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Are stock prices likely drop off a little bit on a given friday afternoon?
There are classes of 'traders' who close their positions out every evening, not just on fridays. But their are other types of businesses who trade shortly before or nearly right at market close with both buys and sells There are lots of theories as to how the market behaves at various times of day, days of the week, ...
Borrowed shares how are they tracked?
Brokerage firms are required to report the number of shares being shorted. This information is reported to the exchange (NYSE of NASDAQ) and is made public. Most financial sites indicate the number of shares being shorted for a particular stock. The image below from Yahoo finance shows 3.29 million shares of CMG wer...
What options do I have at 26 years old, with 1.2 million USD?
Since the question asked for options, rather than advice, I’ll offer a few. And you can ignore the gratuitous advice that may sneak in. There are countries that will happily give you citizenship for a fee. And others where an investment of far less than your million will get you well on your way. Having citizenship ...
Should I invest my money in an ISA or Government bonds? (Or any other suggestion)
There are a number of UK banks that offer what passes for reasonable interest on an amount of cash held in their current accounts. I would suggest that you look into these. In the UK the first £1000 of bank or building society interest is paid tax-free for basic rate taxpayers (£500 for higher rate tax-payers) so if ...
Should I prioritize retirement savings inside of my HSA?
You would want to prioritize Roth and retirement over HSA. As the HSA is only for health and dental expenses, which you will always have, overfunding it will put you in a bit of a pickle for all of the life involved. For example, even if you or a loved one develop a strange & expensive ailment, the HSA will only cover ...
Can I borrow against my IRA to pay off debt or pay for a car?
No. Borrowing is not allowed, but if you take a withdrawal, you have 60 days to deposit into another IRA account. This effectively creates a 60 day loan. Not what you're really looking for. If you take this withdrawal and re-deposit to new account within 60 days, no problem. If not, you owe tax on the untaxed amount a...
What does it mean “sell on ask” , “sell on bid” in stocks?
It's good to ask this question, because this is one of the fundamental dichotomies in market microstructure. At any time T for each product on a (typical) exchange there are two well-defined prices: At time T there is literally no person in the market who wants to sell below the ask, so all the people who are waiting t...
Can my accounting for Tax Basis differ from my broker's
No. If you didn't specify LIFO on account or sell by specifying the shares you wish sold, then the brokers method applies. From Publication 551 Identifying stock or bonds sold. If you can adequately identify the shares of stock or the bonds you sold, their basis is the cost or other basis of the particular share...
Can a US bank prevent you from making early payments to the principal on a home mortgage?
Are there any known laws explicitly allowing or preventing this behavior? It's not the laws, it's what's in the note - the mortgage contract. I read my mortgage contracts very carefully to ensure that there's no prepayment penalty and that extra funds are applied to the principal. However, it doesn't have to be like ...
Best way to invest money as a 22 year old?
The classic answer is simple. Aim to build up a a financial cushion that is the equivalent of 3 times your monthly salary. This should be readily accessible and in cash, to cover any unforeseen expenses that you may incur (car needs repairing, washing machine breaks down etc). Once you have this in place its then time ...
Should you always max out contributions to your 401k?
Definitely not. You are too young. Let me explain: Your money will be locked up for at least 40 years, and you will have to navigate some really quirky and trap-laden rules in order to get money for simple things. Let's say you want to buy a house. You won't be able to leverage the 401K for that. College Tuition? ...
Buy home and leverage roommates, or split rent?
It's doable, but there's a fair amount of risk involved. The biggest issue is that your roommates could move out. It's possible that they could have a falling out, get a job in a different city, or just move on. How difficult would it be to find another roommate? How many roommates can you lose and still afford to pay ...
Looking into investment bonds for the first time- what do I need to be aware of?
First off, I do not recommend buying individual bonds yourself. Instead buy a bond fund (ETF or mutual fund). That way you get some diversification. The risk-reward ratio will be evident in what you find to invest in. Junk bond funds pay the highest rates. Treasury bond funds pay the lowest. So you have to ask yoursel...
Good book-keeping software?
I like Quicken for personal use, and they have a small business edition if you don't want to move into QuickBooks.
