HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: sjackson@medicus.com (Steve Jackson)
Subject: Buying Precious Metals
Organization: Medicus Systems Corporation, Alameda, California
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 00:51:26 GMT


I have some questions about buying precious metals, specifially gold and
silver coins.

1.  How much of a commision (if that's the right word) do your local coin
    shops charge for buying and selling small quantities of coins?  (I
    assume they do charge one.)
2.  Any places that sell coins at a lower rate of commision?
3.  When you buy a coin, how is the price determined?  Yesterday's closing
    price in the newspaper?  Up-to-the-minute market quotes?  The price they
    paid/pay when they took/take delivery?
4.  Except for numismatic reasons, why would you buy an Eagle, Maple Leaf,
    Panda, Krugerrand, etc?  Gold content/purity differs, the Krug's from
    `evil' SA, the Panda's from `evil' China; anything else?  Are some
    easier to buy or sell?
5.  Is there much of a market for Platinum and Palladium coins?  What are
    the characteristics of those markets (price-wise)?
6.  Why would you buy precious metals?  For each reason, what size of coin
    would you buy?  I can think of the following reasons:
        Numismatic - depends.
        Attempt to make money (including inflation hedge) - buy large coins
                (to reduce costs), of whatever metal you think will
                perform best.
        Diversification - large coins.
        Gifts - small coins (unless you're generous), of whatever metal and
                country the recipient would like.
        Survivalist - small coins (hard to buy a loaf of bread with 1 oz gold),
                of traditional metals (gold, silver, maybe platinum).
        You like precious metals - ?
    Does this make sense?  Any other reasons?

Thanks,

Steve Jackson
sjackson@medicus.com
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: EXABYTE - Any comments ?
From: gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston)
Date: Wed, 06 Jan 93 19:44:02 CST
Organization: Garys' Home for Obsolete Computers

laliths@Autodesk.COM (Lalith Subramanian) writes:

> Wondering whether anyone has comments on Exabyte( EXBT ), the Colorado
> based manufacturer of 8mm tape backup subsystems(EXB8500 etc.). About a
> year ago, Barron's had an article stating they were exclusive licensees
> from Sony for Sony's tape mechanism etc.etc. But, since then, the stock
> has fallen to less than 50 % of its high.....
> 
> Any comments ?

Exabyte had the high-capacity tape backup market to itself for a few
years, but competition has emerged in the form of DAT and 500MB QIC
drives; accordingly, their sales have dropped off. Maintenance and
repair of Exabyte drives is expensive, too, which has turned off
some of their customers. There's little point in paying $6K for a
drive to store 2.5GB when a DAT drive will store 2.2 (now up to 4)
and can be purchased for $1500 (not sure about the 4GB cost). Tapes
are cheaper, too.

I wouldn't expect any huge gains from Exabyte in the forseeable 
future; as far as I know, they aren't coming out with any new 
technology to make dramatic improvements (the newest drive is 5GB,
which is a trivial upgrade adding compression).

Gary Heston, at home...
gary@cdthq.uucp
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: sberns@tasman.cc.utas.edu.au (Sandra S Berns)
Subject: Fire at Calgene (Davis Hdq)
Summary: Consequences of fire unknown
Keywords: tomatoes, cotton, seed oil, fire
Organization: University of Tasmania, Australia.
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 06:22:22 GMT

I am under the impression that a fire at Calgene in Davis, California
during September caused serious interruption to oilseed program, that
much of their work and equipment was destroyed (but that some of their
notes were saved).  Can anyone shed light on this?  If this is true, 
has it set back the company?  Now that Cambpells has announced it will
not use the "flavr-savr tom", Heinz & others are likely to follow
suit.  Could any of this impact on their share price?
From: leons@hiroller.Eng.Sun.COM ()
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Israeli and Asian stock funds
Date: 11 Jan 1993 19:39:29 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems - 3D Technology Group - Mountain View, CA
Distribution: usa
Reply-To: leons@hiroller.Eng.Sun.COM ()
NNTP-Posting-Host: hiroller
Originator: leons@hiroller

How does one find out about stock funds that represent a country
or a geographical region?  For example, there is an Emerging Mexico
Fund that trades just like a regular stock.  Are there similar
stock funds for Israel and for Asian countries (Thailand, Singapore,
Indonesia, Taiwan)?

Thanks in advance.

