Fitch says UK downgrade more likely

This article talks about rating agency Fitch which may downgrade the UK's credit rating in April. This came after downward revisions were made to UK's growth forecast from 1.2% in December to 0.6% for 2013. In addition the United Kingdom have a higher than expected debt level. After this news was released from Fitch the pound fell sharply against the dollar. Fitch explained their decision by looking at forecasts published by the  office for budget responsibility which suggest that the dept levels will rise later.Moody  is another rating agency stripped the UK from its AAA rating.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21900304

Economy Not As Bad As Some Think..

http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21573229-political-gridlock-may-be-bad-americas-economy-says-edward-mcbride

It is a widely spreading belief that the U.S. economy is losing its edge. Even President Obama has feared that America is losing its economic edge to China and other competing economies. Our economy currently ranks as the seventh best economy in the world, quite a fall from the first place ranking we held a few short years ago. With all of the negative media constantly being pushed into the faces of citizens, it is not hard to see why this pessimistic view is so popular. This type of mindset may not be the most proper one to have, according to some. The U.S. is working hard on its research and development, education system reforms, and infrastructure reforms. President Obama and the rest of Washington D.C. are working hard to make to these reforms a reality. While it is true that our economy is recovering at an extremely slow pace from the recent recession, there is no reason to think that the economy as we have known it in the past is gone for good. 

Cyprus government 'to present bailout plan B on Thursday'

This article talks about Cyprus banks which are expected to be shut until the 25th March to prevent mass withdrawals and to prevent any money from leaving from the country. While the ATM machines are still giving out cash with limits and some are running low on cash. Business are refusing to take payments from Credit cards because they don't know when the banks would open. The German fiance minister said that if they don't come up with a solution quick the banks might never open.The country could be on its way to bankruptcy and could face a possible exit from the Euro Zone.

This decision came an emergency cabinet meeting that was called on Tuesday, rejected the EU-IMF deal, with 36 MPs voting against it and 19 abstaining and not a single in favor of it .The President is expected to come up with another plan on Thursday to figure out a way to fund the country's bailout. There are many options which are being considered like Bank mergers, a bond issue. The Cypriot Fiance minister is in Moscow  to negotiate assistance from Russia but nothing concrete has come up so far. The Russians hold billion dollar investments in Cyprus which also includes large deposits. All this money has been attracted into Cyprus because of its lower taxes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21870801

Home construction gains steam

http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/19/news/economy/home-construction/index.html?iid=SF_E_River

There is good news this month in the housing market as home builders are filing for the highest number of building permits since 5 years ago in 2008. Ever since the housing bubble burst in 2007-2008, home building hasn't been able to recover so the 34% increase in building permits since last year is more than welcomed to go along with the other recent growth in the economy. On top of the new homes being built, there has been an increase in sales of new and old homes. This may be helped by the drop in foreclosures or the very low mortgage rate. With the new building permits, construction companies are hiring more workers, which will only help to decrease the unemployment rate. The actual cost of the raw materials for building homes has increased, so the construction industry is facing some problems even in this time of increased demand for homes.    

Sen. Elizabeth Warren to raise min wage to $22/hr

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/18/sen-elizabeth-warren-raise-minimum-wage-22-hour/

In this article, Sen. Elizabeth Warren states she wants the minimum wage to be increased to $22/hr.  She says that if we follow the historical prices of the minimum wage back to 1960, then the current minimum wage should be $22.  The problem with minimum wage is that most people that are working at the minimum wage are living with families with over $40,000 dollars of income a year.  Raising the minimum wage would not effect these people.  Plus, if the minimum wage is increase by $14.75, this would cause the unemployment rate to rise substantially because firms wont be able to make a profit with such a raise.

Russian money in Cyprus: Why is there so much?

This article talks about the close financial relationship between Cyprus and Russia which goes back to the 1990s. In particular there are large amounts of Russian money invested in the smallest economy of the euro zone. There is about $31 billion of money in Cypriot bank accounts , $12 billion from banks and the rest $19 billion from business and individuals. Cypriot banks have also loaned out about $40 billion to Russian companies which are based in Russia. The Germans suspect that most of the Russian money in Cypriot banks is from ill-gotten gains.

