WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Anyone who invests in
individual stocks should be aware that they could lose – a lot -
while they are sleeping.

One recent morning, shareholders awoke to learn that
Internet 2.0 darling Groupon had dropped 11 percent from its
previous close before it even opened. Another popular networking
site, TripAdvisor, dropped 17 percent. The big loser that same
night was Diamond Foods, which announced a management shakeup
and an accounting problem after the market closed. It lost 41.4
percent of its value before it opened the next morning.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – There’s more than a tad of Robin Hood economics in the fiscal year 2013 budget that President Obama proposed on Monday. It would raise taxes on the wealthy, give some of that cash to the needy, and dole out the rest of it in ways designed to nudge the middle class toward higher education, energy savings, retirement planning and more.

First, the obvious: Don’t race out and trade on the belief that Congress is waiting to rubber stamp this blueprint. The presidential budget is always a political document; in this election year it reads more like campaign talking points than a numbers document. But it may at least be seen as a preview of Obama’s positions during the upcoming tax debate.

WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) – There’s more than a tad
of Robin Hood economics in the fiscal year 2013 budget that
President Obama proposed on Monday. It would raise taxes on the
wealthy, give some of that cash to the needy, and dole out the
rest of it in ways designed to nudge the middle class toward
higher education, energy savings, retirement planning and more.

First, the obvious: Don’t race out and trade on the belief
that Congress is waiting to rubber stamp this blueprint. The
presidential budget is always a political document; in this
election year it reads more like campaign talking points than a
numbers document. But it may at least be seen as a preview of
Obama’s positions during the upcoming tax debate.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The housing settlement announced Thursday should make it easier for troubled homeowners to modify their mortgages and escape foreclosure, but it won’t make everyone whole, consumer advocates say.

Those who have already lost their home to foreclosure could get payments of between $1,500 and $2,000. And though the settlement calls for mortgage servicers to reach out to troubled borrowers, it wouldn’t hurt for those waiting homeowners to be a little bit pushy to make sure their issues get addressed quickly.

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – The housing settlement
announced Thursday should make it easier for troubled homeowners
to modify their mortgages and escape foreclosure, but it won’t
make everyone whole, consumer advocates say.

Those who have already lost their home to foreclosure could
get payments of between $1,500 and $2,000. And though the
settlement calls for mortgage servicers to reach out to troubled
borrowers, it wouldn’t hurt for those waiting homeowners to be a
little bit pushy to make sure their issues get addressed
quickly.

WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Next month, something
very dramatic is going to happen to most stock mutual funds. In
fact, it’s already started to happen.

The dramatic event is this: Those funds will hit the
three-year anniversary of the nadir of the market in March 2009.
And that means their three-year-return numbers will start to
look amazingly good.

Feb 8 (Reuters) – Until the current tax system is
completely reformed, we Americans have the right to life,
liberty, the pursuit of happiness and our cherished tax
deductions.

It’s not cheating to take every writeoff that is legally
available to you; it’s just good common sense. If you skip one,
you’re just leaving money on the table.

Feb 8 (Reuters) – Even if your financial situation
isn’t complex, your taxes might be. That’s why the Internal
Revenue Service and some private nonprofits offer free tax
preparation and counseling for older people and low-income
filers who need to know their way around myriad credits and
other provisions.

Commercial tax preparation programs have jumped in, too,
providing at least stripped-down versions of their programs for
free. Here’s where to go now if you want help on your taxes, but
you don’t want to pay for it.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – We all know what we are supposed to say about day trading: It’s horrible, a scam, a vestige of the 1990s tech boom, and just for naive chumps.

But still, there are days when it would be nice to lock in a big win, or pile into a favorite stock when it seems to be beaten up.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – By now, the class of 2011 has moved on to real life. There’s some good news: Early reports show they are getting better job offers than their older brothers and sisters did when they graduated. The National Association of Colleges and Employers reports that new grads started jobs with an average salary of $41,701, up 2.3 percent from the 2010 level.

But there’s some bad news, too. The Class of 2011 is said to be the most indebted ever, with average loan balances near $27,000, according to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org. Folks who graduated in May started getting bills for their first payments right around Thanksgiving. Ouch.