Makers, Takers And Wealth Transfer In The Modern Welfare State

As a modern democracy matures, it shifts from being a nation of makers to becoming a nation of takers. Wealth and power are gradually transferred from those who earn it to those who use the system to commandeer it. The zombies take over, in other words.

Source: http://blogs.forbes.com/greatspeculations/2011/07/15/makers-takers-and-wealth-transfer-in-the-modern-welfare-state/

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Technology And Consumer Staples Rule The Sector ETF Roost

Being the only attractive-rated sec­tors means that the con­sumer sta­ples and infor­ma­tion tech­nol­ogy sec­tors have the best quality-of-earnings and val­u­a­tion of all sec­tors. This means they also have the most mar­ket value allo­cated to stocks with high qual­ity of earn­ings and cheap valuations. The finan­cial sec­tor is the worst-rated sec­tor.

Source: http://blogs.forbes.com/greatspeculations/2011/07/15/sector-etf-rankings-chips-and-dips-rise-to-the-top/

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Can Better Billing Practices Improve Cash-Flow, Cost Effectiveness and Customer Satisfaction?

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Billing is never the most exciting of subjects for business owners or managers, coming as it does as the last and perhaps most administrative or clerical step in the sales to delivery cycle. However, being a last step should not relegate it to being the least important and there is actually plenty of evidence to suggest that efficient billing practices may be one of the most critical. In this article we will therefore briefly explore why better billing practices can have a significant impact on cash-flow, cost-effectiveness and customer satisfaction for the merchant (as well as several equally beneficial, and linked,...

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Source: http://ezinearticles.com/6414143

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Intel's Dividend Is Safe

Dividend investors know that it pays to follow how much of a company's money goes toward funding its payouts. A nice yield now won't matter much if the company can't keep making those payments going forward.

Here, we'll highlight a given company and its closest competitors to see just how safe their dividends are, with a little help from three crucial tools:

  • The interest coverage ratio, or earnings before interest and taxes, divided by interest expense. The interest coverage ratio measures a company's ability to pay the interest on its debt. An interest coverage ratio less than 1.5 is questionable; a number less than 1 means that the company is not bringing in enough money to cover its interest expenses.
  • The EPS payout ratio, or dividends per share divided by earnings per share. The EPS payout ratio measures the percentage of earnings that go toward paying the dividend. A ratio greater than 80% is worrisome.
  • The FCF payout ratio, or dividends per share divided by free cash flow per share. Earnings alone don't always paint a complete picture of a business' health. The FCF payout ratio measures the percentage of free cash flow devoted toward paying the dividend. Again, a ratio greater 80% could be a red flag.

Each of these ratios reflect dividends paid in the trailing 12 months; yields are the expected forward yield. Let's examine Intel (Nasdaq: INTC  ) and three of its peers.

Company

Yield

Interest Coverage

EPS Payout Ratio

FCF Payout Ratio

Intel

3.8%

NM

30.6%

47.7%

Oracle (NYSE: ORCL  )

0.7%

15.8

13.2%

11.2%

Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN  )

1.7%

NM

18.8%

31.6%

Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM  )

1.6%

41.4

33.0%

70.9%

Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's. NM = not meaningful.

Intel's interest coverage ratio of more than 2700 isn't particularly meaningful. The company has about $2 billion in long term debt, which is easily covered by its roughly $8 billion in free cash flow. Given that its EPS payout ratio and FCF payout ratio are below 50%, you shouldn't have to worry that Intel will need to cut its dividend anytime soon.

Another tool for better investing
Most investors don't keep tabs on their companies. That's a mistake. If you take the time to read past the headlines and crack a filing now and then, you're in a much better position to spot potential trouble early. We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized stock-tracking service.

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Source: http://feeds.fool.com/~r/usmf/foolwatch/~3/QiTxZFsc1V8/intels-dividend-is-safe.aspx

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Equal Weight ETFdb Portfolio Now Available


A new all-ETF model portfolio is now available to ETFdb Pro members; the Equal Weight ETFdb Portfolio offers an alternative investment style for investors who wish to steer clear from the potential pitfalls of the traditional market cap-weighted methodology.

In a traditional market cap-weighted index, such as the S&P 500, each component stock is weighted according to its market capitalization (trading price multiplied by shares outstanding). Cap-weighted indexes determine the allocation given to each security based on the company?s market capitalization?and therefore the price of the stock?which can result in overweight allocations to overvalued companies and underweight allocations to undervalued stocks. The equal weight methodology has been gaining popularity as investors are realizing the potential for excess returns over traditional cap-weighted ETFs; over the last several years, many equal-weighted ETFs have outperformed their cap weighted counterparts–in some cases by a wide margin. In 2010 for example, SPY, which tracks the S&P 500 Index, lagged behind the the Rydex S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) by about 600 basis points. Additionally, indexes that spread exposure equally across various sectors of the economy lessen the potential impact of a crash in any one industry, while the opportunity to participate in a rally in any sector is also improved. The significant difference in performance reveals valuable insights about the inefficiency of traditional cap-weighted funds, which often overlooked by many investors.

The new Equal Weight ETFdb Portfolio is designed for investors who want to build a broad-based portfolio, including domestic and international equities and fixed income. But this portfolio avoids many of the largest and most popular ETFs, utilizing instead products that maintain similar holdings but employ an equal weighting methodology. The result is a well rounded portfolio created with long-term investors in mind; this ETFdb Portfolio maintains many of the same holdings found in other all-ETF portfolios, but thanks to difference in the approach to weighting may offer an opportunity to generate excess returns over the long run.

To access all 20 ETFdb Model Portfolios, sign up for a free seven-day trial of ETFdb Pro.

Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.

Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/vTj3yhnyLlQ/equal-weight-etfdb-portfolio-now-available-2011-7

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Christian Financial Counseling Programs

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Debt and financial problems don't discriminate; there are people of all walks of life and colors that are experiencing hardships. There is currently over $800 million in credit card debt, the average household is carrying around a burden of $14k in credit card debt, and those that are in real trouble have 2 xs to 5x that much, and are looking for help. People gravitate towards other people of similar interests, and it's no secret that most consumers do business with people that we know and trust, so it's no surprise that Christians turn to Christians for personal and...

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Source: http://ezinearticles.com/6416875

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2011: Deja Vu All Over Again?


A little datamining never hurt anyone.  And here’s a fine piece of it.  The market has troughed during the summer in each of the last two years.  And to be fair, summer is a notoriously poor market period on a historical basis with the end of the year being one of the better seasonal periods.  But American Century Investments recently noted that the performance this year is eerily reminiscent of both 2009 and 2010.  Will this year be the same?   Should we prepare for both higher yields AND higher equity prices into year-end?  Via ACI:

“The mid-year U.S. economic slumps of the past two years can be shown graphically, reflected in the declines of benchmark stock indices and Treasury yields over the period. The graph below shows the behavior of the S&P 500 index and the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield in 2010 and 2011 year to date through June 30. Note the similar dips in all four lines within the shaded second-quarter period for both years “:

chart

Source: American Century Investments

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/BpXb6j1CID8/2011-deja-vu-all-over-again-2011-7

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Correct Legal Assistance For Criminal Circumstances Is Actually A Necessity

Have you ever been charged for a criminal offence? Only an skilled criminal lawyer can give the correct suggestions in time. It’s important to have pretty experienced criminal lawyer who’re nicely conscious of criminal defence problems and court system like our Adelaide criminal Lawyers who contain even former police officers. Straightforward investigation is crucial to [...]

Source: http://www.legaldebthelponline.com/2011/07/15/correct-legal-assistance-for-criminal-circumstances-is-actually-a-necessity/

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Fresno DUI Lawyer

DUI defense attorney Glendale Jerry R. Lowe was admitted to the California Bar in 2004 immediately after graduating from the Claude W. Pettit University of Law at Ohio Northern University. While in law university, Mr. Lowe was privileged to serve as an extern for the Honorable Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, justice of The Ohio Supreme Court, [...]

Source: http://www.legaldebthelponline.com/2011/07/16/fresno-dui-lawyer/

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