Deciding on the certificate of deposit that meets your needs

Much like a savings account, a certificate of deposit (CD) accrues interest on your personal investment and is federally insured. A CD differs from a savings account in that most CD types do not allow you to take your money out early – unless you do not mind paying a stiff penalty. If terms are to your liking, read on to learn about some of the most popular CD options. Post resource – Choosing the certificate of deposit that is right for you by MoneyBlogNewz.

CD

It’s easy to get a traditional certificate of deposit. The customer deposits a fixed amount of money for a specified term (from three months to five years) at a predetermined interest rate. The money and interest can be taken by the customer as the CD matures or it could be put in another CD term that exists. Customers are allowed to add to CDs the majority of the time whenever they want at banks and credit unions. The downside is that the early withdrawal penalty can eliminate interest and cut into principal. A minimum penalty level, not maximum, is controlled by federal regulation. Some financial institutions charge more. This can be a choice they have.

Bump up CD also accessible

You are able to get a higher rate of return when there’s a bump-up certificate of deposit purchased for flexibility. It pays to know the going market interest rate for a CD, so you are able to tell your bank to give you the bump-up. The trade-off when in contrast to a traditional CD is that a bump-up CD may begin at a lower interest rate than a traditional CD. No more than one bump up is allowed every term. This is a typical rule.

Paying a withdrawal penalty

You are able to withdraw your money in a liquid CD. The rule typically demands a minimum balance while requiring that you do not touch it for at least seven days. A maximum number of withdrawals per term are typically in the rules although you will find penalty-free withdrawals typically. Generally, the liquid CD will have a lower rate of interest because of convenience. A traditional one may work better for interest. If you want the professional management of a liquid CD, try a Brokerage CD. It could have a higher interest rate than a CD that is standard at banks.

Got at least 10 years? Do a zero-coupon

Some people just want long term CDs. A zero-coupon CD is just that. At least 10 years are needed on a zero-coupon CD. The term doesn’t have payments that occur directly. That money is re-invested, then back-loaded at maturity. It is explained by Bankrate.com in an example. You may have 6 percent interest on a $100,000 CD for 12 years. Opening the zero-coupon CD might cost about $50,000. By the end, it will get to $100,000 though.

Keep in mind that a zero-coupon CD may trigger you to be credited with phantom income at tax time, even though you will not have access to the funds. Interested in more CD information? Bankrate.com is the place to go.

Citations

Bankrate

bankrate.com/finance/cd/what-type-of-cd-is-best-1.aspx

Bankrate

bankrate.com/cd.aspx

What is a Certificate of Deposit

whatisacertificateofdeposit.com/

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate_of_deposit

How to calculate a CD

youtube.com/watch?v=V1kYrm7MgYs

Google Books negotiation declined by federal judge

Google’s vision of a universal virtual library has hit a snag in court . Google had reached a $125 million negotiation with publishers and authors allowing it to complete the project. But opponents to the project were successful in airing their copyright and antitrust objections. Authors and publishers, which have become allies of Google in the case, said the Google Books judgment made it clear as to what changes must be made to eventually get the negotiation approved.

What Google Books settled on

Google Books is an effort to scan every book ever published and make them available to any person with an Internet connection. The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers sued Google in 2005 over its book-scanning project. In 2008, Google agreed to pay $125 million up front and provide the means for authors and publishers to get paid any time their novels are viewed online. Many groups argued against the settlement for instance Amazon, Microsoft, the Justice Department, foreign governments and copyright experts making it go to the legal system. Denny Chin is the Manhattan federal court. On Tuesday, he said that it would not be right for Google Books to do this because it would create a monopoly and exploit the works of copyright holders without permission.

The problem that orphan works brings

Judge Chin’s main objection to Google Books was a provision in the Google Books settlement allowing the business to digitize any book unless the author and publisher specifically opt out of the agreement. It would look better, claims Chin, with an "opt in" choice instead. The opt-out provision was written due to an issue with so-called “orphan works.”. Anytime a book has a copyright holder that can't be found or is unknown, it’s an orphan work. An opt-in would make it impossible to use orphan works, Google states. The point of this was for Google Books to be able to contain orphan books to be accessible to anybody. Opponents of the negotiation said the availability of orphan works is a problem best addressed by Congress, not the settlement of a private lawsuit.

