She's not.... but it was interesting add on my dashboard :)

AIM Spotlight

Is Hayden Panettiere the Main Reason You Watch 'Heroes'?

• Check Out Pics of Hayden

Be Greedy

To many observers, the big banks broke one of Wall Street's cardinal rules: Be greedy, but be greedy over the long term.

Citation: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/02/07/ap6022701.html?attache=

My notes :   I think the American law makers have decided they should move towards a culture that is more Iranian-like, the parents support their children for education, and helping them with a head start.

 

Gift Guide

Giving, The Tax-Free Way

Ashlea Ebeling, 01.19.09, 06:00 PM EST

There are smart ways to share your wealth now.

Even if you're not likely to have a taxable estate in the age of Obama, you may want to start passing some wealth to your children and grandchildren now. Fortunately, there are smart--and even simple--ways to do this.

[...]

Bryn Mawr, Pa., estate planning lawyer Stephan Leimberg says, "If you're not going to lose any sleep, why wait? They'll appreciate it, and you get the pleasure of seeing them enjoy it."

A common goal among affluent older folks is to help pay for their grandkids' schooling. You can pay anyone's college or private school tuition or medical bills (including, say, orthodontia) and so long as you send the check directly to the school or health care provider, that spending won't count against the $13,000 exclusion or your estate tax exemption.

Cite: http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/19/coverdells-giving-gifttax-pf-in_ae_0119taxes_inl.html

Obamasize Your Portfolio: Seven Guru Buys

Nikhil Hutheesing, 01.19.09, 06:00 PM EST

Buy these securities while the capital gains tax rate is still favorable.

On Jan. 20, Barack Obama will become the 44th president of the U.S. Obama will inherit a great many challenges--among them leading the country out of the War in Iraq, improving the image of the U.S abroad and rescuing the economy from the worst financial crisis in 70 years.

While Obama has made it clear that the financial recovery will be lengthy, he does have plans to improve our infrastructure, to tap into sustainable energy sources and to provide more affordable health care.

Cite: http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/17/nustar-meritage-charlesschwab-pf-in_nh0119gurupicks_inl.html

Small Banks Say 'No Thanks' to U.S. Bailout Money

Healthy small bankers would like the boost to lend more, but fear regulations and conditions attached to the Treasury Dept.'s rescue program

[...]


NewAlliance Bank (NAL) CEO Peyton R. Patterson didn't even bother to fill out the form. She didn't want to risk restrictions on the bank's share repurchases and dividend payouts. The New Haven bank, which maintained high lending standards during the boom, had the luxury of walking away. Unlike peers dealing with historic losses, NewAlliance's earnings almost doubled to $45.3 million last year, as lending increased 38.5%. Says Patterson: "We quickly understood that the money would not have any benefits to us."


Citation:  http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_07/b4119000621367.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

Jalali Calendar - تقویم جلالی

Online calendar:
http://alavi.us/jcal/

Gnome calendar:
http://home.gna.org/jalali-calendar/

Ryanair Tastes Red Ink

The Irish budget airline reported a quarterly loss for the first time, but expects a savvier fuel pricing strategy will lead to profits next year

Irish budget airline Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary at a press conference in Rome last year. ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images

By Kerry Capell

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/feb2009/gb2009022_438388.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

Recessions are opportunities or threats

Painful as recessions are, they offer great opportunities. New markets appear, new incentives appear, and buyers are willing to pay for services rendered. They will re-structure their monthly budgets to take advantage of these opportunities. There will be losers, of course: those businesses that fail to meet consumer demand under the new conditions. But there will be winners.

If the Federal Reserve System would stick to its guns and refuse to inflate in the next recession, the economy could adjust on a permanent basis. I don't think this is likely. The FED will inflate once again. This is what central banks do.

For the moment, the FED is not inflating. The yield curve is inverted. The recession is in the pipeline. You can prepare for it now or deal with it later.

Don't let it blindside you.

cite: http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north495.html

Rypple Introduction from Rypple on Vimeo.

Money isn't everything

"Our friends in Redmond, they spend over $5 billion in R&D, but these days they just try to copy Google and Apple. So I guess it's a good example of how money isn't everything."

Steve Jobs, speaking at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference

Gold

Buffett emphasized the non-productive aspect of gold in 1998 at Harvard: "It gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head." In 1977 Buffett was also quoted as saying about stocks, gold, farmland, and inflation: "stocks are probably still the best of all the poor alternatives in an era of inflation - at least they are if you buy in at appropriate prices."

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett

P.S: I'm loving the man

Poor Guy! (Badbakht!)

Maurice "Hank" Greenberg. The spry insurance veteran's shares of AIG were worth $2.6 billion in January. Today those shares are worth less than $100 million.

http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/16/billionaires-adelson-casino-biz-billies-cz_dg_1216biggestlosers.html?feed=rss_popstories

What's the catch behind the banks bail-outs!? We are still not hearing about!

Barclays secures Middle East cash

Barclays bank branch

Barclays has weathered the financial crisis better than other UK banks.

Barclays has announced a proposal to raise up to £7.3bn to strengthen its balance sheet.

The money will be mainly raised from the state investment funds and royal families of Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Unlike other big UK banks, Barclays did not want to accept a bail-out from the UK government and said the move would keep it "strong and independent".

If the deal is completed as expected, the Middle Eastern investors will have an almost 32% stake in Barclays.

BBC business editor Robert Peston said the deal showed that Barclays was in a stronger position than other UK banks.

"It can probably allow itself just a small smile of self-congratulation, having avoided putting out the begging bowl to British taxpayers," our correspondent said.

BARCLAYS INVESTORS

Qatar Holdings - 12.7%

Challenger (Qatar) - 2.8%

Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Abu Dhabi) - 16.3%

Robert Peston's blog

However, he added that the terms of the deal were not necessarily cheaper than those offered by the Treasury.

Barclays shares initially rose on the news, but later reversed course as investors worried about the cost of the funding.

At the close, the shares were down 12.84%, or 26.3p, at 178.9p.

Qatar and Abu Dhabi

Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family, is investing up to £3.5bn in Barclays.

If the deal is completed as expected, he will end up with a 16.3% stake in the bank.

The board believes that this maintains Barclays as a strong, independent and well-capitalised bank

Marcus Agius, Barclays chairman

It is also raising up to £2bn from Qatar Holdings and £300m from Challenger, controlled by Qatar's Royal Family.

That could leave the two Qatari investment vehicles, which already have small holdings in Barclays, with stakes of 6.2% and 2.8% respectively.

Barclays is also seeking to raise an additional £1.5bn from existing institutional investors such as pension funds.

'Independent'

Barclays said the plan allowed the bank to fulfil the capital raising requirements stipulated by the UK government.

"The board believes that this maintains Barclays as a strong, independent and well-capitalised bank," said Marcus Agius, Barclays chairman.

The government is injecting £37bn into Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and HBOS to avoid a collapse of the sector.

However, in return for the rescue, they must give major stakes to the government and halt cash bonuses for bank board members this year.

HSBC, along with Barclays, opted not to seek cash from the government.

In a trading update, Barclays said its profits before tax in the nine months to the end of September were better than in the same period last year although it did not give a figure.

This is despite a £1.2bn write-down on the value of assets hit by the financial crisis, the bank said. 

I seem to be successful!

I didn't got sick and btw, I just noticed today is my birthday! Till
yesterday I thought my birthday is tomorrow!