Financial news: 11/19/2012

• AP: Increased tax for wealth non-negotiable per Pelosi
• MN: Economists doubt effectiveness of short-term fiscal solutions
• NYT: Savvy accounting upsetting British & French governments
• InvestorPlace: GS cutting costs via automation & few partnerships
• Option Queen: S&P 500 to see new lows despite relief rallies
• CNBC: By '11, hedge funds & private equity reached $67 trillion
• ZH: Developed countries use credit to finance economic growth
• CNN: Hostess to lay off 18,000 employees before shutting down
• Fox: Walmart workers planning large strike on Black Friday
• Bloomberg: Big rebound in China's R.E. not supported by policy

Traffic court: Is it worth the cost to contest a ticket?

If you do not have the upper hand in terms of proof, logic, and testimonial strength, then it is a good idea to think twice before contesting a ticket, as doing so can lead to even more costs, and wasted time. Those who do not pre-pay traffic tickets are usually required to attend traffic court if they are to testify for their plea of innocence. If you think you are not-guilty of a traffic violation, then be careful before making the decision to not pay a ticket. Below are some considerations to take in to account:

• If the judge does not find you innocent, court fees often apply

• If the ticket is not waived, both the ticket and fees will be due

• If ordinances say one thing, executive decisions may say another

• The judge who hears you influences the outcome of your testimony

• You must either prove your case, and/or officials must prove your guilt

If you are in clear violation of any road markings, street signs, or municipal ordinances, there is a reasonable chance paying the ticket will cost you less than contesting it. If you believe you are not in violation of ordinances, or road markings, but competing rules or signage exists, your innocence or guilt is up to the judge. Remember, there is supposed to be a transcript of the court proceedings, so citing the specific code you did not violate, and asking the officer a question that places the burden of proof on him or her should not be a problem for you.

Essentially, you want to ensure there is no room whatsoever for anyone including the judge to argue against you. It is wise not to forget that the county can make its own decisions, and that a judge will not necessarily rule against them. For example, suppose a municipal ordinance states no parking is allowable within 30 feet of a stop sign, but a (no) parking sign indicates otherwise. What should you do?

If you park next to the stop sign, then you are in violation of the ordinance, but if you do not, you may be ignoring the sign. Questions to ask:

• Why is the sign there?

• Was it placed there incorrectly?

• Who decided how it should be placed?

• Will a judge side with underlying law or county decisions?

Whenever there is ambiguity, prove it is ambiguous without cause. For instance, if the sign is placed in front of corporate offices, did those offices or non-judicial county officials influence the decision to place signs in a way that challenges the logic of the general law? Even though you may be right in terms of the ordinance, you may also be wrong in terms of the county's decision to place the sign the way they did.

The existence of anyreasonable doubt weakens your case. Doubt, is therefore a good thing to pay attention to, for the keys to proving your innocence are also contained in proving that doubt wrong. In the case of the above example of a sign with conflicting messages, you must obtain a written statement from an applicable county official that clarifies whether or not the sign is correctly positioned or not even if you did not break the law.

Think in terms of the four branches of government: judicial, legislative, executive and financial. The last branch is unofficial, but even the government has financial motives. It helps to have at least two of these on your side. For example, you must not be in violation of the law, and the judge must be convinced by your testimony, or you must not be in violation of either the law or executive decisions.

Image attributions:  

1. Public Domain 

2. Jarek Tuszynski; CC BY-SA 3.0  
3. US-PDGov 

Disclaimer: This article is not legal advice, nor is it guaranteed to be an accurate portrayal of any reality surrounding the nature of traffic law.  

Tips on decoding the student loan application

Saving enough money to pay your way through college is easier said than done. Thousands of college students apply for scholarships, grants, and student loans to help them tide over the hefty college expenses such as tuition fees.

Before you start applying for student loans, you need to know exactly what you will be getting into. Finding the right loan that will fulfill every need you have is the key to success.

How much do you really need?

Most students make the mistake of borrowing too little or too much through a student loan. You will find many calculators and online cost adjusters that will help you calculate exactly how much you need to borrow to meet all your educational requirements.

While borrowing, ensure that you reach the maximum limit on every available federal student loan before you borrow from any private student loans. It is prudent to borrow just as much as you need to cover your education costs, no more, no less.

 

Types of loans available to students

There are a variety of loans that students can apply for. Most students will be able to qualify for more than one loan. In order to know which loans are the best for you, it is important to spend some time understanding the characteristics of each loan.

For example, PLUS, Perkins, and Stafford loans each have something unique to offer to students. They also have different rules that need to be followed. Give yourself the best tools to apply for loans and streamline your debt by researching on the types of loans available to students.

 

Promissory notes

Often the simplest things become roadblocks because they were not done in time. Collecting and organizing the information that you will need while applying for student loans falls into this category. Organize all the promissory notes that you will need and gather information pertaining to the Department of Education school code, co-signer information, as well as any disbursement dates before you begin the process of applying.

