questions for all the stock market gurus
 

When my dad passed away recently he left behind a pile of stock certificates, maybe thirty or forty. He also had an account set up with a broker and my sister is joint owner w/ rights of survivorship.

My question is about the certificates which do not appear on the account and seem to be a separate thing.

Some of the dates of the certificates go back to 1959, some as recent as 2000. Some have cusip numbers which when searched show info about the stock's current price, others have cusip numbers which yield a symbol, but no other info about the stock, some have no cusip or symbol and googling turns up nothing. Some are incorporated in various states; Idaho, Montana, Utah. Or countries; Australia, Canada, Bermuda.

So my questions are:

Does the possesion of a stock certificate imply actual ownership of the shares, or is it possible that these shares were sold at some point and he just kept the actual certificate for some reason?

If searching for symbols or cusips, or other info about a company turns up no results is it likely that the company went bust and the paper is trash?

Does the state or country of incorporation have any bearing on the likelihood of the stock being junk?

If some of the stock is valuable what is the procedure for cashing it in?

Is there a better way of researching older stocks than googling?

Are these just wall hangings?

My dad seemed to have a penchant for mining stocks in far flung parts of the world. some of what I came up with showed the stocks as having a value of 0.0012, although a couple were 1.80 - 2.00 a share.

My sister is doing the bulk of the work at settling his affaris, but dumped this on me as she is somewhat whelmed by all the other stuff. I know almost nothing about stocks, so any help would be appreciated.

thanks.

They're all worthless so sign them(notarized) and send them to me. :rolleyes:

As a service to a fellow Cellar Dwellar, I'd be happy to authenticate and register them first. :rtfm:

Thanks, I knew I could count on you guys. (but only to ten, mudhead)

That Louise Wong's got a balcony you could do Shakespeare from.

My understanding is that posession of the certs is evidence of ownership of the shares, unless the certs were certified destroyed and reissued.

I have a few shares of Exxon in my old name, it would be a huge pain in the ass to get them corrected.

I'd seek out the assistance of a broker to get them valued, if only so the tax status of the estate is settled in that regard. it'd be a drag to get nailed for capital gains or something.

Thanks Maggie. I'll have my sister ask the broker who's handling the rest of his other stocks.

I own ( thanks to Mom's death ) 1 share worth 1/16th of a dollar of a stock , I have the prety stock cert to prove it , I get a dividend check for about $.12-$.16 every quarter .
This stock cert probley cost $10-$15 at least to produce , sorta lopsided .
Also some where I have a Gubment check for like $.14 .
I kept it just for the Absurdity of it .

Oh yeah, i got a pile of those too. I'll scan the funnier ones when I have time.

Just one look and I could have said "Dad, these guys saw you coming a mile away!"

PM Lookout123 and point out this thread. ;)

1) mining stocks? many of them are likely worthless, but you never know until you do the leg work.

2) It is possible that some of these may have been sold already, but ONLY if he had gone through the horrendously difficult process of having a duplicate certificate created because he misplaced these. quite unlikely.

3) if you are not morally opposed to sales charges when you sell these, seek the help of a trusted broker. you can use your father's if you want, but I suggest you interview a couple that YOU would trust to do business with in the future. If he/she is worth their salt they will gladly help a potential client research all that is knowable about these holdings. IMO well worth the cost, but obviously I'm biased. Even if you don't plan on selling these, seek a broker who can eliminate the need for certificates and allow for pure electronic registration (Street name stock) huge huge huge help in eliminating record keeping problems.

But then when the market crash comes you don't have any wall covering to keep the snow from blowing in through the cracks. ;)

sure you do. i still have to send you statements each and every month to let you know that another of your companies went kaput and was delisted. :right: