Thursday, February 17, 2011

managing your personal finances


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How To Use Facebook&#39;s <b>News</b> Feed Filters

Facebook hasn't formally explained the latest upgrade to news feed filters, and some users are confused. Some postings describe the default settings almost like a grand conspiracy to hide updates. Let's set the record straight.

Ten American Companies With The Best <b>News</b> For 2011 - 24/7 Wall St.

24/7 Wall St. chose the ten most important pieces of news for major US corporations so far this year. Our evaluation was based on the history of the company and industry involved and the likely long-term effects of the event.

NYT&#39;s Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor « Talking Biz <b>News</b>

Information about business journalism, from the Carolina Business News Initiative. « Why the FT and the Economist have been successful in America � No Comments. NYT's Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor. 2011 02.17 ...


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How To Use Facebook&#39;s <b>News</b> Feed Filters

Facebook hasn't formally explained the latest upgrade to news feed filters, and some users are confused. Some postings describe the default settings almost like a grand conspiracy to hide updates. Let's set the record straight.

Ten American Companies With The Best <b>News</b> For 2011 - 24/7 Wall St.

24/7 Wall St. chose the ten most important pieces of news for major US corporations so far this year. Our evaluation was based on the history of the company and industry involved and the likely long-term effects of the event.

NYT&#39;s Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor « Talking Biz <b>News</b>

Information about business journalism, from the Carolina Business News Initiative. « Why the FT and the Economist have been successful in America � No Comments. NYT's Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor. 2011 02.17 ...


benchcraft company scam

How To Use Facebook&#39;s <b>News</b> Feed Filters

Facebook hasn't formally explained the latest upgrade to news feed filters, and some users are confused. Some postings describe the default settings almost like a grand conspiracy to hide updates. Let's set the record straight.

Ten American Companies With The Best <b>News</b> For 2011 - 24/7 Wall St.

24/7 Wall St. chose the ten most important pieces of news for major US corporations so far this year. Our evaluation was based on the history of the company and industry involved and the likely long-term effects of the event.

NYT&#39;s Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor « Talking Biz <b>News</b>

Information about business journalism, from the Carolina Business News Initiative. « Why the FT and the Economist have been successful in America � No Comments. NYT's Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor. 2011 02.17 ...


bench craft company scam

How To Use Facebook&#39;s <b>News</b> Feed Filters

Facebook hasn't formally explained the latest upgrade to news feed filters, and some users are confused. Some postings describe the default settings almost like a grand conspiracy to hide updates. Let's set the record straight.

Ten American Companies With The Best <b>News</b> For 2011 - 24/7 Wall St.

24/7 Wall St. chose the ten most important pieces of news for major US corporations so far this year. Our evaluation was based on the history of the company and industry involved and the likely long-term effects of the event.

NYT&#39;s Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor « Talking Biz <b>News</b>

Information about business journalism, from the Carolina Business News Initiative. « Why the FT and the Economist have been successful in America � No Comments. NYT's Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor. 2011 02.17 ...


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How To Use Facebook&#39;s <b>News</b> Feed Filters

Facebook hasn't formally explained the latest upgrade to news feed filters, and some users are confused. Some postings describe the default settings almost like a grand conspiracy to hide updates. Let's set the record straight.

Ten American Companies With The Best <b>News</b> For 2011 - 24/7 Wall St.

24/7 Wall St. chose the ten most important pieces of news for major US corporations so far this year. Our evaluation was based on the history of the company and industry involved and the likely long-term effects of the event.

NYT&#39;s Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor « Talking Biz <b>News</b>

Information about business journalism, from the Carolina Business News Initiative. « Why the FT and the Economist have been successful in America � No Comments. NYT's Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor. 2011 02.17 ...


bench craft company sales

How To Use Facebook&#39;s <b>News</b> Feed Filters

Facebook hasn't formally explained the latest upgrade to news feed filters, and some users are confused. Some postings describe the default settings almost like a grand conspiracy to hide updates. Let's set the record straight.

Ten American Companies With The Best <b>News</b> For 2011 - 24/7 Wall St.

24/7 Wall St. chose the ten most important pieces of news for major US corporations so far this year. Our evaluation was based on the history of the company and industry involved and the likely long-term effects of the event.

NYT&#39;s Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor « Talking Biz <b>News</b>

Information about business journalism, from the Carolina Business News Initiative. « Why the FT and the Economist have been successful in America � No Comments. NYT's Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor. 2011 02.17 ...


bench craft company scam

How To Use Facebook&#39;s <b>News</b> Feed Filters

Facebook hasn't formally explained the latest upgrade to news feed filters, and some users are confused. Some postings describe the default settings almost like a grand conspiracy to hide updates. Let's set the record straight.

Ten American Companies With The Best <b>News</b> For 2011 - 24/7 Wall St.

24/7 Wall St. chose the ten most important pieces of news for major US corporations so far this year. Our evaluation was based on the history of the company and industry involved and the likely long-term effects of the event.

NYT&#39;s Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor « Talking Biz <b>News</b>

Information about business journalism, from the Carolina Business News Initiative. « Why the FT and the Economist have been successful in America � No Comments. NYT's Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor. 2011 02.17 ...


benchcraft company scam

How To Use Facebook&#39;s <b>News</b> Feed Filters

Facebook hasn't formally explained the latest upgrade to news feed filters, and some users are confused. Some postings describe the default settings almost like a grand conspiracy to hide updates. Let's set the record straight.

Ten American Companies With The Best <b>News</b> For 2011 - 24/7 Wall St.

24/7 Wall St. chose the ten most important pieces of news for major US corporations so far this year. Our evaluation was based on the history of the company and industry involved and the likely long-term effects of the event.

NYT&#39;s Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor « Talking Biz <b>News</b>

Information about business journalism, from the Carolina Business News Initiative. « Why the FT and the Economist have been successful in America � No Comments. NYT's Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor. 2011 02.17 ...


bench craft company sales

How To Use Facebook&#39;s <b>News</b> Feed Filters

Facebook hasn't formally explained the latest upgrade to news feed filters, and some users are confused. Some postings describe the default settings almost like a grand conspiracy to hide updates. Let's set the record straight.

Ten American Companies With The Best <b>News</b> For 2011 - 24/7 Wall St.

24/7 Wall St. chose the ten most important pieces of news for major US corporations so far this year. Our evaluation was based on the history of the company and industry involved and the likely long-term effects of the event.

NYT&#39;s Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor « Talking Biz <b>News</b>

Information about business journalism, from the Carolina Business News Initiative. « Why the FT and the Economist have been successful in America � No Comments. NYT's Fed reporter to become deputy op-ed editor. 2011 02.17 ...















Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Making Money Jobs


Robert Kuttner reiterated many of the same points he made in his article at the Huffington Post last week on this weekend's edition of Your Money on CNN. Businesses are not going to start hiring American workers until our politicians start to care more about protecting American jobs than their corporate campaign donors.


Business Doesn't Need American Workers:


Once again, the job numbers are dismal. In January, the U.S. economy created just 36,000 domestic jobs, far below the roughly 145,000 that economists had forecast. The unemployment rate fell, to 9 percent, but only because more and more discouraged workers are giving up and leaving the workforce.


The U.S. still has a jobs gap of about 14 million jobs, and that number is increasing as the labor force grows. Counting people who've given up, or who are working part time when they want full time jobs, the real unemployment number is around 17 percent. America now has about 25 million people either out of work or underemployed.


Meanwhile, corporate profits continue to set records. Profits in the third quarter of 2010 were 1.659 trillion, about 28 percent higher than a year before, and the highest year-to-year increase on record.


What's going on? Very simply, America's corporations no longer need America's workers.


Much more there so go read the rest. Transcript via CNN below the fold.


ROMANS: You know Robert Kuttner, is the coeditor of the "American Prospect." Robert there's this feeling, this sneaking suspicion that American workers have been delinked with success of corporate America and American business. Is that true and is it permanent?


