Stocks fall on drop among financials; oil rises - Washington Post
Chris Considine, center, president of Wilson Sporting Goods Co., is joined by fellow employees at the Nasdaq opening bell Monday, Aug. 25, 2008 in New York. Wilson is a subsidiary of Amer Sports Corp. of Finland. Stocks retreated early Monday as

Aussie stocks fall 0.2 pct but rebound off lows - CNBC
SYDNEY, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Australian shares shut down 0.2 percent on Tuesday but well above session lows as bargain hunters selectively purchased oversold stocks such as Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd . The benchmark S&P/ASX 200

China Stocks Decline for Fourth Day; Haitong, Air China Retreat - Bloomberg
Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) — China’s stocks fell for a fourth day, led by brokerages, after daily trading value yesterday dropped to the lowest since November 2006. Haitong Securities Co. , the country’s largest listed brokerage by market value, dropped 7

Asian Stocks Fall on Credit Concerns, Earnings; Banks Decline - Bloomberg
Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) — Asian stocks fell the most in a week, led by financial companies, as widening credit-market losses slow regional growth and dent earnings. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. slumped 2.1 percent in Tokyo after Credit Suisse

Thomson Financial Europe AM at a glance share guide: Stocks fall; oil - Forbes
STOCKS: Stocks sank in light trading Monday as worries about American International Group Inc. touched off broader concerns that the deterioration of the credit markets will bring more big losses for financial companies. The Dow Jones industrial

Thai Hot Stocks-Index at 3-week low, banks tumble - Reuters
BANGKOK, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Thailand’s benchmark stock index .SETI fell 2.34 percent on Tuesday, dragged down by political concerns and weak overseas markets. By the midday break, the index was down 15.84 points at a three-week low of 662.36, with

JPMorgan Likes U.S. Stocks - US News and World Report
The news is bad. The economy is not prone to recover for some time. But a lot of that is well known. I don’t think it’s a surprise to anybody at this point. As an investor, it’s not just about the news; it’s about the price you pay for the news. The

UK Stocks — Factors to watch on Aug 26 - Forbes
LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Britain’s FTSE 100 .FTSE> index is seen opening 65 to 79 points lower on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers, as lingering credit worries over the financial sector and slowing global growth weighed. U.S. stocks fell

Spanish stocks - Factors to watch on Tuesday - Reuters
MADRID, Aug 26 (Reuters) - The following Spanish stocks might be affected by newspaper reports and other factors on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy: Telefonica (TEF.MC: Quote , Profile

Pakistani stocks at new 2-yr low on coalition split - Guardian Unlimited
KARACHI, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Pakistani stocks fell over 4 percent on Tuesday to a new two-year low as investors sold blue chips such as OGDC on fears the break-up in the coalition government overnight will raise political uncertainty. By 0621 GMT, the

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Last week, I asked Pimp Your Work readers about their to-do list strategy.  Here’s what some of them have to say:

Lindsay from Writing For Your Wealth says that she doesn’t have a to-do list.  However, this doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have a strategy for accomplishing her daily tasks.”I generally just approach my work day with one or two major things I want to get done, and I make sure I do them. Then I work on other littler projects or call it a day.”

While I’ve a to-do list, I concur with Lindsay’s perspective on lengthy lists. She adds, “I’m highly suspect of long to-do lists, as I equate them with the ‘be busy’ mentality instead of ‘be productive’ mentality.”

Wayne from Joint Contact took the chance to tell us about  Joint Contact as a to-do list.  He says, “In addition of tracking basic tasks, Joint Contact supports a module called “Conversations” that can be used to track and share project notes with small groups or an entire team.”

Personally, I just use Google Calendar and write my to-do list there.  I use the 2-week view, so the daily boxes are small and I don’t make the mistake of being over committed.  It’s very rare that I have more than 4 things on my daily list.  I selected Google Calendar because most of my actionable items are done online, such as writing articles or emailing people.  I also list offline activities, but having less than 4 items on my list everyday makes them easy to remember - I only have to look at the calendar once.

Don’t forget to share your answers for this week’s question: Do you think you’re efficient? Click here to answer.  Up until Sunday, August 21 only.

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Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

One of the Real Estalker’s many tipsters revealed that Michael Bolton recently put his Westport, Connecticut home on the market. The town of Wesport is a quiet, tony enclave that we’ve mentioned when looking at homes belonging to Martha Stewart and Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas.

Bolton’s home is a six-bedroom expanse located on Nash’s Pond. The home is “Tuscan-inspired” and has a formal albeit bland interior design. The home is enriched with dark polished mahogany wood and Italian marble floors and ncludes a screening room, formal dining room, chef’s kitchen and a master suite with a veranda. The Real Estalker Mama reports that Bolton’s property is two separate lots of over an acre each and that Bolton bought the home way back in 1991 for $975,000. The smaller lot which measures 1.2 acres has a four-bedroom home that has been used as a guest house and also serves as Bolton’s music studio. The grounds feature a tennis court, putting green, piazza, swimming pool, formal gardens and a dock on Nash’s pond. Bolton has put this property on the market for $11 million.

