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Why does the calculation for percentage profit vary based on whether a position is short vs. long?
The problem with rate of return calculation on short positions is, that the commonly used approach assumes an initial investment creating a cash outflow. If we want to apply this approach to short selling, we should look at the trade from another perspective. We buy money and pay for this money with stock. Our investme...
Why do the 1 and 2 euro cent coins exist and why are they used?
I guess other than tradition and inflation, probably because the merchants want them. In the US, what currently costs $2.00 used to cost $0.10. So 75 years ago, those individual cents made a pretty bid difference. Inflation causes prices to go up, but doesn't get us to just change our currencies patterns. In your ...
I'm 20 and starting to build up for my mortgage downpayment, where should I put my money for optimal growth?
Good job. Assuming that you are also contributing to retirement, you are bound to be a wealthy person. I'm not really sure how Australia works as far as retirement, but I am pretty sure you are taking care of that too. Given your time frame (more than 5 years) I would consider investing at least a portion of the m...
Is my employee stock purchase plan a risk free investment?
Your maximum risk is 100%. If you buy the stock 15% off and your company goes bankrupt tomorrow, you've lost everything. It also sounds like you have foreign exchange risk. One can debate how much risk this is in terms of expected outcomes, but that was not your question. However, if you purchase the company stock and ...
How to realize capital gains before going from non-resident alien to resident alien in USA
Is this possible and will it have the intended effect? From the US tax perspective, it most definitely is and will. Is my plan not very similar to Wash Sale? Yes, except that wash sale rules apply for losses, not gains. In any case, since you're not a US tax resident, the US wash sale rules won't apply to you.
Pay online: credit card or debit card?
I use another solution: debit card with an account kept empty most of the time and another account in the same bank without any card. I keep the money on the second card-less account, and when I want to buy something, I instantly transfer the appropriate amount to the account with the card and pay. That way money is on...
Should I use put extra money toward paying off my student loans or investing in an index fund?
Yes, it's a risk. To put it in perspective, If we look at the data for S&P returns since 1871, we get a CAGR of 10.72%. But, that comes with a SDev (Standard deviation) of 18.67%. This results in 53 of the 146 years returning less than 4%. Now if we repeat the exercise over rolling 8 year periods, the CAGR drops to 9....
Is 401k as good as it sounds given the way it is taxed?
When you are investing for 40 years, you will have taxable events before retirement. You'll need to pay tax along the way, which will eat away at your gains. For example, in your taxable account, any dividends and capital gain distributions will need taxes paid each year. In your 401(k) or IRA, these are not taxable ...
Apartment lease renewal - is this rate increase normal?
Yes, automatic rate increases are typical in my experience (and I think it's very greedy, when it's based on nothing except that your lease is up for renewal, which is the situation you are describing). Yes, you should negotiate. I've had success going to the apartment manager and having this conversation: Make these ...
I want to invest in a U.S.-based company with unquoted stocks, but I am a foreigner. How to do this?
The recommendation is not to make the investment. In general, a company does not have to sell their shares to you or allow you to become an investor, because, as you have stated, it is a private company not quoted on the stock market. If everyone were trustworthy, you could buy the tools for $11000 -- so that you own...
Can a custodian refuse prior-year IRA/HSA deposit postmarked April 15?
The "must be postmarked" language might be just from the old bank itself, not from the IRS. The language I see in Publication 969 only says "You can make contributions to your HSA for 2014 until April 15, 2015." In this case, it is understandable that the credit union you have the new account with does not want to acc...
Is an ITM option bought/sold to close in addition to being assigned?
The option is exercised. The option is converted into shares. That is an optional condition in closing that contract, hence why they are called options.
How can I estimate business taxes / filing fees for a business that has $0 income?
Is the business an S-Corp, LLC or Sole Prop? I am going to guess based on the question that it is an LLC that you never closed with the state and you live in a state (NY) that charges a fee for having an LLC in the state in which case you owe those fees to the state. I am not aware of any taxes on the mere existence of...
