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Make your money work for you
First of all, never is too late to develop good habits. So, you know what you want to do and you are going about the how now... First, you should pay off any consumer debt except from mortgage which should be planned for. Prioritize your consumer debt (credit cards, consumer loans, etc) according to the interest rates,...
How do I build wealth?
Another possibility is that a lot of it is bought using borrowed money. Especially if much of your own money is in the stock market, it may be beneficial to take out a loan to buy something compared to selling other assets to raise the same amount of cash. Even going by the likely relatively conservative £200K/year bef...
Financing Education through Credit Card or Student Loans
I would use student loans and avoid credit card debt if debt is your only option. Here are the advantages I see: Disadvantages:
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 am I actually buying when trading in CFDs
The economic effect of a CFD from your point of view is very close to the effect of owning the stock. If the stock goes up, you make money. If it goes down you lose money. If it pays a dividend, you get that dividend. You'll typically pay commission for buying and selling the CFDs in a similar way to the commission on ...
Is there a way to create a limit order with both an upper and lower limit
In a way yes but I doubt you'd want that. A "Stop-Limit" order has both stop and limit components to it but I doubt this gives you what you want. In your example, if the stock falls to $1/share then the limit order of $3/share would be triggered but this isn't quite what I'd think you'd want to see. I'd suggest conside...
What price can *I* buy IPO shares for?
If you participate in an IPO, you specify how many shares you're willing to buy and the maximum price you're willing to pay. All the investors who are actually sold the shares get them at the same price, and the entity managing the IPO will generally try to sell the shares for the highest price they can get. Whether or...
Transfer from credit to debit
I've called both BofA and Amex Customer Support, and they couldn't help. That's because you cannot. Debit card is tied to your checking account, so you can do a cash advance from your AMEX and deposit it to your BOA checking account. It will then be available to use with your debit card.
How can I find data on delisted stocks?
You need a source of delisted historical data. Such data is typically only available from paid sources. According to my records, AULT (Ault Inc) began as an OTC stock in the 1980s prior it having an official NASDAQ listing. It was delisted on 27 Jan 2006. Its final traded price was $2.94. It was taken over at a pric...
3-year horizon before trading up to next home: put windfall in savings, or pay off mortgage?
A few points to consider - Welcome to Money.SE. This is not a discussion board, but rather, a site to ask and answer personal finance questions that are factual in nature. Your question is great, in my opinion, but it's a question that has no answer, it's opinion-based. So I'm slipping this in to help you, and suggest ...
Was this a good deal on a mortgage?
I'm a visual person so the idea of a 30 year mortgage didn't make much sense to me until I could see it This isn't exact but it's pretty close. The green Interest lines represent the money you're giving to the bank as a "thank you" for lending you a large amount of cash up front. As you've already figured out, that's ...
Offshore bank account with online International wire-transfer facility for Indians
India does allow Resident Indians to open USD accounts. Most leading National and Private Banks offer this. You can receive funds and send funds subject to some norms.
Dealership made me the secondary owner to my own car
You are co-signer on his car loan. You have no ownership (unless the car is titled in both names). One option (not the best, see below) is to buy the car from him. Arrange your own financing (take over his loan or get a loan of your own to pay him for the car). The bank(s) will help you take care of getting the titl...
Credit Card Approval
Bigger than the three mentioned above is on-time payment and/or collections activity. If your report shows you have not paid accounts on time, or have accounts in collections, that is almost guaranteed decline except for the least desirable cards. Another factor is number of hard inquiries. If you have been on a recent...
When you're really young and have about 2K to start investing $ for retirement, why do some people advise you to go risky?
First of all, "going risky" doesn't mean driving to Las Vegas and playing roulette. The real meaning is that you can afford higher risk/return ratio compared to a person who will retire in the following ten years. Higher return is very important since time works for you and even several extra percent annually will make...
