One of the reasons Aaron Patzer founded personal finance site Mint.com was because of his frustrations with Intuit’s financial management software Quicken. Quicken, says Patzer wasn’t user-friendly, and in Patzer’s own words “felt like a product from 1996.” Flash forward two years, and Patzer’s Mint.com (which was also a TechCrunch50 winner) was bought by Intuit for $170 million in the Fall of 2009. Clearly, Intuit perhaps agreed with Patzer, who is now vice president and general manager of Intuit’s personal finance group, that its own financial products needed a a makeover. Today, Quicken 2011 is debuting its software for Windows that includes more features from Mint.com.
This is the first version of Quicken to reflect the collaboration of the Quicken Desktop and Mint.com product and engineering teams since last fall. The new version for Windows users includes 360-degree financial view that brings together all accounts, including bank, credit card, investment and retirement. Intuit has also added support for 7,000 more banks and now lists 12,000 banks and credit union in the U.S.
Quicken’s new automated engine categorizes transactions (i.e. business, clothes, groceries, etc.) Credit card payments are automatically matched to transfers from checking or savings, to ensure they’re not double-counted. You can also create budgets within the software based on an individual’s historical spending and the software will include expense alerts and a graph to project cash flow help users avoid late fees and penalties. Pricing for Quicken 2011 ranges from $29.99 to $89.99.
Patzer says of the new version: “It combines the best of Quicken with what we built into Mint.com to help ease the burden on people trying to manage their money…The product is customizable and intuitive, two things that people have come to expect from modern software.”
One feature that is clearly lacking between Quicken and Mint is the ability to sync your Quicken desktop software with your Mint.com web account, and integrate the data (Quicken Online users are being merged to Mint.com). But Patzer says that this will soon be added to the suite of products. His goal is for Quicken and Mint to work seamlessly across all platforms, including mobile.
On another note, the Intuit acquisition doesn’t seem to have stunted Mint.com’s growth. Patzer says that the platform has grown from 1.7 million users in September of 2009 to 4.2 million users currently.
If you don't believe Reggie, try this from Chris Whalen.
The Fed's Zero Rate Policy Is Destroying AmericaChristopher Whalen, Institutional Risk Analytics | Oct. 12, 2010, 9:55 AM | 9,401 | 33
"Crown of Thorns"?
Pearl Jam
Ament/Fairweather/Gilmore/Gossard/Wood
In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we turn the camera eye on two different perspectives on the continuing crisis affecting the U.S. economy, the Fed's deflationary monetary policy and the surging price of gold. We look at how the rapid changes now underway in how consumers and investors alike view the dollar will affect the risk picture facing banks, companies and individuals. BTW, tomorrow IRA cofounder Christopher Whalen will be travelling back to the heartland to visit our friends at Indiana State University. We will give a talk entitled: "Do Americans Need a New Deal?" More on this theme next week.
Last week The IRA traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in the latest event sponsored by our friend Alex Pollock at American Enterprise Institute, "Living in the Post-Bubble World: What's Next?" We received a great deal of media buzz before and after the event, but the most poignant comment came in this unexpected and very disturbing letter from Dianna in Rockford, IL:
"I have no way of knowing if this message will ever actually reach you. Nevertheless, I want to extend a most sincere message of appreciation for one of the comments you made during recent participation in an American Enterprise Institute symposium. You are the only financial guru /analyst whom I have heard make any reference to the devastating impact of extraordinary quantitative easing on "grandma" and her carefully laid financial plans. Many middle class retirees have no generous government or corporate pension. We have had to plan and save prudently for retirement. Now, as we watch returns on CD's plunge from an average 5% to an anemic 1.5%, we also experience a plunge from a comfortable retirement into a state of severe "penny-pinching". You were correct...not only do we have to cut back on gifts for the grandchildren, we are also drastically curtailing many discretionary purchases, travel to spend time with family and so forth. I have heard NO other analyst speak to this impact on responsible retirees who thought they had done all the right things to prepare for the "golden years". It just felt good to realize that there is at least one individual who has given any consideration to this fallout from "Fed" policies."
