A Commencement speech, even when delivered by one of the most powerful economists in the nation, is not given much thought in our world. And so it was with Dr.
Listen Up Chris Dodd & Mary Shapiro – Richard Ketchum offers a solution!
On Friday, the Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Richard Ketchum, gave a speech at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Annual Compliance & Legal Division’s Annual Seminar. Given Thursday’s trading fiasco, he took a moment to recognize the fact that markets can break, and that fact must be recognized. Here is what he said:
From a recent survey conducted by Franklin Templeton Investments at the end of March, you would think it’s a secret that the markets were “UP” last year. Although the S&P 500 was up roughly 26%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up about 22% in 2009, 66% of the participants responding to Franklin Templeton’s survey believed the markets to have been either flat or down last year. The survey was only given to 1000 participants, but that is an amazing percentage. Two out of three people believed last year’s fai
“Common Sense Investing for Intelligent Investors” is a tag line we have used in our business for many years. Our common sense includes ideas such as, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”, or “there is no such thing as a free lunch”. Well these common sense ideas were challenged last week when I received an invitation that not only offered me a free lunch, but also offered me an investment that was so good “I would never need another investment in my life”. And of course, the tickets for this event were in hi
Last Friday on the 16th of April, the SEC charged Goldman Sachs with fraud, related to the now infamous CDOs, or more common “toxic assets”. As you may have noticed, over the following four days, an innumerable amount of news reviews and articles have hit the media stages. During that time the financial sector has represented a nice mania driven rollercoaster. This offers a good time to act as an Intelligent Investor. Out of the countless articles and posts and shows you are offered to learn of this event, there a
In the next few weeks you may be seeing some erratic changes in share prices. These changes will be, in most cases, a result of company earnings reports and the actions of analysts following discussions with the company’s management. These one-hour long telephone conversations, known in the industry as quarterly conference calls, can be very stressful for the analysts that participate. An hour-long conference call, in which an analyst might only ask one or two questions of the company CEO or CFO at the end, may not sound stressful. But the person they
You may be running into articles lately dealing with the drastic rise of bankruptcy filings starting this year, which are continuing to peak from March’s most recent report. In fact, there were 158,141 bankruptcy filings in the month of March shown in the data released by the Automated Access to Court Electronic Records. You may focus on these statistics and find yourself questioning all the good news related to the recovering economy. After all, isn’t bankruptcy bad?
Are you an individual investor that failed to participate in last year’s stock market recovery? Do you believe the stock market has gone up so fast that it can only go down from here? Do you regret selling your common stocks last year? Is this regret so deep that you secretly hope the market will come tumbling down to prove you were right? If you are, don’t feel too bad… you are not alone. You are actually in the majority.
On April 15th the U.S. Treasury Department, in consultation with the International Monetary Fund, will issue its semiannual report on the exchange rate policies of foreign countries. Many, including over 130 of our elected officials, are encouraging the designation of China as a “currency manipulator”. If so, the U.S. could immediately impose a surcharge on goods imported from China
Most of us are familiar with the concept of tax-deferral. We know that we will have to pay taxes on the money in our retirement plan or annuity policy, but only when we take it out. We know that taxes will be due on any gains in our stocks, but only if we sell. The fact that we can defer paying taxes to a time in the future that we decide makes most of us feel pretty good. Feeling good is worth something, but how much? Are the financial benefits of tax deferral worth enough to forgo the pleasure of spending our money now?
Anderson Griggs & Company, Inc., doing business as Anderson Griggs Portfolio Management is a registered investment adviser with the US Securities & Exchange Commission. Pursuant to laws and regulations Anderson Griggs also maintains notice filing with several individuals state regulators including North and South Carolina. Anderson Griggs only conducts business in states and locations where it is properly registered or meets state requirements for advisors. This commentary is for information purposes only and is not an offer of investment advice. We will only render advice after we deliver our Form ADV Part II to a client in an authorized jurisdiction and receive a properly executed investment Management Agreement. Any reference to performance is historical in nature and no assumption about future performance should be made based on the past performance of any Anderson Griggs Investment Objective, individual account, or index. The authors of publication are expressing general opinions and commentary. They are not attempting to provide legal, accounting, or specific advice to any individual concerning their personal situation. Anderson Griggs Portfolio Management's office is located at 113 E. Main St., Suite 310, Rock Hill, SC 29730. The local phone number is 803-324-5044 and nationally can be reached via its toll-free number 800-254-0874.