THE WELL RUNS DRY
OIL PRICES have perked up a bit, but producers are still reeling from the slump in crude prices last year. The boss of Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned oil firm, said this week that the company faced a “liquidity crunch”. Malaysia’s state
US CREATES 242,000 JOBS IN FEBRUARY
The US economy added 242,000 jobs in February, far better than the 190,000 expected by economists. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the £130m (~ $181) settlement “seems disproportionately small”, compared with the size of its UK business. The Labor
SHOULD A FINANCIAL GURU BE DICTATING YOUR MONEY MATTERS?
Financial guru or not, the key thing is to find a method that encourages you to take action towards a more financially stable future. Dave Ramsey, Mary Hunt and Suze Orman are a few of the finance superstars who offer
ARE BILLIONAIRES MORE LIKELY TO BE GRADUATES?
Are billionaires good with exams as well as their finances? Or are they more likely to have escaped school at the first opportunity and worked their way up to make their fortunes? Are they likely to be graduates or to
BRITISH MPS CRITICISE ‘SMALL’ GOOGLE TAX DEAL
An influential group of MPs has criticised an agreement between Google and the tax authority over how much the company has to pay in back taxes. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the £130m (~ $181) settlement “seems disproportionately small”,
JP MORGAN SETS ASIDE $500M FOR LOSSES ON ENERGY LOANS
Additional $500m (£357m) to cover potential losses from its exposure to the oil and gas sector. The increase is more than 60% of the funds the bank had already set aside. The announcement contrasts with its assertion in January that
DON’T IGNORE THESE 7 FINANCIAL TIME BOMBS
Don’t wait until it’s too late to defuse a financial time bomb. It’s a question everyone asks when they end up paying an unexpected and expensive bill. What went wrong? Too often, what went wrong is that a problem was
HOW MUCH MILLENNIALS HAVE SAVED UP
Millennials are projected to number 75.3 million for 2015, surpassing a projected 74.9 million for Baby Boomers. The Millennials will therefore comprise a greater percentage of the population than Baby Boomers for the first time. To gain insight into the
FREE EXCHANGE: SLIGHT OF HAND.
IS THE job of central bankers more like that of technicians, carefully turning knobs as they fine-tune the economy, or magicians, manipulating the audience into the suspension of disbelief? Most of the time it is the former. Monetary maestros nudge
BUTTONWOOD: LIQUID LEAK.
ECONOMISTS have been a bit puzzled by the market turmoil of early 2016. It seems to be driven, in part at least, by fears of either an American recession, or a sharp Chinese slowdown, neither of which looks likely from
5 FINANCIAL RISKS STARTUPS HAVE TO TAKE
Everyone seems to be jumping on the startup bandwagon; people are coining themselves entrepreneurs in hopes of one day inventing the next Facebook or Pandora and becoming billionaires. We’re all familiar with the rags-to-riches stories many entrepreneurs experience, but not
HOT TOPIC: FED DELIVERS VOTE OF CONFIDENCE IN THE U.S. ECONOMY
On December 16, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the benchmark federal funds rate to a range of 0.25% to 0.50%, the first increase from the near-zero range (0% to 0.25%) where it had lingered since December 2008. SHARESHARE|
STABILITY AND LIQUIDITY: MONEY MARKET MUTUAL FUNDS
During the late 1990s, money market mutual funds offered an annual return of around 5% (see graph). This made them attractive to investors, including retirees and pre-retirees who wanted to preserve principal while earning a modest return. After an uptick
MISTAKES PEOPLE MAKE AT DIFFERENT AGES
Financial challenges are not limited to a specific age, but people tend to face certain challenges during particular stages of their lives. Regardless of your age, you might recognize some of these financial issues. IN YOUR 20’S. Living beyond your
HOW ONE GRAD CUT HER STUDENT LOAN DEBT BY $20,000
Lexie Mitchell, a 2011 Stanford grad, found one. By refinancing her student loans, she cut her monthly payments by $80 and will save a whopping $20,000 in total. “Stanford was amazing. I loved it, but it’s also very expensive,” Mitchell