The Steve Schneck Quartet (trumpet/flugelhorn, guitar, bass and drums) features jazz standards and tunes from the bebop and swing eras, with an emphasis on musical interaction and creativity. 

You can find recent posts from the group on their Facebook page under “Steve Schneck Music”. In addition, you can listen to samplings of Steve’s CD and purchase a copy by going to CD Baby here. Included on that site you’ll find the Album Notes:

Steve Schneck has been playing the trumpet and flugelhorn for 40 years. Before attending college, he studied at the Juilliard, Manhattan and Eastman Schools of Music and was a trumpet instuctor at Camp Encore/Coda in Maine. Steve was also a member and the Director of the Cornell University Jazz Ensemble and played with the New York University Jazz Ensemble while attending law school. After moving to Chicago, Steve immediately fell in love with the rich and inviting jazz scene, sitting in regularly with musicians including those with whom his Quartet (initially a Quintet) was formed. During the past few years, Steve created and has been the Director of the Hawthorne Scholastic Academy (elementary school) Jazz Band.

Since its inception in 1990, the Steve Schneck Quartet has been performing at numerous jazz clubs and other venues. In 1994, Lake Shore Jazz of Chicago released the Quartet’s first CD, “Together Again.” In his liner notes for “Together Again,” jazz critic and author Neil Tesser wrote that the recording’s “most obvious virtue is the undistracted pleasure [Schneck] takes in formulating his related and lyrically transparent solos…. Schneck’s rich, round tone remains his calling card: big and pure but none-the-less malleable, and well suited for his carefully well-ordered solo constructions. “Recordame” presents a perfect example of Schneck’s easy going logic, influenced by the clarity of Clifford Brown but perhaps more reminiscent of Chet Baker’s ardent simplicity. But there’s no percentage in focusing on any one solo here, since each one shows the same degree of uncluttered melodiicism.”

“Dedicated To You” is the Steve Schneck Quartet’s second CD, released in January 2012. Neil Tesser’s liner notes for “Dedicated To You” state that Schneck has “continu[ed] to hone his musical mastery of the trumpet and its larger and mellower cousin, the flugelhorn. And now, he has indeed made another disc, long overdue for … those who take pleasure in pure and lovely melody, and who treasure the deceptively simple art of carving lapidary gems from the raw materials supplied by the endlessly generous Great American Songbook.”

All of the other members of the Steve Schneck Quartet are highly accomplished musicians, recording and performing throughout Chicago and beyond. Among other things, Scott Mason (bass) and Neal Alger (guitar) are on the faculty at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University; Dave Onderdonk (guitar) teaches at the Interlochen summer Jazz Studies Program and at the Elmhurst Music Academy; and Charlie Braugham (drums) and Rusty Jones (drums) are among the most widely sought after jazz drummers in Chicago.

Many of our clients own some stock in clean energy companies and so, given the significant negative performance of this sector over the last couple of years, we’ve had numerous conversations about where these companies are headed and whether or not they still make good investment sense.

The whole sector of clean energy has struggled since January 2008 for several reasons:

• Financing the leap from product development to commercialization is an important stage for any unproven sector. Subsequently, this is exactly the stage that companies struggled for financing of during the credit crunch, leaving many companies cash-strapped and straining to smooth out volatile sales cycles during expansion (read Cnet News report from Sep 2008 here).
• European governments like Spain, France and Germany have been large supporters to this sector, implementing clean energy mandates ahead of many other countries. Subsequently, these same countries have been hit very hard throughout the downturn and haven’t had as much of an ability to fund projects (read a more complete discussion of recent public policy and clean energy in Foreign Affairs here).
• The political will to pass the Clean Energy Bill in the U.S. died during the BP oil spill, which lead to a controversial offshore drilling moratorium for several months (Bloomberg story here). Consequently billions of subsidies into this sector were foregone,
• Recently, the weakening of the Kyoto Protocol threatens to delay internationally-organized support for implementing clean energy policies.

