PIMCO High Yield Funds: Dividend Plays For Shorter Term Traders [View article]
One rather key statistic prospective investors need to know before investing: the unusually high premium over NAV. Well over 50 % for two of your picks. pgp is 82 % over nav, a record.
Retirement Income: Annuity Vs. Dividend Portfolio [View article]
The bonus is a gimmick. They say they will add x dollars to your account, but you can't have it. I'm giving you a bonus right now of $100. Its in your account I am keeping for you on my spreadsheet. Its right here. But if you want to spend it, I am going to have to refuse to give it to you. Its for your own good you see.
Its kind of amusing where these bonuses started. Because of the huge commissions, insurance brokers love to churn annuities. But the punters balked at the penalties they had to pay to cancel the old annuity. So the insurance companies came up with the bonus gimmick to trick customers into thinking that they weren't losing.
Yes to bailout, yes to austerity, yes to EU, run a govt deficit. No to bailout, yes to EU, even tighter austerity because the govt cut off from debt markets must run a cash-balanced budget.
Or third, leave the EU. Now they can pay the same nominal pensions and wages in drachma. I have no idea which way they will vote, and I agree its misleading to view the crackpots as the majority. Maybe against the odds, but I don't find it far-fetched for Greece to leave the EU.
Occupy Wall Street: Not The Stuff Revolutions Are Made Out Of [View article]
"And though Occupy Wall Street has thus far been (mostly) peaceful,...."
That parenthetical "(mostly) peaceful" is a euphemism for "violent". I guess you have been infected with MSM virus which calls violence peace when leftist groups are involved, while peaceful right-wing demonstrations are villified for using "violent" words.
Pres. Obama directs federal research labs to move quicker to commercialize their breakthroughs in hopes of creating more private-sector jobs. WH cites three companies - QCOM, SYMC and IRBT - as examples of commercial successes helped along by the government. Also announced: a "centralized, one-stop online platform" to help businesses get info on federal programs. [View news story]
Hear that all you federal labs? Off yer asses and get into the marketplace.
And Los Alamos? What are you guys doing? Its been 60 years since we've had a new WMD! We want results and big explosions, now.
Retirement Income For Life: Annuities Or Dividends? [View article]
NY: The word "payout" is a little ambiguous here. The payout includes return of capital and is therefore not comparable to return on investment that we usually think of. Considering that, it is not true that "you can never replicate that" 7 %.
This is one reason annuities have such a bad reputation. Salesmen use wordplay to make them sound better than they are.
Since you are using the practiced pitch, I am guessing you are an insurance salesman. I think you should disclose your interest, since this might be more than your humble opinion.
Retirement Income For Life: Annuities Or Dividends? [View article]
RS, Did you catch the irony of investing in MetLife while dissing annuities? Actually it makes a lot of sense. I would rather be an annuity seller than a buyer. It reminds me of another investment idea I had. My company brought in a pair of AFLAC hacks to flog their insurance. I thought it was a terrible idea for me at the time. Then I looked up their op margin: 40 %. Thats the kind of product I want to sell, not buy. So I bought AFL, not their dismemberment insurance.
Foreigners Losing Confidence In U.S. Treasury And Agency Debt [View article]
The fact is, dollars we use to buy foreign goods can only be used in a few ways. They can buy our goods, labor, stock or bonds or invest directly. Or they can use the dollars to buy stuff from somewhere else, but then that entity is also stuck with dollars and the same choices. Lastly they could stick it in a non-interest bearing checking account. So which would they choose, checking account or interest bearing security with absolute safety?
It's the one-year anniversary of a report from Meredith Whitney titled "Tragedy of the Commons" that trashed the muni market, and led to her subsequent prediction of 50-100 sizable defaults. The WSJ's Mark Gongloff looks back (video), saying an entire sector felt an unprecedented effect from one analyst's comments. One year later: Munis are just fine, chime in analysts. [View news story]
She predicted more than one little incident. Munis are kept alive by tax collections and they are not setting records but are ok. The few local bk's can be ascribed to local mismanagement and corruption. Look at who runs Harrisburg and Jefferson co.
