Super Stock Blog

Archive for September, 2010

Should I buy "Stock Investing for Dummies"?

What do you think of E*Trade?

I was told "don't worry, you have a broker" (I'm with Wells Fargo, so I guess I have a broker, do I?).

But I'd like to educate myself so I know what's happening and hopefully develop an interest to the matter.

Thank you for any answer.

Read about the stock market in financial newspapers and also study about some of the big companies and the ir stock movements,their financial performance etc.
Then visit a broker and get yourself familiarised with the market, stock movements etc.
Once all the above are over you can enter the market as a trader or investor. Initially you deal in small numbers and once you gain confidence they go for higher volumes and numbers.

Start off by making sure you know all the terminology and try opening a practice account, this way you can practice with virtual cash and not lose any money.

Whilst practicing try and develop some trading strategies, sites like investopedia.com are good for this.

E trade are good but for beginners id recommend TradeKing as they have the cheapest buying and selling fees and no account minimum.

I have sourced a website that is ideal for beginners and has links to some good practice accounts, Matt.

I am a professional investor (from home) and would like to help you out. I mentor other people and help them to learn how to invest conservatively but create an ongoing income. It takes a little work to understand but I will take all the time we need for you to learn. I am not trying to sell you anything. I ask for nothing in return, minus your dedication and ability to remain in integrity with me regarding appointments by phone for your learning. what I gain is the satisfaction of teaching people how to be successful and happy and hopefully gain some great friends along the way. my yields range from 10-20 percent monthly. my name is Brian. I can be reached at bfastlane67@gmail.com. Fair thee well..!!! Brian

Don't Buy a book. first use the public library, take out a few investing books. The one you can easily comprehend is the one you buy.
Get the Wall Street journal, start watching the money channel, such as CNBC. Research online any questions you still have.

The best place I have leaned is to post questions in an interactive forum. the newest forum link is below. Good luck

http://www.newstockslive.com/forum/cgi-b…

I would buy the title mentioned in your question. Then I would subscribe to an investment newspaper such as WSJ or Investors Business Daily, buy editions of either paper once oe more per week. IBD has a two week free trial with no strings attached.

'The Warren Buffett Way' is a great book.

The best way to learn is from your broker and your friends who have many years of exprience trading in the stock market.

start trading with small money and read newspaper daily think for actual investment after some time

What are the best ways to learn about the stock market?

The Hindenburg Omen

Like we don’t have enough to worry about, the stock market just tripped the dreaded Hindenburg Omen. That’s when an unusually high number of stocks reach 52-week highs and 52-week lows.As you can probably guess from the name, the Hindenburg Omen means bad news as it’s named after the biggest disaster to hit the Garden State until the second season of Jersey Shore.from Bloomberg:

This week’s plunge in U.S. stocks triggered a technical indicator known as the Hindenburg Omen that may signal a more severe selloff, according to analysts who follow charts to predict market moves.the market signal, named for a German zeppelin that caught fire and crashed more than seven decades ago, occurs when an unusually high number of companies in the New York Stock Exchange reach 52-week highs and lows. the indicator last occurred in October 2008, according to UBS AG.the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index yesterday completed the biggest three-day decline since July 1, after an unexpected increase in unemployment claims added to evidence an economic recovery is weakening. the benchmark gauge for U.S. stocks has dropped 3.4 percent so far this week as Federal Reserve policy makers said growth “is likely to be more modest” than they previously forecast.the indicator may suggest “a savage equity downturn is imminent,” said Albert Edwards, a London-based strategist at Societe Generale SA, who has told investors to favor bonds over stocks for more than a decade. “Equities are tottering on the edge as increasingly recessionary data becomes apparent. it would not take much to tip them over that edge.”The Hindenburg signal was triggered yesterday as the proportion of stocks reaching new one-year highs and lows both exceeded 2.2 percent of the total listed on the NYSE, according to Michael Riesner, a technical analyst at UBS in Zurich.Rising MarketThe number of stocks at a 52-week high must not be more than twice the number marking lows, the technical theory also says, according to analysts. the indicator is only valid in a rising market, as defined by the NYSE Composite Index’s rolling average value in the last 10 weeks. it must also occur when the NYSE McClellan Oscillator, a measure of market momentum, is negative.the Hindenburg Omen must be confirmed with a second occurrence within 36 days, according to Riesner. He said the signal occurred seven times in 2008 as the S&P 500 posted its biggest annual drop since the great Depression.“It’s an interesting name but what you really have as a technical background is a classic distribution phase in the market,” Riesner said. “It’s the classic tug of war between bulls and bears that you have there.”In technical analysis, investors and analysts study charts of trading patterns and prices to predict changes in a security, commodity, currency or index. UBS is ranked as the top bank for equity technical analysis and charting according to a 2010 Thomson Extel survey.