What is the best asset allocation for a retirement portfolio, and why?
The best asset allocation is one that lets you sleep well at night. Can you stomach a loss of 50% and hold on to that asset for 3 years, 5 years, or however long it will take to bounce back while everyone is telling you to sell it at a loss? All these calculations will be thrown out the window at the next market panic....
Investment for beginners in the United Kingdom
I'm in the US as well, but some basic things are still the same. You need to trade through a broker, but the need for a full service broker is no longer necessary. You may be able to get by with a web based brokerage that charges less fees. If you are nervous, look for a big name, and avoid a fly by night company. Stic...
What is the best way to get cash from my retirement accounts for a home down payment?
The best way to get cash from retirement is to not do it. Leave the retirement savings alone. Start saving for house down payment. Look for ways to squirrel away money for that down payment. Consider payment plus insurance, taxes, and maintenance costs. If all that comes in less than a rental, you're probably bett...
How can a person with really bad credit history rent decent housing?
Having been recently evicted she is unlikely to find any one willing to rent to her at anything close to reasonable terms. Any landlord that would consider it is likely to require a huge deposit. Her best solution may be a hotel/motel with weekly/monthly rates. It is generally much easier to get someone out of a hote...
Confused about employee stock options: How do I afford these?
the short answer is: No. you do not HAVE to pay $125,000.00 at the end of your first year. that is only the amount IF you decide to exercise. *fine print: But if you leave or get let go (which happens quite frequently at top tier Silicon Valley firms), you lose anything that you don't exercise. you're basically chaine...
How do I invest in the S&P 500?
Buy the ETF with ticker "SPY". This will give you exposure to exactly the S&P 500 stocks, This is similar to the mutual fund suggestion by Ben Miller, except that the ETF has several advantages over mutual funds, especially as regards taxes. You can find information on the difference between ETF and mutual fund in o...
I have $100,000 in play money… what to do?
As you have already good on your retirement kitty. Assuming you have a sufficient cash for difficult situations, explore the options of investing in Shares and Mutual Funds. As you are new to Stock Market, begin slowly by investing into Mutual Funds and ETF for precious metals. This will help you understand and give yo...
Is it legal if I'm managing my family's entire wealth?
My answer is with respect to the United States. I have no idea about India's regulatory environment. You are opening yourself up to massive liabilities and problems if you deposit their money in your account. I managed investment accounts as a private investment advisor for years (those with less than 15 clients were n...
Resources to begin trading from home?
Since then I had gotten a job at a supermarket stocking shelves, but recently got fired because I kept zoning out at work This is not a good sign for day trading, where you spend all day monitoring investments. If you start focusing on the interesting math problem and ignoring your portfolio, you can easily lose money...
How do I calculate the dwelling coverage I need from the information I have?
Never take the first quote. Consider what it would really cost to replace the house -- to rebuild and pay for living while you do so (including demolition, etc.) and/or pay off the mortgage and return your equity if it is a financed property. Most insurances will have a limit on how much coverage you can get based on ...
Is it worth having a pension?
Paying someone to look after your money always costs something - it doesn't matter whether you're inside a pension or not. Fees are highest for "actively managed" funds and lowest for passively managed funds or things where you choose the investments directly - but in the latter case you might pay out a lot in dealing ...
Are the guaranteed returns of regulated utilities really what they sound like?
Typically a private company is hit by demand supply issues and cost of inputs. In effect at times the cost of input may go up, it cannot raise the prices, because this will reduce demand. However certain public sectors companies, typically in Oil & Engery segements the services are offered by Public sector companies, a...
How can I invest in an index fund but screen out (remove) certain categories of socially irresponsible investments?
It sounds like you need an index fund that follows so called Sustainability index. A sustainability index does not simply select "socially responsible" industries. It attempts to replicate the target market, in terms of countries, industries, and company sizes, but it also aims to select most "sustainable" companies fr...
