Economists expect U.S. to grow 2.4% in 2012, but are cautious about global turmoil

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy will grow faster in 2012 -- if it isn't knocked off track by upheavals in Europe, according to an Associated Press survey of leading economists.
Unemployment will barely fall from the current 8.6% rate, though, by the time President Barack Obama runs for re-election in November, the economists say.
The three dozen private, corporate and academic economists expect the economy to grow 2.4% next year. In 2011, it likely grew less than 2%.
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China wins $700 million Afghan oil and gas deal. Why didn't the US bid?

In a deal finalized on Wednesday, China’s National Petroleum Corporation became the first foreign company to tap into Afghanistan’s oil and gas reserves. Chinese officials have estimated that the deal could be worth at least $700 million, but some say China could earn up to 10 times that. China has not participated in the war effort, but it has managed to gain the biggest stake in Afghan minerals. In 2007, China inked a $3 billion deal securing access to copper mines in Mes Aynak, south of Kabul.
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Flood-ravaged Thailand slashes growth forecast

Bangkok: Thailand's finance ministry cut its growth forecast for 2011 as the nation's worst flooding in almost seven decades combined with faltering global demand caused to shrink industrial output in the past three months.
The economy will expand 1.1 per cent this year, down from a November forecast for growth of between 1.7 per cent and 2 per cent, Somchai Sujjapongse, head of the ministry's fiscal policy office, said yesterday.
The government expects Southeast Asia's second-largest economy to contract this quarter after the floods in recent months shut thousands of factories. The disaster became an added impediment to Thailand's growth as the European debt crisis threatens Asian exports.
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Provinces should embrace generous health-care transfers

In any world other than the political domain, the promise of six per cent increases annually for the next five years would be greeted with high-fives and grins all over.

That’s what Finance Minister Jim Flaherty promised the provinces recently when he outlined plans for health-care transfers, adding that after 2017, increases will be tied to economic growth, including inflation — or roughly four per cent. And perhaps to prevent provincial politicians from reaching for the aspirin, Flaherty pledged that annual increases after 2017 will never be less than three per cent, even if economic growth dips below that level.
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The NFEC Warns: 2012 May Bring New Global Economic Concerns, which Adds Additional Reasons to Teach Money Management Lessons to Kids

The current economic crisis is impacting citizens across the United States and is expected by many financial institutions to worsen. Long-term, the services that people once expected – Medicare and Social Security – will likely offer reduced benefits. In today’s age, it is not enough to teach core subjects required to graduate, according to the National Financial Educators Council (NFEC). They advocate that it is vitally important to teach money management lessons to kids or they may be negatively impacted by future economic situations.
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Brazil overtakes UK as world's sixth-biggest economy

Brazil now has a bigger economy than the UK, making the world's sixth-largest economic power, according to the Center for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).
The London-based consultancy forecast the trend was set to continue, with Russia and India expected to overtake Europe's other major economies, France and Germany, by 2020.
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Pension reform needs a New Year's resolution

Earlier this month, finance ministers from federal, provincial and territorial governments came to Victoria and discussed health care and pension reform.
The main news story from those meetings was the Harper government's apparently nonnegotiable proposal for federal transfer payments for health care for the next decade.
No doubt, the political debate over health-care funding and the roles and responsibilities of the two levels of government will continue loudly throughout 2012.
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MetLife to Sell Depository Business of MetLife Bank to GE Capital Financial

NEW YORK, Dec 27, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- MetLife, Inc. /quotes/zigman/252112/quotes/nls/met MET +0.06% announced today that GE Capital Financial Inc. will acquire most of the depository business of MetLife Bank, N.A. Financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2012, were not disclosed.
Under the definitive agreement signed by GE Capital and MetLife Bank, GE Capital will acquire approximately $7.5 billion in MetLife Bank deposits, including certificates of deposit and money market accounts. Approximately $3 billion in custodial deposits associated with MetLife's forward mortgage business and certain other deposits are not included in the transaction, but will be transferred out of MetLife Bank over the next six months.
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IMF's Lagarde warns global economy threatened

PARIS — The head of the International Monetary Fund said the world economy was in danger and urged Europeans to speak with one voice on a debt crisis that has rattled the global financial system.

