RF's Financial News

RF's Financial News

Sunday, December 28, 2014

This Week in Barrons - 12-28-2014

This Week in Barrons – 12-28-2014:


Thoughts:

Dear Ms. Yellen:

As I look back over 2014, I’m thinking that there are areas where we (as a nation) could improve.  The other day, I was reminded of the following scenario.  A Japanese company and an American company decided to have a rowing race.  Both teams practiced long and hard, but on the big day – the Japanese won by a mile.  American senior management formed a committee to investigate and recommend appropriate actions.  Their findings were:
-       The Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering.
-       The Americans had 1 person rowing and 8 people steering.
-       Given the large disparity, the committee wanted another opinion and hired a high-level consulting group.
-       The consulting group concluded that there were too many people steering, and not enough people rowing in the American boat.

Armed with recommendations in hand, the Americans immediately:
-       Reorganized the rowing team into: 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering supervisors, and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.
-       Implemented a new performance system that gave the 1 person rowing the boat a greater incentive to work harder.
-       Re-named the program: “The Rowing Team Quality First Program.”
-       And initiated discussions surrounding getting new paddles, canoes, other equipment, and extra vacation days for practices and bonuses. 

A year later the race was held again, and this time the Japanese won by 2 miles.   American management was humiliated and immediately initiated the following:
-       They laid off the single rower and blamed him for poor performance.
-       They halted the development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and cancelled all capital investments in new equipment.  
-       The money they saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses.
-       And decided to outsource next year’s racing team to India.

Ms. Yellen – although the above was written in jest – the issue within our ‘American’ labor force starts with there being an abundance of unskilled over skilled labor.  And even among the skilled labor positions, only certain sectors are in demand for the high paying jobs.  The highest paying degrees are in: programming, engineering, math and science.  However, our American colleges produce far more graduates with degrees in psychology, political science, history, and English.  In fact, the majority of people that get these ‘NOT in demand’ degrees rarely find a job in their field.  Also (from statistics compiled by Complete College America), only 19% of full-time students earn their degree in 4 years.  This same report shows that most students take far too few credits per semester, and fail to register for required courses on time.  In fact, the ONLY graduation category that is not declining is the one devoted to – foreign students.  Not only are students from abroad graduating on time and with better grades, but they are also the majority of students in the math and science degree programs.  The majority of these foreign students do NOT stay in the U.S., but rather return home to their native countries.  These students are under far more pressure and expectations, because (in many cases) their parents have struggled to pay for them to leave their country in order to get a degree in America – the land of opportunity.  I guess it’s no wonder that the Japanese team won the rowing contest – aye?

Ms. Yellen, continuing on the education theme.  This week I read an article about the leaders of Singapore and Jamaica.  In 1965 both nations were independent, had about 5 million citizens each, with Jamaica having a slightly higher per capita GDP than Singapore.  The leader of Singapore decided to borrow and invest heavily in education, basic infrastructure, and took a ‘Free Market’ approach to entrepreneurship.  The leader of Jamaica borrowed money, and built a huge social program focused on exporting agriculture and trying to expand government ownership.  By 2000, Singapore’s per capita GDP was over $30,000 while Jamaica’s was a mere $4,800.  Singapore’s investment in education and encouragement of free market entrepreneurialism allowed the nation to thrive, while Jamaica’s massive socialism, central planning, and government ownership simply stifled growth.  Ms. Yellen, I’m assuming if we raced Singapore – the American team would suffer the same fate as we did against Japan.  Therefore (if you have a minute), could you try and schedule a race between the Americans and the Jamaicans?  

Thanks and have a Happy New Year.


