Long-standing European opposition to genetically modified crops may be coming to an end, according to this piece by The Economist.  For years, the European Union has banned imports of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), frustrating the efforts of multinational GMO producers such as Monsanto (MON) despite WTO rulings declaring such import bans illegal and anti-competitive.
According to [...]

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I’ve compiled a short list of 5 of the most interesting Personal Finance posts of the past week.  These aren’t necessarily the best, just a few that caught my eye for whatever reason.  I hope to make this a weekly event because a.) it gives you something to read you may have missed during the [...]

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Here’s a somewhat long but hilarious stick figure slideshow giving an over-view of how the subprime debacle happened.  I can’t help but thing this is probably exactly how it happened behind the scenes.  I particularly end the end about the Swedish Villager Pension Fund.  Yeah, that about sums it up.  Thanks to My Money Blog [...]

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For most people, airfare is usually their single largest vacation expense.  If you can figure out how to save there, you can dramatically decrease the price of your entire trip.  I was surfing around on digg and came across 15 Tips for Cheap Travel: #2b) How to Find Cheap Plane Tickets on Money For the [...]

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For most investors, beating the market is the holy grail of investing.  So few people manage to do it that those who do are elevated to the status of legends by the investment community.  How else could you explain the popularity of such stock-picking wizards as Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, Bill Miller, and Marty Whitman?  [...]

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Take a defensive-driving course - A defensive-driving course costs as little as $50 and a weekend of your time yet can save you as much as 10% on your premium year in and year out.  Other worth-while discounts to ask about are good-student discounts, association discounts such as AARP or AAA, and home-office discounts.

Buy auto [...]

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Venerable money management firm Dodge & Cox filed plans last week with the SEC to launch the new Dodge & Cox Global Stock fund, according to Morningstar.  Unlike most mutual fund companies that launch new funds in response to every investment fad in a greedy attempt to raise assets under management, this will be only the FIFTH [...]

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Take full advantage of your employer match - If your employer matches 50% of your contributions up to 6% of your salary, that’s an immediate 50% gain on your investment.  Try beating that elsewhere.
Select your plan’s cheapest funds - 401k plans are notorious for offering expensive, sub-par investment options.  This is especially true of the smaller plans.  If that’s the [...]

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I think this interview is great. It’s an interview with Alan Shepard over at getrichslowly.org about a social experiment of his where he started with just $25 in Charleston, South Carolina and managed to save up over $2500, live in a furnished apartment, and buy a car in less than a year doing manual labor. [...]

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The mutual fund industry has a dirty little secret: the returns many fund companies advertise in the financial media and promotional materials are wrong. Well, not technically wrong but definitely misleading. Mutual fund companies love to quote their Average Annual Return numbers, which, not surprisingly, practically always over-state their funds’ actual returns. The difference comes [...]

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