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Loan to son - how to get it back
Seems fair. I think this is a real subjective thing. Financially lets get rid of that line before interest rates get too high. Maybe have him pay you the $200 he is paying towards the interest each month.
What is the effect of options expiration on equity pricing?
If the strike price closest to the underlying has high open interest, the options expiration is a bigger event. For instance: stock is at $20 w/ average volume of 100,000 shares per day. 20 strike has 1000 open interest. In this example the stock will "most likely" pin at 20 if we were expiring tomorrow. As...
Deferring claim of significant purchase of RRSPs
You can defer RRSP deductions like you've suggested. Here's an article from the CBC about it: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/taxseason/story/2010/03/15/f-taxseason-delay.html
What is the field “Folio” in an accounting book for?
It's used as a reference column: In journals folio coloumn is used to mention the reference or “address” of ledger in which the journal entry has been posted thus giving an easy access and also easily understanding whether all the entries has been posted in the relevant accounts or not.
How dividend payout happens
The ex-dividend date is the first date on which you may sell without losing your dividend. In this case that date is August 5th (thanks, Victor). The price opens on the ex-dividend date lower than it closed on the previous day (by the amount of the dividend). Therefore you may sell any time on August 5th (including d...
Selling property outside the US - gains are taxable, but how do they convert?
Since you did not treat the house as a QBU, you have to use USD as your functional currency. To calculate capital gains, you need to calculate the USD value at the time of purchase using the exchange rate at the time of purchase and the USD value at the time of sale using the exchange rate at the time of sale. The ca...
Confused about google portfolio chart
You bought 1 share of Google at $67.05 while it has a current trading price of $1204.11. Now, if you bought a widget for under $70 and it currently sells for over $1200 that is quite the increase, no? Be careful of what prices you enter into a portfolio tool as some people may be able to use options to have a strike pr...
Is it common in the US not to pay medical bills?
In addition to the good answers already provided, I want to point out that many (most?) providers will handle filing your health insurance claim for you even though it's really your responsibility. So here's how medical bills "you don't have to pay" might come about: * It's possible that your balance is $4, or $20, or ...
Money market account for emergency savings
I'm not a fan of using cash for "emergency" savings. Put it in a stable investment that you can liquidate fairly quickly if you have to. I'd rather use credit cards for a while and then pay them off with investment funds if I must. Meanwhile those investments earn a lot more than the 0.1 percent savings or money market...
A merchant requests that checks be made out to “Cash”. Should I be suspicious?
There are benefits associated with a cash only business (the link states a few). However checks made out to "cash" don't reap those benefits listed. For anyone on SE to say your barber hides revenue from the IRS would just be speculation. With that said there are a great number of disadvantages for a cash only busines...
How does the futures market affect the stock market?
Can someone please explain how traders and investors use this price difference to trade? People use the price difference for small arbitrage between the futures and spot markets, where the larger spreads are reflected in the options markets. The spread in the options market dictates the VIX which many investors also us...
Buy index mutual fund or build my own?
Go with a Vanguard ETF. I had a lengthy discussion with a successful broker who runs a firm in Chicago. He boiled all of finance down to Vanguard ETF and start saving with a roth IRA. 20 years of psychology research shows that there's a .01 correlation (that's 1/100 of 1%) of stock/mutual fund performance to predictio...
How to save criteria in Google Finance Stock Screener?
There is probably a better way, but you can do the following: (1) Right click on the right pointing arrow next to the "1-20 of xx rows" message at the bottom right of the table, and select "Copy link location" (2) Paste that into the location (3) At the end of the pasted text there is a "&output=json", delete that and ...
Can I write off time spent learning my trade - Two-Man S-Corp
I'm not sure what you mean by "writing off your time," but to answer your questions: Remember that, essentially, you are a salaried employee of a corporation. So if you are spending time at your job, even if you are not billing anything to a client, you are earning your salary. If there are costs involved with these a...
