Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bmjvodcast/~3/LhOBK961UrY/watch.html
Thursday, July 26, 2012
George Soros
Bill Moyers talks with one of the world's most successful investors George Soros about the global capital meltdown, how he saw it coming, and what can be done now.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bmjvodcast/~3/HV1goJLDdB0/profile.html
Anna Deavere Smith pt 1
While politicians and the media war over "the public option" and "bending the cost curve," acclaimed actress-playwright Anna Deavere Smith and her one-woman play "LET ME DOWN EASY" give voice to questions of life and death, sickness and healthcare.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bmjvodcast/~3/-ntgY1mctTI/profile.html
Sketch: Vince Cable, Positivity Tsar
Michael Deacon hears the Business Secretary urge recession-hit Britain to focus on "positive things".
How to avoid costly iPhone data roaming charges
Filed under: Technology, Video, Travel
Recently the Los Angeles Times showcased a problem that more and more iPhone users are running into when they travel; expensive data roaming charges. The article profiles the plight of Nathan Oventhal to get a $550 data charge removed from his AT&T bill after his iPhone connected to the Internet while traveling in Paris.According to Oventhal, when he turned his iPhone on in Paris he didn't make any calls or use the Internet; opting only to take some pictures, but when he got home he found a bill for 20 MB worth of data. In the States 20MB of data wouldn't make a difference, but the exchange rate for data use is incredibly high, which resulted in his $550 welcome home gift.
Continue reading How to avoid costly iPhone data roaming charges
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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/14/how-to-avoid-costly-iphone-data-roaming-charges/
Dividend Growth Index 2012 Q2 Update
The Dividend Growth Index is a fun project created by Mike over at The Dividend Guy. The Index is comprised of 8 dividend growth bloggers selecting 3 stocks each, for a total of 24 dividend paying companies in the Index. The Index was established in September 2011 and continues to be a fun initiative to be part [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/myownadvisor/CsCc/~3/KTBeScfs27Y/
I gave at the (tax) office…
We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes…
~ Leona Helmsley – hotelier and crazy narcissist…
Taxes are the higher-earning frugal employee’s nightmare. Spending can be controlled in every category except for taxes when you’re an employee.
If I were to stay working at my contract job for a full year – which I’m not going [...]
~ Leona Helmsley – hotelier and crazy narcissist…
Taxes are the higher-earning frugal employee’s nightmare. Spending can be controlled in every category except for taxes when you’re an employee.
If I were to stay working at my contract job for a full year – which I’m not going [...]
Source: http://singlemomrichmom.com/i-gave-at-the-tax-office/
Service Sector Inflation Ticks Up
The headline number for this morning's PPI report was an 0.6% decline in the price of finished goods less food and energy ("core PPI"). In fact, core finished goods PPI has fallen for 4 out of the past 6 months. So if we just look at this number, inflation seems like it isn't a problem,
However, I prefer to look at a different statistic in the PPI report--the PPI for traditional service industries. Never heard of it? You are not alone. Starting a few years ago, the BLS aggressively broadened its coverage of the service sector. In particular, the "traditional service sector" includes everything from telecommunications and web search portals to health care to banking to management consulting to fitness centers.
So now the BLS publishes a PPI for these service sector industries (it's at the back of the report, pp 20-21). I wrote about the service sector PPI on my blog in February, in a post entitled "The PPI says: Service Sector Deflation is Almost Here."
Now, we have a really big divergence in the path of the core finished goods PPI and the service sector PPI. Core goods inflation is collapsing. But services PPI is slowly ticking up.
I think the service sector PPI is a better measure of the underlying inflation rate, because it covers a broader swathe of the economy. So this chart tells us that inflation is slowly starting to recover.
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2009/11/service_sector.html
More Than One-Third of American Families Financially Vulnerable: Survey
Author(s):
Donald Liebenson
Households in which people live from paycheck to paycheck outnumber households in which people feel financially comfortable, according to a study released Tuesday by the Consumer Federation of America and the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.
Thirty-eight percent of families are financially vulnerable vs. 30 percent who are more secure, the study found. Fifteen years ago, these percentages were reversed, a testament to the much more challenging economic landscape American families face in 2012.
