“Women want to tame him, but he has loved once, and now is lost…” Romance Publisher Harlequin Offering Personal Finance Books

January 28th, 2011

Our Canadian friends at The Globe and Mail reveal the latest trend in financial education:

Making personal finance books pink. You know, so girls will read them.

Harlequin, publisher of such romance classics as Alaskan Heat and Surrender to an Irish Warrior*, has already put out one book (The Frugalista Files: How One Woman Got Out of Debt Without Giving Up the Fabulous Life) and plans to publish more in the future.

Okay, we know men and women spend differently and even think about money differently. But will coloring personal finance books pink and talking about shoes really make finance matter for the ladies?

What do you think?

*Trahern MacEgan—his body is honed for fighting, his soul is black and tortured. Women want to tame him, but he has loved once, and now is lost. – eharlequin.com

Net Worth is…

January 28th, 2011

Net worth is a way of describing the overall monetary value of a person or a company. You can calculate your net worth by subtracting the money you owe from the money you have.

To put it in business terms, let’s talk about assets and liabilities. Liabilities are monetary obligations like debts, fees, or loans. Assets represent everything a company owns, including cash, investment, properties, and equipment. So if you run a cupcake cart that has $5,000 in assets (including cash, cupcake supplies, and the cart itself), but you have to pay your grandmother back the $1,000 she lent you to get started, your cupcake cart’s net worth would be $4,000.


Strategies for Change, Part 1: Activism

January 28th, 2011

Welcome to our new series, showing you how the changes you want to see in the world actually happen.

Check out our other SfC shorts:

Strategies for Change: Introduction
Strategies for Change, Part 2: Advocacy
Strategies for Change, Part 3: Direct Service
Strategies for Change, Part 4: Education

Redesigning The Arts

January 27th, 2011

“In 1993, a group of prominent orchestra administrators issued a report predicting the obvious: doom and destruction unless the nation’s symphonies radically changed the way they did business. In the future, according to ‘Americanizing the American Orchestra,’ orchestras would have to consider ‘collaborative efforts with other art forms, interactive audience projects, the use and adaptation of technology, and other departures from business as usual.’

It was a badly written, sanctimonious, controversial document, and most American orchestras simply ignored it. To the extent that they adopted any of its recommendations, orchestras did so halfheartedly, amateurishly and without real faith in the underlying premise: that audiences craved a new kind of concert, updated for the 20th century. ”

What do you think?

Would you be more interested in visiting the symphony if it incorporated more modern design and technology? As a patron of the arts, would you think this was a good investment? What would you do to improve classical music?

The Power Of Playing Hard To Get: Elusive McRib Sightings, Cheap Food Boost McDonald’s Earnings

January 27th, 2011

“McDonald’s has continued to lead the fast-food industry in its recovery from the recession. It’s outpacing its rivals, such as Burger King, which was taken private in a buyout last year, andWendy’s/Arby’s Group Inc., which announced last week it is considering a sale for its lagging Arby’s chain. The fast-food giant reported a profit of $1.24 billion, or $1.16 a share, up from $1.22 billion, or $1.11 a share, a year earlier.”

What do you think?

Would you buy something (like a special molded-meat sandwich that only comes out a few times a year at select locations) just because it was rare?

India May Eliminate Tax Returns For Salaried Citizens

January 27th, 2011


credit: vlima.com

Someone must have heard about the 6.1 billion hours Americans are spending slaving over their tax returns every year, because India is considering whether or not to simplify its tax system and allow roughly 17.5 million taxpayers to skip the tax return filing from now on.

Of course, this break wouldn’t apply to everyone. To qualify, taxpayers would have to be salaried (which means you are paid annually, not hourly, so that your employer and bank can accurately report your earnings to the government), and you must have no additional source of income.

In the U.S., people spend a lot of time trying to reduce their taxes by claiming deductions for things like charitable donations and education expenses. If India eliminates this process for half of its taxpayers, does that mean they don’t offer the same kind of tax breaks?

