Question stringlengths 14 166 | Answer stringlengths 3 17k |
|---|---|
What's the difference between Buy and Sell price on the stock exchange [duplicate] | The Bid price is simply the highest buy price currently being offered and the Ask price simply the lowest sell price being offered. The list of Bid and Ask prices is called the market depth. When the Bid and Ask prices match then a sale goes through. When looking to sell you would generally look at both the Bid and Ask... |
Does it make sense to talk about an ETF or index in terms of technical indicators? | Yes, it makes sense. Like Lagerbaer says, the usefulness of technical indicators can not be answered with a simple yes or no. Some people gain something from it, others do not. Aside from this, applying technical indicators (or any other form of technical analysis - like order flow) to instruments which are composed of... |
How smart is it to really be 100% debt free? | I think about debt as a good option for capital investments that offer a return. In my opinion, a house and clothes you need for that new job are good things to borrow for. School is ok, depending on the amount. Car is ok, if it's a 3 year loan. The rest is not good. You should try to carry as little debt as possible, ... |
What causes discontinuities with stock prices | During the 12 plus hours the market was closed news can change investors opinion of the stock. When the market reopens that first trade could be much different than the last trade the day before. |
Why liquidity implies tight spread and low slippage | Theoretically, it's a question of rate of return. If a desired or acceptable rate of return for market makers' capital is X, and X is determined by the product of margin & turnover then higher turnover means lower margin for a constant X. Margin, in the case of trading, is the bid/ask spread, and turnover, in the case... |
What is street-side booking? | The way I would use it is, every trade done by a broker has a client side and a street side. The client side is for their brokerage account, and the street side is whoever they traded with Say, John Doe calls me at Charles Schwab and wants to buy 100 IBM. I look at the market and decide that the best execution is on ... |
Put on a put option | I doubt that this exists, but it could theoretically. After all, a share is kind of an option to a company's future success, and so a call is already a second level on indirection. The better approach would be to 'create your own Put-Puts', by investing less money (A) in the Put you wanted to invest into, and put the s... |
How often does a stock price change and where is this defined? | Stocks prices are determined whenever a buyer and seller agree to trade at a given price. The company (you use AAPL as an example) doesn't set its own stock price. Rather, the investors set the price every time it trades. There's no "official" price -- just the last trade. Likewise, you can offer to trade a stock at wh... |
On what dates do the U.S. and Canada release their respective federal budgets? | In the US there is no set date. If all goes well there are multiple dates of importance. If it doesn't go well the budget process also may include continuing resolutions, shutdowns, and sequestrations. |
How do I begin investment saving, rather than just saving in a bank account? | In general, the higher the return (such as interest), the higher the risk. If there were a high-return no-risk investment, enough people would buy it to drive the price up and make it a low-return no-risk investment. Interest rates are low now, but so is inflation. They generally go up and down together. So, as a low r... |
Ways to get individual securities from ETF's | ETFs are legally required to publicly disclose their positions at every point in time. The reason for this is that for an ETF to issue shares of ETF they do NOT take cash in exchange but underlying securities - this is called a creation unit. So people need to know which shares to deliver to the fund to get a share of ... |
Can I get a tax deduction for PMI? | No. And I'll let my good friend and fellow blogger Kay Bell answer in some detail, in her article Deducting private mortgage insurance. |
How to calculate my estimated taxes. 1099 MISC + Self Employment | There is a shortcut you can use when calculating federal estimated taxes. Some states may allow the same type of estimation, but I know at least one (my own--Illinois) that does not. The shortcut: you can completely base your estimated taxes for this year on last year's tax return and avoid any underpayment penalty. ... |
What one bit of financial advice do you wish you could've given yourself five years ago? | Planned my grocery shopping better. You can't just wake up on Saturday hungry go to the grocer and buy what looks good. Take the time to clip some coupons and more importantly make a shopping list. |
