The Philadelphia Inquirer Personal Finance Column
Jan. 22--QUESTION: My 86-year-old mother found a certificate for 20 shares of stock that her mother bought in 1927. I cannot find any information about the firm, Service Loan and Finance Co. How can I learn whether the shares have value?

Factory 2-U Stores, Inc. Receives Delisting Notification from Nasdaq
SAN DIEGO, Jan 16, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Factory 2-U Stores, Inc. (Nasdaq:FTUSQ) today announced that the Company's common stock will be delisted from The Nasdaq Stock Market at the opening of its business on January 22, 2004, subject to the Company's...

NovaStar Financial, Inc. Prices an Offering of Preferred Stock
KANSAS CITY, Mo., Jan 16, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- NovaStar Financial, Inc. (NYSE:NFI) announced today the pricing of 2,600,000 shares of Series C Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred stock. The shares have a liquidation value of $25.00 per share...

'Mortgages Part of Financial Plans'
A financial planner should be involved in the client's mortgage because they already have all of their financial information and are already evaluating the liability side of the client's balance sheet, the president of Thornburg Mortgage Home Loans Inc....

Alternative Tax Can Yield Ugly Surprise
Jan. 12--Some of us who thought we'd pay less this year because of President Bush's tax cuts could be in for a nasty surprise: the alternative minimum tax.


Traditional Pensions Come under Pressure
Jan. 11--Employer support for traditional pension plans is eroding, a new study says, and the uncertainty over how much the plans will cost is to blame.

AIM Investments Expands Online Services with Addition of TurboTax for the Web
HOUSTON, Jan 13, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- AIM Investments(SM) today announced it has expanded its online service offerings to include the TurboTax(R) for the Web(SM) service through a marketing alliance with Intuit Inc.

Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund Data Now Available
BOSTON, Jan 13, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (NYSE:EVT) announced today that Fund commentary is available on Eaton Vance's web site at www.eatonvance.com. The commentary contains information on such topics as...

U.S. Taxpayers Can Profit from Understanding Changing Tax Laws
Jan. 12--If you haven't started planning how to make the most of the new tax law, start now because many of the changes expire in the next few years, some in 2004.

European managers see euro stocks up 10% - poll
UK European institutional investment managers expect European equities to return 10% in 2004, according to a survey by Mercer Investment Consulting.


U.S. stocks set to rally
NEW YORK (AFX) - U.S stock futures were heading for a higher open, with Nokia expected to fuel gains in the telecom sector after it raised its fourth quarter earnings outlook. Stock futures also received a boost after the U.S Labor Department said there...

Oklahoma Regulators Shut Down Alleged Viatical Scam
OKLAHOMA CITY, Jan 05, 2004, (A. M. Best via COMTEX) -- Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher has revoked the license of a Shawnee, Okla.-based insurance agency amid allegations by the Oklahoma Department of Securities that it conducted a pyramid...

Top Stocks in the Defense and Aerospace Industry
CHICAGO, Jan 9, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Fortify your investments from market challenges both foreign and domestic with four All Star recommendations from the lucrative defense and aerospace industry. Here are the top recommendations in the defense and...

Cameco Discusses Impact Of Uranium Prices
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Jan 9, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cameco Corporation said today that while it has consistently expected uranium spot prices to increase significantly over the next several years, some of the recent and unexpected market developments...

It can pay to divide up your investments; SURGERY
IN MARCH 1997 my wife and I invested pounds 8,000 in a Commercial Union Premier Investment Bond. For reasons which we have never understood, our investment was broken down into 10 separate units of pounds 800. We have even been cynical enough to wonder...


It didn't pay to play safe in 2003
THOUSANDS of investors will be cursing their luck as the new year gets under way. Many will be wondering whether they have missed the boat, kicking themselves for believing that share prices would never recover.

Rising Equity, Commodity Prices Likely In First Half

Fiscal Fitness Classroom Program Offered to San Francisco Bay Area Residents
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 8, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The WealthWatchers.US system now provides education, resources, and support to give Bay Area residents control over their personal finances. Class meetings offer a proprietary personal financial planning process...

Bringing Risk Into the Mix
Thomson ONE Advisor will replace three previous providers of wealth-management, market-data and Web-content tools that Legg Mason Wood Walker, a subsidiary of Legg Mason, Inc., had deployed across its 140 offices.

Eurex entry will alter US landscape
The first weeks of this year will be decisive for the big derivatives exchanges. Swiss-German exchange Eurex is waiting for regulatory approval to launch its own US futures and options market, which the exchange hopes to do on February 1. Even if regulatory...


Funds of funds set for shake-up as asset growth explodes
The boom in the funds of hedge funds business last year could bring problems for managers and investors. Funds of hedge funds have been hugely successful in terms of growing assets under management but performance has been mixed and participants predict...

Sceptics still see value in German bonds
It takes courage to be optimistic about the outlook for bond prices in 2004 - especially after a run-up of 100 basis points for the 10-year German government bond since yields hit a multi-year low last June.This is particularly true since all leading...

Emerging markets have tough act to follow
Will the good times continue to roll for emerging market debt in 2004? That question faces bankers specialising in the sector as they look back on 12 months in which performance has far exceeded expectations.Emerging market analysts say that on balance...

Service industries set to generate dealflow
Buy-out firms hope to make a mint from the financial services industry in 2004 as they turn away from the pubs, leisure centres and shops that have long formed their staple diet.Acquisitions of insurance companies and mortgage lenders are set to grow...

Market eyes long-dated corporate debt
Bankers have dismissed concerns that the fixed-income market boom, which saw bond yields rally spectacularly after the Iraq war last April, will halt this year.While yields underwent a huge correction in 2003, outstanding corporate bond redemptions of...