FOX Translator
No data currently available.
No data currently available.
It's time to let you in on a dirty little secret: You may not own the stock you own. That's right, if you invest with a brokerage firm, the shares you bought are almost certainly not held in your name. Technically, they're held in the name of the Wall Street firm you do business with, hence the term "street name."
No, you haven't been robbed. Ultimately, the decision to hold shares on the books under a different name doesn't affect the economic ramifications for you. You¿re listed as the "beneficial owner," even though the firm is the official owner of the shares. But, you are giving up some rights, and investors concerned about good corporate governance might want to get that stock back in their own names.
Here's the problem: If your stock is technically owned by, say, Merrill Lynch, then Merrill Lynch gets to do things with it that might work against your wishes. Take short selling. Investors who want to sell shares short need to first borrow those shares. The lenders are often the big Wall Street firms that are handing out Street-name shares. So, if you feel that a company you own is a victim of aggressive short selling, chances are your own shares are being used to fuel the shorting.
Also, your brokerage firm can cast ballots on some corporate matters affecting a company without getting your input. Technically, this can only happen in votes considered ¿routine¿ by securities regulators. But, there's a big catch: some big events, like board elections, are considered "routine" under law.
The good news is that you can easily fix the Street name problem: Just request that your brokerage firm makes you the listed owner of the shares. If they refuse, find a new firm.
Home
Thursday, June 19, 2008
VA Reaches Out to Women Veterans
Comtex
WASHINGTON, June 19, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Department Hosts 4th Quadrennial Summit
The Fourth National Summit on Women Veterans' Issues will take place at the Westin Washington, D.C., City Center from June 20-22. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake said the three-day meeting will help ensure that women veterans know about the benefits and health care they have earned.
"With more women than ever serving in our armed forces, this public forum will bring visibility to the issues important to women veterans of all eras," Peake said. "Today, women are important contributors to the military and valued members of the veterans community."
Recognizing the valor, service and sacrifice of America's 1.7 million women veterans, VA has created a comprehensive array of benefits and programs.
Women veterans are entitled to the same benefits and medical care as their male counterparts, including health care, disability compensation, education assistance, work-study allowance, vocational rehabilitation, employment and counseling services, insurance, home loan benefits, nursing home care, survivor benefits and various burial benefits.
In addition, VA also has a multitude of services and programs that respond to the unique needs of women veterans, including pap smears, mammography, and general reproductive health care, substance abuse counseling, counseling for sexual trauma, and evaluation and treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Today, over 200,000 women are serving in the armed forces. About 11 percent of the U.S. forces currently serving in Afghanistan and Iraq are women.
According to a recent "hospital report card" by VA, the Department's screening for breast and cervical cancer for women in VA facilities exceeds screening in private-sector facilities, but women veterans lag behind their male counterparts in some quality measurements.
VA has already launched an aggressive program to ensure women veterans receive the highest quality of care, including $32.5 million to purchase additional equipment to meet the health care needs of women. This includes full field digital mammography equipment, stereotactic imaging technology, specialized ultrasound and biopsy equipment and DEXA scanners for bone density measurements. The status of health care for women veterans will be a major topic at the summit.
There is a women veterans program manager at every VA medical center, a women's liaison at every community based outpatient clinic and a women veterans coordinator at every VA regional office.
For the latest news releases and other information, visit VA on the Internet at
http://www.va.gov/opa.
To receive e-mail copies of news releases, subscribe to VA's list server at:
http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/opalist_listserv.cfm.
SOURCE U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
http://www.va.gov
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
Market Snapshot
| Symbol | Last Price | Netchange | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | -- | -- | -- |
