Nicknaming restructuring and lay-offs

Banks Mask Pain With Colorful Nicknames

Excerpt:

There’s nothing like a delicious-sounding nickname to cushion the blow of a painful restructuring. A seemingly endless procession of giant banks have embarked on internal reorganizations in recent years, mopping up messes that originated before the financial crisis. Instead of simply calling the processes what they are – slow and often messy overhauls that can result in shuttered businesses, large losses and laid-off workers – banks have cloaked the restructurings with cheerful monikers.

 .... in the U.K Lloyds Banking Group has adopted Project Verde as its codename for its oft-delayed plans to sell hundreds of its branches. The codename isn’t much of a secret, as Lloyds executives routinely refer to it in public and in official statements.

Not all banks are very creative with code names, especially when it comes to cost-cutting efforts.

Deutsche Bank used Project Integra as a moniker for its investment-banking cost-cutting.

In the U.S., Cleveland-based regional lender KeyCorp has “Keyvolution.” Wells Fargo has Project Compass.

Bank of America’s is Project New BAC (a reference to the bank’s ticker symbol).

The nicknaming trend has drawn ridicule from – who else? – J.P. Morgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon, who has told analysts that his bank is always focused on keeping costs low and doesn’t need silly nicknames to showcase the mission’s importance.

Comment: Insider .... when someone gets laid off we call it "getting compassed". Image source.

Frank Lautenberg: Soldier, Salesman, Senator

First a Business Leader, Then a Senator

Excerpt:

In 1954, Mr. Lautenberg joined tiny Automatic Payrolls, founded a few years earlier to prepare paychecks for textile mills in Paterson, N.J. Automatic moved to the basement of a hotel, which also held the office of Mr. Lautenberg, then a salesman for the Prudential Insurance Co. Already acquaintances from school, Mr. Lautenberg got to know Automatic's founder, Henry Taub, over coffee in the building's restaurant.

"I became intrigued by this service that he was offering, and I volunteered to sell it with no compensation, to prove the worth myself," Mr. Lautenberg told The Wall Street Journal in 2011. Weeks later, he became the company's first salesmen.

Outsourcing work such as payroll was unusual at the time, and Mr. Lautenberg's job involved selling businesses on the concept. "The notion of letting people see your private records was pretty foreign," Mr. Lautenberg told The Journal.

ADP grew quickly, and in 1961 issued stock to fund the purchase of computers. Soon it was handling brokerage clients on Wall Street.

"He was a street guy and he was an intellect," said Joe Taub, the founder's brother and an early ADP employee. "Not many people have that."

Mr. Lautenberg eventually became chairman and chief executive as ADP expanded into Europe in the 1970s. By the time he left to serve in the Senate in 1983, annual revenue totaled $500 million.

Comment: I'm not a fan of his politics but he was a phenomenal man: The oldest (in my mind - too old) Senator, the last WW II vet in the Senate. Kathee has ADP stock in her IRA.

On Downsizing

12 Steps to Downsizing Success
How to Downsize in Retirement: Checklist and Tips

Excerpt (from 1st article):

Almost everybody talks about downsizing, but not that many folks ever get around to it. But those that do go through the wrenching process of downsizing tend to be very glad they did it.

... Understand the target. In other words, what is the size of your new home, and what can it accommodate? Will your great-grandfather’s tall case clock fit under your new ceilings? Do you have more rooms of furniture now than will fit in your new home? Knowing the dimensions and capacities of your new home will give you a good idea of what you should be de-acquisitioning.

Comment: Image source. My target is approximately 1500 square feet. We currently have 4 bedrooms. We need to get rid of two bedroom sets. Also ultimately the very large desk in our den will needed to be divested. We have 2 eating areas: a large dinning room set that seats 6 with standard seating and has leaves. We want to keep this. We have an antique kitchen table that we will ultimately need to divest of (but it needs to stay in the family as it was my Grandmothers).  So far we have gotten rid of three couches. Also a large leather chair that was in our family room.

Ever heard of the "Hindenburg Omen"?

Is The Stock Market Headed for A “Hindenburg Omen” Disaster?

