dsmWealth: January 18, 2024

Local Rotary club visits its partners in Uganda
BY STEVE DINNEN

Unless there’s a blizzard, it’s pretty easy to visit your favorite Des Moines charitable organization. But to check in on a health care clinic in Uganda, you cross three continents, pile into a van for an hourslong slog over potholed roads, dodge stray cattle and arrive to find hundreds of people sitting under a tent, patiently waiting with a sick baby or an aching tooth.

I was part of a team from the Rotary Club of Des Moines A.M. that recently visited a clinic in Kikandwa, in south central Uganda, which the club supports. During the visit, club members had a chance to talk with local health care providers and religious leaders — the clinic stands on property owned by the Church of Uganda, an Anglican affiliate — and reaffirm their support.

Rotary DMAM’s ties to Kikandwa began in 2012 when Drake University student Emily Raecker visited Uganda with classmates to learn about sustainable development projects. Under the direction of Jimmy Senteza, an associate professor of finance at Drake and native of Kikandwa, the students interviewed villagers and learned about their goals for better health. Emily discussed the trip with her father, Scott Raecker, who leads the Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake. He also is a longtime member of DMAM Rotary and chairs its international committee. Emily, now Emily Adreon, eventually joined the club, currently serves as its president and, with her dad, was part of the club’s latest trip to Uganda.

Guided by their motto, “service above self,” Rotary club members have gathered medical supplies for the clinic over the years. One of the first projects was for “mama kits” full of soap, gauze, exam gloves and razors that are given to pregnant women before they go to the clinic to give birth.

Little by little, the Rotary club sent more aid to Kikandwa. More recent purchases have included a dental chair and a sonogram machine. All told, Rotary DMAM and its partners have funneled about $750,000 worth of equipment and cash to the clinic.

The purpose of this month’s trip was to see what has been done and how to move forward. Trip participants Dan and Deb Timmins of the Des Moines-based nonprofit Shining City Foundation committed their organization to fund an oxygen concentrator and hematology analyzer, which samples blood.

Or maybe even an ambulance? The clinic could use one of those, too. Earlier, a woman had arrived unconscious, on the back of a motorcycle. She was sandwiched between two other riders who kept her from falling off.

Self-Help International lives up to its name
BY STEVE DINNEN

The Rotary Club of Des Moines A.M. is certainly not alone in supporting Uganda. British academics estimated that in 2021, upward of 14,000 non-governmental organizations — NGOs — were active in the country to promote economic development, health care and religion.

The numbers grow when you add in neighboring countries, like Kenya and Rwanda. And then there’s the rest of the world. There’s plenty of need. And lots of help.

One Iowa-based NGO that’s working for a better planet is Self-Help International, which recently relocated its headquarters from Waverly to Des Moines. The group was founded to improve farming methods, and entered Ghana in 1989 at the behest of Iowa Nobel Prize winner Norman Borlaug.

When babies and toddlers are malnourished, they can face lasting mental and physical limitations by age 3 or 4, so Self-Help International encourages farmers to plant Quality Protein Maize. Like Rotary DMAM, the group’s leaders occasionally visit their target countries, in this case, Ghana and Nicaragua, where hired local staff manage the programs.

Self-Help International also promotes microfinancing, a strategy that sets up lending programs for entrepreneurs, often women, who want to start their own businesses. One woman in Nicaragua used a Self-Help International loan to buy four pigs. She fattened them up, sold three males and kept a sow that soon bore nine more pigs to sell. After that, the woman bought a cow. Then more cows.

And now her family lives in a wooden home with a metal roof.

Can AI pick stocks that beat the market?
BY DAN BURROWS FOR KIPLINGER

Artificial intelligence leveraging the raw power of Big Data might just be the edge tactical investors and traders need to navigate an increasingly uncertain market.

Stocks are off to a rocky start in 2024 as market participants grapple with expectations for interest rate cuts, geopolitical uncertainty and the possibility of recession later this year, among other concerns.

"There are unmistakable signs that momentum in the economy is downshifting, and cracks are beginning to appear in the household sector," writes Jay Bryson, chief economist at Wells Fargo Economics.

Suffice to say retail traders can use all the help they can get. That's where Danelfin comes in.

Stock picks by artificial intelligence

AI, machine learning and big data are hardly new to the world of stock picking. But, traditionally, they've been available only to institutional investors with deep pockets.

Danelfin is trying to change all that. The financial technology firm's AI-driven analytics platform aims to level the playing field, giving regular folks access to institutional-level technology. The platform, which offers both free and premium plans, uses artificial intelligence to analyze more than 900 fundamental, technical and sentiment data points per day for all U.S.-listed shares and 600 stocks listed in Europe.

After churning through 10,000 daily indicators, Danelfin's algos produce a series of scores. The AI Score, which ranges from 1 to 10, indicates a stock's probability of beating the market over the next three months, or roughly 60 trading sessions. (Higher scores are better.) Danelfin also assesses stocks' volatility and their potential for nasty drawdowns. Stocks with superior Low Risk Scores should help tactical investors and traders sleep better at night.

The last step is to combine AI Score with Low Risk Score to suss out stocks that offer not only the highest probability for short-term outperformance but also the lowest risk of loss.

Here are three stocks to watch — AutoZone, UnitedHealth Group and W.W. Grainger — based on Danelfin’s AI platform awarding them the highest AI risk/reward scores as of Jan. 11.

2024 will be a 'very good year for savers,' so lock in now
BY LORIE KONISH FOR CNBC

Higher interest rates were good news in 2023 for savers who were able to earn the best rates on their cash in years.

Even with the possibility of looming rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, 2024 still stands to be a great year for returns on cash.

“Yields are going to move lower this year,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.

“But it’s still going to be a very good year for savers — especially those that lock in now,” McBride said.

When to expect interest rate cuts

Experts are taking bets for when interest rate cuts may come this year after a series of rate hikes aimed at tamping down high inflation.

“This is the first time in a very long time we’ve seen yields as high as they are,” said Douglas Boneparth, president and founder of Bone Fide Wealth, a wealth management firm based in New York City. Boneparth is also a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council.

Much of the Federal Reserve’s decisions from here will depend on inflation data. The latest read of the consumer price index was hotter than expected, with inflation up 3.4% over a year ago and still higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Tuesday that the central bank may take its time and move carefully with any future rate cuts.

Interest rate changes probably will not happen before June, McBride predicts.

‘Now’s the time to lock in’ CD rates

With no more interest rate increases on the horizon, that means the returns on cash have likely reached their highest point.

“If you’ve had your eye on a multiyear CD, now’s the time to lock in. The yields have peaked,” McBride said.

Certificates of deposit are products typically provided by banks or credit unions that promise a certain return provided the money is not withdrawn for a certain length of time.