There’s good news for the economy as it continues on its path to recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s. ADP Employer Services, a payroll processing company, has announced that February saw only 20,000 job cuts, which is a major improvement from the 60,000 cuts seen in January. It is also a 77% improvement over the job cuts seen in the same month last year. [Read more…]
Great Credit Card Perks That Remain a Secret
Most people are only using their credit cards to make purchases. Few people actually know that their credit cards may have a number of other benefits that come with the card.
Perhaps its time that you discover what other benefits you may be missing out on, and learn how some of these credit card benefits could save you a lot of money.
More Good News? Insert Sarcasm Here!
I didn’t take this job in order to write about the improving United States economy, I was given an opportunity based on the sorry conditions facing this nation and the monkeys responsible. I had hoped to speak of all ills with a keenly edged vitriol that bristled with fire and brimstone, imagine my shock as once again today I am kept from this and forced to report ever brightening reports on the future of the US economy. [Read more…]
Is This the Right Time to Buy a House?
Property prices have been falling for a long time now and interest rates too are at extremely low levels. In addition, the government is offering a one time tax incentive to home buyers. Is this historically the best time to buy a house? Many industry insiders believe so. [Read more…]
The New Credit Card Act and What It Means to You
The new Credit Card Act, which just came into force last week, seems to have a number of loopholes in it. Frank Curmudgeon at Bad Money Advice exposes some of these loopholes in such a way that it becomes rather obvious that the new laws may not affect the credit card industry as much as had been hoped.
While the new law was intended to provide some teeth to curb some of the excesses of the credit card companies, it seems that the loopholes may be large enough that the limitations may largely be only on paper. This means that it most likely won’t be long before the same excesses are seen – just in a slightly different way. [Read more…]
Private Equity Firms and Hedge Funds Face Uphill Battle
The worst of the recession seems to be over, but the crisis has done irreversible damage to many industries. Hedge funds and private equity firms are among those that are finding out that life after the recession is not as easy as it used to be before it.
At the height of the financial crisis, both private equity firms and hedge funds faced some serious redemption pressure which threatened their very existence. Many companies simply refused to repay the investors at that time or imposed severe restrictions on withdrawals. This completely changed the investors’ perception of these funds and the investors have now become much more demanding. These companies are now finding out the hard way that you can not just make your investors angry and get away it. [Read more…]
The Fed Hit Another All Time Low
In a move to stave off potential impediments to recovery The Fed last week moved to continue lending at an all time low. Bernanke in his high-handedness and roll as senior jackass gave a rousing speech outlining the fact that The Fed will do what he says until he deems that as silly as it sounds. While the average American still feels the dry mouth of someone going to a dry well, the lending industry, a voice of reason has chimed in on the subject. [Read more…]
Get Paid for Reporting Tax Evasion
With the tax filing deadline just around the corner, you must already be trying to find ways to reduce your tax liability. But what you may not be aware of is that you can actually earn a reward by reporting a case of tax evasion to the IRS.
The Whistleblower Informant Award program of the IRS has been around for a long time but very few people have taken advantage of it. Under the program, you stand to earn a reward of as much as 15 percent of the amount that the tax cheat owes, as long as it does not exceed $10 million. Another program, which is targeted towards bigger tax cheats, awards 15 percent to 30 percent of the total amount that the IRS can recover. However, this is only applicable to cases where the amount owed exceeds $2 million. [Read more…]
Manufacturing Slows Does it Still Exists?
It was a tremendous surprise to hear and read today that the United States still made things beyond discontent in the Arab World, headaches for Latin America and cars that look as though they were designed by someone with an alcohol problem, made by drunks, and bought by idiots.
It’s obviously a weak report, but it follows a strong January report, which was the strongest we’ve seen in six years,” opined David Wyss, chief economist for Standard & Poor’s. While the index itself slipped from 56.5 from 58.4 anything over 50 signifies growth. This is growth in a sector that has reached post war levels nearing catastrophe. [Read more…]
A.I.G. to Sell Asia Business to Repay Taxpayers
Its payback time for A.I.G. The American insurance giant is selling its Asia insurance business to Prudential PLC, the British insurance major, for $35.5 billion. The sale of the Hong Kong based American International Insurance, or A.I.A., would allow A.I.G. to repay a part of the $180 billion that it got from the US government at the peak of the financial crisis.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal would involve $25 billion in cash and $10.5 billion in stock. Almost $16 billion of the proceeds from the sale would be used to buy back the preferred shares in A.I.G. that the government had bought as part of the bailout package. The remaining amount would be used to partially pay the $25 billion outstanding debt that A.I.G. owes to the New York Fed. [Read more…]
Are You Facing Reality about Your Debt?