Posted by Eddy on August 14th, 2010

The Hindenburg Omen Crossing Wall Street

Like I wanted to know if you could go back to past days such like; today is March 12th can I go back to March 8th and look at the closing price?

if you go to yahoo's finance page, you can choose an index, stock or fund and see its historical prices. the numbers will include high/low of the day, volume, and price.

www.finance.yahoo.com
after you select the index, stock or fund, just click on the "historical prices" tab on the left. you can then choose to look at historical daily/weekly/monthly prices. there will also be an option to download to an excel sheet which helps if you need to backdate or test historical data

Sure,

You can use Yahoo! Finance, http://finance.yahoo.com/, there you can look, and even download, historical prices for free.

You can also use CNN's, http://money.cnn.com/data/markets. Unless you want something for fancy, these homepages should probably help.

Best Wishes!

Is there a website where i can see stock market closing prices for previous days?

The other day I picked up a copy of  the September 2010 issue of the Wall Street Journal’s Smart Money Magazine. The cover story was a series of articles profiling four money managers that the mag was dubbing as the World’s Greatest Investors.

I really like and respect Smart Money. they are great competitors when it comes to personal finance journalism.  However, this particular cover story struck a chord with me because of  a book that I recently completed called The Warren Buffetts next Door: The Worlds Greatest Investors You’ve Never Heard of and what You Can Learn From them. My book , which is being published by John Wiley & Sons  in November, profiles ten great individual investors who have eye-popping  portfolio returns.

Naturally I dug into Smart Money’s cover story eager to find out who these amazing investors were.  It came as no surprise to me that Warren Buffett led the package.  No one in his right mind would dispute Buffett’s status as the greatest living investor on the planet.  his $45 billion net worth (click for details) is proof enough for me.

But who else was on Smart Money’s elite cover story  list? There were profiles of three other great mutual fund managers, Thyra Zerhusen, the German born  manager of Aston/Optimum Mid -Cap Equity fund,  David Herro, co-manager of Oakmark International fund and Susan Byrne, the veteran value stock bottom fisher who runs Gamco’s Westwood Equity Fund.

All of these money managers are highly paid professionals—no doubt millionaires—with impressive resumes.  what have these esteemed professionals done for the shareholders of their mutual funds lately? why did Smart Money single them out?

In the case of Ms. Zerhusen her  fund, which has $1.7 billion under management, has produced a whopping 9% average annual return for the past ten years investing in mid-caps like H&R Block (HRB) and Akamai (AKAM).

David Herro, has beaten 99% of his mutual fund peers and has delivered (are you sitting down?) an eye-popping 8% return per year on average for the last decade!

The world is David’s oyster by the way. he has the ability to invest in  the big cap stocks in many overseas markets, including Brazil and China. But David appears to avoid ten-bagger types like Baidu (BIDU) and Vale (VALE). he has kept most of his shareholders’ $5.2 billion in capital in staid  Western European markets.

