Is anyone watching the stock market?

[kaydee457 13]

I was refering to the rally out of the rate cut, not the pattern over the last few weeks.

Oh, ok. I think Gary was talking about the general upward movement of the markets over the last couple of weeks,

using today's rally as an example.

I went and did it. I am now putting away 20% of my gross. I also told them to start investing 25% of my funds in international growth stocks. (medium level of risk)

My employer limits me to 10% of my gross, unfortunately.

I have business income as well, but I don't think I can have two 401(k)s, because

the total salary deferral between all 401(k)s is limited to something like $15,000.

Geez, why the limit to 10%? Mine is 25%, and the law says if you make 6 figures that you're considered a "highly compensated employee" and it's the cap for me otherwise I'd kick in more......

I can't imagine why a private company would limit your contributions because frankly, it's no money out of their pocket! Now they can certainly cap any company matching funds, but to limit your input is, well, kind of strange.......Are you talking about tax exempt contributions, I seem to recall up to 15% of gross?

When I was younger I would contribute from my net (taxed) income up and above that limit.

[mawilson 2,133]

Geez, why the limit to 10%? Mine is 25%, and the law says if you make 6 figures that you're considered a "highly compensated employee" and it's the cap for me otherwise I'd kick in more......

I can't imagine why a private company would limit your contributions because frankly, it's no money out of their pocket! Now they can certainly cap any company matching funds, but to limit your input is, well, kind of strange.......Are you talking about tax exempt contributions, I seem to recall up to 15% of gross?

Well if it's not tax exempt, there's no point, really.

There's a cap of 7% on company matches as well, but I'm not allowed to contribute more than 10%

of my gross (unless I'm over 55.)

Could be that federal limit thing.

[GaryC 7]

Geez, why the limit to 10%? Mine is 25%, and the law says if you make 6 figures that you're considered a "highly compensated employee" and it's the cap for me otherwise I'd kick in more......

I can't imagine why a private company would limit your contributions because frankly, it's no money out of their pocket! Now they can certainly cap any company matching funds, but to limit your input is, well, kind of strange.......Are you talking about tax exempt contributions, I seem to recall up to 15% of gross?

Well if it's not tax exempt, there's no point, really.

There's a cap of 7% on company matches as well, but I'm not allowed to contribute more than 10%

of my gross (unless I'm over 55.)

Could be that federal limit thing.

I just looked it up. You have a cap of $15,500 per year right now. I don't see a legal reason why you couldn't contribute up to that amount.

ETA. If your making the money I think you are you are probably hitting that limit. I know I will be close to it now. If your over 55 you can give more under a "catch up plan" though.

Edited April 30, 2008 by GaryC

[kaydee457 13]

Geez, why the limit to 10%? Mine is 25%, and the law says if you make 6 figures that you're considered a "highly compensated employee" and it's the cap for me otherwise I'd kick in more......

I can't imagine why a private company would limit your contributions because frankly, it's no money out of their pocket! Now they can certainly cap any company matching funds, but to limit your input is, well, kind of strange.......Are you talking about tax exempt contributions, I seem to recall up to 15% of gross?

Well if it's not tax exempt, there's no point, really.

There's a cap of 7% on company matches as well, but I'm not allowed to contribute more than 10%

of my gross (unless I'm over 55.)

Could be that federal limit thing.

Well, when I finish dinner I'll look up the IRS rules.

Geez, why the limit to 10%? Mine is 25%, and the law says if you make 6 figures that you're considered a "highly compensated employee" and it's the cap for me otherwise I'd kick in more......

I can't imagine why a private company would limit your contributions because frankly, it's no money out of their pocket! Now they can certainly cap any company matching funds, but to limit your input is, well, kind of strange.......Are you talking about tax exempt contributions, I seem to recall up to 15% of gross?

Well if it's not tax exempt, there's no point, really.

There's a cap of 7% on company matches as well, but I'm not allowed to contribute more than 10%

of my gross (unless I'm over 55.)

Could be that federal limit thing.

I just looked it up. You have a cap of $15,500 per year right now. I don't see a legal reason why you couldn't contribute up to that amount.

ETA. If your making the money I think you are you are probably hitting that limit. I know I will be close to it now. If your over 55 you can give more under a "catch up plan" though.

Well, I thought you could contribute more if it's NET pay, instead of gross........

[GaryC 7]

Geez, why the limit to 10%? Mine is 25%, and the law says if you make 6 figures that you're considered a "highly compensated employee" and it's the cap for me otherwise I'd kick in more......

