The Afternoon Yawns…

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Unless you are one of those rare individuals, you probably experience the “afternoon dip.”  Most people do experience this after lunch some time however some feel it more than others.  Many workers may feel some guilt, thinking they are lazy for getting tired in the afternoon.  But it is a fact that most do experience the strong urge to just go to sleep in the afternoon.

The key is learning to manage it.  Some can take a quick 20 minute “power nap” and feel refreshed and ready to work.  Others need more time and a long nap isn't possible.  So some look to the good old fashion coffee for the answer.  That works for some.  Others may get up and move around and some even slip off to the gym during this time.  But not everyone's schedule allows for that.  The real key is finding what works for you.  Don't try to ignore it or think you are lazy.  Just figure out a solution.

One piece of advice that this article from The New York Times gives is to not work on your toughest projects during this time.  This is a great time to work on things that don't require as much focus.  Maybe just arranging your to-do-list and schedule will be the answer you need.

There is some great information on this matter on the The New York Times website.  You can read the complete article at: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/business/yourmoney/19career.html?em&ex=1187755200&en=58a30084c26999c5&ei=5087%0A

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Streaming Video More Popular Than Ever

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When I think of streaming video I still sometimes have flash backs of a few years ago when I was connected on those crazy dial up connections!  Streaming wasn't fun back then.  But today with broadband taking over, it is quite different!  Many companies are starting to offer all kinds of shows and movies through streaming video.  And it will only grow from here.  It just makes sense that in the future everything we watch will be via the internet.  What's a TV?  Maybe we will still call the TV a TV but how it gets its content will be much different.  You can already start to see that…

However, the potential of new streaming video services — fast, full screen and in sharp resolution — is unleashing a torrent of movies and television shows, much of it aimed at narrowly defined audiences that can’t find niche programming even on cable systems with 500 or more channels.

The Independent Film Channel is streaming 22 short films called “Trapped in the Closet” by the R&B recording artist R. Kelly. The Jewish Television Network, a nonprofit television production and distribution company, is streaming music videos by Jewish performers, cooking shows and Israeli news programs. The network is also planning to stream religious services during the High Holy Days in September, the sort of broadcast that would be hard to find on mainstream television.

“There is extreme interest in streaming because it simplifies the process of getting video to the consumer,” said Ross Rubin, the director of industry analysis for the NPD Group, a market analysis company.

Streaming video, unlike downloads, never resides on a viewer’s computer. It usually cannot be replayed as a downloaded file can be, which is another reason that content creators like it.

To learn more on this subject, read the complete article below from The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/business/media/06stream.html?em&ex=1186632000&en=f5be43885bde277b&ei=5087%0A

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Homeowners Defaulting On Loans

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Home mortgage lenders are going through some rough times right now.  There is a big increase in homeowners who are defaulting on their loans.  The challenge is many home buyers bought homes thinking that the prices would continue to increase at the rates that they were increasing.  Many buyers had adjustable rate mortgages and paid little or no money down so as the interest rates on their adjustable rate mortgages went up and their home price dropped making it harder to sell, it made it hard to keep up with the payments. 

Subprime lenders have felt the biggest hit but it has really hurt them all…

Problems in the mortgage market spread deeper and farther afield yesterday.

Trading in the shares of a large mortgage company was suspended yesterday, and the nation’s largest insurer of home loans said its stake in a business that underwrites and invests in mortgage securities may be worthless. Earlier, a German bank acknowledged that its investments in American loans have deteriorated.

The developments are the latest indications that the housing slump will affect a broader segment of the mortgage industry and that the problems will last longer than many officials had suggested earlier this year. Just last week, the nation’s biggest home lender, Countrywide Financial, acknowledged that defaults on second mortgages to prime borrowers were rising quickly.

The New York Stock Exchange never opened trading in shares of American Home Mortgage yesterday after the company said late Friday that it would suspend its dividend and was facing “significant margin calls” from its banks.

Already down 70 percent for the year, shares in A.H.M. fell 39 percent in premarket trading, to $6.39.

To learn more on this subject, read the complete article below from The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/business/31subprime.html?em&ex=1186027200&en=6c5add7e526f06d2&ei=5087%0A

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The Stock Market Plunged Today!

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It was a bad day for all the major indexes today.  It was one of the biggest drops this year.  The worries over the subprime lending market along with other issues caused a big hit to the stock market…

Investors who had been able for months to largely shrug off discomfort about subprime mortgage problems and a more difficult environment for corporate borrowing finally decided it was time to sell after the Commerce Department issued another disappointing home sales report.

Feeding the plunge were concerns that higher corporate borrowing costs will curb the rapid pace of takeovers that had driven stocks higher this year. Investors also feared the sluggish environment for home sales and continued defaults in subprime loans would spur debt defaults and weigh on corporate earnings.

“Worries that have been out there for the past couple of years are coming to a head right now,” said investment strategist Edward Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research Inc. “It's show time.”

