Filed Under (Inflation) by ravi on 01-04-2009
As a Florida resident inflation isn’t to bad at 4 percent down from 5 percent. However I can’t help but feel bad because inflation is a man made problem and it’s a problem that shouldn’t exist. It always bugs me that the fed has continuously inflated the money supply year after year. Let’s not forget that we too are to blame for this problem by increasing charges per sale because of interest that has to go to credit card companies, and the fact that we spend without any hesitation. I would fell bad but I don’t beceause I took the time to save, and spend without fear.
Looking at the dollar right now it seems that it might be in good shape on the surface. A couple minutes ago I got a couple quotes for the dollar and it seems to be appreciating against many of the major currencies, at the same time it looks like it’s ready to fall any day now. I’ve been thinking of moving back into Forex so that I can a) start making money through currency trades and b) be able to switch into the euro or yen at a moments notice. I’m a bit skeptical that the dollar will fall but no one predicted the USSR would fall in one day.
I’ve been thinking about the euro because it seems that the Europeans are quite self sufficient, they product all their own food, get their gas from Russia and sell a good amount of products and services. Of course all the European countries have borrowed more per capita as opposed to the United States and all the European countries have decided to cut rates as well but a bunch of countries use the Euro. It seems like an OK choice but I might have to find some other super currency to retain most of my value.
Because of all the bailouts coming out today a growing number of people are looking at corporate bonds. Corporate bonds are pieces of debt that are sold to the public or to anyone else who will buy them. The main purpose of buying bonds is to receive interest that comes after the bond has matured, or after a certain amount of time has passed. Bonds are typically seen as safer investments compared to stocks or even options & futures trading, this is because bonds are advertised as is and nothing can change.
Corporate bonds typically yield higher than treasure bonds today because the government is buying their debt and then reselling it. Add that corporate bonds today are practically guaranteed by the government which makes them very secure, but there is always the prospect that they may default. I would suggest that financially conscious people take a look at their portfolio and consider making some changes. Corporate bonds are a great way to diversify your portfolio and it can lead to some better returns then some mid cap fund that is down fifty percent from last year.
The highest yielding corporate bond that I have seen so far is 33% and the lowest has been 3% which means that you can make a serious chunk of change that from a low risk investment. Check out corporate bonds if you want to make some changes to your portfolio.
In economics loans are needed in order to run the economy, if all the worlds debt was cleared the world economy would cease to exist. Many businesses today also rely on loans because companies take out loans to be able to pay for payroll and other expenses since there is a waiting time before a payment is received for a service or product. Recently there has been a downturn in our economy and as a result companies have been having to take out more and more loans at higher interest rates. Because of the massive pile up of debt companies like freedom debt relief have emerged and have helped keep low payments;
They help Cut debts in half and Get debt free fast while charging little for the service that saves you tons.
A relative of mine had a problem with debt and decided to take it on without the help of a debt relief program and ended up spendings thousands more because he wasn’t able to negotiate with the credit card company. My relative is living proof that it is better to consolidate your debt with a debt relief agency and work together to get you financially secure.
Even in todays economy credit problems still linger above our heads and progressively get worse. I was luckily able to find a good credit card while looking over Capital One Credit Cards at comparecards.com. I was able to find a great Capital one credit card that allowed me to take out a balance transfer at 0% APR for the first year which gave me plenty of time to pay off the rest of my debt at zero interest. I of course do not advocate having to take out balance transfers or look for a lower interest rate unless you absolutely have to. By all means pay off your bills when you have to and no later.
The great thing about comparecards.com is that you can search for Low Interest Credit Cards and Zero Percent Interest Credit Cards where you can help pay off any debt or even make money. One man was able to make a boatload of money through zero percent balance transfers by taking the money and putting it in a high yield online savings account. It does have it’s risk but you should look into the option if you need to make a little extra money this holiday season.
It seems that many industries are not recession proof and this is where government programs usually come into play. The USPS (United States Postal Service) is one industry that I believe to be recession proof for two reasons.
1. It is a agency backed by US taxpayers.
2. The mail never stops to quote Newman from Seinfeld.
For this reason people continues to buy mail boxes. I believe that the video game industry along with the mailbox industry are some of the most recession proof industries out there today. A company like mailboxixchange.com is a company that has a good reputation for making quality mailboxes because of their superior standards and better building materials. They truly are a lucky company to be in that type of industry. Mail boxes can be a very important business tool as well because if for some reason your boss decides to drop by a mail box can make or break the impression of your employer. To add to that a mailbox also servers the purpose of displaying your house, kinda like the preview before a show. If your interested in purchasing a mail box check out the links above, that’s where I got mine.
Bonds are pieces of debt sold to you at face value that yield a certain interest percent that is paid at maturity which is added to the principal value. Bonds are usually seen as safe investments because you can buy them based on their rating of credit worthiness, or you can buy treasury bills which i went into detail about a post 2 weeks ago. Buying T-bill is usually the safest investment because it is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S government which has a triple AAA security rating. Bonds can also be bought for companies like General Electric or any other company but these carry some risk albeit a higher yield.
Treasury Bills also referred to as T-Bills are issued by the fed as a way to raise funds on open market. Buying and selling debt is done by the FOMC or the Federal Open Market Committee. During the years the rate of T-Bills have been on the decline because the federal reserve has decided to lower rates in a failed attempt to try and jump start the economy. Unfortunately for savings like ourselves we are hit the hardest because inflation has been on the increase for slight while. Luckily with the price of oil on the decline cost push inflation has been on the decline but rates still haven’t caught up to the point of inflation which is ~4%.
