The Homeless Portfolio is taking a sabbatical...

Please direct questions to integrity1966@gmail.com

Stayin' Alive

Soon, very soon, we'll have a roof over our heads, but we've still got to overcome obstacles.  We may be in a town without a shelter or mission, there may be no room at the inn (especially in the winter) or we may need an ID and/or a negative TB test card to get into a homeless shelter..

So at this point we're still camping out.  There are still assets we can add to our Homeless Portfolios that can enhance our quality of life.  Lets take them in order.

We're never going to get anywhere if we can't bathe.  It's going to hurt our health, offend others and make the diligent homeless look (and smell) bad.  Fortunately, a large (but not too large) city offers us lots of options.

Salvation Army posts may offer even non-residents a quick shower.  So might homeless services offices or St. Vincent De Paul centers.

If we can scrape together a couple of bucks, our local YMCA is a good place to look for showers.  If we are veterans, we may be able to take a shower at a drop-in facility near us.

Several of the agencies listed above, as well as many churches, have clothing closets where the homeless can get fresh, clean clothes, and several of these centers offer free laundry facilities.  If we can't find free washers and dryers, we're going to have to save up enough to wash our clothing at a laundromat.

And taking care of our teeth is vital to our overall health.  Any homeless support and assistance center will have toothbrushes and other toiletries.  Cleanliness is a vital creed as we accumulate these quality of life assets,

By now we are really sick of being homeless.  There's little light at the end of our tunnels.  If we stick to the principles of our Homeless Portfolios, we will return to self-support more safely and quickly.

Don't lose hope!

It's our special birthday week!

So we're taking the day off.

This afternoon the University of Arizona Wildcats host the Oregon State Beavers in a big Pac-10 football matchup.  The Cats are ranked 9th in the nation, their first time cracking the top ten in 12 years.  Your friends here at The Homeless Portfolio are fortunate enough to have scored tickets to the game.  Who'd have thought that even remotely possible during our years of homelessness ?  God we love Pac-10 football...

Enjoy your weekend...

Coming up this weekend!

We'll steer back toward expanding our money smarts by applying some basic investment terms to our real-world Homeless Portfolios.  Now that we've got a few bucks, how do we spend them?  Some answers this weekend...

Canning

"Canning" is a street term for collecting aluminum cans and turning them in for cash.  The problem is that, in most states, we get very little reward for our hard, smelly work.

The first thing we need is a plastic garbage bag.  If we have a buck we can get them at any dollar store. 

Now we need a plan.  First, we'll start our regular canning by five in the morning.  Last night's empty cans and bottles may already be sitting on the curb..  Grab 'em...but be careful to never trespass on private property.  We're going to have to look in and dig into trash cans to reap our reward.  Next we'll hit the "collegetown" area.  Remember, college towns are the best when it comes to providing services to the homeless.  Fraternity houses are manna from heaven.  Talk to the guys who live there...they may well save up their cans and bottles for you.  In 4-5 hours we should be able to collect 100 cans, and use the proceeds to add important assets to our Homeless Portfolios.

Now we need to take our goodies to an aluminum recycling facility.  In states without bottle and can deposits we're only going to make about 60 cents per pound, meaning our 100 cans (33 cans/pound) will earn us $1.80.

Contrast that with states which pay us five cents per can.  That money comes from a deposit already paid by the purchaser.  In Oregon, for example, those 100 cans will net us $4.80, a 266% better return than in by-the-pound states.  "Return" simply means profit, or the amount of money we make.  Look at any aluminum can and it will tell you whether there is a deposit law in your state.

So now we need to use this new asset, money, to enhance our Homeless Portfolios.  Canning is not a positive long-term effort, but it can fill the gaps.  Next week we'll talk about how we should spend our money to improve our lives.

Coming up this weekend!

We'll lighten things up this weekend.  We've added our basic means of survival to our Homeless Portfolios.  Now let's use this transition period to add money, a key asset, to our Portfolios.  It's called "canning;" collecting aluminum cans and cashing them out at recycling stations.  Some states will pay us five cents per can, meaning a few hours of canning can earn us 10 bucks or more.  All you need to know about "canning," coming up in this weekend's edition of The Homeless Portfolio.

Hangin' Out

Hopefully we've gotten a full night's sleep, because we'll be on the move all day.

