For many months, I have been planning, plotting, pushing and predicting the advent of my first novel, Stock Power. After reviewing its latest proof, I can safely say the book will be published by May 30. The event will herald the beginning of a new future for this author as well as dozens of my readers.
Stock Power was inspired by a series of difficulties that I encountered, beginning with my dismissal from the investment industry. It took me nearly four years to complete this work, not having the resources to hire administrative assistance before arriving at the editing stages. In a few weeks, I sincerely believe readers of my book will cheer and jeer Bill Haydon as he struggles to with his personal conflicts in the world of finance.
Please stay tuned to this blog for interesting short stories and opinions related to current events, particularly the stock market, which is my forte. For an advance introduction to my book, please visit: http://www.stockpower-thenovel.com
Stock Power will definitely provide entertainment and possibly enlightenment on what it means to be rich.
Thank you.
Bill Hudley
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Senator Obama, please don't say 'because'
Lately, I have become addicted to the Democratic side of the Presidential 2008 campaigns. To say that I am impressed with Senator Barack Obama’s rise in popularity would be an understatement. The reason I won’t spend time searching for a more appropriate word is THAT I have a more pressing mission here.
In view of Mr. Obama’s poise and oratory skills I feel it is my faithful duty to point out the reason he should avoid the common abuse committed by too many average Americans. While it seems almost natural to use the words, ‘reason’ and ‘because’, in the same sentence, the misusage can deteriorate the most powerful message, especially when heard by an erudite audience.
In short, I wish the senator would listen to good advice with regard to this minor grammatical flaw. You are a speaker, Mr. Obama, endowed with exemplary charisma, and since you are so well spoken and enjoy the power of words, please, PLEASE try to stick with the proper placement of the two words, ‘reason’ and ‘because’. It is redundant to use them both in a single phrase.
Senator, I’m with you all the way to November and wish you God’s speed as the next President of the United States!
Bill Hudley
In view of Mr. Obama’s poise and oratory skills I feel it is my faithful duty to point out the reason he should avoid the common abuse committed by too many average Americans. While it seems almost natural to use the words, ‘reason’ and ‘because’, in the same sentence, the misusage can deteriorate the most powerful message, especially when heard by an erudite audience.
In short, I wish the senator would listen to good advice with regard to this minor grammatical flaw. You are a speaker, Mr. Obama, endowed with exemplary charisma, and since you are so well spoken and enjoy the power of words, please, PLEASE try to stick with the proper placement of the two words, ‘reason’ and ‘because’. It is redundant to use them both in a single phrase.
Senator, I’m with you all the way to November and wish you God’s speed as the next President of the United States!
Bill Hudley
Monday, January 28, 2008
Performance Is Everything
400-Yard Dash in 53.3 seconds!
I debated whether or not I should divulge a little known fact at this stage in my life, but yes, I ran the quarter mile dash in 53.3 seconds in high school. Fifty years later, there are thousands of humans running the same distance in less than 44 seconds; so, who cares about my athletic history?
The point is that my ability to run holes in the wind at one point in my past is in NO WAY a guarantee of future performance. It takes me nearly the same length of time to get down the stairs to my garage as it did to run 1320 feet in my youth. You may wonder, “why is that?” Maybe not.
Let’s talk about all the impressive ads we see on our TV screens spouting impressive returns from mutual funds for the last five, ten and twenty years. The longer span on performance history is generally a more conventional attempt to reassure us of future financial security. Immediately, the mind projects out to the next long haul and accepts the potential gain as a fact of life. Meanwhile, I could not find any recently advertised performance figures on mutual funds for the two or three years preceding 2004 . If they existed, you needed a hound dog to find them. Marketing strategies use numbers to the promoter’s advantage.
But, if you ask the thousands of people who put their money into the hottest index funds in January of 2001 how they feel about past performance [the Standard & Poors 500 index tanked nearly 30% for a continuous period of 24 months.], many of them will tell you they wish they had been giveen more information. Two and a half years is a long time, considering the time value of money.
The start for year 2008, market-wise, is shaky. The reason for the volatility is most unsettling, which is why I will reiterate my previous warnings about so-called conventional wisdom. While I was channel surfing this past week-end, I caught a prominent female financial guru in the middle of one of the most over-used and inappropriate advisory statements of our times. She used the term - long haul - a little too often while implying that the market will go back up. That kind of advice is very bad news, especially for workers who wish to retire inside the next three to five years.
To be brief, we have a dilemma in the credit markets that is bulging. There has never been a larger glut in the sub-prime lending sector than what we have today. The billions of dollars in bad loans around the world weigh heavily on several major economies, especially ours. Refinancing of low-quality mortgages began more than a decade ago and has escalated at a run-away pace to the extent that equity markets are reacting to the situation. If credit quality does not improve, what kind of performance should we expect from the stock market?
Here's something to ponder: define long haul.
If you want an investment strategy that will help to secure your retirement in the next three to five years, it is time to get more involved with your finances. Start by monitoring your investments more frequently to check their performance. If you have been lulled into believing what goes down must go up, snap out of it! Look for sensible advice. It's not the hardest job you ever had.
