US Finance World

GOOD MORNING. Stocks in Asia closed lower today, European shares are down, and U.S. futures are pointing to a lower open.

Regulators are about to apply some control over trading on U.S. stock exchanges. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced yesterday afternoon plans to implement a six-month pilot program of circuit breakers in June that would pause trading in most stocks if their price moves 10% or more within five minutes. The plan’s goal is to avoid sudden and massive swings in the stock market – like the 700-point drop that occurred in 15 minutes on May 6 – and it appears to have the support of major U.S. exchanges. The plan also marks a new reality of increased government intervention in the world of free markets where regulators are attempting to temporarily tame stock market volatility.

For now, U.S. marke

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In this economy, you may need to take an early IRA withdrawal — meaning before age 59 1/2. Needless to say, there are tax implications, including the possibility of getting socked with the dreaded 10% premature withdrawal penalty tax. 

In most cases, all or part of any traditional IRA withdrawal will count as taxable income. The taxable percentage depends on whether you’ve made any nondeductible contributions over the years. While it may be impossible to avoid an income tax hit from taking an early withdrawal, you might be able to avoid the 10% penalty tax by taking advantage of several exceptions. Here’s a list of them along with brief explanations.

Substantially Equal Periodic Payments (SEPPs)

SEPPs are annuity-like IRA withdrawals that you must take at least annually. There are three different methods for calculating them. One is relatively simple; the other two are complicated. The

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Stocks dropped again Tuesday as tech and financials sagged and Germany imposed a partial ban on short-selling. That overshadowed stronger housing data that pointed to an ongoing recovery.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 115 points at 10511. The S&P 500 finished down 16 at 1120 and the Nasdaq ended down 37 at 2317. 

Late in the session, Germany’s financial markets regulator said it will ban naked short-selling of certain euro-zone debt and credit default swaps as well as some financial stocks. That means those securities can’t be sold short if they are not borrowed in advance. It will remain in effect until March 31, 2011. The move, which was seen as largely symbolic, was viewed as a trade-off for Germany’s support for the nearly $1 trillion bailout of weaker euro-zone economies. The dollar strengthened against the euro, which dropped to $1.2204 from $1.2392 on Monday. The U.S. Do

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Immigrants, politicians and public interest groups represent the key faces protesting the new immigration law that Arizona’s governor signed last month. And now college students—and professors—are entering the fray.

In its current version, the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (also referred to as Arizona SB 1070) will permit police to ask for documentation proving U.S. citizenship or legal resident status following a police stop, detention or arrest and where “reasonable suspicion” exists that the individual may be present illegally. As of now, the law is set to go into effect on July 29.

Already, 15 to 20 candidates for faculty positions at Arizona State University have withdrawn their applications citing the law, says a university spokesperson. At the University of Arizona (UA), up to a dozen incoming and current undergraduate students – most on the honor roll – have informed the university that they will not attend next year.

This is a miniscule number compared with the nearly 30,000 undergraduate students enrolled at UA, but some say it could be just the beginning. “We’ve se

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Hewlett-Packard Up

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) posted a 28% rise in profit in its recent quarter, spurring analyst optimism and a rise in shares.

The company reported adjusted earnings per share and revenue of $1.09 and $30.8 billion, respectively, topping Wall Street estimates. Revenue from its personal systems group, including PCs, rose 21% to $10 billion. But the PC business faces long-term head winds “from declining average selling prices and substitute technologies like virtualization and cloud computing that mitigate our optimism over the expected short-term,” writes Morningstar analyst Michael Holt.

Analysts say the company stands to benefit from a push into storage and networking, though. “Unlike commodity PCs, storage arrays and networking equipment are evolving just fast enough to keep pace with exponential data and traffic growth,” writes Holt. “Mistakes in these areas keep IT professionals up at night, so good technology still commands a premium,” he says. Revenue fro

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In the search for the problem at the root of the apparent breakdown of trading on May 6, launched with such fanfare and urgency but so far showing scant results, investigators may have to confront an awkward question: What if there wasn’t any problem?

Everyone in a position of authority seems to have jumped to the conclusion that something went seriously wrong when the Dow Jones Industrial Average suddenly lost nearly 1,000 points and that it was only a matter of identifying the culprit(s). Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary L. Schapiro called the plunge “unacceptable.” Even before knowing the cause, stock exchanges canceled trades that occurred between 2:40 p.m. and 3 p.m. at prices 60% above or below the price at 2:40 p.m. Nasdaq alone canceled more than 10,000 trades involving at least 1.4 million shares.

Various theories have surfaced, only to be discarded. First

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Who do you love: Apple (AAPL) or Google (GOOG)?

Having to pick between the two investor — and consumer — darlings is increasingly tough, especially as each company steps on the other’s toes. In the first quarter of this year, Android overtook Apple’s iPhone OS as the number-two smartphone operating system in the U.S. (behind Research in Motion’s (RIMM) OS), according to market research conducted by the NPD Group. Worldwide, Android has the fourth-largest market share right behind Apple’s third-place finish, according to information-technology research firm Gartner. Meanwhile, Google is said to be working on a tablet computer with Verizon (VZ) that could compete with Apple’s recently launched iPad.

It’s of course not exactly an apples-to-Apple comparison. Google dominates search but is gaining significant strength in smartphones, while Apple is on track to become the biggest U.S. company. Bu

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Market Wrap-Up

Stocks and many exchange-traded funds dropped again Tuesday as tech and financials sagged and Germany imposed a partial ban on short-selling. That overshadowed stronger housing data that pointed to an ongoing recovery.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 115 points at 10511. The S&P 500 finished down 16 points at 1120 and the Nasdaq ended 37 points lower at 2317.

Late in the session, Germany’s financial markets regulator said it will ban naked short-selling of certain euro-zone debt and credit default swaps as well as some financial stocks. That means those securities can’t be sold short if they are not borrowed in advance. The ban will remain in effect until March 31, 2011. The move, which was seen as largely symbolic, was viewed as a trade-off for Germany’s support for the nearly $1 trillion bailout of weaker euro-zone economies. The dollar strengthened against the euro, which dropped to $1.2204 from $1.2392 on Monday. The U.S.

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