Skip to content

Franchise of Our Time from Paul Eckert

Family Financial Centers “The Franchise for our Time” By Paul Eckert With the current economic slide, many would-be entrepreneurs are unsure as to what business they should go into. So many business models find themselves in a downward trend. There is, however, one exception – Family Financial Centers. We service the individual who lives paycheck to paycheck. We provide a needed and vital service to this ever-growing segment of the population.

Posted in Franchise of Our Time from Paul Eckert. Tagged with .

By Paul Eckert
January 19, 2010

Comments Off

Paul Eckert Positive Economy Thinking

Paul Eckert Positive Economy Thinking By Jim L Jackson

Almost all news you hear or see today is about the downward economy. People are losing jobs, the price of gasoline is skyrocketing; and then there is the dreaded “R” word, Recession. As a leader, you are supposed to be upbeat and optimistic about the current economy. No matter where you go someone will ask you how business is because it can be one of the barometers for the economy. You try to explain that you have no crystal ball and you have no idea how the market is relative to your community, and you do this all with a happy face. After all, they may be a potential buyer. You then casually ask how their business is and they may say, reluctantly, they wanted to buy a widget today but the economy feels sluggish and, they’re just not sure about anything. Perhaps they will just save their money. They have a look on their face like they did you a favor by not purchasing a widget today! As they walk away they say thanks for your insight into the economy, you may have saved them from investing in a widget, of all things. No sale today, maybe after the elections, inauguration or the New Year.

In that very moment you wish that conversation had never come up and long for the good old days when the news was lighter – when people felt confident enough to want and purchase a new widget. How can you not talk about the economy? How can you keep a positive attitude when the economy stinks?

Sound familiar and painful? You know you need a positive spin to rev up your sales team who are wondering how to meet their goals in such a dismal economy. After all, they have had the same conversations with each other on your showroom floor. You may even have a little doubt in your own mind. If only you could just avoid the whole situation, maybe it will all be different tomorrow.

STOP IT NOW! Stop talking about the economy! Stop telling people that business is slow. Stop all the negative whining about the economy. JUST STOP IT! The more you dwell on your perceived observation of the economy the more you look for proof you are right. STOP IT NOW!

Below are four keys to creating a positive and prospering market around you.

1. Focus on what you want. If you focus on the potholes while you are driving, you’re going to hit the potholes. Instead, focus on a way around the potholes. When you’re talking to your staff or customers, indicate business is great and now is the perfect time to buy. Never talk about how tight money is for you (or anyone else, for that matter). Words trigger pictures that create emotions. How do you think people will feel if they hear the boss talking about how bad things are? You, as the leader or a team player, should talk about success and how great it is to work in a winning business.

2. Create a perception of value. Would you trade me a one-dollar bill for my twenty-dollar bill? It may be a good deal for you, but is it a good deal for me? It is if I perceive the value of a one-dollar bill is worth more than the twenty. Let’s say I’m dying of thirst and the bottle of water requires a one-dollar bill. Then yes, it is a great trade. Your job is to create value now that helps customers feel good about their purchase.

3. Create a positive environment. The only place you talk about the slow economy is with your competition. Let them believe that the market is bad if they so choose. However, you want people to feel good when they are in your house. So, take charge and a build strong belief in your people and yourself that you can prosper in any economy because you have the best team, the best product, and the best location.

4. Plant encouraging and positive ideas, discard negative ideas. Read positive material or listen to inspirational CD’s – in other words, work on putting positive thoughts in your head. And, if you must watch the news, the second it is over say to yourself (out loud is even better), I am thankful that business is great at my place.

You might argue that I don’t know how tough it is for you or what its like where you live. You’re right. But, I have traveled all over these great United States and I have seen hundreds of people just like you, and they are winning. Every day I see people who know that no matter what is going on in the marketplace, there are many ways to win in this economy. You have a choice each day as to how you will face that day. Your choice is either one of adversity or prosperity. People who start the day with a prosperity mindset automatically think of creative ways to outsmart the market. People with a prosperity mindset look for ways to inspire people to go where they did not think they could go. Leaders with a prosperity mindset see the obstacles as an opportunity to win when others might see only doom and gloom.

Posted in Paul Eckert Thinking. Tagged with .

