Fortune Watch

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Leading bank shares around the world plunged yesterday after the crash of Lehman Brothers, forcing central banks to prop up the system with tens of billions of dollars. But US stocks rallied in the final hour of trading to close higher.

American Insurance Group (AIG) was the eye of the storm, with New York governor David Paterson warning the insurer had one day to raise $75-$80 billion.

After sliding about 150 points in early trading, Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 11,059.02, up 141.51 points, or 1.3pc.

The S&P 500 gained 20.9 points, or 1.8pc, to 1,213.6, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 27.99 points, or 1.3pc, to 2,207.9.

Stock markets took new fright yesterday after the Wall Street shocks, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and bailout of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America.

The London and Tokyo markets dropped more than four per cent to their lowest points for more than three years with some leading bank shares dropping 20pc.

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The Internet is full of wonderful information, and much of this information can be found in ebooks. Whether you’re looking for guidance on feng shui, or just want to know how to save money, there’s an ebook out there for you. Here you’ll find a great collection of ebooks available online for free.

Learn about a wide variety of financial issues and advice in these ebooks.

1. 66 Ways to Save Money: Learn about practical ways to cut costs in your daily life with this ebook.
2. Estate Planning: Find out why a will is so important and how you can prepare one, plus plenty of other helpful details for estate planning.
3. Ten Questions to Ask When Choosing a Financial Planner: Read this ebook to know what you should ask when looking for a professional to help you with your money.
4. 7 Steps to Eliminate Debt: Take control of and eliminate your debt by following the steps outlined in this ebook.
5. Living Trust Offers: The FTC commision’s pamphlet explains the details of living trusts and how you can protect yourself from estate planning scams.
6. Get the Facts on Saving and Investing: This SEC document will help you learn how to save and invest properly.
7. Simple Strategies for Managing Your Money: This FDIC ebook’s checklists will help you get financially fit and avoid scams.
8. Building a Better Credit Report: In this ebook, you’ll learn about methods for legally improving your credit score, spotting scams, and dealing with debt.
9. What You Should Know About Buying Life Insurance: In this pamphlet, you’ll find out about all of the types of life insurance, plus tips for choosing the right policy.
10. How SIPC Protects You: Read this document to see how the Securities Investor Protection Corproration will help return your assets if your brokerage firm goes under.

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But, some economists say that the slowdown in August could be a temporary blip, and may not be indicative of a long-term trend.

China’s industrial output grew at its weakest pace in more than six year last month, partly due to the industrial shutdowns ordered by the government ahead of Olympics, the government’s statistics agency said on Friday. The sharp decline continued to be affected by the global economic downturn.

Industrial production in China expanded by 12.8% in August from a year earlier, the National Statistics Bureau said after a gain of 14.7% in July. The August reading was less than the 14.5% median estimate of economists. This was slowest rate since August 2002 and well below the 17.5% recorded in August 2007.

But, some economists said that the slowdown in August could be a temporary blip, and may not be indicative of a long-term trend. China’s industrial activity will pick up with the re opening of factories in Beijing and surrounding areas, JP Morgan’s local securities unit wrote in a note.

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During the last few years of real estate boom the prices were rising like fanatical and mortgage finance was simple to come by. However, things are now started to cool off so most banks and financial institutions have stiffened their mortgage lending practices.

Most significant, interest rates are rising very slowly for a last few months. This might actually not look like a real deal if you are new in the practice of house buying industry. But on a big home finance even a tiny interest rate boost could create a very huge difference to the payment you make. In usual cases the interest rate could further make the disparity among being established or discarded for a home mortgage proposal. That is because with the intention of qualifying for a home mortgages your capability to pay for the payment is one of the most vital criterions for getting sanction. And any higher interest rate might simply put the imbursement impractical.

Here the best option is to get in touch with experienced and trained mortgage broker who has qualified Certificate in Mortgage Advice training. No matter what you do, don’t just begin making home mortgage choices until you link up with somebody who has a great experience in the field of mortgage. Find a mortgage advisor who has dear knowledge of present real estate and home mortgage states and further also has entrée to many required alternatives. This would more often than not be your welcoming area banker. Banks effort with their own services and are not paying attention in making you conscious of other available products, which might offer a superior deal to you.

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There are many benefits in choosing a remortgage, some of which are listed below.

A remortgage is changing your mortgage without moving your home.

Remortgaging is the process of switching your mortgage to another lender that is offering a better deal than your current lender thereby saving money.

A remortgage can also be used to raise additional finances by releasing equity in your property.

When you remortgage you are ending your old mortgage deal and switching to a new one. This normally involves switching your lender although you can sometimes change deals with your current provider. If you do remortgage with your current lender it normally involves changing your existing deal.