New York State - NY Tax on Foreign Sourced Income for NY Non-Resident
For Non-Resident filers, New York taxes New York-sourced income. That includes: real or tangible personal property located in New York State (including certain gains or losses from the sale or exchange of an interest in an entity that owns real property in New York State); services performed in New York State; a bu...
Is a stock's trade size history publicly available?
My Broker and probably many Brokers provide this information in a table format under "Course of Sale". It provides the time, price and volume of each trade on that day. You could also view this data on a chart in some charting programs. Just set the interval to "Tick by Tick" and look at the volume. "Tick by Tick" will...
Can the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) itself go bankrupt?
Not sure if I follow your question completely. Re: What if some fraud takes place that's too big even for it to fund? SIPC does not fund anything. What it does is takes over the troubled brokerage firm, books / assets and returns the money faster. Refer to SIPC - What SIPC Covers... What it Does Not and more specific...
How Long Can It Take For a Check I Write to Clear on My Account?
There's nothing you can do. If he has indeed deposited the check, it would appear on your account fairly quickly - I've never seen it taking more than 2-3 business days. However, a check is a debt instrument, and you cannot close the account until it clears, or until the "unclaimed property" laws of your state kick in....
What is the buy-hold-sell indication based on?
To dig a little deeper, a number of analysts within (and without) Reuters are polled for their views on individual stocks and markets on buy-hold-sell. The individual analysts will be a varied bunch of fundamentalists, technical, quant and a mixture of the three plus more arcane methodologies. There may be various leve...
Should I try to negotiate a signing bonus?
I was able to request a modest advance on my salary when I started my first job out of college, for essentially the same reason. Alternatively, you might consider requesting a small personal loan from friends or family. If you have a credit card that can cover things like grocery expenses for that period, this may also...
Why do car rental companies prefer/require credit over debit cards?
I am not sure if this is the actual reason or not, but all of the major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover) provide damage insurance coverage on car rentals. Debit cards do not usually provide this coverage. So, if you use a credit card, the car company knows it will be able to recover the cost of any damag...
What should I do about proxy statements?
You own a fractional share of the company, maybe you should care enough to at least read the proxy statements which explain the pro and con position for each of the issues you are voting on. That doesn't seem like too much to ask. On the other hand, if you are saying that the people who get paid to be knowledgeable abo...
30-year-old saved $30,000: what should I do with it?
First, two preliminaries, to address good points people made in comments. As AbraCadaver noted, before you move your $30k to something that might lose money, make sure you have enough cash to serve as an emergency fund in case you lose your income. Especially remember that big stock market crashes often go hand-in-hand...
What is a typical investment portfolio made up of?
Most people carry a diversity of stock, bond, and commodities in their portfolio. The ratio and types of these investments should be based on your goals and risk tolerance. I personally choose to manage mine through mutual funds which combine the three, but ETFs are also becoming popular. As for where you keep your p...
Is it possible for the average person to profit on the stock market?
Below is a list of rules that will help you to decide what types of products you should be investing in:
Effective interest rate for mortgage loan
With the $2000 downpayment and interest rate of 11.5% nominal compounded monthly the monthly payments would be $970.49 As you state, that is a monthly rate of 0.9583% Edit With the new information, taking the standard loan equation where Let Now setting s = 98000, with d = 990.291 solve for r
Expensive agenda book/organizer. Office expense or fixed asset?
I cannot imagine an organizer being worth enough to consider depreciating the expense over a period of time greater than one year. Also, once you write in an organizer, it's pretty much worthless to anyone else. Talk to your accountant if you'd like, but I cannot see how you would classify a fancy organizer as a fixed ...
Would investing equally in all 30 companies which comprise the DJIA net the same performance as the DJIA?
MD-Tech's answer is correct. Let me only point out that there are easier ways to invest in the DJIA index without having to buy individual stocks. You can buy a mutual fund or ETF that will track the index and your return will be almost identical to the performance of the underlying index. It's "almost" identical becau...
What are the financial advantages of living in Switzerland?
Some of the advantages of Switzerland: Not everything is about money.
