Tuesday, June 15, 2010

“DJ Australian Personal Finance Down 0.6% In April Vs March - Investors Business Daily” plus 3 more

“DJ Australian Personal Finance Down 0.6% In April Vs March - Investors Business Daily” plus 3 more

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DJ Australian Personal Finance Down 0.6% In April Vs March - Investors Business Daily

Posted: 14 Jun 2010 06:35 PM PDT

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Perera seeks venue change for remaining trials - Star-Banner

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 01:26 PM PDT


By Joe Callahan
Staff writer

An attorney for former Kids Zone USA day care operator Chris Perera says her client cannot receive a fair trial in Marion County.


A motion for change of venue was filed on behalf of Perera, 45, who faces two felony charges, one of which connected to the Northeast 22nd Avenue day care she once operated.

J. Melanie Slaughter, Perera's defense attorney, requested the change of venue because of recent Star-Banner stories about Perera and the day care.

She wrote the articles "extensively discuss both her felony cases and the evidence law enforcement claims they have against her."

Perera was the subject of the Star-Banner's "Trail of Deception" series, which detailed the rise and fall of the once-successful day care operator.

Slaughter also noted the Star-Banner also wrote about Perera's three misdemeanor drug paraphernalia possession cases, two of which have since been dropped.

"The pre-trial publicity in this matter will result in a violation of Ms. Perera's due process rights to a fair and impartial jury," the motion states.

Slaughter said she believes the trial should be held in another county in the Fifth Judicial Circuit, which covers Marion, Citrus, Lake, Sumter and Hernando counties.

The State Attorney's Office has objected to a change of venue. Circuit Judge Hale Stancil has not yet ruled.

The state dropped two of those three paraphernalia charges — one in December and the other in January — because Perera's friend, Ricky Watson, said he owned the crack pipes found on both occasions.

The third case, still pending, stems from an April arrest. She was picked up on a warrant for failing to appear in court and Ocala police said they found drug paraphernalia in her van. This time Watson wasn't with her; she was alone.

Perera is scheduled for two July pre-trial hearings in her felony cases. She is accused of using a woman's personal finance information to install an $80,000 security system in Kids Zone USA, and of not paying a doctor for Botox treatments.

Joe Callahan can be reached at joe.callahan@starbanner.com.

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Personal Finance - Yahoo Finance

Posted: 12 Jun 2010 02:38 AM PDT

It's as compelling an investment theme as you'll ever come across. With global energy demand rising sharply, oil prices at all time highs, climate change concerns growing, and new technologies enabling more efficient power extraction from natural resources, the case has never been better for investing in alternative energy companies that will help us overcome our oil and carbon-emission addictions.

But try to pick a winner from the dozens of "green energy" stocks that have emerged in the past few years and you quickly find yourself slipping from confident investor to shaky speculator. Who's to say which of the upstart, publicly traded solar energy companies, for example, will produce the efficiency breakthroughs that field has anticipated for over 20 years?

ETFs to the Rescue

For investors who are sold on the alternative energy theme but hesitant to stock-pick, the recent profusion of exchange traded funds (ETFs) couldn't have come at a better time. These low-fee funds offer diversification by holding a basket of stocks that follow a particular index, and may have tax advantages over traditional mutual funds.

There are currently six alternative energy ETFs to consider. Note the significant differences -- in investment focus, international exposure, market cap, and expenses -- in each fund's holdings:

1. PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy Portfolio (PBW)

Listed in March 2005, PBW was the first alternative energy ETF and tracks the WilderHill Clean Energy Index. The fund holds 40 U.S.-listed companies that produce green or renewable energy and related technologies. It's focused on small-caps (69 percent weighting) and is dominated by information technology companies (41 percent of holdings). The ETF charges a 0.60 percent annual fee that will weigh on gains. The relatively volatile PBW has returned a 22.5 percent gain since its inception, but dropped just over 6 percent in the past year. See PBW's full holdings.

2. PowerShares WilderHill Progressive Energy Portfolio (PUW)

This ETF differs from PBW by focusing on companies providing "transitional energy bridge technologies" -- that is, technologies that improve the use of existing fossil fuels, rather than entire new approaches. PUW also has heavy small-cap exposure (49 percent), but offers relatively diversified sector exposure: the largest single sector, industrials, constitutes just 28 percent of the fund. Since its inception in October 2006, PUW has returned a strong 18.7 percent; it also charges a steep 0.60 percent yearly fee.

3. PowerShares Cleantech Portfolio (PZD)

This ETF tracks the Cleantech Index, which aims to capture the potential for companies that "produce any knowledge-based product or service that improves operation, performance, productivity, or efficiency, while reducing costs, inputs, energy consumption, waste, or pollution." PZD is heavily weighted toward industrials (59 percent), with 63 percent of its holdings in small-caps; like the other PowerShares ETFs, it has a 0.6 percent expense ratio. See PZD's full holdings.