The Market:

Factually:
-       Consumer spending rose 0.6% while New Home sales fell another 1.6% in November.
-       November’s durable goods orders were expected to rise 0.3%, but instead fell 0.7%.
-       The Japanese parliament just approved an additional 3.5 trillion yen stimulus package – so it’s fair to say that traders will be happy as they contemplate more ways to utilize the carry trade.
-       Blackrock told its investors that corporate profits would be 85% LOWER if corporations were forced to comply with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles).  Yes – corporations are almost doubling their profits by using false accounting methods.  So if corporations are allowed to report double their earnings, what numbers can we believe?
-       3rd Quarter GDP was revised to 5%, with the bulk of that being increased healthcare spending over Obama-Care.  Some are reporting that healthcare costs in 2015 will rise from 8% to 26%, and that could trigger a corresponding collapse in bond prices.
-       The issue with tumbling oil prices is that the energy sector has been the main driver of job growth during our recovery.  The latest jobs report showed a sharp downturn in the number of oilrigs operating in the U.S.  This will be just the beginning of cutbacks as there is a normal 18-week lag between oil price reductions and the number of rigs in operation.  You can expect the rig count at U.S. shale-oil production sites to drop off at the beginning of the New Year.  This is because the low oil prices will cause many of the rig contracts (which expire at the end of this month) to go un-renewed.
-       And the International Longshore and Warehouse Union has started a work slow-down as negotiations have stalled over their expired contract.  The slowdown is affecting everything from merchandise supplies destined for U.S. retailers to McDonalds’ french-fry supplies headed for Japan.  As a result, global economic data involving trade, durable goods and retail sales could be softer than expected in the coming weeks.

Personally, I received a terrific book this Christmas: “Money – Master the Game” by Tony Robbins.  The focus of the book is that every individual needs to (and can) manage his or her own money.  For example: say someone came to you with a deal where YOU would put up 100% of the capital, and YOU would take 100% of the risk on an investment.  And IF the investment made money, THEY would take over 60% of the profits (to be paid to them in the form of fees).  And, IF the investment lost money, YOU would absorb 100% of all the losses, BUT you would still owe them their fees.  Who would take such a one-sided investment?  The answer is that millions of people do that everyday when they buy a mutual fund.  Why do millions of people do it?  They do it because they never do the math.  For instance: If you made a onetime investment of $100,000 at age twenty, (assuming a 7% annual growth rate) you would have $574,464 by the time your 80th birthday rolled around.  BUT, if you paid the normal management fees and other expenses associated with a mutual fund – your ending account balance would only be $140,274 over that same period of time.  That means you paid 77% of your profits ($439,190) to your account manager / broker.  That is the single best reason I ever heard for someone to learn how to manage their own finances.

I bring this up because our retiring population is in trouble.  Here are a couple of facts that: “Retirees Won’t Tell You”:
-       They’re running out of money – as 33% have less than $1,000 in savings.
-       They’re finding retirement stressful and lonely.
-       They’re finding that their healthcare costs are enormous.
-       They’re planning on moving back in with their children.  Currently over 43M adults care for someone over 50 – and that number is rising.
-       And they’re coming after traditionally entry-level jobs.  The percentage of workers 65 and older who are in the labor force has risen from 11.5% in 1992 to 18.5% in 2012, and is projected to hit 23% by 2022

This week we should see the market continue to move sideways and up, but it’s times like these when I’m most nervous.  The safest way to play this market is in the ETF arena because as the overall market rises – a specific stock may not.  There are ten major sectors in the S&P.  If the market dislikes a particular sector or stock on any given day – you may get crushed holding that particular stock.  But if the other sectors move high enough, the overall S&P would rise on the day.  This is why you can see the SPX and the SPY (the ETFs for the S&P index) rise on a day when even big stocks like Apple, Microsoft, 3M and Cisco are down.  For the next week I like the indexes: SPX, SPY, DIA, RUT and IWM.  I think that they will continue higher, but don’t be surprised if we have a ‘red’ day here and there.  We're overdue for one – so that the technicals catch up with the underlying issues.


