Niche Websites: August 2014

Saturday, August 9, 2014

9 greenest cars to save the planet

Based on emissions and other factors, these models earned high marks in a new ranking.
Read More... [Source: Bankrate.com: Top stories Headlines]

Thursday 5th June 2014

Rebuilding Christchurch - The Festival of Transitional Architecture. Women's Health Series - Part 3 - Contraception. Businesses with a heart: Part 1.
Read More... [Source: Life Matters - Full program podcast]

This week on Asia Review - Cambodian exodus - why migrant workers are leaving Thailand in droves; Questions over PNG leader O'Neill's scrapping of the anti-corruption squad; Australia rethinks foreign aid; And updating Islamic universities in Indonesia.
Read More... [Source: ]

How Classical Economics Misleads On "Government Debt"

The classical model is mandatory reading for most macroeconomics classes. I teach it because I have to, but I teach it in a way that the caveats and assumptions are front and center. It's apparent to me that the profession of economics perhaps has not drawn enough attention to those assumptions (or perhaps exacerbated the view that they are unimportant), since it seems a significant chunk of the American public is hyper-concerned about the debt, when perhaps such concern is not warranted compared to all our other problems du jour.

The classical economic model is a ‘pot of gold’ model, where an economy has a certain fixed amount of resources by which it creates productive capacity. The classical model assumes markets are perfect in the sense that there is 100% utilization of resources at market determined costs of those resources. This means that at market given wage and interest rates, we have ‘full employment’ (not counting a certain amount of unemployment that may exist just due normal movements between jobs, etc.) of both labor and physical capital (buildings are staffed, machines are manned, etc.).

So, now, in this classical world the government comes in to an economy that is already using 100% of the resources and says, “I want to spend $1B more and give everyone healthcare.” In our classical world, there are no more resources to devote to this new policy so the government has to take it from the existing ‘pot of gold’. In other words, they have to take resources that are currently being (presumably productively) used in the private sector (by businesses). In this world, at a minimum, the healthcare spending does nothing for growing the economy and at worst it does one of two things (or some combination): (1) severely harms economic growth by taking some of the existing ‘gold’ necessary for the private sector to do its thing – either by increasing taxes or some other mechanism, and/or (2) in the case where the government starts up the printing press and starts manually artificially creating more 'gold' to fund its spending, inflation will ensue. Neither of these is pretty. In either case, the classical model further assumes that when the government spends money, 0% helps economic growth, while, when businesses spend money, 100% of that spending helps economic growth.

But, the real world doesn’t look anything like the above classical ‘pot of gold’ scenario. In the real world, economies are subject to bouts of booms and busts for varying reasons: sometimes there’s an asset bubble that bursts (housing, stocks), sometimes there is an oil crisis that causes prices of all business activity to raise thereby stunting growth, and sometimes there is a large degree of uncertainty and other more ‘soft’ things that create pessimism in markets – reducing the revenues businesses need to operate and grow effectively.

In the real world, therefore, economies often are not operating at ‘full employment’. Perhaps a significant chunk of the labor force is out of work. Perhaps perfectly usable buildings are sitting empty for months. Perhaps banks aren’t lending and perhaps businesses are just sitting unproductively on their assets. This seems like common sense reality, but it’s this common sense fact that changes the outcome of the government wanting to “spend $1B and give everyone healthcare.” Now, the government can enter into a deficit situation not by taking from the private sector but simply by starting up the printing press and creating more funds. They could do this in the classical world too but unlike the classical world this will not result in inflation because the increased spending/demand from the new government policy simply soaks up some of the already underutilized resources (it results in workers being hired to enact the policy and carry it out, and it results in certain capital being used that might otherwise be sitting idle). In this kind of environment, there is enough 'supply' of productive capacity to fill the 'demand' for this new government program, and no inflation needs to occur.

