Bringing our business to the next level

In this difficult marketplace that is already installed in the country, we definitely need to bring our businesses to the next level as soon as possible and start to make major profit while bringing better and more dedicate services to our costumers…
In order to do that, you need to pay more attention to your inventory and bring better services related to order fulfillment and product fulfillment so that our costumers can enjoy a faster and more complete service. Moreover, product fulfillment services also tend to captivate the attention of more foreign costumes, allowing you to profit even more!So, why don’t you have a look at the website above and take full advatage of the handy services availabe there and offered by AMS fulfillment? I am sure that your company will boost sells with such important services.

Black friday is a reallity and everyone is crazy about it!

Are you also one of those who did everything possible to be the first taking advantage of the black friday? Well, you should definitely try to the same this year as it's probably one of the most amazing ones! Just read th story and witness it:

Hundreds queued up before the doors opened at the company's Fairfax, Va., location at 5 a.m., arriving as early as the evening before to shop.

"We skipped Thanksgiving dinner," said 30-year-old Arash Habiezadeh.

Wal-Mart, which operates more than 4,100 U.S. stores and 3,100 international locations, was expected to be one of the biggest winners this holiday season as its discounts resonate with budget-conscious shoppers.

Overall, the U.S. retail sector is expected to endure one of its worst holiday seasons in years, with sales expected to climb just 2.2%, according to projections by the National Retail Federation.

Still, concerns about the economy didn't seem to alter the spending habits of many Wal-Mart shoppers in Virginia, including Robert Balboni of Centreville, Va. who had loaded his shopping cart with a 42-inch flat panel TV, a portable DVD player and a Philips 2GB MP3 player.

"Even with the economy, you've got to go with the deals," he said.

Sending free e-cards online now that Thanksgiving Day is by the corner...

As you know, Thanksgiving Day is just by the corner and while most people are already preparing their households and their cards for everyone, I am still wondering why are there so many persons who seem to be unaware of the fact that we no longer need to write hundreds of cards… In fact, Internet solution has brought us the ultimate solution on this matter by the name and concept of e-cards, making it possible for us to send month2month free e-cards with all the ease that we have always wanted!

Keeping this in mind, why should we keep on wasting our money on cards that nobody reads or likes when we can easily send all those messages online with the free e-cards available on the website above? Moreover, with such an wide range of e-cards to choose from and with so many possibilities to send them over to the people that we love the most, I am sure that we can easily find some e-cards that will easily attract our attention and encourage us to send them over to the people that we would usually contact with regular mail cards…

So, why don’t you follow the president’s advice and save some money now that the economy is still a long way from total recovery and effective use of the national budget, why don’t we start to save some extra money with the cards that we would normally send by mail, by sending them online instead?

Black Friday is coming and everyone is willing to take advantage!

Would you like to buy some new clothes or any other extras for your Christmas? Well, get ready for the black friday, which is just by the corner!

Merchants know it's all or nothing when the clock strikes 12.01 a.m. Friday.

For many retailers, their survivability depends not only on having the biggest, boldest Black Friday sales they've ever had, but also on making sure that the critical holiday shopping season doesn't begin and end on the day after Thanksgiving.

Industry analysts warn that there's a high risk of that happening, given that many Americans are in a serious spending lockdown that has already pushed several retailers - including electronics merchant Circuit City - into bankruptcy.

Buying the ceiling fans that we have always wanted...

While everyone is still wondering which will be the results that the new US president will bring to our country, I am already redecorating my new house with all the class and beauty that my new property deserves!

Keeping this in mind, I recently bought some new ceiling fans that will definitely bring the overall appearance of my house to a whole new level! I mean, thanks to the useful ceiling fan search tool available at farreys.com I was able to buy the most stunning craftmade fans that I have ever seen in my whole life! In fact, if you prefer hunter ceiling fans, minka aire ceiling fans or the well-known monte carlo ceiling fans then you can easily find them on the website above or using the search tool on the main website. I am sure that after some minutes of browsing you will be already preparing your husband to the new ceiling fans that you will be buying and joining the house soon!

So, what are you waiting for? If you have always wanted to get ceiling fans that you really love but you could never find them on your state, then you would surely benefit with a visit to farreys.com which is the ultimate place to buy all your ceiling fans.

Obama named his economic team to fight recession!

While all the US citizens are still wondering if Obama is the man to face the financial crisis, the truth is that he has already named his economic team, which is expected to boost our economy in the next few years!

President-elect Barack Obama named key members of his administration's economic team Monday, including New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner as his Treasury Secretary nominee and former Harvard President Lawrence Summers as the director of the National Economic Council.

"I've sought leaders who could offer both sound judgment and fresh thinking, both a depth of experience and a wealth of bold, new ideas, and most of all who share my fundamental belief that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street without a thriving Main Street," Obama said at a press conference Monday in Chicago.

Buying a gift for your young cousins...

Even though the current financial trends may seem to have enough power to hide the upcoming Christmas from our minds, the truth is that it is already by the corner and that makes it absolutely mandatory that we start to buy the presents for all the special people in our lives!

Keeping this in mind, I am sure that it’s far more difficult to buy something that can really captivate the attention of a kid than it is to get the satisfaction of an old adult, right? In fact, if you want to make your younger brother or cousin enjoy the gift that you are going to give him, you definitely need to offer him Video games for his brand new console! Yet, I am sure that you know that video games tend to cost a lot of money and that makes it necessary that you find cheaper Video Games… This is exactly where shopwiki.com comes to the scene as the ultimate website that crawls the web in order to find the best online stores where you can buy all the latest games for your younger members of the family.

So, what are you waiting for? Just take some time to have a look at the website above and I am sure that you will easily find something that is really going to interest both you and the person who you are going to offer a gift.

Obama is already planning millions of jobs

While most people in all other European countries wonder if Obama is going to be a successful president who can really match all the necesseties of the world, the truth is that CNN as recently showed the following new:

Saying that moving quickly is imperative, President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday offered an outline of his economic recovery plan to create 2.5 million jobs by 2011, saying American workers will rebuild the nation's roads and bridges, modernize its schools and create more sources of alternative energy.

"These aren't just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis," Obama said in the weekly Democratic address, posted on his Web site. "These are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long."

Details of the plan are still being worked out by his economic team, Obama said, but he hopes to sign the two-year, nationwide plan shortly after taking office January 20.

He referred to figures out this week showing that new home purchases in October were the lowest in 50 years, and that 540,000 new unemployment claims had been filed -- the highest in 16 years.

Gas prices are now stable, is that so?

While we are claiming that the gas prices are still too far away from being fair for the consumers, the truth is that it took gas prices more than three years to rise from $2 to a record high of $4.11, but just four months to plummet all the way back again - and then some.

For the first time since March 9, 2005, the average price of gasoline fell below $2 a gallon, according to a report from motorist group AAA.

The nationwide average price dropped to $1.989 a gallon, down from $2.02 on Thursday. The survey bases its information on credit card swipes from up to 100,000 service stations across the nation.

Is this the country that we have always admired and loved?

Depression risk is related to the auto industry...

During a hearing on a proposed $25 billion federal bailout of the industry Wednesday, GM CEO Rick Wagoner used the D word to describe what might happen if Congress didn't approve some sort of rescue package.

Even though you may think that the current financial trends are the result of the bad behaviour of our banks, the truth is that our auto industry is also one of the main causes of all the social and financial depression that is menacing the US, these days...

"At this point without injections of liquidity, I think it's reasonably probable that some portion if not all of the domestic industry will not survive," Wagoner said. "The way I would explain it to your constituents is it's going to prevent the United States from entering into an economic depression in my view."

Of course, Wagoner and the other automaker executives have an interest in painting a worst-case scenario when asking for a federal bailout.

