HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: brad@optilink.COM (Brad Yearwood)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: 3D Systems
Date: 27 Jan 93 04:23:28 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA

In article <1993Jan24.204434.5244@mixcom.com>, James.Rumberg@mixcom.mixcom.com (James.Rumberg) writes:
> Does anyone have specifics on a company listed on NASDAQ as
> 3D Sys? On Wall Street Week this was mentioned as a hot
> company in multi-media software. The price as of 1/24/93
> is only $1 per share.  Why so low?
> 

They must've intended some other company.  3-D Systems, symbol TDSSF, has an
interesting-looking product: stereolithography equipment.  This takes
a solid model CAD database, and scans a laser into a vat of liquid
photopolymer with an elevator platform to build a solid polymer form
slice-wise.  The machines sell for $250-500K.

I bought TDSSF at 5.50.  Went up to around 16 and I very stupidly didn't sell.
At this point, I might as well ride it into the ground.

The stock was originally traded on Vancouver, but got onto the NASDAQ main
list a couple of years ago.  Ciba-Geigy at one time owned a substantial chunk
(maybe 1/3) of the company.  They sold out, but bought in again later if
I recall correctly.

I believe there's a company called 3DO - maybe that's what WSW intended.

Brad Yearwood    brad@optilink.com    {uunet, pyramid}!optilink!brad
Petaluma, CA
From: schindler@csa2.lbl.gov
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Covered Calls:  Less Risk - High Returns.
Date: 22 Jan 1993 00:22 PST
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory - Berkeley, CA, USA
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.254.197
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    

ask@cbnews.cb.att.com (Arthur S. Kamlet) writes...
> 
>While you make an argument for this being an analogy, it's also true
>that the risks are quite opposite.  Covered call writing is probably
>the lowest risk of the various combinations we could concoct,
>excepting perhaps  several straddle positions.   However writing
>puts and shorting stock in combination presents about the highest
>of risks.

I disagree.  In fact I would argue that selling short without writing the put
is even riskier.  Just as a covered call is less risky than simply being long
the stock, so a "covering put" is less risky than simply being short the stock.
The premium from the "covering put" gives you a little downside (=upside for the
stock price) protection.

> 
>puts are good for folks who think the price won't fall; so is
>shorting the stock itself.  But covered call writing assumes the
>price won't rise, while purchase of the stock to cover the call
>predicts the stock will rise.   Not quite the same.
> 
I agree that writing puts is the correct strategy if you are bullish.  But
it is incorrect that selling short is a good strategy if you are bullish.

writing puts, buying calls, buying stock       --> bullish strategies
buying puts, writing calls, shorting stock     --> bearish strategies  

>Further, while the stock covers the covered call, the shorted stock
>must be covered by other collateral and also the shorted put must
>be covered by separate collateral.

Here Art is correct to a T.  There is in fact such a thing as a "covered put."
But a short position in the stock cannot cover the put.  A covered put is one
in which:
	1) money is deposited in a bank to pay for the stock and you get a 
	   receipt from them saying so to send to your broker.
	2) a line of credit representing the strike price is obtained.
	3) a put in the same equity is purchased.

>Art Kamlet  a_s_kamlet@att.com  AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus

|=======================================================================|
| Aaron Schindler                                Schindler@csa.lbl.gov  |
|                                                                       |
| There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate:     |
| when he can't afford it, and when he can.        --Mark Twain         |
|=======================================================================|
From: ask@cbnews.cb.att.com (Arthur S. Kamlet)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Income tax ?
Date: 26 Jan 93 22:50:02 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories,  Columbus, Ohio

In article <1993Jan26.215721.12433@unocal.com> stgprao@st.unocal.COM (Richard Ottolini) writes:
>Some companies allow employees to particpate in a pretax medical deduction
>plan.  You can set aside a certain amount in a reserve to pay for costs.
>The reserve is not taxed, so in may case I save 45%.
>However, any surplus in the reserve cannot be given to the employee, nor
>transferred in future years in my company.

In our plan, any surplus is split equally among all participants the
in the plan next year.  So if there was a surplus from 1992, all
surplus is divided equally and paid (taxable) to all 1993 plan
participants. 
-- 
Art Kamlet  a_s_kamlet@att.com  AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus
From: chang-mark-yan-ming@cs.yale.edu (Mark Yan-Ming Chang)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Ford Card is changing!
Date: 25 Jan 1993 13:36:57 -0500
Organization: Yale University Computer Science Dept., New Haven, CT 06520-2158
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: na-gw.cs.yale.edu


Ford Credit Card is elimiting rebate! 