Diversify my retirement investments with a Roth IRA
Without making specific recommendations, it is worthwhile to point out the differing tax treatments for a Roth IRA: investments in a Roth IRA will not be taxed when you withdraw them during retirement (unless they change the law on that or something crazy). So if you are thinking about investing in some areas with high...
How does a TFSA work? Where does the interest come from?
A TFSA is a tax free savings account. It is a type of account where you can buy various investments like stocks, bonds, or funds (mutual, exchange traded, and money market). There are some other options but it's best to see what your bank or broker will allow. You probably specified the type of investment when you op...
Selecting between investment vehicles for income
You have a comparatively small sum to invest, and since you're presumably expecting to go to college.university soon, where you may well need the money, you also have a short timescale for your investment. I don't think anything stock-related would be good for you -- you need a longer timescale for stock market investm...
Do I repay Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) if I suddenly have income and assets
There are two types of insurance, which causes some confusion. Social Security Disability Insurance (which you indicate you have) is insurance you can receive benefit from if you earn enough "work credits" (payroll taxes) prior to your disability onset. It is not a needs-based program. Supplemental Security Income is a...
Are bonds really a recession proof investment?
Yes. Bonds perform very well in a recession. In fact the safer the bond, the better it would do in a recession. Think of markets having four seasons: High growth and low inflation - "growing economy" High growth and high inflation - "overheating economy" Low growth and high inflation - "stagflation" Low growth and low ...
Are founders of a company paid dividends?
Depends on if the stock pays a dividend or not. Some companies in their early years may choose to not pay dividends. Your calculations are off as the dividend stated is annual that you'd have to divide by 4 to get what the quarterly amount would be and there can be variances as Ellison's compensation package may well i...
I have $100,000 in play money… what to do?
If you want a concrete investment tip, precious metals (e.g. gold, silver) are on a pretty good run these days, personally I still think they have ways to go as there are just too many problems with modern monetary policy of an almost existential nature, and gold and silver are better stores of value than fiat money. S...
Do you avoid tax when taking a home equity loan?
Why would someone invest in other instruments (e.g. stocks) to pay for childrens' college education when the capital gains on those are taxed, unlike a home equity loan? Many tax advantageous vehicles exist for the purpose of saving for college education such as 529 plans, Roth IRAs, Series EE and I bonds. Tax and ...
Mitigate Effects Of Credit With Tangible Money
If you have no credit history but you have a job, buying an inexpensive used car should still be doable with only a marginally higher interest rate on the car. This can be offset with a cosigner, but it probably isn't that big of a deal if you purchase a car that you can pay off in under a year. The cost of insurance f...
What do I need to start trading in the NSE (National Stock Exchange)?
Yes Absolutely! You will need to provide Sharekhan with a cancelled cheque from OBC which has your account number and name on it. They will link that to your DMAT account, and any settlements/dividends paid will directly be deposited into your OBC bank account. Any time you need to deposit money into your DMAT account...
Why use accounting software like Quickbooks instead of Excel spreadsheets?
I would add to your reasons: Would you mow an entire lawn with a string trimmer just because you can, or would you buy a lawnmower? Use the right tool for the job.
Strategy for investing large amount of cash
Dollar Cost Averaging would be the likely balanced approach that I'd take. Depending on the size of the sum, I'd likely consider a minimum of 3 and at most 12 points to invest the funds to get them all working. While the sum may be large relative to my net worth, depending on overall scale and risk tolerance I could se...
How are people able to spend more than what they make, without going into debt?
If you make $10 in salary, $5 in interest on savings, and $10 in dividends, your income is $25, not $10. If you have a billion dollars in well-invested assets, you can take a loan against those assets and the interest payment on the loan will be smaller than the interest you earn on the assets. That means your investme...
Annuities question - Equations of value
The solution is x = 8.92. This assumes that Chuck's six years of deposits start from today, so that the first deposit accumulates 10 years of gain, i.e. 20*(1 + 0.1)^10. The second deposit gains nine years' interest: 20*(1 + 0.1)^9 and so on ... If you want to do this calculation using the formula for an annuity du...