But the threat of a recession turning into a depression was echoed by Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs, who also testified at Wednesday's hearing.

Sachs said that those who argue that a bankruptcy of GM or Chrysler would be better for the economy in the long term should look no further than the damage from the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September.

Some tension in Hollywood...

Do you really think that the financial difficulties are just real for the poorest ones?

Even in the land of make-believe, where the meltdown on Wall Street feels a million miles away, these are tense days. While no one can say for sure how the financial crisis will affect Hollywood, a prevailing view is that the film business is relatively protected for at least a year or two, but that the TV industry which was already impacted by last winter's writers' strike could be in for a rocky ride.

Surreal at the best of times - ok, all the time - sunny Tinseltown has avoided the sense of catastrophe that has enshrouded Wall Street and spooked Silicon Valley. But now its biggest players are trying to come to grips with exactly what the financial and economic meltdown is going to mean for them. One big-deal agent told me the other day that only projects involving major stars and producers are going forward right now. "Everybody's putting their tail between their legs," the agent said. "It's hard to get deals done." More worryingly, one senior TV executive posited to me: "I can almost guarantee that you're going to see major cuts across our businesses."

Global summit in the US...

While the new president is still unknown, we still have someone who can speak for us!

President Bush said Saturday he will host an international summit in response to the global financial crisis, but said that any reform of financial systems must not chip away at the foundations of democratic capitalism and free enterprise.

Bush, meeting at the Camp David presidential retreat with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, did not set a date or place for the meeting.

In a statement Saturday night, however, the three leaders said it would happen sometime after the U.S. presidential election in early November. They also said the meeting could be the first of a series aimed at addressing the global financial crisis.

The goal of the first meeting, they said, would be "to review progress being made to address the current crisis and to seek agreement on principles of reform needed to avoid a repetition and assure global prosperity in the future." Later summits would seek agreement on "specific steps to be taken to meet those principles," according to the statement.

Separately, Bush said the summit attendees must be open to ideas from around the world, but he said nations should avoid protectionism.

Dollar is now recovering...

While the marketplace is going back to normal, all the Americans have now a new reason to be confident:

The dollar meandered on either side of break even against major currencies Friday, giving recent volatile swings a break.

The euro bought $1.3412, down less than 0.1% from $1.3445 on Thursday. The British pound fell to $1.728, just slightly lower than the $1.73 it bought the previous day.

The dollar also edged a bit lower against the Japanese yen Friday, down 0.02% to ¥101.65 from ¥101.68 on Thursday.

The greenback's respite follows weeks of tumultuous ups and downs, coinciding with wild swings in the stock market, ever-tightening credit and more signs that the U.S. economy is entering a recession.

New energy sources in the USA are needed...

As the image shows, there are some alternative ways of producing energy, but we couldn't obviously we cannot addapt that to a car, right? Well, the problem is that gas prices continue to cause some minor problems while also menacing our lives...

Gasoline prices continued to slip, tumbling below $3 a gallon for the first time in nearly nine months, according to a daily survey of credit card swipes released Saturday.

The average price of unleaded regular fell to $2.99 a gallon, down four and nine-tenths of a cent, according to the Daily Fuel Gauge Report issued by motorist group AAA. Prices have fallen 30 cents in the last week and 86.4 cents, or 22%, in the last 31 days.

The current national average is $1.12, or 27.3%, off the record high price of $4.11 that AAA reported July 17.

The decline comes as hurricane season winds down and oil prices drop over concerns that a prolonged economic slump would curb demand for energy.

The last time the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline dropped below $3 a gallon was Jan. 25, when it reached $2.99.

Alaska has the most expensive gas with prices averaging $3.92. The cheapest gas is found in Oklahoma with prices averaging $2.58.

No quick recovery in the US!

Even though you could imagine that the US was already prepared to recover from the current financial trends, the truth is that the Reserve has recently shown us that it doesn't work that way... That's why you should read the following:

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned in a speech Wednesday that the U.S. economy will take some time to recover even if the credit markets return to normal soon.

Bernanke, speaking before the Economic Club of New York, said he believes the steps taken by the Treasury Department, the Fed and Congress in recent weeks provide policymakers with the "tools" they need to fix the recent crisis in financial and credit markets."

Us economy shall now recover...

The federal government on Tuesday announced an extraordinary and historic direct investment in the nation's banks - the biggest bet ever made with taxpayer dollars on the U.S. financial system.

As a start, the Treasury will pump $250 billion into financial institutions. Nine of the nation's largest banks have already agreed to take the capital and in return will give preferred shares to taxpayers and accept limits on executive pay. Half of the money, or $125 billion, will go to the nine large banks.

"This is an essential short-term measure to assure the viability of America's banking system," President Bush said in comments outside the White House. "These measures are not intended to take over the free market, but to preserve it."

In addition, Bush made a formal request for an additional $100 billion to help out financial institutions. Congress authorized up to $700 billion as part of the financial system bailout enacted on Oct. 3, but it required the president to certify the need for any amount above the initial $250 billion.

The government can use the additional $100 billion to buy troubled assets held by firms or to make additional capital infusions into banks.

The world needs a fix...

The world's leading nations stepped up their efforts Sunday to stem the fallout from the worst global financial crisis in decades.

After days of singular responses, officials the world over were scrambling to get out ahead of growing expectations for more aggressive and coordinated action to prop up banks. Stock markets have plummeted in recent days as anxiety over the credit crisis - which began in the implosion of U.S. housing prices - has spread worldwide.

In the most dramatic move, the leaders of 15 European nations - gathering in Paris at an emergency meeting - agreed to a wide-ranging plan to shore up troubled banks by adding capital through investment and by guaranteeing inter-bank lending, said French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

"We want to give ... banks the means to lend, to support the economy to enable households to borrow for mortgages or consumption and give companies the means necessary to invest for growth," said Sarkozy, who also holds the rotating European Union presidency.

The 15 nations also said they would protect individual depositors' accounts and move to ease accounting regulations that determine how assets are valued, removing a requirement that they be based on market prices - so-called "mark-to-market" accounting.

Sarkozy announced the agreement after a meeting of leaders of the Eurozone countries, which use the euro. He said France, Germany and Italy will hold Cabinet meetings on Monday and will announce their plans.

"These measures will be implemented in France without delay," said Sarkozy.

Earlier in the day, Sarkozy met with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The British Treasury and some of the nation's biggest banks are expected to unveil details of a capital plan early Monday.

Other countries also took fresh action Sunday to support their economies. Australia, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have all reportedly moved to guarantee bank deposits. Global markets have taken a beating as the financial crisis deepened around the world.

New solutions for our economy...

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday that financial markets continue to be "strained" but he urged "patience" and said the federal government will use all tools necessary to ensure stability in the financial system.

"We will coordinate the use of our existing and new authorities to restore market confidence by strengthening financial institutions, preventing systemic bank failures, increasing liquidity to financial markets and keeping mortgage credit available and affordable," Paulson said.

He added: "Every effort will require careful analysis, deliberation and transparency, and some measure of patience from the American people as we create the most effective process possible."

Paulson noted that it will likely be several weeks before the Treasury starts fully operating a program to buy troubled mortgage assets as it is authorized to do by the $700 billion bailout enacted last Friday.

In addition, Paulson said he would discuss with his counterparts in G7 countries what more can be done collectively to stabilize the financial system, and that he will be calling for a meeting of the G20, which includes countries with emerging economies.

Some important updates about our economy...

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicted that the global financial markets crisis is likely to restrain the economy well into next year and signaled that the Fed may be getting ready to cut interest rates.

