Geldpress

If you have an Optionsxpress brokerage account, and you use Gainskeeper software you are in for a nice surprise just in time for tax season.  There are reports of many customers data feeds completely broken at Optionsxpress.  Some Gainskeeper reports are coming up completely empty, some of them have completely irrelevant data.  One Optionsxpress customer reported to Geldpress that his case with Optionsxpress has been opened for over a week with no update and no resolution.  Optionsxpress is reportedly passing the buck – telling customers that the problem is with the Gainskeeper platform.  They do admit that it is affecting “many” accounts, but give no estimate for the time to resolve, stating only that it is a high priority.  On the Optionsxpress Gainskeeper page, there is a general message that states “Please Note – Gainskeeper has identified a problem with their tax software for portfolios with options expiring in 2010. This issue will be resolved shortly.“   There is however, no mention, of the general problems with the Gainskeeper feed – irrelevant and mysterious data showing up in individual Gainskeeper tax reports.

Optionsxpress charges a $24.95 fee for use of the third party software.  At last check Scottrade and some other brokerages provide free use of Gainskeeper to its customers.   The Geldpress research team has not heard of any broken or incorrect data feed problems with the use of Gainskeeper on other platforms such as Scottrade.

Optionsxpress customers who have paid the $24.95 fee for the use of Gainskeeper may want to double check the tax report generated with the tool for accuracy.

Have you found an issue with Gainskeeper? Tell us about it here

For more general information on trader related tax rules, check out the following book:

Capital Gains, Minimal Taxes 2009: The Essential Guide For Investors And Traders by Kaye Thomas

The second version of Amazon’s electronic book reader is availalbe at a newly reduced price, just $259.  The newer versions offers improvements in the following areas:

• Lower Price
• Thinner device – only .36 inches
• Half inch taller, and weighs slightly less (10.2 ounces vs 10.3 ounces)
• Global coverage with AT&T’s network vs limited U.S. coverage with Sprint

To buy the new Kindle, just click the image below.

The newest Apple 3Gs version of its popular iphone was released on Friday, and has reportedly sold over a million units in its first weekend.  The “iphone dev team” (not affiliated with Apple) also released a free iphone unlocking utility called Ultrasnow.  This is a full software unlock method for the iphone 3G, but does not work on the newer 3Gs version.

Iphone users are now finally free to port their iphones to the carrier of their choice, but may unfortunately have to pay a stiff penalty to the non carrier of choice for the termination fee.

In other news:

• Work For Free At British Airways
• Comcast Stimulus Plan Vs Verizon FIOS
• Jim Rogers Predicts S&P 50,000 – In Worthless Currency
• Option Bible On Diagonal Calendar Call Spreads

Printed books may not go the way of the typewriter very soon, but electronic book readers are definitely the hot trend of the day.  Here is a forecast of three technologies for electronic book reading.

Amazon Kindle – The first version sold out immediately last year, and subsequent consumer orders were backfilled months later.  The Kindle 2 is available for pre-order now for $359, and will be shipped out on February 29th.  Amazon reports there are 230,000 electronic books available in Kindle format, all of which can be wirelessly downloaded to the device in under 60 seconds.  As a bonus, most Kindle electronic books, including New York Times best sellers, are available for just $9.99, a fraction of the hard bound or paperback versions.  Amazon’s vision is to “have every book ever printed, in any language, all available in under 60 seconds on Kindle”.  Newspapers, magazines and blogs are also available for download from Amazon’s Kindle store.  To pre-order your Kindle 2 now, just click the image below:

Sony Reader – Not afraid of competition, Amazon also sells the Sony Reader on its site.  The PRS-700BC sells for $399.99, slightly more than the new Kindle 2.  According to most other review sites, the Sony Reader does not have nearly the availability of titles as the Kindle.  The Sony Reader also has no wireless connection, and getting books to the device requires connecting it to a computer for the transfer.  But the Sony Reader can view more file formats than the Amazon Kindle.  The availability of titles (or lack thereof) may be akin to the old VHS and Beta wars or the 80′s.  My vote and my money goes to the Kindle, but if you want the Sony Reader, you can order it from the link below.

