Finance Thread

[NOTKyle]

I want to start investing, maybe through e-trade?

I don't know any other ways.

Or what to invest in.

DISCUSS

[Mustard]

There are lots of things to invest in. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds... those everyone knows about. Investing in a retirement account when you're young is also a very smart thing to do, as far as I am concerned anyway. But you can also invest in real estate, commodities such as oil, gold, and silver, and even business ventures, just to name a few. Some people even make money buying and selling currencies.

The best advice I can give is to thoroughly investigate anything you decide to put your hard earned money into.

[Claydon]

Lehman Brothers is a good buy right now.

[NOTKyle]

Lehman Brothers is a good buy right now.

I'm going to throw everything into AIG, I love Man U!!!1!!11

[Claydon]

all kidding aside, real estate is a great buy now, and will be more so in the next year or two.

[NOTKyle]

Remember I'm a college kid. Real estate is a little out of the question.

[WET HOT MESS]

Start your own business. Totally. You can call it Doctor Deaths.

[NOTKyle]

I was totally going to last year, but it never came about. No start up money.

[WET HOT MESS]

Prostitution until you make enough money?

[NOTKyle]

Gotta grow a mustache first.

[WET HOT MESS]

You're a Jew. That shouldn't be a problem.

[NOTKyle]

I transfer every upper lip hair to my downstairs, so the ladies can't see the sleeping bag.

It's like a hair glue stick.

[Will]

Mate if you're a college student the only you should be worried about investing in is your next beer. Nerd alert!

[NOTKyle]

I gotta make that paper.

[WET HOT MESS]

Nothing wrong with wanting to have a little bit of cash before graduation. I know a kid from HS (one of the teacher called him chicken legs because he was this tall ass kid with skinny legs like an Ethiopian) and he's been into stocks since junior year. By the end of senior year, he had enough to buy some import cars (how else is he gunna score hot babes) and pay his own tuition, but who the hell is gunna do that.

[Spanky]

Go find little companies that are cheap as fuck, and have gone public within a few years. I found this stock called "Drank". It's a grape drink with alcohol mixed in that blacks drink like, well, grape drink. Got it at $2 a share. I think it's quadrupled and going nowhere but up.

I'm assuming it's going to be like vitamen water, and get bought out by a company like coke. Turn 10 grand into millions.

[NOTKyle]

Yeah that's the plan actually. I'm going to start buying stock in pumpkins really soon.

[Spanky]

Not sure if Amazon is public, but they are making gobs of money. Especially so if they keep making original products like the kindle.

[Spanky]

Yeah that's the plan actually. I'm going to start buying stock in pumpkins really soon.
Reminds me of "Trading Spaces" when they bought all that stock in pork bellies and OJ.

*thanks sink

[mirt]

i'm investing in halter tops and mini skirts so i can find a sugar daddy to buy me a condo and a car and pay my bills

[NOTKyle]

Not sure if Amazon is public, but they are making gobs of money. Especially so if they keep making original products like the kindle.

Not cheap. (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=AMZN)

[NOTKyle]

i'm investing in halter tops and mini skirts so i can find a sugar daddy to buy me a condo and a car and pay my bills

I'll rent a fancy car and a leisure suit so I can pick up slutty bar skags and sell them to Colombians.

[Spanky]

Jesus. It's funny though, even though the economy is hurting and the dollar is down, consumer spending has increased since last year.

[NOTKyle]

Gotta prove you're american somehow.

[RedBEARD]

i'm investing in halter tops and mini skirts so i can find a sugar daddy to buy me a condo and a car and pay my billsWhere do I fill out the application form?

[WET HOT MESS]

Jesus. It's funny though, even though the economy is hurting and the dollar is down, consumer spending has increased since last year.
If money keeps moving, then it won't hurt as much.

[Spanky]

If penis keeps moving, then vagina won't hurt as much.

[mirt]

Where do I fill out the application form?

you have to pass the bank account test first

[Spanky]

If money keeps moving, then it won't hurt as much.
It'll keep moving, It's just about where it goes: whether on American made goods, or outsourced products.

[WET HOT MESS]

People aren't that smart. Plus Wal-mart products made in China are just so cheap and delightful.

[RedBEARD]

you have to pass the bank account test firstOh, come on - I'm trustworthy!

[Ace Rockola]

I was over eating steaks at a friends house out in the country tonight, and he had a grand investment scheme to buy a tanker truck, fill it up with gas and store it on his property for a year and sell all the gas when it's more expensive. I told him he stole that idea from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and he looked at me like I told him I fucked his sister.

[Face]

your friend is an idiot

[NOTKyle]

Holy stupid.

[Ace Rockola]

I don't think he was serious. At least I hope he wasn't.

[Don Scrappy]

Don't listen to Spanky, the last thing you should be doing with your money is putting them into speculative stocks. Spend some time on morningstar and google finance looking up mutual funds and index funds. Set up an IRA and get that tax deferred growth and buy some funds that have a wide base of investment. You could also set up an account with fidelity or another investment company and talk to a professional in person.

[Roll]

What if "DRANK" blows up!

