis is not an exact science, it is useful to create support and resistance zones. This is contrary to the strategy mapped out for Lucent Technologies (LU), but it is sometimes the case.
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The difference in detail can be seen with the daily and weekly chart comparison above.
5 Reasons To Fear The Stock Market
Even for those who know nothing about investing, theyve heard of the stock market. Each night on the evening news telecasts, the level of the Dow Jones Industrial Average is reported. When there is a significant market move up or down, its often a front page story. This allows for the stock market to hold a kind of celebrity status in many peoples minds. However, for those looking to put some of their hard earned money to work, is the stock market a place to make money or is it a financial wolf in sheeps clothing?
1. The Market Is Rigged
If youre avoiding the stock market because youve heard that its rigged, that is debatable. When we hear stories of Bernard Madoff and the many other cases of insider trading scandals, its easy to believe that the market is made up of greedy people willing to break the law to make a few bucks - that theyre making the money by taking yours.
Barry Ritholtz is a well-known financial blogger who was interviewed by Yahoo Finance recently on this subject. He said that although insider trading certainly takes place, the bulk of the information that may be considered inside or privileged information is nothing more than rumor that is often untrue. Because of that, professional money managers conduct their own research and ignore the rumors. Ritholtz goes on to say that where the individual investor is at a disadvantage is that they lack the tools or manpower to sift through the huge volume of information publicly available. The market certainly has people who are breaking the law, but the pros are just as vulnerable as the little players. (Many would-be, first-time investors in the stock market do not believe it is a fair playing field. Check out Is The Stock Market Rigged?)
2. Computers Run the Show
This is true. Current statistics show that computers are responsible for 70% of all trading volume in the world markets. Millions of stock trades are taking place each second and those computers arent evaluating stocks using the typical screening criteria that is publicly available to the average investor. Proprietary computer programs are often not even fully understood by the people using them. While the retail investor might be evaluating the quality of the management at the company, a computer may be evaluating the mathematics of the price history of the stock.
If computers are controlling 70% of the price action of the stock, how is an individual supposed to forecast the direction of a stock? The modern part-time investor may be best served by long term investing that allows for the characteristics of the company to play more heavily in to the equation.
3. Its too Tough for the Average Investor
This may be cause for fear unless you ask former hedge fund manager and CNBC commentator Jim Cramer. As stated in his book, Real Money, Cramer believes that the retail or part time investor can make money in the stock market by following a set of rules. Among them, conducting at least one hour per week of research for every stock owned. Of his 25 investing rules, others include diversifying your portfolio and buying stocks that are undervalued but not purchasing stocks of damaged companies.
His contention is that many retail investors lose money not because the stock market is too difficult but because part-time investors dont have the time or may not be willing to put in the time needed to make informed decisions in a complicated market.
4. The Economy Is Bad
One of the real reasons to fear the stock market could very well be the economy. The Federal Reserve reports that for every 20% drop in the stock market, gross domestic product is reduced by 1.25% after one year. However, as any seasoned investor knows, the stock market rarely represents in real time the state of the current economy. When the economy is questionable, the stock market tends to be the same way. Investors may see a quick rise in prices presenting a false sense of security only to see it violently drop in value in a short time.
Which penny stocks will rise? Well tell you, free!
A struggling economy is definitely cause for fear of the stock market, and some would recommend new investors wait until some stability in the market and the overall economy is seen. The problem is that finding stability in the stock market may take a long time.
5. It Has Gone Up Fast
Since the 2009 lows, the stock market has risen more than 70%. For many, thats a recipe for disaster. If anything is a cause for fear, this may be it. On one hand, markets that move up fast tend to fall fast - with a market that has been in bull mode for the past year, that should scare any investor.
Others will argue that the market is up drastically because the Great Recession caused it to drop just as violently, which makes the recent uptrend a move towards fair value. So which of these opposing views does the part time retail investor believe? Do they have enough experience and expertise to make an informed choice? Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. (For additional reading, see The Rise And Fall Of The Shadow Banking System.)
The Bottom Line
When investing, the stock market is definitely cause for concern but sometimes a little bit of fear is healthy. Avoiding putting your money to work because of fear probably isnt the best course of action either. If you dont feel that you have the necessary knowledge, get help. Find an independent, fee based financial advisor in your area to help you make a reasonable return while teaching you about the ins and outs of the market.