Hawk
I debated whether or not I should divulge a little known fact at this stage in my life, but yes, I ran the quarter mile dash in 53.3 seconds in high school. Fifty years later, there are thousands of humans running the same distance in less than 44 seconds; so, who cares about my athletic history?
The point is that my ability to run holes in the wind at one point in my past is in NO WAY a guarantee of future performance. It takes me nearly the same length of time to get down the stairs to my garage as it did to run 1320 feet in my youth. You may wonder, “why is that?” Maybe not.
Let’s talk about all the impressive ads we see on our TV screens spouting impressive returns from mutual funds for the last five, ten and twenty years. The longer span on performance history is generally a more conventional attempt to reassure us of future financial security. Immediately, the mind projects out to the next long haul and accepts the potential gain as a fact of life. Meanwhile, I could not find any recently advertised performance figures on mutual funds for the two or three years preceding 2004 . If they existed, you needed a hound dog to find them. Marketing strategies use numbers to the promoter’s advantage.
But, if you ask the thousands of people who put their money into the hottest index funds in January of 2001 how they feel about past performance [the Standard & Poors 500 index tanked nearly 30% for a continuous period of 24 months.], many of them will tell you they wish they had been giveen more information. Two and a half years is a long time, considering the time value of money.
The start for year 2008, market-wise, is shaky. The reason for the volatility is most unsettling, which is why I will reiterate my previous warnings about so-called conventional wisdom. While I was channel surfing this past week-end, I caught a prominent female financial guru in the middle of one of the most over-used and inappropriate advisory statements of our times. She used the term - long haul - a little too often while implying that the market will go back up. That kind of advice is very bad news, especially for workers who wish to retire inside the next three to five years.
To be brief, we have a dilemma in the credit markets that is bulging. There has never been a larger glut in the sub-prime lending sector than what we have today. The billions of dollars in bad loans around the world weigh heavily on several major economies, especially ours. Refinancing of low-quality mortgages began more than a decade ago and has escalated at a run-away pace to the extent that equity markets are reacting to the situation. If credit quality does not improve, what kind of performance should we expect from the stock market?
Here's something to ponder: define long haul.
If you want an investment strategy that will help to secure your retirement in the next three to five years, it is time to get more involved with your finances. Start by monitoring your investments more frequently to check their performance. If you have been lulled into believing what goes down must go up, snap out of it! Look for sensible advice. It's not the hardest job you ever had.
Hawk
Sunday, November 25, 2007
We All Know Who Freddie And Fannie Are, Right?
More than a decade has passed since I last touted these two financial giants as the safest investment vehicles second only to U.S. Treasuries. For those who might still be a little fuzzy as to who Freddie and Fannie are, I am referring to Freddie Mac (FHMAC) and Fannie Mae (FNMA), the mortgage industry's largest guarantors of home loans.
Back in my "hay day", between 1995 and 2000, I helped investors understand that getting 1 to 2 points over 10-year T-Bills was a sweet deal. Beside being more lucrative, mortgage securites were often much more liquid in a strong market. Those were the days---when rates were at or above 8.0% on paper "equivalent" to 10-year bonds.
The more things change, the more things change.
The recent ripple through the credit markets has caught up with Freddie and Fannie, providing confirmation to a critical underlying dilemma in our economy. Both of these giants need more money to build reserves after suffering from some bad mortgages in recent years. Refinancing has caught up with investors and institutions seeking to extend the defunct bullish trend in real estate. Now the same financial monoliths that were, at one time, my absolute favorite sources for fixed income are under the gun with the startling potential of losing their status as safer investments, at least from an equity standpoint.
Both of these mortgage buyers need to raise a few billion dollars. You might already know that Fannie Mae recently drummed up a pittance of $500 million in preferred stock; but the stock does not have the value it would normally have because the shares are "non-cumulative". Although an annual percentage rate of 7.25% can be seen as attractive in this environment, the dividend is not guaranteed. One missed dividend payout - there goes your annual rate!
It will be interesting to see what the magicians of Wall Street come up with in the way of alternative financing. I suspect a slick packaged derivative of some kind, to buy time, might be in the offing. How would you like a high-yield, short-term, zero coupon EFT? Don't laugh!
Hawk
Back in my "hay day", between 1995 and 2000, I helped investors understand that getting 1 to 2 points over 10-year T-Bills was a sweet deal. Beside being more lucrative, mortgage securites were often much more liquid in a strong market. Those were the days---when rates were at or above 8.0% on paper "equivalent" to 10-year bonds.
The more things change, the more things change.
The recent ripple through the credit markets has caught up with Freddie and Fannie, providing confirmation to a critical underlying dilemma in our economy. Both of these giants need more money to build reserves after suffering from some bad mortgages in recent years. Refinancing has caught up with investors and institutions seeking to extend the defunct bullish trend in real estate. Now the same financial monoliths that were, at one time, my absolute favorite sources for fixed income are under the gun with the startling potential of losing their status as safer investments, at least from an equity standpoint.
