My youngest son turned eight yesterday so we took him to Toys R Us to look at bicycles. Turns out, it was a perfect time to go bicycle shopping because they had a lot of the bikes marked way down in order to make room for this year's models. Anyway, he got a Mongoose bicycle for $34.98. They waived the $10 assembly fee because there was a tiny rip in the seat.
Granted, the "new" Mongoose bikes are NOT the same as the old Mongoose bikes since Mongoose was bought out a few years ago. Now, they are mass produced and priced to sell. But, $34.98 for any bike is a good deal.
Sunday, 6 February 2005
Friday, 4 February 2005
Who Will Manage Social Security Private Accounts?
There was an interesting article in today's Wall Street Journal regarding the management of the private accounts (IF they happen). It is an interesting question. President Bush wants low-cost management. That will rule out a lot of firms. My guess is that the accounts will be index funds which will track an underlying index like the S&P 500 or the Total Market Index.
Anyhow, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. The first step is to get the plan approved. I think it is a long shot.
Anyhow, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. The first step is to get the plan approved. I think it is a long shot.
Thursday, 3 February 2005
Okay Now, This Isn't Smart
Somehow, I don't think the Super Bowl is a good reason to refinance a mortgage. This kind of behavior makes financial planners scratch their heads in amazement. I just hope for this guy's sake, the Eagles win!
Eagles Fans Go All Out to Make Super Bowl Trip
Eagles Fans Go All Out to Make Super Bowl Trip
Are Dividend-Paying Stocks a Good Deal?
An article on Seeking Alpha makes the case that they ARE NOT. My personal opinion is that dividend-paying stocks can be a good deal as long as you don't pay too much for them. Read this article and tell me what you think.
Wednesday, 2 February 2005
My Thoughts
I don't usually do a journal-type entry. I'll make an exception today.
First off, the day started off on a bad note. I took my wife's Honda in for an oil change and mentioned to the service attendant that the "check engine" light came on. They did a diganostic test ($80) and told me that I have a cracked manifold and a leaky seal. I about fell out of my chair when he told me that it would cost over $1,750 to fix! Needless-to-say, I'm going to shop around.
While I was there waiting for 2.5 hours, I read today's Wall Street Journal. If you don't subscribe to the WSJ, you should. It is well worth the $200 per year subscription price. If you don't want to pay that much for print, you can do the electronic version for something like $90 per year (which also includes Barrons).
Anyway, here are the interesting things I saw in today's WSJ:
Andy Kessler thinks SBC's purchase of AT&T will prop up SBC for a while. I take it to mean he isn't too fond of SBC. Time will tell.
American Express is planning to spin off it's advisory unit. They have found that trying to be a financial "supermarket" isn't the way to go. In fact, the brokerage (or advisory) unit has been dragging down American Express. It is probably due to the fact that their mutual funds are subpar and had $5 billion yanked out them by investors last year (2004).
It seems the wealthy (those who have investable assets of $500,000 or more) are losing their trust in their advisors. That is according to a survey that was done recently. The article claims that many people are switching firms due to hidden fees and poor investment results.
Finally, worried employers are starting to put their employees into automatic 401(k) plans. Employees can opt out of them if they choose. This is a pretty interesting idea. Hopefully more companies will follow suit.
First off, the day started off on a bad note. I took my wife's Honda in for an oil change and mentioned to the service attendant that the "check engine" light came on. They did a diganostic test ($80) and told me that I have a cracked manifold and a leaky seal. I about fell out of my chair when he told me that it would cost over $1,750 to fix! Needless-to-say, I'm going to shop around.
While I was there waiting for 2.5 hours, I read today's Wall Street Journal. If you don't subscribe to the WSJ, you should. It is well worth the $200 per year subscription price. If you don't want to pay that much for print, you can do the electronic version for something like $90 per year (which also includes Barrons).
Anyway, here are the interesting things I saw in today's WSJ:
Andy Kessler thinks SBC's purchase of AT&T will prop up SBC for a while. I take it to mean he isn't too fond of SBC. Time will tell.
American Express is planning to spin off it's advisory unit. They have found that trying to be a financial "supermarket" isn't the way to go. In fact, the brokerage (or advisory) unit has been dragging down American Express. It is probably due to the fact that their mutual funds are subpar and had $5 billion yanked out them by investors last year (2004).
It seems the wealthy (those who have investable assets of $500,000 or more) are losing their trust in their advisors. That is according to a survey that was done recently. The article claims that many people are switching firms due to hidden fees and poor investment results.
Finally, worried employers are starting to put their employees into automatic 401(k) plans. Employees can opt out of them if they choose. This is a pretty interesting idea. Hopefully more companies will follow suit.
Tuesday, 1 February 2005
ETFConnect.com
I found this website dedicated to exchange-traded funds. Anyway, go check it out. There is a wealth of information on this site.
ETFConnect
ETFConnect
Payback Time for Dot-Com Investors
(The Wall Street Journal requires a subscription)
The title says it all: "... Dot-Com Investors." Maybe the author of the article should go back and read Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor. If they had read Graham's book, they would have changed the title to "...Dot-Com Speculators."
Sure, I feel for the people who bought stocks based on hyped-up analyst reports. I think that the big brokerage firms should pay for their evils. However, I also feel that personal greed played a huge role in the dot-com bubble. My dad told me about how one of his friends retired from a long career and put EVERYTHING into WorldCom stock! Everything! Now this guy is selling shoes!
The point of all this is: Have a diversified portfolio with an asset allocation plan and STICK WITH IT through thick and thin. If you have some extra money that you want to play around with, go for it. But, realize that you are gambling and you shouldn't expect any return on your gamble.
That's my rant for the day...
The title says it all: "... Dot-Com Investors." Maybe the author of the article should go back and read Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor. If they had read Graham's book, they would have changed the title to "...Dot-Com Speculators."
Sure, I feel for the people who bought stocks based on hyped-up analyst reports. I think that the big brokerage firms should pay for their evils. However, I also feel that personal greed played a huge role in the dot-com bubble. My dad told me about how one of his friends retired from a long career and put EVERYTHING into WorldCom stock! Everything! Now this guy is selling shoes!
The point of all this is: Have a diversified portfolio with an asset allocation plan and STICK WITH IT through thick and thin. If you have some extra money that you want to play around with, go for it. But, realize that you are gambling and you shouldn't expect any return on your gamble.
That's my rant for the day...
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