Tag Archives: Comparing

Market Analysis

What to Look For When Comparing High Interest Money Market Accounts

Everyone wants to make the most out of their money, which is why high interest money market accounts are so attractive. Whether you’re saving for a child’s education, a new car or a down payment on a home, money market accounts are the ideal place for short-term savings. Money market accounts blend the best of savings, checking and certificates of deposit. Here’s what to look for when comparing money market accounts.

Take Your Search Online

It used to be that opening a money market account meant that you had to take whatever rate your local bank gave you. Today, thanks to the internet, nationwide branches and even online-only banks have made the rates for money market accounts even more competitive. There are plenty of websites that provide you with daily rates, as well as ratings, terms and more information, letting you choose between dozens of high interest money market accounts to find the one that suits your needs and financial goals.

Security and Safety

Once you’ve started to compare high interest money market accounts, chances are you’ll find very different requirements. Beyond the numbers, you’ll want to check for a high rating from well known rate comparison sites like Bankrate.com. Sites that have earned this rating have been deemed safe, secure and reliable for online and offline banking. Because money market accounts aren’t subject to the volatile changes of the stock market, they are a great short-term saving solution for anyone who’s looking for low-risk, but still want the flexibility of being able to access their funds.

Get Rewarded!

Banks provide high interest money market accounts as a way to reward loyal customers for their business. Some banks provide high interest on this type of account with only a $1,000 minimum balance, where the interest you earn is compounded daily and added to your account every month.

No matter which of the many high interest money market accounts you ultimately invest on, you can feel secure knowing that you’ll be able to manage your account online, just as you can with your savings and checking account. This kind of flexibility lets you transfer money between your money market account and other bank accounts (even if they’re at other financial institutions), write a set number of checks each month and even link your money market account to other accounts for added overdraft protection.

By keeping these tips in mind, you’ll be able to go beyond the numbers of high interest money market accounts and leverage the many advantages that these types of accounts offer in helping you reach your short term financial savings goals.

Market Analysis

Comparing Stock Market Forums – Old And New Places For Stock Tips & Ideas

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In the not too distant past, investors met in person and organized their own investment clubs. Problem is, you’re limited to the few people that share the same interest and lives nearby, but these people are usually just amateurs whom you can’t learn much from or get actual good investment advice. Same danger asking your brother-in-law or co-worker for a stock tip. None of them do it professionally, so your amateur opinion is as good as theirs.

The internet brought people together online and in the 90’s, skilled traders and those looking to learn gathered from all over the world in AOL stock trading chat rooms and on Yahoo Finance message boards. Most people, even financial professionals, agree that the daily grind of stock trading is a lonely and stressful business. Rarely the high life portrayed in the media. With online trading forums like chat rooms and message boards, the collection of talent and research from dedicated investors helped a ton of people with a passion for the stock market to be able to earn a living through trading and investing. As online trading through brokers like E*Trade and TD Ameritrade made trading more and more accessible, sites like Jim Cramer’s RealMoney.com and Motley Fool’s forums allowed many individuals to become full time traders by learning from each other and sharing their market research and tough lessons. All this continued through the tech bubble that caused the Day Trading craze where amateurs tried their hand but did not sufficiently learn the skills needed to make stock trading their occupation.

Then, starting around 2005, the explosion of blogs and social media communication like twitter has spawned so many forms of publicly accessible stock market forums that anyone can find and learn just about anything about stock trading. Also, it is humanly impossible to keep up with all the real-time trading ideas and market calls that amateurs and professional traders alike share online. There are tons of daily online seminar classes (called webinars) for free or a class fee. These are hosted by both investment service companies like stock brokers and battle hardened investment coaches who have been around since the earliest AOL stock trading chat rooms and message boards.

The publicly available free resources for anyone in the world to learn and succeed in the stock market is endless. One word of caution is that there are also a lot of stock market educators who are actually just salespeople and marketers. They know enough to give you tips like Plumber Joe or your brother-in-law, but they’re as amateur as the next guy.