 

Balance your potential earnings with loan payments

Finding a steady job is a concern in these tough economic and recessionary times. Research and find out what successful graduates in your chosen field of study are being paid after graduation and what are the chances of them finding a job in that field?

This will help you understand what your earning potential is like after graduation, will you need a master’s, should you enter this major, and how you will be able to make payments towards paying off your student loan debt?

Attached Images:

•  License: Royalty Free or iStock source: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=students&ex=2#ai:MP900439511|

Select your student loans after considering all the pros and cons via adequate research.

Workers compensation: What you need to know

By Victoria Heckstall

Most people think that if they are hurt at work that they are covered by workers compensation automatically. However this is not the case because workers compensation is paid to the employee by the insurance company, and it is not easy getting them to pay for injuries. Workers compensation was made to avoid, or reduce the personal injury lawsuits between the employee and the employer. Here is what you need to know about workers compensation.

Benefits of workers compensation and are you really covered?

Workers compensation will provide wage replacement if you are injured at work. It will cover you, but it is covered by your employer who holds the policy for the insurance. It is there for protection for the employer to make sure you don’t sue them for your injuries. Before workers compensation coverage can work for you, it will have to be proven that the relationship does exist between the employee and the employer and that the injury did indeed happen while you were at work. If, however, you were injured while driving to work then you are not covered by workers compensation.

How to get medical care and other benefits

In order to get your benefits through workers compensation you will need to report the injury to your employer. You will also have to do everything that needs to be done in order to qualify. This means cooperating with all parties involved with the claim. Once the injury is reported, your employer should have everything in place already including a plan and an insurance policy for these things. However, you will need to report the injury immediately or you will lose out on it. Delaying things could hurt you with your workers compensation claim.

You will also be asked to let them know everything about what happened leading up to the injury. This is to ensure you were not using drugs or alcohol beforehand, and to ensure that the injury was legitimate and was caused by work.

If you need to go to the hospital, let your employer know about it. You will probably need to visit the insurer’s doctor in order to qualify for workers compensation. However, if the care their doctors are giving you is not working, you will be allowed to see another doctor. In order to have those medical bills covered, you will have to provide information as to why the workers compensation doctors did not help you and why the new doctor did.

You will also have to fill out some forms. You will need to read everything carefully and submit them right away. Make sure to keep all appointments through the workers compensation insurers or things could be delayed or your claim could even be denied.

Do you need an attorney?

You can see an attorney, but may not need to do so in every single case. You should at least contact one and get information about workers compensation from them and then go from there to consider hiring one. There is nothing preventing you from talking to an attorney, so things might be easier and go faster if you do. 

This guest post comes from freelance writer Victoria Heckstall. She writes on a variety of topics including PEO Services.

Financial news: 11/16/2012

• CNBC: Mortgage delinquency rate of 5.41% not normal
• BI: CA & FL house the most negative equity mortgages
• Fox: Medicare open enrollment ends on December 7
• Money News: Fed likely to buy $85 bln in bonds per month
• AP: Walmart Q3, 2012 revenue fell short of forecasts
• NBR: Economy has 3-4 million less jobs than in 2008
• Costco: Costco offers low mortgage rates to members
• Reuters: USPS expected to lose $15.9 for the fiscal year
• ZH:Data shows fiscal austerity is bad for politicians' careers
• CNN: Eurozone unstable & needs modification per Buffett
• NYT: Financial institutions buying more European bonds

What exchangeable bonds are

Exchangeable bonds are a way for countries and financial institutions to borrow money from capital markets with specific terms. In some cases, countries may make use of financial institutions such as investment banks to underwrite or facilitate the issuance of these bonds to supplement monetary policy. Otherwise, exchangeable bonds can be issued by central banks and traded via bond exchanges.

Exchange

A key feature of exchangeable bonds is they can be traded for stock held by, but not of the issuer according to Reuters. In other words, exchangeable bonds are similar to convertible bonds because they can be exchanged for stock, but not the stock of the issuer. The price at which stocks are acquired is important in receiving an equitable exchange for the bond. For example, if a 10 year bond with a face value of $1,000.00 yields 4 percent per annum at an inflation rate of 3 percent, the value of the stock should equal the present value of the annual payments plus the bond's present value per the  New York University Stern School of Business bond valuation method i.e. $931.46 at the time of issue.

Rates

Rates on exchangeable bonds vary, but have been as high as 5.25 percent for Portuguese exchangeable bonds and as low as 1.5 percent for those issued by KwG Bank Group. The yield of bonds is linked to the credit rating and demand for the bonds, but also by how much an issuer is willing to borrow money for. To limit opportunity cost, the rate at which exchangeable bonds ideally equal the highest yields and lowest price of existing bonds with the same credit rating in either primary or secondary bond markets. Furthermore, if bonds are purchased in a secondary market their purchase price can also be discounted if new issues of the same bond offer a higher rate.

Terms

Issuers of exchangeable bonds can do so with conditions such as bond recall or cash exchange option. This is evident in exchangeable bonds issued by the Portuguese Government. Moreover, these particular exchangeable bonds were issued with the understanding that the issuer would maintain ownership of the exchangeable amount of Galp Energia shares until traded. However, the issuer also had the option to keep those shares and instead offer cash with value equal to the average trading price of those shares in exchange for the bonds. Additional conditions of exchangeable bonds include the qualifying exchange period and recall of the bonds prior to their maturity date.

