Super Stock Blog

Archive for February, 2012

Over the long haul, Buffett explains, the asset class that most investors consider the “riskiest”—stocks—is actually the safest.

The asset class that most investors consider the “safest,” meanwhile—cash—is actually extremely risky.

Thanks to even moderate rates of inflation, cash is basically guaranteed to lose huge amounts of value over time.

Credit SuisseIn the past century, for example, the value of $1.00 has fallen to 3.8 cents (see chart at right).

Stocks, meanwhile, have appreciated to the tune of ~10 percent per year.

Even since 1965, the year before I was born, the value of the dollar has plummeted 85 percent. it takes $7 now to buy what $1 bought then. meanwhile, the DOW is up 13X.

Sure, there were stock-market crashes along the way. Stocks are “high beta,” meaning that their prices fluctuate wildly. Most people, including most Wall Street investors, describe this beta as “risk.” As Buffett points out, however, it isn’t risk. It’s beta. It’s price-fluctuation. Actual risk, Buffett observes, is the risk that your investment will lose purchasing power.

Over time, investments in currency have lost a devastating amount of purchasing power.

Investments in stocks, meanwhile, have gained purchasing power. and this is true even after the lousy stock-market performance of the past decade.

Now, cash does have its place in a portfolio. What cash provides, Buffett further observes, is liquidity—a.k.a., flexibility. the future is unpredictable, and you’ll never know when you need cash. and you also never want to be forced to sell long-term investments to raise cash when the long-term investments might be experiencing temporary price fluctuations to the downside. So you have to keep some cash, even it’s an extremely dangerous long-term investment.

<a href="http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-02-12/news/31051532_1_investments-warren-buffett-asset-classtag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-02-12/news/31051532_1_investments-warren-buffett-asset-classMon, 13 Feb 2012 14:42:25 GMT”>The Investment You Think Is ‘Safe’ Is Actually The Riskiest In The World

SILVER CITY – the Silver City Arts and Cultural District, in collaboration with the Southwest new Mexico Green Chamber, has embarked on a new advertising campaign aimed at marketing Silver City to a broader audience.

The campaign is paid for with the $100,000 in Lodger’s Tax funds that the city gave the Arts and Cultural District in August and an additional $40,000 that the new Mexico Tourism Department awarded the District in December.

The new campaign, which centers around the slogan “Find your self in Silver City,” takes its cues from the new Mexico Tourism Department’s 2012 Strategic plan, according to Arts and Cultural District Director and Tourism Director Julie Minicucci.

“We want to expand our reach,” Minicucci said. “We want to not only reach tried-and-true travelers, but introduce Silver City to new markets. We’re really trying to align ourselves with the state’s new vision.”

The state’s objective, according to the Tourism Department’s website, is to accelerate tourism by branding new Mexico as a destination for “venturesome” travelers.

The Arts and Cultural District’s implementation of this strategy involves advertising the city in new markets like LGBT travel and adventure-focused publications, overhauling the Arts and Cultural District’s website, increasing its social media presence, building and maintaining new billboards and, as Minicucci put it, “basically anything tourism.”

“We asked ourselves, ‘What do we have to offer? Who do we want to attract?’” Minicucci said. “We looked at different psychographics and tried to find out who fits that venturesome profile.”

Minicucci and Green Chamber Executive Director Cissy McAndrew each gave presentations that emphasized their respective organizations’ new ambitions Tuesday night to the Silver City Town Council.

McAndrew highlighted changes in and around the Murray Ryan Visitor Center, including the new computer kiosk, free wifi for visitors, the new solar carport educational kiosk, and a fresh new look, that will soon include a mural on the exterior of the building, courtesy of the Mimbres Region Arts Council’s Youth Mural Project. McAndrew also mentioned how the Visitor Center is now tracking visitors by asking them to sign in, write where they’re from, how long they plan on staying in Silver City and how they heard about the town. She noted that 6,378 visitors had signed in since the Green Chamber took over in August, including travelers from as far away as Budapest, Hungary and a busload of tourists from England.

Minicucci went over changes behind the scenes – such as the new ad campaign, a new increased social media presence, and the eventual launch of a roving ambassador’s program.

The new ads, which all include the “Find your Self” slogan, feature shots of events, like the Tour of the Gila and the Red Paint Powwow, and area attractions like the Gila Cliff Dwellings, as well as shots of Silver City’s downtown and downtown gateway arch.

The Council had the opportunity to view the ads earlier.

“I think the ads are very fresh and new for Silver City” Silver City Mayor James Marshall said at the meeting. Marshall added that he liked how the ads touted the town’s Wild West history, like the one that reads “Find your True Grit” in Silver City. “Enjoy the authentic Silver City Experience. Preserving the Spirit of the Old West While Forging a new Frontier.”

To help out with the new campaign, Minicucci hired Sherry Logan and Michelle Geels, office manager and marketing assistant, respectively, as well as webmaster Derek Markham, who is spearheading the website facelift, which is scheduled to go online in early February. Town Manager Alex Brown said that the part-time salaries of the office manager and marketing assistant positions – each less than $10,000 a year – will be drawn from the general fund. Markham is paid from Arts and Cultural District funds.

“I’m really excited,” said Geels, who is also the Tour of the Gila co-director. “I think we’re taking a fresh approach and I just really feel that tourism in general is a hot ticket for Silver City.”

Sun-News reporter Christine Steele contributed to this story.

Aaron West can be reached at (575) 538-5893 ext. 5803

<a href="http://www.scsun-news.com/ci_19823087tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.scsun-news.com/ci_19823087Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:07:23 GMT”>Advertising campaign launched to market Silver City