Amidst all of the downward pressure on the clean energy sector in the last 47 months, some important positive indicators continue to provide support for a positive outlook:

• Let’s not forget that, at the end of the day fossil-based fuels are limited and will eventually run out whereas renewable energy sources are, well, renewable.
• Technology continues to improve, bringing the cost of energy output from clean methods closer to par with the oil industry (see the Energy Information Administration’s cost comparison of energy sources here).
• Demands for clean energy continue to surge. Most notably perhaps, the US Department of Defense, one of the largest energy consumers in the world, has increased their clean energy investments by 300%, from $400 million to $1.2 billion, between 2006 and 2009, a figure that’s projected to surpass $10 billion annually by 2030 (read CleanTechnica post here).
• Venture capital and private investors have been pouring money into this sector (good article on “Post Stimulus Financing”).
• The value of clean energy stocks, measured by price to earnings ratios, has improved significantly from their 2008 peak and many companies in this space are very attractively priced right now.

Feel free to contact us if you’d like to explore how renewable energy investments should fit into your overall financial plan and portfolio.

How Local Leaders Can Increase Their Impact…

On December 13th, Blue Summit hosted an event for local environmental and social advocate leaders to explore how they can use shareholder activism as a tool to further their mission.

Our presenter was Andrew Behar, CEO of the San Francisco-based non profit group As You Sow, who’ve been promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy since 1997.

Mr. Behar presented to a group of non-profit leaders about his work, highlighting As You Sow’s current shareholder campaign, asking companies to disclose the risks of hydraulic fracturing, also called “fracking”. In addition, we explored how we could utilize the power of shareholder engagement as a way to influence companies, locally or globally, in a way that would contribute to the mission of each participants’ organization.

After some discussion about what issues might be worth addressing, and considering some common points of interest, we ended by identifying what other groups or individuals might be helpful to include in the conversation. Our objective is to host another similar educational event toward the end of next quarter, with the intention of forming a coalition of local investors who can represent one or more issues of importance at the shareholder level.  

About Shareholder Engagement…
As an owner of stock, you may have the right to engage with a company’s executives in order to influence their operations. Individuals who ban together have been able to collectively address publicly traded companies with significant ownership weight, creating a powerful mechanism for improving company policies.

Shareholder success stories range from decreasing e-waste at Best Buy to improving the labor standards for apparel workers at Gap. A list of As You Sow’s Key Successes can be found here on their website.  In Addition, USSIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment has a general description of Shareholder Engagement here on their website including a list of some of the industry’s past successes here.

If you are a high net-worth investor or are involved with donor relations for a mission-driven organization, please contact us for a list of specific issues alongside their corresponding investment strategies that you or your donors may consider employing to increase the impact of your investments.

As Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman wrote in his The New York Times column yesterday, Here Comes the Sun, fracking involves significant costs to the environment that are not currently being regulated. Exploring how environmentally conscious shareholders can influence this reality, Blue Summit Wealth Management President, Judy Seid attended No Fracking Way, a fundraiser for the non-profit shareholder advocacy organization As You Sow.

Since 1992, As You Sow has used shareholder advocacy and the financial markets to catalyze positive change within publicly held companies. The event was held at a loft overlooking Venice Beach, CA where attendees were joined by Josh Fox, the director and producer of the movie Gasland via Skype projected onto the wall. Now that was sooo Hollywood! 

Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a means of natural gas extraction employed in deep natural gas well drilling. Once a well is drilled, millions of gallons of water, sand and proprietary chemicals are injected, under high pressure, into a well. The pressure fractures the shale and props open fissures that enable natural gas to flow more freely out of the well.

Josh discussed the fact that hydraulic fracking is inadequately regulated due to a loophole known as the “Halliburton Loophole”  in the ‘05 Energy Bill that exempts gas drillers from EPA guidelines like the Clean Water Act. 

Josh emphasized that fracking impacts our environmental safety by emitting Nitrogen Oxide & volatile organic compounds as surface smog, expending enormous amounts of H2O, injecting chemicals into the earth’s crust to frack the wells, and polluting the nearby groundwater, among other harmful consequences.

We also learned about The Responsible Sourcing Network (RSN), the newest project of As You Sow.  RSN addresses human rights violations and environmental destruction in the supply chains of consumer products and at the raw commodity level. RSN provides a constructive space and collaborative structure for companies, investors, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders to share best practices and take coordinated action. RSN supports network participants in leveraging their influence to achieve significant and measurable reductions in environmental degradation and human rights abuses, while seeking to spur responsible economic development and moving companies towards greater environmental sustainability and social equity.

