Funding your Sharebuilder account is just as easy as trading. Your account can be funded through payroll deduction, check or automatically funded through a bank transfer. Best off all, most options can be set up for re-occurring deposits. All of the funding methods are safe, secure and convenient. ING Direct also offers you the chance to open and link an Electric Orange checking account to your Sharebuilder account.

How It Works

Buying high priced stocks with Sharebuilder is easy. Are you interested in buying shares of high-priced Apple? No problem, Sharebuilder allows you to buy fractions of shares if you don’t have enough money. By pooling together capital under management Sharebuilder can purchase whole shares and sell individual investors fractional shares. The company also automatically invests dividends for free allowing you to grow your investments over time.

While buying stocks for just $4  is a great deal it is important to recognize that selling stocks costs $9.95 or more. Many people make the mistake of buying too many stocks. Buying one hundred stocks would cost you nearly $1000 when selling out your entire portfolio. Purchasing a smaller amount of stocks in different sectors will get you the diversification you need, while limiting your transaction fees.

Pricing Program Options

Sharebuilder offers two distinct pricing programs to suit the needs of all its members. It offers a basic program for occasional investments and an advantage program for frequent investors. The basic program allows you to make as many scheduled trades as you want for just $4.00 per transaction. The advantage program is priced at $12 per month and allows users 12 trades at no added cost. Each additional trade is just $1 per transaction. Frequent investors seeking immediate diversification are better served in the advantage program. Small time investors just starting out with low initial capital should use the basic option. Below is a comparison chart highlighting the key details of each of Sharebuilder’s programs.

Mobile Account Access

Sharebuilder recently added mobile account access for both BlackBerry and Apple I-phone users. Mobile account access offers many of the same features as online access, including real time quotes and trades. I-phone users have a free online application available to download.

Sharebuilder allows small time investors to capitalize on long term performance. With automatic dividend reinvestment and low commission structure retail investors can grow their stock portfolio over time. Dollar cost averaging is a proven and tested strategy for new investors to profit in the stock market.

Poor personal loan portfolios in a weak economy equals a lot of trouble. Couple that with a presidential administration completely against your specific business model and things go from bad to worse. These are the current circumstances surrounding publicly traded payday loan companies. The risks associated with many of the these companies are shocking – including  the complete elimination of the payday loan business model as we know it. The negativity doesn’t end there. Most of of the payday loan companies target citizens in “vulnerable” financial condition with many practices being borderline abusive. All of these areas add up to one huge problem in the consumer finance sector sparking widespread reform and lawsuits.

Let’s first take a look at the business models of most of these companies without mentioning specific names. A typical payday loan company deals with individuals in “high-risk” financially distressed situations. These types of loans are usually advertised for people with emergency or unexpected expenses. Most of the companies use “installment” based loan payment systems that are heavily front-loaded and uncollateralized. This implies a certain tendency for “extended credit” to be given to individuals already behind on their current loan through refinancing. People inside the system know this as “loan flipping”. While it seems like a nice gesture, all it really does is ensure an individual will get deeper into debt. Being financially “trapped” by payday lenders is brought about through triple digit interest rates – something many people never recover from. Well over half of loan portfolios of most of the payday lenders fall into this category.

In a strong economy with high inflation this type of business model works great. In a credit strapped economy with high unemployment, high-risk “payday” loans, refinanced many times over is the worst place for money to be. In strong economies these types of loan practices often “fly under the radar”, but when the economy is weak people get into real financial trouble. Then important people really start to take notice. Things have turned so sour that the Obama administration has taken notice and responded with potential new policy suggestions – in turn sending payday loan operators down double digits in recent trading sessions.

• Payday Loan Lenders Struck By Virtual Reality
• Payday Industry In Danger Of Default

“BARACK OBAMA’S PLAN TO STRENGTHEN THE ECONOMY FOR WORKING FAMILIES”

Cap Outlandish Interest Rates on Payday Loans and Improve Disclosure: In the wake of reports that some service members were paying 800 percent interest on payday loans, the U.S. Congress took bipartisan action to limit interest rates charged to service members to 36 percent. Barack Obama believes that we must extend this protection to all Americans, because predatory lending continues to be a major problem for low and middle income families alike. Obama also believes that we need to ensure that all Americans have access to clear and simplified information about loan fees, payments and penalties, which is why he’ll require lenders to provide this information during the loan application process…

…Barack Obama will work with his Secretary of Treasury and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to encourage banks, credit unions and Community Development Financial Institutions to provide affordable short-term and small dollar loans – and to drive the sharks out of business.

