Cheaper oil would grease the economy's skids
Dear Mr. Berko: Our investment club would like to know what effect the rebate will have on our economy over the next 12 months. While I'm certain it will stimulate the economy, some of us think the effect won't be enough, and to work successfully the Fed would have to drop $1,200 per family about every six months.

It's not such a bad day at BlackRock
Dear Mr. Berko: Please tell me what you think of the BlackRock Municipal Bond Trust. My broker recommended that I buy 1,000 shares at $15, which will give me a tax-free yield of 6.03 percent. I know I can't get that yield on most municipals, and my broker told me that BlackRock uses "leverage" to get that yield. Can you explain how leverage works and give me your opinion of this closed-end fund? In my 30 percent bracket, it would be a tax-free return of 8.6 percent, which, I think, is real good.

Consumers have been consumed
Dear Mr. Berko: When you were the speaker at our club dinner you told us that the market would not have a strong second half, which flies in the face of what Wall Street and economists have been telling us.

Dump the shares, but securities are secure
Dear Mr. Berko: My mother and I have $40,000 too much in our checking account, and we would like to get a higher rate of return than what the bank will give us on certificates of deposit. I'm 52 and Mother is 80 years young. We'd like to get at least 8 percent on this money in issues that you think have a moderate degree of risk.

Bristol-Myers Squibb could be a wise investment
Dear Mr. Berko: I think I should buy 200 shares of Bristol-Myers, whose shares have done nothing during the past five years. My son, who is a pharmacist, heard that the company may be bought out by another large drug company, or there will be a huge management shake-up in process. Either way, it seems that I could make some good money in this stock in the coming year or so. Please give me your advice and your analysis of the company.

Optionetics system is for the dumb and dumber
Dear Mr. Berko: What is your opinion of George Fontanills and his course called Optionetics? He says that a large number of people using his program have doubled their money in less than a month, that his people generate profits in excess of 300 percent annually and often make $6,000, or $8,000 even $11,000 on just one options trade. Their students make at least $1,000 daily with his Optionetics system, and he personally makes money in the market every day and that he never loses. While some skeptics might claim this is hard to believe, his results are published in newspapers all over the country from coast to coast and are proof of his genius.

Devalued firm still provides invaluable information
Dear Mr. Berko: I bought 100 shares of Value Line stock a couple years ago at $74 because I was told it was in merger talks. And if you look at its performance you can see that my 100 shares have gone down in value right after my purchase. Are you hearing anything about a merger? What is wrong with this company that publishes research reports for the brokerage industry and investors? Do you think I should buy 100 more shares and wait till it comes back? Or do you think I should sell my 100 shares and take a huge tax loss.

Drugstore recommendations
Dear Mr. Berko: I heard that Walgreens is going to purchase Rite Aid. If this is a possibility, I'd like to buy 1,500 shares of Rite Aid, which is under $3 a share. What do you think of the chances that this will happen? If you pan this idea, then I'd consider purchasing either 100 shares of Walgreens or 100 shares of CVS Caremark.

Costly Social Security gambit may be worth it
Dear Mr. Berko: I began taking Social Security at 62 and will be 70 in a few months. And how I wish I had waited until age 70 to collect my benefits, which would have been almost twice as much as I'm getting now.

Balanced, low-risk portfolio
Dear Mr. Berko: Last year I sold about $144,000 of our $196,000 in stocks to put in a safe money market account for two reasons: At ages 78 and 82 we needed more income and our portfolio was yielding 1.2 percent and I wasn't happy with the way our growth stocks seemed to be performing.