http://business.oldfinancia.ru/ LiveInternet / LiveInternet.ru hourly 1 ru oldfin http://av.li.ru/725/4590725_15478488.jpg http://business.oldfinancia.ru/ Это цитата сообщения Небесный_край Оригинальное сообщениеПредновогоднее

Как-то не верится,но уже практически закончился целый 2011 год.ведь по сути что от него осталось? Пару месяцев и все...А в конце декабря начнется суета по закупке новогодних подарков и подготовка к праздниствам.Если честно,то данный год для был абсолютно ничем не примечательный на какие-либо значимые события.Все было крайне бонально...дом работа...дом работа.Может в этом и есть залог стабильности,когда все идет прямой линией и не хорошо и не плохо.За последние пару месяцев стоит подумать то что подарить свои знакомым на новый год.]]> 0 Это цитата сообщения retrov Оригинальное сообщениеБлиз курорта Паттайя с фермы сбежали крокодилы

Около популярного тайского курорта Паттайи развернулась масштабная охота на крокодилов. Рептилии, находящиеся на ферме Million Years Stone, вырвались на свободу. Проливные дожди вызвали сильный оползень, повредивший ограждение, за которым находились тысячи хищников. Часть из них смогла убежать.

Сбежавших рептилий ищут сельхозрабочие и местные жители. Больше 20 крокодилов уже найдено, но многие еще остаются на свободе. Их работники фермы пообещали поймать до конца дня.

Тайское телевидение показало изображения больших крокодилов, возвращаемых на ферму. Их огромные челюсти были связаны, глаза закрыты. Каждую рептилию несли не менее шести мужчин, сообщает The Australian.

На сайте фермы Million Years Stone, которая располагается в 100 километрах к юго-востоку от Бангкока, говорится, что здесь находится «самая многочисленная популяция соленоводных крокодилов в стране», а также популяция более мелких пресноводных крокодилов и других экзотических животных.

Новость на сайте «Вести.Ру»]]> 0 Это цитата сообщения alexsemenovv Оригинальное сообщениеФизики доказали наличие свободных дорог в транспортных системах

Французские физики математически обосновали, что даже в сложной транспортной системе даже при наличии большого количества трафика имеются свободные дороги. Статья ученых появилась в Physical Review Letters (препринт доступен на arXiv.org), а ее краткое изложение приводит Physiscal Review Focus.

Для анализа дорожных сетей ученые использовали модель движения автомобильного трафика под названием процесс с полностью асимметричным исключением (Totally asymmetric simple exclusion process — TASEP). В рамках этой модели ребра сети считаются однонаправленными каналами (однополосными дорогами), по которым движутся точечные объекты. Основное условие — объекты не могут перескакивать друг друга. Впервые модель TASEP была предложена в 1968 году для изучения кинетики процесса синтеза белка рибосомами.

В случае, когда сеть состоит из двух вершин — входа и выхода — и единственного соединяющего их ребра, процесс прохода трафика описывается вероятностями попадания частиц во вход, и на выход. Если, например, на вход подается много частиц, а выходит мало, то на ребре происходит накопление (по сути образуется автомобильная пробка). В рамках работы ученые рассматривали более сложные схемы движения транспорта, в которых описанные ребра соединялись перекрестками. Попав на такой перекресток частица с некоторой вероятностью может перейти на свободное ребро.

Анализ разного рода схем позволил установить следующий факт. Если в сети каждый перекресток соединяет одинаковое число улиц, то плотность трафика на всех ребрах примерно одинаковая (ученые называют такое распределение унимодальным). В свою очередь, если сеть была сформирована случайным образом, то есть количество ребер, входящих в различные вершины, не совпадает, то при средних размерах сети и среднем трафике распределение становится бимодальным — то есть возможные плотности ребер лежат вблизи одного из двух возможных значений.

При этом, по словам ученых, часть ребер оказывается занята очень плотно, а часть все равно остается свободной. По словам самих ученых, несмотря на простоту предложенной ими модели, она может найти применение, например, в биологии, при изучении движения в органических системах.

Новость на сайте «Ленты.Ру»]]> 0 Это цитата сообщения Анонсы Оригинальное сообщениеБез заголовка

эх лирушка лирушка...
почему я таким дураком был несколько лет тому назад?
каких бы мы с тобой гор понастроили бы...