Google Mobile Reader – For those with an iPhone or the new Google G1 phone, you can read more than 1.5 million public domain titles for free with the Google Mobile Reader.  There is no application to buy or download.  Just point your mobile browser to http://books.google.com/m to get started.  If you don’t have an iPhone or G1, just use the http://books.google.com link to read the books on your PC or Mac.

Happy Reading…

The Geldpress team is going away for the Thanksgiving holiday.  We will return in early December for more insightful market commentary, and financial insights.  In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday shopping experience!  The economy needs you.

The black Friday holiday shopping starts this Friday, and you can expect some amazing deals, especially on electronics products.  But before you go spending your hard earned money on a new digital camera this holiday season, please consider the cost saving benefits of buying a high end used, or refurbished camera from Amazon.  Celebrate the recession by saving money on high end, but out of date electronics.  Here are two recommendations in two different price points:

Canon Powershot prosumer line – This is the line that Canon refers to as the “prosumer” category.  The first in the series was the Canon Powershot G1.  It came out around 2000, and retailed for $999.  But it was and still is an amazing camera, with a 3.2 megapixel sensor and automatic, and full manual controls.   The latest in the series is the Powershot G10, which retails for $435 on Amazon.  My personal favorite, and best bang for the buck is the Powershot G5.  It came out in 2003, and is a 5 megapixel full manual prosumer digital, with a remarkable f2.0-3.0 4x optical zoom lens.  Manual shutter speeds can be controlled from 1/2000 to 15 seconds.  There are also fully automatic or manual adjustments for white balance, ISO, metering, flash and continuous shooting.  And it can shoot close to 2 framers per second in continuous mode.  This is an out of date camera, but it’s easily worth the $150-$175 average used selling price on Amazon.

Canon Digital Rebel – The Rebel SLR was one of Canon’s best selling SLR cameras, and it was no surprise that the first digital version of the Rebel, the EOS 300D, was an instant success.  It came out in 2003 and originally sold for $899.  The latest in the Rebel line is the EOS Rebel XS, and it currently sells for $473 on Amazon.  But the original Rebel EOS 300D is still an amazing camera if you can find it at a decent price ($250-$275 is a great deal) from a used seller on Amazon.  It has a 6.3 megapixel sensor, has full automatic and full manual shooting modes, and can shoot an amazing 2.5 frames per second.

A Geldpress reader – let’s call him “Mr. B.” – provided the information for this piece.  Mr. B. has been a loyal Sprint customer for over 10 years, and currently has a family plan with five handsets and an average bill of over $200 per month.  Approximately 6 months ago, he upgraded one phone to the LG Rumor, otherwise known as the LG Rubbish.  Sprint’s currently advertises a buy one get one free special on the LG Rubbish, and based on the accounts from Mr B and countless others, you will certainly need a second one after the imminent failure of the first.  But if your second free Rumor Rubbish goes bad, neither Sprint nor LG will honor the warranties they provided.

The warranty is near the end of the user’s manual for the LG Rumor Rubbish.  It clearly states that:

The limited warranty for the unit and enclosed accessories shall be a period of one (1) year from the date of original purchase.

But just like any other warranty, it lists specific limitations, such as “Defects or damage resulting from use of the product in other than its normal and customary manner”.  Mr. B. was never concerned about these limitations because he took good care of his phone, and had faith that either Sprint or LG would take care of any problems, especially within the one year stated warranty period.

The exact problem Mr. B. had with his problem is very similar to the problem reported by countless other Rumor buyers.  The phone simply lost its ability to charge.  He first tried a second charger, and when that didn’t work, he took it back to the Sprint store.  Mr. B. did not have the Sprint equipment protection plan on his account, but he was assured by Sprint that it was no problem.  The equipment protection plan would have allowed Sprint to give him a new phone on the spot, with no questions asked.  But nonetheless, the phone was still under warranty, and LG was responsible for either fixing it or replacing it.

