Expert Advice
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- The Basics of Moneymaking
At the core of every successful business, from a global giant to a corner store, are the same fundamentals of moneymaking: cash, margin, velocity, return, and growth. And at the core of every successful business leader is an intuitive understanding of the relationships among them.
- How to Spot a Foreclosure Rescue Scam
Back in April, I wrote a column about avoiding foreclosure. If you're having trouble meeting your mortgage payments or know someone who is, please take a few minutes to read it. Unfortunately, with the millions of people now at risk of losing their homes, an entire industry of "scammers" has been created to take advantage of those facing foreclosure. If you're considering "foreclosure rescue," read on.
- Hiring Family Members
Small employers complain about how difficult it is to find good employees. But there's one place that can be a terrific source of great workers -- the families and friends of your best employees. After all, current employees who have great work attitudes probably have brothers, sisters, and best pals with great work attitudes, too.
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- Building Success Beyond Personal Gain
Where are you are in your career? First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter Retired
- Future Tense
Most financial advisors say you can't predict the future. These experts claim you can't pick a market's top or bottom. And since you (or they) can't predict the future, they advise that you just leave your money with them for the long term. For most people, this is good advice. But for those who want to get rich, being ahead of the future is one of the best ways to amass wealth.
- Act Now to Make 2008 Less Taxing
What you don't do by the end of this year could end up costing you plenty next year. A combination of market forces and the phasing out of certain tax benefits makes it extra-important to grab every tax advantage you can right now. So before you completely check out for some holiday R&R, take a few minutes to make sure you have your portfolio fine-tuned to minimize that federal tax bill due next April. Offsetting Pending Fund Taxes Even though fund returns are shaping up to be less than stellar this year -- through November, the average equity fund is up less than 5 percent -- the taxable distributions made by funds is expected to be even higher than last year's $23 billion. How can that be?
- Making the Old Year Pay Off in the New
Apparently, compensation plans can do odd things to the stock market. Consider the January Effect, a market trend in which small-cap stocks start to rise in value at the end of December and continue through early January. It's typically thought to occur because of year-end selling to create tax losses or recognize capital gains; or because of so-called "window dressing" by portfolio managers.
- Outlook for 2008: Markets and the Economy
For the US stock market, I predicted an 8% gain and greater gains for foreign markets. December still has two weeks to go, and given the recent volatility, the market could end the year anywhere. But as of now, the S&P 500 Index is up 6.3%, while foreign markets have done significantly better. The foreign developed markets, represented by the EAFE Index, have returned 15.6% and the emerging markets continue their torrid pace, chalking up a 42% gain. Last year, I said that if US stocks climbed less than 8% in 2007 it would be due to $3 a gallon gasoline and the dollar falling below $1.45 per euro.
- Bursting the Economic-Fear Bubble
"It's all relative." You've probably heard this before, and it's true of everything except right and wrong. But it's especially true of economics, and it's doubly true of all the recent scare-talk about the economy. Simply put, the media and the short-sellers on Wall Street are trying to scare us into having a recession. Since the nice people who read this have some interest in facts and figures, here are a few reasons why things aren't so bad.
- Right on the Money
There are important lessons to be learned from the dollar's fall. That doesn't mean I know what will happen to it next year. This shouldn't be as surprising as it seems -- it's hard to predict short-term price movements for any asset. Think about it: If we all knew that the stock market would be up 10 percent next year, then who would be selling stocks at lower prices now? Any rational seller would either wait to get the higher price at the end of the year, or demand a chunk of that 10 percent premium immediately.
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