The reason why there is so much of Russian money is because Russian business take advantage of low corporate tax rate and favorable tax rates for profit and dividends in Cyprus. Another reason is Russia's tax treaty with Cyprus which means that a firm will not be taxed in both places. Another quite important reason why banks are full of Russian money because Cyprus doesn't ask many questions about the origin of their money, while other countries are more careful and go under full dept as to where the money arrived.

This bailout deal is going to hurt many Russians, those with more than 100,000 euros are expected to pay 9.9%. Which means that Russia would lose around $3 billion. Cyprus has already taken a loan of about 2.5 billion euros from Russia and have asked for ab additional 2 billion euros. This tax on savings is surely going to make the Russians think again weather they want to loan out another 2 billion euros to this country.

Now looking at this situation there is obvious fear that business would not be willing to invest in Cyprus and they will move their money somewhere else. Even though many measures have been put in place to stop the money from flowing out but most of it has already left.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21831943

Big Banks have Big Problems

This article is about how the some of the largest banks in the country might not have as much backing from politicians as they used to. It goes on too state a few large banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and a couple others in the recent elections all lobbied dollars to what turned out to be the losing sides. At the moment they are still receiving taxpayers subsidies but will these government officials they decided to go against give them as much help as they've needed in the past?

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/14/big-banks-have-a-big-problem/?ref=economy

California Unemployment Rate holds at 9.8%

http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-cal-jobs-20130319,0,4105844.story

The employment rate in California has been held constant for the first quarter this year.  The employment is tied for the highest with Road Island, which has also had trouble adding jobs after losses to it's manufacturing sector.  Some are also blaming a rise in sale tax and an increase on income tax of the wealthy.  Another possible reason could be because of hurt  trade with Europe from the Northeast sector of the state.  However, trade in the western part of the state with Asia has been thriving and continues to grow.  That is why an emphasis is being placed on county statistics so they can locate where job growth is stalling.  Job growth is expected to grow though during the latter part of 2013 and into 2014, showing that the steady unemployment rate was not unexpected.

Argentina's Recovered Factory Movement

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/argentina-recovered-factory-movement

This article discusses a growth in some of Argentina's industry that signals valuable potential for economic growth in the country. A lot of these are 'recovered' factories that were set up during Argentina's recession of the 1990s. Ever since then, the companies have undergone a change in management and the way they operate. These seem to be factors that may have contributed to their recovery, alongside a change in Argentina's economic environment. The two major factors that have changed the way the companies function are a worker led management and increased support from the state. Argentina offers an interesting case study in steps that could be taken to help a bleeding industrial sector recover.

Seeking Profit for Taxpayers in Potential of New Drug

Federal Science - it has become a controversial topic since the Great Recession. Many lawmakers are calling for a review of federal policies they say have allowed businesses to profit on government research with limited return for taxpayers or consumers. Taxpayers are asking the government to reevaluate the funding provided for federal research into pharmaceutical drugs. I can understand this concern from taxpayers. In such tough economic times, people want their money put to good use. It can be frustrating to see funding fail to present any productive results.

North Dakota Economy

http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21573569-booming-north-dakota-numbers-formation-pressures


North Dakota is experiencing an uncanny economical boom in these past two years.  This is due to the crude oil in North Dakota, from 2011 to 2012 production increased by 250,000 barrels per day.  With a surge like this in the economy the wages, standard of living and demand for jobs increased there.  This coupled with the increase of about 5 million from 2011-2012 in the agriculture for ND.  These two resource based industries booming the influx of workers has increased but there have been drawbacks and not everyone is benefitting from this economical boom. There was an increase of monthly emergency room visits from 100 in the past three years up to 400 a month now.  Also the income gap between teachers and health-care workers increased from a difference of $34,000 less than oil and gas employees to $63,000.  The worries stem from the fear that even though the standard of living has gone up in ND there aren't increases in investment for health care and education.

Fed will not end Stimulus

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/business/economy/federal-reserve-expected-to-continue-stimulus-tries-to-reassure-investors.html

Unlike recent years, the Federal Reserve will not be pausing their efforts to stimulate the economy because these pauses are the main reason it has taken this long to stimulate the economy.  Even though data suggests that growth is quickening, the central bank continues to buy $85 billion each month in treasury and mortgage-back securities in effort to have unemployment fall quicker.  The Fed has said that it will continue to stimulate the economy for an unusually extended period, even as the recovery gains strength. Since the benefits of that policy depend on its credibility, it is searching for ways to communicate more clearly with investors so that expectations of its eventual retreat do not become a premature drag on growth.

