When you contact your insurance company to file a claim there are a few things that you shouldn’t say if you want to make sure that your policy will cover the incident. Now, do not fraud the insurance company, just make sure what you’re telling them is the truth.

1. Never start a sentence with “I think” or any other term that indicates that you’re not sure as to why something happened. If you don’t know say “I don’t know.” Giving information that can be proven wrong later can really hurt your claim and can damage your credibility.

Particularly beware of speculating on blame or causation. For example, if you suggest that a water leak is due to a construction defect, you could give the insurer an out if that’s a policy exclusion.

2. Don’t use the “whiplash” excuse unless your doctor actually says you have it. This is one of the most fraudulent claims every year that insurance companies have to deal with. In some cases, according to Amy Danise from Insure.com, mentioning whiplash in your claim is likely to get it flagged for further investigation.

3. Don’t admit to a doctor’s test as being experimental when it isn’t. There is a difference between an actual experimental drug/procedure and one that is proven (and accepted by the FDA for use) but your doctor wants to try it out in your case. You may want to make sure that your doctor can prove that it will be covered by insurance before getting it done and fighting with the insurance company later.

4. The word “flood” triggers some kind of nervous, shaking, fear in insurers; so don’t use it. When it comes to homeowner’s insurance, floods aren’t covered. A flood is weather related too, not if your pipe bursts and you find yourself with a basement full of water.

5. Don’t act like the only thing you care about is the money. When an insurance company sees that you care more about getting a check rather than fixing your damaged property, they will likely put your claim on hold while they go and check further into it.

When it comes to insurance, it’s all about what the insurance company thinks. If they feel that you’re trying to make a fraudulent claim, for any reason, they can simply put the brakes on your claim altogether. It is rather frustrating to pick and choose your words when you talk to the insurance company, but it is important. Too many people, every single year, decide that having insurance is a good way to try to make a bit of money, when in reality that is not what insurance is for.

I can’t tell anyone what to do with their money, but if an insurance company sends a check out, then fix whatever is broken.

Are you pulling from your retirement fund early?

Question

Are you pulling money out of your retirement fund, have you considered it and what advice do you have for someone facing this situation?

Answer:

I actually don’t have a retirement fund in a traditional sense. My husband and I have a nest egg that we put money into. However, if I am understanding the ways 401(k)’s work, then it isn’t a great idea for people to pull money out of it early unless they absolutely have to. The fees for drawing from a retirement plan early can be quite high, however the fees vary depending on your fund.

If I were faced with a situation where I either had to pull from my retirement fund or my family would go without food, then I would likely pull from the fund…it just all depends on your individual circumstances and how you feel about it.

Whenever I go to the store to pick up a few things to clean the house, I have noticed that there are more and more new kinds of cleaners and dusters; just basically a lot of things that I have never needed in the past to get my house clean.

I think that it’s important to show everyone that they don’t need Swiffers or Shamwows to clean their homes.
So here are a few tips to save you some money on the cleaning aisle and in your house when it comes time to clean up:

1) Paper towels can be a waste. While I think it is important to ALWAYS use a clean cloth to clean up in the kitchen, it isn’t necessary to have three rolls of paper towels to clean. Reusable towels are a good alternative to paper towels. You can clean up with them and throw them in the wash with your towels. This will also help reduce some waste that comes from your house.

2) Lysol or any other concentrated antibacterial cleaner is your best friend when it comes time to clean the kitchen. Before I discovered this tip, I can’t tell you how many bottles of pre-bottled Lysol or Formula 409 I went through cleaning up around the house (especially in the kitchen). One day while I was getting ready to mop the floor, I discovered that you can also use Lysol to clean counters. So, I put the recommended amount in a spray bottle and fill the rest of the bottle up with water. One bottle of concentrated cleaner can last our house 3 months (and that’s also using it to clean the floors).

3) Swiffer dusters are nice, but a wet cloth can do the same job. If you have a lot of knick knacks in your house and have to walk around and dust them every single week, then maybe a Swiffer duster will save you some time, but if you don’t, a wet cloth could be the cheap alternative that you are looking for.

4) Plastic bags from the grocery stores can be a good alternative to buying trash bags. Okay, unless you have completely started using reusable shopping bags, then I’m sure somewhere around your house you have some of those plastic shopping bags. I keep all of mine and use them as trash bags. This keeps us from having to buy trash bags. While you’re probably thinking that they are just too small to be used as trash bags in the kitchen trash, think about it this way: How often have you walked past your kitchen trash that you probably should have taken out yesterday? When you use smaller bags, you have to take the trash out more often and therefore, there’s less stink to deal with.

Now these tips might not be fore you or you can pick and choose which ones sound like something that you may give a try.

Are you ready to sell your house?

Question:

It looks like there could be a break for house sellers in the market. Are you ready to sell your house?

Answer:

I have to say that I’m not ready to sell my house just yet. While the market in my area IS picking up, it still isn’t where I would like it before I decide to put my house up for sale.

I think that if you give the market some more time then you may be able to see a bit more money than if you sold now. Especially if you wait until the Spring, when the market gets hot again.

