If you’ve been anywhere near a television set in the last few months, you would have heard some doofus or the other say “The markets hate uncertainty” at some point or the other. It’s almost like a mantra that has to be thrown out there every now and again. People say it when they’re talking about the movement in asset prices, they talk about it when they were mentioning the mid-term elections and they were talking about it whenever an employment report was set to be released to the general public. It’s a cliché that gets thrown so often in your face that you end up ignoring it more often than not. I’m telling you, if you were to setup a drinking game based on how many times it was said, you will find that most people will be drunk out of their minds before you  [...] 

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I remember as a kid often trying to foll my friends while tossing a coin to decide a matter. I used to often say (as quickly as I could), “heads I win, tails you lose” and toss the coin into the air and declare a result before anyone had a chance to raise an objection. It was a ruse that worked beautifully for me for the longest time, and one that got a lot of laughs, but there is nothing funny about the manner in which American banks such as JPMorgan & Chase are dealing with mutual and pension funds. Responsible for the money and savings of many Americans, JPMorgan Chase’s pitch is a very simple one; heads, we all win and tails, you lose. How is that possible? Allow me to elaborate. Here’s how it all works; funds lend instruments such as stocks and bonds to Wall Street  [...] 

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There was a time, a kinder, gentler one, where countries contested to show off their financial muscle and a staunch commitment to sound money. Now, however, countries are signing a very different tune. Everyone wants to create more and the IMF has talked against these currency wars that are now brewing, decrying the manner in which countries are trying to boost their economy by trying to create as much incentive for export as they can. It is a world war like none before it, one being waged financially and there will again be only the victors and the vanquished if it goes on in this manner. It is almost a case of wishful thinking, with many regulatory bodies wanting to make the currency decline but not being able to make it happen. Japan has practically abolished interest rates with the Japanese  [...] 

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It’s been more than a year now, and the man with the salt and pepper beard is running through his shrimp salad with a rare relish. He seems extraordinarily happy for someone that is a prophet of doom, forecasting that the economy would slip over the edge and into a “third depression” unless drastic changes are made to policies and regulatory measures as suggested by him. Normally, such bombastic talk would have been dismissed with a wave of the hand, the projections merely pegged as a probability but not a possibility. But the shrimp salad loving man is none other than Paul Krugman, economist par excellence and Professor of Economics at Princeton and London School of Economics. When he talks, people listen as they should. His tie is flapping around a bit, unknotted and blue as it dangles  [...] 

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The Greek economy is founded in the principles of collectivism, but there is nothing collective about the way they work together, if that. It’s a case of each man fending for himself, and it is into the oddly collectivism based individualistic society that investors poured millions and millions of dollars. I know little of the Vatopedi monastery other than that it had been pinpointed as the soul of a body of society that was corrupt to its core. This was meant to be the abode of the gods. Instead, Hades had crept inside these walls undetected. These are a bunch of monks that worked the Greek economy in the manner of crass capitalism. They had been held up internationally as a symbol of all that is wrong with the country. Accompanied by little more than a handful of clothes and a bottle of  [...] 

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One of the best action movies I remember seeing as a teen was Die Hard, the Bruce Willis starrer that wowed me back then and introduce to the world of blasts and general kickass-ery. Sure, Bruce Willis was the star of the film as the smooth-talking, always fighting John McClane but I was more taken in by Hans Gruber. Alan Rickman delivered what I still consider to be an absolute tour de force in the field of villainy and he was one of the most menacing, suave and twisted minds I have ever seen on the silver screen. The movie was a hit, and for me what I remember as clearly as some of Willis’ line are Gruber’s plans; to ransack a king’s ransom in bearer bonds. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I realized that Bearer Bonds were precious and seriously valuable. Just like my John McClane  [...] 

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In an era where money is more important than anything else, people are finding ways to have more of it. Some use decent ways to earn money by investing, some use illegitimate ways. In this quest of becoming wealthy, let us explore best ways to invest money and earn more. There are several investment products available in the market today like stocks, mutual funds, bonds, real estate, foreign currency, CDs, and so on. However, each of them has the potential to make you wealthy and achieve your financial goals. Which among them is the best investment? It’s practically impossible to pick the best among all as each of these products cater to different needs, and people have become wealthy using every method mentioned above. While it’s impossible to select the best investment product among them,  [...] 

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When we think about retirement, we immediately picture an old man on woman sitting in a rocking chair at the entrance of their cozy chalet. This is the only reason why people in their youth life hate entering retirement age. However, retirement is much more than just rocking chair and spending idle hours knitting sweater. And to enjoy your golden years to the fullest, there are several investment products available today to invest in. One of these products is IRA (Individual Retirement Account). But most people don’t have a clear idea of what it is, which keeps them from investing in this product. Let us, however, try to Understand what Roth IRA is, and how it can help us in retirement age. IRA A bank account is used to deposit cash. However, an IRA account is used to deposit your investments  [...] 

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Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon are planning to introduce a super fast wireless service network that could bring a new revolution in World Wide Web. A new 4G wireless network system, LightSquared, backed by Harbinger Capital partners, a private equity firm, will be assembled by Nokia Siemens by next years. The coverage would be so vast that, if it all goes well, this network intend to capture 92% of total internet users in the US. ‘4G’, a remarkable successor of 3G, is the nest general wireless network that intend to deliver download speed of over 50 times faster than its predecessor. However, practically, it might be a bit slower, but way better than 3G. Sprint has already working on its new 4G network, while other companies like AT&T and Verizon are planning to start operations by the  [...] 

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With development in technology, thieves have become more active, wiser than before, taking advantage of it. If you, as a consumer, are not active with your gadgets and their usage, you might loose all your money within a minute. An area where thieves focus more is an ATM center. This is where you have you money in hand, with all you banking details, and the best part is you have your back towards the world. Stealing your money, however, is not an easy task for thieves as well. They too face the risk of being caught. These days, however, they do not extort money at the point of the gun. They make use (or rather misuse) skimmers in the ATM machine. If you are now aware about what a skimmer is, it’s the place where you insert your ATM card. A skimmer comprises of two parts. First part, visible  [...] 

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Television, rightly named ‘idiot box’, is indeed an idiot box. There are several disadvantages of watching TV, and here are few reasons why you shouldn’t turn it on; or better, sell it off. 1.    Reduced Cable Bills By selling your TV off, you can save around $50-$60 each month. This means, you can have additional $720 in your savings account. With three years of this savings, you can have a great vacation planned. With five years of such savings, you can get a nice car. 2.    Reduced Electricity Bills If you don’t watch TV, you would probably involve in other activities like talking to your family members, or browsing websites on your computer. Yet, you would save some amount on electricity bills every day. So, you save another $40 each year. 3.    You Feel  [...] 

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