investing

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Here's What a Wedding Really Costs

That $2,000 dress may actually cost you $20,000

(Newser) - The cost of a typical wedding fell to $17,500 last year, down 8% from 2008 thanks to the recession. But that's not even the half of it, writes Brett Arends. If couples did the math, they'd "probably get married in flip-flops," he says. "Your $18,000...

Fizzle Alert: Market Rallies This Good Don't Hold

(Newser) - It's good news, bad news time for investors. The good news: In the last 100 years, only five other rallies have matched the 46% leap the Dow’s taken over the past six months. The bad news: None of those other extraordinary rallies, which came in the 1930s and 1970s,...

Day Traders Jump Back Into the Game

Low interest rates entice small, leveraged players

(Newser) - Trading volume is rising on Wall Street, but it’s not because of renewed confidence from long-term investors. The surge has instead been powered by a 14% jump from online brokerages like Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade, and much of the money has been funneled into volatile parts of the...

For Investors, Silver Trumps Gold

Versatile metal gets better returns thanks to industrial buyers

(Newser) - All that glitters may not be gold, but these days you might prefer silver anyway, MarketWatch reports. Silver has rocketed to the top of the precious metals food chain, outperforming both platinum and gold because it’s an industrial material in addition to an inflation hedge. But the outsize gains...

Obama Wants to Tame Wild Derivatives Market

(Newser) - President Obama wants to put the so-called dark markets under control, the New York Times reports, seeking congressional approval to regulate the byzantine world of derivatives trading—which played a large role in the current financial mess. In a letter to lawmakers, Treasury chief Timothy Geithner calls for an oversight...

Forget Jon's Rage: Analyze the Market
Forget Jon's Rage: Analyze the Market
OPINION

Forget Jon's Rage: Analyze the Market

Stewart's attack on Cramer aside, stocks can give good returns

(Newser) - Hammering Jim Cramer on TV the other night, Jon Stewart bemoaned the fate of his 75-year-old mother: “She bought into the idea that long-term investing is the way to go. And guess what?” Cramer replied, “It didn’t work.” And for many Americans, that was the...

Madoff Case Likely to Sour Boomers on Stocks
Madoff Case Likely to Sour Boomers on Stocks
ANALYSIS

Madoff Case Likely to Sour Boomers on Stocks

Fraud is final straw after terrible performance, analysts say

(Newser) - With Bernard Madoff’s long, fraudulent story drawing to a close, stock-market analysts look to the larger effect the $50 billion Ponzi scheme will have on equities, Kate Gibson writes for MarketWatch. Combined with the dismal performance in stocks over the last year, experts say Madoff’s deception has probably...

Companies Likely to Drown in '09
 Companies Likely 
 to Drown in '09 
OPINION

Companies Likely to Drown in '09

(Newser) - As the recession deepens, the Motley Fool lists companies it thinks aren’t long for this world. Some highlights:
  • Rite Aid: Management has twice lowered its 2009 outlook, Wal-Mart is threatening, and its acquisition of Brooks and Eckerd had some nasty unintended consequences.
  • Sirius: Remains unprofitable, and its big contracts
...

No, It's a Terrific Time to Panic
 No, It's a Terrific Time to Panic 
OPINION

No, It's a Terrific Time to Panic

Market prognosticators don't know what they're talking about

(Newser) - When the Dow plunged 300 points Monday, one money manager called it “the best buying opportunity we’ve seen in years.” Joe Queenan isn’t so sure. “The best buying opportunity in years is now 14 months old,” he writes in the Los Angeles Times. As...

Only One Fund Manager Made Money in 2008

But repeating the feat this year could prove tricky for Forester

(Newser) - Of the 8,200 stock mutual funds in the United States, only one—Forester Value—managed to turn a profit in 2008. With a gain of just 0.4%, Thomas Forester has become a minor celebrity in the financial world, and brokers are suddenly eager to sell his tiny fund...

Ruth Madoff: Accomplice or Another Victim?