=============================================================================
= Leon A. Shirman                                       3D Technology Group =
= Sun Microsystems, Inc	    	    	    	    	 Mailstop MTV23-205 =
= 2550 Garcia Avenue                               Mountain View, CA  94530 =
= Leon.Shirman@Eng.Sun.COM    	    	    	    	     (415) 336-5439 =
=============================================================================
From: smith@navajo.rc.arizona.edu (dennis smith)
Newsgroups: misc.invest,misc.tax,misc.invest.rees,misc.invest.real_estate
Subject: S corporation
Date: 6 Jan 93 23:20:45 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721

Here is a good question for tax experts and real estate investors.
My friend and I are buying a rental property. At first we wanted to
establish a S corporation and buy it for the Co. No lender gave a
mortgage to the Co. since the property was only a three units apt.
So I bouth the property with a 30% down and a mortgage under my sole
name and the property as a collateral. Now can we go through with the S
corporation and I put the property under Co name for exchange of Co.
shares. My freind will put some cash for shares and I will take a tax
free distribution from the Co. in exchange for my base in Co.(lets call
it share redumption) as a way to get back some of my down payment. The 
questions are. 
1- Do the lender has to be notified for this exchange? as I still will
be responsible for the mortgage payment if the Co fails to do so.

2- can we declair the morgage as a Co. debt for tax purposes and deduct
interest as a business expense.

As I said the only reason for doing so is to avoid any law suits against
property to eat up our personal property, as the Co. will be
responsible and any such acts can affect only the named property. I
still will be resposible for the mortgage. can the amount of mortgage 
be counted as a part of my base in Co,? I know that this subject is
under debate in tax court but is there anything new?
I have read Schwarz book "Corporate and Partnership Taxation" and IRS
tax code but couldn't find a refrence to such a specific question. Any
other good books you can suggest?

Dennis.
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: kasel@bscsun10.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Leo Kasel)
Subject: Re: Dow Jones
Organization: SPS
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 18:22:34 GMT

I have been on Dow Jones news retrieval for one year.  
Use only the after-hours (9:00 PM local time) for $25 per month.
Any other option is VERY costly.  You can access any stock except
those on TRADELINE for this flat fee.  There are other options
to access more after-hours databases for $45 on up.

The program is MAC based (also PC based) Market-Analyzer-Plus.

Made some mone doing this. Good luck.
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: gff%Rational.COM (Geoff Fitch)
Subject: Ken Roberts' Commod/Futures Course
Organization: Rational
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 21:00:47 GMT

Does anyone out there have experience with Ken Roberts' course on
commodities futures trading? Any recommendations?

Thanks
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: tony2@prefect.cc.bellcore.com (gozdz,antoni s)
Subject: Re: load computed in performance?
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 18:52:19 GMT

In article <C0Hvrs.7CH@news.cso.uiuc.edu> acheng@ncsa.uiuc.edu (Albert Cheng) writes:
>
******************** stuff deleted **********************

>>Seems that load is not computed into the performance figures. For example, in
>>today's WSJ:
>>
>>Fund			load	4th quarter performance
>>Magellan		3%	5.25%
>>Fidelity Denstiney I	8.98	7.11
>>United: Income		8.5	7.55
>>
>>S&P500			0	5.02
>>
>
>That is right, the loads, front or back, are not included in the return
>statistics.  Else it confuses people who are already in it for the long
>haul.  You just have to calculate them yourself for comparision.  E.g.
>(assume all dividends reinvested with no load)
>
******************** stuff deleted **********************
>
>I think all expense, management fees, and 12-1b are included in the
>performance calculation.  Can someone confirm it?

There is also another reason for not including the load
in the total return figure - the load is usually lower
for large (>$10,000-$50,000) investments, and the
redemption fee often decreases on a sliding scale (~1 %/yr).

While not including it may be misleading, there is no
way to cover all possible cases in a single figure.