Now you know why we at IRA take time away from our business to engage in public debate about how the world of finance affects real people. And you also see the horrible damage that the Bernanke Fed is inflicting upon real American in order to bail out the large Wall Street banks. And the irony is that all of this damage and sacrifice by Dianna and tens of millions of American individuals and businesses who depend upon interest income to survive will be for naught. The Big Banks will have to be restrructured in any event using the resolution authority in the Dodd-Frank legislation.
We also heard from our friend Henry Smyth, proprietor of Granville Cooper Asset Management Ltd., which features a unique gold fund that is comprised solely of rolling forward positions in the noble metal. The fund is domiciled entirely out of reach of America's spendthrift government and settles via Julius Baer in Zurich. (Disclosure: IRA co-founder Chris Whalen is a neighbor of Smyth and an introducing party of GCAM.)
Smyth, who we know from our Mexico days, has been pestering us since the summer about a chart created by his colleague Zeke Brustkern that illustrates the growth of the demand for gold over the past decade and how the increased estimates each year understate the actual market performance. Click here to see the gold chart which Smyth explains below:
"What this graphic aims to elucidate is the evolution of parabolic estimates of the future of gold price over the last five years. Starting with five years of data, from Sept. 2000 through Sept. 2005, a growth projection is forecasted through Sept. 2012. Each subsequent year another projection is crafted adding the additional data points into the curve's slope estimate. Five curves are portrayed in all, representing data from Sept. 2000-Sept. 2010, all projecting through 2012. What becomes clear is that despite using estimation methods intended to represent rapid parabolic growth, the estimated values continue to fall short of the real asset value appreciation. With the exception of 2008/2009, each passing year has brought substantial upward revision of growth projections, and has continued to do so throughout 2010."
Consider these two data points: First, an American retiree named Dianna who has seen her retirement savings rendered worthless by the ill-considered policy actions of the Federal Open Market Committee. Second, the action of the gold market, which is likewise suggesting that fiat paper dollars have no value. If you take the two observations together, it suggests to us that the Fed's actions are feeding global deflation and that the next leg down in the U.S. financial markets could be particularly severe -- especially if the Fed resumes printing more funny money.
While some analysts are calling for a mild devaluation of the dollar, what we see forming ahead could be something far more dramatic and potentially disruptive to the world economy, namely a protracted period of deflation driven by the subserviant position of the Fed vis-a-vis the largest banks. This new shrinkage will not only see gold moving higher but will also see the dollar collapse a la the FDR dollar devaluation of the early 1930s. This crisis is being caused by Fed zero interest rate and quantitative easing ("QE") policies.
As we have said before and we'll say again, the FOMC's zero rate policies imply that the dollar and all assets denominated in dollars have no value. Stocks, bonds and other financial assets depend upon income to make these obligations money good. Without a positive return, there is no reason to hold dollar assets. When President Abraham Lincoln introduced fiat paper dollars backed by nothing to finance the Civil War, these pieces of debt originally were convertible into Treasury notes that paid interest. But the need of a growing nation for a means of exchange rendered such devices irrelevant.
Today the situation is reversed. Non-commercial demand for dollars is collapsing in much of the global economy, in part because the Fed is transferring something like three quarters of a trillion dollars annually from individual and corporate savers to the Wall Street banks. And even this vast subsidy will be insufficient to prevent the ultimate restructuring of the top three U.S. banks. What will Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the other members of the FOMC say to Dianna and the millions of other Americans impoverished by their policy errors when we have to break up the top-three U.S. banks anyway?
Forget more QE. If the FOMC does not soon allow interest rates to rise and thereby rebalance the policy equation between American savers and borrowers, then we fully expect to see gold prices climb further. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the FOMC will hand the detractors of the central bank led by Rep Ron Paul (I-TX) the political issue they need to eliminate the Fed once and for all. And President Barack Obama will be wearing the concrete booties that once belonged to President Herbert Hoover. Unlike your worthless greenbacks, you can take that to the bank.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fed-zero-rate-policy-destroying-america-2010-10#ixzz12uaKHMFk
http://www.businessinsider.com/fed-zero-rate-policy-destroying-america-2010-10
eric seiger
<b>News</b> Corp Names EVP Office Of Chairman – Deadline.com
NEW YORK, NY, November 9, 2010 – News Corporation today announced that Former New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein will join the Company as Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman. ...
