Hosted by Valley National’s Laurie Siebert, CPA, CFP, “Your Financial Choices” airs every Wednesday from 6-7 PM on WDIY 88.1 FM. Click below for information on this week’s episode!
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Personal Notes
Two great games yesterday to set up an exciting Super Bowl. The winner will end up with 4 rings. According to Mid-West Sports, here is the list of past Super Bowl winning teams and their Super Bowl records.
Most Super Bowl Wins & All-Time Super Bowl Records
|
Team |
Super Bowl Wins |
Super Bowl Losses |
Super Bowl Record |
|
Pittsburgh Steelers |
IX, X, XIII, XIV, XL, XLIII |
XXX, XLV |
6-2 |
|
San Francisco 49ers |
XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV, XXIX |
|
5-0 |
|
Dallas Cowboys |
VI, XII, XXVII, XXVIII, XXX |
V, X, XIII |
5-3 |
|
Green Bay Packers |
I, II, XXXI, XLV |
XXXII |
4-1 |
|
New York Giants |
XXI, XXV, XLII |
XXXV |
3-1 |
|
Oakland/LA Raiders |
XI, XV, XVIII |
II, XXXVII |
3-2 |
|
Washington Redskins |
XVII, XXII, XXVI |
VII, XVIII |
3-2 |
|
New England Patriots |
XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX |
XX, XXXI, XLII |
3-3 |
|
Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts |
V, XLI |
III, XLIV |
2-2 |
|
Miami Dolphins |
VII, VIII |
VI, XVII, XIX, |
2-3 |
|
Denver Broncos |
XXXII, XXXIII |
XII, XXI, XXII, XXIV |
2-4 |
|
Baltimore Ravens |
XXXV |
|
1-0 |
|
New York Jets |
III |
|
1-0 |
|
Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
XXXVII |
|
1-0 |
|
New Orleans Saints |
XLIV |
|
1-0 |
|
Chicago Bears |
XX |
XLI |
1-1 |
|
Kansas City Chiefs |
IV |
I |
1-1 |
|
St. Louis/LA Rams |
XXXIV |
XIV, XXXVI |
1-2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minnesota Vikings |
|
IV, VIII, IX, XI |
0-4 |
|
Buffalo Bills |
|
XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII |
0-4 |
|
Philadelphia Eagles |
|
XV, XXXIX |
0-2 |
|
Cincinnati Bengals |
|
XVI, XXIII |
0-2 |
|
Tennessee Titans |
|
XXXIV |
0-1 |
|
Seattle Seahawks |
|
XL |
0-1 |
|
San Diego Chargers |
|
XXIX |
0-1 |
|
Carolina Panthers |
|
XXXVIII |
0-1 |
|
Atlanta Falcons |
|
XXXIII |
0-1 |
|
Arizona Cardinals |
|
XLIII |
0-1 |
More Income Tax Complications – And How Valley National Handled Them For You
For our existing clients with brokerage accounts, Valley National has elected to report cost basis to you and the IRS using the “tax lot optimized” method on covered securities. In the future, this election could save you thousands of dollars of income taxes on capital gains
Choosing a cost basis method– When you sell part of your holdings in a security that you’ve acquired at different times and prices, brokerage firms use a default cost basis method to determine which shares to sell.
If another cost basis method is more appropriate for your tax situation, you can switch methods.
If you want to change the cost basis method for a specific trade, you must do so before it settles.
An investor would change the cost basis method, in almost all cases, so as to create a short term loss or a long term loss. It is cumbersome to have to change the method each and every time such a situation is available to the investor; so, Valley National has elected, for brokerage accounts carried at Valley National, to use the default cost basis method known as “Tax Lot Optimizer” to determine which shares to sell . This method can be changed in the rare event that the investor does not benefit by using Tax Lot Optimizer method.
If your investment account is NOT carried by Valley National, and you would like to make sure your tax lot accounting will be optimized, please contact me for further instructions
The Markets This Week
![[b-TradeDow-0123]](http://barrons.wsj.net/public/resources/images/ON-AW042_bTrade_NS_20120120191908.gif)
The Lazarus rally continued last week, and stocks raced ahead, this time by more than 2%. Following this month’s trend, the worst stocks of 2011 have been raised from the dead and are the leaders of the still young 2012.
The 50 worst-performing stocks in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index last year, for example, have jumped about 11% this year, while 2011’s 50 best stocks are up just 2%, according to Bespoke Investment Group.
Trading volumes last week were generally light, and earnings results were taken positively by the market, even though there is evidence of slowing revenue gains at some big companies. No one’s going to sniff at last week’s rise, but a pullback in the next week or two would seem to be in order.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 298.42, or 2.4%, on the week, to close at 12,720.48, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 to 1315. That’s the first weekly S&P 500 close with a 13 handle since last July. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 2.8%, to 2786.70, helped by strong fourth-quarter profits from Microsoft (ticker: MSFT) and chip maker Intel (INTC).
While its revenue numbers were light, the biggest Lazarus of them all, Bank of America (BAC), did report better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue Thursday. The rest of its results were made murky by charges and one-time gains, and its basic banking results weren’t stellar. Still, that didn’t stop investors from bidding up the market and the stock, the latter now up 27% this year and the leading Dow component.
“Stocks left for dead have come back to life, and people are feeling good about a rally led by financials,” notes Nicolas Colas, chief market strategist for ConvergEx Group. “It follows the old-school playbooks, and as long as banks lead, it’s going to be hard to suppress the rally” (Source: Barrons Online).
