Nancy Anderson, MBJ contributing columnist

Pearl used to be the red-headed stepchild of the Jackson area. It had a stretch of Highway 80 littered with half-empty strip malls and fast food restaurants. In many cases, the neighborhoods were old and rundown.

We laughed when the town was mentioned. Puuhhrrrl? We always stretched out the one syllable and put on our best redneck accent when we said the name. When it came to the competition among the outlying towns, Pearl always seemed to be the one in last place.

No longer.

Pearl got a world-class baseball park a few years ago. They got a state-of-the-art movie theater. Now, they are breaking ground on an outlet mall. By Christmas, we’ll all be driving to Pearl to buy upscale Coach handbags.

Pearl is a lesson in the “turnaround.” A turnaround happens when a down and out contender beats expectations. It happens when someone with the will and the managerial skill steps in and makes something new out of the old sow’s ear. It happens when someone ignores popular opinion and just keeps turning around and going in another direction.

In business, turnarounds make great stories. A couple years ago, Netflix botched it with their customers and were threatened with extinction. This year, they are the darlings of Wall Street. Now, J.C. Penney is the dog. Will they die a slow death or will they turn it around? Stay tuned. Turnarounds are contrarian plays. They are lessons in the danger of allowing old ideas and perceptions to turn into cement in our psyche.

Pearl has turned a corner, and we have stopped laughing. At the groundbreaking for the outlet mall, the mayor said, “Y’all see this smile? It’s hard for me to wipe it off my face.”

Puuhl. I’m practicing my best British accent when I say that now. The name has taken on a whole new meaning.

Nancy Lottridge Anderson, Ph.D., CFA, is President of New Perspectives, Inc., in Ridgeland, 601-991-3158. She is also an Assistant Professor of Finance at Mississippi College. Her e-mail address is nanderson@newper.com, and her website is www.newper.com.

Nancy Anderson, MBJ contributing columnist

Every generation of women has found it easier to step into a man’s world and compete. During my early years as a business owner, one potential client decided against signing up because I might get married and quit. As a woman, credibility was hard to come by. I knew I had to have more letters behind my name to get the same consideration, so I pursued every educational opportunity I could get.

In earlier generations, women had to dress like men in order to be taken seriously. I never felt that way, but I was always cautious to present a professional image. I am a woman. I want to look nice. I want to appear feminine, but I know I must tread carefully. Even as a young woman, I always wanted to be valued for what was in my head, not for what I looked like.

Sheryl Sandberg has created a fuss with her new book, “Lean In”. I haven’t read it, but I have listened to her talk about the need for women to pursue top positions in the business world. Sandberg is no slouch when it comes to appearance. She is a beautiful woman who dresses like a woman.

But make no mistake about it. She’s the COO of one of the biggest businesses in the world. She speaks carefully and seriously about women in business. She is no slouch when it comes to running a business.

The truth is that women in business must still be guarded. Yes, we can be women, but we must avoid the stereotypes. The most important number in our resume should be our IQ, not our bra size.

It’s been a long, hard 20 years for me, as I have bucked those old winds and built my business. Whenever I see a woman judged for her outfit in a serious situation, I respond, “REALLY??” Whenever I see a woman getting more credit than she deserves because she’s “hot,” I say, “REALLY??” And when I see or hear a woman playing into the stereotypes, I just cringe.

So when I heard one of the lines from Sarah Palin’s speech at CPAC referencing her “rack,” I was incredulous. The second female candidate for national office just set us back decades. Sarah, “REALLY??”

» Nancy Lottridge Anderson, Ph.D., CFA, is president of New Perspectives Inc. in Ridgeland — (601) 991-3158. She is also an assistant professor of finance at Mississippi College. Her e-mail address is nanderson@newper.com, and her website is www.newper.com.

Nancy Anderson, MBJ contributing columnist

Good news is always welcome. Just days from the pronouncement of the expert panel at the annual CFA Forecast Dinner, the market performed as predicted and hit an all-time high.

Kathleen Hays of Bloomberg Radio moderated again this year, much to the delight of the audience. Food and atmosphere at Jackson Country Club met our usual high expectations. While we dined, we listened to a panel of experts address the economic and financial concerns of the day. On the panel were Bill Fries, equity expert; Jeff Tanguis, fixed-income expert; and Tony Crescenzi, economic expert from PIMCO. Repeat audience members agreed this was the most optimistic forecast since 2008.

Takeaways?

