Your Finance Encyclopedia

Should you go for Debt Consolidation or Debt Settlement ...???

2009-03-06T03:26:00.000-08:00

It is often seen that individuals becoming a little confused in choosing whether to avoid Bankruptcy through Debt Settlement or Debt Consolidation.However, both being peaceful alternatives to Bankruptcy. It is advisable that the consumer analyzes the financial situations he is into in order to decide the more appropriate option for him. It depends on the ability of the individual to check the amount wants to save on his bills in order to select the right program for him.

Now there lies a basic difference between the debt consolidation and the debt settlement program. In a consolidation programs all the obligations of the consumer is carried forward which can accumulate to a lump-sum amount, however the interest rate that would be charged on the consumer would be much lower than the rate charged by normal creditors.Now the financing company or bank which provides the consolidation amount will have to paid back by the consumer through monthly installments. Now, this amount will be much much lower than previous bills demanded by the creditors. Thus, there will be huge savings on interests but the principal amount shall remain the same.

In case of a debt settlement program the actual loan amount is substantially reduced. Debt Settlement companies shall actually negotiate with the creditors and reduce the amount to be paid back to 50 to 70% of the actual amount. However , debt settlement leaves a scar on the credit report which makes it difficult to get future creditors approve loans.

Both the strategies however, have different comforts and discomforts from an individuals personal point of view. For some it might be a more feasible option to pay the lump-sum amount at once and count savings on the interest charges. However for another it might be more of a viable option to actually pay less than the borrowed amount.

Is Bankruptcy advisable .....???

2009-03-02T22:51:00.000-08:00

There is a myth about bankruptcy that once a person declares bankruptcy he gets a chance to start all over again in a fresh way. However the truth is much more harsh than the myth.

Bankruptcy in reality is a torrid and devastating event which actually leaves a person with irreparable damage. The word "Bankruptcy" might chill up spines and come as a viable option when things go from bad to worse.Any individual who is facing the prospect of bankruptcy must re-think over it again as it would be living a nightmare, once bankruptcy is filed.

Why is it advisable to avoid bankruptcy ?

Filing a bankruptcy is not smart move neither it should be recommended. It is something which leaves you with no scope of improvement once you declare you are a bankrupt. In most cases family life is distressed and a dark future awaits.

Bankruptcy is listed as "one of the five most life-changing negative events" along with divorce, severe disability , illness and losing a loved one. You need to make sure that you are not being fooled, when your lawyer(s) advise you to file bankruptcy, as the consequences are an extreme.

Types of bankruptcy:-
1. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is absolute bankruptcy where the credit report is affected over the next 10 years.

2. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is a similar to a modified repayment plan in which exists on the credit report for the next 7 years.

However, whichever form of bankruptcy you may go for , shall be a major a form of discomfort wherever you go for jobs or loans. It is inquired everywhere whether an individual has ever filed a bankruptcy or not. If someone lies in order to get a loan, then it is considered as a criminal fraud.

Bankruptcy can be avoided with proper credit counseling. Debt consolidation is also a very sensible alternative. A quicker win over through bankruptcy is actually a loss of a life-time.

Sporting.... Recession...!!!

2009-02-27T03:40:00.000-08:00

With every industry falling prey to the claws of the ongoing recession, sports too could not save itself. The price of slots for advertisement has become more expensive this year as compared to 2008, during this month’s Super Bowl, American football’s ultimate prize. In addition to all these the Premiere League sold its broadcasting rights for three consecutive seasons starting from the 10th of August 2010 at a price 5% more than the normal deal at 1.8 billion pounds.

Alike all other sectors sports too is not immune to economic downturns. The Premier League jerseys speak for themselves as Newcastle United sponsors Northern Rock and Manchester United sponsors American Insurance Group were all over the place and on the verge of bankruptcy. West Ham were without a sponsor for three long months when their sponsor XL crumbled due to the global credit crunch. In the history of American basketball, Detroit Pistons were unable to sell a full-house , in five seasons for a home game.

However, sports has been relatively performing in a better way in the face of recession unlike other business verticals. Even , when the dedicated fans should feel that season tickets are to expensive , still they shall be glued to their television sets which eventually shall keep the broadcasting rights to be open for high bids. The international Olympics Committee has started negotiations for the 2014 Olympic games and 2016 summer games television rights.

The case of National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing cars has not been going well. They are no longer carrying logos for every square inch as sponsor rates have slashed and many teams have been merged. Sponsors have even gone ahead and sold teams .Thus, the time is totally in-appropriate to build new teams and stadiums or even to hunt for new sponsors to bear team costs

Plan a Vacation ... Forget the Recession

2009-02-16T22:03:00.000-08:00

For most of us, a vacation a year, keeps us going through our daily lives. But what can you do to make it happen when you find yourself in the middle of a frustrating recession which is sweeping your finances away and making the future uncertain. Well, here we shall find out ways to squeeze out a vacation without robbing your savings accounts.