You will find antitrust problems to consider

There are over 130 million books being put to the database, states Google. It is just trying to "democratize knowledge" with the program. But the settlement’s opponents also raise antitrust worries, saying no other company is capable of building a library that can compete, freeing Google to gouge customers for access. All the novels accessible to Google Books would leave it always getting used. There is no way anyone would ever be able to beat the business. About 15 million novels have already been scanned by Google during this time. In Google's Book Search, you can discover novels with expired copyrights as well as 20 percent of copyrighted titles. Any copyrighted titles that have not been licensed yet have a sample text available though.

Information from

New York Times

nytimes.com/2011/03/23/technology/23google.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Financial Times

ft.com/cms/s/2/f7ee4948-54bf-11e0-b1ed-00144feab49a.html#axzz1HR3IHDr1

PC World

pcworld.com/article/222963/judge_rejects_google_book_deal_over_monopoly_concerns.html

Medical marijuana businesses plan for public stock market IPO

To varying degrees, medical marijuana is legal in 15 of the U.S.. The industry surrounding medical marijuana could be a very profitable one. By offering public stock, two relatively small corporations in the U.S. are hoping to get even bigger. These stock offerings will likely raise millions of dollars. Source for this article – Investors considering medical marijuana IPOs by MoneyBlogNewz.

More marijuana use means more businesses start

Medical marijuana has created several new industries. The purposes of the companies are to give humidifiers, fertilizers, grow lights, packaging equipment, processing equipment and more. Estimates say the marijuana industry could possibly be worth $60 billion or more within 10 years. There is nevertheless a growth of the technology part of the industry. There are intelligent phone apps to control "grow trailers" now. Also, there's always better hydroponic technology out there. Money is made by many individuals that start medical dispensaries and growth operations. They generally need short term loans to start though. Grow stores have a huge markup. It’s typically 70 to 120 percent.

Possible initial public offering

Corporations that directly deal in marijuana exist in a difficult legal gray area. Federally, marijuana is always illegal. All of the states have illegal recreational use of marijuana. That isn't different. Marijuana for medical use is legal in some states, however federal officials have raided state-compliant companies in many states. two companies — GrowOp Technology Ltd. and General Cannabis Inc. — both keep away from this legal gray area by selling the technology and equipment, however not the actual substance. By the end of 2011, the businesses both have plans to become publicly traded. They hope to get on the stock exchanges very soon. The businesses can be able to rise over $10 million with initial public offerings while allowing investors to hold a bit of the "growth" industry that keeps making money.

Marijuana finances have problems

Investors want to get in with the medical marijuana industry considering its growth. This growth, however, could be creating another financial bubble. Since medical use was made legal in California in 1992, the price of finished product has dropped from $3,000 or more per pound to $1,800 per pound. WeGrow is an example of warehouse operations that are starting to grow very quickly. Companies in the medical marijuana industry expect the business to grow. To be able to do that, more states have to make it legal.

Articles cited

Wall St

247wallst.com/2011/02/18/growop-the-hydroponic-ipo-for-medical-marijuana/#ixzz1F8E7ZdZo

skeptics taking aim at whether homeownership is a good investment

One of the longest standing hallmarks of the "American Dream" is becoming a homeowner. A increasing quantity of well qualified experts are starting to openly and notoriously challenge home ownership as an investment, as they assert it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny as a serious expense. Normally, such challenges to conventional wisdom would be dismissed out of hand as the act of a crank. However, there is actually a lot of evidence that sides squarely with the skeptics.

Do not expend in housing

There are numerous experts within the finance industry that are coming to seriously question the long-held assertion that owning a home is a good investment, in accordance with USA Today. There was a book released in 2000 written by Robert Shiller, Yale economist and co-founder of the Case-Shiller Index. This book reviewed, between 1890 and 1990, home values. The real value of a home didn't really move. The real value stayed the same. Jack Francis is a former Federal Reserve economist. He pointed out that real estate had an average 6 percent return while the Standard & Poor's index stocks would get an 11 percent return on average. Given the fluctuations in real estate values during the past several years, it would seem plausible that not as many people are realizing that much of a profit.

