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Online brokers with a minimum stock purchase lower than $500
With InteractiveBrokers there is no minimum trade amount, they also offer Australian Equities.
Avoiding sin stock: does it make a difference?
This question drives at what value a shareholder actually provides to a corporation, and by extent, to the economy. If you subscribe for new shares (like in an Initial Public Offering), it is very straightforward to say "I have provided capital to the corporation, which it is using to advance its business." If you buy ...
If I believe a stock is going to fall, what options do I have to invest on this?
Shorting Stocks: Borrowing the shares to sell now. Then buying them back when the price drops. Risk: If you are wrong the stock can go up. And if there are a lot of people shorting the stock you can get stuck in a short squeeze. That means that so many people need to buy the stock to return the ones they borrowed tha...
How to share income after marriage and kids?
My own personal point of view. I earn about twice what my wife to be earns. We are planning on getting married next year. I ultimately do all the finances (basically because she hates that kind of thing) not because I'm in charge or whatever. To work out how we do this I wrote a spreadsheet: At the top it has my mont...
Help required on estimating SSA benefit amounts
The social security administration has a webpage to get your Social Security estimate. It replaces the yearly estimate they used to mail everybody. It shows the amount you paid for social security and medicare and what they estimate you will receive at your retirement age. They also discuss disability benefits. Everybo...
Do personal checks expire? [US]
It depends on the bank. According to the Uniform Commercial Code, a bank is not obliged to pay a cheque after six months, but may do so if it wants to. § 4-404. BANK NOT OBLIGED TO PAY CHECK MORE THAN SIX MONTHS OLD. A bank is under no obligation to a customer having a checking account to pay a check, other than a cer...
What's the fuss about Credit Score / History?
Use credit and pay your bills on time. That's really about it. If you do that, you don't need to think about credit score. It's really a big distraction that is dwelled on too much.
Where do I invest my Roth IRA besides stock market and mutual funds?
That depends, really. Generally speaking, though - Roth IRAs are THE PLACE for Stock-Market/Mutual-Fund investing. All the off the wall (or, not so off the wall) things like Real Estate investments, or buying up gold, or whatever other ideas you hear from people - they may be good or bad or whatnot. But your Roth IRA i...
Pensions, annuities, and “retirement”
An annuity is a product. In simple terms, you hand over a lump sum of cash and receive an agreed annual income until you die. The underlying investment required to reach that income level is not your concern, it's the provider's worry. So there is a huge mount of security to the retiree in having an annuity. It is wort...
Using Loan to Invest - Paying Monthly Installments by Selling Originally Bought Shares
The market can stay irrational longer than you can remain solvent -John Maynard Keynes The stocks could stagnate and trade in a thin range, or decline in value. You assume that your stocks will offer you ANY positive return for every month over 24 months. Just one month of negative returns puts you underwater. Thats wh...
Unrealized Profit & Loss for Non-Stock Securities
Suddenly its not just comparing the current price to the price of the contract, or is it? Sure it is. Suppose you bought 100 option contracts (each for 100 shares) and paid a $1 per share premium ($10,000 total). Now those options are trading for $1.50 per share. You have an unrealized $0.50 gain per share, or $5,00...
Over the long term, why invest in bonds?
Many folks use bonds to diversify their portfolio since bonds rise and fall in value at different times and for different reasons than stocks. Bonds pay interest on a regular basis (usually monthly or quarterly) and so some people invest in bonds in order to match the interest payments to some regular expense they migh...
Bond prices: Why is a high yield sometimes too good to be true?
Looking at the list of bonds you listed, many of them are long dated. In short, in a rate rising environment (it's not like rates can go much lower in the foreseeable future), these bond prices will drop in general in addition to any company specific events occurred to these names, so be prepared for some paper losses....
In a competitive market, why is movie theater popcorn expensive?
A multiplex is a concession stand which happens to show movies in order to lure you into range of the smell of their popcorn. It has nothing to do with movie theater monopolies. As it was explained to me by my manager, back when I worked in a movie theater in a small Midwestern chain, for every movie, the studios take...
Is it better to buy US stocks on US stock exchanges as a European?