In the U.S., over-the-counter trading in stock is carried out by market makers using inter-dealer quotation services such as OTC Link (a service offered by OTC Markets Group) and the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB, operated by FINRA). The OTCBB licenses the services of OTC Link for their OTCBB securities.
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Semi-log scales are useful when the price has moved significantly, be it over a short or extended time frame.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) regulates broker-dealers that operate in the over-the-counter (OTC) market. Many equity securities, corporate bonds, government securities, and certain derivative products are traded in the OTC market.
3 Essential Rules For New Investors
The investing landscape can be extremely volatile, and changes year after year, but there is a lot to be said for investing in what you really know and understand. Considering the enormous number of products on offer, and the nature of the industry, it is not that simple to be simple, but it can certainly be done. First, we will take a look at the potential difficulties of understanding investments, and then well look at how new investors can invest safely, suitably and sensibly.
How Much Do We Really Understand?
One could argue that the only asset that is fully understandable is cash in the bank, or some form of fixed deposit. Here, you know exactly how much you will earn and that you will get your capital back. The problem is that you will be lucky to beat inflation, and simply leaving your money in cash is not the answer; it is just not a productive investment.
Moving a bit up the risk ladder, we get to bonds. Given the variety of bonds and bond funds, understanding what you get is also not necessarily that simple. Government bonds are fairly straightforward, but, again, they dont pay much. Municipal bonds pay a little more and are usually tax exempt, but are not going to satisfy the average investors retirement needs. So to really earn anything, you need a variety of bonds, probably some corporate ones, plus, arguably some foreign ones. Yet, these start to become complex and more risky, depending on various factors relating to the issuing company or country. Likewise, bond funds may depend on a number of managerial and financial issues. (Learn more in the Bond Basics Tutorial.)
The same applies to stocks, mutual funds and so on. Even real estate funds have proven to be less reliable and straightforward than many people might think. Direct real estate purchases are more understandable in one sense – what you see is what you get. But then again, there can be unknowns relating to the market, taxation, the location, disclosure by the seller and so on.
Similarly, alternative investments, like hedge funds, can be extremely complex. Infrastructure, too, is without doubt a great idea in principle, but the nitty-gritty of investing in it is not such a sure thing. No matter how sound the principle of a particular investment, there is almost always someone or something out there that can make it go wrong. And as for certificates of deposit (CD), they are probably the hardest type of investment to understand. Given yield curves, expectations and potential early withdraw penalties, they may be the easiest to missell. (Analyzing a hedge fund will help you determine whether its a good investment - and a good fit. Read Hedge Fund Due Diligence, for more.)
Tracker funds, on the other hand, are relatively simple to understand – you are indeed just buying the market, but the markets themselves are not so easy to deal with and understand. Furthermore, the tracker market is becoming more sophisticated and complex. This all sounds very daunting. But in fact, one can still invest simply and understandably, at low cost and with a good, diversified portfolio that is likely to perform well over time.
How Can We Invest Sensibly, Suitably and Simply?
The above section certainly implies that we really know very little about a lot of asset classes and investments. Nonetheless, there are many ways of ensuring that you are investing in what you know. One can really invest in a straightforward manner, and understand what one is doing.
Many veteran investors have simple diversified portfolios, and look more at asset allocation. Spending hours performing regression analysis is not an option for many part-time investors. For example, Steven Goldberg, of Kiplinger, has said in his Value Added Web Column that: Most people wish they didnt have to be investors, and that they lead busy enough lives without having to worry about stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Goldberg therefore recommends sticking with index funds that simply mirror the market and only attempt to be average. He even argues that one only needs three index funds, one covering the U.S. equity market, another with international equities and the third tracking a bond index. (Use these rules to guide you on the road to financial freedom, check out The 10 Commandments Of Investing.)
Trackers are sometimes better than actively managed funds. Lower fees, low turnover and a combination of available investor education makes index investing extremely attractive. So, a really straightforward mix of these funds is transparent, cheap and does as good (or better) a job as more complex and expensive vehicles. Despite the above, to be fair, there are a lot of good managed funds out there. With a bit of effort, you can find reliable and understandable equity and bond funds with which you can relax.
A good piece of advice is to start searching through Investopedia.coms tutorial section, namely to start with simple investments and then expand and extend as you learn more. Specifically, mutual funds or exchange-traded funds are a good way to get going, and one can then move on to individual stocks, real estate and further down the line, even a sensible amount into resources or hedge funds.
