Anna and Charlie Reynolds of St. George, Utah, were worried about losing their home to foreclosure last year. Then they got a lucky break—from an unlikely savior. Some investment funds are emerging as the best hope for millions of U.S. households, like the Reynolds, above, who were behind on [ Read More → ]

Viaduct Capital’s receivers say security sharing deeds (SSDs) on some of the company’s loans, which have bumped them down the repayment pecking order, and the demise of Mutual Finance which was the recipient of some of these SSDs, are likely to reduce the amount of money they can recover. The Auckland-based [ Read More → ]

The latest lending statistics suggested the number of people who remortgaged their homes in June was just 27,000, down 20 per cent on a year earlier. Ed Stansfield, chief property economist at Capital Economics, said: “There is a sense that people have too little equity in their homes to be able to switch [ Read More → ]

Vietnam is ‘one of the most promising countries in the world’, according to one analyst. Investors who are fed up with dismal returns from traditional markets are making steps to invest in more adventurous areas. Popular funds include those that invest in Latin America, Russia, India, gold and commodities. Rebecca O’Keeffe, at Interactive Investor, [ Read More → ]

CHICAGO—A sideways stock market has investors searching for other places to make a decent return on their money. And junk bonds, for better or worse, are starting to look like gems to many. The appeal is easy to understand. Junk bonds, known more politely as high-yield bonds, are bonds with very low [ Read More → ]

DRACUT — Midway through her first growing season, Rachael Potts, 31, pointed to long rows of thriving peppers, scallions, and Swiss chard. The tomatoes, however, have been “a challenge,’’ she admitted, adding “and the heat has had its way with my arugula.’’ Potts, who has a day job as an interior [ Read More → ]

NEW YORK (AP) — Small business owners who want to give their companies a midyear financial checkup may find it hard to forecast what the rest of the year will bring. It’s not just the economy that’s unpredictable, there’s also uncertainty about the tax laws. This may complicate the decisions that [ Read More → ]

Stephen Tindall is among Waterman’s shareholders. Photo / Martin Sykes Small and medium-sized businesses could get a hand-up from the taxpayer under plans by the New Zealand Superannuation Fund to invest $30 million in a fund targeting private companies. The $15.9 billion “Cullen fund” yesterday allocated the money to private equity investors [ Read More → ]

Q: In these scary times, where do you suggest that someone puts reserve money? My wife and I are retired and have had some money with a broker (managed “fee” account). The funds have been ersified (equity/bond/income). This account is to be used only [ Read More → ]

Nine in 10 of us reckon we are good at handling our finances, yet around half of us have not even checked our monthly credit card payments or balance in the past year. Chances are, you are paying thousands of pounds more in interest than you need to as a [ Read More → ]