[Spanky]

Don't listen to Spanky, the last thing you should be doing with your money is putting them into speculative stocks. Spend some time on morningstar and google finance looking up mutual funds and index funds. Set up an IRA and get that tax deferred growth and buy some funds that have a wide base of investment. You could also set up an account with fidelity or another investment company and talk to a professional in person.
i know, that's a return of like, 0.00032% a year. why would you not want to do that?

[Archetype]

Don't listen to Spanky, the last thing you should be doing with your money is putting them into speculative stocks. Spend some time on morningstar and google finance looking up mutual funds and index funds. Set up an IRA and get that tax deferred growth and buy some funds that have a wide base of investment. You could also set up an account with fidelity or another investment company and talk to a professional in person.
What're you, a banker? Fuck off with the sales pitch.

[Don Scrappy]

What're you, a banker? Fuck off with the sales pitch.

this is the finance thread, I thought drdeath might be interesting in hearing some decent advice even if you aren't.

[RedBEARD]

Here's a hypothetical question for someone who actually knows what the hell they're talking about...

Say I get married, and say the chick I marry has horrible credit - as in she filed for bankruptcy but has since paid off her debts. How would her status affect me, or would it?

[ruffdog]

AIG up %18

wut MONEY

[ruffdog]

Here's a hypothetical question for someone who actually knows what the hell they're talking about...

Say I get married, and say the chick I marry has horrible credit - as in she filed for bankruptcy but has since paid off her debts. How would her status affect me, or would it?

pre-nup

[ShitBreak]

Here's a hypothetical question for someone who actually knows what the hell they're talking about...

Say I get married, and say the chick I marry has horrible credit - as in she filed for bankruptcy but has since paid off her debts. How would her status affect me, or would it?

You would both end up living her her parents basement. And while she does laundry, you and your 2 friends will decide to form a band and play songs about your horrible credit.

[machwa]

I hope I don't ruin this thread with a bit of seriousness but E-Trade, Sharebuilder, etc would be a good idea. I've used E-Trade for about 9 yrs and I'm really happy with it. In terms of knowing what, when, and how to invest I'd take a look at sites like The Motley Fool (fool.com) which gives a good overview of the basics of investing.

[ruffdog]

or tune in to MAd Money

[Willam]

Here's a hypothetical question for someone who actually knows what the hell they're talking about...

Say I get married, and say the chick I marry has horrible credit - as in she filed for bankruptcy but has since paid off her debts. How would her status affect me, or would it?

Check out WWW.ClarkHoward.com (http://www.ClarkHoward.com)

The man is a wizard when it comes to shit like that. If the answer isn't on his website, you can, for free, set up a time to have one of his assistants call you and they will get an answer for you. Did that when I was considering buying the company I work for and it was a tremendous help (saved me from making a HUGE mistake).

[ruffdog]

Apple goes under 120 i'm buying

http://finance.google.ca/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:AAPL

[mxlplkt]

Two words.

Lottery tickets.

[Penguin Rick]

DrDeath I'm a college kid too, let's start a company and make bank.

[Don Scrappy]

Here's a hypothetical question for someone who actually knows what the hell they're talking about...

Say I get married, and say the chick I marry has horrible credit - as in she filed for bankruptcy but has since paid off her debts. How would her status affect me, or would it?

if it is real bad you may have a more difficult time getting joint cards or loans.

[Claydon]

Here's a hypothetical question for someone who actually knows what the hell they're talking about...

Say I get married, and say the chick I marry has horrible credit - as in she filed for bankruptcy but has since paid off her debts. How would her status affect me, or would it?

Banks/lenders will typically default to the lower of the two fico scores so yah it is a problem. However credit unions will often default to the higher fico score. For instance when the wife and I got a line of credit from the CU her FICO is 760 and mine is like 700, the difference in the interest rate is 50 basis points which translates into maybe 10 bucks a month. The CU went with her FICO, however if we had gone to say Bank of America they would have gone with my FICO. Now, if you have a 760 and she has say a 510 or something awful like that, then you guys are fucked.

[420monk]

Just an FYI....If you have a 401k, DO NOT LOOK AT THE STATEMENTS!

If you view them online, DON'T LOGIN. If you get them via the mail, DON'T OPEN THE ENVELOPE.

You may panic and vomit.

[Claydon]

Just an FYI....If you have a 401k, DO NOT LOOK AT THE STATEMENTS!

If you view them online, DON'T LOGIN. If you get them via the mail, DON'T OPEN THE ENVELOPE.

You may panic and vomit.

Mine is down 12%, but it is so spread out into Euro bond funds, chinese market funds that it has not taken the full ass raping of the failure of the US market.

[Deadhead Derek]

fannie mae and freddie mac have moved in the last few days since the bailout. up 40 or 50 % today alone. floating around 1.20 -1.25 at the peak they were running in the 60's. look at a recoup to 25% of that and bail.

[Archetype]

this is the finance thread, I thought drdeath might be interesting in hearing some decent advice even if you aren't.
Do you not know why mutual funds exist?

[BIG PIZZLE]

To make bankers money on fees.

[Don Scrappy]

Do you not know why mutual funds exist?

Is it to steal money from people?