It is interesting to note the book title, How Buffett Does It: 24 Simple Investing Strategies from the Worlds Greatest Value Investor (James Pardoe, McGraw-Hill, 2005), about the worlds greatest pro. Buffett himself comments that Wall Street dislikes too much simplicity. The reason is that brokers make money out of complexity. But one does not have to fall for this.
Conclusions
The more you learn, the better. But above and beyond this, you can (and probably should) avoid investments that you do not even understand in principle. A small number of index funds seems a very good solution. (You might want to check out Getting Started In Stocks.)
Also, go on sound recommendations. If your parents-in-law have been investing for 20 years in some mixed fund which has served them well, there is a better chance that it will continue to do so. On the other hand, if you get a phone call from someone who you met in a pub last week and who wants to give you a hot tip as a big favor, be more skeptical.
Likewise, there are many independent financial advisors around who get paid only for their time and not on commission. Their job is to understand what they recommend, without the pressure of having to sell to earn a commission. And make sure you diversify, not only into asset classes, but possibly into different banks and fund providers. Then, if something goes wrong that neither you nor anyone else seemed to understand after all, the losses are not so disastrous. Always bear in mind that too many bits and pieces also create complexity which can lead to errors.
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Portfolio managers are hired to put it all together and outperform their benchmark, usually measured as the S
The OTC market is made up of many different types of companies, ranging from OTCQX companies worthy of investor consideration to economically distressed companies to speculative shell companies.
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The Basics Of Corporate Structure
CEOs, CFOs, presidents and vice presidents: whats the difference? With the changing corporate horizon, it has become increasingly difficult to keep track of what people do and where they stand on the corporate ladder. Should we be paying more attention to news relating to the CFO or the vice president? What exactly do they do?
Corporate governance is one of the main reasons that these terms exist. The evolution of public ownership has created a separation between ownership and management . Before the 20th century, many companies were small, family owned and family run. Today, many are large international conglomerates that trade publicly on one or many global exchanges.
In an attempt to create a corporation where stockholders interests are looked after, many firms have implemented a two-tier corporate hierarchy. On the first tier is the board of governors or directors: these individuals are elected by the shareholders of the corporation. On the second tier is the upper management: these individuals are hired by the board of directors. Lets begin by taking a closer look at the board of directors and what its members do.
Board of Directors
Elected by the shareholders, the board of directors is made up of two types of representatives. The first type involves individuals chosen from within the company. This can be a CEO , CFO, manager or any other person who works for the company on a daily basis. The other type of representative is chosen externally and is considered to be independent from the company. The role of the board is to monitor the managers of a corporation, acting as an advocate for stockholders. In essence, the board of directors tries to make sure that shareholders interests are well served.
Board members can be divided into three categories:
• Chairman – Technically the leader of the corporation, the chairman of the board is responsible for running the board smoothly and effectively. His or her duties typically include maintaining strong communication with the chief executive officer and high-level executives, formulating the companys business strategy , representing management and the board to the general public and shareholders, and maintaining corporate integrity. A chairman is elected from the board of directors.
• Inside Directors – These directors are responsible for approving high-level budgets prepared by upper management, implementing and monitoring business strategy, and approving core corporate initiatives and projects. Inside directors are either shareholders or high-level management from within the company. Inside directors help provide internal perspectives for other board members. These individuals are also referred to as executive directors if they are part of companys management team.
• Outside Directors – While having the same responsibilities as the inside directors in determining strategic direction and corporate policy, outside directors are different in that they are not directly part of the management team. The purpose of having outside directors is to provide unbiased and impartial perspectives on issues brought to the board.
Management Team
As the other tier of the company, the management team is directly responsible for the day-to-day operations (and profitability) of the company.
• Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – As the top manager, the CEO is typically responsible for the entire operations of the corporation and reports directly to the chairman and board of directors. It is the CEOs responsibility to implement board decisions and initiatives and to maintain the smooth operation of the firm, with the assistance of senior management . Often, the CEO will also be designated as the companys president and therefore also be one of the inside directors on the board (if not the chairman). (To learn about what CEOs sometimes do but shouldnt, see Pages From The Bad CEO Playbook.)
