Sunday, August 26, 2012

Wealth Watch - Barclays Bonds and Bitcoins!

The bond market is having a tough start to the year as the Barclays Capital Aggregate Total Return Bond Index (the ETF AGG is a tracker for this index) closed down 0.12% for the first quarter of the year. This is the first negative quarterly return since 2006. The bond market has been in a multi-decade long bull market, with record low interest rates and a stock market that has seen some of the worst drawdowns in history. Over its 37-year history, the BarCap index has produced an average annual return of 7.86%, which is very good. Over that time, it has had only two negative years, in 1994 and 1999.

The main reason for the negative first quarter return is that rates have moved up slightly as investors are becoming more comfortable again with equities, and have been reducing their exposure to bonds in favor of stocks. Many investors bought lower yielding treasures for safety purposes, but if rates rise they will see their value drop. The 20-plus year treasuries, in particular, will drop pretty hard. Investors need to watch their bond holdings closely. Emerging market, high yield and convertible bonds should produce much better returns than treasuries over the long term. Stay nimble and pay close attention to what the Fed says going forward. Any statement by the Fed that rates may move higher will send the longer term treasuries plummeting.

We have been reading and hearing a lot about Bitcoin lately. Bitcoin is a four-year-old digital currency. It's designed to allow worldwide payments with extremely low processing costs. It's basically online money, virtual tokens that can be exchanged for goods and services at places that accept it. It is transferred over a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. Some say it is going to revolutionize global finance. I'm not sure if that will happen, but it is a very interesting concept. When you write your friend a check, money from your account is withdrawn from your bank, and then transferred to her bank, and then she withdraws it as cash (maybe). With Bitcoin, there are no middlemen (other than the users that comprise the network itself). Money goes straight from you to whomever you transfer it to through the Bitcoin P2P network, with no intermediary agency passing along the chips.

There are not yet a lot of places that accept Bitcoins, but there some advantages to using it. There are no middlemen or transaction fees. You can exchange a Bitcoin for real currency. As of right now, a Bitcoin is worth from 5 to as high as 7 in overnight trading. This all sounds wild, doesn't it? But if you think about what has been going on in Cyprus, the average citizen with deposits at their banks might have been better off with Bitcoins.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

3 Crucial Questions You Must Ask Before Hiring Any Company To Build Your Corporate Business Credit

Accessing corporate business credit is the fastest and most powerful way to expand any business. However, in today's credit environment banks have been getting stricter with their lending requirements.

Most small business owners are starving for cash and unfortunately this environment has led to several unscrupulous corporate business credit providers taking advantage of desperate business owners seeking corporate credit.

When hiring a professional corporate credit builder you must be extra careful who you deal with. Here are 3 crucial questions you must ask any company before hiring them to build your lines of corporate business credit.

CAUTION: Failure To Ask The Following 3 Questions Will Likely Put You At Risk Of Being Taken Advantage Of And Prove To Be A Very Costly Lesson!

Corporate Business Credit Crucial Question #1: Are they really on your side?

How Does The Company Get Paid?: The best corporate business credit building firms only get paid if they actually get you results. Before dealing with any company ask them how they get paid. Is there an upfront fee? If there is, how much of the total fee is paid only after they are successful in acquiring corporate business credit lines for you?

When you're dealing with a really good corporate credit builder they will not charge you until after they produce results. If they don't get corporate credit for you then they simply don't get paid! With this payment arrangement you know they are on your side and have your best interest in mind.

Which Type Of Credit Will They Build For You : Will you receive trade credit or cash credit?

This is one of the biggest rookie mistakes people make when they hire a professional corporate business credit builder.

Many corporate credit companies prey on their client's ignorance of the difference between "trade credit" and "cash credit". You'll see outrageous advertisements like "Get a 300K Corporate Credit Line Within 30 Days With No Credit Check". Beware of outlandish advertisements such as these.

Often when a corporate credit builder makes such claims they are talking about building you trade credit and not cash credit.

What's the difference between Trade Credit and Cash Credit?

