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Cheapest way to “wire” money in an Australian bank account to a person in England, while I'm in Laos?
I successfully used Currency Fair a few times, they seem to cater for both Australia and the UK. If I remember correctly, you can set everything up via Internet. As they explain on their website, first you open an account with them, then you transfer AUD to an Australian bank account that they will give you, then you e...
Scammer wants details and credentials for my empty & unused bank account. What could go wrong?
First off, do not ever tell someone your password. Nobody who actually works for the bank would need your password to access the account. Also, it may or may not be a scam (it almost assuredly is), but it is not a good idea to let someone use your bank account in your name. What if they use your account to launder mone...
ESPP strategy - Sell right away or hold?
A general rule of thumb is to avoid having more than 5% of your investments in any single stock, to avoid excessive risk; it's usually even more risky if you're talking company stock because an adverse event could result in an inferior stock price and you getting laid off. Under other circumstances, the ideal amount of...
Saving $1,000+ per month…what should I do with it?
If you can get a rate of savings that is higher than your debt, you save. If you can't then you pay off your debt. That makes the most of the money you have. Also to think about: what are you goals? Do you want to own a home, start a family, further your education, move to a new town? All of these you would need t...
How much do large sell orders affect stock price?
In general, how does a large open market stock sale affect prices? A very general answer, all other things being equal, the price will move down. However there is nothing general. It depends on total number of shares in market and total turn over for that specific shares. The order book for the day etc. What is the max...
Can I buy and sell a house quickly to access the money in a LISA?
I've got £476,000 but the maximum house price is £450,000. What happens to the £26,000. Does it stay there with ~6% interest (and no bonus of course), and would be available when I retire at around 75 (there would be about £106,000 by then)? Yes, anything you don't withdraw for your house purchase stays in the Lifeti...
Why does money value normally decrease?
Your house doesn't need to multiply in order to earn a return. Your house can provide shelter. That is not money, but is an economic good and can also save you money (if you would otherwise pay rent). This is the primary form of return on the investment for many houses. It is similar for other large capital investments...
Is it accurate to say that if I was to trade something, my probability of success can't be worse than random?
Don't compare investing with a roll of the dice, compare it with blackjack and the decision to stand or hit, or put more money on the table (double down or increase bet size) , based on an assessment of the state of the table and history. A naive strategy of say "always hitting to 16" isn't as awful as randomly hittin...
give free budgeting advice
Legally ok? Sure. Friends frequently discuss financial matters, and share advice. This is quite far from taking money from them and managing it, where at some point you need to be licensed for such things. If you're concerned about giving bad advice, just stay generic. The best advice has no risk. If I offer a friend a...
Where or how can I model historical market purchases
This site should help you to accomplish what you are looking for: https://www.quantopian.com
Buying a home with down payment from family as a “loan”
I'll compare it to a situation that is different, but will involve the same cash flow. Imagine the buyer agrees that you buy only 70% of the house right now, and the remaining 30% in 7 years time. It would be obviously fair to pay 70% of today's value today, pay 30% of a reasonable rent for 7 years (because 30% of th...
How to transform dividends into capital gains?
Some investment trusts have "zero dividend preference shares" which deliver all their gains as capital gains rather than income, even if the trust was investing in income yielding stocks. They've rather gone out of fashion after a scandal some years ago (~2000). Good 2014 article on them here includes the quote "Beca...
How much is inflation?
FYI...prices don't always go up. Inflation is a monetary phenomenon. I'm simplifying greatly here: if more money is printed (or the money supply increases through fractional reserve banking) and it is chasing the same amount of goods then prices will go up. Conversely, if money is held constant and the economy becom...
Malaysian real estate: How to know if the market is overheated or in a bubble?
I think the only sure way to know if there is a bubble is to wait till it bursts and buy then. If it would be easy to tell there wouldn't be any bubbles.
Why would a company care about the price of its own shares in the stock market?