Tips:

I’d like to take this time to refresh your memory on two income strategies that I use on a weekly basis: (a) the iron condor, and (b) the butterfly & put credit spread combination.  First, a ‘spread’ is the selling and buying of two similar options – with the same expiration date and quantity.  When you ‘sell’ a spread – money will be ‘paid’ to you and deposited into your account.  The low end of the spread is called a ‘Put Credit Spread’ (PCS), and is accomplished by selling a put and buying another of lessor value (in the same quantity and expiration date).  The upper end is called a ‘Call Credit Spread’ (CCS), and is accomplished by selling a call option and buying another of higher value (in the same quantity and expiration date).  You make an ‘Iron Condor’ by combining the put credit spread and the call credit spread.  You make money on the ‘Iron Condor’ as long as your stock is between your two strike prices at options expiration.  A picture describing such a transaction is below.  The timeframe for this strategy is anywhere from a week to 6 months.  It is often used on indexes and other stocks that don’t move around that much.  I would NOT use the strategy on high volatility stocks such as Tesla (TSLA) or Green Mountain Coffee (GMCR).



The second income strategy that I use is on stocks that are moving in one direction (let’s assume rising for this example).  I sell a Put Credit Spread (as was described above) to take in some premium to pay for a Butterfly – creating (in essence) a free trade.  The Butterfly (as shown below) is the sale of an option – surrounded by the purchase of two other options.  This creates an earnings effect that peaks where you sold the option and rises or flattens where you purchased the surrounding options (often called the wings of the Butterfly).  I use this strategy on the up side when stocks are rising – such as over the Christmas holidays, run-ups into earnings, or when a particular stock is ‘bouncing’ higher after being punished too badly.


The market has put in an excellent run of over 1,000 DOW points and is currently extended.  But having said that – we are in the ‘Santa Claus’ portion of the ‘Santa Claus Rally’ so I would expect an upward bias for next week.  We could see some profit taking – for those brokers who wish to take advantage of the 3-day clearing period, but for the most part – we should move slightly higher.  

My current list of potential candidates is as follows: Apple (APPL), Gilead (GILD), Restoration Hardware (RH), Kroger (KR), Polaris (PII), United Health Care (UNH), 3M (MMM), Marathon Oil (MRO), Devon Energy (DVN), CVS, Chicago Bridge and Iron (CBI), Home Depot (HD), Clorox (CL), Caterpillar (CAT), and John Deere (DE).

Our base positions continued along their winning ways last week in: FXY (Japanese Yen to the downside), FXE (the Euro exploded to the downside), XLP (Consumer staples exploded to the upside), and XLV (Healthcare gradually moved to the upside):
-       FXY – March 2015 - $83 PUTS, 
-       FXE – March 2015 - $124 PUTS,
-       XLV – January 2015 - $69 CALLS, and
-       XLP – January 2015 - $48 CALLS. 

For last week – our WAG, NKE, FB, SPX, NDX, and RUT trades went in our favor, with the GILD and PCLN going against us.  For next week I’m selling this market’s upside bias via Put Credit Spreads (PCS) – and playing the upside with Butterflies.
-       AAPL – JAN – SELL the +105/-107 PCS (Put Credit Spread) – and BUY the +115 / -117 / +118 Butterfly to take advantage of an earnings run-up,
-       GILD – JAN1 – SELL the +88/-89 PCS – and BUY the +94 / -96 / +97 Butterfly, 
-       GILD – JAN – SELL the +82.5/-84 PCS – and BUY the +94 / -99 / +102 Butterfly, 
-       IBB – JAN1 – SELL the +287.5/-290 PCS – and BUY the +307.5 / -315 / +320 Butterfly,
-       IBB – JAN – SELL the +280/-282.5 PCS – and BUY the +307.5 / -315 / +320 Butterfly,
-       KR – JAN – SELL the +60/-62.5 PCS – and BUY the +62.5 / -65 / +67.5 Butterfly for an earnings run-up,
-       CBI – JAN – SELL the +36/-38 PCS = Credit of $0.20,
-       NDX – JAN1 – SELL the +4075/-4100 PCS = Credit of $2.03,
-       SPX – JAN – SELL the +1990/-1995 PCS = Credit of $0.40,
-       SPX – JAN1 – SELL the +2050/-2055 PCS = Credit of $0.40, 
-       RUT – JAN – SELL the +1135/-1140 PCS = Credit of $0.40, and 
-       RUT – JAN1 – SELL the +1170/-1175 PCS = Credit of $0.37.