I can't imagine why a private company would limit your contributions because frankly, it's no money out of their pocket! Now they can certainly cap any company matching funds, but to limit your input is, well, kind of strange.......Are you talking about tax exempt contributions, I seem to recall up to 15% of gross?

Well if it's not tax exempt, there's no point, really.

There's a cap of 7% on company matches as well, but I'm not allowed to contribute more than 10%

of my gross (unless I'm over 55.)

Could be that federal limit thing.

Well, when I finish dinner I'll look up the IRS rules.

Geez, why the limit to 10%? Mine is 25%, and the law says if you make 6 figures that you're considered a "highly compensated employee" and it's the cap for me otherwise I'd kick in more......

I can't imagine why a private company would limit your contributions because frankly, it's no money out of their pocket! Now they can certainly cap any company matching funds, but to limit your input is, well, kind of strange.......Are you talking about tax exempt contributions, I seem to recall up to 15% of gross?

Well if it's not tax exempt, there's no point, really.

There's a cap of 7% on company matches as well, but I'm not allowed to contribute more than 10%

of my gross (unless I'm over 55.)

Could be that federal limit thing.

I just looked it up. You have a cap of $15,500 per year right now. I don't see a legal reason why you couldn't contribute up to that amount.

ETA. If your making the money I think you are you are probably hitting that limit. I know I will be close to it now. If your over 55 you can give more under a "catch up plan" though.

Well, I thought you could contribute more if it's NET pay, instead of gross........

The rule book for my 401K say my contributions cannot exceed $15,500 per year by federal law regardless of what I make.

[mawilson 2,133]

The rule book for my 401K say my contributions cannot exceed $15,500 per year by federal law regardless of what I make.

Yep - just like the IRA limit for 2007 is $4,000 (which may not necessarily be deductible - it wasn't for us this year.)

[kaydee457 13]

The rule book for my 401K say my contributions cannot exceed $15,500 per year by federal law regardless of what I make.

Yep - just like the IRA limit for 2007 is $4,000 (which may not necessarily be deductible - it wasn't for us this year.)

Yeah, I just looked at mine. I'm over 50 so I can do catch up....The limit is 15k, plus my catch up. but my plan caps that by law at 25% of gross salary period. I cannot put any more in once i reach that limit, regardless of whether it's net salary or not.......It's that 6 figure "highly compensated employee" #######.............

[William33 110]

Invest independently in oil companies. Money can be made here:

Exxon shatters profit records

Oil giant makes corporate history by booking $11.7 billion in quarterly profit; earns $1,300 a second in 2007.

By David Ellis, CNNMoney.com staff writer

February 1 2008: 2:26 PM EST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Exxon Mobil made history on Friday by reporting the highest quarterly and annual profits ever for a U.S. company, boosted in large part by soaring crude prices.

Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said fourth-quarter net income rose 14% to $11.66 billion, or $2.13 per share. The company earned $10.25 billion, or $1.76 per share, in the year-ago period.

The profit topped Exxon's previous quarterly record of $10.7 billion, set in the fourth quarter of 2005, which also was an all-time high for a U.S. corporation.

"Exxon can put out some amazing numbers and this is one of those cases," said Jason Gammel, senior analyst at Macquarie Securities in New York.

Exxon also set an annual profit record by earning $40.61 billion last year - or nearly $1,300 per second in 2007. That exceeded its previous record of $39.5 billion in 2006.

In the fourth quarter, the company said revenue rose 29.5% from a year ago to $116.64 billion.

Analysts were looking for the company to report quarterly profit of $10.36 billion on revenue of $114.9 billion, according to earnings tracker Thomson Financial.

Despite topping Wall Street's estimates, Exxon (XOM, Fortune 500) shares slipped in afternoon trading.

The company reported strong results in its worldwide exploration and production, or "upstream," business. Profit rose 32% to $8.2 billion during the quarter, offsetting some weakness earlier in the year.

Income in Exxon's refining, or "downstream," business rose 15.7% during the quarter to $2.27 billion.

Exxon attributed its impressive results to strong performance across its divisions, but a large part of the profit surge was underpinned by climbing oil prices.

Crude prices skyrocketed nearly 60% last year. The surge helped prices break through the $100 a barrel mark for the first time ever early last month. Since crossing that milestone, prices have eased to around $90 a barrel.

Natural gas prices also jumped last year, albeit marginally. But costs have also increased for the oil companies, which is why profits haven't risen as rapidly as crude prices.

