Sandy knows she is growing her savings by having a surplus each month and putting it in high yielding online banks. When she was puzzled about budgeting, she wrote in and said:
I have $100,000 saved up in bank accounts by following good frugal practices that you and others outline. I however don’t budget and never [...]
Here’s an interesting graphic of the spending breakdown for the average U.S. consumer. It’s based a theoretical household “unit” consisting of 2.5 people, not individuals. Looks like such a household unit spends approximately $50,000 per year. Click on image for larger version.
I guess taxes are not considered an expense by the government. I’m not sure [...]
Filed under: Company News The new GM is up and running with its re-branding campaign. Without much new iron to put on the showroom floor, it apparently has decided to start small — small, as in the Cadillac Fragrance for men. (And no, the bouquet is nothing like Valvoline or Brylcreem.) The company GM licensed to make [...]
Filed under: Economy California may soon have a budget and the ability to repay the IOUs it started issuing on July 1. The damage this budget stand-off has caused to California’s bond rating could take a year or more to fix. California’s bonds are just two steps away from junk status. Lawmakers must vote on 31 bills [...]
Filed under: Economy, Investing I was just as happy as anyone who owns stocks to see the Dow close over 9,000 yesterday. But the question that remains unanswered is why exactly did stocks rally? There are four reasons commonly offered to explain the recent rise in stocks: their prices were cheap relative to earnings, the economy [...]
Filed under: Company News, Technology, People, Media Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said his company, oft-criticized for not generating much revenue, will prove the nay-sayers wrong by “adding value.” Speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Pasadena, California Thursday, Stone elaborated more than he has publicly on the company’s plans to make money with the service. [...]
Filed under: Economy With 15 million Americans unemployed, state unemployment systems are overwhelmed and millions of people have had to wait weeks to get their benefits, according to a report in today’s New York Times. Of the 12.8 million eligibility reviews that have occurred during the recession, 4.6 million took more than three weeks — that’s [...]
Filed under: Company News, Investing, Earnings The following post rounds up the companies making headlines today: Schlumberger (SLB) said Friday its second-quarter earnings tumbled 57 percent as oil and natural gas companies cut back on exploration and drilling, particularly in North America.The company topped earnings estimates on an adjusted basis. Shares fell about 1.8 percent in pre-market [...]
Filed under: Economy Big financial events bring economists and analysts out of the wood work, anxious to give their opinions and get their names in the media. The increase in the minimum wage, which is effective today, is a prime example. The federal minimum wage will go from $6.55 to $7.25. That is an 11 percent [...]
Filed under: Economy, Earnings When the Treasury released an update for the budget in June one of the notable aspects arising from the figures was that revenue, particularly from businesses, is evaporating. The operating income from large corporations is not a perfect sign of future government collections from companies, but it is, at least, a sign [...]