But he said he believes the unprecedented steps taken to have the Treasury Department and the Fed intervene in financial markets were done in time to prevent more expensive and permanent damage to the nation's leading financial institutions.

In a speech before the National Association of Business Economics in Washington on Tuesday, Bernanke said the threat of inflation has receded recently, while the economy has continued to weaken. This could be interpreted as a sign that the central bank might be preparing to lower its key fed funds rate soon.

"Overall, the combination of the incoming data and recent financial developments suggests that the outlook for economic growth has worsened and that the downside risks to growth have increased," he said.

"In light of these developments, the Federal Reserve will need to consider whether the current stance of policy remains appropriate," he added.

Credit crunch may menace your holidays...

With the big year-end shopping holidays fast approaching, the credit market freeze couldn't come at a worse time for consumers, retailers and the broader economy.

"There's definite nervousness in the [retailing] industry," said Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst with NPD Group.

"We've not even made it to Halloween and retailers are already talking about Christmas discounts," Cohen said.

Christmas is obviously a big deal to retailers, given that year-end holiday-related purchases typically account for half or more of merchants' annual sales and profits.

(Source: CNN)

President Bush has the solution!

After two weeks of contentious and often emotional debate, the federal government's far-reaching and historic plan to bail out the nation's financial system was signed into law by President Bush on Friday afternoon.

"By coming together on this legislation, we have acted boldly to prevent the crisis on Wall Street from becoming a crisis in communities across our country," Bush said less than an hour after the House voted 263 to 171 to pass the bill.

The House vote followed a strong lobbying push by the White House and other supporters of the bill. The House rejected a similar measure on Monday - a defeat that shocked the markets and congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle.

The law, which allows the Treasury Secretary to purchase as much as $700 billion in troubled assets in a bid to kick-start lending, ushers in one of the most far-reaching interventions in the economy since the Great Depression.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he welcomed the news. "The legislation is a critical step toward stabilizing our financial markets and ensuring an uninterrupted flow of credit to households and businesses," he said.

(Source: CNN)

Some more "music" or real news?

The Federal Reserve and other countries' central banks announced new steps Monday that makes billions of dollars available to squeezed banks here and abroad to battle a worsening credit crisis that threatens to unhinge the U.S. economy.

The Fed said the action is intended to "expand significantly" the cash available to financial institutions in an effort to relieve to the worst credit crisis since the Great Depression. In taking the action, the Fed cited "continued strains" in the demand for short-term funding.

Central banks will continue to work closely and are prepared to take "appropriate steps as needed" to ease the crisis and get banks lending again, the Fed said.

Under one new step, the Fed will boost the amount of 84-day cash loans available to U.S. banks. The Fed is increasing the amount to $75 billion, up from the current $25 billion starting on Oct. 6. Banks bid on a slice of the loans at an auction.

Rescue plan is ready...

Congressional leaders said shortly after midnight that they had reached a tentative deal over the White House's proposed $700 billion bailout of the financial system.

Members of both parties and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson were aiming to craft final legislation by Sunday evening - in time for the start of financial markets around the world.

"We've been working very hard on this and we've made great progress toward a deal that will work and will be effective in the marketplace and effective for all Americans," Paulson said.

Paulson made the announcement along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other legislators. They characterized the accord as an agreement in principle.

"Now it's got to be turned over to the lawyers, turned into final language," said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D.

The Bush administration, in the government's boldest strike yet at the credit crisis, is seeking congressional authority for Treasury to buy as much as $700 billion in troubled mortgage and other assets weighing down banks and other financial institutions. The goal is to free up banks to start lending again.

Under the tentative deal being finalized, the rescue program would be overseen by a board including the Treasury Secretary, Secretary of Commerce, head of the Securities and Exchange Commission and chairman of the Federal Reserve, said Conrad, who heads the Senate Budget Committee.

Gas shortage approaches...

But while the current shortages can be traced directly to the two hurricanes, the severity of the problem points out a bigger issue: The U.S. has been operating for a while with razor-thin spare gasoline capacity.

In its most recent Weekly Oil Data Review, Barclays Capital pointed out that the U.S. gasoline inventory has reached its lowest level since August 1967, when demand was a little more than half its current level of 9.3 million barrels a day. At 178.7 million barrels, inventories are 21.6 million barrels below their five-year average.

Senate passes big bill...

Automakers gained $25 billion in taxpayer-subsidized loans and oil companies won elimination of a long-standing ban on drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts as the Senate passed a sprawling spending bill Saturday.

The 78-12 vote sent the $634 billion measure to President Bush, who was expected to sign it even though it spends more money and contains more pet projects than he would have liked.

The measure is needed to keep the government operating beyond the current budget year, which ends Tuesday. As a result, the legislation is one of the few bills this election year that simply must pass. Bush's signature would mean Congress could avoid a lame-duck session after the Nov. 4 election.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the bill "stands as a reminder of the failure of the Democratic Congress to fund the government in regular order." But, he said, it "puts the United States one step closer to ending our dependence on foreign sources of energy" by lifting the offshore drilling ban and opening up huge reserves of oil shale in the West.

The Pentagon is in line for a record budget. In addition to $70 billion approved this summer for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Defense Department would receive $488 billion, a 6 percent increase. The spending bill also offers aid to victims of flooding in the Midwest and recent hurricanes across the Gulf Coast.

Some bad news...

While Congress and Bush administration officials have been working to complete a bailout plan and stem the financial contagion on Wall Street, a different kind of economic crisis emerged across the South this week: A severe, hurricane-related gasoline shortage has curtailed trucking from Atlanta to Asheville, N.C., and created a wave of panic buying among motorists.

The return of gas lines has largely flown under the radar of politicians who are usually keenly attuned, because their constituents are, to what's going on at the pump. But more of the Capitol gang should be paying attention to this.

That's because nationwide our gasoline inventory is shockingly low. Liquidity must be restored soon to this market, or we could be facing a crippling run on the gasoline bank. And if you think Americans are outraged about Wall Street, wait until their Main Street grocery store doesn't get the bread and milk delivery for a week or two.

A new penny...

For the first time in 50 years, the penny is getting redesigned, with four versions coming next year to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, the U.S. Mint announced Monday.

While the coin will continue to depict Lincoln's likeness on the front, the reverse side will bear one of four new designs, the Mint said.

The first of the coins debuts Feb. 12, with the others following in three-month intervals. The release date, besides being Lincoln's birthday, comes a century after the production of the original Lincoln cent in 1909.

The Lincoln cent was the first circulating coin to feature a person's likeness, and also the first to depict a U.S. president.

A Lincoln commemorative silver dollar will also be released in 2009.

"These coins are a tribute to one of our greatest presidents...he believed all men were created equal, and his life was a model for accomplishing through honesty, integrity, loyalty and a lifetime of education," said U.S. Mint director Ed Moy.

Will the new plans work?

Experts are cautiously optimistic that the massive federal bailout of the nation's financial sector will solve the credit crisis that hit Wall Street this week.

But questions remain about whether it will prevent more failures of banks and Wall Street firms and many doubt this will lead to a quick turnaround for the battered housing market.

The broad outlines of the plan call for the federal government to buy hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of mortgage assets held by banks, Wall Street firms and other financial institutions.

Those securities were backed by home loans, many made to buyers with bad credit or without proof of income. As housing values fell and foreclosures shot to record levels in the past two years, the value of those securities plunged. That in turn caused massive losses in the financial sector.

This week it reached a crisis situation. Banks and investment firms stopped making the loans to each other as they hoarded cash to protect against any sudden liquidity crunch as well from unknown problems on their partners' balance sheets.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke won support for the bailout plan from Congressional leaders in a meeting Thursday night.

Friday morning, Paulson said he'll be working through the weekend with those on Capitol Hill to hammer out legislation that could go for a vote as soon as next week.

