HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: suhre@meltami.dsd.trw.com (Maurice E. Suhre)
Subject: Re: What is Venture Capital??
Organization: TRW, INC.
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 23:29:22 GMT

In article <1992Sep10.004502.4526@cbnews.cb.att.com> ask@cbnews.cb.att.com (Arthur S. Kamlet) writes:
>You are right, of course, to
>note preferred stock has preference over common stock if the
>company is liquidated, and for dividend payments as well if
>dividends are suspended.  

When I went to the stock market classes, the instructor/broker
suggested that there are lots more common stock holders then preferred
stock holders.  If the company was in some sort of liquidation, the
common stock holders would take a vote and eliminate the accumulated
dividend for the preferreds, leaving them out in the cold.  I have no
direct experience with this scenario, but it made sense to me.
-- 
Maurice Suhre
suhre@trwrb.dsd.trw.com
From: rauchfuss@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Brian Rauchfuss)
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 18:15:08 GMT
Subject: Re: German Fund
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Newsgroups: misc.invest

In misc.invest, aboba@world.std.com (Bernard Aboba) writes:

> 3. There is no foreign bond fund that I know of that hedges. Therefore
> they are utilizing a strategy that has been proven to give suboptimal
> results. 

I am in one that hedges:  Blanchard Short-Term Global Income Fund.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Rauchfuss (Smokefoot)  "... the world could change in the blink
brian@hpfcbdr.fc.hp.com           of an eye."
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: saz@apollo.HP.COM (Steven A. Zedeck)
Subject: Re: Disney stock
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 17:17:10 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Chelmsford, MA

There has been talk on the net about people wanting to buy
Disney stock direct from Disney. Well that is called a
Dividend Reinvestment program (DRIP). I was a member of
that program up until about a year and a half ago, when
Disney stopped the program. They gave no reasons why, except
to say that it was no longer in the company's interests.

Hope this helps.
-- 
* Steven A. Zedeck - Hewlett Packard Company, Workstation Systems Division *
* Chelmsford Systems Laboratory                   * Phone #: (508)436-5897 *
* 300 Apollo Drive; Chelmsford, MA 01824          * HP-TELNET:    436-5897 *
* Internet: saz@apollo.hp.com   * UUCP: {decvax, mit-eddie...}!apollo!saz  *
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: elsner@bank.ecn.purdue.edu (John H Elsner)
Subject: Re: direct stock purchases...
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 02:00:03 GMT

In article <18rfg2INN528@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> ar017@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Nolan Whitaker) writes:
>
>The method of "direct stock purchase" you are referring to is
>known as a DRiP (dividend reinvestment plan).  These plans
>typically allow the owner of 1 share or more the right to
>a) reinvest dividends obtaining fractional shares and b) to
>invest other sums of money at periodic times (either monthly
>or quarterly).  [Suppose you receive $20 worth of dividends that
>are to be reinvested. Stock price is $30.  Instead of receiving
>$30, you would get 1.5 shares of stock]  
>

What the original poster is referring to is something different
than DRiP (although DRiP is part of the program).  Some 
companies are now allowing people to buy stock without 
previously owning any.  Exxon for example has recently
started what they call the sharholder investment program (SIP).
An account can be opened for a minimum invstment of $250, even
if the purchaser hasn't previously owned Exxon stock.  The 
purchaser buys at no commissions and sells at low commissions.
Dividends can be reinvested as usual and additional purchases
of at least $50 can be made weekly. The SIP gives an  
investor a very easy way to buy and sell stock.  I'm only
familiar with Exxon's program (which offers more services
than what I've stated), but other companies offer similar
services. I'd still like to get a list of the other 
companies that offer a similar program.  



Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: cep@taligent.com (Christophe Pettus)
Subject: Re: Fidelity Fund Options
Organization: Taligent, a little subsidiary of two really big companies.
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 18:18:20 GMT

In article <Dmerrill-090992130325@47.140.3.216> Dmerrill@bnr.ca (Dana Merrill) writes:
>James, I don't have any suggestions for you but you bring up a question
>that I have often wondered about.  It appears that you are allowed to
>invest your 401 in Fidelity.

Taligent uses Fidelity to manage their 401(k) plan.  You have a choice
of five plans (Growth and Income, Magellan, Overseas, and two others
that I don't remember right now), all without loads.  You do not,
however, have the ability to invest in EVERY Fidelity fund.  Pity; I'd
love to use the Fidelity Investor Select System instead of the standard
investment choices ...