Decrease in equity and prices

Overall home prices have been plunging since 2008, and the decline has not slowed drastically as yet. Home sales and home prices both dropped in Feb. 2011, in accordance with Reuters. During Feb. 2011, there was a four percent decrease in existing home costs while between February 2010 and February 2011 there was a 5.2 percent decrease. A more disturbing, however less prominently disclosed statistic in the press is the amount of equity the average homeowner holds. As of September 2010, people had about 39.5 percent equity in their homes. This figure was shown in the “Flow of Funds Accounts of the United States” report the Federal Reserve recently released.

Need to try a new model

A home paying off as an investment depends on a lot of assumptions that cannot necessarily be taken for granted. If a person buys a home with a 15 or 30 year fixed rate mortgage and pays the mortgage off, the homeowner has property free of encumbrances that is not costly to live in and could be sold to raise a retirement nest egg. Most families move too often to accomplish that though. It’s nearly impossible to do. Sometimes a home will sell for more than it cost to buy. It can be a nullified profit though. The costs to get the home and sell it also add up. This will contain closing costs, real estate agent fees, property taxes and even home repairs. A mortgage loan lender can easily foreclose or reposes a home too if somebody defaults on their mortgage. It’s much better to expend in stocks, bonds and mutual funds. They can be sold for money much easier.

Citations

USA Today

usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2011-03-20-home-ownership.htm

Reuters

reuters.com/article/2011/03/21/us-usa-economy-housing-idUSTRE72F3XG20110321

Federal Reserve

federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/Current/z1r-5.pdf

Federal Reserve

federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/default.htm

Android supplying more smartphones than Research in Motion

Android now reigns supreme when it comes to sales of smartphones. Android has overtaken Research in Motion, the makers of the Blackberry line, and claimed the top spot for sales. Google’s well-liked and simple to develop Android operating system has dominated the smartphone industry in short order. Less than two years after the first Android was launched, more Google based cell phones are being sold than by Apple, Microsoft and now Research in Motion phones. It does not seem likely the competition will catch up. More than 170 devices have an Android OS.

Death of the Blackberry

The Blackberry line of phones made by Research in Motion has held the top spot for product sales of smartphones for a long time, but the business has finally been dethroned, in accordance with CNN. All of the competition has been beaten by the Google based Android system. With 31 percent of sales, the Android beat Research in Motion product sales and got to the top. T-Mobile carried the first Android operating system phone known as the HTC G1 which came out in November 2009. In early 2010, Android had only a 7 percent share of the smartphone industry, but the platform has liked constant growth since its introduction. An Android OS is now the base in excess of 170 types of phones and tablet computers across numerous carriers.

Work old cell phones have to go through

Android is the only smartphone in the U.S. to continuously grow even though there are four popular platforms. RIM at one point sold 42 percent of all smartphones, but Research in Motion sales have dwindled to 30.4 percent between February of 2010 and the end of Jan of 2011. Windows phones have been consistently on the decline, and now make up less than 10 percent of the smartphone sector. The iPhone has been good for Apple, however not good enough. It has stayed at a constant for the sector share. An estimated 350,000 new Android devices are activated daily. Until late 2010, when the Symbian Lost most of its sales to Android, the Symbian OS from Nokia had a bigger share than Android.

Android Nokia phone most likely won't happen

The Los Angeles Times reports that Nokia refuses to make an Android phone available even though almost every company does since Google licenses it for free. Nokia and Microsoft have a relationship now. It seems that Windows Mobile on Nokia phones will become the normal thing. Microsoft is reportedly going to pay Nokia $1 billion for the rights to put Windows Phone 7 on Nokia devices, which could possibly be a net benefit for both companies if it’s successful.

Articles cited

CNN

money.cnn.com/2011/03/07/technology/android/index.htm

Los Angeles Times

latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/03/Microsoft-reportedly-paying-nokia-more-than-1-billion-to-use-windows-phone-os.html

Contrasting Missouri pay day loan bills up for debate

The Missouri House Financial Institutions Committee is ready to listen to two brand new bills that could affect pay day loans in the state, states the Columbia Daily Tribune. Committee chair Rep. Don Wells (R-Cabool), who’s the previous owner of a payday loans company, will hear personal unsecured loan bills by Rep. Mary Still (D-Columbia) and Rep. Ellen Brandom (R-Sikeston) at 5 p.m. Wed at the Jefferson City Capitol Building. While Rep. Still’s HB 132 calls for drastic limits to state payday lenders, Rep. Brandom’s HB 656 takes a more moderate approach.