Debt is an ugly word that many people have become familiar with in the last couple of years. While it is not something new, many people say that they had no idea they had so much until it was too late to do much about it. Here are some thoughts about how to avoid getting in debt over your head.
You should know… [Read more…]
Toyota to Visit China
If I was China I would be buying every Toyota in sight, this way I might have a scapegoat for the nearly 700 traffic fatalities that occur each day. This is not just a part of the old stereotype that the Chinese can’t drive, the fact is that the Chinese are just horrible drivers. Accounting for 20 percent of the worlds traffic fatalities with just over two percent of the world’s cars is hard damn work.
Following his browbeating in front of congress this week, Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota, will travel to China Monday in the hopes of salvaging some of his company’s “face” in a market that Toyota had struggled in before the massive recalls of 2009. [Read more…]
Warren Buffet The Oracle of Omaha
When Warren Buffet speaks it is quite difficult to not listen. He has a bit of a Midas touch and frankly most of what he has touched has indeed turned to gold. Homeowners and prospective home owners are collectively breathing a sigh of relief today as Midas, himself, has deemed the housing crisis over…in a “year or so”
It just makes sense that while this burst bubble has hurt many, it has also helped a fair amount of people. One man´s loss truly is another´s gain. [Read more…]
Fourth Quarter GDP Numbers Released
As recoveries go this is one of the oddest. There is no denying that the US economy continues to return to its once fabled glory; it is simply not embraced, believed, or yet noticed by the average American.
A group responsible for over seventy percent of the economy’s machinations just doesn’t see it primarily due to housing prices and unemployment rates that are expected to hover around 10% for the remainder of 2010. Given unemployment’s firmly entrenched ties to consumer confidence the economy should only post modest gains throughout the year as consumers continue to keep their belts tightened. [Read more…]
Bernanke Defends Fed
In a great fit of hubris and apparent ignorance of the current financial crises that called for billions of dollars in bailouts to an industry seemingly hell bent on the destruction of the United States´ economy; Bernanke assured the Senate today that the Fed was more than capable of regulating banks despite the clear failures of the past.
In a statement of arragance reminiscent of a six year old child that seems to have the answer for everything or at least an excuse Bernanke said, “It’s hard for me to understand why, in the face of crisis that was so complex and covered so many markets and institutions, you would want to take out of the regulatory system the one institution that has the full range and breadth of skills to address those issues.” [Read more…]
Dollar Falls on Federal Announcement
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into European waters, the dollar fell nearly .5% against the Euro in the first hours following The Fed’s announcement to continue lending at an historical low. Only the still struggling economy could reverse a trend that saw the Euro hovering near a nine month low against the dollar just last week based on German consumer confidence numbers.
In addition to the suggestion that the recovery is still on shaky ground it puts my European holiday in jeopardy more than Inter Milan’s chances of stopping the rampant Chelsea Blues later today on their march towards the Champion’s League final early this summer in Rome. And I do so love Chelsea and Rome in early summer. [Read more…]
Consumer Confidence Plummets to 46 after a 3 Month Upturn
I have roughly the same faith in the economists who had predicted that The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index would fall slightly from 56.5 to 55.0 as I do in the American consumer’s ability to gauge the direction the economy is headed.
While the US consumer drives the economy I would sooner drive a Toyota then allow them to essentially determine the course of this recovery with fickleness. Remember the US consumer is also the reason for the Oreo Pizza and Jimmy Dean’s Microwavable Chocolate Chip Pancake Wrapped Breakfast Sausages on A Stick. [Read more…]
Credit Card Empire Strikes Back
With the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 going into effect today, don’t expect giants such as Citigroup, BOA, or American Express to lie down and take a 12 billion dollar beating with the docility of a Geisha.
These savvy slave owners simply have too many ways to counteract federal legislation designed to empower the American consumer, namely the inability for the American consumer to spend responsibly.