The advertising business according to the experts

This is a great article by the Harvard Business Review that explores the changing advertising industry in today's markets. As products become more innovative and businesses become more competitive, advertisement has proven to be a key factor that determines success. The article focuses on challenges to the advertising industry nowadays and possible approaches to solve them. Chief Marketing Officers and advertising executives from successful companies like Nike, Adobe, Leo Burnett USA etc. were asked about the most significant challenges facing the industry. Their answers give great insight into market conditions today. An obvious and pressing issue is that of technological change, and Paul Matsen addresses this by outlining how important it is to integrate effective advertisement into the new platforms that are gaining popularity. However, the idea that seemed most important to me was that of Davide Grasso, who says that today's ads must not overcomplicate things and deliver their message in a simplistic yet powerful way. This reflects on the kinds of ads we see today and how the minimalist approach seems to be the best one.

http://blogs.hbr.org/hbr/hbreditors/2013/03/we_asked_marketing_execs_answe.html

Increases in US Factory Outputs

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21797587

This article outlines the considerable increase in the outputs produced by US factories in the past month of February.  It rose by .8% in the month of february after it fell by .3% in January.  This influx of outputs in the US has help create an estimated 14,000 in the last month while the industry has only added 39,000 jobs in the past three months.  The factories that creates cars and car parts are mostly responsible for the increase in outputs because their outputs rose by 3.6% this month while last month were down 4.9%.  Even though this increase in outputs was a positive, the inflation rose by its highest amount in 4 years mainly due to the increase in gas prices in the US.  The CPI increased .7% last month but .5% of the increase was due to food and energy which are very volatile.  These figures suggest only good things for the future of the US economy.

Banking in Africa expanding

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21572768-across-africa-banks-are-expanding-their-returns-arent-continent-dreams

In Africa there is many places that cannot see banks or even have access to banks, resorting to hiding it in mattresses and other unsafe areas. The populations as a whole only has about 3% of people using credit cards and very few banks are opening. due to the fact that GDP has not reached the 10000 dollar magic number. this is causing the banking sector to want to expand but not have the resources to make new branches.

New Jobless Claim at a 5-Year Low

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/15/business/economy/jobless-claims-continue-decline.html?ref=economy&_r=0

The amount of unemployment claims have been steadily decreasing the past few weeks, and now are at a 5-year low. This drop in unemployment claims has been seen in both the state and national levels. The amount of the U.S population submitting these claims is much better than many economist expected. This is very good news as it seems job growth is still occurring even with the tightening fiscal policy.

            This reduction in unemployment most likely has a large part to do with the Fed buying mortgage-back securities, with the idea of stimulating the labor market. By doing this the Fed is creating inflation in the economy, which may help our recovery but will hurt in the long run if they continue with this policy.

Delaying of Hiring

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/business/economy/despite-job-vacancies-employers-shy-away-from-hiring.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=economy

This article explains how many companies and businesses today are extending the hiring process for potential employees. Vacancies of jobs are staying unfilled for much longer than they used to be. Today, on average, it is a length of 23 business days compared to 15 days on mid-2009. They think that the main problem is some kind of hiring paralysis, where they just can't decide whether to hire or who to hire. This results in candidates being brought into companies for interviews and interviews still waiting to hear about being hired. For example, one man got called back for six interviews.
Employers are putting candidates through a lot of trouble for getting a job, mostly because they want to hire someone with skills that are up to date. There are a lot of contributing factors to hiring employees, and the extended period of dragging on too long for the unemployed people who are awaiting to hear.

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello to step down

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/03/18/electronic-arts-ceo-john-riccitiello-to-step-down/?iid=HP_LNElectronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has announced his resignation and will step down on march 30th. the News came as a surprise, EA has announced that Larry Probst will step up as executive chairman until a suitable person for the job has been chosen. The video gaming company has

has been struggling to adapt to a changing games market as it's revenue and earnings-per-share has been at the low end. The Redwood city, California based company's stocks are traded at $18.71, down from a $61.40 in 2007.