Is it possible for me to keep my credit card APR at 0% permanently?
No. The intro rate is a gambit by the bank - they accept losing money in the short term but expect to gain money in the long term when your intro is over and you (hopefully) start paying interest. There's not much in it for them if you never get around to paying interest. Same can be said for people who close the card ...
The Intelligent Investor: Northern Pacific Railway example
Without reading the source, from your description it seems that the author believes that this particular company was undervalued in the marketplace. It seems that investors were blinded by a small dividend, without considering the actual value of the company they were owners of. Remember that a shareholder has the righ...
How do stocks like INL (traded in Frankfurt) work?
They don't have to track each other, it could just be listed on more than one exchange. The price on one exchange does not have to match or track the price on the other exchange. This is actually quite common, as many companies are listed on two or more exchanges around the world.
Investment strategy for retired couple
The safest investment in the United States is Treasures. The Federal Reserve just increased the short term rate for the first time in about seven years. But the banks are under no obligation to increase the rate they pay. So you (or rather they) can loan money directly to the United States Government by buying Bills, N...
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...
Intentions of Deductible Amount for Small Business
If your sole proprietorship losses exceed all other sources of taxable income, then you have what's called a Net Operating Loss (NOL). You will have the option to "carry back" and amend a return you filed in the last 2 years where you owed tax, or you can "carry forward" the losses and decrease your taxes in a future y...
Pensions, annuities, and “retirement”
There are broadly two kinds of pension: final salary / defined benefit, and money purchase. The text you quote above, where it talks about "pension" it is referring to a final salary / defined benefit scheme. In this type of scheme you earn a salary of £X during your working life, and you are then entitled to a propor...
Personal finance web service with account syncing in Germany
As much as I know StarMoney has also a web service for banking.
Can saving/investing 15% of your income starting age 25, likely make you a millionaire?
If by being a millionaire you mean dollar millionaire then I doubt that it is really that easy in Pakistani context. At present the exchange rate is 107 Pakistani rupees per US dollar so even with this exchange rate, to have a million US dollars means having 107 million rupees of wealth. Now with this maths in mind you...
Do rental car agencies sell their cars at a time when it is risky for the purchaser?
A premium car rental agency will sell a car which is working very well and quite far from the verge of breaking apart. They don't want to take the risk that one of their premium customers paying premium rates receives a worn-looking car which runs less than absolutely perfect (or even breaks down). They need to keep up...
Who can truly afford luxury cars?
A while back I sold cars for a living. Over the course of 4 years I worked for 3 different dealerships. I sold new cars at 2 and used at the last one. When selling new cars I found that the majority of people buying the higher end cars honestly shouldn't have been - 80%+. They almost always came in owing more on the...
How and where to get the time series of the values USDEUR?
The Federal Reserve Bank publishes exchange rate data in their H.10 release. It is daily, not minute by minute. The Fed says this about their data: About the Release The H.10 weekly release contains daily rates of exchange of major currencies against the U.S. dollar. The data are noon buying rates in New York for c...
Why do only a handful of Canadian companies have options trading on their stocks?
First, your question contains a couple of false premises: Options in the U.S. do not trade on the NYSE, which is a stock exchange. You must have been looking at a listing from an options exchange. There are a handful of options exchanges in the U.S., and while two of these have "NYSE" in the name, referring to "NYSE" ...
I received $1000 and was asked to send it back. How was this scam meant to work?
Answers to your questions: (1) Do bank account numbers have a checksum. NO. (2) Is it plausible that they found out your number after sending you the money by "accident". NO. There is no way to find out who possesses a particular bank account just by the number. Also, how they even know they made a mistake? They target...
Why is retirement planning so commonly recommended?
I like many of the answers, but here is a summary of reasons: Almost everyone will retire, and it is almost certain that government or company pensions schemes will not alone give you a lifestyle you would like in retirement. Money invested early is worth much more in retirement than money invested late, thanks to the ...
What are my options to deal with Student Loan debt collectors?
