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Show The Salt Lake Tribune BUSINESS Pay Sunday, June 30, 2002 The Motley Fool Worthless Stock Q Can I claim a tax Joss on worth Remember Shakespeare? Remember “As You Like It”? In Elizabethan days, Fools were the only people whocould get away with telling thetruth to the King or Queen. The Motley Fooltells the truth about Our Mission: To Inform, to Amuse, and to Help You Make Money less stock withoutselling any shares? K.B., via e-mail Yes, but determining whether yourstock qualifies as“worth less”according to IRS rules can take investing, and hopes you'll laugh all the way to the bank. Great Investors: Phil Fisher time. It’s often simpler to close out your position inthe shares byselling. If it’s difficult or not worth it tosell through yourbroker, you can sell the shares to a friend (or cousin, aunt or uncle) for pennies. (But not toa spouse,siblings, parents, grandparents or lineal descendants.) Here’s one way to doit |. Get the actual stock certificates from your broker. 2. Formallysell the f, with a check sharesto the purcl for payment and a bill ofsale. 3. Sign overthe stockcertificate (on its back) to the purchaser. Havethe signatures verified by your banker and/or a local stockbroker. 4. Send the certificate to the stock transfer agent. Explain that the shares have been sold, and ask themto cancelthe old shares and issue a new certificate to the new owner, Somebrokerageswill buy all your shares for a penny. They doit to help outtheir customers and because over time, someshares mayactually be worth more than the pennypaid for them, Fortax infoandtips, visit One of the world’s seminal investmentthinkers is Philip Fisher, author ofthe classic Common Stocks, UncommonProfits (Wiley, $19.95). Here are theeightpoints of his investment philosophy: + Buystock in companies with disciplined plans for achieving dramatic long-term growth in profits and revenue. ‘These firmsalso must have inherentqualities that makeitdifficult for new entrants into that business to share in such growth. * Aim tofind such companies when they are out of favor — when market conditions are not favorable or the financial community does not properly perceive the true worth of such companies ° Hold the stocks you buy until there has beeneither a fundamental changein the company’snature orit has grownto a point where it will no longerbe growingat a faster rate than the economy as a whole. Don’tsell your most attractive stocks for shortterm reasons. * If your primary investmentgoal is long-term appreciation ofcapital, then de-emphasize the importance ofdivi dends. * Recognize that mistakes are an inherentcost of investing. Recognize them as soon as possible, understand their causes and lear from them so they are not repeated. A willingness to take small losses in some stocks while letting profits grow bigger and bigger in your more promising stocks is a sign of good investment management. Don’t just take profits for the satisfaction of taking them. + Realize thatthere are a relatively small numberoftruly outstanding companies. Concentrate your moneyin the most desirable opportunities. Holding more than 20 companies is unmanageable (and “a sign of financial incompetence”). Aim for 10 or 12. * Have more knowledge than others, and apply your judgmentafter thoroughly evaluating specific situations. You also should have the moral courageto act against the crowd when your judgmenttells you that you are right. * One ofthe basicrulesoflife also applies to successful investing — successis highly dependent upon a combination of hard work, intetligence and honesty. eocece www.irs.gov and www.fool.com/taxes. Name That Company CanI use one 529 plan account to save moneyforthe college expensesof two grandchildren?If one doesn’t go tocollege, can the fund be transferred tothe otherchild? — J. Burnstein, Hallandale Beach,Fla. You will need to have a separate need be, you can re-assign a fund to immediate family, including cousins, step-relatives and in-laws. Leam more at www.savingforcollege.com and www.fool.com/csc/esc.htm. Got a question for the Fool? Send it in —see Write to Us | am green andyellow, and | was founded in 1837inIllinois by a blacksmith from Vermont. He focused on plows in his first years and developed the “self-polishing” steel plow. Today | am the world’s leading producer of agricultural equipment and a big shot in equipmentfor construction, forestry and lawn care. | make diesel engines, and | provide products and services in credit, managed health care and special technologies. My offerings are sold in more than 150 nations. | spend more than $1 million daily on product research and development. My