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If you want to be wealthy, you need a healthy income and you must invest wisely. But neither of these are enough unless you're saving enough. Financial advisors often say convincing clients to save is their most challenging task. At the end of every month, even clients with six-figure incomes can find themselves short of cash to invest. So much money can walk out the door without us realizing where it’s going. Luxuries are fine, but very often we don't distinguish between which are worthwhile and which are wasteful. Every dollar spent now is a dollar you can't invest toward long-term ... [visit website]

Learn how to invest in stocks and bonds, and find quality business investment opportunities. Get the latest investing tips and finance news from leading experts.The Onion reports "Recession-Plagued Nation Demands New Bubble to Invest In": WASHINGTON—A panel of top business leaders testified before Congress about the worsening recession Monday, demanding the government provide Americans with a new irresponsible and largely illusory economic bubble in which to invest. "What America needs right now is not more talk and long-term strategy, but a concrete way to create more imaginary wealth in the very immediate future," said Thomas Jenkins, CFO of the Boston-area Jenkins Financial ... [visit website]

Sometimes it's hard to know why the stock market rose or fell in a given day. Yesterday, it wasn't. The main reasons for Thursday's rally were a drop in oil prices (prices had fallen in three days) and a good earnings report from JPMorgan Chase (JPM). However, Kevin Drum, the well-respected blogger at Washington Monthly, criticizes a New York Times story on the market action, suggesting its "explanation has been created out of whole cloth." Drum writes: Here's the story they invented to explain it: (a) there's a widespread belief that the global economy is tanking, thus (b) ... [visit website]

So far this earnings season, bank profits have appeared strong, or at least above the very low expectations of just a week ago. Some of this strength might be deceptive. Morningstar analyst Jaime Peters explained why yesterday (when I was talking to her for a story on Bank of America): After all the alarm this month about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and after the collapse of IndyMac Bank, financial stocks plunged. That caused strong banks, eager to prove that everything was OK, to move up their earnings releases. Some other strong banks were already early on the calendar. Wells Fargo (WFC), ... [visit website]

Learn how to invest in stocks and bonds, and find quality business investment opportunities. Get the latest investing tips and finance news from leading experts.If you want to be wealthy, you need a healthy income and you must invest wisely. But neither of these are enough unless you're saving enough. Financial advisors often say convincing clients to save is their most challenging task. At the end of every month, even clients with six-figure incomes can find themselves short of cash to invest. So much money can walk out the door without us realizing where it’s going. Luxuries are fine, but very ... [visit website]

United Technologies (UTX) shares jumped 5.9% Thursday after a solid earnings report. For weeks, many investors have been worried that a slowdown in overseas economies could hurt big U.S. exporters. (See "A World of Woe for Big U.S. Exporters?") United Technologies' results eased those fears a bit. Executives acknowledged the impact of a slowdown in the U.S. and some other parts of the world, but seemed surprisingly upbeat about the firm's overall prospects worldwide. Greg Hayes, UTC's vice president of accounting and finance, told analysts that parts of Europe were surprisingly strong, especially France, Germany and Eastern Europe. Asia was "very, ... [visit website]

Learn how to invest in stocks and bonds, and find quality business investment opportunities. Get the latest investing tips and finance news from leading experts.Sometimes it's hard to know why the stock market rose or fell in a given day. Yesterday, it wasn't. The main reasons for Thursday's rally were a drop in oil prices (prices had fallen in three days) and a good earnings report from JPMorgan Chase (JPM). However, Kevin Drum, the well-respected blogger at Washington Monthly, criticizes a New York Times story on the market action, suggesting its "explanation has been created out of ... [visit website]

Overview: It looks like there is going to be another new vocabulary list come November, and its impact, for better and for worse, may rank up there with FAS 157. Specifically, the FASB is planning on releasing an amendment to FAS 140, Accounting for Transfer and Servicing of Financial Assets and Extinguishments of Liabilities (September 2000), which deals with off balance sheet items (OBSI). The issue was added to the full agenda this year and is moving fast. In the current market environment, the words "off balance sheet item" are enough to trigger sell orders. The FASB ... [visit website]

Learn how to invest in stocks and bonds, and find quality business investment opportunities. Get the latest investing tips and finance news from leading experts.United Technologies (UTX) shares jumped 5.9% Thursday after a solid earnings report. For weeks, many investors have been worried that a slowdown in overseas economies could hurt big U.S. exporters. (See "A World of Woe for Big U.S. Exporters?") United Technologies' results eased those fears a bit. Executives acknowledged the impact of a slowdown in the U.S. and some other parts of the world, but seemed surprisingly upbeat about the firm's overall prospects worldwide. Greg Hayes, UTC's ... [visit website]

Having been in Europe not too long ago, I witnessed firsthand the ridiculously little I could get for my Ben Franklins over there. But after hearing Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony today, all I can say is I'm glad I wasn't travelling now, or a few months from now. Facing the rock of U.S. financial collapse and the hard place of growing inflation/weakening dollar, Ben has tried to squeeze through a shrinking middle way of late, especially in the Fed's last official interest rate pronouncement. Way, way back on June 25, Ben and his colleagues said the financial world ... [visit website]