offshore-finances.com

First State has confirmed that it has raised the annual management fee on its Global Emerging Markets fund from 1.5 per cent to 1.75 per cent.
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An onshore British pensions expert has slammed and slated pensions as a retirement savings vehicle, leaving many expatriates wondering what they should be doing to secure their retirement income …

Consumers looking to make the most of their money should look at alternative savings accounts, according to Moneynet.co.uk.

Andrew Hagger, from the finance website, said that instant access savings accounts are currently paying very little interest and consumers should explore a more diverse range of products.

Mr Hagger suggested a regular savings account as a way of "boosting interest income for those who already have some cash put by".

"The fairly rigid terms and conditions of these accounts may sometimes put people off, but for a new saver they provide the extra discipline which may prevent them giving up too easily on the very important habit of saving regularly," he explained.

A recent report by the Financial Times revealed that customers who regularly switch savings accounts and search for the best rates could have earned returns of 70 per cent over the past few years.

The newspaper suggested that this was much better than the returns made from investment in shares.

Posted by Tom Britten.

With U.S. stocks down about 5% from their 2009-2010 rally peak, investors basically want to know one thing: Is this just a correction, or are they looking at a potentially long bear market?

That’s no small question. U.S. stocks could be experiencing one of three scenarios at present. They could be:

Undergoing a short-term “correction” of its 2009 gains.
Beginning a multi-month “pause.”
Or starting a new bear-market cycle.

These aren’t just arbitrary labels. For instance, a … [visit site to read more]

Not all economists are charlatans. At Harvard is Robert J. Barro, who just computed the net costs of the government’s 2009 stimulus program. It was originally expected to cost $787 billion and is now estimated to come in with a final price tag of $862 billion.
What do you get for that kind of money? Well, Mr. Barro calculates that each dollar of public stimulus spending costs the economy $1.50 in foregone private spending. A “bad deal,” he says.
His work involves a purely macro-economic … [visit site to read more]

We have upgraded our recommendation to Outperform for Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE:RCI) following its fourth quarter 2009 financial results, which came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Despite facing an extremely challenging economic environment, Rogers performed exceptionally well in 2009, reflecting effective cost controls and an improved churn rate. This enabled the company to generate a double-digit increase in cash flow generation.
Supported by strong free cash flow generation, the … [visit site to read more]

With Treasuries and corporate bonds offering record low yields and perhaps relatively high risk, many investors have begun looking elsewhere for opportunities to provide reliable income to their portfolios. Dividend-paying ETFs are one interesting option, but some investors are hesitant to swing big portions of their fixed income allocation into equities.
For investors seeking both current income and some potential for price appreciation, one relatively unknown asset class has seen its … [visit site to read more]

Source: Clay Jones, Slate.com, February 22, … [visit site to read more]

Equity markets snapped a two-day losing streak on Wednesday, as comments from Ben Bernanke indicating that interest rates could remain low for the foreseeable future caused a buying spree on Wall Street. Elsewhere, General Motors announced that it would begin winding down Hummer operations after Chinese regulators rejected a proposed deal while Toyota’s president apologized to lawmakers on Capitol Hill for flaws in his company’s products.
The ETFdb 60 Index turned in a broad-based rally, as … [visit site to read more]

Pactiv Corporation (NYSE:PTV) agreed to acquire the stock of PWP Industries for $200 million. PWP is a leading manufacturer of APET (amorphous polyethylene terephthalate) disposable products. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010.
PWP primarily manufactures a range of APET foodservice containers for several channels, including packer processor bakeries, supermarkets and quick service restaurants. It operates three manufacturing facilities in the United States, as well as a … [visit site to read more]