So you’ve decided you’re going to put your house up for sale. Before you take the next big step of listing your house on the market, you may want to consider the possibility of improving the current condition of your house. Here are some simple, inexpensive ways you can polish up your house before prospective buyers come…
New figures from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development reveal that sales of new single-family houses in January rose 15.6 percent above the December 2012 rate, and 28.9 percent from the same time last year. Over 437,000 single family homes were purchased in January, exceeding the forecast of 381,000. Sales have been boosted…
The pound slipped to a two-year nadir as news that Moody’s Investor service became the first ratings agency to downgrade the UK from its triple A score since 1978. Domestic and foreign-currency government bond ratings have had their scored lowered to an AA1, though the outlook on these ratings remains stable. In a statement the…
Departing chairman of Novartis, Daniel Vasella was set to receive a payout of $78m over six years, supposedly for consulting services and a very strict non-compete agreement. But the generous ‘golden gag’ package- as the payout has been dubbed by the media- caused waves of protests in Switzerland, a country on the verge of a…
With the number Americans applying for unemployment benefits at an all time low, things are looking up for those looking for a job. Just last week, the number of applicants fell by 27,000 indicating that hiring is steadily improving. These trends are not volatile, evidenced by Jim O’Sullivan, an economist at High Frequency Economics. In…
The European Commission has announced plans to demand global manufacturers importing goods into the EU to apply a ‘made in’ label to all their products or risk sanctions. The World Trade Organisation is a staunch critic of such labels which it describes as making little sense in a world of globalised supply chains. Similar regulations…
More than 90% of business in the United States are family owned, but less than a third will survive in to the following generation. With the prevalence of small and medium sized business, the intricacies of business succession planning must be considered as a part of your retirement plan. Preoccupied with 401Ks and SEP-IRAs the…
The British chancellor has proposed a ring fence separating high-street retails banking from investment banking branches within institutions will need to be ‘electrified’ with severe sanctions. Osborne will publish the Banking Reform Bill giving regulators the power to split banks up if they do not comply fully with new rules designed to protect British taxpayers….
The power of video is at an all-time high in today’s marketing environment. Data gained from the B2B Demand Generation Benchmark Survey for 2012 found that video is used by over 90% of marketing respondents, beating out the percentages of those who use white papers, case studies, and live demos with reps. As suggested in…
China has been planning a proposal to convert over $1tn of Chinese-owned land in the US into ‘development zones’ that could see the establishment of Chinese business and citizens in North America. The proposal would mean China would own American businesses, infrastructure and valuable land. In exchange for the investment the US government would guarantee…
