European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 12, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                May 2007 stars and stripes Mideast edition Page 19 your Money Fidelity firms fined for misleading troops securities dealers group finds brochures overstated plans performance by Jaime Levy Pessin Dow Jones news wires new York sales literature from two Fidelity describing invest ment plans aimed at military was misleading about the plans perform the National association of Securi ties dealers said this Fidelity investments institutional services of and Fidelity distributors of must pay a Fine for violating advertising rules Between january 2003 and january the Fine Money will go toward investor Edu cation for military the Nash the two both units of Fidelity which is owned by for consented to the Naids without admitting or denying the the Nash said that Between january 2003 and january 2006 the two brokerages prepared and distributed misleading news brochures and other marketing mate rial about destiny i and ii systematic invest ment those marketing materials showed the plans performing significantly better than they actually the Nash we do regret these and we have taken Steps to ensure errors of this sort do not occur in the said Anne a Fidelity she said the company has pulled the sales literature at Issue in the Naids action and has conducted Exten Sive training of employees on the review and approval of marketing systematic investment plans also called periodic payment plans typically require investors to make a fixed number of monthly payments Over 10 to 15 according to the securities and Exchange com investors in such plans dont directly hold shares in the underlying Mutual most plans including the destiny plans require a 50 percent fronted fee during the first year of As part of the military personnel Finan Cial services Protection act of the issuance and Sale of new periodic payment plans was a March 2007 Sec report found along with making misstatements about Peri Odic payment the dominant brokerages Selling such plans to the military focused on Lowe ranking enlisted members who often  meet their payments and who paid fees of More than 10 according to the Naids enforcement a the Fidelity broke dealers distributed copies of one brochure that included a Chart labelled time is the Chart showed the destiny plan performing substantially above the 500 Index Over a 30year in the Nash the reverse was True for the most recent 10year and 15year periods the 500 Index repeatedly out performed the destiny by As much As 16 percent in one the 30year time period masked the under performance of destiny i and ii Over the most recent 15 the Nash the Chart was meant to show the benefits of continuous As opposed to Stop Ping contributions when it comes to invest taking time out from your regular invest ing program could be a very expensive mis the brochure a sent to destiny plan had another Chart showing plan per but the Nash found the Chart didst account for the 50 percent upfront sales charge on firs year and on going sales charges on other the Nash the Chart showed Only the average annual total returns of the underlying portfolio the plans returns were much Jim the Naids enforcement said in a statement that the mislead ing information about the complicated products was aggravated by the fact that the plans were sold primarily to military person who often have limited time to study the marketing materials for investment prod in addition to the the Fidelity Bro Ker dealers Are required to notify destiny plan holders during the next five years that they can acquire More shares of the underly ing fund outside the destiny plans without paying additional weak sales numbers for retailers include rare Walmart drop the associated press new York the Outlook for consumer spending in the coming months dimmed thursday after their sales Hurt by Ris ing gasoline prices and the slump ing housing had one of their worst months Ever in As retailers released their monthly sales Walmart stores recorded a rare de Cline the weakest performance since the worlds largest retailer started publishing monthly sales in according to John Sim a company but aprils disappointments crossed All segments of the Consumers Are feeling pressured by higher gasoline prices and a sluggish housing particularly Lowland Middle in come said Ken per president of retail metrics a research company in analysts had already expected last month to be disappointing after an Early easter motivated Many Consumers to do their holi Day shopping in Siphon ing away part of aprils but sales were much softer than raising concerns that retailers will also see disappoint ing results in the months the us International Council of shopping centers sales tally of 53 stores posted a decline of the biggest drop since the Index started tracking the data Back in the tally is based on same store sales or sales at stores open at least a which Are considered a key indicator of 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when buying All figures Are foreign currencies to one except for the British which is represented in and the which is precious metals new York merc close Gold Silver interest rates prime discount Federal funds Market 3month 30year sources the associated Bank of America and sensibility a Jeff Money tip of the Day unusual scholarships by Marshall Loeb Market watch new York if your Stu Dent int the class valedictory the newspaper editor and the High school quarterback All at the same that Doest mean chances for a College scholarship Are theres this notion that you need to be a Well rounded Stu Dent to get scholarships that just colleges want a Well rounded student not Well rounded Vari Ety makes things if you Excel in one it can make up for deficiencies in other says Mark director of advanced projects at one of the Lead ing scholarship search engines on the fast web has just released its list of the top 10 most unusual scholarships and it includes an award for Duck a scholarship for vegetarians and even an award for students with the last name Van the list underscores the importance of being creative when it comes to scholarship when you Complete a profile in a National scholarship data base like its Worth while to carefully look Down the list of dont skip Over the profile answer the ques it takes the average Stu Dent about 30 Kantrowitz and that where you would enter characteristics such As being a vegetarian or hobbies such As skateboarding theres a scholarship available to before conducting your make a list of your a Kantrowitz i Call it an accomplish ments it summarizes everything youve done not just but its a Good Way to become familiar with who you it will also give you some key words to search for awards and things to look out