[Deadhead Derek]

FNM is up another .40 so far today.. I wasn't kidding..

[exsterminator]

Is it to steal money from people?

Ha ha ha :D

[Philip Lombard]

imma open a savings account and i don't know shit about it

my friend says i should do an ING account or an E Trade account.... suggestions?

[Mustard]

imma open a savings account and i don't know shit about it

my friend says i should do an ING account or an E Trade account.... suggestions?
If the economy ends up tankig by the end of the year, I plan to start buying lots of silver and canned food.

I'm a bit poor yet for gold. :(

[Pharon]

imma open a savings account and i don't know shit about it

my friend says i should do an ING account or an E Trade account.... suggestions?
ING Direct has a great interest rate for storing cash. I've had an account there for years. You can link it up to your checking account and the funds show up within a day or two.

If anyone knows of a place where you can get a better return on cash, with no minimum balance requirements, I'd love to know.

[NOTKyle]

DrDeath I'm a college kid too, let's start a company and make bank.

I'm 100% sold on doing this, it's just a matter of what to do/sell.

What are your skill sets?

And is anybody willing to invest?

[Pharon]

I hope I don't ruin this thread with a bit of seriousness but E-Trade, Sharebuilder, etc would be a good idea. I've used E-Trade for about 9 yrs and I'm really happy with it. In terms of knowing what, when, and how to invest I'd take a look at sites like The Motley Fool (fool.com) which gives a good overview of the basics of investing.
The only thing I don't like about E-Trade and Scottrade is that you can't do dividend reinvestment. So if you're trying to figure out how much money you're making from any particular stock, you're not going to be able to factor in the dividend without doing extra spreadsheet work.

I've been using Fidelity -- trades are $8 if you do a certain amount per year or if you have over a certain amount of funds (can be in different accounts) with Fidelity. I don't remember what the specifics are, though.

[NOTKyle]

If the economy ends up tankig by the end of the year, I plan to start buying lots of silver and canned food.

I'm a bit poor yet for gold. :(

My friend's mom took all of the money out of his college fund about 14 months ago and invested it all in gold. This was about 2 weeks before it started to shoot up, and it's still rising.

[NOTKyle]

The only thing I don't like about E-Trade and Scottrade is that you can't do dividend reinvestment. So if you're trying to figure out how much money you're making from any particular stock, you're not going to be able to factor in the dividend without doing extra spreadsheet work.

I've been using Fidelity -- trades are $8 if you do a certain amount per year or if you have over a certain amount of funds (can be in different accounts) with Fidelity. I don't remember what the specifics are, though.

I'm trying to find the website where trades are the cheapest. I know scottrade pimps a $7 trade, and e-trade $8. But I don't know the minimum numbers of trades to meet that, or anything else. I just know that the second I have about $500 laying around I'm going to start buying up stock.

[Pharon]

Scottrade and e-trade have no minimum trades to get that rate. And they have no minimum balance you need in your account.

Really, they're great except for the whole not being able to do automatic dividend reinvestment thing. That just bugs me.

[Mustard]

Scottrade and e-trade have no minimum trades to get that rate. And they have no minimum balance you need in your account.

Really, they're great except for the whole not being able to do automatic dividend reinvestment thing. That just bugs me.
So you've got me curious. When the dividend is posted, and you don't have the option to reinvest your dividend, where does the dividend get sent?

To you personally, to your personal bank account, or to your e-trade (et al) account?

[Pharon]

It just shows up in the cash part of your e-trade or scottrade account.

But see the problem? You can't track how well the stock is doing unless you factor in the dividends as part of the gain. And that pisses me off. And I'm way too lazy to track it separately.

[Mustard]

It just shows up in the cash part of your e-trade or scottrade account.

But see the problem? You can't track how well the stock is doing unless you factor in the dividends as part of the gain. And that pisses me off. And I'm way too lazy to track it separately.
Any chance you can get them to send you the dividends to you in the form of a cheque, instead of letting it go straight to your cash account? At least that way it would be easy to keep track of.

On the other hand, if you kept track daily and knew when the dividends were coming and how much you should get, based on the amount of stock you own and the price of the dividend, then it wouldn't be all that difficult to keep track of.

And that reminds me... is the dividend amount posted pre-tax? I assume it is. So that opens another can of worms, because that means you need to keep a very close eye on it yourself if they don't keep track of it for you. Its that, or else the IRS might send you a little note with the letters AUDIT scribble somehwere on it. God knows everybody loves getting that...

[NOTKyle]

Scottrade and e-trade have no minimum trades to get that rate. And they have no minimum balance you need in your account.

Really, they're great except for the whole not being able to do automatic dividend reinvestment thing. That just bugs me.

Scottrade has no minimum, it's $7 a share straight up. You need 1500 trades a quarter in order to get the $8 trades from e-trade. If you're doing less than 30 trades a quarter it's $13 per.

[Pharon]

It's easy enough to keep track of within your account, because every transaction gets recorded in your History separately. And at the end of the year they will send you a 1098 (or is it a 1099?) that separates out dividend income from short and long term capital gains -- so you don't have to worry about that at all.

