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Welcome to the end of the week! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy this weeks roundup in another edition of Happy Hour.
It’s been a bad week for Comcast. It started when a customer released a recording of his experience with customer service. It’s worth a listen. Despite Comcast’s apologies blaming their customer rep went rogue, news broke that this is par for the course. To add to that PR mess, a video repair agent fessed up to more problems to the Consumerist. Continue Reading…
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There is no denying the popularity of ETFs. As we watch this market continue to grow, it’s only natural to see the unsuccessful funds fail along the way. This leads to ETF liquidation and investors worried about their money.
When an ETF closes, it’s not a guarantee you’ll lose money. The good news is there are steps you can take to avoid these unsuccessful ETFs and ways to deal with the liquidation process if it happens to you.
So why does an ETF get shut down? The same reason any fund does – a lack of invested money. There are several reasons for this, which happen to be the same reasons to avoid suspect ETFs: Continue Reading…
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Welcome to the end of the week! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy this weeks roundup in another edition of Happy Hour.
Show me someone who invests for income and I’ll show someone overpaying for dividend stocks. Dividend investing is a popular pastime for many investors. The idea of getting paid while you wait is a big seller.
To that end, it works best when the stocks are cheapest. A double whammy. You lock in higher yields while you capture capital gains. Reinvest it and it’s compounding at its best. Continue Reading…
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The rise of index funds, and the low-cost price wars, has changed much of the financial industry. The days of high cost active funds are dwindling. But if the financial industry is good at anything, its finding a way to reinvent itself, at the expense of your wallet.
Introducing Smart Beta – the newest iteration of index funds and ETFs that try to push the boundaries of performance. Some succeed, others won’t, but collectively, these smart beta funds make up a range of strategies.
In other words, you have more fund choices, with a range of differences, some more confusing than before, and more are coming. This guide is meant as a starting point to learning more about smart beta ETFs, how it works, and what you should know before buying the hype. Continue Reading…
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Welcome to the end of the week! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy this weeks roundup of interesting reads in another edition of Happy Hour.
The first half of 2014 is done. It was a good six months, far better than I expected. Every asset class is positive for the year. I bet nobody forecast that possibility back in January. Continue Reading…
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The persistent fear over rising rates drives demand for investments that protect from interest rate risk. Now you can add Treasury floating rate notes (FRNs) to that growing list.
At the start of 2014, the Treasury auctioned its first floating rate notes. Since then FRN ETFs started popping up as another way to own these notes. But should you? Are there better options available?
The Treasury floating rate notes are a 2-year maturity government bond (with all the same guarantees) with the addition of an adjustable interest rate. Continue Reading…