Site Redesign – We are currently undergoing a complete site overhaul and design for the launch of our new website. We will be working hard to help give commenters better access to the system by allowing their comments to hit the site without going through as much moderation in order for some features that require fast responses. Users will also be able to moderate each other comments and report possible violations as well.

More Features – Along with the paid writer’s section we will be adding another feature to the site which will be one of the main cores to the site which will allow people to help each other in a unique way and also earn money in the process. Users that are also part of the paid writer’s section will earn a higher amount than regular users as well.

Launch Date – We are aiming for a January 2010 launch of the official new website.

Feedback & Suggestions – If you would like to suggest a feature for the new website for us to consider please either leave a comment below or contact us directly. We are also open to any feedback as well.

Does the average cost of a house worry you at all?

Question:

The average price for a home in the United States dropped once again. Does this worry you at all?

Answer:

As a homeowner, yes. I used to not be worried because I could still see the prices in my neighborhood increasing, but not anymore. I think that once the prices in my area level out some, I’ll be less worried. No one wants to lose money in their house. That would go against the point of owning a home, I thought.

I’m sure I’m not as worried as people in other parts of the country though.

How does one open a Swiss bank account online and what advantages does this provide? The process of opening a foreign account may not be as complicated as it seems. Some banks may actually let consumers open an account with out a minimum initial deposit and even without any monthly maintenance charge or service fees. What are the advantages of when you open a Swiss bank account online?

Advantages include a worldwide account; one that you exercise full control over. An international or worldwide account is protected from economic troubles because it is not located in America, thus not subject to American law. Even if the American dollar should continue to sink in value you have the ability to store money in various currencies, including USD, EUR or CHF. This can also be seen as a way of diversifying your income and assets. For instance, many people believe that the U.S. government has the right to seize your assets at any time. Some predict that if the current economic crisis continues that the government will start applying more pressure on the wealthier class. This is debatable, but one thing is for sure: the U.S. government certainly does have the right to access your bank accounts at any time.

Furthermore, you as an American citizen are also subject the bank’s policies, not to mention your own country. That means that if a banking institution files for bankruptcy you could lose all of your funds, depending on the bank’s policies of insurance. The freedom to be a “multinational” businessperson, not one dependent upon a single country, is quite a privilege.

If you desire to open a Swiss bank account online then you are not under obligation to fly to Switzerland, nor do you have to be rich. The practice is not illegal, and there are no laws against opening such an account. It is very possible that the government doesn’t like the idea of not having access to your account, and this is why many American citizens are seeking out this international opportunity. Banks provide full privacy from all prying eyes. When you open a Swiss bank account online you can choose between different types of accounts like a high yield savings account, student bank account, current bank account, and business bank accounts

While it is legal to open a Swiss bank account online, it is not legal to use such an account for tax evasion purposes. The Swiss bank account will not investigate you, but the U.S. can catch up to a trail of deceit. Therefore, remember that it’s always illegal to avoid paying taxes that you earn from using American currency.

What does the choice to open a Swiss bank account online have to do with a payday loan? It’s possible that some individuals may try and open a Swiss bank account online as a means to guarantee a savings account. This is a wise move, especially considering the instability of the United States’ economy. However, withdrawing money from a savings account, even an international account, may not always be the best course of action.

The idea of a savings account is to save money—not to withdraw it if at all possible. Most people assume that they have no other options but to reach into their savings account (or even to open a Swiss bank account online) to take the money they currently need. Consider another option: payday loans. These loans are not typical bank loans. They do not require credit checks or lots of paperwork and waiting processes. Rather, they are approved online and can give borrowers up to a couple thousand dollars via instant transfer.

Borrowers can use this money to catch up on personal bills, to purchase personal expenses or to use as capital for their business. These loans are short-term loans and are usually repaid within a paycheck’s amount of time—usually 30 days or less. This minimizes on the interest and eliminates most of the long, drawn out paperwork process involved with a traditional loan or in the choice to open a Swiss bank account online.

When you open a Swiss bank account online or take money from your savings, you may affect your interest rate or incur other bank charges. Taking a payday loan is easy, fast, and doesn’t carry a great deal of risk. Don’t assume that you are all out of options whenever you meet with financial adversity. Everyone is feeling the effects of the economic crisis. Loan companies can provide fast loans without scrutinizing creditworthiness. If you can manage to use on-hand funds (even short-term loan companies) to pay for imminent expenses, and avoid dipping into your savings account or trying to open a Swiss bank account online, then you can create a more stable financial future for your retirement.

Wal-Mart is getting in on the prepaid craze. With AT&T offering a unlimited talk and text plan for $60 per month, someone had to come around and step up their game.

Wal-Mart is starting up it’s own “Straight Talk” service that will ride off of TracFone’s service. The service starts at just $30 per month and a user can get unlimited talk, text AND DATA for $45 per month.

The service goes on sale starting October 18th. It will offer not only nationwide coverage, but it will also offer unlimited 411 usage.

Of course, like most other prepaid carriers, the phone options will be quite limited. You won’t see any cutting edge phones avaiable for purchase on any of these types of services. That probably has something to do with how cheap the plans plus data are. If everyone had an iPhone or another more advanced phone on the plan, then it would eat data and Wal-Mart would likely be losing money. However, with the not-as-advanced phones, these are great options for text-happy teenagers.

