Once upon a time, an oracle gave birth to a monster, which got its hands on a credit card. Fortunately, the monster wasn't allowed in any stores. (Insurance issues, don't you know.) So the monster turned its attention to tech stocks and lived happily ever after. Maybe. Read on and it might all become clear.
Warren Buffett's Bid to Save the Economy and How It Failed
We'll always have Omaha. But D.C.? Not so much.
Fool writer Morgan Housel takes a look at how the Public-Private Investment Partnership (PPIP) -- "a Frankenstein plan to marry private money with government leverage" -- was the idea of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) leader Warren Buffett. Morgan then puts forth three reasons the plan fell short as a tonic for banks' toxic-assets problem.
"Banks don't want to sell some of these assets for anything less than full value, largely because tweaks to mark-to-market accounting have allowed them to resume carrying junk assets at fantasy prices," Morgan writes. "Yet investors want bargains."
Click to the article to see what Morgan has to say about Buffett's role in this matter.
Why Credit Cards Will Still Burn You
Consumers have reason to smile now that federal reforms have put a shorter leash on credit card issuers like Citigroup (NYSE: C ) , JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM ) , Bank of America (NYSE: BAC ) , and Capital One (NYSE: COF ) . But The Motley Fool would be shirking its duty if it didn't talk about the other side of the plastic coin.
"It all looks like good stuff," writes Fool writer John Rosevear. "But if you think credit cards just became a happy, benevolent force for good, think again."
Citing the resurgence of annual fees, for instance, John tells us not to underestimate issuers' ability to work around the new rules. "They can't pull the old tricks, but they will certainly think up new ones as they strive to improve their profit margins."
Click to the article for a more in-depth look at what the reforms mean for you.
These Tech Stocks Will Make Me Rich
A year and a half ago, Fool analyst and writer Tim Beyers put together a portfolio of five technology stocks that -- as he says in the headline -- will make him rich. "I am a tech stock addict," he told readers, and had his own money in the game.
On Monday, he reported on week 79 of his "stock-picking throwdown with Mr. Market," a week that nudged his portfolio's average return back into positive territory, while the S&P 500 SPDR was well into negative territory.
Tim asks himself what we all want to know: "Are the gains sustainable? I think so, if only because three of my five techies derive large portions of revenue abroad, offering protection in the event large-scale federal deficits torpedo the U.S. dollar ... "
Getting the largest returns for Tim this time were Akamai (Nasdaq: AKAM ) and Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL ) .
Click through to the story for the full list of tech stocks that could make Tim -- and you -- rich. And come back to Fool.com for weeks 80 and beyond.
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