Euro Zone Maneuvers Seeking Stability

Steve is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

Last Thursday, equity markets in the United States rallied 2% on Mario Draghi's commitment to unlimited purchases of bonds to lower borrowing costs for the region?s struggling economies. This news was also cheered by the world?s markets as evidence that the ECB will be able to produce much desired stability in the euro zone and its currency, the euro. However, the announcement conflicts with the position of Germany?s Bundesbank, which has Euroland?s deepest pockets. Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann voted against the program and two events set to occur during the month of September could derail investor?s growing enthusiasm.

This week, the German Constitutional Court is set to rule on the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund. If the court rejects Germany?s support for the fund, as some see as the likely outcome, fresh worries about the uncertainty of the euro zone and its currency could unnerve investors. Following that potential disruption to the market will be Greece?s deadline by month's end for adopting new budgetary measures. Failure by Greece to meet expectations with its budget, which has been all too common since the financial collapse, could rock the markets by reintroducing the ugly specter of Greece?s distress and possible exit from the euro. So, while the ECB announcement of unlimited bond buying was welcome news as far as it went, investors must be wary that the path forward in September is fraught with potential land mines that could reverse any gains seen this week.

Companies selling into the euro zone that will feel the influence of the European maneuvers include Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL)

, a worldwide supplier in the beverage can market. This market is dominated by an oligopoly that also includes Crown Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CCK) and Rexam Plc. Nearly all of the European supply of beverage cans is sold by one of these three companies. Another company selling heavily into the European market is McCormick & Co. (NYSE: MKC), the leading global manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of spices and other flavorings, which gets about 20% of its revenue from the region. 

The market reaction to the ECB announcement by these individual companies? shares reflects, at least in part, their European exposure. For those looking to invest in Europe through any of these names, forward PE and price to earnings to growth (PEG) multiples are useful indicators of their relative potential. Ball is expected to grow earnings at 9.2% and trades at a PE of 12.9x and PEG of 1.4x. This PEG exceeds that of Crown at 1.2x and is comparable to Rexam at 1.4x. Crown and Rexam trade at PE's of 11.0x and 17.7x, respectively, while their growth rates are estimated at 9.2% and 12.9%, respectively. Based on these metrics alone, Crown is currently the most attractive of the beverage can oligopoly. McCormick is projected to grow earnings by 9.8% going forward and investors are willing to pay for this growth as demonstrated by its PE of 18.8x and PEG of 1.9x, which is at the high end of my preferred 1x-2x range.

Although no one can say definitively what Mario Draghi and the other euro zone players will do as they continue the struggle to revive Europe, the process will be rocky and investors should be wary of latching onto any news that appears to be ?proof? of success on the continent. This brief PEG analysis of these companies participating in the European market is merely one aspect of the due diligence investors should conduct to gain sufficient knowledge of the investment attractiveness of each of the companies.

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Source: http://feeds.fool.com/~r/usmf/foolwatch/~3/1KypxWn5yAQ/story01.htm

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10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell (AAPL, F, FB)

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Good morning. Here's what you need to know.

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Benefits of Credit Card Debt Consolidation

Consolidation Loans with Bad Credit Is debt consolidation a good solution for my credit card debts? Debtors, upon realizing that in a few years their credit cards would have accumulated thousands of dollars through interests ask the same question. Credit card purchases, in many instances are actually more expensive because of high interest rates. Someone [...]

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Source: http://www.legaldebthelponline.com/2012/06/29/benefits-of-credit-card-debt-consolidation/

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3 Hiring Mistakes to Avoid

According to a recent study from the U.S. Department of Labor, the average number of years a worker stays at a job is 4.4. An additional 91% of Millennials (15?35- year-olds) believe they?ll stay on the job less than three years. The days of 30-year, gold-watch-earning team members are officially gone.

So what?s the big deal? People change jobs all of the time. It?s critical because turnover hurts your bottom line. In fact, it?s been estimated that it costs $3,500 to replace one $8-per-hour worker. But that?s just the beginning. The longer a team member has been with the company, the harder they are to replace. Add the loss of morale on your team to that, and the price has skyrocketed.

So how can you grow a team that is so passionate about their jobs that the thought of jumping ship is as foreign to them as frog legs for Sunday dinner? It all begins with the hiring process. When you have the right people on board, turnover drops. Get on the right track by avoiding these hiring mistakes.

Hiring Too Quickly

We?ve all been there. You?re so short of help, you are willing to take the next warm body who walks through the door. Bad idea. Within six months, odds are you?ll be trying to fill that same position again.

The Solution: You have to be willing to wait for the perfect person?one who shares your values, work ethic, etc. At Dave?s company, team members are interviewed an average of eight or nine times before getting the job, with the process usually taking three to four months.

Letting Crazy In

When hiring someone, you are employing more than just the person. You?re taking on the whole family. And when they are married to someone who is domineering, unstable or simply full of drama, you?ll end up with a team member who can?t be creative, productive or excellent.

The Solution: Part of the 12-step hiring process at Dave?s company includes a spousal interview. The leader and their spouse meet for dinner with the job candidate and their significant other. It?s not a formal interview; it?s more a time to hang out and get to know each other. A candidate?s spouse can tell you pretty quickly whether the position will really work for the family.

Choosing Talent Over Passion

There are lots of great candidates out there with incredible talent and experience, but that doesn?t mean they are the person for the job. In fact, they could be a jerk who will never fit in.

The Solution: When interviewing a candidate, you are not looking for the best team member?you?re looking for the right one. Do they light up when they talk about the job? Are they full of enthusiasm? If they?re just looking for a paycheck, they?ll never be satisfied with any position.

