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How do stocks like INL (traded in Frankfurt) work?
A "stock price" is nothing but the price at which some shares of that stock were sold on an exchange from someone willing to sell those shares at that price (or more) to someone willing to buy them at that price (or less). Pretty much every question about how stock prices work is answered by the paragraph above, which ...
Is there an online cost-basis calculator that automatically accounts for dividend re-investments and splits?
Calculating and adjusting cost basis accurately is a daunting task, but there is a (paid) online tool, NetBasis, which will automatically calculate and adjust your cost basis. It is used by brokerage firms and Fortune 500 companies and is available to the public. Go to netbasis.com. All you need are the purchase and ...
Is the stock market a zero-sum game?
No, the stock market and investing in general is not a zero sum game. Some types of trades are zero sum because of the nature of the trade. But someone isn't necessarily losing when you gain in the sale of a stock or other security. I'm not going to type out a technical thesis for your question. But the main failur...
Loan holder wants a check from the insurance company that I already cashed and used to repair my car
There are at least three financial institutions involved here: your insurance company's bank, the money center, and your bank. Normally, they would keep records, but given that the money center didn't even ask for your signature, "normal" probably doesn't apply to them. Still, you can still ask them what records they h...
Why can't house prices be out of tune with salaries
Your friends are overlooking a couple of problems with house prices and salaries being out of whack: Home 'equity' is a paper gain unless you realize it by selling the house. If you don't, but use the 'home ATM', all you're doing is piling up more debt that's secured on an asset that has downside risk. Ask anybody who'...
Ask for credit decrease
$500 should not have a massive impact on your credit. Why not at the beginning of each month buy a $500 prepaid Visa instead of using your credit card? That way you set a hard limit, but you still have the option of using credit in an emergency.
Why do stock brokers charge fees
They are providing you a service and they charge you for it. The service includes giving you a trading platform(website and the infrastructure), doing all the background work for setting up services for you, relaying your orders to the market or as a broker fulfilling your orders, doing settlement when an order is matc...
Unmarried couple buying home, what are the options in our case?
You've laid out several workable options. You might try going to mortgage broker and looking at what offers you get each way. I can say that it sounds like your partner will have a difficult time qualifying for a mortgage. That puts you on the first and third options. Forget about "building equity." You cannot rely...
How much of my home loan is coming from a bank, how much it goes back?
When you get a loan (car, home, student) the lending company (bank) give the (auto dealer, previous home owner, school) money. You as the borrow promise to pay this money back with interest. So in your case the 100,000 you borrow requires a payment for principal and interest of ~965 per month. After 240 payments you w...
Got charged ridiculous amount for doctor's walk in visit. What are my options?
Some doctors will give folks who are not covered by insurance a price break. If that describes you, you could ask. But if you didn't discuss the price in advance, that isn't the doctor's fault, any more than it would be the mechanic's fault if you asked for auto service without getting an estimate first. Consider it a ...
How to account for a shared mortgage in QuickBooks Online?
You could classify the mortgage as a different assets class and then create automated additions and deductions to the account as deems fit. other than that quickbooks online is a bit fishy so it seems.
What do these options trading terms mean?
With stocks, you can buy or sell. If you sell first, that's called 'shorting.' As in "I think linkedin is too high, I'm going to short it." With options, the terminology is different, the normal process is to buy to open/sell to close, but if you were shorting the option itself, you would first sell to open, i.e you ar...
Debit cards as bad as credit cards?
It's a real pain in the rear to get cash only from a bank teller (the end result of cutting the card as suggested). There is a self control issue here that, like weight loss, should ultimately be addressed for a psychologically healthy lifestyle. You don't mention a budget here. A budget is one of the first tools neces...
Short or Long Term Capital Gains for Multiple Investments
The default is FIFO: first in - first out. Unless you specifically instruct the brokerage otherwise, they'll report that the lot you've sold is of Jan 5, 2011. Note, that before 2011, they didn't have to report the cost basis to the IRS, and it would be up to you to calculate the cost basis at tax time, but that has be...
What should one look for when opening a business bank account?
