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Dear Mr. Berko:

S.M., Olathe, Kan.

Dear S.M.:

I don’t use Yahoo (YHOO-$21.60) for financial data, because Yahoo Finance is run by a gaggle of geeks who think a blue chip is a damaged Bluetooth. Because you asked, I tried to access quotes on Yahoo using every combination of letters, icons, ciphers, numbers and squigglies on the keyboard I could imagine. I even called Yahoo headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif., and spent 23 minutes traipsing through a Byzantine laby-rinth of press 1, press 2 prompts. I couldn’t get a live person to respond.

When you want a preferred stock quote, I suggest that you go to www.moneycentral.msn.com. If you need the price of Citicorp Series AA 8.125 percent Preferred, just put the symbol C-P in the “Get Quote” box and presto! – the price appears in all its glory.

Kirk Kerkorian made a few billion in the casino and hotel business, but he seems to have an abiding love affair with the automobile industry. Kerkorian built a huge stake in Chrysler Corp. He was unable to purchase 100 percent of Chrysler, so he acceded to a $36 billion takeover by Daimler-Benz in 1998. Kerkorian was a major irritant to General Motors’ board in 2005 and 2006 after buying nearly $1 billion in GM stock. He dumped the shares in late 2006 when the board partially adopted his turnaround plan.

Last year he put in a $5.9 billion bid for Chrysler after its spin-off from Daimler-Benz, but Cerberus Capital Management trumped him, buying Chrysler for $7.4 billion in May 2007. Kerkorian believes that Cerberus hugely overpaid for Chrysler. Now Chrysler needs about $2 billion in capital, and Cerberus, which is in a cash and credit crunch, can’t beg, borrow or steal the money. Kerkorian will lend Cerberus the money, but Cerberus management doesn’t like the terms!

Now this 90-year-old Merlin of money is putting his cash stash on Ford (F-$5.03). Kerkorian’s office told me he has been following Ford since December of last year. He’s comfortable with the stewardship of new Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally and believes Mulally has achieved some traction in turning Ford around. The company is certainly showing some signs of life with last quarter’s earnings well above analysts’ expectations.

Kerkorian won’t be able to absorb Ford because family members (many of whom couldn’t manage a two-flavored lemonade stand) control 40 percent of the company’s voting rights. But Kerkorian’s voice will be heard at Ford’s board meetings even though some of the misfit Ford blue bloods won’t like his manner or what he has to say. Kerkorian believes Ford’s stock price can return to the $30 range.

But I would not buy 2,000 shares of Ford stock. Rather, I would own Ford Motor 6.50 percent cumulative convertible trust securities. They trade on the New York Stock Exchange at $27.78 under the symbol (F-S), and the $3.25 dividend yields a comfy 11 percent. It’s callable at $50 a share and is convertible into 2.8249 shares of common any time between now and January 2032, when this issue comes due. The convertible is rated B-minus, does not qualify for the 15 percent tax rate and quarterly dividends are payable on the 15th of January, April, July and October.

Please address your financial questions to Malcolm Berko, P.O. Box 1416, Boca Raton, Fla. 33429 or e-mail him at malber@adelphia.net. © Copley News Service