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Image Starbucks
The Philadelphia Video Could Cause Starbucks to Lose Half Its Valuation
I’ve patronized Starbucks for years. The business model – in the US, in Europe and in Asia - is one of getting the stores to look full. I’ve never been to a Starbucks where customers aren’t encouraged to just... Read →
Image ABC News
Cohen Raid Brings RICO Into Play
With the raid of Michael Cohen’s office, it is becoming clear that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had decided to pursue a RICO case against Trump and his associates and perhaps his family. Passed in 1970, the Racketeer Influenced... Read →
Savings and CD Rates Move Higher In April – 5 Interesting Nationally Available Rates
Following the Fed’s raising of the Fed funds rate in March, we have seen savings and CD rates begin to tick higher as we move towards the Fed’s second meeting with Jay Powell as Fed Chairman. Powell’s testimony... Read →
Hyatt Paris Madeline is Not a Bad Way to Use Your Chase Points in Paris
On my most recent trip to Paris, I stayed at both of the Park Hyatt Vendôme and Hyatt Paris Madeline. I think that Hyatt points now represent the best value for hotel point redemptions in Paris, and perhaps in all of Europe. I am... Read →
Image Agence France Press
No Guardrails for the US Economy
At first, the market dipped, then rallied after China matched Trump’s $50 billion tariff threat. Now it is dipping at his latest salvo – $100 billion more. Traders are searching for some rationale for ignoring the very real... Read →
Image Facebook / Donald Trump
Trump and Amazon
The man has never walked alone down Madison Avenue, Lexington Avenue, anywhere in New York. He probably has never bought a newspaper by himself or a slice of pizza on the streets of the City. He has lived a protected life – and the... Read →
Image Politico
Fed Hikes 25 Basis Points In Jay Powell’s First Meeting as Chairman
The Federal Reserve raised the Fed Funds rate by 25 bps to a target of 1.50% to 1.75% this afternoon. The move marks the sixth such move since the Fed began moving the Fed Funds rate from zero in December 2015, and was unanimous. While... Read →
What to Consider as Rates Rise: Fixed-Rate Mortgages vs. ARMs
Buying a home means more than just committing to raising a family or living out one’s golden years in a particular house. It usually comes with financial obligations in the form of a mortgage. It is therefore important to prepare for... Read →
I Bought a Long-Term CD and Rates Have Moved Higher, What Should I Do?
As interest rates have moved up on longer-term CDs, many have found themselves in a quandary over what to do about longer-term CDs that they may have purchased over the last couple of years and that are now yielding less than the going... Read →
The Return of the 6-Month CD
I am only in my forties, but I have been told by my seniors of an era of largely stable interest rates when 6-month CDs offered depositors the ability to earn a premium over savings or money market rates, without the burden of locking up... Read →
Image Getty Images
Thank God for America’s High School Students
We have so little cause for optimism these days, constantly unnerved as we are by a seriously unstable President and a corrupt and compromised Congress. Our world, including our place in the hierarchy of nations today and the ever more... Read →
Image CNBC
Putin Fires Tillerson
News is just out that Rex Tillerson has been replaced by Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State. Of course, we had predicted Tillerson’s ouster for some time, and had indicated late in 2017 that Tillerson was waiting for his deferment... Read →
EverBank’s 3-Year Petrol Currency Marketsafe CD: A Different View on A Dirty Pool
We’ve written before, multiple times, about EverBank’s currency CD program. We addressed these products most recently here, having first addressed them here. The EverBank 3-Year Petrol Currency Marketsafe CD - like the... Read →
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When Not to Draw on Your Home Equity Line of Credit
For many years, we have written about appropriate and inappropriate reasons to have a home equity line of credit. In particular, home equity lines of credit can be used to consolidate more expensive debt (credit card, education loans,... Read →