financialjoe

The Greed of Wall Street

finjoe — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:14:00 GMT

What does taxpayers + investors equal? “Taken advantage of” How shameful! The greed of Wall Street exposes itself once again. What will it take to hold the Officers and Board Members accountable for their self-centered actions?

700 billion plus of taxpayer money well spent! This truly is a great reform put into action by our Government.

The word “Accountable” is just a word that the Government throws around on the outside of the four walls, but in the walls it’s just swept under the carpet and Americans never see any results.

You can call it “A slide of the hand or Out of sight out of mind”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32099693/ns/business-washington_post

Cheers,

Shawn Tierney

Financialjoe.com

Some Bond Basics

finjoe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:49:00 GMT

BOND BASICS

Bonds are an essential element to a diversified asset allocated portfolio, especially for the investor relying on income producing investments.

Government Bonds

Bills - debt securities maturing in less than one yearNotes - debt securities maturing in one to ten yearsBonds - debt securities maturing in more than ten years

Municipal Bonds

Municipal bonds are the next progression in terms of risk. Cities don't often go bankrupt. The major advantage to "munis" is that the returns are free from federal tax. Local governments sometimes make their debt non-taxable for residents, making some municipal bonds completely tax-free. Residents in certain states that do not have a state income tax have the luxury of buying bonds outside of their state of residence. Because of the tax savings, the yield is usually lower than that of a taxable bond. Depending on your personal situation, munis can be a great investment on an after-tax basis.

Corporate Bonds

A company can issue bonds just like it can issue stock. Large corporations have a lot of flexibility as to how much debt they can issue. The limit is whatever the market will bear. Generally, a short-term corporate bond is less than five years, an intermediate corporate bond is five to twelve years, and a long term is over twelve years.

Corporate bonds are characterized by higher yields because there is a higher risk of a company defaulting. They can also be the most rewarding fixed-income investments because of the risk the investor must take on. The company's credit quality is very important. The higher the quality, the lower the interest rate the investor receives.

Zero Coupon Bonds

This is a type of bond that makes no coupon payments but instead is issued at a considerable discount to par value. For example, a zero coupon bond with a $1000 par value and ten years to mature might be trading at $600. Meaning, today you would pay $600 for a bond that will be worth $1000 in ten years.

Agency Bonds and Mortgage-Backed Securities Agency Bonds are issued by the Federal Government and various government-sponsored organizations to raise money to help certain areas of the economy. Together, these securities are called agency bonds. These groups sell their own securities as one way to raise money. The U.S. Treasury does not issue any agency bonds.

Agency securities are considered very safe from default. Should they ever default, the government would probably use its credit to guarantee investors’ payments of interest and principal. This is generous protection, since the U.S. Government does not fully guarantee most agency securities.

Most agency bonds are in the form of mortgage-backed securities. These represent investments in a pool of mortgages.

Agency bonds provide yields that are higher than those of Treasury securities. This is because they lack explicit guarantees of safety. Their maturities range from one year to fifty years. Denominations vary from $1,000 to $50,000.

Some well-known agencies that issue securities are:

The U.S. Postal Service - raises funds to help its mail-delivery operations
The Federal Land Banks - raises funds for agricultural projects
The Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) - finances housing projects
The Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) - finances mortgages for the Federal Housing Administration and the Veterans Administration
The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) - finances federally chartered thrift institutions.

Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac issue the vast majority of mortgage-backed securities.

Series EE and Series HH bonds

Two types of non-marketable bonds are known as Series EE and series HH bonds. Series EE bonds are the savings bonds that have been popular for decades. They do not distribute interest periodically as many other bonds do. They are purchased at a discount from the face value (par). The discount is calculated using the bond's interest rate and years to maturity. Investors purchase them for less than their face value and let them build up to full face value at maturity.

The minimum face value of a Series EE bond is $50. The maximum face value possible is $30,000. One can purchase Series EE bonds at banks or through payroll deduction plans. The investor can allow the accrued interest to be taxed each year, or they can defer it until the bond is redeemed. The tax may be deferred beyond this date if the investor exchanges his or her bond for a Series HH bond.

