Understanding Stock Market Indexes No doubt you've seen headlines reporting that a particular stock index is up or down. But do you know what an index is, and how understanding the nuts and bolts of a specific index may be helpful to you? An index is simply a way to measure and report the fluctuations [...]
Don’t Be Your Own Worst Enemy One of the most well-known investors of the 20th Century, Benjamin Graham, said that “the investor’s chief problem—and even his worst enemy—is likely to be himself.”¹ What Graham understood—and modern research is catching up to—is the idea that we all have emotions and biases that affect our decision-making. The [...]
The Markets (as of market close May 6, 2016) A mixed bag of economic indicators headlined by an underwhelming jobs report, coupled with news of continuing financial trouble in Puerto Rico, pushed stocks lower for the second week in a row. Each of the indexes listed here lost value by last week's end with [...]
The Lowdown on Those Free Credit Scores The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act of 2003 provided individuals with valuable rights to the credit information companies keep on them, but did you know that the credit score provided to you may be different than the one provided to lenders? The first thing you should know [...]
Mutual Funds vs. ETFs Tip: Watch the Account Minimum. Mutual funds often have an account minimum. By contrast, an ETF has no account minimum; you can buy as many or as few shares as you wish. The growth of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has been explosive. In 1998, there were only 29; at the end of [...]
The Markets (as of market close April 29, 2016) The markets suffered their worst week of losses since February as each of the indexes listed here ended the week in negative territory. The Nasdaq fell the most by the end of the week, down over 2.5%, as the technology sector declined following investor sell-offs. [...]
How the Federal Reserve Works Tip: Checks. Due to the onslaught of electronic check collection, the Federal Reserve now processes paper checks at just one location nationwide, down from 45 locations in 2003. Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2016 Have you ever taken a close look at paper money? Each U.S. [...]
U.S. Personal Savings Rate The U.S. personal saving rate stood at 4.8% in June of 2015, a bit lower than its 10-year average of 4.9% and well below the recent five-year high of 11% in December 2012.1 The personal saving rate is the federal government’s estimate of what percent of their incomes U.S. households are [...]
What to Look for in Personal Finance Apps Since Apple launched its iPhone App Store in July 2008, the mobile applications market has exploded.1 In July 2014, NBC News reported that Apple customers had downloaded more than 60 billion apps, with more than 1.2 million apps available in the Apple app store.2 On the [...]
The Markets (as of market close April 22, 2016) Equities markets had a fair week as each of the major indexes listed here posted gains (except the Nasdaq) over the prior week. Both the large-cap Dow and S&P 500 are well ahead of their respective 2015 closing values. The Russell 2000 recorded the largest [...]
