You can minimize how much you spend when it comes to investing by doing just a few things. Cutting how much someone spends on investing is one of the five painless ways to cut expenses in a report from Time Magazine.

One thing that you can do to minimize your investing costs is, of course, to go from a full service brokerage to one that offers cheaper trades. Then again, a lot of people aren’t comfortable with making decisions when it comes to their investments. There are some brokerages that will charge very little per trade, but they are going to let you make your decisions. The stock information that you are missing out on by picking out one of these brokers could be made up by searching the internet for investment information. You have to be a bit more hands on with your trades but you could save yourself a lot of money in the long run.

Another thing that eats at your money when it comes to investing is that you are being charged fees that are hidden in your 401 (k) or your IRA. When you have your money in these kinds of funds they are often put in mutual funds and there are recurring fees associated with them. Because these fees are deducted from the balance already in the account rather than charging you out of your bank account, they often fly under the radar.

The best way to help out your 401(k) and the fees associated with it is to stick with low-cost index funds. You can reduce your annual expense to as little as 0.2% of the balance. There are actively managed funds that can cost you up to 1.20% of your balance.

From the article:

On an account worth $100,000, your annual cost in index funds is a mere $200 instead of $1,190 with actively managed funds. So you’d save $990 a year by switching. But that’s only the start.

The money you save each year stays in the fund and grows. Let’s say a low-cost index fund and an average-cost actively managed fund both grow 8% a year for 20 years. Over that period, you’d end up with $75,678 more with the index fund by virtue of the additional compound returns from lower expenses; the index fund would grow to $449,133 while the actively managed fund would grow to $373,455. That’s more than $3,700 a year.

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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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Over the internet, it can be difficult to decide who to trust when it comes to learning about trading and investing. Your investments are the goal to your financial success and so you should definitely spend some time to find out exactly what you’re getting yourself into when you decide to invest. You should never invest blindly, with little knowledge of the market, or by going on the opinion of one person.

Forex Training Courses are important if you are looking into getting into trading foreign currency. With the right training and coursework, you can take something that seems as complicated as trading currency and even futures contracts and turn it into something you can excel in.

The Training Academy has been the most trusted name in professional trader education since 1997 and along with online courses offered by the company, it also offers on location training and courses. This is different than most training courses because many places that offer online classes are simply that, just online classes. With several locations throughout the country and worldwide, the Training Academy can offer in-person help to any students who may ask for it.

When looking around the internet, you may find plenty of places to get Forex trading information or find companies that have courses and training for all kinds of investing, but who would you rather pay; the company that has a proven track record or one that offers classes only online?

What you can learn from this booklet

Contains some important questions that any potential investor should ask when selecting a financial adviser to handle their investments. Armed with this knowledge you can fell more confident allowing someone else to choose the correct investments for you.

To download this e-book, or any of our current e-books, please visit the ebook page where you may choose the e-book(s) you wish to download. *Download an e-book by clicking on it’s title.*

For the firm believer that an investor should follow the trends to see real success in investing, it is important to know what the winners are doing right now. To understand that one needs to understand what they are looking at in the market. The first two things you must watch are real estate and unemployment. These are the absolute keys to a real recovery in the market and the economy. Until losing jobs is a thing of the past and until real estate prices stop going down, there will be pressure on our economy, end of story.

The current market is creating one of the greatest opportunities for building permanent real wealth if an investor can see the bargains. It is important to continually look for bargain-basement opportunities in the form of rock bottom prices. In addition to your own screening and research, it is important to pay attention to what those successful long-term investors are doing with their money.

Securities regulations make this very easy to do. Most finance managers are required to publicly release their holdings at the end of each quarter. By tracking portfolio changes and holdings in correlation with locations of investments, you effectively establish a makeshift research department composed of the best minds in the market. You should always do additional investigation of your own, but good research of what investors are already succeeding with is a good meeting of the minds, so to speak.

Just as an example, let’s look at Third Point LLC, the distressed and activist fund managed by Daniel Loeb. It is reported to have earned 16% or so annually without the use of much leverage, if any, just since its beginning in 1996. In his recent letter to shareholders, Loeb said he was less pessimistic about where the economy would be at the end of the quarter. The firm is letting go of what Loeb referred to as “doomsday positions” such as gold, the investments that will not stand as firm as they have once the economy moves forward. As we have established before, there is a relatively negative correlation between gold and Wall Street, simply because when Wall Street is doing poorly, gold has become the industry hiding place. When Wall Street bounces back, people bail from gold and ride the stock market back up, reducing the price of gold once again. (This explains why places like Cash4Gold are advertising the best ever prices of gold. Every active investor has bought some recently.) He said the fund is also finding long positions that offer what he called attractive opportunities.