Saying it is ‘Consumer protections without killing the personal loans industry’

Any Missouri Congress legislation on payday loan should be able to add "consumer protections without killing the industry," Rep. Wells suggested to the Daily Tribune. His ideas are more similar in shape to those in Rep. Brandom’s Missouri HB 656, in that he supports limiting the number of payday loan renewals Missouri customers can arrange; having at least a two-week "cool off" period; making sure the fee per $100 borrowed on a personal loan is clearly posted for consumer consideration as a dollar amount, instead of a percentage; and allowing customers to make long-term repayment arrangements without excessive penalty.

The average cash advance in Missouri is pretty cheap, said Brandom. For every $100 borrowed, about $17 is paid.

"To me, that is the easiest way to understand it," she said.

36 percent Annual Percentage Rate barrier the problem with Missouri HB 132 bill

A different approach to personal loans was taken by Rep. Nevertheless. The payday loan costs would be limited by 5 percent with her bill. There would be a $25 total limit. Even if the repayment period is over 90 days, there would not be more than a 36 percent Annual Percentage Rate allowed. The FDIC does not understand the business very well and can't make that decision since studies keep showing a 36 percent APR is not sustainable for a business.

"You can make money at 36 percent," she said. "Some companies offer money at 18 percent. It is what the FDIC says is a reasonable rate."

Rep. Still's goal isn't being followed with the idea of driving pay day loan companies out of business in Missouri making it so customers have to discover other sources. There hasn't even been a necessity for a 36 percent Annual Percentage Rate in the Missouri Catholic Conference which has submitted a different payday lending model.

Personal loan company in Missouri claims it won't continue business

QC Holdings, the largest payday lender in Missouri, cannot operate with this restriction which would also end up losing all smaller loan providers with a 36 percent Annual Percentage Rate cap. QC Holdings said in a 2009 Missouri Better Business Bureau report:

“Any federal law that would impose a national 36 percent APR limit on our services … would likely eliminate our ability to continue our current operations."

Citations

Better Business Bureau

stlouis.bbb.org/Storage/142/Documents/PaydayLoanReport09color.pdf

Columbia Daily Tribune

columbiatribune.com/news/2011/mar/08/payday-loan-bills-on-tap/

>Apply some reason when thinking about payday loans

youtube.com/watch?v=dKTIJ5Xmb8w

Strong product sales do not mean powerful stocks for Costco

Among publicly owned retail stores, Costco is in a specialized spot. Though stock prices are falling, quarterly product sales results are strong — and Costco is making some modifications to its promotions.

Quarterly outcomes come from Costco

Wall Street publicly trades Costco. That means the public quarterly states were just released. The membership club reported an 11 percent increase in sales for the final quarter of 2010, resulting in product sales of $20.9 billion. Membership fees accounted for another $426 million in income. The good quarterly earnings didn't help the business much though. There was a 3 percent drop in Costco shares. There can be less profitability of gas and other sales in the company because of bad weather. This is what traders used to explain this drop.

Staying away from sale of fish regarded as 'at risk'

Changes to what Costco could be offering were declared in the quarterly outcomes report. Costco plans to stop selling "at risk" fish. The Marine Stewardship council decides which fish get the "at risk" label. Atlantic Cod, Atlantic Halibut, Chilean Sea Bass, Greenland Halibut, Grouper, Monkfish, Orange Roughy, Redfish, Shark, Skates, Rays, Swordfish and Bluefin Tuna are all on the list of wild fish that will not any longer be offered. There will be farmed seafood accessible still. This will be sold by Costco.