In Nigeria last week, IMF Christine Lagarde said the IMF's 4 percent growth forecast for the world economy in 2012 could be revised downward, but gave no new figure.

"The world economy is in a dangerous situation," she told France's Journal du Dimanche in an interview published on Sunday. The debt crisis, which continues into 2012 after a European Union summit on December 9 only temporarily calmed markets, "is a crisis of confidence in public debt and in the solidity of the financial system," she said.

European leaders drafted a new treaty for deeper economic integration in the euro zone, but it is not certain that the accord will stem the debt crisis, which began in Greece in 2009, and now threatens France and even economic powerhouse Germany.
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ArcelorMittal, Nucor May Benefit From Price Increases, But Steel Outlook Still Uncertain

Recently, the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled "Steel Prices Shine, Lifting U.S. Makers." In it, the author notes that an increase in sales of automobiles and equipment for the oil and gas industry have contributed to a 25% increase in steel prices in the last two months alone. Regarding the U.S. auto industry, "shipments of steel, and strip [and] coiled plate steel [which are] used to make cars," rose nearly 12% in the first three quarters of 2011. Additionally, the Journal notes that over the past two years, U.S automakers have increased production by nearly 30%.
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India Inc reeling as world economy in crisis: Ficci

Indian industry’s worst fears are coming true with companies feeling that the present global meltdown might snowball into a full-blown crisis and last at least till the end of 2012, a Ficci survey released on Sunday said.

The survey titled, “Global meltdown and its impact on Indian industry” revealed that more than 50 per cent of the respondents felt the uncertain economic outlook had also resulted in their holding on to high cash balances in preference to their investment plans for better future opportunities. “Interestingly, nearly 82 per cent of the 50 per cent respondents were large companies,” the survey said.

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Global economy, U.S. unemployment dominated business news in 2011

NEW YORK — Europe took the financial world on a stomach-churning ride in 2011.
The rising threat of default by heavily indebted European countries spread fear across financial markets and weighed on economies worldwide. As the year came to a close, banks and investors nervously watched Europe’s political and financial leaders scramble to prevent the 17-nation eurozone from breaking apart.
Several of the other biggest business stories of the year highlighted the global economy’s linkages: A British phone-hacking scandal shook the foundations of Rupert Murdoch’s U.S.-based media empire; a nuclear disaster in Japan stymied auto plants in the U.S. and beyond; and the price of gasoline surged because of unrest in the Middle East and growing demand in Asia and Latin America.
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Asian stocks rise as US economic hopes improve sentiment

TOKYO: Asian shares and the euro inched up on Monday as signs of US economic recovery underpinned sentiment, although trading was expected to be subdued with many markets closed for extended Christmas holidays.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1 percent to a two-week high, while Tokyo's Nikkei stock average opened up 1.3 percent. Japanese financial markets were closed on Friday for a holiday.
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European Economy in Dire Straits, and the US Too. How So, Why So?

The bad news out of Europe continues unabated, including debt and ratings downgrades, sliding economic growth, and exploding red ink.   It is becoming apparent that many of the countries of Europe have borrowed so much money from the banks of the other countries in Europe, that almost none of it can or will ever be paid back -- not with the ever falling economic growth in these countries, which will worsen as austerity measures are imposed.   In other words, even though the buyers of the bonds of these countries don't yet realize it, the fact is that most of these bonds will never be fully redeemed.   In other words they are toxic junk;   the loans will never be repaid, at least not for anything like their nominal and originally stated value.
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World economy to trudge on in 2012 despite europe economic crisis

LONDON: Europe faces another year of dismal economic performance in 2012 that will weigh on global growth, but emerging markets and the United States should at least keep the world economy moving in the right direction.

There are several reasons why next year may be nothing to look forward to, according to Reuters polls from the last few months.