но увы не было не предпосылков
вообще ничего....

ну ничего,мы ещё повоюем...главное чтобы это был не убегающий поезд]]> 0 Это цитата сообщения Сео_Школяр Оригинальное сообщениеГрызите и сосите!

Яндекс поздравил оригенальным способом всех первокласников с первым сентября.
Грызите и сосите яндекс.
]]> 0
The low-profit limited liability company (L3C) has had a tougher time in 2011. Legislation was signed into law in Rhode Island, and voted down in committee in Arizona.

California has added its own twist to the push for a new legal form. California legislators are considering two bills: a bill for the creation of the benefit corporation and another for the creation of the flexible-purpose corporation. According to R. Todd Johnson, one of the architects of the flexible-purpose corporation, the activity in California means that entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs now have a choice. “California appears poised to be the first state in the United States that will offer entrepreneurs and investors a choice of models for creating social enterprises.”[1]

What is the choice exactly that entrepreneurs and investors will have, not only in California but across the country? Here is a brief breakdown:

Branding: A survey of early L3C adopters found that the form is valued by entrepreneurs because it more accurately represents their dual social and profit purposes.[2] Depending on the state they are in, entrepreneurs can choose among a menu of legal options in deciding how to signal their intention to be socially responsible. They may choose to signal a commitment to pursue a general public benefit in addition to profit by incorporating as a benefit corporation. In the near future California entrepreneurs may be able to brand themselves as flexible purpose corporations that pursue a specific social purpose laid out in a corporation’s articles of incorporation. Alternatively, entrepreneurs could become a low-profit limited liability company that pursues a charitable, not a profit-making, purpose.

Discretion: Entrepreneurs and investors can choose how directors will be held accountable for the corporation’s social purpose and what sort of disclosure they want from a socially responsible business. Benefit corporation legislation provides broad discretion to directors to make decisions based on social and profit factors. Investors can hold directors accountable, however, by suing where there is a failure to pursue a general public benefit. Similar to the benefit corporation, the flexible purpose corporation, if signed into law, affords discretion and protection to directors who make decisions where there is trade-offs between mission and money. Typical L3C legislation provides that a company’s failure to pursue a charitable purpose will simply result in the company being classified as a regular LLC instead of an L3C. Any other requirements are to be laid out in a company’s articles of incorporation and operating agreement.

Disclosure: Levels of required disclosure vary from form to form. Benefit corporations must assess their environmental and social impacts and provide a public report of the result. Flexible purpose corporations would have to produce annual reports that assess the corporation’s progress in achieving its special purposes. The L3C legislation typically does not require any disclosure beyond a statement of its charitable purpose in the articles of incorporation.

Tax Treatment: Entrepreneurs and investors can choose whether to receive the pass-through tax treatment of the L3C or the corporate tax of the benefit corporation and flexible purpose corporation.

That’s the nuts and bolts for now. And now I’m curious: If you were to choose, which one would it be and why?]]> 0
While liberals raced to denounce Charles Koch’s observation that he spends and invests his money more wisely than the government could, Warren Buffett is on record as believing–no doubt correctly–the same thing. That is why his vast fortune, which consists of unrealized capital gains, won’t be going to the Treasury.

In a 2007 CNBC interview, Buffett explained why he intended to donate his fortune to the Gates Foundation and other charities:

I think that on balance the Gates Foundation, my daughter’s foundation, my two sons’ foundations will do a better job with lower administrative costs and better selection of beneficiaries than the government.

That is the same point that Koch made, and it refutes Buffett’s notorious op-ed: the nation would be better served if it cut government spending rather than increasing Buffett’s taxes.

Buffett, being a liberal, understands that he can make decisions better than the government; he just doesn’t think you can. Thus, he wants taxes generally raised, while he donates his money elsewhere.

We, as conservatives, believe that both you and Warren Buffett can dispose of your money better than the government will. Why? Because it’s yours, and you care.

