Business and Investing

Posted on Thursday, 27th May 2010 by Jesse Walker

The real truth about making money online is this, most of you reading this article right now will never make a dime online. Why? Well for various reasons. For one, your too lazy to actually take what you learn and put it to good use. You would rather buy an ebook, read through it, put it on your virtual bookshelf and then go buy another one. Why are you doing this? Probably because every book you read tells you about a money making technique that actually involves you doing work. And since you are looking for a way to make money online without doing any work, you just continue to buy product after product.

And then guess what you do next? You complain and cry and say you have spent $10,000 on make money online products and none of them work. WRONG! Its not the product that doesn’t work, its YOU. Yes thats right, its you. A product can only teach you. It can’t actually do any work for you. Thats your job. You will have to do some work if you want to make money online. OMG! Did

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Tags: Making Money, Making Money Online, Money Online, Online
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Posted on Thursday, 27th May 2010 by Jesse Walker

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks rallied on Thursday as investor worry was eased after China refuted a report that it was reviewing its euro-zone bond holdings due to the region’s debt crisis.

Thursday’s gains marked the largest advance for the S&P 500 on a percentage basis since May 10, although volume was below average.

China’s denial was enough of a catalyst to entice buyers into the volatile equity market, which fell sharply from April highs as investors worried that Europe’s debt woes would spiral into a larger financial crisis.

“As you look through it, Europe is not getting worse,” said Tim Holland, co-portfolio manager of the Aston/TAMRO Diversified Equity Fund in Alexandria, Virginia. “Trees don’t grow to the sky, but did the market deserve to be off 15 percent in three weeks?”

The People’s Bank of China said a Financial Times report that Beijing was concerned about its euro-zone exposure was groundless.

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Tags: China, China Comment
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Posted on Wednesday, 26th May 2010 by James Martin

I’m unable to highlight all the articles worth checking out in my weekly round up but you can check them out through my Twitter feed. Have a great weekend everyone!

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Posted on Tuesday, 25th May 2010 by James Martin

It was thanks to a mistake that I opened a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) with Ally. I was under the mistaken impression that ING Direct levied a fee to transfer a TFSA account to another institution but when Ally customer agents assured me that they do not charge transfer fees, I withdrew the entire balance out of my ING Direct account late last year, opened a new account with Ally in the New Year and put back the amount withdrawn into the new TFSA account. Ally sounded intriguing because of CDIC guarantee, high interest rates, 24/7 customer service, promise of no fees and good word-of-mouth reports (here and here). I learned later that ING Direct also offers free TFSA transfers but I’m not going back: Ally’s interest rates are similar or better than ING Direct’s for most accounts.

Ally happens to offer one of the highest interest rates on a savings account: 2.0% on TFSA and regular savings accounts but, alas, no RRSP accounts. But it is with GICs that Ally really shines. Ally’s GIC rates are 0.75% better than ING Direct’s on 3, 4 and 5 year terms with better early redemption rates. For instance, ING Direct currently pays 3.25% on a 5-year GIC and Ally comes in at 4.0%.

My experience thus far has been very smooth. Ally opened an account promptly and the initial funding and linking to a chequing account took about 10 business days. Ally did refuse a deposit of more than $5,000 to a TFSA account but after I explained the TFSA rules patiently and assured them that any penalties are my responsibility, they accepted the initial cheque. Interest payments are made prompty at the end of the month. After my initial test drive with a TFSA account, I also opened a savings account with Ally and found transfers to be very fast — one or two business days.

It’s hard to open a magazine or newspaper these days before shortly running into blue, full-page ads from Ally promising great rates and “absolutely no monthly fees”. It’s nice that it’s not just empty words — Ally has delivered on that promise thus far.

PS: Ally is a product of ResMor Trust, a subsidiary of GMAC. It is not currently available for Quebec residents.

Tags: Savings, Savings Accounts
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Posted on Monday, 24th May 2010 by Jesse Walker

HONG KONG — Shares of Prudential PLC changed hands for 7.54 Singapore dollars ($5.33) in early trade in Singapore , while in Hong Kong they were trading at 58.75 Hong Kong dollars ($7.02), easing slightly from London where they closed at 5.30 pounds, equivalent to $7.65. The shares, which marked the debut for Prudential’s secondary listing in Asia, were thinly traded, coming to market on a day of broad regional declines in equities.

Tags: Shares, Shares Drift
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Posted on Monday, 24th May 2010 by James Martin

There may be a period in your life when it’s time to purchase term life insurance.  When it comes to planning your financial future, life insurance is usually an after thought behind your matching 401k and tax-free Roth IRA.   When the pivotal time comes when life insurance becomes a priority, here’s a few tips that will help get you the best term life insurance rates.   We all like to save money, might as well save some on our life insurance premiums.

