Women & Finances is a new series written by a 20-something about her financial journey. Her columns will be appearing weekly here at 20smoney.com. You can read her other articles by visiting the Women & Finances category.
Start holiday shopping now! Instead of running out last minute and spending top dollar for whatever you can find with time pressure to buy, keep the people you will be buying for in mind as early as right now. If you happen to stumble upon a great deal that reminds you of a family …

Thankfully the destruction of the U.S. dollar is gaining some press.  I’m starting to see radio hosts and TV personalities talk about inflation that did not typically talk about it before.  Neal Boortz is one of these.  Today, he spent several hours talking about monetary policy.  He talked about inflation in a great way that I believe makes this concept hit home a little more effectively which is important because inflation is something that the public is way too carefree about.  Any way we can make it more real to …

Networking is very important for anyone in business.  For young people, it’s even more important because young people need to make contacts.  These new contacts can lead to a range of things: a new job, a partnership, a friendship and more. 
Why Young Professionals Should Network
Early in your career, you need to build your contacts.  The simple rule is that the more people you know, the better.  Even in my short career, I’ve met new people in the business world that are great resources for me.  Here are some reasons why …

Happy Dow 10k Day!  The Dow crossed this crucial yet uncrucial level of 10,000 today.  Continued optimism on the economy fueled another rally in the stock market.  The market is up big since its March lows as every knows.
The problem is that gold is high (signaling inflation), the dollar is down (meaning your money doesn’t get you as far as it did yesterday), and unemployment continues to rise.  The common argument is that unemployment is a lagging indicator, the stock market is a leading indicator, and a crappy dollar is …

The field of biotechnology is full of innovation, discovery, and ideas. Rigorous scientific guidelines and standards govern the large body of research that is carried out globally. But investing in biotechnology is a different story. The conditions aren’t always as logical. The biotech sector is notorious for high risk, which can mean big rewards or big losses. This is why your approach to investing in biotechnology must have a more scientific method.
The Question
Biotechnology? Biotechnology is sort of a catch all term for a sector of the market that includes companies …

I continue to be in the camp that the U.S. economy is wounded and that the fierece market rally of 2009 is mostly technical in nature.  As the market takes another leg up and moves towards an assault on 10,000 for the Dow and 1,100 on the S&P, I’m going long the technicals and short the fundamentals.
Still Holding Shorts
I continue to hold onto short positions in the sectors that I see continued weakness in the real economy, namely retail, the consumer and commercial real estate.  I’ve accepted that these positions …

While government numbers and economic data tell us that unemployment is by no means in a good situation, economic analysts tell us that the economy is rebounding.  These views are in a stark contrast to what I continue to hear and see from the people I know and their real life experiences.  There is nothing that I trust more than what I see with my own two eyes.
What Do I See?
Simply put, the jobs market sucks.  I have friends in the financial sector, technology, construction, hospitality and others.  Many have …

I recently wrote an article over at Moolanomy.com entitled Market Timing vs Market Awareness. My basic argument was that you don’t have to time the market but that you should definitely be aware of what the market is doing and make adjustments to your buying behavior, even if the adjustments are small.
As I thought more about this concept, I think it’s a very interesting discussion. So many advisors or experts recommend strict passive investing. They say you don’t know anything so you should passively invest the same …