A client came in this summer and told me her son was entering college. Because her son was 18, he could access the money in his custodial account, and she wanted to know how to discuss it with him. Keep in mind each state has different age limits on custodial accounts that range from 18 to 21. There are essentially three scenarios that can play out.

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Lee Munson and Patrick Kirts assess volatility in energy markets. Published on Seeking Alpha.

After seeing the historic volatility in oil over the last year we at Portfolio Asset Management asked a simple question: How should we take on risk in the energy markets? Warren Buffett once said, “Risk is not knowing what you’re doing.” Others see risk as the chance of permanent loss. We agree with those ideas, so in this context we need an investment well positioned to handle the uncertainties of the oil market.

First, we don’t know where oil prices are going in the short term, and that means companies extracting or producing oil (E&P’s) have uncertainty in earnings. Second, the end user (you, me, and China) is under pressure. We saw Exxon exit the gas station business this year as competition increased. Refineries and retail sales operations do not excite us. Third, political uncertainties are at fever pitch.

Oilfield services contractor Schlumberger is the Switzerland of the energy industry. By focusing only on servicing fields, they gain the trust of their largest client base, independent oil companies, by not competing with them. National oil companies, which control 60% of the world’s reserves and are its second largest client base, do not want an integrated oil company competitor managing their oil fields. Even the large, integrated oil companies depend upon their services.

Over the past four decades, Schlumberger has built an international management team and workforce. The ability to share and act on innovation is at the core of their culture. This is in direct opposition to many competitors, who rely on management from their home countries.

Read the full article here.

Lee Munson and Patrick Kirts analyze Nucor’s financial performance. Published on Seeking Alpha

Recently the financial media has made much to do about all things related to commodities. We doubt that most investors or advisors understand how to approach investing in commodities outside of the ever increasing and complex ETF’s sold to them. The historic volatility and recent popularity of the commodity market should make us ask a greater question: Why bother? At our firm we buy a lot of shares in a focused group of undervalued companies and take profits appropriately. We stole this idea from most of the billionaire investors on the planet and have yet to see a better way. A great way to approach this is the large unloved firm. Here we will focus on Nucor (NUE). Some will call it a ‘commodity’ or ‘basic material’ play. We are more concerned that it makes profits, has real assets, and is well managed. Profits fund dividends, real assets protect us from permanent losses, and good management should sustain the first two. Add to that the recent selling pressure that appears to come from our fair-weather hedge fund friends, and you may have something of value.

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This article is also available on the BMW Blog at: http://www.bmwblog.com/category/bmw-european-delivery/

If you have decided to spend that startling amount of money on a car, you may have to admit it’s not really an investment, but do we have to call it an expensive toy? No, not if we make the acquisition a memorable experience.
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Investors are confused by the myriad acronyms replete in the financial services industry as they appear after the names of any number of Vice Presidents and Directors. Many designations are merely certificates issued without rigorous tests or any assurances of a defined body of knowledge that should include financial accounting, investment analysis, and the law. Not surprisingly, in this complex and turbulent industry only two designations require a regimen of exams and a college degree, the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) and the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®).
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Nucor fires up state-of-the-art steel mill

Portfolio’s findings on steel production are discussed in the Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN).
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People on the Move

From the New Mexico Business Weekly
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