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The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has received numerous reports from consumers who received an e-mail that has the appearance of being sent from the FDIC. The e-mail informs the recipient that “in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security, federal, state and local governments…” the FDIC has withdrawn deposit insurance from the recipient’s account “due to account activity that violates the Patriot Act.”  It further states deposit insurance will remain suspended until identity and account information can be verified using a system called “IDVerify.” If consumers go to the link provided in the e-mail, it is suspected they will be asked for personal or confidential information, or malicious software may be loaded onto the recipient’s computer.

This e-mail is fraudulent. It was not sent by the FDIC. It is an attempt to obtain personal information from consumers. Financial institutions and consumers should NOT access the link provided within the body of the e-mail and should NOT under any circumstances provide any personal information through this media.

Many consumers have heard that term but fail to implement it as a strategy in their own personal finance.  A great way to save for a financial goal (or retirement) is to set up a routine, automatic periodic investment program into a solid growth and income mutual fund.  It’s less complicated than its name.  Just specify the amount per month (say $100) that you think you can afford. The amount can be withdrawn automatically from your checking account.  And, try to save at least 25% of annual bonuses or windfalls by writing a check and depositing using a tear off coupon-type deposit slip you receive after the first routine deposit.  This investment style, sometimes referred to as “dollar cost averaging” is a good approach to investing because you end up purchasing more shares when the price of the fund is low.  It’s a proven technique, but remember, dollar cost averaging does not assure a profit or protect again loss in declining markets.

“There are two kinds of failures: Those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought.”

– Laurence Peter

And, now there are two teams left in the AFC:  (1) Pittsburgh Steelers, and (2) New York Jets.  Two of my favorite teams.  What were the odds of that happening, especially when the Steelers were losing 21 – 7 at halftime to the powerful Ravens and the Jets had yet to knock off the Patriots? 

But, I have to go with my number one:  the Steelers.  Go Steelers!  There is a powerful temptation to go to this game in Pittsburgh……. 

The economy continues to give us mixed signals.  Here is a detailed list of these signals:

Positives:
1) Japan joins China in wanting to chip in to help Europe

2) Portugal, Spain and Italy all successfully sell debt and sets calmer tone for the week

3) US Treasury yields shrug off higher inflation readings and stay moderate (bond bulls should thank the Fed)

4) Stocks shrug off all the negatives below and continue to move higher

5) Thailand, South Korea and China take prudent steps to cool inflation pressures

Negatives:
1) PPI, CPI (record high), Import Prices, inflation expectations in Univ of Michigan, all point to upward inflation trend and JOC and CRB food indices hit record highs

2) Thailand, South Korea and China all tighten policy over inflation worries

3) Indian Sensex index falls to 4 month low after 8.4% wholesale inflation report and ahead of likely rate hike on Jan 25th

4) US Retail Sales a touch light

5) Univ of Michigan confidence light

6) Initial Claims jump but seasonal issues cloud the info

7) Muni’s break down.

In a stock market that rises and rises and never comes down, what we once recognized as denial can start to seem like conviction.

Stocks have rallied for seven straight weeks and are up more than 23% since late August, when traders first caught a glimpse of central bankers huddling near the printing presses. On Friday, the Standard & Poor’s 400 Mid-Cap Index reached an all-time high, surpassing even its 2007 peak during the credit bubble. Can the Russell 2000 index of antsy small stocks be far behind?

It wasn’t just how stocks have risen, but how they haven’t looked back lately. The market hasn’t suffered a one-day loss of more than 1% since before Thanksgiving, notes Bespoke Investment Group. When the Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back—gasp—all of 0.32% last Monday, that blemish marked the blue chips’ harshest setback since Nov. 30. The last time the Dow went this long without a 0.32% loss, Omar Shariff was nuzzling Julie Christie in Doctor Zhivago, and the hills were alive with the sound of music.

Today, the chorus reverberating through the market is how economic growth is picking up again, and economists are growing so convinced they’re hiking their 2011 forecasts (for all the pesky details, see Economic Beat). Meanwhile, the latest Investors Intelligence survey showed the bullish herd swelling to the most crowded in years, while bearish sentiment shrank to 19%. The last time the bearish ranks were this thin was in May, just before Greece and the flash crash re-distributed the bull-bear tilt.

If capital preservation, like Manhattan living, requires a scrupulous avoidance of crowded traps, then now may be the time to take a little profit and wait for a better—read: cheaper—day. It isn’t just the zealous consensus, or the increasingly bullish jockeying in the options market. Economically sensitive emerging markets have slowed their spurt, the Indian stock market is down in 2011, and the S&P Retail SPDR (ticker: XRT) has recently drooped 2.8%.

The Dow, however, did climb to its highest level since June 2008 and ended last week up 113, or 1%, to 11,787. The S&P 500 rallied for a seventh straight week—its longest streak since last May. It has shimmied up 91% since early March, 2009, and is 17% from its 2007 peak. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 52, or 1.9%, to 2755. The Russell 2000 added 20, or 2.5%, to 808, and is 5.6% from its 2007 record.

Alas, the only thing in life that rises and rises and never comes down is our age, and even that stops rising one day.

The municipal bond market has already grown noisier, and spreads between these and longer-dated treasuries are widening toward levels last seen during the credit crisis. State and local tax revenues are up 5.2% from a year ago, thanks to recovering retail sales and corporate profits, and Michael Darda, MKM Partners’ chief economist and strategist, expects that to continue with economic growth in 2011. That should eventually help states like New York and New Jersey, which have focused on cutting spending. But markets overreact on the way down as well as up, and investors watching the downward swerve of the iShares S&P National AMT-Free Municipal exchange traded fund (MU may not be so quick to agree with Darda.

Add to that lingering unease over Europe’s sovereign debt and China’s continued tightening of credit (including the latest move to raise reserve requirements), and a market looking for an excuse to sell has plenty to choose from.

Economic data has also been mixed, lately. Retail sales ticked up 0.6% in December, but foreclosures are continuing apace. Consumer prices have only risen 1.4% over the past year, but the 0.5% jump in December marked the biggest month-to-month rise since the economy emerged from recession (Source: Barrons Online).