The housing market is recovering. The improvements are here to stay as we see vacancy rates declining while new buyers enter the market. Immigration reform could add to the growth as immigrants add to the pool of first-time home buyers. Any investment with connections to the housing market should do well this year.

Sequestration was a given on that night. The cuts to government spending are expected to reduce GDP by ½ percent this year should they stay in place. Some panelists think the event will be short-lived, though, as Congress comes to grips with the effects. Regardless, the market has assumed some eventual compromise and is, basically, ignoring the D.C. drama.

The real problem in our budget is the $86.5 trillion in promises made to senior citizens. If this is not addressed, this will hurt economic growth in the U.S. and the developed world.

Europe is still a concern. EU citizens don’t like austerity. The cultural differences across various countries are hampering a proper political union.

Hyperinflation in the U.S. is not a concern. The Federal Reserve can “change its mind” and ratchet down their printing business.

Energy independence in the U.S. is a “real possibility.” Between new technology and new discoveries, we could be independent within six years. Tanguis, a Louisiana resident, pointed out the low unemployment in his state due to the energy business.

Ultimately, all agreed investors must be more selective, looking for opportunities within certain businesses expected to benefit from the next wave of good news.

» Nancy Lottridge Anderson, Ph.D., CFA, is president of New Perspectives Inc. in Ridgeland — (601) 991-3158. She is also an assistant professor of finance at Mississippi College. Her e-mail address is nanderson@newper.com, and her website is www.newper.com.

Nancy Anderson, MBJ contributing columnist

We’re at that stage. It’s the one where you feel the need to gather your siblings and have conversations about your parents. The trip to my husband’s home over Thanksgiving confirmed our suspicions. His parents’ health is declining, and they need help with basic needs.

All around us, friends are having these same conversations in their families. A health system that extends life without, necessarily, extending the quality of that life leaves us with more questions than answers. Families that no longer live next door to aging parents add to the confusion. Swapping caretaking roles when one party refuses to give up control only makes it worse.

We are starting to see business responding to these great needs, but it’s not happening fast enough or widespread enough. How do you make sure Mom is eating right? Is Dad taking the prescribed medicine? Are they paying their bills on time? Is someone taking advantage of their confusion?

And how do grown children meet their obligation to their parents when they live hundreds of miles away? You can pay someone to chauffeur your parents, pay their bills, clean their homes and prepare their meals. And don’t expect it to all get done just because they are in some long-term care facility. You can’t pay for the personal care that only a family member can provide.

As I watch these scenes unfold, I tell myself that I will be different. When my time comes, I will sacrifice my desires and do whatever it takes to make it easy on my daughter. I tell myself that, but it may not be so easy. So, I have already started talking to her about that time. I have given her permission to take matters into her own hands because I may not be able to give over control.

Baby boomers should take note. Start planning. Talk to your family about what you want. Make preparations for the decline — because it will come.

>> Nancy Lottridge Anderson, Ph.D., CFA, is president of New Perspectives Inc. in Ridgeland — (601) 991-3158. She is also an assistant professor of finance at Mississippi College. Her e-mail address is nanderson@newper.com, and her website is www.newper.com.

Nancy Anderson, MBJ contributing columnist

I made my usual phone call.

“Mom, Dad, how about coming north and staying with us until the storm passes,” I said, knowing full-well what their answer would be.

My parents live in the same house in Gulfport where I grew up. Their street is about a mile off the beach but not in a low-lying area. I have vivid memories of the night Hurricane Camille blew through. The winds whistled through the rafters. Old oak trees toppled like matchsticks on either side of our yard. While the rains came and the winds blew, our house stood strong and dry.

When Hurricane Katrina took aim at Gulfport, I begged. I cajoled. “We made it fine through Camille, and that was a 5. We’ll be fine, now,” they said. That experience changed their attitude. After all, they are in their 80s and not as equipped to handle such a catastrophe, and they didn’t really understand the magnitude of the storm bearing down on them.

So I thought this time would be different, but Hurricane Isaac was only labeled a “1.” That number convinced my parents and many residents of the storm area that this was no big deal. A “1” is hardly worth going to the grocery for supplies.

A New York Times article suggested it is time for us to address our hurricane rating system. The current system ignores the size of the storm. Isaac wobbled onto shore, then hung out for hours. The rainfall amounts were tremendous. Winds from the storm occurred over a 400-mile area.