Never speak to a debt collector. Ask them to stop calling you and STOP talking to them. Communicate only via postal mail. Do not react in an emotional way, do not use foul language, etc. If they call you and attempt to harass or intimidate you, note the date/time, name of the caller and nature of the call. Ask them to ...
Which mutual funds is Dave Ramsey talking about in The Total Money Makeover? [duplicate]
See the Moneychimp site. From 1934 to 2006, the S&P returned an 'average' 12.81%. But the CAGR was 11.26%. I wrote an article Average Return vs Compound Annual Growth to address this issue. Interesting that over time only a few funds have managed to get anywhere near this return, but the low cost indexer can get the ...
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.
Who sets the prices on government bonds?
Who sets the prices? Effectively the market does, like basically all openly traded things. The Greek government could well have said "5% is as high as we will go". As a result, investors may not have chosen to buy the securities. The global bond market is highly liquid, and investors who have a choice could well then...
Debt collector has wrong person and is contacting my employer
Did you receive a summons, or other notice of proceedings, from the court which granted the judgement? If you were not served with the proceedings, contact the court. It is unlawful to enforce a judgement against someone who was not a party to the original lawsuit.
How to Calculate Profit and Loss for trading position?
Month to date For the month to date (MTD), the price on Feb 28th is $4.58 and the price on March 16th is $4.61 so the return is which can be written more simply as The position is 1000 shares valued at $4580 on Feb 28th, so the profit on the month to date is Calendar year to date For the calendar year to date (YTD), th...
Best way to pay off debt?
The key phrase in your post is that the options are "in a good position now". They may be worthless in three months or a year. If I was you I would cash in the options and pay off the debt. Cash in enough to also cover taxes. You may want to cash them all in.
Are there any issues with registering an LLC in a foreign state?
This is an older question but I thought I'd give the correct response for anyone else that might look. Yes there definitely could be issues. You can form in friendly states such as Delaware and Nevada without having a physical location in the state but you can't run a business from another state without having to 'qual...
What rules govern when a new option series is issued?
Without researching the securities in question I couldn't tell you which cycle each is in, but your answer is that they have different expiration cycles. The following definition is from the CBOE website; "Expiration cycle An expiration cycle relates to the dates on which options on a particular underlying security exp...
How would bonds fare if interest rates rose?
When interest rates rise, the price of bonds fall because bonds have a fixed coupon rate, and since the interest rate has risen, the bond's rate is now lower than what you can get on the market, so it's price falls because it's now less valuable. Bonds diversify your portfolio as they are considered safer than stocks a...
Ballpark salary equivalent today of “healthcare benefits” in the US?
Equation: (M x 12) + MOOP = Worst case scenario cost Where M equals the monthly cost and MOOP is the maximum out of pocket amount. So, if a plan costs $500 a month and the maximum out of pocket amount is $12,000 - which in a worst case scenario you would pay (it's almost always over the deductible) ... ($500 x 12) + 1...
Why are there hidden bids and offers in the US stock market for the more illiquid stocks?
Certain brokers allow for hidden orders to be placed in the market. It is as simple as that. Refer to Interactive Brokers as one example. If you press on the " i " next to "Hidden" you will get the following description. Some brokers may represent the hidden orders by an * next to the price level. Sometimes large orde...
Is it legal to not get a 1099-b until March 15?
The deadline to mail is February 15. However, if the form is being prepared by a middleman (i.e. Wells Fargo) then they have until March 15th (on page 24). Also, if you haven't received your 1099 form by February 14, you may contact the IRS and they will contact and request the missing form on your behalf. I know that'...
How do I choose 401k investment funds?
I would stay away from the Actively Managed Funds. Index funds or the asset allocation funds are your best bet since they have the lowest fees. What is your risk tolerance? How old are you? I would suggest reading:
Is it cheaper to use car Insurance or pay out of pocket?
There's not a single answer here, as the premium you pay for car insurance depends on multiple factors, including (but not limited to): All these factors contribute to the likelihood of getting into an accident, and the expected damage from an accident. So just having an accident and making a claim will likely raise y...