To follow me on Twitter.com and on StockTwits.com to get my daily thoughts and trades – my handle is: taylorpamm. 

Please be safe out there!

Disclaimer:
Expressed thoughts proffered within the BARRONS REPORT, a Private and free weekly economic newsletter, are those of noted entrepreneur, professor and author, R.F. Culbertson, contributing sources and those he interviews.  You can learn more and get your free subscription by visiting: <http://rfcfinancialnews.blogspot.com> .

Please write to Mr. Culbertson at: <rfc@culbertsons.com> to inform him of any reproductions, including when and where copy will be reproduced. You may use in complete form or, if quoting in brief, reference <rfcfinancialnews.blogspot.com>.

If you'd like to view RF's actual stock trades - and see more of his thoughts - please feel free to sign up as a Twitter follower -  "taylorpamm" is the handle.

If you'd like to see RF in action - teaching people about investing - please feel free to view the TED talk that he gave on Fearless Investing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Z9I_6ciH0


To unsubscribe please refer to the bottom of the email.

Views expressed are provided for information purposes only and should not be construed in any way as an offer, an endorsement, or inducement to invest and is not in any way a testimony of, or associated with Mr. Culbertson's other firms or associations.  Mr. Culbertson and related parties are not registered and licensed brokers.  This message may contain information that is confidential or privileged and is intended only for the individual or entity named above and does not constitute an offer for or advice about any alternative investment product. Such advice can only be made when accompanied by a prospectus or similar offering document.  Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Please make sure to review important disclosures at the end of each article.

Note: Joining BARRONS REPORT is not an offering for any investment. It represents only the opinions of RF Culbertson and Associates.

PAST RESULTS ARE NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS. THERE IS RISK OF LOSS AS WELL AS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR GAIN WHEN INVESTING IN MANAGED FUNDS. WHEN CONSIDERING ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS (INCLUDING HEDGE FUNDS) AN INVESTOR SHOULD CONSIDER VARIOUS RISKS INCLUDING THE FACT THAT SOME PRODUCTS AND OTHER SPECULATIVE INVESTMENT PRACTICES MAY INCREASE RISK OF INVESTMENT LOSS; MAY NOT BE SUBJECT TO THE SAME REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AS MUTUAL FUNDS, OFTEN CHARGE HIGH FEES, AND IN MANY CASES THE UNDERLYING INVESTMENTS ARE NOT TRANSPARENT AND ARE KNOWN ONLY TO THE INVESTMENT MANAGER.

Alternative investment performance can be volatile. An investor could lose all or a substantial amount of his or her investment. Often, alternative investment fund and account managers have total trading authority over their funds or accounts; the use of a single advisor applying generally similar trading programs could mean lack of diversification and, consequently, higher risk. There is often no secondary market for an investor's interest in alternative investments, and none is expected to develop.

All material presented herein is believed to be reliable but we cannot attest to its accuracy. Opinions expressed in these reports may change without prior notice. Culbertson and/or the staff may or may not have investments in any funds cited above.
 
Remember the Blog: <http://rfcfinancialnews.blogspot.com/> Until next week – be safe. R.F. Culbertson

<http://rfcfinancialnews.blogspot.com>



Sunday, December 21, 2014

This Week in Barrons - 12-21-2014

This Week in Barrons – 12-21-2014:












“The Federal Reserve can be patient which is consistent with a considerable time methodology”… Ms. Janet Yellen – Dec 17, 2014

Thoughts:

Dear Ms. Yellen:

Ms. Yellen (or should I say Ms. Claus), thank you for the ‘Santa Claus Rally’ into year end.  It was clear that the market could not have done it without you.  It’s very clear that the market’s most recent sell-off was NOT about oil or the Russian ruble, but rather it was all about the FED ending it’s free money policies and raising interest rates too soon.  After all, “What changed?”  Oil is still below $58/barrel, and the Russian ruble is still devalued.  The only element that changed was that you confirmed the FED’s Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) and reaffirmed that your asset purchase policies are here to stay for the foreseeable future.  Honestly, I knew that a lot of fund managers were terribly lagging the big indexes, but gaining 421 points on top of a 288-point gain is nothing short of ‘a Christmas Miracle’.