Do Americans really use checks that often? | Sorry for this late reply. I currently live in Iceland (I am a United Statesian). People here told me they thought checks were just something that were in movies. I was amazed by this. So here are some reasons that I see to being why it works still in the usa. 1. Social Security system. Most Euro, Nordic countries hav... |
Is it possible to quantify the probability of sudden big movements for a high-volume stock? | The P/E is currently 20. In hindsight, it's easy to see that when it was 50, not long ago, it was very overpriced. They were not adding customers or increasing revenue as they should have to sustain that P/E level. Probability? I suppose this can happen with any company that has both a high P/E and non-diversified bus... |
Do large market players using HFT make it unsafe for individual investors to be in the stock market? | Obviously there are good answers about the alternatives to the stock market in the referenced question. HFT has been debated heavily over the past couple of years, and the Flash crash of May 6, 2010, has spurred regulators to rein in heavy automated trading. HFT takes advantage of churn and split second reactions to c... |
From Facebook's perspective, was the fall in price after IPO actually an indication that it went well? | There could be an impact on Facebook because just before the IPO, Morgan Stanley apparently sent information to selected clients that their analysts had just lowered their valuation of the company. There were also reports yesterday that the lowered valuation came about because Facebook sent some revised preliminary es... |
If accepting more than $10K in cash for a used boat, should I worry about counterfeiting? | If you get counterfeit money, then you're dealing with the criminal who is going to be punished by the law for doing that. The portion of the total sum that was paid with the counterfeit currency is considered unpaid and you can claim the money from the criminal and sue him, while he's in jail. He'll work hard on those... |
What does it mean if “IPOs - normally are sold with an `underwriting discount` (a built in commission)” | When an IPO happens, the buyers pay some price (let's say $20 per share) and the seller (the company) receives a different price ($18.60). Who paid the commission? Well, the commission caused a spread between buyer and seller. It doesn't matter who technically pays the commission because it costs both parties. In an... |
Benjamin Graham: Minimum Size of the company | If you look at the value as a composite, as Graham seems to, then look at its constituent parts (which you can get off any financials sheet they file with the SEC): For example, if you have a fictitious company with: Compared to the US GDP (~$15T) you have approximately: Now, scale those numbers to a region with a GDP ... |
How to get a grip on finance? | I think this question is perfectly on topic, and probably has been asked and answered many times. However, I cannot help myself. Here are some basics however: Personal Finance is not only about math. As a guy who "took vector calculus just for fun", I have learned that superior math skills do not translate into super... |
How bad is it to have a lot of credit available but not used? | While @BrianRogers makes some good points, there are a few things you need to consider from the FICO perspective that I want to lay out simply for you: |
What is a negotiable security and how are they related to derivatives? | negotiability is a legal concept that permits free transfer of a security without the requirement of prior consent of the issuer. that means the issuer must pay the current holder of the security, irrespective of who he is. negotiability also protects a good faith buyer of the instrument from adverse ownership claims... |
How to get 0% financing for a car, with no credit score? | Yes, of course it is. Car dealers are motivated to write loans even more than selling cars at times. When I bought a new car for the first time in my life, in my 40's, it took longer to get the finance guy out of my face than to negotiate and buy the car. The car dealer selling you the used car would be happy to packa... |
What is a good way to save money on car expenses? | Replace your own brake pads Disc brake pads are usually snap-in replacement parts. YouTube has tons of videos showing how to do it. Find one with a car similar to your own. And it cannot be over-emphasized... Keep up on the routine maintenance. You can look up the schedule on your car manufacturer's website. |
super confused about bid and ask size. help | yes you are right as per my understanding while doing trade you must consider fol (specially for starters like me) The volume of the stock you are trading in should be high enough to keep you secure for quick in and out Whenever the bid volume is more than the ask volume the prices will move up and vice versa. to give ... |
Why so much noise about USA's credit rating being lowered? | Because US bonds have had the prior impression of absolute invincibility and safety that has helped the dollar become the world's reserve currency and the United States borrow essentially at will. For the people that care what S&P says, the aura of invincibility is broken and it is conceivable, in SOME universe, for th... |
