France’s loss is Buffet’s gain

Interesting piece in Business Week about Berkshire  insuring other companies against a France victory.

From BW:

Warren Buffett won his bet against France in the World Cup when the 1998 champion was eliminated by South Africa.

France fell 2-1 to the host nation today, after drawing Uruguay and dropping 2-0 to Mexico. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. had sold insurance requiring the Omaha-based company to pay a client if France won the tournament, Buffett told CNBC in March.

“I think we’re going to lose 30 million bucks or something like that” if France wins, Buffett, Berkshire’s 79-year-old chief executive officer, said at the time.

The article goes on to state that Carrefour SA, Europe’s biggest retailer had a promotion going in which customers buying flat- screen televisions would have been reimbursed if France won the tournament. The article does not say that this is the deal that Buffet has insured, just uses this as an illustration.

Buffet said that they would have lost some $30 million had France won, but there is no mention of how much they earned from this bet.

Happy Sunday

Some really cool stuff that I came across today.

First, this awesome dancing robots video. They are called Nao, and not only can they perform a mean dance, they can play football as well.

The dance is so well synchronized and  graceful at times that I wondered if these are really machines. This is quite something!

Next up is this inspirational Michael Jordan Nike ad. Enjoy!

And if you are in no mood to watch videos then enjoy this one from Scott Adams.

Dilbert.com

Enjoy your Sunday.

Economy and your Finances Carnival 23rd May 2010

It’s time for another carnival and I hope you enjoy these posts here. Thanks to all who contributed. Enjoy!

Debt

Tom Tessin presents 7 Steps to a Lower APR posted at FSC Blog, saying, “Want to get a lower APR on your credit card? If so, here are 7 steps you can take in order to cut it down today!”

debt kid presents Getting Discouraged posted at Debt Kid.

Michael Pruser presents Best Business Credit Cards for Start Ups posted at The Dough Roller.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents What Are The Best Credit Card Rewards Programs? posted at The Digerati Life

Rob presents Bankruptcy Advice posted at Stock Tips, saying, “Bankruptcy advice is crucial to perform the most appropriate steps when filing for bankruptcy.”

BWL presents Best Credit Cards For Cash Back Rewards posted at Christian Personal Finance, saying, “This article looks at some of the best credit cards to have if you are into the cash-back rewards programs…”

Economics

Mr. Money Smarts presents Cash For Caulkers Home Improvement Rebate: Money To Retrofit Your Home For Energy Efficiency posted at Smart On Money, saying, “With the economy ailing the Obama administration is working to pass a rebate for folks to buy energy efficient home improvements.”

Investments

Consumer Boomer presents How to Get a No Fee IRA with Lending Club posted at Consumer Boomer.

Mike @ Green Panda presents Asset Allocation Basis Part 2: A closer Look at Fixed Income Assets posted at Green Panda Treehouse, saying, “Regardless if you are ready to take risk or not, fixed income should always be considered while managing your asset allocation as a new or experienced investor.”

PT presents A Discussion on Asset Allocation posted at Prime Time Money.

Before You Invest presents Types of Mutual Funds posted at Before You Invest….

Dividend Tree presents Dividend Investing and Businesses with Moat posted at Dividend Tree, saying, “There are many companies that have many years building moats around their businesses. This moat makes it difficult for competitors to encroach upon their market share. Suffice to say, business with moat have sustainable competitive advantage.”

Continue reading “Economy and your Finances Carnival 23rd May 2010”

What is the coolest way to buy gold?

If your answer was post office, then you need a beer.

When I wrote about buying gold coins from the post office, I was thinking about how dull it would be to buy gold coins from a place like post office, but what I came across today had nothing dull about it all.

Back to my question now, it is definitely not cool to buy gold coins from the post office; could it be the bank then?

You can buy gold coins from banks too, but that is only slightly less boring than buying it from the post office. How cool is it to buy gold from people wearing ties? Not very cool.

It must be online then, right? Yes, online it must be – buying gold online has to be the coolest way of buying gold.

