Dividends
Edited by Toddi Gutner
The Stat
The ratio of capital gains distributions to assets in equity mutual funds for 2002: 0.4 PERCENT. That's down from 7% in 2000,and it's the lowest level since 1980.
Data: Strategic Insight
GLOBAL MARKETS
POETRY
Street Rhymes
Michael Silverstein wants to be the bard of Wall Street. This 61-year-old publisher runs a Web site, Wallstreetpoet.com, devoted to parodying his favorite poets using the Street's lingo. Here's his take on Macbeth's famous soliloquy:
Investing, and investing, and investing,
Sinks to new creepy depths from day to day
As battered equities do tumble time,
And all the cap gains we thought secure
Just flit away like dreams. Rise, rise, down market!
He also pens the occasional haiku:
Insiders got rich;
Other investors didn't;
So what else is new?
Silverstein's inspiration came when he was a financial editor and discovered many readers loved poetry. Wall Street, he says, "is really another branch of the entertainment industry." The site has more than 100 poems. Contributions are welcome, so feel free to write a paean to your broker or a dirge about your losses.
By Lewis Braham
TIME OFF
Hello, Birdie
In the swing at Atlanta airport
If you're stuck between flights in Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport, you can read, snooze--or take a golf lesson. At Concourse B (Gate 16), Gravity Golf provides on-site instruction (30 minutes, $80). Teaching pro David Lee and his staff instruct students to use more rotation and less brute force--allowing gravity to provide distance on their shots. Open daily, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (404 761-7770). Walk-ins are welcome.
KEYBOARDS
Light Touch
Night owls will appreciate Auravision's EluminX keyboard (eluminx.com). It lights up with a blue glow that makes it easy to see keys even in a pitch-black room. The streamlined layout and key travel are like that of a good laptop. The dark side: At $100, it's pricey.
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Copyright 2003, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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