Alamy The holiday shopping season is upon us, and that means you're probably about to spend a whole lot of money: According to the National Retail Federation, the average American will spend about $738 on gifts, decorations and other holiday purchases. And, actually, that's down 2 percent from last year, so perhaps we're all trying to be a hair more frugal. But another way to save on those holiday outlays can be to pick the right card when you get to the checkout counter. So which one should you use? If you're planning on carrying a balance into 2014, the answer is obvious: Whichever card has the lowest rate. But if you're planning on paying off your purchases in full and APRs aren't a concern, then you'll need to consider what ancillary benefits you can get by choosing one card over another. The Rewards Carousel The biggest consideration here is what sort of cash-back rewards you can get out of your card. Usually, you get only 1 percent back, which is a drop in the shopping bucket. But many cards have 5 percent bonus categories that rotate on a quarterly basis. And the good news is that credit-card issuers tend to pick bonus categories for the fourth quarter that line up nicely with where you're likely to spend money for the holidays. Take the Chase (JPM) Freedom card, for instance: This quarter, you can get 5 percent cash-back at Amazon.com (AMZN) and department stores including J.C. Penney (JCP), Sears (SHLD) and Nordstrom. The bad news is that some of the retailers with the lowest prices, including Target (TGT), Walmart (WMT) and warehouse-club stores, are excluded from the deal. Still, if you drop $300 between Macy's and Amazon this holiday season, you're getting back $15 just by using your Freedom card. If you intend to do most of your shopping online, your best bet might be the Discover (DFS) It card, which provides 5 percent cash-back on all online purchases through the end of the year. "As people do more holiday spending online, this is a great benefit," says Ben Woolsey of CreditCards.com. "It's only for the first $1,500 of spending, but most people are spending less than that." Finally, there's the American Express (AXP) Blue Cash Preferred card. It, too, offers bonus cash-back at department stores -- but it's only 3 percent, not the 5 percent you get from the Chase Freedom. And unlike Chase Freedom, it has a $75 annual fee. But the department store cash-back is year-round, so you can still take advantage of it in January if you didn't like any of the clothes you got for Christmas. Plus, that cash-back category isn't capped at $1,500 like most rotating-category cards, so it's a good option for big spenders. Purchase Protection (and Other Big Benefits) ��lus, that $75 fee also pays for some other benefits that could make it a great option for holiday shopping. American Express cards offer a variety of insurance options on your big gift purchases. "AmEx cards have an extended warranty, which covers up to a year's additional warranty [on your purchase]," says Erik Larson of NextAdvisor, which reviews credit cards and other service. Larson notes that American Express cards also have return protection, meaning that if the store won't take your purchase back, you have up to 90 days to "return" it to American Express and get up to $300 refunded. And there's also purchase protection, which will cover up to $1,000 in damage or theft to your product within 90 days of purchase. So if you're buying a pricier gift like a laptop or TV, you may want to use an American Express card in case anything goes awry. American Express isn't alone in offering such added insurance: MasterCard (MA) credit cards and Visa (V) Signature cards offer similar benefits. And if you buy something with your Citi (C) card and then find it at least $25 cheaper within the next 60 days, the Citi Price Rewind program will refund you the difference. Bonus Rewards Portals If 5 percent cash-back isn't good enough for you, some issuers will give you an extra perk if you do your online shopping via their websites. Take Discover's ShopDiscover program. When you shop through the site, you'll get a cash-back bonus of 5 to 20 percent, and select retailers are increasing their bonuses for the holiday season; Nordstrom and Sears, for instance, are each offering an extra 10 percent bonus, and that's on top of the 5 percent cash-back you're getting for shopping online with the Discover It card. That means that a $500 purchase at Nordstrom made through the ShopDiscover platform will net you $75 in cash-back. That's huge. Discover isn't alone in offering this sort of program -- Chase lets you earn extra rewards when you shop through its Ultimate Rewards portal, netting you a total of 15 percent cash-back at Kohl's, for instance. Before you buy anything online, check to see if your own credit card issuer has any sort of bonus rewards portal that could allow you to drastically increase your cash-back. "If your card has one of these online malls, it might be a good idea to check, because they do have a lot of popular stores," says Larson. A final word of advice: If these sorts of perks sound good to you, and you think you've got a good enough credit score to qualify, you may want to put in an application now. Black Friday is three weeks away, and it could very well take that long for you to get approved and find your card in the mail. You don't want to miss out on the sweet rewards because you took too long to get the right credit card in your wallet.
Have you ever left a store or restaurant without looking at your receipt, only later to find a bogus charge? In most cases, the errors are innocent enough -- maybe the harried waitress at the local drive-thru accidentally tacked on an extra soft drink. Even looking back at own our receipts, we sometimes can't recognize the products we purchased, and we'd never know that there was a glitch unless we were paying close attention.
Top 5 Cheap Stocks To Watch For 2014: Local.com Corporation(LOCM)
Local.com Corporation operates as an Internet search advertising company that enables businesses and consumers to find each other and connect locally. Its Owned and Operated business unit manages its flagship online property Local.com and a proprietary network of approximately 20,000 local Websites that reach approximately 15 million monthly unique visitors. The company places various display, performance, and subscription advertisement products on its Local.com and proprietary network. Its Network business unit operates a private label local syndication network of approximately 1,000 U.S. regional media Websites; 80,000 third-party local Websites; and its own organic feed of local businesses plus third-party advertising feeds that focus primarily on local consumers to a distribution network of hundreds of Websites. The company?s Sales and Ad Services business unit provides approximately 45,000 direct monthly subscribers with Web hosting or Web listing products. The compan y was formerly known as Interchange Corporation and changed its name to Local.com Corporation in November 2006. Local.com Corporation was founded in 1999 and is headquarters in Irvine, California.