By Paul Eckert
January 18, 2010

Comments Off

Paul Eckert Current Issues

Paul Eckert Current Issues By: dane

Though the housing bubble deflated about two years ago, its true effects are only now beginning to emerge. In late 2006, when the economy first began to show signs of weakness in the housing market, most economists predicted that a recession was very unlikely, and that any downturn in real estate prices would be localized and mild. In reality, a global downturn is now a real threat, with the final price of the credit crunch projected to exceed $1 trillion dollars.

Not only have falling house prices in the US spread to other markets abroad, they have contributed to massive losses in other areas of lending such as credit cards, and the financial industry, which is now reeling from the US government bailout of Bear Stearns. What does this mean for emerging economies like China and India? In the short term, volatility seems to be the order of the day, with India’s fledgling exchanges rocked by jittery investors. Until financial centers and investors can regain confidence, market conditions will be exaggerated. Early trading also plays a psychological role for investors, as news developments impact Asia before Wall Street opens.

The US and the UK both face difficult home pricing corrections which will continue to hamper growth. Most homeowners expect, if not to make a profit, not to sell their houses at a loss, which is a difficult pill to swallow. And if they can’t sell their homes for what they think they’re worth, then waiting it out contributes to prices falling, thus exacerbating the problem.

While government intervention has been exceptionally forthcoming in efforts to preserve confidence in financial markets, less attention has been given to homeowners who are being foreclosed on over the next year, which is only so low because of robust growth in Asia.

Another prospect which looms over every government is the specter of inflation, which threatens to overtake the slumping economy as the number one priority for the Federal Reserve and other central banks, who have had to take extreme action to prevent further liquidity losses. The Fed has sold off over $100 billion in auctions and lowered interest rates five times in an attempt to lower mortgage interest rates, but confidence will remain shaky until the full extent of investment bank’s sub-prime exposure is realized. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, central banks are taking decisive action in hopes that the economy will level out without pushing inflation to dangerous levels.

Posted in Paul Eckert Current Issues. Tagged with .

By Paul Eckert
December 8, 2009

Comments Off

Financial Planning in a Recession Market from Paul Eckert

Finance Help: the Importance of Financial Planning in a Recession Market

Financial Planning in a Recession Market from Paul Eckert;

Every person in an economy is happy when the financial markets are bullish, with high rates of economic growth. Public spending levels are high, investment levels are soaring, and the expectations about returns from investment are sky-high. Financial planning is necessary in these periods are necessary in these periods, but not so much so as in periods of recession. When recessionary forces hold sway, market economics project bearish markets and low growth levels. During these times, finance planners and proper planning is of utmost importance in order to ensure that investments are not affected too badly, and a swift recovery remains possible.

Recessionary phases come as a harsh reality check for the investment market, where expectations remain invariably optimistic during bullish conditions. These phases of economic downturn are the times when personal financial planning proves to be extremely valuable. It is common that investors (who generally predict returns as high as 20 percent during good times) become extremely pessimistic in their expectations during recession, and may indeed, drastically cut down on their investment levels.

This is where finance planning comes in handy. Financial plans, when done in a proper fashion during recession, can help investors achieve their targets, even during a market downturn. Planning should be based on expectations that are neither too optimistic (as during bullish periods), nor too bleak (as is often the case during recession). Financial planning, especially during a deflationary market, comprises of the following strategies:

a) Revision Of Investment Targets: Common investors always have certain targets in mind as they frame their finance plans. These targets are also generally accompanied by well-defined time-frames within which to achieve them. However, the ability to invest is adversely affected during a recessionary phase. In such a scenario, the initial investment plans might need to be revised and/or toned down according to the situation.

Realistic expectations are of the utmost importance in planning during deflation. When an economy experiences a downturn, individual incomes are adversely affected, reducing their ability to invest. This, in turn, results in individual debts being paid off less quickly than what might have been imagined initially. Additional payments on individual mortgages and debts are difficult to come by, and the time-frame required to achieve one’s investment targets may need to be extended during recession.b) Proper Estimation Of ‘Risk-Tolerance’ Levels: Based on how ready an investor is to take risks in order to gain higher returns, (s)he can be classified as ‘risk-lover’, ‘risk-neutral’ or ‘risk-averse’. Awareness regarding ‘risk-tolerance’ grew rapidly after 2000 (after the dot com bubble burst). During recession, individuals need to accurately asses their risk-tolerance levels, and then choose the investment plans that would suit his/her preferences.

c) Restructuring The Individual Portfolio: After a revision of investment plans, a restructuring of portfolios that are currently held is also important. Sector diversification is an effective strategy, since owning a mix of small-cap, mid-cap and large-cap stocks effectively lower one’s risk, while maintaining a high rate of return attached to a portfolio,

d) Revision Of Insurance And Estate Plans: Insurance plans are generally made in order to plug the gap between desired levels of lifetime expenditures and portfolio incomes. During recessionary periods, portfolio income might go down. Consequently, one needs to expand his/her insurance plans. A thorough revision of real estate plans is also necessary.