Does the expense ratio of a fund-of-funds include the expense ratios of its holdings? | I just looked at a fund for my client, the fund is T Rowe Price Retirement 2015 (TRRGX). As stated in the prospectus, it has an annual expense ratio of 0.63%. In the fine print below the funds expenses, it says "While the fund itself charges no management fee, it will indirectly bear its pro-rata share of the expens... |
Why do credit cards have minimum limits? | It discourages people from obtaining a high-limit card simply to show off, because the bank's forcing them to use it or lose it. |
What's the catch with biweekly mortgage payments? | Making extra principal payments will reduce the term of your loan. I wouldn't sign up for a biweekly schedule, just do it yourself so you have more flexibility. A simple spreadsheet will allow you to play "What if?" and make it clear that extra principal payments are most effective early in the term of the loan. My wif... |
Why would a bank need to accept deposits from private clients if it can just borrow from the Federal Reserve? | Let's just focus on the "why would a bank need to accept deposits from private clients part" and forget the central bank for a moment. I'm a guy. I have a wife and two kids. They have this pesky habit of wanting to buy stuff. When I get paid, I could just get a check, cash it, stuff it under a mattress, and pull it out... |
Why buy bonds in a no-arbitrage market? | Bonds can increase in price, if the demand is high and offer solid yield if the demand is low. For instance, Russian bond prices a year ago contracted big in price (ie: fell), but were paying 18% and made a solid buy. Now that the demand has risen, the price is up with the yield for those early investors the same, th... |
Do dividend quotes for U.S. stocks include witheld taxes? | The dividend quoted on a site like the one you linked to on Yahoo shows what 1 investor owning 1 share received from the company. It is not adjusted at all for taxes. (Actually some dividend quotes are adjusted but not for taxes... see below.) It is not adjusted because most dividends are taxed as ordinary income. Thi... |
What should I consider when I try to invest my money today for a larger immediate income stream that will secure my retirement? | I don't understand the OP's desire " I'd love to have a few hundred dollars coming in each month until I really get the hang of things. " When growing your wealth so that it will be large enough in retirement to throw off enough profits to live on ... you must not touch the profits generated along the way. You must r... |
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... |
Why are there hidden bids and offers in the US stock market for the more illiquid stocks? | When you place a bid between the bid/ask spread, that means you are raising the bid (or lowering the ask, if you are selling). The NBBO (national best bid and offer) is now changed because of your action, and yes, certain kinds of orders may be set to react to that (a higher bid or lower ask triggering them), also many... |
Why is company provided health insurance tax free, but individual health insurance is not? | During World War II, the United States (US) instituted wage and price controls. To attract better employees, companies would offer benefits to get around salary limits. Health insurance was one of the more successful benefits. At that time, income taxes were newer and there were many ways to evade them. Companies ... |
UK Ltd taxation on stocks/bonds income and real estate rent income | For stocks, bonds, ETF funds and so on - Taxed only on realised gain and losses are deductible from the gain and not from company's income. Corporate tax is calculated only after all expenses have been deducted. Not the other way around. Real estate expenses can be deducted because of repairs and maintenance. In gener... |
What is the best way to learn investing techniques? | Given what you state you should shop around for an advisor. Think of the time required to pursue your strategies that you list? They already have studied much of what you seek to learn about. Any good investor should understand the basics. This is Canadian based but many of the concepts are universal. Hope you find it ... |
What are the implications of a corporate stock repurchase or share buyback program? | A board authorizes the repurchase of shares because they feel the stock in undervalued. The hope is that the stocks will rise either directly by their repurchase, or in the near term due to the realization that the company is in better shape then the market thought. Eventually those shares will be resold back into the ... |
Are dividends the only thing linking stocks to corporate performance? | There is certainly an obligation in some cases of a company to distribute profit, either as dividend or a stock buy back. Activist investors frequently push for one or the other when a company is doing well - sometimes to the detriment of future growth, in some eyes - and can even file shareholder lawsuits (saying the ... |
