Stock Investing Guide

Ah, Mother’s Day. A day when we all take some extra time to tell Mom how special she is*. But while you’re preparing breakfast in bed and buying her flowers, don’t forget your Mother’s Day etiquette, particularly when it comes talking money with Mom. There are just some things you don’t want to bring up on Mom’s special day.

“That college education you paid for is going to waste.”

For new grads, the job market is tougher than ever. Just one in two college graduates from 2006 to 2011 now has a full-time job, according to a report released this week, and just 40 percent of those work in jobs that require a four-year degree. It your mom (and/or dad) helped you pay for school, Mother’s Day is not the time to talk to her about your job-search struggles.

“I’m moving back in with you and Dad!”

As if the difficult job search weren’t enough, now young people are moving back into their parents’ houses more often. Three out of ten young adults ages 25 to 34 have done just that during the past few years. It’s such a prolific trend

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The number of homeowners obtaining mortgage loan modifications has dropped by nearly one-third over the past year, falling faster than the decline in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. 

Just over 207,000 mortgage borrowers obtained loan modifications in the first quarter of the year, a 31 percent decline from the more than 298,000 who received them in the first quarter of 2011. During the same period, the rate of new foreclosure starts and 60-day mortgage delinquencies fell by 8.1 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively.   The figures were reported today by the Hope Now Alliance, an initiative of the mortgage industry and U.S. government to address the foreclosure crisis.   About 30 percent of all loan modifications were done through the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), essentially unchanged from one year ago. The rest were proprietary modifications conducted by lenders following their own private guidelines rather than those of HAMP.   A significantly higher share of borrowers getting proprietary modifications saw their principal and interest payments reduced compared to one year ago. Sev Full Article…

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-Shareholders full legal name, SS #, address, ownership percentage and basis at the end of last year.

-The amount of deprecation taken in prior years.

-The original purchase price/tax basis of the property including any assignment of value to land and the date the property was placed into service.

Very Sincerely Yours, John C. Dillard, CPA, President

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When you successfully create an account with Credit Karma, you’ll get your free credit scores, see the factors that influence them, receive personalized savings recommendations, see information on your various credit lines, and more. One t

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Pending home sales fell slightly in February, but continue to run well ahead of last year’s pace, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported today. 

Signed contracts for home sales were down a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent from January, putting the NAR’s pending home sale index at 96.5. That still represented an increase of 9.2 percent from the February 2011 reading of 88.4.   Pending home sales are regarded as a leading indicator for the real estate market, typically anticipating trends in actual sales by one to two months, owing to the time needed to close the sale after a purchase contract is signed. 

Long-term gains still expected

  Despite the small downturn, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said the overall trend in the housing market remains encouraging.   “The spring home buying season looks bright because of an elevated level of contract offers so far this year,” he said. “If activity Full Article…

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