Fidelity charges the company a significant amount for the privilege of
having their 401(k) in each investment possibility (presumably to
offset the lack of a load), thus limiting the investment options.
--
-- Christophe

"Black is the color of non-conformity.  Everyone has to have it."
	T-shirt company executive
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: gary@intrepid.com (Gary Funck)
Subject: Re: What is Venture Capital??
Organization: Intrepid Technology, Inc.
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 06:37:52 GMT

In article <1992Sep8.190258.18172@cbnews.cb.att.com> ask@cblph.att.com writes:
>In article <1992Sep8.024704.28499@nmsu.edu> rscott@spock.NMSU.Edu (Joseph Good) writes:
>>
>>I heard some financial show on the radio, and in one discussion
>>they kept refering to Venture Capital.  I'm an engineering
>>major, and don't have a clue about much in the business world, 
>>and I was wondering if somebody could clue me in.
>
>The short answer:  Money.
>
>Let's say you have a "Bright Idea" of how to make money.  You have
>this idea for a gizmos, and all you need to bring it to market is
>to turn out some prototypes, get a few buyers to buy the first few
>gizmos, advertize it around, and in a year or two you will be making
>money hand over fist.
>

 ... the VC gives you $350,000 for a 33% stake in the company ...

>
>If for some reason your plans don't work out as you expected, and
>you spend all the money and still don't have the gizmo's bugs worked
>out, you may have to call it quits.  The venture capitalist will
>be out the money (the gov't will help with taxes though)  and you
>will be out of business.
>

If your company goes kaput, the exclusive worldwide rights to
whatever you've developed will probably revert to the venture
capitalists.  You'll be sued until the cows come home if you even
*think* about restarting with a similar idea and someone
else's money.

And the more commmon scenario, if the company does well at first,
but not well enough, you'll be "promoted" to Chairman of the Board
(which is usually not a long term position :-)), and a more "experienced"
manager will be brought in to "turn around" the company.  Sometimes
this works, sometimes it doesn't.  (judging from several cases here
in the Valley). MIPS is a case in point; in many ways a successful
turnaround, but in the long run it never reached "escape velocity".

In the 60's and 70's, when technology was thriving, engineers had
a pretty good crack at starting their own company with VC money.
These days, the VC's look for a "team" with a "track record".
The technologist or idea person will seldom receive Star status,
or compensation; unless the engineer has a very successful track
record starting his own smaller business, say.  Again, this may
be best, because really strong engineers don't find the day-to-day
of running a business very much fun.

My favorite counter-example to this is John Walker of Autodesk.
John is both a gifted engineer, marketeer, and business person.
Of course it's worth mentioning that he and 13 others, who were
working or consulting at the time, didn't go the VC route.  They
each threw $5K in the pot, and then started coding.  Walker
subsequently compiled his copious notes, minutes of early board
meeetings and other info.  into a book; really interesting and
inspirational reading.  Walker is nothing short of brilliant.

- Gary
-- 
| Gary Funck  		    gary@intrepid.com  [uunet!uupsi!intrepid!gary]
| Intrepid Technology Inc., Mountain View CA (415) 964-8135
--
From: mparsons@fleming.csc.bcm.tmc.edu (Mark Parsons)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Fidelity Fund Options
Date: 9 Sep 1992 18:39:42 GMT
Reply-To: mparsons@fleming.csc.bcm.tmc.edu (Mark Parsons)
Organization: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tx
Originator: mparsons@fleming.csc.bcm.tmc.edu


In article <Dmerrill-090992130325@47.140.3.216>, Dmerrill@bnr.ca (Dana Merrill) writes:
|> 
|> James, I don't have any suggestions for you but you bring up a question
|> that I have often wondered about.  It appears that you are allowed to
|> invest your 401 in Fidelity. 
|> 

Our 403(b) allows us to invest in a whole slew of Fidelity funds, along
with the usual GIC and an annuity with UNUM . . . . 

|> My first question is whether or not you have to pay Fidelity's loads under
|> a plan such as this.

The loads and minimum investment requirements are waived . . at least
for all the funds I'm into . . . . with access to over 60 funds(more?)
I'm not sure what the exact rulings are on *ALL* of the funds . . but
I seem to recall that the loads/minimums are waived.