The average family has no more wealth today than it did in the early 1990s, according to data from the Federal Reserve, meaning the economic collapse wiped out nearly two decades of economic gains. And yet, the study found, “the percentage of American families who have made a comprehensive financial plan—either on their own or with professional help—has not changed significantly from 15 years ago. Overall, 31 percent of household decision makers report having ever put together a financial plan, while 35 percent—down from 37 percent in 1997, report having a plan in place to save for emergencies.
As has gone the economy, so have people’s comfort level with financial matters. More than half (55 percent) say, “it’s hard for me to know who to trust for financial advice,” while 52 percent report, “to me investing seems complicated.” Fifty-five percent--up from 45 percent five years ago-- are more risk averse and agreed with the statement, “I’m worried about losing my money if I invest it.”
Twenty-six percent of households in the $100,000 and up category believe their income is insufficient to allow them to save on a regular basis. Fewer respondents as a whole report having saved toward one or more of their goals than did so 15 years ago (80 percent vs. 84 percent). This includes saving for emergencies (63 percent vs. 68 percent) and saving for college (48 percent vs. 56 percent).
The study found that if families have a financial plan in place, it is most likely for retirement. Only about half (49 percent) on non-retirees said they have begun saving for their senior years.
Not surprisingly, those with financial plans are significantly more likely to feel “very confident” about managing money, saving and investments (52 percent vs. 30 percent). They are also more likely than non-planners to describe themselves as “living comfortably” (48 percent vs. 22 percent
This new survey mirrors findings in Millionaire Corner's first quarter survey of households with a net worth between $100,000 and $1 million, which found that 72 percent—up from 62 percent the year before—said they are most concerned about maintaining their current financial condition. Sixty-seven percent—up four percentage points—are worried about having enough money set aside for retirement, while 58 percent are concerned about being able to retire as planned.
Almost half (48 percent) also believe that it is more important to protect their principal than grow their investments, a sentiment most strongly shared among seniors over 65 (53 percent).
The economic downturn has made these households weary over the investment process and money management. 41 percent—down from 67 percent in 2009—like to be actively involved in the day-to-day management of their investments, while 34 percent—down from 53 percent three years ago—enjoy investing and say it is something they do not want to give up.
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Wednesday, July 25, 2012
10 Ways to Avoid Drowning in Debt
Since finishing university, I’ve realized there are varying degrees of student debt. There are the incessant spenders, who will buy new clothes, food and pricey drinks at the bar, and then complain that they’re broke and have no money. Next, there’s the OSAP-ers who need to pay for school and living expenses and have no other option. Lastly, there’s the borderline debt group, which includes people teetering between the red and green, barely keeping themselves afloat. MORE
Euro exit beats begging bowl, says Spanish elder statesman
The regional leader of Asturias in Spain has become the country's first major figure to call for a radical change of strategy and exit from the euro, unless monetary union is fundamentally reformed.
How A Bloated Wall Street Can Hurt Growth
A too-big financial sector can cause chronic problems, especially for research-dependent industries, concludes an analysis by two economists.
jpmorgan: @petermillar Hey, @gcgarywilliams had on this great light blue cardigan on Morning Drive last saturday...can't find it online...link?
jpmorgan: @petermillar Hey, @gcgarywilliams had on this great light blue cardigan on Morning Drive last saturday...can't find it online...link?
Source: http://twitter.com/jpmorgan/statuses/203142574658162688
$1= good karma
So Wednesday it was darn hot and humid for here. With the humidex it 'felt' like 48C. The temp was about 36C. I don't do well in heat. AT. ALL. I am a 20C kinda girl. Give me a bit of cloud cover or a breeze - even better.
I thought I would kill two birds with one stone by heading to the library - the Air Conditioned Library - and return 2 books which had a small fine for being over (<$1). Off I went and found the lobby of the library filled with table after table of books. Each table had a sign that said "Box of Books - $1". Below the tables were boxes of all shapes and sizes.
I tossed my 2 books in the return slot and wandered over to the table, rather intrigued. You know me and books. Of course several tables were books that were very old and worn, some on some really boring (to me) non fiction topics. Then I found the fiction tables. My fingers wandered down the spines and my eyes stopped on some familiar authors. Hmm, I thought. My fingers kept going and I saw a book I had owned, but had been ruined when water had been spilled on it. Hmmmm I thought. When my eyes hit a novel my students sometimes read, which was signed inside by the author, my mind had been made up.
I found a paperbox under the table that looked just the right size and I headed back to the first placed I had hmmmmmmed and began to put books in my box. I had a great time. Sure there were lots of books that were in rough shape, and sure there were books that were of no interest to me, but there was a wealth of books that interested me.
