The tax cut: Much ado about nothing?

Many economists, however, say the tax cut will take too long to ripple through the economy to have any real effect on our current malaise. So H&R Block Inc., in Kansas City, Mo., the folks who prepare tax returns, decided to poll people who visited its website, asking them what they would do with the extra money. Would you believe nothing? Of the 800 people who responded to the unscientific poll over the weekend of March 3, some 36% said that savings from the tax cut probably wouldn't amount to enough to do anything with. Another 32% said they would pay bills with the money, 27% said they would sock away the proceeds in their savings or retirement account. A mere 5% said they would "reward" themselves with a major purchase.

Tokyo Joe picks the wrong judge

When is an investment adviser not an investment adviser? When he publishes on the Internet, said Tokyo Joe. Wrong, said the judge. In a settlement last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission fined Tokyo Joe and his company $429,696. Tokyo Joe is the Internet name of Yun Soo Oh Park. The SEC charged that he defrauded customers on his website by failing to tell them he already bought shares of the stock he was recommending, Reuters reported. The agency also said he planned to sell the shares once the stock price rose, a practice it called "scalping." The SEC brought the suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Tokyo Joe was also accused of failing to disclose that he received shares in a company in exchange for promoting its stock. Further, the SEC said, the performance of his recommendations was misrepresented on his website. In addition to the fine, Tokyo Joe and his company, whimsically called Societe Anonyme Corp., was required to disgorge $324,934 in illicit profits. In the settlement, Mr. Park did not admit or deny the allegations.

Gilt by association: Real estate pays

Randy Hecht, chairman and CEO of RS Investment Management, attended a luncheon in San Francisco for a few financial journalists from Barron's, BusinessWeek, the San Francisco Chronicle and InvestmentNews last week to celebrate the company's second anniversary of independence from the Robertson Stephens investment bank. In his opening remarks, Mr. Hecht disarmed the attendees by saying he would cherry-pick the company's accomplishments of the past year. It was rough for RS because the company was so heavily invested in small-capitalization technology shares. But he said there was one silver lining. The company enjoyed several successful real estate investments. Ironically, it was able to piggyback the research of its technology analysts to buy properties in hot markets such as Austin, Texas. It is investing in a large concentration of properties around the campus of Dell Computer Corp. in Round Rock, Texas.