Reviews about Finance Web Sites

tlawless says "THIS IS LIKE GIVING YOUR PORTFOLIO CANCER" about Trending 123 by John Lansing

tlawless — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:34:09 GMT

I made the mistake of falling for this clown's hype so I am here to hopefully save you some grief and heartache. this incompetent 'guru' put out 17 alerts during the time i subscribed to his crystal ball. he turned in an amazing result - 17 100% losers. This was from the spring of 2009. Fortunately, I did not play all of them but enough to lose almost 10K in 9 weeks. He had tremendous calls such as long natural gas, long the dollar, short the overall market. when asked what was happening he became argumentative and saying we didn't understand the market. I took my lumps and accept my stupidness in listening to him - I am here to hopefully prevent you from losing ALL your money. This guy is clueless and has no idea what he is doing. By the way - his training? He was a busboy at a casino who became a stock guru. I wish someone had posted this before I signed up. This guy is cancer - he will kill you financially.

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soniccommander says "PayPal more like PayPansy" about PayPal

soniccommander — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:36:14 GMT

I wouldn't pay for an ice cube through these guys, even if I were in Hell and that was the only way I could puchase one. Tried to use my new PayPal account today for the very first time. Here's what I got : 1. My credit card was declined.

2. Tried to call their customer service number 4 times.

3. When I finally got hold of someone they told me the problem was with my Bank.

4. Called my bank to be told that cmdr everything with your card looks alright.

5. Called PayPal back to be told that Oh no your banks not letting it go through.

6. Called my bank back to be told that maybe they don't have the right security code, but the code I had put in matched tthe one on the back of the card, I also double checked...

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pp2a says "save place to pay" about PayPal

pp2a — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:58:17 GMT

It is really very good for paying online, and I paid a lot of time, very convinent and reliable, I like it.

The lowest-cost, broad-featured system I've found for receiving payments on the Web is PayPal -- and it doesn't require a merchant account or payment gateway. What's more, many international merchants can use it with relative ease to sell products in US dollars. With its integrated shopping cart feature, it is finally mature enough for small online merchants to use to launch low cost e-commerce sites.

PayPal began in 1999 as a tool for transferring money for payment in eBay auctions and is currently the most popular online payment system of its kind. PayPal estimates that it is the payment vehicle for 28% of the auctions that close on eBay, with its closest competitor used for only a small fraction of that. Essentially, the system allows a PayPal member to e-mail money to anyone, though to retrieve the moneyTo date, PayPal boasts more than 8 million members, which account for a considerable...

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moma63104 says "Does not protect you or your wallet Beware " about PayPal

moma63104 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:49:17 GMT

For years I have been shopping on line with confidence using my PayPal buying "shield" Yesterday I filled a dispute with paypal requesting my money back for a dvd I had ordered through ecrater and jfsales51 What I recieved was a bootleg pirated copy. Paypal "investigated and closed" my claim within 90 min of me filling it. When I called Paypal I was informed that of the thousands and thousands of sites that use the PayPal option the only one I am protected one is Ebay. Unless I never recieve the item. So according to Paypal I did recieve it but who cares that it is a homemade illegal dvd... I lose. The more research I did the more I felt like a fool using PayPal. Even if you use your credit card to pay with paypal you waive your rights. So America please use caution when using paypal becuase you are NOT protected at all even for illegal activites and scams. I have closed my account and will now only use my charge charge so that I can have at least some recourse. Check this out paypalsucks.com ...

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creditsquirrel says "3 credit scores and 3 credit reports at one place" about FreeScore

creditsquirrel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:11:27 GMT

FreeScore.com is one stop shop for all 3 credit reports and all 3 credit scores. The free trial is 7 days and you can cancel after you pull out your credit scores and credit reports. The site provides credit monitoring - you get alerts if anything changes on your credit profile with any of 3 credit bureaus.

Often compared to AnnualCreditReport.com - http://www.FreeScore.com is not free. It comes with the free trial version and delivers you way more than one free credit report from each bureau annualy. If you wish just to obtain your credit report AnnualCreditReport.com is a great start for you - but you would have to pay for scores.

