Here are some pointers for employees who plan on giving a gift for boss day:

1. Make it a group gift, this makes it much less personal and makes you look less like a brown noser.
2. Keep it light or humorous – nothing too personal.  A gift that’s too personal has the potential of embarrassing your boss.
3. Be Creative!  What better way to demonstrate your (and your co-workers) crativitiy than by coming up with a unique gift idea.

We have some great gifts that will satisfy all of the above.  Here are a few:

A caricature of your boss - truly creative, personal (but not too personal) and makes a great group gift.  Just upload a photo to www.giveacaricature.com of your boss, describe the scene, and your good to go! 

We’ll have a caricature done within about a week (allow two – three weeks from the time you order to accommodate framing, and shipping).

Or how about a share of stock in a company your boss loves.  MicroSoft or Berkshire Hathaway is a great choice for a boss, but we have over 100 stocks to choose from at www.GiveAshare.com – so be creative!  Does you boss drink coffee?  A share of Starbucks is a good choice.  Or is he or she a sports fan?  How about a share of Madison Square Gardens?  Whatever you choose, it’s sure to be a winner with your boss!

Even though the major summer gift giving is slowing down (groomsmen gifts, wedding keepsakes, graduation gifts), it is still a busy gift giving season.  People are still looking for unique gifts for birthday’s, anniversaries (although anniversary timing is somewhat tied to wedding timing – go figure!), retirements, and our icons and business caricatures are picking up.

It’s always interesting to me to see the various occasions for which our customers purchase gifts.  In addtion to the traditional gift giving occassions, we’ve had:   

• CPA firms buying caricatures from GiveAcaricature.com as recognition for a “job well done” for their employees who have passed the CPA exam;
• Large corporations who buy their own stock certificates from GiveAshare.com to give as framed gifts to recognize employees for a variety of employee awards;
• Law firms buying caricatures from GiveAcaricature.com as recognition for their new lawyers who have passed the Bar exam;
• Realtors who have a pen and ink sketch or watercolor made of a new home from GiveAmasterpiece.com as a closing gift for their clients.
• And, one of my favorites, as Cheryl recently posted, a mother to be who purchased a caricature from GiveAcaricature.com as a way to tell her husband that he was soon to become a father!

These are just a few of the occasions for which are various products are used.    Feel free to comment if you’ve used our gifts for other occassions or if you have some ideas for other ways for our customers to use some of our unique products!

GiveAshare.com

The GiveAshare.com blog posts will provide a unique slant on stocks and the stock market.  Useful tips, compelling stories, how-to’s, and fun tid bits creating a powerful way to learn about the stock market and improve financial literacy for parents and their kids. 

From the founder of GiveAshare.com and author of the I’m A Shareholder KIT.

Playboy stock certificate

Hef wants Playboy.  On July 12th, Hugh Hefner made an offer to buy the 30% of  Playboy Enterprises shares he doesn’t already own and take the company private.  He offered $5.50 a share and then four days later, the owner of Penthouse joined the fray with a higher offer.

Leslie Roman, founder of  GiveAshare.com says that “in either case, Playboy will no longer be a publicly traded company so people will not be able to buyshares once the transaction occurs” .   GiveAshare.com  offers true ownership of one share of Playboy stock as a unique gift.  “Playboy stock is one of our most popular stocks  for grooms buying gifts for their groomsmen and for wives giving an anniversary gift to their husbands. ”

Playboy stock certificates have always been popular collectibles stemming from the days that a naked Willy Rey, Miss February 1971,  graced the vignette of the stock certificate.   This risque version of the stock certificate was later changed to a version with more clothes but the original collectible is still available at Scripophily.com for $395.    The current version of the Playboy stock certificate still has Hugh Hefner’s printed signature which adds to the value.

We will keep you up to date on any developments but in the meantime, you better buy a share of Playboy stock while you still can.

LeBron James dunking

As most basketball fans know, today is the first day that NBA teams can start talking to this year’s free agents.

CNBC just had a story about stocks that could be impacted by the biggest free agent of them all – LeBron James.  They mentioned Madison Square Garden Inc. stock , owner of the New York Knicks, one of the contenders for LeBron.  Sources suggest that the Knicks have plenty for room under the salary cap and are in the position to be able to pay him and another free agent the NBA’s max salary.

Next, they mentioned Nike stock because of their agreements with both LeBron and Dwyane Wade, another free agent.

Just another example how just about every aspect of American life permeates into the stock market

P.S. You can get one share of Madison Square Garden stock or Nike stock at GiveAshare.com.

So if you’re one of our customers who ordered Berkshire Hathaway before the split actually occurred, your certificate should be on its way to you (or the recipient), within the next couple of days!

To check your order status – just click on this link and enter your order # and your last name:  http://bit.ly/9XRXeb

If you haven’t ordered, and want to get a share for yourself – here is a link back to our Berkshire Hathaway page:  http://bit.ly/d27M6p

Berkshire Hathaway stock certificate

January 20, 2010,

Today, shareholders approved the 50 for 1 stock split of Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares,  just as expected. Beginning tomorrow (Jan 21) the shares should be trading on the NYSE at the split-adjusted price.

This is terrific for those “little people” who wanted to buy a part of Warren Buffett’s company but could not afford the $3000-$4000 price tag.

For those who have bought Berkshire Hathaway from us, we will be submitting the registration paperwork this week.  For those who want to get a share, you may want to consider it soon.  Various articles suggest that the split sets the stage for Berkshire Hathaway to become part of the S&P 500.

Find out more about the Berkshire Hathaway stock split at Yahoo Finance.

Berkshire Hathaway stock certificate

Yahoo has an informative update on the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder vote on Wednesday, January 20th.  Shareholders are expected to approve the 50 for 1 stock split of the Class B shares and the merger with Burlington Northern railroad.  Some experts believe that this will pave the way for Berkshire Hathaway to be included in the S&P500 Index.

GiveAshare.com customers have been able to buy the post split class B shares since November – the only place to offer this.     Once the split is approved and the shares start trading at their new price, the registration paperwork will be submitted for all GiveAshare customers who have purchased Berkshire Hathaway.

GiveAshare.com has a tradition of being in the forefront of innovative stock gifts and collectibles.  We are proud to be the only company to offer this iconic brand and being stock certificate collectors ourselves,  this is a keeper.

Marvel stock exchange for Disney stock

Well, like all Marvel shareholders, I received my paperwork for the exchange of Marvel Entertainment shares for Disney shares now that the merger has come to fruition.    Marvel shareholders get $30 cash and .7452 shares of Disney stock for each share of Marvel.  Darn, I was expecting .7453 shares

I love Disney, but I hate to give up my Marvel stock certificate.  I want to save it as a momento, a collectible representing this iconic company’s contributions to comics and movies.  The paperwork says that I must surrender the stock certificate if I want the proceeds so my dilemma is whether it is worth it or not.

One interesting note is section H of the form which covers Marvel certificates that have been lost.  In that case you can still get the proceeds by filling out this section.  Normally, you have to pay a bond (insurance) for lost certificates but if you own fewer than 56, it is waived.  My guess is that there are some who keep their certificates as collectibles and report them as lost which is what a lot of people did when Pixar merged into Disney.

I remember when Pixar was being merged into Disney, customers were snatching up Pixar shares before they became extinct.  The Marvel stock certificates are not quite as attractive but I would expect them to be solid collectibles.  Demand has been strong and steady ever since the merger announcement.

We’re cutting off sales after tomorrow to ensure that we are able to deliver the registered Marvel certificates before the merger takes place.