October 2008

Bailout Funds Benefiting Wall Street?

October 31, 2008

According to this week’s NY Times, many banks are not using the treasury’s bailout money to lend to consumers. Instead, they are sitting on the funds, using them to buy or merge with other banks. Now, unless I am much mistaken, Wall Street investment houses are a primary beneficiary of these types of deals. They [...]

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Halloween Spending

October 31, 2008

It’s that time of year again, where American young and old take to dressing up in costumes and eating hordes of candy! Yep, Halloween! We thought our readers would be interested in hearing just how much we really spend on Halloween. According to the National Retail Federation, last year we spent an average of $64.82 [...]

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Eat in Season & Save

October 30, 2008

While it might be a no brainer for some, eating fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season, particularly those that are local, can do a great deal to help your bottom line. In honor of the harvest season, try checking out a local farmer’s market this weekend. You can enjoy juicy apples, tasty butternut [...]

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What Can A Dollar Buy?

October 29, 2008

So, I took break from the University today and headed down to the town of College Park to get a snack. After meandering around, I stopped into a couple of convenience stores. Since I only had a buck, I was looking to pick up some candy. To my chagrin, in both places I couldn’t get [...]

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Whose Plan Will Reduce The Federal Deficit?

October 29, 2008

According to the New York Times, neither Obama nor McCain’s economic plans will reduce the Federal governments tendency to live beyond its means. Great. Click here for the story, if you can stand it. Best, James

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The Credit Card Crisis?

October 29, 2008

Hi All, We blogged about this last week, but now the New York Times is reporting that lenders are scaling back their consumer credit offerings – noting that overall credit card default levels may greatly increase their historical norms. Click here for the story. Best, James

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Crashing & Burning At Prosper.com

October 28, 2008

It was likely to happen eventually, four more of our loans on Prosper.com have defaulted. While the total loss was only of $287.7, its a bit disheartening to see the dollars evaporate into nothing. Part of the reason for the delinquencies was that we specifically targeted risky borrowers in the hope of gaining a high [...]

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Portland House Shopping Update

October 27, 2008

While in the Pacific Northwest, James & I have taken the opportunity to check out the latest on the Portland real estate market. As our regular readers will know, we started shopping for another investment property back in July when we were last here on a visit. Since our visit in July, we have been [...]

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Finance Tip of The Day

October 25, 2008

I know its a tired refrain, but the best tip we’re offering today on improving your financial situation is: Live within your means. Don’t spend more than you earn. Don’t rack up a bunch of bills you can’t reasonably expect to pay off on the next few weeks. And, for goodness sake, don’t run up [...]

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Is PNC on Corporate Welfare?

October 24, 2008

Hi All, Just scanning the headlines recently. Two stories caught my eye. First, Pittsburgh based PNC financial services group is buying troubled National City Mortgage for approximately 5.2 billion dollars (1). Second I noted that, PNC is accepting nearly $7.7 billion from the Treasury’s economic rescue funds (1). The connection between the two has not [...]

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