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  The debt crisis continuous to overwhelm Europe, and the prospects for countries most entrenched in debt, including Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain, and Ireland, are dismal. Worse, whether these countries voluntarily leave or are coerced to leave, it is conceivable that Germany may opt to go...

How do you place a value on options positions within a portfolio? Actually, because of the nature of options it is extremely difficult – if not impossible – to accurately balance an asset allocation target that includes derivatives.    For example, a portfolio of $1 million specified the...

In a blog post from yesterday, Mark Cuban revealed that he bought just under $5 million in Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) stock. Specifically, the Dallas Mavericks owner said that he bought three 50,000 share blocks of FB at $33.00, $31.97, and $32.50. Cuban wrote, "Its a trade, not an investment. Kind of...

In what appeared to be a positive fourth quarter earnings report by NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) unfortunately took a sharp turn when management's F1Q13 guidance left analysts scratching their heads. Research firms responded to the cloudy projection with a slew of price target drops and downgrades, but...

To decode Wall Street is to tear down those conventionally held wisdoms fed to the average Joe by the men and women controlling the global flow of mooolah, in addition to trying to make sense of their funny jargon (see the “Financial Jargon Word of the Day” on our homepage). We have a couple more...

A recent Bloomberg Businessweek article, “Mr. Normal Meets Mrs. Merkel” got me thinking. Why are Americans screaming about their tax levels? We have among the lowest federal tax rates in the civilized world and certainly the lowest our country has experienced in the past several decades. In the...

In 2006, the underpinnings of the American financial system began to crack from a speculative bubble in the country’s housing market.  Fueled by irrational exuberance in which homeowners believed their home prices would rise forever, this was made worse by Main Street and Wall Street,...

1. Say goodbye to the individual investor on Wall Street. Whatever positive impression they had of the IPO market and the stock market in general was just torched to the ground. When everyone you know associated with the stock market is telling you and the media is confirming that this could be a...

Internet music sensation Pandora Media (NYSE: P) has proven its fine-tuned worth with an excellent start to its 2013 fiscal year. With revenue growth of 58% in the past year, the online radio company has positioned itself for continued development and success in the coming months. Singing a very...

The Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) IPO has been an all-around debacle. Lawsuits have already been filed against Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, Morgan Stanley, and the other underwriters. According to a new article at CNBC.com written by John Melloy, however, the most culpable party in the company's lackluster...