Have Fun with Evian Roller Babies

Filed Under (Investor News) by Admin on 26-02-2010

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]

Today we found this amazing commercial from Evian featuring babies on roller skates. It’s hilarious yet conveys a subtle message about the product. The technology used to simulate the babies motions with the music is mind boggling. The song is “Rapper’s Delight” by Dan The Automator.

Let us know whether you liked it or not. Create a wonderful weekend ahead :).

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Smart Refrigeration Lowers Electricity Bill

Filed Under (Investor News) by Admin on 23-02-2010

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]

Old Friend from High SchoolThis week a casual incident taught us a few things about frugal living. While shopping for groceries we bumped into an old friend from high school. We were close friends but had lost touch since we graduated. There was so much to catch up with but a grocery store seemed the last place in the world for doing so. Spontaneously we invited him to have dinner with us. He graciously accepted and accompanied us home. At high school, our friend was a simple guy and we were glad to see that he is still the same :).

Warm DrinksWe seated ourselves at our dining table with warm drinks, eager to share our experiences. Slowly as our conversation unfolded we discovered that our friend had become a refrigeration expert and was earning a good living. A couple of years ago he had set up his own company and was currently working for himself. He said that he had clearly understood the patterns of his business and was comfortable on going solo. He jokingly added that his job could not be shipped abroad since refrigeration needed to be physically done in US! Point taken, as techies, our jobs can be shipped out of US any day :(.

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Annual Fee Introduced for Citi Cash Returns Credit Card

Filed Under (Investor News) by Admin on 20-02-2010

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]

Annual FeeToday we received a letter from Citibank notifying us that they are going to introduce an annual fee of $60 for our Citi Cash Returns Card effective from April 1, 2010. This was a nice card which offered a no hassle 1% cash back on ALL purchases. The best part was that we’d get our cash back check automatically once it crossed $50. No headaches of ordering a rewards check or expiring rewards.

With this new annual fee this card simply isn’t an option for us. Why did Citibank do this? In their own words:
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$100 Citibank Signup Bonus - Regular Checking Account

Filed Under (Investor News) by Admin on 17-02-2010

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]

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Free McAfee Internet Security

Filed Under (Investor News) by Admin on 08-02-2010

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]

Free McAfee Internet SecurityBank of America is offering FREE McAfee Internet Security for 12 months to their customers. This will keep your PC safe and secure. McAfee Internet Security for one year is worth $69.99 which is now yours for FREE.

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The Human Camera - Stephen Wiltshire

Filed Under (Investor News) by Admin on 06-02-2010

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]

Have you ever heard of a human camera? Well, we hadn’t too until we stumbled upon Stephen Wiltshire. This autistic man is a human camera! With his immaculate memory he draws entire cities from memory right down to the true number of doors and windows of each building. Absolutely mind blowing isn’t it? Check out this video which shows how he draws the entire city of Rome on five and half yards of paper after a 45 minute helicopter ride.

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Donating An Old Car May Not Be Tax Deductible

Filed Under (Investor News) by Admin on 04-02-2010

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]

Feb 04, 2010: For many of us, our cars are prized possessions. As all good things come to an end, so does a car. Maybe it is time to get a bigger or better car for the family. Perhaps it has run a good 150k miles.

Whatever be the reason a day might come when we have to part with our dear automobile. If it has a good resale value selling it to a private party or a dealer is an option. However we do have another choice - donating it to a charity for a good cause. Even if the car is not in a proper running condition, we can still donate it. In most cases such a donation does have a benefit in the form of a tax deduction. However, there are few things to watch out:
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Emerging markets?

Filed Under (Hedge Funds) by Admin on 03-02-2010

Emerging market for alpha? Good hedge funds had a great decade as usual and many emerging markets also did well. Ten years ago most investors avoided developing countries and loved developed because of the Asia crisis, Russia default and 1990s bubble. When will the crowd learn to buy the unpopular and short sell the trendy? Not yet judging by the money swarming into long only emerging market debt and equity funds. Like developed markets, emerging countries offer alpha capture opportunities from long/short security selection, arbitrage and timing NOT buy and hold beta.

Lost decade? I ended up with an +18.59% CAGR after fees for the 2000s. Not bad considering the high manager diversification and low market risk. I choose alpha vendors for most strategies but manage some special situations myself if I have an edge. I use macro black boxes and micro risk metrics that seem to have predictive value. Emerging markets alpha is a favorite strategy. One year ago AND ten years ago many experts said avoid “risky” emerging markets and “dangerous” hedge funds! Financial science is not rocket science; it’s more complicated than that. I focus on robust models and geographic FACTS not economic THEORIES. I just strive to be long only of alpha.

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TurboTax - Quicken Bundle - $25 OFF Special Discount Coupon Deal

Filed Under (Investor News) by Admin on 02-02-2010

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]

Quicken & Turbo Tax Bundle - Upto $50 OFF Discount Coupons Feb 01, 2010: TurboTax and Quicken (Intuit Inc.) have tied up together to offer some great combo deals. Now we can track our income and spending in one place and enjoy a faster tax prep in one go.

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ETFs and emerging markets?

Filed Under (Hedge Funds) by Admin on 01-02-2010

Emerging market for alpha? Good hedge funds had a great decade as usual and many emerging markets also did well. Ten years ago most investors avoided developing countries and loved developed because of the 1990s bubble, the Asia crisis and Russia default. When will the crowd learn to buy the unpopular and short sell the trendy? Not yet judging by all the new institutional RFPs for long only emerging market mandates and the retail money swarming into similar mutual funds. Even more so than developed markets, emerging markets offer alpha opportunities from long/short security selection, timing and hedging NOT buy and hold beta.

Lost decade? I ended up with an +18.59% CAGR after fees for the 2000s. Some did better but not bad considering the high level of diversification and limited risk. I select alpha vendors for most strategies but manage some special situations myself if I have an analytical advantage. I use macro black boxes and micro risk metrics that seem to have predictive value. Emerging markets alpha has been a favorite strategy. One year ago AND ten years ago many experts said to avoid “risky” emerging markets and “dangerous” hedge funds! Financial science is not rocket science; it’s more complicated than that. I focus on robust mathematical models and geographic FACTS not economic THEORIES. I always strive to be long only of alpha.

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