Everyone’s familiar with the Federal Reserve System, our nation’s central bank, so it requires little in the way of explanation. But few people can actually tell you much about the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Fed’s monetary policy arm aside from the fact that it sets the federal funds rate.

The buyers just couldn’t get the upper hand this week as recession fears continued to reign supreme. All three indexes closed down this week.

Americans got some last-minute relief on the alternative minimum tax (AMT) when the House of Representatives was finally able to get a bill through that freezes growth in a provision originally designed to ensnare millionaire tax dodgers.

Investors have been conditioned over the past several months to fear acronyms. SIVs (structured investment vehicles) are going to sink the big money center banks…

So you’ve decided to start investing for your future, and you’ve subscribed to Personal Finance to help you on your way. Both smart decisions, but now what do you do?

Some of our favorite businesses have taken a beating of late because of the markets and negative publicity. The biggest reason is that most people don’t understand these businesses or their assets.

Next time you’re sitting in traffic, steaming over how much time you’re wasting, you can just smile and think about the cash you’re making simply idling.

There probably isn’t a more gut-wrenching feeling than checking your brokerage statement and finding that you’ve become $20,000 poorer almost overnight. On August 15, a lot of people out there found themselves in that position–or worse–after the bottom seemed to have fallen out of the market over the previous two days. It was enough to [...]

Every time we buy a bond or bond fund, we’re stepping up to lend money to a company or government. To be a successful lender, you have to be able to evaluate risk.