The best deposits and finances of the year

We begin the new year with major movements in the savings market. Passivated pressure to present a balance of 2010 with more funds and new restrictions on the Bank of Spain, some entities have been discharged from liability in the war. Sa Nostra Novacaixagalicia and have made this trend to stop marketing deposits at 4.00% APR. The two entities have received money from FROB, a fact that gives us evidence that institutions are required to obey the guidelines that the Bank of Spain sent last week to the CECA (Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks). The highest rates are concentrated in the deposits exclusive to new customers and in those which required hiring additional products. By doing this, banks try to capture more market share and customer loyalty. With these changes, the ranking of the time deposits to a profitable year stood as follows: Fixed term deposit Sofinloc Finantia Bank, with a 4.75% APR.

  Deposit. Can Box Navarra, with a 4.17% APR. box Canarias E-tank with a 3.80% APR. Gasol from Bank Popul deposit with a 3.75% APR. Annual Active Activ Bank deposit to 3.75% APR. Despite reductions in the rates of some products, there are still market deposits that pay above the 4.00% APR. However, the two demands which top the list, Sofinloc Finantia Bank and Caja Navarra, have the dates of the marketing order during this first month of the year.

 despite the sales of some banks in their deposit rates, we still have many deposits above 4% without bound. Forget is the Holy Spirit deposits to 4.6% to 4.51% Cajastur, Bancaja and Caja Madrid to 4.49%, also good news that the best bearing accounts that allow the total availability of money and not charge fees to remain at 3.6%

 

businesses are failing employees on training, says survey

According to research commissioned by IT and business skills provider Global Knowledge, businesses are failing to meet the career aspirations and training needs of their employees.
The survey found that despite 72% of employees viewing learning and development opportunities as just as important as salary when choosing their next job, many still face barriers from their employers in getting the training they want.
The survey also suggests that many businesses risk wastage by failing to effectively monitor the return on investment of their training.
The results were taken from over 700 respondents who were either responsible for learning and development, or employees within IT and commercial departments. According to the research, 57% of employees claimed they weren't being given the budget for learning and development opportunities. A further 49% of those surveyed stated they couldn't get the time off work to train.
Of the businesses that did invest in training, Global Knowledge says many fail to effectively monitor the ROI of the investments they're making:

• 21% of businesses said their company didn't check that learning had been effective
• 53% said they relied on observation to check new skills. Just 5% of employers asked employees to complete online post-learning assessments
• Only 26% had follow-up discussions with staff to assess the value of the training they'd done

Allan Pettman, UK managing director of Global Knowledge, said: "The survey shows that individuals and organisations are on different wavelengths when thinking about training. Employees value training yet it's sad to see that many employers are failing in their responsibility to match employees' passion to learn and develop.
"In tough economic times, it's more important than ever that employers help their staff to grow and innovate. Failure to invest in training places a burden on employees, many of whom are relying on their skills to remain employable and maintain career progression. These results would suggest that employers are badly letting them down."
The survey also assessed the uptake of the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). The SFIA can help organisations to identify the skills they need and match them to relevant courses. While 57% of organisations wanted to know about the SFIA, only 9% were in the process of implementing it and just 13% said it was already widely used the SFIA.
"Initiatives like the SFIA can help in aligning IT training to business goals so it's surprising that so many companies are failing to adopt it in a climate where you would have expected them to be accounting for every penny," Allan added. "It's clear that employers really should be doing more to invest in training, otherwise they'll face challenges of staff retention, motivation and encouraging innovation."

launches coaching evaluation guide

Coaching has long been thought of as a powerful and enabling tool for development and performance, but without effective evaluation, demonstrating its positive effect on employees’ performance and the bottom line, an organisation’s coaching programme risks being left vulnerable to the financial pressures of the business, says the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
The CIPD has launched a new guide, 'Real World Coaching Evaluation', which aims to help organisations to identify and implement successful measures for evaluation, while safe-guarding future coaching initiatives.
The CIPD says its research has uncovered a yawning gap between practitioners who do and don’t evaluate coaching. The Insitute cites this year’s Learning and Talent Development survey which found that just over a third (36%) of organisations evaluate coaching in some way, with little evidence of rigorous evaluation. However, the CIPD says coaching can only be effectively evaluated if it is properly positioned and aligned with business priorities.
John McGurk, CIPD adviser learning and talent, said: "Part of the job of a coach is evaluation - it should be embedded in the day-to-day working of any coach, not seen as a simple add-on or nice to have, but a necessity.
"Without any sort of evaluation an organisation’s coaching initiatives are left vulnerable to both financial and resourcing pressures, which could be particularly dangerous in tough economic times."
A recurrent issue raised on the subject of evaluation is the Return on Investment (ROI). The CIPD says organisation’s often become narrowed to the desire for the end figure, but an all-round, inclusive approach creates a more meaningful evaluation - for example, regular feedback from managers and other employees on the impact of coaching and examining the impact of different coaching interventions, compared with the resource invested.
John McGurk added: "Our research has shown that coaching helps to raise performance and align people and their goals to the organisation. Core behaviours and skills can be nurtured through effective coaching and in response drive a sustainable organisation performance. This publication offers a step-by-step guide to evaluation scenarios and methods, helping coaching practitioners to prove their worth and enable continued development."

working capital

Current assets minus current liabilities. Working capital measures how much in liquid assets a company has available to build its business. The number can be positive or negative, depending on how much debt the company is carrying. In general, companies that have a lot of working capital will be more successful since they can expand and improve their operations. Companies with negative working capital may lack the funds necessary for growth. also called net current assets or current capital.