Big oil companies that both pump oil and refine crude into gasoline have to spend more for crude but are unable to pass on all the extra cost to consumers, which eats in to gasoline profit margins.

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline hit an all-time high of $3.23 in May, according to the motorist organization AAA. The high prices were blamed on strong demand and a series of accidents that shut down refineries in the U.S. But slack demand for gasoline in the latter half of last year kept gas prices from rising as dramatically as crude prices.

Exxon's record results, which coincide with smaller rival Chevron's (CVX, Fortune 500) profit jump, drew some fire from both government officials and consumer rights groups, who have argued previously that the the oil industry is deliberately restricting supply and profiting on the back of U.S. motorists.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. took a swipe at the two firms, calling on fellow lawmakers to break the country's dependence on foreign oil and rollback unnecessary tax incentives for oil companies.

Judy Dugan, research director of The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, urged Congress to initiate some oversight into unregulated energy trading markets, which have been accused of helping to drive up the price of oil.

"Exxon is happy to take advantage of these prices," said Dugan.

But finding oil has also become more costly. The oil boom has led to a surge in exploration and drilling activity, which has pushed up the price for skilled workers and equipment.

Furthermore, new supplies of oil are increasingly difficult to find and generally tend to be located in harder to reach - and hence more expensive - places. The new natural gas field discovered this week by Brazil's Petrobras lies three miles under the ocean.

ExxonMobil representatives also stressed the cyclical nature of the business and noted that growing global demand for energy will require companies to heavily invest in future growth. The company said it estimates that global demand will grow by 30 percent by 2030.

"The challenge for all of us in the industry is how to we meet that increased demand," said Henry Hubble, vice president of investor relations.

Exxon and Chevron aren't the only two oil giants to report impressive earnings recently. Conoco (COP, Fortune 500), the nation's third-largest oil company, trounced profit estimates by nearly 25% when it reported last week. And Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Europe's largest oil company, reported a 60% increase in profits Thursday.

-CNNMoney.com staff writer Steve Hargreaves contributed to this report

Oil stocks: Best picks for 2008

The end of oil is just a video game

[SnowyTater 0]

I heard the news talking a few weeks ago about someone possibly having found a really huge load of oil in Alaska that would like...more than double our domestic sources, or something big like that. It was a really excited, though cautiously so, story, and then I never heard anything else...

I'm glad all of you think the economy's getting better because I don't know jack about this stuff but trying to pick up on what I can from the news sources scares the heck out of me. I am/was starting to believe that it wasn't simply a recession but was pretty much permanent, since so much of it is meant to be hinged on oil, which I don't think is going to go back down that drastically, and not anytime soon.

Meh...top priority in a couple weeks when I'm out of college and actually have the time is going and getting all the How to Not Be an Idiot in Life for Dummies books that'll tell me what all this stuff means and how to play it. The extent of my hopes just now is very small-scale like "Gee I hope the exchange rate stays crappy a little bit longer so fiance's savings are doubled ".

I can't have very high prospects about my salary, I don't think. No idea what I'll end up doing but I'm an English major so I'm not going to be anywhere close to six figures like...ever, probably I bet you can still make some pretty good investments on $30k though, right?

I'm scared of it though. My mom screwed up somehow big a few years ago and lost five figures worth, basically her entire savings for my and my sister's college education, I think I don't think I want to do anything that risky.

[GaryC 7]

The market is back up again. It was over 13000 for a while. While I don't bank on huge swings like this, they usually go back down to some reasonable level later, it is nice to see the trend continue upwards.

[kaydee457 13]

The market is back up again. It was over 13000 for a while. While I don't bank on huge swings like this, they usually go back down to some reasonable level later, it is nice to see the trend continue upwards.

Yep, I think we're going to recover from this volitility by the end of the year......

[mawilson 2,133]

The market is back up again. It was over 13000 for a while. While I don't bank on huge swings like this, they usually go back down to some reasonable level later, it is nice to see the trend continue upwards.

I hope so - or it might just be the result of short-covering.

When the market moves against short-sellers, they tend to get out in a hurry,

pushing prices up further.

[GaryC 7]

Well, the market managed to close above 13000 today. Lets hope the upward trend continues. I made some good money today in my 401K! I hope I get to keep it now.

[Sheriff Uling 3]

The market is back up again. It was over 13000 for a while. While I don't bank on huge swings like this, they usually go back down to some reasonable level later, it is nice to see the trend continue upwards.

Yep, I think we're going to recover from this volitility by the end of the year......

I surely hope so...