How can I find a checking account that allows for automated transfers of dynamic amounts? | Almost any financial institution has the technical ability to do this (simply called sweeps, auto sweeps, or deposit sweeps); the issue you face is finding an institution that is willing to do it for you. I think you will have the most luck at your primary financial institution where you currently keep the majority of... |
What happens to people without any retirement savings? | There are a host of programs in the US to help low/no-income seniors: Many states discount property taxes for the elderly as well. Not a dream retirement, but plenty of people are provided for without having prepared for retirement whether due to poor decisions or unfortunate circumstances. |
How Often Should I Chase a Credit Card Signup Bonus? | Your credit score is definitely affected by the age of your credit accounts, so if you frequently close one card and open another new one, you're adversely affecting the overall average age of accounts. This is something to consider and whether it is worth what you're trying to achieve. Sometimes, if you're a good cus... |
Using a self-directed IRA to buy vacation condo, rent it out to an LLC for $1 | Self directed IRAs have rules to prevent self-dealing of this sort called "prohibited transactions". You can't buy or sell or lease assets or obtain services from anyone closely linked to you or any beneficiaries of the IRA. You can't loan yourself money from the IRA, and you can't deliberately take the proceeds that s... |
Where can I find a Third Party Administrator for a self-directed solo 401K? | Fidelity Investments offers Solo 401(k) plans without any management fees. The plan administrator is typically the employer itself (so, your business, or you as the principal manager). You (as the individual employee) are the participant. |
Is buying a home a good idea? | IF the price of the property (1) increases A LOT, you will just break even, on the huge expenses of home owning. IF the price of the property (2) increases A HUGE AMOUNT, you will make lots of money, due to the leverage. IF the price of the property (3) stays even, you will LOSE a tremendous amount of money. It's much ... |
Buy US ETF as foreigner — a bad idea? | Here're some findings upon researches: Two main things to watch out for: Estate tax and the 30% tax withholding. These 2 could be get around by investing in Luxembourg or Ireland domiciled ETF. For instance there's no tax withholding on Ireland domiciled ETF dividend, and the estate tax is not as high. (source: BogleH... |
High-risk investing is better for the young? Why? | What is the importance or benefit of the assumption that high-risk is preferable for younger people/investors instead of older people? Law of averages most high risk investments [stocks for examples, including Mutual funds]. Take any stock market [some have data for nearly 100 years] on a 15 year or 30 years horizon, t... |
How to rescue my money from negative interest? | This does not really fit your liquidity requirement but consider buying a one or two room apartment to rent out with part of your savings. You will get income from it and small apartments sell quickly if you do need the money. This will help offset the negative interest from the rest. One downside is that other people ... |
Auto loan: must make X payments before payoff | Paperwork prevails. What you have is a dealer who get a kickback for sending financing to that institution. And the dealer pretty much said "We only get paid our kickback at two levels of loan life, 6 and 12 months." You just didn't quite read between the lines. This is very similar to the Variable Annuity salespeopl... |
Gigantic point amount on rewards card - what are potential consequences? | Of course, as a 'good' person (or maybe a 'stupid' person), I should call them, (wait 30 minutes in the queue), and then try to explain the issue to the service desk. I actually did that, and the guy thought I am nuts to even call, and told me to 'just use them they are yours now'. I don't feel like calling again and a... |
Should I pay off a 0% car loan? | My theory, if you must be in debit, own it at the least expense possible. The interest you will pay by the end, combined with the future value of money. Example: The Future value of $3000 at an effective interest rate of 5% after 3 years =$3472.88 Present value of $3000 at 5% over 3 years =$2591.51 you will need more m... |
Where do online stock brokers get their real-time data from? | As another answer started, this information comes straight from an exchange and generally costs a fortune . . . However things change: IEX, a new exchange, recently opened and they are offering real time bid/ask data for free. Here's the API description: https://www.iextrading.com/developer/ This data should be good fo... |
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... |
