One of the important benefits of membership in WFI is the opportunity for members to share experiences, research and other information. Through the WFI website, sharing is easy to do. Just submit your articles by email to Jean-Pierre Paelinck at secgeneral@wfic.org.

New articles will be posted after confirming the receipt of the article with the author/sender and any minor editorial or explanatory changes. The articles submitted will become a part of the WFI archive unless otherwise requested. The articles can be short or long. The objective is to share ideas, data, programs, and experiences on what has worked — and not worked. To get an idea of what others have written, please click on the articles posted here which have been provided by prior consent of the author.

ShareSoc Investing Basics –  Mark Northway

UK member organisation ShareSoc has produced a valuable ten part investment course.You can watch the teaser below, and the full course is available onthe EDUCATION tab.

WFI Chairman Roger Ganser's Closing Remarks at the 2014 Annual Meeting

Thank you, moderator Peter Muzik, distinguished speakers, RBI for hosting our Annual Meeting in their lovely facility, and to Willi Rasinger and his colleagues for being such gracious hosts during our three days in Vienna.

My role as Chairman of WFI and as a worldwide promoter of investor education came after a teaching career and a thirty-year career as a venture capitalist. I am currently serving a four year term on the USA Security Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Investor Advisory Committee where I am a member of the Executive Committee and chairman of the Investor Education Subcommittee. This past year I was appointed to the Investor Issues Committee of the USA Financial Regulatory Agency (FINRA) who oversees all stock exchanges, brokers, advisors, and dealers. For the past six years I have represented individual investors at the New York Stock Exchange advisory committee. So, I understand the process of capital formation and the importance of capital formation to the future of a nation's economy and the welfare of its citizens. Financial literacy, which refers to very basic skills like balancing a check book, is a worldwide problem. Investor education is an equally critical problem if we are to enable individual investors to build wealth to insure their own quality of life. We require the cooperative efforts of governmental agencies, banks and exchanges, and non-profit investor education organizations to create nations of active and successful individual investors.

Anomie and Timing – Privatization of the Icelandic Commercial Banks  Vilhjálmur Bjarnason

This article illustrates that the privatization of the Icelandic commercial banks has abandoned various cultural values. Legislation was interpreted in a liberal manner, to say the least, and the financial undertakings’ accounting was rather focused on format than on the content and nature of the financial transactions.

SEC Weighs Overhaul of Exchanges' Self-Regulatory System  Washington – The Wall Street Journal

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Jo White opened the door to a potential overhaul of fiancial-market oversight, saying the special regulatory status of U.S. exchanges may not best serve investors or public companies.

Ethical Businesses Often Are The Best Investments BetterInvesting Magazine

It seems we are always hearing that another company is implicated in some manner of illegal or unethical activity.

Now What? Seger-Elvekrog, Inc.

Spanish and American researchers independently confirm that "buying and holding" good stocks outperforms trying to "time the market."

Successful History of the Exchange Trade Fund (ETF) Money Jornal, The Journal of Financial Education

Created in the 90's, ETF became popular since it got into the American Stock Exchange (AMEX).

Homo Economicus: An Endangered Species Money Jornal, The Journal of Financial Education

After being through a period of pessimism, the financial world started 2010 in such an optimism that it is hard to explain. What happened to all those catastrophic predictions when the crisis started in 2008? Do those who defended market reasonability have any convincing explanation for such slump in 2008 and the spectacular recovery later on?

Mutual Fund Managers Follow S&P BusinessWeek

A recent BusinessWeek article pointed that six of the ten largest U.S. stock funds have reported correlations of 0.99 with the S&P 500, meaning their moves almost exactly mirror the S&P 500. One investment manager stated that investors have a "risk-on/risk-off" attitude that leads at times to violent swings. The high correlation is making it difficult for actively managed funds to produce better returns than the lower-cost index funds.

Contrarians Suggest Investor Pessimism as a Rally Sign BusinessWeek

Americans continue to be wary of stocks. The S&P 500 stock index is almost unchanged from a year ago, and mutual fund investors have pulled $57 billion from equities since May. At the same time, when stocks appear as the better investment investors have put about $597 billion into bond funds, according to ICI. In fact, 68 stocks in the S&P 500 paid dividends that exceeded the average corporate bond rate. Confidence in bonds is misplaced, according to a manager at Pioneer Investments. Credit Suisse pointed out that free cash flow (outside of the financial industry) represented 6.8% of stock prices, which is the highest level since 1960. Some suggest that retail investors need to see tangible evidence that will generate sustained growth.

Introduction to the Leading Financial Portals by Barbara Regulska, Danish Shareholders Association

A key factor in making profitable investment decisions is staying informed about market changes, important events and decisions that influence stock markets around the world. Today, in an era of internet communication, the problem is not where to find financial portals, but where to find the best portals.

more articles ...

PR Newswire – Innovative Online Stock Analysis Tool Updated
At a crucial time for Americans to build and preserve wealth, BetterInvesting, a long-established nonprofit investment education organization, is leading the way with innovative, online solutions to empower investors to take control of their financial futures. The organization recently released an enhanced version of its easy-to-use, unique Web-based program empowering users to easily and conveniently analyze stocks.

PR Newswire – Investor Advisory Service Named to 2010 Investment Newsletter Honor Roll
Newsletter lauded by Hulbert Financial Digest for exceptional long-term performance in both up and down markets.

www.stockcentral.com (BI's wholly owned for profit that develops software)
Data, discussion, and analysis for individual investors and investment clubs.