ROBERT KUTTNER, CO-EDITOR, "THE AMERICAN PROSPECT:" Well, it's certainly true. And it's certainly the result of the business model that American business currently pursues and unfortunately that is abetted by the trade policy practice by both political parties, which is to say make whatever deals you can make with whatever countries are offering you subsidies, low-wage workers, a little bit of arm twisting as the Chinese do, and if you can prosper from that, god bless you.


I mean in the '50s engine Charlie Wilson, then the head of GM, was ridiculed for saying what's good for GM is good for America. There was some truth to that in those years. I'm not sure you can say what's good for GE is good for America because GE has been moving most of its high level as well as low level jobs overseas and making a separate peace with the Chinese.


ROMANS: But the CEO of GE is a man who the president is relying on quite heavily for advice about how to work with business to make sure that the American middle class isn't left out. Right?


KUTTNER: Yes, and isn't that unfortunate. I mean if anything, Jeff Immelt is the poster child for the wrong kind of business model.


[...]


ROMANS: But super elites don't vote for the president in 2012, and they don't vote for congress. Congress is where there is the real concern about what to do. Robert, what does Obama need to do to help the middle class whether this recovery and enjoy this recovery?


KUTTNER: Well super elites may not vote, but super elites fund campaigns and that is why they have so much disproportion influence. I have to take exception to the idea it's always the middle class that gets whacked. The middle class was getting whacked long before this recession. This is a 30-year process of income distribution becoming more unequal. We need to turn that around and we need to persuade congress to invest in America, to invest in the skills of workers and have a different trade policy. That is not protectionism.


Germany has the highest wage cost in the world. And it also has the highest export surplus in the world because German elites care whether they still make things in Germany. American elites don't seem to care whether we do. Now Obama needs to reach out to public opinion as well as to the Chamber of Commerce to change those perceptions and those policies and those national goals.


ROMANS: Last word to Richard Quest who is going to throw his pen into the camera at any moment.


QUEST: Well, he makes a very good point. Just look at the way Germany handled the great recession. It didn't lay off employees. It put them on short time. It did paid holidays or unpaid holidays. It did all sorts of things. It drove down the cost base so that when the recovery came German industry more than any other in Europe was ready to take advantage of the growth that was coming.


So Robert is quite right. But this question of infrastructure is fascinating. Look at the Victorians, look at the last century, they built bridges. They built tunnels. They built roads. They actually built something that we're still using today. In New York they can't even get the tunnels under the Hudson. You can't even -- you can't even get agreement on a fast rail network, and in Britain we're having exactly the same problem.


ROMANS: Two seconds to Chrystia, the one that is dying to get points.


FREELAND: Super quickly. I agree with Richard and Robert about infrastructure and investment. But someone has to pay taxes for that to happen. Americans across the political spectrum seem to not want to do that.


ROMANS: All right. Chrystia Freeland --


KUTTNER: How about the top 1 percent?


ROMANS: Global editor at large at Reuters. Robert Kuttner, co- editor of "The American Prospect." And Richard Quest is going to stick around where he can throw things and say Victorian as many times as possible because I love it when he does that. Thank you everyone.





Whenever you hear a business executive or politician use the term "American competitiveness," watch your wallet. Few terms in public discourse have gone so directly from obscurity to meaninglessness without any intervening period of coherence.



President Obama just appointed Jeffry Immelt, GE's CEO, to head his outside panel of economic advisors, replacing Paul Volcker. According to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, Immelt has "agreed to work through what makes our country more competitive."



In an opinion piece for the Washington Post announcing his acceptance, Immelt wrote "there is nothing inevitable about America's declining manufacturing competitiveness if we work together to reverse it."



But what's American "competitiveness" and how do you measure it? Here are some different definitions:



  • It's American exports. Okay, but the easiest way for American companies to increase their exports from the US is for their American-made products to become cheaper internationally. And for them to reduce the price of their American-made stuff they have to cut their costs of production in here. Their biggest cost is their payrolls. So it follows that the simplest way for them to become more "competitive" is to cut their payrolls -- either by substituting software and automated machinery for their US workers, or getting (or forcing) their US workers to accept wage and benefit cuts.


  • It's net exports. Another way to think about American "competitiveness" is the balance of trade -- how much we import from abroad versus how much they import from us. The easiest and most direct way to improve the trade balance is to coax the value of the dollar down relative to foreign currencies (the Fed's current strategy for flooding the economy with money could have this effect). The result is everything we make becomes cheaper to the rest of the world. But even if other nations were willing to let this happen (doubtful; we'd probably have a currency war instead as they tried to coax down the value of their currencies in response), we'd pay a high price. Everything the rest of the world makes would become more expensive for us.


  • It's the profits of American-based companies. In case you haven't noticed, the profits of American corporations are soaring. That's largely because sales from their foreign-based operations are booming (especially in China, Brazil, and India). It's also because they've cut their costs of production in the US (see the first item above). American-based companies have become global -- making and selling all over the world -- so their profitability has little or nothing to do with the number and quality of jobs here in the US. In fact, it may be inversely related.


  • It's the number and quality of American jobs. This is my preferred definition, but on this measure we're doing terribly badly. Most Americans are imprisoned in a terrible trade-off -- they can get a job, but only one that pays considerably less than the one they used to have, or they can face unemployment or insecure contract work. The only sure way to improve the quality of jobs over the long term is to build the productivity of American workers and the US overall, which means major investments in education, infrastructure, and basic R&D. But it's far from clear American corporations and their executives will pay the taxes needed to make these investments. And the only sure way to improve the number of jobs is to give the vast middle and working classes of America sufficient purchasing power to get the economy going again. But here again, it's far from clear American corporations and their executives will be willing to push for a more progressive tax code, along with wage subsidies, that would put more money into average workers' pockets.



It's politically important for President Obama, as for any president, to be available to American business, and to avoid the moniker of being "anti-business." But the president must not be seduced into believing -- and must not allow the public to be similarly seduced into thinking -- that the well-being of American business is synonymous with the well-being of Americans.



Robert Reich is the author of Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, now in bookstores. This post originally appeared at RobertReich.org.











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Live blogging Obama&#39;s <b>news</b> conference – CNN Political Ticker - CNN <b>...</b>

The CNN Political and White House teams are bringing you the latest developments and reactions from President Obama's news conference. Please continually refresh this page for the latest updates (CTRL-R). UPDATE: Read the full CNN.com ...

CBS <b>News</b>&#39; Lara Logan in hospital after sexual assault in Egypt <b>...</b>

CBS News announced Tuesday that correspondent Lara Logan — who was on location in Egypt covering the protests against now former President Hosni Mubara...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Happy Valentine&#39;s Day!

Valentine's Day is here. Talk about a recognizable brand! But what can this day of love teach you about improving your business by building better customer.


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Live blogging Obama&#39;s <b>news</b> conference – CNN Political Ticker - CNN <b>...</b>

The CNN Political and White House teams are bringing you the latest developments and reactions from President Obama's news conference. Please continually refresh this page for the latest updates (CTRL-R). UPDATE: Read the full CNN.com ...

CBS <b>News</b>&#39; Lara Logan in hospital after sexual assault in Egypt <b>...</b>

CBS News announced Tuesday that correspondent Lara Logan — who was on location in Egypt covering the protests against now former President Hosni Mubara...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Happy Valentine&#39;s Day!

Valentine's Day is here. Talk about a recognizable brand! But what can this day of love teach you about improving your business by building better customer.


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Live blogging Obama&#39;s <b>news</b> conference – CNN Political Ticker - CNN <b>...</b>

The CNN Political and White House teams are bringing you the latest developments and reactions from President Obama's news conference. Please continually refresh this page for the latest updates (CTRL-R). UPDATE: Read the full CNN.com ...

CBS <b>News</b>&#39; Lara Logan in hospital after sexual assault in Egypt <b>...</b>

CBS News announced Tuesday that correspondent Lara Logan — who was on location in Egypt covering the protests against now former President Hosni Mubara...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Happy Valentine&#39;s Day!