A list of things to do during the day is, in essence, an asset for our Homeless Portfolios.  Planning is a key to progress.  It's more complicated than you might think.

Challenge 1: We're going to have to carry all of our physical assets with us all day.  Leaving our blankets, sleeping bags or coats at our sleeping site pretty much guarantees our assets will be stolen.  We'll talk about scoring a backpack or piece of luggage in just a bit.

Challenge 2: Loitering is a crime.  Unless we're in a public space we can be ticketed, which is a big setback for our Homeless Portfolios. 

This is why we want to live in a farily big city, with a population of at least 250,000 residents.  We'll stick out like a sore thumb in a small town, and there will be fewer services for us. 

So where do we go during the daytime?

Well, parks are attractive because they are public spaces.  Everyone is welcome. Don't forget that we'll need to adhere to the park's curfew.  But how does hanging out in a park advance our Homeless Portfolios?  It doesn't, of course.  We will stay on track, which means we'll be active during the day.

We can loiter at a bus bench, but that is equally counter-productive.

If we can hustle up enough money for a day pass on the local bus service, we've got a place to go in extreme weather.

Good-sized cities will have drop-in availability at non-profit agencies.  The Salvation Army and the St. Vincent DePaul Society often offer meals, and they frequently have clothing, cold weather supplies and toiletries.  Backpacks and small luggage too.  Many thrift stores are operated for and by charities.  Most will do what they can to help us.

Other non-profits in large cities may well offer these things too, as well as shelter from the elements.  To find these agencies we'll either talk to some of the fellow local homeless, check a phone book or go online.

How on earth can we, the destitute, go online?  The key is the best possible place we can spend our daytime hours:  public libraries.  This subject is so important...the best possible asset for our Homeless Portfolios at this juncture is online time.  This is so crucial we'll spend an entire chapter talking about libraries and the Internet.

Wandering around can be productive in small, unpredictable ways.  If we look, we'll find change on the ground everywhere.  Be patient.  We can find other assets as well.

But ongoing income is our goal.  One-time money won't get us off the streets for good.  If we blow the money on a motel room, drugs or alcohol then we're not ready to develop our Homeless Portfolios.  See you when you bottom out again.

Let's say we find someone's purse or wallet in a public space.  What do we do?

We never, ever, ever take someone's personal effects.  ID's, credit cards or pictures of their kids.  We're going to turn in the wallet or purse to the closest business, and tell them where we found the item.  We're doing a fine thing for that wallet's or purse's owner.  Doing good deeds is essential as we fill our Homeless Portfolios.  It speeds up the process.

But what if we find money inside?  What do we do?

The Home Portfolio NEVER encourages illegal acts of any kind.

But, hell, at this point we're homeless, probably hungry and still sleeping outside!  Who could blame us for keepng the money?  As mentioned earlier, we've done this person a great service by returning their personal effects.  Those things are more important than money for most people.  Secondly, people stupid enough to lose their wallets and purses deserve to be punished for their stupidity, in the opinion of your friends here at The Homeless Portfolio.

So we won't go any further than this:  Who could really blame a homeless person for keeping the cash?  Not us.

Don't forget that we need to remain physically close to the nearest sources of food, water and a bathroom.

Libraries and social service agencies are the superior places to "hang out" in the daytime.  We'll tell you everything you need to know about using the resources at your nearest public library to generate the most important asset we can accumulate at this point...

Internet access

Coming up this weekend!

We talked last week about how we're going to sleep outside and be safe.  Now we've got the rest of the day to consider.  We can't just sit on a park bench all day...that's stagnation.  Plus, if we've accumulated any blankets or other cold weather gear, we have to carry it with us all day.  So how can we productively pass our time?  We'll talk about that this weekend.
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A quick personal note.  I honestly didn't think that anyone would be reading this thing, whatever it is, but people are reading.  Our goal is simply to help get information out to the homeless and those who care about them.  For those of you finding some kind of value in this work, I hope you'll share it with others.  Thank you for reading The Homeless Portfolio.

Sleeping Out

If you find yourself as destitute as we once were, you're spending time sleeping outdoors.  There may well be no shelter nor mission in the town where we find ourselves.  .The shelters could be full, particularly during cold weather.  Most shelters require us have a current negative TB test card.  That could take days to obtain.  And many shelters and missions require legal ID, which we lost God knows where.  Get used to starry skies, and potentially deadly weather. 

