Shanghai, Hong Kong Stocks Surge - Wall Street Journal
HONG KONG — Chinese stocks in Shanghai and Hong Kong soared Wednesday, shaking off weak sentiment that injured their performance over the last several days, on speculation the mainland government was considering a fiscal stimulus package. China’s

Japan stocks set to fall on economy fears, firm yen - Reuters
TOKYO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Japan’s Nikkei share average is likely to fall again on Wednesday after posting a one-month closing the previous day, with bank shares such as Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T: Quote , Profile , Research , Stock Buzz ) sliding

Chinese stocks reverse earlier losses on hopes for stimulus measures - International Herald Tribune
Asian commodity stocks gained Wednesday on a rebound in oil and metals prices, countering declines by regional automakers and industrial manufacturers, while Chinese stocks rose on hopes for new stimulus measures from the government. BHP Billiton

Energy Stocks: Time for a Fresh Look - BusinessWeek
If someone told you that a particular sector in the S&P 500 beat the market seven out of the last eight years by an average 17.9 percentage points per year (143 percentage points cumulatively) and was still outperforming for the eighth time

Malaysian stocks seen lower in thin market - Reuters
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Malaysian stocks are apt to slip in thin trade on Wednesday, adding to losses sustained in the previous session, with Telekom Malaysia in focus after the fixed line operator reported a sharp drop in profit. The

RPT-GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks plumb 2-yr low on growth fears - Reuters India
HONG KONG, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Asian stocks fell to a two-year low on Wednesday, down 30 percent from a peak hit in November, as the past month’s $30 drop in the price of oil has not been enough to shake a sense of fear about sharply slowing global

Thai stocks seen lower, energy and banks might fall - Reuters UK
BANGKOK, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Thai stocks were expected to open lower on Wednesday as investors cashed in recent gains in energy shares amid falling crude prices, and more foreign selling was likely to push bank shares lower, dealers stated. “Oil prices

Data on wholesale prices, home starts send stocks tumbling; oil climbs - Los Angeles Times
Stocks fell sharply for a second straight session Tuesday after the government reported a higher-than-expected jump in wholesale prices and a drop in new-home construction. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 130 points. The Labor Department

Karachi stocks reflect relief - Financial Times
Pakistan’s benchmark Karachi stock exchange index yesterday rose about 1.8 per cent and the rupee gained more than 2 per cent against the US dollar as investors welcomed the easing of political tension following Pervez Musharraf’s retirement on

Asia stocks plumb two-year low - Reuters UK
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian stocks fell to a two-year low on Wednesday, down 30 percent from a peak hit in November, as the past month’s $30 drop in the price of oil has not been enough to shake a sense of fear about sharply slowing global growth

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Filed under: Estates

We’ve been looking at a lot of traditional homes lately so let’s mix it up with a massive slice of modern. Today’s home was designed by architect Rafael Vinoly in 1994. It sits on a five acre hilltop setting with long views in Ridgefield, Connecticut. The home has both indoor/outdoor pools and a glass bridge to the private tower which houses the master bedroom, penthouse office and an observation deck. The interior features lots of heavy concrete, wood ceilings and so much stainless steel, the owner probably has to employ a designated polisher. It’s stunning but I wonder how easy it is to live in. It’s listed at $10 million.

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Continue reading Ridgefield Modern, Estate of the Day

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Filed under: Next huge thing, Entrepreneurs, Small business

When Cyrus Massoumi ruptured his eardrum (during a flight), he tried to find a qualified ENT. Unfortunately, the process took a grueling four days.

Interestingly enough, this experience was the spark for an interesting venture: ZocDoc. In fact, the company recently announced a $3 million round of funding from Khosla Ventures.

True, the on the internet healthcare space is fairly crowded with major players like Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). However, while they are focused on medical records, ZocDoc’s mission is on something that often gets neglected - searching and scheduling of physicians. With ZocDoc, patients can search the database on criteria such as specialty, location and insurance qualifications (which can be critical). All in all, it’s an interesting idea with a large market potential.

