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Company revenue increased however stock price did not
The company released its 2nd Quarter Revenue of $1,957,921 a couple days ago however the stock did not move up in any way. Why? If the company is making money shouldn't the stock go up. During the time between earnings announcements, analysts occasionally publish their assessment of a company, including their estimate ...
Stock portfolio value & profit in foreign currency
I think this will do the trick:
First time home buyer. How to negotiate price?
Well it all kind of depends. The Realtor is your pro, and you should communicate further with him. Is this a neighborhood on the decline? Is there a good reason to make such a low offer? Are you totally off base when you think 85K is fair, and if so why? Is he just working his tail off for you (a great thing)? On...
Sales Tax: Rounded Then Totaled or Totaled Then Rounded?
First of all to answer the basic question "Is one method correct? Might it depend on local laws?" Yes it does depend on local laws. Because ultimately the business will have to file forms with the sate/county/city. These forms are going to ask for the total sales based on the tax category (tax free, x%, y%). Each tran...
Is there any way to pay online in a country with no international banking system
paypal says it works with CBE but can't seem to link my account with them, but skrill works perfectly just go to www.skrill.com sign up and you can link your bank account with your skrill account, i've had a few transactions so it should work for you too.
Is there a reliable way to find, if a stock or company is heading bankruptcy?
Research the company. Obtain and read their current and past financial statements. Find and read news stories about them. Look for patterns and draw conclusions. Or diversify to the point where one company failing doesn't hurt you significantly. Or both.
Is it ever a good idea to close credit cards?
There is also security aspect. By reducing the number of active credit/debit cards, one significantly reduces the surface of attack. There is smaller chance of getting one of your card information stolen and misused (cf Target data leaks and others).
How can people have such high credit card debts?
I'm not sure if the rules in Canada and the US are the same. I'm as amazed as you are by the amounts of debts people have, but I can see how this credit can be extended. Generally, with good credit history and above average pay - it is not unheard of to get about $100K credit limit with a bunch of credit cards. What yo...
Why is OkPay not allowed in the United States?
If you read the link that MD-Tech provided, it actually indicates that the foreign companies (mostly banks) are choosing not to work with the United States in their latest answer, so it looks like it's not OkPay, but the financial companies that they use. On further research, the reason that this is banned is to preven...
Working for recruiter on W-2 vs. working for client on 1099?
I don't think anyone can give you a definitive answer without knowing all about your situation, but some things to consider: If you are on a 1099, you have to pay self-employment tax, while on a W-2 you do not. That is, social security tax is 12.4% of your income. If you're a 1099, you pay the full 12.4%. If you're W-2...
Do credit ratings (by Moody's, S&P, and Fitch) have any relevance?
I like Muro questions! No, I don't think they do. Because for me, as a personal finance investor type just trying to save for retirement, they mean nothing. If I cannot tell what the basic business model of a company is, and how that business model is profitable and makes money, then that is a "no buy" for me. If I d...
How to share income after marriage and kids?
I think the problem is that you've made a math error. This child would not be costing you 300 per month, it will be costing you 1400 per month. 1100 of this is in a donation of salable hours rather than cash, but helpfully you have a number right there as to how much someone is willing to pay for these hours so the ma...
Loan math problem
The price inflation isn't a percentage, it's a fixed amount. If the dealer adds $R to the price of both the trade-in and the purchased car, then everyone ends up with the right amount of money in their pockets. So your formula should be: D + T + R = 0.1 * (P + R)
How to file income tax returns for profits from ESPP stock?
Consult a professional CA. For shares sold outside the Indian Stock Exchanges, these will be treated as normal Long Term Capital Gains if held more than one year. The rate would be 10% without Indexation and 20% with Indexation. If the stocks are held for less than 1 years, it will be short term gains and taxed accordi...
Did basically all mutual funds have a significant crash in 2008?
I will solely address your fear because from what I read you fear investing in something that could possibly go down in the future. This is almost identical to market timing, so let's use the SPY as an example. Look at the SPY on Yahoo Finance, specifically in 2011. The market experienced a little bit of a pull back...
Has anyone compared an in-person Tax Advisor to software like Turbo Tax?