Really, it's just a matter of the fact that I tend to hold onto stocks for 3 to 6 years on average, and if I want to compare how I'm doing from one to the other, I really can't -- at least not by just looking at them -- because one stock may pay no dividend while another pays 5%. And the one that pays the high dividend will show up as not giving you the total gain that it actually made.

I guess I'm just an anally-retentive absolutist. That's all.

[Rumpleforeskin]

I think I'm going to cash in my Roth IRA so I can buy a new tv set. Yay or nay?

[Ace Rockola]

I think I'm going to cash in my Roth IRA so I can buy a new tv set. Yay or nay?

Have you had the account for over 5 years?

[Mustard]

I think I'm going to cash in my Roth IRA so I can buy a new tv set. Yay or nay?
Dude, thats a terrific idea.

After you get the TV, can I come over and throw rocks at it?

[Claydon]

I have had an etrade savings account for a number of years. It use to be like 5.2% sadly it is 3.1% now.

[The GWD]

I HATE THIS THREAD, AND I HATE FINANCES, I HATE NUMBERS, AND I HATE THIS THREAD. KILL IT. DO IT. COME ON DO IT! COME ON IT'S HERE KILL IT NOW!!

[Mustard]

I don't understand what you're trying to say GWD.

[Don Scrappy]

I have had an etrade savings account for a number of years. It use to be like 5.2% sadly it is 3.1% now.

better than my wells fargo savings account.

I heard fidelity has a pretty good rate, I think I am going to move my savings to them.

[NOTKyle]

This is probably a stupid ass question, but how is the value of a stock actually determined? Is it the companies worth divided by amount of stock issued? Or is it based almost solely on what people are willing to pay for the stock, and the market regulates itself?

[bones12]

It's pretty easy. The initial cost of a stock offering is pretty detailed, but once it begins trading it is based solely on demand. As more and more people buy it, the price rises. As people sell it off, the price goes down accordingly.

[Stax]

I have roughly $16k that my grandmother left me sitting in a pretty generic People's savings account earning pretty darn low interest ($5.47 a month, currently, with $16,150 in there). What would be a very safe place where I could stick this cash (without having to constantly do stuff, like day trade with it or something) to earn a better rate?

[Willam]

I have roughly $16k that my grandmother left me sitting in a pretty generic People's checking account earning pretty darn low interest ($5.47 a month, currently, with $16,150 in there). What would be a very safe place where I could stick this cash (without having to constantly do stuff, like day trade with it or something) to earn a better rate?

Go to www.bankrate.com (http://www.bankrate.com)

They list the rates for savings, checking, CD's, etc.


I also strongly recommend spending sometime on www.ClarkHoward.com (http://www.ClarkHoward.com) before investing. He's a financial wizard, especially when it comes to avoiding fees and such.

[Stax]

Yeah, a CD seems like the sensible thing to do. Probably what I'll end up doing.

[Claydon]

Yeah, a CD seems like the sensible thing to do. Probably what I'll end up doing.

now that some of the brokerage houses are becoming banks, and some banks that will start to recover they will need capital to back up their future loans. Ie for every $100 they have in deposits they can loan $300 (unlike the last few years where they were loaning out something like $500 to $1000 for every $100 in deposits). Bottom line you will get a great rate on your savings, whatever form that takes. Check out ING Direct, ETrade, or your local credit union. ING and Etrade have the best rates for standard savings and CDs.

[Don Scrappy]

This is probably a stupid ass question, but how is the value of a stock actually determined? Is it the companies worth divided by amount of stock issued? Or is it based almost solely on what people are willing to pay for the stock, and the market regulates itself?

It is determined by the present value of future cash flows.

[Stax]

now that some of the brokerage houses are becoming banks, and some banks that will start to recover they will need capital to back up their future loans. Ie for every $100 they have in deposits they can loan $300 (unlike the last few years where they were loaning out something like $500 to $1000 for every $100 in deposits). Bottom line you will get a great rate on your savings, whatever form that takes. Check out ING Direct, ETrade, or your local credit union. ING and Etrade have the best rates for standard savings and CDs.

I'd really prefer to stick with People's if possible, to lessen the complications. I just called to check and indeed I'm getting 0.4% APY on my savings acct which is just pathetic. People's has a 10-month and 15-month CD (https://pcb.peoples.com/Peoples/SelfService/OpenNewCDAccount.aspx) each at a 3.75% APY. My question is this: Why would you ever invest in the longer term CD at the same APY? Wouldn't you universally be better served going for (to use the example of these 2) the 10 month one and if after 10 months you still want to be in the CD, fine, you renew it? Doesn't 15 months just needlessly lock you in for longer, or is there some basic thing I'm missing.

EDIT - I think the link I gave only works if you have a People's account. This is the generic CD page (http://www.peoples.com/personal/savings/0,8386,12884,00.html) but it isn't loading for me.

