APR Hikes Ambush Biz Owners
David Port, Entrepreneur.com
Doug Carpenter isn’t a lawyer or a banker, nor does he work for a government agency or a consumer watchdog group. So why is the owner of a part-time, home based computer business in Cleveland, Tenn., so well-versed in the minutiae of an appellate court case in New Jersey, usury laws in Utah and the contents of American Banker magazine?
Such esoteric pursuits are a form of self-defense for Carpenter, who is among a growing number of frustrated small business credit card holders to be victimized by what he terms “rate-jacking”–unexpected, seemingly unwarranted and significant credit card interest rate increases imposed with little or no notice.
The timing could be better for already shell-shocked small-business owners, who nowadays must rely more than ever on plastic to cover their cash flow…
New Obama Plan Aims to Help Small Business
President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner announced plans to help support small business owners on Monday at a press conference held at the White House. The administration has taken some criticism for laying out a budget which could increase taxes for some small business owners, and is now rolling out a plan that would help small business.
The President’s plan would help to thaw the tightened credit markets for small business owners by temporarily guaranteeing up to 90% of the loans that are made through the SBA’s 7(a) loan program. The plan would also authorize the Treasury Department to buy up to $15 billion securities backed by Small Business Administration loans.
“As a bank we have not been able to sell the guaranteed portions of the loans in the secondary market,” said Cynthia Blankenship, vice chairman of Bank of the West in Grapevine, Texas, and chairman of the Independent Community…
Recession Cost-Cutting No-Nos
By Jennifer Wang.
In a sluggish economy, running leaner is a must, but not every money-saving measure is a good one. These experts discuss the moves you shouldn’t make during tough times, even if they seem like easy ways to cut costs.
The Market’s 10 Best Stocks Revealed
As investors, we want the best stocks for our portfolios.
That’s why, at the end of each year, I find myself looking back. I want to know the names of the best stocks of the past decade, and I want to know what we can learn from them.
What’s incredible is that the market’s 10 best stocks teach….
Am I right on this?
I’ll try to make it as simple as I possibly can. My 12 year old son asked me about current financial turmoil and this is what I told him.
Along-with the increase in the house prices, the demand and prices for household goods, furniture, appliances, etc. went up as well; which was aided by the institutional traders on the market who priced oil at almost $150 a barrel!!! Gas was at almost $4 a gallon nationally for most of 2008. It has been almost a year now and housing bubble has collapsed, business and families are out of work, retirement savings, etc. to say the least. The Hedge funds established offshore to avoid tax liabilities sold the equities of now weaker economy and still kept investing in oil. Everything tanked, stock market crashed, people couldn’t borrow since the credit market dried up due to non-payment of mortgage payments by sub prime borrowers forced banks to stop lending. Out of work families could not afford to keep up with the almost out of control inflation till July 2008, which effected the consumer spending, which in turn hurt the bottom line of small to mid sized businesses who employ the backbone of working America. These businesses either folded up or laid even more employees off just to survive. Now we are in November 2008 and the inflation has been replaced by deflation due to the price of Oil, job losses, etc. It is ironic that first it was inflation that inflated and destroyed the economy and now its deflation. The deflation for the month of October 2008 has been intensely sharp causing the prices to go down at a much faster rate, which again hurts the profits for businesses that again lay off even more employees to survive. Get it?
Here is what I would have done: Approach the struggling homeowner, negotiate on what they can afford and not what the banks expect, stretch the 30 year mortgage to 35 years easing the ongoing financial pinch. Where there is a will there is a way.
I asked my son what he learned from all this? He said; “Dad, I’m sleepy, go help them”.
Unloved Stocks Ready to Shine.
Think of investor sentiment as a pendulum that swings in tandem with a company’s share price. When investors begin to think highly of your company, its stock might also start heading in the right direction. Alas, you can rarely tell when investors are warming to a stock until after it’s made that upward swing.
An astrolabe for investors
But Motley Fool CAPS‘ proprietary ratings, aggregated from the opinions and accuracy of 120,000-plus members, offer a great way…
Build a Profitable Portfolio.
Through turbulent times, the most successful investors have a plan to follow. But if you don’t have a solid investing plan, is it too late to make one? Are you doomed to poor performance?
Throughout the market downturn, you’ve seen lots of advice. You know you shouldn’t panic. If you’re investing for the long term, don’t dump all your stocks at the lows. The assumption we’ve
Turn $1000 to $1 Million.
If you’ve found a get-rich-quick scheme, consider yourself lucky.
But if you buy stocks and hold them for the long haul, consider yourself a Motley Fool Hidden Gems investor — one who knows that this game has nothing to do with getting rich quick.
Sure, even amid the current carnage, our market-beating small-cap newsletter has had some astounding successes: Middleby (Nasdaq: MIDD) has quintupled since 2003, and Transkaryotic Therapies tripled before it was
Why are Stocks Tanking?!
Crazy days we’re living in. As I write this, things are terrible. Not just terrible … so terrible that stock exchanges faced the possibility of calling in the financial riot police — circuit-breaker rules — to shut down markets if things get too rowdy.
That hasn’t happened quite yet, and to be honest, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen before the day’s out. 1,000-point drop…
Older Americans and Financial Mistakes
Making prudent financial decisions for retirement is fraught with difficulties. And yet, despite that knowledge, retirees and preretirees continue to behave the same way when it comes to money — they continue to make the same mistakes and decisions that put them in harm’s way.
Or at least so says academicians, researchers and authors who were among those that gathered here to discuss the future of what’s called “life-cycle” investing….
