This refrain may sound familiar to you by now:

• "A number of accounting factors have helped to generate earnings in recent years, but we think this has simultaneously lowered the quality of earnings."
  
• "Investors have applauded growth by acquisition in the past; but the end of pooling accounting, combined with the recent market action of “acquisitive” companies, suggests to us that this could be changing."
  
• "Pension fund income has become a concern of the Federal Reserve. ... We think the trend of turning pension funds into profit centers (not cost centers) is unsustainable over time."
  
• "Of all the accounting issues that exist today, we believe the employee option situation is potentially the most significant in terms of its long-term impact to equity investors through dilution."
  

But those words long predate the current gnashing over accounting issues -- Dudack wrote them in June 2000 as the then-chief investment strategist for UBS Warburg. You could say the last two years have been vindication for her.

Throughout the late 1990s, Dudack was criticized for a bearish stance -- the host of one popular investment TV show fired her on the air as a panelist -- and even now, some skeptics would say that listening to her at that time would have resulted in leaving money on the table. But the fact is that Dudack was absolutely right about the bubble; BusinessWeek as early as April 1998 noted: "For now, all Dudack can really predict is that investors could pay for the market's excesses soon -- though they may not have to until later. Either way, she thinks that the 'new paradigm' isn't new -- it's just older than the majority of traders now working on Wall Street."

Dudack these days is talking about another old idea, but this one is framed in hopeful terms: total return investing, which emphasizes high-dividend stocks.

"This is turtle investing and we believe it will become the 'new new' thing of the decade," Dudack wrote in a research report released in February 2002. "Dividends are a financial commitment from a company. They cannot be paid with smoke and mirrors. And companies that increase their quarterly dividend payments are steadily and consistently rewarding shareholders for their loyalty. Equally important, companies with a track record of paying quarterly dividends and increasing dividend payments are making a clear statement about the confidence they have in their earnings potential, real cash flow, and the viability of their long term business plan."

She points to research from Global Financial Data which indicates that in 13 out of 20 decades studied, reinvested dividend returns exceeded capital gains, with dividends generating, on average, 57 percent of each decade's total return from stocks. "In short, dividends are an important reason why stocks have so consistently outperformed other asset classes," Dudack wrote. "By reaching only for capital gains in the 1990s, investors have overlooked a key reason for owning stocks."

Stop worrying about the frequently-cited double tax on dividends, Dudack argues. "That is not, in our opinion, a good reason to ignore total return," she wrote "Moreover, if a high yield stock is in a tax-free 401(k) account, double-taxation becomes a moot point. In addition, Baby Boomers are approaching an age when predictable income will begin to look very attractive."

Before SunGard, Dudack was chief investment strategist for UBS Warburg. Other experience includes chief market analyst at the Pershing division of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, as well as president of DLJ's federal credit union. Dudack is currently vice-chair of the Securities Industry Institute; she was president of the Market Technicians Association from 1985 to 1987. She received an honors degree in economics from Skidmore College, where she received the Wall Street Journal Award for the most promising student in finance. In 1990, she earned the Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation awarded by the Market Technicians Association. In early 1997, Ms. Dudack received the Market Technicians Association’s “Best of the Best Award” for price analysis and market forecasting for the previous five-year period.

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For the past 12 years, Bianco has been producing fixed income commentaries for hundreds of portfolio managers and traders. His reports are primarily devoted to the fixed income markets with special emphasis on money flow characteristics of primary dealers, mutual funds, hedge funds, futures traders, banks, and institutional investors. Other topics he has researched include: the effect of commodity prices on bond yields; how the ratio of the equity market’s capitalization as a percentage of nominal gross domestic product affects price performance of the stock market; government regulation and inflation; how market performance affects mutual fund investors; politics and interest rates; and measuring the stock and bond markets from a total-return perspective.

Bianco past experience includes market strategist in equity and fixed income research at UBS Securities, and equity technical analyst at First Boston and Shearson Lehman Bros. He has been a national vice-president of the Market Technicians Association.

He received a bachelor's degree in finance from Marquette University in 1984, and an MBA from Fordham University in 1989.

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Siebert is often held up as a pioneer for women on Wall Street, but she's also a trailblazer in ways that have nothing to do with gender.

Her company was a leader in the discount brokerage business, entering the field in 1975 on the first day that New York Stock Exchange members were allowed to negotiate commissions. Today, Muriel Siebert & Co. -- technically a subsidiary for holding company Siebert Financial -- is the oldest discount broker in the business.

She was superintendent of New York banks from 1977 to 1982, a period that included the freezing of Iranian assets in response to Middle East unrest -- a theme that resonates again today. She also took part in bank bailouts and shoring up New York's savings-and-loan system long before the rest of the nation had to face a similar problem in the late '80s and early '90s.

After coming back in 1982 to her firm -- which had deteriorated markedly during her government stint -- Siebert rebuilt the company and turned it into one of the first independent retail brokers to include a capital markets division that helps bring public offerings to market.

And in 1990, the "Siebert Entrepreneurial Philanthropic Plan ("SEPP") was established to distribute half the firm's net profits from new securities underwritings, purchases and sales. The SEPP program offers issuers or institutional investors who involve Siebert in underwriting or purchasing new-issue securities the opportunity to designate a charity to receive the SEPP donation. To date, total SEPP donations of over $4 million have gone to charities.

Even after 35 years, Muriel Siebert & Co. revolves around her persona. The company offers a free copy of her recent autobiography, Changing the Rules: Adventures of a Wall Street Maverick, with a new account opening. And the Siebertnet.com Web site has an entire "Mickie" section that includes a 2,286-word personal profile, 17 video clips and a calendar of her public appearances: "Don’t miss an opportunity to hear one of the most important women in business!"

Self-promotion aside, Siebert's products have drawn their share of praise. The company has been ranked in the top three discount brokers for five straight years by Smart Money, and among the top three online brokers for three straight years by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. "For my money, whether you're a neophyte, a sophisticated investor, or somewhere in-between, if you want a complete, no-nonsense investing resource online, go to www.murielsiebert.com or www.wfn.com (for Women's Financial Network, which Siebert also owns)," Margaret Popper wrote last year in BusinessWeek.

Although Siebert has helped plenty of individual investors, shareholders of her own company haven't fared so well recently, as the company's stock has suffered badly in a bear market that has been especially rough on the brokerage industry.

Siebert Financial's revenue fell almost 28 percent in 2001, when the company posted its lowest earnings per share in seven years. Revenue was down another 28 percent year-over-year through the first three quarters of 2002, as Siebert Financial lost $1.3 million.

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