All Posts Tagged With: "bonds"
Financial myths debunked
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Fri, Oct 23 2009 | 0 Comments
While it wouldn’t make a really good episode of the Mythbusters television show, there are myths that are prominent in the financial world that need to be debunked. Here are some of the myths that Kiplinger compiled:
Myth number 1: There is a hot market somewhere in the world. There is an idea out there that other bits of the world will grow at huge rates even when the economies of the United States or Europe have begun to fall. There is an idea out there that you can offset losses in your home country by investing abroad.
The Truth: These days, thanks to globalization, downturns in any economy can lead to downturns everywhere. No country is immune anymore.
Myth number 2: Real estate is independent and behaves differently than other types of investments. In the most recent real estate craze, many people called it a bubble instead of a boom.
The truth: Real estate will not overcome other risks when credit problems are hurting investments all across the board. Real estate cannot and is not immune.
Myth number 3: The businesses that pay reliable dividends are safer than other investments and are preferred over stocks that do not pay dividends. There are some companies out there who are counted on to increase dividend payouts regularly and, therefore, actually performed better than other stocks.
The truth: Some companies are still increasing dividends. The best way to make sure that a company is going to have stable dividends, look at the cash flow and not just how big the company is.
Myth number 4: Foreign creditors can take out the U.S. Treasury because they own $3.1 trillion of our Treasury debt.
The truth: While it is true that many foreign creditors have a lot of the United States’ debt. It is also true that the U.S. Treasury is the place to go if you want bonds that are extremely safe. That’s why in school, they teach that the rate the Treasury sets bonds at is the risk free rate.
Myth number 5: Gold is where you should put your money in a bad economy. It is now trading above $1,000. However, it has been swinging back and forth with its price over the duration of the recession. Gold seems to be in its own bubble where it does things independent of the rest of the market.
The Truth: Gold is one of the commodities that also rallies in good times. When there is credit for buyers, inflation, and buyers who actually want to go out and spend their money, gold tends to increase a bit then too. It’s not just during bad times.
Kiplinger has five more myths to debunk at their site. I’ve linked to it below.
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Tags: myths, dividend payouts, dividends
Beating Your Head Against a Wall… Street
Michael Bowler | RSS | Tue, May 12 2009 | 3 Comments
Last week we saw the most promise in the economy since the recession began. Wall Street totals began to spike over the last two months and everything seems to be in place for a rise. Unfortunately, traders were so cautious that the spike was misleading that they under sold and the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 156 points. The four banks the government said were strong enough to survive a worse economy just turned to Wall Street to sell extra stocks in order to pay the government off, and they are going to trade well, strengthening the financial institutions.
Some analysts believe this is a small retreat after a big run, a good sign in a recovering economy. In fact, a healthy economy jerks up and down the scale a little bit as investors and traders get comfortable again. Despite the mistakes the government has made and the large, failing companies, the economy does seem to getting better. One key point is that as currency loses value and becomes less safe, gold becomes the alternate investment, and prices skyrocket. It is no secret the price of gold hit record highs during this recession. Gold prices are now going down.
If gold can stabilize where it was when the economy was better, life will be beautiful. Watch the gold prices. If gold goes down any further, especially in a constant downward motion, it is time to sell and invest in stocks, because the stock market is rising up the opposite direction. If anyone has invested in gold, now is the time to sell it, because gold is still technically at a record high, whereas the stock market is at record lows. Sell your gold and/or begin investing in the market again. A multitude of buyers and eager activity strengthens the economy, and if you get in on the ground floor, you can ride it up, like the wise investors you are. Bonds are also getting stronger. Keep an eye on both stocks and bonds, especially if you have gold to sell. That’s the way to ride the market back up.
At the same time, economies have always seen high points and gone right back where they were. No recession is finished until the afflicted economy has shown a habit of much higher numbers and job recreation. Right now, we still have an average unemployment of around eight or nine percent. The high point here is that we have been holding a steady unemployment rate and the economy has essentially bottomed out. When the only way to go is up, that is likely what you will do, If the economy does revive soon, it will be in spite of the efforts of Wall Street, corporate America, and even the government.
Director of derivatives investment strategy for WJB Capital Group in New York, Scott Fullman, noted that the Dow has risen about 30 percent since March, about twice as much as the market might do in a full year of strong gains. “To take a break here is healthy,” he said. Enter disagreement from Christian Bendixen, director of technical research at Bay Crest Partners LLC in New York, who said the economy remains troubled beyond what many analysts concede and that he expects the market will tumble again and perhaps breach the lowest levels of early March.
In trying times such as these, America deserves fiscal responsibility and a united society bent on resurrecting the market. America has yet to see either. The government is giving away tax money like it is indispensible, and that is hurting the market. It is likely that the economy would be much more promising without the ‘bailouts’ last year and early this year. Every time a financial bill was passed, the economy was sink lower in anticipation. The greed of the corporations has not helped either. In the words of country music artist John Rich, in his new song, “They’re selling make believe and we don’t buy that here.” When America doesn’t buy rhetoric from the lawmakers and economic “powers-that-be,” the economy suffers. That’s why the economy is still so bad and America is latching onto any glimmer of a reviving stock market, whether it is a sound movement toward prosperity or a candle in the wind.
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Tags: stocks, bailout, recession
What’s the benefit of becoming a bank holding company?
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Tue, Nov 11 2008 | 0 CommentsThe U.S. Federal Reserve said American Express could become a bank holding company. Like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs before, now American Express may issue government guaranteed bonds through June 2012.
The companies can also apply to receive aid from the $700 billion bailout rescue package Troubled Assets Relief Program.
American Express dug itself into the hole it is currently in. After all, last year when the housing market started to go belly-up, AmEx was still giving out credit like candy on Halloween. Trick or treat?
I can’t believe some credit card companies. I am STILL getting pre-approved offers in the mail. Some of the companies are ones that I’ve read about having trouble…should they really be wasting assets to pre-approve me for a credit card, especially if I haven’t responded to the last 200 mailings?
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Tags: federal reserve, american express, credit card