1. Know your Budget
At a time when the normal flow of money is restricted, it is important to actually analyze your savings options and get the maximum you can in your piggy bank.The exact amount you can afford shall determine the kind of trip you can actually pursue.It is possible to have a wonderful vacation even with a mere USD 500 per head.

2.Alter your style of travelling
If you prefer a stylized trip with a two week stay at a five star hotel,then, you need to find more affordable options during such tough times. A mere shift to a four star or three star would provide more lucrative deals with a minimum change of available amenities. Thus, even shortening the stay to a week from two can save considerable expenses.

However, it is important to make yourself comfortable, wherever you are staying. So make sure that your savings go hand in hand with your satisfaction.

3.Find the best deals
Browse through all websites which plan a vacation for you and provide great deals. It is possible you can come across some of the deals ever proposed. The savings through such homework can go up to a thousand dollars.

4.Provide yourself with more options
It is always advisable to plan your vacations before hand. It provide you with more scheduling options and more savings. Flying off during the middle of a week and in off-seasons indeed saves you a lot.

5.Find the right destination for your money
Plan your holidays to places where you shall find the best exchange rates for the currency you are carrying. Travelling to recession-hit countries will actually cost you half now than it would have a year or two back. Thus, local shopping there would also be profitable for the traveller as well the natives.

Thus ,these simple ways can still manage a vacation for you which shall be good enough for your pocket also.

Make your Money Safe...

2009-02-13T22:48:00.000-08:00

As the global credit crunch continues, banks all over the world are pinched hard to cope up with the situation. Consequently , you as a saver need to see out a few things in order to make sure that your money is safe. Thus, it would be avoidable to see yourself as the savers who had their money with the beleaguered banks such as Northern Rock, Bradford & Bingley and Bank of Scotland.So here is a list of few things to make sure your saved and invested money is not only safe but you also get the fruits of your investment.

1. Find out the the best savings account by surveying different institutions:

The smaller the bank the safer it is : The big four ( Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds) are on the border line of recession and could seriously affect your wealth. However there are many smaller well-known institutions who are offering higher rates of interest on savings and shall be more safe to put your money in. Even if a bank is damaged then also your money shall be compensated by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

The best savings rate should be found.

If there is a merger of your concerned bank then there is a cover up to 35000 pounds. Thus in case of merger a two or more banks come under the same authority, In such a case there is a cover up to the aforesaid amount and such can be retrieved irrespective of the current volume being held with the bank.

2. Find out who is owning the concerned bank.

3. Provide "plastic protection" to your credit card:
This service ensures that you get your money back on the purchases you have made through your credit card ( between 100 to 30,000 pounds)if the bank goes down irrespective of the fact whether the concerned firm is on the same land or overseas. Visa debit cards also provide the same facilities through their "chargeback" scheme, however the compensation is unlimited in this case.

4. Find out the right credit card for you which shall provide you with all legitimate coverages and claims.

Google profits Decline ...

2009-02-05T23:10:00.000-08:00

In the history of Google, they see their quarterly profits down for the first time, although the Big Daddy of internet search has been countering the recession in a much better way than predicted by analysts. Google still continues to efficiently implement its free-spending ways to generate the maximum of the company’s revenue through the online advertisements. This was reflected on the fourth quarter results, which contrasted the prediction of a possible lay-off as done by Google’s arch rival the Microsoft Corp which laid off 5000 employees.

However, the effects of the ongoing 13 month recession reflected on the Mountain-view based Google. This was clearly evident when they wrote their investments down to USD 1.1 billion compared to 1.5 billion which has been invested the trouble struck AOL and Clearwire Corp. Google has been provided an option for its 20,222 employees to acquire new stocks by swapping their existing stocks. This move will carry a lower price on the stocks and provide the staff with a brighter option to accumulate more wealth from the new stocks. A drop in Google’s stock prices by 47% initiated the move by Google as existing 17000 staff holding the stocks will be suffering a huge loss if they cash in their stocks.

Eric Schmidt, Google Chief Executive, stated that the upcoming months will be more challenging and daunting due to economic downturn worldwide. He addressed his employees and infused confidence that Google is prepared to face such challenges and hopes that the period recession to be short.

Google accumulated USD 382 million in the period September ’08 to December ’08, which is a 68% decline compared to the same period ’07. On a YoY basis Google’s profit has been up by 17% for the preceding 17 quarters. Google stated that they would have seen their stock prices standing above average at $5.10/share (average being $4.95/share) if they could have avoided compensation costs to employees holding stocks and dismal investments made.

Revenue was seen at USD 5.8 billion, an 18% growth, which is less than a 30% growth experienced in the previous year.

Save unnecessary expenses on "hidden" charges by credit cards...

