n+1: So can you tell me what happened with Bear Stearns? What were the steps?
investing
Confessions Of A Hedge Fund Manager Redux
By 4.9.08
By 4.3.08
../../../..//2008/04/03/warren-buffett-invests-like-a/
Warren Buffett invests like a girl, and you should too. [The Motley Fool]
Best Buy Starts Venture Capital Fund
By 4.1.08
Best Buy leveraging its business acumen into the exciting field of venture capital investing. Called Best Buy Capital, it will, according to several job postings, “serve as a source of innovative growth options for the enterprise rooted in smaller, more innovative, and potentially disruptive opportunities.” Sounds great! I have an idea for a new kind of digital tortilla chip clip. You know how you get down to the bottom of the bag of tortillas and you get the chip pieces that are small? And then when you try to dip them in salsa you get salsa all over your fingers? Well with my chip clip you would be able to grab a bunch of the chip pieces together. All dip, no drip! Plus, your fingers won’t start to burn from the salsa exposure, irregardless of how long you use it. It would also have a digital timer and be USB-powered. Best Buy Capital, if you’re interested, drop me a line. Inside, via DiversityInc Careers, a job posting for Best Buy Capital so maybe one of our readers can get a job there and then invest in my project…
Why You Shouldn't Invest in Your Company's Stock
By 3.27.08
Stories are emerging of Bear Stearns employees with significant losses in their company stock-based retirement holdings. Examples: a nine-year employee has reported losing $600,000 and a seven-year veteran lost $400,000. Similar stories are likely to emerge in months to come. And though subsequent reports may not feature staggering amounts like these, there are sure to be many with losses that are devastating to their personal finances. This situation underscores a basic guideline of investing: don’t put more than 10% to 20% of your portfolio value into your company’s stock. Why?
Jim Cramer Told Viewers "Don't Move Your Money From Bear! That's Just Being Silly!"
By 3.26.08
Jim Cramer, host of CNBC’s Mad Money is now something of a laughingstock, after telling viewers on March 11th not to “move” their “money” from Bear Stearns.
Don't Sell Your Stocks In A Bad Market
By 3.12.08
If you’re a stock or mutual fund investor, odds are you’ve had second (or third or fourth) thoughts about what to do in this mostly down rollercoaster of a market. Between episodes of popping Tums and chugging Pepto-Bismol, it’s likely that you’ve contemplated selling your stocks and waiting on the sidelines until things settle down a bit. CNN Money says that while this might seem like a wise path, it’s exactly the wrong thing to do. They list four reasons why you shouldn’t sell now, but the one that stands out among the pack is their reason no. 3 — you underestimate the risk of being out of stocks:
Is Your CEO Getting Kickbacks Off Your 401k Fees?
By 3.6.08
Author David Loeper over in the WiseBread forums explains how your CEO could be getting a kickback from excessive fees on your company’s 401k. The “administration fees” on some company’s 401ks are sometimes 20 times as much as what it actually costs to run the fund. Part of these fees go back to the 401k admin via “revenue sharing.” Usually the admin keeps it but sometimes they’re so big that they go back to the employee’s accounts. But instead of being credited back equally… [More]
What Can You Do If PayPal Holds Your Funds For 21 Days? Gamble With It In Their Money Market Fund
By 2.28.08
EBay’s highly criticized fee changes—lower listing prices but a 67% increase in seller fees—kicked in last week, and next month eBay’s payment service PayPal will start holding certain deposits for up to 21 days if PayPal considers the transaction “high risk.” PayPal earns interest on any money it holds—and it’s perfectly legal because PayPal is a deposit broker and not a bank. If you do find your money stuck in “high risk” detention, there’s only one way you can attempt to earn money from the delay, and that’s by sticking it in PayPal’s Money Market Fund.
Study Links Speeding Tickets And Risky Trading
By 2.11.08
People who get a lot of speeding tickets also engage in risky investing behavior, according to a new study. Finnish researchers compared a speeding ticket database and a database of all the trading portfolios of Finnish households. Their findings suggest that for these speeders, a sensible long-term investment strategy simply isn’t interesting enough for them. They crave the thrill and excitement of churning over their investments more frequently. Each successive speeding ticket and investor received correlated to an 11 percent increase in their portfolio turnover. On average, the stocks they bought didn’t do any better than the ones they had just sold.
How To Save A Million Dollars At Any Age
By 2.6.08
The February issue of Kiplinger’s has advice for how to save a million dollars at any age from 25-55. The longer you’ve got the easier it sounds, of course…. and the more inflation will take a toll on your million. Even so, interesting stuff.
By 2.1.08
../../../..//2008/02/01/heres-a-horrible-idea-a/
Here’s a horrible idea: a 401(k) program with a debit card. That’s right, you can go to the ATM and make withdrawals from your 401(k) retirement savings plan. [TheStreet]
How Your 401(k) Is Ripping You Off
By 1.31.08
Another chapter in Bob Sullivan’s excellent book Gotcha Capitalism explores how Wall Street quietly devours your retirement plan through an array of hidden fees. Bob quotes a Wall Street money manager as saying, “If we had to disclose fees, half the people in this room wouldn’t have jobs.” [More]
By 1.24.08
../../../..//2008/01/24/personal-finance-blog-filifes-ron/
Personal finance blog FiLife’s Ron Leiber on why he bought stocks this morning: because he’s nowhere close to retirement. [FiLife]
By 1.23.08
../../../..//2008/01/23/on-investing-in-scary-times/
On investing in scary times: “The bottom line: If you don’t have a plan, develop one. If you do have one, stick to it,” – Larry Swedroe. [All Financial Matters]
By 1.23.08
../../../..//2008/01/23/just-checking-annnnnnnnnnnd-yep-global/
Just checking annnnnnnnnnnd… yep… global stock markets remain in turmoil. [NYT]
U.S. Markets Down Sharply Despite Emergency Rate Cut
By 1.22.08
Despite the fact that the Fed cut the federal funds rate on overnight loans between banks to 3.5 percent from 4.25 percent in an attempt to prevent a sell-off in U.S. markets, the Dow Jones Industrial average opened down by more than 460 points.