It depends on the person. i will take turbo tax over any mediocre or poor accountant ANY DAY. You get consistent, accurate tax preparation with the software (desktop - not the online version) I was in a housing rental partnership with my brothers and one of them insisted on using his accountant... what a mistake. ...
Using a FOREX platform to actually change money
If you wanted to spend money in another country, a specialist credit card would be the most cost-effective way. Near-spot exchange rate, zero-loading, no/low ATM fees. Likewise a pre-paid debit card would also allow for money transfer across borders. If this is the right situation, FOREX trading platforms are overkill ...
I'm currently unemployed and have been offered a contract position. Do I need to incorporate myself? How do I do it?
I am co-owner of a business, and we incorporated federally. (Mostly to limit liability.) There is some excellent information above, and most of my wisdom I got from a trusted lawyer and accountant (find experts you trust in these two areas, they will prove invaluable in so many areas.) The one point I would add is ...
Should I exclude bonds from our retirement investment portfolio if our time horizon is still long enough?
I've had the same thoughts recently and after reading Investing at Level 3 by James Cloonan I believe his thesis that for the passive investor you're giving up too much if you're not 100% in equities. He is clear to point out that you need to be well aware of your withdrawal horizons and has specific tactics for shifti...
How to determine how much to charge your business for rent (in your house)?
In the UK it all comes down to what HMRC will allow you to charge without taxing you on the "rent profit" and not hitting capital gain tax when you sell the house, it may not all count as your "main home" if some is rented out. (http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/ is a good place to ask this type of questions in the uk)
Why are Rausch Coleman houses so cheap? Is it because they don't have gas?
I am a realtor and work for Rausch Coleman and can answer this question for you. We are a production builder. We build in communities with typically 5-9 Floorplan options per community and a select set of option and finishes that we offer. Because of the set options, we buy the materials in bulk and are able to receive...
Which is the most liquid market for trading?
Depends on how you measure liquidity. There's papers out there that approach this very question. Measured in order book spreads for a consolidated $100m trade, I'd say the second biggest market is FX swaps, followed or par'd by the money market (government bonds). If you disallow OTC venues, it's most definitely excha...
Does the USA have a Gold reserve?
The US does have a gold reserve. The main reserves are held at Fort Knox but there is even more gold, mostly owned by other countries, stored in the basement of the New York Federal Reserve Bank (Think Die Hard 3). The United States Bullion Depository, often known as Fort Knox, is a fortified vault building located adj...
Is it a good idea to teach children that work is linearly related to income?
As a parent I think you absolutely have to teach them that income is related to work because (for most people at least) it's a more fundamental principle than budgeting, investments, interest, etc. Once they've learned that the primary source of income is work, then you can start teaching them what to do with it, i.e. ...
15 year mortgage vs 30 year paid off in 15
All of the answers given so far are correct, but rather narrow. When you buy a 30-year-mortgage, you are buying the right to pay off the debt in as long as 30 years. What you pay depends on the interest rate and how long you actually take to pay it off (and principal and points and so on). Just as you are buying that ...
Using Euros to buy and sell NASDAQ stocks
You can check whether the company whose stock you want to buy is present on an european market. For instance this is the case for Apple at Frankfurt.
Would I qualify for a USDA loan?
You probably won't get a mortgage. UDSA has a 41% ratio of monthly debt to monthly income limit, and a score of 660 or better. A 250,000 mortgage at current rates for 30 year mortgage is about $1560/mo. (included in this figure is the 1% mortgage insurance premium, the .4% annual fee, the current rate for a 660 credit ...
What to do when paying for an empty office space?
Generally speaking, yes, you're obliged to pay rent for the remainder of the lease term. But the landlord is obliged to mitigate damages, so if you can find a suitable tenant the landlord has to let you out of the lease.
Filing Taxes for Two Separate Jobs Being Worked at the Same Time?
You file taxes as usual. W2 is a form given to you, you don't need to fill it. Similarly, 1099. Both report moneys paid to you by your employers. W2 is for actual employer (the one where you're on the payroll), 1099 is for contractors (where you invoice the entity you provide services to and get paid per contract). You...
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?
