Where can I find cheap credits? Online! Posted By : DavidYuri

Determined to succeed, we resort to the specialized services offered by financial and lending institutions. Given the advances of todays business world, we can take various types of loans and use the money given to develop our business. Still, in order to make an informed decision we have to know what options we have and here is where the Internet comes in. Personal finance is the application of the principles of finance to the monetary decisions of an individual or family unit. It addresses the ways in which individuals or families obtain, budget, save and spend monetary resources over time, taking into account various financial risks and future life events. Components of personal finance might include checking and savings accounts, credit cards and consumer loans, investments in the stock market, retirement plans, social security benefits, insurance policies, and income tax management.

Tips on Getting More from Your Credit Card Rewards Program Posted By : Annette D. Wilson

Do you own a reward credit card or are you planning on applying for one? Many people own one or more reward credit cards on their account but not all of them are reaping the rewards they deserve. In this article, let's discuss some tips on how you can get more from your credit card rewards program and how to make sure that you'll be redeeming those well-deserved rewards Personal finance is the application of the principles of finance to the monetary decisions of an individual or family unit. It addresses the ways in which individuals or families obtain, budget, save and spend monetary resources over time, taking into account various financial risks and future life events. Components of personal finance might include checking and savings accounts, credit cards and consumer loans, investments in the stock market, retirement plans, social security benefits, insurance policies, and income tax management.

Take Action - What to Do if you Lose your Credit Card Posted By : Scott Stadler

The chances are good that each and every one of us will lose or have our credit card stolen at least once in our lifetime. When talking about cash, this would be a lose-lose proposition every time. But fortunately, by law, credit cards come with built in protection in just such circumstances. When you know what to do if you lose your credit card, the whole thing is nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Here are the steps to take if the inevitable happens to you. Personal finance is the application of the principles of finance to the monetary decisions of an individual or family unit. It addresses the ways in which individuals or families obtain, budget, save and spend monetary resources over time, taking into account various financial risks and future life events. Components of personal finance might include checking and savings accounts, credit cards and consumer loans, investments in the stock market, retirement plans, social security benefits, insurance policies, and income tax management.

Bank of America $100 Business Checking Bonus

Did you get $200 bonus from Chase? With all these business checking bonus, I’m thinking of getting a tax EIN number from my local city hall just so I can open a business account. Here’s the new $100 business checking from Bank of America.

From the website:

Get $100 for your new business checking account today
Open a new business checking account with Bank of America and get $100. Bring this coupon into a Bank of America banking center to take advantage of this limited time offer. Certain conditions apply.

Visit us online at www.bankofamerica.com to find a location near you.

Validation code: BTB0100

Make sure to stop by a local BOA by March 31st with offer code BTB0100 coupon. I believe the business checking is free if you have a personal account. Ask your local CSR for more information. Bonus will come in 60 days or less. Read more about business checking here.

Top Cash Back Gas Credit Cards:

• 10% Chase BP Visa Rewards Card, then 5% after 2 months **good only at BP gas stations**
• 5% Discover Open Road Card
• 5% AmEx SimplyCash
• 3.75% Chase Freedom Cash Visa Card
• 3% Chase PerfectCard MasterCard, 6% first 3 months

$100 Off Playstation 3 and 10000 Points Promotion with Sony Card

We all know the DVD format’s war is over. Sony blu-ray is the winner..yada yada yada. I’m thinking of buying a Playstation 3 since it’s both a game console and a blu-ray player. It’s a great gaming system, and you’ll get the most up to date blu-ray player via firmware updates with wireless internet connection.

Click on this Sony link, and you will see the $100 credit toward your next purchase on the right sidebar. If you apply for the Sony card through the link, you will get $100 credit toward anything on the Sony website. This is a good deal for those looking for a Playstation 3 console. Your 40GB will be only $299 after the $100 credit from your new Sony credit card.

Here’s the fine print:

Get a $100 card credit after your first qualifying purchase of $299 or more.

Don’t settle for an ordinary credit card. Enjoy more points, more savings, more prizes and more fun with Sony Card. Get instant approval and a $100 card credit after your first qualifying Sony Card purchase of $299 or more!

I’m told that you can buy the Playstation 3 anywhere, and the $100 credit will apply. Make sure to call them first to make sure.

If you already have a Sony card, they just sent out this recent promotion: www.sony.com/sonycard/flyfree
You register your Sony credit card, then spend $500 before March 31st, and receive 10,000 bonus points. You can save the 10000 points with this free one companion voucher ticket promotion.

Best Printable Coupons

Use these coupons to save you money:

1. Office Depot $10 off $25 good until 3/1
2. $10 off Body Shop good until 3/10
3. 15% off American Eagle good until 3/5
4. AC Moore 40% off good until 3/4
5. CVS earn triple ECB good until 3/15
6. Rite Aid Coupons good until 3/15
7. Target Coupons good until 3/15
8. Walgreens Coupons good until 3/29
9. Chuck E Cheese coupons good until 3/11
10. 30% off Borders coupon good until 3/2

Quick Summary Citi CashReturns^SM Card:

• Earn 5% cash back on ALL purchases for 3 months
• Earn 1% cash back on ALL purchases and eligible cash advances after the first 3 months
• NO LIMIT and NO EXPIRATION on the amount of cash back you can earn
• Checks will be sent automatically every time you earn $50 - no calling necessary
• 0% APR* on balance transfers for 12 months
• No Annual Fee

Apply Now!

