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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Trader who wrote (19485)	8/24/1998 9:28:00 PM
From: VS	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Hi Tom & Iqbal. Sorry if i'm intruding. I'm by no means an expert on this, but i have looked at some similar products that were linked to the S&P instead of the Nikkei. I assume the structure would be similar. Fwiw, here's my take on it: 1. The product makes a lot of sense for investors who want to participate in the upside of an equity market, but are concerned about the downside risk. However, its not quite the 'free lunch' it sounds like. When going through the prospectus, i'd consider: 2. The upside participation is usually a little more complex than it first would appear. It is usually based on quarterly or annual averaging of returns. So, if the Nikkei goes from 15k to 30k, your investment may or may not grow by the amount you assumed. It would depend on the return over each averaging period. 3. Your broker will probably kill me for suggesting this, but it appears to me that most investors can bypass paying the charges and fees by creating the product themselves. You could do it by buying a treasury strip and JPN index options. (Iqbal, let us know if you see a flaw in this logic). Again, i'm not an expert, so this is all MOO (my opinion only) ggg! Vince

To: Tom Trader who wrote (19485)	8/24/1998 9:36:00 PM
From: Investor2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

WATCH OUT!!!! BE VERY CAREFUL OR YOU COULD LOSE ALL OF YOUR MONEY!!! Re: "I have not seen the prospectus--it is being Fed Exed to me." This is how the typical scam works - the material is sent via Fed Ex or some other overnight carrier. This way, you can be cheated out of your money and you will have no recourse. If they send the information/solicitation via U.S. mail, they could be arrested for mail fraud. If they send it via Fed Ex, it's "buyer beware." My recommendation is to call them up and INSIST ON RECEIVING THE INFORMATION VIA REGISTERED MAIL OR, AT THE VERY LEAST, US FIRST CLASS MAIL. Best wishes, I2 P.S. How can FDIC insure an investment in Japanese stocks? That sounds fishy.

To: Tom Trader who wrote (19485)	8/25/1998 2:35:00 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Tom-- I would not like to invest in these products-- I would rather look into some closed end funds Japan specific and buy them around 14000 -15000 levels. I will also think that Chen idea of SNE KOYCERA CANNON TOYOTA may not be a bad idea, the only thing I will add would be to sell some out of the money calls to improve the returns. I think some of these closed end funds are listed on NYSE and are trading at a deep discount once the markets start coming along these discounts will just disappear. You would benefit from the premiums and enhanced value plus JPN can be effectively used to hedge your portfolio and also to improve your yield. FWIW-- WSJ every Monday you would find a column specific for these close end funds.