Any Visa/Mastercard left with a rebate feature?
Is Discover the only one left with rebate?
-- 
--- Mark (changym@cs.Yale.edu, decvax!yale!changym, changym@YaleCS.BITNET)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: rvp2f@Virginia.EDU (Prasad  Polamraju)
Subject: Re: NASDAQ brokers: Can they cheat on orders?
Keywords: Nasdaq
Organization: University of Virginia
Distribution: na
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 21:26:32 GMT

In article 33978 of misc.invest (tcbd@cbnews.cb.att.com) wrote
>who is the broker?  what was the stock, and when was this? 
>maybe someone has some more insight.

>they are not allowed to "cheat" - a couple (hibbard brown comes to
>mind) are alleged to "cheat".

>the circumstances you mention sound like there was something
>unusual going on in the stock, but you can't tell from the
>limited data you have whether this is a case of a story coming out
>on the stock on some national news service (CNBC, WSJ, ...)
>touting the stock or other good news, or "cheating".
>I would not @based only on what you have said, sounds like your
>broker might well have given you good advice - sounds like you should
>have made some good $$.  Can't complain that the broker didn't
>know what was going to happen the next day.

This is NASDAQ smallcap issue called Scorpion Technologies. It had 
a 1991 earnings of 55 cents per share. They make software for 
converting rasterscan images to vector graphics (something like that).
They were sued in 1992 by another software company and the stock went
down from a high of around $7 to 3/4. I bought a block of shares
around $1 on this brokers advice. Last week when my broker  asked me
permission to sell it, it moved from 3/4 to 1 1/4. The next day I checked it 
had a high of 2 1/4, low and settle 1 3/4. But when I called my broker
he told me he sold the stock the previous day at 1 1/4. Is there anyway
to know if the price I got is the price he sold it for. I read newspaper
articles of brokers selling/buying on their own account ahead of their
customers to skim part of the price.

The broker in question is part of Corporate Securities group which
seems to specialize in small stocks, trading, marketmaking, underwriting,
etc. He also adviced me to buy another small NASDAQ stock last year
Staff Builders(Home Health Care) at 1 5/8. Currently it moved up
above 3.

thanks for all the comments so far on the issue.

Prasad Polamraju
rvp2f@virginia.edu
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: msingh@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (The Supreme Commander)
Subject: Re: Dreyfus Funds
Keywords: Dreyfus mutual funds
Organization: Indiana University
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 14:42:47 GMT

In article <scott.727587968@geta> scott@geta.life.uiuc.edu (mrh) writes:
>I'm pretty happy with the Appreciation Fund- they pay a reasonable yearly
>Dividend, have a respectable manager, and slow, but steady improvement in
>their stock prices. Their strategy appears to be value centered.

As my previous post suggested, I have not seen this "steady
improvement", but then you have probably been in the fund longer than

>On the downside, its fee structure reminds me of a typical Fidelity fund-
>complex enough to preclude easy calculation of management fees.
>All told, they rake off about 10-15% of any profits via 12b-1 and expenses.


This is one of my complaints with the fund. If it was a stellar
performer, then those hefty fees would be worth it. However, it isn't
a stellar performer, and funds like the Janus Twenty produce far
better results.

>Get an annual report before you decide to go in, because as you said,
>the Prospectus doesn't say squat.

Also, the original poster should realize that the fund just recently
asked shareholders to vote on whether or not to change the fund's
investment goals/philosophy. This is surely an indication that the
fund is not performing as well as intended.

Then again, who is this Fayez Sarofim guy? Dreyfus says he's a great
investment manager. But can anyone back this up?

				
					...Manu


-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Supreme Commander wishes you a Supreme day. 
I'm a Magic Man, oooh, I got the magic hands, yeah...
Don't mind me, I'm just attempting to dock.
From: jmuth@pyrps5.eng.pyramid.com (John Muth)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Index funds
Date: 21 Jan 93 18:23:54 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Pyramid Technology Corporation, Mountain View

In article <1993Jan20.190354.9575@mobil.com> etpeters@dal.mobil.com (E. T. Peterson(Eric)) writes:
>In article <1993Jan18.212330.4527@news.eng.convex.com>, Dave Dodson <dodson@convex.COM> writes:
> 
>|> An index fund always will trail its index
>|> because the fund has expenses and must retain cash on hand, but the
>|> index doesn't.
>
>A small point:
>"Cash on hand" will cause the index fund to do better than the index
>during a year in which the index declines. 