Starwood Preferred Guest Business 10000 Bonus Points

Looking for free hotel nights, gift cards, or airline ticket? How about 10000 bonus Starpoints after first purchase with the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express. The 10000 bonus points can be converted to $100 Amazon.com, Gap, or Banana Republic gift card. If you don’t like gift cards, then 10K points can be worth up to 3 hotel nights stay. You need 20000 points for a round-trip ticket, so you are half way there. Apply the Regular Starwood too for a free airline ticket.

Anybody can apply for a business credit card. Here's a quick recap:

Whether you have a home-based business or that you have sold something on Ebay, you can apply for a business credit card. You can put your name as the business name and your social security number as the tax id. Your business is called sole proprietorship and it's perfectly legal with the IRS.

However, some people save the points to earn a free flight ticket once you reach the 20K points mark. Here is a quick summary with their rewards program:

1. Convert a few miles so they won’t expire and top off to get to the reward ticket level
2. Get 1.25 miles per dollar spent which is 25% more than most other airlines cards.
3. Points can be converted to gift cards, hotel nights, and airline tickets.

Top Reasons Why Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express is the best Airline Travel Card:

1) Starwood points can be easily converted to frequent flier miles

• The Starwood points convert on a 1:1 (1 Starwood point = 1 frequent flier mile) basis on major domestic airlines include Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, Northwest and US Airways/America West.

2) Get that free flight ticket by topping it off or keep your miles from expiring

• Say you want to fly free and you have only 23K delta flier miles, and you need to 2K more to make a free flight. With Starwood points, you can transfer your already earned points to Delta frequent flier program and get your free ticket. Hence, you don’t need to earn the points by doing other spending methods.
• In order to keep your miles from expiring, simply convert a few hundred miles every now and then so your account would be active with other airlines. If not, you could lose your miles for being inactive.

3) Great hotel card reward card

Don’t like gift cards or airline ticket? How about hotel stay for as little as 2000 points per night. There is no blackout date and all taxes are covered. Choose from Hotels such as Sheraton, W hotels, Westin, and St. Regis.

4) Get 25% more miles extra

• Other airline credit cards such Delta, United , and American give out great bonuses but all give you 1 mile per dollar spent. The Starwood Biz does the same with 1 Starwood point for $1 spent. This changes whenever you convert 20000 points, you get an additional 5000 bonus points or 20000 Starwood points = 25000 miles on all airlines flier program. This resulted in an extra 25% more miles per dollar spent.

5) Free 10000 bonus points, another 15000 possible bonus points, and first year membership fee is waived

• If you sign up now, Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express is giving away 10000 Starwood bonus points after first purchase. Your membership fee is waived for the 1st year, and $45 annual fee after that.
• Another current promotion is an additional 15000 bonus points for spending $15K in the first 6 months on top of the 1 dollar per point spent.

Quick Summary:

Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express

• Earn 10,000 Starpoints with your first purchase - that’s good for up to 3 free nights!
• Earn 1 Starpoint for virtually every dollar you spend on the Card and 2 Starpoints at participating Starwood hotels and resorts
• Redeem at over 825 participating Starwood hotels and resorts in 95 countries including Sheraton®, Westin® and W Hotels®
• Transfer to over 30 frequent flyer programs, most on a one-to-one basis.
• Save 3-25% on business purchases at companies like FedEx, Delta, Hertz®, and more.
• No annual fee for the first year - a savings of $45
• Voted Best Affinity Credit Card by frequent travelers in 19th Annual Freddie Awards

Apply Now!

Citibank 40000 Bonus Thank You Points and $200 Cash

According to this MSN Money article and a few members of Fatwallet, you can get 40000 bonus thank you points by depositing $25K into your Checking or MMA account. You can pick up the flier promotion by visiting a local Citibank branch. Here’s the fine print:

You’re on your way

To take off with a round-trip ticket, courtesy of Citibank -

1. Deposit $25,000 into your Citibank Money Market Plus Account.
2. Make sure your checking account is enrolled in the ThankYou Network.
3. Complete 1 direct deposit to, or make 2 electronic bill payments from your checking account each month for 3 consecutive months.
4. You’ll get 40,000 ThankYou Points redeemable for 2 round-trip tickets valued at up to $400 to anywhere in the continental U.S.
5. Start packing

If you never had a Citi Checking account, then you qualify for $200 bonus with offer code MVS4. You can confirm the $200 offer by calling 1-866-810-9043. The Promo Code expires February 29, 2008

If the above number doesn’t work, try calling 1-800-374-9500 to speak with a CSR . You want to speak to a CSR from the USA and not offshore one to verify the promotion code. You will be transferred to a “personal banker” who will process the application. To avoid a hard credit inquiry, don’t accept overdraft protection, a line of credit, or any other product that would likely result in a hard credit inquiry.