Valentine's Day is here. Talk about a recognizable brand! But what can this day of love teach you about improving your business by building better customer.


bench craft company credit card

Live blogging Obama&#39;s <b>news</b> conference – CNN Political Ticker - CNN <b>...</b>

The CNN Political and White House teams are bringing you the latest developments and reactions from President Obama's news conference. Please continually refresh this page for the latest updates (CTRL-R). UPDATE: Read the full CNN.com ...

CBS <b>News</b>&#39; Lara Logan in hospital after sexual assault in Egypt <b>...</b>

CBS News announced Tuesday that correspondent Lara Logan — who was on location in Egypt covering the protests against now former President Hosni Mubara...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Happy Valentine&#39;s Day!

Valentine's Day is here. Talk about a recognizable brand! But what can this day of love teach you about improving your business by building better customer.


bench craft company reviews

Live blogging Obama&#39;s <b>news</b> conference – CNN Political Ticker - CNN <b>...</b>

The CNN Political and White House teams are bringing you the latest developments and reactions from President Obama's news conference. Please continually refresh this page for the latest updates (CTRL-R). UPDATE: Read the full CNN.com ...

CBS <b>News</b>&#39; Lara Logan in hospital after sexual assault in Egypt <b>...</b>

CBS News announced Tuesday that correspondent Lara Logan — who was on location in Egypt covering the protests against now former President Hosni Mubara...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Happy Valentine&#39;s Day!

Valentine's Day is here. Talk about a recognizable brand! But what can this day of love teach you about improving your business by building better customer.


bench craft company reviews

Live blogging Obama&#39;s <b>news</b> conference – CNN Political Ticker - CNN <b>...</b>

The CNN Political and White House teams are bringing you the latest developments and reactions from President Obama's news conference. Please continually refresh this page for the latest updates (CTRL-R). UPDATE: Read the full CNN.com ...

CBS <b>News</b>&#39; Lara Logan in hospital after sexual assault in Egypt <b>...</b>

CBS News announced Tuesday that correspondent Lara Logan — who was on location in Egypt covering the protests against now former President Hosni Mubara...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Happy Valentine&#39;s Day!

Valentine's Day is here. Talk about a recognizable brand! But what can this day of love teach you about improving your business by building better customer.


bench craft company credit card

Live blogging Obama&#39;s <b>news</b> conference – CNN Political Ticker - CNN <b>...</b>

The CNN Political and White House teams are bringing you the latest developments and reactions from President Obama's news conference. Please continually refresh this page for the latest updates (CTRL-R). UPDATE: Read the full CNN.com ...

CBS <b>News</b>&#39; Lara Logan in hospital after sexual assault in Egypt <b>...</b>

CBS News announced Tuesday that correspondent Lara Logan — who was on location in Egypt covering the protests against now former President Hosni Mubara...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Happy Valentine&#39;s Day!

Valentine's Day is here. Talk about a recognizable brand! But what can this day of love teach you about improving your business by building better customer.


bench craft company credit card

Live blogging Obama&#39;s <b>news</b> conference – CNN Political Ticker - CNN <b>...</b>

The CNN Political and White House teams are bringing you the latest developments and reactions from President Obama's news conference. Please continually refresh this page for the latest updates (CTRL-R). UPDATE: Read the full CNN.com ...

CBS <b>News</b>&#39; Lara Logan in hospital after sexual assault in Egypt <b>...</b>

CBS News announced Tuesday that correspondent Lara Logan — who was on location in Egypt covering the protests against now former President Hosni Mubara...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Happy Valentine&#39;s Day!

Valentine's Day is here. Talk about a recognizable brand! But what can this day of love teach you about improving your business by building better customer.


bench craft company reviews

Live blogging Obama&#39;s <b>news</b> conference – CNN Political Ticker - CNN <b>...</b>

The CNN Political and White House teams are bringing you the latest developments and reactions from President Obama's news conference. Please continually refresh this page for the latest updates (CTRL-R). UPDATE: Read the full CNN.com ...

CBS <b>News</b>&#39; Lara Logan in hospital after sexual assault in Egypt <b>...</b>

CBS News announced Tuesday that correspondent Lara Logan — who was on location in Egypt covering the protests against now former President Hosni Mubara...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Happy Valentine&#39;s Day!

Valentine's Day is here. Talk about a recognizable brand! But what can this day of love teach you about improving your business by building better customer.

















Friday, February 11, 2011

Making Money Your

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Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: February 10, 2011 <b>...</b>

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Palm oil giant to halt Indonesia deforestation; Georgia forests worth more than $37 billion annually; Search for wind-related grid problems finds a bigger concern; IBM hunting for lithium-air car ...

Denver Broncos <b>News</b>: Horse Tracks - 2/11/11 - Mile High Report

Horse Tracks -- Your Daily Cup of Orange and Blue Coffee.

autosport.com - F1 <b>News</b>: Kubica vows to return this season

Robert Kubica is convinced he will return to the Formula 1 track a better driver once he has recovered for the injuries he picked up in last weekend's rally crash, as he insisted he 'must' get back this year.


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Want to know how to make money with blog? Learn how to  make money with blogs | a blog from make money online blog by thenyouwin


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Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: February 10, 2011 <b>...</b>

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Palm oil giant to halt Indonesia deforestation; Georgia forests worth more than $37 billion annually; Search for wind-related grid problems finds a bigger concern; IBM hunting for lithium-air car ...

Denver Broncos <b>News</b>: Horse Tracks - 2/11/11 - Mile High Report

Horse Tracks -- Your Daily Cup of Orange and Blue Coffee.

autosport.com - F1 <b>News</b>: Kubica vows to return this season

Robert Kubica is convinced he will return to the Formula 1 track a better driver once he has recovered for the injuries he picked up in last weekend's rally crash, as he insisted he 'must' get back this year.


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Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: February 10, 2011 <b>...</b>

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Palm oil giant to halt Indonesia deforestation; Georgia forests worth more than $37 billion annually; Search for wind-related grid problems finds a bigger concern; IBM hunting for lithium-air car ...

Denver Broncos <b>News</b>: Horse Tracks - 2/11/11 - Mile High Report

Horse Tracks -- Your Daily Cup of Orange and Blue Coffee.

autosport.com - F1 <b>News</b>: Kubica vows to return this season

Robert Kubica is convinced he will return to the Formula 1 track a better driver once he has recovered for the injuries he picked up in last weekend's rally crash, as he insisted he 'must' get back this year.


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Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: February 10, 2011 <b>...</b>

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Palm oil giant to halt Indonesia deforestation; Georgia forests worth more than $37 billion annually; Search for wind-related grid problems finds a bigger concern; IBM hunting for lithium-air car ...

Denver Broncos <b>News</b>: Horse Tracks - 2/11/11 - Mile High Report

Horse Tracks -- Your Daily Cup of Orange and Blue Coffee.

autosport.com - F1 <b>News</b>: Kubica vows to return this season

Robert Kubica is convinced he will return to the Formula 1 track a better driver once he has recovered for the injuries he picked up in last weekend's rally crash, as he insisted he 'must' get back this year.


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Want to know how to make money with blog? Learn how to  make money with blogs | a blog from make money online blog by thenyouwin


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Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: February 10, 2011 <b>...</b>

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Palm oil giant to halt Indonesia deforestation; Georgia forests worth more than $37 billion annually; Search for wind-related grid problems finds a bigger concern; IBM hunting for lithium-air car ...

Denver Broncos <b>News</b>: Horse Tracks - 2/11/11 - Mile High Report

Horse Tracks -- Your Daily Cup of Orange and Blue Coffee.

autosport.com - F1 <b>News</b>: Kubica vows to return this season

Robert Kubica is convinced he will return to the Formula 1 track a better driver once he has recovered for the injuries he picked up in last weekend's rally crash, as he insisted he 'must' get back this year.


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Ever watch Gone with the Wind? Remember that scene early on when Scarlett's dad-before his mind with the wind-tried to sell Scarlett on the importance of land? He didn't call his estate Tara for nothing. Scarlett eventually came around and learned the lesson of the value of owning land. What lesson? Barring some unfortunate events, it's the only thing that will always be here.