With prepaid plans like these popping up, I can definitely see post paid plans taking a hit. These aren’t just regional plans, they are nationwide plans with great coverage. For example AT&T is one of the only carriers that have coverage at my parent’s house in rural Mississippi. I was completely in the dark when I had T-Mobile and went to visit them.

I would like to see more competition with post-paid plans because that’s where the more desirable phones are. That’s what I’m after in the end…I want good coverage and a great phone for a reasonable price. That’s why I’m with Sprint. The price really overcame the company’s phone selection and the coverage is awesome when compared to the T-Mobile phone I had previously.

Would you switch from your post paid plan to a prepaid plan to get in on the deals? How about you prepaid plan people…How do you like your service? How much does a more advanced phone matter to you?

There are millions out of work right now and there are fewer and fewer jobs available for those who are looking or work. Data that was released by the government on Friday showed that the recession is worse than it has been since the beginning of the recession right now.

It’s only expected to get worse because companies are still not hiring and most have no plans on creating jobs to start hiring.

It is so difficult to be unemployed right now because there are about 6.3 people applying for every one job opening. In comparison, when the recession officially began in 2007, there were only 1.7 workers competing for every one job opening in the united States.

Since the beginning of the decade, the largest amount of people who were competing for one job opening was in July 2003, when 2.8 people were looking for every one job opening.

From the beginning of the recession, employers have cut over 7 million jobs. Even though there are fewer and fewer job cuts with each job and unemployment report, there aren’t any jobs being created. Job creation is essential for the health of the economy.

So, people with jobs are feeling a bit more safe when it comes to their jobs. Job security can be priceless, but for those that were laid off or have found themselves unemployed, it is still quite difficult to find work.

It is, of course, more difficult to find work in some areas than others. Jobs are being created in some areas of the country, but there are other parts of the country that barely have any jobs available and are losing them much faster than they’re making them. The more industrial a town is, particularly in this recession, the more that town or county hurts it seems.

Hopefully, the job market will get a bit better sometime soon.

Source

Working in construction or having a job that requires physical labor is though and it can be equally tough on your clothes. No one wants to have to spend a lot of money every month or so on new clothes because their work clothes wear out. Luckily, you can find name brands like Carhartt and Dickies online and for reasonable prices.

When it comes to construction gear, work gloves are absolutely necessary and actually work gloves are really great for things like making snow balls in the winter time. Cotton gloves tend to get wet when you’re trying to make snow balls and when your hands are wet, you aren’t happy.

Overalls are something else that may not be absolutely crucial, but they are a big part of work clothing for some areas. Overalls can be handy to keep your pants up (are you paying attention, plumbers? This could help you guys get rid of the stereotype and you can look a bit more like Mario).

At the Construction Gear website, you can find all of the great brands that you have come to know and enjoy for their quality. You can also find pretty good prices and every single item that you may have wanted or needed for your work attire (unless you’re in an office, then you probably don’t want to be wearing work boots and overalls…You won’t find Seersucker here).

A spendthrift is someone who spends money; a lot of money and it can be considered wasteful the way he or she spends it.

Have you watched the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic? I watched it a couple of weeks ago, and while my shopping habits haven’t really gotten THAT out of control I have made a couple of splurges in the past that I know haven’t been the best shopping decisions.

It can be difficult to go from being someone who buys what they need and picks up a few extra things as well to someone who buys the bare minimum of what they need from the grocery store, often foregoing their favorite brands for the cheaper, generics, brands that are on sale, or the brands that have the coupons out that week.

The best, and easiest way, in my opinion, to go from someone who spends money to someone who saves money is to watch the flow of cash out of your bank account, closely. If you can watch that balance drop, then you are going to be far more likely to put down the debit card and head for the door.

Of course, there are times when shopping is more of a habit than a hobby and sometimes you may actually need to talk to someone about your “problem.” In the movie I was talking about earlier, there is a scene toward the beginning when the main character, who has maxed out her credit cards and can’t pay the bills, sees a really expensive green scarf on a mannequin and the mannequin starts talking to her (in her mind). The mannequin tells her that she needs the scarf and somehow she pools the money together to get it.

Thiis is just one example, even though it is a fiction example, of how shopping can actually become an addiction.

My biggest tip that helps me though, and I know I’ve said it a million times, is to MAKE A LIST. If I have a list, I won’t spend as much. If I have a list, there is a lesser chance that I will bring home things that are not on the list. If I make a list and arm myself with coupons, my savings are even greater (however, you have to remember not to buy something just because you have a coupon, make sure that you need it).

I suppose most people know this, but I really wanted to share my experiences with our readers today. Here’s the number one way I believe Chris and I could save money in our house and you guys could probably save some too if you have this problem:

Don’t go to the store for one item.

The reason: You will NEVER leave with just one item.

With the exeption of just a couple of times, most of the time when we go to the grocery store for JUST a gallon of milk or JUST a loaf of bread or something similar, we always find ourselves purchasing a lot more than we had planned on buying. Most of the time, we always go without a list when it’s a “quick trip” for just a couple of things and I think that’s where we get in trouble.

