Life Insurance Mansfield
President Obama's Mother and Grandparents lived in Ponca City, Oklahoma in Early 1950's
by Hugh Pickens, February 6, 2009
Story Summary: Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham lived in Ponca City for two years starting in 1948 when she was six years old. Stanley Ann attended first and second and old Jefferson Elementary School and third grade at Roosevelt School. The family purchased a home in Ponca City on North 13th street in May 1950 and Stanley Ann began attending Roosevelt Elementary School. Stanley Ann's father worked in Ponca City as a furniture salesman at Jay Paris Furniture. A number of people still living in Ponca City remember the Dunhams.
President Obama's Mother and Grandparents lived in Ponca City, Oklahoma in early 1950's
Barack Obama's Mother and Gradnparents lived in Ponca City for Two Years
by Hugh Pickens, February 6, 2009
Caption: Barack Obama with his maternal grandparents, Stanley and Madelyn Dunham in the early 1980s when Mr. Obama was a student at Columbia University. Barack Obama's grandfather Stanley Dunham, grandmother Madelyn Dunham, and mother Stanley Ann Dunham lived in Ponca City from 1948 until 1951. Click on the photo to enlarge it. Photo: Obama for America
Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was born in Kansas in 1942 and lived in Ponca City for two years while she was a child. An article in the Washington Post says that "she and her parents lived in Berkeley, Calif., for two years, Ponca City, Okla., for two years, and Wichita Falls, Tex., for three years before they ventured to the Seattle area". Wikipedia says that her "family moved to Mercer Island, Washington in 1956" so Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham lived in Ponca City for two years starting in 1948 when she was six years old and she attended first, second and third grades in Ponca City. Beverly Bryant reported in the Ponca City News that Ponca City school records confirm that the family arrived in Ponca City in 1948 and lived in Ponca City from 1948 to 1951 and that Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, attended first and second grade at old Jefferson Elementary School and third grade at Roosevelt Elementary School in Ponca City.
In Barack Obama's memoir, "Dreams From My Father, " he describes his grandparents as "stern Methodist parents who did not believe in drinking, playing cards or dancing." The Dunham family was known to be a churchgoing family so we conjecture that the family may have attended First Methodist Church while in Ponca City although this has not been confirmed. The Dunham family would have been a young married couple, she in her mid twenties and he in his early thirties, who had been married for eight years in 1948 with a daughter named Stanley Ann six years old.
Barack Obama's Grandfather Stanley Dunham
Caption: Barack Obama's grandfather Stanley Dunham a year or two after he and his wife left Ponca City. Click on the photo to enlarge it.
Barack Obama's grandfather Stanley Dunham managed a furniture store in El Dorado Kansas before the war and after he left Ponca City Stanley Dunham worked in Standard-Grunbaum Furniture, a large store in Washington State. While living in Ponca City Stanley Dunham worked as a salesman for Jay Paris. Described as "gregarious, friendly, impetuous, challenging and loud, " Barack Obama's grandfather Stanley Dunham "could charm the legs off a couch" the New York Times reported.
Stanley Dunham was 30 years old in 1948 when he was living in Ponca City working as a salesman at Jay Paris Furniture. Before coming to Ponca City, Obama's grandfather Stanley Dunham had been in the army, volunteering the day after Pearl Harbor and spending the war overseas as an infantryman attached to Patton's tank corps. While Stanley was fighting in Europe, his wife Madelyn Dunham worked on a Boeing B-29 assembly line in Wichita as a quality control inspector.
One man who knew Stanley Dunham well and recognized Stanley's photo as soon as he saw it was former Ponca City resident Bob Casey who worked with Stanley Dunham at Jay Paris' Furniture Store in Ponca City in the early 1950's. Mr. Casey says that Stanley arrived in Ponca City in 1949 and stayed in Ponca City with his family for "more than a year." Mr. Casey says Stanley was a very smart guy with a long face and large shoulders who knew a lot about the furniture business and was one of Jay Paris' top salesmen at a time when the furniture company probably had 6 or 7 salesman.
Mr. Casey, now living in Cranes Mill Texas, says that Stanley knew the technology of furniture, could analyze customers, and was one of the first salesmen to sell furniture as a full concept instead of by the item. "He could sell you a room full of furniture, " says Casey. "And he could help you decorate it." Mr. Casey remembers a trip to Wichita with Stanley where they attended one of the first decorating seminars in the area. "Stanley was always working to improve himself" said Mr. Casey adding jokingly that Stanley "was a smart guy who liked to tell you how smart he was." Mr. Casey says he and Stanley Dunham used to joke around together and Stanley once made a bet that Casey couldn't do a specified number of push-ups. "I did the push-ups and surprised Stanley, " says Mr. Casey.
Mr. Casey doesn't know exactly when Stanley Dunham and his family left Ponca City because shortly thereafter Mr. Casey went away to attend college at Oklahoma State University. Mr. Casey added that although he knew Stanley Dunham well, he never met Stanley's wife or daughter. "In those days the employees at Jay Paris' didn't really socialize much outside the job."
Longtime Ponca City resident Pat Moore also remembers Stanley Dunham and remembers that the Dunham family lived in an apartment in Ponca City. Beverly Bryant reported in the Ponca City News that the Dunham family lived in homes on West Central and later on North 13th street while they were in Ponca City. Moore remembers that Stanley Dunham was in Ponca City when she and her husband got married in 1950 and remembers that Stanley had a good sense of humor because even after almost 60 years Moore can still remember a funny story with some humorous marital advice that Stanley gave Moore in 1950 before Moore and her husband got married.