Sales Tax Licence/Permit - When is it required and how can I make a use of it as a non-US resident selling in USA? | Disclaimer: I am not a tax specialist You probably need a sales tax permit if you're going to sell goods, since just about every state taxes goods, though some states have exemptions for various types of goods. For services, it gets tricker. There is a database here that lists what services are taxed in what states; i... |
What happens to people without any retirement savings? | According to both Huffington Post and Investopedia: Trying to retire without any savings in the bank can be difficult, and that difficulty is compounded by other factors senior citizens need to keep in mind as they age, like health issues and mobility. If saving money is not possible for you, retirement doesn’t ... |
Why don't more people run up their credit cards and skip the country? | I take it the premise of the question is that we're assuming the person isn't worried about the morals. He's a criminal out for a quick buck. And I guess we're assuming that wherever you go, they wouldn't arrest you and extradite you back to the U.S. As others have noted, you can't just walk into a bank the day you gra... |
If I own x% of company A, and A buys company B, do I own x% of B? | Ok, so imagine I own x% of Facebook and Facebook buys WhatsApp, does this mean I own x% of WhatsApp? Yea definitely , you own x% of Whatsapp assuming Facebook buys 100% of WhatApps which is in this case How much shares of FaceBook do I need to own to have access to WhatsApp's books? As WhatsApp is a privately held... |
Didn't apply for credit card but got an application denied letter? | I would keep the letter in a file for follow-up, and I would do what you are already planning to do and wait to see what shows up on the credit report. If this does reflect an identity theft attempt, chances are that others will follow, so vigilance is key here. If there is a hard credit check, then you can dispute tha... |
Is it wise to have plenty of current accounts in different banks? | You should not open bank accounts just to get additional credit cards. You should be careful about carrying too many credit cards and incurring too much debt as you could find yourself in a situation whereby you may not be able to pay off your monthly interest, much less the principal balance. Credit cards are not insu... |
Is a fixed-price natural gas or electricity contract likely to save money? | I can only speak to natural gas but I imagine the answer for electricity is the same. In general, yes, it is better to lock into a fixed price contract as in the long run, natural gas prices increase over time. However, if you locked (signed a fixed price contract) in prior to the economic downturn, most likely you we... |
VAT and German freelance working on international project | 11 / 111 / 11111 looks like the (old) tax number: it is used by the tax office to know who you are, it isn't good at all for the spanish company. It would even change when you move inside Germany. VAT IDs are not exclusive to GmbHs (but a GmbH always has one). As freelancers you can get at VAT ID but you don't always ... |
Connection between gambling and trading on stock/options/Forex markets | There are moral distinctions that can be drawn between gambling and investing in stocks. First and I think most important, in gambling you are trying to get money for nothing. You put $100 down on the roulette wheel and you hope to get $200 back. In investing you are not trying to get something for nothing. You are buy... |
Saving/ Investing a lump sum | In my mind, when looking at a five year period you have a number of options. You didn't specify where you are based, which admittedly makes it harder, to give you good advice. If you are looking for an investment that can achieve large gains, equities are impossible to ignore. By investing in an index fund or other div... |
Can I trust the Motley Fool? | I've had a MF Stock Advisor for 7 or 8 years now, and I've belong to Supernova for a couple of years. I also have money in one of their mutual funds. "The Fool" has a lot of very good educational information available, especially for people who are new to investing. Many people do not understand that Wall Street is in ... |
Investing small amounts at regular intervals while minimizing fees? | You could just commingle your funds. That way, she also learns how to keep track of things and how to figure things out, rather just learning to have the guy at the brokerage hand her an account statement which she blindly accepts. It might cause some tax problems though if the money grows to be substantial. |
If I believe a stock is going to fall, what options do I have to invest on this? | There are three ways to do this. So far the answers posted have only mentioned two. The three ways are: Selling short means that you borrow stock from your broker and sell it with the intent of buying it back later to repay the loan. As others have noted, this has unlimited potential losses and limited potential gain... |
