European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 12, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday april 12 2007 stars and stripes Page 17 your Money Tony Bennett hangs out with the the nine finalists on Fox Ameri can Ido in los Angeles on March 31 commercials on the show go for As much As for a 30second spot and the shows financial Success has made some analysts see buying Stock in Fox Parent company news corp As a Good idea Ray Mickshaw Fox a stacked news corp Worth a look by Laura Goldman Mcclatchy Tribune news service if you Are a fan of the television show american idol buying the Stock of Fox televisions Parent news corp Symbol news is a great Way to capitalize on the ratings Phenomena it is the to watched show in the coveted 18to49 age group for the third year in a Row thirty three Mil lion viewers have tuned into american idol each week for the sixth season of the show in the Era of infinite Media choices capturing an audience of More than 30 Mil lion viewers on a weekly basis is the equiv Alent of climbing mount Kilimanjaro in High heels according to advertising age Commer column vials on american idol go for As much As for a 30second spot Desper ate housewives comes in at a faraway second at Fox television also includes the hit shows 24 prison break House and the Simpsons Fox news Channel is so popular that news corp will be Able to charge More for renewals from Cable pro viders at contract time the company movie division 20th Century Fox had a Stellar year in 2006 with the accidental hit movie boat so comparisons with 2007 will be Tough Myne Tworkov the newest member of Fox television is one problem spot it has trouble attracting an audience for its sinday week English language Telen Kovelas such As fashion House starring to Derek and Morgan Fairchild the potential of Fox interactive Media which includes myspace excites me the most Google has agreed to pay Mil lion dollars Over several years for the right to be the sole search provider on myspace the previously much criticized Purchase Price of million for my space is looking very cheap right now ceo Rupert Murdoch is one of the few old Media titans who have been Able to monetize the new Media at a Price of about news corp trades at a significant Premium compared with its competitors its Price earnings ratio is 27 compared to the mid teens for lbs Viacom time Warner and Disney while you Are voting for Sanjaya or Lakisha buy news corp Stock your prof its will double your listening pleasure Laura Goldman worked on Wall Street for More than 20 years she now runs her own investment advisory log capital from Tel Aviv what to do with scattered the Wall Street journal if youve got several 401 k plans from old jobs scattered around youre not alone nearly 10 Mil lion americans Are in the same boat its not always a bad thing but with a Little re search you might be Able to deploy that Money More wisely the worst thing to do is Cash out because that triggers taxes and penalties a surprisingly Large number of people do it anywhere from 27 per cent to 45 percent of departing workers Accord ing to studies if youve got multiple 401 Here Are your options option one dont change anything it Doest always make sense to Roll Over an older plan into your new employers if the existing plan offers Strong performing investments or to rated Mutual funds that Are closed to new con Sider just leaving the Money there next compare total costs and fees for each plan in a 401 investors usually pay the expense ratios of the funds or investments they hold plus sometimes an administration fee con Gress has recently raised questions about whether the Overall fees charged in 401 k plans Are Justi fied until that happens your Best bet is to talk to the human resources managers at your old and new companies or the plan providers to compare total costs option two move the Money into an individual retirement account the main advantage is in creased flexibility in picking investments iras let you continue to hold most of your previous 401 k investments such As specific Mutual funds whereas a new 401 k Doest permit that switching to an Ira also lets you buy other kinds of investments like individual stocks and Bonds one disadvantage of consolidating in an Era is that in Many states this Money int always protected from creditors whereas plans Are this can matter to people in professions such As Medicine who must consider the risk of lawsuits in their financial planning says Robert Pagliarini a fee Only financial adviser in Mission Viejo Calif tuesdays Market summary 52week