With my box full of over 30 books (mostly hardcover) I headed to the counter to pay for it and my fines. I had a toonie in hand to cover costs. When the librarian clicked on my account we discovered I did NOT have any fines. How nice!! So there I was with this extra loonie in hand. I glanced over to see this young lady - by young I mean about 23 or so. I can tell I am getting old when I have that as a frame of reference for 'young' now. She had a box of books and we had exchanged excited smiles at the treasure that was ours for a dollar. I Handed my loonie back to the librarian and said "I'd like to buy that lady's box too. I feel the need for a good deed". The librarian was surprised as was the lady, when she went to pay.
I came home, happy I did something nice and excited about my box of books.
So where is the karma, you ask?
Meet Tiny, below. Tiny is one of the five kittens who had been born last year at my sister's acreage. She and her four siblings (one black, one white, one orange and one calico) all survived the winter out there with their mama. Come spring, all the females found themselves expecting, as well as the original mama. So many kitties. Tiny hid her kittens so we couldn't find them.
Fast forward to Friday, July 6th. DS1 came out with me to help feed the kitties while my sister was gone. As we approached the turnoff to her place we could see something on the road in the other lane. It was Tiny. She had been hit. DS1 - well I was really proud of him as he is squeamish - he found a shovel and we got her off the road and took her to the trees and buried her. We looked and looked for the kitties, but nothing. Same thing for Sat, Sun, Mon, and Tuesday.
My sister got home Tuesday and started looking. After that many days in such hot heat, with no mama, it didn't look good for the babies. When I got home from the library Wednesday I got a text from my sister than she had found them under a shed but she couldn't get near them.
Off goes the catwhisperer (MOI) to the farm. My sister had put a bowl of milk, one of water and some dry cat food near the hole under the shed. I knew they couldn't survive alone way on the other side of the property. So I take a can of wet catfood, and the two remaining mamas at the farm followed me over to the shed. I was hoping one of them would see the kittens or sniff them out, and adopt them. The main mama got over there, got spooked and ran off. The other mama just wanted the food so I put it down near the hole. As she was eating it this tiny face popped out of the hole. It had a wee milk mustache so I knew it had had a bit of fluid. I was not pleased when the mama growled at the kitten. I gave her a stern lecture and I waited for the little head to appear again. When it did, the mama whapped it with her paw. OUT she went.
So I sat there in the prairie grass (got a tick) in 33C heat and waited and mewed. Finally the little head appeared, and went right past the food and straight to me. Crying and wanting to be held. Just about broke my heart. While I held it, two other heads popped out and ate some of the wet food and drank some milk. They all were very tiny and had weak, wobbly legs. I kept putting the first one down by the food but she kept coming back to me. If there had only been the one kitten I would have brought her home. So the little butter brown kitty and I went on a field trip across the yard to the other mamas, the two males and the remaining four kittens at the house. I was hoping the mamas would accept her. The wee kitty purred the whole way. I put her down by the oldest mama and was so happy to see her accept her. The kitty wandered in and out between the legs of everybody else and no one, not even the males, got upset.
Feeling relief I headed back over to get the remaining two. They were not nearly so friendly as the first, but after a long time of me mewing and encouraging them to be brave, I got them, one at a time. The little black one was so happy to be with other kitties. The orange striped one was a bit hissy en route and bit me but once he got there, he was happy.
After two hours in the heat and sweat dripping off me and in all kinds of unmentionable places, the orphans were nursing and playing with the rest. I went over to Tiny's grave and told her we found her babies and they were going to be ok now.
Man I love cats :-)
I would like to think that my good deed earlier contributed to our being able to find them and rescue them.
Source: http://shakingthemoneytree.blogspot.com/2012/07/1-good-karma.html
Reader Question – Why don’t you just buy dividend ETFs?
Every week, I receive many requests and questions from readers in my inbox. Thanks for those by the way and keep those questions coming folks. One of the more frequent questions to My Own Advisor is: Why don’t you just buy and hold a dividend ETF instead of individual stocks? Good question. Before I [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/myownadvisor/CsCc/~3/x-QtBaQrcLM/
Time again for Thomas Paine?