Last night we went to Wal-Mart to waste some time while we were waiting for our house to finish being “bug bombed.” Well, we actually needed milk and sour cream (I really wanted to make tacos for dinner the next night). Because we were wasting time we shopped around the store and also remembered that we didn’t have any shredded cheese or Crystal Lite. An hour later and now we’ve bought that plus Halloween candy and vanilla extract. That wasn’t one of the bad times either.

I suppose if we could just hold off until we needed to actually go grocery shopping it wouldn’t be so bad. However, when you’re completely out of milk there can be an issue. I can’t cook a lot of things without milk and every morning for breakfast Chris and I usually make a bowl of cereal…which isn’t so great without milk.

I find another way to possibly avoid the potential problems that can arise when you go shopping for one item is to stick to your guns. Write exactly what you need down on a list and get only that. Keep yourself from getting distracted by end caps and other promotional eye catching products.

Or…just don’t let me do the grocery shopping, haha.

Not everyone can have a perfect, clean driving record. For those who don’t have clean records and/ or are considered high risk drivers, there are options available for them.

You have to remember, even if car insurance is expensive, if you are going to be behind the wheel of a car, car insurance is the law. There are some companies that specialize in auto insurance for high risk drivers.

Drivers who have multiple tickets, have had accidents that were considered their fault, or young and/or inexperienced drivers are considered high risk drivers. If you fall into one of these categories, then it is important that you shop around for car insurance. Quotes can vary from company to company. Risky factors for young insureds leads to higher premiums and when you’re working for minimum wage like teens do, then it is important to make sure that you’re getting the most for your money. I remember when I was first driving and it cost almost $100 per month for liability and uninsured motorist coverage on my 2000 Cavalier.

Comparison shopping for car insurance isn’t only for teenagers, anyone can find affordable coverage for high-risk motorists if they know where to look or if they can do a search around the internet. There are so many companies out there that tend to focus on insuring people with squeaky clean records that sometimes those with a blemished record get left out.

Once when I tried to get an auto insurance quote online when I was younger, I had a really hard time finding a company that would offer insurance to me, let alone give me a real quote. I would always have to call the company during their business hours, which I’ve always found to be a bit inconvenient. Finding auto insurance doesn’t have to be as much of a hassle for risky drivers anymore.

Being anywhere in the world outside the United States does not mean that you have to go without comparison shopping. There are sites for those in Australia that not only can you, as a shopper, compare prices on things like laptops and shoes, but as an advertiser, you can use pay per click advertising as a way to get more sales through the site.

MyShopping.Com.AU is a site where you can do any of these things. Comparison shopping will always be important to the thrifty consumer. I’m sure that there are plenty of people in Australia who would like to know where to get the best deals on items in their own country. Websites like the one linked provides the right kind of opportunities for shoppers to not only save time, but money to find items that they are looking for when they go shopping.

In the United States a comparable site would likely be something like MySimon. You know, I don’t even know if my simon is still around, but if it is, that is the site that would compare. I enjoy using a single website to find all the information I’m looking for in one place. The worst parts of sites like Shop.com is the spam and just junk that I usually find. I wish there were a way to avoid that.

When you have your own business and are just starting out, there are a few things that you will need and you won’t have the money to get them. Well here are some of the things that you will need and ways to not only get them, but get them for free (which, as many of you know, is my favorite way to get anything).

E-Mail – Don’t underestimate this one. It’s important to have e-mail for everyone. Google has a lot of apps for business users also that are completely free. I love Gmail for everything.

Business Plans – You can hit up the Small Business Administration for help and tools to write your business plan. Here’s the website for this one: Small Business Administration.

While you’re at the Small Business Administration website, you can also pick up some legal and business forms that you may need while you’re starting up. Here are the forms that the website offers at no cost:

• Financial Assistance Forms
• Disaster Assistance Forms
• Technical Assistance Forms
• Contracting & Surety Bonding Forms
• 8(a) Business Development Forms
• Miscellaneous Forms:

• Award Nomination Form
• Application For Small Business Size Determination
• EEO Poster
• Candidate for Person of the Year
• Statements Required by Laws and Executive OrdersQuestionnaire for Public Trust Positions
• Supplemental Questionnaire for Selected Positions
• Questionnaire for National Security Positions
• Continuation Sheet for Questionnaires
• Financial Status Report
• Request for Advance of Reimbursement
• Federal Transaction Report
• Joint Application for EWCP
• Federal Agency Comment Form

• IRS Forms
• OSHA Forms

Information on Marketing: There are websites across the internet that can help you with marketing information, but you really have to do your homework and realize what is useless junk and what is useful. The most useful website that I have found regarding internet marketing information is probably Warrior Forums.

Free information for your small business is available all through the internet, and you can even find more information on this site.

If you have any other suggestions post a comment below! I’ll be glad to answer any questions or even help you find some advice.

A report from Bloomberg said that defaults of credit cards in the United States rose by 11.49% in August. The number is up from the 10.52% it increased from the month of July. The percentage reflects complete write offs and not delinquencies that are still being sought by the banks and lenders.

