Asdfdf asked: I have a couple thousand bucks i’d like to start investing. I had an ING direct orange savings account but 1% just isn’t cutting it. I am interested in long term savings, but not an IRA which I can only withdraw at age 59. I am looking for something to invest in for [...]

As Americans look to save on travel costs and gasoline prices hold fairly steady, more people are turning to their own cars to get them where they want to go. But few sounds drown out the joy of a summer road trip faster than a backseat chorus of “Are we there yet?”
Fortunately for the chauffeurs [...]

QUESTION: I like the yields on GNMA bonds. What are the risks?
—Frank Summers, Santa Ana, Calif.
Anyone tracking bonds backed by “Ginnie Mae” mortgages (from the Government National Mortgage Association) is likely wondering, “What mortgage meltdown?”
Ginnie Mae creates mortgage-backed securities consisting primarily of loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, which typically backs loans to [...]

The recent market weakness might be making some investors nervous, but it also affords them an opportunity to pick up investments in cyclical sectors at more attractive prices, the brokerages say.

Who’s Talking: Marc Zabicki, senior market strategist, Ameriprise Financial

The Gist: The market’s “extraordinary” rally that started in early March cooled off in the last two [...]

Companies don’t seem interested in buying rivals at the moment, despite the comparatively low prices they could pay for them. That bodes poorly for stocks in general, but investors can still use the math of takeover pros to find bargains.
U.S. shares are 27% cheaper than a year ago, even after climbing 15% in the [...]

News at a Glance

Labor Update: Economy lost 467k jobs in June.
Equities Fall: Investors disappointed by jobs report.
Demand Rises: Factory orders top May consensus.
Long Day: Trading extended by 15 min. to fix glitches.

The Lowdown
A short week on Wall Street came to a bleak ending.
Stocks took an steep fall Thursday, as traders recoiled after a disappointing June [...]

Every time then-President Bush talked about ethanol back in 2005, fashionable stocks like Pacific Ethanol (PEIX), Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings (AVR) and VeraSun Energy would gap higher. Despite the fact that corn-based ethanol was inefficient and not economical, it thrived for a while on the basis of subsidies and political largess. The more Bush plugged ethanol, [...]

The first half of 2009 has been a whirlwind of events: Unprecedented government efforts to rescue a financial system on the brink, skyrocketing unemployment, dismal corporate earnings and a housing market plagued by defaults and foreclosures. Oh, and then there was that whole billion Ponzi scheme.
Yet, even as all those detrimental factors played [...]

Market Wrap-Up
Worse-than-expected job loss numbers ended a grim week ahead of the long Fourth of July weekend. Trading was extended until 4:15 p.m. on Thursday to clear up some technological glitches, but the four-session week ended roughly for stocks. The Labor Department reported that nonfarm payrolls shed 467,000 jobs in June, a much greater decline [...]

So much for the second half of the year getting off to a strong start. The market plunged 2.5% in one trading session just two days into the third quarter. Blame the selloff on the Labor Department, which reported Thursday that the economy shed another 467,000 jobs last month. Earlier estimates pegged the losses at [...]