Buying & Selling Call Options
You're correct. If you have no option position at execution then you carry no risk. Your risk is only based on the net number of options you're holding at execution. This is handled by your broker or clearinghouse. Pretend that you wrote 1000 options, (you're short the call) then you bought 1000 of the same option (bou...
Pros/cons for buying gold vs. saving money in an interest-based account?
Just because gold performed that well in the past does not mean it will perform that well in the future. I'm not saying you should or should not buy gold, but the mere fact that it went up a lot recently is not sufficient reason to buy it. Also note that on the house, an investment that accrues continuous interest for...
Why are U.S. credit unions not open to everyone?
Credit unions are mutually-owned (i.e. customer owned) financial institutions that provide banking services. They take deposits from their members (customers) and loan them to other members. Members vote on a board of directors who manage operations. They are considered not-for-profit, but they pay interest on depo...
How can I determine if a debt consolidation offer is real or a scam?
I think in such situations a good rule of thumb may be - if you are asked to pay significant sums of money upfront before anything is done, stop and ask yourself, what would you do if they don't do what they promised? They know who you are, but usually most you know is a company name and phone number. Both can disappea...
VAT and German freelance working on international project
11 / 111 / 11111 looks like the (old) tax number: it is used by the tax office to know who you are, it isn't good at all for the spanish company. It would even change when you move inside Germany. VAT IDs are not exclusive to GmbHs (but a GmbH always has one). As freelancers you can get at VAT ID but you don't always ...
Is it normal that US Treasury bills(0.07%) yield smaller than interest rate(0.25%)?
Im not sure if its normal/sensical/healthy, and that is kind of opinion based. But there is a reason for it. Certain rules and regulations passed recently are causing companies or institutions to shift to bonds from cash. Fidelity, for example, is completely converting its $100 billion dollar cash fund to short term bi...
What are the advantages of paying off a mortgage quickly?
It depends on where you are in life, and where you want to be at some point in the future, and the taxes, expenses and income at those points in your life. You don't get a mortgage to save on taxes, or keep a mortgage to save on taxes. But if somebody said they want to have the house paid off before they retire, that s...
Is my wash sale being calculated incorrectly?
According to Wikipedia this is still a wash sale: In the USA wash sale rules are codified in "26 USC § 1091 - Loss from wash sales of stock or securities." Under Section 1091, a wash sale occurs when a taxpayer sells or trades stock or securities at a loss, and within 30 days before or after the sale:
are there any special procedures for managing non-petty cash?
After talking to two CPAs it seems like managing it using an imprest system is the best idea. The base characteristic of an imprest system is that a fixed amount is reserved and later replenished as it runs low. This replenishment will come from another account source, e.g., petty cash will be replenished by cashing a...
Does an index have a currency?
More importantly, index funds are denominated in specific currencies. You can't buy or sell an index, so it can be dimensionless. Anything you actually do to track the index involves real amounts of real money.
Is candlestick charting an effective trading tool in timing the markets?
Candlesticks and TA are a relic of pre-computer trading, period. Market makers use sophisticated algorithms not for trading, but manipulations.
How can the ROE on a stock be more than 100%?
An operating margin will not compare with ROE. If a company has even a small margin on a large turnover and has a comparative lower shareholder equity, it ROE will be much higher. One ratio alone can not analyse a company. You need a full set of ratios and figures.
If the put is more expensive than the call, what does it mean
It is a fool's errand to attribute abnormal option volume or volatility to any meaningful move in the stock. One side of the chain is frequently more expensive than the other. The relationship between historical volatility and implied volatility is dubious at best, and also a big area of study.
How to invest with a low net worth
I have an opposite view from all the other contributions here. Why not consider starting your own business. With the little money you have the return will most times be much higher than stocks return. The business is yours; you keep the business and the profit streams in the long term. Simply find businesses you can ev...
Open Interest vs Volume for Stock Options
You are asking 'what if', do you have some anticipated answers? Having volume smaller than open interest is the norm. As far as I can tell, having only one trading day and no previous open interest only affects someone trying to sell a contract they are holding. Meaning that if you only have one day to sell your contr...
Why would you ever turn down a raise in salary?
