In its annual roundup, This Old House features some affordable neighborhoods—and not only in Detroit.
Wall Street & Markets
Walgreens Takes Manhattan
The big deal of the day, at least around Curious Capitalist HQ, is Walgreens proposed $1.08 billion buyout of Duane Reade, which is the home town pharmacy chain. It’s another lesson in real estate. Duane Reade was a ratty little downtown cut-price operation until management decided that the key to drug retailing isn’t …
Low interest rates: I’m done with them
I sat down to do my taxes over the weekend and I realized I was missing a 1099 from a bank where I have an interest savings account. I called up the bank and after some rooting around, the phone rep realized I didn’t get a form because the bank doesn’t mail one out if interest earned over the course of the year is less than $10. Turns …
How Homeownership Is Like Marriage
There are forces that eagerly want you to enter these institutions—the federal government with homeownership, nagging family members with marriage, and society as a whole for both. You hear over and over that entering into these commitments is the fulfillment of a dream. But neither homeownership nor marriage is right for everyone. And …
Fighting Words from the Visionary of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency
“Without a watchdog in place, the big banks just keep slinging out uglier and uglier products.”
The problem with more small-business lending as a creator of jobs
I recently spoke to the owner of a small company who is buying a new building. He is in an industry—energy-related—that happens to be doing quite well right now. Banks, he said, are tripping over themselves to loan him money. Three different lenders are competing for his business, which means that he’s been able to go to back to them …
Q&A: Bad with Money? It’s Not Your Fault
Even before you got your first piggie bank, you may have been witness to events that permanently affected your relationship with money—including, obviously, how you spend it. These events might be quite dramatic, like your father losing his business, or more mundane, such as being teased at school for wearing ragged hand-me-down …
Dividends vs. Capital Gains: Which is better?
With the latest market declines reminding us anew of the inherent risks of stocks, it’s a good time to re-examine how the stock market creates wealth. There are all sorts of wrinkles but it all really comes down to two big things: Stocks either rise in price (capital appreciation) or companies pay out a portion of profits (dividends). …
Stocks Drop Sharply: Reality Bites
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 268 points on Thursday as investors took full stock of the troubled world. The weaker members of the European Union are in financial crisis and talk of defaults fills the air. The fiscal problems and the stock market’s weakness don’t surprise me, but I must admit that this is coming earlier than …
Look Who’s Beating The S&P 500
As we look back on the 2009 stock market we’ll likely long for more inflection points–those moments when the dark clouds let a ray of sunshine peek through and stocks take off. Some investors capitalized on this turn more than others. To see who played the back-from-the-brink rally best, take a look at the table below provided by Zacks …
How NOT to Invest Your Money
Take it from a business journalist: Don’t listen to stock tips from business journalists. Also, don’t invest like an average Joe (or Jane).
Attention: It’s OK to Buy Stuff Again. Just Be Quiet About It
After enduring month after month of conscientiously not spending, people in certain circles are experiencing “frugal fatigue.” Is an epic shopping binge inevitable?
