Personal Finance Blog By MoneyRates - Stocks Bonds Commercial Paper Mutual Funds
Money Fund Yields
January 30, 2009
The money fund industry witnessed one of its biggest challenges ever last September when the Reserve Fund dropped their net asset value below $1 after absorbing losses on securities issued by Lehman Brothers. Heavy redemptions and worries about other high-profile funds brought money funds to the front pages of newspapers for perhaps the first time [...]
Warren Buffett Calls President Obama Right Commander for Economic Pearl Harbor
January 20, 2009
President Obama has the friendship and counsel of value investor Warren Buffett who endorsed Obama early in the presidential campaign and is expected to remain active in giving the President's economic team advice.Buffett, who through his company Berkshire Hathaway has investment in insurance companies, furniture companies, and large stakes in Coca-Cola and Wells Fargo Bank, [...]
Mutual Fund Money Market Yields and Holdings
November 24, 2008
A mutual fund money market is supposed to be a simple investment with a stable $1 share price with seemingly little differentiation between various funds. September 2008 showed that line of thought was a fallacy as several funds with heavy exposure to Lehman Brothers paper suffered losses significant enought to push their net asset value [...]
Savings Bonds Which Have Stopped Earning Interest
November 12, 2008
The Treasury Department announced earlier this month the new rates for savings bonds. Purchasers of the Series I savings bond will earn a fixed rate of 0.70% and an inflation-adjusted rate of 4.92%. The inflation-adjustment is reset every six months. New buyers of the Series EE bonds will earn a rate of 1.30, while current [...]
Treasury Department Releases New Rates on Series I and Series EE Savings Bonds
November 6, 2008
The Treasury Department has released the new semi-annual rate adjustments on their Series I inflation bonds and the fixed-rate Series EE bonds. The Series I bond, which pays a fixed component and an inflation-indexed component, is set to pay an earnings rate of 5.64% for the next six months and purchasers of the Series EE [...]
Will the Fed Drop Rates?
October 28, 2008
A majority of economists are predicting at least another quarter point drop in interest rates will be announced by the Fed tomorrow with an outside chance of a half point decrease. Recent economic releases which have highlighted just how sluggish the U.S. economy has become have bolstered the ability of the Fed to aggressively lower [...]
Fidelity, Vanguard, and T. Rowe Price Join Treasury Department's Money Fund Insurance Program
October 13, 2008
Three of the largest mutual fund money market management companies have joined the long list of companies opting to participate in the Treasury Department's emergency insurance program for money funds. Fidelity Investments, T.Rowe Price, and Vanguard, who combined hold an estimated $1 trillion in money market funds, all have officially signed up for the program [...]
Global Stock Markets Rapidly Declining
October 6, 2008
The stock market in the United States as measured by the Dow Jones Industrial average has fallen below the psychological threshold of 10,000 inter-day. Today's global markets are also down in what could be one of the largest single days global loss of wealth in history:Dow Jones Industrial Average -4.1%NASDAQ -5.4%S&P 500 -4.8%London -7.3%Paris -9.0%Frankfurt [...]
Intrade Members Trading Contracts on FDIC-Bank Failures
August 19, 2008
Intrade.com is the prediction market where members can buy contracts on the likelihood of certain future events occurring. Whether it be the next US President or the Academey Awards this site will let members bid on the outcome. A contract for Barack Obama winning the US presidency will cost a member a price of [...]
Predictions on Bank Failures
July 24, 2008
Intrade is a prediction market website where visitors can trade on the likelihood on the outcome of current events in the areas of politics, economics, finance, entertainment, weather, and more. Members buy contracts with real money with a price of 100 indicated the "event" occurred and a price of 0 indicating the event did not [...]
