07 Jul
Posted by: Renetta Rust in: Financial Tips
Insight on how this data will indicate where the markets are going, with Kevin Caron, Stifel Nicolaus and Lakshman Achuthan,The Economic Cycle Research Institute
Thu 07 Jul 11 | 06:15 AM ET
Americans are not the only people falling in love with social networking. In the UK, Facebook has taken control of Microsofts 2nd place position of the most popular websites visited, reports MSNBC. Even more surprising is the age group many of these visitors fall under.
Facebook attracted a record 26.8 million visitors in Britain in May, up 7 percent year on year, beating the 26.2 million who visited Microsofts MSN/WindowsLive/Bing sites combined, the organization said on Monday. Google had 33.9 million.
Twitters UK audience jumped by a third to 6.1 million, after thousands of users retweeted allegations of celebrity scandals in defiance of gagging orders, including an extra-marital affair by Manchester United soccer star Ryan Giggs.
The growth in audiences to these social networks is now primarily being driven by the 50-plus age group.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has today elected to lift interest rates from 1.25% to 1.5% the second increase since April.
The move comes to tame rising inflation in the 17-member euro zone and was widely expected by analysts and more rate rises are on the cards.
Inflation in the euro zone currently stands at 2.7% higher than the ECB’s target of just below 2% and is expected to remain above target for the short-term at least.
Many major economies are battling with higher inflation, which is rising due to higher energy, commodity and food prices.
Many central banks across the world have lifted interest rates in a bid to tame inflation and the problem is particularly rife in Asia.
At a press conference, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said: “We will continue to monitor very closely all developments with respect to upside risks to price stability.
The news comes shortly after the Bank of England opted to keep interest rates at the historic low of 0.5% despite inflation being more than double its 2% target.
The Bank of England has been reluctant to lift rates as the recovery appears to be losing momentum.
05 Jul
Posted by: Renetta Rust in: Financial Tips
Rachel Young has seen both sides of business. She was once homeless, running a business out of her car. She has even experienced the joys of success. Now Rachel believes it is time to share her lessons with fellow female entrepreneurs, and help guide them to their own success, reports KnoxvilleBiz.com.
Ive broken everything that can be broken. Ive been homeless, successful, all points in between, Young says. After nearly 10 years as a serial entrepreneur, she wanted more than a networking meeting to exchange business cards with other entrepreneurs. She wanted a place where women could teach other women how to run a business.
Young founded the KEWG in April 2010, hoping to attract women in business and those thinking about starting their own business. Women responded through , an online network of local groups, and now 196 members are listed on its website.
Treasury Secretary Geithner has indicated that no options for avoiding a default by the US will be available after August 2. Is this really a hard cap or simply a way of holding the Congress’ feet to the fire to get an extension of the debt ceiling? It is now widely understood and has been reported in the press that the US government has much greater flexibility in paying its debts than most creditors have. In fact, the Treasury has the discretion and authority to determine which obligations will be paid, should Congress fail to raise the debt limit and funds are inadequate to pay outstanding debts. The operable authority was articulated in a 1985 GAO response to a question from then-Senator Bob Packwood, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, who asked whether the Treasury had the authority to prioritize the order in which debts are paid if Congress failed to authorize an increase in the federal debt ceiling. T
US small business borrowing has peaked since July 2008 as stated by. Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index that measures volume of small business financing. The index of Payment has scaled 26 percent in May as compared to the year before.
Now small businesses need to take chances, make long term investments and also explore long term opportunities. When small businesses would start taking initiatives it would mean a positive growth for the economy.
Positive feedback has also come from research conducted on small businesses in Pepperdine University Los Angeles. Small business owners seem to be very excited about future prospects but then they cannot find the loans that they need for their growth.
On surveying 1,221 small business owners, a Pepperdine finance professor found that half of the companies tried to find a loan so as to help themselves grow during the span of last six months.
03 Jul
Posted by: Renetta Rust in: Financial Tips
The Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) closely watched quarterly Tankan survey has revealed business confidence has plunged after March’s earthquake and tsunami.
The index turned negative for the first time in more than 12 months with companies gloomy about the future.
The key index fell to a reading of -9 from a positive reading of 6 in the last quarter – sinking by 15 points and represented the first negative reading in five quarters.
Furthermore, the reading was lower than forecasts of -7.
The twin disasters on March 11 resulted in carmakers being forced to halt production as a result of parts shortages.
Firms such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan suffered heavily due to power shortages, which sent exports tumbling.
The survey suggested carmakers’ confidence was dented with this index diving by a record 75 points to -52.
The Tankan, which surveys almost 11,000 firms, measures the percentage of companies that think business conditions are good, minus those that believe they are bad.
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