What Rahm Emanuel Must Do For Chicago’s Communities
Rahm Emanuel so far has done a decent job of mingling jubilation with humility over becoming mayor of Chicago.
Maybe the size of the task before him has kept his ego in check. Maybe it’s the knowledge that a bench-load of rivals waits for him to make hard decisions and deplete his political capital so they can make him a one-termer.
He campaigned and at his inauguration he spoke with his legendary focus. Emanuel is like a cheetah stalking a wildebeest when it comes to focus. His prey is shortcomings in public safety, education and jobs. In a word, he’s staking his future on livability. If
March Japanese Tertiary Industry Activity Index
The Japanese tertiary industry activity index fell a slightly more-than-expected 6.0% m/m sa to 93.5 in March after an upwardly revised 1.0% m/m increase to 99.5 in February, suggesting Japan’s demand for services fell for the third time in four months and posted the biggest drop since April 1989, according to data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The index fell 2.9% y/y nsa in March, the first year-on-year fall since December 2009, following an upwardly revised 2.1% y/y increase in the prior month.
Dell’s 1Q Profit Soars on Commercial Sales
Dell reported a stronger-than-expected 177% improvement in first-quarter profit, helped by higher commercial sales and modest expenses, leading the second-biggest U.S. PC maker to lift its full-year view.
The computer maker posted net income of $945 million, or 50 cents a share, compared with $341 million, or 17 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. Excluding one-time items, the company earned 55 cents a share, widely ahead of average analyst estimates polled by Thomson Reuters of 44 cents.
Revenue for the three months ended April 29 was $15 billion, up slightly from $14.9 billion a year ago and missing the Street’s view of $15.41 billion.
“We’re off to a solid start in our fiscal year 2012,” Dell CEO Michael Dell said in a statement. “Our su
Are You Thinking To Buy a New Home?
It takes time to find a home you love, and once you do, the first question that comes to your mind should always be: “How much can I afford?” You might want a beautiful house considering the age, number of rooms, size, lawn, location or a swimming pool. One thing is certain, if your payment for mortgage amounts to more than half of your monthly income you will end up with an attractive, unfurnished house.
Affordable Payment:
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) uses a guideline to approve mortgages known as debt-to-income, which amounts to 43%. This particular ratio is used to determine whether the mortgagor can repay the debt. Thi
5 Common Excuses for Not Budgeting Your Money
Budgeting can seem like math minus the fun – and we all know how fun math is. What’s exciting about adding up all your expenses and seeing that you spend way too much each month and need to cut back? Or maybe you put everything on your check card so you won’t overspend. Genius, right? Except you’re not building credit then, and unless you’ve also set up an automated transfer into a savings account, you’re probably not retaining any money either. But many people don’t want to hear that. Let’s examine fivemon myths that keep people from budgeting:
1 . I cant manage my money because I’m bad at math.
Well, how are you with instructions? With modern budge
US: Consumer Prices Were High, but in Line With Expectations
After a week of price indices coming in higher than market expectations the Consumer Price Index, while high, played a note with the tone the Federal Reserve wanted. The Fed still has the upper hand in inflation.
Consumer prices increased by 0.4 percent during April at the headline level, while increasing by 0.2 percent at the core level. Both numbers were in line with market expectations so there should not be a big market reaction due to these numbers. The only potential issue is that the core consumer price index increased by a higher rate than the 0.1 percent rate recorded in March. Read full article…
8 Smart Reasons to Never Raid Your 401(k)
When people meet me and learn that Im a financial author and coach, they inevitably have a money question or two that they want to run by me. Lately, an increasing number of people that Ive met in person or on social media sites like Facebook are fessing up to the fact that they raided their retirement account at work for one reason or another.
They rationalized cracking open their nest egg and now they’re wondering how to play catch up. Unfortunately there’s no good solution for this problem because once retirement funds are tapped, not only are they gone, but you also have to shell out more money for income taxes and penalties if you took a withdrawal.
Even taking a loan from your 401(k) or 403(b), which can seem harmless on the surface, can put you in jeopardy of having to pay taxes and penalties if you leave your job or get fired. In