2008 January | money news blog

30 01 2008

Delver announces personalized social search engine

Posted by: in Social Informant

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Social Software, Search, web 2.0

The problem with search engines (if you’re one of those people who believe there’s a problem with search engines) is that they don’t know who you’re. Google and other search companies are tackling this issue by compiling your search history in a way that could eventually help the search engine decide which results will be most relevant. But for the most part, right now when you, your mom, and that mad scientist down the street search for information on building a nuclear bomb in your basement, you’ll all get the same results.

Delver wants to change that. The company came out of stealth mode at this week’s DEMO conference. The idea is that you can search for information that’s relevant to you by gathering search results from your friends’ social networking pages. All you’ve to do is enter your name into Delver’s service (no registration necessary) and it will try to determine who you’re, and then search your public profile on sites like Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube to determine who you friends are. Then when you enter a search term, like state “pizza places,” you should get a list of places your friends advocate or at least have talked about.

If you do register for an account Delver will let you associate yourself with accounts on social networking sites. But as you’ve probably guessed, other users will be able to search your social network without knowing your password. Theoretically they have the ability to already do this, since all Delver does is draw publicly available information together in one place. But it’s still mildly creepy. Then again, why would anyone care where your friends buy pizza?

[via TechCrunch]

30 01 2008

TweetStats displays your Twitter activity in graphical form

Posted by: in Social Informant

Filed under: Fun, World wide web, Blogging, Social Software, Beta

TweetStats

Earlier in the month, we told you about TwitterStats, a downloadable script that would graph your Twitter statistics. The author of TwitterStats, Damon Cortesi, thought it would be great to take TwitterStats to the next level. He did so by making TwitterStats into a Ruby application that you could run without having to download and run a script, a task perhaps only advanced users are capable of.

When you visit TweetStats for the first time, the website prompts you for your Twitter username. Another interesting piece to the front page is the graph that shows you the most popular Twitter apps. FYI, currently the web interface is the most popular at 46% followed by Twitterrific with 21%. After you enter in your username, TweetStats gives you a basic graph of your Twitter activity. As you can see by the screenshot above, my most active Twitter day is Wednesday.

We like TweetStat’s simplicity and functionality. Being able to link back to the graph url is a nice feature for those who want to show their graph on their blog or website.

Thanks Damon for this addicting new Twitter tool! Now we stand to get even less done today as we play with TweetStats.

30 01 2008

The new American way: Be a deadbeat

Posted by: in Money General Talk

Filed under: Debt, Real Estate, Fraud

With people obsessing over the economy and crying about how terrible things are, it seems it has become the norm to consider ditching out on your creditors. Credit card bills have you sad? Declare bankruptcy! Paid too much for your house and now you’re fretting? Walk away and let the bank worry about it!

There’s now a website to help you ditch out on your mortgage while getting the most you can out of the foreclosure process. YouWalkAway.com offers to help you milk the system, living in your house “payment free” during the foreclosure process and hopefully not paying another dime toward your home. You stay in the house, save your money for your next apartment or house, and the bank is stuck worrying about selling the house and foreclosing on you.

I’m sorry, but those who incurred debts (for whatever reason) need to pay them. Sure, it’s easier to walk away and never look back. And it might be considered “legal,” but it is certainly not moral. Everyone else pays for your mistakes, irresponsibility, and refusal to do the right thing. It’s wrong, and we all know it. But it seems it’s becoming the American way.

What do you all think?

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Bookkeeping, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

30 01 2008

Recession Watch: What to do if your kid goes to college next fall

Posted by: in Money General Talk

Filed under: College, Debt, Kids and Money, Recession

Parents of college-bound seniors everywhere are blanching. A lot of financial ugliness is coming down the pike, and here you are, ready to be hit with a whole new phalanx of expenses. What’s a parent to do?

Begin by debunking the stereotype of having to pay full ride for your child. There are many options for getting your kid educated without having to bust the bank. You and junior just have to be prepared to think out of the box.

First, strongly think about the community college option. Unless your kid got a full ride to their first pick university, It makes too strong financial sense not to examine this opportunity closely.