Liquidity on dual listed equities is rarely the same on both exchanges. More liquidity means you would typically get a better price assuming you execute the trades using the same order types. It's recommended to trade where the liquidity is greater unless your trading method benefits somehow from it being lower. It's i...
In India, what is the difference between Dividend and Growth mutual fund types?
A growth fund is looking to invest in stocks that will appreciate in stock price over time as the companies grow revenues and market share. A dividend fund is looking to invest in stocks of companies that pay dividends per share. These may also be called "income" funds. In general, growth stocks tend to be younger com...
How can I find ISIN numbers for stock options?
Go to http://www.isincodes.net/, and enter your data. For example entering Alphabet gives you the ISIN US02079K1079 (for standard US shares). If you want to understand the number format (and build them yourself), check wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Securities_Identification_Number
What are the advantages of doing accounting on your personal finances?
In my opinion, every person, regardless of his or her situation, should be keeping track of their personal finances. In addition, I believe that everyone, regardless of their situation, should have some sort of budget/spending plan. For many people, it is tempting to ignore the details of their finances and not worry ...
Any tips for asset allocation across multiple retirement accounts?
I have a similar plan and a similar number of accounts. I think seeking a target asset allocation mix across all investment accounts is an excellent idea. I use excel to track where I am and then use it to adjust to get closer (but not exactly) to my target percentages. Until you have some larger balances, it may be ...
Why use accounting software like Quickbooks instead of Excel spreadsheets?
Here are the few points: Hope that helps,
How to increase my credit score
Do you have the option of paying cash for the phone? To answer your question though: Essentially, you have to use credit RESPONSIBLY. That doesn't mean go get a slew of loans and pay them off. As Ratish said, a credit card is a good start. I basically buy everything with a card and then pay it off every month when the ...
Why did I lose 2 cents more than the difference in the stock prices on my Robinhood trade?
Free, huh? From their Commission and Fee Schedule: So if you literally bought two shares, then the SEC added one penny in fees and FINRA added one penny as a "Trading Activity Fee" Note that there are several other fees on their schedule that may not apply to you. If you had bought 100 shares instead, your total fees ...
How to take advantage of home appreciation
Assuming "take advantage" means continue to build wealth, as opposed to blow it all on a fancy holiday... Downgrade As you already note, you could downgrade/downsize. This could happen via moving to a smaller house in the same area, or moving to an area where the cost of buying is less. HELOC Take out a Home Equity L...
What is meant by “priced in”?
Anyone who wants to can use any method they want. Ultimately, the price of the stock will settle on the valuation that people tend to agree on. If you think the priced in numbers are too low, buy the stock as that would mean that its price will go up as the future earnings materialize. If you think it's too high, short...
The doctor didn't charge the health insurance in time, am I liable?
That is your bill because the services were performed for you. You still can negotiate with the doctor however. Suggest that while you aren't willing to pay the full share, you will pay the negotiated amount he would have actually gotten from the insurance company (or some fraction thereof). Doc did make a mistake,...
Stock valuation - Volkswagen
The primary reason a scandal like this hurts the company is the "bottom line." Any legal action means defense costs. In this case the potential of massive fines became reality. And a buyback program. So, if any publicly traded company stacked up $10B in assets, doused it in diesel and set it on fire, their stock w...
How can people have such high credit card debts?
In the United States, when applying for credit cards, proof of income is on an honor system. You can make $15k a year and write on your application that you make $150k a year. They don't check that value other than to have their computer systems figure out risk and you get a yes or no. It was traditionally easy to atta...
How does a Value Added Tax (VAT) differ from a Sales Tax?
Sales taxes are charged at the point of purchase, while a VAT is assessed during the production process of the item. In the end, the amount paid by the consumer is the same, but with the VAT, the tax was collected from the manufacturer, instead of the consumer. One of the big arguments for VAT is that it prevents lost ...
Why do stock prices change? [duplicate]
None of that is filtered my way as a "part owner". Sure it is, it's just not always obvious. When a company makes money it either: Other then the fourth option, the first three all increase the total value of the company. If you owned 1% of a company that was worth X, and is now worth X+1, the value of that 1% ownersh...
How should I deal with my long term gain this year?