• Chief Operations Officer (COO) – Responsible for the corporations operations, the COO looks after issues related to marketing, sales, production and personnel. More hands-on than the CEO, the COO looks after day-to-day activities while providing feedback to the CEO. The COO is often referred to as a senior vice president.
• Chief Finance Officer (CFO) – Also reporting directly to the CEO, the CFO is responsible for analyzing and reviewing financial data , reporting financial performance, preparing budgets and monitoring expenditures and costs. The CFO is required to present this information to the board of directors at regular intervals and provide this information to shareholders and regulatory bodies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Also usually referred to as a senior vice president, the CFO routinely checks the corporations financial health and integrity.
How Does This Affect Your Investment?
Together, management and the board of governors have the ultimate goal of maximizing shareholder value . In theory, management looks after the day-to-day operations, and the board ensures that shareholders are adequately represented. But the reality is that many boards are made up of management.
When you are researching a company, its always a good idea to see if there is a good balance between internal and external board members. Other good signs are the separation of CEO and chairman roles and a variety of professional expertise on the board from accountants, lawyers and executives. Its not uncommon to see boards that are comprised of the current CEO (who is chairman), the CFO and the COO, along with the retired CEO, family members, etc. This does not necessarily signal that a company is a bad investment, but, as a shareholder, you should question whether such a corporate structure is in your best interests.
OTC derivatives are significant part of the world of global finance. The OTC derivatives markets are large and have grown exponentially over the last two decades. The expansion has been driven by interest rate products, foreign exchange instruments and credit default swaps. The notional outstanding of OTC derivatives markets rose throughout the period and totaled approximately US$601 trillion at December 31, 2010.[5] In the past two decades, the major internationally active financial institutions have significantly increased the share of their earnings from derivatives activities.
A fundamental analyst believes that analyzing strategy, management, product, financial statistics and many other readily and not-so-readily quantifiable numbers will help choose stocks that will outperform the market.
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ADRs: Invest Offshore Without Leaving Home
It was April 1927. Calvin Coolidge was president, and noteworthy events that die-hard historians or baseball fans may recall include the Italian anarchists Saccho and Vanzetti receiving their death sentences and Babe Ruth hitting the first of his 60 home runs, - a single-season record at the time. For investors, a third event in April 1927 has proved equally important and far more profitable: the debut of American depositary receipts (ADRs). (Read What Are Depositary Receipts? for background reading on this common type of security.)
An ADR represents ownership of shares in a foreign company, but it can be bought and sold just like any U.S. stock, allowing investors to diversify their portfolios with foreign assets, but skip the hassle of a foreign brokerage account. Sound intriguing? Find out how these securities work and what they can add to your portfolio.
History of the ADR and Current Stats
John Piermont Morgan (yes, that J.P. Morgan), launched the first ADR for the U.K.s Selfridges Provincial Stores Limited, the famous retailer now known as Selfridges Plc. Even the audacious J.P. Morgan probably had no idea of the trend he was touching off. As of mid-2008, there were more than 2,250 depositary programs representing more than 1,800 companies from over 70 countries listed on global stock exchanges. According to the Bank of New York Mellon, in the first half of 2008, 52 billion shares of ADRs changed hands, representing a value of $2.07 trillion.
Benefits of ADR Investing
Some benefits of ADR investing are clear. First, many international markets, especially emerging markets, have higher GDP growth rates than the United States or Europe. While the American stocks in your portfolio may be stagnating, holding a few ADRs has the potential to provide you with solid returns during downturns in domestic markets. Your broker and the financial media are always advocating diversification; ADRs represent a great avenue to diversify yourportfolio. (Read Going International to learn about this and other ways to diversify your portfolio with foreign stocks.)
Another benefit investors can realize through ADR investing is favorable currency conversions for dividends and other cash distributions. For example, if you own shares of a European ADR and the euro is strong against the dollar, a dividend increase will be that much more rewarding because the dividend payment has to be converted to dollars. (Read more in The Impact Of Currency Conversions.)
The most obvious benefit of ADRs is that they make international companies that investors would normally have to pay a premium for (or perhaps be unable to buy at all) more accessible. If you want to buy 100 shares of Petrobras, the Brazilian oil giant, all you need to do is call your broker or log onto your online brokerage account. Theres no need to find a distant relative living in Brazil to execute the trade for you.