I've never invested in penny stocks. My #1 investing rule, buy what you know and use. People get burned because they hear about the next big thing, go invest! to just end up losing everything because they have no clue in what they're investing in. From what I've found, until you have minimum of $5k to invest, put ever...
What is a good way to keep track of your credit card transactions, to reduce likelihood of fraud?
Sign up for alerts. Everytime you use your card, you'll get an alert. That way if there is an unauthorized transaction, you'll know right away. The alerts can also tell you what amount was charged - since this happens right away, the last last cc transaction is fresh in your memory and any overcharges can be easily d...
Should I cash out my Roth IRA to pay my mother's property tax debt, to avoid foreclosure on her home?
If it turns out that you do want to help pay the tax bill (after answering all the questions above), I say cash out those funds. You are apparently very young with a long work life ahead (lucky you). Step aside from the actual money part of it for a moment. What does your Mom want? What do you really want to do about t...
Is it possible to make money by getting a mortgage?
Sounds like a poorly written piece at best... The way you make money with a mortgage, if you're careful and/or lucky and/or patient, is to use that loan to make leveraged investments. If the return on the investments is higher than the interest on the loan, you win. Of course if the investments don't do well you can lo...
Do I need to prove 'Garage Sale' items incurred a loss
This is what this sounds like to me: https://www.thebalance.com/having-a-garage-sale-or-yard-sale-what-to-do-first-399030 also: http://blogs.hrblock.com/2012/07/25/garage-sale-money-does-the-irs-need-to-know/ Selling a personal item at a loss is generally not a taxable event. You cannot report it as a loss, and the IRS...
Would it make sense to buy a rental property as an LLC and not in my own name?
I'd have a good look at how much anonymity an LLC offers in your state - as far as I'm aware this varies from state to state. Out here in NV an LLC owner's privacy is supposedly fairly well protected, but in other states, not quite as much. Also keep in mind that while the LLC offers some protection (and I'm a big advo...
Why is a “long put” called long if you have a higher net position if the price decreases?
Long here does not mean you wish for the underlying stock to increase in value, in fact, as the chart shows, just the opposite is true. "Long means you bought the derivative, and you own the option. The guy that sold it to you is at your mercy, he is short the put, and it's your decision to put the stock to him should...
Are leverage/ko products the only reasonable way to trade stocks?
I am assuming you mean derivatives such as speeders, sprinters, turbo's or factors when you say "derivatives". These derivatives are rather popular in European markets. In such derivatives, a bank borrows the leverage to you, and depending on the leverage factor you may own between 50% to +-3% of the underlying value. ...
Buying my first car out of college
You have a job "lined up". What if it falls through? Then you have to sell your fancy car, and you are back to scare, apart from the dough you owe your dad. For consumption items, live within your means. A cheap first car is just fine. Spend cash where it brings you more cash.
What steps should be taken, if any, when you find out your home's market value is underwater, i.e. worth less than the mortgage owed?
That's easy, keep making the payments and go on with life. The number that matters more than loan/market value is loan/equity. As long as you can sell it for enough to pay the balance on your loan you should be okay. Not saying it doesn't suck, but financially you are fine. If you owe more than the house is worth, I'd ...
How can I determine how much my car insurance will cost me?
Don't be afraid to shop around. Every couple of years when it's time to renew my auto insurance I call a couple of places to see if I can get a better deal. It's especially important to do this as you get older (because your rates go down assuming you keep a clean driving record). Also as your life changes, e.g. if you...
What can my relatives do to minimize their out of pocket expenses on their fathers estate
Consider contracting with a property management company to lease and maintain the house until it can be sold. Rent on the property should cover the mortgage, property taxes, etc. The property management company can handle maintenance and the tenant would be responsible for utilities.
historical data for analysing pensions
You could use any of various financial APIs (e.g., Yahoo finance) to get prices of some reference stock and bond index funds. That would be a reasonable approximation to market performance over a given time span. As for inflation data, just googling "monthly inflation data" gave me two pages with numbers that seem to ...
Exercises of employee share options
Many companies (particularly tech companies like Atlassian) grant their employees "share options" as part of their compensation. A share option is the right to buy a share in the company at a "strike price" specified when the option is granted. Typically these "vest" after 1-4 years so long as the employee stays with t...
