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Show The Salt Lake Tribune BUSINESS Sunday, October 12,2003 What is This Thing Catied SLTRIB.COM Ask the Fool Can you explain “liquidity”? — D.M., Reno, Nev. MoTLEY KOOL A company’s liquidity is its cash Our Mission: To Inform, toAmuse, and to Help You Make Money Liquidity and assets that can be quickly converted into cash (such as money market funds and investmentsin stocks and bonds), minus its shortterm debt. Companies with high liquidity can be less risky, but they might also grow more slowly, as assets that could be put to work growing the business are instead kept readily accessible influence the kinds of stocks you invest Eool’s School Know Your Strategy Can you clearly summarize your investing strategy on a sheet of paper? sharply Imagine Phoebe’s Freebies (ticker: pean a firm that givesall its prod- ucts away. If it has 5 million shares During a bull market, many people buy stock because it seemsthe stock market can only rise. Soon after a decline, though, ~ they sell at low prices and begin buying somethingelse, such as bonds. After stocks eventually rise for several months again, however, they will be aching to sell those bonds and buy back stocks. That isn’t a strategy. It’s not even sensible. Your portfolio and your strategy should reflect who you are and why you are * Your goals. (What kind of average retums are you seeking?) * Your knowledge and interests. (If > you love shopping, perhaps focus on retailers. If you are a doctor, consider medical device makers.) * What will make you sell a holding or change your strategy? (How will you react during a market downswing?) Developing and articulating your strategy will help keep you from moving money back and forth whenever the stock marketrises and falls. Find the : i a ToateGaetan you should develop one. Here are some factors to consider: lot about what really worksover the long hook. Lear from suecs-investor Wh share. there’ 7 at $10 ye ee tanding | a investing. If you don’t havea strategy, share. | would made a coo! $5,000 without breaking a sweat and thought I had a good thing going. I then cried whenI saw the shares soar beyond $200. Then the bubble burst and the stock began a long descent.I felt this was my lucky stock, sinceit had investingstrategy is to read and think a (www.berkshirehathaway.com) and stub, and I lost much more than | com boom was driven by the expecta- * Your involvement. (How much time read books by Peter Lynch,too. Our free made on it. — Colin Kau, Honolulu tion that the Internet would create a can you or will you regularly spend on investing?) fete * Your tolerance for risk. (This should articles at www.Fool.com can also help, and consider checking out our new suite ad nvcotment idee towedetis The Fool Responds: Ouch! [POs 7 often worth ignoring, as the companies can be unproven and the stocks large market for rr COMMMENCR, on-demand contenta online applications,” says the ITU’s Tim Kelly. resist becoming sentimental or emo- step closer to reality.” tional about a stock. Instead, evaluate © its health and prospects as objectively companies with global operations, such as $ as you can. Amazon.com and eBay. Other winners ¢ Do you have an embarrassing lesson ( or nt idea ne’ ' volatile and risky. More important www.FoolMart.com). uid. ee ee ee eee te ee ee Name That Company ge : What's a stock's “float”? — R.D., Sumter,S.C. It refers to the portion of shares outstanding that are available to be traded by the public. It’s good to ; ‘ ° ° Got a question for the Fool? Sendit see Write to Us ; people, and my products are used in . Paper unmentionable mnalies conmpunits, £6 stncks will ——— 1872. Today | employ more than 60,000 more than 150 nations. By 1890, my Scott oe : © company made Americas premiere Pay attention to this number with in * Four guys in Wisconsin started mein If a firm has 100 miilion shares outstanding but the founder owns 95 million of them, then the float is only 5 million. Any kind of demand will likely send the stock price soaring, as supply is so limited. And to reach be 25——— $40, $30, etc. The stock time at $50,Te recently sold for less than a dollar per PFREEistiny and volatile. It’s illiq- can be extra volatile. According to the United q Nations’ International =, Telecommunication Union (ITU), 63 million paid for highspeed service in . That works out to about one in every 10 Internet subscribers. The United States ranked | lth in broadband adoption, with seven subscribers for every 100 inhabitants. (No. | was The of Korea, with 21.) In , , the United States, broadband is a ‘dian in Uiinaiaa years, and ideally 10 years or longer.) small floats (“thinly traded” stocks) omy. eee Buffett by reading his educational annual owned by company insiders who are million worth of shares per day, sold it a few monthslater at $70 per The number of