Many of the world's biggest developed economies are heading into recession, global stock markets look set to recoup only a fraction of their heavy losses in 2011, oil prices will head lower, and asset managers are unsure where best to invest. And these could be the best-case scenarios. Most economists base their assumptions on the hope that the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis will not boil over into a new global economic crisis, having already dented growth in major exporters to Europe. Still, most of the major emerging market economies like Brazil and China should pick up speed later next year.
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Economy ends tough 2011 on a surprising upswing

WASHINGTON — The economy is ending 2011 on a roll.

The job market is healthier. Americans spent lustily on holiday gifts. A long-awaited turnaround for the depressed housing industry appears to be under way. Gas is cheaper. Factories are busier. Stocks are higher.

Not bad for an economy faced with a debt crisis in Europe and, as recently as this summer, scattered predictions of a second recession at home. Instead, the economy has grown faster each quarter this year, and the last three months should be the best.

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Cory Booker says U.S. spends more than 17 percent of gross domestic product on health care costs

If the United States wants a robust economy, Newark Mayor Cory Booker said the country needs to rein in its spending on health care.

During a recent stump in New Hampshire for President Barack Obama, Booker, a Democrat, said he’s proud that there are leaders in the U.S. making progress, but said the health care law Obama signed wasn’t "perfect." He claimed the U.S. has a major problem: it spends more on health care as a percentage of gross domestic product, the total value of all goods and services produced within a nation, then its closest competitors.

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TPP: A question of competitiveness for Indonesia

During the Honolulu Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit last month, US President Barack Obama and leaders of nine Asia-Pacific countries unleashed their ambitious goal to conclude a major regional trade agreement within the next 12 months.

The deal, negotiated by countries located across the Pacific rim under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) framework — Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam — is dubbed to be “beyond ordinary free-trade deals” and is set to serve as “the 21st-century’s trade accord”, covering areas normally excluded from any trade agreements, such as government procurement, which is related to a country’s domestic policy, and embracing labor, environmental and intellectual property standards.

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Brazil overtakes UK as sixth biggest economy as Britain falls behind a South American nation for the first time

Britain has been deposed by Brazil as the sixth largest economy in the world, latest figures show.
In a dramatic illustration of changing global economic fortunes, the UK has fallen behind a South American nation for the first time.
The figures, from the Centre for Economic and Business Research’s annual world economic league table, show Britain is now the seventh richest country in the world.
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Norway contributes to safeguarding European economy

“Norway has today offered up to 6 billion SDR (equivalent to 7 billion euros) to the International Monetary Fund, as a bilateral loan to contribute to stabilising the European and international economy, and thus also to safeguard the Norwegian economy and Norwegian jobs”, says Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.
The loan will be part of ensuring that the IMF has sufficient lending capacity to assist member countries with emergency funding. This is vital also for countries in Europe.
“Many of Norway’s trade and cooperation partners are in a difficult economic situation. We have a strong interest in international economic and financial stability”, says Stoltenberg.
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Euro-Region Consumer Confidence Declines More Than Estimated

Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- European consumer confidence dropped more than economists forecast in December to the lowest in more than two years, adding to signs of a deepening economic slump in the 17-nation euro region.

An index of household sentiment in the single-currency area fell to minus 21.2 from minus 20.4 in November, the Brussels- based European Commission said in an initial estimate today. That’s the lowest since August 2009. Economists had forecast a drop to minus 21, the median of 23 estimates in a Bloomberg survey showed.

Europe’s economy is edging toward a recession as governments toughen budget cuts to contain the fiscal crisis, undermining consumer demand. Unemployment increased in October to the highest in more than a decade and L’Oreal SA, the world’s largest cosmetics maker, said on Nov. 7 that consumer confidence is “weak and markets are proving difficult.”