Selling wedding dresses

In addition to taking over-fished seafood off the shelves at Costco, one other large change can be made in some stores. Pop-up wedding boutiques could be tested in a few Costco stores in CA. These dresses can be sold temporarily in the Costco stores and can be much like David's Bridal's prices. About $400 to $1200 a dress could be paid. CA bridal boutiques doing well in CA will mean they’ll start to show up everywhere else. It will probably only take a few months to get them situated. Wedding gowns won't be there permanently. There is a good chance the boutiques will only stay open during wedding buying seasons. This means Feb. through Might they will likely be open.

Citations

Dallas News

eatsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/no-more-overfished-seafood-for.html

Wallet Pop

walletpop.com/2011/03/02/something-bargain-bridal-gown-now-offered-at-costco/

Seattle Times

seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2014375386_costco03.html

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae limping back to profit

Troubled mortgage backers Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are limping their way back towards being solvent. Both troubled home loan backing houses were placed under government conservatorship in 2008. Since then, the 2 firms have been injected with more than $130 billion in loans to keep them afloat. However, a brand new round of foreclosures is on the horizon, and that may undo any progress that has been made.

Staying in business is the goal of Fannie and Freddie

During the federal bailouts that have been occurring, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have gotten a lot of the money. Both mortgage houses received a combined sum of more than $130 billion to keep the real estate sector afloat. ABC reports the businesses are starting to lose less money currently. During the last quarter of 2010, the period from Oct to December, Fannie Mae posted a loss of only $2.1 billion and Freddie Mac posted a loss of only $1.7 billion. A $16.3 billion loss from Fannie and $7.8 billion loss from Freddie was reported in this very same time of 2009. The decreased losses haven’t stopped the two corporations from asking for more loans though. In fact, $500 million from Freddie and $2.6 billion from Fannie have been requested in loans.

Using less of the home loan titans

For decades, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have played a crucial role in the real estate industry. The two companies purchase home loans and resell them as investments in order to free up capital for lenders to lend more mortgages. The government is intending to find ways to get Fannie and Freddie out of the mortgage market. Just reducing involvement might help a lot. USA Today reports that Congress is being told to get a plan together before voting by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The housing finance industry might get destabilized while the real estate market might have other problems from these programs getting cut, Geithner warned. Geithner has recommended a gradual program as the best course.

More issues for the companies

In the coming months, more damage is anticipated to be hitting Fannie and Freddie. Until "robo-signing" cases are solved, many foreclosures cannot be completed while about 50 percent of home loans in the United States are owned by Fannie and Freddie while 90 percent were created in the last few years. Whatever reforms take place concerning Fannie and Freddie, Treasury Secretary Geithner expects housing prices to rise just a little bit over the next few years, according to Reuters. He also recommended that given housing conditions over the past few years, home buyers put larger amounts of cash down to ensure greater stability.

Information from

ABC News

abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=12995329&page=1

USA Today

usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2011-03-01-fannie-freddie-geithner_N.htm

Reuters

reuters.com/article/2011/03/01/us-usa-housing-geithner-idUSTRE72000P20110301?pageNumber=1

Libyan turmoil inflates fuel and food costs, states UN

Food costs are soaring skyward, reports CNN Money. This can be a natural by-product of increased production costs that come from the rise of oil costs following the Libyan protests. A report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization indicates that the food price index, which measures the price of a basket of food commodities, was up 2.2 percent in February. At its current level, the global food index is as high as it has been since the measure was first instituted in 1990.

Food prices going up for commodities

Cereal, dairy, meat and many others food commodities were slightly lower in costs in Feb.. Then, they went up a lot. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization explained that wheat and coarse grain inventories are low while demand is high. That means that throughout 2011, the United States should expect high cereal prices. When compared to Feb. 2010, there was an increase in exporting costs this February. This increase was a 70 percent increase.

Oil prices pushed up by unrest in Libya

Because of the Libya violence shutting oil production down, the price of oil barrels went over $100 for the first time since fall 2008. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that U.S. drivers have been paying 25 cents more per gallon for gas in the past 10 days alone. This does not bode well for global food prices, said FAO director David Hallam in a statement.

“Unexpected oil price spikes could further exacerbate an already precarious situation in food markets,” writes Hallam. “This adds even more uncertainty concerning the price outlook, just as plantings for crops in some of the major growing regions are about to start.”

Jeet Dutta, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, sees no uncertainty when it comes to the connection between high oil costs and high food costs. Food production includes transportation. It cannot be forgotten.

