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Happy Hour: Mickey Meet Darth And Only 5 More Days

November 2, 2012

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Jon

Welcome to the end of the week and another edition of Happy Hour! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy your end of the week roundup of all things interesting in the land of money.

Mickey Meet Darth

Disney pulled off a big purchase this week buying Lucasfilm. It’s the company behind the Star Wars franchise and a few others. If you thought George Lucas was good at merchandising, you haven’t seen anything. Disney has turned licensing into an art form. Just look at what it has done with the Marvel acquisition. Which has been its focus over the past several years.

It’s no secret Disney has looked for quality assets with a built-in fan base to drive profits. ESPN anybody. The bigger story might just be the changing TV model. The consumers ability to unplug from the cable subscription model and still access programming will only get easier. Something Disney is actively pursuing.

Having the Star Wars franchise just increases Disney’s potential for long-term success. For all you Disneyland purists, get ready for a Darth Vader invasion. Continue Reading…
Can You Trade If The Stock Market Closes?

November 1, 2012

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Jon

The stock market doesn’t close unexpectedly very often. If anything, it’s consistent in only closing on the weekends and federal holidays. But every once in a while, it has to make a rare, unexpected closure.

Hurricane Sandy was one of those rare occasions where the stock market closed due to weather. Amid all of this, earnings reports continued as usual. But investors couldn’t move on the news. Unless you had access to a foreign exchange you were just out of luck, forced to wait until the market eventually opened later in the week.

But what about regular trading days? On days when the market is scheduled to open, there are ways to trade even when it’s closed.

After Hours Trading

The stock market (through the NYSE and Nasdaq) has regularly scheduled trading hours from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. However, trading outside that timeframe is known as after-hours trading. It was originally limited to the wealthy and institutional investors. Continue Reading…
Happy Hour: Election Spending And Not Voting

October 26, 2012

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Jon

Welcome to the end of the week and another edition of Happy Hour! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy your end of the week roundup of all things interesting in the land of money.

Election Spending

The amount of money spent to attract your vote is mind-blowing. The political spending inflation has skyrocketed over the past several decades according to CNBC. With $1.6 billion dollars spent already by the two presidential candidates alone, it’s a wonder how they both don’t get elected.

Since election day (November 6) around the corner, you can expect even more money being thrown away. And you can follow along at home thanks to the New York Times Money Race. When everything is said and done, we’ll be looking at over $2 billion spent for the presidential seat. It’s a dollar or two more than necessary.

So my question is, how does a losing (or winning) candidate rationalize spending that amount of money? Maybe that should have been a question for the debates. Continue Reading…
Higher 401k Contribution Limits For 2013

October 25, 2012

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Jon

The IRS increased the amount you can save for retirement with a slight boost to the 401k contribution limits for 2013. Every year the IRS must calculate cost of living adjustments for the 401k and other retirement related plans when the CPI (Consumer Price Index) hits a certain threshold.

This year the CPI was high enough to call for an adjustment to some, but not all the 401k limitations. The only change was in the maximum contribution limits.

Maximum 401k Contribution Limits

Starting in 2013, the IRS will increase the 401k and Roth 401k contribution limits to $17,500. That’s a $500 increase over the 2012 401k contribution limits. Which is about $42 more per month you can put away for retirement. Continue Reading…
Happy Hour: Political Fun And Job Promises

October 19, 2012

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Jon

Welcome to the end of the week and another edition of Happy Hour! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy your end of the week roundup of all things interesting in the land of money.

Political Fun

It’s too bad presidential elections only happen once every four years. The comedic fodder generated from late night talk shows and SNL makes me wish it happened more often. Now it seems the Democratic National Committee is getting in on the act with the Romney Tax Plan website.

I back them 100%. No, not the Democrats! The comedy writers bringing us some laughter amid all those excruciating commercials. As soon as the Republicans get in on the act, I’ll be sure to share. The Republicans can be funny too, right?

This is NOT an endorsement of Barack Obama or Mitt Romney. Just of websites that make fun of them.

Job Promises

There’s a reason why politicians are targets. Most of the stuff they spew forth is done in the hopes that a few unconvinced voters will actually believe them and vote. Thankfully most of us are smarter than that. Right? Continue Reading…
The Best Reasons To Sell A Stock

October 18, 2012

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Jon

There is an art to selling stock, or more importantly, knowing when to sell a stock. Which separates the good investors from the great ones.

In this case selling a stock leads to making a profit or taking a loss. Yes, taking a loss on purpose is a strategy. It may not seem right on the surface. But it frees up money, in what was a poor investment, so you can put that money to work somewhere else.

There’s also the other side. Where investors sell too early. Happy to make a small profit only to watch the stock double or triple in value over the next few years. There’s nothing wrong with locking in a profit. But if the company is still chugging along and nothing has changed, why would you sell a winner?

Unfortunately, investors are driven by a number of irrational issues that make us do things we really don’t want to do. The best example is holding a stock that has fallen hoping it will just get back to even. This is especially true when no amount of time will return it to its previous mediocrity. You’re better off selling early, take a loss if necessary and put that money to work somewhere else. Continue Reading…

Happy Hour: Mickey Meet Darth And Only 5 More Days

Mickey Meet Darth

Can You Trade If The Stock Market Closes?

After Hours Trading

Happy Hour: Election Spending And Not Voting

Election Spending

Higher 401k Contribution Limits For 2013

Maximum 401k Contribution Limits

Happy Hour: Political Fun And Job Promises

Political Fun

Job Promises

The Best Reasons To Sell A Stock