We have already noted that there are many homeless people who choose to live outdoors, even in frigid conditions.  Maybe they have a hidden campsite and lots of blankets.  Maybe they sleep in a car.  If that's your preference, more power to you.  There is a sense of freedom that goes with electing to stay outdoors.  But this behavior will DEFINITELY prevent us from accumulating assets in our Homeless Portfolios.  We're never going to get a job if we live outdoors. We 'll have trouble signing up for government benefits.  We have no phone nor an address.  And there is the constant risk of being arrested, assaulted or worse.  Wouldn't we rather be taking concrete steps, which build upon each other, to get off the street so we don't have to live outside?  Accumulating assets in our Homeless Portfolios gives us a future.  Sleeping out is giving up on life.

Yet our predicament dictates we're going to have to sleep outside at some point.  We need to remind you, dear readers, that The Homeless Portfolio does not encourage nor endorse any illegal acts.  But when it comes to sleep you literally have no choice but to break the law.  But being picked up by the police is the least of our worries.

As far as we're concerned, sleep is a human right.  What else are we supposed to do but break the law?  We can't just walk around all night.  That's dangerous, very dangerous.  We must sleep, so we have to find an appropriate place to do so.

Don't go way out in the boonies.  We need to be near emergency services in case we are assaulted. 

Parks are not a great idea.  Most parks have a curfew, and the cops have little else to do in the early morning hours but snoop around city parks.  Likewise, camping out in public spaces like city halls, courthouses or libraries may well land us in jail.  If we camp on private property, we are trespassing.  Don't camp in residential neighborhoods.

If the cops find us, they're most likely to just shoo us away.  But if they ask for ID and we don't have it (which we don't), we're going downtown.  If we have any outstanding warrants, that will get us booked as well.  It goes without saying that a stretch in jail or prison grinds the progress of our Homeless Portfolios to a halt.

Camping near businesses can work.  Try to get as close to the nearest hospital as you can.  Patios and alcoves in small medical parks, usually very close to the nearest hospital, are practical and safe.  Of course, we could get rousted by an early morning cleaning crew.  Wake up as early as you can and move along.

The best alternatives are churches.  If we are quiet and unobtrusive, we should find a suitable spot.

Shelter from the elements is our primary concern.  Overhead coverage during rain and snow is essential.  We'll need some blankets, which we can almost always get from Salvation Army posts, from missions, shelters or city-sponsored blanket giveaways.  We may also be able to get a sleeping bag, which is wonderful.  The problem is that we now have to carry these assets around with us all day.  If we leave them at our campsite, they're going to get stolen.  There is strength in numbers, so campsites on public property are safer if more people are living there.

In extremely cold weather, when the shelters and missions are full, cities will often open up their National Guard armories, which generally don't require a current TB card nor a legal ID.

We noted that camping near a hospital is ideal, because at some point during our time sleeping out we will be assaulted and/or robbed.  It's happened to us, and it will happen to you.  In one town where we've lived a homeless man was kicked to death in an alley when some college football players saw him urinating against a dumpster.  Other desperate homeless people will attack us for our meager assets.  High school kids will engage in "bum bashing," which can also turn deadly.  If we're asleep, there's not a lot we can do to react to being attacked.  Ideally we are in a position to have someone take sentry shifts throughout the night to guard against intruders.

Which goes back to our decision to sleep near a hospital.  If we are injured or sick, hospitals must treat us, even when we have no money.  Similarly, if we're on the brink of freezing to death we can go to the hospital for treatment.  Frostbite is a medical condition.  With the slow pace of most hospital emergency rooms, we've probably secured a warm place at least until the morning. 

When it comes to sleeping out, we learn to hide in plain sight.  We don't ever do anything that draws attention to us.  Sometimes it's better to be brazen; it makes it look as though we're not doing anything unusual.  When a police car goes by, the worst possible thing to do is turn around and run in the opposite direction.  Blend in.  As you scout potential sleeping sites you want to find a place with very little foot traffic.

