Searching for the Cheapest Airfare: Is There a Silver Bullet?
Posted on May 16th, 2010
J.D. is on vacation in Alaska. This guest post by G.E. Miller gives a real-life example of trying to find the cheapest airfare online. For more from G.E., check out 20somethingfinance.com, where he covers personal-finance matters for young professionals.
At one time or another, we’ve all been a day late and a few air miles short when purchasing a plane ticket. So we turn to the internet. But with all the bargain travel sites out there, which ones truly offer the best deals on a consistent basis? S
Small Businesses Reject SBA Loans
Posted on May 15th, 2010
How well did the economy do in February? According to a recent Time Magazine article, retail sales rose strongly, signaling that recession-weary shoppers may finally be opening their wallets. The revival of the US consumer in recent months has been cheered by economists as a sign that the recovery is on a more solid footing.
But for small business owners, economic confidence in February was flat. According to the Discover Small Business Watch, owners expect economic conditions to largely stay the same in the coming months.
The Friday Podcast: We See Angelina’s Bottom Line
Posted on May 14th, 2010
Raise your hand if you lost money. (Lucy Nicholson/AFP/Getty)
Wolseley manages only gain on 100
Posted on May 13th, 2010
European equities markets were substantially lower Friday, hurt especially by banks and miners which were down on continuing worries about the debt crisis in the region and how that will affect economic recovery.
The FTSE 100 was 3.14 percent lower to 5,262.85 in London, while the FTSE 250 was down 2.56 percent to 10,022.9.
Building materials group Wolseley (LSE: WOS) was the only gainer on the 100, adding 4.98 percent after it said its trading profit for the full year will exceed analyst expectations.
The five biggest decliners on the 100 were all miners, falling as metals prices retreated, led by Xstrata (LSE: XTA), which dropped 7.93 percent for the worst performance in the sector, on the 100, and among all London shares.
In all, nine miners fell 5 percent or more, including iron-ore miner Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO), which fell 7.46 percent on the 250 while back on the 100 Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC) was down 7.04 percent, Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) fell 6.93 percent, Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) was 6.61 percent lower and Lonmin (LSE: LMI) dropped 6.2 percent.
Engineering group Renishaw (LSE: RSW) turned in the best performance on the 250 as it added 2.12 percent, while automobile retailer Inchcape (LSE: INCH) was the worst performer on the index and in the retail sector, falling 7.7 percent on the session.
In an all-lower energy sector, BP (LSE: BP) was down 3.18 percent on a dispute concerning how much oil is leaking from its damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico.
Banks were lower in London, with Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC) decline of 6.11 percent worst in the sector, followed by Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) with a drop of 4.74 percent while Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) fell 4.11 percent.
Elsewhere in the region, Societe Generale (Euronext: GLE) dropped 8.63 percent to lead declines on the CAC-40 in Paris, while Spanish bank Banco Santander (BMAD: SAN) was down 9.8 percent in Madrid, Intesa Sanpaolo (BIT: ISP) was down 5.3 percent in Italy and Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK) fell 4.15 percent on the Dax in Frankfurt.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 3.48 percent to 1,013.31 while the Dax fell 3.12 percent to 6,056.71, the CAC-40 was 4.59 percent lower to 3,560.36 and the IBEX dropped 6.64 percent to 9,314.7.
There were no gainers on the Dax and only one on the CAC-40, where aerospace and defense contractor EADS (Euronext: EAD) added 5.05 percent and was upgraded from “hold” to “buy” by Deutsche Bank on the theory that it is benefiting from the weakness of the euro.
Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mostly lower.
The Nikkei 225 was 1.49 percent lower to 10,462.51 in Tokyo, while the Topix index fell 1.21 percent to 936.45 and the Mothers market was down 0.92 percent to 456.22.
The declines in Tokyo came on a stronger yen and from companies which get a substantial amount of their revenues from Europe.
Consumer electronics giant Sony (TYO: 6758) dropped 6.79 percent on a disappointing full-year profits outlook, putting its expectation for net income at ¥50 billion for the fiscal year ending in March 2011, only about half what analysts anticipated, triggering several brokers to cut their target share prices for Sony.
Panasonic (TYO: 6752) was down 1.9 percent while camera maker Canon (TYO: 7751) fell 2.3 percent and Nintendo (TYO: 7974) dropped 2.55 percent.
Among carmakers, Mazda Motor (TYO: 7261) and Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203) each fell about 1.9 percent on the session.
Other decliners included Singapore’s Straits Times Index, which was down 0.44 percent to 2,855.21, while the Shanghai Composite was 0.51 percent lower to 2,696.63.
In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries fell 0.78 percent to 4,643 and the S&P/ASX200 dropped 0.9 percent to 4,611.1, while the Hang Seng was down 1.36 percent to 20,145.43 and the Sensex was 1.57 percent lower to 16,994.6.
Taiwan’s Taiex and the Kospi in South Korea were up slightly on the session, adding 0.02 percent to 7,772.13 and 0.06 percent to 1,695.63 respectively.
New York markets were down as credit card companies and banks saw declines after the US Senate voted to limit fees that can be charged for transactions using credit and debit cards, as well as on continuing concerns about debt in Europe.
At just before one p.m. in New York,
Should Brits take out loans for weddings?
Posted on May 12th, 2010
As most married couples will already know getting married can be an expensive affair if you want all the trimmings, and those that are looking to have the perfect wedding, entertain guests, provide food and entertainment, and round things off with a romantic honeymoon will know that the cost can run into thousands of pounds.
In the current financial climate it can be difficult for couples to save the kind of money that they need for a wedding within a reasonable space of time, particularly if they also want to put a deposit down on a property.
Markets, ETFs Sluggish as Jobless Claims Miss Expectations
Posted on May 11th, 2010
Initial jobless claims decreased by 4,000 to 444,000 in the report released Thursday, nearly 4,000 less than expected. While claims improved over the four-week average with sizable payroll growth, the lack of any significant improvement will limit confidence and expectations for any sizable growth in May.
After a rally on most major indexes Wednesday, as investors returned their attention to the domestic economy in light of eased European debt woes, stocks have dropped early Thursday due to the weak job report.
The unemployment rate jumped to 9.9%, and remains the primary obstacle in the road to economic recovery.