[Claydon]

I'd really prefer to stick with People's if possible, to lessen the complications. I just called to check and indeed I'm getting 0.4% APY on my savings acct which is just pathetic. People's has a 10-month and 15-month CD (https://pcb.peoples.com/Peoples/SelfService/OpenNewCDAccount.aspx) each at a 3.75% APY. My question is this: Why would you ever invest in the longer term CD at the same APY? Wouldn't you universally be better served going for (to use the example of these 2) the 10 month one and if after 10 months you still want to be in the CD, fine, you renew it? Doesn't 15 months just needlessly lock you in for longer, or is there some basic thing I'm missing.

EDIT - I think the link I gave only works if you have a People's account. This is the generic CD page (http://www.peoples.com/personal/savings/0,8386,12884,00.html) but it isn't loading for me.

It is a little bit of a throw of the dice. In 2000 I put $2000 (basically all of my liquid assets... pathetic I know) in a Etrade CD at 6.5%, interests were pretty high then coming out of the booming 90s. The whole dot com thing was just starting to unravel and it was obvious rates were going to drop, and drop they did. I locked the CD in for 5 years and did pretty well on it. When it matured I used it for part of my down payment on my car I think I made like $400+ with interest if memory serves.

[Stax]

It is a little bit of a throw of the dice. In 2000 I put $2000 (basically all of my liquid assets... pathetic I know) in a Etrade CD at 6.5%, interests were pretty high then coming out of the booming 90s. The whole dot com thing was just starting to unravel and it was obvious rates were going to drop, and drop they did. I locked the CD in for 5 years and did pretty well on it. When it matured I used it for part of my down payment on my car I think I made like $400+ with interest if memory serves.

I guess that makes sense, lock in for longer when you think you have a good rate, go for a shorter one if you think you'll have a better one 10 months down the line.

So then let me ask you this: Do you think 10 months down the line I'd be looking at a better or worse rate than 3.75%?

[Pharon]

I just don't understand why anyone would want to lock up their money in a CD for a measly 0.75% APY. On $16K that translates to about $10/month.

Put the cash in ING Direct and earn 3%, and have it available to you whenever you want. If you withdraw from a CD prematurely, they will charge you a penalty.

Regarding bankrate.com -- I use them too, but be careful -- on the savings account rates, they will say that what's posted is after an introductory period, but the ones listed at the top there right now are introductory rates. Make sure to read the fine print before committing to any one bank.

[Stax]

Well I am most definitely not going to be touching this money, it's intended to be more for big life expenditures down the line (not the kind of stuff a college kid whose parents are paying his tuition will run into). So there even that small gain is something. But beyond that, again, here it would be a shift from .4 to 3.75, which is pretty sizeable. Mi familia is just not a huge fan of ING.

[Claydon]

I guess that makes sense, lock in for longer when you think you have a good rate, go for a shorter one if you think you'll have a better one 10 months down the line.

So then let me ask you this: Do you think 10 months down the line I'd be looking at a better or worse rate than 3.75%?

Ahhhh, the 64,000 dollar question.

I think rates will stay low for a while yet, unless inflation goes through the friggin roof. Rates are adjusted to regulate consumption and economic activity. If rates are low it is because the government wants to make money cheap and easy for we the consumers to buy and sell goods. If rates go up they want us to spend less, save more and inhibit out of control growth. All indications seem to suggest that rates will stay low for now, so yah I think a 10 month or 12 month CD is appropriate at this time. But like I said you should watch what happens with this banks that are going to get bailed out, they will want deposits when this nightmare is over, and are going to give out the better rates and the free toasters.

Etrades savings is at 3.3% right now, and that is damn good and you don't have to lock in your money. Its not that hard to open an account with them and I transfer funds back and forth all the time between my checking and with them. Transfers can take up to 3 business days but I have been happy with etrade for years.

https://us.etrade.com/e/t/banking

[Claydon]

I just don't understand why anyone would want to lock up their money in a CD for a measly 0.75% APY. On $16K that translates to about $10/month.

Put the cash in ING Direct and earn 3%, and have it available to you whenever you want. If you withdraw from a CD prematurely, they will charge you a penalty.

Regarding bankrate.com -- I use them too, but be careful -- on the savings account rates, they will say that what's posted is after an introductory period, but the ones listed at the top there right now are introductory rates. Make sure to read the fine print before committing to any one bank.

Pharon and I are of the same mind here. But never forget, Pharon sucks in general so..........yah.

[Pharon]

Mi familia is just not a huge fan of ING.
Really? Why not? I've never had any problems with them, so I'm just curious.

[Claydon]

Really? Why not? I've never had any problems with them, so I'm just curious.

as am I. I have an IRA through ING and they charge some of the lowest fees. Etrade gives slightly better rates on interest for savings but not by much.

[Stax]

Honestly I dunno. Again, I'm not going to be touching this money so liquidity isn't a big thing, but it certainly seems like if you could get a better return from them you might as well go with them.

[machwa]

The only thing I don't like about E-Trade and Scottrade is that you can't do dividend reinvestment. So if you're trying to figure out how much money you're making from any particular stock, you're not going to be able to factor in the dividend without doing extra spreadsheet work.

I've been using Fidelity -- trades are $8 if you do a certain amount per year or if you have over a certain amount of funds (can be in different accounts) with Fidelity. I don't remember what the specifics are, though.

You can reinvest dividends at E-Trade. You just sign up for the dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) and you're all set.