Perils and Pitfalls
As buyers of ADRs, we treat them as we would any other securities purchase: we want to profit. However, there are issues that can arise with ADRs that arent always germane to domestic stocks. Lets use a 2008 geopolitical conflict to highlight a potential peril. Say you own some shares of a Russian oil ADR, and neighboring country Georgias military is able to knock out a couple hundred miles of pipeline. As far-flung as it seems, this scenario could come to bear, especially in a developing nation. The same goes for political unrest. Its probably best to identify dictators and not invest in companies based in nations that are ruled by these leaders, as these countries are more prone to political strife. (Due diligence is key to not getting burned by an unfamiliar investment. Read Due Diligence In 10 Easy Steps to learn what to look for.)
Of course your ADR investments are subject to some of the same risks as your domestic investments, including credit, currency and inflation risk. These should be taken into account, regardless of the state of the market. There are some markets, such as Australia and Canada, where the local currencies are tied directly to commodity prices. If gold or oil is going up, this contributes to a rise in those currencies. Of course, when those commodities fall, the currencies fall in tandem. This is just one more factor an investor needs to take into account. (Read Investing Beyond Your Borders for more risks associated with investing overseas.)
There are levels of ADRs on U.S. markets. For example, a Level I ADR trades over the counter and as such, is highly speculative. Those shares probably arent liquid and, whats worse, information on the company is scant. Keep in mind that many countries dont require their public companies to report results quarterly like the U.S. does. For better or worse, Level I issues are the fastest-growing segment of the ADR market, according to the Bank of New York Mellon.
Thinking of buying that Chinese solar company that trades 20,000 shares a day at $1.50? Its probably best to wait for it to graduate to the Nasdaq or NYSE. Level II and III ADRs are where investors want to be. These are the ADRs that trade on major U.S. exchanges and must uphold the same general reporting rules and SEC regulations as American-based corporations. (IFRS are poised to change some aspects of international reporting. Read International Reporting Standards Gain Global Recognition to learn more.)
Tax Treatment of ADRs
Tax treatment of ADRs by the IRS is generally the same as for domestic investments. Investors are subject to the same capital gains and dividend taxes at the same rates. There is a little twist, however: many countries will withhold taxes on dividends paid. While the American investor must still pay U.S. income tax on the net dividend, the amount of the foreign tax may be claimed by the investor as a deduction against income or claimed against U.S. income tax. Investors are encouraged to consult a professional tax or investment advisor to make sure they are recording (and paying taxes on) their ADR investments properly. (Read more about capital gains and dividend taxation in Dividend Facts You May Not Know.)
Conclusion
Investors should look beyond the confines of the U.S. borders in an effort to diversify and maximize returns. Many investors ignore the foreign-equity asset class entirely, and this is not beneficial to their portfolios. ADRs are one way to diversify your portfolio and help you achieve better returns when the U.S. market is in a slump.
Generally, OTC Markets will remove Caveat Emptor designation once the security meets the qualifications for OTC Pink Current Information or OTCQB and we are satisfied that there is no longer a public interest concern, typically no sooner than 30 days. For information on how to qualify for the OTC Pink Current Information tier, please visit the Upgrade Your OTC Tier page.
Dow Theory was not presented as one complete amalgamation, but rather pieced together from the writings of Charles Dow over several years.
How To Become A Self-Taught Finance Expert
So you want to become a financial expert, but dont know where to start? Have no fear, a wealth of information is at your fingertips, and getting started is easy. From a basic introduction to personal finances to advanced security analysis, anyone interested in learning can get access to the necessary resources. (For more on a career in finance, check out Is A Career In Financial Planning In Your Future?)
For a basic introduction to sound financial concepts, you cant do much better than The Richest Man in Babylon. Its a tiny little book, written in an uncomplicated style. It also captures the wisdom of the ages in an easy to follow manner.
Once youve covered that, the famous For Dummies series provides insight into everything from budgeting to mutual funds. Managing Your Money for Dummies, Budgeting for Dummies and Mutual Funds for Dummies are three titles that will help you expand your knowledge of basic concepts.
By the time you finish those four books, you are likely to have identified specific items that you would like to learn more about. For these inquiries, theres no better place to go for fast, easy access to information that online. Investopedia and similar sites provide access to a wealth of information that will keep you busy for weeks if not months. Investopedias tutorials are particularly notable, as they provide an in-depth look at a wide variety of topics.