Are bonds really a recession proof investment? | You're mixing up two different concepts: low-risk and recession-proof. I'll assume I don't need to explain risk: there is always risk, regardless what form you keep your assets in. With bonds, the interest rate is supposed to reflect the risk. If a company offers bonds with too low an interest rate for the risk level, ... |
What options do I have at 26 years old, with 1.2 million USD? | Something not in answers so far: define your goals. What is important to you? My goals, if I were in your shoes, would include a debt-free home, passive (investment) income so I would not have to work, and have health insurance covered. I could think of many more details, and already have, but you get the idea. To h... |
Transfering funds from India to the US | Can I transfer funds from India to USA which I have borrowed in India. Funds borrowed in India may not be transferred outside of India as per Foreign Exchange Management Act. Loans in rupees to non-residents against security of shares or immovable property in India:- Subject to the directions issued by the Reserv... |
How to find a good third-party, 401k management/advice service? | The vanilla advice is investing your age in bonds and the rest in stocks (index funds, of course). So if you're 25, have 75% in stock index fund and 25% in bond index. Of course, your 401k is tax sheltered, so you want keep bonds there, assuming you have taxable investments. When comparing specific funds, you need to p... |
How can risk-reward relationship exist, since the losses due to the risk should offset the reward? | Risk in finance is defined as standard deviation of returns. This is a measure of size of your returns, both negative and positive. Since the mean return is positive (at least for the stock market and fixed income), if you double the standard deviation your mean return also doubles along with it. In this way you are co... |
Freelancer in India working for Swiss Company | As you are earning an income by working in India, you are required to pay tax in India. If you contract is of freelance, then the income earned by you has to be self declared and taxes paid accordingly. There are some expenses one can claim, a CA should be able to guide you. Not sure why the Swiss comapny is paying t... |
Do there exist any wikipedia type sites for evaluating financial service providers? | Excellent question. I'm not aware of one. I was going to say "go visit some personal finance blogs" but then I remembered that I write on one, and that I often get a commission if I talk about online accounts, so unless something is really bad I'm not going to post on it because I want to make money, not chase it away... |
Ways to save for child's college education where one need not commit to set contributions? [duplicate] | Since this post was migrated from Parenting, my reply was in the context where it appeared to be misrepresenting facts to make a point. I've edited it to be more concise to my main point. In my opinion, the best way to save for your childs future is to get rid of as much of your own debt as possible. Starting today. Fo... |
Saving for retirement without employer sponsored plan | I'm looking for ways to geared to save for retirement, not general investment. Many mutual fund companies offer a range of target retirement funds for different retirement dates (usually in increments of 5 years). These are funds of funds, that is, a Target 2040 Fund, say, will be invested in five or six different stoc... |
How did this day trader lose so much? | Learn something new every day... I found this interesting and thought I'd throw my 2c in. Good description (I hope) from Short Selling: What is Short Selling First, let's describe what short selling means when you purchase shares of stock. In purchasing stocks, you buy a piece of ownership in the company. You buy/sell ... |
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 ... |
Will anything happen to me if the AMT is not re-established before 2011? | According to pages 6 & 7 of the instructions for form 1040 in 2009 AMT was only temporarily patched for the year. Congress can't politically afford to drastically cut AMT exemptions by 30 to 40%, and may even retroactively change it, if it isn't passed by the end of the year (despite the constitution forbidding ex post... |
Student loan payments and opportunity costs | The only real consideration I would give to paying off the debt as slowly as possible is if inflation were much higher than it is now. If you had a nice medium to low interest (fixed rate) loan, like yours, and then inflation spiked to 7-8%, for example, then you're better off not paying it now because it's effectivel... |
Why does Charles Schwab have a Mandatory Settlement Period after selling stocks? | Simple Schwaab does not have actually your securities they have leased them out and have to borrow them back. all assets are linked with derivatives now. They show on the balance sheet but have to be untangled. Thats why the market drops disproportionally fast to the actual number of shares sold. |
