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  Interview with Investment News in New York with business reporter 
Mr. David Hoffman. 
 
Interview with the LA Times New York bureau with business reporter 
Mr. Thomas Mulligan. 
 
Interview with the Wall Street Journal in New York with reporter 
Ms. Ruth Simon.
 
Interview with the New York Times with reporter 
Mr. Alex Berenson.

   Interview with Investment News in New York
business reporter
Ms. Sarah O'Brien.

 


 NEWSPAPER

Dates:
Jan.  8, 2000
Oct. 16, 1999
Oct.   4, 1999
Aug.  9, 1999		 Aug.  7, 1999
May 10, 1999 

 

Saturday, January 8, 2000

  Software used to predict stock prices

By JANINE YOUNG SIKES
Sun business writer

Online traders and small brokerage firms soon will have a new tool to predict future stock prices. Gainesville-based NeuroDimension has developed TradeSolutions, a software that analyzes several years of day-end stock prices as well as other factors to determine subtle trends that can be used to forecast daily stock price movement.
Still in the testing phase, TradeSolutions is scheduled to be launched in April. The 8-year-old software company, which offers a limited line of software products and applications, expects TradeSolutions to become an instant best-seller.
"It allows you to make money in both directions," said Gary Lynn, 34, a partner in the seven-employee firm. "By balancing out your long and short positions, you are able to hedge your investment."
But the ease of buying and selling stocks on the Internet and the growing number of online traders trying to make huge returns worries some investment advisors.
Joseph Meyer, a stock broker and analyst with Meyer and Associates in Ormond Beach, said the most successful way to make money in the stock market is to buy and hold quality stocks.
"People are always looking for a unique way to outsmart Wall Street and that's literally impossible to do," Meyer said.
The software is expected to cost $795 and it's not foolproof, the makers conceded. Lynn cautions that even the best models will lose money at times.
NeuroDimension, different from conventional software companies, uses neural network technology and algorithms to create software that can teach computers to process information in a way similar to humans.
Neural networks gather their knowledge by detecting the patterns and relationships of data, learning from those relationships and adapting to change. And unlike humans, these neural networks can process enormous amounts of data in a fraction of the time it would take a person to perform the same task.
Neural network technology has been successfully applied to a wide range of real-world applications, including cost management, quality control, stock portfolio management and targeted marketing.
The technology is being used by some of the world's biggest companies to manage operations that would otherwise be infeasible because of cost or manpower constraints. And the use of this technology is likely to grow by in the coming years as computers are used for more complex tasks.
Indicative of the growth, sales at the nation's largest neural network company, HNC Software in San Diego, rose 32 percent in the first three quarters of 1999 as compared to the same period a year before. Sales in 1998 were 57 percent higher than in 1997. With the addition of TradeSolutions to its product line, NeuroDimension expects revenues to increase about 50 percent this year. They declined to disclose actual sales figures.
NeuroDimension engineers design the complex software from a small bare-bones office on N. Main Street. Although the company is now self-sufficient, Lynn said, it still tries to keep overhead as low as possible.
"It works for us," Lynn said. "We just need our computers and a desk to work at."
NeuroDimension was founded in 1991 by Gainesville brain surgeon Steve Reid, University of Florida professor Jose Principe and UF electrical engineering doctoral candidate Wesley Lefebvre. Principe is director of the Computational NeuroEngineering Laboratory, which is a part of UF's Brain Institute.
Lefebvre wrote the company's core product NeuroSolutions, which is being used by more than 50 companies and academic institutions around the world to do such tasks as help control costs in the construction and helping predict the impact of ash on power plant performance to name a few.
Last year, the company received a $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a program to automatically sense the breathing patterns of patients on a ventilator and adjust the machine accordingly. At this time, the machines have to be adjusted by hand. The group has applied for a $400,000 grant for this year.
Reid and Principe began developing systems to enhance the ability of humans to analyze brain waves. The company was spun off as a way to take "cutting-edge technologies to the marketplace," Reid said.
"We are seeing an overlap between electrical or mechanical systems and human systems," Reid said. "For the first time we have machines that think in the same way living humans think."
Reid, president of the NeuroDimension, predicts TradeSolutions will give the company a broader base of customers. "The company was a little slow getting started," Reid said. "At this point, they are very well poised to go places with this new product."

Janine Young Sikes can be reached at 337-0327 or

sikesj@gvillesun.com.




Oct. 16, 1999

  Downward Dow loses 266 points

Wire and staff reports

    NEW YORK -- The Dow Jones industrials briefly fell below 10,000 Friday as a whiff of inflation and a warning to investors by the Federal Reserve chairman sent stocks tumbling.
    The drop below 10,000 lasted only moments, and the Dow fell no further than 9,998.18.  But the average still finished 266.90 points lower at 10,019.71 for its worst close since early April.
    ...............in a speech to bankers Thursday night, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan issued his latest warning about investor exuberance at a time of robust economic expansion and roaring stock markets.................