2009-02-04T22:01:00.000-08:00

According to the Federal Law a credit card should not bear any hidden cost for the card-holders to pay. However, it has been seen that all card holders are not fully acquainted with the kind of fess that are charged on their cards and what amount of payments actually increases their interest rates and installments and the instances for which they are charged. A credit card statement has so many fine prints that it is quite easy to overlook the minute details of payments being demanded through the statements. This is what we call “hidden” charges.

An advisable way of getting rid of such unnecessary charges is by paying off the bill before it actually gets due every month and prior to the last date. It has been found that in 1998 consumers paid an amount of USD 4.8 billion as penalties for their card payments irregularities, while in 2005 the figure shot-up to a whooping USD 12 billion which signifies the fact that more and more cardholders are not paying off their bills in the due course of time and thereby facing the unnecessary penalties invoked on their statements.

There is an important penalty which you should be aware of: for some reason if you are late for paying the credit card bill on a particular occasion, the card issuer can raise the rate of interest without any respect to fact that you could carry a good track record of making your payments before time except on a single occasion. A report generated by the institutes for Consumer Financial Education, San Diego shows that 40% of the credit card issuing companies increase their interest rates on account of late payments by card holders.

Is there a way of saving yourself from such unnecessary “hidden” costs? Well, consider the few following advices-

The day you receive your card statement for payment of the bills, try dispatching the payment on the very day. You must try to clear the minimum due every month and if possible more than that. Thus in a way you are avoiding the increasing interest rates and the late payment fees. An even better way of avoiding late payments is paying your credit card bills through online automatic payments, to be deducted from your account before the due date. Thus, there shall be no chance of you forgetting to make payments prior to the due dates.

You should do a little analysis before applying for a credit card, as you should identify the better card for you according to your spending habits and repayment capability. You should always monitor the terms and conditions of the credit cards you are holding, as they may change from to time.

Obama is irritated ...

2009-02-02T21:44:00.000-08:00

The American President Barack Obama criticized and expressed his irritation on top executives of Wall Street financial companies and stated their irresponsible behavior. The fact that about USD 18 billion were drawn as bonuses by employees last year while the financial crunch developed over US markets and were provided by a bailout from taxes paid by common people. Obama referred it as an act of shame and quoted "And part of what we're going to need is for the folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint, and show some discipline, and show some sense of responsibility."

The New York state comptroller published a report notifying a figure of USD 18.4 billion consumed as bonuses by the top executives of Wall Street financial companies. Obama was surrounded by business leaders of Wall street and handsomely paid CEOs ,most of these personalities were the heads of giant corporations like IBM , Motorola, Xerox and Corning , Apple , Intel, etc. who get paid handsomely. The President applauded them for trying to cope up with the financial turbulence and planning for betterment unlike the heads of various financial companies of the Wall Street.

Obama went on spotting the discomfort of the public in helping out the financial sector coming out of such a self-dug hole of credit crunch due to extravagant and irresponsible lavishness of drawing bonuses. Joe Biden , the U.S Vice-President in an interview with CNBC was spotted quoting "I mean, I'd like to throw these guys in the brig," referring to such executives who had drawn enormous funds as bonuses.

As the turbulent times continue, the House of Congress has passed a USD 800 billion bailout. Obama has even proposed forming a “bad bank” which would stock funds and make them available for the worst of situations, so that the tax-payers are not burdened with emergency bailout packages. However Obama in the end addressed the top-notch executives of Wall Street and quoted "There will be time for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses. Now is not that time."

Learn to love the Recession....

2009-02-01T23:39:00.000-08:00

There are companies which emerge from recession as a better and stronger organization. However, such a comeback solely depends on the kind the strategies that are being adopted during the phase of recession. Such strategies might be an absolute contrast to the methodological wisdom and conventions. These can actually better the stock prices than the former peers and eventually infuse a better and a formidable structure in the company for further improvement.In a study of about 1000 companies , mostly US companies which were industrial, between 1982 to 1999 , it has been revealed that there are two major classes of identification of such companies :-

1. the industry leader which remained and continued to perform strongly

2. the challengers which moved up a long way and provided strong competition to the leaders.

A study of such companies during both healthy and worsened economy further revealed that the strong challengers looked out for more acquisition opportunities during the recessive economic stretches than the less successful ones. They increased their acquisition plans by almost 63% in order to emerge as stronger performers. As the competitor companies brought deal-making activities to a halt , the strong challengers actually did not lessen their transactions ,emphatically notifying the fact that they were more inclined on buying for cheap .

Thus, recessive economy can also be a very fruitful phase for major acquisitions and re framing strategies and setting a much prosperous trend for the future.

Benefits of Recession ...!!!

2009-01-30T04:32:00.000-08:00

The ongoing recession, being cursed by everyone, can actually, in a small and smart way be seen beneficial in certain ways. Analyzing the situation worldwide with a little logic and from both ends (sellers as well as buyers). Thus we shall see the following ways in which recession is beneficial in a little way:

Lowering real estate cost: The sellers who invested previously for short term gains, shall not be impressed with the current trend of deteriorating housing prices. However, from a buyers’ point of view it is indeed the right time to go for the purchase. Anyone who has been deciding on buying a new house , now is the time to utilize and draw out the benefits.

