Sharp Ideas

July 2003

 Creating Wealth
Through Value Investing

Dividends Are In!

Sharp Investments, Inc.
www.sharpinvestments.com

503.520.5000
or 888.760.9046
Fax 503.520.0530
moreinfo@sharpinvestments.com


CURRENT NEWSLETTER

Current issue of Sharp Investing.

DIVIDENDS ARE IN!

Stocks, bonds, real estate. While there are other places to invest your money, these three asset classes are by far the most popular. While all three assets have been used to produce both capital gains and income, only real estate income held any tax advantage. Now with the May 2003 changes in tax law, stock income (dividends) is on equal footing with real estate income in terms of the tax breaks.

Over the last eighty or ninety years dividends have accounted for over 40% of all investment returns from stocks, a fact completely ignored during the speculative boom of the late 90’s. In fact, stocks that paid dividends also had higher capital gains than those that did not give a dividend payout during this time. At the low point in 2000 the S&P 500 dividend rate was 1.2% compared to a 4% historical rate (we are now back up to 1.7% and rising). With the new tax law, dividends are in again and many companies that historically have never paid out a dividend, such as Microsoft, are now seriously considering adding a dividend.

Why all the fuss about dividends? The remainder of this article is on our website.

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Visit Sharp Investments on the web at www.sharpinvestments.com

The Importance of Independence

This July consider….THE IMPORTANCE OF INDEPENDENCE:

Sharp Investments is an independent, non-custodial, Registered Investment Advisor. If you are wondering why our firm’s independent status matters to you, consider:

  • We represent no particular broker/dealer, instead using reliable third-party deep discount brokers. We do not have the ability to access client funds, write checks, or otherwise control client funds. The custodian controls the funds, we control the investing.
  • Since we receive no commissions or fees on investments, we are not pressured to “sell” you certain “products” and are free to focus on the highest returning sector of stocks, value stocks. We do not invest in mutual funds, IPO’s, partnerships, commodities, uncovered derivatives, or emerging markets.
  • We invest directly in publicly-traded, nationally-listed, corporate and government securities. We can take advantage of market opportunities that cannot be accessed by the vast majority of financial professionals.
  • Since we represent no particular investment product such as mutual funds or insurance products we use a style that best fits the client based on their investment goals and risk tolerances.
  • We provide personalized portfolio management for less than the cost of most mutual funds.
  • Our advisor is highly informed and makes well-researched moves. All investment decisions are tightly controlled.
  • Independence means your account receives much more attention than it does with the large investment companies. We provide direct advisor contact, investment tax strategies to minimize taxes, and ongoing portfolio monitoring to keep your portfolio current with your situation.
Contact us for a complimentary investment consultation.

Oregon Business Magazine Article

Dan recently wrote an article for Oregon Business magazine concerning available tax breaks for the self-employed.
Read a copy of the Oregon Business Magazine article right here.

Tell us what you think of Sharp Ideas! Several of you have written with comments and we truly appreciate it. This e-zine is for you --- please contact us with any comments you have. Thank you!
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