Articles

Pimco's Bill Gross says the Fed's monetary policy is designed to reinflate the economy by forcing investors to deploy their money into riskier investments. Investors are stuck in a catch22 - move money into riskier investments and potentially lose it; or keep it in low yielding accounts.

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) announced today a settlement with Wells Fargo in which the bank agreed to reimburse $1.3 billion related to the sale of auction rate securities to its clients. That makes it the last of the large banks to put its auction rate security mess behind it.

Rewards checking accounts, accounts that pay above-market interest in return for certain customer actions are coming under government scrutiny. Several banks have been forced by the FDIC to lower the rates they offer to rather low levels in an effort to help them recapitalize.

Bank of America is offering a Special Rate Money Market Savings Account that pays 1.5% APY, guaranteed until April 1. The money is totally liquid.

The Jacksonville Bank, a small bank in Florida is currently paying 1.75% APY on a 6-month CD and 2.60% APY on a 24-month CD. Those are the best CD rates for their respective terms according to the BestCashCow rate tables.

It is common for investors, especially new ones, to be confused about terms common for bonds. Here is an explanation of some of the more common ones.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said today that he doesn't see evidence of an asset bubble in financial markets - equities, gold, commodities, etc. This of course reminds me of Alan Greenspan's famous announcements early in the decade that there was no housing bubble. Yeah, right.

Here are some tips you can use to help make the processing and funding of your loan a quicker and less stressful experience.

Here is a look at the hugely popular Interest only loans. They are not so wonderful now.

A bit of good news for those California Recovery Bond holders as they get an upgrade from Moody's and Fitch ratings agencies.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) which has propped up the housing market by insuring hundreds of billions of mortgage loans, is in danger of running out of money as foreclosures and bankruptcies grow.

The Federal Reserve on Thursday announced final rules that prohibit banks from automatically charging overdraft fees on ATM and debit card transactions. Before a fee can be charged, customers must consent or agree to the charge in return for being allowed to withdraw money. So, let's explain a likely scenario.