A&I Financial Services Periscope

A & I Financial Services LLC Newsletter

For the Week of
May 26, 2011
 
Greetings!   
  
You will no longer receive your social security statements in your post office mail box. As a way to cut costs, the Social Security Administration will now make your statement available online.
  
The good news is that you can view this information any time you want. The bad news is you have to navigate (yet another) web site. Here's how you do it:
  
1. www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator
2. Click "Estimate Your Retirement Benefits"
3. Enter your information and it will display
  
If you are uncomfortable with the internet, call your advisor!
And, on a related note, perhaps you want to make all your paper documents from your investments go paperless?
  
To do so, save the paper copy. Put all of your mailed documents in a box (any box from Costco works perfectly) and bring them to your next appointment. We'll go through the documents and find the secret code and web site that we can help you stop the mail and engage the electronic copy.
  
The Social Security Administration will save $60 million annually. Perhaps you could save yourself 60 lbs of dead tree weight, depending on your particular investment pool. (1)
A Money Manager's Point of View

 

This week, let's look at bonds.
With interest rates currently very low, bonds are generating meager current yields. The Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index is yielding 2.7% as of early May, which is well below the historical average yield of approximately 5%.
  
Investment-grade bonds are likely to generate annualized returns in the 1% to 2% range over our five-year forecast period, which takes into account a range of economic scenarios.
  

Economic Briefs

 

HOME SALES, HOUSING STARTS SLIP
Existing home sales decreased 0.9% in April, according to the National Association of Realtors. Annually, sales were off 12.9% from the pace of April 2010 (back when the homebuyer tax credit was in effect). The national median existing home price last month was $163,700, 5.0% below where it was a year before. The inventory of unsold residences increased to a 9.2-month supply, up from an 8.3-month supply in March. A new release from the Commerce Department said housing starts declined by 10.6% in April; building permits decreased by 4.0% last month.(3,4)
  
CONFERENCE BOARD LEI INDEX DECLINES
The CB's Leading Economic Index retreated in April for only the second time since March 2009. The 0.3% slip came after the index rose 0.7% in March and 0.9% in February. On the bright side, the CB's coincident (i.e., current) economic index improved for the third straight month in April.(5)
  
GOLD GETS BACK ABOVE $1,500; GAS PRICES FALL
On Friday, gold prices topped the $1,500 level for the first time since May 12 - the settlement price on the COMEX was $1,508.90 an ounce, concluding a 1.0% advance for the week. Silver pulled off a 0.3% gain last week to settle Friday at $35.09 an ounce. Crude oil fell 0.2% on the week; retail gas prices decreased by almost $0.10 last week, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Survey. (6,7,8)
  
STOCKS RETREAT ON INDICATORS, DEBT ISSUES
Investors were largely left cold by this week's economic reports, and anxieties over the debt of Spain and Greece also affected Wall Street. So, all three major U.S. indexes moved south. On the week, they performed like this: DJIA, -0.66% to 12,512.04; S&P 500, -0.77% to 1,333.27; NASDAQ, -0.71% to 2,803.32. In 2011, we are seeing selling in May: the DJIA and S&P 500 are currently on three-week losing streaks.(9)
Market Summary

% Change

Y-T-D

1Yr Chg

5-Year Avg

DJIA

+8.07

+24.28

+2.46

NASDAQ

+5.67

+27.19

+5.56

S&P 500

+6.01

+24.42

+1.05

(Source: cnbc.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov, treasurydirect.gov - 5/20/11)
Create a beautiful week!

Karl Frank, MBA, MSF
Certified Financial Planner (R)
A & I Financial Services LLC
303.690.5070
 

Citations:
(1) - April 30, 2011 Wall Street Journal 

(2) - http://www.advisorintelligence.com
(3) - realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2011/05/sales_ease [5/19/11] 
(4) - marketwatch.com/story/us-housing-starts-decline-106-in-april-2011-05-17 [5/17/11]
(5) - conference-board.org/data/bcicountry.cfm?cid=1 [5/19/11]
(6) - marketwatch.com/story/gold-futures-advance-in-tug-of-war-market-2011-05-20 [5/20/11]
(7) - marketwatch.com/story/crude-oil-futures-retake-some-lost-ground-2011-05-20 [5/20/11]
(8) - consumeraffairs.com/news04/2011/05/price-of-gasoline-down-a-dime-in-last-week.html [5/20/11]
(9) - cnbc.com/id/43113773 [5/20/11]

 

Certain material in this work is proprietary to and copyrighted by Litman/Gregory Analytics and is used by A & I Financial Services LLC with permission. Reproduction or distribution of this material is prohibited and all rights are reserved. 

  
This material has been prepared and is distributed solely for information purposes only. It is not a solicitation or an offer buy any securities or instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. There is no assurance that a particular trading strategy will achieve investment success.

 

Securities offered through Geneos Wealth Management, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.  Investment advisory services offered through A & I Financial Services LLC, registered investment advisor.


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Words for Thought
"Work harder on yourself than you do on your job."
Jim Rohn
Watch Karl Frank's interview on MoneyLine9 9NEWS on May 9, 2011

Click Here

 

 

Watch Karl Frank on Channel 9 News & Read his article "Where to Invest in Times of Turmoil"

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Read about Renewable Energy Investments

Karl Frank was interviewed in The Denver Magazine.  The article talks about investing in our renewable energy future.

 

Click Here to Read Article 

Read about us in the Denver Post

Karl Frank & Cameron Morgan were featured in the Denver Post.  They talked about how to have a happy holiday while sticking to a budget. 

 

Click here to read the article.  

Riddle of the Week
You are at sea, it is mid-July, and your ship has reached a unique spot on earth. If you sail north, it will be summer; if you sail south, it will be winter. If you sail east, it will be Friday, but if you sail west, it will be Saturday. Precisely where in the world are you? (Hint: your ship is in the Pacific Ocean, near the island nation of Kiribati.) 
  

Last week's riddle:  

  
There is a word (four letters long) that begins with the letter I. If you put the letter A at the front of this four-letter word, it becomes a five-letter word which is pronounced exactly the same. Name both words. 
 
Last week's answer: 
  

 Isle and aisle.