How can I calculate a “running” return using XIRR in a spreadsheet?
Set your xirr formula to a very tall column, leaving lots of empty rows for future additions. In column C, instead of hardcoding the value, use a formula that tests if it's the current bottom entry, like this: =IF(ISBLANK(A7),-C6, C6) If the next row has no date entered (yet), then this is the latest value, and make it...
Standard Deviation with Asset Prices?
You can use google docs to create a spreadsheet. In field A2, I put Google will load the prices into the sheet. At that point, I add the following into C12, then copy that line all the way down to the botton of column C. You can find my spreadsheet here. It calculates the moving 10 day standard deviation as a percentag...
Are there any viable alternatives to Paypal for a small site?
While I've never used the service, there's also Amazon Flexible Payments Services (AFPS): (emphasis below is mine) Amazon Flexible Payments ServiceTM (Amazon FPS) is the first payments service designed from the ground up for developers. It is built on top of Amazon’s reliable and scalable payments infrastruct...
Why is it possible to just take out a ton of credit cards, max them out and default in 7 years?
It may become difficult to rent a car or a hotel room. It may affect your ability to get a job. Some employers now check credit reports and disqualify candidates with a poor credit report. It may affect your ability to get a security clearance or professional bonding. It may affect your ability to find housing. Many la...
Margin account: how to calculate the stock price that might trigger a liquidation of positions?
Thanks to this youtube video I think I understood the required calculation. Based on following notation: then the formula to find x is: I found afterwards an example on IB site (click on the link 'How to Determine the Last Stock Price Before We Begin to Liquidate the Position') that corroborate the formula above.
How do rich people guarantee the safety of their money, when savings exceed the FDIC limit?
Rich people use "depositor" banks the same way the rest of us use banks; to keep a relatively small store of wealth for monthly expenses and a savings account for a rainy day. The bulk of a wealthy person's money is in investments. Money sitting in a bank account is not making you more money, and in fact as Kaushik cor...
First job: Renting vs get my parents to buy me a house
Having recently been given basically the same question it hinges on a few major factors. What does your apartment provide (e.g. heating, internet/etc)? My (personal) example. With my numbers (which includes taxes, insurance estimates, minor repairs to home as needed), also ignoring all costs that are shared (e.g. food,...
Buy or sell futures contracts
Futures contracts are a member of a larger class of financial assets called derivatives. Derivatives are called such because their payoffs depend on the price of other assets (financial or real). Other kinds of derivatives are call options, put options. Fixed income assets that mimic the behavior of derivatives are cal...
Do I owe taxes in the US for my LLC formed in the US but owned by an Indian citizen?
This is a complicated question that relies on the US-India Tax Treaty to determine whether the income is taxable to the US or to India. The relevant provision is likely Article 15 on Personal Services. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/india.pdf It seems plausible that your business is personal services, but that's a fa...
How to build a U.S. credit history as a worker on a visa?
In the US, money talks and bullshit walks. You can skip any credit history requirement if you demonstrate your ability to pay in a very obvious way. Credit history is just a standardized way of weeding out people that cannot reliably pay, instead of having to listen to an individual's excuses about how the bank overdra...
Why would people sell a stock below the current price?
People in this case, are large institutional investors. The "bid ask" spread is for "small traders" like yourself. It is put out by the so-called specialists (or "market makers") and is typically good for hundreds or thousands of shares at a time. Normally, 2 points on a 50 stock is a wide spread, and the market maker ...
What's the general principle behind choosing saving vs. paying off debt?
Debt creates risk. Plain and simple. Comparing interest rates of debt vs. possible investing. To me, it is all meaningless. When you are in debt, you options are limited. If you are not in debt, you have more freedom. To me, it is a no brainer. Become debt free ASAP.
Are cashiers required to check a credit card for a signature in the U.S.?
The signature actually harks back to the days before every business checked every transaction online. When charge cards were introduced modems didn't exist. Nowadays, stolen credit cards are usually reported within 24 hours and the card won't work. Businesses that face low fraud rates don't bother checking. They probab...
What do brokers do with bad stock?