Michigan takes over Detroit finances

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/03/201331515557884266.html
          After a long economic downturn for the city of Detroit, Michigan the governor has chosen an emergency financial manager for Detroit, finalizing a state takeover of the city's finances. The latest move in Detroit's struggle to turn the city's financial troubles around and prevent the biggest bankruptcy in the United States history. Kevyn Orr, who is a bankruptcy expert and has been active in the restructuring of Michigan-based car maker Chrysler has been put in control of the whole city's expenses and spending. Ever since the downturn of the automotive industry in the unites states, Detroit which is the home to the big three and a historically  prosperous economy has been struggling to keep afloat and fight poverty as the rate of unemployment has increased to to changes in sectors.

College Savings Hits All Time High

http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/12/pf/college/college-savings/index.html

This article talks about how the constantly rising tuition for college is prompting more parents and grandparents to put more money than ever into 529 college savings plans.

Average college savings grew by 12% from 2011 to 2012, and the number of 529 plans grew by 4%. In fact, the article suggests this is a very good thing that is occurring because of the rising tuition. Apparently students with college savings accounts are seven times more likely to attend college than those without one.

The built up accounts in turn allow for less students to be dependent on loans, but in the midst of all of these appearing good habits of saving and students applying for scholarships/financial aid, tuition is still constantly overpowering the efforts, making it more difficult than ever to keep up with payments. The article states, "Average tuition paid at public community colleges and four-year colleges and universities rose by 8.3% last year."

529 plans are one thing that can help the financial position of college attendies and their families, but what else can be done? Is there anything the government can do other than just improving the overall economy, soon having college tuition follow? This is another example of rising prices in the economy, but at a very accelerated pace. If college were more affordable, I think it could help the economy, giving more the opportunity for education. More human capital could possibly increase productivity.

Samsung unveils Galaxy S4 phone in New York

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/03/201331581416684728.html
        The South Korean Giant Samsung has unveiled it's latest smart phone, Samsung's Galaxy S4 is the major rival to  Apple's iPhone which is currently the market leader in smartphones. Samsung has been emerging fast in the market as it continues to introduce new trends in smartphone technology. The newest  galaxy phone could be vital in Samsung's battle with Apple over the innovator spot in world market.

Europe's Airbus lands record $20bn order

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/03/2013318114514190846.html
               Airbus has just landed a record $20 billion deal with Indonesia's Lion Air which is one of the world's fastest growing and possibly the next major airline in the world. The Aviation industry is a natural oligopoly due to the need for access to huge funds and very sophisticated technology. This deal comes as a blow to the other major airplane manufacturer Boeing could lose it's grip on the fast growing airline. Countries in east Asia have been growing rapidly in most major industries including airlines. These rapidly growing countries provide multinational corporations such as Air Bus with with new untapped markets.

Lower Home Builder Condfidence

Homebuilders confidence this past month fell due to the increased demands for new homes which may exceed ready to build land, materials and workers. This cause for concern may lead to sales decreasing in the short term, however builders' outlook for sales in the upcoming future are strong and could possibly reach highs not seen in almost six years. An improving job market along with low mortgage rates and higher home prices have helped homes in the United States over the past year and sales increased among new homes as much as 16% this past January. The highest level the United States has seen since July 2008. However, even with these positive signs, builders are still facing higher costs for materials and competition for land cleared for development. Builders also have reported a shortage of workers in markets where residential construction has rose quickly even with a 3.1% increase in residential construction workers in February. This is due to many construction workers leaving the field and joining other areas such as the oil and natural gas industries. New homes only represent a portion of the housing market but are able to provide the economy with an average of three new jobs for an entire year and about $90,000 in tax revenues for our economy. While I don't think we should panic seeing these numbers, it is definitely a subject we should keep paying close attention to.



http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/03/18/builder-confidence-falls-march/1996297/

Japan finally moving towards an open economy...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21799683


The TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, is a proposed free trade deal currently being negotiated between 11 countries. Japan is now interested in joining this trade agreement but certain protests have been formed because they feel that it will be detrimental to a few sectors of the Japanese economy such as agriculture & farming. Having said that, the Prime Minister thinks that this is a key move for Japan to make because most of the other Asian economies are moving towards a more open economy, and as we've learnt in class being in an open economy encourages a lot more economic growth which will be very beneficial for Japan!

