Category: Links

Here is the first weekly links post for the year. Posting is going to get a bit irregular for about a month, as I will be taking a vacation for a month or so. Normally, there is a post every weekday, links post on Saturdays and carnivals every other Sunday.

I think there will be about 3 or so posts every week (instead of the usual five), not many links post, and the carnival will only return in February. A few fellow bloggers are helping me out with guest posts during this period, so there will be some diverse perspectives during this time.

If anyone else is interested in a guest post, please contact me.

With that said, here are the links for this week:

Why do airlines overbook flights @ Weakonomics

Want a big house? Tour this small one, change your mind @ The Digerati Life

Discover credit card review @ The Smarter Wallet

What to do when your credit card rates increase @ Ask Mr Credit Card

Obligations and rights of an options trader @ Options for Rookies

Layaway pros and cons @ Financial Highway

Three small caps @ Tip Blog

0% Interest credit cards, 12 months balance transfer @ The Digerati Life

The most important financial goals for 2010 @ Cash Money Life

Image by Mass Distractions

The big news yesterday was the foiled attack on the airplane landing in Detroit. It would have been a terrible tragedy which has been thankfully averted. I read this news in the morning and felt all the holiday spirit sucked out of me, as it slowly dawned what it could have meant. Thankfully nothing happened.

Now, on to some personal finance links this week.

Let it breathe @ Cash Money Life

College education costs @ The Digerati Life

My African Safari Tour: Travel Africa on a Budget @ The Smarter Wallet

How I chose my rewards credit card for my honeymoon @ Ask Mr Credit Card

The time value of money @ Weakonomics

A loss does not have to be realized to be real @ Options for Rookies

Insurance myths debunked @ Financial Highway

Last week I received an interesting email about a survey that Allianz Life had conducted. They asked people the following question:

What 2009 movie best represents your financial outlook about 2010?

The top result was: Where the wild things are — at 35.5%. Allianz thinks that this represents people who are uncertain about how 2010 would be financially. There is nothing surprising there, 2008 was devastating for most people, most assets zoomed up like crazy in 2009, so we have faced quite a bit of volatility in a short period of time, and it is no surprise that most people can’t make up their  mind. I will easily fall under this category, although I wouldn’t have selected the movie because I had to go to Wiki to find out what it was about.

The rest of the results are pretty interesting too – at 29.2% – UP – is the next most popular movie, so more people are positive than negative.

Here is a little pie chart with the summary of the results:

What about you, are you upbeat for 2010, uncertain or plain negative about it?

Now, on to some other great links for this week:

Make money blogging @ Digerati Life

Secured credit cards @ The Smarter Wallet

5 Reasons your press release sucks @ Cash Money Life

Gmail and Google Apps got hacked @ Digital Inspiration

Wake up Gentlemen @ BaselineScenario

Fat cats to Obama: Stop comparing us to bankers @ Reformed Banker

The ethics of reward card deals at Ask Mr Credit Card

Twenty something finances carnival

The most interesting thing I read this week was Pivot Capital’s research report titled: China’s Investment Boom: The Great Leap into the Unknown. It is the most bearish thing I have read on China, and although just 10 pages,–  it goes in some depth about the reasons on why it is so bearish. It talks about factors like excess capacity and high levels of credit, which will lead to problems in China. The paper is getting increasingly popular and I think you should spare the time to read it.

On to other interesting posts this week:

How to invest online using the Peter Lynch Strategy @ The Digerati Life

Buying the moon and stars and other fun gifts @ Cash Money Life

Get a free PDF book on Office 2010 @ Digital Inspiration

Jamie Dimon has another good year @ BaselineScenario

Tarp 2009: Where are they now? @ Weakonomics

Persistence of poverty and increasing marginal returns @ Rorty Bomb

How to save money on groceries @ The Smarter Wallet

Lastly, I’ll be off for a few days in January, and would welcome guest posts on this site.  If anyone is interested, please contact me through the contact form  (or email if you have that), and we can discuss this in detail.

Tony had a LOL funny comment on my post about garlic bubbles this week, and that really made my day. There was another more serious comment about any ETFs that really do track garlic, and that left me thinking for a few moments.

I also got encouraging feedback on my post on debates which is really different from what I normally do, and that too — made my day. As you can imagine, I had a good week.