"I am convinced that this bold approach will cost American families far less than the alternative -- a continuing series of financial institution failures and frozen credit markets unable to fund economic expansion," Paulson said Friday. "I believe many members of Congress share my conviction."

Word of the plan first leaked Thursday afternoon, causing a massive rally in stocks at the end of the day that carried over into Friday. Several economists also praised the move.

"I'm confident this will work," said Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody's Economy.com. "The federal government is committed to backstopping the nation's financial system and will do whatever is necessary to make sure the system does not unravel. The details are important but secondary."

The plan also won support from presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. Zandi is an informal economic advisor to the McCain campaign.

Other experts said that while there are obviously big risks to taxpayers, the federal government has little choice but to provide the assurance to financial markets.

"If this doesn't work, we're in trouble, because there's not much more the government can do," said Jaret Seiberg, a financial services analyst at the Stanford Group. "They've left very few arrows in the quiver."

Is it really a recession?

The recession is no doubt hurting you, perhaps badly. Your sales may well be down. Maybe you've even lost your job. Whatever your troubles, you may safely blame them on the recession.

After all, most of the CFOs questioned in a recent poll agree that the U.S. is in a recession; among the general public, 76% said the U.S. was in a recession six months ago, and other polling suggests most people believe things have grown worse since then.

Federal Reserve has something to say!

The Federal Reserve left its fed funds rate at 2% Tuesday despite increased hopes for a rate cut.

Wall Street wanted a cut in order to help ease the pain in the financial sector and restore investor confidence.

The Fed's policymakers acknowledged the deepening problems facing the nation's financial markets as well as weaker economic fundamentals in its statement.

"Strains in financial markets have increased significantly and labor markets have weakened further," said the statement, making reference to the jump in unemployment to a five-year high of 6.1% in August. It also warned that softer spending by consumers is expected to slow economic growth.

But the Fed added that it believes rates are already low enough to spur future economic growth and that despite recent declines in commodity prices, such as oil, the outlook for inflation remains uncertain.

The fed funds rate is the central bank's key tool to affect the economy. Lowering the rate pumps money into the economy by reducing the cost on a broad range of loans, including credit cards, home equity lines and many business loans.

1/4 of the US fuel production shuts down...

Nearly a quarter of U.S. fuel production had been shut down due to the approach of Hurricane Ike, according to a government assessment released Friday.

By 10:00 A.M. ET, 13 of the 26 Texas refineries, representing a production capacity of 3.6 million barrels of fuel a day, had been shut down, the Energy Department said.

Texas accounts for more than a quarter of the nation's total capacity to produce gasoline and other petroleum fuels. In normal operation, facilities there can produce up to 4.8 million barrels a day, according to the government.

Most of the Texas refineries are located along the ports of Houston, Port Arthur, and Corpus Christi, where Ike is scheduled to make landfall Friday night or Saturday.

Refining facilities on land are more vulnerable to flooding and power outages than offshore facilities, according to Ray Carbone, president of oil trading company Paramount Options.

"Without power, no refineries will be working and the flooding could complicate how long it takes them to come back online," said Carbone.

Fannie and Freddie playing a major role...

During the Vietnam War, James Lockhart served as a naval officer aboard a nuclear submarine, the USS George Washington Carver. His job these days might be even more explosive.

As head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Lockhart is in charge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage financing titans taken over by the government on Sunday. It's up to Lockhart - armed with powers granted by Congress in July - to keep the companies functioning amidst the worst housing decline since the Great Depression.

To be sure, the next president will determine the fate of Fannie and Freddie - and in the process likely replace Lockhart, 62, a high school and college classmate of President Bush. But for now, the buck stops with Lockhart, who oversees the companies' newly appointed chief executives: Herbert Allison at Fannie Mae and David Moffett at Freddie Mac.

White Houses defends the conomy...

The White House said Tuesday that the giant federal takeover of troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could have been prevented if Congress had acted on its recommendations for changing the system.

"It is exactly the kind of event we warned about and tried to prevent over the years," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. "Remember that we have highlighted the systemic risk posed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because of the very large role they play in housing markets and because of their business practices."

She said that the White House has asked Congress "for years" to establish a strong independent regulator to oversee the institutions.

Perino also highlighted that the takeover will allow time for Congress and the next administration to determine the appropriate future role for the companies. She said their primary mission should be to increase the availability and affordability of home mortgages.

Wall Street loves the bailout

Wall Street has been holding its breath since mid-July due to fears about the fate of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Today, investors finally exhaled and started buying.

Overseas stock markets surged Monday and the Dow and S&P 500 both skyrocketed more than 2%.

It's now worth asking: Was the Dow's low point of 10,962.54 on July 15 the bottom?

"Hopefully, this bailout will be the last thing we'll need for the markets to move forward. This is a huge step in the right direction," said Ted Parrish, co-manager of the Henssler Equity fund.

And if you subscribe to the notion that the economic woes are largely due to the housing mess and credit crunch, it's hard to not be encouraged by the end of the Fannie-Freddie deathwatch.

Minimum wage debate updates...

The unemployment rate is now above 6% for the first time since 2003 and more than 600,000 jobs have been lost so far this year.

Clearly, declining house prices, the credit crunch, sky-high energy costs and the overall weakening economy is a big reason behind the deteriorating labor market.

But some also worry about the impact of increases in the minimum wage and whether they will limit job gains in the future.

Jobless people

The unemployment rate soared to a nearly five-year high in August as employers trimmed jobs for the eighth straight month, the government reported Friday.

The unemployment rate rose to 6.1%, the highest level since September 2003. That's up from 5.7% in July and 4.7% a year ago.

In addition, the economy suffered a net loss of 84,000 jobs in August, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, compared to a revised reading of a 60,000 job loss in July.

The U.S. economy has lost 605,000 jobs so far this year.

The jobs report immediately drew comment from the presidential candidates as well as the Bush administration.

The White House pointed to other economic readings, including last week's gross domestic product report. It showed second quarter growth jumping to a 3.3% annual rate, helped by economic stimulus checks and strong exports.

"While these (jobs) numbers are disappointing, what is most important is the overall direction the economy is headed," said the White House statement.

But the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said the report points out the failure of Republican policies.

"John McCain showed last night that he is intent on continuing the economic policies that just this year have caused the American economy to lose 605,000 jobs," Obama said in a statement. "John McCain's answer is more of the same: $200 billion in tax cuts to big corporations and oil companies, and not one dime of tax relief to more than 100 million middle-class families."

Have you ever wondered why the FED cuts didn't work?

It's been almost a year since the Federal Reserve issued the first of what turned out to be seven rate cuts to deal with the credit crisis.

So why does the economy still seem like it's in a big funk, with banks continuing to suffer?

One of the biggest proponents of the Fed's aggressive rate-cutting spree has an explanation.

Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said in a speech Wednesday that the low federal funds rate of 2% is providing "much less stimulus...than it otherwise would" because of the credit crunch.

The federal funds rate is an overnight bank lending rate that banks charge each other to borrow money. But Rosengren argues that just because banks are charging each other a relatively low rate, this does "not necessarily translate into lower costs to the vast majority of borrowers."

In other words, even though the Fed has slashed the federal funds rate from 5.25% to 2%, many beaten-up banks have nevertheless substantially tightened credit standards for businesses and consumers.

Rosengren said that the rate cuts have "merely offset the tightening in credit conditions created by the financial turmoil that began last summer."

Finding the stores that we love...

As you know, here in the US we are all consumers and we simply can’t live without the possibility of going to the shops and spend as much money as we want on the things that really make us feel more confident about our lives and happier!

