Am I too optimistic?

I've lived in Florida my whole life, I am used to being covered in sweat before I even make it into my car in the morning.

Good luck bro, not the direction I would have gone but I will root for a long, cold winter to try and help you out.

Does SD have a large presence in Oklahoma or is it the areas further east like Arkansas/Louisianna?  I've forgotten the things I learned about nat gas back in May/June when I was playing in that sector.

SD at 17 is very nice...investing in very smart management there

thing was 50 a few weeks ago and can get back there if nat gas gets hot again

Jax,

Here in Arkansas Chesapeake out of OK is drilling for natural gas around our state like stink on you know what. 

Energy keeps getting smacked, SD down 2.50 today..other names similar.

COP on a 52 week low, so is VLO and others I watch.

Thanks man.  SD is actually headquartered in Oklahoma City.  A fairly young company on the up and up.  KOAJ is correct, they have very good management there.  CEO is co-founder of Chesapeake Energy.  As for their exploration, they drill mostly in Texas, especially West Texas.  I just feel like natural gas is a great long-term play, and SD was sitting near $70 back in July.  Energy is definitely taking a beating. 

My main worry with nat gas is over production.  Everybody got overly excited when they figured out how to make shale drilling work profitably and as a result they got way ahead of themselves adding production.

Hopefully the farmers almanac is right and we get a long cold winter, that should help you out.

Unfortunately I think the Pickens Plan will never get off the ground now that oil has begun its fall, that would definately have been a boost.

"Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can't buy what is popular and do well. "  Warren Buffet

I just read this and quite frankly I find it to be very insulting.  My products are guaranteed at an interest rate of around 4-7% and usually have large bonuses.  Why don't we ask the guy who just lost 30K out of his 401K the past 8 days if he would rather have put his $$$ into a fixed rate product.  Yes there are greedy agents out there but you are out of line trying to pigeon hole people that way. 

JWK,

I speak from being on your side of the table, not as some industry whistle blower and my comments come from experience with them and my opinion about the products.

How are you servicing the client in the best way possible by over charging them for a simple insurance policy? That is what an annuity does, it charges a premium for an insurance policy and you are right, in a nasty nasty bear market, having that slightly better than MM rate can be appealing to scared investors or those who are risk intolerant. Most people (from my experience) are completely unaware of the downsides of an annuity, specifically those early exit penalties and the higher fee structure.

Also most people who actually cut inside the annuity and see what the instrument is trying to mirror, figure out that the upside is completely gone and if it is an index or fund based annuity, if they compared the performance and return to that of the similar index, it isnt even close..

Annuities are some of the worst products available, and the comment that "people would rather not be in the market and get a 4-7% rate" works when everything is getting killed, but what about the last bull move from 2002 to 2008? Those annuity holders had no upside exposure and were earning a set rate, in some cases less than money markets.

I dont make my comments to offend you, rather my views on products that pay the broker and the firm are based on EXPERIENCE and nothing else. More brokers than not look out for their bottom line and I hope you are one of those that arent. Being a broker is really being a salesman, the entire stock market is based on sales..selling stock, selling research, selling investment banking services. For me to state this fact shouldnt be an insulting comment towards you, rather just a reality of the markets themselves.

JWK,

You have an online brochure for their products? I am more than happy to check them out online if all the info is there.

I know this..annuities (VA/FIA) are GOLDMINES for financial firms. Notice how tightly AIG is holding onto some of their assets and businesses. When a product is a goldmine for a firm they are not good for the consumer.

I have a friend who got his licenses and works for Metlife and is pretty close to making enough income stream via annuities that he doesnt need the main job anymore..I gave him a hard time about it but the guy is a saleman and he knows what he is doing and why.

I just couldnt cross that line..most can and have no issue, I just couldnt do it.

hey wall.....my mother who is in late 50's got divorced and took out her half from her 401k and to avoid having to be put in the highest tax bracket had to reinvest 35k and without advising me she went and put it in an annuity....i have two questions...1) it turns out that the annuity is with aig, how is she protected if at all (35k annuity) and 2) how badly did she get hosed on this...keep in mind this was before the aig collapse...she was forced to invest it within 60 days i believe or she would of had to pay the tax on it at the moment and she got out of the penalty of the 401k as long as she reinvested she took out cash and just claimed it but put 35k into this annuity....if you could respond would be appreciated greatly....also what advice if any at this moment could there be

kingpin,

JWK deals in annuities and knows what he is talking about.

My only addition to his comment would be if I knew more about the annuity I could comment more.

He is right about it being with AIG, they wont go under if AIG gets bought out or goes under..the account would be sold or transferred to someone else and the annuity would stay intact barring some wacky meltdown (meaning the insuring agency that JWK is talking about goes belly up).

He never said whether this was a fixed or a variable annuity.  If it's not fixed she's very exposed to market losses.  Hopefully it's just an AIG Ovation Fixed.