Written by Jai Borchgrevink on November 28, 2011.
Many of us grow up hearing various sayings about money. Some of them are passed down as wise quotes, while others may be pieces of advice given to us by by someone trying to help us out. A small number of these things turn out to be good, sound advice; however, the majority of them are really nothing more than money myths!
Recently, Investopedia posted an article giving 10 bank-breaking money myths. Because I love reading and analyzing these ideas, I thought it would be good for us to take a look at them here.
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First we will look at housing and tax money myths, and then we will look at investment and credit-related financial misconceptions!
Money Myths About Housing And Taxes
Since I have clients that come to me for tax preparation, I hear this one all the time. It
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Written by Benjamin Woods on November 27, 2011.
AdvisorShares, the Bethesda, Md.-based fund provider known for its actively managed ETFs, enlisted Accuvest Global Advisors to make over its Mars Hill Global Relative Value ETF (NYSEArca: GRV) as it tries to revive an ETF that has failed to perform. GRV will also get a new name and a new ticker symbol, effective Dec. 1.
GRV will be called the Accuvest Global Long Short ETF, and trade on the NYSE Arca board under the new ticker “AGLS.” The fund has the distinction of being the U.S. mark
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Written by Jai Borchgrevink on November 25, 2011.
Credit card users often see advertisements for cards that offer a 0% intro APR on balance transfers. What is less prominent are 0% promotional APRs on purchases. While these promotional rates can offer customers substantial savings, cardholders should carefully understand both their benefits and drawbacks.
Credit cards advertise 0% interest rates in large print, while confining the details to a separate page. The page that describes the precise terms and conditions of these promotions is mandated by law. This page is commonly referred to as the Schumer Box, after Charles Schumer, the legislator most responsible for its requirement.
When examining a credit card’s promotional offer, go straight to the link labeled “terms and conditions” to see the Schumer Box. There you will find the duration of the promotional rate, as well as the standard rates that will apply when it expires. When
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Written by Hugo Pethebridge on November 25, 2011.
Prime real estate in the world’s largest cities may lose value moving into 2012, according to recent studies. The Knight Frank Prime Global Forecast predicts values for high-value properties in every major market, and data indicate prices are likely to fall in 44% of cities surveys, while 12% of cities will experience only marginal price fluctuation. Experts say the major causes for concern are economic strife in the United States and Eurozone and continued political deadlocking over answers on how to resolve fiscal problems. For more on this continue reading the following article from Property Wire. After two years of growth the heat is starting to come out of the world’s prime residential markets, particularly in Asia, according to the results of the latest Knight Frank Prime Global Forecast. Prices are predicted to fall in 44% of the cities monitored during 2012, with a similar amount likely to experience price rises. Values are expected to remain unchanged in 12% of the cities. T Full Post…
Written by Jai Borchgrevink on November 19, 2011.
Many individuals could be facing difficulties such as a bad credit history as growing numbers of Britons are increasingly concerned about their financial circumstances.Research from advisory website unbiased.co.uk found almost half of the population – 47 per cent – are more worried about this topic than they were six months ago.Savings were the most commonly cited concern – with 41 per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds and 33 per cent of 35 to 54-year-olds acknowledging this is on their mind.Chief executive of the organisation Karen Barrett noted the security of mortgages and pensions is also a worry and advised people to seek professional advice in order to reduce the chances of running into problems.”Given the economic climate over the last few years, financial planning should be at the forefront of everyones minds,” she commented.Head of consumer finance at lovemoney.com Ed Bowsher recently claimed sensible money management could vastly improve a persons quality of life and called for an increase in financial education in order to help children do this.
Written by Benjamin Woods on November 16, 2011.
Legg Mason’s (LM) Bill Miller was the mutual fund industry’s rock star through the 1990s and the first few years of this millennium. Now he’s unplugging his amp and walking off the stage.
Miller is leaving Legg Mason Capital Management Value Trust at the end of April. It was there where he achieved the amazing feat of beating the S&P 500 for 15 consecutive years before being proven mortal in 2006. Miller isn’t going away entirely. He will still serve as the company’s chairman. He will also continue to co-manage the smaller Legg Mason Capital Management Opportunity Trust.
Miller’s DiMaggio-esque Streak
Beating the S&P 500 isn’t easy, even if cynics will argue that it’s what fund managers are paid well to do.
A fund has to deal with management expenses and trading costs. If that isn’t enough of a setback, an open-ended fund also has to deal with the inflows and outflows of shareholders.
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Written by Hugo Pethebridge on November 16, 2011.
Despite the only modest economic upswing, government revenues have performed better than expected, and thus the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has adjusted downwards its deficit projection for fiscal year 2011, which ends in September. It now expects the federal budget deficit to have remained more or less stable at about $1290bn; the deficit ratio would then decline slightly from 8.9 to 8.5% of GDP. Debt held by the public would nevertheless increase further from 62.1 to 67.3% of GDP, and jump to 72.8% by 2013, despite an expected narrowing in the budget shortfall. The CBO predicts that the budget deficit will have amounted to $132bn in August, $41bn more than the shortfall recorded in the same month last year. However, the increase will be largely due to calendar effects. Adjusted for these, the deficit would have been $13bn higher than in the previous year.
Retail sales increased noticeably by 0.5% mom in July, as vehicle sales continued to rebound.
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