SuperStock | Getty ImagesFinding someone to turn to for financial advice should be as easy as finding a doctor. But it turns out the credentials which financial professionals use to represent themselves are often not clear. Misguided advice costs investors about $17 billion in wealth annually, according to a 2015 report from the Obama-era White House. “How many of those people are still working because they had received poor financial advice?” Jeff Camarda chairman and CEO at Camarda Wealth Advi

Wall Street analysts say there’s no shortage of high quality stocks with upside for investors as 2020 gets underway. Many analysts named their top picks this week and CNBC looked at the most recent research to find the best picks. Stocks include Verizon, McDonald’s, Estee Lauder, Facebook, Simon Property Group, and ViacomCBS. “As a result, we believe McDonald’s offers the most favorable risk/reward in our coverage into 2020,” analyst David Palmer said. “We believe investors long this stock will

And the 35-year-old journalist, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, earns more working for herself than she did as a full-time employee. Now, a proposal in New York state that could require companies to classify more of their freelancers as employees is spreading panic among people like Bondy. Proponents of the efforts say companies misclassify their workers as independent contractors to save money. “Caught in the middle are people who are and who want to be independent contractors,” Estlund said.

With the United States and China still locked in a trade battle, non-Chinese tech companies in Asia are looking to seize on the opportunity and expand their influence in the tech industry. Participation by Chinese companies was down slightly, while Taiwan’s presence grew significantly according to the Consumer Technology Association, the group behind CES. Participation by companies from Taiwan, South Korea and Japan was up 23%, 20% and 11% respectively. Like those from Taiwan, South Korean firms

Neil Peart, the former drummer for the Canadian rock band Rush, died on January 7 of brain cancer. Peart joined Rush in 1974, and their lineup remained the same until their retirement 41 years later. These include 1981’s “Moving Pictures,” which sold 4 million copies; 1976’s “2112,” which sold 3 million copies; and the 1990 compilation “Chronicles,” which sold 2 million copies. Peart is considered one of the greatest rock drummers of all time. But even though this may be the end of the road for

A man takes photos of a house damaged by a 5.8 earthquake in Guanica, Puerto Rico on January 6, 2020. A magnitude 6.0 quake shook Puerto Rico on Saturday, causing further damage along the island’s southern coast, where previous recent quakes have toppled homes and schools. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 8:54 a.m. (1254 GMT) quake hit 8 miles (13 kilometers) south of Indios at a shallow depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers). Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority said outages were reported across

The National Football League continues the postseason with its Divisional Round this weekend with Super Bowl LIV in Miami nearing. The Texans won their Wild Card game over the Buffalo Bills, 22-19 last weekend, too. If a non-division winner plays in the Wild Card game and wins the Super Bowl, the total postseason payout will be $239,000. The Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints were the only other teams eligible, but both lost their Wild Card openers and are eliminated from the playoffs. D

“I was surprised, having adopted Apple Card pretty early, that it didn’t exist,” Schmidt, a former developer in residence at Union Square Ventures, said in a phone interview. It’s another example of the Apple Card lacking some standard features in its early days on the market. Apple Card transactions started to appear on credit reports in December. Apple’s website says the ability to export Apple Card data “isn’t available yet,” a change from last year when the site said exporting was “not curre

“He’s a really good coach, knows how to relate to players, knows how to give them their freedom, but hold them accountable.” McCarthy, who became the ninth head coach in franchise history, has an overall coaching record of 125-77-2. Jennings, who played wide receiver for the Packers under McCarthy from 2006-12, helping the team win Super Bowl XLV, said the Cowboys’ receivers would love playing for his former coach as he is known for getting his top players involved. “It’s not like he’s going int

For the second time in a week, Amazon has acknowledged that its employees improperly accessed customer data. The company notified customers Friday that it fired several employees after they shared customer email addresses and phone numbers with third parties. The company declined to say how many employees were terminated, the number of customers impacted by the incident or why the information was shared with third parties. The company notified affected users of the incident in an email on Friday

The average stock in the index entered 2019 with a projected 24% gain, according to Bespoke. Company analysts see only modest upside for stocks overall this year, a rare view for the normally bullish crowd. For the 10 largest stocks, two — Apple and JP Morgan Chase — are already trading above their average price target. Consumer staples, financials and utilities are the three sectors with the lowest average upside, all below 3%. Energy is the only sector that cracks double digits, with the avera

Some analysts and strategists have been urging clients to move more of their portfolio into international stocks. The international index rose 18.1%, but the S&P 500 jumped more than 28%. The global stock market got a negative shock in the first trading days of 2020. The European stock market is more sensitive to the global economy than the U.S. market, Luschini said, similar to equities in emerging markets. Because Chinese growth has such a large impact on the world’s economy, even a slight imp

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., January 10, 2020. Both now and then, the S&P had gained about 25% over the previous year and around 15% from an August pullback. Bespoke Investment Group calculates the market has been statistically “overbought” 98% of all days since October, the longest such stretch since late-2017-early 2018. Source: Bespoke Investment Group In the prior ramp-up, retail investors poured money into stock funds, something not occu

The Trump administration this week warned Iraq that it could lose access to its central bank account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York if Baghdad expels American troops from the region, Iraqi officials told The Wall Street Journal. The strike led to Iraq’s parliament voting to force out American troops — a move some officials argued would hurt Iraq — and a counterstrike by Iran on two bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq last week. President Trump threatened to place economic sanctions on Ira

Unlike growth stocks that have led the market’s record-long bull run, dividend stocks typically don’t offer dramatic price appreciation, but they do provide investors with a steady stream of income. In comparison, a popular dividend-focused exchange-traded fund — iShares Select Dividend ETF — currently has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Stocks with the fastest dividend growth include Citigroup, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and medical equipment and drug producer Baxter, UBS said. The basket has a

North Korea will not discuss proposals such as those Trump made at his last summit with Kim Jong Un in Hanoi in February 2019, the adviser said. North Korea will not give up its nuclear facilities for partial sanctions relief, and will only return to talks when the United States makes concessions, he added. The adviser also warned South Korea to steer clear of relations between the North and the United States. South Korea should not intervene in the two nations’ ties as if seeking “to play a med

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s military early Saturday morning announced its role in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet that killed all 176 people on board, saying the shootdown was “unintentional” and blaming “human error.” Those attacks caused no casualties. “Armed Forces’ internal investigation has concluded that regrettably missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people,” Rouhani’s tweet said. Iranian Foreign

“Financial independence means different things to different people,” says Tara Unverzagt, a certified financial planner at South Bay Financial Partners in Torrance, California. Here are three kinds of financial independence and strategies experts suggest to help you achieve them. The means to pay bills and cover basic expensesFor young adults, the core of financial independence often is self-reliance. “Some people just out of college are trying to get financial independence from their parents,”

If you’re hoping to get your finances on track in the New Year, start by getting organized on paper. Incorporating your budget to-dos with your everyday tasks in an old-school paper day planner can help you keep your financial goals at top of mind, organizational experts say — and actually achieve them. Even if you use a virtual calendar or spreadsheet, keeping a daily planner as well adds an extra layer of accountability. Here’s how to best use a day planner to reach your financial goals. Court

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® annual fee is increasing to $550 starting this Sunday, January 12, 2020. Prospective applicants have until end of day on January 11, 2020 to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card at a $450 annual fee. If you’ve been thinking about opening this card for a while, now is the best time since you can save $100 on the annual fee and still take advantage of the new perks offered. Chase added Lyft and DoorDash perks that are valued at up to $559. Here’s the break down:$2