Here I go. I am about to walk into one of the biggest sucker's games in the whole world of economics: declaring that the U.S. consumer is tapped out, so desperately in hock and troubled about the future that he finally just can't spend like it's 1999 anymore. And to be clear, that is what I'm declaring. Unless I can talk myself out of it by the end of the column.
In a speech to the New York Economic Club Monday night, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank's rate cut in September has shown signs of success, but cautioned that lenders and investors must bear responsibility for financial decisions that caused the subprime mortgage meltdown.
It's getting hard to wrap your brain around subprime mortgages, Wall Street's fancy name for junk home loans. There's so much subprime stuff floating around - more than $1.5 trillion of loans, maybe $200 billion of losses, thousands of families facing foreclosure, umpteen politicians yapping - that it's like the federal budget: It's just too big to be understandable.
Red-hot frozen yogurt chain Pinkberry has received a $27.5 million infusion of cash from Starbucks founder Howard Schultz's venture capital firm, FORTUNE has learned.
Google is the elephant in nearly every corner of the Internet, from search and advertising to web-based e-mail, online mapping, and home-brewed video. With its share price setting new highs this fall, its market cap ($188 billion) is now large enough to buy the New York Times, the Washington Post, Gannett, and Time Warner - twice. Or Facebook many, many times over.
Question: An adviser helped us set up an IRA account and on his recommendation we began investing in a target-date retirement fund that charges a 6.5 percent sales fee. We've asked him to switch us to another target-date fund that has no sales fee and invests in low-cost index funds, but he says the fund we're in now has a shot at better returns because it's actively managed. Do you think we should stay with the fund our adviser recommended? - Dinh Ho
From the outset, the 401(k) plan has been all about accumulating money, and when you think about your plan during your working life, you concentrate on how much to contribute and what mutual funds to invest in.
If your credit is weak or your savings anemic, here are two phrases you're likely to hear from mortgage loan officers in the next few years: FHA and mortgage insurance.
