Another Top 100 List

In case you missed my post on Twitter and Facebook, or the new link in the sidebar, I would like to bring your attention to something. Online MBA Guide recently published the "100 Best Financial Planning Blogs".
Yours truly, here at DebtFree4ever.NET was listed at number 75 on the list. Feel free to check it out, and see all the blogs that made the list.



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Beware of Counterfeit Coupons

Do you print coupons off the internet? If so did you know that you may be unwittingly be counterfeiting? Recently, Proctor and Gamble (P&G) sent information o its sales reps, distributors and retailers.
In their information they made three points

P&G does not authorize sales of coupons to consumers. (P&G does sell Pamper Certificates, which have a coupon-like appearance.)

P&G "Terms of Proper Coupon Redemption" state coupons are void if transferred )including sold or auctioned) to any person, firm or group and void if reproduced (including by electronic, photographic or any other means in any media).

P&G does NOT distribute internet print at home coupons.

Think about it folks. Do you really think there are coupons for a free multi-pack of Bounty or Charmin? Common sense should tell you that there is no such thing as "FREE" coupons when the product is over $10 (as the 2 examples above are). Really, it would be questionable if the coupon has a value of more then $2, period.

You cannot buy legit coupons on eBay or any other auction site. That should be a red flag rite there.

P&G is so serious about finding those issuing the counterfeit coupons that they are offering a reward of $2500 to the successful prosecution of the individual(s) responsible for producing counterfeit coupons.

Individuals and internet sites attempting to redeem, transmit, auction, post, reproduce, transfer, barter or sell counterfeit coupons may be subject to criminal prosecution and/or civil action.

So be wary, internet coupons are suspicious and more often then not down right counterfeits. The only way to be sure a coupon is legit is from your local newspaper or the direct mailers (often from the company itself) that you get in the mail.


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Are Savers Getting Hosed?

That is the question, I was left with after reading a recent LA Times article.

Who's really bailing out the banks?

Taxpayers, for sure. But the largely unsung victims of the financial system rescue are loyal bank depositors -- especially older people who have relied on interest income from savings certificates to live.
- LA Times article.

The problem is, it appears, according to the article, is interest rates. Well duh, even in best of times, bank interest rates are pathetic savings tools.

To save the banks from soaring loan losses, the Federal Reserve did what it always does when the industry gets into trouble: Policymakers hacked their benchmark short-term interest rate, which in turn pulled down all other short-term rates, including on savings vehicles.

But this time the Fed went to rock-bottom on rates. In December, the central bank declared that it would allow its benchmark rate to fall as low as zero.

Savers still are paying the price for that gift to the banks. Average rates on certificates of deposit nationwide have continued to slide this year, according to rate tracker Informa Research Services in Calabasas.

The average yield on a six-month CD fell to 1.27% this week, down from 1.86% on Jan. 1 and 2.24% a year ago.

Anyone who has a CD maturing soon should be prepared for serious sticker shock.
- LA Times article.

Listen, when you give up risk, for safety, you lose the potential earning power. That holds more true, with the down turn of the economy. Why would the LA Times run this article? It's not shocking news. It's basic economics, that anyone who saves, should already know.
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Carnivals

DebtFree4ever.net was included in one blog carnival this week. n Monday, April 20, the Carnival of Everything Money, included my interview with the 3 co-hosts of Happy Hour.

Prince of Thrift presents Happy Hour Hosts Sits Down with DebtFree4ever posted at Becoming & Staying Debt Free, saying, "The Fox Business Channel, co-hosts of Happy Hour. Rebecca Diamond, Cody Willard and Eric Bolling set down to answer a few questions for the blog."

To my knowledge there weren't any other carnivals that linked to me this week.

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Sell of Underperforming Stock Doubles Money

The other day, when I interviewed Cody Willard, Rebecca Diamond and Eric Bolling I asked Cody about Pier 1 (PIR). Willard said

I can't give stock advice directly, but how about this? I don't own it.

