|
|
 Personal Money Planning'se-Newsletter for June 20, 2009 (to look at past issues, click here) |
|
Click Through To Our Web Site
Link up with Gary at
|
|
Send This To A Friend 
|
|
Get Your Own Subscription 
|
|
Predictions, pt.2 |
Over several issues, I'm repeating a list of quotes that I got from Ron Blue's book, Splitting Heirs. They show the danger of making predictions.
|
Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.
Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929
The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?
David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in radio in the 1920's
I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face not Gary Cooper.
Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in Gone with the Wind.
A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make.
Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies
|
|
Disclosure |
|
|
|
This newsletter is produced by Gary Silverman, dba Personal Money Planning, a registered investment advisor located in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Information in this newsletter is believed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regards to the subject matter covered. However, the accuracy, timeliness, or applicability of the information is not guaranteed and is provided with the understanding that we are not rendering legal, accounting, tax, or other professional advice or services.
This publication should not be construed by any consumer and/or prospective client as Personal Money Planning's solicitation to effect, or attempt to effect transactions in securities, or the rendering of personalized investment advice for compensation, over the Internet. Nor should links provided to other sites be construed as the recommendation of the services or products mentioned on those sites. If such services are required, the help of a competent professional should be sought.
Remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results. Therefore, you should not assume that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product made reference to (directly or indirectly) on this Website will be profitable or equal to indicated performance levels. Different types of investment involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that any specific investment will either be suitable or profitable for your investment portfolio.
Historical performance results for investment indexes and categories generally do not reflect the deduction of transaction or custodial charges or the deduction of an investment management fee, the incurrence of which would have the effect of decreasing historical performance results.
A copy of Personal Money Planning's current written disclosure statement discussing Personal Money Planning's business operations, services, and fees (known as an ADV Part II) is available from Personal Money Planning upon written request (and can be downloaded from our web site).
Personal Money Planning does not make any representations or warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether linked to Personal Money Planning's web site or incorporated herein, and takes no responsibility therefore. All such information is provided solely for convenience purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly.
| |
|
The week before last, I was roughing out my business plan (a worthy exercise for any business owner). This last week, I was able to attend a seminar by Genworth Financial called the Mastery Program. I think they actually invited me by accident, but I made good use of my time with them. The Program works through many issues a financial advisory firm deals with, including business strategy, client relationship management, time management, and staffing. Much of what we discussed will be integrated into my own business plan as the rough draft gets edited.
Whether you own a business, work in one, or are retired, taking some time to develop your own "business plan" is time well-spent. We all need to periodically step back, look at where we are and where we want to be. Obviously part of my business is built around this in the form of providing financial planning, but there's a lot more to your life than just finances. Health & exercise, family & charity, faith & finances, they all intertwine so that when you work on one you affect the other.
I encourage you to consider working on your own life-plan. Just as a vacation can refresh the mind and body, life planning can refresh your action and direction. Not that this locks you into a prescribed future, but rather it helps you open up to the possibilities that can be yours.
Gary
Gary Silverman, CFP |
|
Just Lucky? |
Are companies really great, or are they just lucky?
If you examine the truly great companies today, they all have one thing in common: they are truly great companies today. What I'm saying is that while you know they are the best at one category or another, you probably do not know how they got that way.
Given the fact that these companies are great, and given that we want to know why they are great, researchers dig into the facts and deduce how they got that way. After all, if we can learn what these companies are doing, maybe we can do the same in our own companies. Maybe we, too, can become great. So the researchers present to us the core common denominators.
But are they right?
(This article was originally printed in the Wichita Falls Times Record News.)
|
|
The Danger of Margin |
|
While we at Personal Money Planning do not use margin as an investment strategy, we realize that some of you out there do. I have found that most people who use margin to try and raise their portfolio returns (which also raises their portfolio risk) do not know the basic rules of margin. The following applies if there is a margin call against your account. This can happen if you have purchased securities on margin and the value of your account goes down to a specified level:
- Your firm can force the sale of securities in your accounts to meet a margin call
- Your firm can sell your securities without contacting you
- You are not entitled to choose which securities or other assets in your accounts are sold
- Your firm can increase its margin requirements at any time and is not required to provide you with advance notice
- You are not entitled to an extension of time on a margin call
- You can lose more money than you deposit in a margin account
Leverage, which is what margin basically is, is what brought down many of the big Wall Street names in 2008. It is one of the few ways that you can actually "lose it all" in the market. That's not to say you should never use margin...just that you must understand and respect it first.
|
|
|
parting thoughts
|
One was a finance professor at Texas A&M University. The other was a Houston attorney and CPA. Not exactly the pair of folks you'd expect to find in the same category as Madoff. But a May 26 press release from the Securities and Exchange Commission said that's exactly what happened.
Washington, D.C., May 26, 2009 - The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an emergency court order to freeze the assets of Texas A&M finance professor Robert D. Watson, Houston lawyer and certified public accountant Daniel J. Petroski, and two firms. They are charged with defrauding U.S. investors by using forged bank records to make it appear they were earning spectacular returns in foreign exchange trading.
The summary is a familiar one. The two raised close to $20 million from investors on the claim that they could achieve an annual return of 23% in foreign-currency trading. It is still to be determined if any profits were made or if any of the original investment remains.
In case you were wondering, Watson doesn't work for A&M anymore.
That's all for this week.
Gary
Gary Silverman, CFP
Personal Money Planning
| |
|
|
|
|
©2008 Personal Money Planning. All rights are reserved by Personal Money Planning and content may not be reproduced, disseminated, or transferred in any form or by any means, except with the prior written permission of Personal Money Planning unless specifically noted. (Permission is not difficult to obtain.) The one exception is for downloading and printing information this newsletter for general education by the original recipient. |
|
|
|
|
|