I don't believe in letting the tax tail wag the investing dog. You have a stock you no longer wish to hold for whatever reason? Sell it. But to sell a loser, hoping it doesn't rise by the time you wish to re-buy it in 30 days is folly. This effort may gain you $50 if done right. No, it's not worth it either way.
Bond ETFs as a means to achieve risk parity
How is it possible that long term treasury bonds, which the government has never defaulted on, can hold more risk as an ETF then the stock market index? The risk from long-term bonds isn't that the government defaults, but that interest rates go up before you get paid, so investors want bonds issued more recently at hi...
Buy tires and keep car for 12-36 months, or replace car now?
If the car is in otherwise good shape, it's always less expensive to keep it longer. Think of it this way: you have to buy new tires no matter what. It's just a question of whether or not those new tires are attached to a new car or your current car.
Paying restaurants in cash instead of credit card - how signficant is this?
Credit cards charge about 2% fee from merchants. This is already priced into the restaurant menu. Generally, dealing with cash will not cost the merchant significantly less since he needs to make more trips to the bank, pay fees for frequent cash deposits (banks charge per operation), and maintain a safe location for s...
The doctor didn't charge the health insurance in time, am I liable?
I was in a similar situation years back and I refused to pay the bill. My point of view was that I provided the hospital with all information needed to submit the claim in a timely matter and that I should not be held responsible for their failure to do so. In the end they waived the charges. So while technically I mig...
ETF S&P 500 with Reinvested Dividend
The problem there is that there's a tax due on that dividend. So, if you wish, you can buy the ETF and specify to reinvest dividends, but you'll have to pay a bit of tax on them, and keep track of your basis, if the account isn't a retirement account.
Dividend yeild per unit
I am also confused by what he says. The DJIA has not been at 900 for decades. However a $36 dividend is 4% per unit if you get $9 per unit per quarter. 2/3 of 4% is 6%,so that is inside his 7.5% to 5.5%. How much you have in dividend paying stocks vs. Bonds most often is a function of your age. For example, I have hear...
In today's low interest environment, is it generally more economical to buy or lease a new car in the US?
The most economical way is to save your money, and buy a 1+ year old used car with cash.
Investing in dividend-yielding stocks with money borrowed from margin account?
My gut is to say that any time there seems to be easy money to be made, the opportunity would fade as everyone jumped on it. Let me ask you - why do you think these stocks are priced to yield 7-9%? The DVY yields 3.41% as of Aug 30,'12. The high yielding stocks you discovered may very well be hidden gems. Or they may ...
It is worth using a discount stock broker? I heard they might not get the best price on a trade?
Always use limit orders never market orders. Period. Do that and you will always pay what you said you would when the transaction goes through. Whichever broker you use is not going to "negotiate" for the best price on your trade if you choose a market order. Their job is to fill that order so they will always buy it ...
Does an individual share of a stock have some kind of unique identifier?
Nope, think what a nightmare that would be, a bunch of shares would be issued and then sold to tonnes of people, who might sell various partial numbers of them to others, who might buy them and others from 20 others all as part of one order though multiple fills... It would be nuts, and if one were to issue a certifica...
How can I stop wasting food?
The best way to stop wasting food is to create a weekly plan. Every weekend, before making your grocery shopping, take 30-60 mins and plan (with your spouse if your married) for the next week's meals. It doesn't need to be too detailed, but it'll help you to approximate what you need in terms of food for the whole week...
Did an additional $32 billion necessarily get invested into Amazon.com stock on October 26th, 2017?
The market capitalization of a stock is the number of shares outstanding (of each stock class), times the price of last trade (of each stock class). In a liquid market (where there are lots of buyers and sellers at all price points), this represents the price that is between what people are bidding for the stock and wh...
Is it sensible to keep savings in a foreign currency?
I don't think that it's a good idea to have cash savings in different currencies, unless you know which will be the direction of the wind for that currency. You can suffer a lot of volatility and losses if you just convert your savings to another currency without knowing anything about which direction that pair will ta...
What is the best way to make a bet that a certain stock will go up in the medium term?
I think that those options might well be your best bet, given the potential 700% return in one year if you're right. You could look and see if any Synthetic Zeros (a Synthetic Zero is a derivative that will pay out a set amount if the underlying security is over a certain price point) exist for the share but chances ar...
How does the market adjust for fees in ETPs?
