There can be no doubt that being declared bankrupt is not seen as a good thing by lenders, even if the bankruptcy term has ended. There is a certain stigma associated with the status, with the fact that debts were most likely wiped out unpaid ensuring lenders are reluctant to approve such applicants. But some lenders do offer post-bankruptcy personal loans.

It does seem strange that any lender would be willing to accept the degree of risk associated with such bad credit borrowers. But granting approval with poor credit histories is not a rare thing anymore, and as long as the key factors are in good order, then bankruptcy need not prevent an applicant from getting the green light.

As with any personal loan, the ability to meet repayments is the number one concern, and once that is satisfactorily confirmed, there is very little preventing a lender from approving the application. But what is needed to convince lenders to part with their money?

Proving Loan Affordability

Affordability is the most significant factor when seeking loan approval, but it can only be proven through the use of the debt-to-income ratio. Read more…

Ole Spata / Associated Press Visitors use their notebooks during the internet conference re:publica in Berlin, Germany, 07 May 2013.

Apple sold $17 billion worth of bonds last week, in one of the hottest corporate debt offerings in history.

The deal is a clever maneuver of corporate finance that will likely prove beneficial for Apple shareholders — but in ways that show what’s wrong with U.S. tax policy and why the Fed’s easy-money policies haven’t done more to rev up the economy.

First, the why: Apple is sitting on a vast hoard of cash and easy-to-sell securities — $145 billion, to be precise. Seeing limited opportunities to profitably invest that money, it has decided to return a bunch of it to shareholders: $100 billion between now and the end of 2015.

Should be simple, right? Just sell off the securities on the company’s books and carry out the share buybacks and dividend payments that are scheduled. The problem

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“I’m so messed up. I’m going out for a little retail therapy. Wanna come?” So began a recent conversation with my neighbor. I’ll admit that she’s got every reason to be upset: Her kids are in trouble, there are financial problems in her house, her job is a mess, and her relatives are the sort of people that give “family” a bad name. Add to that she just had two deaths in the family. That’s a lot of emotional baggage to be carrying around and I feel for her.

Her answer to all of this was to go for a little retail therapy. I declined her invitation. Sure, I could be supportive, but I’d rather listen to her talk about it on a walk than watch her blow money she doesn’t have (remember there are financial problems, here). I did see her unloading her car when she got home and it didn’t look like she’d done a “little” retail therapy. She’d done a lot of retail therapy. Bags from stores that I know ar

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Sometimes you must focus on something besides yourself.

The term bankruptcy often sends people into a spiraling state of panic as I have discussed in prior articles.  It is not unusual when discussing the bankruptcy process for people to break out in a cold sweat.  Their pupils dilate as their flight or fight system kicks in from the fear that washes over them.  As well a lump develops in their throat and a gnawing sensation swells in their gut from the fear and anticipation when discussing bankruptcy.  These feelings and physiological responses are great if you are getting ready to compete in any athletic event but not so much when you are dealing with the reality that your finances appear to be beyond your control.  So what do you do?

You have two choices.  First you can give into your fear which can result in ulcers and going further into panic mode.  Or take Door #2 and face your fears head on.  It is truly that easy?  Just make a choice and take the action?  For most humans it is not that easy and dont let anyone undermine you if cant turn the magical switch and cure all that ails you.  Very rarely can someone change their behavior instantly.  For most it is a process that takes time to make a change.

When you are in a panic mode, especially when you have no clue of how you are going to put food on the table, it is easy to become tunnel visioned.  All you see is that you are a failure for not providing for yourself and/or your family with no relief in sight.  So what do you do?

Step away.  Step away in order to gain focus.  Sounds weird?  Think of the situation as a camera.  If you try and focus on an object up close the camera often times cannot focus.  You must pull back from the object to allow the lens the ability to focus and then you can approach the object again.  Sometimes you must pull back from the object as well as adjusting the lighting  to allow it to be brought into focus.  Your financial dilemma is no different.

You are human which means you have frailties.  Guess what, we all have frailties in some aspect of our lives.  This does not necessarily mean we are weak but it does mean we are human.  Keeping this in mind when facing a situation that seems like there are no answers to be had allows you to step out of the tunnel while allowing light to illuminate the problem.  So being the camera you are going to pull from the situation and focus on something else besides yourself.