You can still make money in real estate speculation. For all the talk of keeping immigrants out, and telling people who don't believe like the President does that they should leave it, America is still overwhelming undeveloped. With bans on abortion and abortion pills around the corner, even if we do manage to keep the immigrants down in Mexico, there's still going to be an increase in population. Those people need real estate on which to live and on which to sell you things you don't need.

So how can you go about making money in real estate speculation? Here are a few suggestions that have worked well in the past.

BUY UNDEVELOPED LAND
Although the most risky technique, this can also provide the biggest payoff. The risks range from the possibility of the land dropping in value to the fact that you can't get any tax benefits from it. And, of course, undeveloped land won't provide you the income that developed land can. On the other hand, who hasn't driven past a booming neighborhood and heard their grandparents say something along the lines of "I had the chance to buy that at two dollars an acre, but I just didn't have the money back then." If you live near a big city and can get any kind of a good deal on land adjacent to it, then by all means do it; there's no better gamble to take when it comes to real estate speculation. For that matter, this kind of speculation even makes sense in small towns; it wasn't too long ago that many overcrowded, over franchised suburban areas used to be relatively isolated small towns. Heck, some of the most expensive real estate in the Atlanta area, for instance, didn't even have a single Walmart as recently as twenty years ago. Now those same rural areas that used to be dominated by long expanses of literally nothing are indistinguishable from any area inside the actual city limits.

But real estate speculation of this type doesn't mean you can just drive out somewhere, stop your car and hit on a goldmine. Don't choose just any parcel of land. Do your homework. Look over the town, city or county planning and zoning records to determine where the infrastructure is headed. If plans are already in place to lay down a four-lane highway somewhere where's nothing now, that might be a good place to speculate on. Determine where commercial development and residential development will be the densest in ten to fifteen years and shop accordingly. If you're young enough and willing to wait it out, plan ahead for twenty, thirty or even forty years. What you think is ridiculously expensive for an overgrown piece of forest right now may one day look as cheap as that two dollars an acre your grandfather passed over fifty years ago. Undeveloped land is also a terrific investment gift to pass on to your children or grandchildren; real estate speculation doesn't have to focus on your own bank account. In that way, you can try looking longer into the future and significantly increase your chances of finding something really cheap.

INVESTING IN SEIZED PROPERTY
Property is often sold for the price of the delinquent taxes owed; or auctioned off to the highest bidder. This kind of real estate speculation can present a real opportunity for making money, but you have to be careful. You really have to do your homework before attending one of these public sales. The most painful pitfall may be finding out that the tax bill is greater than the actual value of the property. In addition, unless you've researched it, your dreams of becoming a real estate mogul ala Donald Trump may come wind up leaving you with nothing but blueprints inside your head unless you make sure the site has been zoned for business or residential construction first. In addition, it is wise to consult your particular state and local laws regarding the rights that a previous owner has to property that has been seized from him. In many cases, he may still have the right to reclaim his property which can result in all kinds of legal entanglements. When bidding at an auction, make sure you've kept your intentions on the property to yourself. Don't do anything to invite an unnecessary bidding war. Remember, real estate speculation is a big game for those with lots of money.

FOLLOW THE CLOWN
If you notice a McDonald's popping up in an unexpected place, take notice. McDonald's hasn't been able to sell billions and billions of hamburgers by building their restaurants where the kids ain't. Neither have the managed to make billons and billions of dollars in profit by buying the most expensive property in town. Same thing goes for any other huge and profitable brand name consumer company, whether they be Subway, Holiday Inn, or Target. Although it's probably too late to cash in on bargain prices by the time you actually see one of these companies' instantly identifiable building, if you spend a little time looking through the public records you may get lucky enough to come across evidence of their own brand of real estate speculation. If you can get even luckier and come across the record of a franchise investing in a relatively undeveloped area that is the equivalent of striking gold. Think about how often you've seen a Burger King or Pizza Hut in the middle of nowhere. Unless you're talking a strictly rural area, most often by the time the franchise goes up, there's already been some residential growth. Well, think about it: You don't make profit by buying land after it's already quadrupled in value, right? These big boys spend huge amounts of money conducting research into which underdeveloped areas are likely to grow and where they can find the best deal for land before the growth starts. What's more, you can also rest assured in the knowledge that they very rarely get their real estate speculation wrong. You want evidence: Franchises almost never sell off unused property at a loss. Take advantage of their resources and you may just find yourself benefiting by making money in real estate speculation.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

manage personal finances

style="text-align: center;">

/> [style="text-decoration: underline;">Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past four years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

Evan here. Please check out our daily blog at www.theasiachronicles.com where we will have more posts than those that appear here. Today, for example, we have this post and also a post from Alexis Lamb regarding the Singapore market – “Singapore Swing.”

Please note that Robert Kinney and I will be working from our Hong Kong offices for a few weeks later this month and can be available for meetings with our readers then. Alexis, of course, is based permanently in Hong Kong.

Three Quick hits of the day (a new feature at theasiachronicles.com): One US firm in Hong Kong now has an expat / cola allowance of over $90,000 for single associates and over $100,000 for married associates; Almost every strong US cap markets practice in HK / China is hiring lateral associates now; It has recently become more common for US and UK firms in Singapore to offer an expat / cola allowance, albeit much smaller than in HK (for years, most firms offered no allowance in Singapore).

While interviewing for a US associate position in Asia can be quite different from interviewing for a spot down the street in New York or another major domestic market there are also some similarities to a job search in any domestic market. The key determining factors on whether you will have a chance at interviewing are top firm experience and impressive law school academics. The other obvious factor determining whether you will be asked to interview, at least for most positions in Asia, is language skills (Mandarin, Korean, Japanese). id="more-56969">

However, once you are in an interview, whether by phone, VC or in person, your stellar resume is not going to help you as much as it would in an interview for a US position. Overseas partners are looking for the right personality fit much more so than in a large domestic office. A major reason for this is because the offices are much smaller overseas, making it harder to hide a misfit (even a junior associate can be the face of the firm), but there are other reasons as well.

At a basic level, the factors that are especially important to demonstrate in an interview overseas are these:

• you have an entrepreneurial nature;

• you have a high level of maturity for your experience level;

• you have an outgoing personality (not overly “academic” in nature);

• you are able to fit in with different cultures;

• your personal presentation is generally positive; and

• you are a team player (no prima donnas need apply)

• you have a demonstrated interest / connection to your target market

These are obviously all factors that are relevant in any interview at least as “plus factors”, but these particular factors are especially important in Asia.

Keep in mind that within minutes of your first interview, most partners can pretty much figure out whether you have these attributes. Any of us at Kinney Recruiting can figure this out about candidates we speak to in minutes as well.

There is a much less structured environment for associates in busy overseas U.S. practices (at the smaller offices or newer practice groups it can be similar to working in a exciting start-up company, albeit one extremely well financed).

The market is such in Asia, especially in China, that firm clients are not nearly as institutionalized as in the major US markets. Sure, many US firms in Asia opened offices there initially to follow major clients. Nevertheless, the pitch environment is much more of a free-for-all in Asia, especially in China. A firm not being on the preferred vendors list at an i-bank, fund or other entity often does not even prevent representation from happening in Asia (while it is more difficult, a series of one time waivers for a firm by a client are not uncommon). In China especially, considering all the state run enterprise business, the vast majority of the IPOs being handled by PRC banks, and many emerging companies and funds, there is a lot of pitching going on by firms for this work. Further, while in New York deals are done mainly over the phone, in Asia there are a lot of in-person meetings throughout the process.

Needless to say, there is a lot of client contact for even junior associates, especially when in China a non-Chinese partner may be leaning heavily on his Mandarin-fluent associates for a lot more than due diligence. Mid-level associates in Asia are typically running their own deals.

In many instances in Asia your training is one-on-one mentoring from a partner or two, quite commonly with no senior associates in between.