Another Ponca Cty resident who remembers Stanley Dunham well was Bill Piel. Piel was a student at Ponca City High School and worked part time at Jay Paris after school. Piel was a member of the high school wrestling team and one day the salesmen at Jay Paris started kidding Piel saying that Piel even with his training couldn't beat Stanley in a wrestling match even though Stanley outwieghed Piel by about 180 pounds to 135 pounds. Piel said that he and the salesmen adjourned to the third floor of Jay Paris where they could wrestle on the 9 by 12 foot carpets that were stored up there. Piel said that even though Stanley probably weighed 180 pounds, he didn't appear to have any wrestling experience and Piel says that once they got started "it took me about 30 seconds to get Stanley in an arm brace and that was the end of that." Piel adds that Stanley was a "really nice guy" but he could be a "bit overbearing at times."
Stanley Dunham and his wife Madelyn helped raise their grandson Barack Obama during his high school years, when his mother was living in Indonesia. Barack Obama loved his grandfather who died in 1992 at age 74. In 2008 Obama visited Punchbowl National Cemetery in Hawaii, to pay homage to his grandfather Stanley Dunham.
Barack Obama's Grandmother Madelyn Dunham
Caption: Barack Obama's grandmother Madelyn Dunham a year or two after she left Ponca City. Click on the photo to enlarge it.
Stephen Mansfield writes in his book "The Faith of Barack Obama" that Stanley Dunham and Madelyn fell in love in Kansas and later married on the night of a junior/senior prom just weeks before her high school graduation in 1940. "Madelyn was frequently described by neighbors as different, " writes Mansfield. "a gentle word for her eccentricities, and few were likely surprised when she met, and then secretly married furniture salesman Stanley Dunham." Stanley Dunham was notoriously loud and gregarious while Madelyn was bookish and sensitive. Stanley Dunham was Baptist and from a blue collar world, while Madelyn was a Methodist who was solidly middle class.
Obama's grandmother Madelyn Dunham, who died in Hawaii the day before Barack Obama's election to the Presidency in November 2008, was a powerful figure in Obama's life. Obama has frequently invoked his grandmother in his speeches and she appears prominently in his memoir. Shes the one who taught me about hard work, Mr. Obama said in that speech in Denver. Shes the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that shes watching tonight and that tonight is her night as well.
Barack Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, was 26 years old in 1948 when she arrived in Ponca City. It is not yet known if Madelyn Dunham worked outside the home but it is documented that in other places she lived like Wichita, Seattle, and Honolulu, Madelyn worked outside the house so it is very possible that with her daughter Stanley Ann in school, Madelyn Dunham had a job outside the house while she was living in Ponca City.
If Madelyn Dunham did have a job while her husband worked at Jay Paris Furniture and her daughter attended elementary school, no one has yet come forward who knew her or remembered her working outside the house. Madelyn Dunham had strong administrative skills as evidenced by her work during the war when she worked as a quality control inspector for an assembly line building B-29's in Wichita.
Here is what we can conjecture about Madelyn Dunham's employment in Ponca City. Later on in her life Madelyn Dunham worked as an escrow officer at a bank and was later vice-president of a bank in Washington State, so if she worked outside the home while she was living in Ponca City, it is possible that she may have been at a bank. Banks that were open in Ponca City at that time would include the First National Bank, the First Security Bank, and Ponca City Savings and Loan, so we conjecture that with her daughter in school, Madelyn Dunham may have worked at one of these banks.
Some say it is possible that with her experience as a quality control inspector during the war, she may have found work at Continental Oil Company or Cities Service while she lived in Ponca City. Others say that as a woman without a college education in the late 1940's, many doors were closed to her that might be open today. Anyone who may have known or worked with Madelyn Dunham in the late 1940's or early 1950's at any of these locations, please contact us at 580-765-6125 so we can update this story.
In any case, after leaving Ponca City Madelyn Dunham and her husband lived in Washington State and later in Hawaii. Madelyn Dunham and her husband also helped raise their grandson Barack Obama - whom she called Bar - during his high school years, when his mother was living in Indonesia. Madelyn is known to her family as Toot, from tutu, the Hawaiian word for grandmother.
In 2008 Madelyn Dunham died at age 86 after a battle with cancer. Madelyn died on November 2, 2008, the day before Barack Obama's election as President. "She died peacefully in her sleep with my sister at her side, so theres great joy instead of tears, " said Barack Obama. "She was one of those quiet heroes that we have all across America. Theyre not famous. Their names are not in the newspapers, but each and every day they work hard."
Barack Obama's Mother Stanley Ann Dunham
Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham a year or two after she left Ponca City. Click on the photo to enlarge it.
Beatrice Gormley writes in "Barack Obama" that Stanley Ann was born in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1942 while Stanley was in the army waiting to be shipped off to France to fight under General Patton. Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham had the unusual male first name of Stanley. Stanley Ann had been named after her father because he had wanted a boy. Time Magazine says that Obama's mother "endured the expected teasing over this indignity, but dutifully lugged the name through high school, apologizing for it each time she introduced herself in a new town." However, the article continued, "By college, she had started introducing herself as Ann".
When Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham arrived in Ponca City she was six years old in 1948 and went to first, second and third grade in the Ponca City School System. Beverly Bryant reported in the Ponca City News that Stanley Ann Dunham attended first and second grade at old Jefferson Elementary School and transferred and attended third grade at Roosevelt Elementary School after the family bought a house and moved to North 13th Street.
Stanley Ann's life after she left Ponca City and went to live with her parents in Seattle where her father worked in the post-war boom selling furniture was far different than her childhood in the mid-west. "She was not a standard-issue girl. You don't start out life as a girl with a name like Stanley without some sense you are not ordinary, " said former Seattle classmate Chip Wall who knew Stanley Ann in the early 1960's. "Her life showed a deep respect for intellectual rigor and perhaps an uncommon sense of learning, " said Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, who lives in Hawaii.
Stanley Ann met a Kenyan student named Barack Obama at the University of Hawaii and married him in 1960 giving birth to Barack Obama Jr. in August 1961. "We could see Stanley, with her good grades and intelligence, going to college, but not marrying and having a baby right away, " said Maxine Box, her best friend at the time and now a retired teacher in Bellevue, Washington. "I can't think of anything she said or did that would lead to such a radical thing. At that time, you practically crossed the street if you saw a black man and a white woman. Black and white didn't go together at that time."
"The marriage was brief, " wrote Jonathon Martin in the Seattle Times. "By 1962, Dunham had returned to Seattle as a single mother, enrolling in the UW for spring quarter and living in an apartment on Capitol Hill [in Washington State]. But friends said she got overwhelmed and returned to her family in Hawaii, and formally divorced Obama Sr. in 1964."
Two-year-old Barack Hussein Obama, in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1963. His mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was the white daughter of a Kansas furniture and insurance salesman who moved his family to Hawaii on the eve of statehood. There, she met and married Barack Hussein Obama Sr., the first African student to enroll at the University of Hawaii. Photo: Polaris
Stanley Ann Dunham met an Indonesian student, Lolo Soetoro, at the East-West Center on the University of Hawaii campus. They married in 1966 or 1967 and moved with six-year-old Barack to Jakarta, Indonesia, after the unrest surrounding the ascent of Suharto, where Soetoro worked as a government relations consultant with Mobil Corporation, the US-based international petroleum company. Soetoro and Stanley Ann Dunham had a daughter, Maya Kassandra Soetoro, on August 15, 1970.
In Indonesia, Stanley An Dunham enriched her son's education with correspondence courses in English, recordings of Mahalia Jackson, and speeches by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She sent the young Obama back to Hawaii rather than having him stay in Asia with her, though the decision was painful for her. Madelyn Dunham's job as a vice-president at the Bank of Hawaii helped pay the steep tuition at Punahou School, with some assistance from a scholarship.
In the 1970s, Stanley Ann Dunham wished to return to work, but Soetoro wanted more children. She once said that he became more American as she became more Javanese. Stanley Ann Dunham left Soetoro in 1972, returning to Hawaii and reuniting with her son Barack for several years. Soetoro and Stanley Ann Dunham saw each other periodically in the 1970s when Stanley Ann Dunham returned to Indonesia for her fieldwork but did not live together again. They divorced in 1980, at which time she began using the name Ann Dunham Sutoro, with a modern spelling of her former husband's surname.
Stanley Ann Dunham was not estranged from either ex-husband, and encouraged her children to feel connected to their fathers. She returned to graduate school in Honolulu in 1974, while raising Barack and Maya. When Stanley Ann Dunham returned to Indonesia for field work in 1977 with Maya, her teenage son Barack Obama chose not to go, preferring to finish high school in the United States, living with Stanley Ann's mother Madelyn Dunham and her father Stanley Dunham who raised Barack Obama in her absence.
Caption: In 1992 Stanley Ann Dunham's son Barack Obama web Michelle Robinson on October 18, 1992, with Michelles mother, Marian Robinson, at left, and Baracks mother, Stanley Ann Dunham attended the ceremony. Barack Obama's grandfather Stanley Dunham did not live to see his grandson Barack Obama marry Michelle Robinson having died nine month earlier in February 1992. Photo: From Polaris.
Having been a weaver, Stanley Ann Dunham was interested in village industries, therefore moved to Yogyakarta, the center of Javanese handicrafts. In 1992 she earned a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Hawaii, under the supervision of Prof. Alice Dewey, with a dissertation titled Peasant blacksmithing in Indonesia: surviving and thriving against all odds.
Stanley Ann Dunham pursued a career in rural development championing womens work and microcredit for the worlds poor, with Indonesias oldest bank, the United States Agency for International Development, the Ford Foundation, Women's World Banking, and as a consultant in Pakistan.
In 1995 Stanley Ann died tragically of ovarian cancer at age 52 after a career as an anthropologist working in Indonesia, Pakistan, and all around the world. "The life that Stanley chose to live after she left is indicative of the fact that Stanley thought about what else was out there, " said Iona Stenhouse, a classmate in Washington State. "She was ready for having different experiences."
My grandparents held on to a simple dream: that they would raise my mother in a land of boundless dreams, Barack Obama said. I am standing here today because that dream was realized.
Help Add to the Story
Caption: Ann Dunham with her two-year-old son, Barack, in 1963. She was sort of unflinchingly and unwaveringly empathetic, says Baracks half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng. She was always very good at finding a language that the other person would understand, regardless of where they were from, or their socio-economic background. And I think thats a major gift thats bestowed on us. Photo: Polaris.