Google <b>News</b> enhanced for mobiles - Pocket-lint
Google News enhanced for mobiles - Easier navigation for your fat fingers.
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
eric seiger
One of the reasons Aaron Patzer founded personal finance site Mint.com was because of his frustrations with Intuit’s financial management software Quicken. Quicken, says Patzer wasn’t user-friendly, and in Patzer’s own words “felt like a product from 1996.” Flash forward two years, and Patzer’s Mint.com (which was also a TechCrunch50 winner) was bought by Intuit for $170 million in the Fall of 2009. Clearly, Intuit perhaps agreed with Patzer, who is now vice president and general manager of Intuit’s personal finance group, that its own financial products needed a a makeover. Today, Quicken 2011 is debuting its software for Windows that includes more features from Mint.com.
This is the first version of Quicken to reflect the collaboration of the Quicken Desktop and Mint.com product and engineering teams since last fall. The new version for Windows users includes 360-degree financial view that brings together all accounts, including bank, credit card, investment and retirement. Intuit has also added support for 7,000 more banks and now lists 12,000 banks and credit union in the U.S.
Quicken’s new automated engine categorizes transactions (i.e. business, clothes, groceries, etc.) Credit card payments are automatically matched to transfers from checking or savings, to ensure they’re not double-counted. You can also create budgets within the software based on an individual’s historical spending and the software will include expense alerts and a graph to project cash flow help users avoid late fees and penalties. Pricing for Quicken 2011 ranges from $29.99 to $89.99.
Patzer says of the new version: “It combines the best of Quicken with what we built into Mint.com to help ease the burden on people trying to manage their money…The product is customizable and intuitive, two things that people have come to expect from modern software.”
One feature that is clearly lacking between Quicken and Mint is the ability to sync your Quicken desktop software with your Mint.com web account, and integrate the data (Quicken Online users are being merged to Mint.com). But Patzer says that this will soon be added to the suite of products. His goal is for Quicken and Mint to work seamlessly across all platforms, including mobile.
On another note, the Intuit acquisition doesn’t seem to have stunted Mint.com’s growth. Patzer says that the platform has grown from 1.7 million users in September of 2009 to 4.2 million users currently.
If you don't believe Reggie, try this from Chris Whalen.
The Fed's Zero Rate Policy Is Destroying AmericaChristopher Whalen, Institutional Risk Analytics | Oct. 12, 2010, 9:55 AM | 9,401 | 33
"Crown of Thorns"?
Pearl Jam
Ament/Fairweather/Gilmore/Gossard/Wood
In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we turn the camera eye on two different perspectives on the continuing crisis affecting the U.S. economy, the Fed's deflationary monetary policy and the surging price of gold. We look at how the rapid changes now underway in how consumers and investors alike view the dollar will affect the risk picture facing banks, companies and individuals. BTW, tomorrow IRA cofounder Christopher Whalen will be travelling back to the heartland to visit our friends at Indiana State University. We will give a talk entitled: "Do Americans Need a New Deal?" More on this theme next week.
Last week The IRA traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in the latest event sponsored by our friend Alex Pollock at American Enterprise Institute, "Living in the Post-Bubble World: What's Next?" We received a great deal of media buzz before and after the event, but the most poignant comment came in this unexpected and very disturbing letter from Dianna in Rockford, IL:
"I have no way of knowing if this message will ever actually reach you. Nevertheless, I want to extend a most sincere message of appreciation for one of the comments you made during recent participation in an American Enterprise Institute symposium. You are the only financial guru /analyst whom I have heard make any reference to the devastating impact of extraordinary quantitative easing on "grandma" and her carefully laid financial plans. Many middle class retirees have no generous government or corporate pension. We have had to plan and save prudently for retirement. Now, as we watch returns on CD's plunge from an average 5% to an anemic 1.5%, we also experience a plunge from a comfortable retirement into a state of severe "penny-pinching". You were correct...not only do we have to cut back on gifts for the grandchildren, we are also drastically curtailing many discretionary purchases, travel to spend time with family and so forth. I have heard NO other analyst speak to this impact on responsible retirees who thought they had done all the right things to prepare for the "golden years". It just felt good to realize that there is at least one individual who has given any consideration to this fallout from "Fed" policies."