broadband (high- speed) Internet subscribers worldwide zoomed ahead 72 percent last year, and it’s likely to keep zooming. This is nothing but good news for the global econ- 's or mobile more quickly telephones did. to access seems “The dotsae. linked ' : Broadband time frame. : (For * Your stock-investing : least three tofive stocksit; should be at are available. Compared to many Soeur Sirens Gass cade mane then $600 ares During the stock market bull run a few years ago, I tried desperately to get shares of any initial public offering (IPO) through discount brokerage Schwab. They finaliy rewarded me with 100 shares of an emerging company at $20 per share. | treated me so well. So I tried some fancy moves, buying 100 sharesat a only $50 million worth: that the maralliis : If some ofthat keto can buy or sell. hanging on, then even fewer shares Blea go ae Dumbest Investment I-P-Owww! you aim to own?) Many investors can’., «hich can lead to trouble. When discussing a stock, liquidity refers to the market's ability to handle a large volume oftrading without significant price swings. Major investors such as mutual fund managers care about this because if they want to buy a million shares, they don’t want their purchases todrive up the stock price My in. If you crave stability, avoid penny stocks -— and perhapsali stocks.) * Your investment methods. (Do you look for large, established leaders? For up-and-comers? How many stocks do The Motiey Fool? Remember Shakespeare? Remember “As You Like It”? In Elizabethan days, Fools were the only people who could get away with telling the truth to the King or Queen. The Motley Fool tells the truth about investing, and hopes you'll laugh all the way to the bank. product, bathroom tissue. | introduced paper towels in 1907 to heip keep schools sanitary. In 1915, | developed Cellucotton wadding, used as bandages in World War|. In 1920, | quietly introduced Kotex feminine pads, as the public was averse to mentioning such things. | made anti-aircraft gun mounts in World War Il. | introduced Huggies in 1978, Depend incontinence productsin 1980, and Pull-ups in 1989. Who am I? "Knowthe answer? Senda it to us with Foolish Trivia on the top and you'll ; ey be entered into a drawingfora nifty prize! “Broadband brings this expectation one The report is good newsfor Internet include music distributors such as Apple’s iTunes and suchtas Electronic learned the hard way? Boil it down to 100 words (or arts that benefit from online gaming. Actually, most companies benefit, as Motley Fool clo My ab way, able to benefit from quick and effi- less) and send it to The 2 —_higher consumer spending. & ee = —— Submit to My Smartest Investment. if we print yours, you'll win a Fool’s cap! Sirus ant nek “Hateenesaeletedl” in stone pose networking. Asbroadband and re ways-on” connections proliferate, medium will begin to live up to earlier expectations. SbOb bE SC HEEOO ONES NEEOHOEEG EKO Ck bE CED OE OeROEROOOCCOeRSOOER LAST WEEK S TRIVIA ANSWER Last Week s Trivia Answer: | have grown from an 1865 lowa grain elevator business to become a Minnesota-based global marketer, processor and distributor of agricultural, food, financial and industrial products and services. My businesses inciude steel! mills, industrialoils and lubricants, livestock feeds, fertilizer products and commodities trading. Among other things, | process corn, wheat, cereal, apples, peanuts, soybeans, hazeinuts, sunflower seeds, beef, pork, chicken and turkey. | employ nearly 100,000 employees in 61 nations and rakein about $60 billion in revenue yearly. You can tinvest in me, because | am a privately held company. Who am |? (Answer: Cargill) Write to Us! Send questions for Ask the Fool, Dumbest (or Smartest) Investments (up to 100 words), and your Trivia entries to Fool @fool.com or via regular mail c/o this newspaper, attn: The Motiey Fool. Sorry, we cant provide individual financial advice. SSOHSSHSHOSEREHSOHOROEEEREZEOEES eeeee SSOSCSOSSSSSSSSSHSSSSSSSSEHSHSSSSSSSesSeeeoeseseset#eeseeeeescesaesesoevseoeoseeesee © 2003 THe Motley Fooul IST. BY UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE LEGAL NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT WITH MERCK AND MEDCO TO: ALL EMPLOYEE WELFARE BENEFIT PLANS (“PLANS”) THAT HAVE OR HAVE HAD CONTRACTS, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, WITH MEDCO HEALTH SOLUTIONS,INC. (“MEDCO”) AT ANY TIME FROM DECEMBER17, 1994 TO THE PRESENT. A SETTLEMENT HAS BEEN PROPOSEDIN PENDING CLASS ACTION LITIGATION THAT MAY AFFECT YOURRIGHTS. A Settlement has been reached in several class actions pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Medco and Merck & Co., Inc. The proposed Settlement is on behalf of the following Class: All employee welfare benefit plans that have or have had contracts with Medco, whether directly or indirectly (including through third