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Option Theta: What conditions are needed for Theta > P/N, where P = option price, and N = days to expiration?
So, if an out-of-the-money option (all time value) has a price P (say $3.00), and there are N days... The extrinsic value isn't solely determined by time value as your quote suggests. It's also based on volatility and demand. Here is a quote from http://www.tradingmarkets.com/options/trading-lessons/the-mystery-of-opti...
How can I investigate historical effect of Rebalancing on Return and Standard Deviation?
Doesn't "no rebalancing" mean "start with a portfolio and let it fly?" Seems like incorporation of rebalancing is more sophisticated than not. Just "buy" your portfolio at the start and see where it ends up with no buying/selling, as compared with where it ends up if you do rebalance. Or is it not that simple?
Why are there so many stock exchanges in the world?
Nearly every country has its own exchange because so many countries have their own currency, and currency permeates every part of an exchange's business. Generally, an exchange will support transaction and settlement only in local currency. Securities (except those that explicitly enable FX trading) are denominated ...
Why is economic growth so important?
Wealth is not distributed equally in any economy. And, even if it were, differentiation between people would lead to different interests being expressed in different ways. As people either attempt to earn more (to improve their situation) or different people express those interests in different ways (saving money to g...
What does net selling or buying of a stock mean?
Consider the mechanic which actually drives the 'price' of a stock. In simplest terms, the 'price' of a stock is the price at which the most recent trade occurred. ie: if the price of IBM is $100/share, that means the last time someone bought IBM stock, they paid $100. Above and below the 'spot price', are dozens/hundr...
Do I need multiple credit monitoring services?
Monitoring all three is good practice. That way, you will be notified as soon as there is a hard pull on any of your reports. Most financial institutions only pull one of your three reports to open new credit. If you're only monitoring one, you won't be alerted to new accounts until about a month passes and they are re...
Are the stocks of competitor companies negatively correlated?
It is important to first understand that true causation of share price may not relate to historical correlation. Just like with scientific experiments, correlation does not imply causation. But we use stock price correlation to attempt to infer causation, where it is reasonable to do so. And to do that you need to unde...
Why does the Fed use PCE over CPI?
Consumers aren't the only economic participants impacted by a change in the Fed rate.... Inflation has WIDE ranging implications from the future liabilities of pension funds to the ongoing cost of our national debt. It doesn't make sense to consider only consumer inflationary experience. PCE is considered because it ...
Executing a stop loss at the purchase price?
You will lose out on your spread, you always pay a spread. Also, if you are looking at a strategy for using stop losses, try taking into account the support lines if you are going long. So, if the stock is on an upward trend but is dropping back from profit taking, your best best is to take a position closest to the ne...
Pay index fund expense ratios with cash instead of fund balance
It seems at most a cosmetic difference - nothing keeps you from adding the 9$ cash to the fund the same day the fees are deducted from the shares.
Why do Americans have to file taxes, even if their only source of income is from a regular job?
I think the key point that's making the other commenters misunderstand each other here is the concept of "deductions". I can only speak for the UK, but that's only a concept that business owners would understand in this country. For things like child credits or low income tax credits, we don't get paid them at the end...
Investment Options for 14-year old?
A fourteen-year-old can invest a few thousand into commuting to a part-time job or an education. If you can wait five years for a couple hundred you can wait two to four years for a car (or gas money) or a class (or some textbooks.)
My Brokerage statement shows “Adjusted due to previous wash sale disallowed loss” what does this mean?
Summary of accepted answer: Your "loss" will not count as a loss (to the IRS). Which means no tax deduction for a "short-term capital loss" (on that sale). Instead, the IRS simply pretends like you had paid less for the stock to begin with.
Can I sell a stock immediately?
In order to see whether you can buy or sell some given quantity of a stock at the current bid price, you need a counterparty (a buyer) who is willing to buy the number of stocks you are wishing to offload. To see whether such a counterparty exists, you can look at the stock's order book, or level two feed. The order bo...
