2007 Top Ten

1. Mortgage mess

2. Toy recalls

3. Oil prices

4. iPhone launch

5. The Fed

6. Wall Street

7. Falling dollar

8. Media consolidation

9. CEO ousters

10. Food recalls

Snow!!

Skiing!!!!

Ben Bernanke Gives Another Shock

The Fed today lowered its rate further by a quarter point. Now the rate swings at 4.5% for the borrowers, which is expected to go even lower.

This makes it evident that there is going to another round of rate cut in the High Yielding Savings Account in the days to come. Its to be noted that already in September most of the banks cut their rate by half a percent.

I pity my fried who just opened an online account with HSBC, hoping to make some money by parking his own!!

one more alarming issue are the oil prices. They have soared to an all time high- $95 a barrel!!!

The sub prime mortgage sector as we know is biting us back. I think the Risk management group at most of the financial institutions failed to stop then when they started to show mercy and lend in the sub prime sector.

Most majors like the blatantly announced their fall starting from the BNP Paribas to Merrill Lynch for now. Many to follow i believe

Now the next tight corner in our markets is going to be "INFLATION", which we have started to feel!!!!

Few quotes about the economy

"The economy is weakening and financial markets remain unsettled," - Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com.

"The economy is facing a perfect storm right now of a crisis-related tightening of credit, higher oil prices and lower house prices," - David Jones, chief economist at DMJ Advisors

For who dosent know who Ben Bernake is

He is the present Chairmen of Federal Reserve

http://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/bios/board/bernanke.htm

Mutual Funds categories - Bond Funds, General Equity, Balanced Funds, Global/International Funds, Sector Funds and Index Funds

Mutual funds come in every possible size, shape, and color. Here are some of the general categories of mutual funds.

Bond Funds
Bond mutual funds are pooled amounts of money invested in bonds. Bonds are IOUs, or debt, issued by companies or governments. A purchaser of a bond is lending money to the issuer, and will usually collect some regular interest payments until the money is returned. Usually, the amount of interest paid (the coupon) is fixed at a set percentage of the amount invested -- thus, bonds are called "fixed-income" investments.


General Equity (Stock) Funds
Stocks represent part ownership, or equity, in corporations, and the goal of stock ownership is to see the value of the companies increase over time. Stocks are often categorized by their capitalization (or market cap) and, like many other things, come in three basic sizes: small, medium, and large. Many mutual funds invest primarily in one of these sizes and are thus classified as large-cap, mid-cap, or small-cap funds. Additionally, mutual funds are often categorized by the type of stock that is bought. Mutual fund types are generally "growth," "value," or a combination of the two, called "blend."


Balanced Funds
Balanced funds mix some stocks and some bonds. A typical balanced fund might contain about 50-65% stocks, and hold the rest of the shareholder's money in bonds and cash. It is important to know the distribution of stocks to bonds in a specific balanced fund to understand the risks and rewards inherent in that fund.


Global/International Funds
Global and international funds invest in companies whose homes are beyond the fair shores of this great nation. (There are, of course, many other great nations.) In general, international funds are much more volatile than domestic funds. International funds generally invest only in foreign companies, while global funds may invest in some U.S.-based companies in addition to foreign companies.


Sector Funds
Sector funds invest in one particular sector of the economy: technology, banking, computers, the Internet, llamas. Just kidding about the llamas. No one has yet started the Llama Fund, though it's only a matter of time given that there is a mutual fund called the Couch Potato Fund, which invests in, as far as we know, the "remote control" sector. Sector funds can be extremely volatile because the broad market will find certain sectors very attractive and very unattractive often in rapid succession (much like couch potatoes may find certain programs very attractive and very unattractive in rapid succession -- annoying the heck out of their significant others).


Index Funds
Finally, our favorite, the index mutual fund, owns a full participation in some portion of the stock market. An index fund matches the shareholdings of a target index, such as the Standard & Poor's 500 Composite Stock Price Index (S&P 500). Index funds are distinct from actively managed mutual funds in that they do not involve any stock picking by supposedly skilled professionals -- they simply seek to replicate the returns of the specific index.

Citi MTvU

The Citi mtvU Platinum Select Visa card is a credit cards for college students, that offers an interested array of perks. Like the Citi Professional Card, it is part of the Citi ThankYou Network. The card gives you 5 ThankYou Points for every dollar you spend at restaurants, bookstores, record stores, movie theaters and video rental stores. But guess what is considered a bookstore, no matter what you buy? Amazon.com! This is the same as 5% back in gift cards or 5% cash back towards your student loans.