What??? You want me to NO

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You guys might also have this question so Im posting it here with a good answer too. It comes from Raj who asks:

suggest any courses or readings tht will help me reach the level of day trading and currency trading(priority tradin in India) and be succesful.I know nothin about stock market,economics or accounts,not even basics.But I am ready to give all the time to learn it. Kindly suggest some good reading,tutorials for starters which ll give me knowledge abt the very basics of market and help understand trading and investing better .

Answer: To be a trader you must first learn how to invest. You must know the products and the markets in which they trade and more importantly you must know the rules that govern those products and markets. So you must know what youre doing, why youre doing it, and how to do it.

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Remember how Americas bourbon drinkers collectively freaked out in February over the news Makers Mark was going to water down its alcohol? Big corporate misstep? Hardly, reports Forbes. The company did an about-face within a week in an attempt to prevent a mass exodus of fans, and it appears those fans went on a bourbon-hoarding bender during those scary few days. Makers Mark sales exploded 44% in Q1, making it the bourbons strongest quarter ever. Fans better hope the hoarding has stopped, however: “We wont expect to see those 44% growth rates sustained throughout the year, and in fact we cant support them,” says its CEO, per the Wall Street Journal.

Eurozone’s retail sales declined further in March as domestic demand continued to be dragged by the ongoing economic crisis and the austerity policies pursued by many member-countries, raising concerns that the currency bloc would remain in recession in the first half.

Retail sales dropped 0.1 percent sequentially, a tad slower than the 0.2 percent fall seen in February, the statistical office Eurostat said Monday. The latest fall was in line with economists’ forecast.

“A further dip in Eurozone retail sales in March, following on from the purchasing managers reporting still appreciable contraction in services activity in April, points to significant ongoing economic struggles for the region,” IHS Global Insight Chief UK & European Economist Howard Archer said.

“Indeed, the latest data and survey evidence fuel concern that the Eurozone is headed for further GDP contraction in the second quarter after highly likely suffering a sixth successive quarter of contraction in the first quarter of 2013.”

The overall decline was driven mainly by a 0.5 percent fall in sales of non-food products.

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Secured lenders led by Credit Suisse AG have been declared winners of an auction for the oil and gas drilling assets of ATP Oil & Gas Corp. with an offer of $690.8 million, court papers say. Read the Daily Bankruptcy Review article here.

Vacuum-cleaner maker Oreck Corp. filed for bankruptcy-court protection to begin a sale process that could put the 621-worker company back in the hands of founder David Oreck and his family. Read the DBR Small Cap article via The Wall Street Journal.

A judge on Tuesday gave Residential Capital LLC 30 more days to file a reorganization plan without the threat of rival proposals, approving a compromise between ResCap and its official committee of unsecured creditors. Read the DBR article via Fox Business.

Fox Business has a DBR article on the trial over $7.3 billion in cash raised in Nortel Networks Corp.

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(USA TODAY) — Employers added a better-than-expected 165,000 jobs in April,, easing concerns that payroll growth may be slipping into a sustained mid-year slump.

The unemployment rate fell to 7.5% fromt 7.6%, the Labor Department said Friday.

Economists had forecast that the economy added 148,000 jobs last month.

Several economic reports this week appeared to solidify the view that the economy and job market are mired in a fourth straight spring slump. A survey by payroll processor ADP estimated businesses added just 119,000 jobs last month. Manufacturing activity in April barely grew, while construction spending fell.

Economists have largely blamed the weakening on across-the-board federal spending cuts, a recent payroll tax increase and small business hesitancy to hire because of coming health care insurance requirements.

Yet the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits for the first time fell last week by 18,000 to 324,000, Labor said Thursday.

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With orders for durable goods showing a substantial pullback, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing that new orders for manufactured goods fell by more than expected in the month of March.

The report showed that orders for manufactured goods tumbled by 4.0 percent in March following a downwardly revised 1.9 percent increase in February.

Economists had expected orders to fall by 2.8 percent compared to the 3.0 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

The bigger than expected drop in factory orders was partly due to a sharp drop in orders for transportation equipment, which plunged by 15.1 percent in March after jumping by 20.3 percent in February.

However, excluding orders for transportation equipment, factory orders still fell by 2.0 percent in March compared to a 0.7 percent decrease in the previous month.

As mentioned above, the report also showed a steep drop in orders for durable goods, which fell by 5.8 percent in March after rising by 4.3 percent in February.

Orders for non-durable goods also fell by 2.4 percent in March after edging down by 0.1 percent in the previous month.

The Commerce Department also said shipments of manufactured goods fell by 1.0 percent in March following a 0.4 percent increase in February.

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