Now you know why we at IRA take time away from our business to engage in public debate about how the world of finance affects real people. And you also see the horrible damage that the Bernanke Fed is inflicting upon real American in order to bail out the large Wall Street banks. And the irony is that all of this damage and sacrifice by Dianna and tens of millions of American individuals and businesses who depend upon interest income to survive will be for naught. The Big Banks will have to be restrructured in any event using the resolution authority in the Dodd-Frank legislation.
We also heard from our friend Henry Smyth, proprietor of Granville Cooper Asset Management Ltd., which features a unique gold fund that is comprised solely of rolling forward positions in the noble metal. The fund is domiciled entirely out of reach of America's spendthrift government and settles via Julius Baer in Zurich. (Disclosure: IRA co-founder Chris Whalen is a neighbor of Smyth and an introducing party of GCAM.)
Smyth, who we know from our Mexico days, has been pestering us since the summer about a chart created by his colleague Zeke Brustkern that illustrates the growth of the demand for gold over the past decade and how the increased estimates each year understate the actual market performance. Click here to see the gold chart which Smyth explains below:
"What this graphic aims to elucidate is the evolution of parabolic estimates of the future of gold price over the last five years. Starting with five years of data, from Sept. 2000 through Sept. 2005, a growth projection is forecasted through Sept. 2012. Each subsequent year another projection is crafted adding the additional data points into the curve's slope estimate. Five curves are portrayed in all, representing data from Sept. 2000-Sept. 2010, all projecting through 2012. What becomes clear is that despite using estimation methods intended to represent rapid parabolic growth, the estimated values continue to fall short of the real asset value appreciation. With the exception of 2008/2009, each passing year has brought substantial upward revision of growth projections, and has continued to do so throughout 2010."
Consider these two data points: First, an American retiree named Dianna who has seen her retirement savings rendered worthless by the ill-considered policy actions of the Federal Open Market Committee. Second, the action of the gold market, which is likewise suggesting that fiat paper dollars have no value. If you take the two observations together, it suggests to us that the Fed's actions are feeding global deflation and that the next leg down in the U.S. financial markets could be particularly severe -- especially if the Fed resumes printing more funny money.
While some analysts are calling for a mild devaluation of the dollar, what we see forming ahead could be something far more dramatic and potentially disruptive to the world economy, namely a protracted period of deflation driven by the subserviant position of the Fed vis-a-vis the largest banks. This new shrinkage will not only see gold moving higher but will also see the dollar collapse a la the FDR dollar devaluation of the early 1930s. This crisis is being caused by Fed zero interest rate and quantitative easing ("QE") policies.
As we have said before and we'll say again, the FOMC's zero rate policies imply that the dollar and all assets denominated in dollars have no value. Stocks, bonds and other financial assets depend upon income to make these obligations money good. Without a positive return, there is no reason to hold dollar assets. When President Abraham Lincoln introduced fiat paper dollars backed by nothing to finance the Civil War, these pieces of debt originally were convertible into Treasury notes that paid interest. But the need of a growing nation for a means of exchange rendered such devices irrelevant.
Today the situation is reversed. Non-commercial demand for dollars is collapsing in much of the global economy, in part because the Fed is transferring something like three quarters of a trillion dollars annually from individual and corporate savers to the Wall Street banks. And even this vast subsidy will be insufficient to prevent the ultimate restructuring of the top three U.S. banks. What will Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the other members of the FOMC say to Dianna and the millions of other Americans impoverished by their policy errors when we have to break up the top-three U.S. banks anyway?