And please, please keep your sleeping area clean.  Don't be a filthy bastard.  Don't leave trash lying around.  Don't deface any public or private property.  When you trash a campsite, at some point you won't be able to go back.  Why do damage?  If nothing else it makes all of the homeless look bad, which reduces a community's willingness to assist the destitute.

Do not camp out unless you have no alternative.  Your Homeless Portfolio is useless if you can't find a place indoors.  A steady, safe place to sleep outdoors is our short-term goal, and an important asset in our Homeless Portfolios.

Coming up this weekend!

The odds are high that if we are homeless men in a strange city, we won't be able to get into a mission or shelter right away.  Demand outstrips supply when it comes to shelter, meaning there often isn't room at the inn.  As such, we have to develop a strategy for sleeping outdoors safely and, to the extent that we can, invisibly.   "Sleeping Out," this weekend from The Homeless Portfolio. 

Also, there's a small addendum at the end of our article on panhandling from last weekend.  Please check it out, and thanks to everyone who is reading The Homeless Portfolio.  Spread the word!

Panhandling and Dumpster Diving

Sigh... 

Panhandling is sometimes a necessary evil.  Cash is the best asset of all at this point, because it allows us to buy the basic things we need.  How we spend our money, however, will affect the speed with which we will obtain further assets in our dynamic Homeless Portfolios.

But what if we only get one meal a day at our local soup kitchen?  You could follow our path and go from 190 pounds to 125, or you could lose some of your dignity by panhandling.

Dignity is the most important asset we can add to our Homeless Portfolios at this point.

There are other reasons that we shouldn't panhandle:

It's illegal just about everywhere.  Most American cities have criminalized panhandling in public places.  Our only alternative is to"hit people up" on private property.  Once they ask us to leave (and they will), we're trespassing unless we go immediately.  Getting arrested is a huge debit to our Homeless Portfolios.

There's competition for prime panhandling spots as well.  We're begging for a street fight if we encroach on someone else's turf. 

And we've never met a "professional" panhandler who saved his or her money to get off of the streets.  Most spend their money immediately.  You'd be shocked by the number of people who live in shelters or missions who have vehicles, cell phones, laptops and portable DVD players.  Certainly most people didn't accumulate these assets via panhandling, but buying "things" at this juncture is foolhardy.  We must save some of that money to get an apartment or motel room and get off the streets as soon as possible. 

And panhandling leads to stagnation.  The money goes to unnecessary "things," often alcohol or drugs.  Panhandlers can sustain themselves, even without a mission or shelter, but they'll never get ahead.  If you're content to live day-to-day in miserable conditions, more power to you.  But the cash that goes to day-to-day living is wasted if the money is spent on alcohol or drugs, or unessesary luxuries.

Don't panhandle unless it's absolutely necessary...it takes us in the wrong direction by interrupting the natural progression of our Homeless Portlfolios.  You'll get off of the streets faster and more permanently if you follow our suggestions.  Trust us.

Some words on dumpster diving.  If you're really really hungry, try the alleys behind grocery stores or restaurants after closing.  Use common sense.  Unless it's completely sealed, don't even bother.  Check for expiration dates as well. 

Dumpster diving for food really sucks, but there are a lot of potential assets that get dumped in alleys.  Here at The Homeless Portfolio we have a lovely dresser and TV stand that we spruced up, both discarded in alleys.  They look great and saved us a ton of money.  Of course, fixed assets such as furniture are worthless if we don't have our own place to put them, and we're still a long way from that stage.

Keep the faith.  We are building our Homeless Portfolios step-by-step, with each asset building upon the next.

ADDENDUM:

You'll notice that we didn't offer you tips on successful panhandling.  It wouldn't be in keeping with our Homeless Portfolio philosophy to encourage an ultimately counterproductive effort.  As always, never panhandle anywhere it's illegal. 
2010 ToddCo Investment Services All Rights Reserved

Coming up this weekend!

Panhandling and dumpster diving...One adds assets to your Homeless Portfolio, the other ultimately leads to stagnation and possible debits.  Debits remove items from your holdings.  Once we have money we spend it, something obviously necessary to buy food, clothes, whatever.  But each expenditure is a debit because it removes an asset (cash) from your Homeless Portfolio.  You will need to learn to accumulate more assets than the debits you accrue.  In short, you have to save some of the money that passes through your hands.  We'll show you how.