Stock price is an indicator about the health of the company. Increased profits (for example) will drive the stock price up; excessive debt (for example) will drive it down. The stock price has a profound effect on the company overall: for example, a declining share price will make it hard to secure credit, attract fur...
Are there statistics showing percentage of online brokerage customers that are actually making a profit trading forex/futures/options?
Finding statistics is exceedingly hard, because the majority of traders lose money. That is, not only they don't "beat the markets", not only they don't "beat the benchmark" (S&P 500 being used a lot as reference): they just lose money. Finding exact numbers, quality statistics and so on is very difficult. Finding rece...
Why are U.S. credit unions not open to everyone?
Credit unions are mutually-owned (i.e. customer owned) financial institutions that provide banking services. They take deposits from their members (customers) and loan them to other members. Members vote on a board of directors who manage operations. They are considered not-for-profit, but they pay interest on depo...
Why aren't there solutions for electronic itemized receipt for retail in-store purchases?
In some stores that is done. When I shop at the Apple store or at the Farmers market the receipt is automatically sent to my email address. Why don't others do it? If the target of the itemized receipt is a credit card company they would be sending data that they spent collecting to another corporation. The grocery sto...
How does on-demand insurance company Trov prevent insurance fraud or high prices?
For example, it is not allowed to buy flood insurance at peak flood season and then cancel it when it is over. They are not offering this right now. So it would be interesting to see if they offer this and how they offer this. For example, you can insure your camera for a week when you are going on vacation. They call ...
Better ways to invest money held by my small, privately-held Canadian corporation?
Since you are talking about a small firm, for the long term, it would be advisable to invest your money into the expansion - growth, diversification, integration - of your business. However, if your intention is to make proper use of your earnings in the short term, a decent bank deposit would help you to increase the ...
Why do people buy stocks that pay no dividend?
Nobody is going to buy a stock without returns. However, returns are dividends + capital gains. So long as there is enough of the latter it doesn't matter if there is none of the former. Consider: Berkshire Hathaway--Warren Buffet's company. It has never paid dividends. It just keeps going up because Warren Buffet...
What are the pros and cons of buying a house just to rent it out?
You should absolutely go for it, and I encourage you to look for multi-unit (up to 4) properties if there are any in your area. With nulti-unit properties it is far more common than not that the other units pay the mortgage. To comment on your point about slowly building an asset if the renter covers the payment; that...
More money towards down payment versus long-term investments
Another vote for a bigger downpayment, for the reasons Benjamin mentions. Also, from experience, I would save up at least a small pile as a separate house emergency fund because you will find things that are wrong and/or that got bodged by the previous owner and it's probably not going to last past the first few months...
Stocks: do Good Till Cancelled orders get executed during after hours?
You typically need to specify that you want the GTC order to be working during the Extended hours session. I trade on TD Ameritrade's Thinkorswim platform, and you can select DAY, GTC, EXT or GTC_EXT. So in your case, you would select GTC_EXT.
Why charge gross receipts taxes to the customer?
It sounds like "gross receipt tax" is essentially the same thing most states call "sales tax", which is always handled this way -- prices displayed are pre-tax, tax is added when the final price is calculated. One reason for doing it that way is that most prices result in taxes that involve fractions of pennies, and c...
How can I verify that a broker I found online is legitimate?
(I answered a similar question before.) Essentially, you shouldn't trust a site you find on the Internet merely because it looks professional and real. Before signing up with any new service provider you found online, you should verify the authenticity of both the organization itself and their web site address. Even i...
Is it better to buy this used car from Craigslist or from a dealership?
I do not think you are missing much. One thing you have right is low cost cars depreciate almost nothing. One thing you are missing is your satisfaction index. Driving a 200K car for 4 years requires a bit of motivation when your friends are driving new cars. Typically you need a larger goal to keep you focused. T...
Are there common stock price trends related to employee option plans?
Whenever a large number of shares to be sold hit the market at the same time the expectation is that the price for each share will drop. The employees in a normal market would be expected to sell some of their shares at the first opportunity. Because during the dot com boom some companies employees were able to become ...