How does this work?

1. Call them at 1-866-810-9043 using offer Code: MVS4
2. Open a Checking account with $100 deposit
   
3. This deal expires 2/29/08. There is no online promo page.
4. First $100 earned after 3 months of direct deposit OR using online bill pay for 2 bills per month. Second $100 earned after 3 more months of direct deposit OR bill pay.
5. Make sure you ask them about the deal in writing for the $200 bonus. They do forget the second bonus if you don't remind them

CitiBusiness® PremierPass^SM Card gives you 15000 points = $150 gift card

• 0% APR on Balance Transfers for 12 months*
• Access to business-sized credit lines, unlimited cards for employees.
• 1 point for every $1 spent on purchases and 1 point for every mile flown on any airline*, 3 points for every $1 spent on certain business purchases*
• Free, unlimited companion travel, no black out dates.
• 24/7 live customer service and online access.
• Personal Business Assistant - Make requests 24/7 online or by phone for business information, travel reservations.
• No balance transfer fee with this offer

Apply Now!

CitiBusiness® Card give you 15000 Thank You points = $150 bonus (Turn off pop-up blocker, and exit the page after clicking to see the bonus)

• 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months*
• No annual fee
• Business-size credit line
• Free additional cards for employees with credit limits you set
• Savings on everyday business purchases
• Quarterly and annual account summaries
• No balance transfer fee with this offer

Apply Now!

Unlimited Minutes Sprint Family Plan $95

Unlimited Minutes Sprint Family Plan for only $95, HUGE YMMV. Some reported to have gotten this offer. This is a great deal for people in need of unlimited minutes.

1. You must talk to Retention only(Dial *2, say Cancel). Ask them about the plan code FC2396
2. The plan exists, but you must be on the new “Ensemble” new billing system.
3. Your Mileage May Vary for free internet/text/ etc.
4. $95 for two lines, each line additional $10 per month.

Proof of the plan:

Citi Home Rebate Platinum Select MasterCard

• Receive 6% rebate on Utilities, Cable/Satellite TV, Internet Connection and Telecommunication for 6 months
• Receive 1% on all other purchases
• Rebate automatically applied to your mortgage principal
• NO CAP or limits on the amount of rebates you can accumulate in a year
• No annual fee

Apply Now!

Open Question: can i stop my home been reposessed if i coulnt pay my mortgage as i was in a rta that left me dissabled?

i have full medical records from drs,solicitors stati ng my circumstances and that in 6mths i am expecting to be paid out enough money to pay off 44,000 that i owe. i never missed a payment whilste i was working. i have been left dissabled from the rta and owe 2,350 up to date. i am due back at court in 2mths for reposession if i dont come up with 5,000 i lose my home through me been in rta and left unable to work. has anyone out there got any good advice for me?what should and could i do to avoid been homeless. i nhave a claim going and arm due to be settled in 6-9mths time but that is too far away. the judge didnt seem interested in what i had to say and my circumstances. i took a briefcase full of letters,documents, medical repotrs ,solicitor reports and even my income i had before the rta_ the judge didnt even glance at it. ive heard of something the judge can order called "a freeze". is this true?,what is it and can i get it:?"rta was caused by person who had 6previous rta ofences

Open Question: USPS Form 4232 "Rural Customer Delivery Instructions"?

We just moved into a new house and despite the fact that we already informed the postal service of our address change AND put our names inside the mailbox, they still want us to fill it out. The form basically asks us to enter all the names of people who may receive mail at our address. My only question is, is this exclusive? We're renting and we are going to include our landlord's name but we're also planning to get a roommate so if we don't include that person's (who we have no idea who yet) name will they not get mail here? Also, the post man spelled the name of our street incorrectly. If he's they're so concerned about us getting our mail, shouldn't they spell that right? They also crossed out the entire section about where to put our parcels if they don't fit in the mailbox (anything over the size of a box of girlscout cookies). I guess I just want more clarification on what that means and also where to get a new form since the first 1/2 of this one isn't filled out right

Open Question: need in depth help with my foreclosure?

My wife and i are currently going through fc. We were told that we shouldnt pay the mortage companies if we cant afford. WE DO NOT WANT TO STAY IN OUR PALCE EITHER WAY. THERE FOR WE DONT WANT TO TRY TO WORK OUT A PAYMENT OPTION. The problem is that the the palce was refinaced at the beginning of our stay. So we have been told told that a short sale was not possible. we owe the 1st and the 2nd + property taxes. For the time being we have bewen banking the money and up to now plan on just leaving the place. Surley there are going to be consequences for the 2 of us. We are only 25 and we unfortunitly put in this situation because a family member didnt follow through on his end to help us pay. What could we do? we are so frustrated at the situation. 1 person tells us that we shouldnt pay and the other says we should. the lastest note says "NOTICE OF DEFAULT AND ELECTION TO SELL UNDER DEED OF TRUST" Would it do anything to try at this point. We are not interested in making money off this

Update: Corporate Defaults and Bankruptcies

In a previous post, (see From Old Stories to New) I suggested that it is time to begin turning our attention away from mortgage-backed securities, the decline in M&A activity, and the difficulty that banks have had selling corporate paper. In a sense, this is old news. Sure, there are more write-downs to come for banks and other financial institutions, but it’s time to start turning our attention to the next leg down - non-financial corporate defaults and bankruptcies.