Keeping this in mind, we may have already heard about many stores in our cities that we simply couldn’t find for ourselves and that’s where a Store Locator really comes in handy to make it possible for us to locate any store in our city by simply using the ZIP code of that specific location where the store is and immediately get all the results that match that search! In fact, this service includes a Secure Administrator Control Panel, Sort Results by Distance, Names and City amongst many other features that I am sure that you will simply love and which will be tremendously useful next time you really look forward a store… I mean, there are so many advantages when it comes the time to use this search system that I am sure that the membership will really play a very important role in your life as you become a very well informed consumer in what relates to the knowledge of the cities of more than thirty countries included on the reports!

Companies are making it even worse for the people...

The number of summer job cut anouncements reached its highest level since 2002, according to a report released Wednesday.

From May through August, employers said they would cut 377,325 jobs, according to employment consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. That's nearly 30% more than during the first four months of the year.

The number of job cut announcements usually dips during those particular months as business slows down over the summer, Jim Pedderson, a Challenger spokesman, said.

During the summer of 2002, in the wake of the 2001 recession, companies said they would cut 378,777 positions, according to the report.

Businesses tried to cut jobs this summer as they were hit by "the double whammy of limited access to credit and the high price of oil," said chief executive John Challenger.

Why don't we prepare ourselves for the financial crisis?

Even though television and many other “optimistic” people may tell us that our economy is really recovering and we are almost completely free from a recession in our economy, the truth is that our country is far from finding a solution that can make it become a fact! Keeping this in mind, it is extremely important that we consolidate debt and even get enough stability to make some important savings for our future!

Keeping this in mind, I would like to refer to bills.com as the ultimate website where we can all find independent and useful information about many topics related to economy and which also include debt consolidation. Moreover, you can make an online quote and instantly know which debt consolidation plan will best fit your specific case and your needs… As a matter of fact, it will only take you no more than 30 seconds to get the result! Personally, I got careonecredit.com as the best solution for my case and I am really willing to have a deeper look at their services and solutions as I am also very worried about the possibility of a bigger financial crisis than what most specialists predict!

So, why don’t you also have a look for yourself and instantly know which solutions will really help you get all the financial stability that you need?

Gustav hits our economy too!

Hurricane Gustav hit the U.S. Gulf Coast on Monday with far less force than Hurricane Katrina did three years ago, but its economic bite could be worse as it hits a national economy that is far weaker than the one battered by Katrina in 2005.

Economists agree that in the long run, a major hurricane or other natural disaster can actually help lift economic activity because of insurance payments and federal assistance.

In the short-term, the destruction and the disruptions can be a hit to the economy.

EQECAT, a firm that estimates losses for the insurance industry, said Gustav could end up causing between $6 billion and $10 billion in insured losses. That amount is a fraction of the $41 billion in insured losses caused by Katrina three years ago, but still enough to make it among the ten most costly storms in U.S. history.

But even with lower loss estimates, the weakened state of the U.S. economy - suffering a housing downturn, credit crunch and job sector woes - is one of the biggest concerns of economists trying to assess the impact that Gustav will have.

"Even if it causes $10 billion in damage, that is not a huge deal for the overall economy. But it's coming on top of everything else going wrong," said David Wyss, chief economist for Standard & Poor's. "It makes it more likely the recession scenario for the end of the year."

Buying your Cartier watch before you travel...

As you know, when you think about luxurious items and watches, one of the first brands coming to your mind is definitely Cartier and all their range of amazing watches that can really turn the heads of all the people who see you on the street! I mean, the quality of those watches is so distinguishable and valued that you can even assume that they are Cartier watches easily and with all the security! Just take the one below for example:

As a matter of fact, when you see such a high quality 18k gold watch I am sure that you just can’t resist having a look at it and dream with it! Anyway, if would really like to save around 20% off retail prices on these Cartier watches amongst many other brands, then you surely need to visit the website to which I have linked above, where you can even get a 80% discount off retail prices when you purchase a second watch. What else could we ask for? Just hurry up and get your two watches as soon as possible!

Gas prices will continue to rise...

Gas prices jumped overnight - and are expected to keep rising - in states along the Gulf of Mexico as offshore oil rigs prepare to abandon ship ahead of Tropical Storm Gustav on Friday.

The price increase was most dramatic in Mississippi, where the statewide average for unleaded gasoline rose nearly 7 cents a gallon on Friday, according to the motorist group AAA. Gas rose by more than 9 cents a gallon in the coastal cities of Biloxi, Gulfport and Pascagoula, said AAA.

Gas also rose by about 3 cents a gallon in Louisiana and Alabama, by nearly 2 cents in Texas, and by about 1 cent in Florida, according to AAA. All of these states are dependent upon oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico as a major part of their oil supply.

In comparison, gas prices declined overnight in New York, New Jersey, California and Alaska, states that are not directly dependent on the Gulf.

"Prices are more affected down South, while New York is supplied through [New York] Harbor," said Fred Rozell, oil analyst with the Oil Price Information Service.

Rozell said these increases are particularly painful to Mississippi, not just because the price increases are the most dramatic there, but because it's a state where people tend to have less discretionary income.

"I think some of those areas are going to get hit hard again and it's really going to squeeze people," said Rozell.

Preparing the future of our children...

Even though I am always traveling around the world, the truth is that I am quite up-to-date in what relates to the latest developments in the world of medicine. In fact, some cousins of mine are doctors and they seem to insist on telling me all the latest news around this amazing world of medicine and all the new technological advances…

Still, one of the things that fascinates me the most is the C'elle Stem Cell Revolution that is now spreading around our country with their Current Offers on cord blood banking that can really play a very important role in the future of our children’s lives! I mean, you can use those stem cells to heal diseases like leukemia, anemia, lymphoma, diabetes and cerebral palsy if your son ever faces them. I mean, there are so many advantages on saving your cord blood in one of these banks that you can’t imagine how helpful it will be during your life! I just wished that when I was born I could have also saved mine too!

So, what are you waiting for? If you and your wife/husband are parents-to-be, then you surely need to visit the website above and know more about the advantage of these cord blood banks for your children…

USA are prepared for bigger hurricanes!

With Tropical Storm Gustav setting its sights on the Gulf of Mexico, oil facilities in the region are facing their first major threat since 2005, when Hurricanes Rita and Katrina knocked out nearly every barrel of oil production and sent prices soaring to then-record levels.

But this time around, if Gustav intensifies and heads into the Gulf as expected, experts say reinforcements have made production far less vulnerable than it was three years ago.

Drilling rigs and production platforms moored to sea floor in the Gulf had been attached with eight lines, and are now required to be moored with 12 to 16 lines.

New rigs were built higher above the water, and old rigs were strengthened, according to Andy Radford, a policy advisor at the American Petroleum Institute.

And pipelines, which carry most of the oil and gas from the production platforms to the shore, now have to be buried deeper beneath the sea floor, said Barbara Shook, a Houston-based analyst with the Energy Intelligence Group.

"The industry is probably in the best shape it's ever been in because of what they've learned over the last few years," said Shook.

Anyone who buys gasoline better hope so.

At 1.3 million barrels a day, the Gulf is home to over a quarter of the oil produced in the United States, according to the Energy Information Administration. Plus, it accounts for over 10% of the country's natural gas production.

We are going back to school very soon, so get ready for it!

As you know, in the next few weeks we will be already coming back to school and so it’s about time that we get ready for it and start to shop! I mean, there is no point on going back to school with the same clothes of last year, right?