Last but not least, SM profiled Susan Byrne a money manager who’s division of GAMCO oversees $10.6 billion. her “flagship” Gamco Westwood Equity fund has beaten the S&P by one percentage point on average for the past 15 years with a life-changing average annual return of 8%. (Nevermind its 0.25% per year 12b-1 fee)

Sheesh.  I know that in the world of institutional money management beating a market index over a long period of time by a few basis points  is cause for celebration and justification for million dollar-plus bonuses.  and I do applaud the heroes above for not losing investor money.

Still, as someone with a 401(k) tied up in big mutual funds,  all I can say is: God help us all!

To me and thousands of individual investors, championing middling performance by professional money managers leads us all down the road to financial ruin. These kinds of returns are little comfort for a generation of Americans who now face retirement with broken nest-eggs.

Eight or nine percent per year is not going to be enough to repair the gaping hole in retirement accounts left by the ugly bear market of 2007 and 2008.  Many investors are realizing that if they leave their financial future with pros like these they won’t have nearly enough to live on during the golden years. nobody wants to work until he or she is 95, either.

I believe that people need to invest in themselves, take the time to learn how to be better investors and take control of their hard earned capital.  Every tool and resource necessary for outstanding investing is now just a few clicks away. most of us spend a ton of time and effort on our day jobs and leave the money management to others. too often that doesn’t work.

Michael Koza is 51 year-old civil engineer from Sacramento who I profiled in my book (and in the current issue of Forbes magazine). in 2001 Koza  seized control of his investment account from a know-nothing broker at Morgan Stanley.  his investment account was wilting and his wife Maria said, enough is enough. So he hunkered down and taught himself to be a great value investor.

He made plenty of mistakes along the way and continues to spend hours at it each day. However, since 2001 he has turned $100,000 into more than $3 million. his average annual return since February 2001, according to Marketocracy.com is in excess of 30%.

Mike is a risk taker with nerves of steel. he bought financial stocks like Genworth (GNW) and Radian (RDN) during the depths of the market meltdown.  But Mike carefully calculated the risks he was taking with his own money. he knew these stocks were trading well below worst-case scenario prices. (Check out the video below for more on Koza’s approach to stocks.)

There are more details on  Koza’s and other great individual investor strategies in my book.  However,  on Friday I will publish of few of Mike’s current favorite stocks picks on this blog.

This blog will be devoted to sharing with you the wisdom and stock ideas of Warren Buffetts next Door like Mike Koza.  I hope you will check in periodically. My hope is that it will help you become a better investor and ultimately enable you to achieve your financial goals.

Shameless click below:

The World’s Greatest Investors – God Help Us!

NEW YORK — Gordon Gekko, Michael Douglas’s corporate-raider villain of the 1980s movie "Wall Street," has a new mantra: Greed is not just good — it’s legal, and it’s everywhere.

But his words, and the sequel, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," which hit theaters this weekend, are unlikely to strike the same chord with securities traders and bankers that made Gekko a cult hero and the epitome of unabashed ’80s financial excess, industry experts say.

"I don’t think it will be as big an issue on Wall Street in terms of dirtying its image," said Igor Kirman, a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, a major Wall Street law firm.

When "Wall Street" came out in 1987, the stock market had suffered a massive crash and Americans were angry. The film showed how bankers bought companies, stripped their assets, destroyed proud U.S. businesses and left countless blue-collar workers standing in unemployment lines.

Director Oliver Stone might be taking on Wall Street again, but in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial meltdown and a steady stream of scandals — from Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme to the collapse of Lehman Brothers — bankers are not worried about Stone’s new film.

"Wall Street has been dragged through the mud in the last year or so. it has been scapegoated," Kirman said. "there is nothing that Oliver Stone is going to say . . . in this movie that our president has not said himself. It’s not going to be a huge punch against Wall Street."

The movie met with mixed reviews during its premiere in may at the Cannes Film Festival. since then, Stone said, he has spent three weeks doing extra editing.

Douglas is back as Gekko, but this time taking the blame for financial chicanery are major banks and those who run them.