market cap tops $10 billion. Who am |? The Fool Take My Dumbest Investment Young, Dumb and in Love AmSurg Surges AmSurg Corp. (Nasdaq: AMSG)is the country’s leading single-specialty surgery center company, operating a fast-growing base of outpatient surgery centers. Overthe past two years, its stock has advanced more than 350 percent. For each ofthe past 16 quarters since going public, AmSurg has set new recordsin revenues and earnings. The company’s competitive advantage comes by providing a narrow range of high-volume, lower-risk surgical procedures. Most of AmSurg’s surgery centers are equipped and staffed for a single medical specialty, the primary ones being gastrointestinal endoscopy (57 centers), ophthalmology (32 centers), I was young, dumb and in love in 1989 when mygirlfriend informed me that the bank she worked for was the target of a buyout. To prove my love andfiscal prowess,I immediately tapped my meagersavings and purchased 453 sharesat $6 1/2 each. Herprediction came true, but instead of acquiring the entire bank, Wells Fargo bought out only the California branches, leaving the Arizona branchesto wither away, along with the bank's stock. In November 1991, the bank ceased public trading at 4 cents per share, and mygirlfriend broke up with me,leaving me two years older and $3,000 poorer, but vastly wiser in ways oflove and investing. — and orthopedics (two centers). The companytargets these medical specialties because they are relatively lowtisk, quick operations. Additionally, by Michael F. Belcher, Oceanside,Calif. focusing ona singlespecialty, each The Fool Responds: Rumors can center can operate with significantly tempt usto invest in companies, but lowercapital and operating costs. many rumors never cometrue. Focus In 2001, the company generated on facts and on each company’s $203 million in revenue, up 41 perfinancial health, prospects for growth cent from the prior year. Earnings per share (EPS) grewby 30 percent. and competitive advantages. Don’t Profit margins were strong at 7.4 perlet this experience deter you; there cent, up | percentage point from are otherfish, stocks andgirlfriends 2000. Return on invested capital has in the sea. risen overrecentyears, to 20.5 perDo you have an embarrassing lesson cent. learned the hard way? Boilit down to The stock maynot be cheap right 100 words(orless) and send it to The now,butit is worth keeping on your Motley Fool clo My Dumbest Investradar screen. With the nation’s healthment. Got one that worked? care industry focused on containing Submit to MySmartest Inves costs, AmSurg is poised tobenefit ment. If weprint yours, you from growing demand. win a Fool's cap! oer cceeevseecccccecceccecenscccencecceeseesessosesooes : LAST WEEK’S TRIVIA ANSWER : Last Week'sTrivia Answer. | began in 1910 as the Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Co.of Colorado.In 1941, | introduced a new “Streamiite” line that was tapered and : : looked likeleather and also featured! the name of a shaggy Biblical soe In 1969,| supported : launched the revolutionary hard-sided Satum,the first by injection-molded shells. My Oyster became the fastest-selling itemvoliits kindof all : time.| acquired the Lark brand in 1984 and American Tourister in 1993.Inthe '90s,1¢ : ventured into footwearandcloth . My fiscal 2001 sales topped $750 million.| provide world-proof solutions for travel rs’ needs. Who am |? (Answer: Samsonite) : : Write to Us! Send quest ns for Ask the Fool, Dumbest (or Smartest) Invest- Knowthe answer?Send it to us with Foolish Trivia on the top and you'll be entered intoa drawingfor a niftyprize! P occcccccecccscccccescsccccce ents (up t0 100 words), and your Trivia entries to Fool @fool.com or via regular mail c/othis newspaper, atin: The Motley Fool. Sorry, we can't provide individ- ualfinancial advice. “6 202 Tie MomEY FoOUDIst. BY : °: :: : Experts: Supreme Court Didn’t Weaken Bias Law Rulingsreflect case-by-case evaluations vs. Williams,the first ADA decision to raise flags for some disability-rights groups. In that case, the court, applying test critics say is ngt written into the law, ruled the plaintiff, who had carpal tunnel syndrome,was not disabled underthe ADA because she did not have impairments that re- BYTT. SHAWN TAYLOR cl HIC ‘AGO TRIBUNE In a session marked by an unusually high numberof em- ploymentdiscriminationcases, the U.S. Supreme Court has been called “pro-management” and “hostile” the Americans With Disabilities Act for three controversial ADArulings. But legal experts say that strict her from performing tasks of central importance to most people's daily lives, such as combing herhair or brushing herteeth. vs. Barnett in May and