“Energy is a big part of the cost bucket in food production,” Dutta told CNN. "Retail prices lag behind commodities, so consumers haven’t felt the full extent of recent increases."

Not sharing commodity materials

Even as global harvests expand, exporters are tightening the reins on such product supplies as corn, wheat and soybeans. Global supply ends up stopped. Costs have to go up. UBS AG is a global financial services business. It suggests that from Wednesday's closing prices, there could be a 7.6 percent rise in soybeans to $15 per bushel, wheat will go to $10 a bushel with a 23 percent increase and corn will get to $8.30 a bushel which is a 15 percent increase.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick said that just since June 2010, 44 million people have been put into poverty due to the high food commodities. In accordance with World Bank data, those 44 million join the more than 900 million individuals globally who go hungry on a daily basis.

Information from

Bloomberg

bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-03/food-prices-to-extend-gains-as-stockpiles-rebuilt-led-by-corn-ubs-says.html

CNN

money.cnn.com/2011/03/03/news/economy/food_prices/

U.S. Energy Information Administration

eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/wrgp/mogas_home_page.html

Strife in Libya and the impact on fuel prices

youtube.com/watch?v=A_wDDi9RzrQ

Secured charge cards and how to get them

When it’s time to apply for a vehicle loan or home mortgage, it helps to have a good credit score. If you do not, you will find credit repair steps you are able to take. Despite the potentially high upfront cost, using a secured charge card can help increase your FICO score. Here are some things to consider before applying for a secured credit card.

How to work a secured credit card

Make sure you’ve an active savings account if you want to apply for a secured credit card. The secured credit will have a limit typically of the amount that is in the savings account. It could be smaller though. If you’re 30 to 60 days delinquent, the money could be taken out by the card issuer. An option for an unsecured credit card with no collateral requirement will likely become available after bills on the secured credit card have been paid for six moneys to a year on time due to the recovery of a credit score.

Credit bureau requires report

The card won't help you at all if your secured charge card issuer isn't reporting it to major credit reporting agencies. Making payments on time is very important to credit. It will rebuild your credit easily. You will want to shop around for an excellent secured charge card since interest rates and grace periods can be on there too. If you need to compare your purchasing, try bankrate.com. You will be closer to repairing your credit with a savings account that earns some interest.

Spending and charges

2 major however often unavoidable drawbacks to secured charge cards are upfront and annual fees. Ideally, you will not need a secured charge card for long, so the annual fee will not hurt much, but the upfront fees can exceed $100 or more. The credit rating would determine the eligibility for a card with no upfront charges although they are accessible.

In terms of usage, try not to use a secured credit card more than you are able to manage each month. You will want to spend less than 30 percent of the credit limit every month while paying the balance every month in full can help.

Citations

Bank Rate

bankrate.com/funnel/credit-cards/credit-card-results.aspx?classificationuid=13&childcategoryid=837&childcategory=Secured%20Cards

Fox Business

foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2011/02/22/secured-credit-cards-6-tips-applying-using/

Rebuilding credit can be an expensive path

youtube.com/watch?v=kSHKw3-5Ne0

Carey’s huge luxury nursery will surely cost many millions

Sure, most moms and dads want to pamper their kids. Even the rich and famous have parents that go overboard, though. Mariah Carey’s house-sized baby’s room is taking the cake. The cost of the baby’s room has not been made public, however the bill is well into the millions already.

Carey and the giant luxury nursery

In March, Carey could be having twin babies with her husband Nick Cannon. The couple is extremely excited after trying for years to get pregnant. In preparation, the couple has turned an entire wing of their Beverly Hills mansion into a giant luxury nursery. First reports of the nursery make it sound more like a fairy tale than an actual baby’s room: $2,200 cribs, a $1 million sofa used by Michael Jackson, 18 carat gold trim on the walls and diamond encrusted iPods.

Huge luxury baby’s room has huge price tag

The price tag for Carey and Nick Cannon’s twins’ nursery is quickly rising. There was one source that said about $1.3 million was spent. That is a low estimate. Cannon and Carrey have spent $1 million alone on the crushed velvet sofa. That means $2 or $3 million is more likely to be the price. There can be 42 inch flat screen TVs and $3,000 rocking chairs in the massive luxurious baby’s room. The wing of the house is being decorated by Carey with the help of a designer.