Central to the film’s plot is a love relationship between Gekko’s daughter, portrayed by Carey Mulligan, and a young Wall Street trader named Jake Moore (Shia LaBeouf) whose aggressive business dealings land him in trouble.

"Someone reminded me I once said, ‘Greed is good.’ now it seems it is legal, because everybody is drinking the same Kool-Aid," Gekko says at the beginning of the sequel, as he leaves prison after serving time for insider trading.

Stone, a longtime critic of unbridled capitalism whose father was a stockbroker, told reporters that while the film was timely, bubbles in the financial cycle are here to stay.

"Love and trust and greed and betrayal; they go on, and . . . they are equivalent to the ’80s, and they are equivalent now," he said.

"The concept of American optimism, making money, being successful, is an ongoing part of the American ethos," said Stone, who has put forward contrarian views of America in such movies as "JFK" and "Nixon."

And if some on Wall Street would not go see the film because they don’t like him, so be it, he said.

"if you look at it as a farmer . . . you don’t sell all your crop to everybody," he said.

– Reuters

‘Wall Street’ sequel unlikely to be as popular as original with financial sector

We all know that the dollar is in sad shape. from Giselle Bundshen allegedly not accepting US dollars in payment and Jayz waving around Euros in his videos to Jim Rogers, the guy that helped George Soros break the Bank of England in 1992 by shorting it and is now looking to divest from the US dollar entirely. my gold broker is even suggesting that the US dollar is headed for a major downturn. (I am sure he is looking for me to continue to buy gold but still….)

Who here feels the US dollar is headed for a collapse. if not, explain why you think so.

Yes, sadly the US government is constantly printing more money with anything to back it up to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This cannot go on forever.

Yes.in about 3 years.

Whatever else you do, do not listen to gold brokers…

More to the point, collapse of the U.S. dollar is highly unlikely, unless the U.S. experiences a period of hyperinflation. A more likely scenario is a gradual devaluation of the dollar to the point where U.S. reaches some resemblance of trade balance (which is already beginning to happen; this year's exports are sharply up due to the declining dollar).

Is the US dollar headed for a collapse?

THE NATIONAL BESTSELLING BOOK THAT EVERY INVESTOR SHOULD OWN

Peter Lynch is America’s number-one money manager. his mantra: Average investors can become experts in their own field and can pick winning stocks as effectively as Wall Street professionals by doing just a little research.

now, in a new introduction written specifically for this edition of One Up on Wall Street, Lynch gives his take on the incredible rise of Internet stocks, as well as a list of twenty winning companies of high-tech ’90s. That many of these winners are low-tech supports his thesis that amateur investors can continue to reap exceptional rewards from mundane, easy-to-understand companies they encounter in their daily lives.

Investment opportunities abound for the layperson, Lynch says. By simply observing business developments and taking notice of your immediate world — from the mall to the workplace — you can discover potentially successful companies before professional analysts do. this jump on the experts is what produces “tenbaggers,” the stocks that appreciate tenfold or more and turn an average stock portfolio into a star performer.

the former star manager of Fidelity’s multibillion-dollar Magellan Fund, Lynch reveals how he achieved his spectacular record. Writing with John Rothchild, Lynch offers easy-to-follow directions for sorting out the long shots from the no shots by reviewing a company’s financial statements and by identifying which numbers really count. He explains how to stalk tenbaggers and lays out the guidelines for investing in cyclical, turnaround, and fast-growing companies.

Lynch promises that if you ignore the ups and downs of the market and the endless speculation about interest rates, in the long term (anywhere from five to fifteen years) your portfolio will reward you. this advice has proved to be timeless and has made One Up on Wall Street a number-one bestseller. And now this classic is as valuable in the new millennium as ever.

One Up On Wall Street : How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In The Market

Following article extracted from NY Times, written by David Barboza, Friday, January 8, 2010,

James S. Chanos built one of the largest fortunes on Wall Street by foreseeing the collapse of Enron and other highflying companies whose stories were too good to be true.

