Lee Eugene Munson and Patrick Kirts analyze Ford Convertible Preferred Stock. Published on Seeking Alpha

Last fall Portfolio Asset Management discussed the merits of the 6.50% Cumulative Convertible Trust Preferred Security (F-PS). This trust was also known as Ford Motor Company Capital Trust II. The idea was simple, get paid while you wait for Ford to do nothing but keep on trucking. Well, last week we found that like the homeowners that bought too much house and asked the banks to lower their mortgage rate, Ford (F) just can’t pay for their preferreds.
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Lee Eugene Munson and Lorraine Ell analyze the value of ETFs. Published on Seeking Alpha

When ETFs came on the scene 15 years ago, they brought a brave new world of efficient markets with low operating expenses and minimal tax liability. While the largest funds like DIA and SPY are designed in the spirit of the original ETFs, to track the large indexes, most of the newer ones do not even come close to this original purpose.

If the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) is correct, then only two ETFs are needed at most, a world stock index such as the Vanguard Total World Stock Index (VT) and a bond index like the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND), in a ratio that fits your risk tolerance. Anything more, if we are to be philosophically true to the EMH, tips into the realm of active investing.
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Lee Eugene Munson and Patrick Kirtz analyze Ford Convertible Preferred stock. Published on Seeking Alpha

The news is horrible for the auto industry. In October, J.D. Power and Associates published a study that suggested a potential collapse in the global auto industry in 2009. We love to buy panic, but this time it seems real. If you want to make money in such a dire situation, you will need to understand what you are putting up, what you could lose, and what is the payoff.

Part of our core portfolio includes a convertible preferred issued by Ford (F). But before we get too technical on how to play the global auto collapse, we need to see where Ford is in all of this and what could possibly cause it not to go broke. For those of you that don’t like reading, here is the punch line. The company has the cash to stay alive for a little while, it doesn’t have to be that great, and a little known version of the stock is selling cheap and pays well. For those that like to read, here you go.
Read the full article here.