What country combines beautiful scenery, first-class amenities, low prices and a convenient location within a two-hour flight from virtually any point in Europe? Not to mention unique tax advantages for persons who receive certain types of foreign income or a foreign pension?
The answer is Croatia—a well-known European tourist destination 15 years ago, but only now recovering from the widespread perception that it is not a “safe” country to visit.
Don’t speculate on rising home values, speculating is not investing! “Lots of people made Lots of money this way during the housing boom
Investing is accepting some risk in order to get returns on your investment.
By taking control of your deals and structuring them so you have built-in equity or positive cash flow when you buy will greatly increase your odds of success.
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are dropping bets against Treasuries.
Economic growth is falling short of forecasts and market participants may need to reduce their yield predictions, Jim Caron, the New York-based global head of interest-rate strategy at Morgan Stanley, wrote in a report yesterday. Goldman Sachs cited Federal Reserve comments and a slower-than-forecast pace of inflation in a report the same day.
Aflac (NYSE: AFL) is best known in the U.S. for its ‘duck ads,’ but actually earns over 75% of its money from Japan. “In Japan, once people get AFL insurance they don’t drop it (which is very important in the life and health insurance industry) with a persistency rate of 95%.
AFL currently yields 2.4%, which is nice. It has however, increased that dividend in each of the last 27 years, and over the last 15 years it has done so at a compound annual rate of 20.7%.
Gold approached $1,570 an ounce, extending a rally to a record, on bets that the dollar will extend a slump, enhancing the allure of the metal as a store of value. Silver posted for the biggest monthly gain in 28 years.
“Silver’s run is related to the rise in gold,” said Michael Cuggino, who helps manage about $12 billion at Permanent Portfolio Funds in San Francisco. “There’s a lot of speculation in silver. Anytime you’ve had a run like silver, you’re going to get a correction.”
Gold has climbed 33 percent in the past year, and silver has more than doubled.