Maturity is especially important in Asia because associates are given as much responsibility as they can handle. Simply put, a mature person can balance his or her workload between competing demands more than an immature one. There can be a lot of travel to meet with major clients and each associate, no matter how junior, is usually a vital part of their office’s overall practice and client development and retention. Each associate is also expected to be a self-starter and figure out things on the fly much more than is the case in a domestic office of the same firm.

The smaller offices of course make personality fit and personal presentation more important, for obvious reasons. As an associate at a top U.S. practice in Asia, you are more of a vital piece of the entire office’s practice and your personality is going to directly affect the firm’s practice. Senior partners overseas, especially those that moved to Asia from U.S. offices, have in many cases put a tremendous amount of effort (and some career risk) into building their book of business and reputation in a foreign country. Thus, they can take a lot of pride in their accomplishments, as they should. Understandably they want to avoid placing their reputation and practice in the hands of an associate with whom they do not have a strong personality fit or who cannot be counted on to be at his or her best every day.

As an associate in a large New York (or other major US market) office, with hundreds of attorneys, you surely know a number of very impressive young associate colleagues who are perhaps a bit over academic, but perform just fine in that large office environment. However, being too academic and not well rounded will not serve well in an entrepreneurial and less structured environment of a busy small overseas US corporate practice of a top firm. We have seen countless cases where the less impressive candidate on paper wins out over the more impressive resumed candidates, due to being better rounded and the right personality fit.

Most US partners who have been in Asia for a few years or more have experienced a hire gone bad simply because the US associate ultimately could not commit to the geographic market. Asia, especially China, is hot now and is considered “the place to be.” There are many very well intentioned and able young professionals in the US who believe they would like to relocate there, but ultimately find out later that the region is not for them. Thus, many US partners will take a jaded approach into an interview with a US associate who does not have an obvious connection to the particular target Asia market. Of course, a connection to the market is not a requirement to land there (if it were, most partners you are interviewing with would never have landed there to begin with), but the lack of a strong connection will need to be dealt with in an interview. It is ok to want to be in Hong Kong, for example, because it is an exciting market, has great deal flow, and you have visited there a few times, but the message has to be conveyed loud and clear in an interview and you need to be prepared to take on this elephant in the room early.

Keep in mind that U.S. firms have more risk with hires they make overseas, due to the high level of responsibility each associate has, and also because associates are simply less fungible in small, busy overseas offices. The past two years of economic downturn in the West caused full and partial hiring freezes at firms globally, even during most of the recent 20 months boom in China. Many U.S. practices in Asia have found themselves to be severely understaffed when just one or two associates leave, combined with increased deal flow. In a busy and competitive lateral hiring market in Asia, it can easily take a U.S. practice up to six months to replace a key associate that has not worked out.

Further, there is the added cost a firm takes on when hiring a U.S. associate lateral, especially if from the U.S. markets, such as annual housing / expat packages (which can run from $40,000 to $140,000 depending on the Asia market and firm) and international relocation costs, which includes up to two months in a luxury serviced apartment. Some firms even handle private school tuition for associates’ children.

Some
U.S. states face so much pressure to fund pensions for public
employees that it could hurt their credit ratings, Moody's Investors
Service said on Thursday.

As concerns grow over the
financial health of many states after the 2007-2009 recession and how
they will cut spending to cope, the ratings agency combined pension and
debt data to rank the liabilities of each state.

 

In
the past, Moody's evaluated credit risks from pensions and debt levels
separately. Lower credit ratings could raise the costs to states of
borrowing money.

 

Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky,
Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey and Rhode Island, along with
Puerto Rico, have the largest debt-and-pension loads, Moody's found.

 

Nebraska and South Dakota have the lowest.

 

"Large
and growing debt and pension burdens have been, and will continue to
be, contributing factors in rating changes," Moody's said.

 

Problems
with pensions -- which states have underfunded by at least $700
billion -- include weak returns on investments, not enough money set
aside, impending retirements of "Baby Boomers" born in the late 1940s
through mid-1960s, and Americans living longer, Moody's said.

 

New
York, Delaware and California are often cited for large debt burdens
but do not have the highest combined long-term liabilities, Moody's
analyst Ted Hampton said in a statement.

 

"In general, states'
rankings for debt and pension combined parallel their rankings for debt
alone," Hampton said but he added: "not all states with large debt
burdens also suffer from weak pension funding."

 

IN THE TRILLIONS?

 

The
$700 billion underfunded figure is a conservative estimate for how
much money states will need to cover the pension promises they have
made to their employees.

 

But $3 trillion could be nearer the
mark, one study warned last year. States expect too generous a return
on investments made by their pension funds, said the study by Joshua
Rauh of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

 

Regardless of the exact amount, states have to find a way to adequately fund pensions.

 

"More
and more, it's going to take up a larger share of their ... budgets,"
said Kil Huh, director of research at Pew Center on the States, which
has been closely following the pension issue.

 

Money
flows from three major sources into pension funds: employee
contributions, the employing governments and investment returns.

 

"Employee
contributions have gone down and, at the same time, employer
contributions because of the fiscal crisis haven't been there," Huh
said.

Moody's, too, says the problem is getting bigger.

 

"Unfunded
pension liabilities have grown more rapidly in recent years because of
weaker-than-expected investment results, previous benefit enhancements
and, in some states, failure to pay the full annual required
contribution," the report said.

 

"Moreover, pension liabilities may be understated because of current governmental accounting standards," it added.

 

The
Moody's report "will shed more light upon the states which have
eliminated or underfunded their yearly contributions for pension
liabilities simply as a way to manage their finances," said Thomson
Reuters Senior Market Strategist Daniel Berger.

 

One
dramatic solution to the pension problem would be allowing states to
declare bankruptcy, which some congressional Republicans want. Then,
they could renege on pension promises made to employees.

 

After
being criticized for missing risks in the housing boom, Moody's is
showing with this report it's "not asleep at the wheel" on the pension
threat, said Richard Larkin, senior vice president and director of
credit analysis at Herbert J Sims & Co. in New York.

 

But, the
report also showed the liabilities are manageable, he added. For
example, Moody's found Hawaii's pension-and-debt load is equal to 16.2
percent of its gross domestic product, the biggest proportion of all the
states.

 

Even though the liabilities are in the billions of dollars, "when you compare them to GDP it's still low numbers," Larkin said.

 

"And
it's still relatively much lower than these problem countries people
keep comparing them to," he said, referring to recent fears that
California or Illinois will soon be plunged into troubles similar to
those Greece or Ireland are facing.

In a separate article, Simone Baribeau of Bloomberg reports, Moody's Says Massachussetts Among States With Highest Debt, Pension Burden:


bench craft company

Small Business <b>News</b>: Digital Privacy and Customer Care

Small business is all about customer care. So how to you feel about new proposed legislation that is designed to prevent online clients from tracking customer.

Fox <b>News</b> Calls Bulletstorm the Worst Videogame in the World

Fox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.

New York Yankees <b>News</b>: The Captain - Pinstripe Alley

New York Yankees news from around the internet on 2/9/2011, including Rob Neyer on Derek Jeter's attempt to bounce back from a disappointing 2010 season.


bench craft company
style="text-align: center;">

/> [style="text-decoration: underline;">Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past four years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

Evan here. Please check out our daily blog at www.theasiachronicles.com where we will have more posts than those that appear here. Today, for example, we have this post and also a post from Alexis Lamb regarding the Singapore market – “Singapore Swing.”

Please note that Robert Kinney and I will be working from our Hong Kong offices for a few weeks later this month and can be available for meetings with our readers then. Alexis, of course, is based permanently in Hong Kong.

Three Quick hits of the day (a new feature at theasiachronicles.com): One US firm in Hong Kong now has an expat / cola allowance of over $90,000 for single associates and over $100,000 for married associates; Almost every strong US cap markets practice in HK / China is hiring lateral associates now; It has recently become more common for US and UK firms in Singapore to offer an expat / cola allowance, albeit much smaller than in HK (for years, most firms offered no allowance in Singapore).