Growth of unrealized gains in tax-managed index funds
Right now, the unrealized appreciation of Vanguard Tax-Managed Small-Cap Fund Admiral Shares is 28.4% of NAV. As long as the fund delivers decent returns over the long term, is there anything stopping this amount from ballooning to, say, 90% fifty years hence? I'd have a heck of a time imagining how this grows to...
Do I have to pay a capital gains tax if I rebuy the same stock within 30 days?
Yes, you would have to report the gain. It is not relevant that you traded the stock previously, you still made a profit on the trade-at-hand. Imagine if for some reason this type of trade were exempt. Investors could follow the short term swings of volatile stocks completely tax-free.
As a 22-year-old, how risky should I be with my 401(k) investments?
Current evidence is that, after you subtract their commission and the additional trading costs, actively managed funds average no better than index funds, maybe not as well. You can afford to take more risks at your age, assuming that it will be a long time before you need these funds -- but I would suggest that means ...
Multi-Account Budgeting Tools/Accounts/Services
I know of websites that do this, but I don't know of banks that do. Is there any reason you want to do this at a bank rather than use a service? My main concern with using a bank for this would be the risk of overdraft fees
Can I predict if it is better to save money in USD or local currency?
Typically, the higher interest rates in local currency cover about the potential gain from the currency exchange rate change - if not, people would make money out of it. However, you only know this after the fact, so either way you are taking a risk. Depending on where the local economy goes, it is more secure to go wi...
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". ...
Is socialtrend.com or/and feelthetrend.com legitimate?
It's called a "Pyramid scheme". Its illegal in almost every country of the Western world. You're not going to earn lifetime income, of course, and these things collapse pretty quickly. Most of the "common folks" don't return the investment, its the organizers who take the money. Sometimes they run, most times they end ...
Capital Gains Tax - Does this apply only to the actual “gains” or to the entire amount of my sale?
You normally only pay taxes on the difference between the sale price and the cost basis of the asset. In your example, you would probably pay taxes on the $10 difference, not the full sale price of $110. If you paid a commission, however, you would be taxed on your gain minus the commission you paid. Since you held the...
Why do stock exchanges close at night?
I believe there are electronic exchanges that run continuously, but the older ones don't want to change their practices since some people may have strategies which (claim they) are based on this behavior so there would be a lot of unhappy people if it was altered. The pause doesn't seem to do any harm. There are alte...
Can stock market gains be better protected under an LLC arrangement?
The thing you get wrong is that you think the LLC doesn't pay taxes on gains when it sells assets. It does. In fact, in many countries LLC are considered separate entities for tax properties and you have double taxation - the LLC pays its own taxes, and then when you withdraw the money from the LLC to your own account...
Should a high-school student invest their (relative meager) savings?
You should invest in that with the best possible outcome. Right now that is in yourself. Your greatest wealth building tool, at this point, is your future income. As such anything you can do to increase your earnings potential. For some that might mean getting an engineering degree, for others it might mean startin...
Any advantage to exercising ISO's in company that is not yet public?
As far as I know, the AMT implications are the same for a privately held company as for one that is publicly traded. When I was given my ISO package, it came with a big package of articles on AMT to encourage me to exercise as close to the strike price as possible. Remember that the further the actual price at the ti...
Over the long term, why invest in bonds?
I can think of a few reasons for this. First, bonds are not as correlated with the stock market so having some in your portfolio will reduce volatility by a bit. This is nice because it makes you panic less about the value changes in your portfolio when the stock market is acting up, and I'm sure that fund managers wou...
To pay off a student loan, should I save up a lump sum payoff payment or pay extra each month?
Just one more thing to consider: a friend of mine had some student loan debt left over from graduate school. Years later, through his employer, he was able to apply for and receive a grant that paid off the remainder of his student loan. It was literally free money, and a significant amount, too. The windfall was a lit...
Does borrowing from my 401(k) make sense in my specific circumstance?
I see you've marked an answer as accepted but I MUST tell you that STOPPING your 401k contribution all together is a bad idea. Your company match is 100% rate of return(or 50% depending on structure). I don't care what market you look at, or how bad a loan you take out, you will not receive 100% rate of return, or be ...