Sorry, wrong answer – It might be geeky / nerdy / dorky, but not cool.

Am I talking about a gold ETF then?

What’s cool about buying paper gold?

The coolest way to buy gold is from the ATM!

Yes, the ATM. Those machines that you use to get cash out of, yeah same thing.

Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace has now got an ATM machine that dispenses gold bars in exchange for cash!

Here is the video. Enjoy!

Economy and your finances carnival May 9 2010

Welcome to the May 9, 2010 edition of onemint – economy and your finances.

Rob presents X10 WS467 Remote Control Light Dimmer Switch Review posted at Energy Saving Gadgets.

Mike Piper presents Dave Ramsey Gives Bad Investment Advice posted at The Oblivious Investor, saying, “While Dave Ramsey has successfully helped many people get out of debt, his investment advice is downright awful.”

Debt

Christien presents How Much Does Bankruptcy Cost? posted at How Much Does Everything Cost?.

David presents List of 0% Balance Transfer Offers posted at Credit Card Offers IQ, saying, “Zero balance transfer cards are becoming easier to get with better terms.”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Chase Credit Cards: Review of Freedom, Slate & Sapphire posted at The Digerati Life

Economics

Jessica Bosari presents How Investment Bankers Contributed to the Financial Crisis | billeater.com posted at Billeater, saying, “Investment bankers and their contribution to the financial crisis.”

Matt Mason presents Blog Carnival – Submit an Article to a Carnival posted at FYMO Personal Finance Blog.

Alex Darr presents The Nastiest of Men Doing Good posted at Black Rock State of Mind, saying, “A brief opinion piece I wrote in response to a quote by Keynes regarding Capitalism. The piece may lack a little focus, but I think is redeemed by good structure.”

Investments

Hussein Sumar presents How a 401k Plan Increases your Savings Opportunities under the Economic Growth & Tax Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) posted at 401k, saying, “Many baby boomers who are nearing retirement and even young people who are interested in saving as much as they can for retirement visit their financial advisors each year to see how much they can contribute to their 401k plans for the current & upcoming tax years. Effective 2002 and thanks to Economic Growth & Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA), annual limits on 401k contributions were raised for this exact purpose allowing working investors to contribute more tax-deferred contributions to their retirement plans and lower their current taxable income.”

Patty Pedersen presents Investing in Emerging Markets ETFs and Mutual Funds posted at AlphaProfit MoneyMatters – Investing Blog, saying, “Emerging markets have come a long way since the late 1990s when the title submerging markets was more apt. Becoming fiscally fit and offering higher growth prospects emerging economies have helped investments in such regions lead the post-recession recovery. This article outlines investment options, opportunities, and risks in emerging markets ETFs and mutual funds … factors investors need to examine before allocating assets to this increasing important investing category.”

Personal Finance

Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog presents Low Interest Rates: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, “Interest rates have been low for years now. Many assume that this is great for the economy but there are dangers that lurk when rates are kept too low for too long.”

Madeleine Begun Kane presents A Dog Of A Limerick posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

The Financial Blogger presents Home Security System Deal: Shopping for the Best Home Security System Reliance Protectron posted at The Financial Blogger, saying, “I realized that I didn’t have a home security system at my current house and that having an alarm system could be a great advantage. On top of that, the house we are buying already has the wiring for a home security system installed!”

PT presents How to Get a Health Insurance By Shopping Online posted at Prime Time Money, saying, “In this post I share my experience with getting individual health insurance online. It’s pretty easy.”

CreditCardAssist.com presents Marketing Gimmick of Free Credit Reports Costs Consumers posted at Credit Card Assist, saying, “Discussion about the marketing gimmick of the so-called “free” credit report websites and how costly they can truly be.”

LearnSaveInvest presents Your Car Is Making You Broke posted at Learn Save Invest, saying, “Cars are a sinkhole for money, and can destroy your net worth. Choosing an inexpensive used car can help you save money and become wealthy and rich.”