More information from people in Ponca City who may have known the Dunham family or gone to grade school with Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham in the early 1950's would be appreciated from first hand sources who knew or remember the Dunham family. If anybody remembers the Dunham's from the early 1950's or went to grade school with Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, at old Jefferson School or Roosevelt School leave a message below or contact me at: hughpickens AT gmail DOT com
Alternately, if you know my mother Deloris Pickens give her a call at 580-765-6125 with any information you have on the Dunham family. She and my father Dale Pickens were both living here in Ponca City when the events in this article took place. Here is my link to the permanent article I am writing about Barack Obama's mother's life in Ponca City in the early 1950's. I'll keep this story updated with the latest information I find out about Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham and her two years living in Ponca City in the early 1950's.
Thanks to everyone who has helped research this story with special thanks to Deloris Pickens, Beverly Bryant, Pat Moore, Bob Casey, and Dale Smith.
Photo Credits
1. Photo of Barack Obama with his grandparents Madelyn Dunham and Stanley Dunham in the early 1980's while Obama was attending Columbia Law School. Photo: Obama for America.
2 Stanley Dunham in the early 1950's. Photo: Wikipedia
3. Madelyn Dunham in the early 1950's. Photo: Wikipedia
4. Stanley Ann Dunham in the early 1950's. Photo: Wikipedia
5. Stanley Ann Dunham in the mid 1950's. Photo: Wikipedia
5. Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham in 1960 about eight years after she left Ponca City. Photo:The Seattle Times
6. Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham in 1959 about seven years after she left Ponca City. Up until high school, signed her name "Stanley." While living in Ponca City she would have been known as Stanley Dunham or Stanley Ann Dunham and been in second grade at old Jefferson Elementary School and third grade at Roosevelt School in Ponca City. Photo: Wikipedia
7. The Dunham family a few years after leaving Ponca City. Barack Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham (left) appears to be ten to twelve years old in this photo. Photo: Wikipedia
External Links
Barack Obama's Maternal Family Lived in Ponca City in the late 1940'sReferences:
1. Washington Post. "Though Obama Had to Leave to Find Himself, It Is Hawaii That Made His Rise Possible" by David Marannis August 22, 2008.
2. New York Times. "Obama Takes Time for a Woman Dear to Him" by Julie Bosman
3. 1988 Po-Hi graduate Dale Smith was the first to notice the Washington Post article that supplied the Obama/Ponca City connection in a post on his blog Faith in Honest Doubt: a personal blog by Dale Smith. "Ponca City Makes the WaPo!" on August 24, 2008
4. Wikipedia. "Ann Dunham" Note. Wikipedia was used to provide a basic framework for the life of Stanley Ann Dunham. The entire section on Dunham's life after her divorce from Brack Obama's father is excerpted verbatim from the Wikipedia article on "Ann Dunham" under a Creative Commons Attribution-Commercial license.
5. Wikipedia. "Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham"
6. Wikipedia. "Stanley Armour Dunham"
7. Interviews by Deloris Pickens
8. Background on life in Ponca City in the period 1948 to 1951 from Deloris Pickens
9. "Dreams from my Father" by Barack Obama. Published by Random House, Inc., 2007. ISBN 0307383415, 9780307383419. 442 pages
10. "The Faith of Barack Obama" by Stephen Mansfield. Published by Thomas Nelson Inc, 2008. SBN 1595552502, 9781595552501 192 pages
11. The Seattle Times. "Obama's mother known here as "uncommon" by Jonathan Martin. April 8, 2008.
12. Interview with Bob Casey by Hugh Pickens. February 6, 2009.
13. "Barack Obama" by Beatrice Gormley . Published by Simon and Schuster, 2008. ISBN 1416971181, 9781416971184. 176 pages
14. New York Times. "Obama Makes Visit to a Most Beloved Supporter" by Jeff Seleny. October 24, 2008.
15. New York Times "Obama Briefly Leaving Trail to See Ill Grandmother" by Michael Powell. October 20, 2008.
16. New York Times. "Barack Obama: To His Grandmothers Bedside" by the Editorial Board. October 24, 2008.
17. Interview with Pat Moore by Hugh Pickens. February 6, 2009.
18. The Ponca City News. Article by Beverly Bryant. February 8, 2009.
19. Vanity Fair. "Raising Obama" by Todd Purdum. March 2008. The captions used for the three Polaris photos used in this article are taken from the Vanity Fair article.
Copyright
Hugh Pickens - All Rights Reserved
Use of material from this article must include an attribution to Hugh Pickens and a link to the web site Ponca City, We Love You.
Hugh Pickens is a retired engineer and project manager who lives with his wife in Ponca City, Oklahoma and writes for Slashdot, Wikipedia, and Peace Corps Online.
His articles include "Mother of US President Grew Up in Ponca City ", "The Pioneer Woman Models Come Home to Ponca City, "Standing Bear Looks to the Future, " and "A Victorian Mansion in Reservoir Hill." He has written biographic essays of Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams and White Staff Member Jon Carson and has interviewed Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez, and Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter.