From my experience, I opened a business account to handle my LLC which owns a rental property. The account process and features were similar to shopping for a personal checking account. There would be fees for falling below a minimum balance, and for wanting a paper statement. In my case, keeping $2000 avoids the fee,...
How can I find/compare custodians for my HSA in the United States?
In general, things to look for are: Things to look out for: I'd recommend two places: I'd recommend reading up on HSA's in this related question here.
What should my finances look like at 18?
To buy a house, you need: At least 2 years tax returns (shows a steady income history; even if you're making 50k right now, you probably weren't when you were 16, and you might not be when you're 20; as they say, easy come, easy go). A 20% down payment. These days, that easily means writing a $50k check. You make $50...
Can we compare peer-to-peer loans to savings accounts?
Peer to peer lending isn't FDIC insured. You can lose all your investment with peer to peer lending, whereas you will not lose your deposited money in a savings account, even if it doesn't grow very fast.
Are solar cell panels and wind mills worth the money?
I have personally known a family in the hills of Southern Oregon, US who lived off the electricity grid. As far as being "possible" yes, but easy is a certain no. This family was very dedicated to the point of living without grid electricity. A special built home of native field stones, careful alignment with the sun...
Prepaying a loan: Shouldn't the interest be recalculated like a shorter loan?
Forget about terms. Think about loans in terms of months. To simplify things, let's consider a $1000 loan with .3% interest per month. This looks like a ten month term, but it's equally reasonable to think about it on a month-to-month basis. In the first month, you borrowed $1000 and accrued $3 interest. With the...
View asset/holdings breakdown within fund
according to the SEC: Shareholder Reports A mutual fund and a closed-end fund respectively must provide shareholders with annual and semi-annual reports 60 days after the end of the fund’s fiscal year and 60 days after the fund’s fiscal mid-year. These reports contain updated financial information, a list of th...
Why can Robin Hood offer trading without commissions?
It isn't the first initiative (see link below) and maybe this one will stick around. Time will be a good test. Here is an article on it.... http://www.investopedia.com/articles/active-trading/020515/how-robinhood-makes-money.asp They plan to make money off unused balances - so they hope to get the masses signed up ...
ESPP taxes after relocating from Europe to the United States?
I would suggest to get an authoritative response from a CPA. In any case it would be for your own benefit to have at least the first couple of years of tax returns prepared by a professional. However, from my own personal experience, in your situation the income should not be regarded as "US income" but rather income i...
What percent of my salary should I save?
I disagree with the selected answer. There's no one rule of thumb and certainly not simple ones like "20 cents of every dollar if you're 35". You've made a good start by making a budget of your expected expenses. If you read the Mr. Money Mustache blogpost titled The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement, you...
Can I save our credit with a quickie divorce?
My advice to you? Act like responsible adults and owe up to your financial commitments. When you bought your house and took out a loan from the bank, you made an agreement to pay it back. If you breach this agreement, you deserve to have your credit score trashed. What do you think will happen to the $100K+ if you de...
Organizing Expenses/Income/Personal Finance Documents (Paperless Office)
If it was me, I would organize something along these lines. in large part because down the road when it comes time to purge stuff like small receipts, utility bills etc, you'll be doing it per year, at the 7 year point or something similar. Year first Under that major categories such as Mortgage, Utilities, Credit, Ma...
Strategic countermeasures to overcome crisis in Russia
You could do nothing for a while longer. Foreign exchange simply means your services are cheaper and imports and more expensive, local transactions are otherwise unaffected. Your main worry is whether the government's attempts to revert these issues will create inflation within Russia. Local clients will likely not ca...
Is it worth it to buy TurboTax Premier over Deluxe if I sold investments in a taxable account?
For tax year 2014, TurboTax Deluxe no longer supports Schedule D.* TurboTax Premier is required if you need to use Schedule D. Alternatively, H&R Block Tax Software Deluxe will handle Schedule D at a fraction of the cost of TurboTax Premier. Update: Beginning with tax year 2015, TurboTax has reversed their disastrous ...
What is the incentive for a bank to refinance a mortgage at a lower rate?
