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We are going to see a period of hyperinflation very soon. The only way that the government can finance a deficit which is 80% of GDP is to erode the value of the dollar. How do you protect yourself?

Warren Buffett says that this cycle's lows, near 6500 on the Dow and 670 on the S&P were still above the 1974 valuations by any metric that he follows.

I had about $7,000 in credit card debt that I'd accumulated over the last couple of years. I called the bank to see about lowering my rate and at the same time set up my bill payment to pay it off. I then asked them to lower the rate. If they said no, I was going to press the button and pay off the balance.

It makes little sense to keep money in money market accounts in a big bank or in most local and regional banks, not when there are always a handful of banks really out there competing for your money. It makes even less sense when all these savings accounts are equally insured by the FDIC. A lot of people search for the best rates for CDs. Far fewer pay attention to the significant spreads for regular savings accounts in FDIC institutions.

California today issued $6.9 billion in new, taxable Build America Bonds. The bond offering, the largest in California's history, was the third Build America bond offering and showed the market for these securities is off and running.

So here's an interesting question: how are bank profits increasing when the economy and many of the loans written by the banks are in worse shape then ever? Don't believe the numbers.

We've long been "taught" that buy and hold is the best way to maximize return. But the data shows that buying and holding equities over long periods of time is often a losing strategy.

Palm Beach has been using a non-competitive process to issue bonds over the last 16 years, a practice condoned by most finance experts and one that has cost taxpayers an estimates $800,000 per year.

If we were smart, we would fully discount what the Gurus are saying. They are about as clueless as the paper boy, but far more irritating. They continue to pretend they know what they are talking about, even when they change their projections weekly if not daily.

The Wojtowicz are a family that have been dubbed economic survivalists. To simplify their life and cut expenses they have torn up credit cards, canceled satellite tv, planted a garden, and more.

Credit card issuers now seem to be placing more emphasis on offering insurance or payment protection plans for people that carry a balance on their credit card. In this time of uncertainty about one's employment and finances, these offers with their appealing advertising may seem like good financial protection, but the benefits are not worth the cost.

Recent data shows that investors are piling into the tax-free yields and relative safety of municipal bonds.

Citibank is offering a competitive 12-month CD that pays 2.70% APY. It must be opened in a branch and as far as I know it's only for Massachusetts customers.

The latest batch of data shows that longer-term CD rate averages are moving up while shorter term CDs as well as savings and money market rates continue to fall. Are we near a bottom?