If you have children in a university institution, then your annual salary is reported via financial aid forms. The small raise could be the difference between full tuition covered and only half tuition covered.
why is buying trading-stock from cash not regarded as an expense?
Because the stock still has the same value as the money paid for it - you are just exchanging one asset for another (of course the stock value starts to change immediately, but for the accounting the fictional value is the buying price). For the accounting, it is similar to changing a 100$ bill in five 20$ bills - same...
How can one relatively easily show that low expense ratio funds outperform high expense ratio funds?
I hope a wall of text with citations qualifies as "relatively easy." Many of these studies are worth quoting at length. Long story short, a great deal of research has found that actively-managed funds underperform market indexes and passively-managed funds because of their high turnover and higher fees, among other fac...
Why do governments borrow money instead of printing it?
I believe there are two ways new money is created: My favorite description of this (money creation) comes from Chris Martenson: the video is here on Youtube. And yes, I believe both can create inflation. In fact this is what happened in the US between 2004 and 2007: increasing loans to households to buy houses created ...
Does U.S. tax code call for small business owners to count business purchases as personal income?
I am going to keep things very simple and explain the common-sense reason why the accountant is right: Also, my sister in law owns a small restaurant, where they claim their accountant informed them of the same thing, where a portion of their business purchases had to be counted as taxable personal income. In this case...
Does the “Free Ride” rule always apply to your entire collection of shares in a particular stock?
You should check with your broker for details, but you can generally specify which "lot" you are selling. where I've seen it, that's done by concurrently sending a "letter of instruction" documenting your choice of lot concurrent with the sale, but different brokers may handle this differently. I would think this sho...
$65000/year or $2500 every two weeks: If I claim 3 exemptions instead of zero, how much would my take home pay be?
I use paycheckcity.com and first punch in my paycheck and make sure it calculates within a few pennies the value of my actual paycheck. Then I fiddle with withholding values, etc. to see the effect of change. It has been very effective for me over the years.
Why are some countries' currencies “weaker”?
The answer from littleadv perfectly explains that the mere exchange ratio doesn't say anything. Still it might be worth adding why some currencies are "weak" and some "strong". Here's the reason: To buy goods of a certain country, you have to exchange your money for currency of that country, especially when you want to...
Why do stocks go up? Is it due to companies performing well, or what else? [duplicate]
The same applies if you were looking for a business to buy: would you pay more for a business that is doing well making increasing profits year after year, or for a business that is not doing so well and is losing money. A share in a company is basically a small part of a company which a shareholder can own. So would y...
What to do if the stock you brought are stopped trading
The Indian regulator (SEBI) has banned trading in 300 shell companies that it views as being "Shady", including VB Industries. According to Money Control (.com): all these shady companies have started to rally and there was a complaint to SEBI that investors are getting SMSs from various brokerage firms to invest in th...
Should I consider my investment in a total stock market fund “diverse”?
You are diversified within a particular type of security. Notably the stock market. A truly diversified portfolio not only has multiple types of holdings within a single type of security (what your broad market fund does) but between different types. You have partially succeeded in doing this with the international fun...
Pay off credit card debt or earn employer 401(k) match?
For easy math, say you are in the 25% tax bracket. A thousand deposited dollars is $750 out of your pocket, but $2000 after the match. Now, you say you want to take the $750 and pay down the card. If you wait a year (at 20%) you'll owe $900, but have access to borrow a full $1000, at a low rate, 4% or so. The payment ...
Is there any benefit to investing in an index fund?
Why not figure out the % composition of the index and invest in the participating securities directly? This isn't really practical. Two indices I use follow the Russell 2000 and the S&P 500 Those two indices represent 2500 stocks. A $4 brokerage commission per trade would mean that it would cost me $10,000 in tra...
Need to change cash to cashier's check without bank account (Just arrived to the US)
A cashier's check costs money to get and is not connected to an account. You have cash. You should be able to get a bank to sell you one, even without an account. Find a bank where you would like to open an account and explain the situation. I can't guarantee that that will work, but I would expect it to do so. If...
