
My mother in-law received word the other day that more than 10% of the people in her medium sized law firm were being laid off. Fortunately, she wasn’t one of them but it did get me thinking about companies and they types of things I see them doing to cut back.
Here are 7 ways ways companies are cutting back this year:
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March 12th, 2009 | Posted in Economy | 24 Comments

Yesterday, President Obama rolled out another portion of his economic recovery plan, the eagarly anticipated: Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan (also called the Making homes affordable program).
The $75 billion dollar program which runs through June 2012 does two things: 1) Helps more home owners refinance at new low interest rates 2) Provides incentives to lenders and mortgage servicers to restructure mortgages to more affordable levels. Details of the program include:
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- Mortgages for single-family properties worth more than $729,750 are excluded.
- Homeowners whose mortgage values exceed home value by more than 5% are not eligible.
March 5th, 2009 | Posted in Economy | 6 Comments

With the recent announcement of President Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus bill, there are probably at least 787 billion different questions. One of the top ones is “Will there be another economic stimulus check?“. The answer is No, but…
Tax Impact
The President’s new bill takes a different approach to stimulus efforts. Instead, the new economic stimulus bill will utilize tax cuts as one of many approaches to stimulating the economy. Millions of US workers will begin to see about $52 extra per month in their paychecks, starting in June. This is from a $400 tax credit that will be given out through the remainder of the year.
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February 24th, 2009 | Posted in Economy | 13 Comments

I’m pretty sure I don’t have to tell you that the price of gas is WAY down compared to a month or two ago. Unless the soaring price of gas in the summer forced you to sell all your vehicles and ride a horse and buggy to work, you have surely seen and felt the relief at the gas pumps already. In my area of the country we just dipped below $2 per gallon and are now in the $1.89 range. I couldn’t be happier as I am finally able to fill my tank in one shot without feeling nauseous when I see the total cost.
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November 29th, 2008 | Posted in Economy | 3 Comments

One of the hobbies I have is playing the 5-string Banjo. My favorite Banjo manufacturer is Deering Banjo Company. They are hand made in Spring Vally California, are very fairly priced considering their quality and they have a very unique sound that I really enjoy and can recognize almost immediately. Deering occasionally will send me an email announcing some new banjo or banjo related product they have come out with. I always read them and look forward to their announcements.
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October 14th, 2008 | Posted in Economy | 6 Comments

I’m not one to rant and I’ll try real hard to avoid that in this article, but I just have to get this out of my system a bit. At work, I seem to be surrounded by economic Chicken Littles. After hearing their stories of despair and financial hopelessness, I walked away and started writing…
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October 8th, 2008 | Posted in Economy | 23 Comments

Yesterday was most likely one of those days that will go down in economic history. US lawmakers rejected the proposed Government bail out yesterday. As a result, the Dow suffered the biggest single day point drop in history. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 777.68, surpassing the 684.81 loss on Sept. 17, 2001, which was the first trading day after September 11th.
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September 30th, 2008 | Posted in Economy | 13 Comments