That Was The Week That Was-2nd Week February

 THIS IS POSITIVELY THE LAST INVITE FOR 2015.

ANNUAL CLIENT BREAKFAST MEETING FEBRUARY 21ST. Now is the time to call and register or send an e-mail. For those that have never attended the annual client meeting it never involves product but does involve providing you with information, a Q&A period and a chance to get out early on a Saturday morning in the middle of winter and enjoy the brisk walk from the car to the banquet room at Sycamore Hills Golf Course, Macomb, Michigan. I’ll talk about how things went in 2014 ,what to expect in 2015, how to create a Life Boat investment plan, and Larry E. Powe, Attorney at Law, Principal/Partner Keller Thoma, P.C. will discuss estate planning, wills and Revocable Living Trusts. Everyone gets their 2015 Workbook. Register, now and all you need is to bring yourself and a pen. I’ll supply the rest. The meeting starts at 8:30 and a continental breakfast is available plus an assortment of beverages.

Be Careful Who You Listen to and Believe because there are people who sound so convincing that you may believe anything that comes out of their mouth. Brian Williams, the NBC newsman, has developed a ‘credibility’ problem telling listeners experiences that may have been nothing more than a figment of his overactive imagination.   (USA Today 2/6/2015) The same is true with a few folks who are in the ‘Investment Planning’ business and now promote themselves as experts who predicted the 2008-2009 Great Depression. The actual number of people worldwide who openly predicted a deep and lasting Depression that are verifiable you can invite to a game of Canasta. There were just not that many people globally, including economists, who could put together the string from real estate loans to stock markets crashing and driving the world into a huge Depression. There were those of us that thought the housing market would certainly go bust because it was getting silly giving away homes to people without verification of income or down payment. None of us, however, could foresee the global damage. So the next time someone says that ‘they knew’, it would be best if you did some homework and find out if indeed they did know, and more importantly went on record warning people.

 

SMART MONEY MANAGEMENT AIN’T COMPLICATED. Brent Arends wrote his last WSJ Sunday Column 2-8 and repeated his basic investment saving mantra. If you get a chance go and Google it, Simple, Bedrock Rules on Personal Finance. He boils it all down, everything you should and have to do in less than 1,000 words. Here’s a few and if you do get his article pin it someplace you can read it often anytime you get the idea to get silly with your money. Or, think that someone else has the ‘secret’ to making you rich.

• Know thyself. Don’t pursue complex financial or tax strategies if you’re not a details person.
• Plan for a long-life. A third of your life comes after age 65.
• Cut the fat in your budget. (Most people don’t have a budget!).
• Tune out advertising. If you consider it all to be a pack of cynical lies designed to steal your money, that’s about right.

WHICH WAY THE STOCK MARKET?  Last Friday’s CNBC had one article state that investors would finally see a disconnect between oil prices and equities (Alex Rosenberg reported), and in the Sunday WSJ reporter E.S. Browning wrote that the recent oil rebound would lift stocks but other obstacles lurked to create problems. E.S. Browning reported that oil and stocks so far in 2015 moved in tandem 64% of the time. However, worries about interest rates and earnings are also likely to keep market volatility high. Concerns about economic growth outside the U.S. also continues. William Hackney, senior partner at Atlanta Capital Management LLC is worried about earnings partly because of soft global growth and the strong dollar.

Monday Markets Down Oil Up.

Ronald Read was a Vermont gas station attendant and janitor who amassed an $8 million fortune. According to his attorney, Laurie Rowell, he only invested in what he knew and what paid dividends. Read died at the age of 92 and bequeathed millions to a local hospital and the library. According to CNBC.com to replicate what Read did one would have to invest $300 a month earning 8% for 65 years. The secrets of emulating Read’s success include reading every day on what is happening in the markets, being frugal with your lifestyle; and buying investments that you understand and pay a dividend.

Confused over the price & direction of crude? So are the experts. On CNBC’s Mad Money Tuesday one expert said that the worst was over and oil should slowly climb to $70 a barrel. Another expert, Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, said the worst wasn’t over and you can expect to see oil hit $30. The OPEC Wins story was in Tuesday’s WSJ as an OPEC official was quoted saying, ‘There are strong indications that U.S. shale producers are taking a hit, and by the second half of this year a lot of marginal barrels will disappear from the market and demand will rise for OPEC members.’ Zacks.com offers 2/11 that there may be more bottom than recovery for oil at this time.

FINDERS KEEPERS …except in China…  A Chinese herdsman stumbled onto a 17 pound gold nugget that, he said, was sitting uncovered on the ground a few weeks back. Lucky guy you’d think? Not so fast. Seems the government wants more than a fair piece of the find. They’re saying the nugget is a mineral resource and as such is the property of the government.  MarketWatch.com 2/11/2015 The Herdsman hired an attorney! You’ve got to love Capitalism even if it’s Chinese Capitalism.

TUESDAY MARKETS DJIA +140, S&P 500 +22 & NASDAQ +62.

Stock dividends are a return from earnings. They are not interest because you own the stock or mutual fund that holds the stock. Understanding dividends is key to building long-term wealth.

 

MARKETS MIXED WEDNESDAY. 2/11/2015.

 

 

Potpourri  

CNBC reported February 12th: 1: Gold demand falls to a five-year low. 2:The EU, Greece bailout talks faltered. 3: Putin said leaders agree to a Ukraine ceasefire. 4:Tax fraud expected to soar to $21 billion by 2016, according to the IRS. The agency admitted it can do little because of outdated fraud detection systems. 5: The phone company associated named after a fruit is now worth $700 billion and some value worth more than the Russian stock market, and valued higher than Microsoft and Google combined. This was discussed on Mad Money and Cramer spoke of the comparison and was reminded of the time Babe Ruth made more money than President Herbert Hoover. When asked about the difference, Ruth replied, ‘I know, but I had a better year than he did.’ Bloomberg.com 6: Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin was at London’s Chatham House on Wednesday when he boasted, ‘If my state was a country it would rank fourth in the world for cheese production, just behind the USA, France and Germany, and just above Italy.’  The Gov. was there with fellow govs Bobby Jindal and Chris Christie to show off his foreign affairs skills and ended up talking foodie.

Thursday markets up across the board with DJIA +110. More M&A as the travel business consolidates. American Express and Costco are ending their long-term exclusive relationship. That news was more than a bump in the road Thursday as AmEx said that they and the discounter couldn’t come to an agreement that was beneficial. (WSJ 2-13). Robert Shiller’s old new edition of his book, ‘Irrational Exuberance’ updated, warns investors that bond prices might be irrationally high. (CNBC 2-13). Germany’s GDP grew more than expected (CNBC 2-12) in the fourth quarter bolstering EU economy is back on track.

WHO DO YOU KNOW WHO COMPLAINS ABOUT LOSING MONEY? It just may be that they need to talk to me about their investments. Tell them to call or email me or just pop their name and number to my attention and I’ll call and talk to them. You can’t tell but you may be doing them a huge favor.

Questions call Paul @ 586 295 0430 or write him at pstanley@westminsterfinancial.com. Share this blog with someone who cares about their money.

SECURITIES OFFERED THROUGH WESTMINSTER FINANCIAL SECURITIES, INC.  MEMBER FINRA/SIPC.