Is dividend taxation priced in derivatives?
While derivative pricing models are better modeling reality as academia invests more into the subject, none sufficiently do. If, for example, one assumes that stock returns are lognormal for the purposes of pricing options like Black Scholes does, the only true dependent variable becomes log-standard deviation otherwis...
Paying taxes on income earned in the US, but from a company based in Norway
I don't see why you would need an "international tax specialist". You need a tax specialist to give you a consultation and training on your situation, but it doesn't seem too complicated to me. You invoice your client and get paid - you're a 1099 contractor. They should issue you a 1099 at the end of the year on everyt...
When are investments taxed?
Unless your investments are held within a special tax-free account, then every sale transaction is a taxable event, meaning a gain or loss (capital gain/loss or income gain/loss, depending on various circumstances) is calculated at that moment in time. Gains may also accrue on unrealized amounts at year-end, for specif...
Ethics and investment
Are there businesses which professionally invest ethically? Yes. The common term for this is "socially responsible investing". Looking at that page and googling that term should provide you with plenty of pointers to funds to investigate. Of course, the definitions of "ethical" and "socially responsible" vary from pe...
Is the Chrysler extended warranty coverage worth it?
I haven't looked at that warranty in detail, but generally speaking this should help. What is GAP insurance? In the case of a total loss/write off gap insurance covers the outstanding finance after your regular insurance pay out. The two won't match up usually because of the depreciation right after you buy the car. Fo...
Does being on the board of a bankruptcy-declaring company affect my credit rating?
The answer to your question is governed by the structure of the company and your ownership or lack thereof in the business. Australian business can be structured the same way U.S. ones are, as a sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, or company. If you are only on the board and have no equity, you cannot be affected....
Postbank (Germany) - transferring money to the US - what are the best options?
After doing this many times, my preferred method is: The reason being that the US banks will use every chance possible to take your money in fees. Usually the German bank website will tell you what the current exchange rate. You were correct in selecting Transfer in $ and got the exchange rate. In my experience if you ...
Should we park our money in our escrow account?
You should talk to a financial fiduciary (make sure they are a fiduciary, not all planners are) about investing your money. Even ultra safe investments such as treasury bonds will beat the 1% interest rate offered by your savings account (the yield on the 5 year treasury is currently around 2%).
Why does ExxonMobil's balance sheet show more liabilities than assets?
I believe you are missing knowledge of how to conduct a ratio analysis. Understanding liquidity ratios, specifically the quick or acid-test ratio will be of interest and help your understanding. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/acidtest.asp Help with conducting a ratio analysis. http://www.demonstratingvalue.org/res...
If I believe a stock is going to fall, what options do I have to invest on this?
What financial instruments are there that are profitable when an underlying assets falls? The instrument you are looking for is called an Option, specifically a Put Option. It allows you, within the validity date, to sell ('Put') the respective shares to the option giver, at the predefined Strike Price. For example, le...
Why do shareholders participate in shorting stocks?
In short (pun intended), the shareholder lending the shares does not believe that the shares will fall, even though the potential investor does. The shareholder believes that the shares will rise. Because the two individuals believe that a different outcome will occur, they are able to make a trade. By using the availa...
Saving for retirement without employer sponsored plan
Variable Annuities would be one option though there are SEC warnings about them, for an option that is tax-deferred and intended to be used for long-term investing such as retirement. There is a bit of a cost to gain the tax-deferral which may not always make them worthwhile.
Investments other than CDs?
You're losing money. And a lot of it. Consider this: the inflation is 2-4% a year (officially, depending on your spending pattern your own rate might be quite higher). You earn about 1/2%. I.e.: You're losing 3% a year. Guaranteed. You can do much better without any additional risk. 0.1% on savings account? Why not 0.9...
How can I live outside of the rat race of American life with 300k?
So my read on the question is "How do I invest 300k such that it earns me a 'living wage' without the ongoing grind inherent in most formal employment?" Reading the other answers to date it looks like most of them are thinking in terms of investment accounts and trying to live off of the earnings from such. I wanted ...