I have three words for Mr. Buffett: Shutup and invest!]]> 0
It has become a bipartisan article of faith in some quarters that the income tax on U.S. corporations must be lowered. But for many large U.S. companies, the burden of U.S. taxation pales in comparison with what they pay their chief executives, according to a study released Wednesday by the Institute of Policy Studies, a liberal think tank.

Despite what Mr. Whoriskey might think, the shareholders of these companies will surely consider it good news that the CEOs of their companies are minimizing tax expenditures. After all, there is no expenditure worse for a business than a tax expenditure.

There are two reasons for this: First, a business receives nothing of value in exchange for a tax expenditure, as it does with, say, compensation paid to a valued employee. Second, a business cannot deduct its tax expenditures which makes these capital outlays more expensive than other, alternative uses of capital.

Mr. Whoriskey has written a catchy headline, but he’s buried the lead. The real scoop here is that a CEO who is able to manage his company’s finances in such a way so as to reduce or eliminate federal income tax liabilities meets his fiduciary duty to shareholders and, by doing so, demonstrates why he is worth the compensation he receives.]]> 0
On July 25th, 2010 I wrote the following in a post titled Truth & Taxes: Not Extending the Bush Tax Cuts is a Tax Increase:

If Congress chooses not to pass legislation that extends or makes permanent the current top tax rates, it will, by it’s inaction, be imposing a tax increase on a specific class of Americans. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying through his teeth.

There simply is no difference in kind or in consequence between the active passing of a new law that increases tax rates and the passive resurrection of an old law that increases top tax rates.

But pro-tax politicians and their enablers on the left will never admit this because it is not politically palatable for them to do so. Instead, they will continue to miseducate the public by telling it that they aren’t really raising anyone’s taxes, but rather merely denying tax cuts for the very rich.

And what is most galling is that they perpetuate this deception while scolding the rest of us for distorting the facts about taxes.

Flash forward to the present.

In his speech to Congress last night President Obama declared that the failure to extend the payroll tax reduction that he signed into law last year is a tax increase.

And just a few minutes ago on MSNBC Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md) said it would be irresponsible for Republicans to allow the payroll tax cut to expire because raising taxes on workers would be the wrong thing to do in this economy.

There you have it. In a little more than a year the Democrats have done a one eighty on the issue of whether or not allowing a tax cut to expire amounts to a tax increase.

I am not making this stuff up.]]> 0
There are many events that can create the need for credit repair, from the loss of a job to a medical emergency that taps savings and strains an otherwise sound budget. There are also cases of identity theft that, through no fault of ours, cause grievous credit harm. Regardless of the underlying cause, there is never a case that should make us despair.

Expecting Errors

It is important to understand, as you examine your damaged credit report, that the credit reporting system is prone to spawning errors from the seeds of real events. This is not the fault of the credit bureaus. The reporting system is massive and incorporates data from millions of participants, including creditors, collectors, courthouses and the services that gather public records. Expect errors to occur.

Disciplined Self-Monitoring

The need for credit repair is inherently acknowledged by the presence of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The requirement by the FCRA that all national credit bureaus provide free reports to consumers on demand once per year at no charge is a nod to the inevitability of errors. Perfection, from a system of such complexity, is not in the cards. The solution is regular disciplined self-monitoring.

The Time is Right Now

The need for self-monitoring is never more important than after a period of credit damaging financial hardship. It is almost inevitable in these cases that credit repair is necessary. As traumatized as you may be from the events that led to the credit damage it is still critical to address it efficiently. To ignore it may be easier, but reporting errors when neglected have a way of multiplying and taking root.

Feel Good Again

There is literally no situation that justifies sticking your head in the sand. Foreclosures, charge-offs, collections, and even the discharge of a bankruptcy is an occasion for credit repair. To address the issues now in an intelligent and thoughtful manner will put you on the path to recovery, give you peace of mind, and deliver a refreshed credit report and score that you can feel good about.

A Detailed Examination

The first step is a detailed examination of your reports. It might be worthwhile hiring a top credit repair service to do this for you as many of the score-wrecking errors that arise are subtle. This means that you may miss the errors entirely or mistakenly identify them as accurate. Just because something looks familiar does not mean that it should be on your report.