What's the difference between a high yield dividend stock vs a growth stock?
I think Fidelity has a very nice introduction to Growth vs Value investing that may give you the background you need. People love to put stocks in categories however the distinction is more of a range and can change over time. JB King makes a good point that for most people the two stocks you mentioned would both be c...
How does giving to charity work?
For many people, giving to charity will have minimal effect on their taxes. Non-profits love to attract donations by saying the money is tax deductible, but for most people, it doesn't work out that way. You will only itemize deductions if they exceed your standard deduction. The IRS allows you to either "itemize" your...
Saving for a down payment on a new house, a few years out. Where do we put our money next?
In October 2011 in the United States, you just don't have any options. Save your money in a savings account and that is the best you can do. Your desire to buy a house means you are a saver not an investor, and you risk tolerance on this pile of money is 0. Save it in a bank account; I highly doubt chasing an interes...
Am I legally allowed to offset the tax I pay on freelance work? (UK)
Yes, you can deduct from your taxable profits (almost) any expenses incurred in the course of your business. See here for HMRC's detailed advice on the subject. The fact that you have salaried PAYE employment as well makes no difference.
What tax can I expect on US stocks in a UK ISA?
non-resident aliens to the US do not pay capital gains on US products. You pay tax in your home country if you have done a taxable event in your country. http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/06/nonusresidenttax.asp#axzz1mQDut9Ru but if you hold dividends, you are subject to US dividend tax. The UK-US treaty should t...
What is the best way to invest in gold as a hedge against inflation without having to hold physical gold?
Since GLD is priced as 1/10 oz of gold, I'd call it the preferred way to buy if that's your desire. I believe gold is entering classic bubble territory. Caveat emptor. A comment brought me back to this question. My answer still applies, the ETF the best way to buy gold at the lowest transaction cost. The day I posted ...
Is Bogleheadism (index fund investing) dead?
Dogma always disappoints. The notion that an index fund is the end-all, be-all for investing because the expense ratios are low is a flawed one. I don't concern myself with cost as an independent factor -- I look for the best value. Bogle's dogma lines up with his business, so you need to factor that in as well. Vend...
If I have $1000 to invest in penny stocks online, should I diversify risk and invest in many of them or should I invest in just in one?
If you want to put in $1000 into penny stocks, I wouldn't be calling that investing but more like speculation or gambling. You might have better odds at a casino. If you don't have much money at the moment to invest properly and you are just starting out as an investor, I would spend that $1000 on educating yourself so...
How can I remove the movement of the stock market as a whole from the movement in price of an individual share?
The portion of a stock movement not correlated with stocks in general is called Alpha. I don't know of any online tools to graph alpha. Keep in mind that a company like Apple is so huge right now that any properly weighted index will have to correlate with it to some degree.
Did an additional $32 billion necessarily get invested into Amazon.com stock on October 26th, 2017?
No, a jump in market capitalization does not equal the amount that has been invested. Market cap is simply the stock price times the total number of shares. This represents a theoretical value of the company. I say "theoretical" because the company might not be able to be sold for that at all. The quoted stock price ...
What does it mean for a normal citizen like me when my country's dollar value goes down?
There are several possible effects: There isn't much you could do about it. If you had enough money to try to hedge by buying foreign securities, in theory you could be happy no matter what your dollar did: if it goes up, you have pain or gain from local effects (depending on whether imports or exports have a bigger ef...
What is the meaning of “writing put options”?
Write means sell to open. It is called that because options writers are creating (i.e. writing) new contracts. No such thing as "reading" an option.
What size “nest egg” should my husband and I have, and by what age?
There are three numbers that matter in that calculation: 1) How much do you expect per month from in pension/social security/or other retirement programs? 2) At what age will each of you retire? 3) How long will each of you live? 4) What will your annual expenses be when you retire? Unfortunately #3 is the most importa...
