For the "lurkers" who read this................

To Whom It May Concern:

I am taking the liberty to send this, it has been on my mind for some time. You see, the fundamental financial risk we both face is not losing one’s money but outliving it, which means equities are even more critical to financial survival than I thought 25 years ago. I have led many investors to water but I can’t make them think, because fear, not ignorance, is the primary cause of the failure of most investment plans (most investors do NOT have a written investment plan, I will see we construct one just for you, not me).

You see, your losses are not a function of what you bought, they are a function of timing. The thing that matters most is what people do, or don’t do, with the proper advice when those investments are down. Never forget, stocks solve long term investment problems and should be owned for the long haul.

As an arbitrator for both the NYSE and NASD, I can tell you there is significant potential for conflict-of-interest in commissions and in dealing with stockbrokers who have an objective of selling you something. I believe the only safety lies in the accretion of purchasing power and that the greatest long term risk of stocks is NOT owning them. I know the downs are temporary and the ups are permanent. I know that the words BEAR MARKET mean BIG SALE. And most importantly, I believe that, prior to retirement, people should own as close to 100% of stocks as they can emotionally stand. Then, after retirement, I believe they should own as close to 100% of stocks as they can emotionally stand. You see, I know the most mediocre stock funds are much better than the best BOND funds, over time. And I know that a mediocre stock fund that you hold on to through a 40% market decline is infinitely better than a world-class stock fund that you were scared out of and sold at the bottom.

If you decide to hire me as your investment manager, I can promise you that, throughout the years we work together, you will never find another investment advisor who will care more about you and your financial assets. I promise to invest your capital as carefully as I do my own. I commit to tell you the plain unvarnished truth all the time. You will encounter advisors “smarter” than I am. Some cheaper than I am. But you will never in your life find an advisor who you can trust more implicitly than you can trust me. I insist my clients plan and stick to their goals. Their goals, not mine. Understand clearly you are being asked to entrust your financial future to Dean Parisian, not to a generic financial plan spit out from a brokerage firm computer. Not to the latest investment fad de jour. To me.

And I’m offering to accept that responsibility.

Wish best wishes,

Dean T. Parisian

Worth a chuckle near the Super Bowl.............

George and Laura Bush and Bill and Hilary Clinton are traveling by train to the Super Bowl. At the station George and Laura each buy a ticket and watch as Bill and Hillary buy just one ticket. "How are the two of you going to travel on only one ticket?" asks George W, astonished at what he is seeing. "Watch and learn," answers Hillary. They all board the train. George and Laura take their respective seats but Bill and Hillary cram into a toilet together and close the door.
Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. He knocks on the toilet door and says, "Ticket, please." The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on. The Bushes see this happen and agree it was quite a clever idea, so after the game they decide to try a similar plan on the return trip. When they get to the station they see the Clinton's at the window buying a single ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment, the Clinton's see that the Bushes don't buy any ticket at all. "Aren't you taking a terrible chance by traveling without a ticket?" says Hillary. "Live and learn," answers Laura Bush.

When they board the train the Bushes cram themselves into a toilet and the Clinton's cram into another toilet just down the way. Shortly after the train leaves the station, George W. leaves their toilet and walks over to the Clinton's toilet, knocks on their door and says, "Ticket, please."

And you're still trying to figure out how the Democrats lost that election.

Friday's Selling..............

Wow. What nice fear we have. I love fear. When they are puking them up in Japan and on Wall Street and finally on Main Street it is time to load the boat. I liked what I saw today. The call option speculators were wacked today. Nice. The market did what just about everybody thought it wouldn't do. Wonderful.

I liked how they tried to rally them in the early afternoon and then KABOOM......down we went. Not a bull in sight to uphold the onslaught of selling. Stock prices being set at the margin, that is, being set by the current amount of buyers and sellers showing their hand at the specialists post or on the electronic screens (which will drive the stock markets of the future or should anyway) are only concerned with the supply and demand, accumulation and distribution of stocks at the point of trade. The hypsters in the media talking poor earnings of many big companies are rather bored. Their job is to blame the selling on something, anything. They have deadlines and ink to burn. Sometimes you just get a good old-fashioned wash-out. About time. Wonderful.

Excellent words.........

From one of California's premier real estate agents, Val Tichy: Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

CNBC..............

The talking heads are taking it to a new level with all the "reporting" from the floor of the NYSE.

The place should be a museum. Their reporting should be from a massive bank of Cray supercomputers.

Specialists getting in the way of over 50% of the NUMBER of trades to line their pockets is archaic, expensive and wrong.

From a cowboy.............

"You can get in a car to see what man has made, but you have to get on a horse to see what God has made." Charlie Russell.

If you are a client of A.G. Edwards give us a call................

It is going to cost more for customers of A.G. Edwards to make trades.

The St. Louis-based retail brokerage said it is raising commissions on agency equity and option transactions by 5%. The brokerage also will add a 50-cent "postage and handling fee'' on stock, bond, commodity and certain mutual fund transactions.

The commission increases at A.G. Edwards, which mainly relies on 7,000 brokers to handle customer trades, are the first since 1994. The company said it last raised postage and handling fees in 2003.

This month, the U.S. Postal Service raised the cost of mailing a first class letter by 2 cents to 39 cents.
A company spokeswoman was not immediately available to comment on the commission increases.

The commission hikes at A.G. Edwards are bucking an industry trend toward cost cuts.

Economics of Gaming.........

Fun day trips on deluxe motorcoach. Board in Marietta at Perimeter Center MARTA. Play 5 hours at the casino and return the same evening. *Pay $20 pp and get $20 cash back from the casino upon arrival, so net cost=FREE.

The above internet ad is all about economics and human behaviour. Economics, (one of my majors at the University of Minnesota) is really the science of choice. The science of supply and demand. Economics is a complete mystery to most Americans as it was to most college students. I enjoyed it. I live and breathe economics every single day in the stock market. Casino's know that the nanosecond somebody enters a casino the odds of a gambler losing money are all in their favor. The "something-for-nothing", get-rich-quick" mentality of gaming pervades our nation and our Native American communities.

Unfortunately, many people, many who can ill afford losing money, call it entertainment.