We should ask the Weather Service to come up with something better, something that accounts for how big the storm is and how quickly it is moving. When you are in the bullseye of a hurricane, lives and property depend on that rating.

>> Nancy Lottridge Anderson, Ph.D., CFA, is president of New Perspectives Inc. in Ridgeland — (601) 991-3158. She is also an assistant professor of finance at Mississippi College. Her e-mail address is nanderson@newper.com, and her website is www.newper.com.

Mississippians are the second most generous folks in the country! How about that? For a state with the one of the lowest household incomes, this is big. We may not have much, but we’re generous. Much of this is grounded in our religious teachings.

I grew up in a family of tithers—10 percent of our earnings went into the offering plate. I confess that I often held back when it came to my own allowance, but I witnessed this discipline in my parents. My mother handled the household account, and I often stood nearby as she wrote that check. It was a big deal for a household with three kids and an elderly grandmother living, mainly, on one income.

While religion plays a role in this practice, I think being a rural state has an effect, as well. We all depend on each other. There was clear evidence of this commitment after Hurricane Katrina. Our life at the bottom has not left us mean and miserly. Instead, we are more prone to lend a hand to our neighbors.

I always preach about the need to live within our means, but we should take this two steps further. Our practice should be to live on 80 percent of our net income. Ten percent should go to the charities of our choice, so that we learn it’s not all about us. Ten percent should go into savings, so that we protect our families from those unexpected events.

Today, I’m claiming bragging rights for Mississippi. Take that New Hampshire and Vermont and Massachusetts. You got nothin’ on us!

Nancy Lottridge Anderson, Ph.D., CFA, is president of New Perspectives Inc. in Ridgeland — (601) 991-3158. She is also an assistant professor of finance at Mississippi College. Her e-mail address is nanderson@newper.com, and her website is www.newper.com.

After all the talk of dogs on roofs and birther conspiracies, maybe we can start talking about real stuff. What do we want government to do? And how will we pay for this?

David Wessel, economics reporter for The Wall Street Journal, has a new book. It’s called “Red Ink.” In it he addresses our budget crisis in a simple, straightforward way. It’s a little book, with the actual text only covering about 150 pages. Wessel highlights important points in bold text, making it easy for the reader to get the big picture.

Points like…

“Nearly two-thirds of annual federal spending is on autopilot and doesn’t require an annual vote by Congress.”

And…

“Firing every federal government employee wouldn’t save enough to even cut the deficit in half.”

And…

“About $1 of every $4 the federal government spends goes to health care today, and that share is rising inexorably.”

Stunning! When Wessel quotes numbers, he puts them in terms that laymen can understand. He says that tax loopholes are just another form of spending. Through our tax code, we grant loopholes that cost the government $1.1 trillion, or nearly half of total annual collections. There are easy to read graphs and pie charts that drive home our dilemma.

He quotes Sen. Rob Portman’s assessment of the problem. Portman says, “It’s two words: health care.” The sheer size of the baby boom generation, longer life spans and exploding costs are jeopardizing the system for future generations.

Wessel also addresses Social Security and defense, two more sacred cows in our system. He doesn’t sugarcoat the history or the current state of affairs, and he doesn’t pull punches on either party. He says we can’t fix the problem by addressing the small stuff. The numbers just don’t add up. A quote from Washington PR specialist Stan Collender sums up the problem. “The average person doesn’t want less government. They just want government to cost less.”

The proposal to change Medicare to a “premium support” system for everyone under the age of 55 has hit me where I live. I’m 53. You bet I’m paying attention! But everyone needs to participate in this conversation. The decisions we make in the next few years will affect all of us.

So turn off the television and the radio, and get a good book. Get informed, then get involved. Your life depends on it!

Nancy Lottridge Anderson, Ph.D., CFA, is president of New Perspectives Inc. in Ridgeland — (601) 991-3158. She is also an assistant professor of finance at Mississippi College. Her e-mail address is nanderson@newper.com, and her website is www.newper.com.

There are three pieces of jobs data that tell us about the condition of the labor market. Two are reported monthly, and one is reported weekly.

The weekly number tells us how many new claims for unemployment checks occurred in the last week. The figure is reported every Thursday morning. Because it is a weekly number, it can vary and is not given as much weight as monthly numbers. Instead, we look at trends on this data. Currently, anything below 400,000 claims per week is a good sign, and we look for a rolling average that is steadily declining. In order to really have an impact on total unemployment, the number needs to be significantly below 400,000, though. We’ve been staying in the 350,000 to 375,000 range.