Stock price deterioration: Investors who want to gain in long term investments through holding stocks , can now call the deal. As there is no better time than the present scenario to go for quoting stocks. All the houses which have a proven track record are having cheap stock prices beyond normal. So this is the correct time to bet big with little cash.

Lower rates of Mortgage: The Reserve Banks or the Federal Banks have lowered mortgage rates reasonably to counter recession. Also low mortgage rates would encourage real estate investments. Thus, it is an excellent time to actually invest in property.

Better Deals at cheaper rates : The recession have made manufacturing houses and even travel agencies and companies to provide awesome bargains to keep a continuous flow of business. As consumers are on a back0foot and are cutting down their expenses in all possible ways , the stores and manufacturers have pointed out the need to provide more for less. Thus, this time is ideal for purchasing consumer durables and going for holidays over long travel routes.

Recession Dressing up the Fashion Industry

2009-01-30T00:36:00.000-08:00

The ongoing recession global financial depression has put shopping on a conservative and budgetary tone. Rather, fashion tips and brand addiction is getting thrifty , as the fashion industry is forced to make itself adaptable to the on-going credit crunch. Fashion conscious personalities have to get even smarter and find ways to look great for less. Thus, it is undeniable that shopping will be on an onslaught. Analysts though believe that attitude dressing should be compatible to real personality and the sense of one’s own self rather than enormously over priced brand hunting fascination.

A handful belonging to the top-level of the fashion world forecasts that recession will have its take on the fashion industry too. However, mixed reactions in the market continue to exist, so convergence to a constant verdict seems to be impossible. As, fashion photographer Gilles Bensimon would waive away any effects of recession and sees a stronger evolving market. According to him, fashion is all about dreaming and figuring out to look great rather than going for materialistic shopping. As dreams come free, so, can we expect fashion to flourish amid the recession? Should it be considered that although people are cutting their budgets on travel, shopping and other things, a pair of new shoes or a new dress might be affordable to take them away from the frustrating economy? Well it sounds quite an opposite to the reality. Yet, fashion being all about pleasure, it might be “considered” by optimists.

The Gucci President Danielle Vitale provided a little more clarity in explaining the situation. She expects a short-term affect of the global economic recession, however , feels that Gucci being the brand it is and its international presence would in fact compensate the fall of one country’s economy through sales revenue earned from another.

Thus, for the end customer it is advisable to integrate sense with fashion and avoid over-priced shopping of big branded stuff. It is important to maintain one’s identity through fashion which actually is can be fetched without spending much.

Hollywood feels the HEAT of GLOBAL CREDIT CRUNCH

2009-01-29T03:11:00.000-08:00

A myth about Hollywood has been that it is a capable industry that can keep itself unaffected from any financial crunch. However the reality is harsher. In 2008, Hollywood motion picture studios have been pinched by the global financial recession which mostly occurred in U.S due to the extreme stagnation of economy in the realty sector. As economy kept on deteriorating movie studios have felt the pain the even more.

Over the past few houses the major Hollywood studios have started revising their production project plans and restructuring their advertising ways to meet the crisis. Employee lay-offs have also been a part of the measures taken up. As economy is on decline parent companies have felt the heat and thus have gone in to develop risk minimizing plans. As consumers have restricted their expenses and advertising revenues have worsened, parent companies have no other option than this. There has even been heavy job bashing in the industry as Time Warner owned Warner Bros. Pictures smashed 1000 jobs as the 100-day strike observed by Hollywood writers was on. It was estimated that the strike, called by the Writers Guild of America , which suspended work for about 2 weeks , amounted to a loss of about USD 2 billion.

Following Warner Bros. Pictures, NBC-Universal owned Universal Pictures declared a lay-off of about 500 employees or 3 % of its total employee strength while Paramount Pictures, owned by Viacom laid off 850 personnel or 7% of its total staff count.
One major decision that came from Disney was its decision to withdraw its production plans for the third installment of the fantasy series “Chronicles Of Narnia”. Due to the stringent economy high-investment plans are being looked at as high risk-issues. Studios are now operating on a more conservative tone.

The only big good news for Hollywood being the revenue generation has not yet seen any fall compared to 2007. A few blockbusters have fortunately been able to attract huge audiences to the theatres and provided some relief from the depressing economy. “Batman – the Dark Knight “produced by Warner Bros added a cool USD 530 million last summer and topped the box-office charts. Such a figure was last seen back in 1997 when “Titanic” was released. The holiday season towards the end of 2008 even added to the occasion when "Marley & Me," "Bedtime Stories" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," recorded the highest gross revenue ever generated on Christmas Day in the history of Hollywood.