Excerpt:

The “Hindenburg Omen” is a technical pattern that is said to foreshadow market crashes. When two out of four very specific technical events happen in a 36-day period, there’s an increase chance of a crash within the next 40 days, according to the theory. The four events are:

1. The number of new 52-week highs and new 52-week lows are both more than 2.8% of advances and declines in the New York Stock Exchange.
2. New 52-week highs are less than twice new 52-week lows.
3. The 10-week moving average of the NYSE is higher than it was 50 trading days ago.
4. The McClellan Oscillator (an indicator of whether a market is overbought or oversold) is down the same day. According to Krisnky, all four events happened on April 15, and again on Wednesday of last week.

Comment: See the WSJ "Chart of the Day". I'm a value investor not a technical trader.  But sounds like a Summer Hollywood blockbuster!

Ex-dividend date - Who gets the dividend? (The seller or buyer?)

Dividend Declaration, Ex Dividend and Record Dates
Wiki: Ex-dividend date
Example above from Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (SWK)

Excerpt:

The ex-dividend date is two business days prior to the record date. To be a stockholder on the record date an investor must purchase the stock before the ex-dividend date. The latest date he can buy the stock to be a stockholder on record and be entitled to the dividend would be one day prior to the ex-dividend date (this includes extended hours (pre-market and after-hours) of that day) to allow for the three stock trading day settlement of the stock purchase. If the investor purchases the stock the day before the ex-dividend date the investor would be a stockholder on the record date and would be entitled to receive the dividend payment.

An investor who wishes to be entitled to the dividend does not have to wait until after the record date to sell the stock; however, the investor must hold the stock until the ex-dividend date. If the investor were to sell the stock on the ex-dividend date or afterwards, the investor would still be entitled to the dividend payment. In this example, assuming that the investor purchased the stock one day before the ex-dividend date, the investor would be a stockholder on the record date. If the investor sells the stock on the ex-dividend date, the buyer of the stock would be a stockholder one day after the record date given the three stock business trading day settlement. The person that bought the stock would not be entitled to receive the dividend.

Comment: Image below is from the One Mint article. Very helpful.

Pinnacle 3661 .... Kathee on way home

Comment: Looking forward to seeing her in about 2 hours

The Worthless Won (North Korean Won)

Insight: North Korean economy surrenders to foreign currency invasion

Excerpt:

Faith in the North Korean won crumbled when Kim's father, Kim Jong-il, ordered the sudden revaluation of the currency in November 2009.

The government chopped two zeroes off banknotes and limited the amount of old money that could be exchanged for new cash. The move, seen as an attack on private market activity at the time, spurred a rush to hold hard currency.

It also quickened inflation and according to South Korea's spy agency, sparked rare civil unrest in one of the world's most entrenched authoritarian states after North Koreans realized the won was not a safe store of value.

The government is widely believed to have executed the economic official who oversaw the revaluation. Dollars have circulated in North Korea for decades, partly because of the cash siphoned off from official foreign trade. The rise in the use of yuan is a more recent phenomenon and reflects a surge in trade and smuggling between North Korea and China along their 1,400 km (875 mile) land border, where a lot of the currency changes hands. Official trade with China is worth $6 billion annually.

Black market rates illustrate how far the won has fallen since the revaluation. It has plunged from 30 to one U.S. dollar to about 8,500, according to exchange rates tracked by Daily NK. The current official exchange rate is about 130 won per dollar.

Comment: Buy on Ebay if interested

Kathee's flight Cancelled - stuck in Cincinnati

Comment: Was to have departed at 3:40 pm Eastern ... delayed one hour at a time until finally cancelled. Kathee has a hotel voucher .. and is to fly back tomorrow a.m.

Updated: Kathee at Airport Hilton ... scheduled on flight first thing AM

High School Yearbook

I found my high school yearbook online at Classmates.com

Here's my page ....

So serious looking! Can't find me ... scroll down ... 

On the next row .. far left is my best friend from High School .. Joel Perry (Stanley Joel Perry Jr.). Because homerooms were grouped by alphabet, I was with these people for homeroom for 4 years. In many classes Joel had the seat next to mine. Joel was born 1 day before me (August 18th, 1949) and died on my birthday on August 19th, 1996 at the age of 47. 

Hell's Kitchen

Hell's Kitchen
Location

Comments:

• Day 2 without the wife (in Cincinnati for a bridal shower)
• I woke up at 7:30
• I had a diet Pepsi for breakfast
• Did some financial stuff
• And went out at 11 a.m.
• I've heard about this place and it is all good. I was not disappointed. 
• Parking: I went around the block (really long blocks because of one ways and do-not-turns) three times. Finally parked in front (near) of the W at a metered spot. With my handicapped placard, was free for 2 hours
• I had the corned beef hash. Hell's Kitchen has home made peanut butter and I had that with my toast. 
• The location is on the LL level .... elevator down
• As one might expect there is a comic-book style "hell" motif. Not offensive and kind of fun
• Staff very pleasant
• A band called The Church of Cash (think Johnny Cash) was performing. 

