Archive for May, 2006
More Bad News for XM
Last week, I wrote about XM’s problems with the RIAA. Now, they are having problems with the FCC and it could mean more harm to the stock price (which dropped 40% on the RIAA lawsuit). The company has stopped shipping the popular SkyFi2 made by Delphi and Xpress manufactured by Audiovox. The FCC is also [...]
What to do with a windfall?
In just my last post I commended the “expert” on CNNMoney on his recommendation of pairing a Roth IRA with a 401(k). Unfortunately, he’s back to missing the mark with today’s installment.
The question had to do a with a $3,500 windfall from selling a car. The reader asked if he should put it into a [...]
Pairing a 401(k) with a Roth IRA
CNN Money’s Ask the Expert column often fails to hit the mark. Today, the expert is spot on. The question came from someone that is maxing out their 401(k) wondering if it’s a “waste” to contribute more to a 401(k) than the employee match (his buddy says so). The columnist says that it’s not a [...]
The Economist Needs A Writer
The Economist is looking for an experienced writer for it’s world capital markets section for the Finance and Economics unit.
Ah, dare to dream.
Ethical Money Making
The CS Monitor’s Work/Money section is a virtual cornucopia of social investing articles. They have weekly podcasts that are as much ad as advice, but they often feature different social investing strategies and articles. This week’s article focuses on seniors and socially responsible investing.
The article points out (implicitly) that socially responsible investing means different things [...]
Dell to open stores
Ah, Dell. Once the glorious child of the PC industry. Now, a slumping share price and negative revenue growth are causing you to flail around in any direction. The latest attempt will be two Dell-branded stores that will open in upscale malls in Dallas and New York. The company has had kiosks in a lot [...]
Religious Beliefs not Frivilous Argument
A taxpayer lost a Tax Court case that hinged on the fact that she didn’t file and pay her taxes because her religious beliefs precluded her from doing so. The IRS assessed her for the tax and tacked on failure to file and failure to pay penalities. The IRS also requested a frivilous argument penalty [...]
More on Identity Theft
Last week I wrote about the loss of my identity at the hands of my professional organization. Yesterday, the Department of Defense annouced the loss of 26 million records of veterans in a laptop that was stolen from an employee’s house. In this case, the laptop had the name, SSN, and birthdate of every veteran [...]
XM Fires Back
Last week, the music industry sued XM over its new portable music devices. The devices allow users to record XM content and play their own MP3s, but do not allow music to be copied to a PC or otherwise transferred. Songs can be marked for purchase via XM + Napster, the joint venture of XM and [...]
IRS Revoking Tax-Exempt Status of Credit Counselors
The credit counseling industry is one that is rife with fraud and finally the IRS is going after them. In a crackdown of “not for profit” industry, the IRS has revoked the tax exemption for 41 companies representing 40% of the industry. An additional 22 are up for audit and the IRS “has concerns” about [...]
