McDuck's Account Talk

[alevin]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

I read a book a number of years ago that talked about exactly this. Wish I could recall the title or even the author.

Book's premise was that: Boomers all start to sell their stocks at the same time as they hit retirement (30-years worth of Boomers' life savings tied up in market), plus all start trying to downsize into smaller houses at same time as they get older and don't want the trouble of McMansion upkeep anymore, cash out some of that equity (whatever, whoever might have some).

Made me think real hard about looking into rental RE as diversification measure, but of course, lacked the cash cushion and cash flow to make it work, lucky me. Good thing I didn't have the cash back then, woulda been a real bad time to have bought RE as investment. Makes me glad I still have a 'starter' home, might still get a fair price later on.

The book's compounding idea came out that all those people outside the US would be happy to buy Boomer stocks and RE for dirt cheap, not to mention the GenY/Millennials who won't have the $ to pay big prices for stocks OR RE, and won't need to because stocks and RE will be dirt cheap as selling pressure builds-or they can afford to sit around and watch til the price finally suits them. Sorta sounds like the symptoms are already piling up, if for different reasons.

Doesn't mean the book reasons won't start piling on in the next 5 years and keep the market suppressed near where it is now. How much gloom and doom can we take? Our Uncle set us younger feds up for this, happy happy day. I'm thinking collectibles might be the way to get out from under some of this RE/market cloud down the road, but who knows? Start hanging out at yard sales and estate auctions, look for hidden treasures,gotta get them cheap or it'll be the next bubble.

 

[Birchtree]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

alevin,

I can't begin to tell you how many of my individual stocks have already increased their dividend this year - that's how this old timer will continue to make income when I retire. These dividends will continue to increase and provide income even when I pass them on in my buggers inheritances. Then they'll continue to pay for another 40 years - it's a self perpetuating system.

 

[alevin]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

Yah Birchie. I hear you. You mean well by what you say, I know. You are the man when it comes to the long view on individual stocks, got 30 years on me there. I've got NO experience with those, but still putting my learn on as one of our newbies put it.

Me, I'm debt-free as of April and trying to stay that way. I'm still struggling to put the cash together the next 2 years to put a new roof on the house and fund a Roth in addition to my 5% into TSP. If I can ever get over those humps, I'll be raising the cash to replace my 12-year old Nissan P/U in the next 5 years (I think I can make it last that long).

Maybe once I meet those priorities, I'll have the spare cash to start putting into single stocks outside an IRA-assuming my job hasn't gotten downsized before then. They were threatening that about 3 years back due to looming budget cuts, but then relaxed about it, even tho I still have to find work on other fed units to make up some salary shortfalls every year since.

I will say, I'm looking to get out of mutuals in my existing (small) Roth IRA soon into a brokerage account where maybe I could start looking at some of your divvy-paying stock ideas. But it is a quite small account that hasn't had any fresh inflow into it from my cash accounts since I rolled into it from trad IRA back in 02. Point being I don't have much to work with as far as picking up a broad portfolio like you've built up, and won't for quite awhile so my posie picking has to be REALLY selective. When I read about broad declines and major corps. cutting dividends right and left this year just trying to survive (and quite a few not making it), it makes me cringe thinking of relying too much on divs (so many eggs in one basket and only 12-15 years to go as a fed, depending on when I get FED up).:toung:

 

[Birchtree]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

I started investing in 1972 for a year on paper to get my lean on also - then I put up $1000 to get started and have pushed it along since then. You are on the right track - it just takes time and discipline. The nice thing about stocks is that they pay dividends every three months and that type of reinvestment builds slow and steady.

 

[McDuck]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) Applauds Subcommitee Efforts to Examine Diversity in Nation's Largest Thrift Savings Plan
-- NASP Seeks to Advance Role of Minority and Women Owned Firms in the Financial Services Industry and Management of the Federal Retirement Thrift --

Last update: 2:20 p.m. EDT July 14, 2008

WASHINGTON, Jul 14, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- In an on-going effort to review and improve diversity practices in the financial services industry, the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia, chaired by Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL), held a hearing this past Thursday entitled "Investing in the Future: Minority Opportunities and the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)." Mark Willis, Board Chairman of NASP stated, "One of NASP's founding objectives and principles is achieving equal opportunity and participation for minorities and women in the securities industry. We are understandably pleased and encouraged by the Subcommittees' efforts to have a dialogue on the practices of the TSP, as the hearing represents an important step if there is to be change and improvement."