The Danger of All Stocks

The 100% Stock Solution

Excerpt:

Stocks often have outperformed bonds over long periods. An investor who put $100,000 into the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index 25 years ago would have had more than $1 million this April, while the same amount in the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index would be worth $560,900, according to investment researcher Morningstar.

The problem: Stocks take investors on a rockier ride, and the threat of large, long-lasting drops looms. The S&P 500 fell 38% in 2008, amid the financial crisis, and didn't close above its precrisis peak until March.

Investors risk locking in their losses if they sell stocks after that kind of drop, as many did during the financial crisis, due either to fear of greater losses or a short-term need for cash. If the money is needed to fund retirement, for instance, the damage can be catastrophic.

To manage that risk, conventional wisdom dictates striking a balance, putting some investments in stocks and some in bonds and gradually adjusting the proportions to boost the fixed-income allocation as an investor ages. Popular "target date" mutual funds often make the adjustment automatically.

... All-stock investors need to make sure they can ride out a downturn. That is a difficult calculation to make because no one knows how long a bear market will last—or how low it will go.

Comment: There are mitigating factors: For example does one have a guaranteed stream of income: say a pension or social security. The key seems to be, if one cannot ride out a downturn, then the all-stock portfolio is at risk.

Pete Rose ... alive and well in Glitter Gulch: Charlie Hustle in a city of hustlers

Pete Rose Works Full-Time Selling His Signature in Las Vegas

Excerpt:

Since 2005, he has spent several hours per day, 15 to 25 days per month, 12 months per year signing his name for money. He signs and poses for photos with anyone who buys memorabilia from his business partners, with items such as baseballs and photos ranging from $75 to $800. And for this, Rose earns more than $1 million per year.

Comment: Good to know that his signature is not a rarity (so don't invest in a signed baseball on Ebay!)

Samba file server

Finally after more than a year of not using my Linux box, I set it up as a Samba file server.

My wife brought the issue to my attention was we were cleaning out the den. The "you should get rid of that thing" conversation.

I am using Webmin for the administration. Samba could also be used for a print server but we are printer-less and intend to stay that way.

Time for a new Shredder - Fellowes Powershred W-11C

Fellowes Powershred W-11C

Comment: Old one gave up the ghost.I think we had it for over 12 years because our cats are 12 and they were kittens when we bought it. I understand  your are supposed to periodically oil these things. The last one ... never oiled once! This generation ... I bought some oil and resolve to apply it once and a while.

Jim's 10 ETFs with $ 500K

As a followup to Jim Cramer's Owning Ten Stocks is Just Right, I would go with 10 ETFs. (Click image above for larger). The above is:

• 20% bonds with BND and AGG
• Has the stock indexes of DIA, SPY, and the NASDAQ. (Note ... I chose ONEQ over QQQ because the the yield!)
• Is 20% preferred stocks with PGX and PFF.
• Has MLP exposure with the popular AMLP
• A passive investor could choose these and just let 'em ride 
• Altogether has a dividend yield of 3.5%

Cramer: "[Owning] Ten [stocks] is just right

Cramer: How Many Stocks Are Too Many?

Excerpt:

Largely Cramer thinks if you hold more than 10, you won't be as informed as you need to be to succeed. "More than ten and you will likely start skimping on the homework , and that's incredibly dangerous," Cramer said. By homework, Cramer means the research that's necessary to keep yourself abreast of all the catalysts in the market that can move the stock. It involves examining earnings reports , reading news stories, and parsing through Wall Street analysis. And that's time consuming. "Homework means committing one hour per week per stock," Cramer said. "Much less than that, and you might as well be gambling." And few people can commit more than 10 hours per week. "Therefore, I say you can't handle thirty stocks, even twenty is like having a part-time job. Ten, however, is just right," Cramer said.

Comments:

• I would have a hard time with just 10 stocks. 
• I try to diversify across industries and within industries. For example we have Pepsi, Coke, and Dr Pepper.
• The chart below illustrates my hypothetical 10 stock list ... with an total investment of approximately half a million. 