These components of financial planning, if carried out properly, can help investors a great deal during recession. Hence, finance plans are of great importance during these periods.

Sam Williams is a professional writer and a widely published author on a variety of topics including finance, stock market, investments, insurance & accounting. He has shown countless Americans the best way to find a financial planner or adviser to solve some of their financial headaches, reviewing all the good and the not-so-good offers that are available today. Sadly, there are simply too many promises that never really deliver and end up just wasting people’s time and money. And yet, there are some really good ones. But if you really want to find good offers and the finest pre-screened financial planners and financial advisers, do visit http://www.respond.com/financial-planners/find.html

Posted in Financial Planning in a Recession Market from Paul Eckert. Tagged with .

By Paul Eckert
November 4, 2009

Comments Off

Changing with Paul Eckert

The Economy is Changing – Are You?

Changing with Paul Eckert By Dennis Kelley.

I recently read a story about a washing machine manufacturer in China. This Chinese company had produced a washing machine they were proud of and it was getting great reviews. However, they were starting to get complaints from some of their rural customers about the drain becoming clogged. After some investigation, they determined that some of these rural customers were using the washing machine to wash potatoes. Of course, this was not what the machine was designed to do. The manufacturer could have simply said this was the customer’s problem because they were using the machine improperly. Instead, they decided to add a vegetable-wash cycle to the machine. This is true innovation and clearly demonstrates their desire to be customer centric.

Being able to innovate in business is clearly one of the key areas of entrepreneurship. However, the idea of needing to innovate to succeed can be a little scary at times. Many people don’t believe that they are creative enough to do this well. Nothing could be further from the truth. You don’t need to be a creative genius to bring innovation to your business. However, innovation is the way businesses grow and change so you must pay attention to it. As the old saying goes, ‘You are either growing or dying, there is no such thing as standing still.”

Embracing change should be a way of life. While most people do not like to change, it is essential in business. You must constantly adjust the way you look at your business, your market and your competition. It is also extremely important to understand your customer and what changes are occurring with your target customer. By looking at each of these segments of your business, you will be able to determine where you need to innovate.

Innovation does not always need to be as radical as the example above. However, what the example does illustrate is how important it is to stay in touch with what is going on in your market and be willing to adapt to meet the changing needs of the market. In our current economic environment, this is especially true. As you look at your business, think about all the areas where innovation is appropriate. In fact, you could argue that every area of your business needs to be examined routinely for possible innovation.

Here are four areas to take a close look at right now. Ask yourself how these areas of your business are positioned today to handle the changing business climate. Be honest with yourself and ask others for their opinions. Talk to your employees, your customers, your business network and your mentors. Then decide what needs to change and start making the adjustments to keep you poised for success.

Marketing message – take a look at the message your marketing delivers. What are you saying to your prospects and customers? What about the positioning of the message? Is it speaking to people in a way that will attract them in the current climate? Is the message and offer you are giving meeting their needs today and is it persuasive enough to convince them to spend their precious dollars on it? Right now is a time when you may need to modify the way you deliver your message. Quality and value are always important in your message, but how you deliver it may need to change. Innovate the message based on what is important to your customers and prospects today. If you look closely, you will see this happening in many marketing and advertising campaigns for some of the largest and most successful companies in our economy.

Sales scripts – review your sales scripts and determine what you are saying and how it fits into the current environment. This includes your phone scripts, in-person sales scripts and your on-line sales scripts. Are you addressing people’s needs and concerns and showing them why your product is a good investment? Are the objections you get today the same as before and should you address them the same way? If you have salespeople, don’t assume they will modify their approach automatically. Pull the team together and conduct some brainstorming and training. How they approach prospects may need to become more creative right now as people become more cautious. Be proactive, not reactive in your sales process.