   Joseph Meyer, an Ormond Beach investment consultant, said he expects that within a few days, the market will close below 10,000, possibly triggering a "rather nasty bear market."  He said he has been urging caution since August, advising clients to take profits gradually on high-priced issues and build up a cash position to reinvest after stock prices fall significantly.

    ..........Declining issues outnumbered advancers by more than a 3-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 687 u, 2,400 down and 436 unchanged.  Nasdaq decliners led by a slightly smaller margin.
    NYSE volume totaled 907.56 million shares as of 4 p.m., up from 879.46 at the same point on Thursday. 
    
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Oct. 4, 1999

  Investors closely watch market mood

By THOMAS S. BROWN
Business Editor

    DAYTONA BEACH -- Is the party on Wall Street finally coming to a close?
     More and more of the professional stock analysts seem to think so. They point out that while the Dow Jones Industrial Average, an index of 30 blue-chip stocks, is still showing 12.9 percent gain for the year, most other stocks are already down 20 percent from their highs of the past year.  A broad-based 20 percent decline is generally regarded as an indicator of a "bear" market......
     One local stock watcher bracing for bad news this week is Joseph Meyer, an Ormond Beach investment consultant and mediator.  He sees the market as being in the middle of a "major, serious correction" that will only worsen if the Federal Reserve decides Tuesday to raise interest rates again.
    "I see 10,000 for the Dow as an important threshold.  If the market drops below that point, it could go into a major decline and drop to 9,000," he warned.  He said he is urging his clients to adopt a "fully defensive position," cashing out on days when the market is favorable for their particular holdings."
    "Unfortunately, too many of our investors are new to the market," he said.  "They have never been through a stock crash and they just think everything they buy is automatically going to go up."..............

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Aug. 9, 1999

  Trust, comfort keys to selecting broker

 

By THOMAS S. BROWN
Business Editor

Selecting a stockbroker ought to be given almost as much care and consideration as finding a spouse. 
In both cases, say investment experts, the ideal match-up involves finding someone you 
can feel personally comfortable with and trust with your money.
And in both cases, the first encounter often starts with an introduction by a third party.
"The majority of my clients come to me by people asking around, talking to their friends and neighbors about who might be a good broker," said David A. Culley, who operates David A. Culley & Associates, an investment management firm affiliated with Raymond James Financial Services.
Mark Jones, office manager of Merrill Lynch's Daytona Beach office, agreed personal referrals are a good starting point for finding a broker. But that's just the beginning of the investment "courtship," so to speak.
"If someone is coming into our office for the first time, I have them go through a profiling experience," Jones said. It's a get-to-know-you interview in which Jones finds out what the potential client is looking for in a broker and how much guidance he desires. After sizing up the potential client, Jones then assigns the person to one of the office's 17 brokers.
Some clients merely want a broker to execute stock, bond and mutual fund transactions and keep track of the paperwork. Others want service coupled with advice - recommendations of investments tailored to the client's particular goals. Still others want what amounts to a comprehensive financial plan - a detailed analysis of their financial situation and a strategy for achieving their goals. Jones said Merrill Lynch can serve all three types of clients.
With the rise of the Internet, investors can now get into the market without even talking to a human. They can use their computer to establish accounts with online brokerages and initiate trades themselves. For an experienced investor, this avenue offers convenience, speed and low transaction fees, usually less than $20 per trade and often below $10. Online brokerages that scored the highest in a recent quality ranking by Money.com - the electronic version of Money magazine - were Charles Schwab, National Discount Brokers and DLJDirect.
However, most investors, especially those who are novices in the market, will probably prefer a face-to-face relationship with a broker in the real world, not in cyberspace.
Culley said the initial meeting between a client and broker works best if each asks frank and in-depth questions. That will help them decide if the personal chemistry is working.
"A lot of clients tell me they left their previous broker because they never got the feeling that the broker was really listening to them," he said. "Months would go by and they would never hear from their broker."
A responsive broker, Culley said, will touch base with his or her clients at least once a quarter, and not every contact will be a sales call.