Here are how FreeScore.com compares against the similar services:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_free_credit_report_websites

http://www.freescore-reviews.com/freescore-vs-annualcreditreport-compare

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JosephFrabash says "Envelope Budgeting at its best" about Mvelopes.com

JosephFrabash — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:00:09 GMT

I am a big fan of Dave Ramsey and his baby steps to financial peace. Envelope Budgeting with cash was the most difficult practice to follow because using cash for everything is highly inconvenient and difficult to track. I looked for a better, more modern way to practice Envelope Budgeting... Mvelopes.com was the answer.

Mvelopes.com is a modern, online version of Envelope Budgeting. You start with a list of virtual envelopes, assign money into those envelopes according to your budget, and then Mvelopes fetches your transactions from various spending sources in real-time as your spend (credit card, checking account) and allows you to assign/tag/categorize incoming transactions against the funded envelopes.

Mvelopes is different from other personal finance sites/bank sites because it is a true Envelope Budgeting system, not the typical tag and report model like Quicken and its lookalikes (Mint, Wesabe, Geezeo, etc). Envelope Budgeting makes all the difference.

Give it a serious look. It...

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ellentilkins says "Paypal is convenient, but expensive" about PayPal

ellentilkins — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:01:13 GMT

paypal is convenient, however it is expensive. If you are an ebay seller, you know ebay charges you to sell your item, and paypal charges you to accept payment. The funny thing is ebay owns both companies. Therefore, you are being doublecharged for each item you sell on ebay. Paypal is very convenient. When you are selling on ebay, it is nice to have your money instantly, even if they charge you. This makes it so you get your money faster, and your customers get their products faster. I use paypal for this reason, the convenience outweighs the costs. However if ebay continues to get greedier, someday, this may not remain true.

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AngieGirl says "The Best in Electronic Money Transfer" about PayPal

AngieGirl — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:20:18 GMT

My Paypal accounts have turned out to be quite indispensible for me! If you do not have a Paypal account and are wondering why you need one or why you should be bothered with this then I would highly recommended that you go onto the paypal website and read all of the great benefits that you can derive from this tool. First and foremost, Paypal is easy to set up and it is completely free to setup as well. I know that there are other financial tools which claim to be completely free when in fact there is a small cost associated with using them. I use my Paypal account to receive funds from many different sources, including: survey and research panels rewards and friends & family for repayment of loans; also for receiving payments from business ventures, such as eBay sales. The tool is great because it is very easy to setup an account and it allows you the utility to transfer funds directly to your formal bank accounts for immediately use. You can also use Paypal to get money to...

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IARanger says "Arrogant Financial Blowhard " about Trending 123 by John Lansing

IARanger — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:27:48 GMT

As others have posted following John Lansing is a good way to lose your hard earned cash in the markets. He thinks he knows everything and is a great salesman !! But that is where it all ends at Trending 123 because he never admits when he is wrong and will leave a pick up for months and months in hopes of it coming back to close to the purchase price to try to make his numbers look better. He also adds a second position of the same stock so he can change the buy price and also skew the profit loss numbers. I think he should go to work for Obama they make a great pair !!!

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zohaib says "such a bad website to deal with." about creditreport.com

zohaib — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 04:42:12 GMT

i went to this website to see my one bureau cresit report through the trial version and when i was looking at my report i saw a tab showing free 3 beaureau credit report and when i clicked on it the 3 beareau credit report was opened without showing i will be charged something or not the other day when i checked my email i got the emails telling that i will be charged for $29.95.i was shocked to see that i didnt authorise for anything like this and why this thing happened even without showing that i ordered something and i am gona be charged for something.when i called the customer service he said yes you ordered the report but i told him i didnt authorise any withdrawl from my bank account but he said u will be just charged 12.95 for the monitoring i asked him is that all?he said yes sir that is all but after few days when i checked my bank account i was charged for 29.95.i was like 29.95 for the reports that i didnt even wanted to order i called back and the reufused to refund and said...

