The common consumer needs to be fully aware of exactly how cell phone companies try to take advantage of them and make a nice profit. The truth is every time you go and get a new phone and are given all of these terrific features on your phone, most of which you will never use, it seems harmless because they are all free, but in reality they are only free for a limited time.

Numerous times a cell phone company will offer one of their premium products for free for a limited amount of time just to try to get you hooked and then make more money off of you. The most honest cell phone companies will be open and honest about the fact that you must cancel this certain service by a specific date so that you don’t get billed, but there are also plenty of others who don’t make it clear and rather force you to read the fine print. The majority of consumers do not read the fine print and then find out that they have been billed a ridiculously high amount for this service unexpectedly, then rush to cancel the service as quickly as possible.

Next time you purchase a cell phone or renew a cell phone plan, be wary when the salesperson starts rattling off all of the free features they will enroll you in since you have paid for the phone and the plan. The services you know you won’t use at all you would be wise to just deny upfront. Services where you believe you may want to try it out for a limited amount of time you need to make sure that you are fully aware of the amount of time this offer lasts. Those decisions that seem so harmless such as allowing them to set you up for numerous free cell phone offers can be extremely expensive in the long run.

Let’s face it, the stock market is a very difficult thing to master no matter how wise or how educated you are about the market. What is one of the best ways to learn about how the stock market works? Practice the stock market by using stock trading simulator games to get a better feel for exactly how things work. They are a very quick and simple way to get a very realistic look at how the market works, and they obviously offer you the added bonus of not risking any of your money in the process.

These virtual stock markets allow you to buy and sell stocks as you normally would and track your progress along the way for you. If you want to enter a competition to be against friends co-workers, or just anyone else who is interested in the market most of these stock market games allow for smaller competitions. Signing up for the stock market simulation games is simple and will take very little time.

The single biggest benefit of a stock market simulator is the ability to learn from your mistakes. Learning from your mistakes when trading on a virtual stock exchange can help you avoid those losses when you actually start risking your hard earned money. Use these simulators to practice your trading or investing style and see how you do. Be sure to allow enough time to fairly judge how you are doing, don’t just take a day or two worth of results and assume that shows that you do or don’t know the market.

Why not use a stock market simulator? These online stock trading games can be a lot of fun and they are also very beneficial to those who are serious about investing their money. In fact, I believe it is useful to continue using these simulators even after you have your own investment portfolio. There is always room for improvement in your investing strategies and these stock trading simulators are perfect for learning the stock market.

The point of this post is not to offer advice as to exactly what to do in today’s stock market, whether it is wise to take profits or buy in, but rather to inform investors of exactly when are the right types of times to take profits in stocks you own. It is a common thing that many investors grapple with, should they take profits or continue to let the stock run and hope for larger gains in the future? It certainly isn’t an easy question, but it is something that needs to be addressed.

Many investors decide that at a certain price point they need to take profits, and while I understand this kind of thinking I believe it is better to take a deeper look into whether profits should be taken. The single largest question you should ask yourself is would I still buy this stock today? If the answer is no then you have to understand that you are probably getting to a point where profits should be taken. Another question that you should ask yourself is whether the main reason you bought this stock is still applicable today. Also understand that taking profits doesn’t necessarily mean you have to sell the stock completely. In many cases if you believe it would be prudent to lock in some profits you can sell 50% or more of your holdings and keep a small percentage of your holdings.

Obviously taking profits in stocks is an important thing to do, because as many on the street like to say there is no money to be made for those investors who are greedy and act like pigs. As an investor you need to realize that taking profits is something that must be done, but don’t oversimplify the process. Take profits on stocks when you feel the need and when the basic story has changed, not just because it is up by a certain percentage.