Third Point established a new position in the home health and hospice company Amedisys in the quarter. As baby boomers age, this is going to be high-growth industry for years to come. Earnings and stock trades are up. Third Point also opened a position in Life Partners Holdings, a life insurance settlement business. Basically, it buys life insurance contracts at a discount from policyholders who are in need of funds. Life Partners then resells these contracts to retail and institutional investors. The company acts as an agent and receives a fee for its services. Earnings and stock trades are up for this company too, because death is truly recession-proof. It does appear that Third Point is leaning toward an aging population. In the last quarter it bought Wyeth, Schering-Plough and Pfizer with Pfizer coincidentally as one of the top investments right now.

Yesterday, 789 Chrysler dealerships saw the UPS guy and knew what that full sized overnight envelope contained. It contained a letter from Chrysler LLC indicating that they are being closed due to the bankruptcy of the entire corporation. Some dealers received phone calls from representatives and some discovered what was happening to the through local reporters. All of these information bearers informed them that they were part of the 789 dealers that had their Chrysler service discontinued. They have until June 9, 2009 to fully close these dealers, assuming the bankruptcy court approves of the move.

“The UPS truck came in this morning with a package,” he said. “We’re upset, stunned. We were not expecting it. We thought we were pretty safe, even in the area that we’re in. “We’ve been in the car business since 1928, so it’s devastating to us,” said Frederick George, who is a partner in the Flint, Michigan based dealership his grandfather founded in 1928. Paraphrasing from the letter he received yesterday morning, . “They told us they weren’t going to give us any monetary help, but they would help us get rid of the vehicles and the parts,” George recounted. George Chrysler Jeep has 100 new Chrysler vehicles on the lot, along with 40 used vehicles and shelves full of thousands of parts. The dealership has 31 employees, and George is sure that layoffs are imminent.

Owner of Buddy Jones Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep in Greenwood, Miss., James “Buddy” Jones, said he had no indication his dealership would land on the list. “We are not the problem,” he said. “Their investments are their own. The cars and facilities and investments are strictly our own.” He said that after Chrysler declared bankruptcy, he started scaling back on his inventory. He had already anticipated transferring some Chrysler staff to his Ford dealership across the street due to the bankruptcy, and Jones believes he will land on his feet. “Scaling back may have played into our being cut, but we made the right decision and we won’t look back,” he said.

Chrysler executives acknowledged that they had sent letters notify the dealerships. They detailed what these closures involved but did not address the lag time between the closures becoming public and the letters arriving. “It is with a deep sense of sadness that we must take steps to end some of our Sales and Service Dealer Agreements,” said Steven Landry, Chrysler’s executive vice president for North American sales, “The decision, though difficult, was based on a data-driven matrix that assessed a number of key metrics.” These closures do not mean the end to most of these businesses or to Chrysler’s sales. About half the dealerships being closed sell fewer than 100 vehicles per year and about 44% also sell vehicles other than Chrysler products.

Some of the domestic banks had even received their own share of government bailout money.

Eighty percent of AIG is owned by the U.S. government and the taxpayers. It has received over $170 billion inn bailout money and was one of the firms that was “too large to fail.”

Some of the biggest recipients of the AIG money were Goldman Sachs at $12.9 billion, and three European banks — France’s Societe Generale at $11.9 billion, Germany’s Deutsche Bank at $11.8 billion, and Britain’s Barclays PLC at $8.5 billion. Merrill Lynch, which also is undergoing federal scrutiny of its bonus plans, received $6.8 billion as of Dec. 31.

The money went to banks to cover their losses on complex mortgage investments, as well as for collateral needed for other transactions.

Other banks receiving between $1 billion and $3 billion from AIG’s securities lending unit include Citigroup Inc., Switzerland’s UBS AG and Morgan Stanley.

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So what’s the difference between a Ponzi scheme and a Pyramid scheme? From Wikipedia:

A multilevel pyramid scheme is a form of fraud similar in some ways to a Ponzi scheme, relying as it does on a disbelief in financial reality, including the hope of an extremely high rate of return. However, several characteristics distinguish these schemes from Ponzi schemes:

* In a Ponzi scheme, the schemer acts as a “hub” for the victims, interacting with all of them directly. In a multilevel scheme, those who recruit additional participants benefit directly (in fact, failure to recruit typically means no investment return).
* A Ponzi scheme claims to rely on some esoteric investment approach, insider connections, etc., and often attracts well-to-do investors; multilevel schemes explicitly claim that new money will be the source of payout for the initial investments.
* A multilevel scheme is bound to collapse a lot faster, due to the necessity of exponential increases in participant

Until now, the nation’s most serious home price declines have been in low-cost markets that were dominated by subprime mortgages, and in overbuilt markets such as Florida, California, and Las Vegas, where residential values are sliding fast toward pre-housing boom levels.