It has been my expectation that corporate defaults and bankruptcies will increase for two main reasons:

1. On the demand side, consumer weakness will reduce profitability

2. On the supply side, the credit crunch has made it more difficult for corporations to raise capital

We are now starting to see what I perceive to be the beginning of this increased trend. Corporate bond defaults thus far for 2008 have surpassed those for all of 2007 (see RGE Monitor). And as I mentioned in a previous post, the total number of bankruptcies filed this year have exceeded those from all of 2006. So let’s take stock of some of the bankruptcies announced so far in 2008:

• Wickes Furniture (furniture retail)
• Sharper Image (retail)
• Lillian Vernon (retail)
• Sirva (moving services)
• Blue Water Holdings (auto)
• Buffets Holdings (restaurants)

What do these bankruptcies share in common? Some are a result of weak balance sheets caused by excessive leverage associated with LBO deals (see Meet Seven Private Equity Buyout Victims). Others are more directly tied to the struggling consumer - housing, automobiles, clothing, and restaurants. A few (Wickes, Blue Water, and Buffets) were hit by the double whammy - weak balance sheets and a struggling consumer.

I will try to keep stock of high-profile bankruptcies and defaults in this blog as this this slowdown progresses. This should be one of the main stories of 2008. In the meantime, expect more of the same, with those firms closest to the consumer (especially in those industries hardest hit - home, auto, retail) and those firms with compromised balance sheets (not just those that are a result of excess leverage from LBO deals) among the first to go.

The beat goes on…

Update: Tesco’s Venture into the U.S.

In June of 2007 I blogged about Tesco (the British supermarket, and the world’s third largest retail firm) and its entry into the U.S. (see Tesco’s American Foray for background). At the time, I expressed some serious reservations. I suggested that Tesco would have difficulty in the U.S. market for several reasons:

1. Tesco would have trouble convincing customers to come to stores that offer more convenience simply because they are smaller. I suggested that American consumers actually prefer the variety that larger supermarkets have to offer.
2. Tesco would likely end up in a classic “stuck in the middle” trap because they were targeting the middle-market (not the mass consumers and not the upscale consumers). As a result, they would have trouble appealing to the top portion of the middle market that prefers to shop at the upscale chains, and the bottom portion of the middle market that prefers to shop at the downscale, mass market outlets. In trying to broadly appeal to the middle market, they therefore wouldn’t satisfy any niche adequately. For this reason, I argued that Tesco would find itself squeezed on both sides by the likes of competitors such as Whole Foods and Wal-Mart.
3. Tesco would face difficulty precisely because they were foreign. Foreign firms face difficulty because they often don't speak the language, don't know the culture, lack local operational experience and infrastructure, and don't know how to navigate the legal and regulatory environment. All of this results in increased costs for foreign firms, and places them at a competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis their domestic counterparts.
4. Tesco is competing as a foreign entrant in an industry with razor thin operating margins, so there’s little room for error.

Interestingly enough (you had to know this was going somewhere), I came across this article from last week’s edition of the OC Register (see Tesco’s Fresh & Easy Off to Rocky Start). This article seems to suggest that Tesco is facing many of the difficulties I identified. These issues have manifest as worse than expected results. As Nancy Luna details:

…despite developing a loyal crop of fans since launching in November under huge fanfare, Fresh & Easy [Tesco’s U.S. stores] faces some not–so-easy problems, critics and industry experts say.

This week, a Piper Jaffray analyst said Fresh & Easy sales are falling short by at least $30,000 a week. The report comes only days after a Florida-based supermarket consultant told a group of British investors that Tesco has miscalculated the needs of American shoppers with its confusing grocery concept. Prevor [the Florida-based supermarket consultant] estimates that stores are generating average weekly sales of $50,000. The Piper Jaffray report was much more generous, predicting revenue of about $170,000 a week – just below Fresh & Easy’s sales goal of $200,000.

…industry watchers say Fresh & Easy has missed the mark. Among the chief problems: shoppers are put off by labels…Many also complain that the stores are bare bones with very few brand selections. “Fresh & Easy is trying to be an easy store,” said Jim Prevor…”It’s hard to be convenient, if people don’t feel (stores) meet their needs.” As a result, the 10,000-square-foot stores are often described as ghost towns with eager to please clerks often outnumbering shoppers…many [consumers] are bothered by [Tesco’s] Fresh & Easy’s confusing labeling system…”It’s a catastrophe for them”…

It’s not all bad news for Tesco. In all fairness, we certainly can’t attribute all of their poor results to mis-management. We can chalk a portion of it up to poor timing - it’s not as if the middle of a credit crunch is the best time to enter the U.S. retail business. Unless, of course, you consider poor timing a result of mis-management. But I guess that ultimately depends upon whether you believe the credit crunch was forseeable to Tesco’s managers ex ante. I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt. Nevertheless, I still believe that Tesco faces some serious headwinds in the U.S. market (a market that already faces some serious headwinds of its own).