But what if this healthcare policy were enacted in a ‘normal’ economic time – not on the tail-end of a recession? Even if we assume that 'normal' means we have 100% full employment (which is itself debatable), classical economics falls apart. The key here is the unfortunate assumption classical economics often makes about the difference between when the government spends and when businesses spend. Recall from above, in the classical model, when the government spends money, 0% helps economic growth, while, when businesses spend money, 100% of that spending helps economic growth. Most folks recognize that assumption to be patently false in the real world. When BP invests millions of dollars in off-shore oil rigging that eventually causes multi-billion dollar environmental catastrophes, or when Chinese businesses invest money in making tires for export to the US that subsequent explode while us Americans are barreling down the road – not all of that sounds particularly productive: quite the contrary actually. Conversely, when the government spends money on educational infrastructure, transportation and logistics infrastructure, or perhaps even providing some certainty for millions of Americans regarding their healthcare…. Some of that is likely very productive and adds to the economic capacity of the United States. The point here is that some government spending actually increases the size of the pot. And to the degree that the potential for that growth that might not normally occur in the private market is probable compared to the potential for the policy to cause inflation – even in ‘normal’ economic times that spending policy may be worth it. In today's environment, the potential of Obamacare to increase economic growth is debatable. But the potential for it to cause inflation is almost non-existent because (1) it is of relatively small cost in the grand scheme of our economy, and (2) if the markets thought significant inflation was on the horizon, interest rates on non-government backed securities would be pressured to increase as potential lenders would demand a higher rate of return to cover the higher future prices - but this is not happening at all today.

What this means for our present political debate over the government debt is that there is a fundamentally simplistic worldview that many Republicans have, that is largely based on the overly simple classical model of economics: the idea that when the government goes more into debt, it takes existing resources from the private sector and kills economic growth. It ignores the reality that in fact, the debt is much more a by-product of economic growth and the cycles of booms and busts as supposed to the other way around. And that in fact, sometimes, the government can have positive effects on economic growth albeit with a substantial upfront cost. Most folks call that an 'investment' in the future.

Read More... [Source: Reviving Economics]

Signs of turnaround: SpiceJet goes for a 10% pay hike after 3 years

SpiceJet increased salaries of pilots & crew after three years, a move which may give investors hope that all is not bad with the loss-making carrier.
Read More... [Source: Jobs-The Economic Times]

Studio apartments: Young buyers' dwelling of choice

For builders, these 250-400 sq ft flats starting at Rs 25 lakh have turned out to be a fast-moving category, generating sales and cash flow.
Read More... [Source: Real Estate-Markets-The Economic Times]

Trial by Error: Justice in Post-Qadhafi Libya

This paper argues that there are many necessary cures to Libya's pervasive insecurity, but few more urgent than repairing its judicial system. Qadhafi-era victims, distrusting an apparatus they view as a relic, take matters in their hands; some armed groups, sceptical of the state's ability to carry out justice, arbitrarily detain, torture or assassinate presumed Qadhafi loyalists; others, taking advantage of disorder, do violence for political or criminal aims.
Read More... [Source: GSDRC newsfeed on Justice]

Middle East demand boosts UK chocolate exports

UK food and drink exports have been given a sweet boost thanks to rising demand for chocolate in the Middle East.

Biblical Criticism.

Biblical Criticism started in earnest in 1835 with the book "Life of Jesus (http://www.amazon.com/Life-Jesus-Critically-Examined/dp/1616403179)" by David Strauss (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Friedrich_Strauss). At the second Vatican Counsel 1965 the Catholic Church embraced Biblical...
Read More... [Source: Debate Politics Forums]

The Post's real estate section editor Elizabeth Razzi and real estate reporter Dina ElBoghdady take questions about the springtime housing market in the Washington area.
Read More... [Source: ]

Local meat movement frets as Tri Town still in limbo

(Aug 5, 2014) One of the North Country's few slaughterhouses and meat packing plants says it's trying to regain its certification for processing retail cuts of meat.Tri Town Packing's co-owner Jeff Liberty says he is "working as diligently as possible" to resolve differences with federal meat inspectors. Liberty says he's hired a consultant from Iowa.The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service says it withdrew its inspectors from Tri Town on July 17. A spokeswoman said by email that the USDA will continue to suspend inspection until it's confident Tri Town can "operate and produce product in a safe and wholesome way."Tri Town is located in the northern St. Lawrence County town of Brasher Falls. It remains open for private meat orders, known as custom work.But it's one of just four plants in the North Country that can prepare beef, pork, and lamb for sale in stores, restaurants, or at farmers markets. So farmers and businesses that rely on local meat sales are facing a shortage and looking for alternatives. [full story]
Read More... [Source: Regional economic news from North Country Public Radio]

Inventory of realty companies on taxmanâ€™s radar

Interest income on fixed deposits by large clubs and income from room hire and rentals are not covered under the principle of mutuality and are taxable.
Read More... [Source: Tax Savers-Wealth-The Economic Times]

Choosing the Right ba business studies College

Do you want to pursue ba business studies in order to make a career in business management? There are a number of colleges that offer business studies or management undergraduate courses. According to admissions board members, the chances of getting admission to the top business schools are around 10% to 20%. However, if you make the right choices during the process of application it is possible to increase these chances dramatically. So what are these choices? Read on to explore.