India May Eliminate Tax Returns for Salaried Citizens

January 27th, 2011


credit: vlima.com

Someone must have heard about the 6.1 billion hours Americans are spending slaving over their tax returns every year, because India is considering whether or not to simplify its tax system and allow roughly 17.5 million taxpayers to skip the tax return filing from now on.

Of course, this break wouldn’t apply to everyone. To qualify, taxpayers would have to be salaried (which means you are paid annually, not hourly, so that your employer and bank can accurately report your earnings to the government), and you must have no additional source of income.

In the U.S., people spend a lot of time trying to reduce their taxes by claiming deductions for things like charitable donations and education expenses. If India eliminates this process for half of its taxpayers, does that mean they don’t offer the same kind of tax breaks?

”Child Labor” at the Ad Agency

January 26th, 2011

“JWT, a WPP ad firm that works for advertisers such as Unilever, kicked off a reverse-mentor program late last year where children ages nine to 14 of JWT executives are brought in to work on specific projects for clients, with the thinking that young people understand the digital world better than many in the work force.”

What do you think?

Is this cool or creepy?

Out With The Old, In With The… Wait, Is Anything At Google Old?

January 26th, 2011

schmidt-and-page.jpg
credit: loiclemeur

Businesses need experienced leaders to succeed. Businesses need young talent to succeed. So what happens when there’s only room for one CEO?

  • Internet companies like Google have traditionally been small, nimble, and young. But Google has grown up. A lot. So much so that the size of its bureaucracy (read: paper-pushers) has started to limit how fresh and creative it can be.
  • So Eric Schmidt, the guy who has been CEO and providing “adult supervision” is being replaced by Larry Page, a Google co-founder.
  • Many Google employees, frustrated by business issues getting in the way of innovation, are hoping the executive switcharoo will be just what the company needs to ramp up its new product development. But can the founder run a company with more than 20,000 employees?

Facts & Figures

  • Larry Page is responsible for the algorithm that made Google the most powerful search engine on the net
  • He also oversaw the development of Gmail and Google’s Chrome browser
  • He was CEO for the 5 years after Google was founded in 1998

Best Quote

“Larry’s style is going to be different [than Mr. Schmidt's], but he has amazing instincts around developing products and is a tireless champion for improving users’ experience.” – David Scacco, Chief Revenue Officer, MyLikes, former Google employee

What do you think?

Do you think you could do a better job than your boss or parents? Is a new CEO enough to make an established company compete with new successes like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr?


Eight Months After Gulf Oil Spill, Halliburton’s Earnings Doubled

January 26th, 2011

oil-field.jpg
credit: cjc4454

How is THAT possible? Well, the news won’t tell you everything about a company’s health. For that, we turn to our old friend the earnings report…

  • Permits to drill are still hard to come by in the oily Gulf of Mexico, but increased drilling on dry land gave Halliburton a boost in the last quarter of 2010.
  • The high price of oil also helped; at $90 a barrel, oil collectors had more cash on hand to expand their onshore operations.
  • Halliburton is the world’s second-biggest oilfield services company, but still one of the cheaper stocks in the oil industry. Even with bigger-than-expected profits, it faces stiff competition from rivals. Oil is, after all, a finite resource.

Facts & Figures

  • In the last three months of 2010, Halliburton’s revenue increased by 80%
  • Net profit (the money that remains after debts and taxes are subtracted from gross profit) was $605 million in the 4th quarter, up from $243 million at the end of 2009
  • In 2011, Halliburton plans to increase the number of employees working on oil projects in Iraq to 1,200

Best Quote

“It’s still the cheapest of the large-cap diversified (oilfield service) companies.” – Kurt Hallead, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets

What do you think?

What would your earnings report look like for the last quarter 2010? Would it reflect financial disasters (or successes!) from earlier in the year?

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