But then of course there was the obligatory global insanity.  It seems the Swiss have also lost their economic compass, as they have cut their deposit interest rates to negative.  Yes, in order to deposit money into a Swiss Bank you will now have to PAY the bank one quarter of a percent to hold your money.  I find that comical on many levels.  (a) The business of banking is to pay out ‘interest’ on deposits – not the other way around.  (b) The Swiss government and ‘banksters’ recent spent millions to convince the Swiss citizens that they should vote against a referendum that would require the Swiss currency to be backed by additional gold reserves.  So as soon as they were successful in voting the proposal down – they turn around and stabbed J. Q. Public ‘in the back’ by introducing negative deposit rates.

Ms. Yellen – I simply loved your press conference following Wednesday’s announcement.  Unfortunately, I left my ‘Alan Greenspan Decoder Ring’ at home.  You talked of ‘being patient’, yet said (at the same time): ‘If the data changes, we will move quicker than expected”.  You talked of ‘not normalizing policy’ over the next two meetings, but then said: “That could change with the data.”   Congratulations, I truly could not figure out a direction to your remarks, and I’m sure that was the intent.  But the general consensus is that prior to your talk, it was clear that Santa was going to deliver ‘lumps of coal’ into various Christmas stockings.  Prior to Wednesday, the 800+ point drop over the prior 7 sessions had traders ‘antsy’ and almost convinced that Santa wasn’t coming.  Your verbiage and press conference successfully erased over 7 days of selling and then some.

Finally Ms. Yellen, what’s going on with Cuba?  Back in July there were rumblings of Russia putting bases closer to the U.S.  After all, the U.S. had just unilaterally broken a 30-year old agreement by moving NATO bases closer to the Russian border.  It was in July when Russia announced the re-opening of their Lourdes facility in Cuba.  At the time I understood why Russia would do that – my only question was: ‘What would the U.S. do about it?’  Now the pieces are beginning to fall into place.  Since there are no missiles on the island as of yet, we really don't have any legal right to do blockades of the surrounding waters.  So we are playing the ‘economic card’ and trying to get the Cubans to not allow Russian military weapons (of any real threat) to be moved onto their island.  I think it’s a true show of: ‘Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.’

Merry Christmas Ms. Yellen – and thanks for the rally!


The Market:

WOW pretty much sums it up.  We gained over 700 points in two days.  I expected the market to trade higher – just not this much this fast.  After the previous week’s 4% drop, I thought we would move higher into the year-end – but I had no idea that we could do this.  We haven’t seen a two-day romp like this in years.

For those of you that didn’t follow, allow me to briefly recap this week’s sessions:
-       Monday we ended the session in the red.
-       Tuesday we gained 260 points in the first hour of trading, and after the DOW travelled over 800 points (both up and down) we ended the day down by 111 points.
-       Wednesday we were up 145 DOW points out of the gate – and ended up 288 due to the FED language.  But the big question on everyone’s mind was: “What did they say again?”
-       Thursday we played a quick game of ‘Can You Top This’, and the answer was YES – by gaining over 400 points.
-       And Friday we ended the week by gaining 28 points on the day.

This week is why I say that there are no longer any fundamentals in this market.  We did not gain over 700 points on good earnings, employment or opportunity information.  We got there on the hope of Ms. Yellen leaving interest rates alone.  That means that there will be more debt creation, more stock buy backs, and more borrowed money for our banks to ‘play cowboy’ with in the markets.