Is there any emprical research done on 'adding to a loser'
This is basically martingale, which there is a lot of research on. Basically in bets that have positive expected value such as inflation hedged assets this works better over the long term, than bets that have negative expected value such as table games at casinos. But remember, whatever your analysis is: The market can...
What's the difference between TaxAct and TurboTax?
I prefer TaxAct. I find it simpler to use and more helpful in helping answer the questionnaire. I have a fairly complex tax return and it handles it just fine.
What's the best gold investment strategy for a Singapore resident?
With gold at US$1300 or so, a gram is about $40. For your purposes, you have the choice between the GLD ETF, which represents a bit less than 1/10oz gold equivalent per share, or the physical metal itself. Either choice has a cost: the commission on the buy plus, eventually, the sale of the gold. There may be ongoing ...
If there's no volume discount, does buying in bulk still make sense?
Instead of buying in bulk, I invest the money in equity mutual funds, for an expected return of 12%, which is more than inflation. So, I make more returns. But at the cost of a slight risk, which I'm comfortable with.
Should I sell my stocks to put a down payment on a house before it becomes a long term investment?
In the United States Short-term capital gains are taxed at rates similar to regular income which is 25% if you make less than $91,000 and 28% if you make more than that but less than $190,000. If you make more than $190,000 then the rate is 33%. If you hold the stock for a year or more than the tax rate is 15%, unless ...
My account's been labeled as “day trader” and I got a big margin call. What should I do? What trades can I place in the blocked period?
I assume that whatever you're holding has lost a considerable amount of its value then? What sort of instrument are we talking about? If the margin call is 14k on something you borrowed against the 6900 you're a bit more leveraged than "just" another 100%. The trading company you're using should be able to tell you exa...
What is the best credit card for someone with no credit history
Consider getting yourself a gas card. Use it for a year. Make your payments on time. Then reapply for a credit card.
Clear example of credit card balance 55 days interest-free “trick”?
Well, I answered a very similar question "Credit card payment date" where I showed that for a normal cycle, the average charge isn't due for 40 days. The range is 35-55, so if you want to feel good about the float just charge everything the day after the cycle closes, and nothing else the rest of the month. Why is this...
Why do card processing companies discourage “cash advance” activities
This is most likely protecting Square's relationship with Visa/Mastercard/AMEX/etc. Credit card companies typically charge their customers a much higher interest rate with no grace period on cash advances (withdrawals made from an ATM using a credit card). If you use Square to generate something that looks like a "merc...
Isn't the subtraction of deprecation and amortization redundant in the calculation of Owner's Earnings?
This formula is not calculating "Earnings". Instead, it is calculating "Free Cash Flow from Operations". As the original poster notes, the "Earnings" calculation subtracted out depreciation and amortization. The "Free Cash Flow from Operations" adds these values back, but for two different reasons:
83(b) and long term capital gain
You should apply for 83(b) within 30 days. 10 months is too late, sorry.
Can I pay taxes using bill pay from my on-line checking account?
I wouldn't do this. There is a chance that your check could get lost/misdirected/misapplied, etc. Then you would need to deal with the huge bureaucracy to try to get it fixed while interest and penalties pile up. What you can do is have the IRS withdraw the money themselves by providing the rounting number and accou...
What is the effect of a high dollar on the Canadian economy, investors, and consumers?
It depends primarily on how the Canadian economy is designed i.e export oriented or import oriented. If you look at this, it shows more or less equal amount of exports and imports. For the specific case of Canada, the exports would become costlier, because of a costlier dollar, but at the same time imports would become...
Does a growing economy mean the economy is becoming less efficient?
A growing economy should become more efficient because of increased opportunity for division of labor: specialization. External regulation or monetary policy external to the free market can cause parts of the economy to grow in response to said regulations. This creates inefficiencies that are wrung out of the economy...
Pay online: credit card or debit card?
Nowadays, some banks in some countries offer things like temporary virtual cards for online payments. They are issued either free of charge or at a negligible charge, immediately, via bank's web interface (access to which might either be free or not, this varies). You get a separate account for the newly-issued "card" ...
Should I finance a new home theater at 0% even though I have the cash for it?
