My husband has been watching the show (mostly on DVR when I’m doing other things) for years now.  Occasionally, I’ll watch with him.  The show is very interesting, and I’ve felt this interest for about 2 years.  Of course, I couldn’t admit this to my husband as he’d make it a point to watch every episode with me.  It’s a good show, but I don’t need to see every one of them.  I finally broke the news to him last week when he was watching a re-run (one that he’s seen twice before).

Needless to say, he was pretty excited to know that we had another television show we could watch together without any arm twisting.  Once I admitted that I did indeed like the show, he said “well you must love “Hardcore Pawn” then, right?”  Well, no.  That show is a little too grimy for me.  Or as my husband puts it, it’s too real.

“Hardcore Pawn” takes place in Detroit, and is apparently a more realistic representation of a pawn shop.  You won’t find folks bringing signed military orders from General U.S. Grant into the Detroit shop, like you’d see in “Pawn Stars”… but you will see people pawn old television sets and game consoles to pay their rent.

What you do see in both programs is the huge margins these pawn shops can make on both buying and pawning goods.  With this in mind, the hunt for a good investment in the pawn business was on.

After some digging, I came across EZCORP, Inc. (EZPW).

According to Yahoo! Finance, EZCORP, Inc. provides specialty consumer financial services. The company offers pawn loans that are non-recourse loans collateralized by tangible personal property, including jewelry, consumer electronics, tools, sporting goods, and musical instruments; sells merchandise comprising second-hand collateral forfeited from its pawn lending activities or purchased from customers, and new or refurbished merchandise from third party vendors; and buys and sells second-hand goods.

It also provides various financial services, such as unsecured consumer loans, including single-payment loans, multiple-payment loans, lines of credit, and payroll withholding loans; secured consumer loans comprising single-payment and multi-payment auto title loans, and auto title line of credit; and debit cards. In addition, the company offers payroll deduction loans and online loans; fee-based credit services to customers seeking loans; and advice and assistance to customers in obtaining loans from unaffiliated lenders.

As of December 20, 2012, it operated 1,275 company-operated pawn, buy/sell, and personal financial services locations in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Further, the company operates as a franchisor for 10 franchised Cash Converters stores in Canada. EZCORP, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

So today, we’re going to add EZCORP (EZPW) to our long portfolio.

Company Name:  EZCORP Inc.
Ticker:  EZPW
Latest Trade: around $19
52 week range: $16.57 to $25.43
Short term rating: Buy
Long term rating: Hold
Target Price: $24
Current Dividend Yield: 0%

NextAdvisor.com recently compiled research on men, women, and credit card debt that reveals that while women are more likely to carry balances on their credit cards, men are more likely to take out cash advances.

The study covered a single year in people’s personal finance lives. Here are some of the ways credit-card-carrying men and women differ, and how their behavior can be damaging to their financial well being.

• Using a cash advance. Cash advances typically carry a higher interest rate than other credit card transactions, yet over the course of a year, 15 percent of men took an advance. Just 12 percent of women did the same, making this one of the few areas where women behave better than men.
• Carrying a balance. Sixty percent of women at one point or another carried a balance on their credit cards, but men aren’t far behind: 55 percent carried a balance. Among other downsides, carrying a balance above 25 to 30 percent of your credit limit can damage your credit score.
• Late fees. Twenty-nine percent of women paid a late fee, but so did 23 percent of men. Late payments don’t just cost you cash on a single bill — they also can cause your credit score to go down and the interest rates you pay to go up. Continue Reading…

“Financial markets are addicted to [quantitative easing] and the idea of going cold turkey, or simply reducing the second dose, is unappealing,” wrote Societe Generale analyst Kit Juckes, in a note to investors. “That’s how I feel about cutting back on my early morning coffee intake. But I know I drink too much coffee and the Fed must know it’s time to scale back.”

U.S. stock futures were modestly higher, as investors anticipate the central bank will not start tapering off its stimulus programs in the near future.

Bernanke will discuss his outlook for the economy Wednesday before Congress in a hearing that begins at 10 a.m. ET. Then at 2 p.m. the Fed will release the minutes from its most recent policy meeting.

U.S. stocks rose Tuesday after New York Fed president William Dudley said the central bank needs to rethink its current strategy to exit the bond-buying program. Dudley stressed that such adjustments could involve increasing or decreasing the pace of the program.

