Financial News Headlines

Investing In Silver: The Basics

January 7th, 2012

Silver climbed as high as $50 an ounce in 2011, but has since cooled; however, experts believe the resting period will soon end and that the commodity will soar to new heights as a safe haven to protect against weakening currency and inflation. The two main methods of entering the silver market are by purchasing physical silver or investing in exchange-traded funds in the market. The former has the benefit of putting silver in investors’ hands, but comes with storage and insurance costs, and added costs accrued during sale. ETFs are easier to buy and trade, but investment should be reserved for ETFs backed in actual silver. For more on this continue reading the following article from Money Morning. < Read more…

Tags: Silver, Silver Basics

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Securities and Exchange Commission

January 6th, 2012

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the government agency that is the first line of responsibility for the oversight of the securities industry in the United States. The Securities and Exchange Commission oversees each stock exchange and the options markets. It is the SEC that oversees online trading, the online stock market, and says how much has to be in a margin account for traders to continue day trading. The SEC has been around since 1934 when it was created to oversee the stock market after the market crash in 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression. Read more…

Tags: Commission, Exchange Commission

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Mexico’s plunging peso: ¡Arriba, arriba!

December 10th, 2011

DOLLARS and pesos cross the border between America and Mexico in greater numbers than ever. The $400 billion-worth of trade in 2010 made Mexico America’s biggest trading partner after China and Canada. Greenbacks are so common south of the frontier that in some neighbourhoods peso coins are known as cuoras, a mispronunciation of “quarters”.

Lately the relationship between the currencies has been rocky. Between July and November the peso fell by 19% against the dollar, hitting its lowest level since the 2009 financial crisis. It has since bobbed back a little as prospects across the border have improved a tad. Nonet

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Tags: Peso, Peso ¡arriba

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I apologize to waiters everywhere

December 7th, 2011

Apparently a number of restaurant servers thought my column on holiday tipping was advising people that they could stiff their waiters and waitresses in December.

Good heavens.

The column “Holiday tipping: When it’s okay to skip” points out that holiday tips are voluntary and can be reduced or eliminated if you’re in tough financial straits.

Now, I knew that some people don’t know what a holiday tip is. I hear from them every year when my holiday tipping columns run, because they think I invented the custom and they want to let me know how outraged they are that I did so. I typical

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Tags: Waiters, Waiters Everywhere

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Equity Residential Capitalizing on Increased Chicago Apartment Rentals

December 7th, 2011

Equity Residential, benefiting from the moribund housing market, reported surging third-quarter results Wednesday evening.

The Chicago-based real estate investment trust, which owns more than 400 U.S. apartment properties, said funds from operations climbed 18 percent to $200 million, or 63 cents per diluted share, from $169.7 million, or 55 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.

Funds from operations, or FFO, is the preferred measure of profitability of a REIT because it strips out real estate-related depreciation and other factors that skew results.

“We are extremely pleased with the operating performance of the company thus far,”  President and CEO David J. Neit

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Tags: Chicago, Equity Residential

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Best Mortgage Deals

December 3rd, 2011

Low interest rates, a low down payment and a simplified application process are included in the best mortgage deals. These all are from a trustworthy lender with quality customer service. There are numerous lenders which argue to offer the lowest home loans. If they are not ready to provide recommendation or documentation to back it up, then be careful of such supporting statements.

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It is a recognized reality that when one is taking the early steps toward buying property or refinancing property, one wants to find the lowest offers. Do not surround yourself by the task of finding the best mortgage agreement. One may find infinite resources out there. B

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Tags: Best Mortgage, Best Mortgage Deals, Deals, Mortgage Deals

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