Cash for Keys: Avoid Foreclosure, Pay the Bank Less Than What You Owe... and Get $30,000

U.S. banks have a deal for underwater homeowners: Avoid foreclosure by selling your house for less than what you owe... and they'll pay you $30,000 or more to close the deal. It's called Cash for Keys, and it's working. Banks typically hate short sales because they lose money. The alternative, however, is even more costly and time-consuming. It can take thousands of dollars to evict homeowners and years to get through the backlog of paperwork. Now regulatory investigations could

cash for keys

What the Glencore Xstrata Deal Means for the Global Mining Industry

The Glencore Xstrata deal, an all-share merger creating a $90 billion global mining industry powerhouse, would be the sector's biggest and could trigger the busiest year for M&A activity. The companies announced the deal today (Tuesday) following Glencore's offer last week. Glencore would pay $41 billion for the rest of Xstrata's shares (Glencore already has a 34% stake). Glencore International is the world's largest publicly traded commodities supplier, and Xstrata is the

Glencore Xstrata deal

This Defense Company has 24% Upside - Even with the Pentagon's Spending Cuts

When George W. Bush was first sworn into office on January 20, 2001, shares of defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) traded for $31. By the end of his first term, they had doubled to about $60. And by mid-2008, prior to the October crash, Lockheed Martin had climbed to nearly $120 a share. Those were the boom years - not just for Lockheed, but for most defense contractors. Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) shares doubled in the period stretching from December 2000 to

defense companies

Cash-Secured Puts: Keep the Cash Flowing - Even After You've Sold the Stock

In January, I told you how you can double or even triple your yield by selling "covered" calls on your dividend stocks. While this is a safe and highly effective strategy, selling covered calls does have a drawback - of a sort. If the stock you're holding rises in price before the calls you sold expire, you could be forced to sell the shares at the option's designated strike price. This isn't likely to be a huge problem since you'll be selling your stock at a profit. The problem

Cash-Secured Puts

Buy, Sell or Hold: When to Buy Shares of Facebook

You might have heard.... Facebook Inc. (NYSE: FB) is the most awaited initial public offering (IPO) since Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG). The recent registration of the company's IPO documents means it won't be long until Facebook shares begin trading freely. But will Facebook shares make you rich beyond your wildest dreams like mural painter David Choe? Or would you be better off watching from the sidelines before you buy shares of the social media giant? The Details behind

NYSE: FB

Jim Grant and the GOP Joining Forces to Bring Back the Gold Standard

With two GOP presidential candidates saying they'd add legendary Wall Street pundit Jim Grant to their administrations, bringing back the gold standard clearly has moved up on the Republican agenda. Ron Paul, for whom returning to the gold standard has been a decades-long crusade, has said he would name Grant chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve. In his case, that would be a compromise - Paul has often called for the Fed to be abolished altogether. Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich has promised

Jim Grant