Wert Insurance Agency Inc - Mansfield, PA
Barrows Insurance Agency
Ken Bishop Insurance Services, Inc - Mansfield, OH
Next page: Life Insurance Tavistock
Life Insurance Mansfield News
Munch's The Scream on the block for $80m
22 Feb 2012 at 5:47am Filed under: Investing
Sotheby's
To be more precise, the pastel piece is one of four versions created by the Norwegian artist. It is one of the most instantly recognisable artworks, perhaps second only to the Mona Lisa.
This version of The Scream (detail pictured) dates from 1895 and is the only one still in private hands. It will be on view in London for the first ever, at an exhibition at Sotheby's opening on 13 April. In New York it will be shown, also for the first time ever, from 27 April, ahead of the 2 May sale.
The work is owned by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, whose father Thomas was a friend and later patron of Munch. It has been in the collection of the Olsen family for over 70 years. Thomas Olsen, scion of the great ship-owning dynasty, was a collector and supporter of Munch from the late 1920s. He and the artist were neighbors at Hvitsten in Norway, where the young businessman's role grew from friend to patron.
Munch created four versions of The Scream. The prime example, made in 1893 from tempera and crayon on board, is in the National Gallery of Norway; another pastel version from the same year is thought to be a preliminary sketch for the work and is owned by the Munch Museum in Oslo; the present piece from the Olsen Collection, created in 1895 from pastel on board, most closely follows the prime work in the National Gallery; and a later version in tempera and oil on board, thought to be completed in 1910, is in the collection of the Munch Museum.
There are subtle differences between the four versions. The Scream now up for sale is the most colorful and vibrant of the four; the only version whose original frame was hand-painted by the artist to include a poem about the work's inspiration; and the only version in which one of the two figures in the background turns to look outward onto the cityscape.
The 10 most expensive artworks ever sold
Here is a list of the most valuable artworks ever sold at auction or in a private sale. Looking beyond the top ten, Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso account for many of the world's most expensive artworks, however only Picasso benefited from his fame and wealth during his lifetime while van Gogh is thought to have sold only one painting in his lifetime, the Red Vineyard for 400 Francs.
In eleventh place, just outside the top ten, is Francis' Bacon's 1976 Triptych, sold for $86m at Sotheby's in New York in 2008.
1. $250m The Card Players by Paul Cézanne (1892/93) - private sale
2. $140m No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock(1948) - private sale via Sotheby's
3. $137.5 Woman III by Willem de Kooning (1953) - private sale via Larry Gagosian
4. $135m Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt (1907) - private sale via Christie's
5. $107m Nude, Green Leaves and Bust by Pablo Picasso (1932) - Christie's, New York
6. $104m Garçon à la pipe by Picasso (1905) - Sotheby's, New York
7. $100m Eight Elvises, Andy Warhol (1963) - Private sale via Philippe Ségalo
8. $95m Dora Maar au Chat by Picasso (1941) - Sotheby's, New York
9. $91m Diana and Actaeon by Titian (1556-1559) - private sale
10. $88m Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II by Klimt (1912) - Christie's, New York
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Read more...
3 tech titans
22 Feb 2012 at 5:06am Filed under: Investing
One of the major trends in the world today is the increasing use of technology, from computers and the internet to smart phones and tablets. These devices and technologies are becoming increasingly ubiquitous in markets around the world.
It makes a lot of sense to invest in companies which have a stake in this high-tech future of ours. Which are the best tech businesses to invest in? Well, here are my three picks.
Microsoft
These days, many people would say that Microsoft is a company in decline. After all, PCs are gradually being replaced by tablets. Plus Microsoft is currently precisely nowhere in the booming smart phone market. Who on earth would buy into this firm?
%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar%
But take a closer look, and Microsoft is a far more attractive proposition than you'd think. It still dominates the computer industry, with Windows in a leading position in the computer operating system market, and Office virtually monopolizing the business software market. And, don't forget, the Xbox still has a strong position in the games console industry.
Earnings per share has been rising and rising in recent years, with a 30% increase in 2010 and a 28% increase in 2011. Pretty impressive for a company in decline!
What's more, you can expect Microsoft to have an impressive 2012. It doesn't seem that long ago that Windows 7 was released, but in 2012 we can look forward to the launch of Windows 8, which will, for the first time, integrate many of the features of Windows Mobile on a PC operating system. This will give a major boost to computer OS sales.
You might think that computers are in decline, but in fact the number of computers in the world is increasing, going from 1 billion in 2008 to a forecast 2 billion in 2015, driven by explosive growth in emerging markets. Microsoft stands to gain from this.
Plus the launch of Kinect has been incredibly successful, and it won't be long before we see the successor to the now long-in-the-tooth Xbox 360.
That's why I expect to see further increases in earnings per share for Microsoft in 2012 and 2013, and why the shares are a bargain. The business' shares, at the current price of $31.25, trade on a forward P/E ratio of just 11, with a dividend yield of 2.3%.
Google
So computer sales are booming, and as they do the internet is also booming. What is the one company that really stands to benefit from an internet boom? In my mind, it is Google.
These days the words "Google" and "search" are pretty much interchangeable. The scale of this operation is incredible. Google runs over one million servers around the world, and processes over one billion search requests and 24 petabytes of user-generated data every day.
The considerable amount of cash that Google's search operations generate has been used to innovate, and the business now has a strong position in the smart phone market, and is venturing into areas ranging from social networking (with Google+) to driverless cars.
The firm continues to grow, with earnings per share rising 29% in 2010 and 13% in 2011. What's more, I think Google's business has a defendable moat which should ensure its growth for many years to come.