Investment Banking ------ An overview

2009-01-28T03:40:00.000-08:00

Investment Banking refers to financial consultancy and their main revenue generation operates through cash market dealing with securities as well as primary market dealing with bonds. In fact, they provide legal advisory services for mergers and acquisitions. According to SEC (FINRA) regulations such an advisor (individual or a financial institution ) should be a licensed broker or an authorized dealer.

First world countries primarily the G7 nations having strong economic platform, banking sector had never delineated investment banking as a separate domain. Strategic financial advisor and services often include trading of derivatives (futures and options), equities and commodity market trading. Their financial planning services included mergers and acquisitions of institutional houses and thus acted as a perfect third-party consultant.

Their revenue generation has always been bilateral. Research, promotion, marketing dominated largely in securities and cash market trading. On the other hand, dealing with various funds, which categorically include pension funds, hedge funds, mutual funds, insurances of various categories by utilizing their retail database, which actually generated their revenue from their respective clients through the “buy side”.

The last two of the” bulge bracket” firms that existed on Wall Street were Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. However, on the 22^nd of September,2008 they responded to the U.S financial crisis by electing to convert into traditional banking institutions. There are banks that are “universal” rather than specifically being bulge market investment banks as they accept deposits. These are Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, UBS AG , JP Morgan Chase , Credit Suisse , HSBC and Barclays.

U.S Automotive Industry crisis

2009-01-27T03:59:00.000-08:00

Amidst the global financial crisis, during the latter half of 2008 , an automotive industry crisis developed. Although it primarily affected the United States and Canada, because of the Automotive Products trade Agreement, it stretched itself and went on affecting the automobile manufacturers in Europe and Japan as well. There are multiple causes responsible for such a depression being developed. Let us go into analysis and find out more :-
1. Political Demands:
A letter was sent to the CEO s of the Big-Three (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid(both belonging to the Democratic Party) calling them to devise a plan that would restructure their business concepts and sacrifice major resources. The time allotted was also too short to manage and resolve such critical issues which messed up everything.
2.Volume of laborers:
A survey by the Alliance for American Automobile Manufacturing reported a total 1.6 million people involved in the Big-Three of the U.S automobile industry , as employees , vendors and dealers. The total magnitude sums up to a lump-sum of 3.1 million in the whole U.S automobile industry. Thus, a huge cost has been going in for supporting such a huge labor base.
3. Costs to Jobs:
In 2005 it was surveyed and published by Detroit News that the Big-Three paid wages to almost 12000 workers who were idled due to technological advancements. Such was a compulsion on the manufacturer's part as the UAW formed a program in 1984 which protects the labor interests and benefits.
4. Brand Numbers:
In comparison to Toyota's three brands , GM rums eight brands which involve huge costs as separate brands require specific branding, advertising and expenses of product development. This is again a major cause for the developed depression.
5. Dealer Numbers:
An estimated amount of 500,000 people work for about 10,000 dealerships shared between GM and Chrysler. However, if a cut-down is intended on the number, it would involve huge expenses as dealers are protected through State laws. Such a reformation is extremely challenging without a bankruptcy declaration.
6.Merging the "Big-Three" :
Such an effective proposal to save the industry was totally rejected due to the influential opposition coming from the UAW and CAW. The reason to oppose was the fact that it would have involved huge employee layoffs.
7. Crisis of Capital:
GM is indebted with $43 billion, thus, if share holders swap their stakes for equity, the burden shall be substantially reduced. Thus, the Big-Three are in a critical situation and shall be even more penalized if such factors are not countered through bankruptcy declaration or plant-shut down. A bankruptcy declaration would hopefully provide a financial bail-out by the Federal Government and thereafter organizational and management re-structuring shall better the situation and the U.S economy as a whole.

Should I invest in Dollar or Gold ..... ???

2009-01-26T21:01:00.000-08:00

A competition of investment in gold versus dollars would obviously result in gold winning over without a shadow of a doubt.
A number of reasons actually shall take us through the analysis for gold winning over dollar. A change in the price of gold is actually the change in the valuation of dollar, not gold. The simpler way in which we can put it in is that an ounce of gold can still buy the same quality and quantity of services and goods as it were decades ago. However, the same amount of dollar cannot fetch the same as it did years back.
Thus, the question that arises upfront is whether to invest in "Dollars or Gold?"
An investment in dollar exposes the investor to the manipulated fluctuations in the market which causes abrupt changes. This is again a result of continuous printing of dollars (such occurs in most currencies , however, we considering only U.S here). This is done so as to fund debt like Federal Government debts and also those which are both private and public.
In contrast to dollar , gold carries a permanent consistency which does not alter in terms of purchasing power. The value of dollar relatively decreases with time, in the longer time frame. There was a time when $20 would have bought an ounce of gold which now would go up to $600 to $700.
This interestingly points to the direction where one should put his money. Gold is not dependent on currency. Thus, it can be simply handed over or received.