Forget more QE. If the FOMC does not soon allow interest rates to rise and thereby rebalance the policy equation between American savers and borrowers, then we fully expect to see gold prices climb further. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the FOMC will hand the detractors of the central bank led by Rep Ron Paul (I-TX) the political issue they need to eliminate the Fed once and for all. And President Barack Obama will be wearing the concrete booties that once belonged to President Herbert Hoover. Unlike your worthless greenbacks, you can take that to the bank.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fed-zero-rate-policy-destroying-america-2010-10#ixzz12uaKHMFk
http://www.businessinsider.com/fed-zero-rate-policy-destroying-america-2010-10
eric seiger
<b>News</b> Corp Names EVP Office Of Chairman – Deadline.com
NEW YORK, NY, November 9, 2010 – News Corporation today announced that Former New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein will join the Company as Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman. ...
Google <b>News</b> enhanced for mobiles - Pocket-lint
Google News enhanced for mobiles - Easier navigation for your fat fingers.
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
eric seiger
eric seiger
eric seiger
<b>News</b> Corp Names EVP Office Of Chairman – Deadline.com
NEW YORK, NY, November 9, 2010 – News Corporation today announced that Former New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein will join the Company as Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman. ...
Google <b>News</b> enhanced for mobiles - Pocket-lint
Google News enhanced for mobiles - Easier navigation for your fat fingers.
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
eric seiger
One of the reasons Aaron Patzer founded personal finance site Mint.com was because of his frustrations with Intuit’s financial management software Quicken. Quicken, says Patzer wasn’t user-friendly, and in Patzer’s own words “felt like a product from 1996.” Flash forward two years, and Patzer’s Mint.com (which was also a TechCrunch50 winner) was bought by Intuit for $170 million in the Fall of 2009. Clearly, Intuit perhaps agreed with Patzer, who is now vice president and general manager of Intuit’s personal finance group, that its own financial products needed a a makeover. Today, Quicken 2011 is debuting its software for Windows that includes more features from Mint.com.
This is the first version of Quicken to reflect the collaboration of the Quicken Desktop and Mint.com product and engineering teams since last fall. The new version for Windows users includes 360-degree financial view that brings together all accounts, including bank, credit card, investment and retirement. Intuit has also added support for 7,000 more banks and now lists 12,000 banks and credit union in the U.S.
Quicken’s new automated engine categorizes transactions (i.e. business, clothes, groceries, etc.) Credit card payments are automatically matched to transfers from checking or savings, to ensure they’re not double-counted. You can also create budgets within the software based on an individual’s historical spending and the software will include expense alerts and a graph to project cash flow help users avoid late fees and penalties. Pricing for Quicken 2011 ranges from $29.99 to $89.99.
Patzer says of the new version: “It combines the best of Quicken with what we built into Mint.com to help ease the burden on people trying to manage their money…The product is customizable and intuitive, two things that people have come to expect from modern software.”
One feature that is clearly lacking between Quicken and Mint is the ability to sync your Quicken desktop software with your Mint.com web account, and integrate the data (Quicken Online users are being merged to Mint.com). But Patzer says that this will soon be added to the suite of products. His goal is for Quicken and Mint to work seamlessly across all platforms, including mobile.
On another note, the Intuit acquisition doesn’t seem to have stunted Mint.com’s growth. Patzer says that the platform has grown from 1.7 million users in September of 2009 to 4.2 million users currently.
If you don't believe Reggie, try this from Chris Whalen.
The Fed's Zero Rate Policy Is Destroying AmericaChristopher Whalen, Institutional Risk Analytics | Oct. 12, 2010, 9:55 AM | 9,401 | 33
"Crown of Thorns"?
Pearl Jam
Ament/Fairweather/Gilmore/Gossard/Wood
In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we turn the camera eye on two different perspectives on the continuing crisis affecting the U.S. economy, the Fed's deflationary monetary policy and the surging price of gold. We look at how the rapid changes now underway in how consumers and investors alike view the dollar will affect the risk picture facing banks, companies and individuals. BTW, tomorrow IRA cofounder Christopher Whalen will be travelling back to the heartland to visit our friends at Indiana State University. We will give a talk entitled: "Do Americans Need a New Deal?" More on this theme next week.