For every seller, there's a buyer. Buyers may have any reason for wanting to buy (bargain shopping, foolish belief in a crazy business, etc). The party (brokerage, market maker, individual) owning the stock at the time the company goes out of business is the loser . But in a general panic, not every company is going t...
Is it smarter to buy a small amount of an ETF every 2 or 3 months, instead of monthly?
I personally invest in 4 different ETFs. I have $1000 to invest every month. To save on transaction costs, I invest that sum in only one ETF each month, the one that is most underweight at the time. For example, I invest in XIC (30%), VTI (30%), VEA (30%), and VWO (10%). One month, I'll buy XIC, next month VTA, next...
Legal documents required for managing an investment portfolio among friends?
Sounds like you are starting an investment club. What you need is an investment club partnership agreement. Have a look at this free document. EDIT Based on OP's comments, it appears that the OP will be acting as an adviser/manager of a private investment fund. If the fund is not open to the public, it may still be tre...
Accepted indicators for stock market valuation
There are several camps for stock valuation, and much of it boils down to your investment style. A growth investor will not consider something with a 50x P/E ratio to be overvalued, but a value investor certainly would. I would recommend looking up the Fama-French n-factor model (it was 3-factor, I believe they have r...
Lump sum annuity distribution — do I owe estate tax?
There can be Federal estate tax as well as State estate tax due on an estate, but it is not of direct concern to you. Estate taxes are paid by the estate of the decedent, not by the beneficiaries, and so you do not owe any estate tax. As a matter of fact, most estates in the US do not pay Federal estate tax at all bec...
Incentive Stock Option (ISO) tax question - more specific this time
Alternatively you could exercise 12000 shares for $36000 and immediately sell 7200 shares to recover your exercise price. Then you use the remaining 4800 share to pay the exercise price of the remaining 8000 options. Both scenarios are equivalent but may have different fees associated, so it's worth checking the fine p...
Vanguard ETF vs mutual fund
One reason is that it is not possible (at Vanguard and at many other brokerages) to auto-invest into ETFs. Because the ETF trades like a stock, you typically must buy a whole number of shares. This makes it difficult to do auto-investing where you invest, say, a fixed dollar amount each month. If you're investing $1...
What is a typical investment portfolio made up of?
Don't over think about your choices. The most important thing to start now and keep adjusting and tuning your portfolio as you move along in your life. Each individual's situation is unique. Start with something simple and straight forward, like 100 - your age, in Total Stock market Index fund and the remaining total b...
Who sets the prices on government bonds?
Who sets the prices? Effectively the market does, like basically all openly traded things. The Greek government could well have said "5% is as high as we will go". As a result, investors may not have chosen to buy the securities. The global bond market is highly liquid, and investors who have a choice could well then...
Funneling money from a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA using Options: Is my method possible and tax legal?
I am not a lawyer, but I can't think of a reason this is illegal (something that would be illegal would be to "trade with yourself" across the accounts to try to manipulate stock or option prices). I don't think you're "funneling," you're doing "asset location" which is a standard tax planning strategy. http://news.mor...
Tax considerations for outsourcing freelance work to foreign country
I took littleadv's advice and talked to an accountant today. Regardless of method of payment, my US LLC does not have to withhold taxes or report the payment as payments to contractors (1099/1042(S)) to the IRS; it is simply a business expense. He said this gets more complicated if the recipient is working in the US (...
Safe method of paying for a Gym Membership?
New York state actually has laws protecting gym members from predatory gym membership pricing. Your state may also have laws like that as well.
Should I change 401k investment options to prepare for rising interest rates?
As others have pointed out your bond funds should have short durations, preferably not more than about 2 years. If you are in a bond fund for the long haul meaning you do not have to draw on your bond fund a short time after interest rates have gone up, it is not a big issue. The fund's holdings will eventually turn ov...
If I have some old gold jewellery, is it worth it to sell it for its melt value?
Avoid gold brokers who do business through the mail. Video Full Article
What's the best application, software or tool that can be used to track time?
The best one I've found is TimeSnapper, I have the worst memory but this basically allows me to visually play back the day. It has a bunch of reporting functionality too.
Best way to start investing, for a young person just starting their career?