Now Mr. Chanos, a wealthy hedge fund investor, is working to bust the myth of the biggest conglomerate of all: China inc.

As most of the world bets on China to help lift the global economy out of recession, Mr. Chanos is warning that China's hyperstimulated economy is headed for a crash, rather than the sustained boom that most economists predict. Its surging real estate sector, buoyed by a flood of speculative capital, looks like "Dubai times 1,000 — or worse," he frets. he even suspects that Beijing is cooking its books, faking, among other things, its eye-popping growth rates of more than 8 percent.

"Bubbles are best identified by credit excesses, not valuation excesses," he said in a recent appearance on CNBC. "and there's no bigger credit excess than in China." he is planning a speech later this month at the University of Oxford to drive home his point.

As America's pre-eminent short-seller — he bets big money that companies' strategies will fail — Mr. Chanos's narrative runs counter to the prevailing wisdom on China. most economists and governments expect Chinese growth momentum to continue this year, buoyed by what remains of a $586 billion government stimulus program that began last year, meant to lift exports and consumption among Chinese consumers.

Still, betting against China will not be easy. Because foreigners are restricted from investing in stocks listed inside China, Mr. Chanos has said he is searching for other ways to make his bets, including focusing on construction- and infrastructure-related companies that sell cement, coal, steel and iron ore.

Mr. Chanos, 51, whose hedge fund, Kynikos Associates, based in New York, has $6 billion under management, is hardly the only skeptic on China. but he is certainly the most prominent and vocal.

For all his record of prescience — in addition to predicting Enron's demise, he also spotted the looming problems of Tyco International, the Boston Market restaurant chain and, more recently, home builders and some of the world's biggest banks — his detractors say that he knows little or nothing about China or its economy and that his bearish calls should be ignored.

"I find it interesting that people who couldn't spell China 10 years ago are now experts on China," said Jim Rogers, who co-founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros and now lives in Singapore. "China is not in a bubble."

Colleagues acknowledge that Mr. Chanos began studying China's economy in earnest only last summer and sent out e-mail messages seeking expert opinion.

But he is tagging along with the bears, who see mounting evidence that China's stimulus package and aggressive bank lending are creating artificial demand, raising the risk of a wave of nonperforming loans.

"In China, he seems to see the excesses, to the third and fourth power, that he's been tilting against all these decades," said Jim Grant, a longtime friend and the editor of Grant's interest Rate Observer, who is also bearish on China. "he homes in on the excesses of the markets and profits from them. That's been his stock and trade."

Mr. Chanos declined to be interviewed, citing his continuing research on China. but he has already been spreading the view that the China miracle is blinding investors to the risk that the country is producing far too much.

"The Chinese," he warned in an interview in November with Politico.com, "are in danger of producing huge quantities of goods and products that they will be unable to sell."

In December, he appeared on CNBC to discuss how he had already begun taking short positions, hoping to profit from a China collapse.

In recent months, a growing number of analysts, and some Chinese officials, have also warned that asset bubbles might emerge in China.

The nation's huge stimulus program and record bank lending, estimated to have doubled last year from 2008, pumped billions of dollars into the economy, reigniting growth.

But many analysts now say that money, along with huge foreign inflows of "speculative capital," has been funneled into the stock and real estate markets.

A result, they say, has been soaring prices and a resumption of the building boom that was under way in early 2008 — one that Mr. Chanos and others have called wasteful and overdone.

"It's going to be a bust," said Gordon G. Chang, whose book, "The Coming Collapse of China" (Random House), warned in 2001 of such a crash.

Friends and colleagues say Mr. Chanos is comfortable betting against the crowd — even if that crowd includes the likes of Warren E. Buffett and Wilbur L. Ross Jr., two other towering figures of the investment world.

Throughout history, no market has ever stayed high forever. Even the most sophisticated markets have crashed one way or another. did Mr. Chanos foretell the current recession? I too can foretell China's bubbles would burst, but I don't know when and to what extend. Need more specifics from him to tell how good he is.