How income distribution affects living standards today

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21571882-life-edges-americas-financial-mainstream-margin-calls

Low-income Households vs. Pay-day Lenders

This article focused on how payday lenders and cheque-casher services are taking advantage of low-income households in America and charging interest rates upwards of 400% annually. These companies rely on the poorer portion of the population to take out loans to cover basic daily needs and are then forced into taking out more loans to cover up the original debt. This trap not only keeps the low-income borrowers in debt but is unnecessary since these sorts of services scare lower income households away from placing what little money they have in banks and forfeit the ability to make interest off of a savings account. If large banks started opening basic and simple savings accounts targeted at lower-income individuals this could greatly reduce the risk of low-income families carrying big amounts of cash while still reaping the benefits of acquiring a moderate revenue from a portion of the population that has three times the overall rate of households without savings accounts.

Record order of 234 Airbus Planes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-21833501

An Indonesian Airline known as Lion Air has made a record order of 234 Airbus planes for the aircraft producer Airbus. All the planes will be produced in France and will create 5000 jobs. France currently is facing 10% unemployment and this order by Lion Air will definitely help add jobs. Lion beat its own record order from the year before for 230 planes this year and by the time all these planes re delivered, it will be among the top 10 airlines in terms of number of aircrafts. Indonesian air traffic is expected to grow by about 20% while the economy is growing at 6%.


The UK has also invested £2bn in it's airspace industry, which currently employs over 230,000 people and supports 3000 companies. 

California tied with Rhode Island for highest jobless rate

 http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-state-jobless-rates-20130318,0,2667538.story

Unemployment in the United States is slowly but surely decreasing.  Bureau of Labor Statistics have recently added that “for the U.S. as a whole, hiring accelerated in February, with employers adding 236,000 net new jobs compared with 119,000 in January.”  They are not amazing improvements but we are getting there.  California although has the highest unemployment than the other 48 states, their employment rate has increased.  There were only 8 states that their unemployment significantly increased, for instance, “Illinois and Mississippi each saw a jump of 0.4 of a percentage point in their jobless rates, to 9% and 9.3% respectively.”  The unemployment rate may be high such as in California but the improvement on employment has improved rapidly.  These improvements so far looks like a good sign for us once we graduate but we will still be in trouble.

California, Rhode Island have highest unemployment

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-state-jobless-rates-20130318,0,2667538.story

According to the latest numbers on payroll count, California and Rhode Island are the two states tied in for the highest unemployment rate at 9.8%. This is despite the fact that California has the second highest job growth rate (2%). This shows, according to the author, that California was one of the states worst hit by the 2008 recession and that the recovery is fast, now that the recession is over.

Texas was the leader in job rate growth with the rate of growth at 3.1%. Western states have performed better as compared to Northeastern states with respect to job growth. This is due to the fact that Northeast has large financial ties with Europe, which is still struggling. The West, on the other hand, experienced growth because of growth in the energy sector, technology, housing market and due to trade with Asia.
Midwestern states also had greater growth than the East Coast. This is because of growth in the manufacturing industry (mostly the car industry).

North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate at 3.3%.

Obama nominates Tom Perez as secretary of labor

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/18/us-usa-cabinet-labor-idUSBRE92H02520130318

Today President Obama nominated Tom Perez as Secretary of Labor. As the secretary of labor Perez will be working on key issues that have been topics of discussion for a long time, immigration reforms and raising the minimum wage. Being the son of immigrants some republicans in congress are hesitant to confirm his nomination in fear that he will loosen the reigns on immigration laws and allow the country's 11 million illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship. Obama has also proposed a increase in minimum wage that the labor department has been promoting and Perez will be spearheading if his nomination goes is accepted. 

Games industry employment increases in UK

This article talks about an increase in the employment levels in the UK Games industry. A report released by the video game industry trade association Tiga found that both investment and employment have gone up in this particular industry. This increase in employment has come after a three year decline period in staff numbers. It was also found that the gaming industry contributed £947 million to UK's GDP for 2012.

