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A popular Wendy's commercial in the 80s made famous the question: "Where's the beef?" Good one. And here's an even better one: "Where's the alpha?" You might want to whip this one out the next time you meet with your portfolio manager.
Alpha is the over-and-above-the-expected return. It is the "value added." Therefore, it makes sense that a positive alpha means an investment has outperformed its market-predicted return, while a negative alpha would mean just the opposite. The expected return is calculated by a formula that takes into account the investment's level of unavoidable risk (aka beta).
Ever stepped into an elevator and after the doors close you become aware of an almost-suffocating scent coming from the woman next to you who must have bathed in perfume? Well, as you know, once the doors close you can't escape the smell until the ride is over. This is similar to beta, which is risk that can't be reduced or diversified away. A measure of "systematic" or market related risk, beta is used as a measure relative to a certain index -- such as the S&P 500.
So, for example, let¿s say your portfolio is managed to compete against the S&P 500. If you generate a better return than the index while not taking on added risk (standard deviation of returns) then you get alpha. Low beta means the market-related risk is low and vice versa for high beta.
Another example, let's say a mutual fund or stock has a beta of 1.5 relative to the S&
P500 ¿ that means it is 1.5 times as risky. So, over time, if the S&P 500 goes up 1%, your portfolio should be up 1.5%
plus (one can hope) some percentage of alpha. If the S&P 500 is down 1%, your portfolio should be down 1.5%.
Alpha
and beta are based off of linear regression of a set of data. Warning: this may cause a high school fifth-period flashback,
but it will be over before you know it:
The equation for a line is Y = a + bX.
a = alpha (the Y intercept - the added
value)
b = Beta (the coefficient you multiply X by)
X = S&P 500 (in this case)
Y = your portfolio
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Friday, May 09, 2008
'The Reality of Losing a Law Enforcement Officer'
Comtex
CAMDENTON, Mo., May 9, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ ----Reality shows are certainly proving to be the latest rage in America. People are moving in together, competing to lose the most weight, tripping the light fantastic, singing their way onto CD's, and vying for the hand of beautiful people. Americans are certainly hooked on reality television.
We settle back each night to watch these shows and during the year also watch many law enforcement shows that depict the line-of-duty death of an officer. There may be a short clip of the officer's funeral in the show, and then life in the precinct station returns to normal. In most cases, the officer is written from the script and never mentioned again.
While the media will be able to catch their snippets of footage of grieving family members at the May 13 Candlelight Vigil at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and the May 15 National Peace Officers' Memorial Service on the West Front of the United States Capitol, the "real life" scenarios will play out at the National Police Survivors' Conference. Any media representative who chooses to come to the National Police Survivors' Conference on either May 14 or May 16 will learn that each and every day the memory of the fallen officer is very much a part of their surviving family and the affected co-workers. In reality, they can never be written out of the script. At the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel, 5000 Seminary Road, Alexandria, VA, 1,400 family members of America's fallen law enforcement officers will be attending the National Police Survivors' Conference. They will share their stories of loss and coping with other law enforcement survivors. For many of these families, this is where the healing process will begin.
Concerns of Police Survivors begins its 25th year of service to America's fallen law enforcement survivors on May 14. The organization now represents over 15,000 surviving families across the United States and has an international affiliate in the United Kingdom.
Knowing that survivors of 2007 will be exceptionally emotional from seeing and/or hearing the name of their loved ones at the May 13 and May 15 services, C.O.P.S. will offer media contacts access to more "seasoned" surviving families to relay the "real life" scenarios of the day-to-day struggles of law enforcement survivors.
For more information on C.O.P.S. or the National Police Survivors' Conference, visit www.nationalcops.org or call 573-346-4911.
Contact: Suzie Sawyer, 573-346-4911
573-216-4792 cell
SOURCE Concerns of Police Survivors
http://www.nationalcops.com
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
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