On the 200th anniversary of Thomas Paine's death, Bill Moyers sits down with THOMAS PAINE AND THE PROMISE OF AMERICA author Harvey J. Kaye and NATIONAL REVIEW senior editor Richard Brookhiser, author of WHAT WOULD THE FOUNDERS DO?
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bmjvodcast/~3/dNzgaTp6pW8/profile2.html
European Court Upholds Most of $1 Billion-Plus Microsoft Fine
Filed under: Company News, Technology, Google , Microsoft, Apple, Market News
By TOBY STERLINGBRUSSELS -- A European court on Wednesday upheld most of a massive fine levied against Microsoft (MSFT) by the European Commission's competition watchdog, closing a case against the software giant that began in 1998.
In an appeals ruling, the General Court of the European Union rejected Microsoft Corp.'s request to dismiss the fine levied in 2008, but did trim it by 39 million euros ($49 million) to 860 million euros ($1.1 billion). Counting two earlier fines, the case has wound up costing Microsoft a grand total of 1.64 billion euros ($2.05 billion).
That's the most ever resulting from a single antitrust case in Europe, though in 2009, Intel (INTC) was hit with the largest single fine, 1.09 billion euros ($1.36 billion).
The court in Luxembourg said its decision "essentially upholds the Commission's decision and rejects all the arguments put forward by Microsoft in support of annulment."
The 860 million euro fine is a "penalty for noncompliance" with the watchdog's 2004 order for Microsoft to make computer programming code available that would allow competitors' products to interface properly with Microsoft's server software.
Microsoft did so, but at a price the Commission said was so exorbitant it amounted to not complying.
The court upheld that finding, but said Microsoft deserved a small break because of a letter the Commission sent in 2005 saying the company didn't have to freely distribute code that wasn't its own and was freely available elsewhere. That letter gave Microsoft some room to think it was OK to continue acting the way it had until 2004, and should have been "taken into account in determining the gravity of the conduct found to be unlawful," the written decision said.
The Commission's top regulator Joaquin Almunia said the judgment "fully vindicates" his office's action against Microsoft and "brought significant benefits to users."
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"A range of innovative products that would otherwise not have seen the light of day were introduced on the market," thanks to the Commission, he said.Microsoft was less enthusiastic.
"Although the General Court slightly reduced the fine, we are disappointed with the Court's ruling," the company said in a statement.
Microsoft was initially fined 497 euros along with the 2004 order, then it was penalized another 280.5 million euros for noncompliance in 2006, and then another 899 million euros in 2008.
The company has already booked provisions for all the fines and penalties and after the ruling it has no active outstanding quarrels with European regulators.
"In 2009 Microsoft entered into a broad understanding with the Commission that resolved its competition law concerns," the company said.
Most notably in the 2009 deal, Microsoft ended an investigation into allegedly abusive practices for bundling its Internet Explorer web browser along with its operating systems. Microsoft agreed to instead offer customers a range of browsers to choose from.
In a sign of the times, Microsoft itself turned to the watchdog in 2012, asking it to investigate Google for anti-competitive practices. Microsoft alleged that Google (GOOG) was demanding unreasonable fees to license its technologies and asking courts to pull Microsoft products from shelves if they don't pay up. Google shot back with a similar request for the Commission to again investigate Microsoft last month.
Many observers say companies such as Apple (AAPL), Google and Microsoft are increasingly acting as "patent trolls," using the legal and regulatory systems as tools to thwart competitors as part of their wider struggle for market share.
Almunia said in February "the Commission will continue to keep a close eye on the behavior of all market players in the sector, particularly the increasingly strategic use of patents."
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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/06/27/european-court-upholds-most-of-1-billion-plus-microsoft-fine/
Businesses, Institutions Join Biomass Fuels Study
(Boulder, Colo.) – Two major businesses, a religious center, a school and an education center are teaming up with Boulder County to research the feasibility of using woody biomass – including wood material from mountain pine beetle kill – as a sustainable fuel source.
Boulder County recently received a $39,000 biomass utilization grant from the [...]
Boulder County recently received a $39,000 biomass utilization grant from the [...]
Source: http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/press/business-institution-biomass-fuel-study/
Philippe Sands
British law professor Philippe Sands, author of TORTURE TEAM, talks about the approval of coercive interrogation by high-level American officials.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bmjvodcast/~3/MBfaJa2yu70/profile3.html
Labor Day Reflections
A Bill Moyers essay.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bmjvodcast/~3/lC-xKYNQBNE/watch2.html
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