The Commerce Dept. reported Dec. 23 that November new-home sales in the U.S. fell to their lowest level in 17 years, down 35.3% compared with November 2007. And the outlook is even bleaker. The same day, Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS – News) forecast that more than 8 million homes will go into foreclosure over the next four years, or approximately 16% of all U.S. households with mortgages.

The housing market is expected to continue the fall next year, but hopefully we will see a bottom to housing prices and an increase in lending…hopefully.

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We, as United States taxpayers, have funded companies with $700 billion. It is OUR loan to THEM. However, the economy is still sub-par and there are no investments that we can put our money in for safety with the guarantee of even a tiny profit.

Short run T-bills have 0% interest rate. From what I’ve learned in my managerial finance class, when the T-bills is at 0% that means the risk free rate of interest on an investment is 0% and anything above that (such as on a corporate bond) included a default and market risk premium. (To me) that means any coupon rate on a bond (corporate, municipal, etc) is all risk…

The point I’m trying to make is that the bailout was supposed to help the economy…so when will that happen. There are thousands, if not millions, who are losing their retirement funds in the market. When will they be bailed out?

Obama said this about the announced plan, “These aren’t just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis. These are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long.”

This is a good idea in theory, after all, the government has spent billions to keep some banks above water, while not creating any new jobs….

I have even been faced with the question, “What exactly will I do after I graduate?” I’m graduating college at a very difficult time to be a new college graduate.

With 24 hour news programs, the media has to cover something, why not the worst news it can find? I’m not against the news at all, every once in a while I do enjoy sitting down and watching a little MSNBC, but with the problems on Wall Street, investors are keeping their eyes glued to the TV and the internet to watch their investments minute by minute…It’s dangerous and can lead to a rash decision.

If you were worried about your investments, I’m sure you’ve seen Jim Kramer’s tearful plea earlier this month for people to take all their money out of the markets. The only bad thing is that he’s influential and people listen to him. With the doom and gloom news on all the time now (not just the evening news like the last major downturn), people are more worried and it really affects those viewers more.

At the same time, it is a good tool to have the all the information you could ever want right at your fingertips. I mean, I would never be able to blog about anything if I couldn’t read online news. Not only that, but people are more aware now than ever before. With the news, all the time, being about the economy, citizens want something done about it, rather than just being complacent.

At this point I believe that investors with 401(k)s and other retirement investments are just trying to see their money stop depleting, even though in a couple of years the market will bounce back, no one likes seeing all their savings disappear.

Hopefully this will not be a deep recession and the global economy won’t suffer as much as some are thinking it may.

For the most part I put people on a safe path towards a desired yearly return with an acceptable risk level based on their comfort level and financial goals. However, I am constantly reminding people that investing is about profiting, so why are they limiting themselves to just one market. Everyone knows something: a hobby, a trade, a skill, a way of life. However, not many people have the confidence to pursue this type of investment. Alternative as it might be, sometimes the best investment for people is not the stock market, but in a carefully laid out investment in themselves.

It’s no secret that one of the most profitable investments is starting a business. There’s an old saying “Those with wealth invest, those with knowledge create.” People usually find themselves on either end of the spectrum, some even in the middle. The point is, why are you not investing in one of the best vehicles for your dollar?

The sad fact is that most people either do not have the drive to motivate themselves to start a business or lack the knowledge in the field of business they wish to enter. True, starting a business can be a daunting task, capable of sucking away most of your time. Estimates range that a new business owner’s weekly workload can average around 50-70hrs, leaving little time for social events or anything else that is not properly time managed correctly. This leads to the fact that 80% of new businesses fail within their first year of operation.

If 80% of new businesses fail in their first year, then why is it a good investment? Simple, one net worth can grow tax deferred (or tax free in some cases) a multiple of times within a very short period of time. It’s like picking a stock at $1, and having it go to $20, but you’re in control of how high it can go. Most businesses fail due to poor planning, time constraints, or even a business owner trying to tackle everything on their own and not having enough time to effectively handle even one part of their business correctly. Stress, financial strain, legal matters, taxes, employees, are among other things that can bog down a business in the beginning.