Dispute the Errors

Once all of the reporting errors are identified it is time for the dispute phase of your credit repair project. As in the case of the initial proofreading, you might want to turn this important but repetitive task over to a professional. The effectiveness of credit bureau disputes depends on a highly organized and specifically targeted routine of approach and response. If you do it right you will soon have a greatly improved credit report.

Up From the Ashes

The final step on the path to renewed credit is rebuilding. This requires opening new accounts and managing them for the greatest possible FICO score impact. Secured credit cards are the credit repair weapon of choice, and a remarkably powerful way to propel your scores back into the realm of respectability. Being secured, they are not based on your credit history, so there is no fear of denial. Open two cards and manage them with great care. Make your payments on time and keep your balances low. Soon the bad credit of the past will fade from memory.]]> 0
The fees for tax debt reduction assistance range from $1,200 to $5,000 or more. Those fees aren’t unreasonable. When handled properly, it takes 30-50 hours to prepare an offer in compromise (OIC).

But the expenses are outrageous when the firms take your money and make promises they can’t keep. They shouldn’t sign you up when they know the IRS won’t approve your OIC. But too many do, and months later, they tell you the IRS rejected your request. By then, your penalties and interest may have skyrocketed, your credit been ruined and your wages been garnished.

Let’s look at recent court cases filed against television and radio advertisers, preying on your fears, your insecurities, and your tax terrors. All cases involve national tax resolution firms who have misled troubled taxpayers.

On April 22nd, the California Superior Court froze the assets of Roni Deutch for shredding documents in defiance of a court order, and not giving refunds to clients, as ordered. IRS has also hit her with a $183,000 lien. Trial is set for July.

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson filed suit accusing Houston-based TaxMasters of fraud and deception. Texas filed suit alleging the company unlawfully “engaged in false, misleading, and deceptive acts and practices.” Florida is investigating them, too.

Florida is also investigating JK Harris for allegedly violating a 2008 settlement with Florida and 17 other states over misleading sales tactics.

If there’s a TV advertiser promising that you can pay pennies on the dollar, you can bet there will be consumer complaints and investigations sooner or later. The IRS even publishes an alert. Why? Not everyone qualifies for offers in a compromise. But some of these firms will sell them to anyone desperate enough to pay.

Firms under investigation tend to operate on the health-spa-marketing principal. That’s where you sign up everyone you can, knowing the members will lose interest in working out in a week or two, or three. But they are forced to keep making the payments all year due to contractual obligations.

Sounds pretty awful, doesn’t it? This isn’t a gym situation. People with tax debt face intense problems. Their wages are being garnished; bank accounts are seized; other assets might be put up for tax sale. They’re in trouble. Often, the tax problems result in chemical depressions – or are caused by depression, illnesses, divorce, or other personal tragedies.

People often turn to the firms they see on television out of desperation. What they really should do is look for a local, reputable enrolled agent or CPA who comes recommended by people they know or try to work with the IRS themselves. After all, they probably won’t qualify for an offer in compromise. Most people don’t.

The two fundamental rules IRS operates by for offers in compromise are:

a) If you have enough assets to pay the taxes, your offer will not get approved.

b) If you earn enough money to pay your tax debt over 5-10 years, your offer will be rejected.

Folks who do not qualify for an offer, not even on appeal, can get an installment agreement. You can pay the tax debt over time. Use Form 9465 or the online process at the IRS website. Just think of the installments as the payment for the luxury car you never get to drive.

What can you do if you are in tax trouble? First, see if you can fill out the forms yourself. The IRS offers extensive information on the website. They have improved the information packet for the offer in compromise – Form 656-B. In fact, you can fill in the forms online and print them out yourself.

If you cannot do this yourself, find a reputable tax professional who handles cases like yours. Generally, you won’t need an attorney. You should consult counsel when you have a criminal issue, or inheritance issues, or complex issues that may involve other people’s assets. Otherwise an enrolled agent or CPA can help you.

You can find CPAs at the AICPA website. Unfortunately, the AICPA does not show any specialization in taxation or tax representation, so finding the right CPA won’t be all that easy.

You can find enrolled agents at the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA) website. Search for someone who has ‘representation’ experience or is an NTPI Fellow. The National Tax Practice Institute specializes in training tax professionals in IRS tax representation skills.