Series HH bonds are savings bonds that do pay interest and are sold at their face values. Interest is paid twice per year. The denominations range from $500 to $10,000. Series HH bonds may be redeemed after six months. They normally mature in ten years but can be extended to twenty. Series HH bonds have fixed rates of interest and can only be obtained as exchanges of Series E or Series EE bonds.

Shawn Tierney

Financialjoe

Buying Bonds

finjoe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:40:00 GMT

THE ONLY WAY TO BUY It cannot be expressed enough how important this next area of discussion is. It’s the difference between adding thousands of dollars to your return on yield, or giving up thousands of dollars on each bond you purchase.

Breaking down the bond purchase in the simplest manner

The most important piece of information for you to take from this is that your advisor has multiple options on how they can sell you a bond. Meaning, how they charge you for the purchase. This can make the difference between giving up thousands or keeping thousands.

Remember, your advisor is working for you and needs to be paid. If you only buy bonds from your advisor and they do not manage any other assets for you, you can’t negotiate with them on the commission price for the bonds. However, if your advisor manages other assets for you, there may be other options. For example:

You have $500,000 in a managed account with a blended fee of about 1.375% annual fee. This is generating a fee of $6,875 a year, at a payout of 35%, putting $2,406.25 in to your advisors pocket.

Say you have quarterly contact with the advisor just to review how you’re doing. Thirty minutes, four times a year, is 2 hours. That’s $1,203.12 an hour you’re paying him, so he should be able give you a break on the bond purchases. If not, get a new advisor. If they are willing to collect a commission of $720.00 which cost you thousands upfront, they should have your best interests at heart.

Below is a hypothetical example of what your advisor might be looking at when he is purchasing your bond. This can vary depending on the company they work for, but the behind the scenes options should be consistent.

Compare the two examples below:

-The first purchased the traditional way: Markup on the bond.

-The second purchased in the manner you should purchase: Commission ticket.

Compare the difference on the color-coded areas between the two options.

Municipal Bond: Arizona General Obligation Coupon: 5% Price: 108.225 Frequency it pays: Semi Annual Quantity: 185 Max Commission: 10.82

Sales Credit: ੦ $ / Bond ੦ $ / Ticket ੦ % Principal Yield-to-Call: 3.876 Price: 108.225 Amount: $200,271.75 Yield-to-Worst: 3.876 Sales Credit: 1.082 Sales credit: $2,001.70 Yield-to-Maturity: 3.988 Net Price:109.337 Net Amount Due: $202,273.45

Municipal Bond: Arizona General Obligation Coupon: 5% Price: 108.225 Frequency it pays: Semi Annual Quantity: 185 Max Commission: $75.00

Sales Credit: ੦ $ / Bond ੦ $ / Ticket ੦ % Principal Yield-to-Call: 3.995 Price: 108.225 Amount: $200,271.75 Yield-to-Worst: 3.995 Sales Credit: 0.40 Sales credit: $75.00 Yield-to-Maturity: 4.096 NetPrice:108.295 Net Amount Due: $200,346.75

Yield-to-Maturity: 3.988 or Yield-to-Maturity: 4.096 what Yield-To-Maturity would you want:

$185,000 @ Yield-to-Maturity: 3.988 for the 12 years you hold the bond equals $88,553.60 minus the markup of $2,001.70 gives you a total earnings of $86,531.90

VS.

$185,000 @ Yield-to-Maturity: 4.096 for the 12 years you hold the bond equals $90,931.20 minus the commission ticket of $75.00 gives you a total earnings of $90,856.20

That’s $4324.30 more in your pocket by simply paying a $75 commission, and that’s only on one bond purchase.

There is only one way to buy a bond and that’s without a markup. Buy your bonds with a commission ticket!

