Disclosure: This post is both broad and detailed so that interested analysts and journalists can gather key facts and form their own opinion. Reviewing incredible schemes such as this orchestrated by Robert Mercer and Jim Simons often attract teams of analysts and reporters. This post is original fact checked independent research available free on … Continue reading How Trump Patron Robert Mercer Brilliantly Shifts Assets From The Main Street Economy, Beer Sales, Into What Bloomberg Calls “The Blackest Box in Finance.” Is Mercer indeed, like Trump, under severe financial stress?
Category: Oregon-PERS
See prior September 18. 2017 blog post for important background regarding PERS adoption of age weighted IAP accounts. Once again, it appears that younger workers are being short changed by PERS in the adoption of age weighted IAP accounts. Remarkably, there was no opportunity for public discussion on vendor selection or strategy regarding how the … Continue reading PERS IAP Accounts – Too Much Politics? Disclosure Lessons from Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson
In 2004 the State of Oregon decided to isolate the "employee contribution" part of PERS and put these amounts into what are called IAP (Individual Account Program) accounts. These 200,000 IAP accounts are essentially a defined contribution program, not unlike a 401K, for which members earn returns based upon market results with no guaranteed rate of … Continue reading Oregon PERS Set to Award $8 billion Contract, Largest Contract in State’s History With no Media Coverage
Index based investment using a company's total stock market value is a great concept and indexes such as the S&P 500 generally provide solid low cost diversification. Unfortunately, Wall Street has now applied this concept to "sectors" of the stock market without adjusting for the size of individual companies. This is not only exposing investors … Continue reading MSCI Health Care Index: A Good Measure or a Pyramid Scheme Enabler? Case Study: Johnson and Johnson and Pfizer
This week TD Ameritrade held its annual institutional advisor conference at Cesar's Palace in Las Vegas. CEO Fred Tomczyk, pictured on left below, summarized TD's strong financial position in addition to his belief that money market accounts should be about safety and stability. For this reason, TD has chosen to minimize both duration and credit … Continue reading Karl Rove and General Wesley Clark Debate at TD Ameritrade Institutional Advisor Conferenc
On January 31st I posted a brief video on youtube summarizing a program in which the Oregon Investment Council is lending its securities portfolios, using State Street as an intermediary, to hedge funds and private equity firms so that they may meet the ownership standards required to conduct short selling-- betting on the declines of … Continue reading Public Pensions Fuel Short Selling by Lending Their Security Portfolios to Hedge Funds
On Sunday December 21, 2008 Oregonian columnist Steve Duin wrote a column titled "A fool and his trust are soon parted." Clearly, Oregon State Treasurer Randall Edwards, in his management of the plan, has breached his responsibility to Oregon's parents savings for college, saddling those making conservative bond choices with losses of almost 40 percent. … Continue reading Oppenheimer College Savings Plan Infected by Madoff Scandal – Obama’s State Illinois and Oregon both Impacted
See two related videos by searching for parishinvestments at youtube.com. The first video is titled "Clinton Tax Scheme" and the second is titled "Missing Clinton Financial Disclosure." The purpose of this comment is not to disparage the Clinton's but rather draw attention to the most astonishing tax loophole in 25 years. Last week the Clinton's … Continue reading Clinton Tax Return – The Real Story
As the Presidential race narrows, it is worth examining the key economic advisers to each candidate. While John McCain and Hillary Clinton have both enlisted advisors who are largely the source of current market turmoil, Barack Obama is instead supported by a beacon of financial integrity, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. McCain's choice of … Continue reading Economic Advisor Analysis: McCain Clinton and Obama
NOTE: See chart of Buffett Oregon Lineup at end of this post. Oregonians have a great choice for Secretary of State this year. Her name is State Senator Vicki Walker and she is a proven courageous leader and advocate for both ordinary Oregonians and businesses alike. Although a Democrat, Walker is also popular with many … Continue reading Vicki Walker Battles Warren Buffett Political Machine in Oregon