Buying a multi-family home to rent part and live in the rest
Disadvantage is that tenant could sue you for something, and in an unfavorable judgement they would have access to your house as property to possess. You could lose the house. Even if you make an LLC to hold the house, they'll either sue you or the LLC and either way you could lose the house. This might be why the land...
How do you measure the value of gold?
Intrinsic value is a myth. There is no such thing. Subjective human demand is the only thing that gives anything value. This subjectivity is different person to person and can change very quickly. Historically there are two main uses for gold: jewelry and money. How can you tell when a particular type of money is u...
Incentive Stock Option (ISO) tax question - more specific this time
I've bought ISO stock over they years -- in NYSE traded companies. Every time I've done so, they've done what's called "sell-to-cover". And the gubmint treats the difference between FMV and purchase price as if it's part of your salary. And for me, they've sold some stock extra to pay estimated taxes. So, if I got t...
How to work around the Owner Occupancy Affidavit to buy another home in less than a year?
Danger. The affidavit is a legal document. Understand the risk of getting caught. If you are planning on using the condo to generate income the chances that you default on the loan are higher than an owner occupied property. That is why they demand more down payment (20%+) and charge a higher rate. The document isn't ...
How smart is it to really be 100% debt free?
Very smart. Let other people pay you interest. Don't pay other people interest. And, yes, I know it's possible to borrow money from one place and lend it to another place at a slightly higher rate, but why bother.
Professional tax for employees - startup in India
The tax is depended upon state where you are registered and the salary paid. More here If you employ contract you need not pay tax.
In a house with shared ownership, if one person moves out and the other assumes mortgage, how do we determine who owns what share in the end?
This is something you should decide as part of entering a partnership with someone. Ideally before you make the initial purchase you have a detailed contract written up. If you have already bought the house and someone is now ready to move out the easiest thing to do is sell the house. If that is not an option, you'll...
Forex vs day trading for beginner investor
Forex vs Day Trading: These can be one and the same, as most people who trade forex do it as day trading. Forex is the instrument you are trading and day trading is the time frame you are doing it in. If your meaning from your question was comparing trading forex vs stocks, then it depends on a number of things. Forex ...
Are RSUs ever taxed as long term capital gains?
I don't know the legal framework for RSUs, so I'm not sure what is mandatory and what is chosen by the company issuing them. I recently reviewed one companies offering and it basically looked like a flat purchase of stock on the VEST date. So even if I got a zillion shares for $1 GRANTED to me, if it was 100 shares tha...
What's the minimum revenue an LLC must make in Florida or NY states?
Depends on the State. In California, for example, you pay a franchise tax of $800 every year just for having LLC, and in addition to that - income tax on gross revenue. But in other States (like Wyoming, for example) there's no taxes at all, only registration fees (which may still amount to ~$100-300 a year). IRS doesn...
Why would someone buy a way out-of-the-money call option that's expiring soon?
I suggest you look at many stocks' price history, especially around earnings announcements. It's certainly a gamble. But an 8 to 10% move on a surprise earning announcement isn't unheard of. If you look at the current price, the strike price, and the return that you'd get for just exceeding the strike by one dollar, yo...
Why won't my retirement account let me write a “covered put”?
I have a Roth IRA with Scottrade, and they allow me to write cash secured puts, as well as covered calls. I can also purchase calls or puts, if I choose. When I write a cash secured put, it automatically deducts the amount required to purchase the shares at the strike price from my "cash available for transactions".
Why do shareholders participate in shorting stocks?
Because they receive compensation (generally interest + dividends) for loaning out the shares. I own an asset X. Somebody else wants to borrow asset X for some time period. I agree to loan them asset X in return for some form of compensation (generally a rate of interest plus, in this specific case, any dividend pa...
Why would people sell a stock below the current price?
Why would people sell below the current price, and not within the range of the bid/ask? There are many scenarios where this is deliberate but all of them boil down to the fact that the top level's bid doesn't support the quantity you're trying to sell (or is otherwise bogus[1]). One scenario as an example: You're day-t...