Today the Treasury market signaled a large shift in interest rates as the government auctioned off more than $19 billion in 10 year notes and they sold at a  higher than expected yield of 3.99%. Just a few months ago yields for the 10 year were almost down to 3%. Since that time the Federal Reserve has started purchasing treasuries in a big way, mortgage rates had fallen to the lowest levels in decades, and a refinancing boom was evident across the country. The whole refinancing boom and the low mortgage rates are now history themselves as these higher interest rates have driven mortgage rates up to over 5.5% on a 30 year mortgage, which was about 4.5% just a short time ago.

At first when treasury yields started to climb investors and economists saw this as a very positive sign because it meant that the economy was beginning to stabilize and maybe things could start returning to economic growth. Fast forward a few weeks and now the higher treasury yields and higher mortgage rates are quite troubling to many economists and stock analysts. Why is it troubling? The recent refinancing boom has shut off and thoughts of a major housing recovery are now beginning to fade away by the day. It seems that the government is supplying a massive amount of new bonds, which in turn is pushing the yields higher and causing the concerns.

In the long run higher interest rates would be a good sign because it would indeed mean that an economic recovery has likely occurred. In the shorter time period the fact that rates are moving up so quickly could actually push back an economic recovery and leave our economy floundering around for a little bit longer than many expect. The truth is this is fairly normal occurrence on Wall Street, investors wanting some signs of a stronger economy, but wanting the signs to come at a slow pace. This is a classic case of not wanting something too cold, but also fearing that the fact it is heating up could make it too hot. Can rates find a happy medium? We will have to found out over the next few months.

In the past month or two the stock market has done quite well. In fact, the S&P 500 is now positive slightly for the years because of the recent nice run. Though the nice bounce off the bottom has been enjoyable, investors don’t need to be reminded just how painful the end of last year was for anyone who owned any asset that was tied to the stock market in any way. The simple fact of the matter is if you have owned stocks through the last few years, the recent upturn must gain a lot more steam before it puts too much of a dent in the losses in your investment portfolio.

I find it strange that after a couple of very strong months from a stock market that had been in a pure tailspin there are a number of analysts and strategists that are now making it sound as if investors are “missing the boat” or falling behind the curve if they don’t invest in this market right away. Take a close look at the fundamentals associated with the economy and you’ll realize that this economy and the stock market is far from out of the woods. It is encouraging that things have turned up slightly from a few months ago, but we are still in the midst of a recession and during recessions there will be plenty of buying opportunities in the stock market.

The bottom line is while it may seem popular to chase stock market returns right now since things have been going more smoothly of late, it isn’t a wise idea to make a quick reaction and buy stocks while they are on a huge upswing. Even if we are in the midst of a recovery there will be volatility and better prices to get into the market, so don’t feel like you need to be in a rush to put your cash to work.

This morning President Obama announced that the administration is speeding up the pace at which they are spending the $787 billion economic stimulus plan in order to save or create thousands of jobs in the next few months. At the news conference it was also announced that his cabinet and his Vice President, Joe Biden, had presented President Obama with a “Roadmap to Recovery,” which lists ten projects that will highlight the next three months of the Recovery Act plan. Just last week the Labor Department reported that in May non farm payrolls fell by 345,000 and the jobless rate rose to 9.4%. While this is certainly not a great number, it is far better than the last few months so it has given some hope for a turnaround in the near future.

Will the speed up in economic stimulus spending be enough to put the United States economy back into growth mode rather than a recessionary period? In the short run the stimulus package spending should most certainly help the economy and the people of the United States. The money that is pouring out will help create new jobs and fund important projects at the same time. The greater question though is whether this stimulus package and the spending that is currently taking place just to keep this country out of another Great Depression type situation will cause problems or help things in the long run. With such huge debt comes quite a bit of risk to the economy and taxpayers over the long haul, so in the intermediate and longer terms the national debt will have to be addressed in a major way. Some economists are predicting the economy in the United States will ramp upwards for a short time because of the massive spending, but then settle back into a deep recession because of the lack of new catalysts. In the end it won’t be government programs that make the economy turn around for good, but the hope is that these programs can bridge the gap and help stave off something even worse.