How do I find an ideal single fund to invest all my money in?
While it is certainly easy to manage single fund, I am not sure it's the right strategy. It's been proven again and again that portfolio diversification is key to long term gains in wealth. I think your best option is to invest in low cost index funds and ETFs. While rebalancing your portfolio is hard, it is vastly sim...
Where can I find closed dates for the New York Stock Exchange for the coming year?
You can find the NYSE holiday dates listed on the exchange's own site (already linked in answer above), which should obviously be consulted as the most reliable source; they are also published in an article that I have written here: NYSE Holidays 2016, which provides additional information about traditions and events t...
How do I explain why debt on debt is bad to my brother?
Two suggestions: I don't know if you have them in South Africa, but here we have some TV reality shows where a credit consultant visits a family that is deeply in debt and advises them on how to get out of it. The advice isn't very sophisticated, but it does show the personal impact on a family and what is likely to ha...
What is street-side booking?
This is a technical term referring to the "double entry"-styled book keeping of trades by brokers. Suppose a client executes a buy order with their broker. The broker's accounting for this "trade" will be recorded as two different "deals" : One "deal" showing the client as buyer and the broker as seller, and a second ...
Tax treatment of renovation costs and mortgage interest on a second house
Should I treat this house as a second home or a rental property on my 2015 taxes? If it was not rented out or available for rent then you could treat it as your second home. But if it was available for rent (i.e.: you started advertising, you hired a property manager, or made any other step towards renting it out), but...
How do I know if a dividend stock is “safe” and not a “dividend yield trap”?
Great answers. Here's my two cents: First, don't forget to look at the overall picture, not just the dividend. Study the company's income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement for the last few years. Make sure they have good earnings potential, and are not carrying too much debt. I know it's dull, but it's b...
If USA defaults on its debt, will the T bond holder get back his money
The only party that can pay back a government bond is the government that issued it itself. In the case of Argentina, US vulture funds have won cases against it, but it has yet to pay. The best one can do to collect is to sue in a jurisdiction that permits and hope to seize the defaulted government's assets held in su...
Single employee - paying for health insurance premiums with pre-tax money
Pre tax insurance is not possible unless the emplyer provides hsa and do a payroll deduction. Obamacare is all post tax and you can do deduction if your expenses exceeds 10%of your income
What is the tax treatment of scrip dividends in the UK?
The HMRC website says: Stock dividends are treated as income by virtue of CTA10/S1049, and taxable as savings income under Chapter 5 of Part 4 of ITTOIA05 (sections 409 to 414). ITTOIA05 is the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005, and says: 409 Charge to tax on stock dividend income (1) Income tax is charged...
What does APR mean I'm paying?
Welcome to the world of personal finance. IMO, you are heading for trouble. To answer your question, the APR is the annual percentage rate, or what you pay to borrow money from the CC issuer. For example, if you charge $100, and the bill comes, and you pay $100 on or before the due date you pay nothing. If you pay t...
Paying taxes on dividends even though your capital gains were $0?
The issue for you seems to be the sequence of events. Presumably, there will be a gain in the fund. In one year, you have a fund worth $100,000 and the $8500 your netted from the $10,000 dividend. (Dividends are taxed at 15% for most of us. If your taxable income is under $38K single, it's $0) An $8500 net return for t...
Is insurance worth it if you can afford to replace the item? If not, when is it?
In regards to purchasing full coverage on your car even if you can afford to replace it, consider the hassle you have to deal with an accident that is not just the cost. As an example, my sister's car was stolen and wrecked. It was her problem to go recover the car on the other side of the state such that she would n...
Is a currency “hedged” ETF actually a more speculative instrument than an unhedged version?
I will just try to come up with a totally made up example, that should explain the dynamics of the hedge. Consider this (completely made up) relationship between USD, EUR and Gold: Now lets say you are a european wanting to by 20 grams of Gold with EUR. Equally lets say some american by 20 grams of Gold with USD. Their...
question about short selling stocks
My take on this is that with any short-selling contract you are engaging in, at a specified time in the future you will need to transfer ownership of the item(s) you sold to the buyer. Whether you own the item(s) or in your case you will buy your friend's used car in the meantime (or dig enough gold out of the ground ...
