The recent gift of $75 million to the School of medicine at Stanford from Lorry I. Lokey to build a stem cell institute may kick start another round of innovation in Silicon Valley.  The gift will make possible a 200,000 square foot facility to be known as the Lorry I. Lokey Stem Cell Research Building with a [...]

The primary question you need to answer is what is your time horizon?  Now? Later? Never?  Ask yourself, which one of the three applies to me and my money?  Once you find your position on time, you can begin to look at what area of the investment market would suit you?  Do you feel comfortable seeing large swings in your account [...]

If the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 10%, trading is halted on the New York Stock Exchange for 60 minutes.  If the Dow Jones rallies 10%, there is no restriction.  Why?  Because program buying and the accompany rally is always perceived as “good”.  
If the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 20%, trading is halted on the [...]

Recession as a reality.  Six months ago every financial pundit and professional investor, including ourselves, stated economic growth would flatten out and a painful recession would be avoided.  That was then and this is now.  The research we follow indicates it will be 2-3 times as deep and 2-4 times as long in duration.  This is [...]

A fundamental long-term shift in the US economy has occurred. The finance based economy is coming to a conclusion, creating two possible scenarios: stagflation or deflation. At best we are looking at stagnate wage increases and higher prices. This is the lessor of two evils. The worst is outright deflation, which is an extreme deviation [...]

This is the type of inovation happening in small pockets thoughout the San Francisco Bay Area. It came to us from a client whose friend started this company.
Compostable cups, cutlery from Green Event Laura Thomas
So you’ve given up on paper plates for easy dinners on the deck, but what about picnics and those big [...]

The single most effective way to value a stock, according to Benjamin Graham and David Dodd in the classic 1934 Edition “Security Analysis,” is the P/E ratio of a stock. As with all opportunists, reworking standard analytical procedures can uncover value. Lets take the evolution of the P/E ratio. Their are two main earnings numbers [...]

Multi-national corporations may seem like the last place to find a socially conscientious investment, however you may be surprised. Multi-Nationals are getting in front of environmental regulations and gaining green status as a way to maintain their lead in global market dominance. Some of the environamental leaders may surprise you, General Electric, Dupont, Alcoa, Pacific [...]

The subprime crisis, essentially, an investment banking contraption. But what is it? It started with investment banks purchasing subprime mortgages, bundling and securitizing them. Then they were cut into tranches, sold, and repackaged several times (often into collateralized debt obligations). It was happening so fast the ratings companies couldn’t keep up with the number of [...]

One method of wealth transfer involves the employment of a family member (normally a child) in the family business. This allows a portion of the business profits to be paid to the employed family member as salary or wages, which are, in turn, deductible as a business expense by the owner. This has the effect [...]