Product offerings – does your product line address today’s issues? Should you add a product or service to increase the value to deal with new issues your prospects face? Should you package products together to offer greater value? Can you modify a product or service to better position it within your market? Like the Chinese washing machine manufacturer – do your customers use your products in ways you didn’t expect and can you innovate to meet their needs? Can you offer different payment terms or methods of payment to make buying the product easier and more attractive?

Operational efficiency – take a look at how you make and deliver your product. Where and how can you improve this process to make it more efficient? Can you cut costs or improve quality? Should you outsource specific pieces of the business or conversely, should you bring more of it in-house.? Are there systems you can incorporate into the business that will increase capacity or lower costs? Take a look at every operational aspect of your business and question it all. You will be surprised at the improvements you can make.

Posted in Changing with Paul Eckert. Tagged with .

By Paul Eckert
October 20, 2009

Comments Off

Paul Eckert Success

Success Through Your Economy

Paul Eckert Success By Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD.

When you are resourceful in your endeavors you can look over the capital you have available to you in the many aspects of your life. You will recognize that your resources are limitless and you might feel the weight of abundance pressing you to make good use of them. When you are creative in the manner in which you manage your time, energy and money, your plans will be met with great success. Using your skills and talents with life’s uncertainties inventively and frugally can help ensure that you increase the value of your economy.

Attaining and maintaining success is easy when you are willing to employ a measure of economy in the manner in which you utilize your resources. Many people become star struck as his/her level of prosperity rises, and consequently she/he might believe that there has been a license granted to be free with the accumulated assets. Yet, your continuing success is dependent on your ability to think and act judiciously and thriftily when dealing with the blessings afforded you by the universe. The world’s third wealthiest person, Warren Buffett, models this philosophy as he still lives in the same modest (by most billionaire’s standards) house he purchased for $31,500 in 1958, complete with clothesline in the backyard.

When you are choosy in all areas of your life, you are more apt to hone in on those choices that will both enrich your experience and help you build a strong resource foundation that will eventually protect you in lean times. Your inventive approach to the distribution of your assets will help you preserve the security you worked hard to attain.

  • Paul Eckert City Manager
  • Paul Eckert Directory
  • Paul Eckert News
  • Paul Eckert Space Investment
  • The Paul Eckert Website

    • Posted in Paul Eckert Success. Tagged with .

    By Paul Eckert
    October 2, 2009

    Comments Off

    Paul Eckert About Better Marketing

    Better Marketing In A Bad Economy

    Paul Eckert About Better Marketing By Michael Sieber.

    A friend and I were talking the other day about the economy and how businesses can better market themselves during a slowdown. He told me a story that I think is relevant to businesses no matter what the economy is like.

    A flower shop recently expanded and put a store in our little downtown area. My friend (an advertising sales rep) stopped in to chat and asked how the business had been going. The owner said that things were fair, but it wasn’t going as expected.

    So my buddy asked her what kind of marketing she was doing. Well, she was doing everything she could. She ran an ad in the paper, but it didn’t get much response.

    That’s it: one ad and no response.

    My friend then asked her if she was planning any grass roots marketing. The shop owner had no clue what he meant by that, so he explained.

    You’ve got the courthouse right across the street. There are handfuls of men who work there – men who are “too busy” to remember that Valentine’s day is coming up. Why aren’t you going over to the courthouse with coupons for 10% off a dozen roses? Or better yet, let the guys know that you can have a gift basket containing flowers, candy, teddy bear, and a card ready to take home to the wife or girlfriend when they get done with work on Friday.

    The shop owner was blown away. That was a great idea! She’d never thought about that.

    And therein lies the problem that many struggling businesses face. They think that marketing begins and ends with putting an ad in the paper or on the radio, and if that doesn’t work, they throw their hands up in frustration because…well..they’ve done everything they can do.

    They neglect to see the opportunities that exist if they get out and put themselves in front of their potential customers rather than waiting for their customers to find them.

    Posted in Paul Eckert About Better Marketing. Tagged with .

    By Paul Eckert
    September 8, 2009

    Comments Off

    Small Paul Eckert Jobs

    Small Jobs Stimulate the Economy

    Small Paul Eckert Jobs By Debra Yergen.

    A bad economy can provide a great opportunity to put a few “principles” on hold. First Lady Michelle Obama made news — and made a lot of mothers proud — when she announced that her daughters would still be making their own beds in the White House. Children should learn to participate in household chores, and those who don’t often grow up to be terrible spouses who seldom pick up their own socks much less make the bed or vacuum.

