Free Money

If you're one of the thousands, maybe tens of thousands, who made money this week from the GameStop  GME, -1.48%  ramp, this is for you. First, many congratulations if you just made bank — especially if you cashed in your gains before the stock's 44% plunge on Thursday. All free money is good, but making it by beating hedge-fund managers at their own game is especially sweet. See: Here are the biggest short squeezes in the stock market — including GameStop and AMC It says something that people on Wall Street, along with various regulators, are huffing and puffing about "market manipulation." Where were they when billionaire traders were, say, buying bitcoin  BTCUSD, +1.89%  and then going on TV to talk up the pri‎ce? Funny, isn't it, how it's not market manipulation when they do it, but it is when the peasants do the same thing? Second point: Please don't confuse luck or a bull market with genius. You're not the first people to make free m...

It's potentially a quick way to make money. But according to law enforcement agencies across Hampton Roads, it's a scam and it's illegal. HAMPTON, Va. — More people are looking for a little extra money during the COVID-19 pandemic. But sadly, more scams are popping up, too. Maybe you've seen the "Blessing Loom" posts pop up in your feeds, asking you for money, and promising much more in return. But police say it's illegal if you participate. Several of the scams popped up on social media over the weekend. This is how a Blessing Loom works: You pay money to join the loom, using something like Cash App. But the goal is to get other people to pay and join too. Once they do, the person in the center cashes out and walks away with a couple hundred dollars. To get paid, it requires you recruit others to join. The Hampton Police Division said it's illegal. Sgt. Reginald Williams said under Virginia law, this is classified as a py...

Dear Penny, I'm having trouble convincing my husband that we should start making investments. He thinks the stock market is a scam, but I've had several college classes that discussed Wall Street and several of my friends are doing okay with their portfolios. It was a struggle to even convince him to move from a traditional savings account to a high-yielding one. I would never bet with money we could not afford. How do I convince my husband that building wealth is a risk but a worthy one? -K. Dear K., Some people don't invest because they truly are risk-averse. They lose sleep when the stock market has a bad day, let alone when it has a complete meltdown like the one we saw last March. Your husband could fall into this camp, particularly if he's ever seen someone close to him lose money on a bad investment. Sometimes it's sheer laziness. That possibility crossed my mind for your husband. Not wanting to switch to a high-yield savings account seems less ab...

The Stock Dork is reader supported. We may earn a commission, at no additional cost to you if you buy products or signup for services through links on our site. There's been a lot of buzz about the Oxford Communique as of late, and we want to know if it lives up to the hype. We put this industry-leading research service under the microscope to see if it's the real deal, so stay tuned for our Oxford Communique review and find out if this research service is worth your time.  Table of Contents show Oxford Communique Review: The Basics The Oxford Communique is a monthly research service featuring the market insights of Alexander Green. Each issue of the Oxford Communique comes loaded with actionable information on some of the hottest under-the-radar opportunities. The Communique has five stated goals. The service aims to help readers: Maximize their income Minimize taxes Double market returns every year Minimize market risks Achieve financial...

At the time of this writing, SafeMoon has not made any officials available for comment. Source: Shutterstock In the 60-some days that SafeMoon (CCC: SAFEMOON-USD ) has existed, it has seen a nearly 3,000% price increase. Many of those early SafeMoon investors are holding on to their tokens as they eye that rocket to the moon, and their portfolios are being bolstered in the meantime.  But with the model SafeMoon presents, and the lack of clarity around the project, it has drawn some criticism. Crypto influencers, like Lark Davis and War on Rugs , have warned investors multiple times about the token's reward structure and the lack of details regarding its liquidity pool. "Just because you make money off of a Ponzi does not change the fact that it's a Ponzi," Davis says of SafeMoon.  On April 19, the 1-month old cryptocurrency became a trending topic on Twitter . It popped up seemingly out of nowhere. Investors don't seem to mind its mysterious de...

When the scheme first surfaced in 2016, a financial advisor told our Midland station that not only is it very rare you'll see your money again but it's also illegal. TYLER, Texas — Are you tempted to play the "Blessing Loom," or jump on a "Money Board"?  These are some of the names for an online scam that's making the rounds at a time when millions of people are out of work and scraping for cash . It promises a big return for a modest investment. Don't fall for it.  "You're virtually guaranteed to lose your money, or pull in friends and family who will lose theirs," Seena Gressin, Attorney for the Federal Trade Commission 's (FTC) Division of Consumer & Business Education said. According to the Panola County Sheriff's Office, the scam is known by many different names such as: Blessing Loom Blessing Bank Infinity Loom Snowflake Blessing Giving Circle Blessing Circle RELATED: B...

Familiar with the practice from her native Ghana, Alberta, now living in Virginia, decided to try the American version, which promised she would receive $3,500 in four weeks after putting in $500 — a 600 percent return. Participants have to recruit at least two people.

In the recruitment videos and materials I reviewed, promoters are specifically targeting Black participants, but it's widespread in other communities, too. Personal, church or work relationships are exploited. The schemes involved different groups composed of 15 people divided into four levels: one at the top or center, two on a second level, four on the third, and eight at the bottom. In one version, the incoming eight participants each send $500 — $4,000 total — to the person at the top through PayPal, Venmo or some other cash app.

Thanks to The Apprentice , President Trump was able to secure $230 million in licensing and endorsement deals, The New York Times reports, doing everything from shilling nearly obsolete video technology to co-writing a book called Think Big and Kick Ass: In Business and Life . When The Apprentice premiered in January 2004, Trump boasted he was able to recover from financial setbacks because of his "brain" and "negotiating skills." Tax records obtained by the Times show that this confidence and ability to market himself attracted several companies. For example, Trump received $7.3 million for showing up to Learning Annex speaking engagements, the Times reports, and earned $1.4 million in royalties for his Think Big and Kick Ass book, co-written by the Learning Annex's founder. The biggest deal Trump signed was with ACN, a multilevel marketing company that has been accused of using predatory tactics to lure in its workforce. Independent sales agents sign ...

That's it from the Markets Live team today. Thanks for tuning in. Alex Druce will be back tomorrow to wrap the week up. See you then. Get our wrap of the day on the markets, breaking business news and expert opinion delivered to your inbox each afternoon. Sign up for The Sydney Morning Herald 's here and The Age 's here. Opinion The escalating slugfest between Rex and Qantas has taken a new twist with the regional airline now taking aim at Australia's second-largest carrier Virgin, accusing both of dumping capacity on the domestic market in order to crush the smaller airline which has recently expanded services to capital cities. Rex has now appealed to the umpire to intervene. It wrote to competition regulator chairman Rod Sims this week outlining the company's suspicions that the "massive" capacity expansion undertaken by Virgin and Qantas had been done in a coordinated manner. Rex claims the "massive" capacity expa...