Archive for the ‘economy’ Category
Payday loans and equity market performance
Friday, October 30, 2009 22:13 Comments OffThe high correlation between M&A activity and equity market performance clearly shows that M&A was a major driver of the equity bubble of the late 1990s. Sometimes even mergers that did not create synergies were rewarded by rising stock prices on the side of the overtaking parties. It was obvious that not every merger was [...]
Utility-maximizing behavior of real estate investors
Sunday, October 25, 2009 16:14 Comments OffTversky and Kahneman and Shiller argue that the assumption of rational, utility-maximizing behavior of investors is frequently violated in real life. They also show that these anomalies can be predicted and that they result from the use of simple heuristics to facilitate the process of decision-making. Sophisticated investors can benefit from this fact if they [...]
Money managers dance better for a price
Monday, September 7, 2009 10:43 Comments OffMoney managers will handle your stock investments for a fee. This fee is in addition to the commissions and spreads you must pay a broker. Money managers cannot execute stock transactions. Some money management fees are a percentage of the value of your account. A money manager takes his fee whether your account increases or [...]
Web relationships get tangled
Friday, August 28, 2009 16:51 Comments OffWeb portals promote thoughtless online trading. Web portals are paid by online brokers for each customer they send to the broker. Portals run “news” stories about stocks and then include links in the story to online brokers where you can quickly buy or sell the stock. If you give credence to printed material formatted as [...]
Investment bigamy is fine
Wednesday, August 5, 2009 23:01 Comments OffFortunately, comfort zone investing does not require you to be as straitlaced as relationship maturity might. Unlike marriage, multiple partners are fine in investing. Just be sure you know your needs and which investments fill those needs. If your need to conform at work is strong but you also know you need investments that you [...]
Reward yourself along the way
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 15:42 Comments OffA good debt reduction plan will have some fun built into it. Just like a workable diet that lets you order the nachos with extra cheese once in a while, a good debt reduction plan is going to let you blow off some steam to keep you sane. Don’t start packing your bag for Tahiti [...]
Change your lifestyle and your spending habits
Tuesday, July 7, 2009 20:30 Comments OffOne of my favorite quotes on hard work and change comes from Thomas Edison, who was asked about his successes in life. Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people, because it dresses in overalls and looks like hard work.”
I think this is a great place to start when you think about getting rid of [...]
HOW VALUE IS CREATED THROUGH INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL
Thursday, April 30, 2009 11:59 Comments OffIt is equally useful to examine the transformation processes by which these assets are converted to value. Consider first a hypothetical example of how important a seemingly mundane intellectual asset such as validated test procedures can be. Professor Stern, who teaches chemistry at a small college in Delaware, has synthesized and patented a new molecule, [...]
FINANCES – WHAT ARE TRANSFER PAYMENTS?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009 20:51 Comments OffBroadly speaking, transfer payments are taxes paid by one sector of a population that are transferred as income to another sector. Today, the term is synonymous with welfare—income taxes paid by the working population are transferred to the poor, the aged, and the disabled, usually to ensure a decent standard of living to all citizens. [...]