Company Payment Card
From the other point of view (company use) it makes sense to segregate expenses incurred on the company's behalf away from an employee's personal expenses. This way if there were any requirement to prove that certain expenses were for the company's benefit it is not intermingled with an employee's personal expenses. ...
What can I replace Microsoft Money with, now that MS has abandoned it?
Check the Financial section in this list of Open Source Software
Algorithmic trading in linux using python
A couple options that I know of: Interactive Brokers offers a "paper trading" mode to its account holders that allows you to start with a pretend stack of money and place simulated trades to test trading ideas. They also provide an API that allows you to interface with their platform programmatically for retrieving quo...
irr calculation on stock with dividends
Re. question 2 If I buy 20 shares every year, how do I get proper IRR? ... (I would have multiple purchase dates) Use the money-weighted return calculation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rate_of_return#Internal_rate_of_return where t is the fraction of the time period and Ct is the cash flow at that time period. For ...
Free service for automatic email stock alert when target price is met?
Hey guys, I found this website, it seems to do it for free, and they have many options. If let me know if you find something better than this. http://members.zignals.com/main/
When an insider discloses a stock trade are they required to execute?
They are not required to fulfill the trade that they have intended to execute. They are able to cancel or modify the trade at any point. Example: This is how insiders are able to manipulate the price of shares through there buying and selling intentions. A CEO would be able to disclose a buy order for a month from n...
Why won't my retirement account let me write a “covered put”?
A broker does not have to allow the full trading suite the regulations permit. From brokersXpress: Do you allow equity and index options trading in brokersXpress IRAs? Yes, we allow trading of equity and index options in IRAs based on the trading level assigned to an investor. Trading in IRAs includes call buying,...
Are there contracts for fixed pay vs. fixed pay rates?
Yes. I have personally signed such contracts (fixed budget software development) and lost money every single time. And yes, it is quite possible for you to get paid under minimum wage if you take too long. Scope creep is the primary culprit for these kinds of contracts, so make sure you put together iron-clad explanati...
Can one use Google Finance to backtest (i.e. simulate trades in the past)?
I've used yahoo to perform the exercise you're asking about. It allows you to download price data, month end if you wish, and by manipulating via a spreadsheet to add a column for purchases, you can easily see how your £100/mo would end after so long a time period.
Can one use Google Finance to backtest (i.e. simulate trades in the past)?
If you use Google Finance, you will get incorrect results because Google Finance does not show the dividend history. Since your requirement is that dividends are re-invested, you should use Yahoo Finance instead, downloading the historical 'adjusted' price.
When should I start an LLC for my side work?
An LLC is overkill for 99% of 1 man small businesses. Side-businesses should remain as sole proprieterships until they get much larger and need the benefits of the LLC laws. You can still bill through a company name if you want to start building a brand: And set aside 25% of your gross income for Uncle Sam. He wants yo...
I carelessly invested in a stock on a spike near the peak price. How can I salvage my investment?
Just get out. If the investment isn't going up, you are losing money to inflation, as well as the opportunity cost of not having the money somewhere more profitable. These things happen to the best of us. Just learn from it and move on. Some valuable lessons: Just keep trying. Mistakes like this are all part of the lea...
How might trading volume affect future share price?
There is no direct relationship between volume and stock price. High volume indicates how much stock is changing hands. That can be because people are enthusiastically buying OR enthusiastically selling... and their reasons for doing so may not agree with your own sense of the future value of the stock. Higher volume m...
How to handle taxes related to affiliate marketing?
Is it right that I request form W-9 or form W-8BEN (for non U.S. citizens) from the affiliate users before sending them payments? Not just OK. Required. I know that I have to send form 1099, but I don't know where does this form should go to. Should I send it to the IRS or the affiliate user or both? Both. There'...
Should I use a credit repair agency?
So you are in IT, that is great news because you can earn a fabulous income. The part time is not great, but you can use this to your advantage. You can get another job or three to boost your income in the short term. In the long term you should be able to find a better paying job fairly easily. There is one way ...