The only problem is that there are reports that they verify if you are a student. Some get asked, many slip by. If you are a student, you also get some points for having good grades: “250 to 2,000 ThankYou Points� twice a year for a good GPA. 25 ThankYou Points� a month for paying your bill on time and not going over your credit limit.” So get a 4.0 and pay your bills and get $43 for free every year! There’s no annual fee and even no minimum income or cosigner requirement. I bet anyone under 25 gets approved for this automatically. I’m over but hey, I’m a student now

Bank Accounts and ChexSystem

If you’re chasing higher interest rates or grabbing sign-up bonuses, you might be concerned about any potential consequences from opening all those bank accounts. In my experience, there are two main factors to be aware of when you open a bank account:


Banks pulling your ChexSystems report. ChexSystems is a consumer information database used by an estimated 80-90% of all banks to help determine the risk of opening new accounts. Think of it as the bank’s version of a credit bureau. If a person commits check fraud or overdraw their account, it will be listed here. In addition, the simple act of opening or closing a bank account may be recorded in their database.


One thing that may raise up a red flag is opening up several bank accounts in a very short period of time. This is because of the connection of multiple bank accounts to a form of fraud called ‘check kiting‘. Kiting usually involves sending several checks between different banks to create an temporary surplus of money from the bank’s funds availability policies, and then cashing that out before all the checks fully clear. In the end, one of the banks is left holding the bag.


But for the most part, as long as you haven’t left any accounts in bad standing you shouldn’t run into any problems with opening up new bank accounts. I’ve opened up accounts at over 20 different banks already, sometimes two or three in one week, and have never been rejected by any of them. However, getting a negative ChexSystems record can leave you blacklisted from all the major banks. There are even specific websites that help such people find a place that will accept them.


As with credit reports, you can get a free copy of your ChexSystems report once a year.
Banks pulling your credit report. Yes, it is legal for banks to pull your credit report. There are a couple reasons they do so. First, this is another way for them to identify you and measure the risk of giving you a new account. Second, they may use this information to market other financial products like credit cards or home equity loans to you.


Before, I’ve talked about the difference between hard and soft credit pulls. Usually, bank will just perform a soft credit check, which doesn’t affect your credit score. (All those “pre-approved” credit card applications in the mail are from soft credit checks.) However, some banks also perform hard credit checks, which do hurt your credit score slightly. As none of them are offering me any credit, I’ve never understood why some major banks do this while others don’t - for example I have seen Citibank do hard pulls, but not Washington Mutual. I personally suspect that it may just be unintentional and they don’t know the difference. (And most people don’t know the difference so they don’t really get any pushback.) Although I haven’t tried, I would guess that if you spent the effort to appeal these hard checks to the credit bureaus, there may be a chance to get them removed.


To summarize, I usually try to find out first if the bank will perform a hard credit check. This isn’t an exact science, as the banks can often change their practices. If so, then I want to see it pay out at least $100. If there is no credit check, then my standards are lower. Otherwise, I don’t really worry about the number of bank accounts I have, although I do close them as soon as I don’t foresee any future benefit.

Misconceptions about FDIC

FDIC, for people who dosent know what this is... have u seen this logo around when you visit the bank? ------->

To know more click FDIC

Misconception Number 1

The most a consumer can have insured is $100,000.
Too many people assume — often incorrectly — that if their bank fails their share of all their accounts would be added together and insured up to a combined total of $100,000. Others have notions even further from the truth, such as the idea that the FDIC knows how much each customer has in every bank in the United States (rest assured, we don't) and that the grand total of all those accounts is insured to no more than $100,000. The reality is that your accounts at different FDIC-insured institutions are separately insured, not added together, and you may qualify for more than $100,000 in coverage at each insured bank if you own deposit accounts in different "ownership categories."

Suppose you have a variety of accounts at one bank. The funds you have in various checking and savings accounts (other than retirement accounts) in your name alone are insured up to $100,000. Your portion of joint accounts — those with other people — is also separately insured to $100,000. If you also have "revocable trust accounts" at the bank, the total can be separately insured up to $100,000 for each beneficiary if certain conditions are met. And, under new rules, certain retirement accounts are insured up to $250,000, up from $100,000 previously.
"Depending on the circumstances, a family of four could have well over $1 million in deposit insurance coverage at the same bank," said James Williams, an FDIC Consumer Affairs Specialist. "And that coverage is separate from what is protected at any other FDIC-insured institution."