Because of the rising unemployment, there is a problem with many people being able to pay down their debts or be able to pay their debts at all. With unemployment currently hovering just under 10%, 1 in 6 Americans are out of work.

The biggest lenders in the United States, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, as well as Citigroup all reported an increase in defaults for the month of August.

It is now predicted that unemployment may reach 10.5% sometime in mid-2010 and at the same time there will be an increase in write offs between 12 and 13%.

As an American, I am well aware of many people of the country having a dependency on credit. For the longest time, everything that was purchased was paid for with plastic (an no, I don’t mean debit cards). Delinquencies were bound to rise at some point in time and they were going to rise by a lot. After all, with all the people defaulting on their mortgages and going into foreclosure, why would they hold on to their credit cards and try to pay them off?

Credit card companies know that this is what is happening, which is the reason for why they all want to hike their interest rates. If they didn’t hike interest rates then how would they make up their money from all of the people who are defaulting on their loans? The government won’t be bailing out these companies anymore.

It is a huge deal when banks charge everyone and their mother huge overdraft fees. Bank of America was one of the worst. The bank would hold your deposits or allow small transactions to go through prior to the larger deposit being made. Of course, this led to many overdraft fees being incurred by the customer. For every transaction that the customer made, they were tinged $35.

Bank of America just announced though that on October 19th, it will begin laying off the serious overdraft fees and only begin tinging the account once it reaches a $10 overdraft in one day. This means accumulated and not that you can continue to overdraft as long as it doesn’t go above $10 (at least this is the way I understood it). The account holder also has to have the account back in the black in five days time.

That’s not the most exciting news regarding the overdraft fees in my opinion, though. I like the fact that customers will soon be able to opt out of the program just by visiting a Bank of America branch or calling a yet to be determined phone number. Of course, the program I’m referring to is the one that starts the overdraft problem in the first place. I would much rather be declined at the grocery store than begin incurring overdraft fees at the bank. My embarrassment is less than the  $35 that the bank would charge me for the “overdraft protection”.

Bank of America will also be limiting the number of overdraft fees that can be incurred in a day to four. This is down from 10. The rule that it could charge 10 overdraft fees in one single day was put into place earlier this year. It is nice to see that rule gone and a new, better one in its place.

I don’t know if this will position BofA in a more positive light, but anything helps when it comes to the business practices this company has been doing. I know I talk a lot about the company, but I also hold a credit card from them and have yet to see my interest rates spike or my credit limit reduced. I haven’t had one bad experience with the company (knock on wood, right?).

Alright, I am a supporter of a public option for government sponsored health insurance. This may make me a “bad guy” to the conservatives of the country but I truly don’t understand what is wrong with wanting an option to have government sponsored health insurance that I PAY for.

Currently, I can’t afford car insurance, my mortgage payment, my student loan payments, AND health insurance so something has to go. Sure, I had a bout of bad luck when I had to have my gallbladder removed a few months ago, but other than that I have not had any troubles with my health.

I would really like to have some form of health insurance and I honestly don’t think that those who have insurance through their employer really understand how much it can cost for the rest of us. Even without a preexisting condition, the cost per month can be $150 with a $5,000 – $10,000 deductible. That is outrageous considering car insurance costs me $80 per month for FULL coverage with a $500 deductible AND I’ve had a car accident that was deemed my fault in the last 3 years.

I wish I did not have to pay that much for health insurance. Over the course of a year, if I did not have to pay over $1,200 for health related costs then I would be ahead over paying for health insurance (if I were paying $100 per month for insurance). Then again, if something disastrous were to happen, then I would be up “that” creek without a paddle (if you know what I mean). I hate the fact that I rely on hospital charity for serious conditions, but paying for health insurance simply is not worth it in my opinion. And in the opinion of the charity workers of the hospital, I do not make enough money to have to pay for health care.

I just do not understand why people argue so much about something as simple as a universal health care OPTION (this is not even something that is forced on you, it’s just an option). I wish, more than anything, that I could afford health care for not only myself, but my husband also. I feel as though we pay too much for health care we never use. I get dirty looks when I visit the doctor and tell them I don’t have health insurance, and even though I can pay for my visit, they still give me the look of someone who has stolen something.

This has gotten absolutely ridiculous. I have nurse friends who agree with me. I wish that I could encourage everyone to support some kind of health care for everyone, but I don’t think that will happen because some will “stick to their guns”. I just wish that those people could see the problem from my point of view or have the same issues I have. Then, perhaps, they would be willing to change their minds.

Flash orders give some traders an edge in the purchase or sale of their stocks. The advantage is only a split second advantage, but it is enough to get the attention of the SEC.

For the next 60 days, the change will be up for public comment and could be adopted by the SEC after that time.

Flash orders are one of those things that sometimes occurs in the trading world. They really have started to become quite a hot issue on Wall Street though due to people asking questions about fairness on the Street.

From MSNBC:
A flash order refers to certain members of exchanges — often big companies — buying and selling reports about continuing stock deals milliseconds prior to that information being made public. A number of big banks and financial companies, using high-speed PC programs, can get a speedy, sneak peep at how additional investors are trading, giving them a brief peek into the direction of the market.