Google and other search engines let you hone in on specific topics, and many mutual fund companies and financial services firms offer a wealth of free information. A visit to their websites can reveal everything from general education on a wide array of products to economic forecasts and economic insights from professional market watchers. With a just a little effort, you can even identify and follow comments from your favorite economist, investment strategists, portfolio manager, or other expert.
The library, you local bookstore and multiple online retailers also offer literally thousands of books on every conceivable topic. From financial history and Wall Street villains to hedge fund analysis and day-trading strategies, theres a book (or ten) for every topic of interest. (For more read, Can You Learn The Stock Market?)
Television, Radio and Podcasts Can Help Too
Television broadcasts and/or podcasts are from a variety of experts. At the national level, Suze Orman and other gurus cover the common topics. Kramer and his peers talk stocks. At the local level, your hometown is likely to have an expert or two that you can tune into at no cost. (To read more on gurus, see Investing Quotes You Can Bank On.)
Ready to Step Up Your Game? Hit the Books Again
After you have covered the basics and want a solid overview at a more detailed level, The Wall Street Journal Guide to Investing is a great place to start. When you are done with that, your local library or bookstore will contain a variety of magazines covering both timely and general financial services topics. When you are ready to learn about stock research, Value Line is a great publication that provides an introduction into how you can begin to research and analyze stocks. Some libraries provide access to Value Line for free. If your local library does not, the service is available by subscription. Even if you choose not to conduct your own stock analysis, the Value Line website is worth a visit.
If you make it this far, you are clearly serious about your endeavor. Now its time to make your quest a daily habit. Subscribing to the The Wall Street Journal will give you a daily overview of the issues impacting global business operations. The Journal also has a great Money and Investing section. Barrons is another fine publication read by many professionals in the financial services industry. There are many other top-quality publications dedicated to various aspects of the financial services world. Find one that matches your interests and read it. (Check out, 5 Must-Read Finance Books.)
Talk to the Experts
Once you have solid understanding of the various aspects of the financial services world, it is time to spend some time talking to the experts. Financial services professionals make a living with their expertise and can help you learn about everything from mortgages and debt management to retirement savings and estate planning. Some of these topics are covered in seminars, others in one-on-one consultations. You can even pick up a thing or two just by having an informal conversation. Talk to a professional financial advisor, talk to your banker, talk to your accountant and your attorney. Then listen and learn as they share their knowledge. (For help on locating an advisor, read Advice For Finding The Best Advisor.)
Ready for More?
If you like what you have seen and heard and are ready for more, the CFA Institute (a non-profit organization that offers a range of educational and career resources, including the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and the Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM) designations) provides access to the curriculum for several of their well-regarded programs for free:
• http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprogram/courseofstudy/Pages/study_sessions.aspx
• http://www.cfainstitute.org/cipm/courseofstudy/curriculum/Pages/index.aspx
The Certified Financial Analyst program is an extremely well regarded curriculum, and the Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM) Program is the investment industrys only designation dedicated to investment performance analysis and presentation. If articles with titles like Evaluating Portfolio Performance by V. Bailey, Thomas M. Richards and David E. Tierney, and Investment Performance Measurement: Evaluating and Presenting Results, Philip Lawton and Todd Jankowski, eds. (Wiley 2009) capture your interest, the CFA institute has a reading list that you are sure to like. (For help choosing a designation, check out CPA, CFA Or CFP - Pick Your Abbreviation Carefully.)
A Life-Long Pursuit
The financial services field is constantly evolving and changing. Recent decades have seen the rise of unified managed accounts, the development of exchange traded funds, the evolution of annuities and insured investment products and a host of other developments. Change is par for the course as the industry adapts to dynamic economic conditions and changes in what investors want and how they wish to deploy their assets. In this environment, there is always something new to consider, something old to revisit and something interesting just beyond the horizon. Keeping up with the industry is an important part of a financial service professionals life, and continuing education requirements are required for many of these experts to maintain their credentials. What this means for the-self taught expert is that you will always have an opportunity to add to your body of knowledge.
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Once a broker-dealer receives an order, they often go through the following steps/decisions as part of the trading process.
Like weather forecasting, technical analysis does not result in absolute predictions about the future.
Dissecting Declarations, Ex-Dividends And Record Dates
Have the workings of dividends and dividend distributions mystified you too? Chances are its not the concept of dividends that confuses you; the ex-dividend date and date of record are the tricky factors. In this article well sort through the dividend payment process and explain on what date the buyer of the stock gets to keep the dividend.
