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Management Strategies in a Jobless Recovery
You’re a manager for a mid-sized U.S. company that’s been forced to slash its work force because of the global financial crisis. And you’ve just received a new assignment: You’re to take over a key department that was hit harder than most by the layoffs.
Morale and productivity have plummeted. Your mandate: Fix it.
It’s one of those assignments that can either be a career-maker - or a career-ender. You want to make sure it’s the former, not the latter, and need to make all the right moves.
What do you do?
In an economy in which the unemployment rate just hit a 25-year…
2Jul2009 | Money Morning | 0 comments | ContinuedPost Layoff: Seven Ways to Get Back on Your Feet
You’ve been given the task of heading an organization that’s just suffered a layoff. Setting organizational goals is important. But it’s also important to manage yourself. Here are some key tips to remember about managing yourself - even as you help others navigate a very tough time:
- Go for the Goal: Managers know how important it is to have clear, measurable and attainable goals for their organization - but they sometimes forget to do the same for themselves. Establish personal goals that will feed into your objectives for the organization. Make sure to write them down (some experts say goals don’t…
Does “Unfair Isaac” Give Credit Where It’s Due?
In the Dividend Superstars issue that just went to press, I talked about FICO credit scores — the three-digit numbers that greatly determine how much money we can borrow, what interest rates we pay, and even how employers and landlords view us.
And I think this information is so critical to your financial life that I want to go over some of the details again here in Money and Markets today. Plus, I want to tell you why I think the system as it stands today is treating many responsible savers and borrowers unfairly in these credit-crunched times. That’s something I didn’t…
1Jul2009 | Money and Markets | 0 comments | ContinuedFinding Jobs in a Jobless Recovery
There’s no question that the U.S. job market is tough across the board right now. But not all pain is created equal: There are regions of the country – and sectors of the U.S. economy – that haven’t been hit quite as hard as others.
Indeed, some regions – and some sectors – that are proving quite resilient.
So, if you’re in the market for a job, it might be a good idea to target those areas and sectors that have demonstrated flexibility over several decades and are best able adapt to 21st century trends.
For job-seekers, it all comes down to this:…
29Jun2009 | Money Morning | 0 comments | ContinuedHow to Protect Your Cash From Inflation
Right now, there’s more than $9.5 trillion in cash on the sidelines - or more than twice the amount of money currently invested in stock mutual funds, according to MoneyNet.inc and the U.S. Federal Reserve. Private equity firms alone are believed to hold as much as an additional $1.3 trillion.
While I’ve always doubted that the "money on the sidelines" argument is really all it’s cracked up to be, one can hardly argue with a recently released report from Harris Private Bank of Chicago [part of the U.S. arm of the Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO) that notes that stocks have rallied for the…
24Jun2009 | Money Morning | 0 comments | ContinuedFind Career Success in a Jobless Recovery
For the millions of Americans right now looking for a job, the latest batch of employment statistics paint a rather grim picture.
After all, just consider that:
- The U.S. unemployment rate just spiked to 9.4% for May, up from 8.6% in April, meaning the nation’s jobless rate is now at its highest level in more than 25 years.
- Throw in the fact that the current jobless rate does not include people who have taken part-time jobs below their skill levels to make ends meet (a little-referred-to situation called underemployment), and the “real” unemployment rate soars to a staggering 16.4%.
- More than 6 million…
A Day in the Life of “Mr. and Mrs. Median”
I often use a lot of market history and economic data to support the arguments I make here in Money & Markets. That’s because I believe crunching numbers, comparing the past to the present, and using a healthy dose of common sense is the best way to figure out what’s happening in the investment world, and where things might be headed next.
Today I want to follow that same approach with a slightly different spin. We’re going to put faces on some of the seemingly abstract numbers that are floating around out there. In doing so, we’ll get a telling…
17Jun2009 | Money and Markets | 0 comments | ContinuedWhat the Dramatic Turn in the U.S. Saving Rate Could Mean to You
During the past few weeks of exciting “green shoot” news, a very important economic statistic has been ignored: The U.S. saving rate.
U.S. citizens have been saving less and less since the early 1980s. And the saving rate even turned negative during the height of the real estate bubble.
But in April, the personal saving rate in the U.S. surged to 5.7 percent, a 15-year high. That represents a massive trend change and has important consequences for the future. But before I address them, I want to remind you of …
The Formula for Prosperity
Let’s start with an example of a very…
11Jun2009 | Money and Markets | 0 comments | ContinuedBuilding Wealth: Five Steps Towards Becoming a Millionaire
Just over six years ago, we wrote to our subscribers about the smartest path to $1 million. With the rollout of the new Investment U course, “Building a Million-Dollar Portfolio From Scratch,” it seemed like a perfect time to revisit the five easy steps that we can all take to reach - and exceed - that seven-figure milestone…
“What’s the best stock that I should put my money in - How do I become a millionaire?”
We get this question, or something like it, almost every day from Investment U subscribers, family members and close friends alike. And while I respect the simplicity of…
8Jun2009 | Investment U | 0 comments | Continued
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