An increase in the number of studios and creative staff was seen from the previous year and this has also lead to an investment of £ 427 million in games. There are three main factors which contributed to this rise . The first being the increase in sales of mobile and tablet devices which have created a demand for games and also for the gaming market. The second being the closure of big console based studious which was followed by a rise in small start up companies. The last one being the games tax relief initiative .

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21828869

Worries over Cyprus bailout deal

http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/17/investing/stocks-lookahead/index.html?iid=Lead

On Saturday, the EU unveiled a 10 billion euro plan to rescue Cyprus' outsized banking sector and avoid a default. The EU's plan has required a one-time tax of 6.755 on bank deposits of less than 100,000 euros and 9.9% for those over that amount, starting Tuesday. Citizens of Cyprus are rushing to the bank to withdraw as much money as possible to avoid this tax. This is a complete disaster occurring in Cyprus. The fear and expectations of many Europeans is that this may happen again soon, the EU may have to bail out another nation. "The question is whether this becomes a full-blown crisis or a mini-crisis," said Steven Englander, global head of foreign exchange strategy at Citi. With Cyprus being such a small nation, this will not be a large bailout plan, but it is not encouraging to see that Cyprus is close to defaulting. Could this bailout lead to a global financial disaster? While Europeans prepare for the worst, the U.S. Feds plan to meet to discuss interest rates. The current interest rates in the United states are at a record low, which could be an encouraging sign for our economy. 

Cyprus bailout leads to change in investment

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/yen-firms-asia-shares-fall-001926588.html

The above article discusses the change in investment in light of the recent bailout deal for Cyprus. Two commodities in particular that saw more investment were the U.S. Dollar and gold. As a result, the value of both items increased relative to other items in the market. Risk sensitive assets saw a huge decrease in investment after news of the bailout broke. It remains to be seen whether Cyprus accepts the terms of the bailout deal.

How much will ObamaCare cost you?

ObamaCare Costs

Reading this article I can not decide if the author does not have a side in this debate, but she does make a few good points about the health care. The new policy will eventually end up equaling that of an expensive plan.
"Most news reports have emphasized that refusal to comply with the health insurance mandate subjects these “scofflaws” to a “modest fee.” But some citizens could face much higher tax taxes — $12,000 a year or more — for failing to comply." Not only is the price going to be high they are going to be very strict on collecting it, it will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Stocks risk harder drop if Fed hints at tapering

How Fed meeting could move stocks, bank shares, gold, Treasurys 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stocks-risk-harder-drop-if-fed-hints-at-tapering-2013-03-17?link=MW_popular

Analysts say the central bank is wary of creating turmoil for markets, and expect the Fed to largely stick to its script this week, which would result in bond yields remaining in ranges and gold clinging to a recent downtrend. 

“The Fed understands this is a touchy subject...and at some point, they have to put their foot off the gas. The key will be how they do it, how they signal it,” said Matthew Tuttle, chief investment officer at Tuttle Wealth Management LLC.  

The Fed is prepping for a 2 day meeting where they are expected to keep interest rates at their already near zero level, they are also expected to continue their policy of buying mortage and treasury debt at 85 billion a month.

The market has been on a downward trend and any indication of change in policy would result in a further pullback in the market. The Fed is expected to make it's decision by 2pm eastern time this Wednesday.

The future of clean energy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21804509

 

With the global rising prices of oil and gas, President Barack Obama understands the need for a shift from gas-fueled cars to energy efficient ones.  The president proposed his idea in his State of the Union address in which he would create a trust fund, at $200m a year for 10 years and that would allow the US to “break this cycle of spiking gas prices […] and to shift our cars entirely, our cars and trucks, off oil”. However, this might still be a farfetched dream since for the approval of the trust would require congressional approval, which is much divided in terms of energy issues. While Obama believes this reduce dependency in oil would provide more independence for the US from oil-producing countries, create jobs and keep the US as a technology leader, house republicans argue that "For this proposal to even be plausible, oil and gas leasing on federal land would need to increase dramatically" in order to keep investments safe from failures of groundbreaking innovations in the clean energy sector, such as the high-profile failure of California solar panel maker Solyndra, which had received $527m of government money, and  became a political cudgel for Republicans to bash the White House.