Be very careful with this. When we tried this with furniture, they charged an "administrative" fee to setup the account. I believe it was about $75. So if you defer interest for one year on a $1000 purchase and pay a $75 administrative fee, it's 7.5% interest. Also, they don't always send you a bill when it's due, t...
Why is the breakdown of a loan repayment into principal and interest of any importance?
Yes, the distinction between how your funds are applied to principal vs interest is very important. The interest amount charged each period (probably monthly) is not just one fixed sum calculated at the origination, but rather is a dynamically calculated amount that changes each period relative to how much principal is...
Fund or ETF that simulates the investment goals of an options “straddle” strategy?
Why bother with the ETF? Just trade the options -- at least you have the ability to know what you actually are doing. The "exotic" ETFs the let you "double long" or short indexes aren't options contracts -- they are just collections of unregulated swaps with no transparency. Most of the short/double long ETFs also only...
How can I save money on a gym / fitness membership? New Year's Resolution is to get in shape - but on the cheap!
Shop around for Gym January is a great time to look because that's when most people join and the gyms are competing for your business. Also, look beyond the monthly dues. Many gyms will give free personal training sessions when you sign up - a necessity if you are serious about getting in shape! My gym offered a one ...
Why can it be a bad idea to buy stocks after hours?
During market hours, there are a lot of dealers offering to buy and sell all exchange traded stocks. Dealers don't actually care about the company's fundamentals and they set their prices purely based on order flow. If more people start to buy than sell, the dealer notices his inventory going down and starts upping the...
What's the most correct way to calculate market cap for multi-class companies?
Some companies issue multiple classes of shares. Each share may have different ratios applied to ownership rights and voting rights. Some shares classes are not traded on any exchange at all. Some share classes have limited or no voting rights. Voting rights ratios are not used when calculating market cap but the ...
Why don't banks allow more control over credit/debit card charges?
Credit cards and debit cards make up the bulk of the transactions in the US. Visa and Mastercard take a percentage of each credit card transaction. For the most part, this fee it built into the price of what you buy. That is, you don't generally pay extra at the grocery store if you use a credit card (gasoline purch...
Questioning my Realtor
My realtor told me that even though they're only asking for 1/2 the money and have excellent credit that the mortgage company may not lend it to them if I'm over priced. Is this true? I've never heard of it before. It is a chance, but it is a red herring to the discussion. Having excellent credit has nothing to do...
What is the standard deviation and mean return of oil?
Your question is a moving target. And my answer will be subject to revision. I disagree with the votes to close, as you are asking (imho) what role commodities and specifically oil, play in one's asset allocation. Right? How much may be opinion, but there's a place to ask if. I'm looking at this chart, and thinking, l...
Why would I choose a 40-Year depreciation instead of the standard 27.5-Year?
There are specific cases where you are required to use ADS: Required use of ADS. You must use ADS for the following property. Listed property used 50% or less in a qualified business use. See chapter 5 for information on listed property. Any tangible property used predominantly outside the United States during the ye...
Accepted indicators for stock market valuation
There are several camps for stock valuation, and much of it boils down to your investment style. A growth investor will not consider something with a 50x P/E ratio to be overvalued, but a value investor certainly would. I would recommend looking up the Fama-French n-factor model (it was 3-factor, I believe they have r...
Does home equity grow with the investment put into the house?
The bank I work with would be more inclined to expand an existing HELOC rather than write a new one. I think that would be your best bet if you decide to continue borrowing against your home. Consider that your own income would have to support the repayment of these larger homes. If it is, why didn't you buy a larger h...
How to treat miles driven to the mechanic, gas station, etc when calculating business use of car?
Alright, IRS Publication 463: Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses Business and personal use. If you use your car for both business and personal purposes, you must divide your expenses between business and personal use. You can divide your expense based on the miles driven for each purpose. Example. Yo...
Taxes due for hobbyist Group Buy
From the poster's description of this activity, it doesn't look like he is engaged in a business, so Schedule C would not be appropriate. The first paragraph of the IRS Instructions for Schedule C is as follows: Use Schedule C (Form 1040) to report income or loss from a business you operated or a profession you pract...