Mr. B. requested a return authorization number from the LG service center (Wireless Operations), and shipped the phone to their service center for repair.  Approximately 2 weeks later, the same phone was returned to him, unrepaired and unreplaced, and with virtually no explanation.  A short note on the repair invoice simply stated “This phone is being returned as is:  Un-repairable“.  Mr. B.’s natural instinct was shock and dismay, and he called the service center for an explanation.  They stated that the charging pins on the main circuit board had fallen off, and it would have cost them more to repair it then to replace it.  Mr. B. stated that he did not care how much it cost them because he had a warranty, and they needed to honor it.  The LG service representative just kept insisting that they could not help him, and that they would not honor the warranty.

Mr. B. was truly perplexed, dismayed, and shocked, but there was nothing he could do about it.  Both Sprint and LG Electronics are enduring severe financial struggles.  Warranty service is undoubtedly very costly, but the solution of not honoring warranties that Sprint and LG are pursuing is bound to end in tragedy for both.

Do you have a broken LG Rumor?  Complaint about LG warranty service?  State your gripes in the comments below.  And if you have been denied warranty service from LG, you can submit your Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint here:

Also from Geldpress:

• AT&T will lose money with the iphone data plan
• The United States has not had a balanced budget since 1957!
• The Big Mac purchasing power parity economic indicator
• What comes after the bailout?

Apple held it’s Let’s Rock event today to unveil its new iPod line and iTunes offerings.  The iPod nano offers a taller and more colorful look.   It is the thinnest iPod to date, includes a few enhancements (accelerometer, shake to shuffle), better battery life, and a lower price.  The 8GB version now goes for $149, and a new 16GB model sells for $199.  The iPod classic also gets a minor upgrade, with the 120GB version selling for the old 80GB price of $249.  The iPod shuffle got a few new colors, but no improvement in pricing.

The long awaited iPod touch disappointed the crowds.  Apple missed its opportunity to challenge Garmin in the GPS navigation wars and released the new touch with minimal changes, and without GPS.   The new touch, however, does include new 2.1 firmware, support for Nike+iPod, built in speakers, and a new genius playlist feature.

Itunes 8.0 was also announced at the event.  Apples’s description of “Genius”:

Play a song, click the Genius button, and iTunes creates a playlist of other songs from your library that go great together. Genius playlists help you discover songs in your library you never knew you had — and rediscover forgotten favorites.

With itunes 8.0 also comes the availability of HD television shows, and a few other fluff changes, such as Grid View (shows your library using cover art), and a Visualizer app that lights up your desktop to the beat of the music you are playing.

Are you tired of the new Microsoft operating systems slowing your system down and constantly crashing?  How about all those nonsense applications that come pre-installed on your Dell, Compaq or other computer?  Or do you just need a light, fast and inexpensive laptop for the road?

If you answered yes to any of those, then you should check out one of the new ultra light and small Linux based laptops.  See Forget Microsoft and Adobe – use free software instead for more info.  The Linux computers are compatible with your existing windows based applications.

ASUS Eee PC 900 20G – For less than $500 after rebate, you can pick up this laptop direct from Amazon.com.  The screen size is only 8.9 inches, so it may not be suitable for home use.  But it is the perfect companion for those needing a useful and light laptop for the road, or as a spare.  It is 900 MHz Intel Mobile CPU and pre-installed Linux operating system.  It has a 20 GB solid state flash memory drive, 1 GB of RAM, 10/100 Fast Ethernet, 54g Wi-Fi, an integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam, and a battery capable of lasting 3.5 hours.  It also comes equipped with 3 USB 2.0 ports, a VGA output, an SD memory card slot, and headphone and microphone jacks.   And It still comes in under 2 pounds.

Sylvania GNET28001SN Meso - It also comes in at less than $500, and can be pre-ordered direct from Amazon.com.  It comes equipped with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, an 80 GB hard drive, and 1 GB of RAM.  Like the ASUS 900, it also has an integrated webcam, an 8.9 inch screen, 3 USB ports, a VGA output and built in wireless.  It comes preloaded with Ubuntu Netbook and OpenOffice.  It’s slightly heavier then the Asus PC 900, coming in at about 2.2 pounds.

Either of these laptops can be the perfect travel companion or even serve as your main or backup computer.