High Low name last net chg Ltd chg chg 52wk chg 1279593 1068332 521142 413472 51415 38097 946362 770811 219946 180065 253142 201278 121929 71053 146137 87089 83001 66858 1482876 1224990 Dow Jones industrials 1257385 Dow Jones transportation 499473 1537 31 Dow Jones utilities 51532 nose composite 946870 amex Index 220555 Nash a composite 247761 144839 86548 Russell 2000 81451 do Wilshire 5000 1468552 most Active More name vol 00 last chg sea Gate first Atas Kraft and Geneles Pfizer Micron forum pm cup a Western 339128 331033 314750 312390 290373 276124 274752 266010 250860 228740 2200 3240 3124 132 3488 2600 1122 819 1419 884 146 07 08 19 11 most or More name last chg Spur ishr2k nya spongy oils vat up incl Semi her Prus Haqq n Crystallo g do Madiam us Gold n 524916 397272 171487 98872 97013 89624 74357 65368 55262 42637 14461 8080 6245 15200 3531 3483 5160 429 12539 545 37 06 most Active or More name vol 00 last chg Intel Andreon Nuneio Nash loot Al matl Cisco Microsoft level3 cell ens Sun Micro 938445 643834 590235 576232 441903 381683 360810 305947 265705 261688 2068 2215 143 540 28 4468 1941 2599 2840 615 608 533 21 17 11 78 key defense stocks name div be last Ltd chg chg Armor computer sciences general general Harris Allied 13 Lockheed Rockwell Seq a corp Texas text Ron United key Mutual funds name Nav Ltd chg ret Fidelity invest Greco 7170 Fidelity invest Grolnic 3152 Fidelity spartan eld Xiv 5126 Putnam funds a or snap 2029 Amer Century inv Ultra 2772 02 Fidelity invest Amorso 1653 Fidelity invest Oversea 4780 Fidelity invest us i 1087 aim investments a const p 2718 fms a Sec Para 4093 aim investments k Char tap 1538 2228 Fidelity advisor 3073 Fidelity advisor Truro put 3735 Putnam funds a Globe qty 1165 6570 Fidelity advisor 2384  1809 1266 Putnam funds a go Gap 1221 Exchange rates military rates euro costs april Dollar buys april British Pound april japanese yen april South korean won april commercial rates Bahrain British Canada China Denmark Egypt Hong Kong Hungary Israel Japan yen Kuwait Norway Krone Philippines Poland saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey new military Exchange rates Are those available to customers at military Bank ing facilities in the country of issuance for Japan South Korea Germany the Netherlands and the United kingdom for no local currency Exchange rates in purchasing British pounds in Germa Check with your local military Bank ing facility commercial rates Are inter Bank rates provided for reference when buying currency All figures Are foreign currencies to one Dollar except for the British Pound which is represented in dollars Pound and the euro which is dollars Teuro Millais new York merc dose Gold Silver interest rates prime rate discount rate 625 Federal funds Market rate 522 3month bill503 30year bond491 sources the associated press Bank of America its and sensibility Why pay taxes with plastic by Kevin g Demarsais the Hackensack no record Hackensack no if you owe Money to Uncle Sam pay ing your tax Bill with a credit card might seem appealing especially if you get frequent flier Miles or other benefits for each Dollar charged think twice As happens too often with free benefits these could be costly paying taxes with a credit card is now widely accepted and even encouraged by the issuers says Bill Hardekopf chief executive of Lowca Roscom which tracks credit card trends but this is not a Good idea for con Sumers for starters taxpayers using plastic get hit with a convenience fee of 249 percent to 393 percent of the payment and that s just the Start if youre among the 46 percent of Ameri can households that carry a cred i card balance from month to month if your Bill is in the hundreds if s not a big Deal Harde Kopf said by phone from Bir Mingham Ala but if its into the thousands 249 percent can really add up even at the lower rate if your tax liability is you will pay just for the convenience of using plastic if you dont pay the credit card Bill in full you could be hit with an extra per month in interest using the average annual rate of 149 he said it makes no sense he said the emphasis on credit cards and taxes is backward House holds should use their tax re fund to pay off their credit card debt instead of using their credit cards to pay their taxes despite the costs almost 2 Mil lion taxpayers paid with a credit card in 2006 a 36 percent in crease Over 2005 the irs re ports consider this option Only if you pay off your balance each month and youre getting some magnificent rewards Worth More than the 249 percent fee you will have to pay Hardekopf says