Greetings!
One of the joys of our profession is the ability to interact with some of the best people we've ever met: our clients and our peers, the other folks who lead the industry of Financial Planning.
Last year, Stacey and I attended the 2011 MDRT Top of the Table meeting in Palm Springs, California. One of the folks I met with gave me the 10 keys to leadership he learned growing up in South Africa. Some of these, from his mentor, Nelson Mandela. I hope you find some of these to be of use in your daily life. I find them inspiring!
- 1. Be immensely positive.
- 2. Exhibit extraordinary courage. Be like Oscar Pistorius (7)
- 3. Listen. They'll never forget how you made them feel.
- 4. Specialize. Look for complexity you can make simple.
- 5. We are all connected. The weakest links bring us down.
- 6. Do what's right.
- 7. Get things done.
- 8. Believe in our youth.
- 9. Take charge, give back.
- 10. The best is yet to come.
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| Lunch and Learn |
By planting a windowsill herb garden, you can bring your favorite herbs indoors and enjoy them all year long.
Please join us on Wednesday, May 16th to learn about windowsill herb gardening from our returning guest speaker, Luan Akin. Ms. Akin, formerly a helicopter reporter for CBS4, is a master gardener and Garden Ambassador for Tagawa Gardens.
Windowsill Herb Gardens
Date: Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
12:00 - 1:00pm
Location: Our office, 9800 Mt. Pyramid Court, Suite 450
Englewood, CO 80112
Lunch will be provided.
One windowsill garden will be given away to a lucky person!
or call 303-690-5070
Friends and colleagues are welcome to attend!
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| Weekly Economic Update | |
UNEMPLOYMENT DOWN TO 8.1% The jobless rate dipped 0.1% in April, but Wall Street didn't exactly cheer about it as just 115,000 non-farm jobs were added to the economy. Economists polled by Briefing.com thought payrolls would expand by 162,000. The Dow fell 168 points Friday on the news. On the bright side, job gains across February and March were revised upward by 53,000. Payrolls grew by a cumulative total of 635,000 positions in Q1 2012, making it the best quarter for hiring since Q1 2006. (1,2,3)
CONSUMER SPENDING UP 0.3%
Analysts termed March's gain disappointing after the (upwardly revised) 0.9% advance in February. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News anticipated a 0.4% improvement. Consumer incomes rose 0.4% in March, the best month in that category since December; consumer wages were up 0.3%. (3)
U.S. MANUFACTURING INDEX LEAPS NORTH
The Institute for Supply Management's April manufacturing PMI rose 1.4% in April to 54.8, representing the best monthly gain since June. Now for the bad news: the ISM non-manufacturing index showed a 2.5% drop in the same month to 53.5. (2,4)
AVERAGE RATE ON 30-YEAR FRM: 3.84%
That is a new all-time low recorded by Freddie Mac in its May 3 Primary Mortgage Market Survey. A year prior, interest rates on 30-year conventional home loans averaged 4.71%. Rates on the refinancer's favorite tool - the 15-year FRM - have dropped from 3.89% to just 3.07% in the same time frame. (5)
STOCKS DECLINE
The job report drained enthusiasm from the market Friday, and stocks retreated for the week. The five-day performances: S&P 500, -2.44% to 1,369.10; DJIA, -1.44% to 13,028.27; NASDAQ, -3.68% to 2,956.34. Also notable: oil's dive back under $100. At Friday's NYMEX close, crude futures settled at $98.49, down 6.14% in a week. (1,6) |
| Market Summary |
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% Change |
Y-T-D |
1Yr Chg |
5-Year Avg | |
DJIA |
+6.72 |
+2.39 |
-0.36 | |
NASDAQ |
+13.48 |
+4.53 |
+2.99 | |
S&P 500 |
+8.87 |
+1.62 |
-1.81 |
(Source: msn.money.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov, treasurydirect.gov - 5/04/12). Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Indices are unmanaged, and investors cannot invest in them directly. |
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Create a beautiful week!
Karl Frank, MBA, MSF
Certified Financial Planner (R)
A & I Financial Services LLC
303.690.5070
Citations:
1 - money.msn.com/market-news/post.aspx?post=06187871-41ac-4526-a225-e3067cf18d18 [5/4/12]
2 - briefing.com/investor/calendars/economic/2012/04/30-04 [5/4/12]
3 - www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/04/30/bloomberg_articlesM3ALE03T6SRQ01-M3ALE.DTL [4/30/12]
4 - www.ism.ws/ISMReport/MfgROB.cfm [5/1/12]
5 - www.cbsnews.com/8301-500395_162-57427288/record-low-mortgage-rates-what-to-do-now/ [5/4/12]
6 - montoyaregistry.com/Financial-Market.aspx?financial-market=common-financial-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them&category=29 [5/4/12]
7 - http://www.oscarpistorius.com/about/about-oscar
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 |
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible."
Walt Disney |
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Karl Frank In Investment Advisor Magazine |
 | | Investment Advisor - November 2011 |
Investment Advisor Magazine's November 2011 edition features Karl Frank. In the article "Never Satisfied," John Sullivan writes: Passion born of tragedy drives Karl Frank to do all he can to help business owners ensure a legacy for loved ones and heirs. Industrial age publisher and philanthropist Frederick Bonfils said there is no hope for the satisfied man. If that's the case, Karl Frank is full of hope.
"I'm never satisfied," Frank says matter-of-factly when asked about his advisory firm
.....Read More. |
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Riddle of the Week
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About 90% of this country's land area is made up of arid tan desert, yet its flag is solid green - in fact, at present it is the only nation in the world with a flag containing just one color. What nation is this?
Last week's riddle:
Four grown men decided to play on the sidewalk for three hours. No one chided them for childish or immature behavior; many appreciated the noise they made. They even went home a bit richer. What were these men doing?
Last week's answer:
They were street musicians performing for passerby
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Karl Frank was interviewed by 9News on March 28th, 2012 regarding "3 Things You Should Do if You Win the Mega Millions Lottery". | |
Click Here to View Video
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