RIP MBNA Smart Cash Mastercard

I’m a current MBNA Smart Cash Mastercard who enjoys getting 3% cash back on gas and groceries and 1% for all other net purchases.  But all that is about to come to an end by December 31, 2012:

• GAS/GROCERY:  3% cash back on your for first $600 in monthly spend will be reduced to 2% cash back for the first $400 in monthly spend 
• You will continue to earn 1% on all net purchases, with no cash back earned limit (Ohh, how generous of them… bastards!)  <– Allan pointed out that there is now $1250 monthly spending limit on 1% cashback for Platinum Plus cardholders 😦
  

Earlier in the year, TD Bank bought out the Canadian division of MBNA.  With this new ownership, the awesome reward system that was currently being offered is now being slashed by greedy TD Bank.  I dislike banks with a vengeance for changing the rates.  Why can’t they just honor the terms that was first agreed in the first place?

Now, I am worried about Scotia Bank who has bought out my free online banking at ING Direct.  Will they also implement a fee to squeeze out more profit from their customers?

On a positive note:  I earned $2.33 so far from my Redflagdeal Cash Back account.  I can’t wait to get cash back for a recent purchase of a Macbook Pro for a coworker, too bad I forgot to use Redflagdeal Cash Back account for an Iphone 5 purchase through the Apple site.  Let me clarify, I’ve been put in charge using company’s credit card for buying Christmas gifts online for a set monetary bonus limit for other coworkers.  I just use it to my advantage ^_^  Might as well right?

Check it out if you like to do a lot of online shopping:   http://www.redflagdeals.com/cashback/

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One Trade in November at a LOSS

I sold out Groupon at a loss:  $374.95

If a stock is tanking everyday from your buy in price, it means trouble.  I had to cut my losses when I had the chance.  Today, Groupon is trading at $18.79.  Their lowest point was at $14.85 just a few days ago… always look for the red days to pick up some good value stocks! 

November was a slow month for me.  Not much trading at all.  I picked up a few stocks like Mastercard; Apple; Keg.un and adding a couple hundred shares in Just Energy which never seems to go up but down.  Don’t know why I keep averaging down on that sucker, the monthly dividend is a little more than 10c per share… now I have like 600 shares but with a loss at more than $1200!  Let’s see how time will prevail. 

Today’s trade:  I sold out MA ($420-9.90) and APPL ($90-9.90) to make up for my loss in Groupon.  Just a few days ago, I was deep in the red.  Sometimes, you just have to play the game and set your profits before they go down like a rocket!

TICKER	QTY	BOUGHT	SOLD	CHANGE	PERCENTAGE
GRPN	100	2,869.95	2,495.00	-374.95	-13.07%

Groupon IPO on NASDAQ today!

I’ve been on the Groupon bandwagon over a year now… I’ve gotten many deals out of it… well from other similar sites.  Groupon is global operating at major cities offering heavily discounted local services and products.  They play the middle man and collect the fees!  Google wanted to buy Groupon out at $5 Billion, but the founder declined and started his own IPO into the NASDAQ.

Playing the IPO card is always risky.  The demand for Groupon is red hot.  Initial public offer for Groupon 35,000,000 @ $20/share = Market shares of $700 Million!  If google wanted to buy out Groupon for $5 Billion, the this stock has a lot of upward momentum from its inital IPO.  Always, the brokerage house gets first dips.  Shares soared to around $28ish!  That’s a big jump… everyone wants to get on board… that includes me. 

I set my price at $28.50 for a while, but it was trading up higher.  So I decided to set my price to $28.65 and bam, my order quickly went through.  Shortly after, the share price tumbles to low $28s… My impatience got the better of me.