While interviewing for a US associate position in Asia can be quite different from interviewing for a spot down the street in New York or another major domestic market there are also some similarities to a job search in any domestic market. The key determining factors on whether you will have a chance at interviewing are top firm experience and impressive law school academics. The other obvious factor determining whether you will be asked to interview, at least for most positions in Asia, is language skills (Mandarin, Korean, Japanese). id="more-56969">

However, once you are in an interview, whether by phone, VC or in person, your stellar resume is not going to help you as much as it would in an interview for a US position. Overseas partners are looking for the right personality fit much more so than in a large domestic office. A major reason for this is because the offices are much smaller overseas, making it harder to hide a misfit (even a junior associate can be the face of the firm), but there are other reasons as well.

At a basic level, the factors that are especially important to demonstrate in an interview overseas are these:

• you have an entrepreneurial nature;

• you have a high level of maturity for your experience level;

• you have an outgoing personality (not overly “academic” in nature);

• you are able to fit in with different cultures;

• your personal presentation is generally positive; and

• you are a team player (no prima donnas need apply)

• you have a demonstrated interest / connection to your target market

These are obviously all factors that are relevant in any interview at least as “plus factors”, but these particular factors are especially important in Asia.

Keep in mind that within minutes of your first interview, most partners can pretty much figure out whether you have these attributes. Any of us at Kinney Recruiting can figure this out about candidates we speak to in minutes as well.

There is a much less structured environment for associates in busy overseas U.S. practices (at the smaller offices or newer practice groups it can be similar to working in a exciting start-up company, albeit one extremely well financed).

The market is such in Asia, especially in China, that firm clients are not nearly as institutionalized as in the major US markets. Sure, many US firms in Asia opened offices there initially to follow major clients. Nevertheless, the pitch environment is much more of a free-for-all in Asia, especially in China. A firm not being on the preferred vendors list at an i-bank, fund or other entity often does not even prevent representation from happening in Asia (while it is more difficult, a series of one time waivers for a firm by a client are not uncommon). In China especially, considering all the state run enterprise business, the vast majority of the IPOs being handled by PRC banks, and many emerging companies and funds, there is a lot of pitching going on by firms for this work. Further, while in New York deals are done mainly over the phone, in Asia there are a lot of in-person meetings throughout the process.

Needless to say, there is a lot of client contact for even junior associates, especially when in China a non-Chinese partner may be leaning heavily on his Mandarin-fluent associates for a lot more than due diligence. Mid-level associates in Asia are typically running their own deals.

In many instances in Asia your training is one-on-one mentoring from a partner or two, quite commonly with no senior associates in between.

Maturity is especially important in Asia because associates are given as much responsibility as they can handle. Simply put, a mature person can balance his or her workload between competing demands more than an immature one. There can be a lot of travel to meet with major clients and each associate, no matter how junior, is usually a vital part of their office’s overall practice and client development and retention. Each associate is also expected to be a self-starter and figure out things on the fly much more than is the case in a domestic office of the same firm.

The smaller offices of course make personality fit and personal presentation more important, for obvious reasons. As an associate at a top U.S. practice in Asia, you are more of a vital piece of the entire office’s practice and your personality is going to directly affect the firm’s practice. Senior partners overseas, especially those that moved to Asia from U.S. offices, have in many cases put a tremendous amount of effort (and some career risk) into building their book of business and reputation in a foreign country. Thus, they can take a lot of pride in their accomplishments, as they should. Understandably they want to avoid placing their reputation and practice in the hands of an associate with whom they do not have a strong personality fit or who cannot be counted on to be at his or her best every day.

As an associate in a large New York (or other major US market) office, with hundreds of attorneys, you surely know a number of very impressive young associate colleagues who are perhaps a bit over academic, but perform just fine in that large office environment. However, being too academic and not well rounded will not serve well in an entrepreneurial and less structured environment of a busy small overseas US corporate practice of a top firm. We have seen countless cases where the less impressive candidate on paper wins out over the more impressive resumed candidates, due to being better rounded and the right personality fit.

Most US partners who have been in Asia for a few years or more have experienced a hire gone bad simply because the US associate ultimately could not commit to the geographic market. Asia, especially China, is hot now and is considered “the place to be.” There are many very well intentioned and able young professionals in the US who believe they would like to relocate there, but ultimately find out later that the region is not for them. Thus, many US partners will take a jaded approach into an interview with a US associate who does not have an obvious connection to the particular target Asia market. Of course, a connection to the market is not a requirement to land there (if it were, most partners you are interviewing with would never have landed there to begin with), but the lack of a strong connection will need to be dealt with in an interview. It is ok to want to be in Hong Kong, for example, because it is an exciting market, has great deal flow, and you have visited there a few times, but the message has to be conveyed loud and clear in an interview and you need to be prepared to take on this elephant in the room early.

Keep in mind that U.S. firms have more risk with hires they make overseas, due to the high level of responsibility each associate has, and also because associates are simply less fungible in small, busy overseas offices. The past two years of economic downturn in the West caused full and partial hiring freezes at firms globally, even during most of the recent 20 months boom in China. Many U.S. practices in Asia have found themselves to be severely understaffed when just one or two associates leave, combined with increased deal flow. In a busy and competitive lateral hiring market in Asia, it can easily take a U.S. practice up to six months to replace a key associate that has not worked out.

Further, there is the added cost a firm takes on when hiring a U.S. associate lateral, especially if from the U.S. markets, such as annual housing / expat packages (which can run from $40,000 to $140,000 depending on the Asia market and firm) and international relocation costs, which includes up to two months in a luxury serviced apartment. Some firms even handle private school tuition for associates’ children.

Some
U.S. states face so much pressure to fund pensions for public
employees that it could hurt their credit ratings, Moody's Investors
Service said on Thursday.

As concerns grow over the
financial health of many states after the 2007-2009 recession and how
they will cut spending to cope, the ratings agency combined pension and
debt data to rank the liabilities of each state.

 

In
the past, Moody's evaluated credit risks from pensions and debt levels
separately. Lower credit ratings could raise the costs to states of
borrowing money.

 

Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky,
Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey and Rhode Island, along with
Puerto Rico, have the largest debt-and-pension loads, Moody's found.

 

Nebraska and South Dakota have the lowest.

 

"Large
and growing debt and pension burdens have been, and will continue to
be, contributing factors in rating changes," Moody's said.

 

Problems
with pensions -- which states have underfunded by at least $700
billion -- include weak returns on investments, not enough money set
aside, impending retirements of "Baby Boomers" born in the late 1940s
through mid-1960s, and Americans living longer, Moody's said.

 

New
York, Delaware and California are often cited for large debt burdens
but do not have the highest combined long-term liabilities, Moody's
analyst Ted Hampton said in a statement.

 

"In general, states'
rankings for debt and pension combined parallel their rankings for debt
alone," Hampton said but he added: "not all states with large debt
burdens also suffer from weak pension funding."

 

IN THE TRILLIONS?

 

The
$700 billion underfunded figure is a conservative estimate for how
much money states will need to cover the pension promises they have
made to their employees.

 

But $3 trillion could be nearer the
mark, one study warned last year. States expect too generous a return
on investments made by their pension funds, said the study by Joshua
Rauh of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

 

Regardless of the exact amount, states have to find a way to adequately fund pensions.

 

"More
and more, it's going to take up a larger share of their ... budgets,"
said Kil Huh, director of research at Pew Center on the States, which
has been closely following the pension issue.

 

Money
flows from three major sources into pension funds: employee
contributions, the employing governments and investment returns.

 

"Employee
contributions have gone down and, at the same time, employer
contributions because of the fiscal crisis haven't been there," Huh
said.

Moody's, too, says the problem is getting bigger.

 

"Unfunded
pension liabilities have grown more rapidly in recent years because of
weaker-than-expected investment results, previous benefit enhancements
and, in some states, failure to pay the full annual required
contribution," the report said.

 

"Moreover, pension liabilities may be understated because of current governmental accounting standards," it added.

 

The
Moody's report "will shed more light upon the states which have
eliminated or underfunded their yearly contributions for pension
liabilities simply as a way to manage their finances," said Thomson
Reuters Senior Market Strategist Daniel Berger.