The hearings examined the Federal Retirement Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) and sought to improve minority access in its management. As the largest retirement savings and investment plan for federal employees, TSP is also the largest defined contribution plan in the world with over 3.9 million participants and more than $226 billion in assets as of June 30, 2008.

The TSP has only one manager for all of its assets, Barclays Global Investors, a U.S. subsidiary of a foreign bank that has managed the assets of the thrift exclusively for over 20 years. The demographic makeup of the TSP plan participants, however, is decidedly diverse, with nearly 50 percent of the annuitants being minorities and/or women. No minority or women owned firms have managed the assets or executed brokerage services for the TSP in its history.

During the hearing, Thurman White, President and CEO of Progress Investment Management Company, LLC stated that the unilateral management of the TSP is unprecedented in the plan sponsor community of the United States and cause for concern. "Having such a large pool of assets managed by a single manager is very risky. Such single manager concentration runs contrary to prudent investment policy that typically looks to asset class as well as manager diversification as an efficient means to diversify risk and enhance returns in today's volatile market." He further provided some examples of U.S. pension plans that have utilized targeted emerging manager investment strategies to enhance overall investment returns, diversify their portfolios and reduce manager concentration risk. These examples included CalPERS, CalSTRS, Boeing, GE Asset Management, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, LACERS, LACERA, New York State Common Retirement Fund, Shell Oil, Teacher Retirement System of Texas and Verizon Communications. "That the Federal Retirement Thrift Savings Plan is not listed among these plans is shameful, and frankly puzzling," he said.

Jarvis Hollingsworth, Former Chairman of The Teacher Retirement System of Texas discussed the evolution of his plan from one that was mostly passively and internally managed to its present configuration that includes active management utilizing several asset classes including alternatives.

"This reallocation moved the fund away from the traditional model of being highly weighted in publicly traded stocks and bonds and allowed the fund to guard against downturns in certain markets and better capitalize on the strong returns of less traditional asset classes." He further stated, "Diversity of investment professionals is also important and is very complimentary to the risk/return goals of TRS. TRS is committed to increasing the number and size of its relationships with minority and women-owned firms having the qualifications to assist in fulfilling the TRS mission, in accordance with TRS' fiduciary responsibilities to plan participants."

"Historic in its importance, Thursday's hearing is the latest in a series of hearings concerning the lack of diversity in the financial services industry and the first to evaluate the Thrift Savings Plan diversity practices," said Donna Sims Wilson, NASP Legislative Committee Chair. NASP's members testified before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation of the House Financial Services Committee in 2006 and again in 2008 discussing both ways to improve workforce diversity as well as challenging the federal government as "uber-client" of our industry to lead by example by being diverse with its own resources.

Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments, LLC said, "I applaud Congressman Davis' leadership on this vital issue. Government employees deserve greater choice when it comes to their retirement security. This hearing is an important first step in improving the Thrift's model."
Industry experts who testified at the Subcommittee hearing included: Greg Long, Executive Director, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board; Michael Sobel, Managing Director and Head of U.S. Equity Trading, Barclays Global Investors; Edward Swan, Jr., Former President, Fiduciary Investment Solutions Group; Jarvis Hollingsworth, Partner, Bracewell & Giuliani, LLP and Former Chairman of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas; Thurman White, Chief Executive Officer, Progress Investment Management Company, LLC; Mellody Hobson, President, Ariel Investments, LLC.; and Jesse Brown, President, Krystal Investments.

About NASP
The National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) is a non-profit trade association consisting of professionals in the securities industry. NASP brings together the nation's minorities and women who have achieved recognition in the industry as brokers, asset managers, public finance consultants, investment bankers, bond counsel commercial bank underwriters, investors, plan sponsors and other finance professionals. Founded in 1985, NASP is based in Washington, D.C. with 10 chapters in major financial centers throughout the United States.
SOURCE: National Assoc. of Securities Professionals

Copyright Business Wire 2008

 

[McDuck]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

Paulson braces public for months of tough times

45 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson sought to reassure an anxious public Sunday that the banking system is sound, while also bracing people for more troubled times ahead.

"I think it's going to be months that we're working our way through this period — clearly months," he said.

