eMacromall.com - Investments

During the past two years (2010-2011), the federal government charged at least 67 people involved with criminal cases of fraudulent or related dishonest conduct. The charges include securities fraud, ponzi, investment fraud, adviser fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, tax fraud, conspiracy, embezzlement, and theft while they worked for investment firms, such as Edward Jones, UBS, Smith Barney, ING Financial Partners, Merrill Lynch &. Co, MF Global Holdings Ltd., Credit Suisse Group AG, and Infinity Financial Group LLC. They stole at least $9,499,093,000 from their clients.
In January 1980 gold hit $850 an ounce, it took until January 2008 before investors who bought at the high broke even. In the 1980s, the price plummeted about 65%. In 2008, gold lost more than 30% of its value. The price of an ounce of gold was $1,917.90, a set record on August 23, 2011.
Insider trader, who provides inside trading information before the trade is made, involving a tipper and a tippee, is both a theft and a fraud.
Many Chinese companies overstated their numbers to mislead people, especially U.S. investors and regulators. Ones of those are China Education Alliance (CEA) and China Media Express. CEA reported its "training center" had "17 modern classrooms" for 1,200 students; actually the "center" had no desks and was all but empty. The CEA' stock has plunged from $4.50 a share on November 26, 2010, to 76 cents on August 22, 2011 after the report was published. China Media Express, which inflated sales and profit, had its stock price collapsed, and trading in the shares was halted.
There are about 370 Chinese companies that obtained U.S. listings since 2004 without the rigors of initial public offerings; as of August 2011 at least eight of these companies had their registrations revoked, and over 25 ones have also reported other problems, including accounting issues and auditor resignations.
The average monthly pay in 2011 in China was $300, compared with monthly manufacturing wages of $120 in Vietnam. In 2010 Santa Clara, California-based Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, opened a $1 billion assembly and testing plant in Ho Chi Minh City. Finland-based Nokia, the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, opened a plant in Vietnam to manufacture low-end phones in 2011. Gerry Weber International AG Germany’s second-largest maker of women’s clothing, is increasingly shifting production from China to Vietnam with cheaper labor.
Since 1935, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation creating the first U.S. Savings Bonds, which have encouraged savings and a broad participation by Americans. Today, billions of dollars in savings bonds have stopped earning interests, but haven't been crashed. If you still have one, you may need to cash or reinvest it so your money can start working for you again.
There are ways you can get your IRA funds before retirement without penalty before age 59.5. If you meet some specific requirements, you can use your IRA to pay for medical expensive, health insurance, college, buying first home, disability, annuity payments, and military service.
The U.S. has the world's largest gold reserve - more than 8000 metric tons, which is worth an estimated $288 billion (2/2010). German has 3400 metric tons of gold, which comes in second.
Since 1971, the return on gold has been 8.86% a year, while the average return on stocks has been 9.76%.
In terms of return on investment, buying a home at this time is actually not that great of an investment
Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, and experts believe Tokyo has a 90 percent chance of being hit by a major quake between today and 2060. There is a 67 percent chance for at least one earthquake of magnitude 7 or larger in the San Francisco Bay Area between 1990 and 2020. Most insurance companies do not cover home/building damaged by an earthquake
Berkshire Hathaway is the most expensive U.S. stock, the price for one Class A share of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) briefly topped $100,000 in October 2006. It was reached $100,425 again on August 4, 2009. It was lost 32% of its value in 2008
2008 is the worst year of the stock market since 1937. During 2008 there was around $10 trillion household wealth destroyed. Value wiped out from the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 is around $7.3 trillion. Decline of the S&P 500 is 38.5% (loss around $4.8 trillion). The NASDAQ's loss is around 40.5%. The average loss among stock mutual funds is around 38%, and loss among bond mutual funds is around 8%
In terms of returns in 2008, while investors lose money, investment bankers continue receiving bonus. They receive money based on how many investment deals they can push through, not on the quality of the deals or long-term strategy.
Multinational life insurance companies, such as Metlife and Prudential, pocket hundreds of millions in profit that really belong to those who have lost familiy members.
Currently retirement savers can contribute up to $16,500 to a tax-deferred 401(k), which jumps to $22,000 for those age 50 and older.
The three oldest commodities exchanges in the US are Chicago Board of Trade established in 1848, Kansas City Board of Trade 1856, and New York Cotton Exchange 1870.
The three oldest stock exchanges in the US are Philadelphia Stock Exchange established in 1790, New York Stock Exchange 1792, and Boston Stock Exchange 1834.
The five oldest stock exchanges worldwide are Antwerp Bourse established in 1460, Lyons Bourse 1506, Toulouse Bourse 1549, Hamburg Bourse 1558, and London Royal Exchange 1571.
A stock is considered to be a share of ownership in a company that can be bought, sold or traded. A bond is a loan to a company that can be bought, sold or traded.