Last week The IRA traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in the latest event sponsored by our friend Alex Pollock at American Enterprise Institute, "Living in the Post-Bubble World: What's Next?" We received a great deal of media buzz before and after the event, but the most poignant comment came in this unexpected and very disturbing letter from Dianna in Rockford, IL:
"I have no way of knowing if this message will ever actually reach you. Nevertheless, I want to extend a most sincere message of appreciation for one of the comments you made during recent participation in an American Enterprise Institute symposium. You are the only financial guru /analyst whom I have heard make any reference to the devastating impact of extraordinary quantitative easing on "grandma" and her carefully laid financial plans. Many middle class retirees have no generous government or corporate pension. We have had to plan and save prudently for retirement. Now, as we watch returns on CD's plunge from an average 5% to an anemic 1.5%, we also experience a plunge from a comfortable retirement into a state of severe "penny-pinching". You were correct...not only do we have to cut back on gifts for the grandchildren, we are also drastically curtailing many discretionary purchases, travel to spend time with family and so forth. I have heard NO other analyst speak to this impact on responsible retirees who thought they had done all the right things to prepare for the "golden years". It just felt good to realize that there is at least one individual who has given any consideration to this fallout from "Fed" policies."
Now you know why we at IRA take time away from our business to engage in public debate about how the world of finance affects real people. And you also see the horrible damage that the Bernanke Fed is inflicting upon real American in order to bail out the large Wall Street banks. And the irony is that all of this damage and sacrifice by Dianna and tens of millions of American individuals and businesses who depend upon interest income to survive will be for naught. The Big Banks will have to be restrructured in any event using the resolution authority in the Dodd-Frank legislation.
We also heard from our friend Henry Smyth, proprietor of Granville Cooper Asset Management Ltd., which features a unique gold fund that is comprised solely of rolling forward positions in the noble metal. The fund is domiciled entirely out of reach of America's spendthrift government and settles via Julius Baer in Zurich. (Disclosure: IRA co-founder Chris Whalen is a neighbor of Smyth and an introducing party of GCAM.)
Smyth, who we know from our Mexico days, has been pestering us since the summer about a chart created by his colleague Zeke Brustkern that illustrates the growth of the demand for gold over the past decade and how the increased estimates each year understate the actual market performance. Click here to see the gold chart which Smyth explains below:
"What this graphic aims to elucidate is the evolution of parabolic estimates of the future of gold price over the last five years. Starting with five years of data, from Sept. 2000 through Sept. 2005, a growth projection is forecasted through Sept. 2012. Each subsequent year another projection is crafted adding the additional data points into the curve's slope estimate. Five curves are portrayed in all, representing data from Sept. 2000-Sept. 2010, all projecting through 2012. What becomes clear is that despite using estimation methods intended to represent rapid parabolic growth, the estimated values continue to fall short of the real asset value appreciation. With the exception of 2008/2009, each passing year has brought substantial upward revision of growth projections, and has continued to do so throughout 2010."
Consider these two data points: First, an American retiree named Dianna who has seen her retirement savings rendered worthless by the ill-considered policy actions of the Federal Open Market Committee. Second, the action of the gold market, which is likewise suggesting that fiat paper dollars have no value. If you take the two observations together, it suggests to us that the Fed's actions are feeding global deflation and that the next leg down in the U.S. financial markets could be particularly severe -- especially if the Fed resumes printing more funny money.
While some analysts are calling for a mild devaluation of the dollar, what we see forming ahead could be something far more dramatic and potentially disruptive to the world economy, namely a protracted period of deflation driven by the subserviant position of the Fed vis-a-vis the largest banks. This new shrinkage will not only see gold moving higher but will also see the dollar collapse a la the FDR dollar devaluation of the early 1930s. This crisis is being caused by Fed zero interest rate and quantitative easing ("QE") policies.
As we have said before and we'll say again, the FOMC's zero rate policies imply that the dollar and all assets denominated in dollars have no value. Stocks, bonds and other financial assets depend upon income to make these obligations money good. Without a positive return, there is no reason to hold dollar assets. When President Abraham Lincoln introduced fiat paper dollars backed by nothing to finance the Civil War, these pieces of debt originally were convertible into Treasury notes that paid interest. But the need of a growing nation for a means of exchange rendered such devices irrelevant.