Using stock markets in Europe, how can I buy commodities / resources, to diversify my portfolio?
I recommend avoiding trading directly in commodities futures and options. If you're not prepared to learn a lot about how futures markets and trading works, it will be an experience fraught with pitfalls and lost money – and I am speaking from experience. Looking at stock-exchange listed products is a reasonable appro...
How to find if a public company has taken out a loan?
Somewhat. The balance sheet will include liabilities which as Michael Kjörling points out would tell you the totals for the debt which would often be loans or bonds depending on one's preferred terminology. However, if the company's loan was shorter than the length of the quarter, then it may not necessarily be repor...
If I want a Credit Card offered through a different Credit Union should I slowly transition my banking to that CU?
No. There's no inherent reason to link the place that you bank with any other financial service. There may occasionally be benefits; for instance you can sometime get lower rates on mortgages or loans by having a a checking account with an institution. Or perhaps it'll be easier for you to make a same-day payment on a ...
Why are american call options more valuable than european options ONLY if the underlying asset pays cash flows?
Really all you need to know is that American style can be exercised at any point, European options cannot be exercised early. Read on if you want more detail. The American style Call is worth more because it can be exercised at any point. And when the company pays a dividend, and your option is in the money, if the ex...
How do I find quality Wind power / renewable energy mutual funds?
Usually it makes sense to invest in individual companies when you're investing in a "hot" sector. Secular funds have their own risks that can be difficult to measure. First Solar is one of the premier PV players. The fund gives you a false sense of diversification. If you bought a mutual fund in 2000 in the computer sp...
Is 6% too high to trade stocks on margin?
That seems a little high in my experience. I've used a home equity line of credit instead, as the rates are much lower (~3.5%).
What could be the cause of a extreme high/low price in after hours market?
Often these types of trades fall into two different categories. An error by broker or exchange. Exchange clearing out part of their books incorrectly is an example. Most exchanges make firms reopen their positions for after market hours. There may have been an issue doing so or exchange could incorrectly cancel po...
Why do US retirement funds typically have way more US assets than international assets?
To expand a bit on @MSalters's answer ... When I read your question title I assumed that by "retirement funds" you meant target-date funds that are close to their target dates (say, the 2015 target fund). When I saw that you were referring to all target-date funds, it occurred to me that examining how such funds modif...
Cost Basis in Retirement Accounts Irrelevant?
One thing to keep in mind is that with Roth accounts, there are different withdrawal considerations based on your contributions. For example, you can withdraw Roth IRA contributions whenever you want in the future. However this really has nothing to do with your cost basis and purely to do with the contribution amount...
Using a self-directed IRA to buy vacation condo, rent it out to an LLC for $1
Self directed IRAs have rules to prevent self-dealing of this sort called "prohibited transactions". You can't buy or sell or lease assets or obtain services from anyone closely linked to you or any beneficiaries of the IRA. You can't loan yourself money from the IRA, and you can't deliberately take the proceeds that s...
Basic mutual fund investment questions
In summary, you are correct that the goal of investing is to maximize returns, while paying low management fees. Index investing has become very popular because of the low fees. There are many actively traded mutual funds out there with very high management fees of 2.5% and up that do not beat the market. This begs ...
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...
Is it possible to trade US stock from Europe ?
Yes, it's possible and even common but it depends on your bank or broker. One of the main differences is that you might assume FX risk if your account is in EUR and you trade stock denominated in USD. You might also encounter lower liquidity or price differences if you don't trade on the primary exchange where stocks a...
What are the differences between an investment mortgage and a personal mortgage?
If you are going to live in the house for awhile, you can probably use a regular mortgage. Shop around and look for a mortgage program that works. Look at local banks/credit unions, particularly those with community development programs. Usually an investment mortgage is higher rate, higher payment and has higher unde...
Could someone explain this scenario about Google's involvement in the wireless spectrum auction?
If history is any guide, Page’s idealistic impulses could result in a vaster, more sprawling company. The following is an example of one of Page’s idealistic impulses (wanting people to share spectrum) which could result in a vaster, more sprawling company (if they hadn't been outbid, Google would have expanded by buyi...