Because ETFs, unlike most other pooled investments, can be easily shorted, it is possible for institutional investors to take an arbitrage position that is long the underlying securities and short the ETF. The result is that in a well functioning market (where ETF prices are what they should be) these institutional in...
Investing in dividend-yielding stocks with money borrowed from margin account?
I wouldn't recommend leveraged dividend fishing. Dividend stocks with such high dividends are highly volatile, you will run out of collateral to cover your trades very quickly
What if 40% of the remaining 60% Loan To Value (ratio) is not paid, or the borrower wants to take only 60% of the loan?
Let me summarize your question for you: "I do not have the down payment that the lender requires for a mortgage. How can I still acquire the mortgage?" Short answer: Find another lender or find more cash. Don't overly complicate the scenario. The correct answer is that the lender is free to do what they want. They deem...
Why are stocks having less institutional investors a “good thing”?
It's not necessarily bad but it can cause the stock price to become a lot more volatile. Depends on which side of the bet you're on ;) Suppose a hedge fund manager thinks a company is poorly run. He may buy a ton of shares so that he can get rid of the current CEO and replace it with his/her own. For the hedge fund and...
How are stock buybacks not considered insider trading?
Buybacks do not increase the company's value. Cash is traded for outstanding shares. This is similar to a dividend, but instead of cash, investors receive a rising share-price. Whether an investor prefers a cash dividend or capital gains is less important than the outcome that their investment is gaining value for them...
Why don't some places require a credit card receipt signature, and some do?
This is basically done to reduce costs and overhead, with agreement of the credit card issuers. When the card is physically present and the charge is low, the burden of keeping the signed receipts and of additional delays at the cash register is not worth the potential risk of fraud. Depending on the location and the s...
Stocks and Bankruptcy
As Mhoran said, the risks of buying a bankrupt company are huge, and even successful bankruptcy turnarounds don't involve keeping the same stock. For instance, the GM bankruptcy was resolved by the company more or less selling all its valuable assets (brands, factories, inventory) to a new version of itself, using that...
Is buying or selling goods for gold or silver considered taxable?
Of course. The rationale is exactly the same as always: profit is taxed. The fact that you use intermediate barter to make that profit is irrelevant. To clarify, as it seems that you think it makes a difference that no money "changed hands". Consider this situation: So far your cost is $10000. How will the tax authorit...
Are warehouse clubs like Costco and Sam's Club worth it?
I know that for me personally, if I buy that giant box of Goldfish instead of the bags, it doesn't mean I'm saving money... just eating a lot more Goldfish. The trick, I think, to buying in bulk is to make sure that you're not consuming in bulk. You're not likely to go through more dishwasher detergent just because y...
Definition of “U.S. source” for US non-resident alien capital gains tax
The examples you provide in the question are completely irrelevant. It doesn't matter where the brokerage is or where is the company you own stocks in. For a fairly standard case of an non-resident alien international student living full time in the US - your capital gains are US sourced. Let me quote the following tex...
Understanding the phrase “afford to lose” better
Keep in mind that it's a cliche statement used as non-controversial filler in articles, not some universal truth. When you were young, did you mom tell you to eat your vegetables because children are starving in Ethiopia? This is the personal finance article equivalent of that. Generally speaking, the statement as an a...
Does a withdrawal of $10000 for 1st home purchase count against Roth IRA basis?
TL;DR: No, it doesn't count against the Roth IRA basis. You can find out by looking at Form 8606 Part III, which is the part for distributions from Roth IRA. Line 19 is the sum of nonqualified distributions, plus qualified first-time homebuyer distributions. You would put $10000 here. Then you would subtract $10000 on ...
How much principal do I get back with a target-maturity ETF?
Adding a couple more assumptions, I'd compute about $18.23 would be that pay out in 2018. This is computed by taking the Current Portfolio's Holdings par values and dividing by the outstanding shares(92987/5100 for those wanting specific figures used). Now, for those assumptions: Something to keep in mind is that bond...
Advice for opening an IRA as a newbie
As other people have indicated, traditional IRAs are tax deductable for a particular year. Please note, though, that traditional IRAs are tax deferred (not tax-free) accounts, meaning that you'll have to pay taxes on any money you take out later regardless of why you're making the withdrawal. (A lot of people mistakenl...