Whether The Massive Call Buying In Annaly And Other Stocks Is A Signal To Buy [View article]
When a stock trades ex-dividend, that means without the dividend. Its worth more with a dividend about to be paid than it will be without the dividend payment by exactly the amount of the dividend. It always works this way. I guess you just haven't noticed it before because its usually small compared to daily fluctuations. .
Gold Is For The Fool - If You Are Looking For Safety [View article]
Secret to getting big page views and payoffs on SA (with that worthless fiat toilet paper US dollar): write a negative article about gold and watch the nutters pile on.
PIMCO High Yield Funds: Dividend Plays For Shorter Term Traders [View article]
Selling The Oil Illusion, American Style [View article]
Retirement Income: Annuity Vs. Dividend Portfolio [View article]
Its kind of amusing where these bonuses started. Because of the huge commissions, insurance brokers love to churn annuities. But the punters balked at the penalties they had to pay to cancel the old annuity. So the insurance companies came up with the bonus gimmick to trick customers into thinking that they weren't losing.
Auf Wiedersehen, Au Revoir, Greece [View article]
Yes to bailout, yes to austerity, yes to EU, run a govt deficit.
No to bailout, yes to EU, even tighter austerity because the govt cut off from debt markets must run a cash-balanced budget.
Or third, leave the EU. Now they can pay the same nominal pensions and wages in drachma. I have no idea which way they will vote, and I agree its misleading to view the crackpots as the majority. Maybe against the odds, but I don't find it far-fetched for Greece to leave the EU.
Occupy Wall Street: Not The Stuff Revolutions Are Made Out Of [View article]
That parenthetical "(mostly) peaceful" is a euphemism for "violent".
I guess you have been infected with MSM virus which calls violence peace when leftist groups are involved, while peaceful right-wing demonstrations are villified for using "violent" words.
Retirement Income For Life: Annuities Or Dividends? [View article]
Pres. Obama directs federal research labs to move quicker to commercialize their breakthroughs in hopes of creating more private-sector jobs. WH cites three companies - QCOM, SYMC and IRBT - as examples of commercial successes helped along by the government. Also announced: a "centralized, one-stop online platform" to help businesses get info on federal programs. [View news story]
And Los Alamos? What are you guys doing? Its been 60 years since we've had a new WMD! We want results and big explosions, now.
Retirement Income For Life: Annuities Or Dividends? [View article]
The word "payout" is a little ambiguous here. The payout includes return of capital and is therefore not comparable to return on investment that we usually think of. Considering that, it is not true that "you can never replicate that" 7 %.
This is one reason annuities have such a bad reputation. Salesmen use wordplay to make them sound better than they are.
Since you are using the practiced pitch, I am guessing you are an insurance salesman. I think you should disclose your interest, since this might be more than your humble opinion.
Retirement Income For Life: Annuities Or Dividends? [View article]
Did you catch the irony of investing in MetLife while dissing annuities? Actually it makes a lot of sense. I would rather be an annuity seller than a buyer. It reminds me of another investment idea I had. My company brought in a pair of AFLAC hacks to flog their insurance. I thought it was a terrible idea for me at the time. Then I looked up their op margin: 40 %. Thats the kind of product I want to sell, not buy. So I bought AFL, not their dismemberment insurance.
Foreigners Losing Confidence In U.S. Treasury And Agency Debt [View article]
It's the one-year anniversary of a report from Meredith Whitney titled "Tragedy of the Commons" that trashed the muni market, and led to her subsequent prediction of 50-100 sizable defaults. The WSJ's Mark Gongloff looks back (video), saying an entire sector felt an unprecedented effect from one analyst's comments. One year later: Munis are just fine, chime in analysts. [View news story]
Munis are kept alive by tax collections and they are not setting records but are ok.
The few local bk's can be ascribed to local mismanagement and corruption. Look at who runs Harrisburg and Jefferson co.
Build America Bond ETFs: Crushing The Muni Competition [View article]
GBAB, NBB, NBD
The Slippery Slope Of Silver [View article]
Whether The Massive Call Buying In Annaly And Other Stocks Is A Signal To Buy [View article]
Gold Is For The Fool - If You Are Looking For Safety [View article]