Paulson said the number of troubled banks will increase as they struggle to cope with big losses on bad mortgages. The government this month took over IndyMac after a run led it to become the largest regulated thrift to fail.

"Of course the list is going to grow longer given the stresses we have in the marketplace, given the housing correction. But again, it's a safe banking system, a sound banking system. Our regulators are on top of it. This is a very manageable situation," he said in broadcast interviews.

Paulson used appearances on the Sunday talk shows to tell people that deposits up to $100,000 are fully insured. He said no one has lost a single penny on an insured deposit in the 75 years that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has operated.

"We're going through a challenging time with our economy. This is a tough time. The three big issues we're facing right now are, first, the housing correction which is at the heart of the slowdown; secondly, turmoil of the capital markets; and thirdly, the high oil prices, which are going to prolong the slowdown," he said.

"But remember, our economy has got very strong long-term fundamentals, solid fundamentals. And you know, your policy-makers here, regulators, we're being very vigilant."

Paulson said he hoped Congress soon would approve his plan to help shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage companies

"I'm very optimistic that we're going to get what we need from Congress here, because Congress understands how important these institutions are," Paulson said.

The House plans to vote Wednesday on a housing bill that is expected to include a rescue for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The companies' shares have plummeted because of fears about their financial stability. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are private, but they were created by Congress to encourage homeownership by buying mortgages from banks. The two hold or guarantee more than $5 trillion in home loans — almost half of the nation's total.

"Our first priority today is the stability of the capital markets, the stability of the system. And these institutions have investors all around the world ... and those investors need to know that we in the United States of America understand the importance of these institutions to our capital markets and to our economy and to our housing market," he added.

Paulson acknowledged the U.S. is continuing to lose jobs, though he said the $168 billion economic relief plan approved this year has created jobs that would not otherwise exist. The plan included tax rebates for people and tax breaks for businesses.

Democratic leaders, including presidential candidate Barack Obama, are pushing for a second, smaller, economic installment. Paulson said he did not want to speculate about that idea.

"I'm focused on this stimulus package. It's made a difference in the second quarter. It's going to make a difference in the third quarter. We need to watch this very carefully," he said.

"Right now we're going through a tough period. There is no doubt about it. But the stimulus plan is making a difference," he said.

The second-ranking House Republican, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, said he was "open-minded" about a follow-up aid plan. "If they bring things to the table they know the president's not going to do, that has very little to do with stimulating the economy. It's all about a political discussion between now and the election," he said.

Paulson appeared on "Face the Nation" on CBS and "Late Edition" on CNN. Blunt was on CNN.
On the Net:

* Treasury Department: http://www.treasury.gov/

Hosted by Google
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press.

 

[marcel54]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

"National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) Applauds Subcommitee Efforts to Examine Diversity in Nation's Largest Thrift Savings Plan
-- NASP Seeks to Advance Role of Minority and Women Owned Firms in the Financial Services Industry and Management of the Federal Retirement Thrift "

I wonder how much cost this will add to the TSP to add more management?

 

[luv2read]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

"National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) Applauds Subcommitee Efforts to Examine Diversity in Nation's Largest Thrift Savings Plan
-- NASP Seeks to Advance Role of Minority and Women Owned Firms in the Financial Services Industry and Management of the Federal Retirement Thrift "

I wonder how much cost this will add to the TSP to add more management?

They're not looking at adding more management, they're looking at CHANGING management when the contract option is up. What they're questioning is WHY has Barclay's had exclusive rights to TSP for the last 20 years...in other words, since it's creation? Are they really the low bidder every 5 years when the contract option comes up? They're also asking questions about passive/vs active investment models, which is GOOD for us. Hopefully the IFT limits will be brought into it.

 

[marcel54]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

Thanks for the correction. It looked like to me they might split it up.

 

[EW_ret]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

Barclays had the contracts for past twelve years or so. Wells Fargo had it before them during the early days. There is a lot a money in TSP and everybody wants to put their hands in the cookie jar. Letting smaller firms in will drive up costs. Even Vanguard and Fidelity would have a hard time improving on fund expenses.

I agree we need more choices, even if the expenses are higher. This would add diversity and allow the members access to securities that have low correlation with U.S. Equities.

