Six Ways to Protect Yourself From Identity Theft

    We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed by someone stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards, etc.   Here are some simple things you can do to protect yourself and your credit rating from this all-to-common problem.

    The next time you order checks have only your initials (instead of first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your check book they will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name but your bank will know how you sign your checks. But you should be aware that your bank never looks at the signature line.

    When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the "For" line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it.

    Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box use that instead of your home. Never have your SS# printed on your checks (DUH!) you can add it if it is necessary. But if you have it printed, anyone can get it.

    Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine, do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel.  We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But The key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them easily.

    If your wallet is lost or stolen, file a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where the loss occurred .  This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and is a first step toward an investigation (if there is one).

    But here's what is perhaps most important if you have any identity related problems:  Call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number.  The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit.

    The numbers are: Equifax: 1-800-525-6285 – Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742 – Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289 – Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

  There are 3 kinds of people: those who can count & those who can't.

How Much Risk Are You Willing To Take?

    Most investors are very comfortable holding bonds and bond funds right now.  After all, bonds have been going up, who wouldn’t be comfortable?

    But in investing, what goes up will almost always go down again.  The market value of bonds historically go down when interest rates go up.

    The question is not when bonds will go down.  No one knows!  The real question is risk and reward.  How much of each is there?  When  they get out of balance, smart investors move.

    So, ask yourself if the reward part, the low interest you are getting, is enough to warrant the risk to your principal if rates go up.  How high could rates go, or how low can bond prices go?  I don’t know, but I do know how high rates were  a few years ago.

    Today’s bond market reminds me of the stock market 5 years ago.   Caveat Investor!

{mospagebreak title=On Giving Up}

On Giving Up

    Lousy market conditions make people lose interest in investing.  It can seem so "useless" when profits are so slim or infrequent and losses occur.  The market conditions us like slot machines condition us.  But the slot machines are trickier.  They want you coming back so they provide intermittent reinforcement in the form of occasional paybacks.

    But, the market doesn't care whether we come back or not. When — like chickens in a lab experiment — some investors don't get enough bucks for trying (like a chicken getting a pellet for pecking), they are inclined to lose interest. This takes the form of giving up on the stock market, giving up on systems, or giving up on investing by accepting guaranteed yields so low that financial goals cannot possibly be met – decisions made with more fear than information. 

    But at Hepburn Capital Management, we aren't chickens. We're bulls or bears, depending upon market conditions — and cool during frustrating times when the market is going nowhere fast.  Logical, unemotional decision making is just one of the reasons people hire us.

Quotes that should have been From US News:

 George Bush on his supposed inexperience”  Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic.” 

•  	CIA Director George Tenet, on terrorists:  “Forgiveness is up to God, Our job is to arrange the meeting.” 	

•  	President Bush on academic excellence:  “The closest I ever got to a 4.0 in college was my blood alcohol level” 	

•  	The IRS Commissioner:  “A fine is a tax for doing wrong.  A tax is a fine for doing well.” 	

•  	The public on the IRS:  “Did you notice that if you put the word the and ‘IRS’ together it spells ‘theirs’?”