1.  Shop Rates When You Are Younger

It might be obvious to say that buying term life insurance when you are younger is a whole lot cheaper.   Does that mean that you need to buy life insurance when you’re 18?  Probably not.   But when family or a loved one become dependent on you, it might be time to start considering it.

Other than my military insurance (SGLI), I didn’t purchase a term life policy until I was married and out of the military at 28.   I have then purchased an additional policy as I’ve welcomed each of  my sons.   As I’ve aged, I’ve seen the term life rates increase a bit, but not as much had I waited say 10 years to buy the new policies.

2. Stick to the basics

I

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Tags: Insurance, Life Insurance, Term Life, Term Life Insurance
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Posted on Sunday, 23rd May 2010 by Jesse Walker

The trauma of not having the funds and failing to fulfil your monetary obligations is definitely something, which definitely hurt your sentiments. But, more often than not, you have to maintain your basic needs with a limited monthly income. However, if you do want to arrange the funds through external resources, then you can certainly go for loans against car. In the case of these loans, you have the opportunity to acquire funds with convenient terms against the car you own.

As with these loans, the loan amount made available is approved against your car. The car itself acts as a security and this lets you derive the funds with much more flexibility. However, it does not mean that you can no way use the car. On the sole basis of your need and requirement, you have the option to source funds in the range of £500-£50000, for a term that spans over a period of 5-7 years. Y

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Tags: Funds, Funds Convenient
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Posted on Friday, 21st May 2010 by Christopher Allen

The Minnesota Department of Commerce on Friday shut down Pinehurst Bank, which had become the worst capitalized bank in the Twin Cities, selling its assets to La Crosse, Wis-based Coulee Bank.

Pinehurst’s sole location in St. Paul was expected to reopen Saturday as a Coulee branch. It will be Coulee’s fifth location; the bank’s other four locations are all in La Crosse County.

Pinehurst Bank is the 73rd bank to fail in the nation this year, and the sixth in Minnesota. The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. estimates Pinehurst’s closure will cost it $6 million.

As of March 31, Pinehurst had a total risk-based capital ratio of negative 0.88 percent, which meant it had no money left to cover bad loans. The only other Twin Cities bank with a negative ratio, Champlin-based Access Bank, was closed on May 7, its assets sold to Prinsburg-based Prinsbank.

Pinehurst, which had $61.2 million in assets, lost $5.2 million in 2009, and another $1.2 million in the first three months of 2010.

Much of the losses were due to bad commercial real estate and business loans, a problem for many Twin Cities banks.

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Tags: Bank, Pinehurst Bank
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Posted on Friday, 21st May 2010 by James Martin

This was the Financial Peace University lesson that I had been most eager for and the most excited about: how to get rid of debt. It’s the reason we had signed up for the class. Our enthusiasm was contagious—our 16 year-old-daughter and her boyfriend agreed to attend the night’s session with us. She’s expressed some interest in a career in finance, so I thought it would be a great experience for her.

Mythbusting

The evening’s DVD lesson featured Dave Ramsey popping the myths of conventional wisdom like balloons: 15 in all. Among the first were the beliefs that loaning others money or cosigning loans is a way of helping them. Sharing stories of people who’ve had to pay other’s debts as well as their own, he said to always refuse to “help” in this way. Instead, Ramsey added that if you have the money to give, then give it, but don’t ever expect it back.

From there, Ramsey explained the pitfalls of rent-to-own, payday loans and car lots with on-site financing. He called these “se

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Tags: Debt
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Posted on Thursday, 20th May 2010 by Jesse Walker

AmFin Financial Corp., the former holding company of failed AmTrust Bank, has requested a second extension to the deadline to file a reorganization plan in its bankruptcy case.

While the original 120-day deadline to file a reorganization plan was March 30 — with a deadline of May 29 for a vote on the plan by creditors — the deadlines were extended until June 28 and Aug. 27, respectively, a 60-day extension.

Now, AmFin Financial is asking for an additional 120 days, citing the complexity of the case and its continuing efforts to work with creditors.

The filing, made Wednesday, May 19, asks that AmFin have until Oct. 26 to file a plan, and Dec. 24 for creditors to approve it.

Christopher Meyer, a Squire, Sanders & Dempsey attorney who is representing AmFin, called the request a “protective filing.” He said AmFin does not necessarily intend to use the entire time period, but would like the opportunity to continue negotiating in good faith with creditors.

“(T)he debtors believe that it is in the best interest of the estates and all creditors for the debtors to submit a consensual plan or plans,” the filing stated. “To date, t

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Tags: Amfin Financial Corp, Financial Corp, Plan, Reorganization Plan
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