Narrow down the career types that you want to pursue. This should be accompanied with a real-life self-assessment of your abilities. It is essential to carefully examine your motives and determine the setup where you would be working after completing your ba business adminsitration degree.

This is helpful because when you fill the application form, the college would ask about your career aspirations. You should be able to clearly explain where you want to find yourself in the future and how the college can prove to be helpful in providing you the pathway.

Then, check the reputation of the college. Choosing a business school with national or international reputation would be of great help to your career. You may not realize this initially, but once you complete the graduation the reputation of the college could make a world of a difference in helping you land a far better job.

Career placement record is the next factor to be considered when choosing a good bsc business management college. Most of the colleges would publish a lot of placement information on their promotional materials.

Declining marriage rates suggest a growing fraction of millennials will remain unmarried through age 40. In this brief, we use data from the American Community Survey to estimate age-specific marriage rates and project the percentage of millennials who will marry by age 40 in different scenarios. We find that the percentage of millennials marrying by age 40 will fall lower than for any previous generation of Americans, even in a scenario where marriage rates recover considerably. Moreover, marriage patterns will continue to diverge by education and race, increasing the divides between mostly married haves and increasingly single "have-nots".
Read More... [Source: Urban Institute: Race/Ethnicity/Gender]

Ranbaxy rallies nearly 10% on $3.2 billion deal with Sun Pharma

The deal values Ranbaxy shares at Rs 457 apiece, representing an 18 per cent premium to their 30-day volume-weighted average share price.
Read More... [Source: Markets-The Economic Times]

This fact sheet examines the effects of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) on charitable giving. The major individual income tax provisions are estimated to increase giving by $3.3 billion or 1.5 percent, relative to 2012 law, mainly because of the increase in the top marginal tax rate. Numerous other smaller provisions will also affect charitable giving.
Read More... [Source: Urban Institute: Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy]

Bear of the Day: Elizabeth Arden (RDEN) - Bear of the Day
Read More... [Source: ]

All Indian nationals safe in quake-hit Japan: Govt

A day after Japan was hit by giant tidal waves caused by a massive earthquake which has left 1600 people dead or unaccounted for there, India today said that information available so far indicates that all its nationals are safe.
Read More... [Source: Dateline India-Magazines-The Economic Times]

Understanding Unretirement: Seven Questions You Should Ask Yourself Right Now about Your Golden Years

Retirement is changing in profound ways. The dream of a luxurious retirement packed with golf resorts and cruise ships has proven elusive for many Canadians. It was probably never realistic, but in important ways baby boomers are only just now coming to terms with a future they hadn’t banked on. It’s a future that includes [...]

Understanding Unretirement: Seven Questions You Should Ask Yourself Right Now about Your Golden Years appeared first on Canadian Finance Blog.

Algo Financial Modeler Enterprise

An Actuarial Modeling solution that has been designed to push the boundaries of financial modeling and meet the latest regulatory requirements. Launched in April 2006, Algo Financial Modeler is now used by more than 170 companies around the world....
Read More... [Source: Bobsguide Product List: Modelling Software]

NFL, apologize to women for Ray Rice

Roxanne Jones says NFL commissioner Roger Goodell talks a good line about wanting to draw women fans, but his light slap of Ray Rice over abuse of a woman tells what he really thinks about them
Read More... [Source: CNN.com - Justice]

МОСКВА, 9 авг — РИА Новости. «Турпомощь» организовала рейсы для туристов компании «Лабиринт», которые находятся в Черногории и на греческом острове Кос.

Annals of Whack

Here's a look at five of the most bizarre conspiracy theories floating around out there. My personal favorite is the one where the Obama administration is stockpiling 30,000 guillotines. Holy Madame Defarge, Batman! I'm a little disappointed that an evil alien/Obama cabal didn't make the list.

ON A MORE RATIONAL NOTE, one place in India has hired human "monkey mimics" to control the behavior of pesky primates. It occurs to me that at some point, monkeys might be hired to control the behavior of pesky humans...

IT'S WORKING, CONTINUED. Here's a look at how the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, is working in places where it is allowed to.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Read More... [Source: The Goat Rope]

U.S. urges India to step up as regional power

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The United States urged India on Saturday to bolster its role as a global power and force for regional stability, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first visit to Washington since his election in May.