Keeping this in mind, I would like to refer to “Heavenly Couture” as the ultimate website where we can find Discount Clothing at the best prices possible and which you won’t find anywhere else… In fact, savings can be up to 85% off the original retail prices and all the clothes are high quality! So, if you really want to respect your budget for these upcoming weeks, then I would say that the Cheap Clothing that you are able to find on the website above, will really come in handy when you really try to impress everyone at school… Just take a look at these sweaters below which are an amazing example of high quality fashion at the most affordable prices ever:

So, do you have any doubt related to where you are going to buy your clothes before going back to school? I don’t think so…

Economy growth can be a mirage

Economic growth between 2.5% and 3.5% is typically viewed as the norm for a healthy economy.

But that doesn't mean that the United States has avoided a recession, some economists say. In fact, there are growing concerns that weakness will extend through the rest of this year and even into 2009.

"My feeling is that the recession started in the fourth quarter of 2007," said David Wyss, chief economist with Standard & Poor's. "I think the worst quarter will be the first quarter of 2009, which would make it a long recession."

The National Bureau of Economic Research, a research group charged with dating the start and end of recessions, looks at factors such as payrolls, industrial production, real income and sales when determining when recessions begin and end. It has yet to make a ruling about the current state of the economy.

But many economists say temporary factors, such as the more than $90 billion in economic stimulus checks that reached taxpayers during the quarter, make the jump in the second quarter an anomaly.

The economy grew at just a 0.9% rate in the first three months of the year and declined in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Finding all what we need on the yellow pages...

Even though you may have never had a major urgency in your life, the truth is that we just can’t deny that one time or another in our lives we end up facing situations when we wonder: “where can I find this?” and most of the times we just can’t answer that question without the help of the yellow pages…

Anyway, if you live in Minneapolis, then you can consider consulting the Minneapolis Yellow Pages online and see for yourself how much easier and fast it will be for you to find the experts or specialized services that you have been recently looking for. In fact, just some years ago I got a problem with the locks in my house in Minneapolis and so I needed to find the best Locksmiths in Minneapolis in a hurry! That’s when I first heard about dexknows.com and it really saved me hours of search on the yellow pages that I have got at home…

So, why don’t you also adopt this website as your source for finding the best services in your area, too? I am sure that you can only benefit from it.

A new stimulus can deal with it all...

A revised reading on gross domestic product announced Thursday showed much better U.S. economic growth than previously reported for the second quarter.

GDP, the broadest measure of the nation's economic activity, stood at an annual rate of 3.3% in the quarter, adjusted for inflation, the Commerce Department said.

Economic growth between 2.5% and 3.5% is typically viewed as the norm for a healthy economy.

The revised result surpassed last month's initial estimate of 1.9%. It also surprised economists surveyed by Briefing.com who expected a revision to 2.7%.A

Taking the most out of your travels...

When you think about travels, which is one of the first things that first comes to your mind? I am certain that the views are one of the things that attract you the most and so your vision will play a very important role in what relates to the joy of your travel and the way you take full advantage of it…

Keeping this in mind, if you are suffering from any problems with your vision and you really want to use all the latest techniques to make it become as clear as before, then you surely need to meet Dr. Rick Wolfe who will certainly be your doctor while you are adopting all the latest developments in lasik laser eye surgery while you are healing your eyes and so even your mental capabilities and feeling of satisfaction. So, why don’t you have a look at the website above and allow it to introduce you to Dr. Rick Wolfe and his team.

Bankruptcy is becoming a real menace...

As things in the economy have gotten worse, the number of people and businesses heading to bankruptcy court has spiked.

Bankruptcy filings surged 29% in the 12 months that ended June 30, according to government figures released Wednesday.

Total filings rose to 967,831 from 751,056 a year earlier.

Business filings jumped more than 41% to 33,822 from 23,889 in the year-ago period. Personal filings totaled 934,009, up 28% from last year.

"As we continue to hear more bad economic news, we will continue to see bankruptcies spiral upwards," said Jack Williams, resident scholar at the American Bankruptcy Institute.

The bankruptcy group expects filings to reach 1.2 million this year, as problems in the housing market have "reverberated throughout the economy," he added.

The data also showed that filings for Chapter 7 rose 36% to 615,748 in the 12 months that ended June 30.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is designed to give individual debtors a "fresh start" by discharging many of their debts. Under Chapter 7 a filer's assets minus those exempted by his home state are liquidated and given to creditors first in line for repayment, while the rest of his debts are cancelled.

Another type of individual bankruptcy - Chapter 13 - requires debtors to pay back their debts over time. Total Chapter 13 filings rose 17% to 344,421 from 294,693 a year earlier.

Filings for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which is aimed at assisting struggling corporations or partnerships, rose more than 30% to 7,293.

Getting your own merchant account...

Do you want to travel the world and you are not rich and you also don’t have someone in your family that can really pay your bills? Well, in that case all you have to do is bring your own business to a brand new level and definitely take the next step towards making it grow as much as possible!

To start you off, you may have the best business and the best workers and concepts in the whole marketplace but that’s not all, as you will also need to be able to allow your costumers to feel as if they were being dealt with lots of respect and give them all the ease they need while processing payments and choosing their products… Keeping this in mind, it is absolutely mandatory that you accept credit cards payments as part of your merchant services. As a matter of fact, you could even get a free merchant account if you have a look at the website above and by signing-up you will even be given a free credit card machine to make credit card processing much easier for your costumers. So, what are you waiting for? Both you and I know that it is about time that you also get your own merchant account and take full advantage of the amazing services offered by the website above as it couldn’t be any better…

Banks in trouble...

The number of troubled banks on the government's watch list grew dramatically last quarter.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported Tuesday that the number of firms on its so-called problem bank list grew to 117 during the second quarter - its highest level since the middle of 2003. There were 90 banks on the problem list in the first quarter.

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair expressed little surprise at the increase and warned that the number would grow.

"More banks will come on the list as credit problems worsen and assets of problem institutions will continue to rise," said Bair in a press conference.

The number of troubled institutions has moved steadily higher this year - nearly doubling from 61 at the same time a year ago - as banks across the country struggle to cope with the fallout in the housing market and rising loan losses.

Problem banks typically face difficulties with their finances, or are suffering through operations or management issues that pose a threat to their existence.

Banks included on the problem list are considered the most likely institutions to fail, although few institutions actually reach that point - just 13% of banks on the FDIC's problem list have failed on average.

Business loans for our small companies

As you know, our economy is facing some financial difficulties and adversities these days and that is just a sign that this is the best time to invest… And no, I am not crazy or a maniac who invests all the money on the first few chances that I have to do so! In fact, I have my own business that was once my granddad’s and he has always told me something that I now acknowledge to be one of the most important basics when we want to see our business grow. I am talking about business loans which will always come in handy when you want to take the next step with your company but you don’t have the financial stability to do so… As a matter of fact, this working capital will allow you to buy some new machinery, contract more workers or even get new ranges of products. But there is more, sba loans will also play a very important role because when you need to keep up with your budget and you are also willing to make a major investment, those loans will grant you all the success on a very stable balance in your business…

So, don’t you think that it is about time that you also do something to make your business go ahead and get even more visibility and features? You just need to have a look at the website above where you will get all the advice you will need related to business loans and you can also inquire online and get a reply within 24 hours. Moreover, you will also get the impressive rating of 7% payback over 12 months! What else could you ask for?

Manufacturing activity is saving the day...

It is an indication that manufacturing strength is helping to offset some of the weakness brought about by the housing mess and credit crunch.

Economists say the big reason for this increase is healthy demand from foreign nations looking to take advantage of a relatively weak dollar.

"If there has been any bright spots in the economy, it's exports. That is providing some support to the manufacturing side of the equation," said Michael Strauss, chief economist with Commonfund, a money-management firm based in Wilton, Conn.

However, some economists worry that the boost from manufacturing could be short-lived. After all, the dollar has rallied lately. And that's mainly because other economies around the globe - most notably in Europe - have begun to slow.

