Wall Street’s love of leverage is threatening to turn around and bite it in the assets, as many companies find their issuance of debt could potentially become their undoing. Massive amounts of corporate debt issued between 2003 and 2007 will come due over the next four years, and companies’ inability to refinance their debt will leave them stuck with high interest payments, dragging down corporate earnings and forcing some companies into bankruptcy. Continue reading Rising Corporate Debt Could Bankrupt Firms, Crash Market by 2013 Rising Corporate Debt Could Bankrupt Firms, Crash Market by 2013 originally appeared on DailyFinance on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 09:05:00. Filed Under: Economy , Investing , Credit Permalink | Tweet this! | Comments

More:
Rising Corporate Debt Could Bankrupt Firms, Crash Market by 2013

As investments, municipal bonds have been traditionally seen as safe, stodgy and boring. None of those terms describe Jim Lebenthal, one of “munis” biggest fans. At 81, Lebenthal is a larger-than-life character, a raconteur who can sell ice cubes to Eskimos without breaking a sweat. Munis are in his blood. “Has there ever been such an enthusiastic booster of the municipal bond market?” asked Bloomberg News columnist Joe Mysak a few years ago. Probably not. Continue reading Jim Lebenthal Remains Muni Bonds’ Biggest Champion Jim Lebenthal Remains Muni Bonds’ Biggest Champion originally appeared on DailyFinance on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:00:00. Filed Under: Retirement , People , Investing , Taxes Permalink | Tweet this! | Comments

Read more: 
Jim Lebenthal Remains Muni Bonds’ Biggest Champion

Back in late 2007, when Nokia’s ( NOK ) shares were close to $40 per share, the company agreed to shell out $8.1 billion for NavTeq, a leading mapping and navigation company. It was the biggest deal in Nokia’s long history, and it looked like a smart one. Continue reading Weapons of Map Disruption: How Google Is Crushing Nokia’s NavTeq Weapons of Map Disruption: How Google Is Crushing Nokia’s NavTeq originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:20:00. Filed Under: Company News , Technology , Google , Nokia Permalink | Tweet this! | Comments

Original post: 
Weapons of Map Disruption: How Google Is Crushing Nokia’s NavTeq

Nationwide is “on your side” as the financial services giant’s corporate slogan goes, but Lou Haddock doesn’t think so. In a class action originally filed in the United States District Court in Connecticut 2001 Haddock, a trustee of a retirement plan advised by Nationwide, charges it with accepting “revenue sharing payments” from mutual funds as the cost of being included as investment options in its retirement plans. Haddock claims the receipt of these payments violates the Columbus, Ohio-based company’s “fiduciary duty,” which Haddock alleges is the duty to act solely in the best interest of the plan participants. In a previous blog post , I discussed similar claims against another insurance company, John Hancock. Continue reading Is Nationwide on Your Side? Not Everyone Thinks So Is Nationwide on Your Side? Not Everyone Thinks So originally appeared on DailyFinance on Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:00:00. Filed Under: Retirement , Insurance Permalink | Tweet this! | Comments

More here:
Is Nationwide on Your Side? Not Everyone Thinks So

Filed under: Investing If you’ve checked the balance on your 401(k) lately, you’re likely breathing a mini sign of relief as the Dow’s bounce back above 10,000 helps replenish some losses suffered during the recession. But as stocks remain volatile and the recession hampers retirement planning for millions, we sought advice from Christine Marcks, CEO of Prudential Retirement, the retirement arm of financial services giant Prudential Financial. In our conversation, Marcks outlines a game plan for laid off workers and describes new tools available for today’s pre-retirees. Despite what some published reports say, the 401(k) is still very relevant, Marcks adds. Continue reading CEO’s Corner: Prudential’s Christine Marcks says no need to retire the 401(k) CEO’s Corner: Prudential’s Christine Marcks says no need to retire the 401(k) originally appeared on DailyFinance on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

Read the original here: 
CEO’s Corner: Prudential’s Christine Marcks says no need to retire the 401(k)

Filed under: Retirement , Company News , Technology , Columns , People , Investing , Media , One Year Later Why you should not listen to Dr. Doom, Nouriel Roubini. ______________________ Dilbert gets his boss onto twitter. ______________________ Why did all the prediction markets get the Olympic decision to reject Chicago so wrong? ______________________ Continue reading Daily Blogwatch: Dilbert uses twitter; Sesame Street meets Mad Men Daily Blogwatch: Dilbert uses twitter; Sesame Street meets Mad Men originally appeared on DailyFinance on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post:
Daily Blogwatch: Dilbert uses twitter; Sesame Street meets Mad Men

Filed under: Retirement , Economy , Investing , One Year Later Toddlers learn to steer clear of a hot stove after they get burned once, maybe twice. Investors, however, can be a little slower on the uptake. This time last year, banks that were long thought to be “too big to fail” collapsed, investments that were considered safe imploded and retirement accounts got chopped in half. With such harsh lessons learned , some investors remain justifiably chastened. But now with the Dow inching back towards 10,000 , it appears others have all-too-soon forgotten the events of last year. Here are some of the lessons investors should have learned from the crash: Continue reading One Year Later: Lessons we (should have) learned from the crash One Year Later: Lessons we (should have) learned from the crash originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post: 
One Year Later: Lessons we (should have) learned from the crash

Filed under: Retirement , Investing A globally diversified portfolio of low cost index funds, conservatively invested 60 percent in stocks and 40 percent in bonds, is up 20 percent year-to-date. How’s your portfolio doing? Probably not very well if you listened to “market beating” brokers or to much of the financial media. During this period, the financial news has been dismal: The bankruptcy of Chrysler and General Motors; Madoff’s sentencing; sabre rattling by North Korea; downgrading the credit of (gasp!) Berkshire Hathaway; the sad spectacle of California issuing IOU’s to stave off bankruptcy. And don’t forget the swine flu pandemic. Continue reading If this is a sucker’s rally, I’ll take it If this is a sucker’s rally, I’ll take it originally appeared on DailyFinance on Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

Here is the original: 
If this is a sucker’s rally, I’ll take it

Filed under: Retirement Retirement mistake #3 is fleeing to safety. We heard a lot from the financial pundits about “fleeing to safety” when the market was tanking. They have been quiet during the recent market rally. For retirees, fleeing to safety can be an oxymoron. Here’s why. By keeping all your investments in Treasury bills, bonds, or even under the mattress, you are preserving your assets and protecting them from the risk of the stock market — but at what cost? Continue reading Retirement mistake no. 3: Fleeing to safety Retirement mistake no. 3: Fleeing to safety originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 07 Sep 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

Read more here:
Retirement mistake no. 3: Fleeing to safety

Filed under: Retirement These are tough times for retirees and those planning for retirement. Retirement nest eggs have been plundered. Downsizing has forced many people into early retirement with less money to sustain the “golden years.” You can’t do much about the past, but you can avoid mistakes that will make a bad situation worse. In this series of posts, retirement expert Dan Solin discusses the ten biggest money mistakes a retiree can make. Continue reading Top 10 retirement mistakes Top 10 retirement mistakes originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

Read the original post: 
Top 10 retirement mistakes