Inverted yield curve points to a weaker Fed, not a recession - Jul. 14, 2005

What the heck is an INVERTED YIELD CURVE? For those sports enthuiasts it isn't a new pitch in baseball. An inverted yield curve refers to a point in time where long term interest rates are lower than short term interest rates. Why is this important to you? Read the article an find out! Actually, you don't have to read the article, that is what you pay me for, but you will be hearing a lot more about this in the coming months. It seems that we are entering into a period where we get to have our cake and eat it to - low interest rates to finance our long term mortgages and high short term interest rates to invest our money.......of course, it may not all be good. I'll be keeping my eye on this.

Inverted yield curve points to a weaker Fed, not a recession - Jul. 14, 2005

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MSFP

PIMCO Bonds - Everything You Need to Know About Bonds

O.K.,

You pay me to know this stuff, but I know that many of you would like to better understand investing and this is a good article on bonds. PIMCO is a leader in bond fund management and has put together a primer on understanding them (bonds that is). Enjoy!

PIMCO Bonds - Everything You Need to Know About Bonds

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MSFP

Equity Is Altering Spending Habits and View of Debt - Los Angeles Times

An interesting article highlighting the differences between generations and the "new" way of thinking about real estate. The one thing I take from this article is that is SOUNDS awfully similar to lots of articles I read in 1998, 1999, & early 2000 about growth and technology stocks.

I've said that I don't think there is a national bubble, but there are pockets of unsustainable price increases. If Americans believe the way this article suggests than a bubble may be on the way.

Just for the record, I do not agree with the "new" way of thinking this article talks about. I tend to like the earlier generations way of thinking - pay off your house and avoid debt when possible.

Equity Is Altering Spending Habits and View of Debt - Los Angeles Times

ScottyD

FOXNews.com - Business - Money Matters - Can You Identify a Housing Bubble?

Get ready for an onslaught of articles similar to this one. Greenspans latest comments will start another round of "real estate bubble" talks. The advice in this article is good and is the advice that I give - be careful, and know your time frame. Gail Buckner is the reporter for Fox in this article, we were in the same Masters class at the College for Financial Planning.


FOXNews.com - Business - Money Matters - Can You Identify a Housing Bubble?

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MSFP

Teachers have few defenses when investing in 403(b)s

Teachers have few defenses when investing in 403(b)s

I spent hours working with the reporter for this article and think he did a great job. This mainly affects educators, but everyone should read it.

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MSFP

US heading for house price crash, Greenspan tells buyers - Economics - Times Online

US heading for house price crash, Greenspan tells buyers - Economics - Times Online

Anybody remember "Irrational Exuberance" and the taking down of the high flying NASDAQ and Growth Stock a few years back? Well, here is part II for Greenspan. Greenspan believes housing prices are too high and is warning about pushing prices higher. Is this the shot heard around America that will result in another crash? Doubtful, but we should heed his advice.

ScottyD

Down With Mutual Funds? - Newsweek Business - MSNBC.com

Down With Mutual Funds? - Newsweek Business - MSNBC.com

Thank you Jane! Jane Bryant Quinn once again confirms that that money management through active managers is a losers game. She interviews the manager of the highly successful Yale University Endowment, his advice - use index funds.

ScottyD

Initiatives to Promote Savings From Childhood Catching On

Initiatives to Promote Savings From Childhood Catching On

I have come up with a slightly different version of what this article talks about. This article poses giving $500 to every child born in the and for the money to be used for college or retirement. My idea would be to give much more money and let it grow only for retirement, however the money would only be a loan which would be paid back upon reaching adulthood. The loan would be paid out of the same funds that we currently pay to social security, thus there wouldn't be an extra burden.

Short term costs would be astronomical, but the long term benefits would be absolutely incredible.

ScottyD

Smartmoney.com: Consumer Action: Successful Landlords Aren't Wimps

Smartmoney.com: Consumer Action: Successful Landlords Aren't Wimps

THINKING OF BECOMING A LANDLORD? Join the club. A record 1.8 million homes were purchased as rental properties last year, according to the National Association of Realtors — a 14.4% increase from 2003. In fact, nearly one in every four homes bought in 2004 (23%) was a second-home purchase meant to be rented out.

A great article from Smartmoney on Rental Real Estate, if you are anticipate becoming a landlord read this.

Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MSFP

USATODAY.com - Equity-indexed annuities scrutinized

USATODAY.com - Equity-indexed annuities scrutinized

I think that most of the people selling these annuities are dishonest or naive. They don't understand the product and they mislead you into believing that you can earn a better return than is really possible. Most of these contracts are incredibly difficult to understand and are designed to benefit the insurance company, not the individual. Stay away from Equity Indexed Annuities.

Scott

Smartmoney.com: The Pro Shop: Should We Scrap the Tax Code?

Smartmoney.com: The Pro Shop: Should We Scrap the Tax Code?

"WHAT IF APRIL 15 WERE JUST another day? Just imagine: no more digging through shoe boxes full of receipts, no more standing in line at the post office, no more panicked calls to your accountant. "

Interesting article about a proposal in congress to eliminate the IRS. I read the book (The Fair Tax) and found it quite interesting. I am not yet committed to the idea, but am much more open to it now than I was before reading the book. Imagine not having the IRS to deal with......

Scott

Communications Back Up

E-mail is working now. My website is still down, but now in my control. I hope to have it up again soon. In the meantime www.meridianwealth.com has been forwarded to this blog.

Please send all e-mails to my normal address, scott@meridianwealth.com.

Scott

Communication Problems

While on vacation I had some e-mail problems. I was locked out of my webmail and could not respond to e-mails many of you sent from Tuesday August 1st through Saturday August 6th. If you sent an e-mail during this time period it was likely lost in cyberspace and I ask that you kindly resend it.

The problem stemmed from my e-mail box being full,
but not being able to empty it. I have fixed the
problem by switching to a new provider (Yahoo Web
Hosting) where access will be easy and my inbox will
never be full. This process may take a few days and
during this time you may have your e-mails to me
returned. Some e-mails are getting through, others
not. My website may also be down for a day or two
while the new provider takes over the daily
functions.

I apologize for any inconvenience this
may cause you, I assure you I am not happy about
the situation either. In the meantime, if an e-mail is
returned to you, you may respond to me at
scottyd12@yahoo.com. This problem should be
resolved by tomorrow.

Scott