| Jobless Rates Hits 25 Years High |  |  |  |
| Written by admin | | Friday, 29 May 2009 | According to the statistics, it seems that the jobless rates for May 2009 have hit another record, towering at 9.4 percent, which is the highest in 25 years. Statistics have also shown that employers have slashed a total of 345,000 for the entire month of May. However, analysts commented that the total number of job losses for the month of May is significantly lower when compared to previous month, especially when the recession just started back in December 2008. On the other hand, the total number of unemployed Americans was fixed at 14.5 million.
Statistics have also shown that construction companies continued to lay off their workers by the thousands, with 59,000 jobs slashed in April. On a brighter side, education, healthcare, leisure and hospitality continued their hiring scheme, probably due to the fact that Obama’s stimulus package is taking shape in these industries.
Personally, even though the jobless rates are skyrocketing, I truly believe that there are ample of opportunities out there waiting for people to discover them. It just takes someone to think out of the box to figure these out. My advice is, if you need a job – try thinking out of the box, period.
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| Sotomayor Supreme Court Justice | | | |
| Written by admin | | Monday, 25 May 2009 | President Barack Obama announced today that he has elected Sotomayor as one of the Supreme Court justice. Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic to lead the Supreme Court. On the other hand, her inspiring personalities boast both intellect and compassion.
Standing next to President Obama when he announces her appointment, Sotomayor will be the second lady in the current court. On the other hand, when you refer such historic events, she will be the third that had ever led the Supreme Court in history.
Personally, I believe that President Obama is creating waves and waves of changes in America and I firmly laud his moves in bringing in these changes – as he promised during the elections. Nevertheless, by placing the first Hispanic women in the Supreme Court would also means breaking the normality of having male domination over these job areas.
Here’s a historic photo of President Barack Obama standing side by side with Sotomayor in the historic moment. Enjoy.
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| North Korea Detonates Underground Nuke | | | |
| Written by admin | | Friday, 22 May 2009 | The defiant North Korean counterpart detonated on what it seems to be a huge atomic bomb in the recent underground atomic tests. Speculators have speculated that the size of the atomic bomb was between 10 to 20 kilotons. And if you are wondering just how much a 1 kiloton of atomic explosive is, it represents up to 1,000 tons of TNT.
When the world got the news that North Korea has revived their atomic programs and subsequently detonated their weapons of mass destruction underground, world leaders condemn such actions as North Korea clearly defies the de-nuclearization talks.
On the other hand, Japan has sounded the alarms as they are one of the closest nations to North Korea. Japan has proposed an emergency United Nations meeting to discuss on possible sanctions on North Korea, for their actions.
And as for North Korea’s closest allies, China, they condemned the nuclear tests but apparently, did not seem to be in favor to sanction North Korea.
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| Stock Market Jumps After Unexpected Increase in Consumer Confidence Index | | | |
| Written by admin | | Sunday, 17 May 2009 | The stock market jumped higher today, as stock investors got news that the consumer confidence index has increased from 40.8 to 54.9. The Dow Jones increased up to 200 points today, signaling one of the strongest stock market gains over the months.
On the other hand, major retailers such as Macy’s, Best Buy Co and even Home Builder KB Home are enjoying positive growth for their stocks today. Macy’s stocks increased 5.9 percent, while Best Buy Co. advanced 5.8 percent while Home builder KB Home had the biggest increase of 6.4 percent. Also, Apple’s stocks have shown positive growth as well. The company stocks raised a total of 6 percent today, which is far significant when compared to other electronics stocks.
Personally, I feel that the stock market performances today signal one of the best signs in economic recovery. I believe that the recent economic recession was a temporary one and that it didn’t even last more than 6 months. Of course, let’s just hope that the consumer confidence index would rise a couple of notch further for the next couple of months?
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| Written by admin | | Wednesday, 13 May 2009 | Market analysts have already branded the MID technology as having no future due to poor demands and sales. Nevertheless, companies continue their efforts to churn out their MID solutions, and this is where the xpPhone comes in.