In a war such things happen

We were eating black bread and
drinking goat's milk when your
missile hit our house
I am the only survivor
and when I asked you why
you said well this is war
and in a war such things happen

They gave us ten minutes to
leave because your army
was within the city limits
the young one got lost and
when we found her she
said that eight of your men
took turns with her and now
all day she stares into space
and takes pills whose names
I can't pronounce and when
I asked you why you said
well this is war
and in a war such things
happen

You said that if we surrendered
you would give us cigarettes and
chocolate but instead
you put us in a place fit for
hens and when I asked why
you said
well this is war
and in a war such things happen

You bombed a bus because yousaid your enemy was inside butwhen we told you that they weresimple farmers instead you apologizedand said, well this is war and in warsuch mistakes happen  You told a press conferencethat these men had engagedyou in a firefight. Youlied didn't you. Whenwe did the autopsies wefound that their throats hadbeen cut and there were noweapons in their possessionand when we asked you whyyou said, well this is warand in a war such things happen

You hit those twin towers
because you wanted to address
the powerful, but you killed
secretaries, waitresses, janitors
busboys, dishwashers and civil
servants and when we asked you
why, you said, well this is war
and you wanted to make a point
She had just graduated from college
and was about to be wed
You sent her into a
restaurant. She blew herself up,
killing families who were enjoying
a Sunday afternoon and when
we asked you why you said well
this is war and such things happen

You said that your weapons
were so precise that you could
land a missile in a coffee cup
yet scores of people lie wounded
dying and dead in the market
and when we asked you what
happened, you said that this
is the nature of war and in a
war mistakes occur

After 20 hours of digging we
removed the rubble
We found the bits of rotting
flesh
We knew it was a child
from the size of its rib cage
We knew that it was my son
from the red Nike sneaker
You said you were after suicide
bombers
He was 3 years old
You said that this was war
and in a war, such things happen

A million years passed
Herds of rhinoceroses, elephants
and lions roamed the African
plains
There were more cheetahs than
you could shake a stick at
You could see to the bottom of
the rivers with the naked
eye
Snow had returned to Kilimanjaro
The oceans were filled with
whales, tuna, swordfish, sharks
The glaciers were once again
solid and imposing
The Amazon rainforest was
chirping away
Trees covered the city where
glass buildings once stood
A bear met a wolf
in the thick forest and
the bear asked
"What became of those creatures who
used to shoot us for sport
furnish their wives with the
fur off our backs
terrorize our young
put their saws to our homes?"
"They had a war," the wolf said
galloping off, "and in a war such things happen."

Ishmael Reed, New and Collected Poems 1964-2007 (New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2007), pp. 355-359. [text appears above exactly as published]
My Dad is in Israel at the moment, and one of the people on the trip with him posted the above on a blog documenting their visit.

Interview on Auction-rate securities

I was recently contacted by Alan Zibel, a reporter from the Associated Press. He asked for my opinion on the credit crunch and its effects on corporate “cash and marketable securities” holdings (see my post Where’s the Stuff Buried for background). He was particularly interested in how short-term, auction-rate securities that non-financial firms (such as Bristol-Myers) hold have been, and will be, affected by the credit crunch.

Alan did a more than admirable job explaining the underlying problem (see the full column Companies Cash-like Holdings Pose Risks). There were several minor factual errors, but otherwise, Alan was spot on. For example, he writes:

…these investments, known as auction-rate securities… [have] become extremely difficult for companies and wealthy individuals to sell…which are backed by mortgages, student loans and municipal bonds.

I could be mistaken here, but my understanding of the auction-rate securities is that they also (if not mainly) include corporate debt. But that’s really just a minor quibble. The more important fact about these securities is that the debt generally has a long-term maturity (20-30 years or so), but they are auctioned off to the highest bidder in a Dutch-style auction every few weeks to 6 months, essentially marking them to market.

The most important piece of the story Alan gets quite right. Specifically, that

Hundreds of auctions have failed over the past week…

This implies that there were no buyers for some of these securities. Now, for non-financial firms (and there are many) like Bristol-Myers this suggests that a portion of their “marketable” securities no longer have much of a market. So now what?

I am not an expert in accounting, however, my understanding is that firms can switch the securities from short-term holdings to long-term holdings to the extent that they believe that the securities that they hold from a failed auction still have value. However, to the extent that the underlying asset to which the auction-rate security is tied is non-performing (e.g., insolvent, not just a result of temporary illiquidity in the market), then the firm should write those down. The question then becomes - How do you determine which auctions failed because the market is tough right now and buyers are scared and therefore scarce (temporarily preferring the security of Treasuries), versus, those that failed because the underlying asset to which the securities are tied really do not have value so buyers are rightly not interested? For non-financial companies holding such assets, there is a fine line between the two, …and this is a gray area in reporting.