US Stock Market - volume based real-time alert
Real-time equity (or any other market) data is not available for free anywhere in the US. It is always delayed by 10-15 minutes. On the other hand, online brokers who target the "day trader" (Interactive Brokers, TD Ameritrade, etc.) offer much closer to real-time data AND feature all the tools/alerts/charts/etc. you ...
Technical Analysis: the concepts of overbought / oversold don't make sense
You are right that every transaction involves a seller and a buyer. The difference is the level of willingness from both parties. Overbought and oversold, as I understand them (particularly in the context of stocks), describe prolonged price increase (overbought, people are more willing to buy than sell, driving price...
Making $100,000 USD per month, no idea what to do with it
Your #1 problem is the Government both in it's form as a taxation outfit and as a 'law and order' outfit. You'd be very surprised at how fast a bank seizes your bank account in response to a court order. Purchase 100 Mexican 50 Peso Gold (1.2 oz/ea). These coins are cheap (lowest cost to get into) and will not be re...
How do you measure the value of gold?
Gold may have some "intrinsic value" but it cannot be accurately determined by investors by any known valuation techniques. In fact, if you were to apply the dividend discount model of John Burr Williams - a variation of which is the basis of Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis and the basis of most valuation technique...
what's the best option to save money on everyday expenses?
There is a saying in business: what gets measured gets done. Track every expense you make. Later, look over what you have learned. If 5% of your total budget is going to something frivolous, maybe you could halve it? If 1% or 0.1% is going to that frivolous expense, there's not much to be gained even by eliminating it....
Does reading financial statements (quarterly or annual reports) really help investing?
Reading financial statements is important, in the sense that it gives you a picture of whether revenues and profits are growing or shrinking, and what management thinks the future will look like. The challenge is, there are firms that make computers read filings for them and inform their trading strategy. If the comput...
I carelessly invested in a stock on a spike near the peak price. How can I salvage my investment?
I had a coworker whose stock picking skills were clearly in the 1% level. I had a few hundred shares of EMC, bought at $10. When my coworker bought at $80, I quietly sold as it spiked to $100. It then crashed, as did many high tech stocks, and my friend sold his shares close to the $4 bottom advising that the company w...
Is inflation a good or bad thing? Why do governments want some inflation?
Inflation, like trade deficits or surpluses, have winners and losers in an economy. Clear losers are people who are on a fixed income, as they often have a fixed income and a prices keep on going up, meaning they can afford less. Numerous articles on the internet discuss the inflation of the 1970s, here are Google's r...
Contributing to a Roth IRA while income tax filing status is “Married Filing Separately”?
You must file as married for 2013 if you were married as of December 31, 2013. It is true that the Roth IRA contribution phaseout for Married Filing Separately is 0 - $10K. But you can still do backdoor Roth IRA contribution (contribute to a Traditional IRA, then convert it to a Roth IRA; assuming you do not have any p...
Paying off a loan with a loan to get a better interest rate
Your current loan is for a new car. Your refinanced loan would probably be for a used car. They have different underwriting standards and used car loan rates are usually higher because of the higher risks associated with the loans. (People with better credit will tend to buy new cars.) This doesn't mean that you can't ...
Are there any disadvantages to DHA Investment Properties?
I think the strongest reason against DHA purchases (I don't consider them investments) is points 3 and 5 mentioned above. The resale market is only to other investors that are convinced its a good investment.If you can't sell to owner occupiers, you've just removed the MAJORITY of your potential pool of people to resel...
Should I use Mint.com? Is it secure / trusted? [duplicate]
So could someone working at your bank directly. Of at your HR department at work. Most of the wait staff at the restaurant I ate at technically had access to my credit card and could steal money. While you are at work, someone could break into your house and steal your stuff too. The point is, Mint and everything el...
I'm about to be offered equity by my employer. What should I expect?
