From the Editor
Invest in precious metals - like aluminum cans

I received an interesting e-mail late last week that helped put the effects of the nation's economic crisis in perspective.

In a nutshell, it listed a number of stocks and the levels their value had dropped to based on an initial investment of $1,000.

Among the examples stated, a reference to WorldCom really hit home for me.

Some of you know I moved to Gulf Breeze four years ago from Jackson, Miss. It was there in the late 1990s that a folksy CEO, Bernie Ebbers, masterminded several daring acquisitions and turned a small, unknown, local long-distance telephone company into WorldCom, a global telecommunications powerhouse second only to AT&T.

WorldCom's meteoric rise brought pride and prosperity to Mississippi. With the age of the Internet seemingly knowing no bounds, friends and neighbors began investing in WorldCom like crazy. My wife and I debated whether to invest $1,000 of our meager savings into the company since it seemed like a sure bet. WorldCom's stock methodically climbed higher day after day, week after week.

After much indecision, my wife and I decided not to invest in WorldCom. We had two children to raise, a mortgage to pay, insurance coverage to maintain, and two car notes. We figured it best to play it safe and watch from the sidelines as others took their chances in the market.

Then, a couple of years later, a WorldCom auditor discovered a number of bookkeeping errors. Long story short, WorldCom brain trusts were cooking the books. Former financial chief Scott Sullivan later testified that Ebbers directed him to overstate revenues, and expenses were falsely listed as capital expenditures to boost the bottom line. Sullivan was instructed to "hit the numbers" that Wall Street expected to keep stock prices rising.

In 2002, WorldCom — listing $104 billion in assets — went bankrupt. Eventually, Ebbers was convicted of securities fraud, conspiracy and other unscrupulous business practices. He and several colleagues now are serving lengthy prison sentences.

Verizon Communications acquired some of WorldCom's assets for pennies on the dollar and continues to be a significant player in today's wireless telephone industry.

Looking back, I'm glad we didn't jump on the WorldCom investment bandwagon. An investment of $1,000 then would be worth less than $5 now, last week's e-mail stated.

On a lighter note, the e-mail also stated that had I bought $1,000 worth of beer a year ago, consumed all of the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans to a recycling company, the yield would be $214 in cash.

Based on that information, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.

It's called the 401-Keg.