Recently added articles from Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine:
An editor's life.(FROM THE EDITOR)
Aug 01, 2008; Frailey, Fred W. ... An Editor's Life When I tell folks what I do for a living, they almost always get blank looks on their faces and change the subject--either that or ask for hot stock tips. I don't blame them for that. Nobody knows what an editor does. Journalism schools teach you how to edit, ...
Inflation hits home.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
Aug 01, 2008; Fisher, James R. ... Steep hikes in the price of bread and cheese raise red flags for one reader. Another challenges a columnist's stock pick. A reader says you might do better buying a foreclosed home at auction. And the owner of a GPS navigation device says he got a bum steer. And TIPS won't help ....
Correction.(LETTERS)(Correction notice)
Aug 01, 2008 ... Bridgeway Ultra-Small Company fund ...
States scramble to pay the bills: they're in a big bind, and budget shortfalls could linger for years.(TOPIC A)
Aug 01, 2008; Smith, Anne Kates ... IT'S EASY THESE DAYS TO imagine a scenario in which your income isn't what you thought it would be, the people you're responsible for are needier than ever and prices just keep going up. Now you know what your state's governor feels like. After years of operating comfortably in the black, ...
Decoding Wall Street's ratings: brokerage houses have many shades of "buy" and "sell" ratings. Here's what they really mean.(Interview)
Aug 01, 2008; Smith, Anne Kate ... In his new book, Full of Bull: Do What Wall Street Does, Not What it Says, to Make Money in the Market (FT Press), former analyst Stephen McClellan says most top analysts do more marketing than research. He recently spoke with David Landis. FILL US IN ON HOW TO INTERPRET "BUY" ...
Instant analysis: you'll soon be able to easily crunch corporate financial data.(PERSONAL TECH)(Brief article)
Aug 01, 2008 ... THE SECURITIES AND Exchange Commission plans to throw dogged investment sleuths a very big bone. The agency wants to require publicly traded companies, starting early next year with the largest ones, to file financial data in an interactive format that makes it easy to search and compare ...
Up go the rates for long-term care: policyholders will pay more, but it's still a good deal.(FAQ)
Aug 01, 2008; Lankford, Kimberly ... JOHN HANCOCK, ONE OF THE largest long-term-care insurers, plans to raise rates on existing policyholders for the first time ever. It is filing for a rate increase on long-term-care policies sold in the 1990s and on some newer New York Partnership policies. The changes will affect about ...
When it comes to your cash, think safety: yields are in the cellar, but you don't have to settle for 2%.(PORTFOLIO DOCTOR)
Aug 01, 2008; Kosnett, Jeffrey R. ... OUR READERS WHO: CHRISTIAN AND LORI KUZAN, BOTH 40 WHAT: HEALTH-CARE FINANCE ANALYST AND INSURANCE AGENT WHERE: HAMBURG, N.Y. FAMILY: AMANDA, 13 SYMPTOM: THEY NEED TO BUILD A CASH RESERVE AND INVEST IT SAFELY OH, THE JOY ...
Stocks to buy before the recovery: the market usually takes off before the economy picks up. So buy sooner rather than later.(INVESTING: STOCKS)(Industry overview)
Aug 01, 2008; Bickers, Amy ... WITH STOCKS, AS WITH SO much else in life, it's better to be early than late. Share prices regularly anticipate economic recoveries, climbing off their lows six to nine months before the economy starts to improve. If stocks behave as they usually do, get ready to make some money ...
Earnings never go out of style: Wall Street can't seem to figure out Jos. A. Bank. But business is good and the stock is cheap.(INVESTING: STOCKS: FUNDS)
Aug 01, 2008; Anderson, Thomas M. ... JOS. A. BANK CLOTHIERS seems to have a lot going against it. There's growing concern that strained consumers will buy fewer suits in an economy that is almost certainly in recession. The Hampstead, Md., men's clothing retailer has more than twice as many days of inventory as its main ...