Sometimes, when you don’t qualify for an offer, there are other avenues open to you. A qualified tax professional may know of other ways to help reduce your burden – or make it manageable.]]> 0
The findings were based on a study of recent IRS hires in a unit that collects taxes from small businesses and the self-employed. The IRS division added more than 1,515 new revenue officers in three waves between June 2009 and February 2010 — 38% of the 4,002 officers on staff before the first wave began

Nearly two-thirds of the revenue officers who left the agency the last three years retired.

Responding to the report, the IRS said it has started to improve workforce planning across all of its collection programs.

The workload for tax collectors is only expected to grow, the report noted. The agency is closing delinquent tax accounts at the highest rates since fiscal year 2005, but new delinquent accounts are mounting.

Revenue officers are “mission-critical” for the IRS because they have a direct impact on the agency’s ability to collect taxes, the report said. But some tax advisers say IRS revenue officers are less effective now than in the past, probably due in part to a lot of turnover at the agency.

Individuals might find it harder to deal with the IRS when you owe back taxes, says Thomas J. Nichols, an attorney at Meissner Tierney Fisher & Nichols in Milwaukee, Wis. Inexperienced staff may unintentionally make things more complicated than they need to be.

Readers, have you had to wait longer to pay taxes?]]> 0
Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association, agreed. In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, he said, “Continuing to apply a capital gains tax rate to carried interest earned by venture capitalists who invest long-term to build new companies and create jobs is not only appropriate by definition, but from a public policy perspective it is paramount to U.S. economic recovery as we desperately need to encourage - not discourage – this high growth activity.”

Others disagreed. An investment manager from Hilton Head, S.C. said, “The carried-interest rules benefit me personally as a manager of investment partnerships. But even I can’t argue that they are sound tax policy.”

A few readers had technical questions. “Do you think REITs and Master Limited Partnerships would be included in changes on carried interest?” asked one adviser.

Independent tax analyst Robert Willens said no, because the dividends from most REITs and MLPs are already taxed at ordinary income rates. “They aren’t part of the discussion on carried interest,” he said. Neither has there been talk of changing the capital gains tax rates for timber REITs.

While some believe all carried interest should be taxed as ordinary income, others suggested a less radical approach. It is to tax the original award of carried interest at ordinary income rates but then allow further appreciation to be taxed as a capital gain.

Here’s an example: Say that Ted, Joe and Jane form a partnership. Ted and Joe each put in cash in return for an 80% of the profits, while Jane contributes her expertise in return for a 20% share. Jane would be taxed at ordinary income rates on her 20% profit share when she receives it. After that, her future appreciation would be taxed as capital gain.

“That would treat carried interest like executives’ restricted stock,” said Willens of the suggestion.]]> 0
In sum, the author advises part-time traders to concentrate their trading during the busiest times of the day, or failing that, to simply trade the most active currency pairs during the period of the day that one happens to have time to trade. For example, if you wish to trade the USD/EUR but only have a limited amount of time to do so, you are advised to trade the opening of the New York and/or London sessions, at 8AM EST and 3AM EST, respectively. Alternatively, if you only have time to trade from midnight to 2am, for example, you are advised to trade currency pairs in which the quote currency is the Yen, because during that time the Tokyo session is “in full swing.”Alas, this kind of strategy is based on a very dubious assumption, which is that you should aim to trade the currency pairs which are both the most liquid and most volatile (ignore the contradiction here), because this will yield the most profits. In other words, it’s easy to capture profits when trading pairs that tend to bounce around a lot and which are cheap and easy to buy and sell. Right?

If you read the Forex Blog with any regularity and are ware that my bend is towards fundamental analysis, it’s probably already obvious to you that I don’t think this is necessarily the case. Consider that forex is a zero-sum game. In other words, on average, 50% of traders win and 50% lose. [When you account for trading costs (i.e. spreads), its probably closer to 30% win and 70% lose, but let's ignore this for the sake of argument]. Thus, the way I see it, a trader that enters the market during the busiest times has the same chance of winning (~50%) as a different trader that enters the market during the least busy time of day. Either way you cut it, someone has to win and someone has to lose, and no amount of liquidity or volatility can rectify this situation.

