February 2012

Got Daily Deal Buyer's Remorse?

How to Unload that Daily Deal Impulse Buy

These days, there are a number of daily deal sites that send the a deal you just "have" to have to your email inbox every day. Groupon, Living Social, Buy with Me, Tippr, Social Buy, and Fresh Guide are the most popular, but there are plenty more where they came from.

But daily deals can be the road to unwanted and unnecessary spending. Whether it's that half-priced massage, free appetizer, or cheap pair of sunglasses, these companies get you to put expenses on your credit card that you otherwise wouldn't have.

Fortunately, there are other sites to the rescue to help you out from that buyer's remorse.

Create Separate Bank Accounts for Different Savings Goals

If you have a solid savings plan, you are probably allocating funds toward multiple savings goals. This is a great idea to help you achieve multiple goals, such as retirement, a down payment for a house, and an emergency fund. In addition to specific savings goals, you probably have a general savings fund, and having all of those earmarks can start to get really confusing.

Benefits of ING Direct

Look into ING Direct if you need a savings account.

One of the greatest financial decisions I have made is opening up accounts with ING Direct. ING Direct is a financial institution that operates entirely online. This makes banking very easy for the customer and it eliminates costs for the company. When a company has low operating costs, the consumers are the ones to benefit.

Learning from John D. Rockefeller

The first American to amass over a billion dollars.

John D. Rockefeller is arguably the richest person in history when you look at the real value of his wealth. His wealth adjusting for inflation is assessed by Forbes as being worth over $300 billion and that would be five times the net worth of Carlos Slim Helu who is the world’s richest man right now.

Rockefeller had said that the day that he founded the firm Rockefeller & Andrews by buying out Clark Brothers was a very crucial point in his business career. It helped him to benefit from the prosperity after the war and the expansion of the railroads along with the increasing importance of oil really played to Rockefeller’s advantage.

The lesson learned from this is the importance of really owning a business and being ready for that big opportunity. Another thing I learned from Rockefeller’s life is the fact that he borrow heavily. This seems to be a theme among many self-made wealthy people and debt is often encouraged.

Don’t Be Afraid to Haggle

"If you aren’t in a rush to buy something, try offering a really low offer just to see what happens."

Until the past few years, I thought I just had to accept the asking price of an item, whether it be at a store like Sears or a private party sale. I wince at the thought of how much I surely overpaid all these years. While haggling at a big box store is not overly common, it is still an acceptable practice and can save you quite a bit of money.

The economics behind Super Bowl commercials

It was Super Bowl XLVI last Sunday and probably one of the best Super Bowls that I had the privilege of watching. As for the ads that are always important, we had Clint Eastwood’s halftime commercial that I liked, Deion Sanders making an appearance in his du-rag with Troy Aikman for a Bridgestone ad and of course Danica Patrick for Go Daddy.

I was actually taking a marketing class back in college when I read that a 30-second ad costs a whopping $3.5 million. How this is even feasible from an economics standpoint was what was foremost in my mind. The sellers of the ads like this year’s home of the Super Bowl television network NBC seem to think that $3.5 million is a bargain from the research they have done looking at company stock prices, sales, etc after the Super Bowl.

I mentioned GoDaddy which I always liked and it is also a remarkable Super Bowl commercial success story. It actually had only 900 servers and then when it aired its first Super Bowl ad it had to expand and now has over 36,000 servers and facilities across the globe. Looking again at the GoDaddy example, the market share before the ad run was 16 percent and a week after the Super Bowl it was 25 percent.

Make These Phone Calls to Save Money

Don't be embarrassed to make these calls.

Saving money takes a lot of dedication, commitment, and restraint. But it also takes some action on your part. Just an hour of your time can lead to your saving hundreds of dollars a month.

In today's economy, monthly bills have been increasing. Everything from the price of food to the price of gas has been on the rise. With rising expenses, many families are deciding to simply pull the plug from services. Not so fast. You may be able to keep some of your services, along with a reduced rate, simply by making a few phone calls.

Tax Refund Loan? You'll Pay for That

When you rely on your tax refund, it can be incredibly difficult to wait until it comes in. Tax preparation companies count on this, and offer a high fee tax refund loan, often called a refund anticipation loan, that will get your money to you quicker, but at a steep cost.

Learn from the Best: Clark Howard

Clark Howard is a money expert with a lot of great advice.

There are numerous ways for you to find ways to save money and spend less, but one of these ways is by listening to a man named Clark Howard.

Do Nothing with Your Tax Refund

If you are due for a tax refund this year, you have probably spent at least part of it in your head while you wait for it to arrive. Splurging with a tax refund seems to be a pretty typical way to celebrate this time of year. While it can be great fun to go buy a special treat with that extra money, a better option might be to do nothing at all.

Financial Ratios that are mentioned regularly in Securities Research

"In this brief discussion of financial ratios, let me start with the Return on equity (ROE) which is a profitability ratio."

Financial ratios are of utmost importance in stock analysis and are used by analysts to relate the strengths and weaknesses in different firms.

In this brief discussion of financial ratios, let me start with the Return on equity (ROE) which is a profitability ratio. ROEs that are in the 15-20 percent range are pretty good.[1] They basically measure how good a firm is at generating an adequate rate of return. A company is doing great if it is reinvesting in its business at a high ROE rate.

When it comes to stock prices, a ratio that investors should become familiar with is earnings per share (EPS). This falls in the category of a market ratio and is defined as the earnings per outstanding share of a firm’s stock. There are actually three different ways to calculate earnings per share and they involve net income divided by average common shares for net income EPS and income from continuing operations divided by the weighted average common shares for the continuing operations EPS in addition to the usual profit divided by weighted average common shares calculation.

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