Tag: market predictions
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Small Banks Wither Under New Regulations
Where have all the small banks gone? Local and regional banks and financial institutions are fast disappearing, their places often filled by branches of the ever expanding megabanks. According to a new report from Money Morning, those little banks – often the last resort for some borrowers – may be falling victim to the slew…
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Do Women Make Better Investors Than Men?
If, as John Gray’s book would have it, men are from Mars and women are from Venus, it seems that where investing is concerned, Venus is rising. A new report by USA Today confirms what a variety of behavioral studies have been saying for a while: women are better at investing than men. Although talking…
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Digital Currency Scams Hit the Internet
If a new financial trend woos consumers, can scam artists be far behind? As the Bitcoin and other digital currencies are alternately hailed as striking a blow for financial independence, or a tool for cybercrime and corruption, new scams are popping up that highjack the accounts of those who use high profile internet exchanges like…
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The Federal Reserve Faces Critics At Home and Abroad
The Federal Reserve’s brand new leader has a lot on her plate. As the nation’s central bank takes the first steps toward tapering down its massive stimulus plan, it faces not just criticism from emerging markets around the globe but also from financial experts at home, who worry bout the Fed’s long-term stability. A few…
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Boreas and Friends Take a Toll on the Economy
Boreas, Cleon, Electra . . . the newly named winter storms marched across the northeastern US earlier this winter in quick succession, leaving behind frigid air, paralyzed cities, and economic consequences that proved costly for some, lucrative for others. And the result is a mixed picture for employment, construction and the big indicator of economic…
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Is Insurance an “Investment?”
Insurance policies may protect assets in the event of a catastrophe, but are they — as insurance companies would have it – a real investment? A new Forbes business report reveals that while insurers sell policies as sound investments in the future, they’re actually using the premiums paid by worried — and trusting – policyholders…
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Can The World Have Too Many Currencies?
While the Bitcoin continues to grab headlines for reasons good and bad, other digital currencies are quietly staking their own claim in the international money markets. As it’s becoming clear that virtually anybody can put a digital money system in place, economists and financial experts worry about the impact these upstarts could have on the…
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Is Digital Currency Real Money?
Banned by governments, implicated in drug market money laundering and welcomed worldwide to buy big and small ticket items, the Bitcoin is paving the way for new ways to by and sell that are far removed from the traditional models of money. But the jury’s still out on whether it can behave like “real” money…
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Loan Fraud Cover-ups Affect the Economy
Another day, another bank fraud settlement. JP Morgan Chase has just agreed to pony up $614 million in the latest round in the Justice Department’s ongoing effort to clean up the fraud and deceit in the nation’s lending industry. And whether you’re looking for a mortgage or not, the big banks’ longstanding patterns of deliberate…
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Housing and Job Numbers Suggest a Turnaround
Amid the gloomy news about a slow and fitful economic recovery, some corners are clearly being turned. Those two major indicators of economic health, housing and employment, go hand in hand to suggest a more stable future. Case in point: a drop in mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates to levels not seen since before the…