Factually:
-       In January the Russian ruble was trading 30/dollar, and this week it touched 80/dollar.  This week Russia’s Central Bank raised interest rates from 10.5% to 17% percent – hoping to curb its currency collapse.
-       In June oil was $105/barrel, and this week we touched $53/barrel.
-       The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is disinflationary – falling from 1.7% in October to 1.3% in November – the largest month-over-month decline since 2008.
-       Mortgage applications are falling again – dispelling the myth that cheaper gas was going to lead to a boom in housing.
-       The Empire State Manufacturing Index reported more stalled infrastructure projects.  Estimates are that a Trillion dollars worth of oil related projects alone have been put on hold.
-       No one thought that they’d be seeing $53/barrel oil, and because of that –Trillions are collaterally under-funded.  It's one thing to delay a drilling project because the price of oil doesn't warrant the investment.  But when thousands of contracts and loans have been made, based on the projections of $100/barrel oil – there’s real pain being felt out there.  The ripple effects are expanding in all directions. 

I tend to revert back to: ‘Correlation vs Causation’.  The world prefers lower oil prices.  Lower oil prices allow for: lower gasoline prices, lower energy prices, lower shipping costs, lower transportation costs, and lower costs for oil derivative products.  This hurts the top line for energy companies, but energy companies are not the total market.  The fall in oil prices has more to do with politics than any correlation to supply and demand.  In fact, the global demand for oil continues to rise, and the current supply level is NOT causing a glut.

The macroeconomics picture is telling us:
-       Bonds are higher than they have been in decades - telling us that the economy is in serious (Depression Era) trouble.
-       Our own ‘Jobs Report’ was so bolstered by seasonal adjustments that it bore no resemblance to reality.
-       The Baltic Dry Index (the measurement of world-wide shipping traffic) has fallen 45% in a month.
-       Student loan debt is well over a trillion dollars, U.S. wages have been flat for the last 15 years, and Obama-Care has created the 30-hour full-time / part-time job.

On the microeconomics side of things we have:
-       Lower oil and gasoline prices,
-       Stores introducing December as ‘the low priced month’,
-       And people spending as much as they can scrape up.

You add that up and there's no question that our global economies are whistling past the graveyard.  We have a tale of two markets.  In the very short term, the market could continue to run a little bit higher.  But in the longer term, we have some really big problems that simply can't be solved via standard economics – the numbers are just too big.


Tips:

Honestly, we’re a tad early for the ‘Santa Claus’ rally.  That rally is normally reserved for the last few trading days of the year, and then the first 5 of the New Year.  But as everyone trips over himself or herself to be involved, it tends to appear earlier each year.

The market closes at 1 pm on Wednesday, and is closed on Christmas day.  With this being a Holiday shortened week, many of the upper level traders are starting their holiday this weekend and not even manning the posts next week.  With that being the case, I think we will consolidate, grind sideways and slightly higher for most of the week.  I’m looking for a couple red dips, some small pushes higher, and possibly pushing energy slightly higher if the rebound continues. 
My current list of potential candidates is as follows: Terex (TEX), Gilead (GILD), PayChex (PAYX), Amgen (AMGN), Nike (NKE), Wynn (WYNN), Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI), McDonalds (MCD), CostCo (COST), Restoration Hardware (RH), IWM and SPX.

Our base positions did nicely last week in: FXY (Japanese Yen to the downside), FXE (Euro to the downside), XLP (Consumer staples to the upside), and XLV (Healthcare to the upside):
-       FXY – March 2015 - $83 PUTS,
-       FXE – March 2015 - $124 PUTS,
-       XLV – January 2015 - $69 CALLS, and
-       XLP – January 2015 - $48 CALLS.
-       We’re going to add another one – TLT – Bonds – Buy the 122 / 128 Call Debit Spread on a pullback.