I spent a good amount of time with Alan talking over various aspects of the issues. I must say that I was impressed. He was a pleasure to talk to - very kind, very humble, and with a genuine curiosity about the underlying phenomenon. I certainly wished he had chosen a more flattering quote of mine to use, but I do not dispute the content. I certainly did say what he claims that I said, and I’m sure those of you who know me could verify that, in fact, that’s the way I speak. Zibel writes,

Still, Robert Salomon, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, said many executives likely were unaware of what they were buying. “I would expect to see corporate treasurers raise the question of: well, what the heck is in our portfolio?” he said.

What I was trying to point out was that corporate treasurers likely did not have the time to perform the due diligence necessary on the assets they were buying. They are too busy on a day-to-day basis trying to manage corporate cash flow. They therefore most likely relied on the ratings agencies and assumed that if the paper was rated AAA, they were buying high quality securities. We’ve since learned that although they were buying AAA-rated securities, the quality of the underlying securities did not deserve such a rating. In that sense then, many treasurers were probably left wondering what, exactly, their portfolios contained, and their true exposure to “risky” securities. And if they hadn’t started asking relevant questions about their portfolio in August, they certainly are now.

To the question of what will happen next. My answer was to expect more, and greater, write-downs.

Getting rid of books

I have a problem with books. My problem is that I like to read books that are typically hard to get at your local library. I also like to occasionally be able to quickly reference something I read, because I usually remember where I read something (down to the location on the page), but I don’t remember the details exactly. Therefore my one weakness is buying books. Too many books as it happens. Books take up a lot of space and they weigh a lot.

I have solved the problem with research papers. Those I keep in a folder on my hard disk catalogued by first author name. Thus when I need a paper, I simply dig into the folder and double click on the pdf. I have thought of getting a Kindle to solve the book problem in a similar fashion but as long as Kindle books still cost more than an equivalent used book, I’m not buying.

Now for the reasons above, it is very hard for me to get rid of books even when I haven’t opened them for years and in particular because new books keep coming in through the front door. So I have adopted the following strategies

1. Sell them again. I used amazon.com which takes a hefty profit. If the book doesn’t sell for at least $4 — more if it is a big text book — it’s not worth it, but generally the process is painless, especially if you save the padded envelopes that you got when you bought other used books. It should be easy to set up. If you are already a buyer, selling is a cinch. Just click on the “Have one - sell yours here”-button once you found the book. Another site with cheaper commissions is half.com. I have not tried them yet, so I can’t speak for them.
2. For books worth less than $4, I just found a marvelous site called paperbackswap.com. The idea is that you list your books and others do the same. They all trade for $0, but when someone requests one of your books and you send it (you pay postage) you get 1 credit which you can use to request other books which are sent to you (they pay postage). Books with ISBN numbers are very easy to list (easier than amazon.com). Books without ISBN numbers require a lot of typing: author, title, dimensions (get your ruler out), publisher, and back cover. The good thing is that if you list 10 books you get two credits for free! Check it out and if you decide to join tell them that extremejacob sent you when asked for a referral
3. The third best option in my mind is freecycling. Here you won’t get anything in return, but at least the book will go to someone that will appreciate them. Also you only have to post them to your local freecycle group and someone will come and pick them up for you.
4. Donating to Goodwill or Salvation Army or others is a close third. Presumably the book will eventually go to someone who appreciates it.

This obviously also works with CDs and DVDs. For instance, there’s SwapaCD and SwapaDVD. It might also work with computer games?

If anyone has additional suggestions please leave a comment.

Prosper taxes for debt sales and bankruptices

I just did my tax returns for my prosper loans and here’s how I did it. It has been very difficult, nay, impossible to find complete instructions online other than the in principle complete but to me useless suggestion to “consult a tax professional”(*). It does not make a lot of sense to me to spend hundreds of dollars hiring an accountant just to file returns for a few hundred bucks in defaults, bankruptcies, and income.

(*) If no one declared bankruptcy on you, Rateladder wrote an illustrated post on how to deal with prosper debt sales, income and expenses.

Fortunately I have plenty of time to minimize the damage from thieving lowlifes, who steal my money, so I read through many an IRS publication and instruction to find out exactly (subject to interpretation) how to deal with my prosper losses (presumably this will work for other peer to peer lending losses as well).

It's better to give than to lend and it costs about the same.

–Philip Gibbs.

Of course I am not a tax professional, nor am I responsible for your taxes, and nor should you just do what I did without reaching your own conclusions (hint read the IRS booklets). One of the main reasons that I do my own taxes is to demonstrate good faith in case of an audit which I think entails reading and interpreting IRS instructions and trying to follow them to the best of my amateurish ability. I’m not sure whether one demonstrates good faith by following instructions from random blogs on the internet though.