Are stock investments less favorable for the smaller investor?
If you are looking at long-term investments then you can look to Dheer's answer and see that it doesn't matter whether the money is large or small, the return will be the same. When it comes to shorter-term investments, it can actually pay to be a smaller investor. Consider a stock that may not be trading in high volu...
Stock portfolio value & profit in foreign currency
It's very simple. Use USDSGD. Here's why: Presenting profits/losses in other currencies or denominations can be useful if you want to sketch out the profit/loss you made due to foreign currency exposure but depending on the audience of your app this may sometimes confuse people (like yourself).
What percentage of my portfolio should be in individual stocks?
I find the question interesting, but it's beyond an intelligent answer. Say what you will about Jim Cramer, his advice to spend "an hour per month on each stock" you own appears good to me. But it also limits the number of stocks you can own. Given that most of us have day jobs in other fields, you need to decide how ...
Split buying a house 3 ways. How do I approach this?
I would second the advice to not do this. Real estate ownership is complex to begin with, involving a constant stream of maintenance, financing, and other decisions. It is difficult enough to do for a single individual or a family as a unit (a couple), but at least spouses are forced to compromise. Friends are not, an...
Are there “buy and hold” passively managed funds?
They pretty much already have what you are looking for. They are called Unit Investment Trusts. The key behind these is (a) the trust starts out with a fixed pool of securities. It is completely unmanaged and there is no buying or selling of the securities, (b) they terminate after a fixed period of time, at which ...
Where should I park my money if I'm pessimistic about the economy and I think there will be high inflation?
Given those assumptions (which I happen to think are reasonable) it seems to me the obvious place is to buy non-Australian assets, such as the Vanguard VTS (total US share market) and VEU (world ex-US) ETFs, and perhaps also some international fixed-interest ETFs. I think keeping a certain amount of cash would be pru...
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" ...
Should we park our money in our escrow account?
You should talk to a financial fiduciary (make sure they are a fiduciary, not all planners are) about investing your money. Even ultra safe investments such as treasury bonds will beat the 1% interest rate offered by your savings account (the yield on the 5 year treasury is currently around 2%).
How do you invest in real estate without using money?
Sounds like the seminar is about using OPM (other people's money), which means you're going to have to find not just real estate, but investors. Those investors are going to need a business plan, contracts, and a lot of work from you to provide as much equity as possible before the property is sold. If you're serious...
Salary equivalency: London vs Berlin
Germany is substantially cheaper than the London . You would need at least double your current income to maintain the same lifestyle in London. Even then, you will likely have to settle for a cramped housing or a long commute. Java developers are largely contractors in the UK. Typical wages and rates can be found at ...
how stock market sale work?
As stock prices have declined, the net worth of people has come down. Imagine owning a million shares of a stock worth $100/share. This is worth $100,000,000. Now, if the stock is suddenly trading at $50/share then some would say you have lost $50,000,000. The value of the stock is less. The uncertainty is always there...
What to do with an expensive, upside-down car loan?
First suggestion: Investigate refinancing the auto loan with a reputable credit union or bank. I reduced my costs by changing my auto loan to Pentagon Federal Credit Union, which charges about 4% interest rate (compared to 6% which was the standard about 2 years ago). (for instructions on how to join penfed, look at ...
Credit card issued against my express refusal; What action can I take?
I believe it is so. It doesn't sound like they did anything outright illegal, just a pushy upsell. You can complain to the bank manager. If you want you can mention the employee by name (if you know who they are). Ultimately, you can change banks. From what you say it sounds like you are dissatisfied with this ban...
When will Canada convert to the U.S. Dollar as an official currency?
The conspiracy buffs think this is already in the works. If you are interested, Google this fictional currency called the "Amero." Or you could just look up the snopes article on Amero.
Finding Uncorrelated Assets
Have a look at: Diversify Portfolio. The site provides various tools all focused on correlation, diversification and portfolio construction. You can scan through every stock and ETF listed on the NASDAQ and NYSE to find any kind of correlation you're looking for. You can also create a portfolio and then analyze all the...