I'm only spending roughly half of what I earn; should I spend more?
If you are happy, really honestly happy, there is no need to change because you read it somewhere. While I believe that budgeting in some fun is smart so you don't go crazy, I am really speaking for myself. I personally have to work at not spending more than I make, so I need to blow off some steam. I also think that ...
Do my kids need to file a tax return?
If the gift was stock that they have owned for years there can be one hitch: The basis of the stock doesn't reset when it is gifted. For example if grandparents have owned stock that is currently worth $10,000 today, but they bought it decades ago when it only cost them $1,000; then if the new owner sells it today they...
When following a buy and hold investment strategy, on what conditions should one sell?
Here's an easy test... Look at the investments in your portfolio and ask yourself whether if you had the cash value, would you buy those same investments today, because effectively that is what you are doing when you continue to hold. If the answer is no, sell and pick something else. Above all else, don't react to m...
Buying shares in a company after you quit
Insider trading is when you buy or sell an investment based on material, non-public information that gives you an unfair advantage over the rest of traders in that market. Working for a company is one way that you might have such information, but whether it is insider trading is not contingent on you working there. Yo...
Where to start with personal finance?
First of all, make sure you have all your credit cards paid in full -the compounding interests on those can zero out returns on any of your private investments. Fundamentally, there are 2 major parts of personal finance: optimizing the savings output (see frugal blogs for getting costs down, and entrepreneur sites for ...
How to avoid getting back into debt?
The essential (and obvious) thing to avoid getting back into debt (or to reduce debt if you have it) is to make your total income exceed your total expenses. That means either increasing your income or reducing your total expenses. Either take effort. Basically, you need a plan. If your plan is to increase income, ...
If I get a bill (e.g. for internet service), is that a debt I owe? If no, what are the practical difference between a bill and a debt?
From accounting perspective, an unpaid bill for internet services, according to the Accruals Concept, is recorded as a liability under 'Current Liabilities' section of the Balance Sheet. Also as an expense on the Income Statement. So to answer your question it is both: a debt and an expense, however this is only the c...
Do marketmakers always quote a bid and ask simultaneously
Yes, but also note each exchange have rules that states various conditions when the market maker can enlarge the bid-ask (e.g. for situations such as freely falling markets, etc.) and when the market makers need to give a normal bid-ask. In normal markets, the bid-asks are usually within exchange dictated bounds. MM's...
Open Interest vs Volume for Stock Options
For stock options, where I'm used to seeing these terms: Volume is usually reported per day, whereas open interest is cumulative. In addition, some volume closes positions and some opens positions. For example, if I am long one contract and sell it to someone who was short one contract, then that adds to volume and re...
Is insurance worth it if you can afford to replace the item? If not, when is it?
Another factor to consider is that resale value of the laptop is quite bit more if it is still under warranty. This would apply to people who replace their laptop often. It is higher because the purchaser can be assured they are not getting a lemon. I determined this by comparing prices on ebay before selling my comp...
Saving money in college while paying for college
I wouldn't recommend trying to chase a good return on this money. I'd just put it into a savings account of some sort. If you can get a better interest rate with an online account, then feel free to do that. I'd recommend using this money to pay for as much of college out of pocket as you can. The more student loan...
Pros, cons, and taxation of Per Diem compensation?
Beware if injured on the job they will not add per diem to your wages meaning you make less and your wc benefits will be less !!
How can I find hotel properties to buy other than using Google?
Probably the easiest way to invest in hotel rooms in the U.S. is to invest in a Real Estate Investment Trust, or REIT. REITs are securities that invest in real estate and trade like a stock. There are different REITs that invest in different things: some own office buildings, some residential rentals, some hold mortg...
Is this the right formula to use implied volatility to gauge probability of a stock being within a certain range?
To get the probability of hitting a target price you need a little more math and an assumption about the expected return of your stock. First let's examine the parts of this expression. IV is the implied volatility of the option. That means it's the volatility of the underlying that is associated with the observed op...
Why charge gross receipts taxes to the customer?