Blue Summit Wealth Management works in cooperation with As You Sow to help investor portfolios have a greater positive impact towards creating a better tomorrow.  In addition, an event is being organized in San Diego to spur conversations about joining efforts with local organizations to effect local  impact.

The occupy movement quickly went from local action to a global howl of protest. A month after its launch, more than 900 cities around the world hosted protests affiliated to the Occupy cause.

In light of this public outcry, our community of Responsible Investors declares its support. We echo the sentiments of Zevin Asset Management, as they stated in a public message the week before last:

“In this time of declining living standards and high unemployment, many people feel bitterness and disappointment.  And justifiably so, as overwhelming evidence demonstrates the rich have gotten richer at the expense of the middle class, the working poor, and the unemployed. The rising differential between executive and worker incomes and the disregard exhibited by many corporations for their local communities and the environment are symptoms of a financial system which rewards short-term destructive gambling instead of focusing on the long-term sustainability of our economy. As socially responsible investors, we seek the same goals as those protesting. Therefore we stand alongside the Occupy movement, supporting freedom, transparency, human dignity, and responsibility. We hope that the voices of the 99% will bring much needed changes in government policy to help address excessive corporate greed, greatly weakened environmental and financial regulations, the housing crisis, crumbling infrastructure, shrinking schools and libraries, and a disappearing social safety net. There is no reason for so many to be unemployed when there is so much to be done.”

The views expressed by Zevin Asset Management do not necessarily reflect the views of Multi-Financial Securities Corporation.  This information is provided for educational purposes only.

In Green America’s public post of support, they assert that “For too long, corporate America has externalized its costs, polluting our environment and shipping good-paying jobs overseas. For too long, Wall Street has fattened its own bottom line, exploiting the poor and the middle class, all while CEO salaries have soared, and the income gap between rich and poor has widened.“ And they conclude that “… our society faces a set of interconnected crises – economic, ecological and social – that stem from the misconduct of our economic system. It will take an interconnected set of solutions to fix the system and create a real economic recovery that works for all.”

So let’s work together to support local businesses, clean renewable energy, community development institutions, social and economic justice as we here at Blue Summit continue to pressure corporations through shareholder advocacy for greater transparency, accountability, environmental standards, and promotion of a just and green economy.

Frank Abagnale’s life of crime was depicted in a best selling book and the Steven Spielberg film Catch Me If You Can. Since his imprisonment, Mr. Abagnale (played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2002 film)  has worked for the FBI for 36 years as a specialist in fraud prevention.

As the opening speaker at this year’s FPA conference held in San Diego, he told his own riveting story of forgery, identity theft, and embezzlement. Mr. Abagnale expressed his feelings of disgrace and dishonor for his prior actions and commented that his work with the FBI gives him the opportunity to pay back his debt to society for his egregious actions and years of criminal activity.

Today, Mr. Abagnale suggests that fraud is easier to perpetrate than ever before. The Federal Trade Commission reports that nearly 15 million Americans have been victims of identity theft, costing consumers $5 billion and banks and businesses $56 billion every year.  On average, it costs a victim $1,173 and 175 man-hours to get their credit report straightened out. Mr. Abagnale believes that because punishment for fraud and recovery of stolen funds are so rare, prevention is the only viable course of action.

Here are Mr. Abagnale’s top tips for prevention of identity theft:

1. Shredder – Use a shredder for all documents having personal information – make certain that it is labeled a “security micro-cut” shredder.
2. Credit Montoring – Use a credit monitoring service that monitors all 3 credit agencies and will notify you in real time when there is any activity. Put a fraud alert tag on your credit report, which will limit a thief’s ability to open accounts in your name.
3. Personal Checks – Don’t use personal checks if possible. Use high security checks shown on www.abagnale.com .  Criminals “wash” ordinary checks in chemicals, dissolving what you wrote without affecting the check. When the check is dry, forgers insert new data.  High security checks react to chemicals, showing that they have been washed. Do not mail checks from home, they can be stolen from your mailbox, go to the post office.  When writing manual checks, use the uni-ball® 207 gel pen. Its ink will not dissolve in chemicals.
4. Debit Card – Don’t use a debit card when you can use a credit card, Credit cards have a maximum liability of $50 for fraudulent charges; debit cards can go up to $500 or more. 
5. Credit Cards – Use credit cards whenever possible – the liability for fraudulent charges is carried by the credit card company.
6. Computer Security – Make sure your computer is protected with internet security software that is updated regularly.  Do not download anything from the internet that you did not solicit and activate the pop-up blocker on your computer. Shop only on secure websites, where the web address begins with https://  Never leave your laptop anywhere you wouldn’t leave your baby….in the car, in a gym bag, at a restaurant.  According to Amitron.org, stolen laptops and computers account for nearly 40% of security breaches.

