We have just gone through a severe recession during which many people lost a large chunk of their investments. Investors are now taking all kinds of precautions and one of the things that you may be considering is whether they should completely give up on stocks. And even if you continue to invest in stocks, how do you know when to get out of the market? [Read more…]
Credit Organizations Charged with Worsening the Recession
An 18-month investigation by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, led by Senator Carl Levin has revealed that credit organizations played a major role in worsening the economic downturn.
Credit rating agencies (CRAs) such as Moody’s Investors Service and Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services have been accused of grave irresponsibility and unethical practices. Several internal emails exchanged among the internal employees of these agencies show that the agencies were perfectly aware of the consequences of their actions. [Read more…]
Housing Begins Its Comeback March Data Shows Improvement
The housing market is finally showing signs of a turn around after a long period of recession. Although other segments of the economy have been steadily improving for a while now, the lack of any significant improvement in housing statistics was rather disconcerting. [Read more…]
Government’s Next Step to Pull U.S Out of the Recession
When Lehman Brothers announced bankruptcy and the economy went into a recession, the Fed did its best to avoid a 1930s like scenario. It pumped a lot of money into the economy to maintain liquidity and help businesses survive.
Now that the economy is recovering, the Fed will have to act in the opposite direction in order to control the surplus money in the system or we’ll have to face a period of high inflation. Several economists have emphasized the need for the Fed to act before it is too late. [Read more…]
How to Get Back on Your Feet After the Recession
The economy has recovered from the recession and is again growing at a good rate. The value of stocks has started rising again and investor interest in stock market is slowly picking up. The government is also retracting some of its liberal policies that were introduced to deal with the recession and the inter-bank lending rate could soon be increased by the Fed. [Read more…]
Understanding Interest Rate Fluctuations
In order to invest your money in the right instruments, it is important to understand what rate your investments will grow at. Financial institutions offer interest rates based on numerous factors. Knowing about how interest rates are fixed can help you in making sound investments and in estimating the returns that you will get by investing in a particular instrument. [Read more…]
Saving Money for an Anxiety Free Retirement
The recession has perhaps hit retirees the worst as they were forced to sit back and watch their life savings dissolve right before their eyes without being able to do anything about it.
The typical problems faced by retirees- decreased mobility, more likelihood of debilities and many others are hugely exacerbated when an additional stress factor is added to the mix – that of worrying if there is enough money left to handle basic needs such as being able to attend to emergencies. These anxieties can be taken care of to a large extent by tweaking the retirement savings plan during the earning years. [Read more…]
Mortgage Market to Remain Stable with New Investors Filling the Fed Void
Investors are wary of the direction that the housing market may take, now that the Fed is no longer supporting it. However, analysts believe that the sector will not be subjected to much turbulence in the form of soaring interest rates because other investors who have been waiting in the wings for sound investment opportunities will fill in the void. [Read more…]
Fed Prepares to Pull Out Housing Support
Back in January 2009, the Federal Reserve stepped in to steady the declining housing markets by investing in mortgage bonds. The move helped stabilize the housing segment, which was spiraling down under the onslaught of the recessive economy and bolstered the hopes of many home owners and developers alike. [Read more…]
Britain Shows the Way on How to Deal with Banks
During the recession, many British banks got substantial support from the government, which even acquired a stake in some of them. The government also introduced economic stimulus measures and special liquidity schemes that helped banks. More than one trillion pounds were invested to keep the banks afloat. [Read more…]
Unemployment Likely to Play a Big Role in Determining Elections Outcome
As the unemployment rate continues to hover at undesirable levels, analysts are of the opinion that this will play an important role in determining the fate of upcoming elections. The current recorded unemployment rate of 9.7% is appalling, even if the recent recession is taken into account.
Post recession, analysts are still trying to understand why the unemployment levels dropped to these dismal depths even though the predictions made earlier showed slightly better prospects for the jobs market during the worst of the recession. [Read more…]
Geithner Supports Fannie and Freddie Overhaul
Timothy Geithner, the Treasury Secretary, has said that he supports an overhaul of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to prevent a housing market crisis similar to the one that led to the recession. He however cautioned that we should be selective in which aspects to change and which to retain as there were many parts of the system that have functioned well despite the crisis. [Read more…]
Investment Lessons from the Recession
The recession is hopefully behind us now, but it is important to learn some lessons from it so that you can invest more wisely when the next bear market comes. A lot of people lost large proportions of their investments in the stock market crash of 2008. However, that does not mean it is impossible to protect your money when the times are rough. Here are some tips to shield your investments from the next bear market. [Read more…]
Multi Generational Housing on the Rise
With recession hurting consumer spending and housing remaining unaffordable for families across the country, the trend of buying multi generational housing is on the rise. This kind of housing allows people to share the cost of the house with their parents or adult children. [Read more…]
Number of Failed Banks Reaches 37 for 2010
Regulators have shut down seven more banks as the effect of bad loans on the financial industry continues. This has taken the total number of collapsed banks to 37 this year. [Read more…]
Employee’s Focus on Job Stability Rather Than Growth
Workers, worldwide, have turned risk averse, thanks to the recession. More and more employees are showing an inclination towards job security rather than career growth according to a biennial survey by Towers Watson Co. [Read more…]
Markets Reach Record High Since Recession
Post recession, the economy is surely and steadily recovering, and the impact can be clearly seen in the soaring stock markets. The US stock market recovery is being constantly backed by the Federal Reserve policies, and the Fed has recently announced that interest rates will continue to be kept low in the near future. [Read more…]
New Bubbles in the Economy Could Be Forming with Cheap Money
With interest rates close to their historical lows, some economists believe that new bubbles might be forming in some areas of the economy. If this is true, the Fed could be solving the current crisis but giving rise to a similar problem in future. [Read more…]
Will Greece be The Next Fallen Economy?
While investors are finding some solace and showing a modicum of approval in Greece´s plans to cut spending and raise taxes in order to meet their debt payments. The same investors are greedily licking their chops wondering who will be the next to fall victim to mismanagement and future debt default. [Read more…]
Private Equity Firms and Hedge Funds Face Uphill Battle
The worst of the recession seems to be over, but the crisis has done irreversible damage to many industries. Hedge funds and private equity firms are among those that are finding out that life after the recession is not as easy as it used to be before it.
At the height of the financial crisis, both private equity firms and hedge funds faced some serious redemption pressure which threatened their very existence. Many companies simply refused to repay the investors at that time or imposed severe restrictions on withdrawals. This completely changed the investors’ perception of these funds and the investors have now become much more demanding. These companies are now finding out the hard way that you can not just make your investors angry and get away it. [Read more…]