Read More... [Source: Reuters: World News]

Carnival cinemas has big expansion plans in South. Opens five- screen multiplex in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu.

Opens five- screen multiplex in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu With 50 mores screens by end of the year it plans to become biggest screen holder in Kerala In all 300 screens to be opened across India by 2018
Read More... [Source: IndiaPRwire - Press/News Releases]

Plastic surgery gone wrong

Dr. Terry Dubrow and Dr. Paul Nassif from E!'s new show "Botched" discuss the risks and complications of plastic surgery.

Brad Paisley, â€œPerfect Stormâ€

Brad Paisley, â€œPerfect Stormâ€
Read More... [Source: Security Cameras Are Smart Investments]

Fixed income funds still trump bank deposits

In the immediate aftermath of the taxation changes, investors and analysts were vocal in pointing out how much worse off fixed income mutual fund investors are.
Read More... [Source: Finance-Banking/Finance-Industry-The Economic Times]

What does 'diversity' mean to you? The answer may depend on your race

(Society for Personality and Social Psychology) Researchers from the University of California at Irvine, the University of Virginia, and the University of California at Los Angeles collaborated to study how whites, Asian-Americans, and African-Americans evaluate diversity. The research included three studies, and participants were asked to rate the diversity of various groups of people that were presented as a team at work.
Read More... [Source: EurekAlert! - Business and Economics]

Barclays’ second-quarter results offer an encouraging first glimpse at the slimmed-down investment bank
Read More... [Source: ]

10 bond funds that will weather the storm

When central banks stop printing money the bond market is expected to fall. Which bond funds are safest, asks Richard Evans.

slow slow Quick-Quick

Yesterday in the late afternoon I started to play the piano. We purchased a piano when the kids were little. I used to play with some regularity back then, maybe once a week or perhaps once or month. This time its probably been about a year since the last time. Now our piano is woefully out of tune. It turns out there is some virtue even in deterioration. With the tuning so off, sometimes I couldn't tell whether the clunker was because I hit a wrong note or not.

Even with this low level of performance there is something of a marvel that this activity is still possible at all. I took weekly piano lessons from ages 8 to 13. Thanks to Mr. Anson for the lessons and to my parents for gently encouraging this activity. Much of it, particularly the Sonatinas by Clementi, has been long forgotten. But the ability to use a "fake book" and pick out a show tune with the accompanying chords has been largely retained. Now I only do the slow tunes - Till There Was You, Try To Remember, etc. - so I can accommodate my mistakes and make adjustments to them in near real time. And there are some things I recall imperfectly at best - all the notes in a diminished seventh, which are the flat keys in e flat minor, etc. But these failings notwithstanding, something that is good enough emerges so my wife will hum along. The real trouble is the font that the music is written in. It is now too small for me. So it is a bit of a strain to do this and sooner rather than later I tired from it.

Afterward, it served as food for thought, not just about what other lessons learned as a kid have stayed learned as an adult, riding a bicycle serves as the emblem for that notion. There was still more on what what potential lessons might have been learned in the same way but weren't for lack of exposure. Dancing for me is in that category, ballroom dancing in particular.

During the spring semester 1990, my wife and I got married in mid June of that year, we took an evening class at the "Y" in ballroom dancing. The impetus was fairly immediate. We knew we'd have to do a dance at the wedding before other couples got up to do likewise. All eyes would be on us for this first dance. We didn't want to feel embarrassed. The dance class was our way to take some necessary precaution.

Our teacher was Miss Villacorta. (See the picture below and the piece linked back.) She has been a mainstay on campus for many years. And I believe the students who have had her class speak of it with fondness. The following spring I taught a class where some of the students were also taking ballroom dancing. They preferred it to the economics. Let me get back to that point.

My wife and I learned to waltz tolerably, which is what we did at our wedding. I believe that much has still been retained in me, though I know we eventually learned how to waltz all around a room and now I might have to stick with staying in a square pattern, at least at first. But we learned other dances as well. The Jitterbug is one I remember in concept. Slow slow quick-quick are the memorable part of the instructions for dancing the Jitterbug. If you see the charming movie, Shall We Dance?, those words are uttered during the dance training. My wife and I never quite mastered the Jitterbug, but at the time we were enthusiastic learners. At my brother-in-law's wedding in Kansas City, which was the April before our wedding, my wife and I lurked in the corners trying to do the Jitterbug to the music. My mother-in-law saw us and was able to tell it was the Jitterbug that we were attempting. Alas, after our own wedding those lessons with Miss Villa Shorta (what we affectionately called her as we were getting ready to head over to the "Y") were largely forgotten. If I were to do the Jitterbug today, I'd have to be taught it from scratch.

