What's the end result of the US job drain?

[Lancer]

Moderate.

[Ned]

Originally posted by Tingkai

The US could impose tariffs on countries that lack proper environmental protection laws. That would raise the cost of consumer goods in the US, but it could be argued that the price increase is offset by the value of protecting the environment.

I think this has got to be a hard political sell to any electorate. Why in the world would one hamstring his own economy to help the environment elsewhere? Global warming is one exception to a general rule that environmental damage is primarily local. Another is the ozone hole problem that required a global solution.

I think it can be shown almost mathematically that trade barriers are harmful to all and that lack of trade barriers promotes efficiency. While both unions and companies do not like competition, free trade forces it upon both. Competition is what leads to efficiency, to innovation and to progress.

[DAVOUT]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
The companies do not have a responsibility to the country, but instead to their shareholders.

That would be acceptable.

The problem appears when they behave as if they had their main responsibility to the management, which translate too often as having their responsibility to the financial analysts.

[Lord Merciless]

Originally posted by Lancer
Ok guys, lets say I have $5000 to burn or grow. Exactly what do I tell the broker? I have no life insurance in the conventional sense, my wife inherits the mortgage that pays me over $1000 per month, hopefully for the next 30 years. There is a broker in town, I can get him through the phone book I'm sure.

You should read several books/sources before committing your money. I would recommend the following:

The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
This book has a whole chapter devoted to selecting brokers/ and financial advisors.

Warren Buffet's Annual Reports
Especially Buffet's annual reports are a delight to read.

Yahoo Finance is a great source to get free financial information. You need to play around a little bit before fully uncover its potential.

If you have trouble understanding financial terms, check out this website.

I personally use Fidelity Investments as my broker. Online brokerages are usually much cheaper, and if they have a local office in town, then so much better. If you are just looking for trading, then I would recommend Scottrade, who charges only $7 per trade. If you are looking for both cheap trading and some advice, then Fidelity and Charles Schwab may be good choices. They are nationwide and have at least 300 offices combined. Although their trading commission is not very cheap ($30 per trade), it's still a lot better than normal brokers ($45 per trade).

Good luck investing!

[Japher]

I have Schwab, and they have quarterly charges now as well, but I find their security, advice, and multitude of services worth the price (I think it is around $30/quarter)...

Some sound advice has been given to Lancer, as well as anyone who wants to invest:

1. Decide what you are investing for. Your broker, if he is good, will give you a questioneer, or question sessions and run this through some sort of BS program that will "calculate" risk vs. reward for you. In order to understand these values you need to realize what you are "saving" the money for; retirement, inheritence purposes, build a nest egg, etc...

2. Determine comfortable risk level. This is really up to you. Are you more comfortable betting the farm or would you rather not put all your eggs in one basket? With this determine your exit strategy, i.e. if goes down X% I sell and if goes up Y% I sell. Stick to this strat. that way you can actually manage your returns instead of dream about it.

3. Research, or read as Merciless suggested. The greatest risk you can take is to trust some else with your money investing in something that you don't understand, and thus can't be sure if they understand. I never take advice from anyone, if they are such great investors why are they trying to pedle me their funds?

4. Not only should you research your investment vehicle you should also research your investment relations. Make sure that who you are dealing with is reliable, all fund managers are registered and complaints are filled. Search for them on the web. Also, if you go through a financial planner they should belong to CFP, and are tracked on cfp.org, or something like that.

5. Invest.

I don't think Lancer has any worries about investing, as he has rental unit. If you enjoy that perhaps you should stay in real estate as your investment vehicle. Leverage the place and buy another rental, use the $5000 to get life insurance so that if something ever happened to you your wife could atleast pay for the funeral...

[Lancer]

Thanks for the good advise Japher.

Regarding the funeral, God willing I'll eventually die in the Philippines, and the family owns a shovel already.

[Lord Merciless]

Hey Japher, do you know of a good CPA here in the Bay Area? I'm looking for one who can do taxes for me and also gives advice on taxes.

Thanks.

[Japher]

My sister-in-law is my CPA, but she lives in Lemore, and I am not too happy with her, but I can't really fire family. I don't think she will be doing our taxes after next year.

Thus, I will need one. I will ask around.

[Lord Merciless]

I would usually not let relatives handle my finances. First of all, they may not be competent. Second, they usually get jealous if I earn more than them. Finally, if they screw up, suing them may not be an option.

[Japher]

She does alright, just not as dirty as I would lie.



I just saw that Schwab is getting hit with the illegal mutual fund managements. Lance; you might want to wait to invest until all this blows over, who knows how deep this can go.

My dad was just laughing at me again last week, because I was bad mouthing mutual funds again. He was all "My funds are fine"... he invests in Schwab funds ... Told him to buy some stocks last year instead of funds, I'm up 40%, and no scandals

I actually got one stock from this site; CAG. Not too shabby. Pays a nice dividened (tax deductable as well, thanks GW) and has great growth potential. I bought it several months ago, up 4 points (or about 20%), and I have been reinvesting dividends and have increased my holdings... I see it up another 20% in the next 6 months.

[Imran Siddiqui]

The problem appears when they behave as if they had their main responsibility to the management

That is what we refer to as a 'breach of fiduciary duty' .

[Lord Merciless]

My picks are SBC, MO, KRB, SC, and JNJ for the long run. These are all well run companies, with high ROE, low P/E, and little debt. They all pay nice dividends (yields between 4% and 5%, payout ratio > 35%), and if I let them sit in my Roth IRA, I will collect them tax free.

I looked up at CAG, its debt/equity and p/e ratios are a little too high for my taste. I haven't checked whether its current price is higher or lower than its historical average. You may think about cashing in the gains and look for a more attractive stock.