 

[luv2read]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

Barclays had the contracts for past twelve years or so. Wells Fargo had it before them during the early days. There is a lot a money in TSP and everybody wants to put their hands in the cookie jar. Letting smaller firms in will drive up costs. Even Vanguard and Fidelity would have a hard time improving on fund expenses.

I agree we need more choices, even if the expenses are higher. This would add diversity and allow the members access to securities that have low correlation with U.S. Equities.

Indeed, Wells Fargo was the manager in the early years, thank you for the correction! I got the information about BGI from TSP itself, just goes to show you.....:notrust:

 

[McDuck]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

The Case Against Joe Biden

Yesterday we argued for why Barack Obama should pick Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate. Today we tackle the opposite argument.

Loose Lips Sink Ships

Over the course of his presidential bid, Biden cemented his reputation as -- how to put this nicely? -- less than disciplined on the campaign trail.
VP Watch

In the summer of 2006, as he was publicly mulling the race, Biden set off a controversy over comments he made about Indian Americans.

"I've had a great relationship [with Indian Americans]," Biden said. "In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking."

On the day he formally announced his candidacy, a New York Observer story that quoted Biden as calling Obama "articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy" came out, and the resultant uproar effectively undercut any momentum Biden was hoping to build.

While Biden was on his best verbal behavior for much of the rest of the campaign, there is no question that his tendency to shoot from the lip worries some in Obama world. As one Democratic consultant put it: "You know there will be three days in the campaign where someone in Chicago will get a call and respond -- 'What did you say he said?.'"

For a campaign that prides itself on its message discipline, choosing Biden would be introducing a wildcard into the mix. The Obama campaign exudes quiet confidence that if they do the basic political work between now and Nov. 4 the Illinois senator will be president. Do they really want to risk it with Biden?

Plagiarizer In Chief

Way back in 1987, Biden was riding high in the presidential race -- widely regarded as a serious contenders for the Democratic party's nod.

Then Neil Kinnock happened. Biden borrowed passages of a speech given by Kinnock, a leader in Britain's Labour Party, without attribution -- a mistake that led to a detailed examination of Biden's public statements that turned up several more examples of potential plagiarism and resume inflation. The feeding frenzy eventually chased the Delaware senator from the race.

The incident has become the stuff of political lore -- type "Joe Biden and Neil Kinnock" into Google and more than 37,000 hits are returned -- even though those close to Biden insist that the actual facts surrounding the incidents are largely overblown.

Maybe. But, while any political junkie worth his (or her) name knows all about the Kinnock incident, it's a mistake to assume the average voter knows about it. In the words of one Republican strategist: "Old news inside the Beltway, new news outside."

That reality means that in every story about Biden done in the aftermath of his selection, Kinnock's name and the allegations of plagiarism would come up. It would complicate the desired flawless roll-out of the new ticket and could even raise questions about Obama's commitment to a new kind of politics.

Washington Insider

The central tenet of Obama's campaign message is that if Americans want to change their government, then they have to change the people they send to Washington.

Picking Biden, who has served in the Senate for the better part of the last four decades, seems to run counter to that core message. Biden was elected to the Senate at age 29 and spent only four years after graduating from Syracuse Law School in 1968 working in the private sector before entering public life.

Biden has long been a regular on the Sunday talk show circuit and is one of the pillars of the Democratic party establishment. His accomplishments -- of which there are many -- all were achieved as a senator operating inside the deepest heart of political Washington.

Biden allies note that despite his long service in Washington he is, at his core, an outsider inside the Beltway. While that may well be true, the optics for Obama aren't great; he can't change the fact that in picking Biden he would be going with someone who has spent nearly his entire adult life not only in politics but as a member of the world's greatest deliberative body.

Joe Loves Joe

One of the most overlooked episodes during the 1987 collapse of Biden's campaign was a snippet of footage captured by C-Span in which the Delaware senator, in response to a question about where he went to law school and what sort of grades he received, delivered this classic line: "I think I have a much higher IQ than you do."

While any human being -- especially a candidate for president who is constantly being poked and prodded -- can be forgiven a momentary flash of temper, Biden's detractors point to that incident as evidence that the senator thinks he is the bee's knees and doesn't care who knows it.

Biden, by his own admission, has the capacity to fall in love with his own voice and wander off on tangents about his life that have nothing to do with the topic at hand.

