| Economic Caveat From a Galaxy Far, Far Away
I nervously take another long pull from the bottle of bourbon to steady my rattled nerves when I read that Total Fed Credit was down another $5.6 billion last week, taking us down to $847.8 billion. Trying not to slur my words, I say to the bartender, "If credit isn't being created by the Fed, where in the hell is all the money coming from that keeps making stock and bond markets keep climbing and climbing?" My bloodshot eyes sweep around the bar, looking for a scapegoat that 1) appeals to my general xenophobic nature, and 2) is too small to put up a fight if it gets to that. Over in the corner I see these two old (and little!) Oriental-looking guys, and so I snort, "It's foreigners! Especially the Chinese, I guess, as the world is all agog that a million Chinese people are opening up new brokerage accounts every week, all propelled by the powerful choice of either getting a crappy, less-than-inflation yield on their savings accounts in the stupid bank (the Chinese banking system pays 2% on deposits when true inflation is around 6%), or the stupendous, fabulous gains being reaped by speculators in the stock market." The two guys see me talking about them, get up from their booth in the back and leave, obviously going out to buy stocks, I figure, to which I remark "See? Knowing this, everybody else in the greedy, desperate-for-gains world wants to get on board, too, which adds to the general buying frenzy!" With an audible sigh at seeing two customers leaving, the bartender looks at me and starts moving towards that baseball bat he keeps behind the bar.
Baltimore: A landscape of patriotism, boats and baseball
Up until the early 1980s the port of Baltimore, and its Inner Harbor, was like a legion of other commercial maritime ports on the East and West Coast of America. In other words, it was more antiquated and run down than modern and attractive — a place of smoke stacks, decaying buildings and an inhospitable landscape.A massive building boom in the 1980s, and much architectural flair, has transformed a bleak vision of wharves into a center of contemporary entertainment that is now Baltimore’s premier tourist stop. The setting is as if the stage design for a dramatic play featuring modernity and history.All of that notwithstanding, any harbor or water space worth its salt needs to show off an eye-catching ship, and Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is up to the challenge. Moored in an easily accessible central location is the USS Constellation, which was commissioned in 1854, and is the only ship that was a combatant in the Civil War and is still afloat.Its tall masts and spare spars, embedded into a robust hull of green, black and white, with a rakish bowsprit, looks the epitome of a mid-19th-century naval ship of the line.
Lessons of the Marshall Plan
Sixty years ago on June 5, US Secretary of State George Marshall publicly called for a grand aid package that would transform European postwar politics. The European Recovery Programme, or Marshall Plan as it became known, was crafted to accomplish three priorities of the Truman administration: help restabilise the European economy, encourage European postwar integration, and, ultimately, stave off the westward spread of communist ideology. That all three objectives have been largely realised is beyond question. Historians may question how much credit the Marshall Plan deserves for these accomplishments, but it is unlikely that Europe would stand now as an ideologically integrated economic world power without it. Today, transatlantic relations are marked by a mix of obvious successes and abundant challenges.
Getting personal with leadership traits
Do you know what your astrological symbol is? Do you know what personality type you fall under? You probably sense that personality has more to do with your success than astrology, yet most of us know our astrological sign but have only a vague notion of our personality type. .
JSE report - Monday 4 June 2007
On the JSE the resources shares are 0.5% up, the gold shares up 0.4% and the platinum shares are up 1.25%. The financials are 1% down, the banks are down 1.6% and the industrial 25 index is down around 1%. The all share is 0.3% down at 28,838 points. With Paul Hansen from Stanlib
LINDSAY WILLIAMS: The R153 government bond regained some composure closing at a yield of 8.57% having been 8.66% at one stage. The rand is around 0.5% weaker at 7.12 against the US dollar, the rand is 9.61 against the euro, the rand is 14.20 against the British pound. The euro against a weaker dollar is 1.3485 and the dollar against the Japanese yen is 121.75. The gold price is $673 an ounce in New York, the platinum price is up $9 at $1,298 an ounce. The oil price is up nearly 2% at $70.38 per barrel for Brent crude futures in London.
Extras can sink new-car budget
You've read the reports on your target vehicles and selected a model. You've spent hours haggling with a salesman. You've settled on a color with your spouse and on a price with the salesman, and you think you've got a good deal wrapped up. So you start to relax and reflect on how clever you are. Then they take you into the F&I office, and all of a sudden you're agreeing to overpriced undercoating, extended warranties, credit insurance and other extras that end up turning a good deal for you into a fleecing. Beware the extras in the F&I office. That's car-dealer lingo for the finance and insurance manager's office, and it's where many car buyers agree to deals they regret later. "It continues to be a huge challenge for the consumer, because those of us who worked hard to negotiate a price start to let our defenses down and often don't realize that when we get into the F&I office, that's a whole new opportunity to sell," says Jack Gillis, director of public affairs for the Consumer Federation of America and author of several car-buying guides.
Need a loan-Call the Loan Ranger
If you've had your eye on a new car or were looking to make home improvements for the summer then increased mortgage repayments could put a halt your plans. So if you're one of those people looking at personal loans and thinking "that could suit me nicely", MoneyExpert's Loan Ranger is here to make sure you get a fair deal and avoid the bad guys. How it works Personal, or "unsecured" loans offer you the chance to borrow money without fear of having to put your home at risk if you don't meet the repayments. They promise flexibility - you can borrow anything from £500 to £25,000 and can choose whether you'd prefer to pay it back in six months, six years or even 10 years. If you're not sure how much you want to borrow, use a loan calculator to work out what your repayments will be - and remember, borrow what you can afford to pay back each month, and not a penny more.
|
