European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 31, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday August 31, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 19 investors guide by William a. Doyle q. Who should absorb a profit or loss in a customer s account at a brokerage firm due to an error the broker firm at which i have an account contends i owe Money because they say they could not execute an order i placed to buy a certain Stock at a certain Price. They claim the Stock never traded at my Price. They told me this three weeks later. By that time 1 had sold that Stock at a profit through the same brokerage firm. I have confirmation statements for both the Purchase and Sale. They have debited my account for the amount they say i owe and Are charging interest on that Money. The amount involved is too Small to consider hiring a lawyer. It is my under standing that National association of securities dealers arbitration takes a Long time. A. If hat Stock did not Trade at the Price at which you wanted to buy it i m afraid you re stuck even though you received what apparently was an erroneous confirmation statement brokerage firms Are far from perfect and sometimes Send out statements containing errors. If the Purchase confirmation statement was in error you never bought that Slock. Therefore you did t own the Stock and could t sell ii. Based on the information you Supply the Sale confirmation statement Only compounded the foul up. There Are times when brokerage firms will absorb losses resulting from errors especially for Good customers. But you can t insist on it. As you relate things both confirmation statements were errors on the part of the brokerage firm. If these were honest errors and you re not trying to cheat the brokerage you can t complain about your account being charged for Money Yon do owe. However if that Stock did Trade at a Price at which it could have been Pur chased for you that s a different Story and Yon should go to arbitration. Nash and All the Stock exchanges have arbitration procedures. You can file a claim with any Exchange the brokerage belongs to or Nash if the firm in t an Exchange member. It does t matter in which Market the trades took place. Because of the backlog of disputes be tween customers and brokers it might be months before your arbitration Case is Beard. But once a hearing is started it s usually settled within a few Days or weeks. Q. I turned in a Stock certificate for 200 shares to my brokerage firm to be held in Street Ever since then my monthly statements show there Are 300 shares of that Stock in my account. When i told the person in the firm s Back office that i thought this was an error he indignantly replied there could be no i know this Stock has not split or paid a Slock dividend and that there should be Only 200 shares in my brokerage account. What would happen if i place an order to sell the 300 shares my statements say Iown would the Transfer agent s computer go tilt. It s unlikely the Transfer agents computer would nag the Sale. If you have a Little larceny in your soul you ii Proba Bly get away with you place Stock in Street name the shares Are registered in the brokerage firm s name. Assuming the brokerage holds other shares of the same Stock tee Transfer agent would Transfer 300 shares and would t know whether you and or other customers of that firm Are Selling. Now if you re Simon pure you ii sit Down with your broker and Plain How his firm s Back office erred and credited your account with 100 More shares than a i soup to you to decide if you want to have the error squared away. Let your business news oilman Pickens forms group to represent shareholders Cox news service Washington positioning him self As a protector of the rights of the nation s 47 million corporate shareholders Texas oilman t. Bronc Pickens has formed a non profit organization to phase out the Good of boys of corporate America and turn the throttle Over to America s one goal Pickens said will be to lobby Congress and the securities and Exchange commission to do away with unequal voting rights imposed by Many of the nation s lop corporations on their shareholders. He said his group will fight worded proxy statements that Are full of legalistic corporate America s competitive Cri Sis is caused by a Lack of management accountability Pickens said created when managers began looking out for their own interests and not shareholders United shareholders association Usa is the name of the group Picke shas organized. He said it will operate put of Washington much like a political Campaign Pickens said his goal is to sign up500,000 members who would pay $50 annual membership fees apiece betwee now and the presidential elections of 1988. That would give his Usa a War Chest of $25 million in two years. We will organize local committees in the 55 top markets in 15 key primary and caucus states he said identifying Texas Florida and Ohio among them. Pickens stressed hat shareholders t. Boone Pickens Are concentrated in key electoral Stales including 6 million in California 5 Mil lion in new York 3 million in Texas and 2.3 million in Florida. Bui inc chairman and chief exc Culic officer of Mesa per Locum company who had been strongly mentioned in the past As a potential Republican candidate for governor of Texas strongly denied Al a crowded news conference last week Hal he has any political ambitions. Pickens. Who was reported last year to be the nation s highest paid Corporale executive in 1984 at $22.8 million in salary Bonus and Long term compensation said he is ready to