How should I think about stock dividends?
Different stocks balance dividend versus growth differently. Some have relatively flat value but pay a strong dividend -- utility stocks used to be examples of that model, and bonds are in some sense an extreme version of this. Some, especially startups, pay virtually no dividends and aim for growth in the value of the...
Is stock trading based more on luck than poker playing?
I'd say that it cannot be meaningfully calculated or measured because the two are just too different in every way. Poker Stock trading I guess the last point (that someone relying on luck is exploitable in poker but not in stock trading) could be interpreted as stock trading being based more on luck, while the second a...
After Market Price change, how can I get it at that price?
Buying stocks is like an auction. Put in the price you want to pay and see if someone is willing to sell at that price. Thing to remember about after hours trading; There is a lot less supply so there's always a larger bid/ask price spread. That's the price brokers charge to handle the stocks they broker over and abov...
What happened to GOOG-stock? Why isn't it 1.000 USD?
The stock split, it is similar to what happened to Apple a little while back. When Google split 2 to 1, it means that each share holder got 2 shares for each 1 share they had and each share was 1/2 the price.
Is there a term that better describes a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) when it is negative?
Not sure why CAGR is a problem for both directions. I used to be a physicist, and, when I taught classes in graduate school, students always wanted to use the terms "accelerate" and "decelerate" to describe "speeding up" and "slowing down". But acceleration is just a vector with magnitude and direction. There's nothing...
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 ...
UK - reclaim VAT on purchases for freelance work
If you mostly do work for businesses/individuals who are VAT registered it's a no-brainer to become VAT registered yourself... Although you will have to charge your customers VAT (and pass this on to HMRC) because they are VAT-registered they will reclaim the amount so it won't actually 'cost' them anything. At the sam...
When's the best time to sell the stock of a company that is being acquired/sold?
This happened to me recently. What became the final offer was a cash buy-out of all of our shares rather than a conversion. The cash buy-out was higher than the company's original asking price and than the stock ever went on the market before hand. I was extremely pleased to have held on to the stock until the end. ...
What's the point of a chargeback when they just ask the merchant whether they owe money to the buyer?
The point of a chargeback is to force merchants to do the paperwork. Many merchants don't, and are easy targets for chargebacks, even when they have, in fact, provided the good or service. You used a tax prep service. They may have given you poor (technical) advice, but such firms are usually very good about doing the ...
Does it make sense to buy an index ETF (e.g. S&P 500) when the index is at an all-time high?
Being long the S&P Index ETF you can expect to make money. The index itself will never "crash" because the individual stocks in it are simply removed when they begin performing badly. This is not to say that the S&P Index won't lose 80% of its value in an instant (or over a few trading sessions if circuit breakers are ...
What is the preferred way to finance home improvements when preparing to sell your house?
In planning to buy a house, and sort out how to handle the costs of some initial renovations, I've been considering using Lowes and Home Depot credit cards (hopefully this will count differently than the typical credit cards I think you're referring to): http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?pn...
Is it true that 90% of investors lose their money?
Fail? What is the standard? If you include the base case of keeping your money under a mattress, then you only have to earn a $1 over your lifetime of investing to not fail. What about making more by investing when compared to keeping money in a checking or savings account? How could 90% of investors fail to achieve th...
What is an effective way to invest in electric car industry?
You could have googled this question. I did so and found a link to this article. YMMV taking investment advice from thestreet.com is very likely to lose you money. However, there do not seem to be any sector funds that specifically focus on the electric vehicle market. Along similar, but not exactly the same lines, t...
Covered call when stock position is at a loss
An expired option is a stand-alone event, sold at $X, with a bought at $0 on the expiration date. The way you phrased the question is ambiguous, as 'decrease toward zero' is not quite the same as expiring worthless, you'd need to buy it at the near-zero price to then sell another covered call at a lower strike. Edit ...
Bank statements - should I retain hardcopies for tax or other official purposes (or keep digital scanned copies)?
