Financial advisor Matt Krantz of USA Today recommends selling poorly performing stock to pay off pressing credit card debts.

Stock portfolios have generally stagnated over the past five years. If you are paying 15% annual interest rates on credit card debt at the same time it can seem like a no-win situation.

Matt wisely suggests that you should “strongly consider liquidating a big piece of your non-retirement portfolios to pay down your credit card debts”.

This translates as a guaranteed 15% annual return.

Moreover, “a 15% guaranteed return by repaying debt is just about the closest thing to a home run you’re going to find in this market”.

You bet.

The long predicted influenza pandemic appears to be upon us, with more than 20 cases reported in the US at this writing. Last year, the World Bank predicted a pandemic would affect the world economy by a 5pc drop in output.

The US government has declared a health emergency, with Homeland Security chief effectively saying “Don’t panic.”

The danger is a kind of pandemic protectionism spreads around the world, adding to its economic woes. Already pork from Mexico has been banned by China and Russia. The ban has now been extended to Texas, California and Kansas. We can be sure that is only the beginning.

A serious 1918 type of pandemic, which killed millions around the globe, would really challenge the world economy and set it back a decade at least.

Let us hope it doesn’t come to that.

Surveys have shown that women invest in the stock market far less than men do; they have a different view on the risks and possible gains and are much less confident of their ability to invest wisely. But, when they do try the stock market, they generally do better than men, choosing dependable stocks and ignoring the get-rich-quick options.

Kiplinger suggests that couples should invest together, thereby complementing each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The man can encourage investments in higher yield stocks and the woman restrain him from his wilder excesses.

Which seems like a good plan to me!

An article at Consumer Affairs warns that scammers are pulling out an old con to fleece unsuspecting investors. The scam is called the “pump and dump”.

The scammers buy up stocks that are selling for pennies a share. The scammers then send out millions of emails that encourage victims to invest in the company’s stock. The result is that trading in the stock increases, rapidly driving up the share price. When the stock hits a high point, the scammers sell off their shares and the price of the stock falls dramatically. Those who invested on the advice of the email lose money as the stock’s price falls to its original worth.

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