Wall Street has been struggling since Friday.  Today (well, technically now, yesterday — Thursday) I saw this article: Bush Emerges After Days of Financial Crisis.

It sounds like our esteemed president (sarcasm intended) has been in hiding since the troubles on Wall Street began.  When the press accosted him and tried to get him to say something, he neatly sidestepped the subject.  And when he finally did speak today, he said virtually nothing of value.

The recent stock market troubles have a lot of people worried.  The article referred to it as “the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.”  Honestly I think that’s a bit extreme — wasn’t the same kind of thing being said after 9/11? — but it certainly is a problem, and Bush’s behavior is therefore troubling to many.

I wonder what people with Emini futures training think of all this?  Are people who make their money — either as a business, or as their own personal investments — via managed forex trading and futures trading worried about this, or do they know something the rest of us don’t?  I would think they’d be concerned, but maybe they’ve seen enough ups and downs in the market to know the signs of recovery to watch for.

In any case, a good friend of mine said she hasn’t even dared to check her retirement account, and I don’t blame her one bit — I don’t even want to know how much our accounts have lost, though I would like to know what our government is going to do about it!

Technorati Tags: Wall Street, stock market, Bush, Emini futures training, managed forex trading, futures trading, retirement account

The Internet is abuzz with stories from people who had bad experiences with credit card debt counseling. While there is some truth to the fact that there are predatory lenders out there, the whole truth about the situation isn’t being told. In fact, the truth is the problem. Many counselors who are tasked with the responsibility of assisting borrowers in managing their credit card debt express frutration with the fact that not everyone tells the truth when they come in for credit card counseling.

Many borrowers are ashamed of the exact extent of their debt. As a result, they fudge some of the information that they provide to the counselors who are there to assist them. The thinking behind this action isn’t so bad. They feel that if they can just get a grasp on some of the debt, they’ll be able to manage the rest on their own. It’s a pride thing. However, lying to your debt counselor (even by omission) makes it difficult for him or her to provide you with the best advice.

The job of the counselor is to take an honest look at your debt situation and assist you in laying out a plan that will allow you to pay off that debt. Without all of the information, the debt counselor is working blindly to provide you with that advice. This often results in inadequate solutions to the debt which make people feel like their credit card counseling was unsuccessful. Honesty is always the best policy, even when it comes to money!

Technorati Tags: credit card debt counseling, credit card debt, credit card counseling

The end of the year is rapidly coming up on us. That means that it’s once again time to make some New Year’s Resolutions so that the upcoming year can be more productive (and yet more relaxed) than the year we’re about to close. Because people all want basically the same things, many people’s New Year’s Resolutions are the same. They revolve around spending more quality time with family, taking care of personal health and resolving financial problems.

There are many different small steps that you can take in 2008 to accomplish goals in each of these areas. However, one of the most important steps is also the one that people find to be most difficult: paying off debt from credit cards. Credit card debt adds up quickly and those interest rates get us every time. Before we know it, payments to these cards are eating up a significant chunk of our income.

When you think about it, this leads to problems in all of the areas that we’re resolving to change this year. The debt clearly causes a financial burden. It also reduces the amount of time that we get to spend with loved ones because we’re out working to pay it off. And it also causes problems to our health because of the stress related to it. If you really want to make changes to your life in 2008, it’s important to pay off those cards (and any other loans that you may have, too). Take care of it this year so that next year’s resolutions can be about stuff that’s more fun!

Technorati Tags: credit cards, loans

A recent opinion article over at Forbes.com focused on the fact that consumers have to take responsibility for paying off their own home loans. The article makes the very valid point that the government probably isn’t going to be doing you any favors this year when it comes to saving money on paying off your mortgage. But that doesn’t mean that you simply have to suffer if you’re feeling in-over-your-head with debt worries. It just means that you’re going to need to do some of the work for yourself to find the best method of taking care of the problem.

The report notes that there is likely to be a flood of new mortgage applications coming in to lending offices in the next few months. It also highlights the fact that a majority of these applications are going to be from people who already hold a mortgage but are seeking better mortgage rates. This points to an important trend in the mortgage industry: the homeowner’s growing interest in getting the best refinance rates. As this trends grows, lenders will make a more concentrated effort to offer you the loans that you need. Santa might not be slipping a mortgage payment check into your stocking this year but you can still celebrate reduced monthly payments if you’re willing to find the right lender to help you out.

Technorati Tags: home loans, refinance rates, mortgage rates