The other rule on the table includes more transparency from credit rating companies. For its role in the subprime mortgage mess, the industry that performs credit ratings has been shamed. The practices of these companies (which includes Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service, as well as Fitch Ratings) will be able to be seen by the public and will also be subject to restraints.

It is not fair when some companies have the ability to trade before the general public is allowed to do so. When there are ultra high speed computers and company information and reports available, then of course they will have an small advantage. I do not believe that the flash ordering has been exactly beneficial to a lot of companies on Wall Street because if you look at how many companies have performed over the past few months and especially when you look at the last year, you can tell that they are not exactly doing great. Many of the banks and financial institutions have only remained open only by the grace of our taxpayer dollars.

I am glad that they will no longer be helped out by any of the money that I pay the government. I know that the general public of the United States is ready to go after the boards of many of these companies because of all the bonuses that they seem to be raking in every couple of months; and I have to agree with the general public on this one.

These rules can be seen at the MSNBC article I’ve linked below. I would like to see what the SEC does with the public comments over the next two months. In 60 days, we will see how the market is doing and I am sure that will have some impact on the SEC’s decision as to what it is going to do with the new rules.

Source

After the housing market collapsed, followed by the credit crunch, it became quite difficult for people to buy homes. However, now, while still tight, it is becoming easier (than a few months ago) to find a mortgage. So how do you know what to get and what will you be happy in?

Here are some tips from the New York Times:

1) Start with the basics. Put 20% down on your home, get a fixed rate mortgage, and make sure that your mortgage is no more than 35% of your pretax income.

2) Consider your income. Being overconfident in your income will only get you in trouble when it comes to buying a home. You need to make sure that you’re still able to save money every month in addition to paying the mortgage.

3) Bow to the Unknowns. There may come a time when you decide to have children or change your career. If or when this happens, you need to make sure that you’re not caught up in a mortgage that keeps you from doing what is truly rewarding to you.

4) The 8 Hour Rule. If you can’t sleep through the night because you’re worried about how much you’re going to pay for the mortgage or worried about how to pay for the mortgage you shouldn’t be getting the house. If you have to take sleeping pills to help yourself get to bed at night, then perhaps it’s time to rethink the entire home purchase.

There are three more rules along with much more detail about each tip at the article source at the bottom of the post.

I think that there are a lot of things to consider when buying a home; all of these tips are great. Mortgages are not something that should be entered into lightly and should really be thought about because when you’re unable to pay your mortgage then you’re going to have credit problems for a long time and you will also find yourself in a lot of heartache about what was supposed to be your “dream”.

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When I woke up this morning, I wondered if, as a society, we are overly medicated. I wondered because I woke up with an awful sinus headache, the kind I cannot shake unless I take a couple ibuprofen and an allergy pill (my choice today was Allegra).

It can be argued that modern medicine has led to great things such as people living to be 90 and older which was once simply unheard of also, children being able to fight off cancer (which was also unheard of). It can also be argued that modern medicine has led to the failure of natural selection.

It just seems like, overall, we have a pill for everything. If you watch the national news in the evening, it is very obvious that there are too many medications. There are so many that they have started to combine medicines. If you look, there are at least a dozen different kinds of drugs for something as common as heartburn.

When is the last time you walked into the drugstore and actually looked at all the different pain relief medicines? How about allergy medications? After Chris caught a cold last week, I literally spend half an hour looking at different cold remedies when I just gave up and bought DayQuil.

Pharmaceuticals is a HUGE business. Just look at this list. It’s outrageous when you start to look at all the money we spend yearly on medication. I don’t believe that we’ll all be walking around in a drug induced stupor anytime soon, but maybe we shouldn’t run to the medicine cabinet whenever something hurts or we should start looking for more natural remedies for common problems like headaches, allergies, and upset stomachs.

Again, this is all just something I was thinking about this morning when I woke up. It is a little bit of a scatterbrained idea, but when I realized I was fumbling around for the same drugs I run to every time I get a sinus headache I stopped and thought about my mindless actions.

We all know that watching movies at the movie theater will run you around $8 per ticket plus any drinks and snacks you want. Well, there is another way to get your entertainment and still have a night out. This means you do NOT have to rent a movie and sit at home.

You can still go to the cinema and see a movie and spend half.

All you have to do is look for theaters that are playing movies that are a bit older than what is “brand new” but not old enough to be on DVD yet.

In Oxford, we have a movie theater called the Amp. It’s currently playing movies like District 9 and until recently was playing Star Trek and the newest Terminator movie. These were all box office hits (ok, so the Terminator can be debated). The theater also plays some cult classics and even offers an outdoor screening pavilion.

At this theater not only can you actually have dinner (they offer a full menu) and watch a movie, but you can do it on the cheap.

All the movie tickets are $5 all the time. It’s also not hard to find coupons for buy one get one free. The theater also runs a $2 small popcorn and soda special all the time.

The best part is that this kind of theater isn’t unique to Oxford, they can be found all across the country. Typically when you find a cinema that is offering movies that aren’t the newest, you are going to find the deals on ticket prices.