I doubt it. An index fund, by definition, attempts to stay fully invested
in whatever market the index covers. Any cash on hand is so small compared
to the equities that, even in a declining market, the income from the cash 
won't cover the fund expenses. Therefore the index fund will STILL trail
the index.

-John Muth
>
>*********************************************************************
>Eric Peterson                  The sooner you fall behind,
>Research Geophysicist          the more time you'll have to catch up!
>(214) 951-3251
>etpeters@dal.mobil.com
>*********************************************************************


Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: TDOPER35@ysub.ysu.edu
Subject: opinions on nature's bounty
Organization: Youngstown State University
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 15:05:16 GMT

What is your opinion of nature's bounty?  Do you think it still has growth pote
ntial? Would you buy it now?
 
DOGGER
From: stevez@osc.COM (Steve Zhang)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: how to buy german or austria bonds
Date: 22 Jan 93 18:48:30 GMT
Article-I.D.: osc.5947
Reply-To: stevez@osc.UUCP (Steve Zhang)
Organization: Versant Object Technology, Menlo Park, CA


I'm interested in buging German or Austrian bonds at this moment.
Could somebody lists the names of mutual funds which are heavily
invested in those europian bonds? Is there any way to directly
purchase those bonds?

Thanks

_steve (stevez@osc.com)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: behm@ntmtv.UUCP (behm)
Subject: Opinions on Acuson (ACN-NYSE)
Originator: behm@endymion
Reply-To: behm@ntmtv.UUCP (behm)
Organization: Northern Telecom, Mountain View, CA
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 19:59:46 GMT

   I'm interested in getting (informed) opinions on Acuson, maker of medical
ultrasound equipment.  It currently trades around $14, way down from its
52-week high in the low 30s, with a trailing PE of ~11.

   Part of the reason for last year's slowdown in earnings growth was the
company's increased spending on R&D and customer support, which I believe
will benefit them long-term.

   Anyone who follows this company care to share their opinions?

Thanks for you input.

Greg
From: fritz@fc.sde.hp.com (Gary Fritz)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Banner Fund International
Date: 28 Jan 1993 19:07:44 GMT
Organization: HP SESD, Fort Collins, CO
NNTP-Posting-Host: hpfcgf.sde.hp.com
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1.4 PL6]

Jeffrey Mincy (mincy@think.com) wrote:
: The point I'm trying to get at here is that stock mutual funds have 
: a certain level of risk and the best funds returned 30-50% last year.
: Any investment projecting 300% annual returns is way out on the risk curve.
: 
: On the other hand, I havent read a prospectus from banner.  How exactly
: are they claiming that they can make such stellar returns?

Sorry, I guess I didn't clarify that.  They are NOT a stock mutual fund --
they do arbitrage.  The theory (according to their admittedly-shady-sounding
material) is that they are able to take advantage of arbitrage deals in
foreign currencies, buying money instruments in huge volumes and selling 
in smaller lots for a profit, and similar things.  Thus, again in theory,
they only put money into something that has an immediate guaranteed return.

As I understand arbitrage, this is possible, and with virtually no risk.  
Whether Banner Fund is a legitimate practitioner of the art is another 
question entirely -- which is why I consider it so risky.

Gary
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: rsingh@eos.ncsu.edu (Ranbir Singh)
Subject: Re: QUOTEWEEKLY-1/22/93
Originator: rsingh@atlas.psrc.ncsu.edu
Reply-To: rsingh@eos.ncsu.edu (Ranbir Singh)
Organization: North Carolina State University, Project Eos
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 19:31:48 GMT


In article <lm1c1jINNb7e@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM>, mwong@bugbuster.Eng.Sun.COM (Martin Wong) writes:
 
> 
> Subject:  E-MAIL QUOTER for Fri, Jan 22, 1993:
> 
 > 
> ****END OF DAILY QUOTE INFORMATION****Fri Jan 22 17:43:23 PST 1993
 

Wow!! I've never seen a post like this before on the net. Is it possible for the
author to do this every day (sorry, if that's asking for too much!)? This would
be of immense help to everyone, I think. If not, is it possible for the author
to give a location/ftp site from where this info could be accessed?


