Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Dump The "Tell-Lie-Vision"
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
READING EXPRESS 2009 AIFA CHAMPS!!!
VICTORY PARADE!!!
CHAMPIONSHIP SPEECHES!!!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Stimulus Package
Our country faces its most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression.
With a new government in office, several economic reforms have been put into action to help revitalize the economy.
This Federal Stimulus Plan aims to:
- Create new good jobs in America
- Provide relief for struggling families
- Increase assistance available to homeowners
- Provide assistance for business owners
- Increase funding for programs like Government Grants to help US citizens
"Next Steps For US Citizens"
The Federal Stimulus Plan will provide relief for US citizens through a variety of programs. If you are a US citizen in financial distress or simply want to improve your financial situation, it is recommended you take the following three steps to help improve your financial situation:
- Obtain a free credit report to better understand your financial situation
- Lower your interest payments and consolidate your debt
- Refinance your mortgage to lower your payments and prevent foreclosure
"Programs That Provide Immediate Help"
As an alternative to tax cuts, the government is providing economic relief to US citizens as part of the Federal Stimulus plan. Government grants, debt consolidation, and housing assistance will all play a key role in the Stimulus Plan as a way to provide assistance to those in need. In addition, there are several other programs and services available to individuals that can help you:
Consolidate Debt and Lower Interest Payments on Outstanding Debt
Access Mortgage Assistance and Prevent Foreclosure
Protect Your Credit with a Free Credit Report
"Additional Programs: Government Grants"
Demand will be high for these programs and many people have already applied. Although billions of dollars have been set aside for the Federal Stimulus Plan, the funds will only last for a limited period of time. If you are interested in applying for one of these programs, you should do so immediately before the funds are depleted.
Application kits have been assembled and contain additional information about how to apply. View the available programs to determine what funding is available to US citizens and to find out more about how to request assistance. Learn more about which programs are available to you and what types of funding you may qualify for.
Where Are You 5 Years From Now?
US Vice President Joseph Biden on Sunday defended a 787-billion-dollar stimulus package adopted to jump-start the troubled US economy, but admitted recovery was a long way off.
"We still have a long way to go, but clearly we are closer to recovery today than we were in January," Biden wrote in an op-ed piece in The New York Times. "The Recovery Act has been critical to that progress."
Passed by Congress earlier this year and signed by President Barack Obama into law, the package combines government-funded infrastructure projects with tax relief and assistance to those affected by the slump.
But it has been under fire from Republics who dubbed it inefficient and wasteful.
"But the way I see it, our balanced approach recognizes that there is no silver bullet, no single thing, that can address the many and complex needs of America?s vast economy," Biden wrote.
"We need relief, recovery and reinvestment to cope with our multifaceted crisis -- and only 159 days after it was signed by President Obama, the Recovery Act is already at work providing all three."
What's Your Move?
Leading US banks are not lending as much as bankers and borrowers refrain from taking risks in the uncertain economy, The Wall Street Journal reported.
An analysis by the Journal showed the total loans held by 15 large US banks shrank by 2.8 percent in the second quarter, and that more than half of the loan volume in April and May came from refinancing mortgages and renewing credit to businesses and not fresh loans.
The banks surveyed include financial giants such as J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup as well as regional banks such as Fifth Third Bancorp, based in Cincinnati, and Regions Financial Corp. of Birmingham, Alabama.
The 15 banks hold 47 percent of federally insured deposits and got 182.5 billion dollars in taxpayer-funded capital infusions through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the report said.
As of June 30, the banks had 4.2 trillion dollars of loans on their balance sheets, down from 4.3 trillion dollars on March 31.
Loan portfolios shrank at 13 of the big banks, with the steepest decline at Comerica Inc., Dallas, where the loan total was down 4.3 percent to 46.6 billion dollars in the latest quarter, the paper noted.
Bank of America reported its loan portfolio slipped 3.6 percent to 942.2 billion dollars in the second quarter, the report said.
A spokesman for the largest US bank by assets said the decrease reflected higher loan losses and lower loan demand as borrowers pay off outstanding debts.
"There were fewer opportunities to make high-quality loans because of the recession," he said.
The 15 banks reported about 803 billion dollars in loan volume in the second quarter, up 12.7 percent from the first quarter, The Journal said.
But nearly 60 percent of the increase in April and May came from refinancing mortgages and renewing business loans, according to the report. In contrast, new home purchases accounted for just 23 percent of all mortgage loans.
On a year-to-year basis, total loans held by the 15 big banks rose 17 percent from 3.6 trillion dollars in the second quarter of last year, the paper reported.
But the increase was skewed by the impact of acquisitions that included J.P. Morgan's takeover of the banking operations of Washington Mutual and Wachovia's purchase by Wells Fargo Bank, it said.
Excluding purchases, loan portfolios shrank by about 10 percent as of June 30 from a year earlier, according to the report.
Verizon to cut 8,000 jobs (WHAT'S YOUR BACKUP PLAN)
Phone company Verizon says it will cut 8,000 jobs from among employees and contractors before the end of the year to keep costs in line as the recession saps demand from businesses for telecommunications services.
Executives said the cuts will come from the wireline side of the business.
In recent years, New York-based Verizon Communications Inc. has balanced layoffs in its wireline business with hiring in wireless, making for a net increase.
But Chief Operating Officer Denny Strigl says that will not be the case this time. He says there will be no large-scale hiring in wireless until the recession is over.
Verizon ended June with 235,000 employees.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
EMPLOYMENT SITUATION. DO YOU HAVE A BACKUP PLAN?
Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 345,000 in May, about half theaverage monthly decline for the prior 6 months, the Bureau of LaborStatistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The unem-ployment rate continued to rise, increasing from 8.9 to 9.4 percent.Steep job losses continued in manufacturing, while declines moderated in construction and several service-providing industries.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
The number of unemployed persons increased by 787,000 to 14.5 millionin May, and the unemployment rate rose to 9.4 percent. Since the startof the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons hasrisen by 7.0 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 4.5 percent-age points.
Unemployment rates rose in May for adult men (9.8 percent), adultwomen (7.5 percent), whites (8.6 percent), and Hispanics (12.7 percent).The jobless rates for teenagers (22.7 percent) and blacks (14.9 percent)were little changed over the month. The unemployment rate for Asians was6.7 percent in May, not seasonally adjusted, up from 3.8 percent a yearearlier.
Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs rose by 732,000 in May to 9.5 million. This group has in-creased by 5.8 million since the start of the recession.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 268,000 over the month to 3.9 million and has tripled since the start of the recession.
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