Tony
From: McAldon International Inc. <mcaldon@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Date: 05 Jan 93 22:28 PST
Subject: Re: Filenet - what happened?
Nf-ID: #R:93005.122814HANK@barilvm.bitnet:-164929026:cdp:1426500322:000:479
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!mcaldon    Jan  5 22:28:00 1993


|Filenet (OTC) just went down 34% in one day (Jan 4).  I have not been
|able to find out why yet.  What is going on in that company?
|Hank

As you probably know by now, Filenet posted bad sales and earnings
for the reported quarter and didn't offer much hope things would
get better.  I don't follow the stock but noticed this. DMcKenzie

|    mcaldon@igc.org     | Opinions dispensed herein not guaranteed |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: sartin@88opensi.88open.ORG (Rob Sartin)
Subject: Re: more IRA questions (multiple IRAs)
Reply-To: sartin@88opensi.UUCP (Rob Sartin)
Organization: 88open Consortium Ltd., San Jose
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 93 18:58:46 GMT

In article <1993Jan4.050855.11178@unocal.com> stgprao@st.unocal.COM (Richard Ottolini) writes:
>As many accounts as you want, but the $10+ custodial fees per account will cut into the growth rate.
>Total contribution to all accounts is $2000 per year.

Just a reminder (a little late).  Most funds allow you to pay the custodial
fee by check and avoid having it decrease the account balance.  This
is a win since it leaves more money tax deferred.  I suppose you could
also itemize this as an investment expense if you have high enough
misc. deductions to break the 2% barrier.

Rob
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: lib@cbnews.cb.att.com (Lib)
Subject: Re: investing $20 - Save you documentation from Chapter 11 companys.
Organization: AT&T
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 13:42:12 GMT

In article <C0IL7K.D79@cs.uiuc.edu> watanabe@cs.uiuc.edu (Larry Watanabe) writes:
>rs69@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Rong Shen) writes:
>
>>	A few years ago, I predicted that Wang Lab would bankrupt.
>>Since Wang's stock fluctuates between $2 and $5 (for some time), I
>>could buy 10 shares at $2 and sell them at $5. If I scalped a little
>>now and then, I could actually earn a profit before Wang's final days.
>
>>	I have been following this group, and I am surprised to find
>>no one who is thinking about my strategy. What are the fatal flaws of
>>my "fantastic plan?"
>
>There are several problems: first, the spread may be very large.
   
This was not true in Wang's case however. It was traded on AMEX
and had large volume. Actually thuis kind of scheme is the basis
for Robert Lichello's book on how to make a million in the market.
  
>Next, the stock may drop below $2 - say to $1 - now you don't
>want to sell, even though you have lost half your money - so
     
The real problem with the Wang case is that they filed for Chapter 11
and went as low as 1/8 though it has roared back to 3/8.
   
  
By the by I a few years ago I bought stock in Bank Of New England
which subsequently was taken over by the Feds. A few weeks ago I
got a letter stating that if I could produce proof of how many
shares I owned I might get some of my money back via a class
action judgement so save those confirmation slips and brokerage
statements from any Chapter 11 stocks you might get stuck with.
Who knows.
    

Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: antonio@qualcom.qualcomm.com (Franklin Antonio)
Subject: Re: Small-scale stock price manipulation?
Organization: Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 08:46:32 GMT

In article <1993Jan04.053418.27547@rat.csc.calpoly.edu> rteasdal@polyslo.csc.calpoly.edu (Rusty) writes:
>	For some time now, I have been taking occasional notice
>of small outlying trades while watching the ticker roll. Usually 
>these trades are either above or below the current bid/ask range
>by a small percentage, and they are rarely more than a hundred-share
>round lot in size.
>...
>	Could these types of trades be a price manipulation effort
>of sorts?  

In the OTC market, there are typically several market-makers for each
stock.  In general, the bid and ask prices posted by each market maker
can be different at any time.  The standard quote services only show you
the highest bid and the lowest ask.  (Altho any broker can pay more to
get access to screens that show each market-maker's bid and ask in real
time, if they are interested.)  

Ideally, you you might expect that every trade would be executed in
the range between the highest market-maker bid and the lowest market-maker
ask, but this is not the case.  When an individual gives
an order to a broker, the broker does not necessarily shop around.  He may
simply have a policy of giving all small trades to one market maker.
(This market maker might be his in-house market making division, for
example.)
From: paul@panix.com (Paul Gatker)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: High-load Funds (was Re: Mutual Funds???)
Date: 4 Jan 93 19:48:02 GMT
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC


 And what about the Fidelity Select funds? The aren't exactly high-load, but
they do charge 3% to get in. Are there equivelent funds that cover similar
sectors that are no-load (such as Vanguard)?