Three low-risk bargain stocks: the manager of a stellar small-company fund likes his stocks safe and cheap.
Aug 01, 2008; Tanzer, Andrew ... "SAFE AND CHEAP" IS A phrase that's synonymous with the style of legendary investor Marty Whitman and his firm, Third Avenue Management. Whether they're investing at home or overseas, in companies large or small, Whitman and his colleagues won't buy a stock unless it meets those strict ...
Is Bill Miller toast?(MUTUAL FUNDS)
Aug 01, 2008; Kinnel, Russel ... Talk about a fall from grace. Legg Mason Value, managed by the once-revered Bill Miller, has performed so poorly the past two and a half years that Morningstar now gives the fund one star, our lowest rating. But should it really come as a surprise that Miller, who was once the talk of the ...
Wall Street goes negative: a quota for analyst sell recommendations may mean better stock research from brokers.(INVESTING: STOCK RESEARCH: FUNDS)
Aug 01, 2008; Anderson, Thomas M. ... BIG BROKERAGE FIRMS ARE still trying to wipe away the stain of the tainted stock research they foisted on investors during the Internet bubble of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Back then, as it turned out, some analysts hoping to win investment-banking business for their employers were ...
A muni fund shows boring can be beautiful.(THE KIPLINGER 25 UPDATE)(Municipal)(Table)
Aug 01, 2008 ... IN TIMES OF MARKET TURMOIL, FIDELITY Intermediate Municipal Income makes a fine safe haven. Over the past year, the fund topped the Lehman Brothers Municipal Bond index by nearly one percentage point. Manager Mark Sommer has dodged bullets at the two ends of the quality ...
Cashing in on the next big thing: Stephen and Sam Lieber seek out firms that create products to fill important needs.(INVESTING: FUNDS)(Table)
Aug 01, 2008; Ody, Elizabeth ... INNOVATION IS ALWAYS IN HIGH DEMAND, says Stephen Lieber, who along with son Samuel co-manages ALPINE DYNAMIC INNOVATORS, a top small-company growth fund over the past year. So, says the elder Lieber, the pair invest in companies that create new products for which "there's a great need." ...
Beat high prices: worried about inflation? Three families tell how they save thousands on food, gas and more.(MONEY)
Aug 01, 2008; Bickers, Amy ... SUDDENLY, SAVING IS SEXY AND BUDGETING IS BACK IN VOGUE. ALL IT TOOK WAS GAS at $4 per gallon and a 30% increase in the price of eggs, and now even families who were accustomed to spending freely (or using their credit cards) are trying to economize. // Prices have been rising right along ...
Cut costs with cards that pay you back.(CREDIT CARDS: OUR FAVORITES)
Aug 01, 2008; Goldwasser, Joan ... One way to cut the cost of credit-card purchases is to keep your interest rate as low as possible. If your card company raises your rate, call customer service, advises Bill Hardekopf, of LowCards.com. "Tell the issuer, 'I need you to lower the rate or I'll leave.'" With prices ...
E-book readers: paperless at a price: Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader cost too much for what they deliver.(Product/service evaluation)
Aug 01, 2008; Bertolucci, Jeff ... AMAZON.COM BILLS ITS Kindle as a "revolutionary wireless reading device." And it does have some cool features. The Kindle (and its top rival, the Sony Reader) is roughly the size of a slim paperback and can store a bookcase of digital books. Plus, if your eyesight isn't perfect, the device ...
She won a fortune with a cookie: a Maryland homemaker took the million-dollar grand prize in the Pillsbury Bake-Off with her Double Delight Peanut Butter Cookie.(MY STORY: Carolyn Gurtz, Gaithersburg, Maryland)(Interview)
Aug 01, 2008; Tiefenbacher, Wendy ... WHAT WAS YOUR STRATEGY FOR WINNING? It took me a while to figure it out. I've entered for most of the past 15 years, but this was the first time I was among the 100 finalists. I think the two secrets are to make your recipe easy to prepare and to make sure it appeals to all ages. And you ...