In what became the largest single day drop in history, the DOW dropped 777 points today. Needless to say, my portfolio  (and many others) took a huge hit. I was expecting the market to rebound today, but instead the market gave me (and everyone else) a nice surprise took a long free-fall. Here is a [...]

There is an interesting article on 401k on MainStreet.com.
http://mainstreet.com/article/money/stocks-funds/farnoosh-answers-your-401-k-questions

I bought XLF @ 21.30 on Friday. I was expecting that the bailout plan will be passed by the end of the weekend. After much talk and revision, finally on Sunday night, the Lawmakers, White House agree on $700B bailout and Congress Finalizes Financial Rescue Plan.
I expect the stock market to open higher on [...]

Today the market closed significantly higher due to the $700M bailout plans: Stocks rise on bailout hopes; credit remains tight
However, after the closed of the market today, there were problems with the bailout plan and an urgent meeting was called in Capitol Hill discuss the issues. The market index futures are pointing lower as investors [...]

The Personal Financier has posted the 170th edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance. Dorian filtered through all the submissions and picked these articles as his favorites:

Commodities Prices: Who’s Holding the Cards?
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Asset Allocation
16 Arguments You Can Take to Your Boss on Why You Should Be Allowed to Telecommute

As anticipated AIG’s rally would not hold. AIG gave up yesterday’s gains and closed at 3.31, the lowest point of the day.
I bought AIG 4 puts @ 0.70 / contract on 9/22
I sold AIG 4 puts @ 0.85 / contract on 9/24
Gain: $254 (+21%) before commissions
I also bought GS puts on Monday (9/22), but my [...]

After the government announced that they were going to take control of investment bank giant, Goldman Sachs, the company share prices went on a decline. I bought GS 100 put @ 6.00. The put contracts went up to as high as 7.57 today but I did not sell it. GS was trading weakly for most [...]

BankerGirl is today’s host of the latest edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance. Here are her highlights from the submissions from this past week:

Extravagantly Frugal: Friends In High Places
Forget About Tipping After a Service, Start Tipping Before
Geting Out of Debt is Boring, or…
Converting My Car to a Water-Powered Hybrid

The latest edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance follows the Labor Day tradition of grilling. That One Caveman from One Caveman’s Financial Journey is doing the honors of hosting the barbecue. Here are the Editor’s Picks:

Surround Yourself With Excellence
Do We Overvalue Our Spare Time?
Cash in on the Economy’s Problems
Who is to Blame for Your [...]

With the Games of the XXIX Olympiad having come to a close, Broke Grad Student offers the timely latest edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance, focused on the 2008 Olympic Games. There are many great articles included this week, and Broke Grad Student picked out his favorites:

Is Interest Rate All That Matters?
Financial Tips for [...]