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For many people, the beginning of the school year signals almost the same type of renewal and re-invigoration as the start of the New Year.  New school year, new goals, maybe a new direction.

For those of us who don’t still have children in school, the end of August and the beginning of September can be a good time to take a break before a frenetic fall begins.  This year, why not take a break….

• Take a day and spend some time planning the rest of your year.  What do you want to accomplish before the end of the year?
• Take some time and consider that new business you want to begin. What steps will you take to start?
• Take a walk or meditate.  Let your mind wander.  Where would you like to be a year from now?  What would you like to be doing?

After your break - a few minutes, a few hours, a day - it’s time to begin again, refreshed and renewed.  My plan is to take an afternoon and lay out the projects I want to finish by the end of the year.  I’m going to be ambitious, knowing that I probably won’t complete them all.  I’ll have to be disciplined, but I’m ready.

How about you?  When will you take your “break?”  What will you do?  What do you have planned for the fall?

Tags: take a break

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PimpYourWork.com

This month’s Business Channel promo day is centered around the theme “taking a break”.  I realized that I’ve been writing a lot about sabbaticals and 9-hour workweeks here at Pimp Your Work, so I’ve decided to take the “break” idea up a notch.

As a result, I’ve decided to write about one of the most permanent breaks you can possibly take (second only to death):

Getting fired.

So, if you feel you really, really must be fired (and why wouldn’t you want that), here’s are some surefire ways to do it:

Blog freely about your colleagues and company.  Don’t attempt to censor yourself or use code names - especially if there’s juicy water cooler gossip.  Why prevent the general public from getting in on the fun?

Search for the phone numbers of all your high school classmates and spend hours speaking to them on an office phone.  Why would your company invest in a phone if no one was meant to use it?

Surf the net for fun throughout your entire workday.  As I mentioned last year, a Japanese government employee was fired for spending his workdays editing and writing Wikipedia entries about the cartoon series Gundam.  If you want to be fired, follow this gentleman’s example.  After all, if you won’t edit those Wikipedia entries, who will?

 Steal something.  From a stapler to the boss’ chair, the office is filled of hundreds of things you can steal.  The more massive and the more costly the stolen thing is, the stronger your punishment.  Use that as a rule of thumb.

If all else fails, fire everyone publicly - even if you’ve no authority to do so.  Karmic law recommends that whatever you give to the universe, you’ll eventually receive the same.  What better way to get fired than to fire everyone else?  You’ll get bonus points if you say “You’re fired!” like Donald Trump does.

Note that you should only do the above if you really want to get fired and have a complete understanding of what sarcasm is.   Pimp Your Work is not responsible for any lawsuits or foul smells that occur from following the above advice.

Image by ShaunW from sxc.hu

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A stunning presentation by Travis Isaacs:

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Report Details Clinical Trials in Russia Compared to Other Countries - Forbes
Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/f0290e/clinical_trials_in) has announced the addition of the “Clinical Trials in Russia 2008. Russia Compared to Other Countries” report to their offering. Based on a comprehensive

Convention donors often have business before lawmakers and regulators - Los Angeles Times
Members of both convention committees — and Barack Obama — agree on the need for reform. For Obama and his closest advisors, asking for million-dollar donations appears particularly embarrassing given the candidate’s repeated emphasis on raising

Telecom rollouts raise ire over utility boxes - The Shreveport Times
PHILADELPHIA — The road to advanced video, World wide web and phone services is bumpy — and the bumps can be nearly as big as refrigerators. As cable and phone companies race to upgrade services or offer video for the first time, they’re doing it by

Wall Street bailout aid questioned at Fed event - NWI.com
JACKSON, Wyo. - Do Washington policymakers listen too much to Wall Street? A possible bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, on the heels of similar action involving investment firm Bear Stearns, seems to send a loud signal to financial companies

As energy costs dip, frugality remains - Chicago Tribune
NEW YORK—As the cost of gasoline soared over the past year, many small businesses took steps to mitigate the damage to their cash flow and profits. Now, even though gas has fallen from the record levels it hit in mid-July, companies are making

Hi-tech companies to visit schools in new initiative - Independent
Fifty of Ireland’s leading hi-tech companies are to visit schools around the country, to boost interest in science and technology. 08:58 Murray hopes to make big impact at US Open 08:52 Parts of Limerick without water after pipe bursts 08:48 Roche in

China Netcom First-Half Profit Rises 12% on Broadband (Update1) - Bloomberg
Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) — China Netcom Group Corp. , the fixed- line phone company being acquired by China Unicom Ltd. , said profit rose 12 percent, beating estimates, as stronger sales of high-speed World wide web services compensated for lower phone

S&P launches S&P India Select Index - CNBC
MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - Standard & Poor’s stated it launched the S&P India Choose Index to provide global investors with tradable exposure to the largest and most liquid companies in India. The S&P India Choose Index comprises 60 leading Indian