Do ETF dividends make up for fees? | Any ETF has expenses, including fees, and those are taken out of the assets of the fund as spelled out in the prospectus. Typically a fund has dividend income from its holdings, and it deducts the expenses from the that income, and only the net dividend is passed through to the ETF holder. In the case of QQQ, it cer... |
How do I figure out the market value of used books? | Regarding the textbooks and technical books, it might be worth checking out sites like Chegg.com or other textbook rental websites. They might buy it from you directly versus trying to sell it on an ebay or amazon. For fiction or nonfiction, amazon and ebay can be tough, but probably worth a look. See what comparables... |
How an ETF pays dividend to shareholders if a holding company issues dividend | Dividends are not paid immediately upon reception from the companies owned by an ETF. In the case of SPY, they have been paid inconsistently but now presumably quarterly. |
I need a car for 2 years. Buy or lease (or something else)? | Have you considered getting a bike? you would be able to ride it in Europe the same as over here because of no left right bias, also cost wise they are much much cheaper to run. |
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... |
Is there a rule that a merchant must identify themself when making a charge | Here's an excerpt from VISA's Card Acceptance Guidelines for Visa Merchants (PDF) The merchant name is the single most important factor in cardholder recognition of transactions. Therefore, it is critical that the merchant name, while reflecting the merchant’s “Doing Business As” (DBA) name, also be clearly iden... |
Paid cash for a car, but dealer wants to change price | I have one additional recommendation: if the dealer continues to press the issue, tell them that they need to drop it, or you will write a Yelp review in excruciating detail about the entire experience. Used car dealers are very aware of their Yelp presence and don't like to see recent, negative reviews because it can ... |
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 does “Yield Curve” mean? | Great question! A Yield Curve is a plot of the yields for different maturities of debt. This can be for any debt, but the most common used when discussing yield curves is the debt of the Federal Government. The yield curve is observed by its slope. A curve with a positive slope (up and to the right) or a steepening c... |
Stock exchanges open on Saturday | According to Wikipedia as well as this stock market trading-hours website, the Tehran Stock Exchange is open Saturday through Wednesday. |
Are ACH transfers between individuals possible? | Yes, many banks offer such a service. Often such payments can be made through their "bill pay" interface. You log in to your account on the bank's website, enter the recipient's routing and account numbers, and off you go. You could ask your bank whether they offer this. If not, you could change banks to one that does. |
How does a public company issue new shares without diluting the value held by existing shareholders? | Unissued capital is only a token restriction. When a company is incorporated a maximum number of shares is specified in the legal documentation. Most companies will make this an extremely large number so they never face that limitation. See here. You wouldn't necessarily expect the stock price to change. The reason a ... |
Tax treatment of a boxed trade? | Here's how capital gains are totaled: Long and Short Term. Capital gains and losses are either long-term or short-term. It depends on how long the taxpayer holds the property. If the taxpayer holds it for one year or less, the gain or loss is short-term. Net Capital Gain. If a taxpayer’s long-term gains are more... |
Why not pay in full upfront for a car? | Possible (unlikely) reasons: But usually, yeah, if you can pay cash, you should. |
What is the future of 401(k) in terms of stability and reliability? | My guess is that the point is that yields on bonds and cash equivalents is so low that inflation will cause the inflation-adjusted returns to be negative. There is something to be said for how much inflation can eat out of investment returns. At the same time, I would note the occupation of the person making that post ... |
Calculate a weekly payment on a loan when payment is a month away | You'd have to look at the terms of the loan to be sure, but if the interest compounds weekly then you'd have to calculate the effect of 3 compounding periods, then compute for weekly payments. The balance after 3 weeks would be: Using Excel's PMT function for that principal balance, I get a weekly payment of $189.48. ... |
Why does capital gains tax apply to long term stock holdings? | Most well-off people have investments which they have held for long periods of time, often of very substantial value such as a large part of a company. They also have influence on legislators and officials through various social contacts, lobbyists, and contributions. They managed to convince these law makers to offe... |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.