Ranbir Singh
rsingh@apollo.psrc.ncsu.edu
From: tan@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (Lian Tan)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Drug Stocks
Date: 27 Jan 93 16:59:44 GMT
Article-I.D.: aries.tan.728153984
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

Does anybody know what's happening to the drug companies? Both Merck and
Lilly (which I've followed very closely) have gone down fairly significantly
lately. What gives??
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: ajr@pug.hri.com (MFHorn)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Opinions on compubrokers: E*TRADE, PCFN,...?
Date: 27 Jan 93 20:22:22 GMT
Reply-To: ajr@hri.com
Distribution: usa
Organization: Horizon Research, Inc.
In-reply-to: gaertner@vnet.ibm.com's message of 26 Jan 93 01:18:04 GMT

In article <C1Fsy4.7BI@austin.ibm.com> gaertner@vnet.ibm.com (David Gaertner) writes:
> I just heard that PCFN on Prodigy became the largest 
> brokerage by some measure which I don't remember.

Maybe number of accounts?  It costs nothing to join PCFN (beyond Prodigy
fees), so I can see how this number could easily get inflated..

> I'm 
> curious about the brokerage services available via 
> CompuServe, Prodigy and the like.  Would you recommend 
> any of them?  

I'm using PCFN.  Things I like about it are..

I can review my account, send in orders, etc. any time of the day or
night and on weekends.  All the information is already on the computer
(where it belongs :-).  I'm a gadget freak, and buying stocks on a
computer with a graphical interface is a very cool gadget..

For an additional fee (~$15/mo), you get access to Strategic Investor,
which provides, among other things, financial/income statements, some
stock history, p/e, institutional holdings, managment holdings, etc.  for
just about every publicly traded company.  Since it's on a computer, you
can also search for say all electric equipment companies with a p/e of 30
or less and a 3-yr growth of at least 50%.

Things I don't like about it are..

Commissions could be a little lower for us small-time players, but still
aren't too bad.  Prodigy itself costs $15/month..

> Are they easy to use?  I do know that E*TRADE's interface is
> seriously outdated, and Quick*Way uses the same interface.

Unless you're dealing with a large number of stocks, it's very easy to
use.  Prodigy looks to have been designed mostly for people who don't
know how to use computers (some of us consider that a Bad Thing)..

> Anybody know PCFN's commission schedule?

For stocks:

Amount		Regular		Frequent Trader ($1000+ commisions in 12 months)
$    0 -  2500	$ 40		$ 40
  2501 -  5000	  60		  45
  5001 - 10000	  80		  60
 10001 - 20000	 110		  83
 20001 - 40000	 140		 105
 40001+		 100 + .001	  75 + .00075

Maximum - $.40/share, Minimum $.05/share or $.04/share for frequent traders.

Options and no-load mutual funds have a similar schedule.

Penny stocks:

Regular - 4%, Frequent Trader - 3%.

Effective 11/92.  Commissions and fees subject to change.

--
Andy Rosen (ajr@hri.com)  |  "The most valuable commodity I know of,
Horizon Research, Inc.    |   is information."   -Gordon Gekko, "Wall Street"
1432 Main St.             |  "I got this guitar and I learned how to
Waltham, MA 02154         |   make it talk."   -"Thunder Road"
From: schindler@csa2.lbl.gov
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: PBS commissions (was: Olde Discount (high??) fees)
Date: 22 Jan 1993 01:01 PST
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory - Berkeley, CA, USA
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.254.197
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    

nklein@Qstar.COM (Norman Klein) writes...
>This is the comission comparisons from the misc.invest FAQ.

Norman repeats the commission schedules from the FAQ.

FYI all of the PBS commissions are incorrect.  They have put out a new 
commission schedule which has lower rates in general, but they have raised
their minimum from $28 to $29.  (That administrative and handling charge went
up $1.)

PBS's new commissions are:

- up to and including 1000 shares: 5 cents per share + $4.
- above 1000 shares: 2 cents per share + $4.
- $29 minimum.  
- All transactions are rounded up to the next round lot (i.e. hundred)

|=======================================================================|
| Aaron Schindler                                Schindler@csa.lbl.gov  |
|                                                                       |
| "How I made my fortune?  It was really quite simple.  I bought an     |
| apple for five cents, spent the evening polishing it, and sold it the |
| next day for 10 cents.  With this I bought two apples, spent the      |
| evening polishing them, and sold them for 20 cents.  And so it went   |
| until I had amassed $1.60.  It was then that my wife's father died    |
| and left us a million dollars.                     --anon             |
|=======================================================================|

Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: lib@cbnews.cb.att.com (Lib)
Subject: Re: Investment jive talk
Organization: AT&T
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 13:15:16 GMT
Keywords: Buzz words

In article <C1FrKI.6uz@space.physics.uiowa.edu> rlm@sunlight.physics.uiowa.edu writes:
>Forthe neophyte investors among us (e.g. yours truly) could someone post a small glossary of commonly
>used investment slang? For example, short, long, bottom-feeding,...