"The competitiveness of the dollar has been giving exports a kick," said Chris Probyn, chief economist with State Street Global Advisors in Boston. "But there are clear signs that the global economy is slowing down. And for America's economy to heal, it will be helpful to have a robust global economy. That doesn't look likely," Probyn added.

Solutions for webmasters...

Even though you may be a lover of the Internet and own a website, the truth is that we often end up looking at our project and wondering what we could improve in it so that we can become even more successful… Keeping this in mind, when setting up our own website one of the things that first comes to my mind is the web design of our website. I mean, when you first visit a website the first thing that gets your attention is surely the concept of its design, right?

Still, you probably aren’t an expert on web design and I am not one either! This requires us to get the best solution for web design and it will surely consist on getting the experts to set everything up for us so that we can simply take full advantage of it, isn’t that right? So, what we would surely need would be a complete package with solutions for both web design and web hosting… Furthermore, if you want it to be as cheap as possible and within your budget then you just need to visit the website above where all the professional designers are from the US and experienced enough to make your website stand out from all other while visitors surf it… What else could a busy webmaster ask for?

USA banks falling again...

The number of troubled banks on the government's watch list grew dramatically last quarter.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported Tuesday that the number of firms on its so-called problem bank list grew to 117 during the second quarter - its highest level since the middle of 2003. There were 90 banks on the problem list in the first quarter.

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair expressed little surprise at the increase and warned that the number would grow.

"More banks will come on the list as credit problems worsen and assets of problem institutions will continue to rise," said Bair in a press conference.

The number of troubled institutions has moved steadily higher this year - nearly doubling from 61 at the same time a year ago - as banks across the country struggle to cope with the fallout in the housing market and rising loan losses.

Problem banks typically face difficulties with their finances, or are suffering through operations or management issues that pose a threat to their existence.

Banks included on the problem list are considered the most likely institutions to fail, although few institutions actually reach that point - just 13% of banks on the FDIC's problem list have failed on average.

The FDIC, one of the top regulators of the nation's banking system, doesn't reveal the names of the banks on the list, but it does give the total assets of these institutions.

Do you want to lose weight?

As a traveler who has already been to almost every corner of the USA, I am acknowledged enough to say that more and more young American students are facing overweight problems, these days… In fact, most people just seem to ignore it while others just tend to look for many idiot diets that will allow you to lose “one hundred pounds in a month” as some state… So, are you stupid enough to believe it? I don’t think so…

Personally, I have never faced any problem with diets or overweight adversities but I am surely experienced enough as a very close friend of mine has recently done his best to lose around thirty pounds over the past few months! As a matter of fact, my friend did nothing else but getting some advice on how he could lose weight with all the physical stability that is required while doing so… I am sure that you have already heard about Weight Watchers advices and also about Jenny Craig “miraculous” diet plan that supposedly will allow you to become a miss in just a few weeks but I am sure that you don’t need to have a deep look at the diet plan or the advice on Weight Watchers to be certain that those aren’t the best ways of losing weight, right? In fact, if you want to do it right, you just need to have a look at the website above and see their diet! I mean, there are so many advantages of using their diet plan… You can still eat many of the food that you simply love, you can become stronger and happier, look thinner in just 10 days, eat more and still lose weight and finally, the weight loss will be permanent! So, what else could you ask for? Just have a look at the website and witness how unbelievably good this diet is and how great the results will be…

Consumers feeling more confident, a study reveals...

A key measure of consumer confidence rose in August and beat economists' expectations, according to a report issued Tuesday.

The board said its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 56.9, up from 51.9 in July. Economists had expected the index to rise slightly to 53, according to a consensus compiled by Briefing.com.

The results showed that consumers had a bleak view of the current economy, but harbored better hopes for the future. The Present Situation Index fell to 63.2 in August from 65.8 the prior month. But the Expectations Index rose to 52.8 in August from 42.7 in July.

"Consumer confidence readings suggest that the economy remains stuck in neutral, but may be showing signs of improvement by early next year," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, in a press release.

"Declines in the Present Situation Index, both in terms of business conditions and the labor market, appear to be moderating," said Franco. "The Expectations Index, which posted a significant gain this month, suggests better times may be ahead. However, overall readings are still quite low by historical standards and it is still too early to tell if the worst behind us."

Becoming a webmaster and sharing your travel experiences...

Even though I am always sharing all my traveling experiences around the world with you, my fellow readers, the truth is that there are many “hidden” facts that you may not be very aware of… In fact, did you know that I needed to pick a good domain but mainly a very complete webhosting plan so that it could fit my needs and the needs of my website?

Keeping this in mind, and knowing that many of you are about to become webmasters and also share your experiences, I would really like to advise you to have a look at the website above for a start, as it will allow you all to find some very useful and independent reviews about many hosting services and plans that you may be willing to consider when starting your own project as a webmaster.

Personally, I found the website very useful, easy to navigate and with more than enough detail on everything so that I could be always aware of which are the best services and options for my specific needs and that is surely one of the biggest advantages of following the advice and review guidance of the website above. So, why don’t you have a look and witness that?

Politics, the same old question...

Sixteen years ago, Bill Clinton led his exiled party back to the White House by pointedly rejecting post-'60s liberalism and promised a "new brand of Democratic politics." But today, as the delegates convene here for their 2008 convention, the Democratic Party has shifted to an economic direction best described as "center left."

The fierce battles between New Democrat centrists and old-style liberals that defined the Democratic Party in the 1990s are long gone, with the party unified behind Barack Obama's economic agenda of universal health care, expensive federal programs and more regulation of the financial markets.

"The party is still proud of its fiscal direction in the Clinton years," says veteran campaign scholar Thomas E. Mann of the Brookings Institution. "Barack Obama feels obliged to pay lip service to it. But there is no sense that this is the highest priority."

At the 1992 convention, and again in 1996, party liberals bristled at the Clinton centrists' calls for a leaner government and a balanced budget, for "ending welfare as we know it" and putting more cops on the streets. The left was willing to back Clinton only because it meant victory. "America has shifted on us," New York Rep. Charles Rangel complained during the 1996 convention, just months after President Clinton declared the "era of big government is over." "Americans should be prepared to raise the taxes, invest in productivity, and create the jobs. But they can't support that. They'd rather cut taxes, invest in defense and build jails."

Traveling to Barcelona...

Financiered review:

As you know, I am a lover of travels around the world and I wished our economy was feeling stronger these days, so that I could travel to Europe once again! I mean, I am a lover of Spain and its main cities like Madrid and Barcelona and all my family also loves to be there… Anyway, it seems that I was lucky enough to save sufficient money to organize a new trip to Barcelona!

In fact, finding the best deals for Hotels in Barcelona, or as the Spanish say: hoteles en Barcelona, can be harder than what we could wish and that is one of the main reasons why I found destinia.com as the ultimate website where we can really find amazing deals on Hotel, in order to enjoy our fin de semana, which is how Spanish call the “weekends”…

Personally, I found this website extremely user-friendly and easy to navigate and that really allowed me to take the most of my searching experience while trying to find the most suitable Hotel in Barcelona for me and my family… As a matter of fact, you can find a suitable Hotel for you just in a few minutes! So, what are you waiting for? Just have a look at destinia.com for yourself and see how much you will be able to enjoy a very cheap stay in one of the most famous cities in Spain!

Inflation is becoming a real menace...

A survey of top economists shows that many are growing more concerned about inflation and slightly less worried about mortgage and credit market problems.

According to the National Association of Business Economists, 16% of the 278 members responding believe energy prices are the most serious short-term risk to the economy, up from only 5% who picked that in the March survey.