I tell you how I started as an investor: read the writings of probably the best investor of the history and become familiarized with it: Warren Buffett. I highly recommend "The Essays of Warren Buffett", where he provides a wise insight on how a company generates value, and his investment philosophy. You won't regret i...
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 401k as good as it sounds given the way it is taxed?
Before anything, I see that no one mentioned the one thing about 401(k) accounts that's just shy of magic - The matching deposit. In 2015, 42% of companies offered a dollar for dollar match on deposits. Can't beat that. (Note - to respond to Xalorous' comment, the $18K OP deposits can be nearly any percent of his inco...
What's the best way to make money from a market correction?
If you are sure you are right, you should sell stock short. Then, after the market drop occurs, close out your position and buy stock, selling it once the stock has risen to the level you expect. Be warned, though. Short selling has a lot of risk. If you are wrong, you could quite easily lose all $80,000 or even substa...
How does one typically exit (close out) a large, in-the-money long put option position?
You are long the puts. By exercising them you force the underlying stock to be bought from you at your strike price. Let's say your strike it $100 and the stock is currently $25. Buy 100 shares and exercise 1 (bought/long) put. That gives you $7500 of new money, so do the previous sentence over again in as many 'units'...
250k USD in savings. What's next?
Find a good financial advisor that is willing to teach you and not just interested in making a commission on your net worth. Talk to them and talk some more. Go slow and don't make impulsive buying decisions. If you don't understand it then don't buy it. Think long term - how do I turn this 250K into 2.5M? Congrats on ...
How does revenue shared with someone else go into my tax return in Canada?
Generally, report your $150,000. If/when the the tax collectors notice the anomaly, they'll attempt to contact you to remedy it. I can't speak for Canada, but in the US, it's pretty orderly. The IRS requests additional information or proof and only open it up into a full blown audit if the suspect wrongdoing. In your c...
Received mysterious K-1 form, seeking answers
SXL is a Master Limited Partnership so all of the income is pass-through. Your equity purchase entitles you to a fraction of the 66% of the company that is not owned by Energy Transfer Partners. You should have been receiving the K-1s from SXL from the time that you bought the shares. Without knowing your specific ...
How to invest Rs.10k in India
Rs 10,000 is a small but good amount to begin with. I would suggest you start by investing in some good mutual funds. Do some research, a balance mutual fund is less risky less returns compared to a equity mutual fund. The other option is directly investing in stock market, however this needs some experience and you wo...
What's a good free checking account?
Online banks are the future. As long as you don't need a clerk to talk to (and why would you need?) there's nothing you can't do with an online bank that you can with a brick and mortar robbers. I use E*Trade trading account as a checking account (it allows writing paper checks, debit card transactions, ACH in/out, fre...
Should I sell my rental property or keep it if it has mold growth problems?
I'm going to assume that you will spend the money to fix the mold problem correctly. Using your numbers, after that is done, the home is worth perhaps $280k. To evaluate whether or not to sell, the amount you have spent on the house is irrelevant. The only thing you need to ask yourself is this: Would I spend $280k to...
How do I protect money above the FDIC coverage limit?
Be very careful to hold on tight to your money! I agree with paying for an investment advisor, but I would say use at least two to get different viewpoints, and get credentials and references! Don't let relatives convince you to invest in their business, or help them out, or any other such nonsense. Real estate still i...
Taking out a loan to pay down a mortgage
You're not crazy, but the banks are. Here's the problem: You're taking 100% LTV on property A - you won't be able to get a second mortgage for more than 80% total (including the current mortgage) LTV. That's actually something I just recently learned from my own experience. If the market is bad, the banks might even lo...
Given current market conditions, how / when should I invest a $200k inheritance?
E) Spend a small amount of that money on getting advice from a paid financial planner. (Not a broker or someone offering you "free" advice; their recommendations may be biased toward what makes them the most money). A good financial planner will talk to you about your plans and expectations both short and long term, a...
Corporate Finance
Your company wants to raise $25,000,000 for a new project, but flotation costs are incurred by issuing securities (underwriting, legal fees, etc) First you must determine how much of the $25,000,000 is going to be debt and equity. The company's target D/E ratio is 50% (or .50). For every $0.50 of debt raised they want ...
