Breaking Financial News

Okay, now the rewards credit card bonuses are just ridiculous. The fact that we can even have this post is pretty exciting. Most offers aren’t for the faint of heart: many require you to spend in excess of $2,000 before getting your bonus, while others have much higher requirements. But if you can make the spending threshold, you’re in the money. Other nice perks about these $300+ bonus cards:

• Some either have no annual fee, or waive the first year’s fee
• Many have additional perks, like no foreign transaction fees or airport lounge access
• The ongoing rewards rates, in most cases, aren’t too bad either

Depending on your tolerance for fees and your value of travel-related benefits, the best card for you will vary, but these cards presence on the $500+ list means they are well worth your while.

Credit cards with signup bonuses worth $500 or more

50,000 Ultimate Rewards Points, worth 25% more if you redeem for travel We value Starpoints at 2.3 cents each, so a 25k-Starpoint bonus is, we think, worth $575

Credit cards with signup bonuses worth $300 or more

Also get one free night’s stay upon approval You also get 10,000 miles for spending $25,000 a year, but that’s an ongoing bonus

You may notice the absence of the Hilton credit card, which has a 50k-point signup bonus.

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Tags: Bonuses, Rewards Credit

The volatility of the stock markets seems to have left investors unsure which way to turn, new data has revealed.

Investors picked a mixed bag of stocks in the week ending 20 September, according to TD Waterhouse, with trading taking place across the resource, construction, technology and communications sectors.

Bank stocks proved particularly unpopular with investors, with Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays being the top three most sold stocks of the week.

At the same time, however, it seems some investors might have chanced their arm at spotting a bargain, with all three banking giants featuring in the top four stocks bought.

Overall trading levels increased by 9% on the previous week, albeit with the volume of sells increasing by 76% compared with a 28% rise in buys.

Amongst the new entrants to the top ten of sold stocks were Vodafone and the homebuilder Taylor Wimpey.

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Tags: Markets, Volatile Markets

After the housing bubble burst a few years ago, people who are looking for homes are looking for great deals on nice homes in good neighborhoods as they have been through the ringer and have difficulty making end meets without payday loans. They are willing to pay a little extra for some updating, but for the most part, updates are not worth the money unless you plan on using them yourself and you simply must have the home that way. When you buy a home, you may consider some big improvements, but you must also consider these improvements for you rather than for resale. The simple fact is that most remodeling does not return a profit and that they can be a waste of money. The way people look at value is very different and depends on the individual, so it is a crap shoot to make any changes in the name of future profit or recoupment, as that is a pip dream that can cost you tens of thousands of dollars.

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Tags: Home, Home Fixes

– Mark Suster is a former serial entrepreneur and a partner at Los Angeles-based GRP Partners. This article originally appeared on his blog “Both Sides of the Table”. The views expressed are his own. –

Anybody who has spent any time with me in person will be tired of this advice because I give it so frequently. Its a piece of actionable advice that if you put into practice starting next week, will start paying dividends in the near future. There’s a direct correlation to your future success.

5 meetings/week = 250/year.

Imagine the human progress you could make with 250 short, relationship-focused meetings.

Here’s why it’s critical:

1. Recruiting. Are you looking for great engineers? Talented brand sales people? A smart young marketing exec? If you wait until you need to fill somebody in a roll, you’re losing valuable time as an entrepreneur. You should always have a steady stream of “friend of the firm” hanging around your company.

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