Retail sales were disappointing for December, and 2009 recorded a historic drop in sales figures (Yahoo!)
An interesting piece on why gold will go much higher due to the Chinese economy (Zero Hedge)
“A Decade of Zero” by Ron Paul (Euro Pac)
An excellent look at how Dubai is crumbling, despite the recent opening of the world’s largest tower (NY Times)

I know multiple people personally who have had their 401(k) matching cut in the last couple months.  For each of them, it is a fairly large blow to their income/savings.  Cutting 5% matching on a 401(k) is a 5% decrease in compensation.  The question becomes, should you continue to contribute to your 401(k) without the matching?  Well, that depends.
Depending on your discipline levels, you may or may not want to keep putting money in your 401(k).  If you tend to spend all of your paycheck, then yes, you probably should …

Great post regarding the time decay nature of leveraged ETFs, specifically TBT.  With Treasuries becoming more and more in the news, many people are considering such an instrument.  Read this before trading this and other leveraged ETFs (Zero Hedge).
Real unemployment rate is at 17.3% (Yahoo!)
President Obama to request $708 billion for wars in 2010 (My Way News)
Good article on investing in “too big to fail” sectors (ERE)
As the news comes in regarding the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I’m saddened by the loss of life.  The images from the devastation are …

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) has been in a pretty nice down trend since October.  I’m short at around $17 per share.  If the trend reverses, I will exit quickly, but I think there might be a few more bucks of downside.
The chart is shown below:

Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) is off it’s highs above $80.  I decided to short as it crossed back below $80.  I covered the position as it ran into support just above $75 yesterday for a nice little profit (still down huge on SPG after holding on …

I started this blog in April 2008.  I started my journey for side income (in my case, online income) a few months after that.  After playing around with some other ideas and projects, I got serious about it in August 2009.  Since then, I’ve built up my online income nicely.  In fact, my total online income with includes the income that comes indirectly from this project such as freelance writing income is currently about 15% of my main income (on average).
Basically, in six months, I’ve created another income stream that …

I’ve recently written some covered calls on two of my positions:

Philip Morris Int’l (PM)
Market Vector Gold Miners ETF (GDX)

I’ve done this because I believe the short term upside is limited (looking out to January or February 2010).  By writing the covered calls, I become obligated to sell my position should the price of the stock increase to the strike price of the calls (example below).  If the price stays put or falls, I hang on to the stock and keep the premiums from selling the calls.  The only risk is …

The prize pool over at the Money Crashers contest continues to grow.  The total prize pool is now over $7,500 total, $2,120 in cash prizes.  You have until the end of January to enter the contest, but I recommend getting in now so you can secure your chance at some really sweet prizes like Kindles, iPods, tons of cash, some awesome books, gift cards and more.
Entering the contest is easy.  All you have to do is subscribe to their email list, subscribe to the RSS feed, comment on their blog …

I don’t comment on world news much, but Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez just announced a 50% devaluation of their currency.  Currency devaluation is a topic I like to discuss, so I thought I’d comment on this development.
Chavez is devaluing the currency due to the struggling economy and increasing government spending (sound familiar)?  He doesn’t have enough “money” to continue his social programs.  So, why not just double the “money” you have with a simple declaration? Completing the one-two punch in the fight against prosperity is the enactment of price controls.  Chavez …