party administrators, HMOs, insurance companies, Blue Cross Blue Shield entities or other intermediaries (collectively, “TPAs”)), where the contracts with Medco were both (a) in force at any time between December 17, 1994, A Workshopto ‘ialeast Your Creative Business Ideas and the date of the final approval of the Settlement, and (b) subject to the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”). withoutbread, you'll be learning the value of problems as opportunities to stretch your mind. Later you'll think you're conceiving ways to make cars “wrong”, but you'll really be practicing 180° THINK- As disclosed in the Notice, the Class includes ERISA plans for which Medco (and/or its predecessors and subsidiaries) administered a pharmacy benefit, either directly or through a TPA, during this period. Medco’s predecessors include Merck-Medco Managed Care and Medco Containment Services. Its principal subsidiaries for this purpose include PAID Prescriptions, Systemed, ProVantage, and its Merck-Medco Rx Services and National Rx Services (NRx) home delivery/mail service pharmacies. As further disclosed in the Notice, the claims that are being released arise out of alleged breaches | of fiduciary duty and other violations under ERISA by Medco and Merck. The Settlement | provides for significant modifications to, and disclosures of, Medco’s business practices, as well as a monetary payment to Plans within the Class Pian Fiduciaries and Sponsors If you are a Plan Sponsoror other fiduciary of an employee welfare benefit plan that falls within the Class definition, you should receive a Notice either from Medco, or, if you do not contract directly with Medco, from a TPA. If you have not received such a Notice, which includes an Identification Form that you must submit in order to receive your Plan’s share of the Settlement Fund, you may request the Notice in one ofthe following ways: ¢ You may call 1-877-267-9449 (Toll-Free) e You mayvisit www.erisasettlement.com ¢ You maywrite to: While you're designing chicken salad sandwiches the field of applied creativity in business. His clients include AT&T, VIACOM,ABC Sports, The Wall Street Journal, McDonald's, Texas Instruments, Sears, and many others. possibilities. This is fun. This is, “now I get it!” This is The DoIt-Yourself Lobotomy, Before & After's highlyacclaimed creative thinking workshop. This fast-paced, precept-shattering workshopisolates the basics of creative thinking into easily under- stood fundamentals. Much ofit is a big, “ah ha!" And then there are the things that most people in business already do on their best days, but don't unde: stand PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT DATES sional development program emphasizes practical skills and tools that you can apply immediately and utilize long term. This program will be fun andinter- MAP Newspaper Agency Corporation Dher Salt LateTribune MorningNews Mail to: Utah Advertising Federation 230 West 200 South, Suite 2102 Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 NAME COMPANY J ADDRESS PHONE Deadline to Object to or Opt Out ofthe Settlement (only Plan Sponsors may opt out on behalfof Plans) December | 1, 2003 Settlement Fairness Hearing CARD # Deadline to Submit Plan Identification Form EXPIRATION 2 Hurry! Reservations accepted until Tuesday, Oct. 14. active. So don’t wait — sign up today! November 14, 2003 DO NOTCONTACT THE COURT OR THE CLERK’S OFFICE FOR INFORMATION REGARDING THE SETTLEMENT Thursday, October 16, 2003 8:00 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Workshop Hotel 215 W.South Temple $65 includes continental breakfast and workshop Call the Utah Advertising Federation Office, (801) 355-9001, or e-mail uaf@wasatch.com. well enough to do consistently. This proven profes- Medco ERISA Settlement c/o Complete Claim Solutions, Inc. Pian Participants and Beneficiaries The claims asserted in the actions and released in the Settlement were claims asserted on behalf of employeewelfare benefit pians only. Therefore, the monetary benefits of the Settlement will flow directly to the Plans, not to Plan participants or beneficiaries, and only a Plan Sponsor may opt out of the Class. You are not members of the Class; you may not exclude yourself from the Class and you will not receive a check or other direct payment from the Settlement Fund. You may contact your Plan administrator, Sponsoror fiduciary with regard to these issues. ? Leonard/Monahan,is now President and Head Creativity Coach of Before & After, Inc., a leader in ING™, a process that challenges conventional wisdom to open up a powerful new realm of creative UTAH ULF | FEDERATION P.O. Box 24612 West Palm Beach, FL 33416 February 9, 2004 Tom Monahan,cofounder and formercreative director of award-winning advertising agency PAYMENT J ENCLOSED ) Visa SIGNATURE (J UAF Accounr J MASTERCARD vi l <e |