    All good parents know that children need incremental responsibilities. But in this economy, there are a lot of adults who would welcome some extra hours a week working a side gig to bring in extra cash to keep their own families fed, clothed and taken care of. At the same time, there are a lot of nonprofit organizations in need of volunteers — even the tiniest volunteers willing to sit and talk to a patient, fold towels or stuff envelopes.

    What if every family with full-time employment, and $25 or more extra dollars available a week, were to hire a family in need of some extra cash to help with cleaning, yard work, organizing or errands for a couple of months while they found steady employment? Could small jobs like this really stimulate the economy? Well, yes, actually any job that keeps money in motion stimulates the economy. [Be sure to check IRS guidelines. The cutoff for hiring household help is $660 per year before the employer needs to pay employment taxes on the person providing help.] You don’t want to find yourself fined for trying to help someone in need.

    If you’re reading this and you need to make some extra money, do you have friends or family who could use your time, help or expertise? With the job landscape changing, many people are returning to trades. Experienced workers 55+ are perfectly suited to offer apprenticeships to younger workers who are looking to develop skills to fall back on.

    And of course there’s the matter of discretionary income. The economy has given a one-two punch to service industry workers who rely on tips for a significant portion of their income. Instead of going out to eat twice a week, what if you were to go out only once but double your tip? If your bill for two people is $30.50 and you usually add $4.50 twice a week, what if you only went once but tipped $10? You’d save tremendously and your server would feel very appreciated.

    Indeed, there are small things everyone can do every week to make a big difference. If you’re in a position to give a little extra help, you’ll make a real difference to a family in need. If you find yourself needing some extra income, you might be surprised who would be willing to help out right in your inner circle. And the biggest surprise of all — everyone wins. Because small jobs really do stimulate the economy.

    Posted in Small Paul Eckert Jobs. Tagged with .

    By Paul Eckert
    August 3, 2009

    Comments Off

    Paul Eckert Current Economy

    You Can Profit From the Current Economy

    Paul Eckert Current Economy by Jay Wagner

    The current economy is in bad shape – at least that’s what all of the pundits tell us. The conventional wisdom in times like these is to put stop loss orders on everything, put everything you can into blue chips, or settle for the safe, low returns of Treasury securities.

    I’m here to tell you that the conventional wisdom is foolish.

    In the first place, the conventional wisdom is contradictory. You can’t have automatic trades to comply with stop loss orders going on constantly and maintain major holdings in blue chips. Even the blue chips – maybe especially the blue chips – are subject to market volatility. When the economy is bad, inflation becomes a major concern, and the market starts requiring a higher return on investment. At the same time, the bad economy drives sales downward, reducing corporate incomes and, by extension, return on stockholders’ investment. The result is market dissonance that exacerbates existing market volatility. The general trend is for prices to go down, and the easier a security is to trade the more precipitous its price decline tends to be. This is simply a function of supply and demand: more people want out than in, so supply exceeds demand and prices drop.

    Supply and demand also accounts for what happens with bonds, notes, and commercial paper. In a difficult economy, fixed income securities are less appealing because of inflation concerns. Here again, people trying to get out of fixed income securities outnumber those trying to get in, so prices go down and both current yield and yield to maturity go up. At the same time, new debt issues of any kind are almost impossible to sell, and, with the rest of the credit market similarly tightened, companies are unable to borrow necessary cash at reasonable rates, forcing them to offer their debt placements at rather deep discounts. The bottom line is, they must raise cash to weather the economic storm, and they will pay handsomely to get it.

    You’re seeing it today on every news channel: the prices of securities are declining virtually across the board. Your broker may be telling you to cover everything with stop loss orders and trade, trade, trade. That may be a case of your broker subscribing to the conventional foolishness, or it may be a case of your broker trying to protect his income: after all, commissions come from trades, and your broker lives on commissions. The question I have to ask is why would you want to sell now? It makes about as much sense as buying merchandise at Nieman Marcus to resell at Wal Mart. This is not, I repeat not, the time to sell. The economy is on an express elevator to the bargain basement, to be sure, but history tells us that when it comes to the stock market, what goes down must come up. Knowing that, this is the time to get in on the bargains. That “next Microsoft” that everyone is looking for might be trading for far less than its legitimate value right under your nose right now!