Video Games - A Recession Proof Industry

2009-01-21T04:37:00.000-08:00

Recession is that phase of economy where down trend is visible all through. Decline in demand coupled with fall of production and henceforth slowing down of gross domestic product. However one among those rare goods and services which are inelastic to market situations remains modern day version of entertainment irrespective of young or old which are computer games.

Though new kid on the block, games have witnessed many market uncertainties like 2008 which remained as one of a lean year, growth of this new market has been steady. Human nature draws them to any form of entertainment after a weary day and here games scores over a long list of many other means.

If we follow the data we analyze the growth of this industry. Study reveals that sales in US market has increased to around 38% which in absolute count may come round $8.27 billion in the first half of the year surpassing the $6.1 billion revenue of the year 2007. With revenue increasing in leaps and bounds and market share increasing in this pace definitely reveals the importance this industry holds. Infact the game industry as a whole is indifferent to recession can be figured out from the

fact that Technology bubble burst had least impact on it. While Dow Jones Industrial Average declined around 20% while video gaming revenue climbed 43%. After 2007, the industry sales moved up to 50% to all-time high, revenue registered around $18.85 billion. Around the globe, expected revenue exceeds $57 billion in 2008, 35% growth on one year time frame from the 2007 to a record $41.9 billion. With 267 million video games disappearing from stores, it means an average of nine games per second sold out of retail stores across the country last year& even faster in 2008, 40% up in the first half of the year itself. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP global sales will hit $68.3 billion by 2012. That’s a 10.3% annual increase over the next four years.

A snapshot of the highest selling games in the last 12 months:-

Games	Release Dates	Copies Sold in Millions
1. Call of Duty 4	November 6 ,2007	10
2. Halo 3	September 23,2007	8
3. Grand Theft Auto 4	April 29,2008	6.5
4. Mario Kart	April 10,2008	6.5
5. SuperMario Galaxy	November 1,2007	6
6. Super Smash Bros	January 31,2008	5
7. Wii Fit	December 1,2007	5
8. Metal Gear Solid 4	June 12,2008	3

Cut off your Credit Card debts

2009-01-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

A minimal effort can indeed save thousands of dollars every year . Credit card costs can be cut down also more cutting down of expenses means making more money. Certain measures that could be undertaken are:-

An interest exceeding 12% should be counted as excessive charging by the credit card company. The normal prime interest rates being less than 10% any credit card company who charges more than so are befooling you. If you carry a good credit then its best to find a good credit card having interest rates varying from 9 to 12 % avoiding those credit cards which charge 13 to 21% interest.
This can save about USD 450 to 1K a year.

A credit card having lower interest rate enables you to clear off the debts on other existing credit cards by cash withdrawals. Thus , the debt automatically moves on to a credit card having a lower interest rates. However , it should be noted that there are credit cards that charge a higher transfer fee to move a debt from one credit card to another. So it should be appropriately chosen.
This ensures a yearly savings of USD 200 to 500 a year.

A part of the savings should be used to clear off consumer debts. With credit cards charging interest at 10 to 21 % and a consequent less 1% interest offered by banks on passbook savings , it is advisable to clear off as many debts as possible through the savings accounts . However, it would be risky to empty the savings and be unprepared for emergencies. So an enough amount is to be kept along with a good borrower status.
This can provide a yearly savings of USD 200 to 500

If a person does not have enough savings to clear off his consumer debts then an alternative and viable option is home equity loan. As, home equity loans carry much lower interest rates than credit cards so it acts as a benefit in two ways:
1. The interest rates that you pay on your credit card at around 16% comes down to flat 6 or 7 % in case of the home equity loan.
2. the interest of the home equity loan can be deducted from a person’s taxable income.
However, it should be noted that it puts your house on the line so manage your funds very carefully.
It is possible to get a yearly savings of USD 1000 to 2000.

Look out for credit cards that come with no annual fees , considering other options as late payment fines, grace period ,interest rates and so on , choose your card. The cards that carry a fixed annual fee can also be made free by calling the concerned bank and asking them to waive off the fee.
It saves around USD 25 to 50 a year.

Always try to pay down the credit balance in order to cut down on the interest rates.
This can potentially save USD 100 to 1000 a year.

If there exists a balance on more than one credit cards then strategize your payments. Follow a Credit Crunch as follows :-
If card A charges maximum interest then pay the bulk of your savings towards card A while paying much lesser amounts to the others. Once card A is cleared then subsequently follow the same payment procedure for the card that charges the second highest interest rate after card A and so on.

Protect your finances from the hands of Natural Disasters

2009-01-18T22:29:00.000-08:00

Natural catastrophes pulls away a person’s mind from his finances, when they strike. Thus, leaving a drastic aftermath for the rest of their futures. It is obvious that a person shall be least be bothered about his finances when such a tragedy strikes his family and home. It is even more tragic for people to bounce back from such a situation to normal life especially when his home is no more.