This is also a great way to watch movies that you didn’t know if you really wanted to spend all the money on at a full price cinema.

I would just suggest this as a way to get out of the house on a Friday or Saturday night instead of another movie night in.

The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.
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Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.”

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.

I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

‘Put in the hard work’
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

Continued…

Doctors in the United Kingdom are calling for a ban on all alcohol advertising according to the BBC. This includes sport and music sponsorships. The reason for the ban is to put the brakes on the rising rates of consumption in the country.

What will advertisers do with all that extra money? After all, in the UK, the alcohol industry spends over 800 million pounds per year on promoting their wares.

The problem in the UK, as well as across the world, is the rising cost of medical expenses related to treating those with alcohol related disease. According to the BBC, the cost to the NHS for treating alcohol related illnesses is estimated to be around 3 billion pounds in the UK alone. In the country, alcohol related illnesses is the third most dangerous disease, only smoking and high blood pressure are greater.

Of course, they are having the same problem that we have been having for years. There is a focus on marketing to younger people and that has to be stopped.

They are also trying to target the price of alcohol. If it is more expensive, there is a lesser chance that everyone would be able to afford it. Much like cigarettes are being taxed in the United States now, if alcohol is being taxed higher in the UK perhaps less people would be willing to drink so freely.

I honestly believe that there are some members of the population that will partake whenever they want if they want. The problem with trying to get younger people to stop is that it’s just so much of the culture, that you have to change the culture to get them to stop, or slow down. Look at college fraternity parties; when you see them portrayed on TV they have kegs of beer and there seems to be an unlimited supply of alcohol. In real life, it’s not much different; however, I’ve never seen anyone throw a mattress out a window.

It has to be taken a bit further than just limiting advertising in my opinion.

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I took an investments class as my last class before I graduated. In the class I finally began to understand how someone can short sell a stock, fundamentally.

As everyone knows, short selling a stock means that when the stock price goes down, you’re making money…basically. Whatever your reason for short selling; whether it be hedging the risk in your portfolio or you just have a feeling that a stock will fall sometime soon, there are a few things that — as an investor — you have to remember before you start entering into the market.

Here are three dangers that you have to watch out for if you’re short selling a stock that you wouldn’t have to look out for if you were to take a long position on a stock.

The Margin Call – Shorting a stock requires borrowing money. A brokerage often will happily loan an investor money, but if the shorted stock rises in value significantly, the brokerage will want the investor to add more cash to the account or sell some other stocks to compensate.

Infinite Downside – If an investor buys a stock and it falls to zero, all the investor loses is the initial money he or she paid. After all, the stock can’t go below zero. But on a shorted stock, there is, in theory, no limit to how much money an investor could lose, since a stock could keep rising and rising.

Wrong Timing – If an investor owns a share and the value goes down, he or she can always be patient and wait for the stock to rise. A short seller doesn’t have that option. If the stock price rises, the short seller might be forced to buy it back quickly. When many short sellers try to buy shares back at once, the stock’s price can zoom higher, creating a “short squeeze,” and short sellers can lose a lot of money very quickly.

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As MSNBC noted, if you go by historical figures, September is typically the worst month for stocks. While most people would think October would be the worst month for stocks (think Black Monday and Black Tuesday), September is often the worst month for Wall Street aside from huge crashes. Even last year, the Dow Jones shed 6%.

The S&P 500 has posted a decline of 1.3% on average every September since 1929.

So, why is September such a bad month for the stock market?

Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at Standard & Poors thinks that because people want to spend more time on their portfolios after coming home from vacations could be partially to blame for the fall in the September market.

Of course, toward the end of the year people are starting to run out of the money they had at the beginning half of the year due to tax refunds and bonuses.

Then there is the idea that mutual funds will sell off the funds that don’t perform well before the end of the fiscal year in October.

“Psychologically, when the leaves turn in the fall, vacations end and the days are getting shorter, there is this kind of negative vibe out there that tends to accentuate any negative events,” said Dan Seiver, a finance professor at San Diego State University.

One factor that could contribute to a September downturn is the realization by investors that they’ve been a little too zealous, driving the market up 29 percent since March, and switch to sell mode. Anderson believes a small correction could be coming, but there is so much money on the sidelines right now that as soon as the market begins to head south those poised to jump could get in quickly, softening the downward impact.

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Today’s big news is that Ebay will be selling off a huge portion of Skype, but in my house we can’t log in to the website due to a “closer alignment between Ebay and Half.com.”

What is happening is that when Chris attempts to log into his Ebay account, he gets a message saying that he needs to enter in his credit card information before he can continue. The next page is hosted on an old credit card processing server for Ebay and it (at least at one point in time) is legit. After he enters in his information he gets an error message that says, “Sorry, we cannot process your request at this time, please try again later.” This is on a page that is full of broken images.

After that it sends him back to Ebay’s homepage, and he’s still not logged in.

Every time one of us calls Ebay they give us the run around, won’t let us talk to a technical support person, and also tries to play it off like we have a virus on our computers. I know that all customer support people are trained to assume that most customers are computer illiterate and have downloaded 44 viruses on their computers and don’t know how to clear their cache, but I suppose we’re the exception. We have three computers and are completely unable to log in to Chris’s account due to the Half.com error.