It is good to be inform than to be deformed, I'm Melinda Mcclauvsky the chief Accountant of Amiga Corperation, Spain. Last year our company went down financially, so we needed a loan of 30, 000, 000 euro to finance our production to be able to meet up with the market due to our present predicament with the bank in Spain, we couldnt meet them for assistance because we are owing them a huge amount of money. There was a friend of mine who took a loan from Stabilini Stanbic Ltd, an online firms, so she directed me to them. I told my boss about them, so he decided to dicuss it with the management first, after their conclusion, they concluded they should give it a try because they have no any option left.
So I was told to contact them and our application was approved and we got our loan that help us to get out of the mess we passed through the years and we cleared all our debts. one interesting thing about them is that they give 3,500 euro bonus at the end of they to any old customer who can refer 10 people to them.
If you are here and in need of financial/loan assistance of any type contact the Manager Antonio Martinez on their email stabilini_stanbicltd@hotmail.com
Please try and mention us to them so that we can be able to get the yearly bonus at the end of the year.
Thanks

I have to agree with Longlive, markets go up and down etc etc.

But examining the market in China you will see that the signs are pointing towards a bubble burst of some kind

While growth in China is rocking at around about 8%, so has inflation. Even worse food inflation has hit about 20% at times causing food items to jump like 50% over a year.

Such things where pork, rice and cooking oil.

As these things rise so will people want to be paid more…. and this in turn will be cost in the rise of products or services produced.

Where is another factor to add into this, increases in transport costs from China and longer delivery times and not to mention questionable workmanship is causing some companies to move their factories back to their homeland. If this small drip grows into a river, this can cause serious problems for China export driven economy.

Another thing is the property market, Beijing has seen an increase in property rises. everyone wants to buy a property and rent it out. The problem is everyone is buying a house so they can rent it out… The problem is this is causing prices to sky rocket, while rent prices are almost the same because their are too many properties that can be rented out… What happen if these investors can't pay back their mortgage.

Your view on "Contrarian Investor Sees Economic Crash in China" (factual analysis appreciated)?

Melody Odell, an employee of Hotel Indigo in Sarasota, has won a Celebrate Service Award from InterContinental Hotels Group for using her skills as a nurse to help an injured guest. IHG celebrated employees at its 4,400 hotels, offices and reservation centers as part of Celebrate Service Week July 26-30. at Hotel Indigo, a guest returned to the hotel limping after a long jog around Bayfront Park. Odell, who is a part-time nurse in addition to working at the hotel’s front desk, got an ice pack and wrapped the woman’s ankle with an ace bandage. The next week, the guest sent the hotel a letter thanking Odell for her actions.

Synovus Bank of Florida has hired Lisa Van Ullen as vice president of wealth management-financial consultant, Synovus Securities, inc. her responsibilities include providing a full range of financial services such as estate and tax planning, investment management, personal trust, insurance services and private banking services, primarily in Manatee and Sarasota counties. She has more than 20 years of experience in wealth management.

BB&T Investment Services has promoted Henry Eller to investment officer. Eller, who joined the bank in 2009, is a licensed investment counselor, based in Sarasota.

John Wideikis, attorney with Berntsson, Ittersagen, Gunderson, Waksler & Wideikis LLP of Murdock and Englewood, has been selected as a Florida Super Lawyers Rising Star. he was selected by an independent panel in the field of real property law. Only 5 percent of practicing attorneys in the state make the list, published by Thomson Reuters.

Olga Weider, an accountant at Christopher, Smith, Leonard, Bristow & Stanell PA, Certified Public Accountants, has passed the exam to become a CPA. She joined CS&L in 2005 and primarily works with the audit team.

Cornerstone Solutions Group, a full service commercial landscape contractor in Bradenton, has added four people to its staff. Chris Lee, account manager, has more than 15 years of experience in lawn and ornamental care and is a certified pest control operator licensed in Florida. Michael Willard, account manager, brings an extensive knowledge of golf course maintenance and plant material. Chris Rogers, project manager/business development, previously worked on projects with Universal Studios, Walt Disney World and Sea World. he has extensive experience with arbor care, including the relocation of large trees. Wanda Miranda, executive administrative assistant, will be responsible for proposal preparation and new employee screening.

