Cyber Monday Out, Make Way for Sofa Sunday
E-commerce is on hype this holiday season.
ComScore said that online shopping for the first 48 days of the Christmas season reached a staggering amount of $32 billion. This is 15 percent greater than last year.
IBM, on the other hand, analyzed mobile trends and found out that online sales increased 16.4 percent from the holiday season of last year. IBM said this trend took place since consumers continued shopping after shopping for Christmas presents.
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Zynga Receives $1 Billion Worth of Public Offering
With the high-end price, Zynga becomes the largest Internet IPO company in the US this 2011.
The trading for the game company Zynga will begin on Friday as it has achieved an initial public offer of $1 billion. The SanFo-based company was able to achieve such feat by selling 100 million shared at $10 apiece. Fifteen million additional shares were offered to the underwriters at a 30-day option. However, Zyga will not received proceeds from these additional shares.
Aside from being the considered the largest Internet IPO in the US since Google way back 2004, the company is now worth $7 billion. The company will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol ZNGA.
View Article Source »Government Funding Bill Deems Dead on Arrival in Senate
The House of Representative now only have just a week to pass a bill with regards to government funding.
Last Thursday, a contentious debate over government funding beyond September 30 intensified, as Republicans amended their bill to the GOP lawmakers. However, the Democrats opposed to it. Thus, the government will shut down by October 1 if there will be no action by the start of the new fiscal year.
Earlier today, the House Republicans passed a continuing resolution on partly line vote. However, the bill drew immediate criticism from Senate Democrats over its spending cut offsets for new federal disaster aid. The House added $100 million in cuts to the federal program, making a loan to Solyndra – a currently bankrupt solar company – in order to win GOP votes.
Read the rest of the article »World Markets Decline with Greece’s Debt Problems
With Greece's debt issues becoming worse, world markets are stumbling.
Last Monday, the world market stumbled as investors worried that Greece’s debt problems were worsening. European leaders pushed a decision last Friday about the next installment of the country’s bailout to October.
As written by Marc Chandler, head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman: “Time is running out. The two day meeting between European finance ministers ended without substantial progress on Saturday.”
Read the rest of the article »Mortgage Rate: 30-year Fixed Loan Falls to 4%
Mortgage rates hit another record low in two consecutive weeks.
Amid ongoing economic concerns at home and in Europe, mortgage rates hit another record low this week. According to mortgage giant, Freddie Mac, the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan fell to 4.09% this week — its lowest level in 60 years. For those who want to refinance, the popular option – 15-year fixed mortgage – declined from 3.33% to 3.30% last week.
However, the low rates did little to boost the beleaguered housing market. Despite the increase in mortgage applications to 6.3% last week, only 23% of the applicants intended to use the loan to purchase a home. That is according to a weekly mortgage survey conducted by Mortgage Bankers Association. The rest of the applicants were homeowners seeking to refinance existing, higher-rate mortgages.
Read the rest of the article »Video: How to Create a Demo Video for Your Startup
Reap the benefits of making an awesome video for your startup.
Recording a demo video while navigating through a new web application with an expert hand is the best way to show its features. Several startups pay a pro to create a video for them, but more people make their own. However, sometimes they end up making a terrible one.
Attachments.me, a startup that makes sorting of email attachments easier, has a pretty good demo video on its frontpage. Benjamin Coe, the co-founder of the said company, posted a video that tackles about videos and his methods for creating simple demo videos that would be beneficial for other people. Each individual has different styles and approaches in making videos, but like Benjamin Coe claimed, it is important to have a plan first.
Check-out the video: “Making Slick Videos for Your Startup” after the leap.
Read the rest of the article »Obama’s Jobs Plan, to Raise $400 Billion in Taxes
Through tax increases and subsidy deductions, Barrack Obama's jobs plan is believed to raise more than $400 million.
White House Office of Management and Budget Director, Jack Lew, outlines President Barrack Obama’s plan to pay for his $447 billion jobs plan — mostly through tax increase. The budget director said that itemized tax deductions and exemptions for those making $200,000 or more, and families earning greater than $250,000, would be cut. That would raise about $400 billion to pay President Obama’s jobs plan for over ten years.
Moreover, a change to bring more hedge fund earnings under normal tax rules – as opposed to carried interest rates – would raise another $18 billion. However, Jack Lew said that the new tax rule would not take effect until January 2013.
Read the rest of the article »Infographic: Reasons Why Students and Parents Choose STEM Careers
Harris Interactive conducted surveys to know the reasons why some students and parents choose STEM-related careers or courses.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the next several years, more than one million jobs will open up that require specialized technology skills. However, there won’t be enough numbers of qualified college graduates to fill them.
Harris Interactive conducted two surveys on behalf of Microsoft to understand the shortage of students that take science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)-related fields. One survey focused on parents with K-12 students while the other one surveyed college students pursuing STEM degrees.
The answer seems to vary by gender. Some female STEM students say it was to make a difference that took the 49% of the respondents, and 61% of male students said that games or toys in their childhoods sparked their interest. For 68% of the female respondents, they say that a teacher or class got them interested in science, math, engineering or technology.
For more information regarding the said surveys, check out the infographic after the cut.
Read the rest of the article »FED: Considering Three Options for next Easing
Gearing for its next meeting, the Federal Reserve is considering three options for easing.
As reported by Wall Street Journal’s ace Fed reporter, Jon Hilsenrath, the Federal Reserve is considering three options for it September 20 – 21 meeting’s next round of easing. They are the following:
1. The “Operation Twitst” wherein they will extend the duration of the Fed’s bond portfolio by selling the short-end, and purchasing more long-dated bonds. That way, the end of the curve would push lower.
2. Reduce the interest on excess reserves that banks hold with the Fed, so that they can hold fewer reserves and lend more money.
3. Fed will use a clearer language to emphasize that they will hold very low rates for a long time.
For further details, visit Jon Hilsenrath’s WSJ article.
View Article Source »Ten Strange Jobs You Never Know
What's your job? Is there such kind of thing?
In times of recession, some job hunters end up taking the strangest occupations that could help them earn money really well. What are some of those “strangest” jobs? Check out after the skip.
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