Risks

Exchangeable bonds that are rated by agencies such as Moody's assist investors in evaluating the risk level of the bonds and the credibility of the issuer. In some cases 'events' such as legislative adjustments can cause the terms of an exchangeable bond to change. Predicting these events is not an exact science but can be assisted with a review of the economic and market trends in addition to analysis of existing bond yield curves. Other risk includes opportunity cost and market risks such as transaction speed, or inaccurate inflation discount rates and/or risk premium in the case of exchangeable bond repurchases.

How to easily research an area before you buy your next home

By Salvatore Induisi

Buying a home is one of life’s major milestones, full of decisions and choices. Many concern the type and size of house or apartment, but the location is just as significant. Choosing the right area to live in can be a big factor in improving your lifestyle, and many people see it as just as important as the type of home they should buy.

Crime

Crime is a major factor these days when considering a move to a new area, and you want to ensure peace of mind by finding out as much as you can before making a decision. The traditional method, often suggested by realtors, is to take a drive through the streets at night to see if it seems quiet. This may give you some idea, but it’s not foolproof. It may not be fully representative of the area, or you might just pick on a quiet moment. You might even run into trouble on your fact-finding mission.

Thankfully, you don’t have to put yourself at risk for the sake of incomplete personal research – you don’t even have to leave the house! Simply access the details you need through one of a number of websites giving the crime statistics of any location in America. Sites like spotcrime.com let you zoom in on a map and show all recent misdemeanors in your chosen area, from low-end vandalism and theft up to assault and other serious crimes.

Researching the statistics in this way gives you a much more representative view of all the crime figures in your chosen area, but you should study the data carefully to work out how the information is analyzed and displayed. For example, areas with a high population density will obviously show higher crime rates per square meter, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you will be less safe.

Another great advantage of researching online is that you can find out about a new area from hundreds of miles away! No need to keep organizing trips for repeated visits; whatever your reason for moving long distance, all the information you need is right at your fingertips.

General feel of the area

Finding out about crime levels is relatively easy, and as we have seen the results are already analyzed for us. Other factors in choosing an area are less precise and largely depend on personal choice. Many homebuyers are just looking for a nice area that feels and looks good; they would like to spend some time in the neighborhood before deciding, but this isn’t always possible. Thankfully, if you are stuck in Illinois but thinking of moving to California, various platforms will allow you to zoom in on a map and take a virtual tour of the area.

This feature has already helped thousands of people check out a new neighborhood; they can see within minutes if they like the area and want to investigate further, or look elsewhere. Simple things like trees, architecture, and street layout can all be important, and now you can view these details from street level just as though you were driving around.

Schools and recreation

Education these days is one of the biggest elements in considering whether to move to a new area. Whether you have preschoolers or kids going off to college, you want to be sure you choose the right options for them in the years ahead. This difficult decision is often a deciding factor for parents when it comes to weighing up different locations.

Traditionally, researching into local schools has generally been pretty informal and unscientific. A parent often asks other parents about schools in the area and finds out which one they would recommend. This is a great way to meet other moms and dads and get a personalized view, but it’s not particularly efficient or representative when it comes to deciding your child’s education.

As with so many other things, there are now plenty of online tools to help you find the right educational options in the location of your choice. Sites like greatschools.org offer plenty of choices for potential homebuyers; you can research any area across the States, with results including each school’s specific highlights and facilities, as well as user reviews, and overall ratings.

Don’t forget to check out the local parks and recreation facilities too. They may be less important than your child’s education, but they can make a big difference to your quality of life. Again, you can research online to discover whether your chosen area has the local leisure and entertainment facilities your family needs to relax and spend quality time together, indulge in favorite sports or enjoy other outdoor activities.

House prices

Of course, the major factor for most people in deciding whether to move to a new area will be how expensive it is, especially the local house prices. It’s no good finding a great location if you can’t afford to live there! Fortunately there are a number of websites to help potential homebuyers here too. As well as the price of property now on the market, they show details of recent sale prices, and the average house prices for any given area.

These websites can also be an important tool in determining how much your home is worth on the current market and what you might expect to sell it for – a big factor in choosing your new location. You should also bear in mind other significant costs, such as any specific local or regional real estate taxes, and the actual moving costs, especially over long distance.

Choose the right location

Choosing the right location has long been a vital part of buying a new home, but now the internet has opened up a vast new range of research options. No longer dependent on word of mouth and traveling back and forth (or just hoping for the best!), every homebuyer now has access to as much data as they need. There are even sites, like city-data.com, which combine elements from a number of sources – crime figures, house prices and schools, for example - to provide all the information in one place. Although maybe not quite as detailed as specific sites, it can be a great place to start your research.

This article was written by Salvatore Induisi, owner of SFI Realty which is your #1 source if you're looking for Fort Lauderdale condos and homes.