Not only does it cost a fraction of what a four-year institution will cost you, it also allows your 18-year-old precious time; time to take a wide-variety of classes, time to decide what they really want to major in, even time to work part time. It enables them to ease themselves into adulthood without the pressure a high-falutin’ four-year school might put on them. Four-years typically hold open a certain percentage of slots for community college transfer students, making it easier, in many cases, to get into those highly-selective schools they wouldn’t have made the cut at directly after high school.

A final note, one that might be lost on your kid, (who might have his mind set on a fancy school he won’t be paying for anyway): The education you get at a two-year can in many ways be better than that at a four-year. Lecturers and professors at community colleges are there to teach. They’re largely free from the “Publish or Perish” shackles of their four-year brethren. At Berkeley, for example, many classes are taught by graduate student assistants (faculty slave labor) while the faculty is engaged in its own research. At a two-year, the instructor is there to teach - and with the same level of expertise, you’re getting an excellent education at less than half the price.

Secondly, look for schools that offer grants instead of loans. You’d be surprise how many schools do. There are many universities out there, responding to the steady drumbeat of criticism over the crushing student-loan debt of new graduates, that are finding better ways of funding their students’ course of study.

Many Ivy Leagues have slashed their tuition to be more affordable to “middle-class” students. If your kid does manage to get in, you won’t be facing such a daunting bill. In current years students from families that make less than $60K a year don’t have to pay tuition at Harvard, and the university recently announced dramatic tuition cuts that make its hallowed halls that much more accessible. Other elite universities are following its lead. Dartmouth, for example, announced last week that it would waive tuition fees for students from families earning up to $75K a year.

Consider top-rated schools without the “brand” name. University of Chicago, Middlebury, Tulane — these schools aren’t in the vaunted Ivy Leagues, but they’re top-tier school all the same.

And for the kid who just won’t leave his gaming post, here is a long list of universities and colleges that offer free on the web courses. These aren’t coursework for full degrees, of course, but why not learn sign language from Michigan Say University, or brush up on your physics courtesy of Yale?

Finally, there’s the old-fashioned notion of going where you can afford — and if that means the local say university, living at home and working part-time instead of getting a full ride to Brown, well, that’s the new reality, kid. Living within your means is the new paradigm. What superior time to instruct this lesson than when they go off to college?

This post is part of a series offering consumers advice on what to do during a recession.

30 01 2008

Recession Watch: What to do if you’re trying to buy a house

Posted by: in Money General Talk

Filed under: Banks, Borrowing, Budgets, Debt, Home, Real Estate, Recession

door knob If you’re interested in purchasing a home, now may be the right time to start investigating your options. We’re in the throes of a double downswing of the costs associated with entering the single family home market. What this means is that as real estate prices are deflating regionally, the interest rates on first mortgage loans to buy those properties are at rock-bottom levels. Deflated real estate markets aren’t always bad things, when you’re in the mood to buy some.

The tough part of the proposition right now is that bank money is very tight. When I purchased my first home, a 2% down payment would get you a mortgage. In the current banking conditions, banks are sometimes seeking as much as 10% to 30% down payments on first mortgages. Here are some of the things you should think about if you want to do business in today’s mortgage climate.

Our credit score is critical. Go over your credit reports with careful detail. Bring any errors to the attention of the reporting agency and clear up any outstanding issues. If your credit report and budget are a total mess, think about paying for a couple hours with a CPA who specializes in household finances and investing. They can help you understand how to get back on track. As always, a poor credit rating will be reflected in the mortgage terms you are offered. Today’s bankers are more closely scrutinizing how we look on the books.

We’ll need a hefty down payment. Consider where your down payment might come from. Did you plan on borrowing your down payment? Banks have desperately recoiled in reaction to mortgage lending losses and they now want you to assume more risk. It’s not surprising that getting a home mortgage these days might be a bit more difficult, but if you have cash to put on the line, the banks will work with you. Be prepared to be asked for down payments of 10% or more, but once again, a stellar credit rating could greatly reduce your required down payment.