What are my options to make my money work for me?
As stated in the comments, Index Funds are the way to go. Stocks have the best return on investment, if you can stomach the volatility, and the diversification index funds bring you is unbeatable, while keeping costs low. You don't need an Individual Savings Account (UK), 401(k) (US) or similar, though they would be h...
Loan to son - how to get it back
A few ideas. I suggest it would wise to consider what lesson is learned as a result of any resolution of a financial issue. Is it a lesson of responsibility and of the importance of keeping one's word, or of getting away with whatever happens (poorly planned business) with no adverse consequences. "No" consequences (e....
How can I diversify investments across currencies in ISA?
Just buy a FTSE-100 tracker. It's cheap and easy, and will hedge you pretty well, as the FTSE-100 is dominated by big mining and oil companies who do most of their business in currencies other than sterling.
Pros & cons of investing in gold vs. platinum?
It is only wise to invest in what you understand (ala Warren Buffet style). Depending on how much money you have, you might see fit to consult a good independent financial advisor instead of seeking advice from this website. A famous quote goes: “Those who say, do not know. Those who know, do not say”
Buying insurance (extended warranty or guarantee) on everyday goods / appliances?
I decline politely. The cost of the insurance policy has two components: The actual cost of a likely repair + profit. If I set aside the cost of a likely repair myself, then I get to keep the profit. If the item doesn't break, I get to keep the "repair" money too :)
What is the probabiltiy of being assigned if the call expires in the money
If you are in the money at expiration you are going to get assigned to the person on the other side of the contract. This is an extremely high probability. The only randomness comes from before expiration. Where you may be assigned because a holder exercised the option before expiration, this can unbalance some of your...
Payment default penalties on annuities
I don't know how annuities work it's all smoke and mirrors to me. This is a huge red flag to me. I would ask the agent what the penalty is to cancel this contract, and see ho much you can get back. If done right, you should be able to transfer these funds to an IRA or other pretax account. To be clear, I'd make a simi...
Buying a mortgaged house
Go on a website that has real estate listings. Find similar homes in the same neighborhood and list out the prices. Once you have prices, pick out two with different prices and call the realtor of the more expensive listing. Tell that realtor about the other listing and ask why their listing is more expensive. Comp...
How to deal with the credit card debt from family member that has passed away?
Debts do not inherit to the children. You are absolutely not liable for your parent's debt, in any way whatsoever. ** Collection agents will lie about this; tricking you is their job, and your job is to tell them Heck no, do I look like an idiot? When a person dies, all their personal assets (and debts) go to a fictit...
How bad is it to have a lot of credit available but not used?
I never give advice but I will now because you are getting poor advice. I run between 820 and 835 for a FICO score and have for years. I have a Discover, AMEX, VISA and MC. I have over 200,000 dollars of credit and I never EVER pay interest. I pay off the cards every month. So, does it matter how much credit you h...
Will progressively investing with moderate-to-high risk help secure a future?
There are a few flaws in your reasoning: I know my portfolio will always keep going up, No, it won't. You'll have periods of losses. You are starting your investing in a bull market. Do NOT be fooled into believing that your successes now will continue indefinitely. The more risky your portfolio, the bigger the loss...
Where do countries / national governments borrow money from?
It's more complicated than that. Governments raise money in a number of ways. First, they tax economic activity within their borders and for connected companies and individuals. Then, some governments have actual revenues from state-owned enterprises (licences, patents, courts, business revenues, and so on). Whatever...
The doctor didn't charge the health insurance in time, am I liable?
This has a straightforward answer. It's likely that your doctor and the hospital have no responsibility to ensure that your insurance claim is filed in a timely manner. They bill you whether you or they get reimbursed by insurance, or not. The insurance company is more than happy not to pay you any way they can. Sorry ...
static data for mutual funds/hedge funds
It's not really my field, but I believe it's all the information that doesn't change (i.e. isn't "real-time") about the business of hedge funds. For example, this site quotes: The product maintains comprehensive static data records including assets, depositories, accounts, settlement instructions and a wide rang...