These lead to chaos and ample bad decisions in a person’s mind which even adds to the ruins of his future. Thus it is necessary for people to work out a plan ahead of time and be prepared for the worst. Since it is impossible to predict such catastrophes, it is best to set yourself up right from the beginning.

Certain advisable measures are:-

Gradually developing a fund for emergencies:

It is essential for every family to maintain an emergency fund constantly as easier access to money is a necessity during such situations. It is this emergency fund which avoids the hunt for funds when a natural calamity strikes.

Insure for storm damage:

It should be noted that a normal homeowner’s policy does not cover up the cost of the damages caused due to a natural disaster. So it is essential to get insured through an exclusive policy that will serve the purpose for a natural disaster. According to the nature of place where a person stays the appropriate policy should be chosen. Flood insurance, hurricane insurance are some of the alternatives as per the topography of the place of residence.

Index a list of contractors that you can bank upon:

During a natural disaster many home are destroyed or damaged. It is this phase when a homeowner helplessly approaches non-trusted contractors to put together a new place to stay for him. This is where con artists or new contractors come into the play charging huge amounts to gain unethically. Thus if a list of such contractors are kept who can be banked upon, then huge losses can be furthermore avoided.

Take care of your papers and keep them safe:

Your every financial document and paper should be copied and kept safely in some deposit box. Piling up a file with such documents and papers are not advisable. During such disasters if these are misplaced it gets chaotic to invoke your claims on the insurance policies. It is important that copies of all such documents should be also kept in a second location which shall be unaffected.

Thus, if the above mentioned precautions are taken before-hand it will obviously put you in a much better position than other victims. Though it is very tough for a person to actually think about losing everything that he might own , however natural disasters are unpredictably inevitable, so it is best advised to be prepared before–hand to lead a good life henceforth.

2009-01-14T22:09:00.000-08:00

Is Rising oil prices a threat to National Security ...

In this global liquidity crisis the US Air force has developed certain measures to meet its cost reduction process.
The primary proposition being the use of synthetic fuel upto 50% in place of commercial fuel. A spike of $10 per barrel costs the US Air force $600 million in excess for fuel. Thus, synthetic alternatives are being considered to be used vastly by 2016. The Pentagon has even proposed the increasing use of virtual training programs through flight simulators for new pilots. According to officials of Pentagon, flight simulators are more effective training options as thy are customizable unlike the real world training programs.
The Air Force consumes about 2.6 billion gallons of fuel every year for aviation purposes. Thus they aim at saving 260 million gallons every year which accounts for 10% of the total volume consumed.
Boeing Co has even introduced X-48Bs in the Pentagon hangars which are compatible with synthetic fuels and are lighter aircrafts. NASA has come forward developing BWB(Blended Wing Body) which lessens the drag in aircrafts thereby reducing fuel consumption. The route of travel for flights and loading of cargoes are even altered for more fuel-efficient outputs.
Such conservation measures are devised as in 2005 and 2006 the budget was exceeded for aviation fuel by USD1.4 billion and 1.6 billion respectively. Also tensions developing between US and oil producing countries like Iran and Venezuela amidst the economic recession has made the US Air force to initiate such processes.

NASA stretches economic crunch on Lockheed Martin and Boeing

2009-01-07T00:50:00.000-08:00

NASA Blows Lockheed Martin and Boeing Co.
NASA awarded a USD 3.5 billion in contracts to beginner companies in order to transport cargo to the International Space Station ,post the retirement of US space shuttles. This was a big blow for the giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing as their rejection was least anticipated.
By the beginning of 2010 A.D, Space Exploration Technologies (SPACE-X) , headed by the Paypal founder Elon Musk and Dullas , and Orbital Sciences Corporation, originating from Virginia ,will be seen transporting cargo shipments to and from the International Space Station.
The mammoth spacial outpost worth USD 100 billion being assembled together through stages involves the United States , Canada , Japan , Russia and European Nations working together.
NASA replaced the Russian Progress cargo carriers with carriers from commercial contractors in order to deliver required supplies to the space station.
After the retirement of the Soyuz shuttles in 2010 , Russia will deploy them for transporting astronauts to the Space station and back. Such would be required to do as shuttle replacements will be met only by 2015.
According to Bill Gerstenmaier 40 to 70 % of the cargo will be carried by the carriers provided by the commercial contractors.
Planet Space ,based in Chicago, a consortium which accommodates companies Lockheed Martin Corporation , Boeing and Alliant Techsysytems Inc. was blown over by Space-X and Orbital Sciences. The contract for Orbital stands at USD 1.9 billion for eight flights and for Space-X at USD 1.6 billion for twelve flights.
NASA had already granted contracts to Space-X and Orbital Sciences worth a combined USD 500 million prior to the billion-dollar awards. Space-X has even announced its plans for setting up a complex alike Cape Canavarel Air Force Station beside the Kennedy Space Centre,Florida.
Whereas Orbit shall be flying from the NASA Wallops Island base in Virginia.

