Stock Certificates

Investors who enjoy the feel of stock certificates can breathe easy. A plan to eliminate the documents all but died last week before the Securities and Exchange Commission. For some time, a group of Wall Street and banking executives has been looking for ways to speed the settlement time for stock trades. One idea was to do away with paper certificates in favor of an electronic bookkeeping system that would record buys and sells. That idea, however, never gained favor with individual investors.

Consider a stock certificate. It's a colorful document, sometimes embossed with a detailed drawing of a corporate logo, factory or building. It has your name on the front and the number of shares that you own in the issuing company. It's your piece of Corporate America. But do you really need it? A group of prominent Wall Street and banking executives doesn't think so and is urging the securities industry to phase out stock certificates in favor of electronic bookkeeping.

A Single Man is like a big coffee table book on grief, loneliness, and loss - and mid-20th-century home design. Set in 1962 Los Angeles and starring Colin Firth as an English literature professor (he's English and he teaches literature), this meticulously crafted film has been adapted from the Christopher Isherwood novel by fashion designer-turned-director Tom Ford. Ford gets a strong and melancholy performance out of Firth, who wears his charm like a burden, because everything in his character's life has become meaningless since the death of his lover, Jim (Matthew Goode, in flashback)

A federal judge made a highly anticipated ruling Friday on the question of which set of shareholders in the defunct Philadelphia Savings Fund Society should receive the $276 million awarded in damages for the improper closing the bank in 1992. The question, raised by a former director who sold his shares at a loss in 1993, was whether the money should be paid to current shareholders - including some hedge funds that may have bought the shares for a penny a piece - or to shareholders at the time of the bank's seizure by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

A suave Main Line swindler has pleaded guilty to federal securities and mail fraud charges in California, four days before his trial was to begin. Thomas D. Dempsey, 52, entered the plea on Friday in U.S. District Court in Santa Barbara and will be sentenced there on Oct. 28. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years' imprisonment and a fine of $1.5 million. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey B. Isaacs, who handled the case in California, said he did not expect Dempsey to be tried in Pennsylvania.

In 1871, the Union & Titusville Railroad Co. of Pennsylvania issued 100 shares of stock for $50 each to investor James Fisk Jr. - for a total of $5,000. This weekend, Fisk's stock certificate, now 128 years old, could sell for $15,000 to $25,000 at an auction near Lancaster. The certificate for the railroad shares is one of many that may no longer be worth anything to an investor but is worth a lot of money to a scripophile, a collector of rare and historic stock and bond certificates.

The operators of a private South Jersey investment club that promised annual profits of 24 percent were accused in federal court yesterday of defrauding clients of more than $5 million over 16 years. The allegations were in a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is seeking, among other things, the appointment of a trustee to distribute what is left of the club's money. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, charges Joseph W. Buecker Jr. of Palermo, Cape May County, N.J., and John A. Petrillo of Warminster with violating federal securities laws through the investment club they founded in 1973.

Some people dispute whether Columbus did, but there's no arguing that you can - through a show called Discover America through Antiques, to be held this weekend at Cedar Crest College in Allentown. The benefit for United Cerebral Palsy of the Lehigh Valley is expected to draw more than 25 dealers, bringing in a variety of furniture, glass objects, Victoriana, toys and more. The show will be held in the school's Lees Hall, Cedar Crest Boulevard. Admission is $3.50. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 to 5 Sunday.

Butcher & Singer yesterday became the latest brokerage house to run afoul of the Securities & Exchange Commission's crackdown on insider trading. The SEC suspended the brokerage for 30 days from engaging in certain over- the-counter stock trading activities, starting Feb. 2. The penalty is for an alleged stock forgery and insider trading scheme that took place at the Philadelphia firm 10 years ago. "For awhile, with Boesky and Levine and et cetera, we thought they had bigger fish to fry down there," said Butcher & Singer spokeswoman Rebecca Brown.

A federal judge made a highly anticipated ruling Friday on the question of which set of shareholders in the defunct Philadelphia Savings Fund Society should receive the $276 million awarded in damages for the improper closing of the bank in 1992. The question, raised by a former director who sold his shares at a loss in 1993, was whether the money should be paid to current shareholders - including some hedge funds that may have bought the shares for a penny a piece - or to shareholders at the time of the bank's seizure by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Dear Harry: I think the Daily News is the best sports paper in the country. Until recently, I rarely read the rest of the paper. Since I found you, I have found other gems. My mother died last week. While cleaning out her house, my sister found two stock certificates of Transit Investment Corporation dated in 1938 and 1948. I'm sending you a photo so you can see just what's involved. The name on the certificates is my grandfather's. He worked for the old PTC as a trolley driver.

A Single Man is like a big coffee table book on grief, loneliness, and loss - and mid-20th-century home design. Set in 1962 Los Angeles and starring Colin Firth as an English literature professor (he's English and he teaches literature), this meticulously crafted film has been adapted from the Christopher Isherwood novel by fashion designer-turned-director Tom Ford. Ford gets a strong and melancholy performance out of Firth, who wears his charm like a burden, because everything in his character's life has become meaningless since the death of his lover, Jim (Matthew Goode, in flashback)

ARE YOU USING Enron stock certificates to insulate your house? Worried that if your 401(k) dips any lower, you'll have to send (PICK ONE: your bank; your old company; your stockbroker) a monthly check after you retire? Have your retirement goals dropped from "Florida by 50" to "Newark at 90"? Is that what's troubling you, bunky? Well, get down off that ledge and invest in some spring bulb futures - they'll deliver great returns! You'll reap colorful interest for five full months next spring, then enjoy compound dividends for years to come.

Billions of dollars in life savings were lost in the Enron Corp. debacle - but some enterprising souls are recouping at least a little of their money. Nearly 2,000 souvenirs bearing the Enron logo, many coming from former company employees, are being auctioned on the popular eBay Web site. The objects have gained worldwide interest, and some have sold for more than $200 apiece. One current Enron employee, who sold a company paperweight on eBay, estimated a huge personal loss from the former energy-trading giant's spectacular collapse last fall.

In 1871, the Union & Titusville Railroad Co. of Pennsylvania issued 100 shares of stock for $50 each to investor James Fisk Jr. - for a total of $5,000. This weekend, Fisk's stock certificate, now 128 years old, could sell for $15,000 to $25,000 at an auction near Lancaster. The certificate for the railroad shares is one of many that may no longer be worth anything to an investor but is worth a lot of money to a scripophile, a collector of rare and historic stock and bond certificates.

pharmaceuticals SmithKline wants to use Cuban vaccine The Clinton administration is considering a request by SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals to bring a Cuban vaccine against meningitis B to the United States. SmithKline, a British company with U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia, has developed vaccines for such diseases as hepatitis A and B, polio and tetanus. The request must overcome a 36-year U.S. economic embargo of Cuba. The proposal also comes as the administration - prodded by Pope John Paul II and others - is trying to make it easier for U.S. companies to sell medicines and medical equipment to Cuba.

For the last eight years, scripophilists from across the globe have invaded this quiet town, intent on acquiring pieces of financial history. And beginning today, history buffs and other fanciers of the tangible evidence of economic success or failure again will have a chance to bid on antique stocks and bonds, some dating from the 18th century. The term "scripophily" was coined in 1978 by a reader of the Financial Times of London. "It comes from 'scrip,' the old term for stocks, and 'phily,' the love of," said Micheline Masse, president of Stock Search International in Tucson, Ariz.