The Sun’s Financial Diary

It has been more than one year since I became a Zecco customer. Since then, I have used my Zecco account quite actively (especially with my play money) and shared my experience. Like many other Zecco customers, I like the idea of paying zero commission to buy stocks, but I had quite some frustrations with [...]

While I was sleeping in China, something ugly, very ugly happened on the Wall Street and on the Capital Hill.
The first I noticed when I turned on my laptop this morning was headlines like this Dow posts record point drop as House rejects bailout. As a result, major indexes suffered huge losses. The Dow Jones [...]

On September 25th, Washington Mutual (WM), the Seattle based loan and savings giant, was seized by the FDIC after depositors withdrew more than $16 billion from the bank in 10 days over concerns that the bank, unable to find a buyer quickly (the talks and rumors on potential buyers have been going on for a [...]

Zecco recently announced that it will give its existing and new customers unlimited free trades in both stocks and options. The online discount broker has been offering the standard 10 commission-free trades every month for its members with at least $2,500 initial funding in their accounts since last year. This new program will, even though [...]

Two weeks ago, I bought 125 shares of Washington Mutual (WM) at $2.00 apiece. Back then I was hoping that somebody (like JP Morgan Chase) would quickly buy the thrift to avoid a failure. WaMu stock even moved over $4.00 briefly last Friday when the bailout plan was first announced. I didn’t sell my shares [...]

This is a guest post by Tanesha Morgan, writer for Personal Finance Analyst. Personal Finance Analyst is an online community of bloggers dedicated to taking the mystery out of money and helping you to live a happier, more successful life with the money you have.
Did you catch a glimpse of CNBC today? Yesterday? [...]

Greeting from China!
I spent most of the day yesterday on the planes. First I asked a friend to drop me off at a local New Jersey Transit train station near where we live so I can take the train to Newark International Airport. Actually, it was the first time I took a [...]

Yes, I am on vacation, for a month!
By the time this post hits the blog, I will be sitting in a Continental Airlines plane in Newark Airport waiting for taking off. My destination is Beijing, 6,000 miles away. It has been a long time since I was on vacation last time, more than two years, [...]

Washington Mutual keeps their effort to lure new account, increasing their online savings account rate to 4.00% APY (as of now, their website hasn’t been updated yet). The latest rate change puts WaMu at the top of the interest rate table. To get the 4.00% APY, you need to open a WaMu Free Checking Account [...]

Where do you keep your cash now?
In August 2007, when this crisis was still in the early stage, I talked about where to put cash in an uncertain market. One year later, the uncertainty remains and things are not getting better. The housing market, the stock market, and the overall economy. All struggling. In fact, [...]