Chet Currier, 1945 – 2007
Financial journalism can be a complicated business. When you’re immersed in it, it’s sometimes easy to forget that you need to present your viewers, listeners and readers with material that’s clear, concise and accessible.
Chet Currier never forgot.
Chet -- one of the best financial columnists ever to put words to paper -- passed away this past weekend at the age of 62.
I had the privilege of working with Chet for 7-1/2 years at Bloomberg News, and read his investment columns for years before that, when he worked for the Associated Press.
Talking investments with him was like inviting your favorite uncle to dinner for a chat. He came on our radio show quite often, and no matter what subject he was addressing, you always walked away with several gems of advice and the feeling that your portfolio would be perfectly fine -- if you just gave it an extra moment or two of thought.
Chet could address any financial subject with the utmost intelligence, yet was incapable of making his audience feel that he was speaking over their heads.
Spending time with Chet was always a great investment. We’ll miss him.
Boring Ben
We can now definitively state that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke doesn’t worry about the effect that the Fed’s interest rate moves have on his stocks or corporate bonds.
He doesn’t own any.
Bernanke’s latest financial disclosure displays a conservative investment strategy that echoes that of his predecessor, Alan Greenspan.
Bernanke’s biggest assets are two annuities issued by retirement planning giant TIAA-CREF. He also owns some U.S. Treasury securities and some mutual funds.
So, when the Fed convenes for its next meeting on August 7, Bernanke will neither worry about the effect of the Fed’s moves on his own portfolio, nor spend much time figuring out what the Fed’s post-meeting policy statement means. Presumably, he already knows!