I'd really prefer to stick with People's if possible, to lessen the complications. I just called to check and indeed I'm getting 0.4% APY on my savings acct which is just pathetic. People's has a 10-month and 15-month CD (https://pcb.peoples.com/Peoples/SelfService/OpenNewCDAccount.aspx) each at a 3.75% APY. My question is this: Why would you ever invest in the longer term CD at the same APY? Wouldn't you universally be better served going for (to use the example of these 2) the 10 month one and if after 10 months you still want to be in the CD, fine, you renew it? Doesn't 15 months just needlessly lock you in for longer, or is there some basic thing I'm missing.

EDIT - I think the link I gave only works if you have a People's account. This is the generic CD page (http://www.peoples.com/personal/savings/0,8386,12884,00.html) but it isn't loading for me.

As far as the saving rates go; E-Trade, ING Direct, FNBO Direct, HSBC Direct, are all going to have roughly the same rates. There will always be one bank with a slightly higher rate but for me having my savings, IRA, and brokerage account all at one place was more than enough reason to stay there. You can't go wrong with any of the ones I listed.

You could look into 1,2,3,6 month CD's and then put that into a high-rate account when it ends.

[Pharon]

You can reinvest dividends at E-Trade. You just sign up for the dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) and you're all set.
Cool -- that's good to know. Thanks.

[Claydon]

good ole drips...not that companies are paying out dividends all that much these days.

[Don Scrappy]

Ahhhh, the 64,000 dollar question.

I think rates will stay low for a while yet, unless inflation goes through the friggin roof. Rates are adjusted to regulate consumption and economic activity. If rates are low it is because the government wants to make money cheap and easy for we the consumers to buy and sell goods. If rates go up they want us to spend less, save more and inhibit out of control growth. All indications seem to suggest that rates will stay low for now, so yah I think a 10 month or 12 month CD is appropriate at this time. But like I said you should watch what happens with this banks that are going to get bailed out, they will want deposits when this nightmare is over, and are going to give out the better rates and the free toasters.

Etrades savings is at 3.3% right now, and that is damn good and you don't have to lock in your money. Its not that hard to open an account with them and I transfer funds back and forth all the time between my checking and with them. Transfers can take up to 3 business days but I have been happy with etrade for years.

https://us.etrade.com/e/t/banking

I completely agree with you that rates are going to stay low for a while, atleast another year, that depends on inflation though. I would suggest looking at some 1yr commercial bonds, you may get a better rate than with a CD.

[Penguin Rick]

My financial advice starts and ends with gamlbing on football.

[Claydon]

I completely agree with you that rates are going to stay low for a while, atleast another year, that depends on inflation though. I would suggest looking at some 1yr commercial bonds, you may get a better rate than with a CD.

yah I thought about that, but stax wants it simple and liquid. 3.35% is not all that great but it is at inflation ... at least i think it is, what is inflation right now? 2-3%?

[Don Scrappy]

yah I thought about that, but stax wants it simple and liquid. 3.35% is not all that great but it is at inflation ... at least i think it is, what is inflation right now? 2-3%?

I think it is actually a bit higher now, 4-5%, but historically, it hovers around 2-3%. The thing is inflation is hard to gauge, because everyone has a different way to calculate it, I miss econ 101 when it was just CPI.

[Stax]

yah I thought about that, but stax wants it simple and liquid. 3.35% is not all that great but it is at inflation ... at least i think it is, what is inflation right now? 2-3%?

Nono, I specifically don't care about it being liquid, I ain't touching it. I just want zero risk, so something like a CD where they just say "In 10 months we give you this much money" is nice to me.

[feith]

don't go to bars.

tooo much money is ALWAYS spent.


become a bartender.

[NOTKyle]

http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=WM#chart7:symbol=wm;range=5y;indicator=v olume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;log scale=on;source=undefined

Wow

[RedBEARD]

Aren't they being bought out?

What happens if you buy stock in a company that gets bought out/absorbed by some other entity, for that matter?

[hatepoppy]

$7500 tax credit federal for first time home buyers. except you have to pay it back. why the fuck is the government issuing loans at 0% through the IRS? it would make sense if it was actually a credit, but it's just not.

[Don Scrappy]

Aren't they being bought out?

What happens if you buy stock in a company that gets bought out/absorbed by some other entity, for that matter?

I think the stock holders get the profit, but the WAMU sale didn't make any profit.

[Claydon]

I think the stock holders get the profit, but the WAMU sale didn't make any profit.

pretty much..... it would be like I have an item that is valued at $300, and you give me $30 for it.

[Don Scrappy]

pretty much..... it would be like I have an item that is valued at $300, and you give me $30 for it.

I think their tower in downtown Seattle is probably worth about a quarter of the $1.9 billion JPMorgan bought the company for.

I am curious to see who is going to take ownership of that, if that was included in the sale or not.

[Claydon]

I believe the sale includes ALL assets, both cash, debt, and property.

[Don Scrappy]

I believe the sale includes ALL assets, both cash, debt, and property.

if that is true then JP could write off the debt and then probably still be close to ahead in terms of the assets they acquired in the short term.