Trade credit can only be used with one particular store or vendor. Trade credit is great if you need office supplies or computer equipment but it won't do you much good if you need actual cash. Like the saying goes, "Cash is king".

Corporate Business Credit Crucial Question #3: Can The Company Provide You With Referrals?

This should be a no brainer but it amazes me how many people pay for corporate business credit building services without getting referrals first.

Any decent corporate credit builder should be able to provide you with a list of happy satisfied customers. If they can't provide you with referrals and satisfied customers then the odds are they don't have any satisfied customers. Always ask for referrals before you pay them any money. If they can't provide referrals then walk away.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Discover How To Get A Car Loan If Your Score Is 480

In this article I'm going to share with you how to get a car loan, even if you have a low credit score. The information in this article might be the only information you will need to learn, so you will know how to get the bank to say yes to your car loan. So, let's get started and get you on your way to driving that car you need and want.

Auto lenders look at more than just your credit score when considering making you a loan. They look at your entire financial picture, including income, the debt you owe, monthly payments and credit history before making the decision to approve or decline a loan. Before you go out and apply for a loan, make sure that your employment history, credit, income and address information is acceptable, based on what the lender is looking for.

If you have sufficient employment history and income, a lender may approve your loan even with a low score.

Here's What Lenders Are Looking For:

Employment and Address History: Have at least two years of employment history and address history at the same job. The longer you have been at your job and the more money you make, the better chance you have of getting the approval on your auto loan. However, if you have had several jobs and moved from one residence to another and have low income, it's going to be tough getting approved for a loan. You should also have enough income every month, to cover all your monthly debt. If your debt is high and close to or over your income level, a bank will decline the loan.

Vehicle Value: The lender calculates the vehicle's value by the year, make, model, options and miles on the car you are looking at purchasing. Based on your credit history and score, the lender will approve a percentage of that value as the loan amount. If you have poor credit you will need to come up with a larger down payment. You may not be able to get the entire amount of the loan that you applied for, because of a low credit score.

What You Can Do:

Pull your credit history. Know what your score is before you apply for a loan.

Save some money for the down payment. If you have things around your home that you aren't using, consider selling them and use the extra cash for the down payment. The more money you put down, the better chance you have of getting the loan.

Choose a car based on what you can afford, not on the latest style. When you have bad credit you can't be picky on the finance terms or the car. Dealers who offer programs for people with poor credit have cars that will fit the program for the lenders approval.

Don't worry about having to pay a higher interest rate right now. Provided you make your payments on time, you can usually refinance for a better interest rate and terms within 12 to 24 months. Remember you are rebuilding your credit and it takes time to get it back up in the higher scores.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Banking Dissertation Help

Banking Dissertations are considered to be one of the most complex types of theses that students may come across. In order to trounce the complications involved in writing a bank dissertation, a scholar should have an understanding of these problems at first.

Writing a Dissertation on Banking

To start with writing your thesis on banking you have to first have a grasp on banking dissertation topics. A topic determines a direction for you to move in. The following suggestions would give you some ideas for your thesis on banking and from these you may also come up with your own dissertation topics.

? Islamic Banking in Europe

? A Dissertation on Investment Banking

? The Usefulness of Internet Banking

? Concept and Evolution of International Banking

? Understanding Banking and Finance and the Geopolitical Influences

Now suppose if you choose to write an Islamic banking dissertation. For this topic you need to understand the meaning and purpose of Islamic banking itself. Only with complete understanding and knowledge of the subject will enable you to write your term paper. You may also choose to write banking and finance dissertation with a view on its geopolitical influences.

Some Useful Tips

Apart from doing research, you could also use bank dissertation help from experts in the field. However, if you choose an easier option, here are some tips that would certainly help you write a good thesis.

Discuss existing banking practices in detail and provide examples based on your research to authenticate the discussion. You may also take the current global economic slump for your topic and prepare an argument on the factors prompting such economic decline.

While writing your research paper always remember that dissertations or term papers act as the ideas and opinions of the author which are connected with facts and premise from reliable sources.