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cherrygirl205 says "Identity Guard has a perfect sales pitch, but bad service." about Identity Guard

cherrygirl205 — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 23:46:19 GMT

Identity Guard was a disappointment at best, an outright swindle at worst. I subscribed to the service for six months and never saw a change in my credit score, even though I had taken multiple steps to change it. What brought me to the service in the first place was the need for a home. In an attempt to qualify for a mortgage, I decided to check my scores from the "Big Three". Identity Guard had my score at 618 for one company and nothing for the other two. After discussing options with my mortgage company (who informed my that my credit score was actually at 602, instead of 618, even though NOTHING in my file had changed from when I checked it earlier that day), I decided to open a credit builder loan at a local agency. This agency reports to all three companies on the same day each month. In the entire 6 months I had I.G. were any of these payments shown to me, even though they showed up on other credit reports, while other pings were shown months after they happened, if at all (I had...

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Alxsteele says "72 days!" about Bank of America Online Banking

Alxsteele — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:35:53 GMT

I have had no fewer than 10 bank accounts at different locations over the past 20 years. But never have I had a bank that closes your account after a mere 72 days of inactivity. I use this account primarily for my auction account--to keep statements and receipts seperate from my personal (family) account. My real job has had me too busy to do much auctioning of late, and so I haven't accessed the account for a few months. Supposedly, BOA sent letters after the first 24 and 48 days of inactivity. But I never got either of those. They said they sent another one on the 72nd day. I never got that either. Still--such a insignificant amount of time is incomprehensible in this day and age. I understand 8 months, or 6. But the idea of sending out letters after a mere 24 days seems silly, and rather unreasonable. They closed my account, and it took a week to get it back up and running. I'm shifting banks.

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carolscookie says "Offers some protection, but not as much as they advertise" about PayPal

carolscookie — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:42:25 GMT

When I first started buying and selling on Ebay, I was thrilled with the protection that PayPal SEEMED to offer. I will admit that when I buy or sell online if PayPal is available, I always choose that as my prefered payment method.

That however, does not excuse their policies, which they follow WITHOUT EXCEPTION.

The point of this blog is to encourage any and all sellers to keep all receipts and make sure that your packages can be tracked.

If a buyer reverses payment for any reason after you have sent the product, Paypal will not cover the lost income, if you can not show the tracking receipt. Even if the buyer has sent emails to you, explaining why the payment was reversed, and that they had received the item in the condition that it was promised, and EVEN left positive feedback, which clearly shows that the product was received.

I also found out the delivery confirmation is not acceptable as proof that the item was shipped and received.

PayPal does offer an easy and secure way...

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Dailyone says "How much more would you achieve if you were not afraid" about Eagerwitz & Associates LLC

Dailyone — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:24:10 GMT

Eagerwitz & Associates LLC first took on my case after careful review. I intially came to them with what i describe as no hope. Thinking I would just get another sales pitch on how great their system could be and the savings that I could realize. However after talking to one of their associates and faxing them my paperwork of problems, they took their time and carefully reviewed my case. When they say they don't have a one size fits all approach they were right. I felt as if I was treated fairly and I have recommended them to several people already. The process for me was smooth, and easy. I personally want to thank the team at Eagerwitz & Associates LLC or their dedication and hard work.

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PatentMan says "Lansing's site is a mess and neither he nor InvestorPlace answer" about Trending 123 by John Lansing

PatentMan — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:50:24 GMT

Stay away from John Lansing's Trending123! This service seemed like it was worth looking into since they had a 90-day complete money-back guarantee and a seemingly good track record. He even sent a welcome letter stating he was "thrilled" to have me on board. However his site is a complete mess. The videos are all the same, many links don't work, and worst of all, he has items on this chart that make no sense,like his Beta of 5 for all stocks and "Coverage", and neither he nor the marketing company, InventorPlace, ever answered my repeated questions. He has the temerity to provide a link on his site called, "Ask John" but no one ever replied when I used this link to ask repeated questions about his nonsensical terms. I emailed InvestorPlace (no answer) and finally called twice. They said they would get back to me with answers, but never did. I never bought any of his recommendations, but in the two or so weeks I was subscribed before I canceled, some recs. went up slightly and some...