Yes, what they said. You don't mention where you are on the totem pole. Are you reporting to the top dog, or are you 3 levels down? Not to be a downer, but until you know your cut, I'd not get too excited either way. 1000 shares/options of a LinkedIn turned to nearly $100K. Nothing to sneeze at, to be sure, but not eno...
Facebook buying WhatsApp for 19 Billion. How are existing shareholders affected?
isn't it still a dilution of existing share holder stock value ? Whether this is dilution or benefit, only time will tell. The Existing value of Facebook is P, the anticipated value after Watsapp is P+Q ... it may go up or go down depending on whether it turns out to be the right decision. Plus if Facebook hadn't bough...
If you buy something and sell it later on the same day, how do you calculate 'investment'?
Not sure if your question is on topic, but the investment is only $9 because that is maximum amount of money the merchant ever needed to start up the business. He put in $9, started turning a profit, and never looked back.
First 401K portfolio with high expense ratios - which funds to pick? (24yo)
If you're willing to do a little more work and bookkeeping than just putting money into the 401(k) I would recommend the following. I note that you said you chose some funds based on performance since the expense ratios are all high. I would recommend against chasing performance because active funds will almost always ...
What do Earnings Per Share tell potential shareholders?
nan
Can I cover a short sale with the stock I already own?
Yes you can. This is known as a short selling against the box. In the old days, this was used to delay a taxable event. You could lock in a gain without triggering a taxable event. Any loss on one side of the box would be offset by a loss on the other side, and vice versa. However, the IRS clamped down on this, an...
Do I need a business credit card?
I finally got one to separate my business and personal expenses. It will make accounting at the end of the year a lot easier.
What are the advantages of a Swiss bank account?
A lot of Americans have used Swiss bank accounts to avoid paying taxes. However recently several large Swiss banks have started disclosing the details on some of their customers to the IRS. There isn't much security in Swiss banking at this point in time.
Do I even need credit cards?
The key part of your question is the "so far". So you didn't need a credit card today, or yesterday, or last month - great! But what about tomorrow? The time may come when you really need to spend a little more than you have, and a credit card will let you do that, at a very modest cost if you pay it off promptly (n...
Personal Loan: How to define loan purpose
Does that justify the purpose? That is for individual Banks to decide. No bank would pay for daily expenditure if you are saying primary salary you are spending on eduction. So your declaration is right. You are looking at funding your eduction via loan and you are earning enough for living and paying of the loan. I no...
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 ...
Why do some companies report how well their EBITDA performed even if their overall net profit did equally well?
EBITDA is in my opinion not a useful measure for an investor looking to buy shares on the stock market. It is more useful for private businesses open to changing their structuring, or looking to sell significant parts of their business. One of the main benefits of reporting Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation...
~$75k in savings - Pay off house before new home?
Congratulations on saving up $75,000. That requires discipline and tenacity. There are a lot of factors that would go into making your decision. First and foremost is the security of the income stream you have now. Being leveraged during times of hardship is not a pleasant experience. Unexpected job losses can an...
What does “no adjustments” mean?
In addition to the adjustment type in NL7's answer, there are a host of others. If there are any adjustments, form 8949 is required, if not, the gains can be separated into short and long-term and added together to be entered on Schedule D. Anything requiring an adjustment code in column F of the 8949 requires an ent...
Clothing Store Credit Card Account closed but not deleted
They close accounts to render them inoperative. They never delete accounts because they want to retain the data to inform any future decision to give you credit. Also, 99% of the time, if a customer demands their account be deleted, it's because of adverse credit marks and the angry customer wants this accurate in...
Can preventive health checkup be claimed as a separate expense from medical expenses?
There are 2 different things, As per IT Act, one can get "Medical Reimbursement" upto Rs 15,000 which is tax free. The way it is supposed to work is an employee submits bill and employer will "Reimburse" upto Rs 15,000. So if one does not submit any bills, he does not get any money. If the employer has given the employ...
why would closing price of a stock be different from different sources, and which would you take as the real price?
There is more than one exchange where stock can be traded. For example, there is the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. In fact, if you look at all the exchanges, there is essentially continuous trading 24/7 for many financial instruments (eg US government bonds). The closing price quoted in pape...
