Money Magic

I blame this post on Google, boredom, and the fact that I never outgrew pixie dust.

I have been to Disney world, many, many times. You name a ride and I have been on it, I have seen the restaurants change and construction signs go up. I have even sat through the history of Disney twice, which in hindsight is a little sad. So while bored I decided to Google Disney stock holders. Which directed me to this , which is actually interesting the Walt Disney Company Shareholders information site.

The Walt Disney Corporation gives information on dividends, annual reports, stock split history, historical financial information, online shareholders accounts, merger information statements, tax information, and even a newsletter all online. That's right Mickey stepped into the digital age, and now with a click of your mouse you can learn all about the company and your share. Several other major corporations,Meijers/Walmart/ ect. have also taken steps like these, but I found Disney's website the most user friendly. Imagine never having to worry about losing your tax information, because you can just log in and look at your 1099 DIV.

I like that corporations are posting more information for both shareholders and the public, but I do question how secure the account information really is. Which may be why some corporations do not have websites that allow shareholders to log in and look at the performance of their shares. Plus I miss the paper stocks that use to be issued. The FAQ's specifically states that the Disney Corporation no longer issues papers stocks as commemorative gifts. I think that this website might have killed a little bit of the magic of Disney for me. Much like seeing all seven of the dwarfs' heads go rolling by on a cart (backstage tour my sophomore year of high school ;). Good or bad I guess online access to all acounts including shareholders information is just part of the land of tommorow.

Death of My Money

Previously on this blog I have discussed the topic of the Government's investments. While I do not approve of many of the bailout programs, I have seen their impact. So when I goggled bailout I was interested to find the article "Where Bailout Money Goes To Die" by Rick Newman. I mean with a title like that how can you not read it?

The focus of this article is not to debate the impact of the programs. Its to follow the money and learn what we need to do in the future. Mr. Newman makes an interesting point in looking at the bailout from an investors point of view. Afterall the government is investing your tax dollars into these failing companies, so what return are you getting on that investment? I wish I could say that the bailout was a huge sucess and the government is getting a return of all the money invested, yet that really is not the case.

Tarp has had an impact on keeping several companies out of bankruptcy. Yet the spending for such a project is astronomical. And interestingly enough Tarp money has been centered on the Eastern seaboard. While I understand that this is the headquarters of many businesses and population It still seems unbalanced.

More unbalanced is the price that we may pay. I have listened to several people complain about Government spending, the theory being that you know where you want to spend your money. The same is true about investments. You know how much you are willing to risk on an investment. The government doesn't have the same ability to cut its loses and move on. In fact Mr. Newman points out that the government is not a suave investor since it has lost more that $148 billion to dying companies. This is $1233 per household. I understand the importance of continuing some bailout programs, but every single household in the United States does not have $1233 that can be thrown away on a bad investment. An investment that is only referred to as an investment my politicians. Since many companies have no guide lines as to how the money must be re-payed. An investment that does not even have the protection of stockholders, where what you put in is what you can lose.

So if you get the chance please read "Where Bailout Money Goes To Die" by Rick Newman. Every investor should be informed, and the article is more than a little funny. Additionally, http://bailout.propublica.org/ offers several trackers and graphs to view where the bailouts are going. Including the image above.

Live Better

A friend just sent this to me so I had to share. I love feel of this ad because it echoes the horror movie trailers that are coming out. Plus Wal*Mart has been in the news a lot this week.

I know that Wal*Mart has been blasted by the media for several years. Yes, I do shop there and I understand that they "nickle and dime" their employees. I understand that they are sending a lot of jobs overseas. I do believe that they should offer more benefits to their employees but that is getting off topic. I still like to save money, so I sometimes shop at Wal*Mart.

Recently fox news had a debate on weather Wal*Mart's are destroying America. The Democrats said yes and stated a lot of the facts from the video. The republicans said no. They quoted several studies that show that Wal*Mart brings economic growth to cities and encourages the development of small businesses. This is one of the many reasons that citys across the nation are now welcoming Wal*Mart's instead of fighting them.

Yet more importantly Wal*Mart is doing excellent in the stock market. They are apparently making $25,000 in profit every minute, (see video website). They publish the issues to be voted on by stockholders on their website. They have some of the largest shareholder meetings in the country. They are a thriving business that has benefits and flaws. The 8 million dollar bonus they gave to their CEO is less than a lot of CEOs in the U.S., but still is money that could have gone to either the stock holders or the employees.

So love Wal*Mart or hate it, the corporation is still changing America. The question is does this business model make shareholders and customers live better?

Blacklists and Golden Parachutes

Tell me if you've heard this story before. A women balances her checkbook and transposes two of the digits, so instead writing .83 she writes .38. So when she writes a check she is over drawn by .50 or so on her account. Her check bounces and the bank starts hitting her with fines, she calls the bank and receives gets customer no-service. Months later the bank has her overdrawn on the account by hundreds of dollars thanks to fines and blacklists her with all the banks in the state.

When I first wanted to open a bank account my dad told me this story, he said it happened in over on the east coast but was an important lesson. He then pointed out that I was eligible to bank at a credit union. The lesson was more than just math the lesson is to watch the money. As a member of the credit union you are a share holder, as a member of a bank you are the customer.

Now, I don't believe that credit unions are the end-all be-all of the financial world but the news has certainly attracted attention to banks. The woman in the antidote couldn't bank within the state until she paid the bank hundreds of dollars over a .50 mistake. I overdrew my checking account one time, the credit union posted a fifteen dollar fine to my account. That's it that was the end of the issue. But to be fair banks tend be more profitable for investors, especially the CEO's. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FV4c4QJZ2c Now I don't begrudge him is pension of 53 million, but he is supposedly walking away with 125 million dollars. That is quite the golden parachute for a CEO who had to be bailed out by the United States government.

I have to wonder what are the stock holders getting? At the current moment Bank of America Stock is worth $16.34, yet last year around this time it was worth $30.00. To be fair the credit union I belong to only gave me a ten dollar dividend at the end of of last year, but I only had two shares. Plus the American taxpayer now has a vested stake in Bank of America without receiving any of the protection or rights that share holders get.

Maybe a new CEO will be better for Bank of America, but somehow I don't think so. In the meantime just remember credit unions help people through life. Bank of America helps Ken Lewis. Follow the money and watch your stocks, because a ten dollar profit is better that a loss and a government bailout any day.