Smart401k Blog

In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers from the week:

• Payroll data was better than expected and the jobless rate fell to 8.5%
• France’s Total is investing $2.3 billion in U.S. shale gas reserves
• Greece faces getting pushed out of the euro if it doesn’t close on its bailout deal
• ExxonMobil received a small fraction of the compensation it sought for seized assets in Venezuela

We follow lots of really good blogs – mostly related to personal finance and economics. The Blog Round-Up allows us to point you in the direction of some great content from the blogging world. Posts* included in today’s round-up are our favorites from the month of December.

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In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers from the week:

• The Department of Justice cleared the way for legal online gambling
• Yields fell drastically for Italy in a nine billion euro bond auction
• President Obama announced his nominations for two Federal Reserve Board seats

Over the past year investors saw a number of events affect the market, from the first ever U.S. credit rating downgrade to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Without the benefit of a reliable crystal ball, it’s impossible to identify all of the factors that will affect the markets in 2012. If history is any indicator, there is a good chance that three factors could dominate headlines in the coming year.

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In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers from the week:

• The European Central Bank pumped 490 billion euros into European banks
• Government officials continued battling over the payroll tax cut
• … but finally pushed legislation through
• Initial unemployment claims continued to fall

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PNC Bank releases the Christmas Price Index (CPI) each holiday season – this is the 28^th PNC CPI. The tongue-in-cheek list assesses the value of each gift from The Twelve Days of Christmas. They also have an entertaining interactive video (my favorite stop is Fluctuation Falls) to accompany the release.

Here’s the CPI cost breakdown for 2011, as prepared by PNC Bank:

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Photo Credit kenteegardin

During the past few years, I’ve attended countless birthday parties for the young children of family and friends. Though each event celebrates a special milestone for a child and family, the parties tend to look similar: 20-50 people each bring at least one toy or article of clothing. Parents assist in opening a stream of packages while desperately trying to get the birthday child to acknowledge the gift and thank the giver. At the end of the event, the room looks like a combination toy store/gift wrap scrap yard and the child is in the next room playing with a wooden spoon and an empty box. Sound familiar?

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In the headlines 

A look at some of the market movers from the week:

• Moody’s was skeptical of the new Eurozone deal and said it will still review the region’s ratings
• Fitch downgraded a slate of big banks
• Italian and German bond auctions during the week were relatively well received
• Congress continued to forge ahead in hopes of finding an agreement on theU.S. government’s budget

The end of the 2011 is nearly here, and that means many of us have started setting our financial goals for 2012. Included in your 2012 goals should be getting the most out of your 401(k), and to help work towards that goal, I offer up eight dos and don’ts.

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In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers from the week:

• European Union leaders came to an agreement on a new “fiscal compact” to help deal with the region’s debt crisis
• Standard & Poor’s revealed that it’s considering a downgrade of 15 Eurozone countries
• Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti revealed an austerity package aimed at getting the country’s budget under control

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