Large BUY LIMIT orders' effect on a stock's price
If an offered price is below what people are willing to sell for, it is simply ignored. (What happens if I offer to buy lots of cars as long as I only have to pay $2 each? Same thing.)
In your 20s how much money should you have and how to properly use & manage it?
You need a budget. You need to know how much you make and how much you spend. How much you earn and what you choose to spend you money on is your choice. You have your own tolerance for risk and your own taste and style, so lifestyle and what you own isn't something that we can answer. The key to your budget is to re...
Relation between inflation rates and interest rates
When the inflation rate increases, this tends to push up interest rates because of supply and demand: If the interest rate is less than the inflation rate, then putting your money in the bank means that you are losing value every day that it is there. So there's an incentive to withdraw your money and spend it now. If,...
Does my net paycheck decrease as the year goes on due to tax brackets filling up?
Most countries with income tax, including the USA, design their withholding system so that in straightforward cases, tax is withheld from each month's paycheck on an annualized basis: tax for a month is calculated on the assumption that you will keep earning the same monthly amount for the rest of the year, and the wit...
What is a good 5-year plan for a college student with $15k in the bank?
First thing to do right now, is to see if there's somewhere equally liquid, equally risk free you can park your cash for higher rate of return. You can do this now, and decide how much to move into less liquid investments on your own pace. When I was in grad school, I opened a Roth IRA. These are fantastic things for y...
Pros & cons of investing in gold vs. platinum?
Platinum use is pretty heavily overweight in industrial areas; according to the linked Wikipedia article, 239 tonnes of platinum was sold in 2006, of which 130 tonnes went to vehicles emissions control devices and another 13.3 tonnes to electronics. Gold sees substantial use as an investment as well as to hedge against...
Ways to save for child's college education where one need not commit to set contributions? [duplicate]
529 plans. They accumulate earnings over time and by the time your child goes to college you will be able to withdraw funds for college TAX FREE. The best part about 529s is that there are several different options you can choose from, and you aren't limited to the plans sponsored by your state, you can use whichever...
Is there an advantage to keeping a liquid emergency fund if one also has an untapped line of credit?
People treat an emergency fund as some kind of ace-in-the-hole when it comes to financial difficulty, but it is only one of many sources of money that you can utilize. What is an emergency? First, you have to define what an emergency is. Is it a lost job? Is it an unplanned event (pregnancy, perhaps)? Is it a medica...
Should I consolidate loans and cards, or just cards, leaving multiple loans?
First of all, congratulations on admitting your problem and on your determination to be debt-free. Recognizing your mistakes is a huge first step, and getting rid of your debt is a very worthwhile goal. When considering debt consolidation, there are really only two reasons to do so: Reason #1: To lower your monthly pa...
I have about 20 000 usd. How can invest them to do good in the world?
FTSE ethical investment index: http://www.ftse.com/products/indices/FTSE4Good "The FTSE4Good Index is a series of ethical investment stock market indices launched in 2001 by the FTSE Group. A number of stock market indices are available, for example covering UK shares, US shares, European markets, and Japan, wit...
How does a lender compute equity requirement for PMI?
In regards to the legal recourse, no there is none. Also, despite your frustrations with Citi, it may not be their fault. Mortgage companies are now forced to select appraisers (essentially at random) through 3rd party Appraisal Resource Companies (ARCs). This randomization mandate from the government was issued in ...
Buying an option in the money, at the money, or out of the money
You can do some very crafty hedging with the variety of options. For instance, deep out of the money options are affected more by changes of market volatility, knowing this you can get long or short vega very easily, as opposed to necessarily betting on changes in the underlying asset.
What could a malicious party potentially achieve by having *just* a name, account number, and sort code?
I think the answer to this must differ from country to country. I have lived in several countries where the normal everyday way of making a payment is to instruct my bank to transfer the money to the recipient's account. Of course this means I must know his name, SC and account number – but this is an accepted part o...
How do you translate a per year salary into a part-time per hour job?
All things being equal, a $55,000/year job with 25% benefit load is about $68,750/year. That's a little more than $34/hr. Your rate really depends on the nature of the work. If it's strictly a part-time job where you are an employee, you're probably looking at a $28-38/hr range. If you're an independent contractor, the...