Both of these mortgage buyers need to raise a few billion dollars. You might already know that Fannie Mae recently drummed up a pittance of $500 million in preferred stock; but the stock does not have the value it would normally have because the shares are "non-cumulative". Although an annual percentage rate of 7.25% can be seen as attractive in this environment, the dividend is not guaranteed. One missed dividend payout - there goes your annual rate!
It will be interesting to see what the magicians of Wall Street come up with in the way of alternative financing. I suspect a slick packaged derivative of some kind, to buy time, might be in the offing. How would you like a high-yield, short-term, zero coupon EFT? Don't laugh!
Hawk
Monday, August 6, 2007
Retirement Bully
Are we seeing more reports about American workers who cannot afford to retire, or is it my imagination?
Just the other day, I saw a news report indicating that nearly 40 percent of baby boomers will have to work for the rest of their lives. My first reaction to that information was: "so what else is new?" When I decided to backtrack with my thinking, I immediately began to question such a broad prediction.
One of the reasons I think the media gets it wrong is that sifting through and analyzing data is not required to publish a sensational story. In other words, I don’t take mass media seriously when I want to know what’s happening financial markets. That’s not where you get information for future planning. No sir (ma'am).
Just from studying the statement above for a minute, one starts to wonder, why?
My best guess (a mighty good one, too) is that there is an abundance of surveys taken from suspects who are given the universal treatment of measuring current income, savings, investments and real assets in what might be loosely called 'realistic' or standard investment models. This is where the projections fall short of being functional and investors start to frown.
When I first became an investment broker, I took the position that mutual funds are to financial planning as aspirin is to bodybuilding. Sure, you can try each one, but you’d better have a deeper, well-designed personalized program if you want to reach your objective. I was right in 1988 about my views on financial planning, and I am assured of being more correct today.
In up and down markets, I have seen dozens of individuals, with three, five and ten year goals, meet their marks on or close to schedule. The key was in the right counseling that helped them make critical decisions about their money. Mutual funds were not at the center of their success. As time permits, I will continue this series on the dilemma and the solution for most workers who would like to retire in fifteen or twenty years.
It's time some of us broke away from public inertia. We'll be back with some really good news!
Hudster
Just the other day, I saw a news report indicating that nearly 40 percent of baby boomers will have to work for the rest of their lives. My first reaction to that information was: "so what else is new?" When I decided to backtrack with my thinking, I immediately began to question such a broad prediction.
One of the reasons I think the media gets it wrong is that sifting through and analyzing data is not required to publish a sensational story. In other words, I don’t take mass media seriously when I want to know what’s happening financial markets. That’s not where you get information for future planning. No sir (ma'am).
Just from studying the statement above for a minute, one starts to wonder, why?
My best guess (a mighty good one, too) is that there is an abundance of surveys taken from suspects who are given the universal treatment of measuring current income, savings, investments and real assets in what might be loosely called 'realistic' or standard investment models. This is where the projections fall short of being functional and investors start to frown.
When I first became an investment broker, I took the position that mutual funds are to financial planning as aspirin is to bodybuilding. Sure, you can try each one, but you’d better have a deeper, well-designed personalized program if you want to reach your objective. I was right in 1988 about my views on financial planning, and I am assured of being more correct today.
In up and down markets, I have seen dozens of individuals, with three, five and ten year goals, meet their marks on or close to schedule. The key was in the right counseling that helped them make critical decisions about their money. Mutual funds were not at the center of their success. As time permits, I will continue this series on the dilemma and the solution for most workers who would like to retire in fifteen or twenty years.
It's time some of us broke away from public inertia. We'll be back with some really good news!
Hudster
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Stock Power Soon To Be Released!
We have had our share of delays in the past six months; but, Stock Power (The Novel) is on its way to the presses!
The story within a story is that this new epic novel has finally reached the point of no return - a date with Trafford Publishing of British Columbia, Canada. Thanks to several individuals who have shown their faith, moral and financial support, my dream will come true at the book stores in about six weeks from now. It won't be a minute too soon.
We are hoping for a decent return on our labors within the next six months. During the next six weeks, there will be plenty of publicity about the story, its author and locations where the book-signings are likely to take place.
To all of my supporters, many thanks for your interest and patience with this long awaited book. I am hopeful that your patience will be compensated by an enjoyable adventure with Bill Haydon.
The story within a story is that this new epic novel has finally reached the point of no return - a date with Trafford Publishing of British Columbia, Canada. Thanks to several individuals who have shown their faith, moral and financial support, my dream will come true at the book stores in about six weeks from now. It won't be a minute too soon.
We are hoping for a decent return on our labors within the next six months. During the next six weeks, there will be plenty of publicity about the story, its author and locations where the book-signings are likely to take place.
To all of my supporters, many thanks for your interest and patience with this long awaited book. I am hopeful that your patience will be compensated by an enjoyable adventure with Bill Haydon.
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