The News Review:
- Getty slashes operating budget after severe investment losses
- Harry Domash nline Investing: A new tool for picking growth stocks
- How could savvy investors have been fooled by Madoff? Easy
- Investing for the Long Uncertainty Ahead
- Hart: Investing in schools a sacrifice but a must
- Madoff Pleads Guilty to $65 Billion Investment Scam
Getty slashes operating budget after severe investment losses
Los Angeles Times
5 billion since July and nearly $2 billion since mid-2007. President James Wood said the financial stability of the Getty the world’s richest arts institution could “fall off a huge cliff” if it delayed drastic cuts and hard times continue. The Getty relies almost exclusively on investment earnings to cover expenses for its two Los Angeles art museums as well as the research art-conservation and grant-making operations that extend the trust’s reach around the world.
Harry Domash nline Investing: A new tool for picking growth stocks
San Jose Mercury News
With that in mind I’m going to describe a new tool that you can use to find promising growth stock candidates. By “growth stocks” I mean stocks that are expected to grow sales and earnings at least 15 percent annually Since long-term share prices usually track earnings these are usually the best stock price appreciation prospects. I’ll use Zacks Investment Research’s Custom Stock Screener to find the growth candidates. Stock screeners are Web-based tools that allow you to search the entire market for stocks meeting your particular selection requirements. Zacks’ Custom Stock Screener which is one of the most powerful free screeners around is not new. But until recently the screener was so difficult to use that I never mentioned it. Now Zacks has redesigned its screener to make it user-friendly and they’ve mostly succeeded.
How could savvy investors have been fooled by Madoff? Easy
Los Angeles Times
But look if you have to ask you shouldn’t be investing in the first place. I would have felt lucky even proud to do business with Bernie. No fly-by-night operator on the periphery of Wall Street he was a former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market and a pillar of the Jewish community. He didn’t let just anyone into the circle. You had to know somebody and even then you had to be allowed to invest with Bernie.
Investing for the Long Uncertainty Ahead
BusinessWeek
More recently however the moves haven’t been so much dips as just straight down which makes it hard to know when to buy a stock he says. He’s sharply reduced his accounts’ weight in cash and bonds from 60% to 70% last fall. The investment strategists who seem the most grounded these days are those who understand that in the current environment their primary focus needs to be capital preservation. That makes them clear about their role to first preserve their clients’ wealth and only then worry about growing it. Dean Barber chief investment officer for the Barber Financial Group in Lenexa Kans. said he began adjusting and safeguarding his clients’ portfolios 15 months ago with an eye toward preserving their capital. Most of his firm’s clients are already retired.
Hart: Investing in schools a sacrifice but a must
The Tennessean
But I believe such thinking is short-sighted considering the stakes. Providing quality public education is the most important function of local government. It’s a community’s foremost investment. Rutherford County has been blessed with great schools and teachers but an ongoing vision for the future requires a concrete investment in the present. Delaying construction for a year simply puts off the inevitable at a potentially much higher cost down the road. Schools Director Harry Gill has pledged to try again in April to get funding and I don’t blame him. No one can say that Gill and his administration has been spendthrift with taxpayer money as this county gets one of the biggest bangs for the buck per pupil in this state considering the impressive test results of our students each year.
Madoff Pleads Guilty to $65 Billion Investment Scam
Voice of America
The judge ordered Madoff sent to jail immediately while he awaits sentencing on June 16. That decision brought applause in the courtroom. Madoff’s wide-ranging fraud touched banks charities middle class people investing for retirement in North and South America and Europe and even celebrities – including Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. Now that Madoff has admitted to his crimes questions have turned to who else might have helped the disgraced financier operate the massive Ponzi scheme. Former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt said it is yet to be seen whether Madoff will cooperate in the investigation. “Who helped him? I believe that he is determined to try and protect those people who assisted him” he said. “And he’s going to have to be worn down in that process.
Related from Bloggingrssmonster: Live Blogging the Madoff Hearing: Waiting for Bernie