Smart401k Blog

In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers over the past week:

• GDP shrunk less than expected in the second quarter
• Warner Chilcott agreed to buy Procter & Gamble’s drug unit for $3.1 billion
• Economist Nouriel Roubini said the risk of a double-dip recession is rising
• Foreign financial companies may start to play a bigger part in mopping up failed U.S. institutions

(more…)

In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers over the past week:

• Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the U.S. economy is on the road to recovery
• New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued Charles Schwab over its handling of auction rate securities
• Japan emerged from its recession by posting a 3.7% annualized growth rate for the second quarter
• Troubled lender CIT posted its ninth straight quarterly loss

(more…)

As mentioned in past articles, I have been looking into purchasing a new car and had decided to put it off until next year.  Well, the Car Allowance Rebate System (aka: Cash for Clunkers program) was passed and I started to think about it again.  I thought to myself, I have a clunker, I need a new car:  A + B = $4,500 rebate!  What a great deal.  Well that’s the way the ads on the radio, TV and my friends made it sound. 

(more…)

In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers over the past week:

• Mining giant Rio Tinto was accused of commercial espionage by China
• Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner requested that the national debt limit be raised
• The Congressional Oversight Panel reported that smaller U.S. banks may need $12 billion to $14 billion of new capital
• State Street revealed that its reserves for legal costs associated with investments gone awry may not be enough

(more…)

This week I thought I would take the time to discuss another one of my favorite funds, Ivy Asset Strategy A.  In the interest of disclosure, this fund is another of my personal holdings.  Ivy Asset Strategy is a world allocation fund.  For those of you that may not know, a world allocation fund is a fund that will invest in stocks and bonds of domestic and foreign companies.

(more…)

In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers over the past week:

• The July unemployment report came in much better than the market had expected
• The “cash for clunkers” program got a $2 billion shot in the arm
• Bank of America hired a former Citigroup executive and sparked speculation that Ken Lewis is getting closer to retirement
• B of A also settled with the SEC over charges that it misled investors when it acquired Merrill Lynch

(more…)

This is the time of year when many take their summer vacation.  As I start to plan mine for later this month, I am reminded by a stat I’ve heard a few times over the years: many Americans spend more time planning their vacation each year than they do planning for retirement.  

(more…)

In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers over the past week:

• Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke directly to Americans and defended the Fed’s actions in a PBS special
• Ericsson paid $1.1 billion for the wireless assets of bankrupt Nortel Networks
• Time Warner filed with the SEC to spin off its AOL unit
• A new report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission blames traders for last year’s oil spike

(more…)