Even if you can't post a glossary can someone at least tell me what 
bottom-feeding is? Sounds intriguing.

Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: brody@eos.arc.nasa.gov (Adam R. Brody )
Subject: fractional shares
Summary: Should one reinvest dividends
Keywords: DRIP, 
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 20:42:06 GMT

I have always believed in reinvesting dividends.  However, if one buys
an even lot of 100 shares of a stock and then reivests dividends
producing something like 116.035, do those extra 16.035 shares make it
a pain or expensive to sell?  Would it be better to just take the
dividends as cash?
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: etpeters@dal.mobil.com (E. T. Peterson(Eric))
Subject: Re: Short Squeeze on Federated Dept. Stores
Organization: Mobil Exploration & Producing Technical Center(MEPTEC), Dallas. 
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 15:03:51 GMT

In article <1993Jan24.030207.3168@ncar.ucar.edu>, pag@aurora.hao.ucar.edu (Peter Gross) writes:
|> Sorry, Larry, your broker is feeding you BS.  There is no rule against shorting
|> a stock under $5.

Are you sure?  I have been told this by two separate brokerages, and several
other posters have made the same statement.


*********************************************************************
Eric Peterson                  The sooner you fall behind,
Research Geophysicist          the more time you'll have to catch up!
(214) 951-3251
etpeters@dal.mobil.com
*********************************************************************
From: brauer@chinalake.navy.mil (Larry F. Brauer)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Quicken vs. Manage your Money
Date: 22 Jan 93 22:04:46 GMT
Organization: NAWC
X-Xxmessage-Id: <A785B076BC010232@brauer.nwc.navy.mil>
X-Xxdate: Fri, 22 Jan 93 22:08:54 GMT
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d16

Subject: Quicken vs. Manage your Money
From: Mark D. Austin, austin@eecom.gatech.edu
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 17:37:52 GMT
In article <1993Jan22.173752.16323@ee.gatech.edu> Mark D. Austin,
austin@eecom.gatech.edu writes:
>
>Greetings,
>
>I was wondering if someone could suggest which package would be 
>better for home finances, including tracking my investments,
>check writing etc. 
>
>Have heard good things about both. Thanks in advance.

Nice to see something from someone at my alma mater.   I've seen both on
PCs and MACs, although it has been some time.  Personally I use MYM on my
Mac and it does everything I want it to do and does it quite well.  A
couple a years ago I tried Quicken on the Mac and it was bad; however,
that was an old version that has gone through several updates.  I
understand it is much better now.

On a PC I was much more impressed with Quicken than MYM.  However, MYM
for the PC has probably been updated and it may be compatible with
windows and be a good choice.

My personal recommendation would be dependent on the machine.  Use MYM
for the Mac and Quicken for the PC.  However, I am sure that many people
will disagree with me.  In any case, both will probably do what you want
although you may have to adjust the way you do things to allow the
software to accomidate your wishes.

Larry F. Brauer (BME '67)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: tony2@prefect.cc.bellcore.com (gozdz,antoni s)
Subject: Re: YOUR stock picks
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 93 14:15:27 GMT

In article <1993Jan26.215538.792@informix.com> robs@informix.com (Robert Schneider) writes:
>>
****************stuff deleted***************
>The reason that I say this is that I've read a study by Norman Fosback
>regarding the performance of stocks recommended on Wall Street Week.
>He showed that they performed best right *before* they were mentioned
>on the show; after the show, they tended to perform very poorly.
>Has anyone ever seen a similar study regarding Barrons picks?
>I'd be especially curious to see short term (30 days or less)
>versus longer term performance for recommended stocks.
>
>(I also wonder what kind of vested interest the "experts" have
>in touting a stock)
>
>Rob

The experts [why do you use quotes? they've proven over
the years that they're very successful money managers]
clearly state in the interviews that they (in most
part) own/owned the stocks they recommend. So this
answers your question.

Tony
tony2@cc.bellcore.com
Newsgroups: misc.invest