Banks make money on load origination fees. The "points" you pay or closing costs are the primary benefit to the banks. A vast majority of the time risks associated with the mortgage are sold to another party. FYI, the same is true with investment banks. In general, the transaction costs (which are ignored by modern fin...
Where are open-end funds traded?
I assume that mutual funds are being discussed here. As Bryce says, open-ended funds are bought from the mutual fund company and redeemed from the fund company. Except in very rare circumstances, they exist only as bits in the fund company's computers and not as share certificates (whether paper or electronic) that ...
Should I accept shares as payment?
For one, the startup doesn't exist yet, so until March I will get nothing on hand, though I have enough reserves to bridge that time. I would not take this deal unless the start-up exists in some form. If it's just not yet profitable, then there's a risk/reward to consider. If it doesn't exist at all, then it cannot ...
Stranger in Asia wants to send me $3000 in Europe over Western Union because he “likes me”? [duplicate]
how are the ways he could scam me? There are hundreds of different ways the scam can progress ... broadly;
Rent or buy with 0 down
Whether or not you choose to buy is a complicated question. I will answer as "what you should consider/think about" as I don't think "What should I do" is on topic. First off, renting tends to look expensive compared to mortgages until you factor in the other costs that are included in your rent. Property taxes. Thes...
Whole life insurance - capped earnings
I need to see the policy you are referring to give a more accurate answer. However what could be happening, it’s again the way these instruments are structured; For example if the insurance premium is say 11,000 of which 1000 is toward expenses and Term insurance amount. The Balance 10,000 is invested in growth. The pr...
Should I buy a house or am I making silly assumptions that I can afford it?
When I bought my own place, mortgage lenders worked on 3 x salary basis. Admittedly that was joint salary - eg you and spouse could sum your salaries. Relaxing this ratio is one of the reasons we are in the mess we are now. You are shrewd (my view) to realise that buying is better than renting. But you also should ...
Are Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) less safe than regular mutual funds?
I wonder if ETF's are further removed from the actual underlying holdings or assets giving value to the fund, as compared to regular mutual funds. Not exactly removed. But slightly different. Whenever a Fund want to launch an ETF, it would buy the underlying shares; create units. Lets say it purchased 10 of A, 20 of B ...
Is there a limit on the dollar amount of a personal check?
Not really. A bank will honor a million dollar check if there are funds there to let it clear.
Trading on forex news, Interactive Brokers / IDEALPRO, and slippage
In my experience thanks to algorithmic trading the variation of the spread and the range of trading straight after a major data release will be as random as possible, since we live in an age that if some pattern existed at these times HFT firms would take out any opportunity within nanoseconds. Remember that some firms...
Borrow from 401k for down payment on rental property?
Make sure you can really do what you plan on doing: Look at the maximum loan length and the maximum loan amount. From the IRS- retirement plans faqs regarding loans A qualified plan may, but is not required to provide for loans. If a plan provides for loans, the plan may limit the amount that can be taken as a lo...
Forgot to renew Fictitious Name application within the county. What is the penalty for late filing?
I checked this myself and there is no monetary penalty for late filing. However, since I am late I have to do all publication over again which costs me extra $50.
Comparing ETFs following the same index
The key two things to consider when looking at similar/identical ETFs is the typical (or 'indicative') spread, and the trading volume and size of the ETF. Just like regular stocks, thinly traded ETF's often have quite large spreads between buy and sell: in the 1.5-2%+ range in some cases. This is a huge drain if you ma...
How much is university projected to cost in Canada in 18 years?
I personally do not buy any those so-call forecasts - look no further than the economic forecasts by those experts with PhDs over the last decade or so. Truth is there are too many factors that affects the tuition fees that far down the road (think inflation, cost of living, the method for which the education is being...
How to understand adding or removing “liquidity” in stock markets with market/non-market orders?
Not all limit orders add liquidity, but all market orders remove liquidity presuming there is liquidity to remove. A liquidity providing order is one that is posted to the limit book. If an order, even a limit order, is filled before being posted to the limit book, it removes liquidity. Liquidity is measured by a balan...