We begin accumulating assets

We start from the bottom.  Remember that we have nothing but the clothes on our backs.  Literally. 

We've been there.  Literally.

In the immediate term, finding a source of food and water trumps everything.

For the homeless who haven't fallen this far please note: this information is still important to you for two reasons.  You could fall further into destitution.  And, don't forget, the accumulation of assets in our Homeless Portfolios is a dynamic process.  Assets build upon each other, and lay out a practical path for us to once again become whole.

Lets hope we don't regain consciousness somewhere out in the woods.  At that point all we can do is flag down a passing car and catch a ride to the nearest town.  We need to find water.  A government building, a library or a mall are great places to look.

In many states you can walk into any fast food joint, ask for a glass of water, and get one.  That's especially common in hot weather states.

Hopefully we've landed in a city of at least 50,000 people, which should have resources for the homeless.  If we find ourselves in a small city it probably won't have a soup kitchen.  What do we do now?

We start by hitting up the churches.  Even the smallest town has a church.  Many churches collect food and clothing for the poor, and we could use clean clothes.  More on that later.  The pastor of any church could hardly refuse at least a meal and water for a destitute man or woman.  They may even allow us to stay the night.

Remember that it's important for us to get to a city of at least 50,000 people.  At that point we can open our Homeless Portfolios and find those ongoing sources of food and water.

Soup kitchens feed the homeless and the hyper-impoverished 1-3 meals a day, usually every day.  Ask someone on the street how to find the local soup kitchen.  Once we find it we've got a source of food, the first asset in our Homeless Portfolios. 

If there's no soup kitchen in town, try hanging out behind grocery stores in the wee hours of the morning.  Supermarkets throw out perfectly good pastries and such every morning.  If it's securely wrapped, we eat it.

Churches can be ongoing sources of food, as can government and non-profit agencies.  We can also get a line on food sources from police or fire departments. 

Soup kitchens are the best place to network with other homeless people.  They know the other meal sources in town, usually at churches and community halls.  Government and non-profit agencies can also let us know where to find steady food.

In addition to the water sources listed above we can always drink out of a front yard garden hose, if we're that desperate.  Finding a water source that is always available is critical.  Try to find a jug to fill and carry with you.  We've now added the second asset to our Homeless Portfolios.

You may have noticed that we haven't yet discussed panhandling.  We'll do so next week.  Suffice to say that we shouldn't panhandle unless our survival is on the line.  Panhandling is illegal in most places.  It is an absolute last-ditch process, and it can trap us in a cycle of dependence.  We can't let anything or anyone stall our accumulation of assets.

We realize that sources of food and water don't sound much like assets, but they're obviously necessary for life.  Until we secure these assets in our Homeless Portfolios we can't take the next step up.  It involves finding places to sleep, and places to be during the day.

2010 ToddCo Investment Services All Rights Reserved

Coming up this weekend!

We'll begin adding items and resources to our Homeless Portfolios.  We'll begin by addressing our most immediate need...sources of water and food.  It's more complicated than you might imagine.  One meal or bottle of water won't suffice.  You need a steady source of food and water that you can return to as you need. 

This is a theme we'll return to throughout the management of our Homeless Portfolios.  Steady, reliable sources of assets will allow us to build on our accomplishments, and rise out of homelessness and poverty much more quickly.  Lucky breaks, like finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk, will not sustain us.  Before we can thrive, we must sustain ourselves through this very difficult trial of homelessness.  Think of these simple steps as your first investment in the most important person in the world:

You.

FAQ: How did we wind up on the streets?

The answers are many, yet the question itself does not affect our Homeless Portfolios.

Mental illness is very, very common among the homeless.  A 1996 study found that 57% of the homeless were self-diagnosed as mentally ill.  More than 60% say they have a history of alcohol and/or drug abuse.  These numbers seem high, but since the homeless have no reason to lie in surveys it's doubtlessly pretty accurate.  Our observations confirm this.

Continuity of mental health care for the destitute is lacking across the country.  Some states have halved their programs, and the insane cost of most psychiatric drugs has left many of the mentally ill homeless without the medications they need to be healthy and safe. 

That's not at all good for America.  The lack of needed meds will result in increased crime, and the blight of increased numbers of homeless people on the streets.  Job growth can help, but most folks compiling their Homeless Portfolios aren't yet able to work.  For the mentally ill, they may never be able to work again. 