Search for distressed properties. I define distressed properties as those which have motivated sellers yet which have been on the market for six months or more. The key is, you’d like to purchase real estate from someone who’s hot to get it off their hands. In seeking these situations, working with a deeply seasoned real estate professional can be well worth the price. Dig around a little and see what property listings have been just hanging around. Real estate is one field where you can still purchase gems in the rough.

Know what you’re getting into. Before you purchase any house, or better yet, before you sign any financial agreements, make sure you comprehend the costs, terms and conditions of the agreement you’re entering into. My theory in finance and business is that I haven’t done anything stupid until I’ve put my signature on it. There’s a handy document called the Federal Truth in Lending Disclosure that they give to us before we sign any loan papers here in Wisconsin. If they have that form where you’re, and if you don’t already know how to read and comprehend that form, make the loan agent fully explain it to you. It outlines every dollar you’ll be paying over the life of that loan.

Is it time to jump into the real estate market yet? I think it’s a good time now and I think it may get much superior regionally as the year goes on. I expect to see a mild surge in home buying from April through July as compared with one year ago. I believe that if about two thirds of the federal economic stimulus package is directed specifically at stimulating grassroots home ownership, by the middle of this year we could all be feeling a bit more economically viable.

This post is part of a series offering consumers advice on what to do during a recession.

30 01 2008

Who’s Blogging

Posted by: admin in Today News

Who’s Blogging
Washington Post - The average Joe and Mary don’t know about global finance, or why Asian markets plunged or why economic fear has spread around the world. But without so much as a lesson in the Dow, they, we, the ordinary people, are being charged with lifting the

Tokyo Electric Anticipates Wider Loss on Oil, Gas Costs (Update2)
Bloomberg - Japan’s LNG import bill rose 9.9 percent in 2007 to 47,006 yen a metric ton, according to data compiled by the finance ministry. The country paid record prices in November for the chilled gas from Australia, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia as crude

UPDATE 1-Russia’s Kudrin sees rouble free float in 3 years
Forbes - MOSCOW, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Russia will move to a free floating exchange rate of the rouble and an introduce inflation targeting regime within the next three years, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Wednesday. Russia runs a managed float of the

House Approves Economic Recovery Plan
FOX News - Max Baucus, the Senate Finance Committee chairman, planned a Wednesday vote in his panel on a $196 billion package that could face a slower path to passage. “The temptation is going to be for the Senate to load it up,” Bush said in the Oval Office

PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Jan 30
Reuters - Lawmakers, looking for ways to assist homeowners in need of refinancing, are considering raising the caps on how much money says can borrow to finance housing projects, and easing other restrictions. * Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O: Quote , Profile , Research

Yen Rises as Credit-Market Losses Sap Demand for Higher Yields
Bloomberg - The currency rose the most versus Australia’s dollar and Norway’s krone after U.S. regulators started probing the finance industry over the collapse of the subprime mortgage market. The dollar snapped two days of gains versus the yen on speculation

McCain tops Romney in Fla.
Boston Globe - McCain will need to focus on raising enough money to compete with Romney’s capability to dip into his personal wealth to finance his campaign. With Florida’s 57 delegates from the winner-take-all contest, McCain seized the overall lead in delegates with

Acquisitions, mergers follow natural course
Chicago Tribune - E ven if you’re not conversant in corporate finance, there’s an easy way to picture what’s going on in the world of mergers and acquisitions. Think of what comes before, during and after a wildfire. Nature takes its course and you don’t want to stand

CRH buys 26 pct stake in China-based Jilin Yatai Group’s Yatai Cement
CNBC - LONDON (Thomson Financial) - CRH PLC said it has signed an agreement with Shanghai-listed Jilin Yatai Group to acquire a 26 pct shareholding in Yatai Cement, and partly finance a doubling of production capacity, for a total of 2.1 bln rmb. The

Interview with Tadashi Yanai
CNN - I probably cannot spend it all, so I guess the Japanese finance minister will take it away as tax. AR: That doesn’t sound like much Spend your money, I have to say. But because of the success that you’ve had in business, you are now ranked as one