Thus, my advice for part-time traders is to forget trading altogether. If you don’t have the time to constantly monitor the market, pore over charts, and develop technical strategy, the odds of winning are pretty low. On the other hand, why not shift your focus from trading to investing? Trading is difficult under the best of circumstances and even more difficult when you don’t have enough time to make a real commitment.The only way around this is to shift your time horizon from minutes to days – or even weeks. This way, it won’t matter when you have time to trade. Spreads might be marginally higher (as evidenced in the spikes in he chart above, which shows how spreads fluctuate over time) for the USD/EUR at midnight than at 8am, but if you’re planning on holding the pair for more than 10 seconds (and your target profit is greater than 15 pips), this is basically irrelevant.

This way, you also don’t have to worry about carefully planning your entry and exit into positions. Entering a swing trade with a targeted profit of 500pips is probably just as good at 4am as it is at 7am, all else being equal. While this doesn’t necessarily increase the odds of success (above 50%), at least it gives you a great deal more flexibility in being a part-time trader.]]> 0
Interest rates are still hovering around record lows, and there isn’t anything to be gained from trying to lower them further. Besides, given that inflation is now above 3% – due to an explosion in good and energy prices – QE3 would simply be too risky. Economist Ken Goldstein summarized the situation as follows: “We will come to the end of QE2 and largely we mark about how little happened when it ended and that’s also an argument about why there may not be persuasive argument to do a QE3.”

On the other hand, there are some analysts who think that QE3 is inevitable (29%). PIMCO’s Bill Gross, manager of the world’s biggest bond fund, recently indicated that, “Next Jackson Hole in August will likely hint at QE3/interest rate caps.” (Personally, I think that he’s probably just bitter that his forecast of a decline in Treasury Bond prices hasn’t materialized). One columnist wrote that the Fed’s arm will be twisted by the ongoing collapse of the housing market, while others have argued that the recent decline in the S&P 500 will spur the Fed into action. Most of us, however, believe that the Fed will adopt a wait-and-see approach before ultimately conceding that more easing is necessary.For now at least, then, the prevailing assumption is that there will not be a QE3. As for how forex markets have digested this news, they have taken it in stride. The Dollar is now holding its value, and as I wrote in a previous post, it may even have bottomed out. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the Euro is being punished by another flare-up in the sovereign debt crisis and investors are getting nervous about bubbles in emerging market currencies, all of which provide support for the dollar.

The fact that QE2 will soon end without having triggered financial apocalypse or hyperinflation – as some cassandras initially predicted – is something that is worth nothing. Of course, the proceeds of QE1 and QE2 will be recycled indefinitely into the markets, and forex investors can’t completely put quantitative easing behind them. Still, that there won’t be any more additional cash injected into commodities markets and emerging economy asset markets means that one of the main sources of downward pressure on the dollar has been eliminated.

Ironically, it is possible that the unveiling of QE3 could actually cause the dollar to rally. The reason is that there is still a tremendous amount of uncertainty in the markets, which provides the dollar with some safe haven demand. If the Fed were to concede that all is not well on the economic front and respond by more money printing, it could drive some safe haven flows into the US, even to the extent that it would overwhelm outflows driven by concerns over inflation.

Personally, I think the dollar will continue to hold its value, and perhaps even appreciate slightly in the near-term, as forex markets dither over the way forward.]]> 0
First of all, the putative economic boom that is taking place in Australia is being driven entirely by high commodity prices and surging production and exports. Since peaking at the end of April, commodity prices have fallen mightily. You can see from the chart above that there continues to exist a tight correlation between the AUD/USD and commodities prices. As commodities prices have fallen over the last two months, so has the Australian Dollar.In addition, while demand will probably remain strong over the long-term, it may very well slacken over the short-term, due to declining economic growth across the industrialized world. Consider also that Australia’s largest market for commodity exports – China – may have difficulty sustaining a GDP growth rate of 10%, and at the very least, new fixed-asset investment (which necessitates demand for raw materials) will temporarily peak in the immediate future.