It sounds like "gross receipt tax" is essentially the same thing most states call "sales tax", which is always handled this way -- prices displayed are pre-tax, tax is added when the final price is calculated. One reason for doing it that way is that most prices result in taxes that involve fractions of pennies, and c...
Do Americans really use checks that often?
In my business (estate planning law practice), probably 60-70% of my income is in the form of checks, with the balance as credit/debit cards. I prefer to get paid by check so I don't have to pay the approx 2.5% merchant fee, but I don't push clients to choose one method over the other. I offer direct deposit to my empl...
Choose online stock trading companies
That all depends on you. The cheaper places are certainly going to cost less, but when it comes to comparing value that is a subjective decision that only you can make. Maybe the more expensive one has an easier to user website, friendlier customer service, or something else you value enough to pay more for trades.
APR for a Loan Paid Off Monthly
If your APR is quoted as nominal rate compounded monthly, the APR is 108.6 %. Here is the calculation, (done in Mathematica ). The sum of the discounted future payments (p) are set equal to the present value (pv) of the loan, and solved for the periodic interest rate (r). Details of the effective interest rate calcula...
Why do stores and manufacturers use mail in rebates? A scam, or is there a way to use them effectively?
It's an effective way to achieve market segmentation without having to ask your customers how rich they are, and you get the benefit of finding out additional information like their address, email etc. The principle is similar to coupons on cereal boxes, anybody can get the rebate/discount if they go to the effort, but...
Is there a significant danger to market orders as opposed to limit orders?
The risk of market orders depends heavily on the size of the market and the exchange. On big exchange and a security which is traded in hue numbers you're likely that there are enough participants to give you a "fair" price. Doing a market order on a security which is hardly dealed you might make a bad deal. In Germany...
How can I determine which stores are regarded as supermarkets for a rewards credit card?
Each company that has an account with the credit card network has to classify themselves as a particular type of business. The credit card company uses that classification to catagorize the transaction on your statement. If you buy a T-shirt at a grocery, amusement park, gas station, or resturant; the transaction will...
What's my risk of buying a house for a friend and sell back to him?
Risks:
Is there a sell-side version of dollar-cost averaging?
None of your options or strategies are ideal. Have you considered looking at the stock chart and making a decision? Is the price currently up-trending, or is it down-trending, or is it going sideways? As Knuckle Dragger mentions, you could just set a limit price order and if it does not hit by Friday you can just sell ...
Does investing money in other currencies help pad losses in case of a stock market crash?
If the equity market in the USA crashed, its very likely equity markets everywhere else would crash. The USA has a high number of the world's largest businesses and there are correlations between equity markets. So you need to think of equities as a global asset class, not regional. Your question is then a question abo...
Can I be building a house with the bank forever?
Another problem with this plan (assuming you get past Rocky's answer somehow) is that you assume that $50K in construction costs will translate to $50K in increased value. That's not always true; the ROI on home improvements is usually a lot less than 100%. You'd also owe more property taxes on your improvements, which...
Adding a 180 day expiration to checks
While you can print that on the check, it isn't considered legally binding. If you are concerned about a check not being deposited in a timely manner, consider purchasing a cashier's check instead. This doesn't solve the problem per se, but it transfers responsibility of tracking that check from you to the bank.
Alternative to Jumbo Mortgage
Yes, banks still offer combo loans, but it is going to depend on the appraised value of your home. Typically lenders will allow you to finance up to 80% loan to value on the first mortgage (conforming loan amount) and 95% combined loan to value on a HELOC. I would start by checking with your local credit union or ban...
Where to find Vanguard Index Funds?
You cannot actually buy an index in the true sense of the word. An index is created and maintained by a company like Standard and Poor's who licenses the use of the index to firms like Vanguard. The S&P 500 is an example of an index. The S&P 500 "index includes 500 leading companies", many finical companies sell pro...
Could capital gains from a stock sale impact my IRA eligibility?
