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Advance Fee Credit Cards
Some companies promise to get you a credit card no matter how bad your credit is. Here’s what can happen if you pay them the $200 or more they usually ask for:
You receive a credit card that’s only good for over-priced merchandise from their catalog.
You get applications for secured credit cards. A secured credit card offer requires you to deposit $500 in a bank account to receive a credit card with a $500 limit.
You receive nothing at all.
Secured credit cards from a legitimate bank or credit union can help you re-establish credit. Many banks and credit unions will give you a secured credit card with no upfront fees or charges. If you want one of these, go to your own [...]

Original post by admin

The landscape of tax-sheltered investing will forever be changed as the 2008 Canada Federal Budget unleashed the new Tax Free Saving Account (TFSA). When my co-worker, Tony, first mentioned the name “Tax Free Saving Account”, my first guess was a high interest saving account that grows tax-free. To my pleasant surprise, you can pretty much throw any instrument at it. My understanding is that anything that’s eligible for RRSP is also eligible for TFSA. This includes GIC, bonds, stocks and income trusts.
In a nutshell, here’s how TFSA works:

Starting in 2009, Canadians aged 18 and older can save up to $5,000 every year in a TFSA.
Contributions to a TFSA will not be deductible for income tax purposes but investment income, including capital gains, earned in a TFSA will not be taxed, even when withdrawn.
Unused TFSA contribution room can be carried forward to future years.
You can [...]

Original post by Financial Jungle Guy

I’m still betting against SFLY.  It found support not far below its current price, but I think the upside is very limited.  I lowered my targeted strike and today while SFLY was trading at 16.27 I sold three April 17.50 calls (QFYDW) on it and received $257.75 after commissions. 
Those three calls are the total volume of calls today at that stike.  Being in such an illiquid option isn’t always the best seat to be in for an option seller.  If it moves against me, I might have a hard time closing it out.
The SFLY chart shows it’s hitting resistance again to the top side.  Fundamentals show that it’s had good growth, but I believe they can’t maintain that growth at the current profit levels.  There’s too much good competition that sells the same products cheaper.  Throw in a five year PEG of 1.50 and SFLY is overvalued at the current price, much [...]

Original post by Alex Fotopoulos

FWLT is one of those stocks I like to keep coming back to.  It’s volatile enough to give good premiums and profitable enough that I don’t see a complete wipeout in their future.  They missed earnings today which made the stock drop more than 10% at open.  I saw the headline and was happy I hadn’t gotten in yet back when first reconsidered it.  I forgot that I had a limit left in play for the April 65 strike (UFBPM), the low range of the current long term trend. 
With volatility spiking on it this morning, my order hit while FWLT was trading around 70 and I received $309.25 after commissions.  My limit was for $3.00, but TD Ameritrade helped me out this time and I got $3.20.  It traded as high as $3.40 before FWLT came off its lows and I moved to a paper profit. 

Original post by Alex Fotopoulos

Last night, I walked with my wife to the nearby supermarket. At first, I didn’t want to go because I was tired from work and just wanted to sit around. However, my wife convinced me to go with her in the end and I was so glad that I did! We ended up having so much fun! The fact that we had a healthy walk and also saved some money was icing on the cake!
It all started after work when my wife wanted to buy some eggs. We moved recently, so we are still in the discovery stage instead of having a set route for everything. So, she decided to walk down to the closest grocery store to buy eggs because of a lack of a better alternative. I didn’t really want to get out of the house at that point but I [...]

Original post by MoneyNing

Pockets of Strength Remain; Coasts, Midwest Show Biggest Declines
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. home prices fell in the fourth quarter of 2007 according to OFHEO’s seasonally-adjusted purchase-only house price index. The index, which is based on data from home sales, was 1.3 percent lower on a seasonally-adjusted basis in the fourth quarter than in the third quarter of 2007. This decline was substantially greater than the 0.3 percent price decline between the second and third quarters. Over the past year, prices fell 0.3 percent, as the fourth quarter decline erased earlier price gains.
OFHEO’s all-transactions House Price Index (HPI), which includes data from home sales and appraisals for refinancings, showed less weakness than the purchase-only index. The all-transactions HPI rose 0.1 percent over the latest quarter and 0.8 percent over the latest year.
The figures were released today by OFHEO Director James B. Lockhart, as part of the quarterly report [...]

Original post by Admin

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If you paid for defective goods or services on your credit card and the merchant will not resolve the problem, you can file a dispute with the credit card company using a procedure called, Claims and Defenses.
What are claims and defenses?
Claims and defenses are any valid reasons you have for not paying a certain credit card charge. They include billing errors, unauthorized charges, and claims that goods or services were misrepresented, defective, or not delivered.
The credit card company can be held responsible under Federal law (15 USC 1666i).
How do I assert claims and defenses?
You assert your claims and defenses by writing to the credit card company showing that you tried to resolve the problem with the store directly but they refused to remedy [...]

Original post by admin

This is the fifth post on the Dividend Increases series.
It has only been 3 weeks since my previous dividend increases post, but I feel compelled to hurry one in as Boralex Power Income Fund just announced a distribution cut from 90 cents to 70 cents, amidst external headwinds from weaker hydrology and the declining US dollar.
In 2007, BPT.un’s $42-million net cash flow related to operating and investing activities was $9-million short of the $53-million circulated to unit holders, but management has been proactive all along warning investors about the hurdles they’re facing.
Rather than masking the problems and jeopardizing the fund’s long-term health, the new distribution policy will see payout easing to $41-million a year. This is a conservative move considering the fund still has $10-million in the bank. (i.e. the cash could’ve prolonged the current payout by another year while waiting for a turnaround.) [...]

Original post by Financial Jungle Guy

My lesson from borrowing from a friend
Probably 8 years ago when I was in love with driving cars with manual transmissions (because I had always had automatics) I begged my friend to let me drive his car. He was reluctant because he had just bought it used a few weeks earlier. He finally agreed and so I was off in his car (by myself) and not more than 200 yards later I heard a loud weird noise and the car stopped moving.
The transmission had gone out. I don’t think it had anything to do with my driving ability, but after the awkwardness of the following few hours drilled a lifelong lesson into my head: don’t borrow from friends.
Of course I haven’t followed this advice all the time. But that situation was enough to make me think twice about borrowing for the rest of my life.
For the borrower
I have [...]

Original post by bob

We did find the housing inventory numbers increased, which is key. We are looking at the 10.3 month supply compared to 9.7 in December. In January, we were up in terms of inventory, that seems to be a problem. We are not anywhere close to that, for existing home prices, is not good at all and it will drag on.
New home prices is a different picture because the home builders are biting the bullet here. The leading home price index suggests that, in effect, although that may be a problem, there is an interesting optic we see at the end that makes us wonder whether new home practices might actually stabilize as wee see within the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index report.

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Original post by Admin