Canadian Money Forum Thread of the Week: Should you have an emergency fund? What about a line of credit instead? What is an emergency anyway? Join the discussion in this thread by registering in the forum.
- The strong stock market rally of the past eight weeks has some worried that it is running on “fumes of optimism”. I think that easing credit conditions is a far more encouraging development.
- It is outrageous that many CEOs walked out generous cash bonuses, stock options and golden parachutes when shareholders were wiped out. Jason Zweig pointed out that some companies are devising incentives for top management that are better aligned with outside investors.
- It has been a bad year for dividends but surprisingly, 70 companies in the S&P 500 have initiated a dividend or increased their payouts. Still, the dividend cuts have swamped the increases.
- Million Dollar Journey crunches the numbers to find out how much you need to save for an early retirment.
- Hat tip to the Globe and Mail’s David Berman for mentioning this post in his take on the DALBAR study update in the Report on Business MarketBlog.
- Jon Chevreau’s wrote a post and a column on a tweetable financial plan: Lose debt. Join pension. Own home. Spend little. Save tons. Invest wisely. Be tax wise. Marry 4 life. Insure life. Make will.
- Larry MacDonald says that car makers and dealers are offering substantial sales incentives to deal with plummeting car sales.
- Preet notes that a “fee-based advisor” doesn’t necessarily mean a better advisor.
- Michael James says that short sellers are like runners in a downhill race who choose to run uphill instead.
- My Findependence Day on his favourite lesson from the market crash.
For the moms out there, Happy Mother’s Day! Have a great weekend everyone!