    Growing up in Kansas, I was acquainted with a man who had amassed vast holdings of farm and ranch land. He was an eighth grade dropout, and I often wondered how he came to be so wealthy, so I finally asked. “Son,” he said, “Most of my land was bought back during the dust bowl, when farmers and ranchers were selling off their land or bankers were foreclosing and then trying to get what cash they could from the deal. I was just a farmhand back then, but I had a little money saved up, and when land dropped below twenty-five cents an acre I started buying. As the economy started to pick up, I used that land to borrow against and buy more land. By the time the drought was over, I owned almost ten sections [note: there are 640 acres in a section] and hadn’t spent $1,000 to get it.” At the time that we had that conversation (about 1972), his $1,000 investment made between 1930 and 1939 was worth over $3 million, an annualized return on investment of around 25%.

    Do you have “a little money saved up” that could be used to pick up the bargains available in the current markets? My friend knew that the drought that caused the dust bowl wouldn’t last forever, and he made a fortune from other people’s panic. Investors are in a panic now, but if you’re smart their panic is your opportunity.

    Investments to Avoid

    In a struggling economy, investors tend to make the same mistakes over and over, and those mistakes take two forms: running for “safe harbor” and becoming extremely active traders in anything that is going up.

    The safe harbor crowd always runs to one of two places, blue chip stocks and Treasury securities. As we have already discussed, blue chips are probably the roughest safe harbor you can go to, rather akin to anchoring in Galveston Bay during Hurricane Ike. Market volatility tends to have a more pronounced effect on blue chips: add the fact that blue chip companies like General Motors, General Electric, and AIG are all fighting for life right now and a run for the blue chips is borrowing trouble rather than escaping it.

    Treasury issues are, without a doubt, safe. After all, if the Treasury defaults the money is meaningless anyway. The problem is, this is a “safe” harbor full of purchasing power pirates. The return on Treasury securities rarely keeps pace with inflation in an economic downturn, so while your safe harbor investment may be earning you a return in nominal dollar terms, in real dollar terms you’re losing purchasing power. It doesn’t do much good to earn 3% on your money if prices are going up an average of 6%.

    Sadly, many investors who don’t run for safe harbor become speculators, moving money constantly into anything that is going up at the moment. Since most of the market is going down, this all too often drives them to the derivatives market, especially in today’s economy where oil futures have, at times, exceeded $140 per barrel. The problem is, if you’re short at $120 per barrel and the spot market on the settlement date is $140 per barrel, you’ll have to either lose money on an offsetting long position, sell your short at a loss, or have 1,000 barrels of crude setting around that you can part with. On the other hand, if you have a long position for $140 and the spot price is $120, you get to lose money going short or selling the long position at a loss, or you get to take delivery of 1,000 barrels of crude that you’ll lose $20,000 selling on the spot market if you can’t store it and wait.

    Some investments, especially derivatives, will go into bubble mode early in an economic downturn, but don’t let that fool you into entering the bubble with them. As any kid who ever chewed bubble gum or blew soap bubbles can tell you, bubbles burst. If your money is in the bubble when it bursts, you can wave goodbye to it as it is scattered on the winds of economic caprice.

    Investments to Make

    Some companies and industries have proven themselves to be amazingly resilient. Like everything else, their securities are or soon will be selling at bargain basement prices, and if they appear to be struggling the discounts may be extra deep. Do your homework, make sure that they are positioned to bounce back, but if they are, buy while the price is low.

    The current debacle started with a meltdown in the sub-prime mortgage market. The result is a large number of foreclosures, with lenders ending up holding real estate when they need cash. As a result, real estate prices are falling, so if you can, this is a good time to buy real estate or invest in companies that are investing in real estate. The prices will go back up, just as they did for my friend who invested in farm and ranch land during the dust bowl.

    Many brokers and analysts have an innate fear of high yield (so called “junk”) bonds. Admittedly, some high yields have gone under and become no yields, but as a rule the returns have been in line with the risks, and sometimes a little higher. During an economic downturn, there tend to be two types of high yield bonds on the market: those with something behind them and those with nothing behind them. The former are usually issued by companies that want the capital to invest while the market is down, generally in either income real estate or leveraged buyouts. These tend to be pretty good bets for a sizeable profit in a relatively short period of time, and they offer your investment some diversification while providing at least partial collateral from the assets they invest your money into. The latter are usually issued by companies that are cash strapped and have credit problems, and they’re offering them to raise working capital: as a rule, they’re a bad investment and far more likely to default than the secured high yields.

