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Posted
Oct 02 2008, 02:17 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Plenty of news stories point to gloom and doom in the U.S. economy, and "FMF" at Free Money Finance informed his readers about three: Car sales have tanked, bidding for a date with tennis star Maria Sharapova topped out at a mere $10,000, and -- the craziest by far -- a woman bought an old vacant house in Michigan for $1.75.
FMF said in his tongue-in-cheek way, "I knew things were bad in Michigan, but never thought they were this bad."
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Posted
Sep 22 2008, 01:02 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Are you outraged about the $700 billion bailout plan for Wall Street, relieved that the government's offering financial markets a helping hand, or sitting back until the dust clears? You're bound to find some kindred souls in the personal-finance blogosphere. First, we'll deal with the anger.
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Posted
Aug 14 2008, 04:40 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Philip Brewer at partner blog Wise Bread. People might look at how I spend money and say I'm cheap or a tightwad. If they do, they're missing the point. The fact is, I'm much more interested in simplicity than I am in saving money. In many cases, it works out about the same: The simple choice is often frugal. The cheapest choice, though, is often not the simple one.
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Posted
Jul 30 2008, 09:43 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The Dividends4Life blog runs a stock analysis of paint producer Sherwin-Williams and rates the stock a "3-star Hold." Sherwin-Williams is trading at $54; a year ago it was at nearly $70. The blog estimates that Sherwin-Williams is trading at a fair value, considering factors like the average high yield price, discounted cash flows and price to earnings ratios. The company has paid cash dividends to shareholders annually since 1979. But there are some concerns.
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Posted
Jul 28 2008, 11:52 AM
by
Todd Harrison
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Then there is Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the American taxpayer.
On Saturday HR 3221 was passed by the Senate in a vote of 72-13 as Capitol Hill tries to play a role in helping homeowners even if it means bailing out government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac. The bill is estimated to help upwards of 400,000 homeowners.
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Posted
Jul 23 2008, 12:09 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Here's bad news for people shopping for a house or looking to refinance an adjustable-rate or interest-only mortgage: The average mortgage rate just reached a five-year high. The rate on Tuesday for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.71%. It's not crazy high by a long shot, but it's more than people have been accustomed to paying in recent years. The higher rate is due to the pressing problems at mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, says a New York Times article, even though Congress is poised to bail them out.
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Posted
Apr 21 2008, 01:25 AM
by
Jon Markman
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Last week’s stunning 5% advance in the stock market is likely to have one consequence that credit-starved sensitive businesses won’t like: It has eroded the likelihood of further cuts in interest rates by the Federal Reserve when its Open Market Committee meets next week.
Despite a rise in joblessness, decline in housing activity and spate of bankruptcies, the futures markets and even dovish Fed governors are now expecting the central bank to stand pat for the first time in six months.
This is something of a shocker when you consider that the odds of a cut of a half percentage point were extremely high just two weeks ago. Now traders who bet on the likelihood of cuts don’t even consider it likely that the Fed will cut by a quarter of a percentage point. If the economy really is on solid ground now, just because stocks are up, it sure will be a surprise to businesses who are seeing more dramatic sales and profit declines than they can recall in years. We’ll learn more on Tuesday and Thursday mornings when existing and new-home sales data is released, and on Thursday afternoon when continuing jobless claims for April are released, but already the news from corporate America is grim.
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Posted
Feb 25 2008, 04:58 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly. Because I recently eliminated all of my nonmortgage debt, I have a significant positive cash flow. The $1,000 per month I was putting toward debt can now be used for investing. I'm making maximum contributions to my Roth IRA, of course, but that still leaves several hundred dollars each month available for other purposes. This has forced me to re-evaluate my financial goals. For the past year, my wife and I have discussed making accelerated payments on our mortgage. I've written about this choice several times at Get Rich Slowly, and it seems clear that mathematically it makes more sense to invest the money. However, it's also clear that eliminating a mortgage offers a tremendous psychological boost. I've never heard anyone say they regret owning their home outright. I've researched a variety of mortgage-acceleration schemes:
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Posted
Feb 19 2008, 04:38 PM
by
Jon Markman
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The slimmest sliver of hopefulness crept into the gloomy residential construction industry today, as the National Association of Home Builders reported that its index of market confidence has edged higher this month by a single point, to 20. But when you consider that anything below 50 on the scale is considered lousy, it’s plain to see business is still a world of pain.
Home builders’ stocks rallied on the news, signifying that investors may believe some sort of bumpy bottom is now being set in place. Yet it is evident that this is the consensus view, and the consensus has been bitterly wrong about housing for the past two years. So if you want to be a contrarian today, you actually have to expect home prices and home-builders shares will commence to fall from their already low level.
At the risk of sounding like a spoil sport, I actually think that this is likely. To be bullish on home builders as an investor, after all, you need to make two assumptions (and both have to be right): You need to believe that home affordability will materially improve, and that the inventory of houses for sale will materially shrink.
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Posted
Feb 07 2008, 04:48 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Some people got in over their heads when they used an adjustable-rate mortgage to buy their home. They simply can't afford the payments when the interest rate goes up. But not all ARMs are created equal, says Madison at My Dollar Plan. For some people, like Madison, they make financial sense. This excellent post is the type of tutorial many people wish they'd had before they signed on the dotted line.
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