As of now, ZocDoc is only limited to Manhattan and Brooklyn. Moreover, the site has only a few specialty categories, such as dental and dermatology. But all this should change soon since the company now has some capital to move things forward.

Currently, the site has about 30,000 registered users and the growth rate is a torrid 50% per month — an indication there’s a serious need for the service.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

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in a recent article in the Washington Post discussed Obama and McCain and the appeal each one might have to certain voting blocks, particularly baby boomers.

First, I have to say I don’t like the headline. Notice how mine was “balanced”? it didn’t favor Obama OR McCain. The Post headline managed to be “about” Obama, and McCain references were merely added to give a sense of balance. Bias showing here?

The long list of comments was very enlightening. Some readers were firmly for Obama, some for McCain. And there seemed to be a cross-section of voters in various age groups. I couldn’t get a sense that any one age group had a strong preference for one or the other candidate. Some boomers support McCain; others support Obama.

Here is just one example:

I’m a 60 year old Boomer. I was talking with a 59 year old friend last week. She said “Remember when we were young in college? We were liberals, way left. Now we’re so much more conservative we would appall our former selves.” We’ve lived through the Cold War, VietNam, the end of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union. We have homes, businesses, children, grandchildren. We want peace for the rest of our lives and for future generations. We have a sense of our physical and financial mortality. We want a leader with experience and strength of character.

Are boomers more likely to vote for someone older, like McCain? Or younger (born in 1961), like Obama? What do you think?

Tags: baby boomer voters, McCain, Obama

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We have been hearing about the possible to demise of Social Security for years, but a look at the demographics of the U.S. in 2030 gives us a really clear picture of the problem. MarketWatch gives us U.S. Census Agency projections, as they effect those of us in the baby boomer generation. It will also affect those of us who are in business and who might still be in business in 22 years.

Consider this:

• By 2030, all of us baby boomers will be over 65. Yes, we’ll all be on Medicare, most of us receiving Social Security.

• On the other hand, the number of those who will be working to support us (those aged 18 to 64) will have declined, to only a tiny over half of the population.
  you know what that means - there will be fewer people contributing the to Social Security pool will be fewer and the number receiving Social Security will be greater.

  If there is still any Social Security, that’s. Are you prepared for this?? What do you think? Will we still have Social Security in 2030?

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What is the secret behind the global phenomenon of Harry Potter? I have read all the books and loved them. I always thought they were just as much for adults as for kids. But there’s more to the Harry Potter thing than just a “good read.” It’s about branding.

Susan Gunelius, who blogs at Brandcurve.com, has written a book that debuts this day in the U.S., about how the Harry Potter brand became so successful. Susan, an expert with over 20 years’ experience in marketing and branding, describes the success of the books:

• The series of events and marketing tactics that played a part in the
  success of Harry Potter from its humble beginnings to the success it
  is this day.
• The success of Harry Potter compared to other brands within and
  beyond the literary industry.
• The impacts of the Harry Potter brand and the changes the success of
  the brand brought to various industries, including publishing, retail
  and more.
• The route to duplicating the success of Harry Potter both within and
  beyond the literary industry.

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In an effort to enhance the Google experience in Firefox, CustomizeGoogle was born. It’s a free Firefox extension that adds flexibility to Google services. Customizing is as easy as opening the Add-on window, clicking on options and choosing what functions you would want to activate or deactivate. You can turn on Google Recommend, a feature that recommends words as you type them when doing a web search. Filter spam sites and exclude them from your web search.

One of my favorite things about this is that users can remove ads on several of the Google services available, such as in Gmail and Google Groups. You can also remove unwanted information such spam counters in your mail.

If privacy is an important factor for you, CustomizeGoogle can secure your Gmail and Google Calendar by switching to https. It also includes the option to use an anonymous Google cookie UID as well as prevent Google Analytics from receiving cookies that gives information on your surfing habits. If you’re a regular user of Google services, this add-on is worth checking out.

CustomizeGoogle is compatible with Firefox 1.0 to 3.0.

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