Can you short a stock before the ex-div. date to make a profit?
I am relative newbie in the financial market trading and as I understand it, the response from Victor is accurate in respect of trading CFD contracts. However, there is also the option to 'trade' through a financial spread betting platform which as its name suggests is purely a bet based upon the price of the underlyin...
What to do when a job offer is made but with a salary less than what was asked for?
If you take less than you think you are worth, you will hate that job with a purple passion in short order. Either make peace with the amount you settle on or move on.
UK: Personal finance book for a twenty-something
Try this as a starter - my eBook served up as a blog (http://www.sspf.co.uk/blog/001/). Then read as much as possible about investing. Once you have money set aside for emergencies, then make some steps towards investing. I'd guide you towards low-fee 'tracker-style' funds to provide a bedrock to long-term investing. Y...
Can a retail trader do bid-ask spread scalping through algo-trading?
In US public stock markets there is no difference between the actions individual retail traders are "permitted" to take and the actions institutional/corporate traders are "permitted" to take. The only difference is the cost of those actions. For example, if you become a Registered Market Maker on, say, the BATS stoc...
Why buy insurance?
Insurance is bought for peace of mind and to divert disaster. Diverting disaster is a good/great thing. If your house burned down, if someone hit your car, or some other devastating event (think medical) happened that required a more allocation than you could afford the series of issues may snowball and cause you to...
What effect will the financial reform bill have on everyday Americans?
The Wall Street Journal says in its "For Consumers" section of its infographic: There's also some new agencies (including a "consumer watchdog agency"), and some new rules the SEC can implement, and it lets state pass more laws affecting national banks, but it doesn't look like there's much in particular that it does f...
Repaying Debt and Saving - Difficult Situation
Given the listed expenses, this problem will not have a nice solutions. So lets quickly go through them and see when the most pressing ones can be dealt with: Solved within 1 year: 900 Solved within a few years: 1300: 900+400 You may be able to save a couple of hundred on the rest, but just take a minute to look at the...
Should I pay a company who failed to collect VAT from me over 6 months ago?
It looks like businesses selling services (like software downloads) from outside the EU to the UK have to register for VAT if the amount of such sales goes over the UK VAT registration threshold: [If] the value of the taxable supplies you make is over a specified threshold [then] you must register for VAT So it seems...
What exactly is BATS Chi-X Europe?
BATS CHi-X Europe is a market maker. They provide liquidity to the order books of different kinds of equities on certain exchanges. So the London Stock Exchange lists equities and the order books show the orders of different market participants. Most of those market participants are market makers. They allow others to ...
Why is stock dilution legal?
Stock issuing and dilution is legal because there must be some mechanism for small companies to grow into big companies. A company sees a great investment opportunity. It would be a perfect extension of their activities ... but they cannot afford it. To get the necessary money they can either take out a loan or issue ...
What one bit of financial advice do you wish you could've given yourself five years ago?
Do your homework on all types bonds and other lower-risk instruments, including bond funds and ETFs. I left too much money sitting around as cash over the last 5 years.
Freelancer in India working for Swiss Company
I am a freelancer based in Europe and I want to tell you: - if you are a freelancer, then you INVOICE your Swizzerland based client The word salary is improper. - So your client will DEDUCE the invoice from its taxes, and NOT pay income tax on top of that invoice. Because invoice = expense. So, ONLY YOU pay income tax...
What are the best software tools for personal finance?
I just switched (from the abandoned, but good MS Money) to Moneydance 2010
Changes in Capital Gains Tax in the US - Going to 20% in 2011?
The top long-term capital gains tax rate will rise to 20% effective 1 Jan, 2011, unless Congress decides to do something about it before then. (Will they? Who knows!! There's been talk about it, but, well, it's Congress. They don't even know what they're going to do.) Anyway. The rules about when you can sell stock ar...
Is there a mathematical formula to determine a stock's price at a given time?
