Putnam

On February 25, 2005, LOUISEBROOKHART of Jarrettsville, MD, wife of the late Walter L. Putnam; mother of Hayward L. Putnam, Sandra L. Nefferdorf and Elaine P. Williams and grandmother of Beth Miller, Kelli Gallery, Shawn Lawall, Eric Nefferdorf, Rebecca Smith and the late Edward L. Putnam. Also survived by eight great-grandchildren. Services will be held Monday, February 28, at 11 A.M. at the family owned Kurtz Funeral Home, P.A., 1114 Baldwin Mill Road, Jarrettsville. Interment at Jarrettsville Cemetery.

For someone who didn't much consider himself a writer, Hayward Putnam certainly had a long career in the field. Roughly 40 years ago, he and Joseph Zimmer Jr. approached The Aegis about the paper's coverage of outdoors issues. Shortly thereafter, they became responsible for the newspaper's outdoors coverage, mainly hunting and fishing. Mr. Zimmer would do the writing and Mr. Putnam, a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art, would put together a drawing to go with the text.

BOSTON -- Putnam Investments plans to merge two municipal bond funds in a move that some analysts say is designed to save the firm money."It isn't economically attractive to run a muni-bond fund that's less than $50 million in size," said Donald Cassidy, an analyst at Lipper Analytical Services Inc. The fixed costs of running a small muni-bond fund roughly equal the fees that are generated, he said.Putnam said costs played a part in the decision to merge the $43-million Investment Grade Intermediate Trust with the $7.5-million Intermediate Tax Exempt Fund.

Hayward L. Putnam, a recreational-vehicles salesman who wrote a popular weekly Harford County outdoors column, died of pulmonary fibrosis Jan. 16 at Stella Maris Hospice. He was 75 and lived in Jarrettsville. Born in Bel Air, he grew up on his grandparents' Jarrettsville farm, where his grandfather was a blacksmith. "He sang Gene Autry and Roy Rogers songs while milking the cows," said his daughter, Elizabeth "Beth" Holt of Red Lion, Pa. "He grew up tending livestock. " Mr. Putnam was a 1955 North Harford High School graduate.

IN THE recent wave of scandals sweeping the mutual fund industry, Putnam Investments was the first fund company formally charged with wrongdoing by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the first to reach a settlement with federal regulators. Putnam is still facing charges in Massachusetts, but last month it became the first fund company to voluntarily adopt sweeping operational and disclosure standards, and there's a good chance its moves will become the model for others. The interesting thing about Putnam's move was that the Boston-based company, which has seen billions of dollars taken from its funds in recent months, made concessions that many people in the fund industry had fought against for years.

Ruth Putnam of Crofton is bowling in just one league this year."I just don't have time for more bowling. I'm just too busy right now," she said. "The Special Olympics are coming up in a few months."In that single league at Fort Meade on Friday nights, Putnam carries a 165 average. Her career high game and set are 244 and 611, respectively.A few years ago, she became involved with the Can-Doers league at Annapolis Bowl."My sister-in-law, Marge McKenzie, was handling the league and I just sort of took over from her," said Putnam, who has been bowling for about 12 years.

THE BEAR market has left the entire fund industry with some explaining to do, but some firms have a lot more to answer for than others. Last week, this column started breaking down the question of which big fund company has the most to prove, with the finalists for the dubious distinction being Janus, Putnam and AIM. As detailed previously, Janus had the worst dollar-weighted performance, where all stock assets are lumped together and the loss was...

WHEN THE Securities and Exchange Commission and Massachusetts regulators closed the book on Putnam Investments early this month, they opened a whole new box of troubling questions for fund companies, regulators and shareholders. Putnam settled charges that it had allowed some clients and several of its fund managers to make improper trades in Putnam funds from 2000 until September last year. Putnam will pay $110 million, split evenly between the SEC and Massachusetts regulators. Of that amount, $10 million is earmarked for shareholder restitution.

FIRST, it was mutual fund firms allowing illegal trading by hedge funds, and allowing market-timing trades by big institutional investors. Next, it will be mutual funds allowing market-timing trades by some individuals, but not all of their shareholders. That scandal moves from the horizon to the business page Tuesday, when Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin plans to file civil charges against Putnam Investments, the nation's fifth-largest mutual fund company.