Does a stock really dip in price on the ex-dividend date? And why would it do this?
This effect has much empirical evidence as googling "dividend price effect evidence" will show. As the financial economic schools of thought run the gamut so do the theories. One school goes as far to call it a market inefficiency since the earning power thus the value of an equity that's affected is no different or a...
Does a company's stock price give any indication to or affect their revenue?
If the company reported a loss at the previous quarter when the stock what at say $20/share, and now just before the company's next quarterly report, the stock trades around $10/share. There is a misunderstanding here, the company doesn't sell stock, they sell products (or services). Stock/share traded at equity market...
What is the rough estimate of salary value for a taxpayer to pay AMT?
Alternative Minimum Tax is based not just on your income, but moreso on the deductions you use. In short, if you have above the minimum AMT threshold of income (54k per your link), and pay a tiny amount of tax, you will pay AMT. AMT is used as an overall protection for the government to say "okay, you can use these ded...
Can I just file a 1040-ES?
Yes, you can send in a 2012 1040-ES form with a check to cover your tax liability. However, you will likely have to pay penalties for not paying tax in timely fashion as well as interest on the late payment. You can have the IRS figure the penalty and bill you for it, or you can complete Form 2210 (on which these matt...
Can I buy a new house before selling my current house?
If you can qualify for two mortgages, this is certainly possible. For this you can talk to a banker. However, most people do not qualify for two mortgages so they go a different route. They make offers on a new home with a contingency to sell the existing home. A good Realtor will walk you through this and any possi...
Make your money work for you
Thats a very open question, Depends on the risk you are willing to take with the money, or the length of time you are willing sit on it, or if you have a specific goal like buying a house. Some banks offer high(ish) rate savings accounts http://www.bankaccountsavings.co.uk/calculator with a switching bonus that could ...
Google Finance: Input Parameters For Simple Moving Averages
I looked at this a little more closely but the answer Victor provided is essentially correct. The key to look at in the google finance graph is the red labled SMA(###d) would indicate the period units are d=days. If you change the time axis of the graph it will shift to SMA(###m) for period in minutes or SMA(###w) fo...
Why should we expect stocks to go up in the long term?
I have read in many personal finance books that stocks are a great investment for the long term, because on average they go up 5-7% every year. This has been true for the last 100 years for the S&P500 index, but is there reason to believe this trend will continue indefinitely into the future? It has also been wrong for...
Wash sale rule impact on different scenarios between different types of accounts
The wash sale rule only applies when the sale in question is at a loss. So the rule does not apply at all to your cases 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, and 16, which all start with a gain. You get a capital gain at the first sale and then a separately computed gain / loss at the second sale, depending on the case, BUT any ga...
Should Emergency Funds be Used for Infrequent, but Likely, Expenses?
This is probably a very opinion-based Q&A. But anyway: My solution to such questions is to have multiple layers of emergency funds. I have one amount in a bank account that I do not like to tap, but can (and do) when I need money. This is most close to your infrequent but not completely surprising moments of cash need....
is the bankruptcy of exchange markets possible?
It might be easiest to think of stock exchanges like brokers. If you buy a home, and your broker goes bankrupt, you still own your home, but you could not sell it without the aid of another broker. Same with stocks, you own the stocks you buy, but you would be unable to either purchase new stocks or sell your stock ...
Tenant wants to pay rent with EFT
What you've described is the norm in Australia, where it's rare for anyone under sixty to use cheques. Assuming they're transferring the funds using internet banking, I would have the following suggestions: You make it clear that the the funds must reach your account by the due date for rent. It is their (the tenant's)...
Explain: “3% annual cost of renting is less than the 9% annual cost of owning”
The 3% and 9% figures are based on the cost of borrowing money and all the other ownership costs associated with real estate. From the same article: http://patrick.net/housing/crash1.html Because it's usually still much cheaper to rent than to own the same size and quality house, in the same school district. In rich...
Some stock's prices don't fluctuate widely - Is it an advantages?
I don't think you are reading the stock chart right. ORCL has a beta of 1.12 which means it has more volatility than the market as a whole. See image below for a fairly wild stock chart for a year. I would not truly consider ESPP participation investing, unless you intend to buy and hold the stock. If you intend t...
