Taking Stock from Creators Syndicate

Fifth Third Bank and Municipal Bonds for 10/07/2009

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Mr. Berko: I have $31,000 to put in a CD, but the best yield I can find is a one-year CD offered by my bank (Fifth Third), which is a very low 1.75 percent. If Fifth Third goes under, will my CDs still be safe? I think I can afford a little risk and hope you could recommend something with a better yield of maybe 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent. I need this money liquid. I also own 280 shares of ...

Updated: Wed Oct 07, 2009

Title Companies for 10/07/2009

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Mr. Berko: I recently bought a great home here at a great price. The previous owner refinanced his home last February and had to buy a new title policy for which he paid $2,030. Now because of his personal family problem, the previous owner had to sell the home for which I had to get a new mortgage and pay another title company $2,642 for a brand-new title policy even though there was a ne ...

Updated: Wed Oct 07, 2009

Seek Experienced Brokers for 10/14/2009

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Mr. Berko: I'm 66 years old, retired at 59 with $682,000 in a roll-over IRA, which is now worth $417,000, from which my wife and I take out $1,000 per month to supplement our two pensions. But in the last year, we stopped taking money from this account because it has done so badly. We've had two brokers in the last seven years, both nice young men who use their companies' research to manag ...

Updated: Wed Oct 14, 2009

'Securitization' for 10/14/2009

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Mr. Berko: My broker has recommended that I buy this bond (description enclosed) that he says it is "securitized," which he says means the investment is secure. As you can see, it's a $100,000 face value bond that I can buy for $63,000 and pays an extremely high rate of interest, which really makes this very attractive. Do you think this is a good investment? Also, this broker ha ...

Updated: Wed Oct 14, 2009

Not a Sweet Deal for 10/14/2009

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Mr. Berko: I have $10,000 to invest and would like to buy a high-yielding preferred with an 11 percent or better yield that could increase in value as the company improves its earnings. I bought $10 m face value of the 7.75 percent Lucent Convertible Bonds you recommend at $660 per bond with an 11.7 percent yield and I'd like to buy another high-yield security. What do you recommend? Also, ...

Updated: Wed Oct 14, 2009

Retirement Plans and No-load Funds for 10/21/2009

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Mr. Berko: My wife and I retired last year from different companies. We moved my wife's 403(b) to an IRA, which was a real chore because the people holding that money wanted her to buy an annuity, and made it very difficult to move her retirement money to a simple IRA. Those teachers retirement people don't want to let go. On the other hand, it took my company just 10 days to move my 401(k ...

Updated: Wed Oct 21, 2009

E-Books for 10/21/2009

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Mr. Berko: I've got a bee in my bonnet about the e-Book industry that it will push hardcover and soft-cover books off the shelves so the big booksellers like Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million and Borders will have to close their doors. Amazon and Sony have great e-Books right now and when Apple comes out with their new e-Book, I think it will spell the beginning of the decline of the boo ...

Updated: Wed Oct 21, 2009

Post-Retirement CDs Stiff Seniors for 10/21/2009

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Mr. Berko: We've been depending on CDs for the last four years for safety and income. And we have been moving our CD money around at various banks to get the most income we can, especially when one bank offers a little more than another. This is becoming nerve-wracking and tiresome and in the last year or so, with rates now at 1.75 percent, we are hurting badly. We have $385,000 in CDs now ...

Updated: Wed Oct 21, 2009

The Municipal Bond Market for 10/28/2009

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Mr. Berko: I'm going into the hospital next month for major surgery and before I do, I'd like to buy some municipal bonds with a $27,000 CD that comes due just prior to my hospitalization. I want to get the highest possible return with triple-A rated municipals. I figure a 6 percent tax-free return is equivalent to 9 percent because I'm in the 30 percent bracket. My broker recommended a Ca ...

Updated: Wed Oct 28, 2009

Exchange Traded Funds for 10/28/2009

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Mr. Berko: I wanted to buy a utility stock, but my broker recommended an exchange traded fund traded on the stock exchange. He claims that they are better than buying 300 or 600 shares of a utility stock. Please give me your thoughts on these and tell me if you like them. And if I don't buy an exchange traded utility fund, what specific utility do you like? I want to own a utility that has ...

Updated: Wed Oct 28, 2009

Golden Rules for 10/28/2009

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Mr. Berko: I want to buy $6,000 worth of gold and have listened to and read about some of the exchanges that sell gold to the public like The National Gold Exchange that will sell me gold at wholesale. They said gold will go to $2,000 an ounce this year. I want to get the best price and my wife told me to write you because you may know of a selling group that offers the best price, even be ...

Updated: Wed Oct 28, 2009

Tips on TIPS for 11/04/2009

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Dear Mr. Berko: My brother-in-law told me that you recommended he put 20 percent of his $505,000 ROTH IRA into TIPS. We are the same age, have identical ROTH IRAs, earn the same income with the same firm and have the same debts and in fact, our families are the best of friends and we live three houses away. I've enclosed a completed Investor Profile sent to me by your office and as you can see, ...

Updated: Wed Nov 04, 2009

Utility Stocks for 11/04/2009

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Dear Mr. Berko: I'm thinking of buying 150 Progress Energy and 100 FPL Corporation, two Florida utility stocks. What do you think of them? Also, I bought 1,000 shares of Prestige Brands last July at $11.23 and I'm now down 4 points. I know what happened to the company, but I don't know if I should sell the stock, keep it or buy more shares. So I'd appreciate your opinion on this stock too. F.L. ...

Updated: Wed Nov 04, 2009

Long-term Interest Rates and Merrill Lynch for 11/04/2009

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Dear Mr. Berko: As you can see from this stationary, I own a large company and we have a pension plan with a market value of $86 million. The current manager has done moderately well in the past year (up 8.2 percent) but was down 26 percent last year so we still have a long road to travel home. We recently discussed his market philosophy for the next year and he is bearish on equities so he int ...

Updated: Wed Nov 04, 2009

Financial Shenanigans? for 11/11/2009

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Dear Mr. Berko: I'm an attorney and a CPA. I'm also retired. And now, I'm mad as hell and I don't want to take it anymore. Early this year, I sent three letters to the Securities Exchange Commission telling them that the billions in bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch employees was illegal and I cited "inadequate disclosure" just as Judge Rakoff ruled. One of those letters was addressed to ...

Updated: Wed Nov 11, 2009

Partnership Perils for 11/11/2009

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Dear Mr. Berko: My broker wants me to invest $35,000 in an infrastructure equipment leasing partnership that is guaranteed to pay 9 percent. And the equipment will be leased to Triple-A lessees. And because the general partners are using leverage of 5 to 1, all the equipment would be completely paid off in 10 years when the leases expire. And at that time, the equipment would be sold on the mar ...

Updated: Wed Nov 11, 2009

Toll Brothers for 11/11/2009

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Dear Mr. Berko: I think the housing industry is coming back because the recession is over and want to buy 300 Toll Brothers shares. I was told by my broker not to buy Toll Brothers stock because Robert Toll, the founder and CEO, sold all his stock in September of this year at $22 a share. He says when a CEO sells all the stock in a company he owns that this is a bad sign for the company's futur ...

Updated: Wed Nov 11, 2009

Profiting from War? for 11/18/2009

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800