Mark

Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: newsalt@qedqcd.rye.ny.us (News Acct. 2)
Subject: Re: How low will USD go? 
Organization: High Energy Concepts
Date: Sat, 05 Sep 1992 22:54:29 GMT


Hi,
	Sweden has very severe financial problems right now,
	perhaps the worst in Scandanavia.  What Finland did
	last November - devalue by about 10% - is a good 
	possibility in Sweden.  Its highly unlikely you will
	see the dollar fall another 10% against the Dem 
	so I would advise you to play it safe and convert now.

Mike
-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mike Miskulin		mmm@qedqcd.rye.ny.us	70053,551@compuserve.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: cfdwe@ux1.cts.eiu.edu (David Ebdon)
Subject: Re: Database containing historical quotes for future & options
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 17:03:24 GMT
Organization: Eastern Illinois University

In article <1992Sep11.095741.626@hls.com> jlin@hls.com (Chiung-Hsi Jonathan Lin) writes:
>
>Do you know where I can find a historical quote prices for funture and option
>on the existing network services and BBS except CompuServ?  If there is one, 
>is it less expensive to retrieve the data than what CompuServ charges?  Thanks
>in advance.
>
You might look into Historical Data Systems in Kansas City at
1-816-753-4743.  They charge $40/year for downloading historical
information and $19.95/month for daily quotes.  You can look at their BBS
at 1-816-753-1605/1606.  Set your comm program for N81 and expect 2400bps.
(They are in the process of upgrading to 14,400bps.)  You can snoop on the
system but cannot download until you pay the fee.  They have futures now
and may add options if there is sufficient interest.


-- 
David Ebdon
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Eastern Illinois University
cfdwe@eiu.edu
From: barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Fidelity Fund Options
Date: 9 Sep 1992 23:49:18 GMT
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: telecaster.think.com

In article <Dmerrill-090992130325@47.140.3.216> Dmerrill@bnr.ca (Dana Merrill) writes:
>My first question is whether or not you have to pay Fidelity's loads under
>a plan such as this.

My company's 401(k) is through Fidelity as well, and I don't think we pay
loads.

>Furthermore, it has always seemed that it would be of benefiet for EVERYONE
>if a company had its 401 plan with someone such as Fidelity (as long as
>Fidelity waived the loads!!!).  Employees whould have a very wide choice
>of options for directing their 401s, 

We only have three choices.  I don't think that's "a very wide choice".

For large companies, it may make more sense to manage their own pension
plan rather than go through a company like Fidelity.  This is because they
can tailor the plan to the needs of their employees better, and the
overhead is not so significant.  It also allows them to offer choices such
as company stock, or they can incorporate the retirement plan contributions
into general flexible benefit programs.

For smaller companies, where the management overhead of a pension plan can
be significant, it makes sense to contract it out to companies like
Fidelity.  I believe they (and their competitors) handle many 401(k) plans
this way.
-- 
Barry Margolin
System Manager, Thinking Machines Corp.

barmar@think.com          {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: ask@cbnews.cb.att.com (Arthur S. Kamlet)
Subject: Re: Did Little Caesars buy Domino's?
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories,  Columbus, Ohio
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 00:30:29 GMT

In article <1992Sep8.220136.27446@rtsg.mot.com> declrckd@rtsg.mot.com (Dan J. Declerck) writes:
>   It's interesting to note the companies that came from the Detroit Area:
>
>1) NBD Bancorp (National Bank of Detroit
>2) Manufacturers National Bank
>3) Dominos Pizza
>4) Little Caesars Pizza
>5) Fretter Appliance
>6) Highland Appliance (ouch!)
>7) Stroh Brewery (now part of Coors)

At least you had the good sense to leave out some of the less known
Detroit companies, like Ford, GM, .... :^)
-- 
Art Kamlet  a_s_kamlet@att.com  AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus
From: dxper@dtek.chalmers.se (Per Anders Olausson)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: European currencies - revaluated!
Date: 13 Sep 92 18:28:17 GMT
Organization: Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg Sweden


  Here's the latest for all you speculators out there:

  All European currencies up 3.8% against German DM except Italian Lira which
is down by the same amount. (7+% devaluation)

  German Bundesbank will lower interest rates as well.

  Hehe. I love to see all you DM hungry guys get burned.

pao
B-)
--
-------------------------------Andrew Olausson--------------------------------
--------------------------Unemployed Unix Specialist--------------------------
------------------------------pao@cd.chalmers.se------------------------------
-------------------------------pa-ola@proxxi.se-------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: chang-mark-yan-ming@CS.YALE.EDU (Mark Yan-Ming Chang)
Subject: Re: Disney stock
Organization: Yale University Computer Science Dept., New Haven, CT 06520-2158
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 01:40:46 GMT

In article <BuC37L.57y@taligent.com> cep@taligent.com (Christophe Pettus) writes:
>Many companies will allow you to buy your first share of stock from
>them directly, without commission (or with a trivial, <$1 commission).
>Future purchases have to be from a broker.

