Fifty million people, one-sixth of the population, will be receiving checks from the stimulus package in May. The payments go to those who do not qualify for “Making Work Pay,” a tax credit that offers $400 per person or $800 per couple. The lowdown and possible investment opportunities… Read more…
There’s a local bank I’ve been keeping tabs on called Integra Bankcorp. Its a small regional firm that is essentially a savings and loan bank, they take in deposits and give out mortgages. Behind the scenes there is something going on, the Treasury is keeping its stock price, and likely the stock prices of many other regional banks, artificially higher. Read more…
It was announced today that State Street Bank, manager of the pension fund at General Motors, has liquidated 100% of the equity positions in General Motors stock. GM employees no longer have a single dollar invested in the well-being of the company, and they’re the only ones talking the company up. Read more…
Every financial catastrophe is practically defined by executive suicide. The corporate elite either dump Wall Street’s finest jobs attached to a golden parachute or find themselves in a situation where death is the only escape from a life behind bars. In this suicidal economic climate, both fiscally and in practice, suicide is too easy of a guilty plea. Read more…
This is something I am very familiar with. I’m looking to rent a home in my area, and I’ve been shopping around for a couple hours each day to find the home I want. Here’s a few tips for scoring that property at the price you want. Read more…
In today’s real estate market, sellers can’t afford to be choosers. If you’re a prospective first time home buyer or looking to grab some investment properties at bargain basement prices, there are a few tips to knock thousands off the price you pay. Read more…
If you’ve been looking at the newswires you’d see that apparently in six short months the whole banking sector is turning itself around. Everyone is showing a profit and traders are anticipating an excellent dose of first quarter profits from this nation’s bailed out banks. But there are serious consequences for short term prosperity, we’re setting ourselves up for a nasty double-dip bottom. Read more…
The Federal budget deficit rose to $192 billion in March, a new record and showing a continued stress for a government looking to spare the economy. The congressional budget office reported that after looking at the Federal budget, Americans should expect a $9 Trillion total deficit over the next decade. This figure would again double the national debt and by 2022 the national debt should stand at nearly $20 Trillion. Read more…
I’m tired of hearing that short sales are killing stocks. Naked short selling hurts stocks, but real short selling actually has a net economic benefit. We need to reign in on what used to be illegal, but the practice of short selling does have true economic merit. Read more…
Chief executive officers, they’re the top of the top, and for the last decade they’ve been treated like kings. You can’t fire them, the board won’t toss ‘em and they’re living it up at the expense of the investor. But now it feels like investors are demanding more from the corporate elite. After a year of scandals and bonuses, investors are going to start wanting more out of their CEOs. Read more…
Inflow and outflow data is king information on the market. You know how much money is flowing out, how much is pouring in and where the “big money” is tossing big money. As much as I hate exchange-traded funds for how they operate (don’t even get me started on commodity funds) I realize that they are an excellent indicator for forecasting the future. Read more…
I’ll admit I’ve been less than correct on Ford, I liked it at $6, loved it for pennies but I’ve yet to pull the trigger on the stock. I had though that if any of the Big Three were to survive it would be Ford, it pulled profits recently, had enough cash and credit to weather the storm and now it looks like its two domestic competitors are about to bite the dust. Read more…
