One of the topics I’m constantly asked to explain is the concept of dividends, ex-dividends and other similar questions; often by people who think getting into a stock simply for the special dividends and getting out right away is a good idea. You’re only doing yourself the favour of turning your principle into a taxable liability.
I thought about doing more to debunk dividend myths, but why lift a finger when The Motley Fool has already done a 2 part story to debunk 7 common dividend myths. I’ll summarize them here.

Stock …

If you’re wondering, the above title is a lame pun on the famous phrase “Who Watches The Watchmen?“. If you’re a regular reader of personal finance blogs, you should be familiar with the term “passive investing“. For the uninitiated, it means that you are investing in an index fund - a mutual fund that follows a well-known index such as the Russell 2000, or the most famous index of all, the S&P 500. The S&P 500 is the top 500 companies as determined by Standard & Poors to represent the …

“You are neither right nor wrong because the crowd disagrees with you. You are right because your data and reasoning are right.”
– Benjamin Graham
We’re starting off with this quote to remind us that we should not follow opinions, but rely on our ability to reason and gather facts. Easier said than done, what are facts? Everybody has a way to interpret numbers, figures. One analyst can recommend a stock while another is downgrading it. There can be no consensus in the market for the buyer / seller principle to …

Now that I’ve let slip about why my next blog post will be, you can tell I’m deciding to have a little fun with this! Behold, my preview interview with myself!
Okay, self. Why are you doing this preview? Why not come straight out with your reasons and write the article already?
It’s very simple, Investorial is not a site that recommends or dis-recommends stocks. There are many blogs out there that do a great job. I don’t know of any of the top my head but if you know some, please …

Blogs have tremendously revolutionize the way news and information are distributed. No longer do you need to be a traditionally trained journalist to get your words heard. Bloggers and blogs are obtaining scoops, exclusives just like their old media counterpart. Services are popping up like NowPublic.com that have fueled the citizen journalism movement.
However, from a financial perspective, the Web 2.0 has brought in some interesting applications that may point to a brave new world in the future. Prosper.com wants to become the online marketplace for people-to-people lending. Borrowers can shop …

Sometimes, you missed those really small ambiguous charges on your credit card and they may come back to haunt you. I finally caught on about an $11 charge on my credit card recently that was billed to WLI*RESERVATIONREWARDS 800-7327031 CT. I do not remember this charge and promptly verified as to when it started. It was surprising to see I had not contested this charge since it started in November 2005.
This is an example where media information can be essential as various internet pages/posts/blogs helped me clarify the situation. The …

Finally, an ad-free aggregator for personal finance, real estate, and investing blogs! That’s the tagline for an innovative financial blog PFBlogs.org. If I remembered correctly, PFBlogs used to be a simple financial blog. Their transformation into a feed aggregator for financial blogs surprised me when I heard about it.
I really welcome PFBlogs’ efforts to unite all financial, investment and real-estate bloggers. PFBlogs is so comprehensive, that it can spell the end of Financial Blog Carnivals! I personally favour this format over blog carnivals (whom I have an unexplainable distaste). Blog …

It’s only a matter of time when somebody exposes Principal-Protected Notes for the shady investment vehicle that it is. I’m glad that Duncan Hood was able to write a nice piece examining why Principal-Protected Notes (PPNs) are not a good idea.
In the end, I wouldn’t avoid PPNs just because they’re largely unregulated or because their “Information Statements” are so poorly written that even Glorianne Stromberg, a securities lawyer and former commissioner at the Ontario Securities Commission, admits she can’t understand them. I would avoid them because you can find better …