You won't get interest on the first 10k. You do get interest on a balance higher than that. The rate is 0% at the moment.

http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en...?ib_entity=llc

It's the Fed's overnight rate-0.5%

Like half the time when I put in a market order, I end up buying or selling at some weird figure like $51.5501. Usually $XX.XX01 or $XX.XX99.

What's the deal here, I though a cent was the smallest unit to trade in since decimalization? Is there some weird market maker undercutting going on here or something?

I read the Magic formula by Joel Greenblatt last year and was interested in following this method of investing. The book and formula was pretty simple and basic so I'm just wondering what BFI's opinion of it is. If you are not familiar with it here is the criteria for the formula:

I'm playing around with a retirement calculator. Is a 6% return on investments too optimistic?

I'm thinking about buying a house soon, i live in vegas and plan on buying one here, living there a couple of years and then selling it.

I have very little credit history and being a poker player I'm gonna have a tough time getting a mortgage even putting a lot down(from what I have been told). I'm considering asking around and seeing if a fellow poker player will give me a short term loan.

Say I wanted to borrow 70k and pay it back over the next 2 years, what kind of interest(or overall profit) should I be offering to someone? Consider that I would be a very safe investment(and they know this).

It seems ok, the only problem is it doesn't exactly guard for systematic risk. When the S&P drops, all stocks get hammered.

this also looks vulnerable to 'too good to be true solid stocks', aka your enrons, who are the darling of wall street then bust.

There is a local mortgage company that employs about 5 people. Been around since 2000. How much do you think the owner/manager makes? Gainesville, FL.

Ok so I am going to post this question in here then:

Does anyone here have a link where one can download loan contract forms to setup a hard money loan?

i've tried search and couldn't find anything:

is there a forum like 2p2 for landlords to ask general questions / situational advice? there are a lot of great minds on 2p2 but i don't want to bore them to death.

Does anyone know of any ETFs or stocks that track/represent the Hong Kong and/or China real estate markets? Thanks.

P.S. Just to clarify I'm looking for tickers listed on any exchange, not just in the U.S.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/

Are there better trading forums anywhere?

Trade2Win I've seen in books, but it absolutely sucks. I asked a question on brokerages there and it went unanswered(you never see this on 2p2, for example)...what are some of the bigger forums for trading online? I mainly am just doing it to find general stuff, like platforms people are using and brokerages and data feeds, etc. I don't expect to find the holy grail(just like 2p2 won't give it to you), but I would like some basics.

P.S. Obviously books can't give me these things because of the lag between how long they were written etc, so only blogs or forums really work for this type of thing.

Thanks!

http://www.elitetrader.com/ might give you some answers. But you to wade through the morons and conspiracy theorists first.

i <3 2p2 so much, thanks man

Quick question that I didn't think needed it's own thread and didnt bring up any result from searching:

I am starting an online retail store and am looking for a shopping cart that is integrated with ups (or at least variable shipping based on item/distance/etc) and that can handle a store with around 100 to 200 items. The cheaper the better, as I'm looking to keep costs as low as possible during launch but obviously this is a necessity so whatever it costs it costs.

Paypal isn't exactly what I'm looking for, and I haven't found much from google searching for a couple hours. Any pointers in the right direction are greatly appreciated.

On the topic of Vanguard bond funds...

I'm 22 and have a fairly high risk tolerance. I've got about 40% of my net worth invested in a hedge fund, which I consider fairly high risk (and +EV).

I've got another 15% invested in a variety of fairly diversified Index Funds in an IRA.

I recently sold the rest of my equities because I really don't understand why the market is doing what it's doing, and I am concerned about the US dollar.

I am planning on investing in some sort of Gold ETF, but I'd also like to consider one of the Vanguard bond funds. Is the consensus that the VBMFX (Total Bond Market Fund) is a decent way to get some exposure to a variety of different bonds? Or should I be considering other Vanguard bond funds like the Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities (VIPSX) which is supposed to protect against inflation? To be honest, I don't even really understand how that works.

Do people think it would be prudent to consider PIMCO or another fund that specializes in bonds?

Thanks in advance,

Harry

hey all. I'm really interested in trading and I'm still in College.

I'm thinking of majoring in Economics. Probably my best move right? Any other classes I should take if I would like to work with the stock market or possibly daytrade?

I think Mathematics gives you the best shot at trading.

In another trail of thought, I read today 2009 in the UK will be the biggest annual purchase of investment funds since 2000.

Is it shorting time?!

Why has the stock market rebounded to pre-recession prices even though we are still in a recession? Is it cbecause people are investing on the faith that companies will rebound to where they once were?

Why do you think they're at pre recession prices? The recession started in dec . Why do you think we're still in a recession? The US grew in the quarter by 3%.

because he probably see horrid job numbers.

Nevermind I just checked(probably should have done that first) and the dow is still about 2.5k under 07 prices. I think we're still in a recession because we probably are. GDP growth doesn't mean we're out of it. So much question still stands, sort of.

We are out of what is defined in the textbooks as a 'recession'.

What it is called then?

A recession (at least in my country, definitions may vary) is two consecutive quarters of negative growth. The recession ends with one quarter of positive growth. I know this definition isn't perfect but it is what it is.
In the recession in the 80's the stock market went up like a beast when unemployment reached it's peak (10,6% afaik). Unemployment started to drop but the stock market didn't go higher. There is no 1:1 correlation between the job market and the stock market. And if you think about it that's not even strange.