Mike Lewis | Michael R Lewis, ASJA

August 14, 2013January 2, 2024

7 Mutual Fund Performance Measures & What They Mean

For years, investors, fund managers, and stock analysts have sought reliable indicators to project the future return and risk of owning an individual stock, bond, or a portfolio of securities. The underlying assumptions are as follows:

All investments have inherent risk which is assumed upon ownership.
Returns and risk can be objectively quantified by mathematical analysis of historical results.
The correlation of potential return and underlying risk constantly varies, providing opportunities to acquire investments with maximum potential return and minimal risk.

These assumptions exemplify modern portfolio management and are the basis for the widely used capital asset pricing model (CAPM) developed in the 1960s, which led to a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics for its creators. Enabled by technology, Wall Street wonks amass and analyze massive amounts of historical data searching for hidden, often arcane relationships to identify undiscovered opportunities for gain without risk. The results of their analysis are often publicly available for use by private investors.

How to Prepare When Making a Career Change

Many people dream of a new career earning more money doing the things they love. In fact, labor surveys suggest that four out of five people are unhappy in their careers and want to make a change. We Americans are optimistic with a tendency to accept that the “grass is always greener” on the other side of the fence. Yet few people actually pursue a career change voluntarily. Why? Because age, high income, and debt lock many into their current jobs or fields, making it that much harder to change.

If you desire to make a clean break from your current career and start anew – be it for more pay, personal satisfaction, or a better balance between your personal and work life – prepare yourself for a more difficult transition than seeking a similar job with a new employer. It’s unlikely that you will replicate your current salary or benefits in the beginning of a new career, while it is likely that you’ll need to invest in training or education to be hired. You may even be forced to relocate.

But these and other obstacles needn’t hold you back from your goals. However, they do require preparation in order to surmount. Read more . . .

August 14, 2013January 3, 2024

Privatization of Public Services

Since the beginning of civilization, there has been tension over the role of government and the provision of services paid for with public funds (tax dollars). Before the advent of democracies, ambitious, enterprising men sought the favor of royalty in order to gain political power and riches at the expense of the population.
American governments, whether federal, state, or local, have not been immune from this trend where politicians manipulate the economy to fill their own pockets, as well as the purses of their friends. Boss Tweed and his cronies at Tammany Hall bilked New York City taxpayers of more than $200 million in the building of public works by private contractors. The Credit Mobilier of America scandal with Union Pacific during Ulysses S. Grant’s presidency reverberated for decades. According to The Atlantic, privatization leads to crony corruption, citing the example of Edward Snowden and Booz Allen Hamilton.
Read more . . .

August 14, 2013January 3, 2024

How to Raise Venture Capital – Lessons from the “Shark Tank”

The old adage, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door,” is no longer valid, and may never have been true in the first place. There are literally thousands of inventions and new products sitting in garages, workshops, and laboratories across the country, and they will never see the light of day simply because the inventor, lacking the capital to manufacture and market his idea with his own resources, is unable to attract investors.

Though there must be a way to find the money to back such a project, where can you turn to look for guidance?