This MID called the xpPhone can run on a full-fledge version of the Microsoft Windows XP. On the other hand, it also supports GSM lines. And as for the hardware specifications, the xpPhone has 64GB SSD, has WiFi functionality, 1.3 megapixel onboard camera and a comfortable 4.8 inch 800x480 touchscreen. The xpPhone can give consumers a whopping 5 solid hours of uninterrupted usage, which I think is one of the best in the industry.
However, I don’t think that MIDs are practical electronics though. And judging from the price that electronics companies as suggesting, I believe that consumers are better off purchasing a netbook or even an entry level notebook.
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| GM Plans to Sell Saturn Brand to Penske Automotive Group | | | |
| Written by admin | | Sunday, 10 May 2009 | General Motor has finally admitted defeat as they have made plans to declare bankruptcy to the multi-billion dollars business. With the inability to formulate an amicable reformation strategy with its investors, the company would be filing Chapter 11 to protect them from ballooning debt problems.
On a brighter side, GM would be forging ahead with their plans to sell their Saturn brand to Penske Automotive Group. As the name implies, Penske Automotive Group is owned by former race car driver, Robert Penske. If the deal succeeds, Penske Automotive Group would gain authority over Saturn’s 350 dealerships. On the other hand, the move would also help retain all 13,000 Saturn employees.
Robert Penske commented that their main intention to acquire the Saturn brand was that his company wanted something that appeals to the younger generation drivers. This will also give them the ability to compete with Japanese imports.
However, both parties did not disclose any information on their finalized acquisition plans.
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| Economic Heading Towards Recovery | | | |
| Written by admin | | Thursday, 07 May 2009 | The recent economic recession can be considered as one of the most unforgivable scenario. Not only the recession has caused billions of dollars in economic losses, in fact, there are already millions who lost their jobs in America.
However, I do praise President Obama’s efforts to revive the economy. Even US Treasury department head Bernanke mentioned that the recession is slowing down and that with the current market bull run, the economic might just head to recovery, sometime end of this year.
On the brighter side, Obama’s stimulus packages have already created thousands of jobs in the healthcare industry. This somehow provides a cushion for the economy as it generally gives a rather good impression that the economy might just survive the current onslaught.
The main question remains, would the economy generally recover by the end of this year judging from the fact that the stock market has risen to a healthy level?
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| Wal-Mart Successful Business Model | | | |
| Written by admin | | Monday, 04 May 2009 | Despite the industry crying foul over looming recession last year, Wal-Mart performed exceptionally well for 2008 with recorded sales of over $400 billion dollars. In fact, according to analysts, Wal-Mart performed exceptionally well in pulling shoppers away from its competitors, with its ingenious shopping strategy such as re-emphasizing on low price coupled together with the correct mix of products on their shelves.
On the other hand, Wal-Mart’s CEO Mike Duke has already made plans to repurchase $15 billion worth of shares issued previously. According to Wal-Mart’s previous track records, the company managed to repurchase their share which amounted to $21 billion within the 5 years time frame.
Based on my observation, I can say that Wal-Mart did a superb job in their business strategy. The company managed to survive the recession onslaught, and they even emerged as a clear winner in the market by performing exceptionally well when compared to their competitors. And with their plans to repurchase shares issued previously, this will ensure that the company would have lesser debts in the future.
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| Aiptek USB-powered T20 Pico Projector | | | |
| Written by admin | | Friday, 01 May 2009 | Based on my personal experience, I don’t see how Aiptek products are any good, judging from my experience using their products. Nevertheless, the company has in fact introduced USB-powered T20 Pico Projector. This particular pico projector can project VGA images that measures up to 42 inch in size. And as for the close cousin the T30, it can project a slightly larger VGA image of 50 inch.
Personally, I don’t really endorse Aiptek products. Of course, their products are seen to give good value for money, but it performs moderately when compared to other electronics manufacturer. If you are looking for a cheap pico that can give you marginal quality, then I believe that the T20 and T30 pico projector by Aiptek is something that you should get for yourself.
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