Watching & Waiting

We all know it’s important to save money. But how do you do that when inflation is up, mortgage rates have increased, and rents are rising? Oh, and don’t forget – extra spending is coming with the holidays around the corner. Yet even in tough times, there are strategies to help build savings fast.

Hard money loans are one of the more popular options for buying fixer-upper homes to renovate and resell for a profit. While there are alternatives available – such as using a traditional or renovation mortgage – hard money loans usually fund far faster and are less restrictive. If you’re considering a hard money loan for an investment property purchase, here’s a look at what hard money loans are and the typical requirements for a hard money loan.

Well, the last installment in this series was 2009. I ran a Guaranteed Investment Contract [GIC] desk at Provident Mutual from 1992-1997. I also managed our internal stable value funds for our pension line of business. This was during a period where increasingly Stable Value Funds were being replaced by bonds and bond funds being wrapped by a type of derivative that would allow for “benefit responsive payments,” called a “wrap contract.”

With recent declines in stock prices, dividend traps are becoming more prevalent. In this blog post I'll describe what is a dividend trap, it's potential downfalls, and how to avoid these traps. Before we begin, you need to understand dividend yield, and the dividend payout ratio.

For starters this happens from time to time. Today we address the no.1 cause of sleepless nights for most newbie traders risking their hard earned money in the markets especially when it comes to a margin call what is it and how can you avoid it?

I’ve been fascinated with dividend investing for many years. It goes back long before I started my journey to financial independence and early retirement. It seems so simple. You buy a company stock that is stable and has dividend history on their side. A stock that figures for a potential future of continued business with dividend and stock growth.

We had a terrible start to our honeymoon. Bad luck and human incompetence torpedoed our first travel day. Naturally, I took it as an investing lesson. Our itinerary was Rochester –> Boston –> Tokyo –> Hanoi. Then after a few days in Hanoi, onward to Chiang Mai, Bangkok, and other parts of Thailand. But things went poorly from the start.

​Many teens think they know almost everything – that is until they have to experience adulthood for themselves. Parents of adult children will likely tell you that when their children were teens they, as parents, “knew nothing,” but when the magic of adulthood came around, everything changed. Your teens may even think they know how to budget. As a parent, however, you know that it’s not always easy to make and stick to a budget. So how do you teach teens about budgeting? At Wealthy Habits, our goal is to make the conversation easier and a lot more fun for both parents and teens. Here are three tips we share in our online parent webinar, How to Teach Your Kids About Budgeting.

According to a 2017 report in Market Watch, half of American households are living paycheck to paycheck, and about 49% of Americans worry about their financial well being. Living on a single income only amplifies the stress and worry about finances. Having a plan, maintaining fidelity to it, and re-evaluating that plan can all help minimize the stress and allow you to have control over your expenses and your future.

The recovery in US economic activity in the third quarter appears set to continue in Q4, based on the median for a set of estimates compiled by CapitalSpectator.com. Although the numbers point to a slowdown in growth, the current Q4 nowcast highlights the possibility that output will post back-to-back quarterly increases for the first time this year

The capital markets are heading into the weekend mostly quietly in a consolidative fashion.

Over the past five weeks, the market has been up 14.7%. Also, after the CPI report was issued last Thursday morning, the market and almost all the stocks had a tremendous run-up. In two days, the market is up nearly 7%.

The Fed has raised the Fed Funds rate six times this year to combat inflation and the last four times at a 0.75% clip. The current 4% rate is the highest in well over a decade. But the Central Bank has indicated that it will take more pain to get that inflation genie back in the bottle.

Overview: The situation in central Europe is still intense but it appears top US, European and Polish officials are more reluctant than some market participants to attribute the darkest of intentions and paint extreme narratives.

Yes, this is a random WestRock (WRK) dividend stock, come back story. Why is it a comeback? WestRock decimated their dividend during the height of the pandemic from COVID-19. One of the world’s biggest, packaging companies reduced their dividend to $0.20 per share, per quarter from the high of $0.465.

Invest in yourself - it’s the best thing you can do.

High Volatility: VIX > 23. The US Markets bounced hard on Thursday’s CPI Data. Will Chair Powell pivot on rate hikes before the end of year?

Market Commentary

Reaffirmed 2022 operating earnings guidance range of $4.97-$5.07 per share and midpoint of $5.02; 2023 operating earnings guidance range of $5.19 to $5.39 per share; Five-year, $40 billion capital plan emphasizes investment in wires and renewables

Anxiety is running high. Rather than ease its Covid restrictions, a surge in cases is seeing more areas in China come under restrictions.