You can borrow from $25,000 up to $500,000. Rates are variable, depending on status.

Remortgaging can allow you to get a better rate of interest and reduce your monthly mortgage payments.

A remortgage allows you to consolidate existing loans to one manageable monthly payment or raise money to buy a new car or home improvements.

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Here we consider the seven stages of monitoring investments throughout life.

The seven ages of man is a speech from one of Shakespeare’s plays and catalogues the stages we go through in life, from baby to old age. It is an excellent comparison to investing and how investors need to ensure their investments keep pace with them as they move through life. However, this doesn’t just apply to saving for retirement, it applies to any investment goal and portfolios need to be monitored to make sure they are on track to achieve their objective.

Baby to young adult: Although financial commitments are negligible at this stage in life, it is a good idea to encourage children to save for themselves and to understand the basics of money from an early age.

Under 25: Retirement is a long way and a bulk of an individual’s income may be earmarked to fund their current lifestyle - buying property or cars for example – rather than saving for later years. However it is still a good idea to get started in investing and understanding what it is all about. Now also might be a good time to develop a high risk, aggressive portfolio as there is plenty of time to recover from any capital losses.

25 to 35: Although retirement may still seem a long time away, the earlier someone starts investing, the greater chance they have of building a significant nest egg for later years. At this stage in life people may be able to afford higher risk and more aggressive growth strategies as there is more time for investments to recover from losses or market volatility.

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In today’s marketplace, having a college degree can make one more competitive for jobs and serve as a key to upward mobility. The value of a college education goes beyond dollars and cents and building competency in a chosen discipline: there is an intrinsic value as well.

Perhaps this partially explains why millions of Americans forego common sense when picking college.

New Study Says Cost of College Is Not a Factor

According to a recent study by Sallie Mae, the country’s leading education lender, cost is often not a factor when picking college. “40 percent of families do not limit their search based on total expense.” Now, this would be fine if 40% of families were financially solvent enough to truly bear the costs of any school their students chose. However, students are increasingly being burdened with record levels of debts.

In fact, two-thirds of students graduate with some debt, with the average debt being $19,237. One-fourth of students will graduate with nearly $25,000, and 10% will graduate with greater than 35,000.

The primary reason attending school has become so much more expensive over the last decade is that school-related expenses (including tuition and fees) rise at rates that far outpace inflation.

According to the College Board, tuition and fees have risen in 2007 at more than double the rate of inflation for both public and private schools. Notwithstanding the fact that the inflation estimate is based on the consumer price index, which historically underestimates inflation by excluding gas and energy (too volatile), the cost of going to school can still be staggering.

While the annual costs for a public school (including tuition, room, and board) averages $13,589, the costs for a private school averages $32,307.
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A friend of mine is an unabashed and very sane Obama supporter (not Obamabot in the slightest). When I asked him why he bought the t-shirt, he said:

It’s all in good fun. Win or lose, this presidential election season is just full of grade-A entertainment!

Presidential politics is serious business!

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The presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain announced today that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter is pregnant.

In a statement, Palin and husband Todd said, “Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We are proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby, and even prouder to become grandparents.”

Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential hopeful and running mate of John McCain, has revealed that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five-months pregnant.

The couple said Bristol, 17, plans to marry the “young man” who is the father of her child. The Reuters news agency reported Monday that Bristol is five months pregnant.

“We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents,” Sarah and her husband, Todd Palin, said in a statement on Monday.

The news comes as the Republican National Convention is to open in St Paul, Minnesota.

“Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realise very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family,” the statement added.
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The dreaded “R” word – recession – has been dominating business headlines for months now. More and more economists are predicting bleak economic conditions and weak job growth in the coming months.

If you get laid off, you can only hope you saw the writing on the wall long before your company announced its cuts. You can only hope you leave with an impressive work history, great recommendations, and updated skills. You can only hope.

Unfortunately, not everyone is so prepared when the boss delivers a pink slip.

Here are some things you can do starting today — whether you think you face a layoff or not — to keep yourself relevant on the job:

Act as if your job is always on the line, even if you’re still on the company payroll. Strive to make yourself more valuable — not just to your current employer, but also to any potential employers you’ll need to win over in the future.

Imagine yourself interviewing for a new position. Can you point to specific ways in which you’ve improved your skills and grown on the job? If so, keep up the good work.

Document your accomplishments. Update your resume regularly to reflect your ever-increasing skills on the job. You can use this information during your performance review and salary negotiations or, should the worst happen, for finding other employment quickly.

If, however, you’ve been coasting in your current position, it’s time to take some initiative. Try these surefire ways to increase your value as an employee:
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