Finally, the mining sector directly accounts for only 8% of Australia’s economy, which means that only to a limited extent to high commodities prices contribute to the bottom line of Australian GDP. This notion is reinforced by the 1.2% economic contraction in the second quarter – the biggest decline in 20 years – and the fact that GDP is basically flat over the last three quarters. Many non-mining economic indicators are sagging, and the number of corporate bankruptcies is 10% higher than in 2010. In the end, then, the ebb and flow of Australia’s fortune depends less on commodities, and more on other sectors.Mr. Parkinson’s optimistic forecasts might also be undermined in the short-term by a looser-than-expected monetary policy. The Reserve Bank of Australia last hiked its benchmark interest rate in November 2010, and may not hike again for a few more months due to moderating economic growth and proportionally moderate inflation. Given that an attractive interest rate differential may be driving some of the speculative activity that has girded the Aussie’s rise, a decline in this differential could likewise propel it downward.

That’s because anecdotal reports suggest that the Australian Dollar remains a popular long currency for carry traders, funded by shorting the US Dollar, and to a lesser extent, Japanese Yen. Given that many of these carry trades are heavily leveraged, it wouldn’t take much to trigger a short squeeze and a rapid decline in the AUD/USD. For evidence of this phenomenon, one has to look no further back than May 2010, when the Aussie fell 10-15% in only three weeks.Ultimately, as one commentator recently pointed out, the Aussie’s 70% rise since 2008 might better be seen as US Dollar weakness (which also catalyzed the rise in commodity prices). The apparent stabilizing of the dollar, then, might let some air out of the currency down under.]]> 0
My answer…

I keep two types of journals:
a qualitative journal - my ‘psyche’ journal. This journal has 3 aims:
to identify patterns of success and failure in my qualitative environment. For example, if I have 10 consecutive winning trades, do my processes change? Do I stop doing what has brought me success? If so what will I do differently next time. I seek to record any changes or significant events in my psychological environment just before and during a trade.
a safe place where I can vent - a place where I can pour out my frustrations, anxieties, and fears on the one hand; and on the other, the successes, elation and rewards.
a quantitative journal where I keep the stats I use to assess my trading. Over various time frames I keep:
Ave$ win
Ave$ loss
Win Rate
Loss Rate
Date, day and time of trade
Consecutive wins
Consecutive losses
Rating for trade where 3 points means I enter and exit in line with my rules; 1 point means I enter OR exit in line with my rules; 0 points means my entry and exit were not in line with my rules OR I failed to make a trade my rules said I should. My aim is to achieve 90% of the possible points in any month.

The ratings are a rich source of information. For example if I scored less than 90% and had the best ever dollar result, I would want to know how I did this. Questions to consider:

a) Has my intuition found a new pattern?

b) If I had followed my rules, would my result have been better or worse? etc.

Trust that answers the question.]]> 0
Do not consider this insurance cover as an extra expenditure as you never know when you will have to take the help of this insurance cover. Just think of it as a protective umbrella. As the D-Day approaches, you may realise that your bank balance is shrinking and there are few monetary issues to be settled. If you have this cover by your side, it gives you a sense of relief. Time just ticks away and the wedding day fast approaches. You have to pay up the dozen separate companies like venue arranger, caterers, suppliers and so on. Even if one of these go wrong or does not work according to your plan, then there are surely going to be problems.

But if you have this insurance cover by your side, there is no cause for worry. There may be many couples who faced similar situations in their life as they ignored purchasing wedding insurance. They have to put up with all these huge expenses in the last minute.Even simple damages to your wedding like your wedding cake getting damaged while in transit or your wedding ring getting stolen or lost can affect you mentally. Finding the money to pay for your carriage or limousine is another expensive affair and if you had planned these things originally, you would have saved a lot of unnecessary expenditure.

If you are bogged with all these doubts, then you do not have to worry. Just keep your cool and visit the websites of insurance providers who offer wedding insurance. This way you can remain at peace and need not have to worry about these small issues. Even the wedding insurance company may not be able to provide you every detail as to what are the things which are eligible for coverage as this is quite confusing. It is not worth gambling especially when it comes to wedding matters and you can obviously not take a chance. This cover is ideal for a couple who has a fixed budget and especially when the wedding preparations are just going to start. The policy provides coverage especially when there is a crisis situation like the bride or the groom falling ill, bad climatic conditions etc.]]> 0
1. Work out and pay off your debts

If you have a large amount of debt then there is no point trying to save money as the interest rate you’ll be paying on your debts will far outweigh any return you will see on any savings. So the first thing you need to do is work out how much money you owe out in loans and credit cards (do not factor in mortgage payments) and then calculate when you can feasibly repay these debts.