The two monthly numbers are reported on the first Friday of each new month. One reports the percentage of unemployed and is most often cited in the news. It is calculated by calling 60,000 households and surveying residents about their job situation and searches. Because it is dependent on household responses, it can be a bit fuzzy, and it doesn’t count people who have simply given up on job searches.

The second piece of data is collected by surveying around 140,000 businesses to find out numbers of jobs added and lost during the month. It measures actual job creation, and Wall Street gives more credence to this figure. Anything above 150,000 is a good sign, and last month’s figure of 163,000 was applauded by investors. Know that we need significantly above 150,000 in order to really make a dent in overall unemployment.

Both sets of monthly data are adjusted for seasonal variations. Occasionally, the two numbers diverge as they did last month, but this is usually temporary. Look for them to come back into agreement next month.

No single piece of data tells the whole story, but when it comes to employment, the only figure that really counts is the one on your paycheck. When I see help wanted signs and a commercial from Ingall’s Shipbuilding advertising jobs, I’m thinking, “Now that’s a number I can take to the bank!”

Nancy Lottridge Anderson, Ph.D., CFA, is president of New Perspectives Inc. in Ridgeland — (601) 991-3158. She is also an assistant professor of finance at Mississippi College. Her e-mail address is nanderson@newper.com, and her website is www.newper.com.

Eighty-one school districts in Mississippi have chosen an abstinence only approach to sex education. Forget that we have the highest teen birth rate in the nation. We think we can put all those teenagers in a time machine and rocket them back to 1950, back to a time when the “I do” preceded the “I will.”

One of our strongest instincts, as human beings, is sexual. It is in our nature to couple, to procreate, to extend the species. Up until the sexual revolution of the ‘60s, we held back that wave by convincing teenagers that great tragedy would befall if they succumbed to their basest desires.

Those days are gone. Celebrities give birth, then trot down the aisle, children in tow. Shotguns no longer needed. Young people are maturing earlier but marrying later. Living together has become passé. Even ordinary people are making names for themselves by touting their teen pregnancies, i.e. Teen Mom and Life’s a Tripp.

Abstinence Plus is a realistic approach to this new world. Young people should be encouraged to take sex seriously, but the wave of hormones that hits teenagers coupled with images from a hypersexual world are too much for the “just say no” approach.

We need an all-out assault on teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and plain ignorance. It’s time to admit that Christian girls get pregnant out of wedlock and catch venereal disease, too. Pretending we’re still living in the pre-’60s sexual revolution doesn’t make it so.

 Nancy Lottridge Anderson, Ph.D., CFA, is president of New Perspectives Inc. in Ridgeland — (601) 991-3158. She is also an assistant professor of finance at Mississippi College. Her e-mail address is nanderson@newper.com, and her website is www.newper.com.

I love Chick-Fil-A sandwiches. I think it’s the pickle. That tangy, sour taste combined with a juicy piece of chicken satisfies my hunger pangs every time. My daughter is a devotee, as well. When traveling home from Yankee territory, she gets her fix at the Atlanta airport.

If only Mr. Cathy had stuck with chicken sandwiches!

Every business owner knows the perils of offending your customers. I have clients of all stripes. They love to spout their opinions on everything, and I often find myself disagreeing with them. But I just smile and nod. After all, who has the luxury of doing business only with people who agree with you on everything? And I need their business.

But I confess that I sometimes let things slip. Sometimes, I just can’t conceal my real feelings. I just hope that my relationship with my customers is strong enough, that the service I offer them is good enough so that it won’t matter that we disagree.

Mr. Cathy expressed his opinion in a very public forum, and Chick-fil-A is a private company. His customers will decide if this leaves a bad taste in their mouths. Supporters are lining up to buy more sandwiches, while protesters are swearing off the tasty chicken.

Ultimately, customers will decide the fate of Chick-Fil-A. Not evangelical groups. Not gay groups. Not the mayor of Chicago. Or the mayor of Boston. And, despite all the protestations on both sides, the decision will be based on that sandwich… NOT Mr. Cathy’s opinions.

That pickle. I DO love that sandwich!

Nancy Lottridge Anderson, Ph.D., CFA, is president of New Perspectives Inc. in Ridgeland — (601) 991-3158. She is also an assistant professor of finance at Mississippi College. Her e-mail address is nanderson@newper.com, and her website is www.newper.com.