The Sun's Financial Diary

Do you invest in Treasury bills, notes, and bonds? If you do, then there’s a good news. Starting early this week, Treasury Department has lowered the minimum purchase from $1,000 to $100. The change applies to Treasury bills, notes, and bonds with maturity from 4 weeks to 30 years, which means that 4-week T-bill is [...]

I bought my first share of Bank of America (BAC) through ComputerShare back in November 2006. Since then I have been making regular monthly purchase and consider it as a good alternative to buying stocks through a broker with a fixed commission. If you’re also considering investing with ComputerShare, but haven’t started the process yet, [...]

In December 2006, I bought my first share of Procter & Gamble (PG) through their Shareholder Investment Program (SIP), which is a direct investment program, as part of my effort to build a portfolio that generates passive income (other stocks I own in this category include Bank of America, Progress Energy, Altria, etc.). However, in [...]

According to a news release, mutual fund giant Vanguard has filed with SEC to offer a new, passive fund that invests in global stock markets. The Vanguard Global Stock Index Fund, which is set to be available for investors in the second quarter this year, tracks the FTSE All-World Index. The index currently covers 48 [...]

Last week, I wrote about my experience with Scottrade when I was trying to place an order of Visa (V) when the markets opened. The day after that post was published, I got an email from Chris, Chief Marketing Officer of Scottrade, who expressed concern why I had to wait so long before being connected [...]

The Federal Reserve, as expected, delivered another three quarters of a point rate cut on Tuesday, bringing the benchmark lending rate to 2.25%, the lowest level since February 2005. The cut came after one of the Wall Street’s biggest investment banks, Bear Stearns, collapsed over the weekend after creditors rushed to the door. Though there [...]

Just when you think the stock markets might have turned the corner (stocks gained the most in five years on Tuesday and S&P issued a statement yesterday saying the end is near for subprime related writedowns), another bomb dropped on the Wall Street today: Bear Stearns, one iconic company on the Street, needs emergency funding [...]

Haven’t seen rally like this for quite a while. Actually, the last time it happened was more than five years ago. US stocks surged Tuesday after the Fed, in a coordinated action with other central banks, said it will pump $200 billion into the financial market to ease credit fears. Stock index futures jumped when [...]