By using these simple suggestions, you will be protecting your personal information, the key to your identity, and reducing the likelihood that you will become a victim of identity theft.

Unimpressed with U.S. deficit reduction plans, S&P delivers on its warning.

Unprecedented and unsettling. Standard & Poor’s issued a historic downgrade of U.S. debt on August 5, sensibly waiting until the market week had concluded to send a shock wave toward global investors. It reduced America’s long-term debt rating – which had been AAA since 1941 – to AA+.¹ 

S&P felt Congress did too little too late. The credit rating agency had threatened to lower the boom if Congress passed any deficit reduction plan smaller than $4 trillion in scope. The Budget Control Act of 2011 “falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government’s medium-term debt dynamics,” an S&P statement noted. It also retained its “negative” credit outlook on the U.S.²

S&P is also skeptical that the federal government can collect more money from taxpayers. Its analysts do not think the Bush-era tax cuts will sunset at the end of 2012 “because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues.”²

On August 5, S&P sovereign ratings committee chair John Chambers told Fox News that the new AA+ rating could be cut to AA within 6-24 months if the U.S. doesn’t arrange to slash $4 trillion from its deficit in the next decade. The implication: Congress better agree on more cuts by February.³

China’s comments. The world’s largest holder of U.S. debt issued a withering critique of Congress through Xinhua, its official news agency. The state commentary stressed that the U.S. has a “debt addiction” only curable via major cuts to defense spending and entitlement programs. It also said that the option of a “new, stable and secured global reserve currency” should be explored.⁴

The Treasury’s claim. Friday evening, the Treasury argued that S&P’s analysis contained an accounting error that unnecessarily added $2 trillion to its projection of U.S. debt. S&P admitted the error but stuck with the downgrade.¹

So what happens now? The early August global response aside, analysts are divided as to what the short-term impact might be for the American economy. Could it cripple the recovery, or just prove inconvenient to it?

Demand was big for Treasury notes even before the threatened downgrade and Treasuries still symbolize comparative safety to institutional investors, so an August selloff might be short-lived. If this turns out to be the case, the effect on interest rates might be less significant than feared.

In the opinion of JPMorgan Chase analysts, Treasury yields could increase by 60-70 basis points as a result of the downgrade, translating to $100 billion in added annual borrowing costs for America. Citing Federal Reserve research, these analysts think that an increase of 50 basis points in Treasury yields (0.5%) could take a 0.4% bite out of U.S. GDP.²

Could the Fed launch QE3*? The possibility exists, particularly if foreign investors ditch dollar assets. The Fed’s Open Market Committee will make an announcement on August 9, and few analysts expect another wave of bond buying – but it is an option.

When might the U.S. recapture its AAA rating? It might take years for that to happen. S&P has cited political gridlock on Capitol Hill as a major reason for the downgrade, and it doesn’t see that going away in upcoming months. On top of that, the U.S. economy expanded just 1.3% in the first half of 2011 – about half the pace needed to dispel the lingering effects of recession.⁵

Are mortgage rates going to go north? Maybe; maybe not. Rates on conventional mortgages have a direct relationship with 10-year Treasury yields. Recently, those yields have dramatically fallen, and demand for longer-term Treasury notes has been palpable. Interest rates on auto loans might see a spike, as those rates are pegged to 2-year notes and factors like the LIBOR rate. The hardest hit might come from credit card issuers. Credit card interest rates reflect the prime rate. Credit.com credit card advisor Beverly Blair Harzog told CNNMoney that she believed credit card firms could possibly jack up rates 1-5% as a result of jitters over the downgrade.⁶

Wall Street might sail through this. Does that sound far-fetched? Look at some historical examples. S&P downgraded Canada’s AAA credit rating in the spring of 1993, yet Canadian stocks gained 15% in 1994 and our northern neighbor had its AAA rating back by 1997. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Japan in November 1998 and its stock market advanced more than 25% in the next 12 months. Italy, Canada, Ireland, Japan, Belgium and Spain have all suffered S&P downgrades from AAA, and most of these cuts had little sustained impact on government bond yields.^6,7

What’s your outlook? You might be considering some major moves in the wake of the S&P decision. Remember that impulsive decisions are often regretted down the line. Confer with the financial professional you trust to determine what you may (and may not) want to do.