-- 
*******************************************************************
paul@panix.com                                    COMPULITE GRAPHICS
Brooklyn NY usa                                Design & Consultation
********************************************************************
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: cobarruvias@asd2.jsc.nasa.gov
Subject: Wanted: Info on Ecology Funds
Organization: NASA/JSC
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 19:51:52 GMT

Is there a mutual fund available that focus on technogoly specifically in the
area of recycling technology, air pollution control, waste management? Anyone
have any info, phone numbers, etc on them?

*****************************************************************
John R. Cobarruvias, Texas A&M Class of '78, 
NASA Johnson Space Center Houston Tx.
(713)483-9357

"And to think..................I hesitated" (Hellraiser II)
*****************************************************************

Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: ai428@yfn.ysu.edu (Daniel Schiffer)
Subject: BETA - BLACK SHOLES
Reply-To: ai428@yfn.ysu.edu (Daniel Schiffer)
Organization: St. Elizabeth Hospital, Youngstown, OH
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 02:35:53 GMT


Does anyone know a formula to derive volitlity
 (for use in evluating an option with the Black Sholes model)
based upon Beta??
 
Newsgroups: misc.invest,news.answers
From: etpeters@dal.mobil.com (E. T. Peterson(Eric))
Subject: Re: Fund basis?
Organization: Mobil Exploration & Producing Technical Center(MEPTEC), Dallas. 
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 18:56:14 GMT

In article <1icko2INNknp@news.aero.org>, shag@aero.org (Robert M. Unverzagt) writes:
|> In article <C0E5GA.Ip9@icon.rose.hp.com> alan@hprnd.rose.hp.com (Alan Berkema) writes:
|> > 
|> > Hi,
|> > 
|> > I have not found a good explanation of how to calculate the cost basis of 
|> > a mutual fund when it goes x-dividend in the current FAQ. I have included
|> > an explanation form a previous FAQ on mutual funds but it is still not clear.
|> > I have already requested the IRS publications mentioned.
|> > An example might help. 
|> > 
|> > ------------------
|> > 
|> > 10 shares with NAV = $10.00 per share
|> > x-dividend          = $1.00 per share
|> > taxable income     = $10.00
|> > 
|> > now have 11.11 shares at $9.00
|> > 
|> > What is the cost basis if I sell now?
|> > 
|> > What if I wait a few years before I sell and the process repeats?
|> > 
|> > Thanks in advance.
|> > 
|> > Alan
|> > 
|> 
|> As I understand it, each share is considered independently,
|> kind of like each bet at the craps table, but that's a
|> different issue:
|> 
|> Share #		Basis
|> -------		-----
|>   1            $10.00
|>   2            $10.00
|>   3            $10.00
|>   4            $10.00
|>   5            $10.00
|>   6            $10.00
|>   7            $10.00
|>   8            $10.00
|>   9            $10.00
|>   10           $10.00
|>   11.11        $ 9.00
|> 
|> So if you sold today at $9.00/share:
|> 
|> shares 1-10:	10   * -$1.00 = -$9.00
|> share 11.11:	1.11 *  $0.00 =  $0.00
|> 				-------
|> 				-$9.00
|> 
|> You'd have a capital loss of $9.00.  Of course, you pay
|> taxes on a dividend of $10.00, so you're in the hole.
|> If you sold for a different price later, you'd do the same 
|> calculation.
|> 
|> Does anybody see a problem with this?
|> 
|> Shag

Yes, there is a problem.  10 * $-1.00 is -$10.00, not -$9.00 !!
Funds going ex-dividend do not put you "in the hole".  It is always
a break-even situation (except you have to pay tax now, not later).

*********************************************************************
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: McAldon International Inc. <mcaldon@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Date: 07 Jan 93 21:22 PST
Subject: Re: APCC Split?
Nf-ID: #R:cup.portal.com:73076:cdp:1426500326:000:366
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!mcaldon    Jan  7 21:22:00 1993


|Does anyone know if APCC split recently? There was a large drop in price
|a couple of weeks ago.