Do you have any company names for the above?
I think some only let you buy more if you are already a shareholder
(like ATT, IBM, McDonalds, etc).

Mark
-- 
--- Mark (changym@cs.Yale.edu, decvax!yale!changym, changym@YaleCS.BITNET)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: acheng@ncsa.uiuc.edu (Albert Cheng)
Subject: Re: stock market server on Internet?
Originator: acheng@shalom.ncsa.uiuc.edu
Organization: Nat'l Ctr for Supercomp App (NCSA) @ University of Illinois
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 20:14:02 GMT


In article <aboba-060992141139@192.187.134.3>, aboba@world.std.com (Bernard Aboba) writes:
>Dow Jones News Retrieval is now accessible on Internet. It's not free,
>but it's quite useful for investment analysis. 

Is it really a host on the Internet or is it on some commercial net
but accessible by hosts from Internet?  Isn't true Internet is for
non-commercial use only?  If so, would that violate the internet policy?
[I am not policing or complaining, just wondering?]
From: fajack@cc.usu.edu
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Kaufmann fund
Date: 11 Sep 92 10:09:36 MDT
Organization: Utah State University

	I have a couple of questions regarding Kaufmann fund, any
information will be much apprecaited.
	The last time I checked, its NAV is only about $2.50-$3.00
range.  How can a fund that boost 75% return has such a low NAV ?  
In addition, thier expense ratio is 3%, is it a bit too high ?
Thanks.


Jack Teh
From: timlee@public.btr.com
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Bonds being called... ?
Date: 11 Sep 92 04:24:11 GMT
Reply-To: timlee@btr.com (Timothy J. Lee)
Followup-To: misc.invest

rich@haven.mitre.org (Rich Verjinski) writes:
|
|My father, who is retired, owns shares in a Pain
|Webber bond mutual fund.  The salesman ("advisor")
|from Pain Webber told him that many of the bonds
|in the fund were being called, and he should therefore
|move his money into another vehicle.  The salesman
|also said that because of the bonds being called,
|he may loose 1 or 2% of his principle in the account.
|
|Is the salesmans reason legitimate for moving my fathers
|money out of this bond fund?  

Question:  did the salesman inform your father of the
call risk when he bought the fund?

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Timothy J. Lee                 timlee@btr.com  ...!decwrl!btr!timlee
This message comes with no warranty, not even an implied warranty of
fitness for any particular purpose.
From: gary@intrepid.com (Gary Funck)
Subject: Re: standard deviations of stock and index prices
Organization: Intrepid Technology, Inc.
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 14:45:53 GMT

In article <laq60oINNc7g@seuss.aa.ox.com> rsj@seuss.aa.ox.com (Rick Jaffe) writes:
>
>Where can I find measures of standard deviation of stock and index
>prices?  I prefer the following, but I'll take whatever I can get:
> . annual standard deviations;
> . based on closing prices;
> . on-line
> . free
>

Rick, this may help a little: many services (S & P, Value Line, etc)
track a stock's "beta", which is essentially the ratio of the stock's
yearly standard deviation over the s.d. of the S & P 500.  To get
the s.d. of the S & P 500, you may have to find a source that tracks
the SPX symbol, and run the numbers.  Last time I looked, it was
hanging in at around 11.5%.

To take an example, if S&P (you get this info. from your broker,
or at a major library) says the beta of ABC Corp. is 1.30, then
the yearly s.d.  is roughly:

	yearly s.d = 1.30 * 11.5 = 14.95%

There may also be some first order approximation that you can use
by taking the stock's Relative Strength number (a rating from 1 to 99
ranking the magnitude of a stock's ability to resist movements
as measured against the Investors Daily's 6000).  The Relative Strength
number is usually weighted by more heavily by more recent stock
movements.  Relative strength is generally measured differently by
different publications, but can give you some measure of a stock's
volatility.

