Fast-Casual vs. Fast-Food: An Overview The two stalwarts of the American restaurant industry were always fast-food and fine dining, but now the rapidly growing fast-casual restaurant sector has squeezed in between them. Many companies combined high-quality ingredients with fast-food convenience to launch the trend, including restaurant brands Chipotle (CMG), Shake Shack (SHAK), and Panera, among
Investing News
Whole house renovations can add value to your home, but there are ways to upgrade your home without going into debt or ransacking your savings. Painting, re-grouting tile, and power washing the outside of your home won’t cost a lot of money, but these do-it-yourself home improvements can add real value to your home. With some sweat equity,
U.S. equity markets rebounded this week with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 leading the gains as investors focused on more strong earnings reports and hopes that corporate profits will continue to expand in the third and fourth quarters. Those profits will be challenged by uncertainty around the delta variant and the impact it could have
Return on investment (ROI) is the key measure of the profit derived from any investment. It is a ratio that compares the gain or loss from an investment relative to its cost. It is useful in evaluating the current or potential return on an investment, whether you are evaluating your stock portfolio’s performance, considering a
What Is a Zestimate? A Zillow® estimate, or Zestimate®, is a key feature offered by Zillow, a popular online real estate marketplace. It’s also the name of its home valuation model that lets consumers obtain Zestimates. Zestimate includes information from the multiple listing service (MLS) database, user-submitted details, market trends, and specific facts on homes
WePay vs. PayPal Fees: An Overview PayPal and WePay are both online and mobile ways of making digital payments. PayPal was founded in 1998 as an alternative to traditional paper-based banking. The company’s main focus is facilitating payments and enabling money transfers between businesses and people across different locations, currencies, and languages. WePay was founded in
The meanings of big-cap and small-cap are generally understood by their names, which indicate how valuable they are in terms of market capitalization. Big-cap stocks—also referred to as large-cap stocks—are shares of larger companies. Small-cap stocks, on the other hand, are shares of smaller companies. Labels like these can often be misleading because many people
There are several ways in which a company can return wealth to its shareholders. Although stock price appreciation and dividends are the two most common ways, there are other ways for companies to share their wealth with investors. In this article, we will look at one of those overlooked methods: share buybacks or repurchases. We’ll go through the
If you’re looking to buy or refinance a home, you’ll find a vast landscape of mortgage lenders to choose from. They offer many similar products, but the details are slightly different in each case. How do you find the one that’s right for you? To help you narrow down the field, we researched the most
Investors around the world have wondered for years who would take the reins of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) once its current 91-year-old CEO (and the world’s fifth-richest man) Warren Buffett passes away or retires. On May 1, 2021, they got their answer. At the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting, executive vice chair of Berkshire Hathaway Charlie Munger made an offhand
Production of semiconductors is an exceedingly competitive business, with top players in the industry dictating much of technological progress for the world at large. A few companies own their foundries and brand chips with their own company name—think Intel (INTC)—while others custom-build chips for their clients. This group includes one of the largest and most successful companies
As of today, September 16, 2021, the 20-year fixed mortgage purchase rate is 2.76% and the 20-year fixed mortgage refi rate is 2.87%. These rates are not the teaser rates you may see advertised online and based on our methodology should be more representative of what customers could expect to be quoted depending on their
A report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) found that small businesses across the country continue to raise wages to keep employees and fill a historically high level of job openings, but are still struggling to fill jobs. Nearly half or 49% of owners reported job openings they could not fill, down just one point
As of today, September 29, 2021, the 15-year fixed mortgage rate is 2.48% and the 15-year jumbo mortgage rate is 3.01%. These rates are not the teaser rates you may see advertised online and based on our methodology should be more representative of what customers could expect to be quoted depending on their qualifications. You
As of today, October 18, 2021, the 10-year fixed mortgage rate is 2.41%, 10/1 ARM is 3.01% and 10/6 ARM is 4.05%. These rates are not the teaser rates you may see advertised online and based on our methodology should be more representative of what customers could expect to be quoted depending on their qualifications.
As of today, September 13, 2021, the jumbo 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 3.14%, the jumbo 15-year rate is 2.82%, and the jumbo 7/1 ARM rate is 2.19%. These rates are not the teaser rates you may see advertised online and based on our methodology should be more representative of what customers could expect to
As of today, September 16, 2021, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 3.01%, the FHA 30-year fixed rate is 2.82%, the VA 30-year fixed rate is 2.81% and the jumbo 30-year fixed rate is 3.13%. These rates are not the teaser rates you may see advertised online and based on our methodology should be more
During a three-week period this year, Equifax, one of the nation’s top three credit bureaus, provided inaccurate credit scores to lenders on millions of consumers seeking credit cards, mortgage and auto loans, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal. The problem, described as a “technology coding issue” by Equifax, reportedly resulted in denied loans
Mutual Fund vs. ETF: An Overview Mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have a lot in common. Both types of funds consist of a mix of many different assets and represent a popular way for investors to diversify. While mutual funds and ETFs are similar in many respects, they also have some key differences. A
Shareholders of Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) approved a 3-for-1 split of the company’s common stock at its annual meeting held after the close of the markets on Aug. 4, 2022, according to a preliminary tally announced at the meeting. A final count will be issued on SEC Form 8-K within four business days. The vote increases