During the 2006 confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, the Post's Dana Milbank wrote this of Biden's performance:

"Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., in his first 12 minutes of questioning the nominee, managed to get off only one question. Instead, during his 30-minute round of questioning, Biden spoke about his own Irish American roots, his "Grandfather Finnegan," his son's application to Princeton (he attended the University of Pennsylvania instead, Biden said), a speech the senator gave on the Princeton campus, the fact that Biden is "not a Princeton fan," and his views on the eyeglasses of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)."

Ouch.

There is evidence from the Democratic primaries that Biden is not only aware of his tendency to go on (and on) about himself but is also able to curb that natural tendency, however. In one of the best moments in an unending series of Democratic debates, Biden was asked by moderator Brian Williams whether he possessed the "discipline" to be the leader of the free world. Biden's simple response -- "yes" -- brought the house down and put the Delaware senator in The Fix's "winners" column for the night.

By Chris Cillizza | August 14, 2008; 12:47 PM ET

 

[McDuck]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

'Iceman' Oetzi's Clothes Suggest Shepherd Life
Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News


Aug. 22, 2008 -- Oetzi the Iceman walked his last steps on Earth wearing moccasins made from cattle leather, according to German researchers who have disclosed the 5,300-year-old dress code of the world's oldest intact human mummy.

The research, based on a hi-tech method of analyzing proteins, established that the famous Neolithic man did not dress like a hunter, but like a herdsman -- in clothes made from sheep and cattle hair.

Using MALDITOF (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization) mass spectrometry, Klaus Hollemeyer of Saarland University in Germany and colleagues examined "four animal-hair-bearing samples of the accoutrement of the mummy."

"Two samples from his coat, and a sample from his leggings, were assigned to sheep. The upper leather of his moccasins, was made from cattle," the researchers wrote in the September issue of journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry.

Exclusively based on the analysis of proteins, the method allowed the researchers to compare the patterns of molecules in fermented proteins present in the hairs of Oetzi's clothing with those found in living animals.

"A main advantage of this method is the high stability of hair proteins compared to the more labile DNA molecules," Hollemeyer told Discovery News. "In archaeological samples, the long storage under suboptimal conditions often destroys the DNA structures, but keeps the structural hair proteins mainly conserved," he said.

The Iceman's clothing is the only Neolithic accoutrement that has been found in Europe so well preserved, yet the animal species used to make these clothing have been often the subject of controversy.

It was suggested that the clothing came from red deer, goats and or even chamois, a goat-like animal native to the Alps.

Finding that the mummy wore a coat and leggings of Neolithic sheep hair helps archaeologists understand the social and cultural background of the Iceman, according to Hollemeyer.

Access to such animals "is an indication for a more progressive pastoral-agricultural society," Hollemeyer said.

On the contrary, if his clothes had been "exclusively made from wild games, this would be a sign for a hunter-gatherer society with no access to domesticated species like sheep, goat or cattle," he said.

The Oetzi mummy has been extensively studied since its discovery in 1991 in a melting glacier in the Oetztal Alps. It is now known that his body froze and mummified after a violent death at about age 45.

The Iceman was shot with an arrow -- the head of which remained lodged in his shoulder -- that fatally severed his left subclavian artery. He also suffered a traumatic cerebral lesion, the consequence of a trauma from a blow or a fall onto the rocks.

It's unclear which wound actually killed Oetzi. "I think the blow to the head is significant but not the ultimate cause of death. On the contrary, the rupture of the artery kills you very fast," Frank Rühli, of the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, told Discovery News.

Rühli, a member of the Swiss-Itaian team who last year discovered the fatal lesion of a close-to-the-shoulder artery, found the new study on the mummy clothes very interesting.

"It particularly shows how much information you can get out of such state-of-the-art methods. Also, it highlights that research on the Iceman is still helpful and will provide more interesting turns in the future," Rühli said.

AP Photo/Petr David Josek |

A Shepherd's Shoes
Replicas of the shoes found with Oetzi, a well-preserved 5,300-year-old iceman found in 1991, are displayed on the ground. New research on the shoes and other articles of clothing found on the mummy suggests he was a shepherd, not a hunter-gatherer, in life.

 

[McDuck]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

Stallings has 'no regrets' about son

Fri. August 15, 2008; Posted: 08:07 AM
The Anniston Star, Ala.

COLDWATER -- Gene Stallings arrived dutifully at Word Alive Church on Thursday. His drawn face and crackling voice betrayed fatigue, but he seemed up for his first public appearance since his son died nearly two weeks ago.