By avoiding these mistakes, you?ll be well on your way to building a highly motivated, ridiculously happy team who will not only shine but also be with you for a long time. Everyone wins.

This article originally appeared in the EntreLeadership Advisor, Dave Ramsey's business and leadership newsletter. Sign up now to get it delivered straight to your inbox twice a month.

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Source: http://www.daveramsey.com/article/3-hiring-mistakes-to-avoid/lifeandmoney_business

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This Conservative Poll Contains One Of The Worst Signs Yet For Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney

It hasn't exactly been a great week of polling for Mitt Romney, but a new finding from the conservative-leaning Rasmussen polling firm might top the week of bad news. 

The poll finds that President Obama leads Republican nominee Mitt Romney, 47 percent to 45 percent, to handle the issue of job creation. It's an issue that 95 percent of voters said that the issue will be important to them when they vote this November. 

The poll shows that despite some less-than-stellar jobs reports this summer — including one last week — Romney still is having trouble turning the election into an economic referendum on Obama. 

Combined with today's new ABC/Washington Post poll that gives Obama an advantage on handling the economy, the Rasmussen results suggest that Romney has lost a crucial edge on the two issues — jobs and the economy — that serve as his calling card for election. 

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/rxChujIhbcg/rasmussen-poll-romney-obama-job-creation-2012-9

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10 Frightening Ways Doctors Used To Treat Mental Disorders

trepanation, skull

Nobody ever claimed a visit to the doctor was a pleasant way to pass the time.

But if you’re timid about diving onto a psychiatrist’s couch or paranoid about popping pills, remember: It could be worse.

Like getting-a-hole-drilled-into-your-skull worse.

In 1927, a Viennese doctor used insulin overdoses to put patients in a coma and "cure" their drug addictions.

The coma-therapy trend began in 1927. Viennese physician Manfred Sakel accidentally gave one of his diabetic patients an insulin overdose, and it sent her into a coma. But what could have been a major medical faux pas turned into a triumph. The woman, a drug addict, woke up and declared her morphine craving gone. Then Sakel (who really isn’t earning our trust here) made the same mistake with another patient, who also woke up claiming to be cured.

Before long, Sakel was intentionally testing the therapy with other patients and reporting a 90 percent recovery rate, particularly among schizophrenics. Strangely, however, Sakel’s treatment successes remain a mystery. Presumably, a big dose of insulin causes blood sugar levels to plummet, which starves the brain of food and sends the patient into a coma. But why this unconscious state would help psychiatric patients is anyone’s guess.

Regardless, the popularity of insulin therapy faded, mainly because it was dangerous. Slipping into a coma is no walk in the park, and between one and two percent of treated patients died as a result.

Ancient cultures used to drill holes in peoples' skulls to get rid of "demons lurking inside." Some people still use this therapy today.

Ancient life was not without its hazards. Between wars, drunken duels, and the occasional run-in with an inadequately domesticated pig, it’s no surprise that archaic skulls tend to have big holes in them.

But not all holes are created with equal abandon. Through the years, archaeologists have uncovered skulls marked by a carefully cut circular gap, which shows signs of being made long before the owner of the head passed away. These fractures were no accident; they were the result of one of the earliest forms of psychiatric treatment called trepanation. The basic theory behind this “therapy” holds that insanity is caused by demons lurking inside the skull. Boring a hole in the patient’s head creates a door through which the demons can escape, and—voila—out goes the crazy.

Despite the peculiarity of the theory and lack of major-league anesthetics, trepanation was by no means a limited phenomenon. From the Neolithic era to the early 20th century, cultures all over the world used it as a way to cure patients of their ills. Doctors eventually phased out the practice as less, er, invasive procedures were developed. Average Joes, on the other hand, didn’t all follow suit. Trepanation patrons still exist. In fact, they even have their very own organizations … and Web sites! Check out the International Trepanation Advocacy Group at www.trepan.com if you’re still curious.

CHECK OUT: 10 Peculiar Things Public Schools Have Banned >

Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin's grandfather, tried to spin the crazy out of his patients using "rotational therapy."

Charles Darwin’s grandfather Erasmus Darwin was a physician, philosopher, and scientist, but he wasn’t particularly adept at any of the three. Consequently, his ideas weren’t always taken seriously. Of course, this could be because he liked to record them in bad poetic verse (sample: “By immutable immortal laws / Impress’d in Nature by the great first cause, / Say, Muse! How rose from elemental strife / Organic forms, and kindled into life”).

It could also be because his theories were a bit far-fetched, such as his spinning-couch treatment. Darwin’s logic was that sleep could cure disease and that spinning around really fast was a great way to induce the slumber.

Nobody paid much attention to it at first, but later, American physician Benjamin Rush adapted the treatment for psychiatric purposes. He believed that spinning would reduce brain congestion and, in turn, cure mental illness. He was wrong. Instead, Rush just ended up with dizzy patients who were still crazy. These days, rotating chairs are limited to the study of vertigo and space sickness.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Apple, iOS 6 & Mobile Payments ? One More Thing for the iPhone 5?

Assembling various pieces of data, it looks like Apple may surprise with a mobile payment option tied to credit cards and Apple IDs when it announced the new iPhone and iOS 6

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/09/11/apple-ios-6-mobile-payments-one-more-thing-for-the-iphone-5/

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A Million Bucks In Scholarships ? That?s Not Me Kidding around!

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Learn The Value Of Canny House loan Research

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Source: http://www.legaldebthelponline.com/2012/06/27/learn-the-value-of-canny-house-loan-research/

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Should Your Landlord Be Able To Decide If Your Significant Other Can Stay The Night?

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Source: http://consumerist.com/2012/09/should-your-landlord-be-able-to-decide-if-your-significant-other-can-stay-the-night.html

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