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Banker Will Lead Spanish Crisis Fight

MADRID—Mariano Rajoy, Spain's newly elected prime minister, selected a well-known former deputy finance minister and investment banker to spearhead his government's efforts to pull the euro zone's fourth-largest economy out of its worst crisis in decades. Spain's new finance minister will be the 51-year-old Luis de Guindos, an economist who held various positions, including deputy finance minister, in the governments of conservative Prime Minister José María Aznar during the 1996-2004 period. Later, he headed investment bank Lehman Brothers in Spain, a financial-sector think tank and has been a frequent commentator in the local press.
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US Economy Ends Tough 2011 on a Upswing

(WASHINGTON) — The economy is ending 2011 on a roll.
The job market is healthier. Americans are spending lustily on holiday gifts. A long-awaited turnaround for the depressed housing industry may be under way. Gas is cheaper. Factories are busier. Stocks are higher.
Not bad for an economy faced with a debt crisis in Europe and, as recently as last summer, scattered predictions of a second recession at home. Instead, the economy has grown faster each quarter this year, and the last three months should be the best.
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USHCC President Javier Palomarez Participated in Distinguished Speaker Series on Global Economy

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Renowned series addresses issues impacting America in a global economy -
USHCC President & CEO Javier Palomarez was invited to participate in the Johnson & Strachan Distinguished Speaker Series at the George Mason University School of Management this December. The series was developed to introduce students, faculty and alumni to diverse American business leaders and decision makers and engage them in critical discussions about America's position in an increasingly global economy. read more...

Low Mortgage Refinance Rates are Being Sponsored by Security America Mortgage for Veterans in the United States

Low Mortgage Refinance Rates are being sponsored by Security America Mortgage for Veterans in the U.S.

Austin, Dallas, Texas, Florida, Hawaii, North Carolina, Arkansas (PRWEB) December 21, 2011

Houston, San Antonio, With the United States economy still in recession, many military families are experiencing financial depression when being faced with high monthly mortgage payments.
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Property Market to see a gradual Slowdown Next Year

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian property market is likely to see a gradual slowdown next year, taking into consideration the uncertainty in the global economic situation. President of Fiabci Malaysia, Yeow Thit Sang, said the high-end residential units were already seeing a slowdown both in pricing and the take-up rate.
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MALAYSIA PREPARED TO FACE WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS

Malaysia has taken steps to prepared itself for a possible recurrence of 2008/2009 world economic crisis next year, deputy Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, said Thursday.
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Reserve Bank of Australia expects global economic slowdown

UPDATE 5.21pm: THE possibility of further interest rate cuts hinges entirely on developments in Europe's government debt crisis, economists say. In the minutes of its December board meeting, released today, the Reserve Bank of Australia warned economic growth was likely to stall in 2012.

The RBA cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.25 per cent at the meeting, citing economic instability in the eurozone.In the minutes, the RBA said that growing turbulence in the eurozone - and the flow-on effects on world markets - had been a dominating factor in the decision.
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E.C.B. Warns of Dangers Ahead for Euro Zone Economy

FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank warned Monday of a perilous year ahead as the sovereign debt crisis collides with slower economic growth and a dearth of market financing for banks. The dire prediction, contained in the E.C.B.’s twice-yearly report on the risks to the euro area financial system, came as E.U. governments fell short of their target to expand their backup plan for the euro by channeling more resources through the International Monetary Fund.
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Most American's Still Have No Idea How Bad the U.S. Economy Is

Economic Collapse writes: Even though most Americans have become very frustrated with this economy, the reality is that the vast majority of them still have no idea just how bad our economic decline has been or how much trouble we are going to be in if we don't make dramatic changes immediately. If we do not educate the American people about how deathly ill the U.S. economy has become, then they will just keep falling for the same old lies that our politicians keep telling them. Just "tweaking" things here and there is not going to fix this economy. We truly do need a fundamental change in direction. America is consuming far more wealth than it is producing and our debt is absolutely exploding. If we stay on this current path, an economic collapse is inevitable. Hopefully the crazy economic numbers from 2011 that I have included in this article will be shocking enough to wake some people up.
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Global Economy 2012: Eurozone and UK face recession; 15m in developed world jobless more than 1 year