Before we explain how it all works, lets go over some of the basics to ensure we have the proper foundation to understand the more complex issues. Some investment terms are thrown around more often than Frisbees on a hot summer day, so its important that we define exactly what were talking about.
Different Types of Dividends
The decision to distribute a dividend is made by a companys board of directors. There is nothing requiring a company to pay a dividend, even if the company has paid dividends in the past. However, many investors view a steady dividend history as an important indicator of a good investment, so most companies are reluctant to reduce or stop their dividend payments. (For more information on buying dividend paying stocks , see the articles How Dividends Work for Investors and The Importance of Dividends.
Dividends can be paid in various different forms, but there are two major categories: cash and stock. The most popular are cash dividends. This is money paid to stockholders , normally out of the corporations current earnings or accumulated profits.
For example, suppose you own 100 shares of Corys Brewing Company (ticker: CBC). Cory has made record sales this year thanks to an unusually high demand for his unique peach flavored beer. The company therefore decides to share some of this good fortune with the stockholders and declares a dividend of $0.10 per share. This means that you will receive a check from Corys Brewing Company for $10.00 ($0.10*100). In practice, companies that pay dividends usually do so on a regular basis of four times a year. A one-time dividend such as the one we just described is referred to as an extra dividend.
The stock dividend, the second most common dividend paying method, pays additional shares rather than cash. Suppose that Corys Brewing Company wishes to issue a dividend but doesnt have the necessary cash available to pay everyone. He does, however, have enough Treasury stock to meet the requirements of the dividend payout. So instead of paying cash, Cory decides to issue a dividend of 0.05 new shares of CBC for every existing one. This means that you will receive five shares of CBC for every 100 shares that you own. If any fractional shares are left over, the dividend is paid as cash (because stocks cant trade fractionally).
Another type of dividend is the property dividend, but it is used rarely. This type of allocation is a physical transfer of a tangible asset from the company to the investors. For instance, if Corys Brewing Company was still insistent on paying out dividends but didnt have enough Treasury stock or enough money to pay out all investors, the company could look for something physical (property) to distribute. In this case, Cory might decide that his unique peach beer would be the best substitute, so he could distribute a couple of six-packs to all the shareholders.
The Important Dates of a Dividend
There are four major dates in the process of a company paying dividends:
• Declaration date - This is the date on which the board of directors announces to shareholders and the market as a whole that the company will pay a dividend.
• Ex-date or Ex-dividend date - On (or after) this date the security trades without its dividend. If you buy a dividend paying stock one day before the ex-dividend you will still get the dividend, but if you buy on the ex-dividend date, you wont get the dividend. Conversely, if you want to sell a stock and still receive a dividend that has been declared you need to sell on (or after) the ex-dividend day. The ex-date is the second business day before the date of record.
• Date of record - This is the date on which the company looks at its records to see who the shareholders of the company are. An investor must be listed as a holder of record to ensure the right of a dividend payout.
• Date of payment (payable date) - This is the date the company mails out the dividend to the holder of record. This date is generally a week or more after the date of record so that the company has sufficient time to ensure that it accurately pays all those who are entitled.
Why All These Dates?
Ex-dividend dates are used to make sure dividend checks go to the right people. In todays market, settlement of stocks is a T 3 process, which means that when you buy a stock , it takes three days from the transaction date (T) for the change to be entered into the companys record books.
As mentioned, if you are not in the companys record books on the date of record, you wont receive the dividend payment. To ensure that you are in the record books, you need to buy the stock at least three business days before the date of record, which also happens to be the day before the ex-dividend date.
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As you can see by the diagram above, if you buy on the ex-dividend date (Tuesday), which is only two business days before the date of record, you will not receive the dividend because your name will not appear in the companys record books until Friday. If you want to buy the stock and receive the dividend, you need to buy it on Monday. (When the stock is trading with the dividend the term cum dividend is used). But, if you want to sell the stock and still receive the dividend, you need to sell on or after Tuesday the 6th.
*Note: Different rules apply if the dividend is 25% or greater of the value of the security. In this case, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) indicates that the ex-date is the first business day following the payable date. For further details on dividend issues, search FINRAs website.
A Money Machine?
