Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6A
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, January 31,1999
larket IN a -*|
%?- ,ffl Taß Stocks of local interest
K>f Jan. 29, 1999 Stock Last Change
BellSouth Corp. * -44 5/8 + 7/8
8 ’ a, Ev' ’ Coca-Colft Company +65 5/16 +3/16
•>.;• St V4??y J McDonalds Corp. . -78 13/16 +ll/16
XZl> , . 741, J3M. . ’ Southern Company +2615/16 -5/16
X>2» Wal-Mart Stores Inc. +B6 + 7/8
Tyson Foods -2015/16 -1/16
Close: 9358.83 Home Depot -60 3/8 +3/8
% change YTD: +1.93 Ford Motor Company +6l 5/8 - 7/8
tanrln 20 20 21ft’ General Motors -89 3/4 -2 5/16
5«.3248596 41*!-' Scientific Atlanta +3ll/8 +ll/8
r. •«• W1 • AT&T +9O 3/4 +l3/16
$259 Bl Jntel -140 15/16 +3 3/4
1.68 tl IWtSIM’ Microsoft 175 +1
3’194 g3&<?O’ f > Regions Bank 38 3/8 +23/32
<b/ - r GTE -67 1/2 -7/16
H! ' tsio Coca-Cola Enterprises +35 3/8 - 1/2
• Pepsico -39 -13/16
- % changfe W0:44J07 -1 Georgia Pacific +64 1/2 +1
‘ AV * . Delta Airlines +54 9/16 +4 7/16
FATS, Inc. +l3/8 -1/16
10. ? A9 36 :'■ ■ ■< r- ■■ s, J
NASDAQ t-4 s i ■ i3 7 $ *'/»
ffi _ Edward Jones
>-■■■-■■ ■ .
$ &2 «.•-!»<-, Vv i n btsiMT 96 06
% change YTD: +14.26 210 Dahlonega St., Cumming, Ga.
; John Weaver (770)844-1000
ts ft
Should you pile into an index fund?
Stock picking used to be an indi
vidual affair. Investors picked
their* stocks one at a time and
monitored the progress of each.
Them came stock mutual funds,
and investors were able to rely on
th£ pros to choose a group of
stocks and stand watch over their
performance.
recently, millions of
Americans have invested in stock
index mutual funds. These “index
funds” hold shares in all of the
companies that make up a popular
stock market index, for example,
the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.
The fund’s performance is tied to
how the index performs.
tndpx funds are known as “pas
sively managed” funds because
they simply track the daily price
movements of the index stocks
and adjust holdings accordingly.
They are the autopilot brethren
oil‘‘‘actively managed” funds (also
as “managed funds”),
wfiiph employ top-flight managers
to ’analyze market outlooks and
industry trends, then trade accord
ingly. Individual investors have
pkjvyed millions of dollars into
S&R 500 index funds over the
past'few years, mostly through
their 401 (k) programs. What’s the
attraction? It’s the results: The
* * 1
JAKE S from 5A
Win Jet Haven, Fla., hang from the
alongside plexiglas skis and
accessories.
Aho featured prominently on his
wails are T-shirts entreating cus
topiers to “Just Say No To Subs.”
MJaJcolm laughs when asked
about them.
"touring the time I was building
tl{is place out, I ate at a nearby
store every single day,” he
r&mlls. “Finally, the girl who
always served me asked me what
I‘did for a living and then pro
cpgded to tell me everybody’s
to one bad decision in
tjjrtr life. She predicted that I
would never make it competing
with their deli.
>The T-shirts are just my little
them since we feed between
IX and 150 customers a day and
wsre met with immediate public
approval,” he adds, grinning
broadly. “I wear the shirt into
their store all the time, but I think
t|)e| still like me because I buy all
from them.”
has exceeded his
expectations and he says his
Syper Bowl party trays are prov
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S&P 500 index beat most actively
managed mutual funds over the
past 10 years.
Some of the success of index
funds can be attributed to expens
es - or lack thereof. Managed
funds have higher costs because
fund managers actively buy and
sell stocks, and are compensated
for their decision making. These
annual expenses are figured into
results. Index funds, on the other
hand, spend less. Lower expenses
mean more money for the share
holders.
So, shouldn’t we all sink our
savings into an index fund? The
answer is no, for a few reasons.
Some investors believe index
funds are a safer option because,
while they do no better than the
market average, they also guaran
tee that they will do no worse.
This sounds like they present less
risk, but what happens when the
stock market goes down? An
index fund falls with the market,
perhaps even more so.
While long-term investors
should ride out market falls, index
funds violate the rule of investing
designed to minimize risk in a
downturn: diversify, diversify,
diversify. The S&P 500 index is
perceived by many as “the mar-
ing wildly successful, giving a
further boost to his growing cater
ing clientele. Seemingly on cue, a
customer approaches him to place
an order and show off her new
son.
“He does awesome party trays,”
enthuses Sharon Castleberry of
Cumming. “We always had to
make our own, but they were just
too much work. Now we just
come by to order what we need.”