    The best bargains, however, may be in small cap (so called “penny”) stocks, initial public offerings (IPOs), and various kinds of notes, especially those backed with some kind of collateral. Some of these securities (especially the notes) can have some pretty creative terms, but if you understand the terms they can be a good, and often high yield, investment.

    However, He Said . . .

    While you’re doing all of this bargain basement buying, it doesn’t hurt to put a few safeguards into your portfolio. These can take several forms, as you’ll see.

    After spending the first part of this article giving you all of the reasons to avoid the rush to blue chips and Treasury securities, I now need to backtrack just a bit. I’m not going into the famous politician’s gambit that “I was against it before I was for it.” I’m still adamantly opposed to loading your portfolio with volatile blue chips and low yield Treasuries, but having a portion of your portfolio in these securities isn’t a bad thing. The blue chips may recover a little more quickly than the market at large, and the Treasury issues will at least provide a good final position in the event of a major, long-term depression.

    There are, of course, other ways to protect your portfolio. As you know, I’m against riding bubbles, especially in the derivatives markets. However, derivatives can be used to hedge your positions. Worried that a rise in interest rates will devalue that investment in mortgage notes? Just hedge the position with Treasury note or Treasury bond futures. For example, one long 10 year Treasury note contract can effectively insure one $100,000 10 year mortgage against excessive value loss due to rising interest rates. This doesn’t tie the two inextricably together, but as 10 years Treasury note rates rise toward the level of the long position, its value increases to cover the value lost by the mortgage note.

    Another thing that can help your portfolio is investment grade bonds, especially if they can be converted to common stock. The conversion capability tends to buoy the price some, and the bond income can provide money to cover short-term losses in other areas or help your income weather the economic storm.

    Posted in Paul Eckert Current Economy. Tagged with .

    By Paul Eckert
    July 29, 2009

    Comments Off

    Rocky Paul Eckert Economy

    Investing in a Rocky Economy

    Rocky Paul Eckert Economy By Debra L. Dragon

    With all the talk about a recession (Are we headed for one? Are we already in a recession?), many people are unsure where the safest options are for investing their money. Stock values and retirement accounts are plummeting and whether or not you’re in them for the long haul, you may still want to invest some of your money in investments that are considered “less risky” in an effort to combat the situation of the current economy.

    Certificates of Deposit are an option for a reasonably safe investment that also offers the opportunity to earn interest. It’s a bit like loaning money to the bank; and in return – they pay you interest on the money you’ve loaned them. The CD is a note from the lending institution that states you are investing a certain amount of money for a specific time period; and during that time period, the lending institution will pay you a guaranteed interest rate when the CD matures at the end of the designated time period.

    You can choose the investment period you prefer, with options ranging from a few months to several years. Usually the longer you invest the higher your interest rate, but the amount of your deposit will also play a role in the interest rate you secure. High yield certificates of deposits are typically offered around 4% interest for deposits of $5,000 or more, but it will vary from one lending institution to another. The varying interest rates are a good example of why it’s important to take some time and compare your options for investing in certificate of deposits. Just as an online bank can offer better rates and terms on checking accounts and money market accounts, they are often likely to have the ability to offer higher rates on their certificate of deposit accounts due to having lower overhead costs for operating expenses.

    During times of economic difficulty, a certificate of deposit is a nice option for investing money you can’t afford to lose. The potential of losing your money in the stock market is a much greater risk and you can easily lose your money just as fast as you invest it in stocks. Putting your money into a certificate of deposit, on the other hand, guarantees that the interest rate you are given when you invest is locked in for the life of your certificate of deposit and will not change. You know exactly how much money you’ll have at the end of your investment term.

    While safe investments, the downside of a certificate of deposit is that you are committed to investing for the full length of time you arrange when you set up the investment. If interest rates increase after you’ve invested your money, you can’t just pull the money out of your CD and move it to a new investment (at least not without paying early withdrawal penalties on your certificate of deposit!)

    In an uncertain economy, and any time you want to invest money in secure, interest earning options, a certificate of deposit is a practical investment. If you have enough money to deposit to qualify for a high yield certificate of deposit, you’ll earn an even more attractive interest rate that does not decrease in value and does not pose any risks of losing your initial investment.

    Posted in Rocky Paul Eckert Economy. Tagged with .

    By Paul Eckert
    July 28, 2009

    Comments Off