[Stax]

Good thing I got that CD set up a couple days ago, Fed cut interest rates another half percent.

[Hobnail_Boot]

My Roth IRA has lost almost 50% of it's value in a year. Not. Good. Times.

[Claydon]

My Roth IRA has lost almost 50% of it's value in a year. Not. Good. Times.

if you re below 55 years of age, you have time to regain your losses.

[Hobnail_Boot]

if you re below 55 years of age, you have time to regain your losses.
Oh, I know. I'm certainly not panicky, but sucks that I'm losing money.

[Spanky]

Just started with a mortgage company. We are expanding in droves, I could potentially be a manager in 90 days. I'll be damned if we don't spend 6 hours a day studying the crisis and all the variables that contribute to it, total mind fuck.

No real point to this, it's just funny how we are thriving when everything else is shit.

[Claydon]

Just started with a mortgage company. We are expanding in droves, I could potentially be a manager in 90 days. I'll be damned if we don't spend 6 hours a day studying the crisis and all the variables that contribute to it, total mind fuck.

No real point to this, it's just funny how we are thriving when everything else is shit.

Going to be a shit ton of money to make on homes when this thing settles down. I am hoping the mrs and i can get a rental property in a few years.

[Spanky]

Going to be a shit ton of money to make on homes when this thing settles down. I am hoping the mrs and i can get a rental property in a few years.
That's the thing, by the time that's possible, financial institutions will have such a ball squeeze on the environment, joe-blow won't be able to buy property and turn it over for a profit.

[Claydon]

That's the thing, by the time that's possible, financial institutions will have such a ball squeeze on the environment, joe-blow won't be able to buy property and turn it over for a profit.

i am not interested in flipping, im interested in buying and then renting it out.

[Spanky]

ah. carry on then, that's what i plan on doing.

[Hobnail_Boot]

i am not interested in flipping, im interested in buying and then renting it out.
Yea, I'm doing the same thing. I was going to buy some duplexes for rental and open a chicken wing restaurant in a medium-sized and growing town. I have no idea if I can get a loan for those now.

[Titus_Pullo]

Plastics.

[Pharon]

i am not interested in flipping, im interested in buying and then renting it out.
Try not to ejaculate too quickly with this bitch. I think we've got at least another year or two before homes start selling for what they're historically worth.

[Don Scrappy]

It is going to be a long time before homes reach the inflated prices they reached a couple years ago.

[Spanky]

It is going to be a long time before homes reach the inflated prices they reached a couple years ago.
That will not happen in any of our lifetimes.

[Claydon]

Try not to ejaculate too quickly with this bitch. I think we've got at least another year or two before homes start selling for what they're historically worth.

pharon/phaggot...

wait..ummm yah, so anways YAH I KNOW, I need 20% down before I even walk into the credit union mortgage dept.

[BIG PIZZLE]

About a year ago, the market was at 1400. I saw this coming, I just thought it would have happened sooner. The market has basically dropped by 1/3.

[bdjlo09]

This is the best time to get into the stock market. All the best stocks are their lowest prices. Grab 'em if you can.

[machwa]

With oil and nautral gas at or near it's 52week lows I think the upward trends will be here soon. OPEC is expected to cut production and considering ol' T. Boone is pressing hard for more exploration of natty gas I see these increasing.


PowerShares Energy Fund (DBE) - ETF that tracks the price of natural gas, oil, heating oil, etc.

Penn West Energy Trust (PWE) - Holding company in Canada that offers a huge dividend (20%) and is the largest oil and nat gas trust in North America. Just off 52week lows.


Just something to think about.

[Mustard]

I personally love CanRoys. PWE is good, but also take a look at PBT, HTE, PGH, PVX, AAV, and BTE. Note that some of the mentioned have negative earnings growth (thus their P/E is negative) but that is something that happens occasionally in a market where oil price volatility is at an all-time high. Some of the mentioned are good to buy for the div, while others are probably more speculative (even with the div/yield they offer).

[NOTKyle]

Hilarious. (http://brokershandsontheirfacesblog.tumblr.com/)

[Claydon]

Hilarious. (http://brokershandsontheirfacesblog.tumblr.com/)

damnit...

they should totally show vids of these fucks having a massive MI on the trading floors.

[Swurgen]

If you're not retiring in the next 15 yrs or so, wouldn't it make sense to raise your contribution (as much as you are able) to your 401K or other retirement funds? If the entire market is down then it's like its all on sale and if you stick with blue chip stocks, there's a very good chance that they'll be back up again eventually.

I kind of asked this question already on another thread but here I'm talking broad funds rather than trying to snipe certain specific stocks.

[eightkid]

damnit...

they should totally show vids of these fucks having a massive MI on the trading floors.


How is it their fault????

Please explain.........

[Penguin Rick]

I'm not genius when it comes to the stock market and all, but isn't now a really good time to invest in it? Prices are really low and some of these companies (GM) aren't going to get all the way subsidized by the government.

[bones12]

Depends on how much worse you think it's going to get. Oil companies and similar fields are probably your safest bets, as they are typically very strong stocks. The majority of my 401k is based in oil companies. That said, those companies aren't going to make you rich either. They'll be steady stocks with good dividends once they come back up their "normal" range. That said, I've lost about 25% of my 401k in the last several weeks/months.