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. announced yesterday that Putnam Investments had more than doubled its stake in the men's clothing chain to a little more than 10 percent, making it the company's largest institutional investor. The announcement came a few days after the board of directors at the Hampstead-based clothier adopted a new "stockholder rights plan," making it more difficult for a company to launch a hostile takeover. Company executives said the change was not a so-called "poison pill," which sometimes is put in place when executives fear another firm is collecting shares to gain corporate control.

Tidewater Players, the community theater of Havre de Grace, will its spring Musical next month. Back by popular demand, the players present the hilarious musical comedy, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, May 4 through May 20. Showtimes at the Opera House, 121 N. Union Ave., are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. All tickets are $15. To make reservations, visit http://www.tidewaterplayers.com to purchase online seats or call 410-939-TIDE.

Charles Carter Putnam, former director of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, died Feb. 21 of heart failure at the Carroll Hospice Dove House in Westminster. He was 91. The son of a railroader and a saleswoman, Mr. Putnam was born in Baltimore and raised in Woodlawn. He was a 1937 graduate of Catonsville High School. He enlisted in the Army Air Forces in 1943 and served as a radar mechanic with the 316th Troop Carrier. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of corporal.

Karen Michele Putnam, daughter of Timothy R. and Mary Ruth Putnam of Sykesville, Maryland and Eric Michael Lubitz, son of Shelly K. Burns of Finksburg, Maryland and the late Larry H. Lubitz were married at The Best Western Westminster Catering and Conference Center in Westminster, Maryland on September 20, 2008. The groom is also the stepson of Michael P. Burns of Finksburg, Maryland and the grandson of Martha Kirson of Pikesville, Maryland. The blended ceremony was jointly performed by Rev. Dr. Judy Powell and Cantor Alvin Donald.

WASHINGTON - Rep. Roy Blunt, the House of Representatives' second-ranking Republican, stepped down from his leadership post yesterday as the House GOP moved quickly to reposition itself as more conservative, unified and eager to fight Democrats in the Obama era. The Missouri congressman's resignation came a day after Rep. Adam H. Putnam of Florida, the House's third-ranking Republican, quit his leadership job. Likely to replace them are two combative favorites...

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. fell to an eight-year low yesterday on speculation the fourth-biggest U.S. securities firm could be sold for less than its market value, traders said. Lehman lost $2.44, or 11 percent, to $19.81 in New York, the lowest since May 2000. "We're hearing that there may be a possibility of Lehman being taken over," said Michael Nasto, the senior trader at U.S. Global Investors Inc., which manages $6 billion in San Antonio. . "There hasn't been any positive news on this firm for the last couple weeks, and the value of the deal might not be in the best interest of Lehman shareholders."

Nothing gets me in the holiday spirit more than poking fun at the fund world's miscreants for a year's worth of blunders and buffoonery. My annual Lump of Coal Awards recognize managers, executives, firms, watchdogs and other fund-world types for action, attitude, behavior or performance that is misguided, bumbling, offensive, disingenuous, reprehensible or just plain stupid. The 2007 Lump of Coal Awards go to: Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox. Category: Failing to walk the talk.

As a mutual fund shareholder, you wanted to believe there would be no more scandals, that the bad guys had been caught, would be punished, and that the worst was over. You'd have been better off believing in the Tooth Fairy. An agreement reached last week between former Putnam Investments top dog Lawrence Lasser and the Securities and Exchange Commission shows all too clearly why "minor" scandals will keep happening in the business for years to come. That's an ugly conclusion to draw about the business, but it's the logical supposition in light of the Lasser deal, which scarcely drew a headline when it was made public.

WASHINGTON - Rep. Roy Blunt, the House of Representatives' second-ranking Republican, stepped down from his leadership post yesterday as the House GOP moved quickly to reposition itself as more conservative, unified and eager to fight Democrats in the Obama era. The Missouri congressman's resignation came a day after Rep. Adam H. Putnam of Florida, the House's third-ranking Republican, quit his leadership job. Likely to replace them are two combative favorites...

Slam By Nick Hornby Putnam / 310 pages / $19.99 The British author Nick Hornby has made a booming career out of masculinity and its discontents. He writes smart, witty novels that make ideal fodder for box-office smashes. His essential talent is the ability to write about guy stuff - sports, music geekdom, the pursuit of women - without making anyone feel like a sucker in the process. That streak, I'm afraid, has come to an end. Slam, his new young-adult novel, is told by a 16-year-old kid named Sam, who knocks up his then-girlfriend Alicia and becomes a dad. There are a few sublime moments in the book, where Hornby nails the fumbling anguish of his hero.