Yahoo Finance not showing detailed information for foreign stocks
The cause of incomplete/inaccurate financial data's appearing on free sites is that it is both complicated and expensive to obtain and parse these data. Even within a single country, different pieces of financial data are handled by different authorities. In the US, for example, there is one generally recognized autho...
What should a 19 year old with a moderate inheritance look for in a financial advisor?
I think your question is pretty wise, and the comments indicate that you understand the magnitude of the situation. First off, there could be nothing that your friend could do. Step parent relationships can be strained and this could make it worse, add the age of the girl and grief and he could make this a lot worse...
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...
Is it common in the US not to pay medical bills?
My answer might be out of date due to the Affordable Health Care law. I will answer for the way things were prior to that law taking effect. In my experience, hospitals have a financial assistance program you can apply for. If you can show a financial need, the hospital will only charge you a certain percentage of yo...
Is interest on a personal loan tax deductible?
Assuming USA: It is possible to make the interest deductible if you go to the trouble of structuring, and filing, the loan as an actual mortgage on a primary residence. Websearching "intra-family loan" will find several firms which specialize in this. It costs about $700 for all the paperwork and filing fees as of last...
Accepting high volatility for high long-term returns
This is basically what financial advisers have been saying for years...that you should invest in higher risk securities when you are young and lower risk securities when you get older. However, despite the fact that this is taken as truth by so many financial professionals, financial economists have been unable to form...
When an in-the-money stock option expires does the broker always execute it or does its value become worthless if the owner doesn't execute it?
It depends on the broker, each one's rules may vary. Your broker should be able to answer this question for how they handle such a situation. The broker I used would execute and immediately sell the stock if the option was 25 cents in the money at expiration. If they simply executed and news broke over the weekend (opt...
What should I do with the change in my change-jar?
Every now and then I fill a pocket with a handful of coins and spend it on a very small shop on my way home, i.e. a loaf of bread (£1.50), a pint of milk (50p) by using the self-check out (Tesco/Sainsbury's) which has a coin slot or even better the little bowl where you put coins down. I find this pretty straightforwar...
What is a formula for calculating equity accumulated while repaying car loan?
Here is a simple way to analyze the situation. Go to your bank or credit union website and use their loan calculator with their current real interest rates and down payment requirements. Enter the rate, and number of years. Enter different values for the loan amount to get the monthly payment to the level you want ($40...
Will a credit card issuer cancel an account if it never incurs interest?
When you buy something with your credit card, the store pays a fee to the credit card company, typically a base fee of 15 to 50 cents plus 2 to 3% of the purchase. At least, that's what it was a few years back when I had a tiny business and I wanted to accept credit cards. Big chain stores pay less because they are "bu...
Tax implications of exercising ISOs and using proceeds to exercise more ISOs
This may be a good or a bad deal, depending on the fair market value (FMV) of the stock at the time of exercise. Let's assume the FMV is $6, which is the break even point. In general this would probably be treated as two transactions. So overall you would be cash neutral, but your regular tax income would be increased ...
Which is better when working as a contractor, 1099 or incorporating?
I am surprised no one has mentioned the two biggest things (in my opinion). Or I should say, the two biggest things to me. First, 1099 have to file quarterly self employment taxes. I do not know for certain but I have heard that often times you will end up paying more this way then even a W-2 employees. Second, an ...
Any Ubiquitous Finance App That is on Mac, iOS and Windows?
Mint.com is a web app with an iPhone (and Android) app. Also, You Need A Budget appears to support all three.
Repairs to a house in order to rent it that were paid by the beneficiary, but is still owned by a Trust
The Trustee has allowed me to act as his "agent", continuing to pay bills, and take care of much of the administrative affairs for my mother's estate since I did all of it for years before she passed away. I was not paid for any of this work. ... The expenses were more than $30K last year, and there is still a pu...
Would I ever need credit card if my debit card is issued by MasterCard/Visa?
