Low Vision Guide

The new US $5 bill goes into circulation today.

It has a large high contrast purple 5 in the lower right corner of the back side.

The new $5 bill coming out this spring will have a larger number 5 in high contrast purple on the back for easier identification by visually impaired people.

See a promo at moneyfactory.gov

The recent court decision that paper money in the USA must be made more accessible to the visually impaired and the recent release of yet another dollar coin with all of the same problems as previous dollar coins is a perfect opportunity to make our currency more accessible and save the government money at the same time.
The following proposals would accomplish this goal.

1. Remove from circulation: penny, dime, half dollar coins.

2. Remove from circulation: $1, $2, $10, $50 paper bills.

3. Remove from circulation: previous $1 coins to be replaced with a new design.

4. Introduce a new dollar coin that is smaller and is more distinguishable from a quarter.

5. Make the $5, $20, and $100 bills different lengths with the larger bills being longer but maintaining the same height.
This would leave us with: 5c, 25c, and $1 coins and $5, $20, and $100 bills. This would make it much easier for visually impaired users to identify currency and would make the $1 coin more accepted by the general public. It would also save the government money. Studies have shown that removing the paper $1 bill would save the government millions of dollars in production costs versus the $1 coin. Also, pennies cost more to make than they are worth. Removing the other less frequently used denominations would also likely save money in production costs.
All of these proposals combined would result in a more accesible and simplified currency system.

The vending machine industry lobbyists have once again pushed the US Treasury Department into making yet another useless dollar coin that no one will want to use. Just like the Sacagawea and the Susan B Anthony. How many of those do you have in your pocket?
Here’s a news article obout the reaction from some people at AFB. http://geoffandwen.com/blind/newsarticle.asp?u_id=17673

Immunogen (IMGN) has been up nicely the past week (~15%). They recently announced the addition of Howard Pien, former CEO of Chiron, to the Board of Directors. His experience in pharmaceutical commercialization at SmithKline and Chiron indicate the upcoming transition of Immunogen from early clinical stage development to late clinical and drug commercialization stages. Immunogen’s strategy of licensing it’s Tumor Activated Prodrug technology to other leading biotech companies to fund it’s own product development means that the company has a strong financial foundation and many potential products in the pipelines of it’s partners as well as in it’s own pipeline. The stock can be volatile but the company strategy is sound and IMGN should be a good long term investment for investors who don’t mind volatility and some risk.

As someone living on a fixed disability income, it becomes more important than ever to create financial security through passive income means, such as real estate, rentals, stocks, and other investments.
With that in mind, I will post info on some of the stocks that I am invested in.
Please remember that this is not a recommendation to buy, only to consider whether it fits your investment needs and risk tolerance.
Today’s big gainer is FEIC, up 28%. FEI is a leader in the emerging field of nanotechnology. Today’s news is that they have now become profitable and sales prospects for 2007 look very strong.
From http://www.tdameritrade.com : FEI Co. said it swung to net income in the fourth-quarter, as bookings remained solid and operating expenses declined, of $14.7 million, or 36 cents a share. During the same period in the prior year, the net loss was $30.7 million, or 92 cents a share.
My current portfolio: FEIC, GOOG, IBM, IMGN, MSFT, VECO