500 Finance

Barnes & Noble bookstores and AT&T are now offering free wireless internet access to everyone. You can use this storefinder to see which ones have free Wi-Fi. Seems like they are now promoting their own e-Books as well through the service. Via Lifehacker.

You can still get 2 hours of free Wi-Fi every day from Starbucks if you register a gift card and use it once a month. Sometimes you just need a change of scenery to get the inspiration going again.

In my post Does My Car Qualify For Cash for Clunkers?, one of the major requirements was that the car must have a combined fuel economy of 18 mpg or less, according to FuelEconomy.gov. Many people have been complaining that their old car gets nowhere near the mileage that the website says they do, but at least there was a definitive source.

But wait. Due to some government wackiness, last week the EPA changed the ratings on nearly a hundred models of cars so that they no longer qualify. For example, some versions of the 1988 Toyota 4Runner SUV now have combined MPG ratings of over 19. The buzz about Cash for Clunkers has been going on for months, so (read more)

Many people see owning a rental property as a ticket to prosperity. But wouldn’t it be nice if you could simply own an interest in a rental property, but not have any of the accompanying hassles? I’m far from an expert in this field, but let’s take a look at an REIT that invest in residential real estate.

What is an REIT?
REIT stands for Real Estate Investment Trust. From the National Association of REITs website:

A REIT is a company that owns, and in most cases, operates income-producing real estate such as apartments, shopping centers, offices, hotels and warehouses. Some REITs also engage in financing real estate. The shares of many REITs are freely traded, usually on a major stock exchange.

To qualify as a REIT, a company must distribute at least 90 percent of its taxable income to its shareholders annually. A company that qualifies as a REIT is permitted to deduct dividends paid to its shareholders from its corporate taxable income. As a result, most REITs remit at least 100 percent of their taxable income to their shareholders and therefore owe no corporate tax.

Since all the REIT income usually “passes through” straight to the shareholders, you are getting relatively direct exposure to real estate. You’re not investing in raw materials, a homebuilder, or some other derivative.

REZ Residential ETF
The iShares FTSE NAREIT Residential Plus Capped Index Fund (ticker REZ) is an ETF that tracks the FTSE NAREIT All Residential Capped Index. Here is the breakdown by industry breakdown and (read more)

Jamba Juice just sent me this buy 1 get 1 free coupon. Expires 8/9. Good for those overheating states right now! Yes, it is overpriced fruit.

How do you read a book that you can’t buy in bookstores or find in libraries… because people keep stealing them since the title is Steal This Book? Even used copies are selling for double the retail list price. By reading a ripped off copy on the internet, of course.

Written by activist Abbie Hoffman in 1970, Steal This Book is basically a counter-culture guidebook to that era, and is self-described as a “manual of survival in the prison that is Amerika.” It promotes its own twisted view of morality, which is that it is okay to steal from everyone from the government to business owners like grocery stores, but not other Yippie activists. The “Survive!” section is basically a “How to see the US on zero dollars a day” travel book.

Whether (read more)

In the wake of the recent stock market drops, there has been a increased amount of interest in certain market timing systems that would have told an investor to be “out” of the market during late 2008 and early 2009. Below are a sample of the more popular mechanical systems, which have clear parameters and are easy to follow using basic investing tools.

100-Day Moving Average (FundAdvice.com)
FundAdvice.com is run by Merriman Capital, which provides money management services using both buy-and-hold and market timing models. I’ve mentioned them before for their index fund model portfolios and the related “Ultimate” Buy-and-Hold Portfolio. The website has an entire market timing section, and I am specifically referencing the articles here and here from 2001 and 2002.

Merriman recommends something called the 100-day moving average. For any given asset or mutual fund, you calculate the average of the most recent 100 days of closing prices. Each day, you’ll have a new average by adding the newest price and dropping the oldest price from the average. Then, you compare the current price of the fund with this simple moving average (SMA).

Each day the market is open, if the current price is above the 100-day SMA, you should buy the fund or hold it if you already own it. If the current price is below the 100-day SMA, sell it. After you sell, place your proceeds in (read more)

Online broker TradeKing.com has brought back their $50 sign-up bonus for new accounts as part of celebrating National Friendship Day. If you get a referral from an existing account holder, fund it with at least $1,000, and make a trade, both people will get $50.

Simply enter your friends’ email addresses below between now and August 27, and press Send. As soon as your friend deposits $1,000 and executes a trade, we’ll deposit $50 into both of your accounts. Isn’t friendship grand? Please note that your friends must click the link in the email for us to track them and for you to receive your reward. But don’t worry. We tell them (read more)