Buying from an aggressive salesperson
He sounds like a very bad salesman and I should know, because I was a sales manager at a bike shop which sold bikes from $200 to $10k. Now I had a clear goal, which is to sell as many bikes at the highest price possible, but I didn't do that by making customers uncomfortable. Each customer received different treatment ...
Is it beneficial to convert non-investment real estate to rental if I need to make major repairs? (USA/Missouri)
I think you may have a significant misunderstanding here. You have been renting your property out for two years, now. There is no special "roommate" clause in the tax code; roommates are renters, and the rent they pay is rental income. (If they were roommates in a property you both rented from a third party, that wo...
Any other options for cash-out/construction loans?
For alternative financing, pursue a line of credit or a Home Equity Line of Credit. (From the comments of @ChrisInEdmonton and @littleadv on the original question)
Home loan transferred to Freddie Mac — What does this mean?
Lenders may sell your mortgage to other lenders for a fee. For example, your lender might sell your mortgage to the highest bidder who may want to purchase your mortgage by making a one time payment. For your lender that's a quick profit, for the new owner of your mortgage, that's long term returns for a one time fe...
At what point is it most advantageous to cease depositing into a 401k?
It's probably advantageous to stop depositing into a 401(k) when one is no longer receiving payroll deductions into them. Other than that, why would you want to give up the benefits? Remember, 401(k) is just the kind of account. Most offer a variety of investment options within them, and let you move money between thos...
Why ever use a market order?
The purpose of a market order is to guarantee that your order gets filled. If you try to place a limit order at the bid or ask, by the time you enter your order the price might have moved and you might need to keep amending your limit order in order to buy or sell, and as such you start chasing the market. A market ord...
One of my stocks dropped 40% in 2 days, how should I mentally approach this?
You shouldn't be picking stocks in the first place. From New York Magazine, tweeted by Ezra Klein: New evidence for that reality comes from Goldman Sachs, via Bloomberg News. The investment bank analyzed the holdings of 854 funds with $2.1 trillion in equity positions. It found, first of all, that all those “sophistica...
Why are some long term investors so concerned about their entry price?
If you think of it in terms of trying to get an annual return on your investment over the long haul, you can do a simple net present value analysis to decide your buy price. If you're playing conservative with the investments and taking safety over returns, you will still have some kind of expectation of that return w...
Missing opportunity cost of mortgage prepayment
You seem to really have your financial act together. Your combination of assets, and ongoing savings makes you the ideal candidate for paying it off. One way to look at it is that your mortgage offers you a place to 'invest' at a fixed 2-7/8% rate. "I'd really like to not have a house payment" is all I need to hear. ...
I am under 18 years old, in the US, my parents have terrible credit, how can I take out a loan?
Depending on the state this might not be possible. Loans are considered contracts, and various states regulate how minors may enter into them. For example, in the state of Oregon, a minor may NOT enter into a contract without their parent being on the contract as well. So you are forced to wait until you turn 18. At th...
What is a “closed-end fund”? How is a closed-end fund different from a typical mutual fund?
A closed-end fund is a collective investment scheme that is closed to new investment once the fund starts operating. A typical open-ended fund will allow you to buy more shares of the fund anytime you want and the fund will create those new shares for you and invest your new money to continue growing assets under mana...
How to evaluate stocks? e.g. Whether some stock is cheap or expensive?
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How can you possibly lose on investments in stocks?
Some stocks do fall to zero. I don't have statistics handy, but I'd guess that a majority of all the companies ever started are now bankrupt and worth zero. Even if a company does not go bankrupt, there is no guarantee that it's value will increase forever, even in a general, overall sense. You might buy a stock when i...
Should I pay cash or prefer a 0% interest loan for home furnishings?
If a shop offers 0% interest for purchase, someone is paying for it. e.g., If you buy a $X item at 0% interest for 12 months, you should be able to negotiate a lower cash price for that purchase. If the store is paying 3% to the lender, then techincally, you should be able to bring the price down by at least 2% to 3% i...
Is it possible to make money by getting a mortgage?