The stock had been bellow $1/share for some time. Then came last Thursday, the day I posted the interview. The stock soared up 50 cents to close at $1.45. Finally, the stock was above $1. It was about time. Do I continue holding? Or do I sell. I decided to hedge and put in a stop-loss order.
For, those unfamiliar with a stop-loss, that means I put in a sell order to only enact if the stock goes down. If the stock goes up, I continue holding onto my shares. My stop-loss order was for $1.44. Allowing it to drop only 1 cent. Thankfully, on Friday it went up again. Closing at $1.70. I placed a new stop-loss order for $1.68. This time allowing it to drop 2 cents, before I cut and ran.
Monday came, and the stock fell. Closing the day at $1.47. I however had sold my 142 shares at $1.68. That means my initial $64 (+8 commission) investment became $228.73 (after the $9.95 sell commission).

$228 wont go very far, and for now it remains in my Sharebuilder money market account. Now, do I make a new investment, as I work towards owning a piece of every publicly traded retail company? Or do I cash out that money and use it to pay down my car loan? One thing for sure, I will have to save enough to pay the tax implications.

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BREAKING NEWS: Freddie Mac CFO Found Dead

FOX News and the Washington Post are reporting that David Kellerman, 41, acting CFO of Freddie Mac, was found dead this morning of an apparent suicide.

The acting chief financial officer of Freddie Mac was found dead in his home Wednesday morning of an apparent suicide, Fairfax, Va., police have confirmed to FOX News.

Kellermann, a 16-year veteran of the mortgage loan guarantor, was reportedly discovered by his wife.
- Fox News

The Washington Post said

David Kellermann, 41, was a longtime Freddie Mac executive who joined the firm as analyst in 1992. He was named acting chief financial officer last September when the federal government seized Freddie Mac. The company had made risky mortgage-related investments that were causing billions in losses.
- Washington Post

We at DebtFree4ever, would like to wish our condolences to his family and loved ones in this time of sorrow.


UPDATE:

Freddie Mac CFO Found Hanging in His Basement, Law Enforcement Officials Tell ABC News [9:37 a.m. ET]

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Happy Hour Hosts Sits Down with DebtFree4ever

One of my goals in coming to New York, was to land an interview with some big names. Well a week or two out from my scheduled trip, I was able to secure a promise from one-third of a trio of financial stars. Well, at least they are stars if you want to call them that, on the Fox Business Channel, where they co-host Happy Hour. Rebecca Diamond, Cody Willard and Eric Bolling are their names. I was originally suppose to be at the bar on Monday, and I was, but they were having technical problems, so they moved the production back to FOX studios. Which dashed my opportunities a bit. Still though, I did not give up. I returned on Tuesday, my last full day in New York, and was finally able to meet the trio in person. So without further ado, we will go to the interview.


Prince Of Thrift (POT): Where did you go to College? and what was your degree?

Cody: I attended the University of New Mexico and earned a degree in economics. In addition, I am an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, where I teach a class called Revolutionomics focused on technology and business.

Eric: I attended Rollins College, undergraduate, with a degree in business and economics. I also attended Duke University, but I didn't graduate because I was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates. True story.

Rebecca: University of Maryland with a degree in journalism.

POT: Do you think the current economic climate will finally get people to realize that debt is bad and retirement saving should be a priority?

Rebecca: I hope so. That has been a theme on the show. The government wants us to borrow more, when that's what got us in this mess to begin with.

I might also say that I have been cutting back on my own spending and saving more.

Cody: Yes! Absolutely! It is an entire tipping point that we have.

POT: Who is your favorite economist?

Cody: Plato

Eric: Ronald Reagan - he saved the economy.

Rebecca: I don't really have one... I tend to take snippets from several different ones...both Republicans and Democrats.

POT: What happens to the shareholders, if a stock is de-listed by the New York Stock Exchange, because it fell below $1 per share?

Cody: Sometimes it doesn't matter. It moves to the bulletin board. If the business turns, it goes up and makes it's way back to the NYSE.

POT: What if it goes private, because of the de-listing?

It's possible. The shareholder wouldn't lose their shares. They would just own a piece of a privately held company.

POT: Should I hold my pier 1 stock?

Cody: I can't give stock advice directly, but how about this? I don't own it.

Rebecca: They say that could be the next one to go bankrupt or be bought out.


POT: In a recent LA Times article, it said you were a childhood friends with Neil Patrick Harris. How did that happen?

Cody: My mom was friends with his mom and we grew up in the same small town (in New Mexico).


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