Vehicle insurance rates in New York shooting up again - New York Daily News
Jose Ferreia of the Bronx may be smiling but he’s not happy as he checks out his insurance card. “It’s too high,” he states of his $1,900-a-year bill. ALBANY - After two years of declines, vehicle insurance rates in New York are climbing again. That’s bad

Outsourcing groups battle CV cheats - Financial Times
India’s outsourcing industry is battling a rising number of “résumé cheats” – recruits who lie about their experience or qualifications – in a struggle that could be critical to the long-term prosperity of the business. Recent high staff

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Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

Celebrity Huge Time Listings unearthed the listing for today’s home which proves that it pays to date Ashlee Simpson and be managed by her dad. Musician Ryan Cabrera took his modest musical and reality TV success, a gold record in 2004, and bought himself this home in the Hollywood Hills in 2006 for $1.45 million. The optimistically monikered Villa Cabrera is a three-bedroom home built in 1953. The home has some nice classic details like hardwood floors, tiled steps, touches of elaborate iron work, but it Cabrera’s decorating choices are definitely not doing this house much of a favor. Cabrera has painted the interior with a crayon box of colors including turquoise and fuchsia. Cabrera has equipped his home with the requisite massive TVs including one placed rather close to a bed in a guest bedroom. Cabrera’s master bedroom boasts a bed wreathed in electric lights, decked out in red satin sheets and completed with a collection of candles at the foot of the bed, a look Cabrera has repeated in another room. Cabrera has also festooned the home with plenty of art devoted to his musical idols such as the Beatles and Frank Sinatra and he has a huge piano and a rack full of guitars. The outdoor space includes a pool, a spa and an outdoor entertaining area with a full bar and a barbecue as well as an outdoor terrace which Cabrera has thoughtfully outfitted with a rumpled futon. The home is listed at $1.699 million.

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Filed under: Small business

A franchise can be a great way to start your entry into self-employment — and strong income. Yet, there are still risks — such as with site locations and hiring employees — and lots of upfront costs.

But there’s another approach; that’s, purchasing an existing franchise (which is known as a “resale”). What are some things to take into account? Well, let’s take a look:

Track Record: With some due diligence, you can determine whether a franchise is successful or not. Besides getting the financials, you can talk to customers as well as vendors.

Turnaround: What if the franchise is failing? Yes, this can be an chance to get a business on the cheap. But, of course, this can be risky. Do you’ve the expertise to make the changes to get the business on track?

Keep in mind that turnarounds are often much tougher than you might anticipate.

Valuation: It’s likely that the franchise owner will be running various personal expenses through the operation. Thus, as much as possible, try to exclude these items. The goal is to come up with the real profitability of the company.

Next, you need a way to value these earnings (assuming you think they have the ability to continue). This is usually done by applying a multiple. For example, a Subway may fetch 4 times cash flows.

Where do you get these multiples? Well, there are some books on the topic, such as The Business Valuation Book (with CD-ROM). You can also get the help from a business broker (the largest operator is VR Business Brokers).

Finding Franchises: There are many websites where you can find franchises for sale. One good resource is BizBuySell, which has an extensive directory.

Fees: There might be a transfer fee (which could be hefty). So, early in the process, get the franchise agreement. And, of course, it’s a good idea to have an attorney help out with things.

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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The last day of the Olympics - it went by so fast!  I had a great time watching the competitions, learning about the athletes.  Their stories were astounding, and I was so impressed by their fortitude, perseverance, hard work.

Memorable moments for me:

•  Watching the women’s marathon and thinking, “How do they do it?”
• Watching the face of Shawn Johnson when she had to do the floor exercise first and then sit and watch the rest of the athletes compete, knowing she did great, but not knowing whether anyone would do superior.  She was so gracious when it was obvious that she was going to get the silver, not the gold.  Quite a mature young lady.
• Watching the softball players, wanting them to win so bad, knowing this was the last Olympics for softball, then having them lose their final game.  Tough break.
• Of course, watching Michael Phelps.  What a fantastic athlete!  The last relay race, at the end, when he knew that the U.S. had won, I could see him state, over and over, “Thank you, Thank you, Thank you,” to his teammates.

And more.  What were your favorite moments?

And what about our Baby Boomer athletes?

John Dane III, from New Orleans, didn’t win a medal in sailing.  Zach Railey, from Clearwater, Florida, was the only U.S. athlete to win a sailing medal.

Australian equestrian Laurie Lever also was out of the medals.

Three-time Olympian Brent Erickson, still has not won an Olympic medal.  Maybe 2012 in London?

Finally, the oldest Olympic athlete (I know, he’s not a Baby Boomer),  Hiroshi Hoketsu, who competed in the Dressage (equestrian) also did not win a medal.

My daughter reminded me that you can watch just about any of the Olympic competitions by going to the NBC Olympics website.  I want to check a few events I missed.

At the end of the Olympics, I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes: “I enjoy each thing for its season, doing without it at all other times.”  So the time for the Olympics is ended.  But I know where I’ll be in the July of 2012 - firmly planted in front of the TV watching the Olympics from London.  It’s a great show!

Tags: athletes, baby boomers, london olympics 2012, nbc olympics, olympics

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