I received an update from Sogo Invest on their ACH policy.  There has been a great discussion on their transfer policy in a previous post with an interview with Sogo’s President, William Yeh.

Since that discussion is getting a bit long, I thought I’d start a new post on the ACH topic.  Below is the latest reply from Sogo Invest management concerning their ACH fund transfer policy.  It’s refreshing to see a company so receptive to customer feedback!

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As mentioned in our earlier post, SogoInvest has now officially adopted a faster ACH fund transfer …

I’m on my way to Reno this weekend for the annual Reno Air Races.  Since the new ban on anything liquid in a carry-on, I figured I better check and see what I can bring.

Permitted in a carry-on:

Scissors, screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, knitting needles, nail files, nail clippers, toy weapons, walking canes, tweezers.  Oh, and “personal lubricant”.

NOT Permitted in a carry-on:

Toothpaste, mouthwash, shampoo, chap stick, liquid soap, eye drops, saline solution, deodorant, sun tan lotion, bug spray, mascara.

Does anyone else find this a bit odd?

Oh what a tangled web we weave.

Reading a post by David Houle has me thinking of the future of satellite radio.  Companies like XM and Sirius have made a business out of streaming audio into radio units, both in your car and your home.

Sirius has stuck to audio, however as far as I know, they still have plans for video capability in the future.  XM has branched out to providing not only radio, but also weather data to aircraft and GPS manufacturers.

The premise of David’s post was about …

JefferyLin mentioned Permian Basin Royalty Trust (PBT: chart, web) in a comment to an earlier post on Frontline risk.

Permian Basin is a U.S. express trust that holds overriding mineral rights in oil and gas properties in the United States, mostly in Texas.  As with many oil and gas trusts, their balance sheets have been appreciating over the last three years.

Permian Basin has had 10% quarterly growth year over year, and a quarterly earnings growth of just under 11%, year over year.  They have $4.9 million in cash, and no debt.  Not surprising for a pure royalty trust.

The company has a respectable 9.7% yield, and pays out on a monthly basis.  The payout has been continuous back to 1987, and has ridden the roller-coaster wave of oil prices for the entire trip.  Their payout ratio is 100%, which means they neither keep, nor reinvest their income back into their reserves; typical of a U.S. royalty trust.

The stock is held by a number of institutional investors, as well as a hand full of mutual funds, however none of them have taken an appreciable stake in PBT.

This afternoon, Pengrowth Energy Trust (PGH: chart, web) posted a regulatory filing indicating they may offer up $2 billion in trust units and subscription receipts.

Much like Chesapeake did a few months ago, Pengrowth said it will use the proceeds for “general trust purposes” including paying off debt.

As a shelf registration, the company may sell securities at any time, and withhold the details until they offer the securities up for the market.

The red flag can’t get any brighter in this case, as I’m looking to take advantage of continuing dividend payouts rather than true …

For those looking for a discount stock broker, there is an interesting discussion pertaining to how they handle margin and ACH transactions in a pervious post.

“Vacman” and “indexfundfan” have brought to light some legitimate concerns about when margin interest is applied, and how long it takes to transfer money in to Sogo Invest.  What’s really impressive is that there are official responses to the discussion from Sogo Invest management (filtered through me).

The company is very interested in feedback, so if you have anything to contribute, please know that the management team from Sogo Invest reads TheCornerOfficeBlog regularly!

Check out the post and the discussion.

Natural gas ($natgas: chart) prices have taken a slide lately, mostly due to the storage levels at year over year highs.

Those interested in the futures markets may note that the volatility in the natural gas futures market requires a strong stomach.

Like many commodities, natural gas prices are heavily weighted in speculation; driven by geopolitical forces as well as the all mighty mother nature.  While there isn’t a sole on Earth that knows for sure what the nature of our geopolitical status will be in the future, there are a few out there that make a healthy living on predicting …

The FSBO vs. Real Estate Agent saga continues.

My friends’ house is still on the FSBO market, over two months since the FSBO test started.

In that period of time, they’ve lowered their price by $5,000 while under the impression that it’s the price that is keeping people away.  You’ll remember that the people next door sold their house for $2,000 under what they were asking in under a week using a realtor.

The trend continues, as another family down the street put their house on the market three weeks ago and now have a contract on it.

I’ll continue to monitor the status, …

My tenants want a cat.  It could be worse (i.e. Pit Bull, Rotweiller, Great Dane..).

So I have to write an addendum to the original lease allowing for a pet under certain terms and conditions.  My search for lease addendum forms on the internet turned up a host of different sites providing free forms for landlords and other real estate professionals.

In short, the addendum needs to outline the following terms, among others:

Type of pet, along with color, weight, height
The additional pet deposit due
Any increase in monthly rent
Responsibilities of the pet owner
Freedom of liability of the landlord

I took bits and pieces from the various …

It appears that the reality of ethanol is rearing its ugly head.  There have been several articles, mainly from Wall Street, that are finally seeing the connection between the ethanol fad and our dependence on food.

In a very telling article written by Lester Brown from Fortune Magazine, the harsh reality of Ethanol is spelled out such that anyone with the most basic understanding of competitive markets can understand:

“This year cars, not people, will claim most of the increase in world grain consumption.”

While ethanol may be a good substitute for the MBTE additive that has recently been outlawed as a gasoline additive to reduce pollution, it’s no …