That ambiguity helped ease concerns that the central bank may be moving toward a more rapid exit strategy, according to Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities USA. Continue Reading…

“Japan’s economy has started picking up,” the Bank of Japan said in a statement, citing improvement in exports, consumer spending and private investment.

The central bank announced in April that it wouldexpand its balance sheet by purchasing longer-term debt and securities like ETFs. The bank also merged its asset-purchase programs and suspended a rule that prohibited the purchase of longer-term debt.

The new purchases — made at an annual pace of 60 – 70 trillion yen — will double the bank’s monetary base over a two-year period.

The bank affirmed those policies Wednesday.

“Such conduct of monetary policy will support the positive movements in economic activity and financial markets, contribute to a rise in inflation expectations, and lead Japan’s economy to overcome deflation that has lasted for nearly 15 years,” the bank said in its policy statement.

But the BoJ did not address the recent rise in yields on Japanese government bonds, a worrisome trend that could undermine the bank’s stimulus efforts. Continue Reading…

U.S. stock futures were little changed from Monday’s closing levels, but Carnival (CCL)is one company making waves in pre-market trading.

Shares in the cruise ship operator fell by more than 13% in pre-market trading. Reports say the company is cutting prices in an effort to attract customers back onto its ships after a series of incidents. Carnival’s London-listed shares fell by as much as 15% before bobbing back up.

Related: Fear and Greed Index

Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) will also be in focus as CEO Tim Cook and other executives appear on Capitol Hill for testimony on the company’s tax practices. A report released Monday by Senators John McCain and Carl Levin criticized Apple for its use of obscure subsidiaries and accounting tactics to reduce its tax burden.

Retailers are also in the spotlight, with results due before the opening bell from Best Buy(BBY, Fortune 500), Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS, Fortune 500), Home Depot (HD,Fortune 500) and TJX (TJX, Fortune 500). Continue Reading…

That fact became obvious to the clients of the Warrenville, Ill., company Capital Management Associates recently when the SEC brought a suit against the father-and-son team that run it for “cherry picking” trades.

We’ll get back to that story in a moment. But it’s important for everyone to know that even the ethical players in the financial industry earn their living based onthe fees they get directly from you or via the providers of products they recommend to help you achieve your goals.

In addition, because financial management is somewhat complicated and the future is never guaranteed, it’s an industry rife with opportunities for fraud and theft. That’s especially a risk when people turn over complete control of their hard-earned cash to an “expert” who promises to manage it for them.

If you suspect that your financial adviser may be scamming you, here are five signs that can help you uncover it. Continue Reading…

As it turns out, today’s retirees have it better than generations before them, according to a new report. Baby boomers lost big when the housing bubble went bust, but they also gained big during the dotcom and housing bubbles of the early to mid 2000s. And so oddly enough, this gave them a decent cushion to comfortably kiss their days working full-time goodbye.

These boomers, or those born between 1946 and 1955, may be the last group on track with enough retirement savings to last them through their golden years, according to a report released Thursday by Pew Charitable Trusts, a Washington D.C.-based public policy think tank. Continue Reading…

“We’re seeing many people cash out 401(k)s or IRAs because they want to take advantage of the market,” said Sean Galaris of financial services firm LM Funding, based in New York and Miami. “This new scenario involves people losing significant personal funds since they are financing real estate through retirement accounts, savings and life insurance.”

Galaris should know. His company buys delinquent fee accounts from condo associations and collects the debts. Many of the condo owners he collects from either resort to tapping their 401(k)s or IRAs when they come up short or have already used up those funds to buy the property in the first place.

Lori McDermott, an insurance broker from West Seneca, N.Y., took out a $50,000 loan against her 401(k) for a downpayment on a home in Sarasota, Fla., last December. A short sale, McDermott got the place for $225,000 — a steal considering the seller owed $465,000 on the mortgage. Continue Reading…

U.S. stock futures were little changed.

Shares in Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) were up more than 3% in premarket trading as investors react to reports that the company is buying Tumblr in an all-cash deal worth $1.1 billion.

A few companies are expected to report quarterly results Monday. Campbell Soup (CPB, Fortune 500)is up before the opening bell, while TiVo(TIVO)reports in the afternoon.

Home Depot (HD, Fortune 500), Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500), Target (TGT,Fortune 500) and Hewlett-Packar (HPQ, Fortune 500)d are due later in the week.

Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid said that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony on economic outlook, scheduled for Wednesday before the Joint Economic Committee, “will be the highlight in a week where we may learn more about the Fed’s intentions with regards to potential [quantitative easing] tapering.” Continue Reading…