4. Claymore/LGA Green ETF (GRN)

GRN launched in December 2006, and follows the Light Green Eco*Index, which is comprised of about 200 stocks that are in some way active in alternative energy. Yet a quick look at GRN's holdings reveals the world of difference between this and the PowerShares ETFs. Top holdings of GRN read more like the S&P 500: Mobil, Citigroup, and General Electric -- mega-cap corporations that allocate a certain (no doubt, growing) portion of their investment or R&D in green technologies, but are hardly "pure plays" on the alternative energy theme. GRN has a 0.6 percent yearly fee.

5. Van Eck Global Alternative Energy ETF (GEX)

Launched on May 9, 2007, GEX tracks the Ardour Global Index (Extra Liquid), which is composed of stocks in 30 publicly traded companies that obtain at least half of their revenue from alternative energy activity. GEX is unique among its peers in two key ways: emphasizing large-cap exposure (31 percent of the fund's holdings; small-caps are only 26.9 percent), and international reach (European companies constitute 47.1 percent of the fund, China/Japan 11.1 percent, and U.S. 41.8 percent). GEX charges 0.65 percent annually.

6. First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge ETF (QCLN)

Launched in February 2007, QCLN follows the NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Liquid Series Index, which captures five subsectors of the alternative energy industry: renewable power generation, renewable fuels, energy storage and conversion, energy intelligence, and advanced energy-related materials. The 44 stocks in this basket are almost entirely small-caps. QCLN charges a 0.68 percent annual fee.

Building a Green Portfolio

How should you fit these ETFs into your portfolio? One option is to build a "core portfolio" of broad index ETFs using Seeking Alpha's guide to building portfolios with ETFs and then add one or more of these narrower ETFs to "tilt" your portfolio to green investing.

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Equifax Launches New Personal Finance Blog - PRWeb

Posted: 10 Jun 2010 09:14 AM PDT

Finance experts partner with credit reporting powerhouse to create online consumer finance resource

Atlanta, GA (Vocus/PRWEB ) June 11, 2010 -- Equifax announced the launch of the Equifax Personal Finance Blog earlier this week. The Equifax blog aims to inform and educate consumers about personal finance topics and features weekly insights and practical information from top consumer finance experts— Ilyce Glink (Real Estate), Daniel Solin (Investment), Eva Rosenberg (Tax) and Linda Rey (Insurance), as well as a team of Equifax subject matter experts covering select credit-related topics.

The Equifax Personal Finance Blog marks the company's latest Web 2.0 effort to further engage with consumers and transform its website, www.equifax.com, into a trusted consumer resource and destination for topical personal finance information. Equifax also boasts an iPhone app, a Facebook Fan Page, and a new Twitter profile (@EquifaxPFB).

"Now, more than ever, consumers are searching for information and answers about their credit and finances," says Trey Loughran, President, Equifax Personal Information Solutions. "We created the Equifax Personal Finance Blog as a destination for consumers to find sensible, straightforward information and insights to help them make informed decisions about their day-to-day finances."

Every day on the blog, consumers will find new posts and helpful answers on topics like:


"Credit touches almost every part of our financial lives and can be confusing, explains award-winning real estate writer and author Ilyce Glink. "The consumer finance experts who write for the Equifax Personal Finance Blog will combine our real-world experience and expertise to create original, easy-to-digest content about the five pillars of personal finance—credit, tax, insurance, investment/retirement, and real estate—that breaks through the misinformation in the market to help consumers make smarter decisions with their money."

Get smart information on everything from real estate to retirement, all in one place at the Equifax Personal Finance Blog, www.equifax.com/blog. Find out more about Equifax's suite of credit, identity and debt-related products designed to maximize your financial well-being at www.equifax.com.

About Equifax Inc. (www.equifax.com) Equifax empowers businesses and consumers with information they can trust. A global leader in information solutions, we leverage one of the largest sources of consumer and commercial data, along with advanced analytics and proprietary technology, to create customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers.

With a strong heritage of innovation and leadership, Equifax continuously delivers innovative solutions with the highest integrity and reliability. Businesses -- large and small -- rely on us for consumer and business credit intelligence, portfolio management, fraud detection, decisioning technology, marketing tools, and much more. We empower individual consumers to manage their personal information, protect their identity, and maximize their financial well- being.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Equifax Inc. operates in the U.S. and 14 other countries throughout North America, Latin America and Europe. Equifax is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500(R) Index. Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EFX.

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