Declining House sales in US ....

2009-01-06T02:24:00.000-08:00

Yet another Fed Rate cut is expected as US consumer Index has fallen and there is a decrement in the present data of housing sales .

It was big surprise in store for analysts as US markets closed at a flat as a consequence of a bout of negative data. As markets already started with Consumer Index of 99.8 against an estimated value of 104.3, nothing more would have been expected , finally it hit the lowest in the last couple of years.

This fall in Index can be factorized in the following three ways :-

· With declining housing prices it is getting realized that the consequent net-worth is also on a decrease.

· The labor market is sensed to be on a deterioration

· There is a credit crunch in the market and availing credit is getting immensely tough.

As Consumer Index sums up almost to two thirds of GDP , hence it is expected that the lowering Consumer Index shall bring down the GDP as well.

However another data that was evaluated was the fact that US Existing Home Sales data showed figures beyond the expected ones.

The declination at 4.3% in August ,’08 was lower than the expected 4.6%.

Certain companies even showed negative results. Such an example being Lennar Corporation, a leading credit company , showed the worst results in the 53 years of its history with a net loss of USD 514 billion ,which was written off at USD 848 billion.

Thus the whole market depicted a negativity.

Can Obama Bounce the Economy to boom....???

2009-01-05T19:53:00.000-08:00

The Barack Obama Financial Express......
In October 2008 President elect Obama voted in favor of the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. However, he quoted , "The fact we are even here voting on a plan to rescue our economy from the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street and Washington is an outrage."
As the Bill failed initially in the House, it made Obama to urge a return of the Bill for a negotiation. Thereby, Obama suggested an additional measure to the Bill that would stretch the limit from $100,000 to $250,000 on Federal Deposit Insurance.,
Obama verbally gave a "thumbs-up" for the Treasury Department's plan to flow in money into the Banks that were struggling to survive the crisis. However in October 2008 with reference to the implementation of the plan, Obama quoted : "implemented in a way that helps homeowners and does not enrich Wall Street CEOs at the taxpayers' expense." He even called for a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures.
As Bear Stearns collapsed in late March,2008, Obama introduced " a six-point plan" so as to better the government's regulation of financial institutions. It was foreseen that "The Obama Plan" would provide the Federal Reserve with the absolute power over "any financial institution to which it makes credit available as lender of last resort." Obama depicted confidence that the plan would provide liquidity and capital requirement for all financial institutions and added that U.S Regulators should be streamlined to meet competition and overlap.
Obama quoted the September 2008 bailout of AIG as, " the final verdict of the failed economic policy " of the Bush administration and asked the Federal Reserve to "ensure that the plan protects the families that count on insurance ." The Federal Reserve was even urged by Obama to deny the bail out AIG's shareholders or management. Obama even addressed a letter to the Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to disallow outgoing of CEOs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
In August 2008 Obama announced an "Emergency Economic Plan" which provides a 95% tax-cut for working families and a grant of $ 2 billion in "Jobs and Growth Funds" for jobs in infrastructure.
As Obama said in the pre-election camaping "the change" is about to become.

Wishing everyone everywhere .... A very very Happy New Year

2008-12-31T19:54:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone
Lets find peace and optimism in the coming year . With all the that happened that we did not want to and do things we were not ready for ..... let's put all that in the nutshell of memories and henceforth fill ourselves with positivity and support each other for a better future .
A VERY VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS 2009 TO ALL OF US.

My first step towards creating a Financial Atlas ...

2008-12-30T22:42:00.000-08:00

A warm welcome to all bloggers and readers who visit my first post ....

Since the past few months the global economy has been going through such stringent phases that I feel the urgency to throw an overview towards where the world economy actually stands at the present moment. A Man turns blue and collapses when deprived of oxygen and the same kicks in when economies are deprived of credit. The global financial crisis empowering itself with every passing hour has indeed suffocated the global economy. Such has resulted the world's central banks to actually research on and implement emergency measures to prevent a further financial catastrophe. The October 8th edition of World Economic Outlook , quoted that the world economy is entering into a "major downturn" in the face of “the most dangerous shock” to rich-country financial markets since the 1930s. The expected global growth, measured on the basis of purchasing-power parity (PPP), can come down to a mere 3% in 2009.
In America the graph dipped steeply as the economy lost 159000 jobs in September , the most in a month since 2003. Car sales have hit a 16 year low as potential buyers were incapable of getting credit as the markets went into the crunch. With commodity prices running on a steep fall (the price of a barrel of crude oil was down to $88 on October 8th), suffocating economies have actually evaporated the risks of inflation, thereby causing deflation to emerge as a major risk. This gloomy evidence does brings out the fact that manufacturing is extremely weak and the outputs continue to fall drastically.
As in markets elsewhere the figures continue to grow grimmer , business confidence is turned down. Thus as forecasters predict that recession is inevitable we could only hope that it remains mild.