SHORT INTERESTS: TIPS, TRENDS, OBSERVATIONS

Real-time help for cyberfine

Ralph Hinzman, the 87-year-old adviser who was fined $5,000 by the Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to file his Y2K form – even though his two-person shop does not have any computers (Investment News, March 22) – is in line for some relief. After receiving a number of letters and phone calls about the situation, the Independent Broker-Dealer Association set up a fund to compensate Mr. Hinzman and other victims of what it terms “blatant, egregious and outrageous” abuses of small businesses by the SEC and National Association of Securities Dealers.

Association president Alan Davidson recently sent out a letter called “Remember Ralph Hinzman” to all 5,570 NASD member firms asking for contributions, which he says have already started coming in. He adds that it’s likely Mr. Hinzman, whose West Virginia shop brings in only $25,000 annually and whose wife is dying of cancer, will be fully reimbursed for the fine. Contributions can be sent to the Independent Broker-Dealer Association at 195 E. Main Street, P.O. Box 746, Smithtown, N.Y. 11787-0746.

Hey, sticks-in-the-mud!

Hundreds of executives who want to access the left sides of their brains will gather in Scottsdale, Ariz., Feb. 8 and 9 for the 10th annual Innovative Thinking Conference.

Speakers will include author Kurt Vonnegut, Guggenheim Museums director Thomas Krens, science historian James Burke, futurist and marketing guru Jim Taylor, Mars Pathfinder project manager Donna Shirley and Harley-Davidson Motor Co. vice president Clyde Fessler.

Admission to the conference, presented by branding firm SHR Perceptual Management of Scottsdale, is $2,200 for those who have attended before and $2,500 for newcomers. The price goes up by $300 for those who register after Nov. 12.

The conference usually attracts Fortune 1000 executives who “typically don’t think innovatively,” says Stacia Gault, the conference director.

Ryan’s private war

Investors itching to get into the much-anticipated Internet fund to be managed by hotshot Ryan Jacob will have to wait a while longer. Jacob Asset Management, the New York money manager that was scheduled to introduce the fund around Labor day, is still awaiting the Securities and Exchange Commission’s blessing. Mike Dubrown, a senior SEC analyst, blames the delay on budget cuts and a “flood of fund filings.”

Is anybody Browned off?

NatCity Investments Inc., a subsidiary of Cleveland’s National City Corp., has become the “official investment firm” of the National Football League’s reborn Cleveland Browns, reports sister publication Pensions & Investments. The company’s Armada Funds, managed by National City Investment Management Co., are the Browns’ official mutual funds, too.

The deal includes season tickets, a superbox and the personal endorsement of the Browns’ No. 1 draft pick, quarterback Tim Couch.

No news yet from NatCity officials about the success of increasing assets in Armada’s 23 funds, which hold $11.8 billion. As for the Browns, they could use an armada themselves. Winless as of last week, they have the worst record in the NFL and were scheduled to play division leader Jacksonville yesterday.