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Posted by on Dec 9, 2009 in MOVING MONEY AROUND | 0 comments

Holiday spending can provide trickle-down stimulus

On the Money From the  December 18, 2009 print edition December is filled with magical holiday events – office parties, family gatherings, concerts, annual correspondence with friends, decorating and festive reminiscences of years gone by. But for those of us focused on money, the most important event is shopping. Buying presents, flying cross-country to visit relatives, having special dinners and parties: Consumers spend more money in the three months before the new year than at any other time of the year. In fact, retailers often make about half of their annual profit during this time, according to the National Retail Federation. Deloitte LLP recently published its 2009 Annual Holiday Survey, which gauges consumers’ expectations about the year-end holidays, the economic climate, and related spending and purchase patterns. A total of $810 billion is expected to be spent this year on holiday-related items. The full report may be found at Deloitte.com The average consumer will spend $1,145 on items associated with the holidays. About $452 of that will go to gifts, $102...

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Posted by on Aug 1, 2008 in MOVING MONEY AROUND | 0 comments

A voter’s guide to fiscal, monetary policy basics

On the Money From the August 1, 2008 print edition With the Democratic national convention just a few weeks away, we move into that period of time occurring every four years where political slogans and sound bites rain down-creating the proverbial great flood of ancient times. Insistent campaign promises, ranging from thoughtful to ridiculous will saturate our eyes and ears over the next several months. While much of the political process is the zealous gathering of support through emotional appeal, there is in fact some quantitative basis underneath these rallying battle cries. Here’s a summary look at the theoretical relationships between government and money. The government has two major tools for achieving economic health: fiscal policy, through which it determines the appropriate level of taxes and spending; and monetary policy, through which it manages the supply of money. Since the Depression, the federal government has tried to create a combination of fiscal and monetary policies that will allow sustained growth and stable prices (no inflation). The primary tools of fiscal policy...

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Posted by on Dec 2, 2005 in MOVING MONEY AROUND | 0 comments

Give a public company to person who has it all

On the Money From the December 2, 2005 print edition It’s the time of year when many of us contemplate gifts for our friends and family. Choosing a gift for some will be harder than for others. For the business person in your life who seems to have everything, how about giving them a public company? Many entrepreneurs have the goal of one day becoming “public.” That is, their stock publicly trading on one of the exchanges. The traditional initial public offering (IPO) to become publicly traded involves a lengthy accounting, legal and underwriting process. Costs can be $500,000 to $1 million. However, a technique called “reverse merger” may allow a private company to become public in a fraction of the time — just in time for the holidays. In a reverse merger, the private company’s shareholders purchase control of a public shell, possibly for as little as $35,000. A public shell is a publicly listed company with no assets or liabilities. All that exists of the original company is its...

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Posted by on Dec 4, 2004 in MOVING MONEY AROUND | 0 comments

Your shopping is what really stimulates U.S. economy

On the Money From the December 3, 2004 print edition December is a “magical month.” It’s filled with holiday events–, office parties, family gatherings, concerts, annual correspondence with friends, decorating, and festive reminiscence of years gone by. But for those of us focused on money, the most important event in the magical month of           December is shopping. Buying presents, flying cross-country to visit relatives, having special dinners and parties — consumers spend more money in the three months before New Year’s than at any other time of the year. In fact, retailers often make about half of their annual profit during this time, according to the National Retail Merchants’ Association. Real median household income remained unchanged between 2002 and 2003 at $43,318, according to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau. Of that amount, $702 will be spent on celebration-related items. That’s 2 percent of total income. In a survey conducted by the National Retail Federation, those polled said they expect to spend the bulk of their $702 holiday budget...

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Posted by on Nov 5, 2004 in MOVING MONEY AROUND | 0 comments

‘Check 21’ act: dramatic changes to use of checks

On the Money From the November 5, 2004 print edition The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act went into effect Oct. 28. The Act, known as “Check 21,” encourages the banking industry’s use of image technology to create electronic versions of checks, called Image Replacement Documents (IRD). The law also changes the manner in which checks are processed and returned to the creator. This new law removes the requirement that banks handle paper. Instead, banking institutions may process electronic images of your original checks. The time between writing a check and it being paid is known as “float.” Under Check 21, checks that you write will be processed in a matter of hours (maybe even seconds), not days. In the past, typical float times were between two and four days. That time lag is now virtually gone. Businesses and individuals commonly utilize float to their advantage. Banks themselves even offered predictive services so customers could keep their funds in interest-bearing accounts until the last possible moment. Float taken to...

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