Top rated Geldpress Articles:

• The United States has not had a balanced budget since 1957!
• Mortgage insurance won’t help banks who ignored it
• The United States national debt limit has become a joke
• FDIC won’t say if your bank is safe – find out yourself
• The volatility clue to the market
• McCain wants to spend millions for a few Amazon books
• A primer on credit default swaps and counterparty risk

From Marketwatch:

EBay Inc. said Wednesday that it would cut some listing fees “dramatically” as the online auction giant responds to increasing competitive pressure from such rivals as Amazon.com.  Shares of eBay fell more than 1% to $25.06 by midday trading Wednesday. The stock has shed more than 20% of its value over the last three months.

Ebay is missing the point.  Yes, lower fees are always welcome. But they are meaningless in the eyes of Ebay customers who also want better service.  Ebay customers want want tighter monitoring of fraud, which is reportedly rampant on Ebay, and which Ebay apparently disregards.  Ebay customers defect to Amazon because they trust they will receive exactly what they pay for.  Pricing is secondary.

MSNBC investigated Ebay and reported the following:

…the company doesn’t routinely inform customers when they have been ripped off or regularly notify law enforcement about apparently illegal activity on its site.

…Fraud complaints filed with eBay rarely trigger any disciplinary action against sellers, even when accompanied by extensive documentation of wrongdoing.

…EBay acknowledges that it doesn’t automatically suspend the cheating sellers it catches.

…In a case in which postage stamps were allegedly being altered to increase their value and then resold “as is,” eBay took no action to halt the auctions despite receiving a litany of complaints from a group of stamp experts who assembled detailed evidence on the purported scam.

There are also grass root petitions generated by Ebay customers who were victimized by fraudulent sellers, but apparently with no disciplinary action against the sellers from Ebay.  One such petition, with thousands of signatures, claims the following:

Every day 1000′s of FAKE MP3\MP4 players are being sold to unsuspecting buyers worldwide. These players are being listed as having 2GB\4GB and 8GB (Gigabyte) of storage capacity but in reality they have much smaller memory modules that have been manipulated (Hacked) so that they read as larger than their true capacity. These memory modules can be as small as 128MB. Unfortunately most buyers do not realize they have been scammed until it is too late.

Is eBay aware of that these fraudsters are using their service to scam millions of dollars on a global scale? The answer is yes, every day they receive complaints from buyers through the eBay system. Every day their sister company PayPal receives dispute claims from buyers of these players seeking a refund. Despite the 1000′s of complaints eBay chooses to turn a blind eye to the whole scandal, even blocking buyers from trying to warn other members of the scam.

If Ebay is going to retain their existing customers, and have any hopes of recovering lost customers, then they need to concentrate on customer service.  Lower fees alone just won’t cut it.

From the Los Angeles Times in June 2008, “Music sales decline 8% on piracy, industry group says”:

Music sales fell to the lowest level in at least 10 years as a surge in digital content failed to make up for declines in compact discs and the effects of piracy, an industry group said today. Global music sales dropped 8% to $19.4 billion in 2007, according to a report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry…

But the “industry group” has failed to recognize the real answer to slowing sales, and that is the result of media hyperinflation. Hyperinflation occurs when there is so much of something available that the value of that something goes down. It is most often used to describe the money supply, such as with Zimbabwe’s currency. But the explosive growth in the information age of the last decade has also caused hyperinflation in digital content. Just count the number of albums or DVD’s for sale at Amazon or iTunes and you will see; the numbers are staggering, and increasing rapidly every year. There are also dozens of new ways to obtain free or nearly free and legal music, that will not hit the sales books of the recording industry:

• Direct consumer to consumer sales on Amazon.com, half price books or similar
• 25 cent older generation music CD’s at garage sales
• Legal downloads of free albums from up and coming bands that the labels never picked up
• Internet streaming and legal radio
• Satellite radio

Instead of recognizing the obvious, and adapting to the current operating environment, the music industry continues to blame piracy and charge the same 1990 prices ($15 for 10 cent piece of plastic) for a rapidly declining commodity with infinite supply. Perhaps the music industry would be interested in purchasing my 1990 era computer for $1500. I’ll even make a fair trade – my 1990 computer for 100 music CD’s of my choice.