You ask about the difference between credit and debit, but that may be because you're missing something important. Regardless of credit/debit, there is value in carrying two different cards associated with two different accounts. The reason is simply that because of loss, fraud, or your own mismanagement, or even the b...
How to invest in stocks without using an intermediary like a broker? Can shares be bought direct?
Yes! What you are describing is an "off-exchange" trade and can be done using stock certificates. Here, you will privately negotiate with the seller on a price and delivery details. That is the old-school way to do it. Many companies (about 20% of the S&P 500) will not issue paper certificates and you may run a hefty p...
Where to find out conversion ratio between General Motors bonds and new GM stock?
Looks like the result got decided recently, with a little uncertainty about exactly how much is the total allowed claims: http://www.wilmingtontrust.com/gmbondholders/plan_disclosure.html http://www.wilmingtontrust.com/gmbondholders/pdf/GUC_Trust_Agreement.pdf They give the following example: Accordingly, pursuant to S...
What does a contract's worth mean?
The amount stated is the total amount of money the customer will be paying to the company. How much profit that will translate into is dependent on the type of contract. Some types of contracts: Cost plus fixed fee: they are paid what it costs to complete the contract plus a fee on top of that. That fee represents the...
What happens when a stock gets delisted?
When a delisting happens, the primary process involves, the firm or the entity, trying to buy everyone out so that they can take the firm private by delisting from the stock exchanges. As the firm wants to buy everyone out, the current owners of the equity have the upper hand. They wouldn't want to sell if they believe...
How to increase my credit score
Do you have the option of paying cash for the phone? To answer your question though: Essentially, you have to use credit RESPONSIBLY. That doesn't mean go get a slew of loans and pay them off. As Ratish said, a credit card is a good start. I basically buy everything with a card and then pay it off every month when the ...
Why do stocks tend to trade at high volumes at the end of (or start) the trading day?
Trading volumes are higher at the end of the day as many traders close their open positions. In the morning however, traders incorporate various factors like performance of worldwide markets overnight, any corporate or government announcements, global macro events, etc.
How do you choose which mortgage structure is appropriate when buying a home?
Down payment: Emphatically avoid PMI if at all possible; it's pouring money down the drain. Do 20% down if you can, or pay off enough to bring you above 20% and ask for PMI to be removed as soon as you can. Beyond that it's a matter of how much risk you want to accept and how long you'll own the place, and you'll have ...
Pros/Cons of Buying Discounted Company Stock
I see another way of looking at this that hasn't been addressed yet. By offering the discount, the company is attempting to change your behavior into doing something irrational, that benefits them at your expense. The company hopes for one (or more) of the following psychological effects to happen to you: The proper th...
What's the smartest way to invest money gifted to a child?
American Century has their Heritage Fund: https://www.americancentury.com/sd/mobile/fund_facts_jstl?fund=30 It has a good track record. Here are all the mutual funds from American Century: https://www.americancentury.com/content/americancentury/direct/en/fund-performance/performance.html A mutual fund is a good wayway...
How do I report this cash bonus/tip on income tax return?
Daniel covered the correct way to file on the returns, I'm chiming in specifically to discuss the question of whether it could be a gift. The IRS will classify it as a tip even if the person giving it says it's a gift if a service was rendered before the gift was given. The only way that you could make a case to the IR...
Should I make partial pre-payments on an actuarial loan?
The contract is not very clear. As much as I can understand it will still help if you make part prepayments. In an Rule 78 or Actuarial method, the schedule is drawn up front and the break-up of interest and principal for each month is calculated ahead. At the beginning both the reducing balance method as well as Actua...
How to choose a company for an IRA?
I use TIAA-Cref for my 403(b) and Fidelity for my solo 401(k) and IRAs. I have previously used Vanguard and have also used other discount brokers for my IRA. All of these companies will charge you nothing for an IRA, so there's really no point in comparing cost in that respect. They are all the "cheapest" in this res...
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 ...
“Business day” and “due date” for bills
You definitely have an argument for getting them to reverse the late fee, especially if it hasn't happened very often. (If you are late every month they may be less likely to forgive.) As for why this happens, it's not actually about business days, but instead it's based on when they know that you paid. In general, the...
