Capital One 360 is running their usual "Financial" Independence Day promotion. Valid only July 1st & 2nd, 2011 (why not until the 4th? who knows). New 360 checking account customers will receive an opening bonus of $50 when they make three … [Read the rest]
Mortgage Down Payment Size vs. Delinquency Rate
Posted on June 30, 2011 // 14 Comments
As part of new reforms, the government is debating what downpayment size should be required for a "qualified" residential mortgage. If a mortgage doesn't meet the new standards, the lending bank would have to retain 5% ownership even if selling … [Read the rest]
Book Review: SuperFreakonomics – Economics Lessons
Posted on June 29, 2011 // 9 Comments
Super Freakonomics is the follow-up to the 2005 bestseller, Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner. This review will not be a summary of all the stories inside, although they are indeed entertaining. Given that they compare Santas and prostitutes, … [Read the rest]
Top Credit Card Bonuses Roundup – June 2011
Posted on June 28, 2011 // 7 Comments
If you have a good credit score and the discipline not to get into consumer debt, you can profit from your responsibility by participating in various credit card promos where their ad dollars go into your pocket. There have been some exceptionally … [Read the rest]
Free $2 Credit for Amazon MP3 Downloads
Posted on June 27, 2011 // 4 Comments
Amazon.com is offering $2 of free credit towards MP3 downloads with the code CLOUDMP3. No purchase required. Enter code at this link. It should increase your gift card balance by $2 for music purchases only. You must redeem the code by June 30, … [Read the rest]
Free 500 Hawaiian Airlines Miles
Posted on June 27, 2011 // 1 Comment
Hawaiian Airlines is offering up 500 free miles if you link your Twitter and HawaiianMiles accounts. This will bring you a bit closer to the islands and also resets your miles expiration date (after 18-months of inactivity). While you're at it, … [Read the rest]
Why You Should Ignore the Dow Jones Index
Posted on June 27, 2011 // 15 Comments
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is an antiquated, somewhat-arbitrary, poorly constructed, incomplete indicator that does a subpar job of tracking the actual performance of the U.S. stock market. There, I said it. Every time I see it … [Read the rest]
Free Weekend Day Car Rental From Hertz
Posted on June 25, 2011 // 3 Comments
Rental car agency Hertz is revamping their frequent renter program, and is offering 500 bonus points (enough for a free rental day on a weekend) plus 100 bonus points per day on rentals from 7/1 to 9/30/2011 when you register online. You must be … [Read the rest]
Prosper New Lender Promotion: iPod Nano, Bose, iPad 2
Posted on June 24, 2011 // 5 Comments
Peer-to-peer lending site Prosper recently received another round of VC money and it appears that they are offering a new iPad 2 promotion to attract enough lenders to match their borrower demand. If you open a new lender account by June 30, 2011 and … [Read the rest]
Capital One’s Non-Response to ING Direct Purchase
Posted on June 23, 2011 // 17 Comments
Per many reports from Reuters and WSJ and more, Capital One is buying online bank ING Direct. After being bailed out by the Dutch government in 2008, parent company ING Groep NV was required to sell the US bank by 2013 as part of their restructuring … [Read the rest]
Two Movie Tickets for $12: Fandango + BuyWithMe
Posted on June 23, 2011 // Leave a Comment
Daily deal site BuyWithMe is offering 2 movie tickets from Fandango for $12 this week. The city is Houston but you can use them nationwide. This isn't as good as previous deals, but if you're going to watch those summer blockbusters at … [Read the rest]
Investors Again Had Poor Timing During Recent Market Crash and Recovery
Posted on June 22, 2011 // 9 Comments
Morningstar.com helpfully provides two types of performance data for mutual funds: total returns and investor returns. Total returns are what you usually see elsewhere, and assumes that one buys all at the beginning and holds the entire period … [Read the rest]
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