Ditch the insurance - "real health care reform"

South Portland doctor stops accepting insurance, posts prices online

Excerpt:

... the decision to do away with insurance allows Ciampi to practice medicine the way he sees fit, he said. Insurance companies no longer dictate how much he charges. He can offer discounts to patients struggling with their medical bills. He can make house calls.

“I’m freed up to do what I think is right for the patients,” Ciampi said. “If I’m providing them a service that they value, they can pay me, and we cut the insurance out as the middleman and cut out a lot of the expense.”

Ciampi expects more doctors will follow suit. Some may choose to run “concierge practices” in which patients pay to keep a doctor on retainer, he said.

Gordon Smith, a spokesman for the Maine Medical Association, wasn’t so sure, saying most patients either want to use the insurance they pay for or need to rely on Medicare and Medicaid.

Even with the loss of some patients, Ciampi expects his practice to perform just as well financially, if not better, than before he ditched insurance. The new approach will likely attract new patients who are self-employed, lack insurance or have high-deductible plans, he said, because Ciampi has slashed his prices.

“I’ve been able to cut my prices in half because my overhead will be so much less,” he said.

Before, Ciampi charged $160 for an office visit with an existing patient facing one or more complicated health problems. Now, he charges $75.

Comment: His homepage.

A flash of white .... an burst of dust

Map

This is in the category of something one doesn't see everyday. Kathee and I were returning from Lowes at about 3:30 to 3:45 p.m. today. We were driving West on Rockford Road (Co Road 9) approaching Vinewood Lane. A pickup truck crossed in front of me on Vinewood LN. I hypothesize that he was gunning it to beat the light because the light was green for me. His passing was the flash of white. Then there was an eruption of dust to my right. The truck had left the road and slammed into a stone wall on the Cornerstone Auto property. The impact flipped the truck 180 degrees.

Kathee called 911 with her cell phone. I pulled into the St Joseph church parking lot and then drove over to approximately the location of the picture above. Many people had pulled over to assist the driver. The truck was perched at an angle with the drivers side on the top of the stone wall (the stone wall is not pictured above ... it was installed after the Google street view photo was taken).

Those who came to the drivers aid were unable to get the doors open. Smoke began to fill the truck cab.

Quickly two fire trucks arrived then a handful of police cars. And then an ambulance.

A fireman pried open the passenger side door.

We stayed and watched the action for 15 or 20 minutes until finally the driver was extricated.

Interestingly, my Brother works at O'Reilly Auto Parts in the shopping center at that corner. He heard the crash and also called 911.

Unsure of the final outcome of the driver. We prayed for him. Hope he is ok.

Experts on - "one stock, just for fun"

The Experts: How to Pick a 'Just for Fun' Stock

Multiple views .... here are two of the best:

My advice would be to buy Berkshire Hathaway stock and let Warren Buffett pick companies for you. (NYSE: BRK:A, BRK:B)

... If you were only to select a single stock, then you would want to select a company that was, by its business model, well diversified by type of business and by geography. There might be several companies that would meet that definition, but two that come to mind are Berkshire Hathaway and/or General Electric .

Comment: My own views:

• It's best not to invest "for fun". Investing is serious stuff. Money can be lost and not regained.
• If I could only buy one stock (not an ETF) I would probably pick Coke (KO). Why: A good consumer stock. People drink this stuff (I prefer Pepsi!)
• Stocks aside I would pick PEY ... the ETF. Nice diversification!
• If I were a beginning investor, I would use Sharebuilder and invest $ 300 per month using their Automatic Investing at ShareBuilder . This is how we got started. 

On Stock Splits

How to Use Stock Splits to Build a Winning Portfolio

Excerpt:

It is difficult to see why you should. A 2-for-1 split, for example, merely means you now own twice as many shares that are worth half as much.

But try telling that to Neil Macneale, editor of an investment-advisory service called "2 for 1," whose model portfolio contains only those stocks that have recently split their shares, holding them for 30 months. Over the past decade, according to the Hulbert Financial Digest, that portfolio has produced a 14% annualized return, far outpacing the 8% gain of the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, including dividends.

Mr. Macneale's track record isn't a fluke. Several studies have found that the average stock undergoing a split outperforms the overall market by a significant margin over the three years following the company's announcement of that split.

Comment: We have two stocks that recently split: Colgate-Palmolive Co. and The Coca-Cola Company . The one I would like to see split is IBM.