Finance Geek

Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook! After five years of financial crisis followed by economic frustration, many Americans are starting to believe that the country’s best years are behind it and that we’re starting a long, slow decline. Balderdash, says Barry Ritholtz, the writer of the Big Picture and a fund manager at Fusion IQ. [...]

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Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook! House prices continue to fall. The Case-Shiller index slipped again in February 2012, falling to levels not seen since 2003. And that’s bad news for the economy. Falling house prices tamp down consumer spending, make it harder for people to tap home equity, and increase the likelihood that borrowers [...]

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House prices continue to fall. The Case-Shiller index slipped again in February 2012, falling to levels not seen since 2003. And that’s bad news for the economy. Falling house prices tamp down consumer spending, make it harder for people to tap home equity, and increase the likelihood that borrowers may walk away from their mortgages. [...]

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Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook! For the third consecutive week, jobless claims were higher than expected and above 380,000, another sign the economy’s first-quarter momentum is waning. The four-week moving average for jobless claims is now 382,000, the highest since early January. The trend bodes poorly for next Friday’s April employment report and other [...]

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Zac Bissonnette hates student loans. Good thing the 2011 University of Massachusetts graduate and author of the new book “How to Be Richer, Smarter, and Better Looking Than Your Parents” does not have any, unlike 37 million other Americans. Bissonnette paid for his higher education by working throughout high school and college but acknowledges that [...]

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Provided by Business Insider: Meredith Whitney was on CNBC’s Closing Bell Wednesday. Jeff Cox at CNBC.com spotlights one area where she’s wildly bullish. She likes the agriculture and commodity states that are ‘right-to-work’ where businesses are creating jobs: “I am wildly bullish on the U.S. in particular markets…I think the U.S. market looks terrific (though) [...]

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Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook here! As expected, the Federal Reserve left rates unchanged at its policy meeting Wednesday, reiterating its pledge to keep rates at “exceptionally low levels…at least through late 2014.” The Fed did make some slight tweaks to its outlook from its statement in March. Most notably, the Fed said strains [...]

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Student loan debt has suddenly popped onto the scene. Congress is grappling whether to continue a policy that keeps rates low, and President Obama is on a multi-state campus tour in which the subject frequently arises. Amid talk that student loan debt now exceeds credit card debt (see here and here), questions are being raised [...]

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Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook here! In the weeks leading up to Apple’s quarterly earnings, the stock sold off hard, dropping by almost $100 a share. Investors were not just concerned that the stock had risen too far too fast. They were worried about reports of weak iPhone sales at Verizon and AT&T, the [...]

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Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook here! As big banks have repaid TARP loans in the past few years, it’s become commonplace for government officials and certain pundits to tout the “profits” taxpayers made on the hugely controversial program. As far back as 2009, just a year after the program was launched, the Treasury Department [...]

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There are two ways to discern today’s S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index numbers: home prices are at 10-year lows and likely to fall further or home prices are recovering because prices are declining at a slower pace. Economist Karl Case, co-founder of the widely followed S&P/Case-Shiller index, has a more optimistic view on the market. He [...]

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Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook here! It’s an election year and the big question on everyone’s mind: Will President Barack Obama or former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney take the White House next year and what does it mean for the U.S. economy? Recent national polls show Obama with a slight lead over Romney in [...]

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Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook here! Over the last couple of years, Netflix’s stock traced a remarkable parabola, rising from $50 in early 2010 to $300 last summer and then falling almost back to $50 again. In recent months, the stock has recovered some of its losses, hitting $125 a couple of months ago. [...]

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Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook here! There is always a lot of hype and speculation around Apple (AAPL), but the frenzy is heightened again this week as the tech giant is set to release quarterly results Tuesday. (See: ‘Apple Fever’ Hasn’t Broken: “There’s Lots to Look Forward To,” Analyst Says) In addition to the [...]

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Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook here! Wal-Mart’s (WMT) stock is getting hammered following allegations that the company engaged in systematic bribery in Mexico for several years and then covered it up. If true, the allegations are a huge black eye for the global retailing leader, which prides itself on its reputation for integrity and [...]

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