The Numbers
Last week, U.S. Stocks and Foreign Stocks increased. Bonds declined. During the last 12 months, BONDS outperformed STOCKS
|
Returns |
1-week |
Y-T-D |
1-Year |
3-Years |
5-Years |
10-Years |
|
Bonds- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
US |
|
|
|
20.3 |
|
|
|
Foreign |
|
|
-12.0 |
10.1 |
-6.7 |
|
Source:
Morningstar Workstation. Past performance is no guarantee of future
results. Indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into
directly. Three, five and ten year returns are annualized excluding
dividends.
Looking Ahead…
Are You
Prepared For “One of the Largest Tax Reporting Changes for Investors in over 20
Years”*?
With new IRS regulations going into effect, your brokerage account is required to report your cost basis on “covered securities” to both you AND THE IRS. The IRS is expected to double-check both the sales and cost of stocks, bonds, and mutual fund sales on your income tax return.
That does not sound so tough – so, what’s the problem? Well, leave it up to the IRS to make the tax forms complicated! Many investors will be required to prepare up to 6 additional forms to attach to Schedule D for their stock, bond or mutual fund sales.
Our tax prep staff has you covered. We attended a 2 hour webinar last week on this topic and a two day tax update workshop in December. Not only do we know how to fill out the new forms, we have the entire cost basis for your investments purchased in accounts held at Valley National.
For more information about the new IRS regulations, click:
Contact my office if you have questions about completing your own tax return – we can provide an on-line tax center and an easy to use brochure featuring an overview of the revised reporting requirements.
*As quoted by Deanna Flores of KPMG, an international accounting firm.
Motivational Quote of the Week
“Experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it.”
–Stan Smith
Real Life Situations
Question:
I would like to give my children solid financial advice. Do you have any recommendations on what to tell them?
Answer:
“Pay yourself first”. Many consumers have heard that term but fail to implement it as a strategy in their own personal finance. A great way to save for a financial goal (or retirement) is to set up a routine, automatic periodic investment program into a solid growth and income mutual fund. It’s less complicated than its name. Just specify the amount per month (say $100) that you think you can afford. The amount can be withdrawn automatically from your checking account. And, try to save at least 25% of annual bonuses or windfalls by writing a check and depositing using a tear off coupon-type deposit slip you receive after the first routine deposit. This investment style, sometimes referred to as “dollar cost averaging” is a good approach to investing because you end up purchasing more shares when the price of the fund is low. It’s a proven technique, but remember, dollar cost averaging does not assure a profit or protect again loss in declining markets.
“Your Financial Choices” on WDIY 88.1 FM
The show airs on WDIY Wednesday evenings, from 6-7 p.m. The show is hosted by Valley National’s Laurie Siebert CPA, CFP. This week Laurie will discuss:
“Get ready for some new tax filing forms!!”
Laurie will take your calls on this subject and other financial planning topics at 610-758-8810. This show will be broadcast at the regular time. WDIY is broadcast on FM 88.1 for reception in most of the Lehigh Valley; and, it is broadcast on FM 93.9 in the Easton/Phillipsburg area; and, it is broadcast on FM 93.7 in the Fogelsville/Macungie area – or listen to it online from anywhere on the internet. For more information, including how to listen to the show online, check the show’s website www.yourfinancialchoices.com and visit www.wdiy.org.
Personal Notes
I am proud to not only live in Bethlehem, PA but also
maintain my main office here, too. My fellow residents of Bethlehem are
proud of its progress-and the attention it receives nationally and
internationally. Fellow Lehigh Valley residents are pleased to see the
renaissance permeate throughout the entire valley. Bethlehem is a
microcosm of America. It was founded by individuals seeking freedom to
express their religious views. Many possessed highly skilled
craftsmanship which helped form an industrial base. This eventually grew
to a world renowned heavy industrial center. Bethlehem then transitioned
through the disassembling of America’s industrial base in the last
quarter-century to emerge with a broad based economy, fast becoming a regional
center for the arts, entertainment and historical/cultural programming.
Arts, entertainment and historical/cultural programming are
making a big impact within Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley. Employers are
choosing to locate their companies in the Lehigh Valley over competitors, in
part, because of these. Three new hotels were opened in Bethlehem last
year, the only city its size to do so in Pennsylvania-and one of very few in
America. As Jeff Parks, President of Bethlehem-based ArtsQuest was quoted
in the Morning Call on Saturday:
“What we are doing at ArtsQuest is
simply not being done anywhere else. We are, in many respects, on the
cutting edge of arts and cultural programming in communities of less than a
million people.”
Personally, if I am going to “Talk the talk” then I will
“walk the walk” by increasing my involvement in my community. I fulfill
this community service ambition, in part, by serving on both the Historic
Bethlehem Partnership Board and the ArtsQuest (Musikfest, SteelStacks, &
The Banana Factory) Foundation Board. Perhaps, you too would like to
increase your community involvement. Click on the hyperlinks below to
explore membership or other ways of involvement in these two (which are just a
couple examples of many fine organizations in the LV):
http://www.historicbethlehem.org
Through the many discussions with Bethlehem and Lehigh Valley
clients and the involvement on the Historic Bethlehem and ArtsQuest Boards, I
am developing a 30,000 feet look at what is happening in Bethlehem and the
greater Lehigh Valley– and its moving in the right direction. Perhaps, if
Stanley Kubrick were here, he might say, “The most extraordinarily amazing
things are about to happen”.