I agree with Swurgen, also. I guess the main question is, how much more will they fall/how long will they continue to fall. People who bought just a few months ago are going to be in a whole it will take quite some time to get out of, and that could still be the case if you buy today, just depends on when things start rebounding. But like you said, if you've got 15-25 years, that's not really your worry. Who knows who the next companies will be that will fall, but based on history, you can have a pretty good idea which ones won't be.

[Penguin Rick]

I actually think I'm going to buy some index funds at the start of the new year.

[NOTKyle]

Is GE right now a good long term investment?

[Hobnail_Boot]

Is GE right now a good long term investment?
For what it's worth, MSNBC's ratings are up and Bill O'Rielly is barking about it (http://mediamatters.org/items/200606280009).

[Gary_Busey]

I have no money. Can someone give me some?

[NOTKyle]

For what it's worth, MSNBC's ratings are up and Bill O'Rielly is barking about it (http://mediamatters.org/items/200606280009).

Did you just quote my post and not even reference it?

[Hobnail_Boot]

Did you just quote my post and not even reference it?
GE owns MSNBC and because MSNBC seems to be doing well, I figure GE might be doing well (which is why I said "for what it's worth").

[hatepoppy]

Did you just quote my post and not even reference it?
GENERAL ELECTRIC
Television Holdings:
* NBC: includes 13 stations, 28% of US households.
* NBC Network News: The Today Show, Nightly News with Brian Williams, Meet the Press, Dateline NBC, NBC News at Sunrise.
* CNBC business television; MSNBC 24-hour cable and Internet news service (co-owned by NBC and Microsoft); Court TV (co-owned with Time Warner), Bravo (50%), A&E (25%), History Channel (25%).

[Phil Theehor]

Is GE right now a good long term investment?

You would think. Their stock was getting killed for a few weeks for missing earnings estimates (which other companies do, but not GE). Add into the mix the negative (and truly one-sided) Fortune article swaying public opinion and you would think that they've taken the biggest beating they can.

After all, they did clear $20 billion last year. And that's a bad year for them? Other companies with too much exposure to the credit crunch are going under or requiring rescue.

So, my guess is that they've hit bottom.

[ed92]

It's a little tough to get enough knowledge about investing here to be safe. Clearly some of these people know what they're talking about and invest for themselves, but their stock picks might not be right for you.

You need to think about a lot of things if you're going to be picking stocks: For example, GE may be a good investment if you can hold it for 3-10 years, but if you put money into a stock and need it 6 months from now, who knows where that stock will be. Unless you want it to be your full time job, it's tough to watch stocks, bonds etc. and be successful.

CDs, savings accounts or even short term gov't securities may be the best choice if you may need the money in the near term. You could look at fidelity/e-trade/TD Ameritrade as you build up to enough assets so that you could lose some of that money in the short term and not fuck up your life.

[Trident]

I'm investing in property, my savings rates have dropped to virtually pointless so I've taken out a small mortgage on a house which was repossessed: the bank just wants rid quickly so it sold for a lot less than it's retail value. The payments are well under what I'm getting for it in terms of rent.

[Infotainment]

It's a little tough to get enough knowledge about investing here to be safe. Clearly some of these people know what they're talking about and invest for themselves, but their stock picks might not be right for you.

You need to think about a lot of things if you're going to be picking stocks: For example, GE may be a good investment if you can hold it for 3-10 years, but if you put money into a stock and need it 6 months from now, who knows where that stock will be. Unless you want it to be your full time job, it's tough to watch stocks, bonds etc. and be successful.

CDs, savings accounts or even short term gov't securities may be the best choice if you may need the money in the near term. You could look at fidelity/e-trade/TD Ameritrade as you build up to enough assets so that you could lose some of that money in the short term and not fuck up your life.

Did you seriously just say government securities are a good investment? About 2 months ago they were running at negative yields and CD's are running at higher yields right now. Also, GE is a terrible investment for at least the next two years, they are going to be writing off so many bad financing deals that I would wait awhile before I would sink my money in it. That being said my valuation model says if it hits 9.09 it's good for a buy.

[ed92]

i did mention gpv't securites (shame!). i was actually trying making it pretty clear that i wouldn't recommend any one-off investment ideas from this forum, but i did say gov't securities may be right for some people who may need the money back in the short term.

yields aren't negative now (and if they went negative again, you'd make money on it, not that they will). my point was that if someone only has $5,000 to save, chances are they may need to draw that money back (loss of job, divorce, illness) in a short time frame. If you have an emergency fund, then your could start thinking about grabbing more yield. A lot of people would've been thrilled with 0% returns in '08 if they needed that money in '09.

Not that anyone gives a shit, but I'm actually short LT treasuries (can also do it through TBT), long TIPS. Not a great day for it, but it's a pretty favorably skewed range of outcomes. These leveraged ETFs generally suck, but it's a cheap way to short treasuries without access to shorting, etc. i definitely wouldn't pay more than par for long treasuries, because it'll be a mess when inflation comes through.