Price of raising kids

More is being allocated to the nursery than Mariah Carey really should probably. The cost of raising children is expensive though. The United States Department of Agriculture creates an “Expenditures on Children” report each year. A middle-income family average price of raising a child is $222,360. That was what the 2010 report said. About $10,000 a year will be spent on children per child on lower income families. Just the gold trim cost $222,360 for Mariah Carey. She is sure to spend more than the average amount.

Citations

Spokanesman

spokesman.com/blogs/parents/2010/jun/21/financial-cost-having-child/

Inquisitr

inquisitr.com/98783/mariah-carey-creating-giant-nursery/

The Stir

thestir.cafemom.com/baby/116646/mariah_careys_1_3_million

Reno gets 9 extra years on $8 million short-term loan

The city of Reno, Nevada is in a financial tough spot. The city mishandled short-term loans that were supposed to be paid back in one year. The city's failure to comprehend the terms, however, means these loans could be stretched out over 10 years.

Reno stuck with loans

NV lent a lot of money in short term loans to Reno, Nevada. Over $8 million was lent. The streets department, sewer department and general fund for the city were intended to be supported with the loans. The state expected to have the money repaid within a year. The city did not know that the money had to be paid back while the year came to an end and the state anticipated its money. This is called an “incorrect interpretation of current law.”

Ensuring loans get re-written

To be able to manage the $8 million debt to the state of Nevada, Reno officials try to get the loans re-written. The one year obligation has now been stretched. The debt will be paid in 10 years instead. More interest can be paid by the city for the loans from the state. The state could have to hold them longer too. It might hurt the state for a while. Another $8 million can have to be cut out of the budget.

Nobody attempting to figure out what occurred

Though the city of Reno misread the rules regarding this loan, there can be no exploration. Dino DiCianno is a Nevada Taxation Director. He said surely it is a “technical violation of state laws.”. Though it is a legal violation, the state won’t be investigating the city officials. Instead, the state is going to review and approve the re-writing of the loans into a 10-year debt. The responsibility for missing loan payments is shared with the state and city even though the state should be reviewing city budgets. There could be no exploration into who "misinterpreted" the state law specifically.

Information from

RGJ

rgj.com/article/20110218/NEWS/110218036/1321/Reno-financial-hanky-panky-likely-to-be-handled-without-investigation–taxation-department-says

Heavy limitations on New lending program

The Small business administration has released the rules for a New lending program. Companies that are facing foreclosure on their buildings are the target of this loan program. There are very large limitations on the program that could prevent businesses that really need the help from getting it. Article resource – New SBA lending program to start Feb. 28 with heavy restrictions by MoneyBlogNewz.

Rules announced for New SBA financing

Many businesses have been waiting for the lending program rules from the Small business administration since Jan of this year. The program was passed by Congress last year, and the SBA has been working on implementing the rules since then. On Thurs, Feb. 24, the rules were officially declared. The program will offer New loans for businesses with mortgages coming due within the next 24 months and will cover underwater mortgages. However, the owner of the business will be required to put 10 percent of the loan amount on the line in money or equity of another property.

What limitations are placed on the Small Business Administration program

Help from the Small Business Administration financing program is intended to give companies a helping hand. Really, this ought to stop foreclosures in the company. Business watchers, however, are concerned the limitations of the lending program could cut out so many businesses that it could be practically ineffective. Any businesses that don't have the down payment money available, that can't pay the additional 1 percent fee or that already have short-term SBA mortgage loans aren't allowed to get the loans. Probably the most help will be going to businesses that are close to shutting down however might still work with the rules, the SBA states.

The purpose of a small company loan

Getting small businesses the help they need to stay open is a tricky challenge, especially because payday loans are generally too small to help companies. Whether or not the economy is doing well, companies might just fail. You will find things that have to be figured out. This contains finding which businesses will really succeed. About $15 billion is being loaned to small businesses from the government. It needs to get paid back. The SBA program is there to help businesses that really need it. These are only the companies that will work though.

Articles cited

LA Times

articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/18/business/la-fi-sba-loans-20110218