During the fall of my senior year in high school I wrote an opinion piece for the school newspaper. It argued that gym should be an elective instead of a required course, as it was then. The school was overcrowded and gym was pretty horrible as a consequence. I recall that my English teacher took note of that piece at the time, perhaps because it had a kind of sensibility that was absent from other such student writing, which was prone toward the idealistic end of the spectrum.

One aspect of gym that I was first exposed to around that time said it should be preparing kids for recreational athletic pursuits later in life. Doing the parallel bars and tumbling on the mats, both of which I dreaded, don't fit in this category. I can't remember the last time I did a forward roll. Running does seem to fit. But even basketball might not for many adults.

At the time the big three recreational activities were bowling, golf, and tennis. The school was really not capable of educating students in these activities. It was too crowded and the facilities for these activities were not at the school. There were clubs and/or teams for those with the inclination and who were proficient enough in these activities. But for the rest of us these were things to learn entirely outside of school. I did take some private tennis lessons, though nothing near the regime I had with the piano. With bowling I was entirely self-taught, as were my friends. It was on TV so we may have gotten a tip or two from that. Mostly, though, it was just applying the main lesson from any ball sport. Following through with the swing was the key. Golf I didn't pick up for real till my second year as an Assistant Professor. Then the impetus was doing some activity with my peers as well as to find a way to benignly express some of the frustration over departmental politics. (Swinging as hard as you can at a golf ball, irrespective of where it would end afterward, was remarkably satisfying that way. It took years of play before I had any cognition about trying to control the flight of the ball.)

Alas, since my rotator cuff repair these activities are largely off the table. I went to the driving range ten days ago and hit a small bucket of balls, only a nine iron and a seven iron. I'm still feeling the after effects of that. I'm hopeful that the recovery period won't be as long in the future, but I wouldn't put money on that proposition. In the meantime, walking has been my mainstay. It is a good thing to do and I'm on a daily regime. Yet some variety from that would be nice.

This brings us back to ballroom dancing, but with a twist (no pun intended). Why not have it taught in high school, so it becomes accepted that many people know how to dance tolerably well? In college, gym classes are purely optional. If we were serious about using high school to prepare for adult life, ballroom dancing classes, as an elective alternative to the normal gym class, would have a certain logic.

Gym was the only class I had in high school that was not co-ed. I can't imagine an all boys dancing class nor that it would attract anyone who'd be willing to take it and admit to doing so. A co-ed version makes more sense. Does this idea otherwise pass muster?

For the more precocious among the students in boy-girl interactions, such a class might prove a boon that the school actually would not want to promote, and perhaps would want to deter (at least when manifest on school grounds). But for kids like me who were largely clueless in this area, this sort of risk would be nil. I really don't know how you'd select kids who'd benefit long term from a high school ballroom dancing class yet who also wouldn't take advantage of the setting near term. That's something to puzzle on.

That may be the big deal issue. There's also the matter of cloning Miss Villacorta. But with her having had so many students who are fond of her, that one should be a piece of cake.

http://www.inspiredbylifeandfiction.com/small-things-big-rewards/

Small Things. Big Rewards. via kwout

Read More... [Source: Lanny on Learning Technology]

UPDATE 1-Workers at Shougang's iron mine in Peru to strike August 18

(Adds parent company RIC and quotes from company and union leader, context)

Pak Lah, Najib are better leaders than Anwar

When I read that YB Liew Chin Tong and Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was a better PM than current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, I felt that the comparison was a lame one. YB Liew Chin Tong and Datuk Zaid Ibrahim must not be shy to compare Pak Lah and Najib with Anwar Ibrahim whose record is like a blank sheet of paper.

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said that Pak Lah’s administration was better than Najib purely because of the lack of racial religious rhetoric. This is wrong. Pak Lah and Najib are bankruptcies when it comes to racial religious rhetoric. Only one man was not part of this rally for a moderate Malaysia.

Let me begin with education.