Roshawn Watson presents Through the Looking Glass posted at Watson Inc, saying, “Do you really believe in a world of financial abundance? Could you ever have too much money? Could you ever even conceive of summering in the Hamptons for $35,000 per night? Pregnant in your answer is a revelation of your core belief system regarding money.”

Editor @ Double My Net Worth presents Simple As Math : Calculate How Much You Need posted at Double My Net Worth, saying, “It is not that difficult to figure out how much money you need to replace if you are interested in an independent stream of income apart from your employer.”

FMF presents How to Ask for a Raise posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “One way to make more money is to ask for a raise. This post tells how to do this.”

David de Souza presents Claiming Back Overpaid Tax From the Inland Revenue posted at UK Tax Blog, saying, “A step by step guide on claiming overpayments of tax from the government.”

BWL presents Create A Monthly Household Budget posted at Christian Personal Finance, saying, “Some simple guidelines for developing a strong monthly budget system…”

Carlos Sera presents A Wealthy Tale; Financial Tales posted at Financial Tales, saying, “Today I am releasing two tales instead of the usual one. The first is called A Wealthy Tale and should be read first. The other is called A Challenging Tale and it will test your knowledge about wealth. Along with my recently released A Cyclical Tale, this trilogy of tales will give the reader a good understanding of what it means to be wealthy.”

PT presents Are Credit Cards to Blame? posted at Prime Time Money, saying, “A discussion on responsibility and credit card use.”

Stocks

Zach Scheidt presents Syniverse Exhibits Strength in a Tough Market posted at ZachStocks, saying, “Syniverse Holdings Inc. (SVR) is sharply higher after reporting strong earnings. Positive relative strength in a difficult market could lead to a sustained price advance.”

Praveen presents Three Good Stocks Made More Attractive By The Recent Market Activity posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, “Three stock picks made more attractive by the recent market drop.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of onemint – economy and your finances using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

NSE to introduce GOLDBEES Options

NSE announced today that it will introduce options on the popular gold ETF – GOLDBEES from April 30th, which is just a few days away.

GOLDBEES is the same ETF I wrote about a few days ago, in my post about the best gold ETF in India. I am not surprised that this is the fund that NSE has chosen to take out options on, because it is quite popular and has very good volumes already.  It won’t be surprising if a good market develops on the options fairly quickly because of the interest in gold related investment these days, and as far as I know there are no options on gold in India.

Whether or not, this is a good idea for investors is entirely another thing. In my view the closer you are to your investments – the better it is, and buying gold coins is much better than buying paper that represents gold. However, this opens up a way to take a bearish view in gold, which is something you can’t do with gold coins.

Economy and your finances carnival April 25 2010

There is something wrong with the tool that helps me create this carnival, so I am struggling a bit with the formatting. I think I have found a way to get close to where I need to be, but it is not perfect yet. So, I welcome you to this not – so – well formatted edition of the carnival, and hope you enjoy these entries.

BackTaxesHelp.com presents IRS Could Take Refunds for Health Insurance Penalties posted at Back Taxes Help.

Rob presents Save Energy by using Motion Sensing Light Adapters posted at Energy Saving Gadgets.

Debt

PT presents Credit Card Cash Advance: Bad Financial Move or Good Emergency Plan? posted at Prime Time Money, saying, “cash advances with a credit card are a horrible financial move under most circumstances.”

oneadvice presents Spring Clean Your Finances posted at One Advice, saying, “Woo, spring is in the air! Don’t neglect your financial-house. Ensure everything is in order with these simple top tips…”

Economics

Michael presents 2011 Tax Increases = -6% Drop in GDP? posted at 2011 Tax Increases = -6% Drop in GDP?, saying, “Why the 2011 tax increases may matter more than people may think.”

Pam Marino presents How To Be Frugal: Renters Can Save Cash Too posted at All Things Frugal, saying, “In this economic climate, it is not too difficult to get a good deal on rent.”

Continue reading “Economy and your finances carnival April 25 2010”