Life insurance is broadly divided into two categories whole life insurance and term life insurance. Just like the name hints, whole life insurance covers the entire life, on condition that the policy is active and premium paid regularly. This type of policy is useful just when the policyholder passes away. Of course, the advantages of whole life policy rely on the face value of the policy in the event of demise of the policyholder. In addition a cash value generated over a period of time on the tax defer basis is build up. The payments are remunerated during the entire term of the policy. In contrast, term life insurance, is in fact bought for a certain stretch of time say for 10, 20 or 30 years, the longer the stretch the more expensive the policy. If the death happens in that time-period, face value of the policy is paid to the beneficiaries…

This iPhone app idea man is the kind of guy who likes oatmeal in the morning. I am not flashy and I am not really a geeky type. I am simply a dad who loves his kids and wants the best for them. This makes me like most other parents out there, except that I created an app for their telephone to help them manage credit card debt. It is called Debt Dog, but I am getting ahead of myself. Ever worried about my kids, I am especially concerned with their inability to manage money. This strange obsession I have might exists because of the way I view my job as dad. The dadness in me was tuning in to the recent irregularities that has suddenly appeared in these young adults, AKA my kids. Or maybe it is the regular, normal everyday habit of buying things with no money that…

T he federal government’s task force on financial literacy is embarking on a cross-country consultation as it seeks to put together a national strategy that will teach Canadians how to manage their finances. The task force will release its “Leveraging Excellence” consultation document Monday as a starting point to discuss issues including managing debt, saving and investing, retirement planning and pension reform. Such issues are among the key problems on Ottawa’s plate right now, and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has been working to address them through regulatory reform and other means. The committee, led by Sun Life Financial chief executive Donald Stewart with vice-chair Jacques Menard, has spent months studying the degree of financial literacy among Canadians, and it has found reason for concern. “Canadians must try to make sense of increasingly sophisticated financial products,” Mr. Stewart wrote in the introduction…

S chlumberger Ltd. agreed to buy Smith International in a $11.34-billion all-stock deal that will boost the oilfield services leader’s revenue to double that of its nearest rival. The deal, still subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, values Smith Stock at $45.84, a 37.5 per cent premium over Thursday’s closing price, according to a joint statement by the companies on Sunday. The acquisition is the latest in a string of oilfield services deals as the sector begins to recover. Profits had plummeted as oil and natural gas companies cut spending on projects when energy prices collapsed along with economic activity in 2008. After the deal, Schlumberger would boast revenue double that of nearest rival Halliburton Co, which had 2009 revenues of $14.7-billion. “Smith’s drilling technologies, other products and expertise complement our own, while the geographical footprint of Schlumberger means we can extend our joint offerings worldwide,”…

You can use many options trading strategies to reduce risk and increase profits. How would you like to profit from a big move in the market without even knowing its direction. You can strangle the market with this options strategy. This options trading strategy relies on increased volatility that often occur when scheduled reports and other news items are released. It is easy to anticipate a change in volatility of a stock than a change in its price. A straddle is a combination position that involves purchasing a call and a put on the same underlying stock. You use the straddle strategy when you anticipate a big move in the market but are not sure about its direction. You construct a straddle by purchasing a call and put on the same underlying stock with the same strike price and the same expiry month. Using…

Market Update 19th February 2010 The Macro Trader’s view: The current Dollar rally began late in 2009 and was driven initially by some strong US economic data. But even when that data turned a little mixed, the Dollar continued to rally. More recently the rally was driven by a sharp increase of risk aversion caused by the Greek debt crisis, as traders fretted about a Greek Government debt default which, if it occurred, could have spread to other developed economies suffering similar fiscal problems. But now Greece has moved out of the spotlight after the Greek government received non-financial support from the EU/Euro zone leaders and Greece pledged to enact a fiscal austerity package aimed at sharply reducing the budget deficit. Yet the Dollar remains well bid. What other factors are now in play that offer such solid support? The US and Euro zone…

Candlestick charts is a visual representation of the battle between the bulls and the bears that takes place in the market. It takes time for this battle to take shape. Candlestick patterns on the very short timeframes used for scalping and some other day trading strategies may not give signals that can be properly interpreted and traded. In the last decade electronic trading has become highly popular. What this means is that significant volume of the trading takes place outside of the regular market hours. This trading can cause patterns that don’t reflect the full picture to appear on a candlestick chart. For example, stock ABC trades on NYSE. NYSE officially opens at 9:30 AM EST for trading. Stock ABC open price is $60 per share. However, this stock had been trading on the electronic network in the pre-market hours as low as $…