How to Read Financial statements

One sees Financial Statements as a bunch of numbers, another one sees a whole story about a company, its success story or big drama. How to understand the statements and what should you pay attention to?

Public companies provide different financial statements that can be vied and downloaded from Yahoo! Finance or SEC. Statements can be provided Quarterly or Annually. So it depends on you, whether you want to see a big picture or a more detailed and close view on the company. Here you need three main statements: Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement and Income Statement. Depending on what is happening in the company they might publish

What Company Should I Invest In?

Once you decide to start investing on your own you face a problem: What company should I invest in to have good returns and not lose money? Everybody faces this question. There are several tips on how to pick the stock that is the best for you.

1. What is your area of interest?

If you pick a company that you are going to invest in it means you will need to read about this company, its industry and all relevant news. If you are interested in IT you can try to search for companies in IT industry.

Ivy League vs State School

When there comes a time to pick a school to  continue your education I am more than sure that you start imagining yourself being a student of Harvard or Yale University. These are the schools that everybody knows. Everyone dreams to get into it and then for sure your life will turn into a dream and money will fall from the sky

This is the most common picture that a person might imagine when being asked about these schools. Is it really so? And what about those who are not "the ones" to enter an elite private club? Are they doomed for the rest of their life?

Mutual Funds vs Individual Stocks

Once you decide to start investing you might get puzzled by the options and institutions that offer investing services. Individual stocks, Mutual funds, ETFs, Brokerage firms, Derivatives market, Bond market are just some of the options. 

Some of the options are easy to understand and deal with whereas others need you to have knowledge and experience. The most common choice that a newbie investor might have to do is between investing in a Mutual fund or investing in an Individual stock. So how does it work and what's the difference between them?

June 2013 Top Reading

Here are the top articles that I've read in June and found very interesting to share with you:

 "Where to put money as you whistle past Wall Street Ghost of Crisis Past haunts investors five years after credit crunch trigger" by  Polya Lesova

Mutual Fund vs Hedge Fund

Once you have some money that you want to invest into something you might face an option of whether to put your money into a Mutual fund or a Hedge fund. Well, they are both pooled funds and both deal with investments but what's the difference then? Here they are:

1. Investors

Mutual finds have no limits on the number of investors so anybody who has money to invest can participate.

CFA vs MBA

When you think of breaking into Finance Industry you may think of to options: getting CFA or getting MBA. They are both well- respected and appreciated by employers. So which of them to choose?

MBA was designed to give managers a broad and more sophisticated knowledge about business. It covers different aspects of business and introduces students to different subjects like Finance, Accounting, Marketing, Informational Systems, Law etc. So if you finished your Bachelor's in Finance you could take MBA to see what else is there in business industry except finance and how it all works together. It gives you a very good idea of how different sectors of a huge business world collaborate with each other. Having MBA might be a requirement for those who seek for a promotion.

Why Finance Jobs Are Overpaid

Finance jobs are so attractive to those looking for wealth. Entry-Level positions start with paychecks that a middle-size manager in any other industry gets after years of experience. To say nothing of the bonuses which sometimes are equal to the paycheck itself.

A survey has revealed that 75% of financial industry employees think that their colleagues are overpaid. You can get used to the idea that someone gets more money than you do if he or she is extremely smart and works more and harder. But  what really surprises people is that it's pretty much the opposite. Those who get weighty paychecks are usually common people without any bright past or future,  with pretty passive attitude to work and doubtful presence of knowledge in their heads.

Rogue Traders

Financial Market is a dream place for all the speculators and gold diggers. Despite all the rules and regulations there are still savvy combinations and dozens of tricky operations that make one person rich at the expense of others. Just as a famous Russian book character Ostap Bender who knew "approximately 400 relatively honest ways of taking money away from people".

Today even if you hide something eventually it will come out. There are too many ways of tracking the financial operations and other activity that might reveal your true intentions. But still who are those Doctors Evil  who couldn't stop and wanted just get more and more.

I searched internet and can't say i found so many examples. Not because there are not so many of them but simply because banks

Who is an Angel Investor?

What a poetic name for a financial term. Does it really have to do anything with Investment Industry? Yes, it does!

Angel Investor is a private investor who gives you money for your business. Usually this is a wealthy person  who can afford investing money in start-ups.

Most of the start-up companies have no budget or limited budget that consists of entrepreneur's savings, loans or any other equity. But this might be not enough to start a company.

Credit Cards That Give Free Money

Why would a bank give you money for free with no crazy interests? Well, they really do so. Just to attract your attention and make you get their card and become their client. Well it's up to them how profitable it is, but i think it is since they still have such offers. 

So when i was choosing my first credit card i found that Bank of America has a Cash Rewards Credit Card which gives you $100 after you in at least 3 months make purchases for $500. Well, great deal! You just use a card in stead of a debit card and then get $100 for being such a good obedient client. That is easy. They also give you cash back on your purchases of goods 1%, groceries 2% and on gas 3%. That is also easy! You just buy stuff that you always buy and you also get some cash back.

Is 3-D Printing worth your attention?

Some of you might have heard already about a strange device that can make miracles and create 3-D items that you can afterwards touch with your own hands. Just 50 years ago people would suggest you are kind of crazy but today it is hard to get surprised. Creativity of the scientists has no limits.

And yes indeed, it has become possible. 3-D Printers can create objects that you designed on a computer with a special software. Once you have an idea and a design you can print anything you want from plastic, ceramic, plaster, stainless steel and in the near future from silver.

Credit Card Trap

At some point in your life you get to know what a credit card is. And it's a happy time because you can spend the money that you actually don't have. And what about paying back? Yeah, sure... some time later. That's what you first think when you get a brand new credit card with your name on it. 

Of course you already have a to-buy list with all the urgent stuff you need to buy right now. This extremely important and necessary 10th kitchen combiner with that cute yellow button or the 20th pair of shoes that will match that gorgeous dress that you are going to buy as well. And you can really buy it, because you have a magic card.

How to be a Career Superhero

Just 20-30 years ago people used to get Bachelor’s Degree only and they were already considered as extremely strong potential job candidates. They got some job in the company and then even when being promoted they stayed within this company and demonstrated their loyalty that in a couple of years  was awarded with some bonuses.

Today getting a bachelor’s degree is not any incredible  achievement as it could be 20 years ago and you wouldn’t  surprise your potential employer by just showing your diploma ( no matter how hard it was for you to earn it). And at the same time it becomes harder and harder to find employees (especially young professionals) who stay in one company for more than 4-5 years.

Obama's Immigration Reform

There you go! Finally good news and we can loosen our ties and take a deep breath. The American Dream seems to be coming true. Obama's Immigration Reform is going to make it easier for the Brains of the World who came to the United States to stay in the country and contribute to it's economic growth.  

The Number of H1B visas issued to foreigners is going to be increased from 65,000 till 115,000 and is going to grant the opportunity to stay and work in the country for skilled immigrants who just received a degree in the USA. The reform is going to make the whole application and approval process much easier and faster.