UNLA Pump and Dump Spam
In the last week or so, I received a series of spam e-mails promoting a stock. Peculiarly these spam e-mails were sent to an e-mail address I only use with Vanguard. I have my own domain name; I issue an e-mail address for each place I do business with.
Because these e-mails are targeted at investors and Vanguard is the only financial institution that has this e-mail address, it’s likely that a spammer got hold of a list of e-mail addresses of Vanguard customers. Other people on the FatWallet Finance forum also reported the same problem. The common theme seems to be Vanguard: not all Vanguard customers received the these spam e-mails, but those who reported receiving the spam e-mails are Vanguard customers.
That’s not good, to say the least. I expect Vanguard to guard customer information more carefully. Of course if Vanguard customers’ e-mail addresses were obtained by the spammer, the compromise doesn’t have to happen at Vanguard itself. It could be that a marketing vendor Vanguard uses got hacked.
Explore TIPS: A Practical Guide to Investing in Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities
Long time readers know I have a special interest in TIPS, the inflation indexed bonds. At one of my annual reader surveys, a reader asked why I wrote about TIPS all the time. I like TIPS because they are truly unique – the only investment with a guaranteed return above inflation.
I wrote everything I know about TIPS into a book called Explore TIPS: A Practical Guide to Investing in Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities. I published the book this month.
The book is exactly what the title says: a practical guide to investing in TIPS. Everything in the book comes from my actual experience in investing in TIPS myself. It takes a beginner who knows nothing about TIPS to knowing everything necessary for investing in TIPS. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know my style. I leave no stone unturned. You will not find that level of details anywhere else. Please click here for a detailed table of contents.
TFB Invitational Update – March 2010
Back in January I created a virtual trading game on Investopedia called TFB Invitational. 13 other people joined me in this game.
Two months into the game, I’m surprised to see that I’m currently in first place. My virtual portfolio is up 3%. I made two purchases, both profitable (so far), one for a US stock ETF, another for an international stock ETF. Right now I’m 50% in stocks, 50% in cash.
PSA: Beware of Job Scams
This is a public service announcement from the FTC.
"It’s hard to believe someone would steal money from a person looking for a job. But unfortunately, no matter how bad the situation, scammers see opportunity. Many people looking for work have been ripped off by scam artists who promise a job, access to special job listings, interviews, or a way to make a big income working from home – that is, if they just pay a fee or turn over their credit or debit card information. In the end, they’re left with no job…and some are robbed of hundreds of dollars."
Hiding in the Long Tail
I wanted to get the new book Free by Chris Anderson, but there’s a long wait at my public library. So I got his previous book The Long Tail.
[Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links. Amazon will pay me 4% to 6.5% of the purchase price if you make a purchase within 24 hours.]
Anderson says with the lower cost of inventory and distribution, businesses can successfully sell a large number of niche products in small quantity and still make a good profit, because the small quantities across so many items add up to a huge volume collectively.
It’s Not 529’s (Or 401k’s) Fault
Ever since I switched from reading Financial Times to Wall Street Journal (FT subscription ran out; no option to use airline miles), I started encountering more and more sob stories. If this continues, I’ll be like Frank at Bad Money Advice.
On Tuesday I mentioned the story about laid-off employees burning through their severance and turning down job offers. On Wednesday I read this article about people stopping using 529 plans because of market losses:
Burning Through Severance, Turning Down Job Offers
While on the commute train this morning, I read this article on Wall Street Journal:
* Link goes to Google. WSJ will display full article if you come from a link through Google.
It tells us stories about how some people coped with unemployment while on severance pay. The subjects in the article spent just like before, burning through their severance. They also turned down job offers because they didn’t like the job description.
How Much Should Unbiased Financial Advice Cost?
How many times have you heard "before you make any big money decisions, check with your own financial advisor"? NPR’s Marketplace Money program says that all the time. It can’t be taken at face value because it assumes that everyone has a financial advisor.
I’ve never had a financial advisor. I’m guessing the percentage of the population who have a financial advisor isn’t that high. If they all say people should check with their financial advisor, why don’t most people have one?
1. Too many sharks. For those who have a financial advisor, I’m guessing again that most are not working with a fee-only advisor who acts as a fiduciary and only gives advice in the best interest of the client.
Austin Frakt on NPR
Remember The Incidental Economist (TIE) who used to co-blog with me here? His real name is Austin Frakt. He’s famous now. His blog posts, which I still help host under his own domain name, have been cited in Washington Post, Mother Jones, The Atlantic, and many other high profile places. He’s been quoted in Business Week twice. He got a 15-second sound byte on NPR today.
Lesson from the Recession: Keep Your Job
In The Right Lessons and The Wrong Lessons, I said the right lessons from the recession and the bear market are “so simple they don’t need any further explanation.” A reader Mark suggested that I shouldn’t be so dismissive.
“If you tell him/her it’s so simple that he should be ashamed of himself for failing to grasp your full meaning, then your are negating that investors desire to learn – in effect saying ‘do it because I said so.’”
After thinking about it for a little longer, I agree with Mark. So I decided to write down what exactly I learned personally from the recession. These will serve as notes to myself in the future. I apologize if the lessons look so obvious. I hope there is enough personal flavor to make them more interesting.
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The Little Book of Safe Money by Jason Zweig