Aimi Jackson, of Bradenton, has joined Kforce inc. of Tampa as project coordinator at the National Recruiting Center. Kforce is a professional staffing service. Jackson is also working toward her Bachelor of Science at the University of South Florida.

Attorney John Ervin has joined the Sarasota firm of Livingston, Patterson, Strickland & Siegel PA. he earned his J.D. cum laude from University of Maine in 2007 and his Master of Laws in taxation from the University of Florida in 2008. Ervin’s focus will be tax and business law.

RS&H, a facilities and infrastructure consulting firm, has hired Richard Tillery as a senior transportation planner at its Sarasota office. he has more than 14 years of experience in travel demand modeling, long-range transportation and mobility planning, and transit modeling. Tillery is certified with the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Financial consultant Richard Field is now associated with Professional Benefits inc., an investment service and benefits administration firm in Sarasota. Field, a financial consultant for 17 years, is fully licensed to handle stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options, retirement plans, annuities and life and health insurance. PB specializes in income planning for retirement.

The Charlotte County Commission has appointed Hazel Crouch, owner of Place in the Sun, to the Charlotte County Tourist Development Council. her term will end in May 2012. Julie Mathis, executive director of the Charlotte County Chamber of Commerce, was reappointed to a four-year term ending in June 2014. Crouch has owned and managed Place in the Sun, a vacation rentals and home management company in Charlotte County, since 2003. Mathis has served as the council’s chairwoman since November 2008 and has been a member for 10 years. The council oversees the use of tourist development tax money collected within the county and provides guidance to the Charlotte Harbor Visitor & Convention Bureau.

Jo Dvorak has joined Cabot Reserve on the Green as administrator. Cabot Reserve is a 60-bed nonprofit assisted living community in Sarasota owned by Family Extended Care of Miami. Dvorak brings more than 30 years of management and marketing experience to her new position, with her last 12 years spent working in assisted living communities in Sarasota.

Thomas Luzier, a shareholder in the Sarasota-based law firm Dunlap & Moran, has been certified in real estate by the Florida Board of Legal Specialization and Education. Luzier’s practice covers a variety of real estate and business transactional matters, focusing on the representation of individual and institutional clients on all phases of buying, financing, selling and leasing residential and commercial property.

The Punta Gorda Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association re-elected its board of directors for a second term at a meeting July 28. Past president Randy Ann Bechtel installed the slate: Andrea Carroll, president; Virginia Vaughn, vice president; Marge Szmania, secretary; and Peggy Wilbur, treasurer. The chapter raises money for scholarships for local students and works to expand business and educational opportunities for its members.

Cutting Loose Salon, Pamper Lounge and AfterHours by Cutting Loose have filled two key staff positions. Tracey Rider joins the team as general manager, bringing numerous years of experience in salon management. April Piana, who also has many years of experience, will focus on eyebrow design, skin balancing and natural nourishing dermal treatments.

Matthew Borland has joined Take Care Private Duty Home Health Care’s Sarasota office staff as project manager to spearhead the continued development of best business practices. he was previously an accounts payable lead for a worldwide travel company in Boston.

Webster University has promoted two employees at its Sarasota Metropolitan Campus. Cindy Saunders, who joined Webster in 2007 as campus manager, has been promoted to assistant director. Rebecca Rathburn, an administrative assistant since April 2009, is now campus manager.

Dixie Southern, a custom steel fabricator in Duette, has hired Eugene Sweet as senior sales and marketing manager and Calvin Bennett III as quality manager. Sweet has more than 25 years of domestic and international sales and marketing experience in the chemical, filters, agriculture, wind and solar markets. Bennett comes to Dixie Southern from Ceradyne Thermal Materials, where he served as senior process engineer.