Does renting a room on AirBnB make all interest taxable?
It says that you are exempt "as long as such interest income is not effectively connected with a United States trade or business". So the interest is from money earned from doing business with/through AirBnb, a US company. So you will have to report it. Even if your bank doesn't send you a 1099-INT, you have to report ...
When to buy and sell bonds
Why does selling a bond drive up the yield? The bond will pay back a fixed amount when it comes due. The yield is a comparison of what you pay for the bond and what will be repaid when it matures (assuming no default). Why does the yield go up if the country is economically unstable? If the country's economy is unstabl...
How can I legally and efficiently help my girlfriend build equity by helping with a mortgage?
I just wanted to give you a different perspective, as I own a house (purchased with a mortgage), with my girlfriend. I think it can be done safely and fairly, but you do need to involve legal help to do it right. There really is nothing to be terrified about, the extra cost to set this up was almost irrelevant in the b...
Is there a good strategy to invest when two stock companies either merge or acquisition?
There's an old adage in the equities business - "buy on rumor, sell on fact". Sometimes the strategy is to buy as soon as the rumor is out about a potential merger and then sell off into the news when it is actually announced, since this is normally when the biggest bounce occurs as part of a merger. The other part of...
Why does capital gains tax apply to long term stock holdings?
Why only long term investments? What do they care if I buy and sell shares in a company in the same year? Simple, your actually investing when you hold it for a long term. If you hold a stock for a week or a month there is very little that can happen to change the price, in a perfect market the value of a company sho...
I'm currently unemployed and have been offered a contract position. Do I need to incorporate myself? How do I do it?
My late answer is: Be aware of the difference of being a contractor and being an employee. I am not sure of the laws in Canada, but in the United States lots of small companies like to hire people as "contractors" but make them work under rules that fall into employee. The business is trying to avoid paying payroll ...
Home owners association for houses, pro/cons
At its best, a HOA provides the same benefits as a condo association -- shared investment in the shared neighborhood resources/environment. At its worst, a HOA has the same problems as a condo association, potentially creating unreasonable constraints on what you can or can't do with your own property because your dec...
How to get started with options investing?
One answer in four days tells you this is a niche, else there should be many replies by now. The bible is McMillan on Options Note - I link to the 1996 edition which starts at 39 cents, the latest revision will set you back $30 used. The word bible says it all, it offers a great course in options, everything you need ...
effect of bond issue on income statement
No, it would not show up on the income statement as it isn't income. It would show up in the cash flow statement as a result of financing activities.
If the U.S. defaults on its debt, what will happen to my bank money?
There are many different things that can happen, all or some. Taking Russia and Argentina as precedence - you may not be able to withdraw funds from your bank for some period of time. Not because your accounts will be drained, but because the cash supply will be restricted. Similar thing has also happened recently in C...
Separating money in bank account without opening another account
There are some banks that offer "pot" accounts like this (off the top of my head I think Intelligent Finance does, although they call them "jars"). The other option for charity specifically would be a CAF account: https://www.cafonline.org/my-personal-giving/plan-your-giving/individual-charity-account.aspx
Table of how many years it takes to make a specified return on the stock market?
It depends on what stocks you invest in or whether you invest in an index, as all stocks are not created equally. If you prefer to invest directly into individual stocks and you choose ones that are financially health and trending upwards, you should be able to easily outperform any indexes and get your 30% return much...
How can my friend send $3K to me without using Paypal?
Most bank bill pay services will work for this purpose. Generally you can pay any person or business that has a valid address. As an added Paypal will no longer take ~3% of the money.
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...
Supply & Demand - How Price Changes, Buy Orders vs Sell Orders [duplicate]
That is mostly true, in most situations when there are more buy orders than sell orders (higher buy volume orders than sell volume orders), the price will generally move upwards and vice versa, when there are more sell orders than buy orders (higher sell volume orders than buy volume orders), the price will generally m...