What happens if a purchase is $0.02 in Canada?
As someone who works for a company that deploys POS systems in Canada, I can tell you that your best bet would be to have a configuration option that lets the client decide what to do. If they have a business practice that would allow for a sale total to be $0.01 or $0.02, they should first evaluate their business prac...
How smart is it to really be 100% debt free?
If you can borrow for an asset that gives you income that's more than the cost of carrying the debt, then go for it. But the kinds of debts you have now aren't those kinds of debt, so get rid of them.
Should I charge my children interest when they borrow money?
In terms of preserving good relationships one approach is to charge a nominal rate of interest. maybe a few percent of the total and agree a time when it should be paid back. This may actually make them feel better about borrowing them money, especially, especially if it is something like business loan or buying a hous...
Is Weiss Research, Inc. a legitimate financial research company?
This company was a reputable rating agency for many years. See Weiss Research website, ratings section for a very different perspective on Martin Weiss's work than the websites with which he is now associated. I checked both links provided, and agree with the questioner in every way: These appear to be highly questiona...
Which Benjamin Graham book should I read first: Security Analysis or Intelligent Investor?
I would recommend reading Intelligent Investor first. It was written slightly more recently (1949) than Security Analysis (1934). More important is that a recently revised edition* of Intelligent Investor was published. The preface and appendix were written by Warren Buffett. Intelligent Investor is more practical as a...
Credit card expenses showing as Liabilities in QuickBooks
Is it normal in QuickBooks to have credit card expenses being shows as liabilities? Is there a way I can correct this? If they are expenses they shouldn't be negative liabilities unless you overpaid your credit card by that amount. It sounds like perhaps when you linked the account the credit/debit mapping may have b...
Is there a candlestick pattern that guarantees any kind of future profit?
I would go even farther than Victor's answer. There is little evidence that candlestick patterns and technical analysis in general have any predictive power. Even if they did in the past, of which there is some evidence, in modern times they are so easy to do on computers that if they worked algorithmic traders woul...
Is an analyst's “price target” assumed to be for 12 months out?
If the time horizon is not indicated, this is just a "fair price". The price of the stock, which corresponds with the fair value of the whole company. The value, which the whole business is worth, taking into consideration its net income, current bonds yield, level of risk of the business, perspective of the business e...
Why does 'further borrowing' always mean permanent extra mortgage accounts?
It is possible to consolidate mortgages with Nationwide, in some circumstances. Quote from their website: It is possible to consolidate different mortgages and other debts such as personal loans and credit cards. However it does depend on your individual circumstances, including the exact type of loans you want to cons...
Ways to save for child's college education where one need not commit to set contributions? [duplicate]
In my opinion, whichever plan or commodity system you use is just supplemental to a very simple thing: go to your bank's online account, set up a regular transfer (monthly in my case, maybe weekly for you depending on when you get your salary in your country/state) to a savings' account in your kid's name with a decent...
To rebalance or not to rebalance
This answer will assume you know more math than most. An ideal case: For the point of argument, first consider the following admittedly incorrect assumptions: 1) The prices of all assets in your investment universe are continuously differentiable functions of time. 2) Investor R (for rebalance) continuously buys and ...
In the stock market, why is the “open” price value never the same as previous day's “close”?
The two answers so far are right, but there's a third factor - for many stocks, there's after hours trading. So the official 4PM close is not what the stock's last trade was when they open again. Regardless, even that after hour price is not the starting point as Muro points out.
After Hours S&P 500
My original answer contained a fundamental error: it turns out that it is not true that any exchange can create its own product to track any underlying index. If the underlying index is copyrighted (such as the S&P indices, Russell indices, Dow Jones indices, etc.) then the exchange must enter into a licensing agreeme...
I spend too much money. How can I get on the path to a frugal lifestyle?
Lots of good answers here about budgeting and other ideas. Here's a couple more: Think about offense and defense. Offense is how much money you make. Are you making enough to survive on? Is there a way you could bring in more income? Defense is what you do with your money. Do you have expensive habits? Do you ha...