Malcolm smiles, surely gratified
that the four Internet professional
aptitude tests he took recently,
two recommending he pursue a
career as a truck driver, seem to
be wrong.
But, oh yes, the story behind the
name of Malcolm’s against-the
odds restaurant venture.
“Jake is sort of a miracle child,”
he explains, glancing up at his
son’s photograph framed promi
nantly on the wall. “We went
through every medical procedure
there was but were told by the
best doctor in Atlanta that there
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ket,” but it is actually much less
diversified than you think. It
accounts for 68 percent of the
overall U.S. market capitalization,
but it contains less than 5 percent
of the actual number of stocks
listed on the various U.S. stock
exchanges.
In other words, rather than being
diversified, your savings are tied
to the fortunes of a handful of
huge companies. Managed funds,
on the other hand, own a broad
range of companies. Indexing also
supposes that a certain segment of
the market, such as largecap com
panies, will lead the parade. But
what happens if U.S. small-com
pany shares or foreign stocks out
shine the blue chips over the next
decade? Market cycles make
diversification important.
Although index funds have their
positive points, there are good
reasons to avoid passive investing.
When markets are unsettled, as
they are today, mutual fund
investors might do better to look
for broad diversification, courtesy
of actively managed funds.
Provided by the Edward Jones
office of John M. Weaver, 210
Dahlonega St., Suite 1038,
Cumming, Ga. 30040, phone
(770) 844-1000.
was no way we could have chil
dren. Within three days of hearing
that news, my wife took a home
pregnancy test and discovered we
were expecting.”
He laughs. “They said it was a
fluke and could never happen
again, but now we also have a 2-
month-old daughter.”
So do they plan to open a
Jenna’s Dessert Shop next door?
“I don’t think that’s gonna hap
pen,” he says, and then adds with
a mischievous smile, “But we
may name our next child
‘Publix.’”
Don’t be victimized twice. Find
■LjJMk out what insurance company's
don't want you to know, call for
jERfJr your free report before you do
u anything. 24 Hr. Rec. Message
NOW OPEN
george pi gii'S
INNER LANDEILL
Warhill Park Rd.
706-216-2936
BUSINESS
’ ♦
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. , ...... ■ Photo/submitted
Deckers hosts celebrity bartender
Cindy Wheeler of Jackson Hewitt Tax Service raised S3OO for The Place as a celebrity bartender
at Deckers Restaurant. Deckers owner Charles Ammons implemented the program to raise
money for local charities. Amons congratulated Wheeler, who presnted the S3OO to Delores ,
Mitchell, executive director of The Place.
Business notes
Premier Bancshares
announces earnings
Premier Bancshares Inc. (Amex:
PMB) announces itspreliminary
results for the fourth quarter 1998.
The company reported net earn
ings of $3,834,000, or $.14 per
share for the quarter. This com
pares to net earnings of
$4,589,000, or $.17 per share for
the same period in 1997.
Excluding restructuring and merg
er expenses, the net earnings from
continuing operations were
$5,341,000, or $.20 per share com
pared to $5,020,000, or $.19 per
share for the same period last year.
The company incurred $2,010,000
of restructuring and merger-related
expenses during the quarter vs.
$575,000 for the fourth quarter of
1997. The majority of these
expenses resulted in severance and
operating costs associated with the
consolidation of several bank
branches and bank charters.
Year-to-date, the company report
ed record net earnings of
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•' Cumming • Lakeland Plaza i
•Due to monutocturer's guidelines, some exclusions apply See store tor details.
$20,913,000, or $.79 per share,
compared to $18,737,000, or $.72
ner share for the 12 months ended
Dec. 31, 1997, an increase of 11.6
percent over the comparable peri
od.
Excluding restructuring and
merger expenses, net earnings
from continuing operations were
$24,449,000, or $.93 per share
compared to $19,660,000. or $.76
per share, an increase of 24.4 per
cent over the comparable period.
The company incurred
$4,715,000 of merger-related
expenses during 1998 vs.
$1,264,000 during 1997.
Business seminar being
offered in Gainesville
“Starting your own business” is
an evening seminar being offered
on Monday, Feb. 1, from 6:30-
8:30 p.m. at West Hall High
School, 5500 McEver Road in
Oakwood. Advance payment of
$25 desired to ensure a seat. Late
registration at the seminar is S3O if
space is available. This seminar
contains pre-venture information
on the basics of starting and main
taining a new business. A “How to
start manual” is included in this
course.
This seminar is being sponsored
by the Hall County Community
Education Program and the
University of Georgia Business
Outreach Services, Small Business
Development Center.
The course is designed primarily
for persons who are considering
starting a new business it presents
information of value to a prospec
tive entrepreneur and includes an
overview of legal, marketing and
financial considerations and com
position of a useful business plan.
All SBDC programs are nondis
criminatory. To register or get
further information, call Larry
Loggins at West Hall High
School at (770) 967-4868 or
Betty Stephens at the University
of Georgia Business Outreach
Services, Small Business
Development Center (770) 531-
5681. ;