Misconception Number 2

Changing the order of names or Social Security Numbers can increase the coverage for joint accounts.

Many depositors mistakenly believe that by changing the order of Social Security Numbers, rearranging the names listed on joint accounts, or substituting "and" for "or" in account titles, they can increase their insurance coverage.
"Consumers are always telling us that they thought they could get more coverage if they did something like title one account for 'Mary and John Smith' and another account for 'Mary or John Smith,'" said Kathleen Nagle, chief of the Deposit Insurance Section in the FDIC's Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection. "These moves will have no impact on joint account coverage. The FDIC will simply add each person's share of all the joint accounts at the same institution and insure the total up to $100,000." (Note: Each person's share is presumed to be equal unless stated otherwise in the deposit account records.)

Misconception Number 3

If a bank fails, the FDIC could take up to 99 years to pay depositors for their insured accounts.
This is a completely false notion that many bank customers have told us they heard from someone attempting to sell them another kind of financial product.
The truth is that federal law requires the FDIC to pay the insured deposits "as soon as possible" after an insured bank fails. Historically, the FDIC pays insured deposits within a few days after a bank closes, usually the next business day. In most cases, the FDIC will provide each depositor with a new account at another insured bank. Or, if arrangements cannot be made with another institution, the FDIC will issue a check to each depositor.

Misconception Number 4

The FDIC only pays failed-bank depositors a percentage of their insured funds.
All too often we receive questions similar to this one: "Is it true that if my FDIC-insured bank fails, I would only get $1.31 for every $100 in my checking account?" this misinformation appears to be spread by some financial advisors and sales people.

Federal law requires the FDIC to pay 100 percent of the insured deposits up to the federal limit — including principal and interest. If your bank fails and you have deposits over the limit, you may be able to recover some or, in rare cases, all of your uninsured funds. However, the overwhelming majority of depositors at failed institutions are within the insurance limit, and insured funds are always paid in full.

Misconception Number 5

Deposits in different branches of the same bank are separately insured.
FDIC insurance is based on how much money is in various ownership categories (single, joint, retirement, and so on) at the same insured institution. It doesn't matter if the accounts were opened at different branches — they are considered the same bank for insurance purposes.
Distinguishing one bank from another isn't easy these days. Some banks have similar names but they're not the same institution. And then there are banks that use different "trade" names in different parts of the country or use a different name for their online banking activities or Internet divisions, but they're all the same bank for FDIC insurance purposes. The FDIC and other federal regulators have advised banks to clearly identify their legal names in advertisements and on Web sites.

When in doubt, you may contact the FDIC (see the next page). "One way to be extra sure you are depositing money in different banks is to ask the FDIC for each bank's insurance 'certificate number,'" noted Williams. " If the FDIC certificate numbers are different, the banks are different."

Misconception Number 6

Any product sold by a bank is insured by the FDIC.
You know the FDIC insures deposits, such as checking accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs). But in recent years banks also have been offering an array of financial products — including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities and other insurance products — either directly or through other companies. These other products are not FDIC-insured — even if they were sold by a bank — and in some cases they could lose value.
To help minimize confusion, federal regulators require FDIC-insured institutions offering or advertising an investment to a customer to disclose that the product is not FDIC-insured, is not guaranteed by the bank or savings institution, and is subject to investment risk, including the possible loss of principal (the money invested).

Misconception Number 7

Each beneficiary named on an IRA (Individual Retirement Account) increases the FDIC insurance coverage.
No, the number of beneficiaries on an IRA does not affect insurance coverage. This misconception appears to be based on confusion with the rules for per-beneficiary coverage of revocable trust accounts, as described below.
Under the FDIC's new rules that became effective April 1, 2006, up to $250,000 in insurance is provided for the deposits a consumer has in a variety of retirement accounts, primarily traditional and Roth IRAs, at one insured institution. The previous coverage limit in this category was $100,000.