The company, at the current price of $604, is on a very reasonable forward P/E ratio of 14. For me this business is a good bet on the future of the internet.
Apple
Apple is truly the phenomenon of our times. The company has managed to combine the latest technology with world-class design and clever marketing in an incredibly impressive way.
The result is a firm which has grown to become the largest in the world by market capitalisation, worth a cool $468 billion. Now usually when a company reaches this size, it grows only slowly, if at all -- after all, elephants don't gallop, do they?
But the remarkable thing about Apple is that the world's largest company remains a growth company. Microsoft and Google may be growing quickly, but Apple is leaving them in the dust. In both 2010 and 2011 it nearly doubled its eps, and another sizeable increase is predicted for 2012. The current price of $502 puts the business on a forward P/E multiple of just 11.
Of course, much of the business' success is down to the temperamental genius that was Steve Jobs. But even after Jobs, the company has considerable momentum, as well as more stunning new products in preparation -- in 2012 we can look forward to the iPad 3 and perhaps the iPhone 5. That suggests Apple is still some way away from its peak.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Read more...
RBS set to unveil £400m bonus pot
22 Feb 2012 at 4:51am Filed under: News
Taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland is set to reignite the debate over bankers' pay as it unveils a £400 million bonus pool for its investment bankers in 2011.While the pot would represent a 60% cut on the previous year, the award will follow a year in which the bank announced thousands of job cuts as it reshaped its investment banking arm Global Banking and Markets (GBM). RBS has been at the centre of a row over bankers' pay in recent weeks, which ultimately led to chief executive Stephen Hester waiving his £963,000 all-shares bonus.
%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar%
The total payout for its investment bankers was reduced from about £500 million following discussions with the Treasury and UK Financial Investments, which manages the taxpayer's 82% stake in RBS, Sky News said.
The bonus pot will be revealed as RBS reports a return to annual profit for the year - in the region of between £140 million to £300 million according to some analysts - compared with a £239 million loss last year.
The results will give the bank the opportunity to update on the progress it has made towards delivering a decent return to its shareholders - including the taxpayer.
John-Paul Crutchley, analyst at UBS, said RBS has been one of the best performing European banks so far in 2012, as shares have risen nearly 40%, adding around £8 billion of market value - and therefore £6.5 billion to taxpayers' investment.
He went on: "With the benefit of management clearly apparent, it seems surprising that the political establishment which, we think, should be aligned with a good investment outcome for RBS shareholders, is potentially putting this at risk by raising concerns over the chief executive's remuneration."
RBS has moved to strip down its investment arm GBM, which employs 18,500 people worldwide, amid increased Government pressure to focus its operations on UK high street services. The restructuring will lead to around 3,500 job losses, on top of the 2,000 announced by the bank last summer.
The proposed changes include the sale or closure of its cash equities, equity capital markets and mergers and acquisitions businesses, which had income of around £220 million in the nine months to September and are currently unprofitable.
More stories
Five bank branches to close each week
Stop bashing the bankers
RBS and Lloyds set to reveal losses
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Read more...
Peacocks saved, but 3,000 jobs go
22 Feb 2012 at 4:36am Filed under: Career
More than 3,000 jobs are to go after ailing fashion chain Peacocks was sold out of administration.The deal with Edinburgh Woollen Mill will save 388 shops and more than 6,000 jobs but administrators from KPMG said it had been forced to close 224 stores with immediate effect, leading to 3,100 redundancies. Chris Laverty, joint administrator at KPMG, said the deal "ensures the continued trading of a well-known name on the high street.
"While it is unfortunate that redundancies have been necessary, we are pleased that we have been able to preserve the majority of the business and jobs."
%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar%
Edinburgh Woollen Mill, which has 380 stores, will keep the Cardiff headquarters of Peacocks but KPMG said 16 jobs will go in the city.
Peacocks collapsed under a debt mountain last month in the biggest retail failure since Woolworths, placing 7,500 jobs in jeopardy.
Edinburgh, which beat off Indian textile and clothing giant S Kumars Nationwide, said it would attempt to save some of the stores and jobs being lost today.
However, chief executive Philip Day added: "As you can imagine, there will be a considerable amount of work to undertake over the next few months to stabilise the situation, turn this business around, get the supply chain moving again and excite the customers with great products."
Edinburgh last year bought 33 of Jane Norman's 94 stores out of administration, saving some 400 jobs.
Fashion chain Bonmarche, which was part of the Peacock Group, was sold last month in a deal that will lead to 1,400 job losses and 160 store closures. Private equity firm Sun European Partners bought 230 stores and will continue to employ 2,400 staff.
More stories Terminally ill forced to take unpaid work? The secrets to getting a job revealed Britain's most dangerous jobs
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Read more...
Council workers' pay 'down 13%'
22 Feb 2012 at 4:22am Filed under: News
The pay of council workers has fallen to 1990s levels following years of below-inflation settlements and wage freezes, according to a new study.Unison said wages had declined by 13% in the last three years alone, with extra cuts to pay and allowances at local level making the situation even worse. More than a quarter of local government workers now earn less than the so-called Living Wage of £7.20 an hour, forcing many to claim benefits and tax credits, said Unison.
In contrast, the pay of council chief executives increased by 58% between 1998 and 2007, said the report, published ahead of wage talks between local government employers and unions.