Who gets the periodic payments when an equity is sold on an repurchase agreement?
The Wikipedia page for Repurchase Agreement has two relevant pointers on this topic: The legal title for any securities used in a repo actually pass from seller to buyer during the term of the agreement. In basic terms this means that if one sells a bond on repo with a promise to buy it back, then the ownership actual...
Put a dollar value on pensions?
@JoeTaxpayer's answer outlines how to value it. Some other considerations: As I understand it, some public pensions may be tax-free if you still live in the state that is paying the pension. E.g. when a Massachusetts teacher receives pension, it is exempt from state taxes, but if that person moves to Vermont he will ha...
Did an additional $32 billion necessarily get invested into Amazon.com stock on October 26th, 2017?
The market capitalization of a stock is the number of shares outstanding (of each stock class), times the price of last trade (of each stock class). In a liquid market (where there are lots of buyers and sellers at all price points), this represents the price that is between what people are bidding for the stock and wh...
What are frontier markets? Is investing in them a good idea?
From Wikipedia A frontier market is a type of developing country which is more developed than the least developing countries, but too small to be generally considered an emerging market. The term is an economic term which was coined by International Finance Corporation’s Farida Khambata in 1992. The term is commonly us...
When you're really young and have about 2K to start investing $ for retirement, why do some people advise you to go risky?
Those who say a person should invest in riskier assets when young are those who equate higher returns with higher risk. I would argue that any investment you do not understand is risky and allows you to lose money at a more rapid rate than someone who understands the investment. The way to reduce risk is to learn about...
How should I pay off my private student loans that have a lot of restrictions?
The one thing that I saw in here that raised a big red flag is that you said you "overpaid" on your interest. ALWAYS make sure you tell them that any extra money should be applied to principal only, not to interest. You accrue interest based on your outstanding principal amount, so getting that lower reduces the over...
Does the IRS reprieve those who have to commute for work?
No. Regular W2 employees cannot deduct housing or transportation costs related to their employment. However, in the US, many employers offer Parking and/or Transit FSA programs which are usually collectively referred to a Commuter Benefits FSA programs, this is particularly common among larger employers with locatio...
Does SIPC protect securities purchased in foreign exchanges?
I have received a response from SIPC, confirming littleadv's answer: For a brief background, the protections available under the Securities Investor Protection Act ("SIPA"), are only available in the context of a liquidation proceeding of a SIPC member broker-dealer and relate to the "custody" of securities and r...
Does it make sense to buy a house in my situation?
I wouldn't buy a house at this time. Your credit card debt is the most expensive thing you have. Which is to say that you want to get rid of it as soon as possible. The lawyer isn't cheap, and your personal situation is not fully resolved. Congratulations on paying off the IRS, and getting up the 401k to 17.5k. Take c...
Weekly budgets based on (a variable) monthly budget
I think the real problem here is dealing with the variable income. The envelope solution suggests the problem is that your brother doesn't have the discipline to avoid spending all his money immediately, but maybe that's not it. Maybe he could regulate his expenses just fine, but with such a variable income, he can't s...
Some questions about investing [duplicate]
What is the best form of investment? It only depends on your goals... The perfect amount of money depends also on your particular situation. The first thing you should start getting familiar with is the notion of portfolio and diversification. Managing risk is also fundamental especially with the current market funkine...
Double entry for mortgage
For the purpose of personal finance, treating $500 as Interest Expense is sufficient. For business accounting, it involves making the $500 a contra-liability and amortizing it as interest expense over the course of life of the loan.
Historical Stock Price Quote on delisted stock without knowing stock symbol as of quote date
You need a source of delisted historical data. Such data is typically only available from paid sources. According to my records 20 Feb 2006 was not a trading day - it was Preisdent's Day and the US exchanges were closed. The prior trading date to this was 17 Feb 2006 where the stock had the following data: Open: 14.40...
ESPP taxes after relocating from Europe to the United States?
I would suggest to get an authoritative response from a CPA. In any case it would be for your own benefit to have at least the first couple of years of tax returns prepared by a professional. However, from my own personal experience, in your situation the income should not be regarded as "US income" but rather income i...