In any case, Fortune magazine recently interviewed T. Boone Pickens, a successful financier and energy investor. Check out the interview - if nothing else, it offers some insight into the fact that even the most experienced investor still isn't sure what to do with your investments in the short run.

Just a year ago, the average rate on a 30-year jumbo mortgage—a loan of more than $729,750 not backed by government-sponsored agencies Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac—was 6.86%, according to Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. Now it is 5.48%—a rate that rivals those available during the height of the credit bonanza.

As expected, the number of applications for these loans has risen accordingly, so the question is, how long will this last? In fact, Manhattan, "the nation's most expensive large housing market," according to CNN Money, has seen a rise in sales this quarter from last year, and the median housing cost has already recovered half of the 20% it lost. It's hard to know how things are going to go, but it does look like it may be worth investing now if you're planning on it...

Any thoughts?

First, NTP, a software company that famously sued Research in Motion (RIM - the manufacturer of Blackberry smart phones) for patent infringement, has filed suit against - get this - Apple, Google, HTC, LG Electronics, Motorola, and Microsoft for the same reason. They claim the companies are infringing on their patents, and are suing them for licensing fees.

The new suits don’t seek a specific amount of damages. But [a settlement negotiator] said that the trial judge in the RIM case had decreed before the settlement that NTP was entitled to royalties of 5.7 per cent of the revenue from the hardware at issue.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out - although the RIM lawsuit took years to complete. No doubt this could have profound effects on the future of NTP, although I would guess less so for the companies it's suing...

Update: CNN has also reported on this, albeit with a little more bias.

The roots go back to 2001, when Congress cut the estate tax rate to 45% from 55% and increased the exemption gradually over a decade. From its 2001 level of $675,000, the exemption rose to $3.5 million per individual by 2009.

Thanks to legislative sausage making, the rules got extreme after that: The tax disappeared altogether in 2010, but was programmed to revert in 2011 to a $1 million exemption with a top 55% rate.

Everyone's hoping that Congress will go back and review the law before the end of the year, but they aren't optimistic:

Many Washington insiders are betting Congress won't act this year because of an overflowing to-do list, the fall election and fewer than 40 working days left in 2010.

On the other hand, looking at the law may be a good way to score some extra votes...

What does this mean to you? Look at your options when it comes to leaving your assets behind - you want to gift your assets early on. It's a morbid thought, but it may be well worth it if you pass away after 12:01 am.

Apparently, harassment complaints against debt collectors have skyrocketed since 2007, rising 50% last year alone, and already aiming for a another 13% increase this year. Now the fact that complaints has risen doesn't bother me. In fact, it doesn't surprise me, given the financial situation we've been in. What bothers me is that complaints of threatening - or  using - violence rose to over 2,500. Now I understand that debt collection can be a frustrating job, but if you can't do it without being violent then I think you should consider a new line of work...

In any case, if you find yourself in a situation where you're being harassed, then you may be able to retaliate through the legal system, according to the article linked above. Of course, one debt collection industry rep. claimed that this is exactly why complaints have risen - and I'm not surprised he did.

Have you had any violent experiences with debt collection? Tell us about them...

A lot of people don't fully understand how banking works at the fundamental level - especially when it comes to the fees we see as consumers. The basics are spelled out in this blog entry, which, admittedly, is somewhat  of an indirect advertisement for BankSimple. It explains that since deregulation in the 70's, transaction fees have been the key to profit for large banks. Things may be changing with the new regulations, but we'll have to wait a few months to see how it all pans out.

• if my portfolio is invested "moderately", I have a 71% chance of having $250,000 after 25 years
• if my portfolio is invested "aggressively", I have a 75% chance of the same
• if my portfolio is invested "conservatively", I have a 0% chance of having $500,000 after 25 years... oops...

"Modest", "aggressive" and "conservative" are pre-set asset allocations, but you can redefine these to match the allocation percentages in your portfolio, choosing from five asset types:

• cash holdings
• bond holdings
• large cap stocks
• small to medium cap stocks
• foreign stock

Try it out and see what you think.

Now these aren't like mint.com in that they work as banks. Mint.com doesn't let you move any money - you can only see your accounts - but these services are online alternatives to your everyday checking and savings accounts. I'm not going to go into the deep details of each service, partially because I don't have first hand experience with each, and partially because Murphy's law states that any details will be changed as soon as I publish this, but here's a slightly annotated list.

SmartyPig: SmartyPig is meant to be a savings account replacement, offering relatively high interest rates (currently 2.15%) , as long as you keep a low balance. If you save more than $50 000 with them, your interest rate falls to 0.5%.

PerkStreet: PerkStreet offers you an alternative to your everyday checking account. They offer free checks and no-fee banking, and you can even get cash back on debit card purchases. Check out all the details though - and shop around. This may be one that looked good to me, but it also may not be the best one out there.

ING Direct: Perhaps the original online banking option, ING offers just about everything any other bank would, but with higher interest where you want and lower interest where you don't.

Bank Simple is an up-and-coming online bank option that seems to have the right philosophy - happy customers means loyal customers. They have a little info about how they'll work, as well as an interesting blog that may inspire a few future posting here. I'll let you know as soon as I see they're up and running.

That's it for me - do you have any other suggestions?

Basically, the market hasn't recovered from the financial crisis - we've seen in the news this past week that unemployment is a major concern, and that housing sales have dropped since the federal tax credit expired. As people continue to avoid spending, we may see prices drop, which would lead to a deflation of the American dollar. On the other hand,other's say that recent government spending (and a $13 trillion debt!) may cause just the opposite - a high inflation rate.

So the question is, how to avoid trouble in either circumstance. Their suggestions are to invest in:

• Stocks with pricing power
• Cash-rich blue chips
• Emerging-markets stocks
• Inflation-indexed bonds
• Foreign bonds
• And commodities and real estate

Check out the article for a more details on each (same link as above).

Now this is bad news for sellers, but if you're thinking of investing in property, now might be the time. Prices are lower on account of this drop, and you may be able to pick up a foreclosed property at a reduced rate, if the trend continues.