A Chinese company could offer the biggest-ever U.S. initial public offering.
Excitement is starting to build over the planned American IPO of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Yahoo (YHOO) owns nearly a quarter of the Chinese company, and details about its rapid growth showed up Yahoo’s earnings report. Alibaba’s quarterly profit doubled to $1.4 billion. Its sales volume was larger than that of Amazon.com (AMZN) and eBay (EBAY), the two largest U.S.-based online retailers, combined. Alibaba’s IPO, planned for later this year, could be on par with Facebook’s (FB).
Here on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) gained 89 points Tuesday, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index (^GPSC) rose 12 points, and the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) added 11 points.
Tuesday’s session was volatile, and we could be in for another bout of that Wednesday. Investors are dealing with the crisis in Ukraine, GDP from China and a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
More than two dozen major Nasdaq stocks have tumbled at least 20 percent from recent highs,
including well-known names such as Netflix (NFLX), Staples (SPLS), Tesla Motors (TSLA), Sirius XM (SIRI), Amazon, Whole Foods Markets (WFM), Facebook and Yahoo. The worst performer is VimpelCom (VIP), a Chinese-based telecom company. It’s down 45 percent from its 52 week high.
Detroit is a step closer to resolving the city’s bankruptcy. Leaders of a group representing about 6,500 retired firefighters and police officers agreed to trim their retirement benefits and consider a possible reduction in their annual cost-of-living increases.
Finally, Pfizer (PFE) isn’t going into the ice cream business — and it’s trying to stop a small British company from making Viagra-laced ice cream. The British company has mixed the erectile dysfunction drug into a blue-colored ice cream it calls “Arousal.” Pfizer warns its blockbuster drug is a prescription only medicine. We’ll stay clear of the obvious puns about Viagra ice cream.
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Interest rates are low, but that’s no excuse to accept 0.01 percent interest rates on your savings. Just a little shopping can find you many FDIC-insured savings accounts paying as much as 1 percent in interest, usually with no fees and easy availability to your money through electronic funds transfers. Compared to the near-zero rates that uninsured money-market mutual funds and other alternatives pay, high-interest savings accounts are a much safer way to save.
1. Letting your savings earn virtually no interest.
Banks still try to get customers to pay more for less, with one recent threat to charge fees for basic deposit accounts if the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates further. But many online banks not only offer fee-free options on their checking and savings accounts but also pay interest, and many have extensive fee-free ATM networks or reimbursement arrangements. If your bank follows through on threats to raise fees, taking your business elsewhere is your best move.
2. Paying big fees to banks for simple accounts.
Bankrate reports that the average credit card charges around 16 percent in interest. That’s a guaranteed money-maker for the banks that issue cards, but a big loser for those who carry balances on their cards. With many cards offering promotional interest rates as low as 0 percent, using them to get rid of high-interest cards is a no-brainer move and can help you pay your debt down faster.
3. Hanging onto high-interest credit cards.
Mistakes on your credit history can keep you from getting a loan that you want to buy your next home or car, but they can also have consequences you’d never imagine. Increasingly, insurance companies, apartment rental agents, and even prospective employers order copies of your credit report to see if you’re financially responsible. Be sure to take advantage of your free credit check at the government’s annualcreditreport.com website to make sure the three big credit-rating agencies have everything right before mistakes come back to bite you.
4. Letting credit report errors cost you money.
Payday loans have gotten more tightly regulated recently, but banks and other financial institutions still offer ways to let you get quicker access at your cash — for a hefty fee. Resorting to short-term money fixes can land you in even more problematic situations down the road, because those solutions often create debt spirals from which it’s hard to emerge unscathed. Set up an emergency fund instead and be prepared in advance for the money woes that life throws your way.
5. Being impatient to get at your cash.
Interest rates have risen during the last half of 2013, with a typical 30-year mortgage carrying a 4.5 percent interest rate. But many homeowners still carry higher-interest mortgages from before the financial crisis. Now that home prices have risen, you might be able to refinance for the first time, and many homeowners have used lower rates to cut hundreds from their mortgage payment or shift to a shorter-term 15-year mortgage to pay off their debt faster.
6. Paying too much for your mortgage.
Too many people never update their insurance coverage to deal with changes in their coverage needs, whether it comes from changes in family status for life insurance, health conditions for health-care or long-term care insurance, or even what types of property you own for homeowners’ insurance. Don’t wait for disaster to strike; check with your insurer or agent to see if your current coverage meets your needs.
7. Having the wrong insurance.
In the past, investors had to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars just to make a simple stock purchase. Now, though, the rise of discount brokers, low-fee index funds and exchange-traded funds, and freely available investment news and advice have made it silly to spend large amounts to get access to the financial markets. If you’re still paying your broker too much to invest, look into alternatives that can help you avoid cutting serious money out of your retirement nest egg.
8. Getting charged too much to invest.
Everyone likes a tax break, and one of the best ones for you to use involves making contributions to a tax-favored retirement account. By putting money in an IRA or 401(k), you can reduce your current taxable income and save on your taxes while also preparing for the future. With 401(k)s, your employer might even chip in a bit on your behalf. Even when times are tough, finding even small amounts to save can put time on your side and make a big difference down the road.
9. Skimping on your retirement savings.
Many investors found out the hard way this year that bonds aren’t as safe as they thought, with some major bond funds posting double-digit percentage losses in 2013. Despite those losses, bonds still carry substantial risk in 2014, with many calling for imminent interest-rate hikes that would erode their value further. Even now, bond rates are so low that they don’t compensate you much for their risk.
10. Betting too big on bonds.
In contrast to bonds, stocks have soared in 2013. That has some investors finally piling into the market for the first time since 2008 and 2009, while others remain shell-shocked from the massive losses they incurred back then during the financial crisis. Even with the Dow Jones Industrials (^DJI) and other major market benchmarks near all-time record highs, it makes sense to have some stock exposure in your portfolio. Just don’t go overboard in the false belief that gains of 20 percent and 30 percent will happen every year.
11. Betting too big — or too small — on stocks.
If you pay full price for just about anything these days, you’re paying too much. The rise of deep-discount stores has led to falling prices at stores and shopping malls. Moreover, online tools like coupon sites, daily-deal offers, discounted gift cards, and cash-back credit-card deals can cut your costs as well. With all these tools, you won’t find many situations in which you have no chance of getting a bargain on the items you want.
12. Paying more than you have to when you go shopping.
In the past, many young adults focused on getting into as strong a college as they could, figuring that their degree would pay them enough to make up for the costs they incurred. With college graduates facing a more challenging job environment than ever, smart students are thinking about college costs before they make a decision on a school. By maximizing financial aid and looking at lower-tuition schools with nearly as strong educational quality, you can avoid creating a big debt hole that you’ll struggle with for years into the future.
13. Ignoring the financial aspects of college education.
If you don’t have a will, a power of attorney for financial and health-care matters, and an advance directive to tell medical professionals whether you want certain life-preserving measures taken if something happens to you, then you’re putting your family at risk. Many people don’t have even these basic estate-planning documents, but getting them in place is easier and less expensive than most believe. Get your affairs taken care of in 2014 and save your loved ones some big future hassles.
14. Not planning for worst-case scenarios.
Resolving to be more financially astute and to avoid common mistakes will help you get your finances in order more quickly. These tips should give you more money to help you meet all your financial goals.
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