Dustin Kilduff, a student at the University of South Florida College of Business in Sarasota, is working as an intern at the Raymond James Financial Services office on Gatewood Drive in Lakewood Ranch. “Dustin will be learning the financial services industry from the ground up,” said Jim Zientara, branch manager. Kilduff was born and raised in Bradenton and graduated from Lakewood Ranch High School in 2005. he is working toward his bachelor’s degree in finance.

A group of 27 emerging and experienced community leaders graduated this month in the third class of the Gulf Coast Leadership Institute, a comprehensive leadership development program created and funded by the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice. In exchange for their training, the participants have committed to use their newly gained skills for the long-term benefit of their community. The graduates of the 2010 Gulf Coast Leadership Institute are: David Blehar, chief financial officer, Senior Friendship Centers; Veronica Brady, senior vice president, SunTrust Bank; Andrew Britton, attorney, Britton Law Office; Christopher Cogan, CEO and managing director, Area 32 Ventures; John Cox, sheriff’s deputy and director of Police Athletic League of Sarasota County; Corinne Deckard, assistant managing director, Asolo Repertory Theatre; Anne Garlington, wealth advisor and regional sales manager, Comerica Wealth Management; TinaRae Gregoire, executive director, Achievements Learning Centers; Michael Hartley, vice president, DKE inc.; Marilyn Harwell, retired book publisher; Susan Hoffman, editor, Sun Coast Media Group/The Arcadian; Kent Kirschner, CEO, the Media Maquiladora; Susan Kosko, portfolio manager, Northern Trust Bank; Dave Lowell, general manager; Ram Marine Services; Michael Mansfield, executive director, Charlotte County Habitat for Humanity; Giovanna McGrath, consultant, program coordinator for Gulf Coast Leadership Institute; Lisa Merritt, executive director, Multicultural Health Institute; Jonathon Phelps, president, Corin Bay Real Estate; Matthew Rheingans, attorney/president, Law Office of Matthew Rheingans PA; Michael Scott, development director, Sarasota Ballet of Florida; Warren Simonds, vice president and CMO, Willis a. Smith Construction; Bridget Spiess, Realtor, Re/Max Alliance Group; Craig Tiernan, financial adviser, Wells Fargo Advisors; Jean Trammell, president, The Venice Company; Jennifer Tucker, Healthy Communities coordinator, South County Family YMCA; David Ursel, speech language pathologist, Sarasota County School Board; and Gayle Williams, president/owner, Vision PR & Marketing.

Jenifer Schembri has been hired as a new principal at the Manatee County law firm of Blalock Walters. She is board certified by the Florida Bar in tax law, received her Master of Laws in taxation with honors from the University of Florida, and is also a certified public accountant. Schembri will head up the firm’s new tax law practice.

Thomas Hoppman has joined the Piana Acupuncture and Wellness Center in Sarasota as a licensed massage therapist. his other certifications/degrees include neuromuscular therapy, Qigong and Tai Chi.

Cornerstone Solutions Group awarded its Caught in the Act of Caring Award for June to Michael Willard of the Bradenton office. he exemplifies outstanding customer service and attention to detail with every customer.

IN BRIEF: Family paw park celebrates opening

Recently I have picked up Peter Lynch's "Learn to Earn" book. he talks about a market multiple in the book and does a cross study of Nike and J&J and says that the market multiple was more than what J&J's PE was. Where can I find up to the minute or whatever market multiples? also, Where could I find inflation rates as well. I know that they are based upon the Consumer Price Index but I am not educated enough to figure it out based upon that. Thirdly, since I am in the education stage of stock investing, I would like to know if anybody can recommend a stock market simulator game that doesnt coincide with the real market but is simulated for the sake of learning at a faster pace than waiting for the markets. if I could find a game that does correspond to the markets that would be nice as well. of course I am looking for free games and no money involved. (Just thought I would make that clear) thanks for the info

Market multiple and inflation rates and other…?