To keep the math simple, say you are in the 25% federal tax bracket. Your 4% mortgage effectively costs you 3%. Did Mr Advisor tell you what he suggests investing the money in? Borrowing at 3% net to put the money in .1% CDs makes little sense. And for most people, investing it in the stock market hoping to come out ah...
Would it ever be a bad idea to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA with the following assumptions?
To answer your question point by point - I'd focus on the last point. The back of my business card - Let's focus on Single. The standard deduction and exemption add to over $10K. I look at this as "I can have $250K in my IRA, and my $10K (4%) annual withdrawal will be tax free. It takes another $36,900 to fill the 10 ...
How should I think about stock dividends?
I would say the most important thing to consider is the quality of the company relative to the price you pay for it. No dividend also means that you will not pay taxes on dividends.
What are the important differences between mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)?
The main difference between an ETF and a Mutual Fund is Management. An ETF will track a specific index with NO manager input. A Mutual Fund has a manager that is trying to choose securities for its fund based on the mandate of the fund. Liquidity ETFs trade like a stock, so you can buy at 10am and sell at 11 if you wis...
Why do people always talk about stocks that pay high dividends?
Isn't it true that on the ex-dividend date, the price of the stock goes down roughly the amount of the dividend? That is, what you gain in dividend, you lose in price drop. Yes and No. It Depends! Generally stocks move up and down during the market, and become more volatile on some news. So One can't truly measure if t...
How to make money from a downward European market?
Invest in solid companies, not in esoteric products built on sand. The problem is with finance, not with real economy: oil companies make money, mobile phone companies make money, airlines make money...
How to make use of EUR/USD fluctuations in my specific case?
This is called currency speculation, and it's one of the more risky forms of investing. Unless you have a crystal ball that tells you the Euro will move up (or down) relative to the Dollar, it's purely speculation, even if it seems like it's on an upswing. You have to remember that the people who are speculating (pro...
Can a company donate to a non-profit to pay for services arranged for before hand?
People put conditions on donations all the time. They donate to the Red Cross for a specific disaster. The donate money to a church for the building fund. They donate money to a hospital to buy a new x-ray machine. They donate money to the scouts for a new dining hall. It is possible to donate money to a non-profit fo...
Does home equity grow with the investment put into the house?
In short, your scenario could work in theory, but is not realistic... Generally speaking, you can borrow up to some percentage of the value of the property, usually 80-90% though it can vary based on many factors. So if your property currently has a value of $100k, you could theoretically borrow a total of $80-90k aga...
As an independent contractor, should I always charge the client the GST/HST?
Hourly rate is not the determinant. You could be selling widgets, not hours. Rather, there's a $30,000 annual revenue threshold for GST/HST. If your business's annual revenues fall below that amount, you don't need to register for GST/HST and in such case you don't charge your clients the tax. You could still choose t...
Ballpark salary equivalent today of “healthcare benefits” in the US?
Many answers here have given what look to be useful perspectives on your question. I want to point out an interesting technical issue. If an employer contracts with an insurer, it agrees to cover all employees (or all that fill some pre-specified definition and no one else), and to offer only a limited range of option...
250k USD in savings. What's next?
You're off to a great start. Here are the steps I would take: 1.) Pay off any high-interest debt. 2.) Keep six to twelve months in a highly liquid emergency fund. If the banks aren't safe, also consider having one or two months of cash or cash-equivalents on the premises. 3.) Rent a larger apartment, if possible, until...
What are the real risks in “bio-technology” companies?
Be wary of pump and dump schemes. This scheme works like this: When you observe that "From time to time the action explodes with 100 or 200% gains and volumes exceeding one million and it then back down to $ 0.02", it appears that this scheme was performed repeatedly on this stock. When you see a company with a very, v...
Dry cleaners lost $160 pants, what should I do?
Read the claim ticket or receipt for when you made the initial drop-off. Every dry cleaning business that I've used in the USA has had a warning about damages or in case of loss. They always agree to reimburse up to a certain amount, usually $50 or $100 per item. This is standard in California, Arizona, New York and F...
What is the standard deviation and mean return of oil?
