Articles

Panic has set in over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They have taken a necessary hit but is the talk of insolvency justified? Some markets don't think so.

As Bank of America's stock has plunged, its dividend has soared. It paid a dividend of 64 cents a share in April which amounts to a 11.61% dividend yield. Should you invest? It depends on your risk appetite.

The problems with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are one other example of how the old financial system is collapsing. The result will be higher rates for everyone and sinking home prices.

I count myself among the pool of investors who believed that oil could spike higher and bought some Canadian oil trusts - pwe and erf - only to find that they now trade at the same price that they did when oil was at $80 a barrel. The catch is the new Canadian tax act that will affect these things differently in 2011 and stop them from moving up no matter what happens to oil until then.

BusinessWeek is running an article stating that India's growth is expected to drop ffrom 9% to 7% this year. As one of the countries gulping oil, will this help to pop the oil bubble?

Chinese consumers have been socking away money in time deposits (what we call CDs) for the last year and while you would think banks might like it, they don't. Banks worldwide suffer when consumers shift their money from low interest savings to higher interest savings and time deposits.

The Fed didn't raise rates today but it will have to before the end of the year. The EU will make sure of that.

Ben Bernanke proved today that he is too weak to stay as chairman of the federal reserve.

The Fed today announced it was keeping rates at 2% as was widely expected. It's announcement opened the door for future rate hikes as its statement mentioned the danger of inflation.

Thank goodness we have the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard. As the Financial Take Me Back Machine(TM) shows, they always provide a positive side to the housing market, even in these dark days.

If you're looking for some insight into why commodities are going sky high and are the flavor of the month, look no further than the Bill Gross's June 2008 Investment Outlook.

The WSJ has reported on Sunday that Citi is planning to lay off 10% of its worldwide investment banking group, or approximately 6,500 bankers.

The collapse of Bear Stearns and its public bailout are going to bring change to the brokererage/investment banking industry. The biggest change, more regulation, which may benefit ordinary depositors.

Well maybe not directly money. But the new browser is blazing fast and saves time. And as we know, time is money.

CNBC is running their annual Million Dollar Stock portfolio contest this year. You can trade stocks or currencies and win weekly prizes or a pool of one million dollars if you finish in the top 6.