After a stock splits, even a reverse split, its listing in the stock
tables is preceded by an "s" for a long time.  DMcKenzie

|    mcaldon@igc.org     | Opinions dispensed herein not guaranteed |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From: tcbd@cbnews.cb.att.com (tom.c.b.davison)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: For Sale: Managing Your Money 5.0
Date: 12 Jan 93 03:38:01 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: AT&T

In article <1993Jan11.193247.27225@adobe.com>, kendall@adobe.com (Janice Kendall) writes:
> 
> I have a copy of Mananging Your Money, with an unopened 5.0 upgrade,
> plus newletters, etc., available for $50.  
>    
>  Janice Kendall    kendall@adobe.com    ...!{decwrl|sun}!adobe!kendall
>   (415)962-2164
Version 9 is available for list price of less
than this.  On the other hand, if you can sell it, I have some stuff I'll
send you on commission.
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: etpeters@dal.mobil.com (E. T. Peterson(Eric))
Subject: Re: U.S. Dollar's strength!
Organization: Mobil Exploration & Producing Technical Center(MEPTEC), Dallas. 
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 15:43:32 GMT

In article <1993Jan12.003739.27113@netcom.com>, lachman@netcom.com (Hans Lachman) writes:
|> In article <9301111504.AA29985@tpts1.seed.net.tw> idpt199@tpts1.seed.net.tw (PC_USR) writes:
|> >     Comments on the following presentation are welcomed!
|> >                              Weekly Futures Market
|> >                          Dec. 30 - Jan. 6 Review Period
|> >     Futures Contract                              Profit/Loss %*
|> >...
|> >     03/93 Coffee                                  -147.32
|> >...
|> 
|> That's quite a spectacular loss!  I didn't know that a coffee futures
|> contract could go down by more than its total value.
|> 
|> Hans

If you had read the footnote to the table, you would have found that the
% profit is relative to the margin requirement, and not relative to the
total value of the contract.  Margin requirements range from 5% to 15% for
most futures contracts.  If the requirement for coffee is 10%, then this
147% drop is actually a 14.7% drop in coffee prices.

Since nobody (I hope!) trades their account margined to the max, the % changes
in the table are greatly exaggerated for practical purposes.

*********************************************************************
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: chedley@rigel.cs.pdx.edu (Chedley A. Aouriri)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Insider trading laws.
Date: 6 Jan 93 03:42:25 GMT
Article-I.D.: pdxgate.6656
Distribution: usa

In article <1993Jan4.231740.29699@lgc.com> thiru@lgc.com (Thiru Bollam) writes:
>
>	I'm trying to find out if employees of the company, they are working
>	for, are forbidden from selling/buying shares of the same company 
>	during specified period every quarter? What type of employees are
>	covered under insider trading laws?
>

Insider trading laws do not prohibit anyone (including employees, 
managers and officers of the company) from buying or selling stock 
of any company.
What is prohibited is the use of "insider information" or
"not publicly available" information to buy or sell stock.

..CHEDLEY..

Standard Disclaim: The above statements and opinions are strictly 
mine and do not represent any organization's position.
From: david.cooper@pcohio.wariat.org (David Cooper) 
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: tax software
Date: 9 Jan 93 15:06:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: PC-OHIO BBS - Cleveland, OH - 216-381-3320
Reply-To: david.cooper@pcohio.wariat.org (David Cooper) 

JB|anybody have recommendations for income tax software for IBM or Mac

TurboTax, has some of the best reviews for its class.

.....d.cooper
---
 . OLX 3.01
Organization: Central Michigan University
Date: Monday, 11 Jan 1993 21:40:53 EST
From: Richard Jack <32FZT5Q@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject:    HELP.. RECCOMENDATIONS for Online Trading Software

always looking for new ways to lose money I have recently stumbled
on trading stock..my first purchase is down 1 & 1/2 points over the
last 6 weeks.. wonderful.. but I hate calling a brokerage firm for
stock quotes.. does anyone have a program & online service they
would care to reccomend or warn me to avoid?? I would like to
trade online also If that is possible.
     thanks
Richard Jack
1405 crosslanes, mt.pleasant, Mi. 48858
517-772-1078
Newsgroups: misc.invest,misc.taxes
From: tcbd@cbnews.cb.att.com (tom.c.b.davison)
Subject: Re: Need advice to lower taxes
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 01:49:44 GMT
Followup-To: misc.invest

> What I don't understand (and correct me if I'm wrong), is that for a normal
> IRA (where you do *not* deduct the depoit's,
> only the interest is tax defered) -
> you can only invest $2000 per yr.  But you can open as many as you want.  Is
                                     ************************************

you can only put in $2000 per year TOTAL - that could be divided amont
several if you should want to for some reason.

> this just a loophole that might be closed (i.e. the as many as you want).  If
> not why not get rid of the limit and make everyone's paperwork easier.  
From: duanej@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Duane Jacobson)
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 23:53:33 GMT
Subject: Re: Mortgage or retirement
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA