A Few Dollars More

If you haven’t done so already, it may be time to call your local bank or financial institution and start filling out the paperwork. Mortgage interest rates are at historic lows as housing prices continue to fall and homeowners are refinancing at a higher rate than anytime since 2003.

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The news may be absolutely horrible and yet the market moves higher. Several companies this week reported disappointing quarterly earnings. Their stocks skyrocketed. Pay attention, investors. Either step aside or go with the flow but whatever you do –don’t fight the tape. It is an expression that dates back to a time when stock prices [...]

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It’s bigger than the entire television viewing audience of the United States. It is growing faster than all the world’s economies put together. It can be just what you need to invigorate your business and all it takes is a computer. So what exactly is social media?

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The stock market is up almost 30% in less than six weeks. Recent economic statistics from auto and home sales to consumer spending and housing starts indicate at least tentative signs of improvement. Pundits in increasing numbers are stating that we’ve seen the worst. Even Fed Chief Ben Bernanke is claiming to see a few [...]

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“No way am I chasing this market.” “There’s not enough good news to justify these levels.” “It’s a fool’s rally.” “I’ll buy on a pullback.” Those are just a sampling of comments I’ve heard over the last week. As a contrarian investor, all of the above make me believe the markets want to move higher. [...]

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Ahh, the sweet smell of money, isn’t it a nice after so many months of losses? Despite the continuing predictions of a pullback, the markets continue to forge ahead for yet another week with all three averages up over one percent. Although the S&P 500 only gained 17 points for the week, the S&P500 is [...]

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The world’s stock markets continued their meteoric rise this week. Investors who were sitting in cash became increasingly nervous as the averages rose without as much as a hiccup. The S&P 500 surpassed my target of 840 on Thursday by five points before taking a bit of a break on Friday. As I mentioned last [...]

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Accounting is something that most writers avoid like the plague. However, sometimes, even a tiny change in the way accountants view an item on the balance sheet or income statement may have a huge impact. I believe one such rule, called FASB 157, is behind the 60% gain in banking stocks last month and may [...]

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