Non-psychiatric medical bills have led to bankruptcy and homelessness for many.  The unemployment rate is huge, leaving many more Americans losing the ability to pay rent. 

We'll discuss psychiatric care options later in our journey.  Alcohol and drug abuse will discussed as well. 

Don't doubt the enormity of the homelessness crisis.  The federal Housing and Urban Development department estimated that 1 in 190 Americans stayed in shelters during a one year period between 2007 and 2008.  ONE IN 190!  For those who became homeless during that one year period, tens of thousands of them were seeking refuge for the first time.

Homelessness is scary, especially if you have kids.   You're more likely to be robbed or assaulted because you are going to be surrounded by lots of criminals, including sex offenders.  You'll be spending time with people whom you would otherwise find revolting.  You're going to have to put your personal prejudices aside to survive.

There is a lasting psychiatric effect from being homeless.  Here at The Homeless Portfolio we went from donating supplies to our local soup kitchen to eating there every day. 

There are also people who prefer sleeping outdoors.  Sounds odd, but it's true.  Sleeping out gives some of the homeless a sense of freedom, which is in short supply in a mission or shelter.

So, how did we wind up on the streets?

Answer: it makes no difference.
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Every person born has done bad things.  Sometimes terrible things.  A lot of us assume that our dire straits are just a manifestation of karma; we're suffering now for our past sins.  In truth, for many of the homeless their choice to commit crimes landed them in a shelter or mission.

Regardless of why you're on the streets, you must accept that:
YOUR SUFFERING ON THE STREETS HELPS NO ONE!

Maybe you've abandoned your wife and kids, and you're racked with guilt.  You've done a terrible thing, yet it's going to benefit no one for you to just accept a life of permanent homelessness.  If you've victimized someone, that victim doesn't benefit from you living in a park today.  No matter how bad you think you are, you must focus on making your life right.

The Homeless Portfolio aims to teach you just how to do that.

Ignore the question of why you wound up homeless.  Focus on being a better person and improving your life.  IT CAN BE DONE!  The Homeless Portfolio is proof.

2010 ToddCo Investment Services All Rights Reserved

Coming up this weekend!

This weekend we begin interspersing our portfolio recommendations with FAQ's about surviving and surpassing homelessness.  Saturday: Why Are We Homeless, Anyway?  The answer will surprise you.

You can contact The Homeless Portfolio anytime at integrity1966@gmail.com

From Skid Row to Wall Street

If you're reading this, you're wearing clothing.

I can't imagine you're naked in a public library.

We'll start from that assumption and together we'll build the Homeless Portfolio you need to improve your life.  Security is what we're after.  You need money to get off and stay off the street.  We'll be starting from the very beginning, and we'll describe for you the ways you can go from sleeping bag to nest egg.

Why a portfolio?  There are THINGS that you will need to have, things both tangible and generally supportive.  Keep in mind that, for the most part, we'll be concerned more with the quality of your life than with accumulating THINGS.  Our goal is reasonable comfort and peace of mind...the same thing most of us pray for in our old age.  At each stage we'll record the items in your Homeless Portfolio as ASSETS, and make projections on when the next steps should become possible.  Your Homeless Portfolio allows you to count what you have, and learn how you can take the next steps on your way toward independence.  One thing leads to another. 

You CAN get off the streets...but you've got to dedicate yourself to getting up off the floor and standing tall.  Once you get back on your feet, we'll teach you successful, conservative and safe ways to turn your nest egg into a stream of steady income.  You can make your money work for you. 

Most importantly, you must be patient.  If you're homeless right now, you're not going to be moving into your own apartment this year.  Being homeless is absolutely fucking awful, but it's not nearly as bad as you might think.  Try to keep a positive attitude...without you probably won't make it.

And, yup, we're going to take you all the way off of the streets to stock ownership.  IT CAN BE DONE.

Remember, our watch word is PATIENCE.

We won't be endorsing specific investments.  Don't worry, we've got a long way to go before we start talking money management.

So, we've established that you own at least a shirt and a pair of pants.  That's a start!  Now we're going to look at the next assets you must add to your Homeless Portfolio: sources of Food and Water.

More to come...

2010 ToddCo Investment Services All Rights Reserved