Both possibilities hard to believe, friends say of inseparable couple

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff and his wife, Ruth, have been married for nearly 50 years and are practically inseparable. They worked together, and the outgoing blonde with the all-American look attracted friends to his hedge fund, the New York Times reports. So did she know or didn't she? "It’s hard...

401(k) Decay Spurs Calls for Change
401(k) Decay Spurs Calls
for Change

401(k) Decay Spurs Calls for Change

Critics question if plans are robust enough to survive tough times

(Newser) - Americans depending on 401(k) plans for their retirement have taken a hammering as the stock market plunged during the past year, prompting critics to question the shortcomings of the system, reports the Wall Street Journal. Some 50 million American have 401(k)s, and Congress is weighing a revamp. "It's so...

Cramer Shares 'Obama Portfolio'
 Cramer Shares 
 'Obama Portfolio' 
OPINION

Cramer Shares 'Obama Portfolio'

Guru picks hot stocks for 2009

(Newser) - America isn’t out of the economic woods, but savvy investors should drop some kindling on their investment fires, James Cramer writes in New York. “Obama’s swift transition and desire to spend trillions to get us moving could prove that happier days will eventually beckon, at least for...

Brutal Market Doesn't Spare Buffett
Brutal Market
Doesn't
Spare Buffett

Brutal Market Doesn't Spare Buffett

Berkshire Hathaway takes biggest dive in decades

(Newser) - The "Oracle of Omaha" is proving even he's not immune from market blows, reports Bloomberg. Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway took a 12% nosedive yesterday, its biggest one-day fall since 1987's Black Monday. The conglomerate is down 41% for the year and has been dropping steadily for eight days after...

Key Indicator Points to a Long Slump
 Key Indicator Points 
 to a Long Slump 
ANALYSIS

Key Indicator Points to a Long Slump

Yield curve predicts slow recovery in developed economies as credit remains tight

(Newser) - A little known—but closely followed—indicator that contrasts the differences in yield between 2- and a 10-year government securities suggests the economic downturn in the developed world is likely to hang around a lot longer, reports the Wall Street Journal. Yield curves generally are narrow when the economy is...

Kerkorian Pulls Out of Ford
Kerkorian Pulls Out of Ford

Kerkorian Pulls Out of Ford

Biggest non-family stockowner begins dumping stake, looks to energy instead

(Newser) - Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, an old hand at investing in Detroit, began his Ford escape today, selling 7.3 million shares of common stock in the company at $2.43 per share, the Wall Street Journal reports. As recently as February Kerkorian was building his stake in the embattled automaker,...

Wall Street's Fear Index Hits a Record High

VIX, measuring volatility in markets, hit highest level in 15-year history Friday

(Newser) - A little known “fear index” that measures volatility in stock prices over 30 days has risen to prominence—and to off-the-charts numbers—as traders try to predict the market’s big swings, reports the New York Times. When the VIX climbs, it’s a sign market action is about...

Buffett: I'm Buying American. You Should Be, Too.

When fear is rampant, the markets discount America's future

(Newser) - “I’ve been buying American stocks,” Warren Buffett writes in the New York Times, and he'd like to see a stampede of others following suit. Sure, the financial system is a mess, global economies are faltering, unemployment is rising, and headlines will continue to terrorize markets. But markets...

Following Herd Out of Market Will Sting in Long Run

No reason stocks won't be back: economist

(Newser) - Ready to pull the plug on the stock market and put all of your money under the mattress? Princeton economics professor Burton Malkiel writes in the Wall Street Journal that you’ll be better off riding out the storm. “No one has consistently made money by selling America short,...

Fed Loosens Reins on Private Funds Buying Into Banks

But some worry risky loans will result

(Newser) - The Fed has loosened the rules that curtailed private investments in banks, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move may inject more cash into the financial system—if private equity chooses to invest—but will raise fears of profit-hungry investors snapping up stakes in banks to make quick cash with...

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