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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ild who wrote (30217)	4/7/2005 3:07:49 PM
From: Elroy Jetson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

I obtained a $25k Visa card from MBNA which does not charge additional fees for foreign purchases. Specifically, I obtained their "Motley Fool 1% Cash Back" Visa card, which once a year pays you a flat 1% of what was charged. The banks which do charge the typical 2% additional fee for foreign purchases, do so even if the purchase was billed in US dollars. One Visa issuer I spoke with claimed this was because of the costs created by problems like charge-backs where they have promised me they will conform with US law while the merchant is operating under the laws of another nation. Apparently in some cases they need to pay for local counsel. Visa international arranges for this, but the issuing bank pays the bill supposedly. Since MBNA is already one of the largest Visa card issuers in Europe, Canada, and the US they have a better handle on these costs. There is one aspect of MBNA which I do not like, so life is not perfect. Unlike my other two Visa cards, and most other vendors, MBNA has no program which automatically deducts either your Statement Balance or Minimum Payment from your checking account. They have their own online bill payment, just as my bank does, but this requires your personal action online to discover the amount due and authorize the payment. This necessitates either taking your laptop when you travel, or calling them and authorizing a payment for their $15 fee phone payment fee. In a world where all of my bills are paid automatically, this aspect of MBNA rankles me enough that, after three months of use, I no longer use this Visa card domestically. .

To: ild who wrote (30217)	4/7/2005 3:10:41 PM
From: ild	Respond to of 110194

Last summer, one-third of economists who participated in The Wall Street Journal Online's economic forecasting survey said a recession would follow if crude-oil stuck in between $50 and $59 a barrel -- exactly where futures prices have traded since late February. But the economy isn't in peril today and, in the latest forecasting survey, the economists have changed their minds. None feel that $50 oil will trigger a recession. Thirty-one percent said they feel oil would have to be sustained at $80-89 a barrel to snuff out growth, while 48% believe crude would have to top $90. Despite some recent spikes in oil prices, the economists don't expect energy prices to reach levels that would endanger the economy. In crafting their forecasts for growth this year, the economists, on average, say they have assumed that oil would remain at around $47.46 a barrel. online.wsj.com

To: ild who wrote (30217)	4/7/2005 7:13:20 PM
From: ild	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 110194

Equity funds report net cash inflows totaling $1.215 billion in the week ended 4/6/05 with 83% going to funds investing in Non-Domestic securities ($1.0 Bil); International Equity funds report net inflows totaling $804 Mil because of ETF inflows: $509 Mil to iShares MSCI EAFE Index; and inflows to Asia Pacific (ex Japan) ETF funds: $55 Mil to iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index; $42 Mil to iShares MSCI Singapore Index; $11 Mil to iShares Xinhua China 25 Index; Outflows are reported by all other Emerging and Developed regions; Energy funds report net inflows of $267 million largely due to inflows of $199 million to the Select Sector SPDRs Energy fund; Real Estate funds report net outflows of -$330 million because of ETF fund outflows: -$225 Mil from iShares DJ US Real Estate Index fund; -$119 Mil from iShares C&S Realty Majors Index fund; Taxable Bond funds report net cash inflows totaling $60 million as net outflows from High Yield Corporate Bond funds (-$327 Mil) are offset by inflows to Balanced funds ($139 Mil), Flexible funds ($131 Mil), and International & Global Debt funds ($112 Mil); High Quality Corporate Bond funds report net inflows of $83 million, the largest number since 1/5/05, largely because of inflows to the Merrill Lynch Core Bond fund ($66 Mil); Money Market funds report net inflows totaling $13.474 billion with 37% going to Tax-Exempt MM funds ($5.0 Bil), even though the sector has only 18% of all MM fund assets; Municipal Bond funds report net cash outflows totaling -$14 million.