Is it advisable to go for an auto loan if I can make the full payment for a new car?
Full payment is always better than auto-loan if you are prudent with finances. I.E if you take a loan, you are factoring the EMI hence your savings will remain as is. However if you manage well, you can buy the car with cash and at the same time put aside the notional EMI as savings and investments. The other factor to...
Does financing a portfolio on margin affect the variance of a portfolio?
Financing a portfolio with debt (on margin) leads to higher variance. That's the WHOLE POINT. Let's say it's 50-50. On the downside, with 100% equity, you can never lose more than your whole equity. But if you have assets of 100, of which 50% is equity and 50% is debt, your losses can be greater than 50%, which is to ...
Does a stock's price represent current liquidation of all shares?
What if everyone decided to sell all the shares at a given moment, let's say when the stock is trading at $40? It would fall to the lowest bid price, which could be $0.01 if someone had that bid in place. Here is an example which I happened to find online: Notice there are orders to buy at half the market price and lo...
Can one be non-resident alien in the US without being a resident anywhere else?
You may be considered a resident for tax purposes. To meet the substantial presence test, you must have been physically present in the United States on at least: 31 days during the current year, and 183 days during the 3 year period that includes the current year and the 2 years immediately before. To satisfy the...
Explanations on credit cards in Canada
If so, it seems to me that this system is rather error prone. By that I mean I could easily forget to make a wire some day and be charged interests while I actually have more than enough money on the check account to pay the debt. I have my back account (i.e. chequing account) and VISA account at/from the same bank (wh...
Is there a bank account that allows ACH deposits but not ACH withdrawals?
Nowadays, all checks you write will not be send to your bank anymore, but instead the bank where they get deposited does an ACH from your bank. That implies that not allowing this to happen, your bank would not be able to honor any checks you wrote (without enforcing paper check delivery in the mail, but the Check21 bi...
Tracking the Madrid Interbank Offered Rate (MIBOR) and the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR)
You can find both here: http://www.bde.es/tipos/tipose.htm
What determines price fluctuation of groceries
Yes and no. First off, commodity prices reflect the cost of a good about 3 steps back in the retail supply chain; the agreed-upon price for the raw foodstuff between farmers/ranchers and manufacturers. Your grocer may carry bags of whole grain wheat, but that's certainly not all he carries that contains it. Same for co...
Offsetting capital losses against gains for stocks
The loss for B can be used to write off the gain for A. You will fill out a schedule 3 with cost base and proceeds of disposition. This will give you a $0 capital gain for the year and an amount of $5 (50% of the $10 loss) you can carry forward to offset future capital gains. You can also file a T1-a and carry the l...
How to choose a good 401(k) investment option?
The vanguard funds are all low fee your employer has done a good job selecting their provider for 401(k). I would do a roth if you can afford it as taxes are at a historical low. Just pick the year you want to get your money if you will need your money in 2040 pick Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 Fund. Its that sim...
Why is day trading considered riskier than long-term trading?
Well, let me take your question for baremetal, and aknowledge you did not asked about the difference between daytrading and investing which is obviously leverage. I would not consider daytrading more risky as long as you keep leverageout of the equation. Daytrading can be turbolent and confusing, where things unfold i...
Where can I find information on corporate bonds (especially those rated as “junk”) ?
Bond information is much tougher to get. Try to find access to a Bloomberg terminal. Maybe you have a broker that can do the research for you, maybe your local university has one in their business school, maybe you know someone that works for a bank/financial institution or some other type of news outlet. Part of t...
How much life insurance do I need?
If I remember the information in "The Wealthy Barber" correctly, he said: And as someone once said to me, "make sure you're worth more alive than dead!" :-)
How can I withdraw money from my LLC?
Generally, unless you explicitly elect otherwise, LLCs are transparent when it comes to taxes. So the money in the LLC is your money for tax purposes, there's no need to pay yourself a salary. In fact, the concept of salary for LLC members doesn't exist at all. It is either distributions or guaranteed payments (and eve...
Why are Rausch Coleman houses so cheap? Is it because they don't have gas?