Misconception Number 8

Revocable trust accounts are always insured up to $100,000 for each beneficiary.
No, not always. A revocable trust account — typically a payable-on-death account or a "living trust" account — is one in which beneficiaries will receive the funds upon the owner's death but the owner (depositor) retains the right to change or revoke the trust. "Although a revocable trust account is insured to the owner, the insurance coverage is based on the interests of the beneficiaries who are entitled to receive the money when the owner dies," explained Nagle.
In general, the owner of revocable trust accounts at a bank is insured up to $100,000 per beneficiary but — and this is important — that is only for "qualifying" beneficiaries under the FDIC's rules. Who qualifies? A depositor's spouse, child, grandchild, parent or sibling, including step-parents, step-children and adopted children. But other relatives, such as nieces, nephews, cousins or in-laws, as well as friends, organizations (including charities) and other entities do not qualify. The portions of the trust payable to any non-qualifying beneficiaries would be insured as the personal funds of the owner up to $100,000 along with any deposit accounts he or she alone has at the same bank.

Our deposit insurance specialists often get calls that go like this: "I've got revocable trust accounts naming five beneficiaries — two nieces, two nephews and a friend. That means I have up to $500,000 in FDIC coverage, right?" The correct answer here is: No — your coverage is $100,000, along with any accounts you own alone (other than retirement accounts) at the bank. That's because nieces, nephews and friends aren't qualifying beneficiaries.
The $100,000 coverage per qualifying beneficiaries presumes equal shares of the trust. If that's not the case, the calculation of coverage becomes more complex. "Consider a father's revocable trust that gives 60 percent to a daughter and 40 percent to a son," said FDIC Senior Consumer Affairs Specialist Martin Becker. "If the trust has $200,000 on deposit at a bank, the daughter's $120,000 share would be insured for $100,000 and the son's $80,000 share would be insured in full, resulting in total coverage of $180,000, not $200,000."

Misconception Number 9

Revocable trust accounts are insured up to $100,000 for each owner and each beneficiary.
As noted, each depositor's revocable trust accounts at a bank are insured up to $100,000 per qualifying beneficiary. But some people incorrectly assume that the coverage is based on the total number of depositors and beneficiaries.
Let's say an owner of a revocable trust names his or her child as the only beneficiary. Some people assume the account is covered up to $200,000 ($100,000 for the depositor and $100,000 for the beneficiary). But actually, the FDIC coverage is up to $100,000 for the one qualifying beneficiary. According to Williams, "This often comes as a surprise to depositors who will respond, 'What about me? Don't I get any coverage?' I tell them that the owners are covered, but coverage is based on the number of qualified beneficiaries."
But also consider this example. A family has a living trust account with two owners — a husband and wife — and they name their three children as the beneficiaries. Some people would guess that because there are five names on the account, FDIC coverage is for $500,000. In fact, the FDIC would cover this account up to $600,000 — $300,000 for the husband's funds payable to the three beneficiaries and $300,000 for the wife's funds payable to the same three beneficiaries (assuming that the shares of the three beneficiaries are equal).
Misconception Number 10: An account for a deceased person's estate is insured up to $100,000 for each person who will inherit money from the estate.
Many people hear about the FDIC having per-beneficiary coverage for trust accounts and automatically assume that a deceased person's estate account will be protected by the FDIC for up to $100,000 per heir. But that is only the case for deposits in revocable trust accounts with qualifying beneficiaries (as well as certain irrevocable trust accounts, which we haven't addressed here). Under the FDIC's rules, an estate account is insured along with any individually owned account of the deceased person (any checking accounts or CDs the person owned by himself or herself, and not including IRAs) and the grand total would be insured to $100,000.

Bank of America gives My Portfolio a great money management tool !

Money management could be easier if you could see all your finincial accounts in a single screen. If a software also computes some basic computation, its a wonder! Now we have it with us the Yodlee, one of the best online account manager.

This lists all your multipls bank accounts, credit cards accounts, mortgages, mutual funds and even your e mails... what more could you ask for ina single login???

I used to use Yodlee sometime back. Though they promised high security and privacy to my account information, I had an insecure feeling about giving all my logins, but now you can trust them and give your account logins, as its given by Bank of America.

While getting the numbers for my monthly net worth update, I noticed that Yodlee has added a number of new accounts to their aggregation list. Specifically, I use the licensed version at Bank of America called MyPortfolio. So if you haven’t checked in a while, you might be pleasantly surprised - I think they actually cover all my accounts now.

BoA is been givin this free for some time now!

Now it could be put listed as one more advantage of having a BoA account

Information: HSBC NA USA also gives this kind og tool free for its online checking account customers.

How/Where do you find it?

Log into your BoA account and scroll down a little. Right after listing your accounts, you can find the My Portfolio link. I am also giving you a screenshot for your convinence.

Here you go, Get set to get all your pennies listed