Monthly Archives: November 2008

acronyms you really ought to know

CRAA credit rating agency of the kind that handed out triple-A ratings like confetti and, as the US Fed and scores of other regulators have belatedly recognised, got us into trouble. EcofinOne of those invisible backroom EU bodies, the Economic and Financial Affairs Council is actually the grand panjandrum of financial affairs that draws up…

How To Pick A Business Broker

Business brokers and real estate agents are very much alike. Business brokers are responsible for matching appropriate buyers and sellers of businesses. The right business broker can help your small business to achieve the maximum dollar value. Make sure you read these tips before you search for your business broker.Get referralsIt is also recommended to…

Plugging the leaks

With pain and misgiving, the United States Congress bailed out Wall Street in order to prevent a meltdown of America’s financial system. But the $700 billion to be used may flow into a leaky bucket, and so may the billions provided by governments throughout the world. The US financial institutions that went bankrupt in 2008…

Who killed Wall Street?

You don’t have to break a sweat to be a finance skeptic these days. So let’s remind ourselves how compelling the logic of the financial innovation that led us to our current predicament seemed not too long ago. Who wouldn’t want credit markets to serve the cause of home ownership? So we start by introducing…

Europe’s financial vulnerability

The most notable innovations of the past two decades have been financial. Like technological innovation, financial innovation is concerned with the perpetual search for greater efficiency – in this case, reducing the cost of transferring funds from savers to investors. Cost reductions that represent a net benefit to society should be regarded favorably. But as…

Ethical business

Research recently carried out by Ethical Investment Research Services (EIRIS), a research organisation designed to reflect the investment principles of the group of churches and charities that helped set it up, found that the top listed companies on the London Stock Exchange have made great strides in the past five years to tackle ethical issues…

How to Slash Your Rental Vacancy Rates

There are the obvious costs to vacant rental properties: paying for the mortgage, insurance, taxes and utilities out of pocket. But the costs don’t end there. Break-ins, vandalism, landscaping, and upkeep are all additional risks and expenses, which all aggregate to a message that you already know — rental vacancies need to be slashed to…