Oil as a commodity or investing in oil companies as a stock? As a commodity, I'd recommend none. The article Commodities – They Have (Almost) No Place in Your Portfolio and The Case Against Commodities explain why commodities are not good investments.
Choosing which ESPP stocks to sell?
the difference would be taxes... Lets say you have two lots, one with a 10 dollar gain, and one with a 20 dollar gain. And lets say you decide to sell one lot this year, and the other lot in 10 years. AND, lets say that it turns out the stock price is exactly the same in ten years as it is when you sell the first lo...
Periodicity in stock charts
If the period is consistent for company X, but occurs in a different month as Company Y, it might be linked to the release of their annual report, or the payment of their annual dividend. Companies don't have to end their fiscal year near the end of the Calendar year, therefore these end of year events could occur in a...
I carelessly invested in a stock on a spike near the peak price. How can I salvage my investment?
Yes, you could sell what you have and bet against others that the stock price will continue to fall within a period of time "Shorting". If you're right, your value goes UP even though the stock price goes down. This is a pretty darn risky bet to make. If you're wrong, there's no limit to how much money you can owe. ...
How can I invest my $100?
What is your investing goal? And what do you mean by investing? Do you necessarily mean investing in the stock market or are you just looking to grow your money? Also, will you be able to add to that amount on a regular basis going forward? If you are just looking for a way to get $100 into the stock market, your best ...
What bonds do I keep and which do I cash, why is the interest so different
Bonds released at the same time have different interest rates because they have different levels of risks and liquidity associated. Risk will depend on the company / country / municipality that offers the bond: their financial position, and their resulting ability to make future payments & avoid default. Riskier organ...
Do investors go long option contracts when they cannot cover the exercise of the options?
I think it depends on your broker. Some brokers will not try to auto exercise in the money options. Others will try to do the exercise it if you have available funds. Your best bet, if find yourself in that situation, is to sell the option on the open market the day of or slightly before expiration. Put it on your cale...
When should I walk away from my mortgage?
Many good answers here, especially that you have to consider that renting may be more expensive than you'd think. Also, keep in mind that rent is money that is completely lost. Even if the property has dropped in value, if you keep paying, you will be able to recuperate part of your mortgage payments when you sell the ...
What Did Benjamin Graham Mean by Earnings Stability in The Intelligent Investor?
Please note that the following Graham Rating below corresponds to five years: Earnings Stability (100% ⇒ 10 Years): 50.00% Benjamin Graham - once known as The Dean of Wall Street - was a scholar and financial analyst who mentored legendary investors such as Warren Buffett, William J. Ruane, Irving Kahn and Walter J. Sc...
Growth rate plus dividend yieid total?
Avoiding the complexities of tax [dividends likely taxed the year they are received, barring special tax accounts which many countries implement in for example, locked-in retirement type accounts; share growth is likely only taxed when sold / on death / on expatriation / similar], and assuming you reinvest the dividend...
Why is there so much variability on interest rate accounts
I spent some time comparing banks' interest rates until I realized that it didn't actually matter (to me). The only money I keep in checking and savings accounts is money that I'm going to spend shortly or is part of an emergency fund, and in both those cases convenience of liquidity is far more important than small di...
Shareholder in US based company
Companies need to go public before you can buy their shares on a public stock exchange, but all companies have shares, even if there's only one share. And anyone who owns those shares can give them to whoever they like (there are generally restrictions on selling shares in unlisted companies to unsophisticated investor...
One of my stocks dropped 40% in 2 days, how should I mentally approach this?
There are 2 approaches. One of them is already mentioned by @Afforess. If the approach by @Afforess is not feasible, and you can not see yourself making an unbiased decision, close the position. By closing the position you will not get the best price. But by removing a distraction you will reduce amount of mistakes yo...
How to increase my credit score
Get a credit card is NOT the answer. The reason people have a bad (or no) credit score is often because they're new to the country, have just turned 18, have previously fallen into arrears or are just bad with money. Getting a credit card is risky because, if you don't stay on top of your payments, it'll just damage yo...
How can I find the historical stock price for a specific stock on a specific date?