Are there capital gains taxes or dividend taxes if I invest in the U.S. stock market from outside of the country?
Found a great article (with bibliography) that covers taxation on investment activity by non resident aliens - even covers the special 15% tax on dividends for Canadian residents. It's (dividend tax rate) generally 30% for other NRAs (your 2nd question). And it confirmed my suspicion that there are no capital gains ta...
Why does ExxonMobil's balance sheet show more liabilities than assets?
Exxon Mobil is one of the most profitable corporations in the world. Their annual earnings are typically in the $10s of billions of dollars. They have revenues in the hundreds of billions of dollars per year. They also return $10+ billion dollars to their stockholders each year in dividends and stock purchases. Tha...
How much power does a CEO have over a public company?
If Steve Jobs [Tim Cook] were to decide to try to kill Apple, does he have the power to do so? Yes. But he would be held accountable. In addition to the other answers, the CEO is a fiduciary of the corporation. That means his/her actions must be in good faith and look out for the well-being of the company. Otherwise, h...
Importance of dividend yield when evaluating a stock?
The dividend yield can be used to compare a stock to other forms of investments that generate income to the investor - such as bonds. I could purchase a stock that pays out a certain dividend yield or purchase a bond that pays out a certain interest. Of course, there are many other variables to consider in addition t...
Why do credit cards have minimum limits?
They have a minimum to discourage applications for that particular card. Every application costs them money because they have to pay the credit agencies to pull the applicant's credit history. So one way they save money and reduce their cost of business is to discourage people from applying if they're not creditworthy ...
What does Capital Surplus mean?
I think it's easiest to illustrate it with an example... if you've already read any of the definitions out there, then you know what it means, but just don't understand what it means. So, we have an ice cream shop. We started it as partners, and now you and I each own 50% of the company. It's doing so well that we dec...
Is there a significant danger to market orders as opposed to limit orders?
The Key aspect is the risk of market orders; You should be worried about point 2 & 3 when you are doing market orders.
Options liquidity and trading positions larger than the daily volume?
One broker told me that I have to simply read the ask size and the bid size, seeing what the market makers are offering. This implies that my order would have to match that price exactly, which is unfortunate because options contract spreads can be WIDE. Also, if my planned position size is larger than the best bid/bes...
Is laminate flooring an “Improvement” or “Depreciable Property”?
Aesthetics aside, laminate floor is attached to the floor and as such is a part of the building. So you depreciate it with the building itself, similarly to the roof. I believe the IRS considers these permanently attached because the foam itself is permanently attached, and is a part of the installation. To the best of...
Why do new car loans, used car loans, and refinanced loans have different rates and terms?
There are normally three key factors that define different kinds of loans, these factors affect the risk that the lender takes on and so the interest rate. The interest rate on any loan is linked to market interest rates; the lender shouldn't be able to receive a higher rate of interest for lending the money at no risk...
Is paying off your mortage a #1 personal finance priority?
It is one thing to take the advice of some numb-skulls on a web site, it is another thing to take the advice of someone who is really wealthy. For myself, I enjoy a very low interest rate (less than 3%) and am aggressively paying down my mortgage. One night I was contemplating slowing that down, and even the possibili...
Book or web site resources for an absolute beginner to learn about stocks and investing?
The Motley Fool's How to Invest How To Invest Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor The Intelligent Investor If you like The Intelligent Investor then try Benjamin's Security Analysis. But that one is not a beginner book.
Is this formula accurate for weighing the difference between an S-Corp and LLC?
It might be best to step back and look at the core information first. You're evaluating an LLC vs a Corporation (both corporate entities). Both have one or more members, and both are seen similarly (emphasis on SIMILAR here, they're not all the same) to the IRS. Specifically, LLC's can opt for a pass-through tax sys...
Why do governments borrow money instead of printing it?
“Why do governments borrow money instead of printing it? (When printing money, one doesn't need to pay interest).” Good question. Numerous leading economists, including a couple of economics Nobel Laureates have asked the same question and concluded that borrowing can be dispensed with. First, Milton Freidman set out...
What is the correct answer for percent change when the start amount is zero dollars $0?