These words have surely sent chills down the spines of payday lenders. A President who calls payday lenders “predatory” and “sharks” definitely means business. At the very least payday loan companies will face restrictions on interest rates. This will severely weaken current business models and lead to the destruction of market share. Industry giants like Well’s Fargo who also offer payday loan service will take current loan sharks to the cleaners. Worst of all, the attention given to the industry will put lending practices under a microscope, exposing potentially illegal loans. Several payday loan companies like First Cash Financial (NASDAQ: FCFS , FREE Analysis) , World Acceptance Corp (NASDAQ: WRLD, FREE Analysis) and EZCORP Inc (NASDAQ: EZPW, FREE Analysis) reside in the state of Texas. Coincidentally, the lone star state has some of the most lax and unregulated lending laws in the United States. The list of lawsuits against payday lenders is virtually endless. A simple search on google brings up pages of indexed lawsuits against the aforementioned companies.

• Attorney General Darrell McGraw Sues to Enforce Subpoenas and Enjoin Predatory Practices of 12 Internet Payday Lenders and Collection Agencies – 2009
• Payday lending lawsuit can proceed, court says Plaintiff OK’d as class representative – 2009
  
• Lawsuit Filed Against Payday Loan Companies – 2007
  
• Cordnyn Files Suit In Austin and Mcallen Against “Payday” Lenders – 1999
  

It is our belief that the business model of payday loan operators may be near the end as we know it. President Obama’s recent policy release may in fact be “the drop of water that makes the jar overflow”. Recent attention given to potential policy revision will most likely open the floodgates for predatory loan lawsuits by affected citizens. If lawsuits succeed in highly unregulated states like Texas, loan companies will no longer have a place to hide.

Consequently, much of the inherit downside risk associated with publicly traded payday lending companies may not be sufficiently factored into share price at the present time. We believe businesses engaged in payday loan operations may face substantial and potentially catastrophic loss during the Obama presidency – or at the very least, until the US can reinflate the credit bubble. One of the highest risk payday lenders is World Acceptance Corp (NASDAQ: WRLD) due to their specific loan business model. While many companies operate pawnshops, World Acceptance Corp engages exclusively in uncollateralized loans, putting them at extremely high risk in the present economic environment.

Lower fuel costs at the pump have also eased concerns over discretionary income among McDonald’s patrons. Although the overall global economy has been weak, the company has been fairly resilient. This is in part due to a “trade down” in dining choices by consumers. When people can no longer afford expensive food they trade down to McDonald’s low priced menu offerings. This point was exemplified in 2008 when McDonald’s took away large market share from rival Starbucks. Consequently, Starbucks stock price got hammered while McDonald’s was one of the few stocks ending the year with gains.

“McDonald’s continues to deliver a relevant restaurant experience that provides consumers with a broad range of quality menu choices, affordable prices and unmatched convenience. Our underlying business performance remains strong. “  Chief Executive Officer, Jim Skinner

In its most recent earnings report McDonald’s (MCD) grew worldwide same store sales by 4.30% . This was while revenues dipped to $5.08 billion in 2009 from $5.61 billion the prior year. Now you might be wondering how same store sales can increase while total revenue decreases. Currency exchange rates play a major role in this phenomenon. Since McDonald’s is a United States based company, they must report financial figures in US Dollars. When the dollar increases, revenue earned in foreign countries is worth less when exchanged into dollars.

“In constant currencies, first quarter results reflect higher revenues, operating income and earnings per share over the prior year.” Chief Executive Officer, Jim Skinner

With more than half of McDonald’s total revenue coming from outside the United States it is easy to see how a weaker dollar helps earnings. Revenue generated in foreign countries gets repatriated at a better rate of exchange. With the United States Federal Reserve lowering interest rates to add liquidity to the credit markets and banking system, the dollar is sure to depreciate in value. This is a great thing for companies like McDonald’s trying to grow globally. Now when McDonald’s repatriates money out of currencies like the Euro and Yuan they will get more dollars in return.

Everything isn’t completely golden at McDonald’s though. One major challenge the company faces is integrating menu options over culturally diverse nations. Menu offerings from the United States don’t necessarily work in other parts of the world. McDonald’s will have to cater overseas restaurants to local tastes, integrating menu options to suit unique cultures.

McDonald’s stock offers a compelling, yet risk averse way to play the global growth story. While the United States has over 300 million people countries like China, Brazil and Japan have several billion. If McDonald’s can execute its growth strategy overseas like it did in the United States early on, you could see a major rise in stock price. Although this growth strategy may take five or more years to execute, the reliable 3.50% dividend allows you to get paid for waiting.

The stock price (MCD) has made a run off a lower support trend-line (see chart) and the 100-day moving average. Starting a position in the $53.00-$56.00 price range seems to be a good entry. A depreciating dollar, global expansion and lowered fuel costs are all reasons to be excited about McDonald’s. Furthermore, they have proven they can successfully operate in the worst economic environment in recent history. Although McDonald’s (MCD) isn’t the sexiest of stocks, we believe it will reward patient shareholders handsomely.

Disclosure: Author holds a long position in McDonald’s (MCD) common stock.