 

One
dramatic solution to the pension problem would be allowing states to
declare bankruptcy, which some congressional Republicans want. Then,
they could renege on pension promises made to employees.

 

After
being criticized for missing risks in the housing boom, Moody's is
showing with this report it's "not asleep at the wheel" on the pension
threat, said Richard Larkin, senior vice president and director of
credit analysis at Herbert J Sims & Co. in New York.

 

But, the
report also showed the liabilities are manageable, he added. For
example, Moody's found Hawaii's pension-and-debt load is equal to 16.2
percent of its gross domestic product, the biggest proportion of all the
states.

 

Even though the liabilities are in the billions of dollars, "when you compare them to GDP it's still low numbers," Larkin said.

 

"And
it's still relatively much lower than these problem countries people
keep comparing them to," he said, referring to recent fears that
California or Illinois will soon be plunged into troubles similar to
those Greece or Ireland are facing.

In a separate article, Simone Baribeau of Bloomberg reports, Moody's Says Massachussetts Among States With Highest Debt, Pension Burden:


bench craft company>

Small Business <b>News</b>: Digital Privacy and Customer Care

Small business is all about customer care. So how to you feel about new proposed legislation that is designed to prevent online clients from tracking customer.

Fox <b>News</b> Calls Bulletstorm the Worst Videogame in the World

Fox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.

New York Yankees <b>News</b>: The Captain - Pinstripe Alley

New York Yankees news from around the internet on 2/9/2011, including Rob Neyer on Derek Jeter's attempt to bounce back from a disappointing 2010 season.


bench craft company
[reefeed]
bench craft company

MABUHAY ALLIANCE HOST THE 6TH ANNUAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE by mabuhayalliance


bench craft company

Small Business <b>News</b>: Digital Privacy and Customer Care

Small business is all about customer care. So how to you feel about new proposed legislation that is designed to prevent online clients from tracking customer.

Fox <b>News</b> Calls Bulletstorm the Worst Videogame in the World

Fox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.

New York Yankees <b>News</b>: The Captain - Pinstripe Alley

New York Yankees news from around the internet on 2/9/2011, including Rob Neyer on Derek Jeter's attempt to bounce back from a disappointing 2010 season.


bench craft company
style="text-align: center;">

/> [style="text-decoration: underline;">Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, sponsor of the Asia Chronicles. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past four years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

Evan here. Please check out our daily blog at www.theasiachronicles.com where we will have more posts than those that appear here. Today, for example, we have this post and also a post from Alexis Lamb regarding the Singapore market – “Singapore Swing.”

Please note that Robert Kinney and I will be working from our Hong Kong offices for a few weeks later this month and can be available for meetings with our readers then. Alexis, of course, is based permanently in Hong Kong.

Three Quick hits of the day (a new feature at theasiachronicles.com): One US firm in Hong Kong now has an expat / cola allowance of over $90,000 for single associates and over $100,000 for married associates; Almost every strong US cap markets practice in HK / China is hiring lateral associates now; It has recently become more common for US and UK firms in Singapore to offer an expat / cola allowance, albeit much smaller than in HK (for years, most firms offered no allowance in Singapore).

While interviewing for a US associate position in Asia can be quite different from interviewing for a spot down the street in New York or another major domestic market there are also some similarities to a job search in any domestic market. The key determining factors on whether you will have a chance at interviewing are top firm experience and impressive law school academics. The other obvious factor determining whether you will be asked to interview, at least for most positions in Asia, is language skills (Mandarin, Korean, Japanese). id="more-56969">

However, once you are in an interview, whether by phone, VC or in person, your stellar resume is not going to help you as much as it would in an interview for a US position. Overseas partners are looking for the right personality fit much more so than in a large domestic office. A major reason for this is because the offices are much smaller overseas, making it harder to hide a misfit (even a junior associate can be the face of the firm), but there are other reasons as well.

At a basic level, the factors that are especially important to demonstrate in an interview overseas are these:

• you have an entrepreneurial nature;

• you have a high level of maturity for your experience level;

• you have an outgoing personality (not overly “academic” in nature);

• you are able to fit in with different cultures;

• your personal presentation is generally positive; and

• you are a team player (no prima donnas need apply)

• you have a demonstrated interest / connection to your target market

These are obviously all factors that are relevant in any interview at least as “plus factors”, but these particular factors are especially important in Asia.

Keep in mind that within minutes of your first interview, most partners can pretty much figure out whether you have these attributes. Any of us at Kinney Recruiting can figure this out about candidates we speak to in minutes as well.

There is a much less structured environment for associates in busy overseas U.S. practices (at the smaller offices or newer practice groups it can be similar to working in a exciting start-up company, albeit one extremely well financed).

The market is such in Asia, especially in China, that firm clients are not nearly as institutionalized as in the major US markets. Sure, many US firms in Asia opened offices there initially to follow major clients. Nevertheless, the pitch environment is much more of a free-for-all in Asia, especially in China. A firm not being on the preferred vendors list at an i-bank, fund or other entity often does not even prevent representation from happening in Asia (while it is more difficult, a series of one time waivers for a firm by a client are not uncommon). In China especially, considering all the state run enterprise business, the vast majority of the IPOs being handled by PRC banks, and many emerging companies and funds, there is a lot of pitching going on by firms for this work. Further, while in New York deals are done mainly over the phone, in Asia there are a lot of in-person meetings throughout the process.

Needless to say, there is a lot of client contact for even junior associates, especially when in China a non-Chinese partner may be leaning heavily on his Mandarin-fluent associates for a lot more than due diligence. Mid-level associates in Asia are typically running their own deals.

In many instances in Asia your training is one-on-one mentoring from a partner or two, quite commonly with no senior associates in between.

Maturity is especially important in Asia because associates are given as much responsibility as they can handle. Simply put, a mature person can balance his or her workload between competing demands more than an immature one. There can be a lot of travel to meet with major clients and each associate, no matter how junior, is usually a vital part of their office’s overall practice and client development and retention. Each associate is also expected to be a self-starter and figure out things on the fly much more than is the case in a domestic office of the same firm.

The smaller offices of course make personality fit and personal presentation more important, for obvious reasons. As an associate at a top U.S. practice in Asia, you are more of a vital piece of the entire office’s practice and your personality is going to directly affect the firm’s practice. Senior partners overseas, especially those that moved to Asia from U.S. offices, have in many cases put a tremendous amount of effort (and some career risk) into building their book of business and reputation in a foreign country. Thus, they can take a lot of pride in their accomplishments, as they should. Understandably they want to avoid placing their reputation and practice in the hands of an associate with whom they do not have a strong personality fit or who cannot be counted on to be at his or her best every day.

As an associate in a large New York (or other major US market) office, with hundreds of attorneys, you surely know a number of very impressive young associate colleagues who are perhaps a bit over academic, but perform just fine in that large office environment. However, being too academic and not well rounded will not serve well in an entrepreneurial and less structured environment of a busy small overseas US corporate practice of a top firm. We have seen countless cases where the less impressive candidate on paper wins out over the more impressive resumed candidates, due to being better rounded and the right personality fit.

Most US partners who have been in Asia for a few years or more have experienced a hire gone bad simply because the US associate ultimately could not commit to the geographic market. Asia, especially China, is hot now and is considered “the place to be.” There are many very well intentioned and able young professionals in the US who believe they would like to relocate there, but ultimately find out later that the region is not for them. Thus, many US partners will take a jaded approach into an interview with a US associate who does not have an obvious connection to the particular target Asia market. Of course, a connection to the market is not a requirement to land there (if it were, most partners you are interviewing with would never have landed there to begin with), but the lack of a strong connection will need to be dealt with in an interview. It is ok to want to be in Hong Kong, for example, because it is an exciting market, has great deal flow, and you have visited there a few times, but the message has to be conveyed loud and clear in an interview and you need to be prepared to take on this elephant in the room early.

