Listen up, cardholders: Make the most of teaser rates while they last. Credit card issuers are aggressively courting new customers with zero percent introductory APRs and balance transfer rates equally as low, but standard APRs …
interest rates
50 Percent Interest and Jail Time For Credit Card Debt?
Despite the gains we’ve have made chipping away at our collective debt, many Americans still struggle to balance the weight of their credit card debt every month. People carrying a lot of debt have little opportunity to transfer …
Why the Fed Announcement Won’t Boost the Housing Market
The Federal Reserve’s announcement this week that it would keep a key interest rate near zero seemed designed to be a chill pill — a way to calm jittery stock market investors by showing that it recognized, and was trying to manage, economic weakness. Whether the announcement was good for real estate is another story.
The Biggest Loser: Low Interest Rates Crush Retirees
When Fed Chief Ben Bernanke said he would hold short-term interest rates near zero for at least two more years, the stock market, at least initially, whooped it up. In the middle of the party, though, millions of retirees …
Are Cash Buyers Making Real Estate Less Risky?
One of the biggest risks to the housing market, many economists have been noting, is the virtual certainty that interest rates will rise, and probably sooner than most people think.
What Would a U.S. Government Default Feel Like For the Average American?
A compromise between the budget proposals being batted around by President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner will, hopefully, be reached before the federal government defaults on any debt.
But what if the August 2 deadline to …
Capital One Buys ING Direct, and Customers Start to Freak Out
Please don’t change ING Direct. Customers have stuck with the online bank (and put up with the company’s blinding trademark bright orange colors) because setting up an account is easy, the interface and bill-paying features are …
Credit Cards: New Annual Fees for Customers Who Can’t Close Their Accounts
A small portion of Bank of America credit card customers will soon be hit with all-new $59 annual fees. Who, exactly, will be assessed the fees? For the most part, it’s the customers who will find it the most difficult to walk away from their accounts.
Japan’s Bank Cuts: Are Low Interest Rates Really the Answer?
Low rates in Japan and US have yet to boost economies (Toru Hanai/REUTERS)
If you can count on any central bank to cut interest rates at the drop of a hat, it’s the Bank of Japan. On Tuesday morning, Bank of Japan surprised the world by cutting it’s already low-interest rates to effectively zero. The Japanese central bank is trying …
The Good News About the Market Drop
You probably know the bad news already. Stocks on Thursday dropped 600 points in 15 minutes in mid-afternoon. The market went down nearly 1000 points before rebounding. That’s the worst mid-day drop in the Dow Jones industrial average EVER. So really bad stuff. But here’s the good news: Bond prices were up. During the hysteria, the …
Should bond investors care about prices?
A reader asked, in reference to my column on the “Bond Bust Ahead,”
As interest rates climb, bond prices drop. I understand that part. But, for an “investor” who owns bonds to maturity how does this translate into losses? I still get the same coupon payment and my principal at the end of the term.(Agreed that with higher inflation my
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