91视频

Dear Mr. Berko: We have three sons, all college graduates, each of whom have young families and, fortunately, secure jobs in the high-tech industry. Our sons have birthdays in January and March, and, in the past, we have always selected, with great care and forethought, personal gifts that we believe they could use. It took a lot of work, but we enjoyed the shopping and took great delight in purchasing the appropriate gifts for our sons and their respective wives, as well as our grandchildren. At the family Thanksgiving dinner, our sons told us (very nicely) that they would prefer money. Giving them money is too easy, doesn’t require any thought and is crass. So my husband and I think it might be fun to buy each son shares of stock. The stock we are thinking of buying for them is Intel. But if you have a better idea for a long-term growth investment, we’d appreciate your thoughts. The first birthday is about a month away so we’d really appreciate a quick response. –聽W.S.,聽Durham, N.C.

Dear W.S.: I guess this isn’t my day, so it’s not going to be your day either. Have you heard the maxim “A son is a son ’til he takes a wife, but a daughter is a daughter for the rest of your life”? Well, I don’t know your sons and frankly, W.S., I don’t think I care to. I’ll answer your question, but first, I feel compelled to share my sentiments with you. My birthday is not my day. It was my mother’s day. And every year on my birthday, I would send my mother a dozen roses, and my dad would take Mom out to a restaurant where I had prepaid the bill with a credit card. My sister did the same. And though they have both passed, I make a contribution in their names to the American Cancer Society. Now my son and daughter also send their mother a dozen roses on their birthdays and take us out to dinner. They realize that their mother did all the work, changed all their diapers, took them to the doctor, cried with them when they were hurt, washed their clothes, cooked their meals, and, well, you know the rest of the story. Somehow, it seems that many parents have raised self-centered, materialistic and thoughtless children.

As for Intel (INTC – $20.40), I don’t like it. I never have and probably never will. Intel is a $35 billion revenue manufacturer of integrated circuits, primarily for the PC market and, to a lesser but still significant extent, the communications industry, the electronic equipment market and the military. And I remember telling readers in 2000, when Intel had $34 billion in revenues and traded at $76, that the stock was “absurdly overpriced” and that only madmen and errant fools would buy the stock. Since then, Intel’s income statement and balance sheet have turned to rust and revenues have foundered. Intel is also unattractive because growth in the PC industry has slowed and there is limited opportunity for the company to expand. Management is mired in antitrust issues (the European Union recently fined Intel $1.5 billion), and the company recently settled a lawsuit with AMD for $1.25 billion that alleged unfair business practices. I’m also not confident that Intel can maintain its technology lead over AMD in the processor market. I could wax negatively about Intel, but suffice it to say that I’m not sanguine about the long-term growth prospects of its 5.6 billion shares.

Rather than Intel, consider buying treasury inflation protected securities (TIPS). Because the health care bill passed, its cost will add more than $3 trillion to the national debt and send inflation into the ionosphere. Any economist worth a spoon of salt knows this is true and will tell you that the 535 loons in Congress, whose votes were secured with bribes, will have irreparably blown it.

Address your financial questions to Malcolm Berko, c/o The Daily Journal of Commerce, P.O. Box 8303, Largo, FL 33775, or e-mail him at [email protected].

漏 2009 Creators.com