Yes, eligibility for contributing to a Roth IRA is determined by your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) which is based on your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). Now, AGI includes the net capital gains from your transactions and MAGI adds back in things that were subtracted off (e.g. tuition deductions, foreign earned in...
Does the stock market create any sort of value?
When you own a share, you also own a vote (in most cases). That vote is your means of controlling the assets and management of the company. If you had enough votes and wanted to trade a share for an iPhone or liquidate the company entirely, you could do it. The only thing that prevents you from doing that is that compa...
When to trade in a relatively new car for maximum value
To save the most money - don't trade it in, sell it to a private party. Dealers will always give you less, because eventually they'll be selling to the same private parties, so why do you need the middle man? Craigslist is your friend.
Can a trade happen “in between” the bid and ask price?
I can think of the following situations in which one could see a trade occur between the visible best bid & offer: 1) on a public exchange, people have posted hidden limit orders with either bid prices above the best visible bid or offers below the best visible offer, and incoming orders have executed against this hidd...
Are traders 100% responsible for a stock's price changes?
Yes, the value of a stock is completely, 100% determined by what people are willing to pay for it in conjunction with what people who have it are willing to sell it for. If something really bad happened to a company, like their only factory burned to the ground, and the traders didn't care, then I guess, in that scenar...
How do dividends of the underlying security in a security futures contract affect the security futures price?
The owner of a long futures contract does not receive dividends, hence this is a disadvantage compared to owning the underlying stock. If the dividend is increased, and the future price would not change, there is an arbitrage possibility. For the sake of simplicity, assume that the stock suddenly starts paying a divide...
Is there a reason to buy a 0% yield bond?
0% bonds are desirable for some individuals. It depends on your situation. 0% bonds are usually sold well below par value (eg a 100$ face value bond for 2020 might sell for 90$ today) Hence, your gains will be CAPITAL GAINS. A similar investment paying interest would be taxed as INCOME, and smaller portion of capital g...
In India, what is the difference between Dividend and Growth mutual fund types?
The difference between dividend and growth in mutual funds has to do with the types of stocks the mutual fund invests in. Typically a company in the early stages are considered growth investments. In this phase the company needs to keep most of its profits to reinvest in the business. Typically once a company gets a si...
Why do stocks go up? Is it due to companies performing well, or what else? [duplicate]
Remember that shares represent votes at the shareholders' meeting. If share price drops too far below the value of that percentage of the company, the company gets bought out and taken over. This tends to set a minimum share price derived from the company's current value. The share price may rise above that baseline if...
A friend wants to use my account for a wire transfer. Is this a scam or is it legitimate?
As a woman who was once married to someone who worked offshore in the North Sea, in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Nova Scotia, in fact all over the world...and my husband's rig was contracted through Exxon (by the way, Exxon contracts rigs, but doesn't own any), this is most certainly a scam. Even if you do not...
What happens to bank account of non-resident alien who falls out of status?
Nothing happens. A bank is a business; your relationship with the bank doesn't change because your visa or immigration status changes. Money held in the account is still held in the account. Interest paid on the account is still taxable. And so on. If the account is inactive long enough, abandoned account rules may app...
What do I do with a P11D Expenses & Benefits form?
The P11D is a record of the total benefits you've received in a tax year that haven't been taxed in another way, a bit like the P60 is a record of the total pay and tax you've paid in a tax year. Note that travel for business purposes shouldn't be taxable, and if that's what's being reported on the P11D you may need to...
How to find out if a company is legit?
If you are trying to weed out companies that are fronts for scams, one way is to look for a physical address that checks out with the phone book and a phone number posted on the site that connects you to an actual person. By itself this isn't a guarantee that the company is legit, but it will weed out a large number of...
Comparing/reviewing personal health insurance plans for the self-employed
Here's an old-ish article from the NYT that discusses this.
Is it a good investment for a foreigner to purchase a flat/apartment in China?
More infomation is needed for any meaningful discussion about this. I just assume you want to buy in China mainland, not Hongkong or other places. That depends on where you want to buy the flat. Which city, which district of the city, which community, which school district, how old is the building? Furthermore, alwa...