On to this week’s interesting reads:

Buffett and Geithner @ Baseline Scenario

Blue Star Limited: Stock Analysis for Long Term @ Tip Blog

Never a good sign @ Baseline Scenario

Powerful internet marketing for small businesses @ DR

How to be a great client @ Seth Godin

The biggest nuisance on Facebook – Photo Tags @ Digital Inspiration

Dubai’s great crash @ Ajay Shah

0% Interest Credit Cards @ The Digerati Life

Balance transfer credit cards @ The Smarter Wallet

I hope you had a great week, and are looking forward to the weekend. Here are some great reads that I came across this week:

Posts

Optionshouse review @ The Digerati Life

Equifax credit report @ Smarter Wallet

The Bad Management Stimulus @ Dilbert Blog

When currency futures market dominates @ Ajay Shah

Rights and wrongs at Lloyds Banking @ Neil Collins

A contrarian conundrum @ Reformed Broker

Outsized capital inflows @ Ajay Shah

Rupert Murdoch has it backwards @ Seth Godin

4 ways to profit from a falling dollar @ DR

Blaming it on Obama @ Baseline Scenario

The holidays begin @ Bad Money Advice

USDA Home loan program @ Darwins Finance

I did a post on ICICI Home Finance Fixed Deposits this week, and it got a comment from a reader complaining about their service. This may come as a surprise to other readers, who probably don’t read comments on older posts, but this kind of thing is very regular here. There are plenty of comments about people who didn’t get refunds or don’t know the status of their investments.

To my surprise, the customer service team at ICICI Bank left a comment to the post, and said they were sorry about the trouble, and will work with the commenter. Unfortunately, when I emailed the commenter, it bounced, so I have no way of knowing whether they went back to the original post, and read the bank’s response. I hope they come back to the post, or find it in any other way.

That was the most interesting thing that happened here last week, and now on to some other interesting stuff from the blogosphere.

Articles

How to legally decrease the interest rate on your credit cards @ Money Ning

The Blue Collar Recession @ Weakonomics

My SUV will beat your hybrid and save the economy @ The Financial Samurai

Worst finder ever @ Dilbert Blog

Is buy and hold investing fool’s gold @ Dough Roller

Gift cards pros and cons @ Cash Money Life

Options House Review @ The Digerati Life

Online Savings Accounts @ The Smarter Wallet

Carnivals

Festival of Frugality

Carnival of Twenty Something Finances

Carnival of Money Hackers

Carnival of Financial Planning

Carnival of Indian Stocks

I had a guest post over at The Smarter Wallet about Cyclically Adjusted P/E Ratio (CAPE),  this week. It is a post that explains the concept of CAPE, and takes a look at some advantages and disadvantages of it. Head there to read about it.

Now that I finished Too Big to Fail, I am looking for something new to read. I tried out a sample of Malcolm Gladwell’s What the Dog Saw on the Kindle App, but didn’t really feel like buying it. It sounded okay, nothing bad, but not something that caught my interest. I still have the The Myth of the Rational Market unfinished, so I think I will finish that before getting on to something new.

I did read some great posts this week though, and here are links to some of the good ones from this week.

Hammer Time @ Seth Godin

National Debt: Accepting Donations @ Weakonomics

Credit Report Bumpage @ Bargaineering

Ballooning national debt @ Bad Money Advice

How to raise the next Warren Buffet @ Dough Roller

Why I allocate part of my portfolio to small cap stocks @ The Dividend Guy

0% Interest Credit Cards @ The Digerati Life

Top Online Savings Accounts @ The Smarter Wallet

China’s Secret Sauce @ The Economist

Carnivals

Carnival of Financial Planning

The most interesting thing I read this week was: Do Smart,  hard working people deserve to make more money? by James Kwak at the Baseline Scenario. The title tells you what the post is about, and I recommend that you head there and read it. I felt a strong emotion while I was reading it, and the last I saw, the post had 270 comments, so I wasn’t alone.

Now, on to other great stuff this week.

Articles

How to increase your productivity with the Pomodoro Technique @ Pen Stalker

Ally Bank (GMAC Bank) Review @ The Digerati Life

Balance Transfer Credit Cards @ The Smarter Wallet

How much can you save by doing a balance transfer? by Cash Money Life

Treasury and the blogs @ Baseline Scenario

How to tell if a credit card number is fake? @ Dough Roller

Hindu’s website design at foreign source @ The Tip Guy

Carnivals

Carnivals of Money Hackers # 89

Carnival of Twenty Something Finances Lost Edition

Festival of Stocks