If a company in China says it accepts Visa, does it accept all Visas?
Generally, credit card networks (as opposed to debit/ATM cards that may or may not have Visa/MC logos) have a rule that a merchant must accept any credit card with their logo. Visa rules for merchants in the US say it explicitly: Accept all types of valid Visa cards. Although Visa card acceptance rules may vary based...
How's the graph of after/pre markets be drawn?
the data source is the same as the live market trading. pre and after market trading are active markets and there are actual buyers and sellers getting their orders matched.
Individual Client or Customer fining or charging a Company a penalty fee
What's the primary factor keeping a consumer from handing out fees as liberally as corporations or small businesses do? Power. Can an individual, or more appropriately, what keeps an individual from being able to charge, fine or penalize a Business? If it could be accomplished, but at a high cost, let's assume it's bas...
Do investors go long option contracts when they cannot cover the exercise of the options?
I do this often and have never had a problem. My broker is TD Ameritrade and they sent several emails (and even called and left a message) the week of expiry to remind me I had in the money options that would be expiring soon. Their policy is to automatically exercise all options that are at least $.01 in the money. ...
Comparing ETFs following the same index
The key two things to consider when looking at similar/identical ETFs is the typical (or 'indicative') spread, and the trading volume and size of the ETF. Just like regular stocks, thinly traded ETF's often have quite large spreads between buy and sell: in the 1.5-2%+ range in some cases. This is a huge drain if you ma...
Making an offer on a property - go in at market price?
First off; I don't know of the nature of the interpersonal relationship between you and your roommate, and I don't really care, but I will say that your use of that term was a red flag to me, and it will be so to a bank; buying a home is a big deal that you normally do not undertake with just a "friend" or "roommate". ...
Ethics and investment
There are a number of mutual funds which claim to be 'ethical'. Note that your definition of 'ethical' may not match theirs. This should be made clear in the prospectus of whichever mutual fund you are looking at. You will likely pay for the privilege of investing this way, in higher expenses on the mutual fund. If I m...
Using Euros to buy and sell NASDAQ stocks
Does the Spanish market, or any other market in euroland, have the equivalent of ETF's? If so there ought to be one that is based on something like the US S&P500 or Russell 3000. Otherwise you might check for local offices of large mutual fund companies such as Vanguard, Schwab etc to see it they have funds for sale t...
What is the dividend if yield is 3.04?
From the hover text of the said screen; Latest dividend/dividend yield Latest dividend is dividend per share paid to shareholders in the most recent quarter. Dividend yield is the value of the latest dividend, multiplied by the number of times dividends are typically paid per year, divided by the stock price. So ...
How to withdraw money from currency account without having to lose so much to currency conversion?
If I understand your question, you're misunderstanding the buy/sell spread, and at least in this instance seem to be in an unfortunate situation where the spread is quite large. The Polish Zloty - GBP ideal exchange rate is around 5.612:1. Thus, when actually exchanging currency, you should expect to pay a bit more th...
Does this plan make any sense for early 20s investments?
I think it's great idea. Many large brokerages give customers access to a pretty sizable list of zero commission, zero load funds. In this list of funds will certainly be an S&P 500 index. So you can open your account for free, deposit your $1,000 for free and invest it in an S&P index for no cost. You'll pay a ver...
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...
Advice for opening an IRA as a newbie
If you want to 'offset' current (2016) income, only deductible contribution to a traditional IRA does that. You can make nondeductible contributions to a trad IRA, and there are cases where that makes sense for the future and cases where it doesn't, but it doesn't give you a deduction now. Similarly a Roth IRA has poss...
Should I sell my stocks when the stock hits a 52-week high in order to “Buy Low, Sell High”?
I primarily intend to add on to WBT's answer, which is good. It has been shown that "momentum" is a very real, tangible factor in stock returns. Stocks that have done well tend to keep doing well; stocks that are doing poorly tend to keep doing poorly. For a long-term value investor, of course fundamental valuation sho...