Anne-Marie Faiola remembers resenting working in her mom’s garden as a teenager while her friends were out having a good time. But if she wanted spending money, she had to work for it. She also recalls grousing about how she had to pick an economical . . . read more

The smart money has moved away from stocks. So is the era of stock investing over?

It’s too early to tell, but one thing is certain: “Money goes where it is treated best, and that hasn’t been in stocks,” says Wade Slome, who advises high net-worth investors . . . read more

In auctions closed from August 23, 2010 to August 27, 2010, investors purchasing municipal bonds in the auctions received average tax-exempt yields 0.61 percentage points, or 61 basis points, higher than similar bonds as reported by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB). Customers that purchased corporate bonds in the auctions received average taxable yields 65 basis points higher than comparable bonds reported in FINRA’s Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE).

Zions Direct, in conjunction with BondDesk Group LLC, regularly publishes a Market Snapshot for investors to help understand the current bond market, summarizing current weighted-average yields of investment-grade municipal and corporate bonds . . . read more

September brings about the annual back-to-school and off-to-college rituals for many families. Of course that translates directly to the wallet — think, lunch money, SAT test fees and other costs. . . . read more

One investment “rule of thumb” that has traditionally developed is smaller investors are usually late to the game…and thus expose themselves to higher levels of risk when a market bubble leaks, bleeds, or bursts. Such a time could easily be approaching in regard to the purchase or continuing ownership of bonds . . . read more

Deflation is the potential new boogeyman for consumers, replacing inflation.

Absent in any significant way since the Great Depression, deflation — a prolonged period of downward-spiraling prices of goods and services — is seen as a possible threat . . . read more

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Used with the permission of Dave Coverly and Creators Syndicate. All rights reserved.

New requests for unemployment benefits dropped sharply last week, August 16 to August 20, reversing three weeks of increases. Claims fell by 31,000 to 473,000, the Labor Department said . . . read more

Images used under Creative Commons licenses 3.0 & 2.5 (Dylan Horrocks, Greg Williams, and Nina Paley)

Most of the global community’s attention is focused on impressive economic strength across much of Asia and, to a lesser extent, the modest economic revival in the U.S. In addition, the recent strong performance of the German economy is noteworthy . . . read more

The jobs crisis is putting more Americans at risk of losing their homes.

One in 10 households has missed at least one mortgage payment, and more than 2 million homes have been repossessed . . . read more “> . . . read more

Get used to a difficult stock market.

It’s nearly four months since stocks reached their 2010 highs and began falling on investors’ doubts about the economic recovery. Some analysts say it could be another year before investors get up enough confidence to restart the rally . . . read more

Cartoon used under comics.com and/or dilbert.com terms of use, copyright United Feature Syndicate. The inclusion of this cartoon does not imply that United Media, comics.com, and/or dilbert.com endorses or sponsors think.zionsdirect.com and/or affiliate organizations and product(s), nor does it imply that the authors/illustrators of the comics/works appearing on comics.com and/or dilbert.com endorses or sponsors think.zionsdirect.com and/or affiliate organizations and product(s).

In auctions closed from August 16, 2010 to August 20, 2010, investors purchasing municipal bonds in the auctions received average tax-exempt yields 0.32 percentage points, or 32 basis points, higher than similar bonds as reported by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB). Customers that purchased corporate bonds in the auctions received average taxable yields 66 basis points higher than comparable bonds reported in FINRA’s Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE).

Zions Direct, in conjunction with BondDesk Group LLC, regularly publishes a Market Snapshot for investors to help understand the current bond market, summarizing current weighted-average yields of investment-grade municipal and corporate bonds . . . read more

Profit growth is edging higher for U.S. companies, and analysts are scrambling to hike their 2010 estimates. That’s the good news . . . read more