%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar%
Unison's head of local government Heather Wakefield said: "For many local government workers and their families, it's a daily struggle to stay out of poverty. They're doing vital work caring for the elderly, the vulnerable, for young children, and as job cuts hit, they're picking up the pieces doing even more, for ever-diminishing wages.
"Hundreds of thousands - especially women - are being hit hard by the Tory-led coalition's unfair pay policy. This unprecedented squeeze cannot continue. The local government employers must come forward with a decent offer on pay this year."
Peter Kenway, from the New Policy Institute, which wrote the report for Unison, said: "Local government workers are portrayed as part of a pampered public sector. With two-thirds of them in manual or clerical jobs, doing important and sometimes essential jobs, this report shows what a distortion that picture is.
"Since the last time pay went up, in April 2009, prices have risen 13%. Everyone is feeling the pinch but a fall in living standards this big is much more than that."
Around 1.7 million people work in local government in England and Wales, with three out of four jobs done by women and more than half employed part-time.
Unison's head of local government Heather Wakefield said: "For many local government workers and their families, it's a daily struggle to stay out of poverty. They're doing vital work caring for the elderly, the vulnerable, for young children, and as job cuts hit, they're picking up the pieces doing even more, for ever-diminishing wages.
"Hundreds of thousands - especially women - are being hit hard by the Tory-led coalition's unfair pay policy. This unprecedented squeeze cannot continue. The local government employers must come forward with a decent offer on pay this year."
Peter Kenway, from the New Policy Institute, which wrote the report for Unison, said: "Local government workers are portrayed as part of a pampered public sector. With two-thirds of them in manual or clerical jobs, doing important and sometimes essential jobs, this report shows what a distortion that picture is.
"Since the last time pay went up, in April 2009, prices have risen 13%. Everyone is feeling the pinch but a fall in living standards this big is much more than that."
Around 1.7 million people work in local government in England and Wales, with three out of four jobs done by women and more than half employed part-time.
More stories
Council's CCTV cameras cost £515m
Town banishes charity muggers
Council pays the price for data breach
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Read more...
Biggest (and oddest) mobile phone threats
22 Feb 2012 at 4:00am Filed under: Mobile
Dave Thompson/PA Archive/Press Association Images
So what are the strangest, and what are the biggest risks to your mobile?
The phones We are now more wedded to our mobiles than ever, and would be more likely to leave the house without our keys than our ever-present phones.
However, as more of us carry increasingly expensive gadgets, there is more chance that we make an expensive mistake while we are out. Specialist insurer www.gadget-cover.com says that the number of claims for mobiles has doubled in the 12 months to January. So it's worth being aware of the risks we are taking with our phones, and protecting ourselves against them.
The risks According to uSwitch, there were over 1 million mobile phone insurance claims in 2010. The lion's share is for accidental damage. uSwitch says that by far the most common damage is when the phone falls out of your pocket - closely followed by it falling down the toilet (which happens to 101,000 people a year).
Next in line for claims were those left in shops, bars, restaurants and taxis. Many of these were at the tail end of a night out, when it may seem vital to make a call, but callers may be in too advanced a state of refreshment to remember to put the phone back in their pocket.
In fact, just 11% of claims are for phones that are stolen - which puts it fractionally ahead of the risk of dropping the phone down the toilet or leaving it in a taxi.
It seems, therefore, that the biggest risks can be avoided if we take a little more care, leave our phones alone when we are on a night out, and have somewhere sensible to keep our phone, which means it isn't going to fall out whenever we use the loo.
Strangest claims However, you cannot prepare for all eventualities. Gadget-cover raked through its archives and fund some particularly unusual claims. Two (which were eventually rejected as fraudulent) stand out for their eccentricity.
Carmi Korine says: "One attempted claim arose when a customer's son went on holiday with a friend and his friend's parents. The phone was alleged to have disappeared one night when, whilst they were all in bed, a naked guy came in to the parents' room and got in the bed with them.
"The father then awoke and kicked the naked guy out of their room, but before leaving, the naked guy put on the customer's son's trousers, which were on the floor, and left. The phone was said to be in the trousers which were taken by the naked guy. The parents did not think the incursion was strange, and carried on with their sleep. There was no sign of forced entry.
Takeaway "The second incident is also alleged to have involved a loss of trousers. The claimant's son was coming home from a takeaway shop. He said he walked into a back street in order to wait for a cab, which he had called for earlier.
"Whilst waiting for the cab in this back street, a woman, who he described as looking like a prostitute, walked up to him and began touching him and pulling down his trousers. The customer says her son tried to push the 'prostitute' away but was ineffective in his efforts as he was carrying his takeaway in one hand.
"The woman managed to pull his trousers all the way down to his ankles and, after a while, she left and he later realised his phone was no longer in his pocket. The customer's son was so traumatised he did not leave his room for three days."
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Read more...
'Win a farm' flops as no-one buys the farm
22 Feb 2012 at 3:30am Filed under: Shopping & Deals
David Cheskin/PA Archive/Press Association Images
It's an appealing notion, and one that garnered 267,000 entries in desperate pursuit of the rural idyll. The trouble was that the way they ran the competition meant no-one won.
The competition The company printed up promotional packs with a unique code on each, but although 267,000 of these codes were entered into the site, none of them was the winner. The owner of that lucky pack must have chucked it out without bothering. There was no mechanism in place to deal with this situation, so there was simply no top prize awarded.