- Gary

PS: maybe we can get the person who does the "Sun weekly stock dump"
to add this to the list of statistics?
-- 
| Gary Funck  		    gary@intrepid.com  [uunet!uupsi!intrepid!gary]
| Intrepid Technology Inc., Mountain View CA (415) 964-8135
--
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: Dave Dodson <dodson@convex.COM>
Subject: Re: Any problems with U.S. Savings Bonds?
Originator: dodson@bach.convex.com
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 01:35:31 GMT
Distribution: usa
Reply-To: dodson@convex.COM (Dave Dodson)
Organization: Engineering, CONVEX Computer Corp., Richardson, Tx., USA
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

In article <1992Sep11.181345.20168@clpd.kodak.com> staffan@ca.serum.kodak.com (Kenneth Staffan (x37507)) writes:
>The number gets adjusted each year, and 60K is a heck of a lot more than
>a heck of a lot of families make now!  That's dual 30K incomes, or a single
>60K income.  Sounds like good money to me...

According to current law, the $60,000 is NOT indexed for inflation!  To
play this game, you have to figure out whether you will be making $60,000
when you child(ren) reach college age.  Guessing wrong could mean a big
tax hit when you need the money for tuition, room, board, and books.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Dave Dodson		                             dodson@convex.COM
Convex Computer Corporation      Richardson, Texas      (214) 497-4234
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: suhre@meltami.dsd.trw.com (Maurice E. Suhre)
Subject: Re: what are stock options?
Organization: TRW, INC.
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 21:48:04 GMT

In article <1992Sep7.074709.23610@cs.umb.edu> sasha@ra.cs.umb.edu (Alexander Chislenko) writes:
>
>   - Suppose the broker tells me that a current option price is X;
>     how do I know how many options I can buy or sell at that price?
You need to ask your broker for "quote and size".  He may not be able to
get the size, but that's what it's called.

>  Is there any book you can recommend on option trading?
Filling in a previous posting, Options as a Strategic Investment,
Laurence McMillan.

What really matters is to have an opinion about what the underlying stock
is going to do.  Once you have that, you can determine if the options
make sense from a risk/reward standpoint.
-- 
Maurice Suhre
suhre@trwrb.dsd.trw.com
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: kayshav_dattatri@taligent.com (Kayshav Dattatri)
Subject: Info on Selling non-public stock
Organization: Taligent
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 00:42:20 GMT

I don't know if this is a FAQ. 
I have a few thousand common stock of a privately held company. I was 
hoping they would go public. Anyway I don't have any confidence in the company anymore. 
What are the ways to sell this stock? Can I sell it back to the company? I don't
have any intentions of making a profit from the sale.


Any information is much appreciated.

KD
From: mincy@think.com (Jeffrey Mincy)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Mutual fund research checklist
Date: 16 Sep 1992 01:19:29 GMT
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: mjolnir.think.com

In article <1992Sep15.204603.15923@engage.pko.dec.com> sullivan@brandx.enet.dec.com () writes:
>Has anyone created a list of things to ask about a fund before investing. I'm

No, but I can suggest a few things,  off the top of my head.

>planning to create a checklist for myself, and was wondering if anyone has done
>this.  I'm thinking in terms of something like this...
>
>Fund Name: _____________________
>Telephone: _____________________
>contanct:  _____________________
>
>type of fund:___________________  (ie, aggressive growth, growth,etc.)
>
>return		19??   19??  19??....(last 5 to 10 years)   Avg.
>
>top 5 holdings	percent
>
>and so on.
>
>If not, I'll post mine whenever I get it done for critism.

Annual Expenses, 12-b  ___
Sales load ___  Back end load? ___

Have I gotten a prospectus ___
Have I read the prospectus ___
Have I understood the prospectus ___

does the fund do anything to reduce or increase risk ___
  (eg does the fund leverage itself by borrowing money,
   does the fund stay fully invested, does the fund try and
   change focus, does the fund use hedging, does the fund 
   purchase or sell options)
Do I understand the risks of the fund ___

what are the stated goals and investment strategy of the fund ___
Are the goals and strategy compatible with mine ___

How has the fund and fund family been rated in various magazines ___
How has the funds return rated against others in the same group ___
How has the fund done in different up markets ___ down markets ___

Size of fund ___
Has the fund fundamentally changed character in the past few years ___
 (eg magellan used to be a much smaller fund, this indicates that 
  magellan will probably not turn in stellar returns)

What sectors does the fund invest in ___
What size companies does the fund tend to invest in ___
Do I know anything about the companies or sectors that the fund invests in ___
  (If so what do I think about the choices? ___)

Minimum investment ___   Minimum initial investment ___

My purpose for investing in this fund ___

Any interesting distinguishing characteristics of this fund ___

-- 

-- jeff
mincy@think.com