Philippine government raises 500 million dollars from bond sale
Forbes - The bonds were taken up mostly by Asian investors, the Department of Finance said in a statement. Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank acted as joint lead managers and bookrunners. Moody’s Investors Service has assigned a ‘B1′ foreign currency rating with a

29 01 2008

Bookmark, search, archive, and share pages with Iterasi

Posted by: in Social Informant

Filed under: World wide web, Web services, Social Software, web 2.0

Iterasi is a new bookmarking service that grants users to save dynamic web content. What does that mean? Once upon a time web pages were relatively static. If you wanted to see the content of a web page, all you had to do was enter a URL and up pops your news article, motion picture listings, or photo collection. But today more and more sites are packed with dynamic content which changes regularly while the page’s URL remains the same.

For example, imagine you’re searching Google Maps and you zoom in and drag the map around. When you bookmark the page, all you get is a link to the map you saw when you started. Or what about pages that are changing every day like Techmeme or the New York Times? Sure, you could bookmark pages for individual articles, but what if what you really want to save is the equivalent of today’s front page of the paper?

You could take a screenshot of those pages, but once you save the text content as an image file, you lose the ability to search the page. And that makes it pretty unlikely that you’ll be able to find that page again when you need it. Iterasi solves this problem (even if you didn’t know it was a problem) by creating snapshots of web sites using a process the company calls “notarizing.”

All you have to do is install a browser toolbar and click the notarize button any time you see a page you want to save. It will be saved in its current state to Iterasi’s on the internet service. The page includes active links, searchable text, and everything else you could need. You can find your content by logging into your account from any web browser. You can also add notes and tags to pages for easier indexing. And of course, you can share pages with your friends. Iterasi also includes a scheduling application for saving pages at regular intervals. So if you want to save the front page of your local paper once a day or 6 times a day, you can schedule automated backups.

[via Mashable]

29 01 2008

Recession Watch: Slash your credit card debt

Posted by: in Money General Talk

Filed under: Debt, The Dolans, Recession

Ken and Daria Dolan are widely known as America’s First Family of Personal Finance.

Do you hear that sound? Listen closely… it’s the sound of American consumers tightening their belts.

The endless barrage of troubling economic news and a badly bruised stock market have finally gotten everyone’s attention. (Anyone still want to argue that we aren’t in a recession?)

To protect your family and your finances during these very uncertain times, it is critical that you batten down the hatches and prepare to ride this out. One critical way to do that’s by tackling your credit card debt.

Now let’s be clear about something before we start… you DON’T need a lot of money to make an immediate dent in your debt. Armed with these three easy steps and even $10 extra a month, you can take a large bite out of your credit card debt. So let’s get started.

STEP 1: Make more than the minimum payment. 47% of credit card customers are making only minimum payments each month.

At that rate, a $1,000 balance with 18% interest and a $10 minimum payment will take you — GULP — 7.3 years and $516 in interest to pay off!

But here’s the good news: Add just an extra $10 a month — less than the cost of a trip or two to Starbucks — and you will shave off nearly 4 years and save more than $200 in interest!

Click here to use a handy tiny calculator that will figure out exactly how much you’ll save if you make more than the minimum payment on your balance.

When you make extra payments, pay off your highest interest rate cards first. This will give you the most bang for each extra buck and will actually eliminate your debt faster than paying off the card with the highest balance.

STEP 2: Lower your interest rate TODAY. If you are paying more than 15% interest, you can save hundreds if not thousands of dollars by lowering your rate.

Credit card companies are pulling out all the stops to sign up customers. And they’re not just after new customers… they’re doing cartwheels to keep existing customers. Use this competition to your advantage.

Over the next few days, take a peek at any credit card offers you get in the mail rather than throwing them right in the shredder. As soon as you find one with a lower interest rate than you’re currently paying, you’ve the ammunition you need.

Most of these flashy offers are only introductory interest rates that go up after six months or a year. To find out what your real interest rate will be, look for the “disclosure box,” or as we like to call it, the “all the things we don’t really want to tell you but we’re required to by law” box. In this box, you’ll find the card’s normal interest rate after the teaser rate ends.

