European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 12, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 22 stars and strip r s july 2007 your Money family investment clubs Are Rich experience generations gather to discuss finances by Kara Mcguire Paul Star Tribune on a recent Friday members of the extended Carlson family finished a pot Luck dinner of Ham baked Beans and potato then they settled Down in front of a giant projection screen not to watch the game but to scrutinize their the car sons Are one of a handful of fam Ilies that have started Multi generational in vestment clubs As a Way for Young and old to learn a thing or two about How the Stock Market their newfound interest even brought them to their very first shareholders meet ing last members shared their Opin ions about 3ms annual meeting from the cos handling of questions to the showcasing of new products As 11yearold Erin passed around boxes of posit scrub brushes and other 3m freebies from the its difficult to say How Many family in vestment clubs a National investment club does not have an official but Bob a better investing senior vice said they seem to be growing in popularity at a time when Finan Cial literacy is a hot Button family clubs typically Are started by an interested family member trying to pass on some knowledge and instill some discipline before the family teens go to col lege or get a Ohara the club philosophy is to buy goo Quality growth stocks that Are basically on Sale and Moni Tor their performance As a Way to learn eff Paul Star Carrie Carlson and daughter look Over a performance Chart for a Stock the Carl sons Are considering during the monthly meeting of their investment club at family Mem Ber Elaine car sons each month the extended family gathers for a potluck about How stocks clubs will double their Money in five investment clubs were All the rage throughout the from 1994 to better investing tripled the number of member clubs from to As the Market so did club Mem As of february clubs were successful clubs Arent formed to take advantage of a Bull typical members join to Martha Simms convinced her family to Start the Fortune fourteen investment club in 1994 after investing with a Success Ful Al women club for three she haunt Learned about compound interest and Stock valuation until her children were i wanted my kids to learn those she at nobody wanted to do i cant say i was mar thas Joe he was 30 and just starting a teaching so she sweetened the telling her four kids that grandma Martha would give to every grandchild who contributed were kind of like a company with a 401 Arent we she Joe went along with it because his mom was passionate about the his three kids Ages and 7 have a few thousand in the clubs portfolio is Worth More than mostly invested in Large companies such As Wells Fargo and the car sons now 18 months old and named our dollars meets each member con tributes a month to the Mem Bers who cant be present participate via conference Call one member routinely joins remotely from his new Mexico club members discussed their stocks to with family members sharing in sights on whether the release of the new pirates of the Caribbean movie would raise the Price of Disney Stock and whether an Accident on a water ride at a Disney theme Park would lower then to the part that s fun spending the club had about to invest and was considering game Stop which Erin brought to the groups Atten Tion in May after seeing it mentioned in better investing family clubs often make a Point of considering stocks suggested by the youngest hop ing to keep Mem after a lengthy discussion about the mar Ket for used video games and systems and whether its fast growth is a Fluke or a trend with staying Bill some body make a they bought 15 tuesdays Market summary indexes 52 High Low name last net chg Ltd chg chg 52wk chg Dow Jones industrials Dow Jones transportation Dow Jones utilities nose composite amex Index Nash a composite Russell 2000 do Wilshire 5000 most Active to or name vol 00 Active name vol 00 Active or More name vol 00 last chg forum 505330 Pfizer 423428 Geneles 389013 Micron 384457 homed 332397 pm cup 327460 i Tigre 316319 to Menam 279001 Hilton 264966 inc 256632 1629074 ish Knya 926039 up incl 422228 up engy 293620 Pru Shyqo n 205529 do Madiam 124315 Semi her 87091 up mid 69973 69307 oils vat 62433 1121224 push Sqq 964569 Microsoft 625612 Intel 625154 level3 4899 Apple inc 44um 13245 Cisco 371531 Oracle 279471 Al matl 244975 Yahoo 240186 1 key defense stocks chg Armor computer general general Harris Allied l3 Lockheed Rockwell Seq a Texas text Ron United key Mutual funds name Nav ret Fidelity invest Fidelity invest Fidelity spartan Putnam funds a Erlna Amer Century inv Fidelity invest Fidelity invest Fidelity invest aim investments a const fms a aim investments a Chiaia p Fidelity advisor Fidelity advisor t Putnam funds a Globe qty Dws Scudder cd s into Fidelity advisor t Dws Scudder cd s Putnam funds a gig a Exchange rates military rates euro costs july Dollar buys july British Pound july japanese yen july South korean won july commercial rates Bahrain British Canada China Denmark Egypt Hong Kong Hungary Israel Japan Kuwait Norway Philippines Poland saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey new military Exchange rates Are those available to customers at military Bank ing facilities in the country of issuance for South the Netherlands and the United for no local currency Exchange rates purchasing British pounds in Germa Check with your local military Bank ing commercial rates Are inter Bank rates provided for reference when buying All figures Are foreign currencies to one except for the British which is represented in do and the which is precious metals ends and sensibility Money tip of the Day payday loan rights new York merc close Gold Silver interest rates prime discount Federal funds Market rate 3month 30year sources the associated Bank of America by Susan Tompor Detroit free press should a Cash strapped consumer be required to pay More than if he or she takes out a payday Doest repay the Money and bounces a Check it sounds but a few years payday lenders in Mich Igan took Consumers to court and got those kinds of they sued for triple plus in if a Check bounced due to insufficient a new Law went into effect last but some unscrupulous lenders Are still trying to get those so 29th District judge Laura Mack in and some other judges Are trying to inform other judges and warn As part of the process to get a payday Consumers write a personal Check to the payday Lender for the amount of Cash they plus a the More Cash you want the bigger the to get the Maxi mum fee in Michigan is the individuals Check is dated to the due Date of the you repay the loan when you get and the personal Check is returned to but if you dont come the Lender cashes that if it the Lender has Legal Mack maintains that now the most a payday Lender could charge for a bounced Check for in sufficient funds is the payday Lender has the right to collect the amount of that including the if you took out a payday were talking about not consumer advocates Are sup porting a Federal Bill to halt the use of a personal Check As Collat of and prohibit payday lenders from having electronic a Cess to Bank last Congress enacted this Protection for military service members and their if they have your they have a Hammer Over your head that they can use to get you to said Edmund consumer program director for an advocacy group in