Top 5 Cheap Stocks To Watch For 2014: Lattice Semiconductor Corporation(LSCC)
Lattice Semiconductor Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets programmable logic products and related software. The company offers field programmable gate array (FPGA) products, including LatticeECP family for deployment in wireless infrastructure and wireline access equipment, as well as in video and imaging applications; and LatticeXP for the security, surveillance, and display markets. It also provides programmable logic device (PLD) products comprising various versions of ispMACH4000 in-system programmable complex programmable logic device family; MachXO family that is designed for a range of low density applications; platform manager, power manager, and ispClock programmable mixed signal devices; and software development tools and intellectual property cores. The company sells its products directly to end customers through a network of independent manufacturers? representatives and indirectly through a network of independent sell-in and sell-through distributors. It primarily serves original equipment manufacturers in the communications, computing, consumer, industrial, military, automotive, and medical end markets. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lee Jackson]
Lattice Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: LSCC) is a top chip stock to buy at Jefferies. The company announced last month three new complete reference designs that will make it easier for electronic OEMs to deliver media-rich experiences to their end users by taking advantage of low-cost, industry-standard MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface) camera, application processor and display technologies. The Jefferies price objective for the stock is $6.50, and the consensus is also at $6.50. Lattice closed yesterday at $4.63.
Top 5 Safest Companies To Invest In 2014: Sirius XM Radio Inc.(SIRI)
Sirius XM Radio Inc. provides satellite radio services in the United States and Canada. It broadcasts a programming lineup of approximately 135 channels of commercial-free music, sports, news and information, talk and entertainment, traffic, and weather on subscription fee basis through two satellite radio systems in the United States; and holds an interest in the satellite radio services offered in Canada. The company also simulcasts music and selected non-music channels over the Internet; and offers applications to allow consumers to access its Internet services on mobile devices. As of December 31, 2010, it had 20,190,964 subscribers. In addition, the company designs, establishes specifications, sources or specifies parts and components, and manages various aspects of the logistics and production of satellite radios; licenses its technology to various electronics manufacturers to develop, manufacture, and distribute radios under various brands; and imports radios distri buted through its Websites. The company?s satellite radios are primarily distributed through automakers, retailers, and its Websites. Further, it provides music services for commercial establishments; a satellite television service to offer music channels as part of certain programming packages on the DISH Network satellite television service; music and comedy channels to mobile phone users through mobile phone carriers; Backseat TV, a service offering television content designed primarily for children in the backseat of vehicles; Travel Link, a suite of data services that include graphical weather, fuel prices, sports schedules and scores, and movie listings; and real-time traffic and weather services. The company was formerly known as Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and changed its name to Sirius XM Radio Inc. in August 2008. Sirius XM Radio Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rick Munarriz]
This is great news for Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI ) . New car sales are the lifeblood of subscriber growth. Satellite radio receivers are now factory installations in more than two thirds of all new cars, and buyers of new vehicles are converting to premium subscribers at a 44% clip after participating in the free trial plans.�
Top 5 Cheap Stocks To Watch For 2014: MetroPCS Communications Inc.(PCS)
MetroPCS Communications, Inc., a wireless telecommunications carrier, together with its subsidiaries, provides wireless broadband mobile services in the United States. Its services include voice services, such as local, domestic long distance, and international call services; and data services, including domestic and international text messaging, multimedia messaging, mobile Internet access, mobile instant messaging, location based services, social networking services, push e-mail, and multimedia streaming and downloads, as well as services provided through the binary runtime environment for wireless (BREW), Blackberry, Windows, and the Android platforms, including ringtones, ring back tones, games, and content applications. The company also offers custom calling features consisting of caller ID, call waiting, three-way calling, and voicemail services. In addition, it sells mobile handsets. The company offers its products and services under the MetroPCS brand name, directl y through the company-operated retail stores and indirectly through independent retail outlets, as well as through Internet. As of December 31, 2010, it served approximately 8.1 million subscribers, as well as operated 159 retail stores primarily in the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Boston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando/Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Tampa/Sarasota. The company is headquartered in Richardson, Texas.
Top 5 Cheap Stocks To Watch For 2014: MEDIWARE Information Systems Inc.(MEDW)
Mediware Information Systems, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, and marketing of software solutions targeting specific processes within healthcare institutions. The company offers software systems consisting of company's proprietary application software, and third-party licensed software and hardware. It licenses, implements, and supports clinical and performance management, blood donor, and blood and biologic management products in the United States; and medication management solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and South Africa. The company?s blood and biologics management solutions include HCLL Transfusion and HCLL Donor, which address blood donor recruitment, blood processing, and transfusion activities for hospitals and medical centers; BloodSafe suite of hardware and software that enable healthcare facilities to store, monitor, distribute, and track blood products; LifeTrak software for blood centers; a nd BiologiCare, a bone, tissue, and cellular product tracking software. Its medication management products comprise WORx, a pharmacy information system to manage inpatient and outpatient pharmacy operations; MediCOE, a physician order entry module; MediMAR, a nurse point-of-care administration and bedside documentation module; MediREC, which assists in achieving compliance with a Joint Commission mandate; and pharmacy management and electronic prescribing systems. The company?s performance management products include InSight software that tracks performance metrics to assist healthcare managers to manage performance. It also provides software installation and maintenance services, as well as billing and collection services to home infusion and home/durable medical equipment markets. The company markets its products primarily through its direct sales force. Mediware Information Systems, Inc. was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
Mediware Information Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:MEDW) plans to acquire the assets of Indianapolis-based Strategic Healthcare Group LLC (SHG), a leading provider of blood management consulting, education and informatics solutions.
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