Once you have repaid these debts then you are ready to start saving as even just putting to one side the money you have been paying in interest is a good start to building up a substantial savings account.

2. What are you saving for?

When you start saving it is important to have a savings goal in mind as this gives you a focus to continue saving. This is important because without a goal in mind it is easy to for go putting money into your savings account and spend it on an impulse purchase.

So you first must determine whether your goal is short term, for example, saving up to buy a new games console, medium term, a deposit for a house, or long term, a retirement fund. And once this has been determined then you can begin to structure your savings strategy and work out how long it will take to achieve your savings goal. And it is important at this point to come up with an important time frame in which to meet your savings goal as if this is unrealistic then you may become disillusioned and give up on saving altogether.

3. Create a budget

Once you have worked out how much you need to save and over what period of time you now need to make a complete list of you income and expenditure and work out a proper budget, that is one that you can stick to, for the month ahead. When creating a budget be sure to break down and factor in those annual outgoings such as car or home insurance as these are large expenses that can be easily overlooked if they are only paid once a year.

To make a successful budget you need to make a note of how much money you bring in each month and then subtract each of your outgoings, no matter how small or large. The best way to do this is to keep a record of everything you spend over the course of a month and then calculate you total outgoings and subtract this from your income. The figure you are then left with should equate to the amount that you can then put away as monthly savings.

4. Cut your expenses

Once you have created a budget and you can see exactly where your money is going each month then it is a good idea to try and cut down your monthly expenditure. If you can trim your monthly outgoings, even by just a small amount, then this can soon add up and may help you to reach your savings goal that little bit faster. For example, if you are paying £2.00 for a coffee on your way to work each morning then this will add up to between £40 and £50 per month and up to £600 over the course of a year!

5. Choose the right savings account

Once you have worked out how much money you have to put to one side each month then it is important to work out which type of savings account is right for you and financial comparison sites such as Moneysupermarket can help you decide which is the best type of account for your circumstances. However, if you are planning for a long term savings goal such as retirement then you may want or you may want to seek professional financial advice.]]> 0
If you have noticed there are any payments or charges on your bank card or your credit card then you have to contact the company of your credit cards immediately. There should be an emergency number on your card or if you haven’t got the actual card the statements and alert them that you have not been using the credit card and that someone has been using your information to gets a credit card resulting in fraud. You also have to make aware that you are not going to be paying for this debt either and the credit card company will then stop the account and close it down so that no debt can be added and the card can’t be used again.

You have to call the police and fill out any and all necessary police reports which will have all the details written over the fraud debt so that if there has been any debts on your credit cards then can be documented so remember to take all of your documents over these debts to confirm you have been a victim of fraud.

You need to create a fraud alert on your credit reports with the three credit bureaus so that they know that you have been a victim of fraud and that information can be placed onto your reports and this will help to stop and get rid of your credit card debts which has been from fraud.

You have to keep on looking at your credit reports. This helps you to notice anything that has been an act of fraud on any of your accounts whether it is a credit card or bank charge. If you have been a victim of fraud then you are supposed to get a free copy of your reports so that you can see if there has been any fraud. You must file a dispute as soon as you notice anything wrong.

You should be contacting the credit card companies that have got your name on any cards that have not been used by you or has been issued to you personally. You have to tell them that you have not opened any accounts or have been using these cards either; remember to show all proof from the police that you have been a victim of fraud meaning you will not be responsible for debt.

You have to write to them yourself and demand that this debt is not yours and have to stop approaching you for any repayments.

If you are actually contacted by any debt collector or any agencies then you really have to make sure that this is your debt and no-one else’s so you have to get proof. Remember that is the one number priority for this.

If anyone is trying to collect a debt that was made via fraud then you have to make sure that you have got any and all reports to the police and any other documents that say you are not responsible for the debt. Since this is not your debt then you have to get that debt removed from your record and eliminate that from you and for them to stop contacting you about the debt.]]> 0