Now that we understand that a dividend can be received by purchasing the stock before the ex-date, can we make more money? Nope, its not that easy. Remember, everybody knows when the dividend is going to be paid, and the market sees the dividend payout as a time when the company is giving out a part of its profits (reducing its cash). So the price of the stock will drop approximately by the amount of the dividend on the ex-dividend date. The word approximately is crucial here. Due to tax considerations and other happenings in the market, the actual drop in price may be slightly different. In any case, the point is that you cant make free profits on the ex-dividend date.
Conclusion
The reasons for and effects of all these dates are by no means easy to grasp. Its important to clear up any confusion between ex-dividend and record dates. But always keep in mind that when youre investing in a dividend paying stock, its more crucial to consider the quality of the company than the date on which you buy in.
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OTCQX is the intelligent marketplace for the best OTC companies with the highest financial standards and superior information availability.
The Hidden Differences Between Index Funds
June 30 2012| Filed Under » Index Fund, Investing Basics, Investment, Mutual Funds
Think of your trips to the candy store as a child. Youd pick out your favorite candy ... lets say it was jelly beans. Orange tasted like oranges and yellow tasted like lemons; but sometime later, the yellow jelly beans you purchased might taste like pineapples, or popcorn! What was up with that? The lesson here, that appearances cant be trusted, can be applied to index funds too. Although a S
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The final step is to synthesize the above analysis to ascertain the following:
Strength of the current trend.
Maturity or stage of current trend.
Reward to risk ratio of a new position.
Potential entry levels for new long position.
The advantages of OTC derivatives over exchange-traded ones are mainly the lower fees and taxes, and greater freedom of negotiation and customization of a transaction, as it involves only a seller and a buyer and no standardization authority.
The Christmas Saints Of Wall Street
There is something about twinkling lights, garlands and gifts that causes a change in people - not the same change as a good eggnog with double the rum does, but its not far off. At Christmas time, people are merrier and more generous than usual. The Red Cross and UNICEF see moredonations in December than they do in all the other 11 months combined. People that usually sprint toward the office with their collars up and their eyes straight may be more likely to drop change into an outstretched hand or donation pot. Strangers exchange greetings instead of suspicious glares - this is the Christmas spirit.
This Christmas season, we will look at some people whose Christmas spirit doesnt leave when the pine needles drop. They may not be in the same league as ol Saint Nick, but they arent far off.
The Old Guard
Philanthropy on Wall Street is not a recent event. It has, however, been in need of a pick-up since the recession pinched, squeezed and finally stemmed the flow of big money into charity. The original saints of Wall Street can still be felt by tracing your finger down a list of libraries, hospitals, foundations, research centers, womens shelters and other projects aimed at helping the less fortunate. If you do this, youll find that some names occur more often than others.
Steel, Oil and Cars
The old guard, consisting of Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew W. Mellon and Henry Ford, all made their fortunes in oil, steel or a combination of the two - cars, ships, etc. Charity came to these men late in life, and it is sometimes said that much of their philanthropy was giving back the money they made from crushing unions and creating unfair monopolies. While there is truth to these claims, it is also true that most of what we call unsavory business practices in hindsight were commonplace in their time. Carnegie, Rockefeller, Mellon and Fords devotion to education, medical care and the fight against poverty made them stand out at a time when the worlds richest people hoarded their money within their families. These men, and the foundations they left behind, have given billions of dollars to improve life in America.
The Next Generation
Whereas the philanthropists of the past were based in heavy industry, the next generation is largely made of tech street barons and stock gurus. Here are few of the members of the new generation of philanthropists:
Gordon and Betty Moore (Intel)
Gordon Moore was one of the co-founders of Intel Corporation. With his wife Betty, he has made donations in the hundreds of millions of dollars to two main causes: environmental conservation (with a focus on marine life) and medicine. The latter grew out of Betty Moores bad experiences with hospitals. Betty and her husband have funded training programs for nurses in the hope of preventing common medical mistakes. The Moores also have given generously to improving secondary education, culminating in a $600-million gift to the California Institute of Technology in 2001.
Michael and Susan Dell
Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computers, and his wife Susan have been increasing their involvement in philanthropy every year since Michael stepped down as the CEO in July 2004, leaving behind a profitable company through which he amassed a large personal fortune. Having four young children of their own, the Dells have used their wealth to advance childrens causes (heath, education and medicine). The Michael
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If a security is approaching an important support level, it can serve as an alert to be extra vigilant in looking for signs of increased buying pressure and a potential reversal.
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