Camarda Financial Advisors, LLC

FLEMING ISLAND, FL - Camarda Financial Advisors, Inc., a Southeast regional fee-only investments manager, today publicly released a new Chairman’s Communiqué:

Barron's Bits

From the Saturday paper, 1-16-10

• Unleash the Pound! This year, Barron's is somewhat bullish on the "Dogs of the Dow," the strategy of buying in January the 10 stocks with the highest dividend yield among the 30 in the index – the bottom 10, as it were – and holding them until it's time to count the fleas yet again next year. While this value strategy has a Dalmatian-spotted track record, the baying is unusually alluring this year, with names like GE, Pfizer, Exxon, Chevron, Wal-Mart, Proctor & Gamble, Verizon, AT&T, Kraft, and McDonalds. Hot diggity!
• Barron's Bets This issue, Barron's is quite bullish on Chubb (CB), an undervalued high-end P&C insurer; and the argument made in the piece is quite compelling as a first pass. Value hounds may want to dig deeper.
• Roundtable Part 1 Each January Barron's gathers the country's top analysts and investment managers – I mean the very cream, including Gabelli, Gross, Cohen, and Witmer – and asks for their year's predictions. Here's a very abbreviated summary: The panel is uniformly bullish on 2010, expecting gains upwards of 20%. The consensus it that government stimulus spending will foster economic growth this year, but in an inefficient and inflation-provoking way. They warn the government to limit increased regulation and corporate tax hikes, and nearly beg Chairman Ben to take his foot off the gas and stop printing money round the clock.
• Tax Opportunity – Calling All Roths? 2010 presents a remarkable, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to convert taxable IRA's to tax-free Roth's, and is probably a wonderful time to do so as well for those who can benefit from the tactic. While taxes on the converted amount must be paid sooner rather than later, this will still make sense for many, especially now, who could ultimately pay far less tax than would be the case if they did not convert. Here are the major reasons: 1) The rules are relaxed to allow richer folks this boon; in past years the restrictions were much more stringent. 2) Tax rates are lower in 2010 than those already on the books for future years...and tax rates will probably go up even more. 3) Actual tax payments can be deferred to future years, a real blue-moon opportunity. 4) Investment account values are still much lower than they had been or will probably be in the future, making the taxable amount much lower than might otherwise be the case. Once in the Roth, no more income taxes will ever be due. Sound like Panacea? Could be, but court her carefully, as the rules (as usual) are very complex, and what's a boon for one taxpayer could spell disaster for another. Be sure to have your options in this regard meticulously analyzed by your tax advisor before pulling the trigger. But you should definitely get the gun out of the drawer, you won't have much time to decide if you should go this way.

A note on Barron's investment tips – while we hold the paper in extreme high regard, we are not recommending that you trade on this data. We merely report what they say, and do not deeply research most of it, though we use the material as one of many basic data feeds in our overall portfolio management process (mostly for economic and markets trends information).

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Camarda Financial utilizes the trademarked ISIS® investment process, invented by Chairman Jeff Camarda, CFP, ChFC, CLU, CFA, CFS, BCM, and is based in Jacksonville, Florida.

Important Information – Past performance may not be indicative of future results. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment strategy or product made reference to directly or indirectly in the communique will be profitable, equal any corresponding indicated historical performance level(s), or be suitable for your portfolio. Due to various factors, including changing market conditions, the content may no longer be reflective of current opinions or position. Moreover, you should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this communique serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from Camarda Financial Advisors, Inc. (“Camarda”).

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