Chev- to a seniority rule reasonable in cases, ron vs. Echazabal earlier this month. In Chevron,the court unan- underthe law. asked to decide whether the said Schnapper. Another case became im- disparate impact theory could be applied in age biascasesasit is in race and genderclaims. imously upheld an EEOC regulation that allows an employer to refuse to hire a disabled workerif performing a partic- “They said an accommoda- tion may be a preference but that doesn’t meanit'snot valid underthe law,” said Claudia ter in San Francisco and the court tried to guard against unfair decisions by making it ings gain the most attention, there were someclear victories clear there must be a reason- for workers during the session. able medical judgmentand that The most recent was the “It is illustrative of the court's hostility toward the employers enforce National Railroad Passenger Corp. (Amtrak) vs. Morgan Alisa Arnoff of Scalambrino and Arnoff, a Chicago law firm case in which the court barred the 180- to 300-day statute of limitations forfiling a lawsuit in hostile work environment 8, “Mostdiscrimination is not closer inspection of key deci- eton, N.J. But Mastroiannisaid the decision “really didn’t sions from the currentsession, set to close this week, reveals change the law.” Schnapper said that in the Toyota case, the cannot that represents management, sees a downside to the Chevron decision for employers, saying it lacks clarity. cases so distinguished by their court essentially said the court In US Airways vs. Barnett, the court said seniority usually individual circumstances that of appealsgot it wrong and sent trumps a disabled employee's said. “This decision says the right to be reassigned to an- court can look at previoussituations if they're directly linked.” it is difficult to draw any wide- spread conclusions from the “Youhada lotofniche cases, You could think of issues that affected far more people in it back. “Toyota was a nonevent,”he said. otherjob. It also provided that But after Toyota, employers employees may present evi- seemingly scored again in two other ADA cases US Airways dence of special circumstances that would makean exception not to rule. In Adamsvs. Florida PowerCo., former employees charged the company’sre- duction in work force had a disparate impact on older workers. The court was being plaintiffs attorney. Though displeasure with the ADA rul- ADA,” said Jeremy Gruber,legal director for the National Workrights Institute in Princ- broadstereotypes. portant for the court's decision Center of the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Cen- ular job poses a direct threat to the worker's health. Mastroianni believes the sexual-harassment f The court's failure to rule certainly wasnothelpful to the plaintiffs in that case, but experts cautioned against reading too much into what the court did not say. NOKIA EEE ericsson J | CorsaroPro est Choice im phones,plans,calling areas, service, repairs, rates, features, accessories, etc. Calling Plans for Every Need & Price Range Full Line of Accessories for All Makes & Models Complete Authorized Repair Center Hands-Free CarKits & Installation usually a single incident.It’s a series of incidents,” Gruber The Morgan ruling is ticularly helpful for Plaintiffs other years,”said Eric Schnapper, who teaches employment discrimination and civil rights law at the University of ADVANCED COMMUNICATION | SERVICES, LLC Washington. “On the whole, management did better than employees. But it's going to be hard to assess how importantit all was.” Worker advocates have particularly lashed out against three ADA rulings they say limit the scope of the 1990 law. Management groups Said Peggy Mastroianni, asso- late legal counselfor the Equal eS Opportunity ission (EEOC) in Washington. “I don't think @iese decisions uphold every thing employers oe rights,” say | have trumpeted the ADA decisions as victories for their side, but Others assert the court did not send an unequivocal signal on the ADA,butinstead indicated that disability claims must be judged on a case-by-case basis. } “If there is a theme in these gases, it is that you haveto have an individual determination,” over Whatdoes it mean? Some employeerights advocates play down the significance of such rulings as Toyota Look for the complete guide to Days of ‘47 activities in your newspaper SUNDAY, JULY ? TheSaltLakeBrita(G) Deseret $40.00 OFF HANDS-FREE ! 1 |||! CAR KIT INSTALLATION. Good July 1, 2002 thru July 31, 2002. Appointment required. : 50% OFF ; ; ! \ All Aftermarket Leather cases andface plates.In stock items only. Good 7-1-2002 thru 7-31-2002 , | 1 |! 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