I found the answer. It was the Stock Ticker that I was looking for. So, if I understand correctly the price at certain moment is the price of the latest sale and can be used to get a global picture of what certain stock is worth at that certain instant.
Why would a bank take a lower all cash offer versus a higher offer via conventional lending?
Also keep in mind that with an all-cash offer, they get their money now and not spread over X-many years, which means they can reinvest it now rather than piece meal across the term of whatever the loan would be. (Presuming the bank would be financing the house themselves.) Additionally, with an all-cash offer, there e...
Shares; are they really only for the rich/investors?
Small purchases will have a disproportionate expense for commissions. Even a $5 trade fee is 5% on a $100 purchase. So on one hand, it's common to advise individuals just starting out to use mutual funds, specifically index funds with low fees. On the flip side, holding stocks has no annual fee, and if you are buying f...
Do Banks Cause Inflation? What are other possible causes?
Some people believe that inflation is caused by an increase in the money supply when the banks engage in fractional reserve lending. Is this correct? You are referring to the Austrian school of thought. The Austrians define inflation in terms of money supply. In other words, inflation is defined as an increase in the a...
How do you quantify investment risk?
The question is: how do you quantify investment risk? As Michael S says, one approach is to treat investment returns as a random variable. Bill Goetzmann (Yale finance professor) told me that if you accept that markets are efficient or that the price of an asset reflects it's underlying value, then changes in price rep...
Why deep in the money options have very low liquidity
There is less liquidity because they are less volatile. Option traders aren't exactly risk averse (read: are degenerate gamblers) and the other market participants that use options don't have much use for deep in the money options. Also, just trade more liquid assets and equities if you want liquid options. At-the-mone...
Other than being able to borrow to invest, how is a margin trading account different from a cash account?
Probably the most significant difference is the Damocles Sword hanging over your head, the Margin Call. In a nutshell, the lender (your broker) is going to require you to have a certain amount of assets in your account relative to your outstanding loan balance. The minimum ratio of liquid funds in the account to the lo...
Is an interest-only mortgage a bad idea?
Really the question you need to ask yourself is how much Risk you want to take in order to save a little on interest for 5 years. Rates are pretty close to a historic low, and if you have good credit you should shop around a bit to get a good ideal of what a 15 or 30 year fixed loan would go for. For people that are SU...
Best way to start investing, for a young person just starting their career?
Not 100% related, but the #1 thing you need to avoid is CREDIT CARD DEBT. Trust me on this one. I'm 31, and finally got out of credit card debt about eight months ago. For just about my entire 20s, I racked up credit card debt and saved zero. Invested zero. It pains me to realize that I basically wasted ten years of p...
Is there a general guideline for what percentage of a portfolio should be in gold?
By mentioning GLD, I presume therefore you are referring to the SPRD Gold Exchange Traded Fund that is intended to mirror the price of gold without you having to personally hold bullion, or even gold certificates. While how much is a distinctly personal choice, there are seemingly (at least) three camps of people in th...
incorrect printed information on check stock
Even where national law might allow such a practice, the law in an individual province or state (either for issuing or receiving bank) might not; or if that does then the receiving bank may have its own regulations or compliance practice which may not permit them to accept an altered cheque. In any case, printed numbe...
Why do people buy new cars they can not afford?
I had a 2000 Chevy Cavalier until late 2011. It worked well, but was very definitely at the end of its life. This was a low-end car, certainly, but I dispute your claim that cars last 20 - 25 years. Consumer Reports apparently says the average life expectancy of a new vehicle is around 8 years or 150,000 miles. When it...
I'm 13. Can I buy supplies at a pet store without a parent/adult present?
I had a cat growing up--most of the time I was the one who got her supplies. It was never an issue.
Can someone explain the Option Chain of AMD for me?
The buyer pays $1.99/share for the option of selling a share of AMD to the seller for $10 which is currently $1.94 higher than the price of $8.06/share. If you bought the put and immediately exercised it, you would come out of the deal losing $.05/share.