®()c CI)arIotte
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1996
STRICTLY BUSINESS
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CHARLES ROSS
Your
Personal
Finance
There are two smart invest
ment strategies that can help
you strengthen your portfolio
and beat the Standard and
Poor’s 500. First, buy depressed
shares in a company that is
making initial reorganization
moves. Companies at this stage
often experience a boost in their
stock price, but the biggest jump
often occurs just before the com
pany announces major changes.
You can spot companies in this
ripe condition by watching your
paper’s business section or the
Wall Stnet Journal.
A second strategy is to buy
stock in spin-offs about a month
after they go independent. But
be patient: a spin-offs shares
can falter because many
investors who receive the shares
don’t want them and sell them
right away, depressing the
price. Wait a month or two. The
Ivpicnl spin-off goes on to siipo-
nor porfiirmance.
Firms reinvest
Buying a stock because some
body else bought it may not
always be smart. But if the
investor you’re tracking is a
company itself, or a company’s
top executives, you are probably
in line for a good investment.
When a company’s management
decides the firm should repur
chase its own stock, chances are
the stock’s price will see a boost.
Stock buybacks signal that
insiders (who have the best
information available) think the
stock is selling cheaper than it
should. Buybacks can also raise
earnings per .share, because the
profits are divided among fewer
shares outstanding.
Another gcxxi bet is to catch a
tsunpany whose top executives
hold a big chunk of shares.
(’ominon stmse says that theyll
probably work harder to push
the stock price up, and your
investment portfolio can go
along for the ride.
After stock splits
A stock split will have an
impact on your portfolio. For the
same original investment, you
end up owning twice the num
ber of shares. Experienced
investors always regard a split
as a positive sign, and it can
represent a big opportunity for
you to snatch up a great invest
ment that will perform well.
A recent study showed that,
on average, stocks that split go
See STOCKS on page 9A
PHOTOS/SUE ANN JOHNSON
Vernal Osborne turned caring for her brother Into Shady Harbor, an assisted living facility in Charlotte. She refurbished a home
to convert it into two private rooms and two semi-private rooms.
No care like home for Osborne
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Necessity can be the mother of
enlrepri'neur-shjp.
That’s what has happened tor
Vernal Osborne, who got the
idea of opening an assisted liv
ing home after realizing that
her brother likely would need
such care the rest of his life.
“My brother was in a rest
home, but he didn’t need to be
in a rest home,” said Osborne, a
Duke Power employee for 19
years. “I didn’t want him to be
in a rest home all his life. 1 felt
that maybe I could provide a
place for him the rest of his life.”
Shady Harbor, Osborne’s
assisted living
facility, will
open soon at
908 Tom
Hunter Road.
It has room
for six resi
dents and a
resident care
supervisor.
There are two
private rooms
and two semi
private rooms for the residents.
“I got an existing house,”
Osborne said. “I got it refur-
Osborne
bished to meet the state stan
dard for assisting living facili
ties. There are some others in
Charlotte. The Renaissance
Uiptown) has one. but il is clos
ing at the end of this month.”
Osborne’s brother is living at
the Renaissance now, and had
lived for a time at Dogwood
Manor before it was closed last
year.
Assisted living is for patients
who don’t need the intense care
of a rest home or nursing home.
Some, like Osborne’s brother,
can work , but often have trou
ble taking care of their personal
affairs, like keeping a checkbook
or paying bills regularly.
“The purpose is to give the
individual a more structured
environment, rather than sit
ting around in a nui'sing home,”
Osborne said. "A rest home is
for people who need to be placed
in a facility and have constant
supervision.”
Osborne plans to have all
ambulatory patients in her
home.
“Assisted living homes are
usually small structures,” she
said. “Residents get individual
ized attention in a home-like
setting. They may be able to go
See HOME CARE on page 8A
Minister opens
funeral home
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Dreams sometimes do come
true.
At least one has for the Rev.
Anthony Jinwright.
On Saturday, after almost 20
years, his dream will finally
come true when he opens the
doors of his new business to the
public.
“It has taken me a long time to
seize this dream,” says
Jinwright. “It has been a long
time coming.”
Jinwright, pastor of Salem
Baptist Church, will open A.L
Jinwright Funeral Services to
for business on Saturday.
His business philosophy is
simple.
“I feel that people at that time
need to be comforted,” Jinwright
said. “They need to help with all
the components of planning a
service in a place that will offer
good and discrete services. 'That
is our goal, to give good and pro
found service.”
Jinwright began his ministry
at a funeral home in
Wilmington in 1975. When he
moved to Charlotte in 1976, he
served as manager of Long and
Son Mortuary.
Jinwright sees the funeral ser
vices business as an extension of
his personal gospel ministry.
“I know it is a ministry,” he
said. “It ministers to the needs
of those who have had a death.
See FUNERALon page 8A
PHOTO/SUE ANN JOHNSON
The Rev. A.L Jinwright is owner of A.L Jinwright Funeral Services
in Charlotte.
BUSINESS TO BUSINESS
Money
Management
Hobbies
are a tax
break
By Amanda Danchi
SPECIAL TO THE POST
Do you enjoy raising cats,
collecting coins, or taking pho
tographs? Would you like to
earn valuable tax breaks for
doing something you find
pleasurable? Then try turning
your a vacation into a sideline
business, recommends the
North Carolina Association of
CPAs.
You’ll be able to generate
some additional income, as
well as realize some signifi
cant tax breaks. Here’s how
you may be affected by some
of the hobby rules. Traveling
to a coin show or planning to
attend a conference for stamp
collectors? Typically, when
you travel on business in con
nection with a hobby, you
won’t get much help from
Uncle Sam. Although you
must claim the full amount of
income you earn from your
hobby, hobby relulod cxpeii.scs
are generally deductible only
to the extent of income pro
duced by the activity. So if you
don’t generate any income
from your hobby, you can't
claim any deductions. What’s
more, even those hobby
expenses which can be deduct
ed are subject to an additional
limitation: they are considered
miscellaneous itemized deduc
tions, which ace de,^uctible
only to the extent that they
exceed 2 percent of your
adjusted gross income. In Con
trast, if your activity can be
classified as a bona fide busi
ness, you may be able to
deduct the full amount of your
expenses for such things as
travel and meetings (and 50
percent of the cost of business
meal and entertainment
expenses) on schedule C of
your tax return.
Having trouble locating buy
ers for the Olympics memora
bilia you bought? Don’t count
on getting a break from Uncle
Sam for losses you incur if
this is a hobby of yours. A
hobby loss won’t cut your
overall tax bill because the tax
law stipulates that you can’t
use a hobby loss to offset other
income. In contrast, convert
ing your hobby into a bona
fide business means you can
deduct a net loss from other
income you earn, such as
salary.
The ability to deduct losses
is one of the major tax advan
tages of running a business
over pursuing a hobby. Need
See TAXES on page 9A
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