Keep in mind that U.S. firms have more risk with hires they make overseas, due to the high level of responsibility each associate has, and also because associates are simply less fungible in small, busy overseas offices. The past two years of economic downturn in the West caused full and partial hiring freezes at firms globally, even during most of the recent 20 months boom in China. Many U.S. practices in Asia have found themselves to be severely understaffed when just one or two associates leave, combined with increased deal flow. In a busy and competitive lateral hiring market in Asia, it can easily take a U.S. practice up to six months to replace a key associate that has not worked out.

Further, there is the added cost a firm takes on when hiring a U.S. associate lateral, especially if from the U.S. markets, such as annual housing / expat packages (which can run from $40,000 to $140,000 depending on the Asia market and firm) and international relocation costs, which includes up to two months in a luxury serviced apartment. Some firms even handle private school tuition for associates’ children.

Some
U.S. states face so much pressure to fund pensions for public
employees that it could hurt their credit ratings, Moody's Investors
Service said on Thursday.

As concerns grow over the
financial health of many states after the 2007-2009 recession and how
they will cut spending to cope, the ratings agency combined pension and
debt data to rank the liabilities of each state.

 

In
the past, Moody's evaluated credit risks from pensions and debt levels
separately. Lower credit ratings could raise the costs to states of
borrowing money.

 

Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky,
Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey and Rhode Island, along with
Puerto Rico, have the largest debt-and-pension loads, Moody's found.

 

Nebraska and South Dakota have the lowest.

 

"Large
and growing debt and pension burdens have been, and will continue to
be, contributing factors in rating changes," Moody's said.

 

Problems
with pensions -- which states have underfunded by at least $700
billion -- include weak returns on investments, not enough money set
aside, impending retirements of "Baby Boomers" born in the late 1940s
through mid-1960s, and Americans living longer, Moody's said.

 

New
York, Delaware and California are often cited for large debt burdens
but do not have the highest combined long-term liabilities, Moody's
analyst Ted Hampton said in a statement.

 

"In general, states'
rankings for debt and pension combined parallel their rankings for debt
alone," Hampton said but he added: "not all states with large debt
burdens also suffer from weak pension funding."

 

IN THE TRILLIONS?

 

The
$700 billion underfunded figure is a conservative estimate for how
much money states will need to cover the pension promises they have
made to their employees.

 

But $3 trillion could be nearer the
mark, one study warned last year. States expect too generous a return
on investments made by their pension funds, said the study by Joshua
Rauh of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

 

Regardless of the exact amount, states have to find a way to adequately fund pensions.

 

"More
and more, it's going to take up a larger share of their ... budgets,"
said Kil Huh, director of research at Pew Center on the States, which
has been closely following the pension issue.

 

Money
flows from three major sources into pension funds: employee
contributions, the employing governments and investment returns.

 

"Employee
contributions have gone down and, at the same time, employer
contributions because of the fiscal crisis haven't been there," Huh
said.

Moody's, too, says the problem is getting bigger.

 

"Unfunded
pension liabilities have grown more rapidly in recent years because of
weaker-than-expected investment results, previous benefit enhancements
and, in some states, failure to pay the full annual required
contribution," the report said.

 

"Moreover, pension liabilities may be understated because of current governmental accounting standards," it added.

 

The
Moody's report "will shed more light upon the states which have
eliminated or underfunded their yearly contributions for pension
liabilities simply as a way to manage their finances," said Thomson
Reuters Senior Market Strategist Daniel Berger.

 

One
dramatic solution to the pension problem would be allowing states to
declare bankruptcy, which some congressional Republicans want. Then,
they could renege on pension promises made to employees.

 

After
being criticized for missing risks in the housing boom, Moody's is
showing with this report it's "not asleep at the wheel" on the pension
threat, said Richard Larkin, senior vice president and director of
credit analysis at Herbert J Sims & Co. in New York.

 

But, the
report also showed the liabilities are manageable, he added. For
example, Moody's found Hawaii's pension-and-debt load is equal to 16.2
percent of its gross domestic product, the biggest proportion of all the
states.

 

Even though the liabilities are in the billions of dollars, "when you compare them to GDP it's still low numbers," Larkin said.

 

"And
it's still relatively much lower than these problem countries people
keep comparing them to," he said, referring to recent fears that
California or Illinois will soon be plunged into troubles similar to
those Greece or Ireland are facing.

In a separate article, Simone Baribeau of Bloomberg reports, Moody's Says Massachussetts Among States With Highest Debt, Pension Burden:


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New York Yankees news from around the internet on 2/9/2011, including Rob Neyer on Derek Jeter's attempt to bounce back from a disappointing 2010 season.


bench craft company bench craft company
bench craft company

MABUHAY ALLIANCE HOST THE 6TH ANNUAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE by mabuhayalliance


bench craft company
bench craft company

Small Business <b>News</b>: Digital Privacy and Customer Care

Small business is all about customer care. So how to you feel about new proposed legislation that is designed to prevent online clients from tracking customer.

Fox <b>News</b> Calls Bulletstorm the Worst Videogame in the World

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Make your mailbox and inbox pleasant places to visit and stop cringing when the bills come. If your debt is roaring like a hungry tiger in the jungle, and it's causing you stress or anxiety, it's time to tame the money beast and gain control of your personal finances.

Tame Those Paper Tigers

Stop piling up the bills in a dark corner and start tackling them. Open bills right away, and file them in a bill-paying folder organized by day or month. Move e-bills into monthly folders, too. Recycle envelopes and extra paper when they come in.

Know What You Owe

Before you can make a move toward saving and getting out of debt, you need to know exactly, not approximately, how much money you owe.

Make a list of all regular bills. This is your outgoing money. You can plug this information into a budget worksheet. Include due dates and amounts in a calendar. Use a wall calendar or set up alerts with a computer or smart phone calendar to keep track and stay on budget.

These numbers represent the absolute minimum amount of money you need to spend each month. Is it too much? Reduce it by cutting back on unnecessary bills.

Cut Back

There are some monthly bills that can be reduced, with diligence. Cell phone bills and cable bills are the two best places to reduce spending. Other possibilities include private parking spots or internet. Call your cable company and ask about any specials.

Take Control of Your Monthly Budget

Start Saving

Start saving a small percentage of your paycheck by having it directly deposited into a savings account. Take advantage of any pre-tax retirement plans offered by your company. You will feel better about paying out money knowing that you paid yourself first.

Try Budget Billing

You can gain better control of your monthly expenses by making them consistent. Set up budget billing with your utility companies. If $700 oil bills are slamming you in the winter months or $300 electric bills are hurting you in the summer, it's time to look into budget billing. Budget billing will not reduce your annual expenses, but it will make it easier to manage your money on a monthly basis, as your bill will be the same from month to month. Without painful surprises and a last-minute scramble to pay a big utility bill, you will be in better control of your money.

Categorize Your Debt

There are certain types of debt which you will carry for an extended period of time. The biggest one is a mortgage or a home equity loan. The next largest debts you will carry will be car loans and college loans. Pay down each one faster by paying more than the minimum due. Early on this will help you reduce the interest you are paying.

Steer Clear of Avoidable Debt

Avoidable debt can be summed up in two words: credit cards. Credit cards make it easy to buy the things we want and don't need and to spend beyond our means. Having a credit card for emergency purposes including a car repair or appliance replacement is a good idea, but saving money in an emergency fund is a better one.

Debt Jigsaw Puzzles

Pay Down Your Credit Card Debt

Put away the credit cards, curb spending and start paying more than the minimum balance due on your credit cards. You can't start saving and growing wealth until you are out of the credit card debt cycle. Use a debt payoff calculator to set a realistic payoff goal.

Should You Refinance?

House Refinance - Maybe

Before refinancing a home, consider the long-term costs that will be built back into your payments before jumping at an offer for a lower interest rate.

Car Loan Refinance - Yes

If you can refinance a car loan at a lower interest rate, go for it. There needs to be a minimal amount of principal left to pay left on the loan, so shop around for a car refinancing institution that will work with you. You could end up with a lower monthly payment and pay less overall on your car.