We know of a retirement program that has been very much in the news, in which investments were restricted to the securities issued by a single entity. Most participants appeared satisfied, until it was discovered that the accounting methods used to track the soundness of those securities, while apparently within recognized guidelines, completely obscured the

Prior to the mid 1950s, common stocks usually paid more in dividends than corporate bonds, except during brief periods, such as the late 1920s, when common stock prices were unusually high. The historic rationale for pricing common stocks to provide more dividend income than was available on bonds was that companies are under no obligation