The former Alabama football who led the Crimson Tide to its last national championship in 1992 greeted his guide for the night's Circle of Champions fund-raiser, then he asked for a piece of paper and a few quiet minutes in an office.

Then he met with a reporter and shared a keen insight for all parents, let alone those of children with disabilities.

"Raise your children where, if something happens, there are no regrets," he said. "You've spent the time. You've shared experiences. You've done everything you possibly could to that point.

"Many of us will say, 'If I could go back and do it over.' I have no regrets about Johnny."

That's not a bad place for a father so close to losing the son he so adored.

John Mark Stallings, a beloved figure to those close to Alabama athletics and fans alike, died on Aug. 2 after living 46 years of a life to be envied in some ways.

Down syndrome and congenital heart condition or no, he had 46 years with two parents and four sisters who, by all accounts, made him feel their love and unqualified pride.

His dad's coaching success meant that John Mark got to be around neat stuff. He rode into Alabama practices on his golf cart looking for his "favorite pop" and hung out with an extended family of more than a hundred coaches, players and support personnel.

He was there on the team bus, ready to make all feel better after a bad game and great after a good one.

The players knew his name, and he an amazing gift for remembering their names.

He had a greater gift for making others feel better, which he did for his dad very near the time of his death. The two were lying on a bed, John Mark's blood-oxygen level in the 50s ... well below the nominal 90s ... and his dad asked how he felt.

"He'd just say, 'I'm fine,'" Stallings said. "I don't think I'll ever complain again. I mean, he wasn't fine. It's just like you being at 25,000 feet on a mountain and trying to run up steps. You'd just have no oxygen. You couldn't do it.

"He lived like that for a long time."

John Mark lived much better for much longer, and his sunny disposition helped his dad come back from a very low point.

It was June 11, 1962 when Stallings and his wife Ruth Ann heard a doctor utter "Mongoloid" to describe their newborn son. The word hit with devastating force, enough to land the tough coach on the floor, unconscious.

Fast-forward some years, and one sees the frequent visions of Stallings and his son walking off the practice field together, hand-in-hand and smiling.

"I prayed to God that he would change Johnny, and he changed me," Stallings said. "... I just can't tell you how much I loved the child. I love all my children, but he needed me a little bit more than the others did.

"Every day, he'd tell me, 'You know who my favorite pop is?' I said, 'in the whole world?' He said, 'the whole world.' I said, 'Who's that?' And he said, 'You.' I said, 'You know who my favorite boy is in the whole world?' He'd say, 'who?' I'd say, 'It's you.'

"We said that probably every day, so he brought a lot of joy to me. Hopefully, I brought some joy to him."

Stallings certainly brought inclusion to John Mark. Stallings' fame helped shine light on John Mark, who in turn became the most famous Stallings in circles like Tuscaloosa's Rise School for children born with disabilities.

Several members of the Alabama athletics family stepped forward last week to offer condolences and their favorite John Mark stories. Current head coach Nick Saban and his wife Terry flew to Paris, Texas, for visitation.

As for Gene Stallings, the grieving process goes on. His appearance here Thursday was all about the cause and honoring a commitment, though he admits it would have been tough had it come a week earlier.

"I don't feel bad for Johnny; I know where he is," he said. "I feel bad for me."

He said he'd feel a lot worse had he and John Mark not lived their time together so well.

"If I had a lot of regrets and said I wished I'd done this and that, I would really be low right now," Stallings said. "But I don't, and I think that those of us who raise children and take on the responsibility of children, we never know when something is going to happen. It may be a car wreck. You never know.

"I just don't have any regrets."

About Joe Medley: Joe Medley is the sports columnist and covers participatory sports for The Anniston Star.