I've had luck finding old stock information in the Google scanned newspaper archives. Unfortunately there does not appear to be a way to search exactly by date, but a little browsing /experimenting should get what you want. For instance, here's a source which shows the price to be 36 3/4 (as far as I can read anyway) o...
5/1 ARM: Lifetime cap, First Adjustment Cap, Margin, and Annual Cap?
I hope this image is clear. A spreadsheet is how I look at these things. Unfortunately, you didn't offer the starting balance so I use $100K which makes it easy to scale. You build a simple spreadsheet and enter the "what if" scenario, this tells me that worse case, an increase of 1% on the rate each year results in a ...
At what interest rate should debt be used as a tool?
This post has a great discussion on the topic. Basically, there is no single interest rate above which you should pay off and below which you should keep. You have to keep in mind factors such as
What is a good way to save money on car expenses?
Do your own oil change! If you are a hands-on person, you could also avoid the cost of the semi-annual oil change, by doing it yourself. Edmunds.com has a great how-to to help you accomplish this. Be prepared for dirty fingernails! But savings, you will realize, as an oil change will run you anywhere from $20 - $200...
Does a larger down payment make an offer stronger?
There is some element of truth to what your realtor said. The seller takes the house off the market after the offer is accepted but the contract is contingent upon, among other things, buyer securing the financing. A lower down payment can mean a higher chance of failing that. The buyer might be going through FHA, VA ...
What is the correct way to report a tender offer fee on my taxes?
Using a different cost basis than your broker's reporting is NOT a problem. You need to keep your own records to account for this difference. Among the other many legitimate reasons to adjust your cost basis, the most popular is when you have two brokerage accounts and sell an asset in one then buy in another. This is ...
Stock portfolio value & profit in foreign currency
It's very simple. Use USDSGD. Here's why: Presenting profits/losses in other currencies or denominations can be useful if you want to sketch out the profit/loss you made due to foreign currency exposure but depending on the audience of your app this may sometimes confuse people (like yourself).
What typically happens to unvested stock during an acquisition?
I worked for a small private tech company that was aquired by a larger publicly traded tech company. My shares were accelerated by 18 months, as written in the contract. I excercised those shares at a very low strike price (under $1) and was given an equal number of shares in the new company. Made about $300,000 pre...
How do I calculate the quarterly returns of a stock index?
So for quarters So, if Q1's value was 10 and Q2's value was 25 For closing or opening prices, I would use closing prices. For instance, some used Adjusted Close or Close on Yahoo Finance (see this example of AAPL). Added Note: In your example, for your example, you'll want to take the absolute value of the denominator...
Should I pay off a 0% car loan?
The precise answer depends on the terms and conditions of the loan, and whether you can reasonably expect to meet them. For example, if you keep the loan, make no payments, there is a good chance that - eventually - you will trigger a clause in the contract, and suddenly be charged fees or a significant interest rate. ...
Easiest way to diversify savings
Are there banks where you can open a bank account without being a citizen of that country without having to visit the bank in person? I've done it the other way around, opened a bank account in the UK so I have a way to store GBP. Given that Britain is still in the EU you can basically open an account anywhere. Germa...
What are the pros and cons of investing in a closed-end fund?
One advantage not pointed out yet is that closed-end funds typically trade on stock exchanges, whereas mutual funds do not. This makes closed-end funds more accessible to some investors. I'm a Canadian, and this particular distinction matters to me. With my regular brokerage account, I can buy U.S. closed-end funds t...
Why do some online stores not ask for the 3-digit code on the back of my credit card?
The truth is that Visa does not require a merchant to enter the cvv number before authorizing a transaction. The only information that is really needed is the credit card number and expiration date.
Can an unmarried couple buy a home together with only one person on the mortgage?
It is highly unlikely that this would be approved by a mortgage underwriter. When the bank gives a loan with a security interest in a property (a lien), they are protected - if the borrower does not repay the loan, the property can be foreclosed on and sold, and the lender is made whole for the amount of the loan tha...
Where do stock traders get realtime updates on Fed announcements? Is there a feed I could scrape?
Bloomberg terminal is a pretty standard way nowadays to get this information (and a lot more) pretty much in real time.