The markup is not required to be disclosed on your confirmation. This has been an advantage of the advisor because the investor does not contest a commission. The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) does not require the markup disclosure, but there has been discussion to disclose markups on client confirmations in the future.

You would be better off paying the commisson ticket which you pay anyway, and keep the higher yield over the 12 year period.

Again, if your advisor manages your assets in a fee based manner, he should be buying your bonds at the minimum commission, which should be around $75.00.

Shawn Tierney

Financialjoe

Adviser Fraud

finjoe — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:19:00 GMT

This is another reason why investors need to be connected through financialjoe. There had to be a handful or two of clients who just didn’t think something was right. If they would have been connected the conversation would have ignited into an ember, and a raging fire could have evolved to stop the carnage.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/SEC-charges-Madofflinked-firm-apf-1964646361.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode=

Shawn Tierney

Financialjoe

That's Where my money went

finjoe — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:09:00 GMT

Really makes you wonder!

http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/74274.php

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/davos/7857005.stm

Shawn Tierney

Financialjoe

Will U.S. housing go the way of Japan?

finjoe — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:51:00 GMT

A colleague of mine brought this to my attention...pretty good read.

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/hotproperty/archives/2009/06/will_us_housing.html

Shawn Tierney

Financialjoe

Mutual Fund Fee Study of 2006 Where Did You Go?

finjoe — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:58:00 GMT

Back in 2006 there was media frenzy in the financial makrets about a new study that said financial advisors are useless and the study would change the way investors invested their money. What happened? Nothing seemed to change? In fact I can’t even find the article, which was written by "Donald Moine. "The Study of the Decade." Morningstar Advisor 22 June 2006." the link in broke and a search of Mornignstar.com yielded no return on such a thing. I'll copy and paste a synopsis of the article which suggested financial advisors are useless and do-it-yourself investors are better off than using an advisor. My question is if it was so powerful, and so convincing where did it go, and why did it not have the powerful-reforming change on investors and how they invest their money?

I have one theory; people want help in everything they do, and investors certainly can't handle (on their own) the media driven markets that tell everyone the sky is falling. I do know this much after following the market for over twenty years and dealing directly with investors for over ten years. From the 1930's to the present we have had times in the market where the media says "this is the big one boys, it's all going away." But it always recovers stronger, and in the end we always have growth. The question investors need to ask themselves is "Why do I expect it to always keeping going without any problems". Investors need to understand the importance of Asset Allocation and make sure they have a good advisor who is conducting portfolio reviews quarterly.

BCT study where did you go !

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/boomerbucks/20061206_investment_advice_a1.asp

Shawn Tierney
financialjoe.com

Bad advice from financial professionals?

finjoe — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:07:00 GMT

You make the call. What would you do in these times?

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/CreditCardSmarts/why-suze-orman-is-wrong-again.aspx

Cheers,

Shawn Tierney

financialjoe.com

More advisors are switching firms

finjoe — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:56:00 GMT

Meaning almost twice as many as last year! According to FA Mag, The National Financial Broker and Advisor Sentiment Index indicates the number jumped from 5% to 9%. Over 60% indicated they plan on taking the RIA, Independent, or Regional Firm route.

What will this mean for investors? They’re forced to stay with their advisor or find another. This can be a tremendous headache for an investor during market conditions that create unwelcomed emotional stress, loss of cost basis, forced sales, etc.

The greatest challenge for the investor who decides not to follow their advisor is finding an advisor they can trust. A task most investors fear, put off, and historically has not been a successful event for them.

http://www.fa-mag.com/fa-news/3176.html

Cheers,

Shawn Tierney

financialjoe.com

VC's and Big Brother

finjoe — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:48:00 GMT

Ouch! VC's may not have freedom. Techcrunch.com covers the issues at hand.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner - Accordingly, we recommend that all advisers to hedge funds (and other private pools of capital, including private equity funds and venture capital funds) with assets under management over a certain threshold be required to register with the SEC.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/09/hey-geithner-get-your-grubby-hands-off-the-venture-capital-industry/

Cheers,

Shawn Tierney
Financialjoe.com

WSJ article says 81% of the wealthy are dumping their advisor

finjoe — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:45:00 GMT

This is a great article as to why the existence of financialjoe.com is so compelling. Investors need to take the time and use financialjoe.com and build the social environment to establish accountability in the management of their financial lives. The article mentions that 81% state they will leave their current advisor. How will they know what they’re going to get based on meeting the new advisor and listening to him sell himself. He could be better or worse once the honeymoon stage is over.