 

[McDuck]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

[FONT=arial, helvetica]
[FONT=verdana,arial]September 9, 2008
[/FONT]
[/FONT][FONT=arial, helvetica][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]State employees $160M richer[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
By Rick Harmon
rharmon@gannett.com[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]The state retirement system is laughing off an almost $74 million loss in state teacher and employee investments caused by the government's takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]The Retirement Systems of Alabama can afford to -- literally. CEO David Bronner believes the government takeover of the two mortgage company giants made the system about $160 million richer today, even after the loss.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]On Monday, RSA lost about $22 million on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stock, much of which was in its S&P 500 portfolio holdings. Overall, it lost $73.9 million from the stocks purchase to its drop on Monday.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]Bronner said he was initially upset that the federal government's move all but made the stock investment valueless. But the move ultimately paid off for RSA's investments.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]"Those two stocks have tanked because of the government bailout, but because of that same bailout a lot more other stocks have gained -- and gained hugely -- in value," he said.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]As a result RSA's S&P 500 portfolio, which contained the majority of RSA's ownership in the two stocks, gained $160 million on Monday -- more than $110 million for the teachers retirement system and almost $50 million for the employees retirement system. The state has about $7.8 billion invested in the S&P 500.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]Although Bronner has seen how the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac affected RSA's investments on Monday, predicting its effect on Alabama and the country is more difficult. But he was willing to try.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]Here are his comments on why the takeover was necessary and some possible effects, from mortgages becoming much harder to obtain to whether the move will lead to future bailouts.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]Q: Do you believe the government needed to take over the companies?
[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]A: Unfortunately, probably yes. Simply because the recognition of the size of the problem was not being handled very well with the two organizations that have sort of private government status. So to put them in the government will probably create a sense of urgency to get a handle of the mortgage problem.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]So was there a big problem with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]I think there was a huge problem, and it really didn't develop overnight. It has really been with us a number of years. It probably exemplified itself in being able to get mortgages for nothing down, and hoping that the value went up. What happened was when the bubble popped, and the value went down without people having any money in it, you created the crisis.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]You had these two "quasi government agencies" but they really did their own thing even though they operated under the umbrella of the government. They had their own multimillion-dollar big time salaries and did pretty much whatever they wanted to do. They didn't act like the government at all.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]So when you had the housing bubble, they just kept putting more air in the tire. It finally got so bad the Treasury Department had to step in and take over and fire the top management. Both organizations have had scandals within the past five years, before the current management came in and took over. And now they have been canned because they continued the problems instead of rectifying them.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]What do you think the long-term effect will be?[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]I think the long-term effect will be determined by how it affects the housing industry and that involves the sort of ongoing, almost-daily tweaking of interest rates and everything else. What we haven't seen is the policies they plan to implement and how different they will be from existing ones. That will sort of seep out during the next 30 days or so.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]What changes do you believe they have to make?[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]Basically, I think what they have to quickly do is tighten up the requirements to get a mortgage and probably they will increase the cost of a mortgage. In order to avoid compounding the problems they have now they certainly can't lower the rates substantially. But if they lower them at all, they will still increase the requirements to obtain those loans ... the qualification standards will be higher than what they've been in the past.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]Do you see this move creating the potential for any major problems?[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]It had to be done, but it is a very risky road because right behind it is going to be the automobile people saying that they deserve $50 billion or a $100 billion or whatever they want. What you are doing is preventing things from failing that deserve to fail, but on the other hand, this is so big that you can't afford to let it fail. So the next question will be when the next big company, like the automobile industry, comes to you, do you let them fail or do you do the same thing.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]You have started a chain of events, well, actually it started months ago after Bear-Stearns fell (and the government bailed out investment bankers). So you have a chain of events where now you don't know if the government will let a business fail or whether it will try and prevent everything from failing. If that happens, then you have even bigger problems.[/FONT]

 

[BamaAF]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

David Bronner had done very well for Alabama State Employees. The Robert Trent Jones golf courses in Alabama are an example -- as well as some good real estate deals, stock deals.

 

[McDuck]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

The S&P500 is lower now than it was 3 years ago.

View attachment 4707

 

[malyla]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

The S&P500 is lower now than it was 3 years ago.

View attachment 4707

And so is the Buy&Holders tsp account balance. Half of the money made during the last bull market is gone since Oct 2007. It only took one year to lose 3 years of earnings. Anyone that thinks B&H in stocks during a bear market is a good strategy is delusional. Don't drink the koolaid! The video in Poolman's account on the Elliot wave theory was sobering. Keep your tail and sell the rallies to protect your retirement. GL.

 

[McDuck]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

Returns YTD:

S_fund -15.49 %
C_fund -19.97 %
I_fund -27.89 %

L_income -2.25 %
L2040 -17.24 %

 

[McDuck]

Re: Greg's Account Talk

S&P 500 in the last year