The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper

Vol. 10 No. 18 - January 27, 2010

BUSINESS

Salon savvy at John Thomas

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

SUN PHOTO/LOUISE BOLGER Lisa Gugliemini specializes
in hair extensions and Sonia Woolford specializes
in various coloring and cutting techniques.

If you don’t count the more than 3,000 miles between Florida and California, you’ll find many similarities between the two states. Plenty of coastline, plenty of water, plenty of sunshine and just a few offbeat personalities. Two of those personalities are hair and make-up specialists in Bradenton, but there’s nothing offbeat about them.

Lisa Gugliemini and Sonia Woolford are professionals who have worked in the salon business for over 20 years each. Currently they are with the John Thomas Studio of Hair Design on Manatee Avenue West in Bradenton providing a variety of services from hair cuts to waxing.

Lisa Gugliemini is a native Floridian, she grew up on Anna Maria, where her grandfather owned the Silver Surf Motel and she attended AMI Elementary School.

In addition to traditional and razor hair-cuts Gugliemini specializes in hair extensions. She says braided hair extensions are great for long term wear and clip-ons work well for short term and special occasions. She is also experienced in make-up applications, facial waxing, color and will do roll-ups and permanents.

Gugliemini is an artist who works in acrylics, creating murals and portraits, and she also donates her skills and time to the Manatee High School Wrestling Team. When the team is going out of town for a competition, she gets their hair in tip top shape and gets a big thank you from their coach Andrew Gugliemini, who also happens to be her husband.

Sonia Woolford was born in California and gradually worked her way across the country settling in Bradenton. Woolford is Sebastian trained, originally in Los Angeles and San Francisco before moving on to a Sebastian salon in Phoenix. Sebastian training involves intense weekly, monthly and quarterly follow-up training sessions and advance classes.

She specializes in hair color techniques, straightening, styling and directional cutting, a technique used to accommodate the direction in which you want your hair to fall. She has extensive make-up experience in film, stage, photography and the Miss Arizona Beauty Pageant. In between all that, she also finds time to make beaded jewelry.

Both women frequently handle wedding parties and color corrections. During their long careers, they have both been trainers and teachers in a variety of areas of their profession, and keep current with continuing education and attendance at hair shows.

Gugliemini and Woolford would like to thank all of their clients, including full time residents, many of whom are professional women and men, as well as seasonal residents. They want everyone to know how much they appreciate and enjoy their business. In addition, if you’re a new client you can expect a $10 discount on one of their services.

Make an appointment to meet Gugliemini or Woolford at the John Thomas Studio of Hair Design. You’ll love the individual flat screen TVs at each station and the service you’ll get from the two women from the two great sunshine states.

John Thomas Studio of Hair Design

Lisa Gugliemini • 941-518-7597
Sonia Woolford • 941-400-5679
7455 Manatee Ave. W. • Bradenton
(In Albertson’s plaza)
By appointment

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

Quality stocks likely to lead

Investment Corner

The 2009 recovery rally fit the pattern of other early phase recoveries from steep market declines in that lower quality companies tend to experience the largest appreciation from the nadir of the selling panic phase. This trend is sometimes called a junk rally, a risk rally or, most creatively, a dash for trash.

This characteristic is largely due to the fact that lower quality companies decline more during corrections since investors are not confident about the ability of less sound firms to survive the economic slowdown or financial crisis of the moment. Once the panic phase is over and the fear of bankruptcy wanes, investors rush back into these more speculative names to try to get the biggest bang for their buck.

The results can be startling. In 2009, the 363 companies which paid consistent dividends were up 26 percent on average. The 137 non-dividend paying firms were up 65 percent as a group! Before getting too excited and starting your search for companies without dividends, make sure to read what happens next as we continue below.

A lot of factors go into determining whether a company should be classified as high or low quality, and there is no official designation. Rather, it is a subjective opinion based on the investor’s interpretation of financial data. In general, higher quality companies are more stable financially due to larger cash reserves, lower levels of debt, consistent sales or, as indicated above, payment of a steady or rising dividend.

There have been eight distinct periods since 1980 where low quality outperformed high quality stocks. Each of these followed significant periods of decline in the equities market and, on average, lasted about 10 months. If we count 10 months from March of 2009 when the latest low quality rally began, we find ourselves in January 2010. In recent months, we have begun to see better relative performance by higher quality stocks, and there is a good chance the best gains will come from these companies as the new bull market trend continues to unfold.

Sun readers know I write periodically about owning quality, dividend paying common stocks. Despite the excitement a junk rally can create, the facts are simple. With the exception of the 10 month periods which tend to occur about once every 4 to 5 years, quality stocks outperform lower quality companies the majority of time and overall.

Of all the financial factors that logically could fit into an assessment of the quality of a company, most have some level of subjectivity or interpretation required. Additionally, companies in certain industries may look good on one measure but not on another, due to characteristics of that particular industry. One indicator rises above all in my opinion in ease of use and understanding – the payment of a consistent, or preferably rising, dividend over time.

Over longer periods, dividends contribute as much as 33 to 45 percent of the total return achieved in owning a diversified portfolio of equities. Perhaps more importantly, a recent report from Pioneer Investments showed that dividend paying common stocks outperformed non-dividend payers more than 60 percent of all six month and one year time periods since 1972, and more than 75 percent of all two, three, and five year time increments during the last 37 years.

As mentioned above, obtaining information on a company’s history of paying and increasing its dividend is relatively easy to do. www.finance.yahoo.com provides dividend history on companies, and most firms that have been paying consistent dividends like to brag about it in their annual reports and in the investor relations section of their Web site.

Remember, if selecting individual stocks for your portfolio, make sure to be sufficiently diversified to reduce company specific risk, and also make sure that you dedicate an appropriate portion of your portfolio to stocks. Even high quality equities can decline in value over short periods, so understand your emotional limitations to put up with fluctuation in the value of your portfolio.

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.

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.


AMISUN ~ The Island's Award-Winning Newspaper