Today the situation is reversed. Non-commercial demand for dollars is collapsing in much of the global economy, in part because the Fed is transferring something like three quarters of a trillion dollars annually from individual and corporate savers to the Wall Street banks. And even this vast subsidy will be insufficient to prevent the ultimate restructuring of the top three U.S. banks. What will Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the other members of the FOMC say to Dianna and the millions of other Americans impoverished by their policy errors when we have to break up the top-three U.S. banks anyway?
Forget more QE. If the FOMC does not soon allow interest rates to rise and thereby rebalance the policy equation between American savers and borrowers, then we fully expect to see gold prices climb further. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the FOMC will hand the detractors of the central bank led by Rep Ron Paul (I-TX) the political issue they need to eliminate the Fed once and for all. And President Barack Obama will be wearing the concrete booties that once belonged to President Herbert Hoover. Unlike your worthless greenbacks, you can take that to the bank.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fed-zero-rate-policy-destroying-america-2010-10#ixzz12uaKHMFk
http://www.businessinsider.com/fed-zero-rate-policy-destroying-america-2010-10
eric seiger
eric seiger
<b>News</b> Corp Names EVP Office Of Chairman – Deadline.com
NEW YORK, NY, November 9, 2010 – News Corporation today announced that Former New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein will join the Company as Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman. ...
Google <b>News</b> enhanced for mobiles - Pocket-lint
Google News enhanced for mobiles - Easier navigation for your fat fingers.
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
eric seiger
eric seiger
<b>News</b> Corp Names EVP Office Of Chairman – Deadline.com
NEW YORK, NY, November 9, 2010 – News Corporation today announced that Former New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein will join the Company as Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman. ...
Google <b>News</b> enhanced for mobiles - Pocket-lint
Google News enhanced for mobiles - Easier navigation for your fat fingers.
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
eric seiger
<b>News</b> Corp Names EVP Office Of Chairman – Deadline.com
NEW YORK, NY, November 9, 2010 – News Corporation today announced that Former New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein will join the Company as Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman. ...
Google <b>News</b> enhanced for mobiles - Pocket-lint
Google News enhanced for mobiles - Easier navigation for your fat fingers.
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
eric seiger
<b>News</b> Corp Names EVP Office Of Chairman – Deadline.com
NEW YORK, NY, November 9, 2010 – News Corporation today announced that Former New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein will join the Company as Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman. ...
Google <b>News</b> enhanced for mobiles - Pocket-lint
Google News enhanced for mobiles - Easier navigation for your fat fingers.
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
eric seiger eric seiger
eric seiger
eric seiger
eric seiger
<b>News</b> Corp Names EVP Office Of Chairman – Deadline.com
NEW YORK, NY, November 9, 2010 – News Corporation today announced that Former New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein will join the Company as Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman. ...
Google <b>News</b> enhanced for mobiles - Pocket-lint
Google News enhanced for mobiles - Easier navigation for your fat fingers.
Small Business <b>News</b>: It's About The People!
Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.
There has never been a better time to pay off your credit card debt. Credit card interest rates are skyrocketing with the impending recession. Recessions mean job loss, and the credit card issuing banks fear upcoming loss of payments. Not only are credit card interest rates getting higher, but in the event you lose your job, you don't want to be stuck with more credit card bills than you need.
Consider that if you have a $2,000 balance, adding nothing new to the card and paying minimum monthly payments of 3% at a 20% interest rate, you're looking at 183 payments, over 15 years, totaling $2,241! Wouldn't that $241 be more useful elsewhere?
According to this article on MSN Money Central:
23.8% of American households have no credit cards at all -- no bank cards, no retail cards, nothing.
Another 31.2% of the households the Fed surveyed paid off their most recent credit card bills in full.
So together, the households that owed nothing on credit cards equaled 55% of the total.
Of the households that did carry a balance, the median amount owed was $1,900.
Only 29% of households owe $1,000 or more on their cards.
21% owe $2,000 or more.
6% owe $8,000 or more.
4% owe $10,500 or more.
