Investors are entering the new trading week tentatively as the Federal Reserve meets to discuss interest-rate policy. Stock futures fell slightly Monday. Overseas markets mostly fell. loadposition in-article The Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet Tuesday. While it is unlikely to raise a key interest rate from historic lows, traders will be looking for clues in the Fed’s statement as to when it might make a move. Investors have been factoring in an eventual rate hike, but any signs that the move will be made sooner rather than later is likely to — at least in the short-term — hurt stocks. Stocks pushed higher last week after investors grew more confident about the health of the financial sector. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Nasdaq composite index both hit their highest levels in more than a year. Sen. Chris Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut and chairman of the Senate …

PepsiCo said Monday that it will buy back up to $15 billion worth of its own common stock through June 2013. Shares rose nearly 2 percent in premarket trading. “The board’s action reflects continued confidence in the growth of our business and our commitment to providing strong cash returns to our shareholders,” Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi said in a statement. loadposition in-article The world’s second-biggest soft drink seller — whose brands include Gatorade, Quaker and Pepsi-Cola — had said before that it was buying about $4.4 billion worth of its shares this year. Some of the buybacks will be made under a prior repurchase authorization from 2007, which had $6.4 billion remaining at the start of the year and expires in June. The company also said Monday it will boost its annual dividend by 7 percent to $1.92, likely starting on June 30 when it expects to pay its next quarterly dividend. …

The purchasing of electronic goods is something that every house owner dreams of, be it a television, personal computer or a home theatre system. All this needs at least a couple of hundred pounds more. The electronic goods currently present in the house might have just broken down, apart from getting it fixed at a cost almost equal to the original cost of the electronic itself, the only other option is to take a short term loan up to your next payday. These short term payday loans have made a mark in the current global situation because of the nature of the product. They can be availed at any time regardless of the purpose of the loan. Payday loans last from as long as one month to a long six months in some cases. These sorts of payday loans are available at the click of the mouse and do not…

There is absolutely no sense in jumping blindly and making a financial decision about something that you know absolutely nothing of – especially when dealing with your finances. Let’s say that you are planning to take on a second mortgage. Before deciding if it’s a good decision or not, it helps to learn about the basics of the process first. Here, we will focus our attention on whether liquidating your assets by taking on a second mortgage is a good idea or not. What are the benefits of taking on a second mortgage for your home? How exactly does the process work? What are the types of second mortgage loans that you can take advantage of? Finally, how do you decide whether it is a good financial decision or not? Read on to find out the answers to these questions which will help you decide if it is…