Jul
30
The Real Reason I Paid Off My Mortgage
July 30, 2008 | 17 Comments
I paid off my mortgage last year. Why did I do it? The time was right for me and it still might be the right time for you to do the same thing. I'll explain why. I've been on a rampage against the mortgage lately. In my last article (more reasons to pay off your [...]
Jul
29
More Reasons to Pay Off Your Mortgage
July 29, 2008 | 5 Comments
What is it about the mortgage that makes so many people rally to its defense? You would think it's a member of the family. I'd really like to change my mind on the mortgage just to be a contrarian. However there is just too much evidence that paying off your mortgage is the best move [...]
Jul
18
How Uninformed Investors Keep the Stock Market Moving
July 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I used to wonder how the stock market works. After all if everyone trading stocks is rational how can so much money be made and lost? However, so many diverse people and organizations own stock that they are always buying and selling and not necessarily for the best reasons. I was having lunch with a [...]
Jul
16
Edward Jones Finally Gets Email Statement Delivery Option
July 16, 2008 | 5 Comments
If you have an Edward Jones account, you now have the option of getting your statements via email. I hated getting all that paper from Edward Jones and I think it's about time they step into the 21st century. I've called my local office and the main number several times asking for either electronic delivery [...]
Jul
7
Moving My Money Away From Prosper
July 7, 2008 | 1 Comment
I just transferred my current balance out of Prosper.com. I know they've made some changes recently but I'm not going to bid on new loans. It's just way too risky. I've posted about my experience with Prosper.com in previous articles. Here's an index of my articles on prosper.com. Peer to Peer Lending with Prosper Et [...]
Jun
19
Carl Icahn Has a Blog
June 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Carl Icahn is a well known advocate for share holder value. He's an outspoken critic of Board of Director and CEO misbehavior. He's famous for his involvement with Michael Milken's Junk Bonds and for stripping TWA to the bone and recently for pushing the sale of Yahoo to Microsoft. And now he has a blog. [...]
Jun
18
Americans Are Mad About Sale of Budweiser
June 18, 2008 | 5 Comments
Are Americans mad about political shenanigans on Capitol Hill? Are they upset about dirty deals on Wall Street? No, Americans are fired up about the possible hostile takeover of Anheuser-Busch (maker of Budweiser) by the Belgian company InBev. Americans love their beer. Usually when a company is sold to foreign owners, the reaction is mild. [...]
Jun
7
Nassim Nicholas Taleb got rich on a day when many many people went broke. He predicted the sub-prime fiasco and the crash of 1997. He didn't really predict these events, he just predicted some kind of event, a black swan, could happen. The Times Online has a new interview piece with Taleb. An interesting article. [...]
Apr
24
How Will Global Food Shortages Affect You
April 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment
For the first time in my lifetime, there is food rationing in the United States. The last food rationing that I know of occurred during World War 2. Countries around the world are experiencing food shortages and increased prices. What does this mean for world? What does this mean for US citizens? What’s Happening? Food [...]
Apr
9
Lending Money on Prosper: My Results
April 9, 2008 | 10 Comments
This is the 4th post in a series of articles about Prosper.com. Prosper is a person to person lending site with an auction format similar to EBay. I’ve been lending money on Prosper for awhile. In this article I’ll write about my results. In my previous articles, I’ve discussed how Prosper.com works and the risks [...]