10 bests Economic Reports

There is a lot of economic data released each week but there are some reports that hold special significance – these are reports that traders really get up for. The data released in these reports often shapes the entire trading session.

The state of the current economic cycle also has an impact on how anticipated each of these reports are. For example, during boom times, most eyes will be on inflation and the consumer price index as people watch for signs that the economy is overheating and during tough times, the employment numbers (i.e. non-farm payrolls) are center stage as economists look for a rebound in job losses.

Either way, if you follow the markets passively or actively, make sure these blockbuster economic reports are always on your radar lest you run the risk of getting blindsided by market sentiment.

Jobless claims

The number of people who file for unemployment benefits in a given week. This data is collected by the Department of Labor, and published as a weekly report. The number of jobless claims is used as a measure of the health of the job market, as a series of increases indicates that there are fewer people being hired.

Consumer Price Index

CPI. An inflationary indicator that measures the change in the cost of a fixed basket of products and services, including housing, electricity, food, and transportation. The CPI is published monthly. Also called cost-of-living index.

Non-farm payroll

 A statistic gathered by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which represents the payroll data for the majority of the United States with the exception of a few categories of employees. The employees that are not included in this calculation include government employees, nonprofit employees, individuals who work within a private household, and farm employees. Once these categories are removed, the data represents about 80% of United States employees, and provides monthly information about salary which is used as an indicator of the health of the economy.

Producer Price Index

 PPI. An inflationary indicator published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to evaluate wholesale price levels in the economy. Previously called Wholesale Price Index.

 

Beige Book

Report on current economic conditions, published by the Federal Reserve Board eight times each year. The Beige Book is part of the Federal Open Market Committee's preparations for its meetings. The report is released two Wednesdays before each FOMC meeting at 2:15 pm EST. The book is a summary of economic conditions in each of the Fed's regions. The report is primarily seen as an indicator of how the Fed might act at its upcoming meeting.

Consumer Confidence Index

 A measure of consumer optimism toward current economic conditions. The consumer confidence index was arbitrarily set at 100 in 1985 and is adjusted monthly on the basis of a survey of about 5,000 households. The index considers consumer opinion on both current conditions (40% of the index) and future expectations (the other 60%). The Consumer Confidence Index is closely watched because many economists consider consumer optimism an important indicator of the future health of the economy.

 

Durable goods orders

A government report which measures consumer spending on long-term purchases, products that are expected to last more than three years. It is intended to offer a gauge of the future of the manufacturing industry. The report is made at 8:30 am EST around the 26th of each month and is thought to provide insight into the future for the manufacturing industry. The reports are broken down by industry, which helps to eliminate the effects of single volatile industries like defense spending.

Gross Domestic Product

GDP. The total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year, equal to total consumer, investment and government spending, plus the value of exports, minus the value of imports. The GDP report is released at 8:30 am EST on the last day of each quarter and reflects the previous quarter. Growth in GDP is what matters, and the U.S. GDP growth has historically averaged about 2.5-3% per year but with substantial deviations. Each initial GDP report will be revised twice before the final figure is settled upon: the "advance" report is followed by the "preliminary" report about a month later and a final report a month after that. Significant revisions to the advance number can cause additional ripples through the markets. The GDP numbers are reported in two forms: current dollar and constant dollar. Current dollar GDP is calculated using today's dollars and makes comparisons between time periods difficult because of the effects of inflation. Constant dollar GDP solves this problem by converting the current information into some standard era dollar, such as 1997 dollars. This process factors out the effects of inflation and allows easy comparisons between periods. It is important to differentiate Gross Domestic Product from Gross National Product (GNP). GDP includes only goods and services produced within the geographic boundaries of the U.S., regardless of the producer's nationality. GNP doesn't include goods and services produced by foreign producers, but does include goods and services produced by U.S. firms operating in foreign countries.

Retail sales index

A monthly measurement of all goods sold by retailers based on a sampling of retail stores of different types and sizes. The retail sales index is often taken as an indicator of consumer confidence. Released at 8:30 am EST around the 12th of each month, the report reflects data from the previous month. This report is the "advance" report, which can be revised fairly significantly after the final numbers are calculated. Many analysts choose to look at the figures "ex-auto", which means excluding the volatile car sales figure. It is thought that this number is a better measure of across-the-board purchasing trends. The report does not include money spent on services, so it represents less than half of total consumption during the month. However, even with these limitations, the figures are closely watched as an indicator of the health of the economy.