The importance of having a database that is driven by investors experience for other investors to turn to and utilize is critical.

http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2008/09/30/wealthy-investors-stage-revolt-against-advisors/

Cheers,

Shawn Tierney

Financialjoe.com

It happens everywhere

finjoe — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:40:00 GMT

I mean everywhere!

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/606254

Cheers,

Shawn Tierney

financialjoe.com

Advisors must be diligent

finjoe — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:39:00 GMT

To follow up on the Client/Advisor relationship post, attached is an article written to the advisors….seems to have a common thread to what I was saying.

Read the article and ask yourself if your advisor is meeting those standards.

http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090222/REG/302229995/1043&ht=

Cheers,

Shawn Tierney

Financialjoe.com

Dear Meredith Whitney Ken Lewis should be fired!

finjoe — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:21:00 GMT

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Meredith-Whitney-says-Ken-apf-14881365.html

Oh dear Meredith Whitney I disagree with you; actually Ken Lewis you should be fired. You bought Merrill Lynch and have taken a traditional hand holding service that bank clients were accustom to out of Banc of America Investments. Not to mention the tiny “mistake” of approving billions in Merrill Lynch bonuses while seeking billions in loans from US tax payers. It was nice of you not give yourself a bonus in 2008, but I’m sure you still have some of the $25, 649,566.00 you made in 2007 to hold you over till 2010.

Bank of America and Banc of America Investments had a great program which not only coddled the client but provided a double layer of accountability to the client. The bank side had a banker referred to as a "Premier Banker" who handled a client with a higher net worth. The Premier Banker was teamed with a Financial Advisor from Banc of America Investments. Together they would manage client’s assets and both were on the same page.

The beauty of this team was that it provided the client a double layer of accountability. The financial advisor would not be able to take all the clients money and invest it in the market without the premier banker knowing, and the premier banker couldn’t just throw the client into CD's or slap any unneeded loans on the client without the financial advisor knowing. The joint management provided a service making the clients best interest the priority.

The Banc of America Investments program was about one of the best I've seen for any investor out there. Not anymore! Now they're a wire house disguised as a bank. Clients have a rude awakening coming. Bank of America has fired most of the premier bankers throughout the country. They have fired most of the investment side managers who only had bank experience. And it looks like the financial advisors who used to sit in the bank branches will now be housed in Merrill Lynch branches.So tell me Ken, how was this good for the clients? Its not, it might be good for shareholder, which means it’s good for your stock options.

I have several contacts at Bank of America, Banc of America Investments, and US Banc Investments. They’re not happy at Banc of America because a lot of clients have left. Now my contact with US Banc Investments is very happy. He's a financial advisor who works with Private Client Services (High net worth) and has brought in over $50 million from Banc of America Investments. So if he's brought in that much how much has left Bank of America across the country? So is that really good for Bank of America shareholders?

If you bank at Bank of America or have your investments there you might want to look around because things won’t stay the same.

Cheers,

Shawn Tierney

financialjoe.com

Economy Comeback

finjoe — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:39:00 GMT

I've stood on my prediction on when the economy will fully recover which is 3 to 4 years, as long as we don’t have any more major hiccups.

This article from the New York Times is about the best I've seen explaining why it will take so long for us to recover. Take the time to read it and understand the economics which fuels what you don’t see on a daily basis.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/106874/Economy-Falling-Years-Behind-Full-Speed

Cheers,

Shawn Tierney

financialjoe