This material was prepared by MarketingLibrary.Net Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however we make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty.

* Quantitative Easing [round] 3

Citations.

1 – nytimes.com/2011/08/06/business/us-debt-downgraded-by-sp.html [8/5/11]        

1 – nytimes.com/2011/08/06/business/us-debt-downgraded-by-sp.html [8/5/11]        

2 – bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-06/u-s-credit-rating-cut-by-s-p-for-first-time-on-deficit-reduction-accord.html [8/5/11] 

2 – bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-06/u-s-credit-rating-cut-by-s-p-for-first-time-on-deficit-reduction-accord.html [8/5/11] 

3 – foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/08/06/sp-us-faces-further-downgrade-beyond-double/ [8/6/11]

4 – nytimes.com/reuters/2011/08/06/world/asia/news-us-china-sp.htm [8/6/11]

5 – huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/29/gdp-us-q2-second-quarter-expectations_n_913032.html [7/29/11]

6 – money.cnn.com/2011/08/06/pf/sp_rating_money.moneymag/ [8/6/11]
7 – marketwatch.com/story/china-rips-us-on-debt-rating-downgrade-2011-08-06 [8/6/11]

8 – montoyaregistry.com/Financial-Market.aspx?financial-market=an-introduction-to-the-stock-market&category=29 [8/6/11]

This past Fall, respondents to an extensive third-party survey given to more than 68,600 local residents, named Shane Johnston as one of only four percent of the 11,000 wealth managers in the region.  You can read more detailed information on the survey process below.

We look forward to many more years of serving you and your family’s financial needs.

Notes on the survey process:

• The survey dates for the San Diego Wealth Manager award take place between June – August.
• The survey is conducted 50/50 over phone/mail:
• The survey that is mailed out has both the Five Star logo and the San Diego magazine logo/name.
• The phone survey done by the survey company QMI mentions a possible appearance in San Diego magazine  and also mentions “Five Star” specifically.
• Additional information on the award criteria is described here on our website

TNS’ Investor Confidence Index, declined in June to 102, an 11-point drop, its lowest level in a year.  This is due to increased pessimism about the stock market and the direction of the economy.

“These findings reveal significant stress and discomfort among investors who control the overwhelming majority of the personal wealth in the U.S.,” said Joe Hagan, SVP at TNS, in a press release. “We expect investor confidence to decline further if a decision concerning the debt ceiling isn’t made ahead of the August 2nd deadline.  On the other hand, a satisfactory resolution could raise investor confidence and spur a rise in the financial markets.”

“Our take on this” says Judith Seid, Principal at Blue Summit Wealth Management, “is, that the chances that congress will allow us to default on our debt are very, very small. We can’t guarantee it but, the consequences would be so great that no politician is going to want that on their record.  Not to mention, you know they all have their own personal portfolios invested in the market that they’re interested to protect…”

Shane Johnston, Vice President at Blue Summit, echoed Judith’s confidence, “many of the folks that were put into office this last election cycle made ‘reducing government spending’ their campaign promise and now, they’re able to capitalize on the current situation by refusing to agree to an increase in the debt ceiling as a way to advance their campaign agendas. As Americans grow increasingly concerned over the ramifications of such a hard-lined approach to policy, it’s likely that we’ll see a compromise”.

In general, it’s important to remember how the media loves to generate hype and fear because that’s what drives traffic. Remember Y2K? So, sometimes the best course of action is to turn off the news.

In addition, it is always important to have a diversified portfolio and a big-picture financial strategy to keep you on track with achieving your life goals through good times and bad.  If you do not already have these things in place, feel free to contact us for a consultation.