Apple stock was trading lower this morning. It started climbing back up when Apple introduced their new iPhone 3G S that is twice as fast as current iPhone.  iPhone 3G S includes the new iPhone OS 3.0, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 100 new features such as Cut, Copy and Paste, MMS, Spotlight Search, landscape keyboard and more. New iPhone will cost $199, it will go on sale on June 19. Current model of iPhone’s price comes down to $99 as of today!

Apple was trading at as low as $139 today and is trading at $143.81. Steve Jobs didn’t appear in Apple developer conference, as many people speculated. Apple is doing great job introducing new products and features. I think their innovations are going to continuously benefit the stock.

Related Link: Jobs & Jobs

At some point we all reach an age or a stage of our life where we truly just need to focus on protecting capital. There is absolutely nothing wrong with reaching this stage, because it generally means that you have earned income well throughout your years and now is the time you want to protect that hard earned money. The problem that some people seem to have is that they settle for simply protecting capital in an account that is earning nothing, rather than protecting their capital while still earning a small amount of interest. While it is certainly true that protecting capital is a wise choice at some point, it is never a poor choice to receive a guaranteed amount of interest on that sum of money.

Too many people choose to move their capital that they have earned over into a savings account or something that earns virtually nothing, when the option is still there to be using assets such as treasury bonds or certificates of deposits to bring in some more income while still protecting that which you have earned in the past. For many people this means earning some extra money that will be able to go toward one or more of these three things: giving to charity, enjoying retirement, and providing a better life for children and loved ones.

The fact is, with all of the assets available to those who wish to protect capital and earn at the same time, there really is no good excuse for not making this choice. The best news of all is that these investment choices are ones that an informed investor should be able to make without paying for any kind of financial advice. Go to your local personal banker and discuss the options available to you. The next time you think about protecting capital that has been earned, don’t just think about hiding the money that you have earned over time, but rather think about protecting that money and bringing a little extra in at the same time.

Job losses in U.S. are softening. Nonfarm payrolls slid 345,000 in May, the U.S. Labor Department said today, well below the 525,000 decline economists in a Dow Jones Newswires survey had expected. This is the smallest drop since September 2008. Unemployment rate is increased by 0.5% to 9.4%. Still, declining job loss is the good sign for recovery.

Steve Jobs is coming back to Apple Inc according to Wall Street Journal. This news sent Apple shares higher today. When Steve Jobs left Apple on sick leave, Apple shareholders were anxious about the company’s performance. Luckily, Apple is doing great in spite of Steve Jobs’s absence.

Declining unemployment is the key to the recovery of economy. It’s slowly happening. Let us hope that this momentum stays in place for many months to come.

Most investors have likely heard of the Dogs of the Dow Strategy, which was popularized in 1991 by Michael O’Higgins. The theory behind the Dogs of the Dow is that at the beginning of every year you should adjust your portfolio to contain the ten highest dividend yielding stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Throughout the year you do absolutely nothing other than sit back and see how those stocks do and watch the dividend payouts come in. The method is a contrarian investment strategy that seeks to buy up out of favor stocks and profit from their high dividend payouts and possible price appreciation.

How has the Dogs of the Dow strategy performed over time?  In a broad time period between 1957 and 2003 the Dogs of the Dow averaged an annual return of 14.3% compared to the Dow and its annual average return of 11%, for a 3.3% out performance.  In fact between the 1970′s and 1990′s the Dogs of the Dow outperformed the Dow by more than 5% on average, but in recent years the dogs haven’t performed quite as well. Over time it seems that the performance of the Dogs of the Dow is quite good, but in short time periods there is no way of telling whether they will out perform or under perform.

If you an average investor out there looking to put your money in the stock market you should consider using the Dogs of the Dow strategy only if you fit the mold of an investor who is a contrarian and doesn’t want an actively managed portfolio. The perfect candidate for using this system is an investor who wishes to invest their money without the help of a stock broker, but doesn’t want it to be complicated or time consuming. The strategy isn’t an exciting one, but it is one that could be a viable method of earning solid income over the long run.