Here’s what I did

1. First I logged into Prosper. Then I went into Your Account -> Statements and downloaded the Consolidated Form 1099, Year 2007 and the Lender End-of-Year Statement, Year 2007.
2. I’m doing a 1040 joint return and since I am not a home owner or otherwise weighed down by heavy obligations, I am NOT itemizing my deductions. This means no schedule A for me and so I can’t deduct service fees and collection fees (see the Lender Statement). I do need schedule B because of my substantial interest and dividend income as the IRS wants details once certain limits are exceeded. I also need schedule D for my capital gains and losses. The easiest way to get these is simply to google them e.g. “irs 1040 schedule d”. Get the form (f1040sd.pdf) and the instructions (i1040sd.pdf). If google did its thing they should be in the top 3. Since I have a lot of gains and losses to report, I am also getting schedule D-1.
3. 1099-INT Box 1 went on schedule B line 1. I simply put “Prosper” and the amount.
4. From the Lender Statement, I also received some Late fee payments. I entered those on form 1040 line 21 (other income) putting “Prosper Late fee payments rec.”. I’m not in the P2P referral business, but I think income from this activity would go here as well.
5. Dealing with debt sales or repurchases (in case of identity theft or fraud, prosper repurchases the loan from you and takes the hit) is as easy or difficult as dealing with stocks. I’m used to dealing with stocks, so this is easy. First I made a draft just like schedule D with 6 columns: Description(a), Date Acquired(b), Date Sold(c), Sales Price(d), Cost(e), Gain or (Loss)(f). Then I got the lender statement and flipped back to the last pages where I find “Loans Repurchased by Prosper” and “Loans Sold to Debt Buyer”. For the Description I use “Prosper Debt Sale XXXX” or “Prosper Repurchase XXXX”, where XXXX is the number of the loan. Then I put the Purchase Date, the Sale Date, the Pre-sale principal balance, and then the Proceeds from sale to debt buyer rounding the numbers to cents. In the last column I subtract the latter two numbers to get my loss which I enter in parentheses to indicate a negative.
6. Dealing with bankruptcies is trickier. Go to the IRS website and get Publication 550, 2007. Go to page 53. It is my interpretation that a prosper bankruptcy is a nonbusiness bad debt and that all nonbusiness bad debt are claimed on schedule D line 1 (or the corresponding line on schedule D-1) as short term losses regardless of whether the loans were held for more than a year. Now the bankruptcies are not filled out as the capital losses above. Go to page 54 and read the center of the page on “How to report bad debts”. Here I entered (on two lines) schedule D line 1 column (a) “Prosper Bankruptcy XXXX Statement Attached” and then the loss (=Pre-sale principal balance) in column (f). Now as I understand publication 550 I need to attach one statement for each bankruptcy! This statement should explain a description of the debt including the amount, the name of the debtor, the date it became due, any family relations to the debtor (thankfully I don’t have any!), the efforts made to collect the debt, and why I decided the debt is worthless. So I logged onto prosper and went to my account > lending > loan detail for each of the bankrupted loans and printed that out. I also printed out the promissory note. These will serve as documentation and I plan to include a copy of them with my return. Then I made a generic statement.

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Attached Statement to Schedule D - My Name and SSN like on the schedules.

Prosper Bankruptcy for loan #____

The debt is a peer-to-peer loan (see attached promissory note for details) where Prosper Marketplace, Inc. (prosper.com) acts as an agent between the lender and the borrower.

Consequently I do not know the name of the debtor, but Prosper does. Also I do not have any family relations to the debtor.

Please see attached Loan Detail for a detailed description of the debt.

The original loan was $_____ and the remaining principal is $_____

The remaining principal became due when the borrower declared bankruptcy (see promissory note) which occurred on __ / __ / __

Prosper employs a collection agency (see Loan Detail) which has suspended collection activity due to bankruptcy filing by the borrower.

Since the debt is not collateralized I do not expect to receive anything from the bankruptcy proceeds. I therefore deem this debt worthless.

Date and Signature

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This concludes the prosper portion of my taxes.Now if you’ll excuse me while I go out in the bathroom and cry…

Forced simplicity and the critic

Henry Jenkins just revolutionised my attitude towards movie sequels:

As a rule, one should never trust the opinion of an established film critic about a movie with a number after its title -- and one should multiply the level of distrust for each number over 2. The whole concept of franchise entertainment seems to bring out the worst high culture assumptions in the bulk of American film critics (and beyond the United States, it's pretty much hopeless). Franchises are understood exclusively in terms of their economic function within the Hollywood entertainment supersystem, as if Hollywood made any movies that didn't make economic sense. Franchises are seen as aesthetic abominations and critics show little interest in exploring what kinds of new experiences might be enabled by seriality. And critics respond to sequels with extraordinary conservativeness, assuming that all the film can possibly do is to reproduce as closely as possible the pleasures offered by the first film, rather than imagining the expanded canvas which is possible by allowing people to work within yet transform the generic expectations created by earlier works.

From The Pleasure of Pirates and What It Tells Us About World Building in Branded Entertainment

Sequels still generally suck, though.

ETA: Perfect decription of the stupidities in film that sometimes irk me:

We are constantly feeling the thwacking fist of coincidence and contrivance pushing us out of any immediate experience of the film.

