Business and Investing

Posted on Tuesday, 1st March 2011 by James Martin

The current economic rebound is not a healthy and sustainable one. That’s because it is the result of the largest monetary and fiscal stimulus program ever!

For proof, just look at disposable income: A record 20 percent is derived from federal transfers. And these transfers are coming from a government that is already up to its eyeballs in red ink!

The deficit could hit a record $1.6 trillion this year, or 10.7 percent of GDP. And as shown the chart below, it’s been heading skyward since 2002.

And that has put the …

Housing and Labor Markets in Dire Straits

According to the Case-Shiller Home Price Index home prices are again in a freefall. December marked the fifth consecutive monthly drop. And t

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Posted on Monday, 28th February 2011 by Jesse Walker

The Middle East is in crisis. A government shutdown over the debt ceiling looms. Public sector unions are fighting in states across the country. But gratefully, and with impeccable timing, author and historian Lewis E. Lehrman emailed me three articles, stories that elegantly and graciously remind us how our leaders pulled our country through even darker days. This is the first of a three-part series.

This piece about President Abraham Lincoln’s patriotism by Mr. Lehrman first ran in the Stamford Advocate on February 12, 2011. Mr. Lehrman is co-founder of the Gilder-Lehrman
Institute of American History and author of “Lincoln at Peoria: The Turning Point” (Stackpole Books, 2008).

I cede the floor to Mr. Lehrman:

President-elect Lincoln made very few public remarks before departing Springfield, Ill.,
for Washington for his inauguration in 1861. On Nov. 20, 1860, however, Lincoln
addressed some very brief comments to supporters in Springfield.

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Posted on Sunday, 27th February 2011 by James Martin

Welcome! If this is your first time visiting, check out the story behind this blog. So you won’t miss out on future updates, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. If you prefer a weekly email, try this option. Thanks for visiting and please come again!

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The importance of having an emergency fund can’t be overstressed. Living without an emergency fund is like walking across a high wire without a safety net. One little slip and you can fall into a financial black hole. Unf

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Posted on Saturday, 26th February 2011 by Jesse Walker

This budget too is another of Mamata Banerjee’s goody goody budget which has not increased the fares for passengers. Also she has proposed reduction in the online booking charges. But the budget totally lacks in terms of growth and vision for the railways, for example what will a country of our size do with an additional track of just 180km.

Now In Detail

Let us now look at the details of the Railway Budget 2011-12 with a perspective towards the individuals of the country. The implication of how the railway budget will affect the common man’s budget being the key.

The Positives First

The fact that the railway passenger fares have not been proposed to be increased is a welcome thing for the common man’s budget.  Thus the railways continue to be the lowest cost service to travel across the country.

Decreasing the senior citizens age for ticket discounts from 60 to 58 is another welcome step for the senior people of the country.

The Railway minister has also proposed to reduce the online booking charges. This i

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Tags: Budget, Railway Budget
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Posted on Saturday, 26th February 2011 by Christopher Allen

Big banks like Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup have warned they may face financial penalties over mortgage investigations.

Three of the nation’s biggest banks warned investors Friday that federal and state investigations into their mortgage businesses could lead to severe financial penalties.

The New York Times reported that Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup made disclosures in their U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings that indicated any settlement with the government could be expensive.

Many state attorneys general, including in Ohio, have looked into the banks mortgage practices and federal regulators also have investigations ongoing.

Along with potentially costing the banks financial penalties, the investigations also could damage the banks’ reputations, according to Bank of America’s filing.

It was not clear if the investigations could have an impact on other banks with mortgage operations other than those three.

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Tags: Banks Warn, Mortgage, Mortgage Investigations
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Posted on Friday, 25th February 2011 by James Martin

Phew! That’s it for this week. Just a quick reminder that you can read my posts in your favourite reader or delivered by e-mail. Have a great weekend everyone!

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Posted on Friday, 25th February 2011 by Christopher Allen

A number of companies usually pay back big debts as late as is possible, which often can cause problems for many smaller organizations, numbers of which in turn crash simply because they cannot sustain a lot of overdue payments. Since 2002 organizations are able to legally charge interest on past due repayments and also a company of great debt recovery solicitors can guide you to recoup what’s payable to your business. If you’re experiencing difficulty getting back cash that is owed to you for the purpose of products or products and services you certainly should be thinking about commercial debt recovery.

It might seem that whenever funds are low, the cost of commercial debt recovery can be one more additional expense, however it is an extra cost which may potentially avoid the failing of your company. Whe

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Tags: Debt, Debt Recovery
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Posted on Tuesday, 22nd February 2011 by Jesse Walker

BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- Global miners have started direct negotiations with individual Chinese steelmakers for 2011 annual iron ore prices, and are pressing for monthly index-linked iron ore pricing, the special consultant to the quasi-official China Iron & Steel Association said Thursday.

The iron ore pricing system is “unfair and monopolistic,” Luo Bingsheng said during a regular association press briefing.

One of the major miners, BHP Billiton (BHP.AU), recently raised ore offer prices to $188 a metric ton from $155/ton and didn’t give customers any chance to argue, according to CISA.

Last year, global miners switched to a quarterly pricing system for iron ore in talks with Chinese steelmakers, abandoning a 40-year-old annual benchmark pricing on the back of rising demand for the raw material and volatile global commodity prices.

Tags: Chinese, Chinese Steelmakers, Individual Chinese, Individual Chinese Steelmakers
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Posted on Monday, 21st February 2011 by James Martin

U.S. oil giant Chevron (CVX: Charts, News, Offers) has been tangling with the government of Ecuador this month, facing a massive $8.6 billion USD charge levied by an Ecuadorean provincial court for environmental damages to Amazonian communities due to oil drilling between 1967 and 1992. While Chevron has long been divested from the unstable leftist nation since 1992, this current battle could end up fueling an international incident and be extremely damaging for Chevron’s PR, with unpleasant memories of British Petroleum’s (BP: Charts, News, Offers) gulf disaster fresh on the public mind.

Daily Chart

The irony of the lawsuit is that Chevron was never actively involved in oil drilling in the Amazon – it was Texaco that began oil exploration in Ecuador in 1964. When Texaco struck oil in 1967, it entered a long-term business partnership with Ecuador’s national oil company, Petroecuador, heavily drilling throughout the rainforest region in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1992

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Tags: Billion, Billion Fine
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Posted on Sunday, 20th February 2011 by Jesse Walker

At the end of it, this whole thing about keeping children out of money matters was probably a wrong idea. Children have to be introduced to money and how it works. Children should be allowed to take money decisions, make mistakes and learn from them when we can still hold their hands.

Some 25 years back when most of us were children and greeted grandparents or other elder relatives during festive occasions, birthdays and get togethers, they would generously hand out Rs.5.00 or Rs.10.00. And all this money was promptly given up to parents .

Money was not to be handled by children. Mom and Dad took care of all the needs as children and we would ask if we needed anything more than the basic necessities. Children stayed out of money matters and talks like “this is my money” and “this is yours” were taboo and immediately discouraged.

Then came college, jobs and marriage with the responsibilities associated with it. Those d

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Tags: Money
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