So, here we are, we’ve spoken to three different people at Ebay: One on the online chat and two on the phone. The situation has yet to resolve itself so we started looking at online forums to see what other people are doing and there are people out there who haven’t been able to log into their Ebay accounts for months due to this error.

I suppose if it came down to it, Chris could sell on my Ebay account, but he has spent the last two years building up his feedback and credibility on his account and now he has regular customers.

This post may sound a bit scatterbrained, but we’re both pretty fed up with the entire situation and are starting to consider selling on Amazon and other internet sites to just try to stop this problem from happening again. Ebay (and PayPal) have been nothing but a headache for the past month anyway. After a package was lost in the mail and the customer didn’t pay for insurance on it, PayPal decided that (even though we had plenty of proof that the item was shipped and the Post Office will back up this claim) it would be holding onto the money until the package was delivered. Over 2 months later, the package was delivered and we got the money, but we really couldn’t figure out what is the point of offering insurance.

The banks that were supposedly too large to fail last year when the government decided to bail out crumbling banks are now bigger than they were just a year ago. Even with measures in place to try to keep banks from getting too large, somehow these banks have gotten bigger and continue to grow.

J.P. Morgan Chase holds more than $1 out of every single $10 deposit made in the United States. Big surprise, so does Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Along with Citigroup, these banks issue half of the mortgages in the country and two out of every three credit cards.

FDIC chairman Sheila C. Bair has said regarding the weight of the banks on the financial system, “It is at the top of the list of things that need to be fixed. It fed the crisis and it has gotten worse because of the crisis.”

A few problems with these banks being bigger than they once were is that:
1) Consumers will have less choice when it comes to banking services and these banks will likely take advantage of that situation.
2) The bigger the bank, the more likely it is to think that the government will prop it up if things start to go south. This could lead to more risky moves on the banks’ parts.
3) The government’s stakes in these companies is large, but it still does not have voting shares.

Of course, this all came about due to banks failing or otherwise being “too good of a deal to pass up.” Meaning, that banks like Wachovia were simply too cheap with too large of a customer base to not purchase. That’s what Wells Fargo did, and that’s what has been happening all across the banking industry. However, it does seem a bit counter productive when you start to think about it.

These banks were once too large to fail and nothing has changed it seems. The only difference is that every dollar banks are lending is being scrutinized and those who want to borrow money to buy homes or other things are also being scrutinized as hard as the banks are in some situations.

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It’s been almost a year since the government started bailing out banks and already it is started to see some profits from the money given to all the banks. At the time of the bailouts, many people thought that profits from the money put into the banks would never be seen, but now we’re all a bit taken aback by the profits the government is already seeing.

The government has started to get profits from the eight largest banks that were bailed out. The banks have fully repaid their loans from the government.

Of course, there wasn’t any word on the other hundreds of billions of dollars that were given out and now the FDIC, which is an insurance company that is subsidized by the government, is running out of money from buying up banks that have failed. The government is still facing huge losses from all the bailed out banks and especially from AIG, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae. Of course, the bank bailouts don’t include the huge loans given out to GM and Chrysler.

Still, the news coming out that some of the money given to the companies has turned from a worry-some loan to a bit of a profit is welcomed and surprising news.

Government bailouts were not something that was looked at as a very smart choice for the government to make concerning the banking (and automaker) industry. However, it looks like some of the bailouts are actually panning out and doing better than the government could have expected. It was really hoping for 5% on its money, but the 15% that has been gained by the time of this recent news release is a surprise even for those in the government.

Disney said today that it would be purchasing Marvel Entertainment. The deal will cost Disney $4 billion in cash and stock. Once the deal is made, Disney will get licensing and ownership rights to the entire Marvel character library; which includes over 5,000 characters in total.

The company is hoping to reach the entire teen/young adult demographic by reaching young males also. After seeing such a boom with the success of Hannah Montana as well as the Jonas Brothers, Disney wants to reach young males also.

The deal is all but done. The boards of both companies have already agreed to the deal and are now just waiting on an antitrust review as well as the approval of Marvel shareholders. According to the deal, Marvel shareholders will be receiving $30 per share as well as 0.745 Disney shares for every share of Marvel they own.

I have to say, it is a bit odd to think that Spiderman and the X-Men would be wondering around Disney World with Mickey Mouse and Sleeping Beauty, but if that’s what Disney thinks will help their bottom line, then I suppose that the company is doing the right thing. For that reason, I can’t see a reason why either board would want to decline the offer. It really is in the best interests of Marvel to go with Disney; after all, this is the best way for the brand to expand. Marvel (to my knowledge) didn’t have a theme park where fans could go “visit” their favorite characters while DC comic characters can sometimes be seen wondering around Six Flags theme parks. Some of Six Flags’ most popular rides are named after DC comic characters. On a recent trip to Six Flags in St. Louis, the lines were fairly short for rides like Thunder Rapids, but the lines for “The Batman” and “Mr. Freeze” were ridiculous.