The Dow plunged 311.50 or 2.3%, to 13,473.57 after falling 449.77 in earlier trading. The close was its worst since the 416.02 it lost on Feb. 27, when a drop in the Shanghai stock market rattled world exchanges.

Read the complete article on USAToday.com if you would like to learn more:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/2007-07-26-stocks-thu_N.htm?csp=34

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The Troubles with Getting Africa Online

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We live in a great country.  It is easy to take our easy access to the internet for granted.  We complain when our internet connection “goes down” for a short time or when we can't get our wireless working at someone's house.  And when the wireless doesn't work, that means we actually have to plug in to a wire and sit in one place!  That is so terrible!  But as we are complaining about these silly issues there are people in countries in Africa who would just love to be able to afford to get online.  Most people can not afford it yet as the costs are just too high.

There have been many attempts to help bring Africa up to speed but it seems more important issues like hunger and AIDS take priority.  The Rwandan government has made some aggressive moves to help their country have more access to the internet and lower the cost.  And while they have made progress, it is not what they had hoped…

Attempts to bring affordable high-speed Internet service to the masses have made little headway on the continent. Less than 4 percent of Africa’s population is connected to the Web; most subscribers are in North African countries and the republic of South Africa.

A lack of infrastructure is the biggest problem. In many countries, communications networks were destroyed during years of civil conflict, and continuing political instability deters governments or companies from investing in new systems. E-mail messages and phone calls sent from some African countries have to be routed through Britain, or even the United States, increasing expenses and delivery times. About 75 percent of African Internet traffic is routed this way and costs African countries billions of extra dollars each year that they would not incur if their infrastructure was up to speed.

“Most African governments haven’t paid much attention to their infrastructure,” said Vincent Oria, an associate professor of computer science at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and a native of the Ivory Coast. “In places where hunger, AIDS and poverty are rampant, they didn’t see it as critical until now.”

Africa’s only connection to the network of computers and fiber optic cables that are the Internet’s backbone is a $600 million undersea cable running from Portugal down the west coast of Africa. Built in 2002, the cable was supposed to provide cheaper and faster Web access, but so far that has not happened.

If you want to read more, you can view the complete Kamaron Institute Job Market article by clicking the following link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/business/yourmoney/22rwanda.html?em&ex=1185422400&en=c53d8a4e648db045&ei=5087%0A

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Microsoft Earnings Are Up

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Microsoft had to pay out over a billion dollars from challenges with the Xbox 360 game consoles.  But even with that they still were up for the quarter.  It was good news for Microsoft shareholders today…

The software giant reported that profit grew 7.3% in its fiscal fourth quarter. Meanwhile, revenue for its fiscal year topped $50 billion for the first time.

Microsoft posted quarterly net income of $3.0 billion, or 31 cents a share, on sales of $13.4 billion, meeting analyst expectations. In the year-ago quarter, it had net income of $2.8 billion, or 28 cents a share, on sales of $11.8 billion.

For fiscal 2007, Microsoft earned $14.1 billion, or $1.42 a share, on record sales of $51.1 billion.

Charly Tracy, Microsoft senior finance manager, attributed robust sales growth to “strong execution by our partners and sales force.”

Windows PC software, Windows server software and Office saw revenue increases of 14%, 15% and 19%, respectively, compared with the year-earlier period, Tracy says.

Read the complete article on USAToday.com if you would like to learn more:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/earnings/2007-07-19-microsoft_N.htm?csp=34

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Gas Prices May Go Higher

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I'm sure everyone has probably noticed a spike recently in gas prices.  I've heard some comments lately asking why prices have gone back up on gas.  This article found on the USA Today website gave some reasons for the price increases and said they may go even higher through August…

Strong demand for gasoline and tight motor fuel inventories will push pump prices higher in July and August, the government said Tuesday, but oil futures prices eased Thursday, which may soften the pain at the pump.

Retail gasoline prices are expected to average $3 a gallon this month and climb to $3.07 in August, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a monthly forecast.

“This is due to a combination of rising crude oil prices, strong demand for gasoline and low gasoline inventories,” the analytical arm of the Energy Department said.

The average national price of a gallon of gas jumped 2.6 cents overnight to $3.026 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices, which typically lag the futures market, have risen 7.7 cents over the last week after falling steadily from a late May peak of $3.227 a gallon.

Analysts say the closure of a refinery in Coffeyville, Kan., due to flooding, and the shutdown of a huge piece of oil processing equipment at a BP refinery in Whiting, Ind., sent prices in the Midwest and Plains states sharply higher, boosting the national average.

Read the complete article on USAToday.com if you would like to learn more:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2007-07-12-gas-oil_N.htm?csp=34

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Changing Jobs – Self Promote?

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People are constantly changing jobs now days.  It used to be that people stayed in one job for most of their career.  That is certainly not the case today.  So changing jobs is something that most Americans will do several times.  Do you self promote yourself?  Or how much should you self promote yourself?  These are great questions. 