In addition, another 15% cited overall inflation as the greatest threat, up from 10% in March.

Nonetheless, the financial crisis remains the biggest worry -- 46% of the economists surveyed cited subprime loan defaults, excessive household and corporate debt or the credit crunch as the biggest problem. That's down from the 52% who cited defaults and debt as the most serious threat in the March survey.

Although oil prices have retreated since the July 25 to Aug. 11 survey period, one economist said she doubts that concerns about energy and inflation has abated much since then.

"My guess is it may even be higher," said Brandeis University Business School professor Catherine Mann, a member of the NABE committee that conducted the survey.

Up to 25% off yard signs...

As you know, our economy is facing some real problems these days and that makes it extremely important that we, US citizens, find the best ways of saving money so that we can be prepared for any financial event that may take place soon…

Keeping this in mind, I am a fan of one particular online store by the name of yard signs and so I was the happiest man in the world when I found this amazing coupon code that allows me to get 25% off while purchasing from yard signs! The coupon code is: YardSigns25 so why don’t you also take full advantage of it? I mean, I am sure that I am not the only one willing to save money, right? And with the help of this coupon you could easily save some hundred dollars when you make any big purchase from the store... Anyway, if you like this coupon, just make sure that you follow the link above and see for yourself how you can easily get many other coupons for many other online stores that will surely make you spend lots of money with the stuff that you really love! I am sure that you will feel as if you were on paradise...

Federal Reserve updates: storm is far from being over...

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday that the problems in the nation's financial markets persist and still threaten the economy.

Bernanke said that the financial woes, coupled with record oil prices and the weakening economy, had created "one of the most challenging economic and policy environments in memory."

In prepared remarks at a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Bernanke also said he is encouraged by the recent oil price decline, which may signal that inflationary pressures are on the wane.

"Although we have seen improved functioning in some markets, the financial storm that reached gale force some weeks before our last meeting here in Jackson Hole has not yet subsided," Bernanke said.

"Its effects on the broader economy are becoming apparent in the form of softening economic activity and rising unemployment," he added.

Bernanke's comments seem to signal that the central bank will keep its key interest rate at 2%, rather than raise it an attempt to keep prices in check.

"The commentary tells me that rates are on hold until they see some blue skies through this financial storm," said John Silvia, chief economist for Wachovia.

Taking the most of our travels...

Even though I have always preferred foreign destinations instead of traveling around the US, the truth is that many of my most memorable too place in our amazing and beautiful country! I mean, I still remember when I was about 25 years old and went with my girlfriend, Dora, to the Cypress Gardens Florida in order to have some joy and relax so that we could feel better when we would come back to work… Anyway, this trip was far different from all the usual Chicago tours that we had arranged before and so we were extremely excited with the possibility of taking the most of this adventure park and prove how courageous we were! Still, we were far from imagining that we were in the perfect place to experience the world's tallest spinning rapids ride and that really made my face become really astonished as you can imagine… But I was sure that everything would go just fine and I would prove my girlfriend that I was really strong! So, we have decided to take a ride and at the end you just could hear me screaming all the way until it eventually stopped! I was so ashamed that I was far more scared than Dora that I took many minutes to recover and enter another adventure like that…

Do you think that you would have done better than me? Then you just need to follow Trusted Tours & Attractions’ advice and see for yourself how easy it will be for you to program your trip to Florida with the help of their detailed and useful online travel guides, which have always proved to be really helpful for me when I traveled around the country! Also, you may also wish to sign-up for their travels newsletter and enter the chance to win a $150 Magellan’s Gift Certificate… This offer ends August 31st, 2008 so you would better hurry up!

Upcoming credit crunch may surprise you...

We made it through the bursting of the Internet bubble and now the bursting of the real estate bubble. Next we may be approaching the end of the most worrisome bubble of all: the standard-of-living bubble.

That conclusion comes from the latest data on credit card debt. It's growing fast, but the problem is bigger than that - and to understand what it means, we have to take a few steps back.

For the past several years, the average inflation-adjusted total pay of American workers hasn't been increasing. That means we haven't been building a foundation for increases in our living standard. You might be tempted to say that by definition our living standard couldn't have increased, but that's not quite right. Even with stagnant real incomes, we can always live a little better every year through borrowing and pretending that our living standard is still rising, just as it was for decades.

So the Great Bull Market made us feel rich, and we felt justified in saving less and borrowing - and spending - more.

After stocks collapsed, home prices took off, making us feel rich all over again. So we continued saving less and spending more, creating the illusion that our living standard was still rising. In 2005 our personal savings rate went negative, but even that didn't slow us down, because our homes were still appreciating - and rising home values meant that household net worths weren't declining. (Don't be fooled by that saving-rate spike in this year's second quarter; it was probably a one-time event resulting from the federal stimulus payments.)

Buying the best ac parts for our cars

It is summer time and the heat is everywhere! Still, I am sure that you are aware of the fact that we, humans, are not the only ones who have to deal with that… In fact, cars are also menaced by the high temperatures and so we should really pay attention to the state of the ac compressor and all other auto ac parts of our cars, which are really needed and are really tested this summer…

Keeping this in mind, I am the owner of a Ford Mustang and so I really had to get a new Ford ac compressor so that the air could still be good enough to make me feel even better inside my beautiful machine! In fact, if you ever have problems with the air conditioning compressor of your car, you may wish to have a look at the website above and see for yourself how much you will be able to save when you buy parts for your car with free shipping!

US industry is facing a real menace...

As angry voters spark a barrage of energy bills in Congress, the oil industry is spending record amounts of money protecting its interests.

In what may be surprising to some, the most recent figures from the Center for Responsive Politics show that the oil industry gives a relatively small sum to individual political campaigns - it's 16th on a list of top 50 industries.

But when it comes to lobbying - and spending money that goes toward researching, writing and convincing lawmakers to vote its way - the industry ranks fifth. If the spending continues at the current pace, the industry is set to break last year's $83 million record.

The amount spent on lobbying by the industry, along with lobbying money in general, has been setting records since 2005.

With record gas prices, a contentious fight over energy legislation and a huge election on the horizon it's not surprising the industry spent so much on lobbying this year.

Dozens of bills have been introduced in Congress. Generally, Democrats and environmentalists have favored a strategy heavy on taxing oil companies and funding renewables, while Republicans and the oil industry have pushed for more drilling.

But so far, no major energy bills have been passed. Is it possible all this money has been spent to maintain the status quo?

Halloween Costume to impress everyone!

It’s still summer and we are still enjoying the beaches in Florida and many other amazing places but do you know which is the amazing upcoming event taking place in October? Well, you may have not thought about it already, but we surely can’t deny that Halloween is just two months away from us! I am already being invaded with memories from my past experiences and I also wonder which Halloween costumes will my friends be using this year…

In fact, Halloween is probably one of my favorite days of the year! I mean, it is amazing to see everyone dressed in ways that you could never imagine and that can really impress us… I still remember when my boss was dressed like a nurse last year and that was something that I could simply never expect! At that moment, I wished I was hurt enough to have some medical assistance by that time…

Anyway, this year it’s me who will certainly impress everyone in the party! I am already picking some amazing Halloween costumes to have a small list of possible costumes and then decide which one is perfect to impress my boss this year. I was thinking about a serial killer costume so that I could kill her instantly or anyone else in the party! Just see for yourself how cool it is:

Another possibility is a fire fighter because I could easily set fire to the party and show everyone how skillful I am! You can also see it on the image above to review it for yourself… But it will be a difficult decision to make and I am still struggling to find the best outfit for me. Still, one thing is certain, I already know in which store I will be buying my costume this year! Why don’t you visit it using the link above and see for yourself how you could easily impress everyone with some of the most amazing costumes ever?