The company admitted it on Facebook, and fans of the page were decidedly unimpressed. Those commenting pointed out that a draw would have seemed more fair, that they could have had a fall-back in place, allowing them to pick another code. Others felt cheated, and some even asked whether the whole promotion was a scam.
%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar%
Defence Nigel Parrott, Group Marketing Director at New Covent Garden Soup Co told AOL Money: "We appreciate that people are disappointed that the 'win a farm' prize wasn't won, we are just as disappointed and we take the feelings and comments of our customers very seriously. We had 267,000 entries to the competition, had all packs been entered, someone would definitely have won."
Annie Swift, chief executive of the Institute of Promotional Marketing said there was nothing wrong with the competition itself, saying: "The IPM looked at this promotion before it went live, as we do with thousands of these promotions every year; there was nothing wrong with the terms and conditions. It was legal and it followed the CAP Code, the rules which cover promotions like this."
Disaster However, the promotion has left a nasty taste in the mouth for many consumers. What started out as a competition costing the company millions of pounds in order to generate good publicity has ended in a sorry farce. Parrott said: "We are now reviewing how future promotions should be run and are taking these comments into consideration."
The Facebook commentators, meanwhile, continue to demand that the company finds a way to award the prize.
But what do you think? Does it seem fair to you? What should the company do now? Let us know in the comments.
More stories Why a 22-inch Domino Pizza would be free Milk collectible give-away valued at £1k Five things your bank should do, but doesn't
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Read more...
Five bank branches to close each week
22 Feb 2012 at 3:08am Filed under: Current Accounts
Bank branch closures are an emotive subject. And promising not to close branches - or at least, appearing to give that promise - has landed two of the nation's biggest banking names in hot water. Last week the Advertising Standards Authority banned two television ads from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and NatWest. In them, the banks claimed that they provide banking services wherever and whenever they are the "last bank in town". However, the ads attracted complaints for being misleading since there is at least one area (Farley in Yorkshire) where NatWest closed a branch despite being - you guessed it - the last bank in the town.
RBS mounted the defence that its claim to provide "banking services" did not necessarily mean keeping the branches open, but that was dismissed.
It's just the latest sad chapter in the disappearance of many high street bank branches up and down the UK.
Disappearing branches A report last year from the Campaign for Community Banking Services (CCBS) demonstrated just how banks and building societies are no longer the reliable presence on the high street they once were.
Since 1990, the number of branches has fallen by 7,555 - that's almost 50%! And while things have slowed somewhat over the past decade, there were still 1,889 closures.
In 2010 alone there were 180 closures, while 2011 saw a similar number disappear.
How we compare According to the research by the CCBS, the UK now boasts about 160 bank branches per million inhabitants. This jumps to 190 when you include building societies. Here's how that number compares with our continental cousins:
| Nation | Branches per million inhabitants |
| Spain | 940 |
| Italy | 560 |
| Germany | 470 |
| France | 420 |
Deserting whole communities It's not just about how many branches we have as a nation - it's exactly where those branches are located that matters. And more CCBS data suggests a number of communities are at risk of losing their branches altogether.
There are 414 rural communities where only one bank remains, and 466 urban communities in the same boat. Some of these branches are now 'protected' as a result of pledges by the respective banks to maintain that branch presence. That said, there's no guarantee how long those pledges will remain in place.
Here's the breakdown of where you will find the sole bank communities:
| Region | Rural sole bank communities | Urban sole bank communities | Total |
| North East | 14 | 24 | 38 |
| North West | 31 | 52 | 83 |
| Yorkshire & Humberside | 19 | 45 | 64 |
| Merseyside | 2 | 23 | 25 |
| East Midlands | 28 | 19 | 47 |
| West Midlands | 15 | 41 | 56 |
| East of England | 34 | 44 | 78 |
| Greater London | - | 55 | 55 |
| South East | 51 | 50 | 101 |
| South West | 42 | 37 | 79 |
| Wales | 34 | 12 | 46 |
| Scotland | 144 | 64 | 208 |
It's only going to get worse The CCBS believes we are likely to see even fewer branches on the high street in the next few years. It believes that the number of branches in Britain will fall from 9,550 today to 8,000 by 2018. That's the equivalent of five branch closures a week.
As a result, both the CCBS and the Forum of Private Business are lobbying the Government to pressure big banks into sharing premises in order to stem the tide of the biggest banking brands, that many people rely on, vanishing altogether.
Some rare good news However, not all banks and building societies are cutting back their presence on the high street. Yorkshire Building Society has announced it plans to open 12 new branches over the next two years.
The mutual has made big strides already in growing its branch network thanks to its mergers with Norwich & Peterborough Building Society and Chelsea Building Society, which has resulted in its number of branches rocketing from 135 to 224 over the last three years.
And Lloyds has made clear its intentions to maintain its branch network (for now anyway) with the pledge not to close any more branches over the next three years.
Do we even need bank branches? All this raises the question of exactly what purpose the bank branch fulfils in 2012. With so many people doing their banking online now, is there even a need for branches to exist?
From my own point of view, the only times I go to the bank are when I need to pay in a cheque. That's no more than a handful of times a year, and with cheques in their death throes, I won't even have to do that too much longer.
What do you think? Is it inevitable that more branches will disappear? And is that automatically a bad thing? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Compare and switch bank accounts with Lovemoney
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Read more...
