-
The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.
Linus Pauling Categories
Tag Archives: economy
Average 401k balances reach 10-year high
Most 401(k) accountholders continue to plug away at setting aside a portion of their pay. That consistency, along with a rising stock market helped push balances in plans managed by Fidelity Investment to a 10-year high, the retirement plan provider said Wednesday, February 23.
An analysis based on 11 million accounts showed the average balance rose to $71,500 at the end of December. Read More
Former restaurant goers learn to love their ovens
Eating at home may be one of the few behavioral changes from the recession that stick. Forced to eat more meals at home when money was tight, people learned new habits. Some discovered they enjoy cooking and dining in. As the economy improves and families have more spending money, they’re still saving restaurants for special occasions. Read More
State of US personal finance: How are we doing?
Just as President Barack Obama took a reassuring tone in the State of the Union address, there are reasons for optimism when it comes to our personal finances.
The stock market has come back, companies are starting to hire again and economists are increasingly upbeat about the future. But unemployment remains stuck at more than 9 percent, home prices are falling and the pace of foreclosures is accelerating. Read More
REIT outlook: reeling in real estate expectations
Real estate investors are getting mixed signals. Problems in the housing market persist, but real estate investment trusts have offered investors nearly 30 percent returns in each of the past two years. Could they do it for a third?
REITs offer an easy way to invest in commercial real estate, such as companies that own apartment buildings, shopping centers or office parks. REITs trade like stocks, but by law, they must pay out 90 percent of their taxable income to shareholders as dividends. Read More
AP survey: Outlook for 2011 economy is brightening
Employers will hire more workers this year, and the economy will grow faster than envisioned three months ago, according to an Associated Press survey that found growing optimism among leading economists. But unemployment will stay chronically high — nearly 9 percent by year’s end, the latest quarterly AP Economy Survey shows. A majority of economists say it will be 2016 or later before unemployment drops to a historically normal rate of around 5 percent Read More
Investors’ return to US stocks could be too late
Investors are finally inching back into the stock market. But are they too late?
While millions sought refuge in traditionally stable bonds over the past two years, they missed a more than 90 percent rally in stocks. Suddenly bonds don’t look so safe, and some of the $11 trillion that Americans have parked in mutual funds is shifting back to stocks.
After putting more than $570 billion into bonds over the past two years, mutual fund investors reversed course last fall Read More
5 reasons why investors shouldn’t fear muni bonds
Investors have been flooding out of municipal bonds amid fear of defaults by troubled state and local governments. They’ve pulled $25 billion out of muni-bond funds in just over two months.
The question is whether they’ve overdone it.
Has an investment long viewed as an ultra-safe, plain-vanilla part of a portfolio really become that toxic? Many bond market experts think investors have overreacted Read More
Year ahead looms as toughest yet for state budgets
If 2011 is hinting at a national recovery, there is little sign of it in statehouses across the country. States that already have raided their reserve funds, relied on borrowing or accounting gimmicks, and imposed deep cuts on schools, parks and public transit systems no longer can protect key services in the face of another round of multibillion dollar deficits.
As governors roll out their budget proposals and legislatures convene this month, they do so amid a sputtering economic recovery and predictions of slow growth for years to come Read More
2010 ends as 2nd worst year for home construction
U.S. homebuilders are coming off their two worst years in more than a half-century, and the outlook for this year is only slightly better.
Economists say it could take three more years before the industry begins building homes at a healthy rate. In the mean time, the housing downturn is dragging on the broader economy, with one-quarter of the jobs lost since the recession began in the construction field…read more Read More
6 things dividend investors need to know in 2011
Glance at 2010 returns and it’s easy to see why mutual fund investors might be tempted to chase the stock market’s hot spots.
Thinking small paid off big last year. Funds specializing in stocks of smaller companies gained an average 23 percent, compared with 13.6 percent for large-cap funds, according to Lipper Inc. But avoiding those big stocks could mean missing out on one of this year’s best opportunities. There’s growing potential in dividends, and they’re more likely to be paid by larger companies. That’s because smaller companies generally reinvest profits in expanding…read more Read More
Small businesses are more optimistic about 2011
The signs might be obvious, like a surge in the number of phone calls and e-mails from prospective customers. Or subtle — a staffer gets a job at a competing company because business is picking up throughout the industry.
Many small business owners are optimistic about 2011 not because of the economic reports that come out each month. They’re getting the evidence from what’s happening in their own businesses…read more Read More
American voices on making the economy move.
It seems Washington is all ears these days.
President Barack Obama says he’ll take a great idea to fix the economy anywhere he hears it. The Republican leaders in Congress can’t say enough how determined they are to “listen to the American people.” OK. Here goes.
We want less debt, lower taxes, more trade, less trade, “less talk and more walk,” a brand new New Deal, a private sector renaissance, money for trains and roads, easier credit, a clampdown on CEO pay, more immigration, less immigration, government off our backs, a safer safety net…read more Read More
Poll: Education backed, but not new school taxes
The public verdict is in and overwhelming: The better the education people get, the stronger the U.S. economy will be, a poll shows. But don’t count on folks to support higher taxes to improve schools.
Eighty-eight percent say a country’s education system has a major effect on its economic health. Nearly as many — 79 percent — say the U.S. economy would improve if all Americans had at least a two-year college degree, according to an Associated Press-Stanford University poll…read more Read More
AP analysis: Economic stress falls to 18-month low
Job gains around the country offset higher foreclosures and helped reduce the nation’s economic stress in October to an 18-month low, according to The Associated Press’ monthly analysis.
Stress fell in 56 percent of the roughly 3,100 U.S. counties analyzed and in 28 of the states, the AP’s Economic Stress Index shows. Demand overseas for U.S. semiconductors and strength in technology companies have helped lower unemployment…read more Read More