Anyone who has any business looking at growth numbers will know thay are meaningless in the first year, So all they need to know is that it's the first year. It's no different than the Billboard music charts' treatment of the "last week's chart ranking" and "movement up/down" columns. It will help with visual layo...
Is it possible to make money off of a private company?
Another way to do this is go to work for that company. Companies in this situation normally offer low pay, long hours, and stock options. Given a sufficient grant, it could be all very lucrative or worthless. Even if you have no electronics background you might be able to work in a different capacity. There were s...
Where can I invest for the Short Term and protect against Inflation?
Your goals are mutually exclusive. You cannot both earn a return that will outpace inflation while simultaneously having zero-risk of losing money, at least not in the 2011 market. In 2008, a 5+% CD would have been a good choice. Here's a potential compromise... sacrifice some immediate liquidity for more earnings. Sa...
Indicators a stock is part of a pump and dump scheme?
Note: the answer below is speculative and not based on any first-hand knowledge of pump-and-dump schemes. The explanation with spamming doesn't really makes sense for me. Often you see a stock jump 30% or more in a single day at a particular moment in time. Unlikely that random people read their emails at that time and...
Why have U.S. bank interest rates been so low for the past few years?
I've wondered the same thing. And, after reading the above replies, I think there is a simpler explanation. It goes like this. When the bank goes to make a loan they need capital to do it. So, they can get it from the federal reserve, another bank, or us. Well, if the federal reserve will loan it to them for lets say ...
What is 'consolidating' debt and why do people do it?
With the scenario that you laid out (ie. 5% and 10% loans), it makes no sense at all. The problem is, when you're in trouble the rates are never 5% or 10%. Getting behind on credit cards sucks and is really hard to recover from. The problem with multiple accounts is that as the banks tack on fees and raise your interes...
Why do car rental companies prefer/require credit over debit cards?
A few reasons make sense: They have a defined process for rentals, risk assessment, and customer credit. Especially for a large corporation, making changes to that process is not trivial, adds risk/uncertainty, and will be costly. Such changes for a relatively small customer base might not makes sense. Many rental comp...
Why is the price of my investment only updated once per day?
Mutual funds are only traded once per day, while other securities can be traded any time during the day. Mutual funds are actually a collection of other things that have value, such as stocks. The price of a mutual fund is calculated at the end of the day after the market closes by looking at how much the collection of...
What does the Fed do with the extra money it is printing?
Usually the FED uses newly printed money to buy US treasuries from Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, etc.. These banks then lend out the new cash which expands the money supply. During the height of the crisis the FED printed over $1.0 Trillion and bought....well...almost anything the banks couldn't offload elsewhere. Mortga...
What is a good way to keep track of your credit card transactions, to reduce likelihood of fraud?
Read your bill, question things that don't look familiar. People who steal credit card numbers don't bother to conceal themselves well. So if you live in Florida, and all of the sudden charges appear in Idaho, you should investigate. Keeping charge slips seems counter-productive to me. I already know that I bought gaso...
Where to Park Proceeds from House Sale for 2-5 Years?
Your objectives are contradictory and/or not possible. Eliminating the non-taxable objective: You could divide the $100K in 5 increments, making a "CD ladder" $25K in 3mo CD (or savings a/c) $25K in 6 mo CD $25K in 9mo CD $25K in 1 yr CD or similar structure (6mo also works well) Every maturing CD you are able to acces...
Investing: P/E Ratio basic question
The idea here is to get an idea of how to value each business and thus normalize how highly prized is each dollar that a company makes. While some companies may make millions and others make billions, how does one put these in proper context? One way is to consider a dollar in earnings for the company. How does a do...
How to get started with savings, paying off debt, and retirement?
The word you are looking for is "budget" You can't pay off debt if you are spending more than you earn. Therefore, start a budget that you both work on at the same time, and both agree 100% with. Evaluate your progress on that budget on a regular basis. From your question, you understand what your obligations are and...
The best credit card for people who pay their balance off every month
BillShrink.com lets you compare credit cards based on all your specifics (miles vs. cash, where you shop the most, etc) and tells you what the best card is for your specific habits. MOD EDIT Looks like billshrink.com is shut down. From their site: Dear BillShrink customer, As you may have heard, BillShrink.com was sh...