ThinkFinance.org

BERKELEY, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- Will the results of the next election impact the information-technology business? The IT community thinks so, but not drastically.
CDW, one of the largest suppliers of equipment and software, decided to check the moods of IT departments regarding Barack Obama vs. John McCain with an election-trend survey that revealed some surprises.

Natural gas up on storm; oil dips briefly below $100
Crude ends higher on day, down on week; traders focus on refinery worries.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Natural-gas futures closed nearly 2% higher Friday on concerns that Hurricane Ike may cause damage to refining infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico region and potentially disrupt energy production for a prolonged period.

What's a mutual fund?

A mutual fund, also referred to as an open-end fund, is an investment company that spreads its money across a diversified portfolio of securities -- including stocks, bonds, or money market instruments.

Shareholders who invest in a fund each own a representative portion of those investments, less any expenses charged by the fund.

Investors may not know the ABCs of how a financial adviser makes choices for a portfolio. But many are learning firsthand that more financial advisers are embracing exchange-traded funds and turning away from traditional mutual funds.

If your investments are handled by a financial adviser, that could have big implications for your investment returns and risk, along with your tax bill.

"ETFs have provided opportunities to lower expenses, diversify portfolios more, and provide better returns with less risk," says Tom Lydon, editor of ETFtrends.com, a Web site that tracks ETF developments.

ETFs are index funds that, like stocks, trade throughout the day, instead of being priced once daily like mutual funds. They're flexible, low-cost, tax-efficient investing vehicles -- and they're becoming more and more popular with people who construct investment plans.

"There may be an area where I think there's a real opportunity, and it's in a narrow slice of the market," says Scott Kays, an Atlanta adviser. "It's nice having an instrument I can implement that with."

Daily Market News. News You can Use

(Sept. 4, 2008)

Deals editor Dennis Berman speaks with Mean Street columnist Evan Newmark about his latest column on the broken bonus system on Wall Street. Once a meritocracy, Wall Street is finding it difficult to justify year-end bonuses.

Watch and comment....

LOOKING FOR A new home? Well, you're in luck... sort of.

First, the good news: Home prices are falling, giving buyers more negotiating power. Now, the not-so-good news: Lining up financing has become much more difficult as droves of homeowners default on their existing mortgages. This isn't to say you won't be able to secure the home of your dreams, but you will need to be a bit more cautious and conservative with your purchase.

Here are five mistakes to avoid when looking for a home in today's real estate market.

1. Waiting to Sell Your Home
2. Ignoring Your Credit Score

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. jobless rate unexpectedly jumped in August to a nearly five-year high as employment fell for an eighth-straight month, raising the risk of recession as households face a struggling labor market and a high inflation rate. The data, which included a modest rise in wages, suggest Federal Reserve officials will hold interest rates steady this month and at subsequent meetings at least through the end of the year and perhaps well into 2009.

The dollar posted its biggest gain against the Euro in almost eight years but that doesn't mean the U.S. currency won't continue to be plagued by the nation's slowing economy, widening budget, trade deficits, negative inflation and adjusted interest rates.

The greenback’s surge against the European currency this month was enough to prompt Bank of America Corp. to tell its customers to exit trades betting on more gains. Morgan Stanley still forecasts the greenback will approach a record low by October as the U.S. housing slump and credit-market losses keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates this year.

``I would not chase the dollar's strength versus the euro as the pair has moved beyond interest-rate support,'' said Sophia Drossos, a strategist in New York at Morgan Stanley, who also recommended closing out bets on the dollar versus the currencies of Malaysia and Singapore. ``The dollar is not out of the woods. It will take the market a while to come around to our point of view.'' The EUR/USD is currently trading at 1.5010 as of 11:59 am, GMT.

IT'S BEEN ROUGH sailing recently for U.S. investors who have ventured into foreign waters hoping to find safe havens from the vagaries of their own market.

After strongly outperforming U.S. equities for the past five years, international returns have started to slip, reflecting slumping global economies, continuing fallout from the credit crunch, and high oil prices.