1% owe $21,400 or more.
Getting rid of credit card debt takes determination and willpower. It's easy to pay the minimum payments for years on end, but it's not the smartest thing to do.
Here's how to get rid of that lingering credit card debt.
Step 1: Create a budget. It's not as terrible as it sounds. Be prepared to be shocked at how much you spend. Get your credit card and bank statements together and look at how much you're spending, and on what. $5 here and $10 there really adds up. Create a budget with the realization that the money coming in should always exceed the money going out. If the outgoing money is more than the incoming money, you've got serious troubles. Determine a reasonable amount to spend monthly for food, gas, rent/mortgage, utilities, toiletries, rare and cheap entertainment, etc. If you're finding this too difficult on your own, you can always pay or find a charity personal finance manager to help you.
TIP: Eliminate entertainment expenses and frivolous purchases. Did you have to see that movie in the theatre last week? Did you really need that new lampshade? Shopping for nonessentials and going out should be the smallest portion of your budget.
TIP: If you're trying to "keep up with the Jonses", stop. Examine your priorities and determine if you'd rather be able to support yourself financially or buy that latest gadget or decorative item. If the answer is "buy", go ahead and give up the idea of financial freedom.
Step 2: Perform plastic surgery. Not the expensive kind, but the cheap kind. Take a pair of scissors and hack up those cards you really want to be rid of. If you can't bring yourself to do that just yet, hide them somewhere at home so you can't use them at stores for impulse purchases. You may need to have a trusted friend or relative hold on to them for you for accountability, so that if you want to "borrow" them you'd better have a good excuse.
Also, stop using your debit card. Use cash from the ATM instead for things like gas, food and your allotted spending budget. Consumers are much more likely to spend more when it's on "plastic", because psychologically it doesn't pack as big of a punch. Choose between throwing away a $20 bill and a credit card. You'd keep the twenty. You'll get the reality check at the grocery store, when handing over $4 in cash for a 12-pack of individually canned soft drinks versus $1 for a 2-liter of the same product.
Step 3: Make your debt payment plan. Sit down with your credit card statements and figure out how much you have on each credit card and what the interest rate is. Start with the card with the highest rate. From your budget, you can determine how much you have each month to spend on debt repayment. Pay the minimum monthly payment on the other cards and put as much money as you can towards the card with the highest interest rate. When it's completely paid down, take that money and apply it toward the second-highest card, and so on, until all the balances are gone. If you can genuinely make a budget and stick to it, you can determine ahead of time when you'll be debt-free.
If you have a credit card with a small balance that isn't your highest-rate card, go ahead and pay it off first. Then you'll know the exhilaration of not owing money, which will give you incentive for the bigger ones. Just take care not to create a new balance!
TIP: If you're having a hard time paying in big chunks, pay weekly. Your credit card company will accept money any time you want to send it. Instead of paying $100 a month, try $25 a week. That will also save you a little in credit interest costs.
TIP: Live well under your means. Ideally, you should be able to save and invest 1/3 of your income if you want to. Are you able to do this now? Use an online retirement calculator to determine how much you should be saving in order to be able to retire.
Step 4: Open your credit card bills and laugh at the zero balance. Now what are you going to do with all this money? Buy yourself a little prize, (using cash!), and then it's time to save and invest.
Once you've become financially responsible and can really stick to your budget, use your credit cards for budgeted items and pay them back monthly in full. Not using credit cards at all can damper your credit score. However, take care not to run the credit cards up again! You want to be debt free and stay that way.
Here's another helpful tip: Type or write this affirmation on some index cards or pieces of paper and tuck them in your checkbook, pocketbook, or wallet: "I always pay my credit card bills in full and on time!" Seeing that here and there will implant the subliminal message that you do not have to overspend. It's also helpful to write meaningful positive notes such as "I am debt free!" or "I am a wise spender!" and tape them on your credit cards, debit cards and checkbooks. That will earn you some strange looks and smiles from store clerks, but it will be a consistent friendly reminder to yourself that you are free of credit card debt - and you're going to stay that way!
Source:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/creditcardsmarts/P150744.asp
eric seiger
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