Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Stock Pickin' Soul Mates & Other WSJ Links I Like

Financial hook-ups in chat rooms and other new-school stock-picking strategies; libraries that pander to cheapskates with "low" tastes; the outlook for real estate in 2007 -- Those are a few of the topics that caught my eye in today's Wall Street Journal.


Find your financial soul mate in Cyberspace.

"A new generation of Web sites has cropped up in recent months designed to help investors share ideas online with others who have similar investment styles, such as which Asian stocks or technology issues offer the best value.

Unlike the Internet chat rooms that were popular in the late 1990s, which allowed any anonymous user to post opinions, the latest sites seek to maintain their credibility by rating participants. Users are assigned a score based largely on the performance of their stock picks and the accuracy of their forecasts." source: WSJ


Frugal Duchess comment: Interesting, but I'd still be on guard for penny stock touts, market manipulators and boiler room scam artists.

Pushy Sales People in Cyberspace.
"It turns out that salespeople can be as annoying and unhelpful online as they are in the real world." --WSJ


Frugal Duchess retort: Ask to speak to a sales manager. Also call your credit/debit/charge card company and find out what kind of buyer protection you have. American Express and other companies can be very aggressive about resolving disputes in your favor.

Real Estate forecast for 2007

"Real-estate developers and investors are expected to be a little more cautious in 2007.

Among their reasons for concern: whether the single-family housing market has bottomed out; and whether rents will continue to go up for apartments, offices and other income-generating properties" --WSJ


Frugal Duchess: The real estate vulture funds are already circling in Miami.

Classic books vs Pop Ficition: Books battle for public shelf space.

"Should Libraries' Target Audience Be
Cheapskates With Mass-Market Tastes?" --WSJ

Frugal Duchess: I'm on shaky ground here. My reading tastes all over the map. I read everything from Jane Austen to Judith Krantz, with a lot of Toni Morrison, fantasy, adventure and sci-fi in the mix. I do, however, think libraries should maintain space for classics.


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