Housing starts

The number of residential building construction projects begun during a specific period of time, usually a month; a key economic indicator.

Six clues to detect an action that goes down

There are as many stock market trading strategies as their are traders. To give you a sense of the methods that are working, here are the stock trading strategies of some of the greatest investors and traders of all time. These traders have made millions and even billions on the financial markets, and they are not shy about showing you how they do it.
They have stock market trading tips that they have offered to the public. It’s up to you to take their time tested investment advice.  A lot of this is just stock market basics that you may need a refresher on.  Some are more advanced methods.
Steven Ickow - Millionaire Trader
Let’s start off with an average joe day trader so that I can show you it’s possible to be a normal guy and make millions on with online stock market trading.  He does day trading for a living and he does it successfully.
Steven Ickow trades off of the NASDAQ Level II and watches all of the bids and offers coming in from large institutional investors like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
What does Steven Ickow attribute to his great success at day trading?  He says discipline, focus and patience is what’s needed to become a successful day trader.  Ickow mentions in this interview that he doesn’t chase trades, he waits for them to get setup.  That basically means he waits until he sees an trading opportunity instead of blindly speculating.  He also mentions that he only watches a few stocks at a time.
Warren Buffett – Oracle of Omaha, Value Investor
I can’t talk about great investors without talking about Warren Buffett.  He is called the Oracle of Omaha because he has made some huge calls on the stock market that came true.  Not least of which was the 1987 crash, the tech bubble and the housing market bubble.
He is estimated to be worth around $40 billion.  That is amazing seeing that he only started off his investing career with a few thousand dollars.
Buffett’s style is called value investing and he really just uses stock market basics to do it.  This is where is finds good companies at bargain stock prices.  After reading through annual reports, he will do his own business valuation.  If his valuation is significantly higher than the market cap, he buys up the company.
George Soros – Speculator
George Soros is the complete contrast to Warren Buffett.  Although he is valued at a measly $8 billion.  But if you consider the fact that Soros has given away roughly the same amount, he might well have the same net worth as Buffett.
Soros owns a hedge fund that relies on pure speculation.  He is most famous for speculating correctly that the British Pound would decline in 1992 and shorted it making him a cool $1 billion dollars.
Soros’ stock market trading strategies involve something called Global Macro strategy.  It is a trading strategy that is based on finding mis-priced assets according to macroeconomic information.  Using this strategy, not only can he make money from stocks, he can also invest in just about any asset anywhere in the world, unlike Buffett.  And also unlike Buffett, he can short assets while Buffett will usually go long most of the time.

How to be a member of one of the world's most innovative companies

GSGforexClub is a small group of investors and traders who has a common passion. Foreign exchange market. We decided to create an informal Club to share our passion and profits with other investors. As many Club we set up some rules which have to be accepted before join
Registration:

• The future member must accept the rules and fill all the required fields. Once the registration complete the new member must wait the confirmation from the support to login.
• Only one account is allowed for each member.
• The Club reserves the right to deny a registration without any specifications.

Investment:

• Minimum: 250usd and then by multiples of 250usd: 250, 500, 750, 1000…..
• Funds have to be deposited for 4 weeks starting from the first business day of the next week (we accept deposits until Saturdays 11,00 am GMT). The first business day is the Monday of the week following the deposit on GSGforexclub Liberty Reserve account. If this day is a holiday the first business day will be Tuesday.
• The principal will be paid back after 4 weeks with the last interests earned, if not differently asked.
• The member must inform the Club about his intention to reinvest the interests. Without notification interests will be automatically paid every 2 weeks.
• A penalty of 10% will be applied in case of disinvestment before the planned date.
• All fees concerning the transfer to invest and to withdraw are in charge of the member.
• Before adding funds the member must advise the support of his intention to do it and, after agreement, the member will proceed as a first investment.

Notice: At the moment, the period of investment is limited to 4 weeks. In a near future, to simplify the work of accounting and payment done manually, this period will be extended to 8 weeks, then 3 months. These changes will be limited to the investors concerned at the date of their new investment. Every change will be notified on the website.

Profits:

• Profits are calculated and every 2 weeks through Liberty Reserve. All payments are done manually till every Monday.
• Profits are available to reinvest. See compound.
• Rates:
• Plan A: From 250 to 750 weekly about 1.8% variable.
• Plan B: From 1.000 to 2.250 weekly about 2% variable.
• Plan C: From 2.500 to 4.750 weekly about 2.2% variable.

Important Notice:
To preserve funds invested and to keep a low level of risk, these are average rates and they can be modified accordingly to the results.

Compound, transfer between members:

• Compound is available on request. The member must advise the Club when deposit. In case of compound the interests will be paid at the end of the 4 weeks with the principal.
• Transfer between members is not allowed.

Referrals:
Any member with active investment is free to refer the Club to another person interested by. The introducer will receive 2% each member referred with an active investment. Commissions are paid manually via Liberty Reserve. Self referral is not allowed.

RULES