Global Economy 2012: Following two years of anaemic and uneven recovery from the global financial crisis, the world economy is teetering on the brink of another major downturn. The Eurozone and UK will each face another recession in 2012. Meanwhile, almost one third of the unemployed in developed countries have been jobless for more than one year, which has affected about 15m workers.
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EUROZONE CRISIS MAY EFFECT M&E ACTIVITY IN MALAYSIA

2012 to be year of uncertainty if the econimic crisis in eurozone is anything to go by. Econimists and fund managers say due to the current economic situation in Europe and also in United Stated it will be moderate flow of foreign investments.
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PEMEGANG UNIT ASB DPT DIVIDEN 7.65SEN SEUNIT

Semua pemegang Unit Amanah Saham Bumiputra akan menikmati dividen 7.65sen sunit bagi tahun kewangan berakhir 31 dis 2011 berbanding 7.50sen seunit tahun lepas.
baca lagi..

Health funding, pension reform lite on fed-provincial menu

The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — The cat set among the pigeons, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is preparing a low-calorie version of health funding and pension reform during Sunday's supper with his provincial counterparts.
Earlier in the week, a leak out of Ottawa had provinces in a tizzy with speculation the federal government wanted to limit future growth in health care transfers to economic growth -- and non-inflation adjusted growth at that.
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U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy introduces health reform bill

"To comment further, we would need more time, as well as the review of a team of Ministry leaders ranging from finance to patient quality/safety to review the technical language to assess the impact on Ministry Health Care and the patients we serve. ...
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UK’s Alarming Apathy Towards Its Banking Sector’s Criminality

The UK’s financial regulatory bodies have shown a surprising "hear no evil" attitude to criminality in its banking and financial sector. At times, the financial regulators almost seemed to want to pretend that criminality and fraud didn't, or couldn't exist in the domain they are supposed to police. Unless this issue is addressed, London risks losing its mantle as a world leading financial centre.
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Russia’s Roulette: Will Moscow Risk Its Relationships With The US & Europe?

Russia appears to be playing a dangerous game in its relationships with the US and Central Europe. Moscow’s strategy involves using crises with the United States to create uncertainty in Central Europe and to make the Europeans uncomfortable over perceptions that the United States has forced Russia to act the way it is acting. But, if Moscow takes its aggressive moves too far, it could spark a backlash from both sides.
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Small Fla, Ariz banks closed; 92 failures in 2011

Regulators on Friday closed small banks in Florida and Arizona, boosting to 92 the number of bank failures in the U.S. this year.
The number of closures has fallen sharply this year as banks have worked their way through the bad debt accumulated in the recession. By this time last year, regulators had shuttered 157 banks.
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LEARNING ANDROID

Android team takes developers to school with Android Training program

Dust off your Trapper Keeper and strap on those brand new sneakers, because Android school is now in session. Yesterday, the Android Developers team announced the launch of Android Training -- a set of online classes designed to help users create better apps. The tutorials, available for free, provide aspiring devs with step-by-step instructions and tips on how to implement effective navigation tools, optimize battery life and solve other "common Android development problems."
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Wellington Financial Provides US$4 Million Growth Capital to Harmony ...
Sacramento Bee
"Harmony's unique on-demand delivery model allows state and local government agencies to deliver critical services to their citizens," said Mark Usher, Partner of Wellington Financial LP. "Over 900 human service organizations as well as 10000 daily ...
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Ratings agency puts Ontario on notice over debt

By Linda Nguyen, Postmedia News December 16, 2011 Warning Ontario to stifle its rising debt load, ratings agency Moody's lowered the province's outlook to "negative" from "stable" on Thursday. Debt from Canada's most-populous province is still rated ...

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Credit agencies pile pressure on EU leaders

European leaders are under renewed pressure to boost the firepower of the EU's multibillion-euro bailout package after Belgium's credit rating was cut. Moody's downgraded Belgium by two notches to Aa3, its fourth highest rating. ...

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Bad News for Belgium and France

By Avi Salzman After the close of trading on Friday, Moody's said it was downgrading Belgium (why do that on a Friday, when everyone in Brussels is clearly feeling so TGIF?). Moody's downgraded the country's “local and foreign-currency government bond ...