provide the $1.3 million in seed Money he estimate sit will take to operate his organization for the first two identified the average american shareholder As 44 years old with a Slock portfolio Worth $6,200. These arc l fal cats we re talking about said Pickens. These Are hard working an aide said Pickens already has provided $100,000 from his own pocket to open Usa s doors in Washington. But Pickens said he Hopes contributions from others will help defray at least some of the Cost Between now and 1988. Pickens said one of the first expenditures by his group will be the commis Sioning of a study by leading academic experts on cleaning up the corporate proxy this goes right to the heart of the accountability problem because it directly affects the shareholders ability to in fluence corporate governance. Think about it Public corporations arc the Only place in America where you sign your ballot Send it to the incumbent and ask him How the election turned said he thinks confidential balloting on corporate issues should be the answer to that problem. But he said various scholars disagree Wilh him and we will have to wait and see what stand we will said his new organization will nol funnel funds or Issue endorsements to political candidates. t y me be York tunes nn�5 serv a Wall Street has mixed emotions new York a Wall Street Marks the traditional business new year at labor Day amid an Odd combi nation of enthusiasm and caution. As the labor Day Holiday approaches the Market will be closed for the holi Day monday Stock and Bond markets Are healthy having lately resumed their Long Bull markets. But the . Economy is marching or perhaps More accurately plodding to the beat of a different drummer. Its problems were highlighted just be fore the Holiday weekend when the government reported a record foreign Trade deficit of $18.04 billion for july. The most important Issue for investors to contend with immediately upon their return from the Long labor Day weekend will be the one they left behind As they headed for the mountains or the beaches said Greg Smith at Prudential Bache securities. They will again be confronted with contradictory and con fusing the presumption that seems to have kept the so curlies Markels going is that the Federal Reserve will do whatever is necessary to keep the Economy s Condi Tion from worsening to the Point of Stag nation or recession. The sceptics assert thai some sectors of the Economy that have suffered from foreign Competition already Are in what could be called a recession and that the fed s efforts so far have been of Lille help in these areas. Those efforts have included four re Stock pulse Slock div Ohi oed own of Safeway at1t Penl Dresser Grol iof Mobil coca Hewl lip by United Presa International c 1m Friday. Auo.uel2,1�w nose compost la Moat act Vea by volume Compo Elte Moat a Uvee by volume vol close earns be old 18108.700 22% s 24s 90 86 4046100 79v, 4.72 170 18 1.565.400 60k 1.523.100 24% 149 170 49 1483900 45v 4.00 110 65 1.416.700 17v. 45 1.253.200 12 /. 056230 1068.200 35% 326 110 62 1058400 37v. 198 190 1 023 200 46v, 1 90 24 0 05 Stock wicj.0 Bat aminul eco bin Lori Martel Amdahl Hashop wangle Phlp Tel Dillards. Only to Merck Mel a of adm try nose composite largest net change close Cage earns be old 62v. 4v. 376 17.0 2,7 \\3\ 2% 122 930 10 34v. � 2 ,. 006 593.0 4$ 32 t 2 i 73 180 1.7 115%. In. 4.26 270 1.9 64 , 4.19 15.0 24 59k 1v, 10.50 6.0 99v, 1v. 061 163 0 3.0 no vol close earns be old 1.205.100 5% 030 170 322.500 6a3-16 066 90 31 277.700 6h 034 190 270 900 20% 257.700 24% 249.900 21 206.400 39u 200.000 14% 153.70 10v, 152.700 35 Amei composite Carnesl net a tinges Stoch close Cage earns be old Homes nop "9 -10 Alcoa 3 75 484 78 Hashop 39 i 3. Elk Tecl 43". 3 Glendis 38 2. 104 Phlp Tel 10" action 10 tech Ops 29. Lori Martel 4. Be Price to earn legs ratio old dividend yield Del deficit at yield in Alock earnings lateral 12 months unaudited 06 0 42 500 09 03s 420 1.1 2.21 50s2.32.31 150 03 4 $322 130 12 141 27.0 26 221 50 23 1.01 11.0 05 1 51 190 auctions this year in the discount Rale which now islands at 5.5 Friday the labor department is due to Issue its report on the employ ment situation for August. As Maury Harris economist at Paine Webber inc. Sees it the figures will help determine whether the fed eases again before the november the August business statistics Are noticeably improved Harris predicted the fed could Cut the discount rate to 5 Prospect of declines in interest rates is an important one for the Stock Market. Although lower rates have not stimulated the Economy much lately they have brought yields on Many thai compete with stocks to very Low Levels by the Stan Dards of the past 10 the Standard 5.5 percent rate on passbook savings accounts is under pressure. At the same time most tangible Assel invest meals have not been faring Well with reported inflation still running at a very slow , the reasoning goes the Stock Market could win almost by default Ashe Only attractive place for people like pension fund managers to put Money entrusted to feeling seemed to predominate in the past week As the Stock Market recorded its fourth straight weekly gain setting some record highs in the process. The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials Rose 10.54 to 1,898.34, bringing its gain since aug. I to i34.70poinls. The new York Slock Exchange composite Index gained 1.44 to 145.32, and the american Stock Exchange Market value Index was up 2.93 at 273.85. Volume on the big Board averaged 130.92 million shares a Day against 126.41 million the week before