With most investments, more reward means more risk, but with a business, the risk is usually limited because you control it. You decide each move, each play, and as such control the outcome of your investment return; the trade off is that you must make each decision not someone else. With a business, you are trading the ability to make more by correctly leveraging off of yourself and other people (employees), versus making a limited or lesser amount by “correctly” selecting the best company to “invest” in. Too often people have gotten burned in the market because even though they did the correct due diligence on a company and found a sound investment, the market “reacted” differently than what made fundamental sense. The end result is a loss when you should have had a win. With a business, you decide, because the health (net worth) of your business is directly related to the fundamental factors affecting it, not by the rapid selling of trust funds, or liquidating board’s members with enormous option packages to cash in.

Just remember that if done correctly, starting a new business can become a well oil-machine. Providing a continual net worth increase and making your every dream become a reality, being only limited by our drive and imagination. The wealth that can be ascertained with a business is comparable by few other investments making it a worthwhile venture to consider.

Desire first, and plan second. There is nothing wrong with desiring wealth, it is perfectly logical. With wealth comes power, recognition, and the ability to have or change almost anything. Dreams come true, and doors open that otherwise might have been closed. In fact, I encourage thinking about your wants and desires; it is the single most effective way to understand what you want out of life. Now that you know what you want it’s time to lay the groundwork.

Because everyone has a different desire, everyone’s plan to success will be different. Factors such as time, income, and working capital come into play, but there are many ways in which everyone’s plan should be the same. A plan must have a start and an end; without which a path cannot be made to connect the two. The start must describe you as you are now with all truths revealed, the more information you list the better. This helps to establish a “true starting point” as well as an important honest acknowledgment of you. Things that might be included could be your age, current income minus debits, working capital (savings), time frame restrictions (moving, school, retirement, etc.). The end must be equally truthful and honest if your desire is to be a millionaire, have a clothing line, run your own successful law firm, or retire in 5 years then write it down along with all other goals/desires that you have. The more the merrier, your desires need to be written out.

The correction is in the connection. I give out advice a lot to people, mostly on how to get from point A to point B, but I tell them they are looking at it wrong. The best way to from A to B is to go from A to C. A is the start, B is the middle, and C is the end. Most people can only see what they have, and know only what they want.

The middle is simple, and should start simple; the simpler the better. Baby steps helps you succeed here, because we are looking for success not failure. Want to turn $10,000 into $1,000,000 in 5 years? Sit down, grab a pen, and find out mathematically what that comes down to a month. If you hit a wall; find a solution, or an idea. Will the increase in equity come from working more hours, making good investment decisions, or starting a new business? What is your backup plan? How do you plan to carry each task out? Create. Solve. Evolve. The middle is a jigsaw puzzle, include backup plans; use real numbers not guesses for success. Do not lie to yourself in your attempt to get from A to C, it will almost always lead to failure. Create steps that are attainable in order to give yourself a sense of accomplishment when you complete them. When you are done, know that you are focused and that your goals are within your grasp. Soon you will hunger no more.

Today the stocks of the lenders rose, some by as much as 13% in afternoon trading. However, a lot of the damage is already done. The government’s investment into the banks was to unfreeze the credit market so our economy can grow (people will be able to borrow money again and go back to spending.)

The debt the banks have incurred from bad mortgages and other personal debts has caused problems with lending that will last into next year or beyond.

Many consumers have one eye on their wallets and the other on their portfolios and retirement investments. Oil prices falling could be the only good news coming out of Wall Street in the last couple of weeks.

Oil prices have dropped so much so fast that even OPEC is thinking about dropping production just to raise prices…however I don’t believe that would help at all. If OPEC drops production and prices go up, demand will just fall and prices will stabilize.

Bank of America is buying out Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs is trying to get together a $75 billion buyout of AIG.

It looks like the problems from the housing foreclosures are moving up the ladder from consumers to the greedy lenders. This is a sad situation for those who have their pensions and investments tied up in these companies, also those who are going to lose their jobs as a direct result of the closures. At least some of the people will be able to get some of their money out of WaMu before it also tanks.

Also according to an article written by AP Business writer Jim Salter, a New York Times report with unnamed sources says that InBev raised their offer from $65 to $70 per share after AB said they wouldn’t accept the buyout, which was only about a week or two prior to this story being published.

AB’s stock price closed at $66.50 today (7-11-08). This is only $.05 short of their season high of $66.55.

The story also stated that the buyout could be completed by the end of the weekend.

So what happens to Budweiser? What about those Clydesdales pulling the cart in the snow? How about that Dalmatian??? I suppose something will happen considering InBev wants to remove all 13 board members from AB.

I suppose only time will tell.