For next week I’m still selling this increased volatility via Put Credit Spreads (PCS) – and playing the upside with Butterflies.  For the Iron Condors listed below – I am purchasing their ends separately in order to take advantage of these huge swings:
-       BWLD – JAN – SELL the 160/165 PCS (Put Credit Spread),
-       GILD – DEC4 – SELL the 103/104 PCS = Credit of $0.15,
-       NKE – DEC4 – SELL the 92/93 PCS = Credit of $0.10,
-       FB – DEC4 – SELL the 76/77 PCS = Credit of $0.08,
-       WAG – DEC4 – SELL the 68.5/69 PCS = Credit of $0.07 (earnings next week),
-       PCLN – DEC4 – SELL the 1147.50/1150 CCS (Call Credit Spread) = Credit of $0.20,
-       NDX – DEC4 – SELL the 4200/4205 PCS = Credit of $0.50,
-       SPX – DEC4 – SELL the 2025/2030 PCS = Credit of $0.40, and
-       RUT – DEC4 – SELL the 1165/1170 PCS = Credit of $0.47.

To follow me on Twitter.com and on StockTwits.com to get my daily thoughts and trades – my handle is: taylorpamm. 

Please be safe out there!

Disclaimer:
Expressed thoughts proffered within the BARRONS REPORT, a Private and free weekly economic newsletter, are those of noted entrepreneur, professor and author, R.F. Culbertson, contributing sources and those he interviews.  You can learn more and get your free subscription by visiting: <http://rfcfinancialnews.blogspot.com> .

Please write to Mr. Culbertson at: <rfc@culbertsons.com> to inform him of any reproductions, including when and where copy will be reproduced. You may use in complete form or, if quoting in brief, reference <rfcfinancialnews.blogspot.com>.

If you'd like to view RF's actual stock trades - and see more of his thoughts - please feel free to sign up as a Twitter follower -  "taylorpamm" is the handle.

If you'd like to see RF in action - teaching people about investing - please feel free to view the TED talk that he gave on Fearless Investing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Z9I_6ciH0


To unsubscribe please refer to the bottom of the email.

Views expressed are provided for information purposes only and should not be construed in any way as an offer, an endorsement, or inducement to invest and is not in any way a testimony of, or associated with Mr. Culbertson's other firms or associations.  Mr. Culbertson and related parties are not registered and licensed brokers.  This message may contain information that is confidential or privileged and is intended only for the individual or entity named above and does not constitute an offer for or advice about any alternative investment product. Such advice can only be made when accompanied by a prospectus or similar offering document.  Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Please make sure to review important disclosures at the end of each article.

Note: Joining BARRONS REPORT is not an offering for any investment. It represents only the opinions of RF Culbertson and Associates.

PAST RESULTS ARE NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS. THERE IS RISK OF LOSS AS WELL AS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR GAIN WHEN INVESTING IN MANAGED FUNDS. WHEN CONSIDERING ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS (INCLUDING HEDGE FUNDS) AN INVESTOR SHOULD CONSIDER VARIOUS RISKS INCLUDING THE FACT THAT SOME PRODUCTS AND OTHER SPECULATIVE INVESTMENT PRACTICES MAY INCREASE RISK OF INVESTMENT LOSS; MAY NOT BE SUBJECT TO THE SAME REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AS MUTUAL FUNDS, OFTEN CHARGE HIGH FEES, AND IN MANY CASES THE UNDERLYING INVESTMENTS ARE NOT TRANSPARENT AND ARE KNOWN ONLY TO THE INVESTMENT MANAGER.

Alternative investment performance can be volatile. An investor could lose all or a substantial amount of his or her investment. Often, alternative investment fund and account managers have total trading authority over their funds or accounts; the use of a single advisor applying generally similar trading programs could mean lack of diversification and, consequently, higher risk. There is often no secondary market for an investor's interest in alternative investments, and none is expected to develop.

All material presented herein is believed to be reliable but we cannot attest to its accuracy. Opinions expressed in these reports may change without prior notice. Culbertson and/or the staff may or may not have investments in any funds cited above.

Remember the Blog: <http://rfcfinancialnews.blogspot.com/> 
Until next week – be safe.

R.F. Culbertson