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Flaherty's health spending limit is the easy first step
How much more money should we spend on health care; who should pay; and how should we spend the money? When federal and provincial finance ministers meet next Monday, they will spend a lot of time on the first two questions, but it's really the third ...
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US Will Not Finance New Research on Chimps
All United States primate research centers are already accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, and Dr. Kahn said that this accreditation meets the committee's recommendation. That was one area where the ...
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MONEY TIPS

Learning effective money management not only enables you to live comfortably within your means but also helps you to increase your wealth. Use these money management tips to stays in control of your money.

1. Set your money management goals
    
     Money management is a mean to an end. However make sure your goal practical and be 
     sure the end"is in clear sight. Althought your money management goal may be to have a
     comfortable retirement, start small with objectives like paying off a credit card witin X
     number of months or saving $X by the end of the year. In money management like in any
     regimen there's like the satisfaction of success to keep you on track.

2. Know what you have

    Before you can live within your means, you need to know what your mean are. Start your
    money management by taking stock of your money. You'll will surprised at how rich you are.

• As well as the cash in your pocket or purse, including piggy bank cash and bank balances.
• Go on treasure hunt to find lost money. Lock in coat and trouser pockets, through birthday or other greeting cards, jewelry boxes, dresser drawer, under furniture and under your bed.
• Although our money is an asset and all of our assets are types of our money.

   However although all of our possessions are parts of our wealth that we can turn into cash,
   usually we want to protect these possessions from creditors. For instance, you probably don't
   want to sell your caror cash in valuable coins colletion to pay a bill. Yet the ability to convert
   property to cash is good concept to rememberin identifying and effectively managing your
   money.

3. Track your income

   Really track your income. If your have at least month's worth of old check stubs, add them up
   and divide them to see what your average income is. Better yet if you can addfor a quarter
   year and divede by 13 (number of weekin a quarter)you'll get a more accurate view of earning
   power. If you haven't saved your salary, do ti for at least four weeks. Dont just add your weekly
   wage times four. You'll be forgetting sick's days, flat tire days and omitting extra income from
   overtime and holidays. 

4. Track your spending

   Once you know what money you have now and what income you expect to get, it's time to find
   out where you money goes. Take a month and track your spending down to penny.


Record everything! In additional to trcking the cash you spen, record every bill payment, cheque, debit and credit card expenditure. Include the amount you paid, who you paid (or where you shopped) and the date you made the purchase.

After the couple of weeks, you'll find yourself reconsidering if you are really need to pack of gum or mid-morning cafe latte. This money management exercise is designed to show you how you usually spend you moneyso it important during this month not to deny yourself your usual pleasures no matter how trivial they are.

setting a realistic goal, knowing what you have, what you expect to earn and tracking your spending are the basics of money management that enable you to control tour money and make wise budgeting choises in future.

MONEY MANAGEMENT

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR MONEY

Managing money may seem like a distant dream. It’s something we want to do someday—when we have more money and more time. But we all need to manage our money so we can reach the goals and dreams we've set for ourselves.

While the idea of money management may seem difficult, it's really not. It's simply one more skill to be learned, just like we learned to write, read or perhaps drive a car. Believe it or not, no one is born with the skills to be a good money manager, but everyone can learn them.

We often live day to day, allowing the demands of the present to swallow up our money and time. We watch the money—usually not enough—come in, and we watch it go out. We often feel we don't have any control over it, so why should we worry about trying to manage it?

Because managing your money can help reduce the stress in your life. It can help give you a plan to take care of unexpected events and expenses.

Most importantly, managing your money can help you meet the goals you've set and create the life you deserve.

In this section, we’ll suggest ways to help you live within your means and manage debt so it doesn’t manage you. We’ll also show you how to develop a spending plan that will help you reach your goals. In addition, we’ll cover why banks and credit unions are a great choice for your money, show you how to manage expenses if you have children, and other tips on deductions you may be able to take on your taxes.


http://www.managingmymoney.com/