Digital records are fine, but record-keeping practices are important. Be consistent.
What gives non-dividend stocks value to purchasers? [duplicate]
Dividends are not fixed. A profitable company which is rapidly expanding, and thus cash-strapped may very well skip dividends, yet that same fast growth makes it valuable. When markets saturate, and expansion stops, the same company may now have a large free cash flow so it can pay dividends.
How long do credit cards keep working after you disappear?
Generally speaking the bank accounts and credit card accounts remain open. Banks and the credit card companies don't monitor public records on a daily basis. Instead, whoever is handling your estate will need to obtain copies of your death certificate and they will then search your paper records to identify all accou...
Why does it take 3 days to do electronic transfers between banks? [duplicate]
I was perplexed by this until a few days ago when it finally clicked in a meeting with our fraud and money laundering teams in work (I work on trading surveillance). Apparently fraud detection and prevention of money laundering are currently the biggest delayers when it comes to electronic transfer of funds, checking t...
Does anyone offer no interest loans?
This is very much possible and happens quite a lot. In the US, for example, promotional offers by credit card companies where you pay no interest on the balance for a certain period are a very common thing. The lender gains a new customer on such a loan, and usually earns money from the spending via the merchant fees (...
Can I use a different HSA than PayFlex that came with aetna?
Much of this is incorrect. Aetna owns Payflex for starters, and it's your EMPLOYER who decides which banks and brokers to offer, not Payflex. An HSA is a checking account with an investment account option after a minimum balance is met. A majority of U.S. employers only OFFER an HSA option but don't contribute a penny,...
How to transfer money to yourself internationally?
I use XE.com for almost the same purpose. They have free transfer options, such as ACH withdrawals and deposits. I normally do a online bill payment through my international bank to XE, and have them deposit it in the US via ACH. It takes 1-3 business days, and there's no fee beyond their small percentage (about 1.2...
Why do I see multiple trades of very small quantities?
Or it could be a Robinhood user just messing around with their free commissions. I've seen "people that work for organizations" and other analysts go crazy over some completely benign activity. It is like playing poker with a newbie, unpredictable.
Can a company charge you for services never requested or received?
In general, you can only be charged for services if there is some kind of contract. The contract doesn't have to be written, but you have to have agreed to it somehow. However, it is possible that you entered into a contract due to some clause in the home purchase contract or the contract with the home owners' associat...
What are the reasons to get more than one credit card?
In the case of reward cards, different cards may offer different rewards for different kind of purchases. For example, in the UK, one of the Amex cards offers 1.25% cashback on all purchases, whereas one of the Santander cards offers 3% on fuel, 2% or 1% on certain other transactions, and nothing on others. Of course, ...
What exactly is a “derivative”?
There are a few unsavory factors that have led to the creation of new derivatives:
How can I find ISIN numbers for stock options?
Because an equity option can be constructed at essentially any price by two willing counterparties on an exchange, there are not enough ISINs to represent the entire (i.e. infinite) option chain for even a single stock on a single expiration date. As a result, ISINs are not generated for each individual possible optio...
How could strike price for new shares be higher than the market price
This can arise with very thinly traded stocks for large blocks of shares. If the market only has a few thousand dollars available at between 8.37 and 12.5 the price is largely meaningless for people who want to invest in hundreds of thousands/millions of dollars worth, as the quoted price can't get them anywhere near t...
How is money actually made from the buying or selling of options?
Not all call options that have value at expiration, exercise by purchasing the security (or attempting to, with funds in your account). On ETNs, they often (always?) settle in cash. As an example of an option I'm currently looking at, AVSPY, it settles in cash (please confirm by reading the documentation on this set...
why would closing price of a stock be different from different sources, and which would you take as the real price?
There is more than one exchange where stock can be traded. For example, there is the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. In fact, if you look at all the exchanges, there is essentially continuous trading 24/7 for many financial instruments (eg US government bonds). The closing price quoted in pape...