Joseph Meyer, an Ormond Beach registered representative and longtime arbitrator of investment disputes, said many new investors simply walk into a brokerage office and ask to see someone.
"When they do that, they're going to get the broker of the day,' the person who happens to be assigned to handle the floor traffic that day. What you get is just a matter of luck, but most people don't realize that," he said.
He recommended that an investor interview several different brokers before making a decision, and check out each person's credentials carefully. Don't be afraid to ask for client references, he said, and then go ahead and actually contact the references. Ask for details of the broker's education, years of experience and investment philosophy.
"Always try to get the most experienced broker you're able to find," he said.
It's also a good idea, he said, to check out the broker's record with regulators. This can be done easily by calling a toll-free disclosure line of the National Association of Securities Dealers at (800) 289-9999. Computer users can go to the trade group's Web site at www.nasdr.com.
Once a client decides to set up an account with a broker, he will be asked to sign a customer account form, which will list all fees and conditions of the arrangement, including a provision covering how investment disputes will be handled.
The form also will specify how much authority the customer is granting to the broker - whether a customer's approval is needed beforehand for each transaction, or whether he is letting the broker make all decisions. Meyer said an investor should read the form carefully and make sure he understands every detail. If he feels uncertain about it, he should take the form with him and have a lawyer review it.
"Never be afraid to ask any question," Meyer said. "It's your hard-earned money that's at stake."

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Aug. 7, 1999

  Local investment analyst warns about Internet stocks

 

Staff report

ORMOND BEACH - Investment analyst Joseph Meyer said Friday the end of the "Internet gold rush" may be just around the corner.

Meyer, a stockbroker and volunteer investment counselor, said he expects a "very significant long-term drop" in stock prices of Internet-related firms as investors examine second-quarter financial figures and start to perceive the companies as overpriced.

"I strongly recommend that some profits be taken," he advised those investors who have benefited in the run-up in Internet stock prices in recent months. The Internet stock category has risen in price nearly 41 percent since mid-June.

In a market update posted on his Internet web site (www.MeyerAssoc.com) Meyer described the stock market as being in "the early phases of an intermediate correction." Internet stocks, he said, will be especially vulnerable .

"The key next week will be if the long bond can trade on a yield basis to over 6.2 percent. If it can, we will start a very accelerated move to the down side," with the Dow industrials average perhaps dropping to about 10,000, Meyer said.

When the market reaches that level, he said some investors who can afford to speculate may do well by buying the strongest of the Internet stocks at depressed prices and waiting for their next short-term rally.

But he cautioned against buying any of the issues on margin. "Remember, these stocks are trading vehicles, not long term quality investments, and they are high risk."

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May 10, 1999


   Arbitration can resolve investment problems

 By AUDREY PARENTE
Staff Writer

  ORMOND BEACH - When a 70-year-old military retiree lost $200,000 over three years on speculative investments made at the suggestion of his broker, he discovered all was not lost.
  He went to the National Association of Securities Dealers Board of Arbitrators for help. Joseph E. Meyer of Ormond Beach, an arbitrator for the board, was one of three men who heard the case and decided the retired soldier should get his money back.
  "He made a claim, and we had an arbitration in Tampa that lasted five days. He was able to prove that at 70-something-years old he was ill-suited for these type investments," Meyer said.
  The arbitrators determined the man had limited knowledge and that the motivation of the investment broker was to make commissions.
  "The broker made a lot of money while the customer lost," said Meyer, who arbitrates up to five cases a month for NASD.
  The majority of security disputes, prior to 1987, were settled in the circuit courts through civil litigation, Meyer said. But in June of that year, the United States Supreme Court ruled that compulsory arbitration between public customers and their brokerage firms was enforceable. And in May of 1989, the court further made arbitration mandatory, he said.
  After the ruling, NASD set up guidelines and wrote a code of procedure for formal arbitration.
  Meyer said a panel of three arbitrators that hears cases includes one from the public, such as a retired businessman, engineer or teacher; one who has spent the majority of his career in the securities industry, to serve as the industry expert; and a third who is a practicing or retired attorney who makes sure procedures are followed correctly.
  "Because of my background in the securities industry, as a stock broker, investor and investor-advisor, and I became a mediator and arbitrator for the New York Stock Exchange and NASD," said the 50-year-old Meyer. He operates a Florida-based investment and consulting firm. ...

  The arbitration process for claims of more than $10,000 begins with a suit filed by a securities attorney, but those who have complaints that involve lesser amounts can file a simplified arbitration, without an attorney, Meyer said.
  Simplified arbitration forms for claims less than $10,000 are available from NASD directly by calling (212) 858-4400.
  All pleadings for simplified arbitration are entered through the mail before one arbitrator, and those involved in the case don't have to go to Tampa, Meyer said.
  The decision by the arbitrator is binding and final on the parties, Meyer said. He said that the amount for simplified arbitration might soon be raised to $25,000.
  As a consultant, Meyer can advise whether a case is worth pursuing, and he gives advice to those who might be worried about their investment circumstances. He said to always maintain a copy of the stock or bond confirmations, monthly account statements from the broker and all
correspondence.
  "It is crucial in case you want to file a claim later on," he said.
  Meyer said that the statue of limitations on filing a claim is six years from the date of a transaction, and reimbursements for the costs of a case might be included as part a decision.
  In the case of the retired military man, "he was awarded all of his money, plus attorney's fees and reasonable interest," Meyer said.

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