The week following the debt ceiling agreement produced a decline in the stock market along with record setting volatility. The DOW closed up or down over 400 points for four straight days for the first time in the over 110 year history of the index. This led many investors scrambling
The debt limit is a cap set by Congress on the amount of debt the federal government can legally borrow. The United States government relies on debt to continue to operate since it spends more than it takes in. That is right. If you or I did this, we would
Institutional investors, hedge funds, endowment money managers, and the rich had the resources and availability of a strategy of balancing bullish and bearish stock picks. The premise of this strategy is to pick stocks (long) money managers believe will increase in value while (shorting) betting against stocks money manager believe
An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a security that tracks an index, commodity, or basket of assets. It acts similar to an index mutual fund. Unlike a mutual fund, an ETF trades similar to a stock by reflecting the price changes throughout the trading day. Advantages Investment choice Exchange-Traded Funds offer
Deadlines Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in the District of Columbia, falls on Friday, April 15 this year. Therefore, the tax reporting deadline has been pushed back to Monday, April 18. This means the deadline to contribute to a Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, and SEP IRA for the 2010 tax
Introduction As investors saw their nest egg deteriorate in the great recession of 2008, many moved their money into bond funds as a safe haven to protect their assets from decreasing stock prices. As interest rates decreased to near zero and continued to remain low, bond funds flourished. Many investors
The “double bottom line” is often referred to by socially responsible investors. However, many investors don’t understand what the term means. The premise is really very simple. While all businesses have a bottom line to measure their performance, some enterprises seek a second bottom line of positive social and environmental
Kathleen Casey-Kirshling was the first “Baby Boomer” born one second after midnight on January 1, 1946. Kathleen just turned 65 years old last month making her eligible for Medicare. Many Baby Boomers have already started taking Social Security early and will start to be eligible for full benefits in less
Tax Considerations As Congress debates the fate of future tax rates for Americans, it is more important than in past years for investors to be vigilant of tax law changes. Without action by Congress to extend Bush-era tax cuts, income taxes, short-term capital gains tax, and long-term capital gains tax
The Federal Reserve announced a plan to buy $600 billion in government debt with the intent of driving already low interest rates lower. The central bank will buy back debt $75 billion a month through next June. This latest round of quantitative easing is referred to as “QE2” because it
Introduction Often, individuals with substantial accumulations manage their own money or work with a financial advisor more inclined to sell a product than add value. Many of these individuals are “leaving” money on the table. However, this opportunity cost lost is often not realized. Here are the biggest mistakes made
Alternative investments are commonly defined as investments other than stocks and bonds. These may include commodities, real estate, private equity, real assets, and investments with strategies such as arbitrage and hedging. The benefits of alternative investments include potentially higher returns and diversification resulting from low correlation with other more common
Introduction Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) is constantly evolving. As more investors pour money into socially responsible investments, additional resources in the form of technology, indexes, and corporate information is available to the SRI community. As additional resources develop, investors will have to change with the industry. Additional decisions will have
Why Should I Care? Petrochina Company Limited is the largest oil producer in China and has the largest market capitalization of any company in the world. Petrochina’s stock is traded on multiple exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: Symbol PTR). In 2008, the company issued the largest bond