Monday, August 1, 2011

personal finance blog



While Associated Press Economics writers like Christopher Rugaber and Paul Wiseman, as seen in a post this morning (at NewBusters; at BizzyBlog), talk of "baffled economists" and a job market that is "defying history," one AP writer, in discussing stocks which have done well in this economy, has revealed what employment prospects really are with quite un-baffling certainty from the point of view of those who have to put their money where their expectations are, i.e., investors.



The wire service's Bernard Condon cited a pawn shop operator, a payday lender, a debt-collection firm, and a rent-to-own outfit as companies which have outperformed the market and are expected to continue doing so. The reason for the expectation is found in the title of this post, which is also seen in the following excerpt from Condon's composition:





How bad is it? Pawn shops, payday lenders are hot



As the jobless rate inches up and the economic recovery sputters, investors looking for a few good stocks may want to follow the money - or rather the TV, the beloved Fender guitar, the baubles from grandma, the wedding ring.



Profits at pawn shop operator Ezcorp Inc. have jumped by an average 46 percent annually for five years. The stock has doubled from a year ago, to about $38.



... In investing, it's often better to focus on what you can safely predict, even if that safety is found in companies that thrive on hard times. One good bet: The jobless aren't likely to find work anytime soon. And companies profiting from their bad fortune will continue to do so.




B-B-B-But I thought the president told us three months ago that "We are turning the corner." And of course, there's been no shortage of Associated Press and other wire service reports telling us that the economy is on the "rebound" and that the joblessness problem is a result of "temporary factors," blah-blah-blah-blech.



Not so, as Condon explains, because when it comes to putting one's money where the greatest expected returns are, the companies whose prospects are bright are those which work with the financially at risk or cater to the growing number of Americans who have become misers by necessity:




- Stock in payday lender Advance America Cash Advance Centers (AEA) has doubled from a year ago, to just under $8. Rival Cash America International Inc. (CSH) is up 64 percent, to $58. ...



- Profits at Encore Capital Group, a debt collector that targets people with unpaid credit cards bills and other debts, rose nearly 50 percent last year. Encore has faced class action suits in several states, including California, over its collection practices. The Minnesota attorney general filed a suit in March. No matter. The stock (ECPG) is up 59 percent from a year ago, to more than $30.



- Stock in Rent-A-Center (RCII), which leases televisions, couches, computers and more, is up 57 percent from a year ago to nearly $32. Nine of the 11 analysts covering the company say it will rise further and that investors should buy it.



The idea of investing in companies catering to the hard-up might not be palatable to some people. But it is profitable.




Memo to Chris Rugaber and Paul Wiseman: It's also not baffling and certainly doesn't defy history.



Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.






When the Federal Election Commission unanimously approved an advisory opinion last week that said federal candidates could only solicit up to $5,000 on behalf of so-called super PACs, they were either scoring one for campaign finance reform or helping politicians delude democracy. It just depends on who you ask.


Basically it works this way -- politicians are allowed to raise money for political action committees, but they have to ask that donors give only up to $5,000. Legally, those donors can give how ever much money they want. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.



That's pretty much how James Bopp -- the lawyer who first came up with the idea that the ban on coordination between politicians and independent expenditure committees only applied to spending the money, not raising it -- sees it.



Bopp told TPM that he doesn't see the $5,000 disclaimer "as being meaningful, because everyone knows or will know that Super PACs can solicit unlimited contributions. So once you've got a candidate endorsing your PAC and urging people that he's close to to contribute, it will accomplish our purposes."



Here's how the decision is being described elsewhere:




  • Ralph Z. Hallow of the Washington Times said the FEC's decision gave Bopp the "green light" to "skirt federal campaign-finance limits and to raise more money than ever before."


  • Over at the OpenSecrets blog run by the Center for Responsive Politics, Kathleen Ronayne wrote that the FEC "put its foot down" on Bopp.


  • Eliza Newlin Carney wrote in Roll Call that the FEC's decision looked like a victory for tough campaign finance laws on the surface, but said the ruling "includes a little-noticed provision that frees up federal officials to attend and speak at fundraisers for such big-money PACs, events where PAC organizers may encourage donors to write larger checks than a lawmaker requests."


  • The Sunlight Foundation's Lisa Rosenberg wrote that the decision "takes us perilously close to the days of soft money--those unlimited contributions candidates would solicit for the national parties in order to skirt limits on how much could be directly given to their campaigns." Rosenberg called the $5,000 limit "niceties," and said it was "in name only" because it "opened the door for elected officials to ask corporate CEOs or union leaders for personal contributions of no more than $5,000." She continued: "Moreover, the Super PACs for which Members of Congress will be dialing for dollars are legally known as 'Independent Expenditure Only Political Committees,' begging the question: Can a PAC act independently from a candidate or elected official who is raising money for it?"








bench craft company rip off beans
bench craft company scam fisher
bench craft company scam emotion
bench craft company scam advark
bench craft company scam papers
bench craft company scam remotely
bench craft company scam by competitors
bench craft company rip off beans
bench craft company rip off in plain
bench craft company scam paintly
bench craft company rip off by some of their
bench craft company rip off satenday latters
bench craft company rip off subjects
bench craft company rip off subjects
bench craft company rip off subjects
bench craft company scam by competitors
bench craft company rip off boots
benchcraftcompanyscam
bench craft company scam emotion

<b>News</b> | Six Clicks - StyleList

Photo: Getty Could Florence Welch be the next guest designer at Topshop? We hope so! (Racked) The Council of Fashion Designers of Amer.

<b>News</b> | Six Clicks - StyleList

<b>News</b> In Brief: Molecules/Matter &amp; Energy - Science <b>News</b>

Clear batteries, mucus busters, a 3-D invisibility cloak and more in this week's news.

<b>News</b> In Brief: Molecules/Matter &amp; Energy - Science <b>News</b>

<b>News</b> flash: Talk radio invades the FM dial in Chicago | Marketing <b>...</b>

A day before WBBM-AM/780 was set to begin simulcasting its News Radio programming on sister CBS FM station WCFS-FM/105.9, Merlin Media LLC converted WKQX-FM/101.1 to Chicago's only round-the-clock FM news station on ...

<b>News</b> flash: Talk radio invades the FM dial in Chicago | Marketing <b>...</b>

No comments:

Post a Comment