Name That Company

You may not know my name, but I’m the nation’s largest home furnishings maker, manufacturing and selling products bearing the labels of many well-known brands, such as Broyhill, Lane, Thomasville, Maitland-Smith, Hickory Chair, Pearson, Laneventure, HBF, Highland House, Creative Interiors and Founders Furniture. My offerings range from premium-priced to ready-to-assemble, and I sell through an extensive system of independently owned national, regional and local retailers. My stuff is sold in more than 15,000 locations. I’m based in St. Louis and I rake in about $2 billion per year. Who am I? (Answer: Furniture Brands International)

Know the answer? Send it to us with Foolish Trivia on the top and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a nifty prize! The address is Motley Fool, Box 19529, Alexandria, Va. 22320-0529. Send questions for Ask the Fool, Dumbest (or Smartest) Investments (up to 100 words), and your Trivia entries to Fool@fool.com.

A surreal investment

Several years back, I received a mail solicitation. Salvador Dali was near death, and etchings supposedly signed by him were being offered for $1,250. I ordered one, and it arrived framed and with alleged letters of authenticity. Months later, “60 Minutes” exposed the company with which I’d done business as having engaged in art fraud. A resulting class-action lawsuit returned me $7 on my $1,250 investment. Since then, all of my art purchases have been made face-to-face with either the artist or a reputable art dealer with credentials and references. – Doug Altman, Bay City, Mich.

The Fool Responds: Ouch. The lesson here is to be very suspicious of any investment solicitations you get. If any investment is such a great deal, no one will have to look for buyers by calling or mailing masses of people. Keep this in mind if you ever get cold-called by a broker you don’t know, urging you to act quickly on a “sure thing.” There are no sure things. If it were such a great deal, it would have been snapped up by now.