One of the first things almost everyone does when moving to Florida is make an appointment with a dermatologist. Even those of us who have worshipped the sun since childhood recognize that the Florida sun needs to be respected, habits formed long ago changed and medical advice sought.

Dr. Anne McBride with Dermatology Associates in Bradenton is a board certified dermatologist specializing in both general adult and child dermatology, as well as offering cosmetic dermatology treatments. Since she opened her Bradenton office in January she has been caring for patients with skin cancers, performing dermatologic surgeries and working closely with an oncology group located in the same facility.

McBride, originally from West Virginia, was persuaded to relocate her practice from Pittsburg, Pa., by family members living in Sarasota, including an older brother who is a physician specializing in family practice in Sarasota. Initially, she worked with Dr. Monica Bendi out of Dermatology Associates’ office on Bee Ridge Road in Sarasota and she still maintains an affiliation in the Sarasota office.

But McBride’s story doesn’t stop there. Her first career after graduating from college was as a chemical engineer. After a few years, she realized she didn’t have the passion for a career in engineering. She enrolled in medical school at the University of West Virginia, ultimately completing her residency at the University of Pittsburg. Her life has gotten even more interesting and satisfying recently after adopting two little girls, ages five and six from Nepal and China.

McBride is community oriented and attempts to provide both old and new patients with appointments as quickly as possible and is always accepting new patients. Dermatology Associates accepts Medicare and most other insurances, because as Dr. McBride says, it’s hard and unfair not to take insurance.

So keep the sunshine in your sunny Florida lifestyle by having your skin regularly examined by a qualified dermatologist. McBride at Dermatology Associates combines expertise with a warm and caring approach resulting in your peace of mind.

Dermatology Associates

Anne K. McBride, M.D., board certified dermatologist
3501 Cortez Road W. – Suite 3
Bradenton
941-752-0066
Call for appointment

In the original story of Chicken Little, an acorn to the noggin convinces the heroine that the sky is falling. On her way to see the king to let him know the bad news, she convinces several other characters that the peril of the sky falling is real, leading them to get waylaid by a fox and almost eaten. The moral is that the sky doesn’t fall and Chicken Little decides that an umbrella to shield her from falling acorns while walking in the forest will help reduce her worry.

Disney revived the story a few years ago, and it is now a popular cartoon and movie series with a modern Chicken Little learning lessons of realism and courage. After experiencing the rough stock market of the last year and the constant barrage of bad news recently rising to a crescendo, investors today are likely feeling like Chicken Little and wondering if, in fact, their sky is falling.

After reassuring our clients and others that I speak with that "this too shall pass," my own words are starting to sound hollow, and I have even caught myself starting to wonder if things will ever be good again. But, after a couple minutes of self-inflicted ridicule for such an outlook, I come back to reality.

Economic shocks and financial greed are a fact of life and will probably never go away. Some sort of greed-driven challenge has been presented to our economy and impacted investors at least once a decade in the memory of the longest living person reading this article. At the moment, each of these created the same feelings we are experiencing today. Doubt about the future of our economy, doubt about investment returns (or more importantly, return of investment principal), perhaps even doubt about whether we can survive the latest experience.

Yet, last time I checked, the sky was still where it was supposed to be. I heard birds singing this morning, and it is a beautiful day in Anna Maria. I recently reminded myself of how many of these crises I have already survived a 21 year career in the investment business (it’s five for those who are interested – not counting the current one because it’s not over yet). One about every four years or so, and each one seemed like a great time to find a new career. But, we love to help people succeed with their investments, and I think we are reasonably good at it, so Breiter Capital is now in its 17th year of advising clients with no intention of doing anything different no matter how the uncomfortable times that lie in our future unfold.

Granted, this recent unwinding of the huge credit bubble, which can be attributed to the greed of banks, brokerage firms, and hedge funds, is serious. So serious that the U.S. government has announced a takeover of the country’s largest insurance holding company, American International Group. I think this is a great move to prevent future problems and hopefully lead to some limitations and regulations on the use of financial leverage which created the recent bubble. By the way, our government will earn about 11 percent interest on the money loaned to bail out AIG, so this could end up being a profitable transaction for taxpayers.

Chicken Little gained courage by using an umbrella to keep her from thinking the sky is falling. The best investor’s umbrella is a diversified investment plan appropriate for your personal situation. By having money in different asset classes, you can smooth out the bumps in the road resulting from the inevitable challenges in our future, and still earn higher returns than just putting your investment capital in low-yielding, fixed-income investments that don’t even keep up with inflation.

In closing, I know some of you are saying, "But it’s different this time". I don’t disagree. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was different, the first oil embargo of the 1970s was different, the stock market crash in 1987 was different, the Russian debt crisis of 1998 was different, the technology stock /dot com bubble of 2000 was different, and this leveraged credit bubble burst we are living through now is different. Wait, let me check – yep, the sky is still where it is supposed to be, and I suspect it will be there tomorrow.

Tom Breiter is president of Breiter Capital Management, Inc., an Anna Maria based investment advisor. He can be reached at 778-1900. Some of the investment concepts highlighted in this column may carry the risk of loss of principal, and investors should determine appropriateness for their personal situation before investing.