Let's face it, it does require a little self promotion when looking for different jobs.  But how much is enough?  Many people have a problem with the thought of “self promotion.”  The most important thing is that you must be good at what you do.  That should be the number one thing.  But assuming you are good at what you do, you have to be able to communicate and show others that you are good.  This may require a little bit of self promoting.

This Kamaron Institute article shares some interesting perspective on this subject.  If you are looking for a job or thinking about a job change, this will be helpful to you…

I know my book is good, and after talking with scores of authors about what it takes to sell a book these days, I realized that if I did not convey passion and pride about my ideas, how could anyone else?

So while I might not be a fan of the terminology, I believe that self-promotion is essential in today’s competitive landscape. And this is not just true for authors. It is true for anyone who wants to get ahead when there is someone equally qualified sitting in the next office, cubicle or home office, or in India.

Still, the language rattled me, and I wondered if it was possible to get the same kind of results in more subtle ways. I decided it was time to talk to some experts.

If anyone has given a lot of thought to the unseemliness of self-promotion, it is Peggy Klaus, the author of “Brag: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It” (Warner Business Books). Her philosophy boils down to this: we all have to master our own “bragologue,” an authentic and effective way to talk about our accomplishments, not just when we think we are in positions to self-promote. Though I was initially put off by her language, I gave Ms. Klaus a chance. I am glad I did.

If you want to read more, you can view the complete Kamaron Institute Job Market article by clicking the following link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/02/business/smallbusiness/02webshifting.html?em&ex=1184212800&en=da7737bf79398f7f&ei=5087%0A

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A Buyers Market for Home Buyers

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If you are in the market for a new home, it is a great time.  There are so many homes for sale that deals are out there.  Of course, if you are also wanting to sell your home first then it may not work out as good.  But regardless, deals are out there to be found.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said that rates have dropped this week and they may continue to do so.  If you are considering a first time home purchase, now may be the best time.  Rates may not be what they have been the last several years but they are still historically low and there are lots of houses to choose from.  That makes for a pretty good combination for first time home buyers who are trying to find a deal…

Rising demand last week for loans to buy homes offset a drop in applications to refinance existing mortgages, leaving mortgage applications little changed from the prior week, an industry group said Thursday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its mortgage applications index rose 0.1% to a seasonally adjusted 619.4 in the week ended June 29, nearing its lowest level since mid-February.

The MBA's purchase index rose 2.0% to 437.3. But the refinancing applications gauge dropped 2.6% to this year's low of 1,687.2 on a seasonally adjusted basis.

“We've got a huge amount of inventory to work through, particularly of existing homes. but it looks like demand is holding up here,” said David Kelly, economic adviser at Putnam Investments in Boston.

The MBA's purchase index has been steadily rising, based on a four-week moving average, to its highest levels since January 2006, he said. New-home sales and housing starts looked stronger in the second quarter than in the first, he added.

Home sales might get a kick from falling mortgage rates.

To learn more on this subject, read the complete article below from USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2007-07-05-mortgage-apps_N.htm?csp=34

Kamaron Institute personal finance business references, tips and resources. 

Helping Women Succeed in Business

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This is a fantastic organization.  Women all over the country have entrepreneurial ideas and dreams.  But many are lacking the money and the experience to go after their dreams.  This organization has a great system in place to help women without a lot of money to make money through their own business…

Known as a “kitchen incubator,” La Cocina (la-koh-SEE-nuh) is a shared-use space created two years ago to provide a platform for women entrepreneurs without assets. Offering a low hourly rate for access to 2,200 square feet of restaurant-quality kitchen space, the nonprofit La Cocina also provides training from high-profile mentors and technical assistance on creating business plans and building marketing programs.

“There’s an entrepreneurial gene,” said Valeria Perez Ferreiro, executive director of La Cocina. “And we are finding amazing entrepreneurs who are already cooking or have a product that is so promising that it deserves to be seen in the market and that we think has a chance for success.”

Ms. Salazar, 32, was one of the first participants in La Cocina and is one of its bigger successes. Her company, El Huarache Loco, makes traditional foods from Mexico City.

Working with intensity, she needed to produce 700 of her trademark huaraches, the bean-filled cakes, for her weekly booth at a farmer’s market and hundreds more for Carnaval San Francisco festivities over Memorial Day weekend. She also prepared fish and shrimp ceviche as an employee stirred 30 gallons of carnitas in a brazing skillet for a catering job for 100 people.

“I come here to learn all the business, and I need to learn more every day,” Ms. Salazar said, while dicing pounds of tomatoes for a salsa roja. “Tomorrow, I have three parties. So if I do this tomorrow, I know I can do something by myself.”

If you want to read more, you can view the complete Kamaron Institute Job Market article by clicking the following link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/23/business/smallbusiness/23cocina.html?em&ex=1183262400&en=b4d7bd5f992e3a4d&ei=5087%0A

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