The reason Rausch Coleman homes are generally cheaper, is because they are a high volume dealer. Their communities usually have 5 to 7 floor plan options only. They get exceptional deals on their materials because of the volume of material bought. They have it down to a science when it comes to the numbers. As far as t...
Should I re-allocate my portfolio now or let it balance out over time?
Personally I'm not a huge fan of rebalancing within an asset class. I would vote for leaving the HD shares alone and buying other assets until you get to the portfolio you want. Frequent buying and selling incurs costs and possible tax consequences that can really hurt your returns.
250k USD in savings. What's next?
A good answer to the question really depends on where you want to live, ultimately. Where you want to live pretty much dictates your investment priorities. If you want to invest in "terrain" so you can build a house next to all the "cool," people in Guayaquil that should be your first priority. Your new wife may have a...
How to find an optimum linear combination of various investments?
You're talking about modern portfolio theory. The wiki article goes into the math. Here's the gist: Modern portfolio theory (MPT) is a theory of finance that attempts to maximize portfolio expected return for a given amount of portfolio risk, or equivalently minimize risk for a given level of expected return, by carefu...
Why should one only contribute up to the employer's match in a 401(k)?
In addition to George Marian's excellent advice, I'll add that if you're hitting the limits on IRA contributions, then you'd go back to your 401(k). So, put enough into your 401(k) to get the match, then max out IRA contributions to give you access to more and better investment options, then go back to your 401(k) unti...
Why government bonds fluctuate so much, even though interest rates don't change that often?
Long term gov't bonds fluctuate in price with a seemingly small interest rate fluctuation because many years of cash inflows are discounted at low rates. This phenomenon is dulled in a high interest rate environment. For example, just the principal repayment is worth ~1/3, P * 1/(1+4%)^30, what it will be in 30 years ...
Stocks: do Good Till Cancelled orders get executed during after hours?
You'd have to check the rules for your broker to make sure that the term is being used in its usual sense, but the typical answer to your question is "no." A GTC will execute during market hours. You would need to explicitly specify extended hours if you want to execute outside of market hours (which your broker may ...
Is it better to pay an insurance deductible, or get an upgrade?
I think you have a few choices that cannot be described by math alone: Repair current phone: 149 Replace current phone with new model from carrier: 100 + cost of new phone Replace current phone with new model on payment plan from carrier: 100 + cost of new phone + finance charge (could be zero or cleverly hidden). Y...
What is a stock split (reverse split)?
It was actually a reverse split meaning that every 10 shares you had became 1 share and the price should be 10x higher. - Citigroup in reverse split The chart just accounts for the split. The big dip is Googles way of showing from what price it split from. If you remember before the split the stock was trading around $...
Is there a country that uses the term “dollar” for currency without also using “cents” as fractional monetary units?
Going through the list of economies that currently use the dollar, all of them list cents as a fractional unit. In Hong Kong and Taiwan, the 1/100 fractional unit is still called a cent, but it's no longer in circulation in coin form and only finds use in financial markets or electronic payments. In countries like Mal...
US tax for a resident NRI
If you are tax-resident in the US, then you must report income from sources within and without the United States. Your foreign income generally must be reported to the IRS. You will generally be eligible for a credit for foreign income taxes paid, via Form 1116. The question of the stock transfer is more complicated,...
Will a stop order get triggered if the floor is hit and trading is halted?
quantycuenta is right, if a halt is in place, then no trading will occur, simple as that. But in the practice of risk management it is a little different. Want to remind you that you are assuming that trading is halted immediately upon the drop in price. That doesn't always happen, so if there is any time between the a...
Why is the stock market price for a share always higher than the earnings per share?
When you buy a stock, you're really paying for a STREAM of earnings, from now till whenever. The job of an investor is to figure out how large that stream will be in the future. But if the stock price were the same as "earnings" (for one year), it would mean that you would get all future earnings for "free." That's not...
Online tutorials for calculating DCF (Discounted Cash Flow)?
what do you mean exactly? Do you have a future target price and projected future dividend payments and you want the present value (time discounted price) of those? Edit: The DCF formula is difficult to use for stocks because the future price is unknown. It is more applicable to fixed-income instruments like coupon bo...