Hi, Bob.
For most of us, it is very dangerous to mess with the financials right now. There is still lots more mess to come. There is a phenomenon called "derivatives" that has not even hit the fan yet, and of course, credit card debt is going to bite this country on both hind cheeks one day. Both those phenomena are going to take down some Big players in the not too distant future.
Do you know that WAMU, (Washington Mutual bank) is STILL offering balance transfers at ZERO percent interest and ZERO transaction charge? I just paid off my Discover card balance of about 6500 dollars by doing a balance transfer to a WAMU credit card. It cost me NOTHING to do so, and all I will have to do for the next 6 months is make my minimum balance payment of about 130 dollars.
As the 6 months comes to a close, I will probably STILL be able to find ANOTHER credit card to which to transfer the remaining balance at ZERO percent interest, with, most likely, a cap of 75 to 99 dollars transaction fee charge, and ANOTHER 12 months to pay.
Advanta Business card is the most amazing company in the business of balance transfers. They do balance transfers at ZERO percent interest for FIFTEEN MONTHS with a cap of 75 dollars on the transaction fee!
It's CRAZY for financial institutions to still be doing this kind of thing in today's economic climate, but they are!
Warning: I am able to take advantage of these screwy doings by these companies because first of all, IF I ever had to pay off the full amount of the balance transfer, I could do so immediately with no problem. Secondly, I avoid the possibility of being hit with a TWENTY-EIGHT PERCENT INTEREST RATE for a missed payment, by IMMEDIATELY going to my computer on the day my bill arrives and making the minimum payment on line.
In any event, from all I have been told by my financial advisors, financials are not yet out of the woods by any means.
A good weekend to all!
AI