In July, 2009, when PPSMI was scrapped, Najib said the Government was aware how important it was for Malaysians to be proficient in English. When asked if the PPSMI was dropped to uphold the use of Bahasa Malaysia as a national language, Pak Lah said the previous policy had not achieved the desired results and he hoped the people would also accept the alternative steps planned by the Government to strengthen students’ command of the English language.

Race was not a determinant in the BN Government’s education policy for school children.

In the run up to this policy decision, do you know what Anwar said? On Jan 15, 2009 in his blog post “Pakatan Rakyat Komited Mansuh PPSMI”, Anwar Ibrahim wrote “Acapkali saya tekankan betapa mereka yang bertindak meneruskan hatta menyokong PPSMI adalah kalangan yang khianat kepada perjuangan Melayu. Justeru bagaimana mereka yang tegar menyokong PPSMI diteruskan saban waktu mengaku pejuang melayu tulen?”

That was in 2009. Are you surprised?

When Anwar was Education Minister, what did he do? I was still learning how to walk at that time but according to former Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin, the term Bahasa Malaysia was introduced by Tunku Abdul Rahman after the country's independence to inculcate a Malaysian identity and no one asked for a change until Anwar Ibrahim became the Education Minister. Bahasa Melayu became the official term for our national language.

In 2007, under Pak Lah, the Government decided that Bahasa Malaysia will replace Bahasa Melayu as the official term to be used to refer to the national language.

Clearly, Pak Lah and Najib are leaders of Malaysians first and politicians second.

If you remember, when Pak Lah was acting Prime Minister in 2003, he lifted the ban on the Bibles that were published in the indigenous Iban language. Back then, Pak Lah said "I was told that the word has been used by the community as a reference to God for a very long time. Since the word is found in the Iban Bible only, I don´t see the reason why it should be banned." Pak Lah was attentive and listened to the views of all religious leaders.

Under Najib, the Government is committed to the 10-point solution. Bibles in all languages can be imported into the country, including Bahasa Malaysia, and Bibles can also be printed locally in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.

When Pak Lah and Najib were needed as Malaysian leaders, they delivered.

Look at Selangor today. Issues remain on the table but solutions are nowhere to be seen. The Kajang Move and endorsing the missus as Selangor’s new Menteri Besar are not solutions. That is more of a romance story at the public’s expense.

As Prime Ministers, Pak Lah and Najib are poor when it comes to racial religious rhetoric but consistently rich in their vision and leadership for a moderate Malaysia.

To know that YB Liew Chin Tong has closed both eyes on Anwar Ibrahim’s record really breaks my heart.

Read More... [Source: A Piece of My Mind]

How Micromax managed to take on Samsung & what it should do to tackle intensifying competition

Micromaxâ€™s surge defines the changing landscape of the Indian mobile market, but it must do much more to have a sustainable leadership.
Read More... [Source: Hardware-Tech-The Economic Times]

Lenovo Goes Global

A buyout of IBM's PC division gave Lenovo a global footprint, but it took years to mesh the two corporate cultures. Now, Lenovo is an emerging powerhouse in consumer technology, and one of the few Chinese companies to become a household name around the world.
Read More... [Source: strategy+business: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE]

By: Cheaplee

1 - Risk Tolerance. Understand your risk tolerance is great, but also understand that conservative investing will lead to conservative results in the long run.2 - Diversification is good, until you are so diversified where you returns are not making what you want. A few goods ETFs may be your best choice.Otherwise, look for investment growth in what you invest. Don't just invest and assume. Also, learn to use market volatility indicators, like the VIX, to get out of you investments.
Read More... [Source: Comments on: Investing in a Bear Market]

The economy’s growth could, according to Citigroup chief executive Mike Corbat in a recent speech, be second only to China
Read More... [Source: ]

Paul B. Farrell: 300 million self-hating Americans need a new Dr. Freud

America has a deep, dark self-destructive secret: We hate ourselves. We hate America. Yes, Americans are consumed with self-hatred. Can’t face our demons. In denial, destroying our great nation.
Read More... [Source: MarketWatch.com - All MarketWatch News - FEED]

Holiday Data Service® for Financial Applications

COPP CLARK’S HOLIDAY DATA SERVICE® is the preferred solution by clients that need reliable and accurate holiday reference data in their systems. In today’s unpredictable and fast-paced markets, it is essential to know when holidays will occur and what their impact will be. With...

Copp Clark

Bird fans flock to Japan Owl Cafe

Bird lovers of a feather flock together at the Owl cafe in Tokyo. Roselle Chen reports.

Read More... [Source: Reuters Video: Oddly Enough]