Andy | Saving to Invest

Financial Crisis: Mark to Market Accounting Demystified

Of late there has been a lot of negative press around the accounting requirements for companies and the methods by which they have to value their assets. Some critics and company executives have even attributed the accounting requirements, and specifically the Mark to Market valuation method, as a major cause…

And you thought last Monday was bad – Economic Indicators signal major collapse ahead

Last weeks 700 plus point drop in the Dow seems like a distant memory and a much bigger sequel looks to be in the works. The world has caught up to the US, and the domestic credit crisis has officially become a Global one. Who knew that struggling home owners…

American Employees: Cheap to Fire

Interesting graphic from the Economist on what it costs to sack long-term employees. As shown, costs vary enormously across the world. America and New Zealand are among the most company-friendly countries, requiring no penalties or payouts to fire a full-time employee of 20 years or more. By contrast, a business…

Tax-Exempt Money Market Funds are Rocking

Why are tax free money market funds providing relatively decent yields compared to leaving your money in a regular bank account? Pamela Wisehaupt Tynan, who oversees Vanguard's municipal money market funds says "These unusually high yields are simply a function of how the money market arena is reacting to events…

America’s National Debt Soars Toward $38 Trillion: A 2025 Financial Crisis Looming?

Well the time is here now to get an update on our national funds and the picture isn’t pretty. All the federal stimulus payments, treasury cash injections and foreign infusion of funds into our institutions/stocks has meant that America's national debt recently passed $36 Trillion (that's 12 zeros!). To put…

Foreclosure Rescue Scams – Coming to your Neighborhood

It seems that wherever there is an easy buck to be made (or stolen in this case) scam artists are on the prowl catching unsuspecting victims in their deceitful webs of misinformation. Earlier this year the biggest scams being perpetuated were around the IRS stimulus checks. Now with the housing…

Alternatives to the $700 billion financial bailout

Despite all the politicking this week, it looks like a bipartisan deal on the $700 billion bailout package (now titled the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008) has been reached. In the revised approach the government immediately provides $250 billion to start buying the MBS and CDO clogging up the…

The Week That Was – Luxury in the Sky and Around the Blogosphere

Despite the woes of the domestic aviation industry, a new type of plane is finally coming into mass service across the globe. Airbus' much publicized and long delayed A380 hit the skies down under in Australia this week. Singapore Airlines was the first to launch earlier this year, and Dubai…

The Good, the Bad and the Greedy – Wall Street Criminals on notice

Looks like the financial crisis is taking the much anticipated criminal turn with the FBI starting to seriously probe allegations of fraud by a number of Wall Street firms whose recent collapses sent markets into turmoil. The ones that received the most media coverage - Lehman Brothers, mortgage giants Fannie…

Leverage 101 – The Real Cause of Financial Crisis

Much of the past and current financial market crisis is blamed on two main factors – poor risk management by company executives and the ultra-depressed housing market. Company management is paying the penalty with most failed CEO's fired and years of lawsuits and regulatory probes ahead for implicated senior executives.…

The Trillion-dollar bailout and why it will be profitable for taxpayers

In my previous post I wrote about the long term fall out and adverse impacts from all these government bailouts. Tony Parker, a regular contributor to this site and an experienced investor, offers a different view as to why the bailouts could end up being a success and even realize…

Bailout Nation and Future Impacts

To save our economy and the financial future of America, the US government is taking over our financial system by changing the rules and becoming the backstop for all the junk in the current financial system. While this may save our skins in the near term I think it is…

Can women get a better deal on cars?

In a follow up email discussion with Tony, on his post 10 tips on getting a good deal when buying a car, an interesting point came up as to whether gender makes a difference in getting a good/better deal. Tony, argued that his wife actually went for the final negotiations…

Another Inevitable Government (AIG) Billion Dollar Bailout

Well, the next big company on the chopping block this week was insurance company AIG. Unlike Merrill and Lehman, it was able to secure government assistance through a $85 billion emergency cash injection. The government and fed officials justified the loan by saying AIG was another “too big too fail”…