In blijde verwachting...nee... niet ik !!

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Another day another dollar…. Dat is het motto hier, geniet van iedere dag, met volle teugen…
Allereerst het beste nieuws van deze week: op de weg terug van Beiroet gisteren belde mijn broer Jack mij op. Aangezien hij mij nooit spontaan zal bellen, was ik benieuwd wat voor nieuws hij had. Het begon met de mededeling dat ze kampioen geworden waren…. leuk…. Maar daar zou hij me toch niet speciaal voor bellen dacht ik en dat bleek. Na een tijdje vertelde Jack dat 'ze' zwanger waren, hij en Irene, zijn vriendin. Erg goed nieuws !! In oktober is de uitgerekende datum, als het goed is ben ik dan aan het reizen ergens op deze wereld, eens kijken of ik een tussenstop in Nederland kan maken. En dat is wederom goed nieuws, mijn verzoek van betaald en onbetaald verlof is goedgekeurd, dus is heb van 1 juli tot en met 31 december 2008 verlof, nu is het plannen geblazen.
Afgelopen tijd is er weer van alles gebeurd, onder andere weer twee weekenden op pad. Het eerste weekend zijn we weer wezen skiën in Faraya, dit keer met een grote groep en met een nachtje over. De sneeuw was al behoorlijk minder dan het weekend ervoor en de temperatuur op zaterdag kwam in de buurt van 20 graden.

De groep bij vertrek uit Tyre erg vroeg in de morgen

Mirjam maakt zich gereed voor een dagje skien

Jarkko en ik voor zijn supermobile

De zaterdagavond hebben we in de nachtclub doorgebracht. Er was daar ook een broer van een burgercollega van ons. Zij is Libanees en haar broer woont en werkt in Afrika en boert daar blijkbaar errug goed. Hij heeft de hele avond voor ons betaald en het was vroeg in de morgen toen we weer ons hotel opzochten. We sliepen daar met 10 personen op een grote kamer, wat weer een beetje het Patrol Base gevoel terigbracht. Op zondag was het weer vroeg opstaan om op tijd op de piste te staan. Aangezien de mensen in dit gebied alleen maar komen om te zien en gezien te worden, komen ze niet al te vroeg naar de piste zodat het tot een uur of 10 uitgestorven was. Heerlijk alle pistes voor ons alleen.
Afgelopen weekend ben ik op vrijdagavond naar Israël gereden om in Tiberias de Nederlandse avond mee te maken. De avond zelf was rustig en een beetje saai. Wel was het leuk een hoop mensen weer te zien.

Nederlands voer...

De nacht heb ik doorgebracht in het appartement van Jason en zijn vrouw, waar ook Gabriel en Cindy verbleven. Op zaterdag heerlijk ontbeten op het dakterras waarna ik weer op pad ben gegaan. Het weer was dat weekend echt fantastisch met op sommige momenten al een temperatuur van 30 graden.

Jacuzzi op het dakterras, continu elektriciteit en geen kakkerlakken, wat een leven in Tiberias !!

Na terugkeer in Tyre heb ik een huurauto opgehaald, mijn collega Fernando opgepikt en aan het eind van de middag zijn we verder gereden naar Beirut waar we met een aantal collega's een leuke avond hebben doorgebracht. Op zondag weer teruggereden en na een rustige avond weer lekker aan het werk op maandag.
En nu is het dan woensdagavond. Vandaag had ik besloten een dagje vrij te nemen. Eerst heerlijk uitgeslapen en vervolgens op het balkon in de zon een lange brunch gehad met Nico, die weer thuis was van patrol base.

In de middag hebben we boodschappen gedaan en vanavond lekker uitgebreid gekookt.
Ik realiseer me dat het einde dichter en dichter naderbij komt en die gedachte vind ik echt verschrikkelijk. Ik heb het gevoel dat ik hier nog lang niet klaar ben, nog niet uitgekeken en uitgeproeft. Gisteravond heeft Jarkko afscheid genomen van de missie. Hij heeft 6 maanden bij mij in het team gewerkt en nu werk ik samen met hem in de staf. Een heerlijke vent waar ik veel mee optrok. Hij was diegene die het langst in Observer Group Lebanon had doorgebracht en dat gaf hem de bijnaam "dinosaur". Bij die titel hoort ook een trofee en die kunnen jullie op de foto zien. Sinds gisteravond ben ik de trotse eigenaar van die trofee. Dat betekent dat ik nu diegene ben die het langst van allemaal in deze missie ben, bijna een bejaarde dus….


Ik heb geen idee wie en hoeveel mensen deze website eigenlijk lezen. Ik weet er een aantal trouwe lezers zij die soms reageren op de stukjes in de vorm van een comment onder een stukje of via het gastenboek. Ik zou het leuk vinden om te weten wie geïnteresseerd zijn in mijn verhalen, dus laat wat van je horen !!
Nou, ik ga nog even genieten van deze rustige avond (swai swai). Doen jullie dat ook, dan spreek ik jullie later.