With your account number in hand, call your credit card company and state, “I’m calling about account number XYZ. I have been a good customer for X number of years. I’ve gotten offers for credit cards with much lower interest rates than you are charging me. I would like to keep giving you my business but can’t do so unless you can lower my interest rate today.”

The person on the other end of the phone will probably state something like, “Oh, those are just introductory rates… you’ll end up paying much more when the real rate kicks in.” We want you to respond by saying, “I comprehend that this is an introductory rate, but even after the permanent rate kicks in, their rate is still lower than what you charge me. Can you lower my rate or should I take my business elsewhere?”

Worst-case scenario: They state no, and you still lower your interest rate by opening a new account someplace else. Is that so terrible? We don’t think so! Best-case scenario: They say yes and you immediately start saving money with a lower interest rate on your balance!

STEP 3: Eliminate temptation. Purge your wallet of unnecessary credit cards. Americans carry an average of 15 cards per household. You really need only two or three, so apply scissors liberally.

Which cards should go first? State goodbye to your department store cards. They usually charge outrageous interest rates, and almost any store this day will accept MasterCard and Visa.

Next up on the chopping block: any card with an annual fee. With all the card options out there, you simply don’t have to pay an annual fee these days. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

There you have it: three easy steps to taking a BIG bite out of your credit card debt today. Please, please don’t put it off. We anticipate rough waters ahead for some time, and getting rid of credit card debt is one of the smartest things you can do today for your family’s financial well-being.

Ken and Daria Dolan, America’s First Family of Finance, offer advice on everything from debt management to taxes to insurance at Dolans.com. This post is part of a series offering consumers advice on what to do during a recession.

29 01 2008

Recession Watch: Should I consolidate my debt by refinancing my home?

Posted by: in Money General Talk

Filed under: Banks, Borrowing, Debt, Home, Recession

The first thing that I thought early last Tuesday morning, when I heard the news of the 3/4-point drop in interest rates, was that we were sure going to get a lot of mortgage companies dialing for dollars in the coming days. And sure enough, come 9 a.m., the phone calls started, so many mortgage brokers eager to convince me to consolidate my credit card debt, maybe take out some cash for renovations! And roll it all into a nice fixed-rate mortgage. Sounds lovely, hmmm?

Not so fast. I’m at the end of a five-year ARM, and my interest rate is about to begin floating — it can change monthly. While I’ve made my peace with this (there are maximum limits, but no minimum limits, to how far the rate can float; I remember my parents’ 14% mortgage and sigh happily), it’s really not about the sort of loan I have now. It’s about the uncertainty in the future.

Consolidating your credit card debt into your mortgage has lots of perks. You can deduct your mortgage interest, for starters, and it’s a good bet your interest rate on a home loan is far less than your credit card interest rate. It seems like a good idea, especially in an environment of plummeting rates.

But for all but the most disciplined and job-secure of folks, consolidating your debts into your mortgage in a recession environment is possibly the worst thing to do. Here’s why:

What got you into credit card debt in the first place, won’t go away in a recession. Whether you’re just the sort of person who needs things (and that Donna Karan suit is 60% off!), or if you can’t afford groceries and doctor’s bills some months, and put them on the credit cards: if you’re anything like me, or the vast majority of the rest of our nation, your behavior will continue. It wasn’t until I cut off my credit card supply that I stopped demanding them. I’m so glad I didn’t heap that debt on top of the roof that covers my family’s head.

If rates should go up, or you should suffer a sudden income reduction, it will be that much harder to cover your mortgage payments. My rule of thumb in debt: pay the mortgage first. It’s way better to have your credit cards refused than your house foreclosed upon. That payment that seemed so inexpensive when it was reducing your credit card debt could one day make your presence on the “home owner” list questionable; and, if you were wondering, that’s the worst that could happen.

Having a clean slate with credit cards has the wrong effect on most people. Think you’ll get your balance to zero and never go back? Instead, you’re more likely to see that quick, efficient wipe-out as a reason it’s ok to spend money. It would be so much more effective if you had to work to get the credit card debt to zero — by slicing them up and paying extra each month, depriving yourself of dinners out and new toys.

This post is part of a series offering consumers advice on what to do during a recession.