A convertible bond or convertible debenture bond has two major investment appeals: limited risk of price decline and the possibility of important price appreciation. The value of a convertible bond or convertible debenture must ordinarily lie within a region specified by two limits. At the lower limit, is the straight debt value of the debenture, while at the upper limit lies the conversion value as determined by the current market price of the common. It is possible for the conversion value of the common to fall below the straight debt value, but in this case the value of the debentures would most probably settle near the straight debt value.

The chemical industry does have potential for growth because it encompasses so many different sectors. An irradiated polyethylene plastic, for example, is five times stronger than the ordinary polyethylene plastic.

An up-and-coming plastic is the rugged, lightweight polypropylene, which is expected to create another new generation of plastic applications.

When people think “growth stock,” money signs appear before their eyes. You are more likely to lose money if you insist on not buying stocks until good news is officially confirmed. That’s why the Wall Street adage says “Sell on good news.”

Why do professionals sell on good news? “Many other people (mostly non-professional) will jump in to buy the stock on the good news and they will sell out at a good price…Then, if they and others sell stocks when the good news is official, the price of the stock may dip.”

There are all kinds of services created to meet the needs of other businesses and many of them are good investments. This historical piece offers some intriguing insight into past success stories that might help you decide if service businesses are a good investment today.

Manpower, Inc., is now the world’s leading temporary-help service organization, serving 66,000 employers including 98 of the 100 largest corporations. This subsidiary could, in time, rival the parent company in revenues.

The market is always in the habit of overbuying stocks of favored industries or overselling “deflated industries.”

Actually, deflated industries are often just in the “down” cycle of the whole economy, especially when they are plagued by excess capacity. Earnings of the nation’s basic industries have experienced periodic ups and downs in line with general economy. Those stocks whose earnings tend to rise and fall with the ups and downs of the economy are identified as cyclical stocks.

The new automatic vending device removes the ceiling of 99 cents which formerly limited the use of automatic vending machines. This new paper currency changer can be used in every merchandising situation which involves portable merchandise. Even the less romantic segments of the vending machine business are fertile fields for growth.

Defense will always have a future in American investments, but is there any money to be made in aircraft and aerospace investments? A sharp earnings rebound seems in prospect for plane manufacturers.

Meanwhile, Grumman’s work in the missile and space fields is increasing. Like Grumman, most aircraft companies are rapidly stepping into aerospace, of course, with different speed and emphasis.

While the computer market is large, the market for its related equipment is even larger. An exciting brand of accessory equipment is the thin-film memory field which appears to represent a climax for stored-program computers. A stored-program computer is an electronic computer with an internal storage system processing an entire program rather than individual bits of information.

Some were deficient in their failure to reveal the method of computation of profits or losses upon sales of securities (i.e. whether based upon average cost; first-in, first-out; or on the identified security basis). Similarly, inadequate analyses of surplus accounts in published reports led to the concealment of substantial realized losses.

Bonds or debentures and preferred stocks are the instruments that provide leverage. So strong was the feeling against leverage that the issuance of senior securities by open-end investment companies was forbidden in the Investment Company Act, although bank loans might be contracted.