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Bryan-Carey says "Bankrate.com Wants to Help You Manage Your Finances" about Bankrate

Bryan-Carey — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:26:33 GMT

Is a new home mortgage in your future? What about a bank CD or retirement account? Have you often wondered how quickly you could eliminate credit card debt by adding additional money per payment? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, then consider a visit to Bankrate.com, a financial web site with consumer interests in mind.

Financial Web Site Commentary:

Bankrate.com offers several different services to help consumers obtain loans and investment accounts and better manage their finances. Most people who visit Bankrate.com come here to lookup mortgage loan rates and to compare rates between banks. Bankrate.com wants everyone to know the latest in the mortgage world, so it highlights current mortgage rates on the home page so that everyone can quickly see which financial institution is offering the best rates, both for fixed rate and ARM mortgages.

Besides mortgage rate information, Bankrate.com is also a good place to check for CD rates, auto loan rates, student...

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AnimeMovieMan says "Terrible customer protection offset with ease of sending money." about PayPal

AnimeMovieMan — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:51:11 GMT

Other reviews cover Paypal, so I will describe my experience with it. Paypal is the easiest site for sending and receiving money.

That's great for buyers and sellers actually more great for sellers. The protection policy by Paypal is very inadequate at best. Mediocre.

I've been a seller and buyer on Ebay and a new called Ioffer. Most of my transactions went smooth. However, whenever I ran into an unsavory seller the protection by Paypal has NEVER come through.

One time I ordered a game from myself. The seller never sent my anything. I filed a dispute with Paypal and they told me they were looking into the matter. After a long time they did finally notice the fraud taking place. However, all they did was suspend the seller's account , and I NEVER got a refund. This should not be.

Paypal asks both sellers and buyers for enough personal information that getting a refund should be a piece of cake. They ask everything from their credit card, bank account, to address. No excuses for not...

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Mom2D2 says "Mint.com is your personal financial manager/genie and it's free" about Mint

Mom2D2 — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:00:53 GMT

If it is good enough to be on Oprah magazine, then it is good enough for me... that was my reason to try it out. But now I am hooked. It is a fantastic website which takes into account - all your accounts and gives you your financial profile. You can set budgets for most frequent categories and the minute you go over it, you start getting emails and buzzed on your Iphone. It is a fantasticl looking website, very easy to use and the best part is, it is free. I have paid a lot for other softwares which do not come close to the performance of this site.

I am always curious about how a site makes money and I strongly believe there is no such thing as a truly free lunch and/or website. But, mint.com is upfront about its business model - they recommend products based on your profile and if you so chose the product, they get a commisssion from those businesses. But, no pesky annoying ads or nagging recommendations.

It is like having your personal financial advisor without the hassle of dealing...

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msdwtrades says "Worse than you can imagine" about Trending 123 by John Lansing

msdwtrades — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:40:20 GMT

Being someone who uses a hybrid of fundamental and technical analysis I decided to give John Lansing's Trending 123 and parabolic options a shot after seeing him mentioned in IBD which I read. If you trade- you know that NO ONE is always right or wrong. So I don't fault him for making some bad calls. But my experience is he has made a lot of bad calls. I feel a bear market started in December 2007 or January 2008. After a mild rally last April Lansing was calling for Nasdaq to shoot to over 3100. And after participating in the most recent rally briefly he turned ultra bearish way too early and told his users to short the strongest part of the market in this rally- financials, energy, real estate. His recent options picks have been simply awful. SKF May 70 puts were a can't miss prospect for him. Also was big in FAZ when I believe it was in between 15-20 and now trades around 5.

It's not so much that his picks have been awful but that he never says oops I missed that...

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slvgld08 says "Stay away" about Trending 123 by John Lansing

slvgld08 — Sat, 09 May 2009 10:49:03 GMT

I have been a member of T123 for about 3Y. I really liked the real time trading chat room and message boards, Guess what? About 2M ago Lansing shut down the room and the boards out of the blue, His reason was he needed more time to concentrate on his analysis and picks. Well it hasnt worked out so well. He has about 7 picks in his current portfolio and they are down an ave of about 20%. Not good. He sends out maybe 3 updates a week. What am I paying for? Now that the chat room is closed I guess I will leave the site. Its too bad though because there were some good people in there. I wonder they went. He also has an options site that has the results of a trainwreck. Stay away.

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