Zynga Continues Acquisition Hunt In Search For Next FarmVille

Acquiring mobile game developers may be a good way to increase its market share in the short term, but it isn?t a sustainable strategy, as Zynga cannot continue to pay for growth for ever.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/04/23/zynga-continues-acquisition-hunt-in-search-for-next-farmville/

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Spain Is Struggling With Its Debt, and You Should Be Worried

Spain Financial CrisisBuried deep in the depths of the daily news assault, or banished to the very periphery of your news feed, you may recently have heard or read the phrase "rising Spanish bond yields." If the remark registered at all, your brain would likely have filed it under "irrelevant."

As it turns out, these four little words are very relevant.

Lately, "rising Spanish bond yields" has been code for the potential return of economic crisis in Europe, something that, with two Greek bailouts already on the books, many hoped was over.

Here's a primer on the bond market, a look at what's happening in Spain, and why those four little words should make all of us very nervous.

The Simple Scoop on How Countries Get in Debt Trouble

When you need money over and above what you have in your checking account or stuffed in your mattress, you go to the bank and take out a loan, promising to pay the bank back its money over a defined period of time, plus interest. That's how banks make money. When a company needs money, it can also get a loan or issue what's called a bond.

A bond is a debt instrument in which a group of investors loan a company a certain amount of money for a certain period of time and receive ongoing interest payments in return. That's how bond investors make money. At the end of the agreed-upon period of time, the bond matures, and the company returns the original amount of the bond to the investors.

When a country needs money over and above what it's taking in from taxes, it too issues bonds, called sovereign bonds. And just like with a company, when a country can't keep up with the interest payments on its bonds, it can default on its debt.

The Bond Market Demands its Pound of Greek Flesh

This is essentially what happened in Greece. Since the early 2000s, the country has issued an Olympian-sized number of sovereign bonds, going deep into debt on the bond market. As word got out in 2009 that the country was running a significantly higher fiscal deficit than previously thought, the bond market got nervous about Greece's ability to make good on its debt and therefore started demanding higher interest rates on new Greek government debt.



As a result, interest rates on debt rose to a point where the country was no longer able to keep paying investors. Greece was clearly headed toward default.

Since no one was certain how a Greek default in the tightly knit, globally connected eurozone would play out on the world economic stage, Europe organized two enormous bailouts designed to keep the country solvent.

The Pain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Rest of Us

This is where you and I come in. Greece's economy is the 11th largest in the eurozone. Spain's is the fourth. Right now, Spain is struggling to control its deficits and is at the top of the list of the bond market's worries. As such, interest rates on Spanish debt are rising.

The fear is that there will be a repeat of Greece -- in other words, interest rates on Spanish debt will get so high the country will also need a bailout to keep from defaulting. Given the size of Spain's economy, that's a default that Europe may not be able to afford.

Now, back to us. Between banking and business, America and Europe are inextricably linked. Europe is currently in a recession, and after years of being in recession itself, the U.S. is on the edge of a very fragile recovery. If the bond market pushes interest rates on Spanish debt up to the breaking point, and Europe can't manage a bailout and Spain defaults, there's concern that the ensuing economic shockwaves could cross the Atlantic and send us back into recession.

Regarding the banks in particular, American and European banks were at the heart of the financial crisis and are still recovering from the beating they took. Banks that hold significant amounts of Spanish government debt could be tipped into insolvency by Spain's default on that debt.

From our own experience at the height of the financial crisis -- when the banks stopped lending to each other, to businesses, and to those of us who needed to buy cars and houses -- we know that when the banks aren't working, nothing's working.

So the next time you hear "rising Spanish bond yields," prick up your ears, and tell your brain to file those four little words under "frighteningly important."

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/04/23/spain-is-struggling-with-its-debt-and-you-should-be-worried/

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EntreLeader Spotlight: James Sweatt

EntreLeadership is not just a theory. Thousands of business owners and leaders are using Dave?s principles every day to take their companies and team members to heights they never imagined. In the EntreLeadership Spotlight series, we?ll be highlighting some of these great leaders and learning about their dreams, motivation and secrets to success.

What I Do

I?m an asset manager for Southern Company in Birmingham, Alabama. Southern Company provides electric services in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. It?s a really great place to work. I?ve been here nearly 31 years, so you know it has to be. We are consistently listed among the top U.S. electric service providers in customer satisfaction by the American Customer Satisfaction Index, and we topped Fortune magazine?s "Most Admired" list in the electric and gas utility sector for 2011.

Why I Like the DISC Profiling System

DISC helps me understand my own personality style and natural strengths and weaknesses when it comes to leading a team. I use a training/development plan to modify my natural behavior to "shore up" these areas of weakness. The DISC profile also helps me understand my team members better, enabling me to communicate and work with them more effectively.

A Characteristic Every Leader Should Possess

Vision. If you don't know where you are going, you can't lead anyone there.

My Mentors

Johnny Mitchell is a co-worker who has been a mentor to me. He exudes all aspects of servant leadership in his work.

My Best Leadership Advice

Examine your motives. If you are going into leadership for the money but you don't like building, growing, leading and maintaining teams, you are going to be very disappointed.

The Secret to My Success

Persistence.

My Favorite Movie

The World?s Fastest Indian. It?s a true story about Burt Munro, a man who followed his dream and wouldn't be denied. He set the land-speed record in 1967 after years spent building a motorcycle.

My Favorite Business App

Keynote for iPad allows you to easily build amazing presentations and share them with anyone on an iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mac or PC.

To learn more about business, team building and leadership, download our EntreLeadership Podcasts, which include lessons from Dave, plus interviews with key business leaders from across the nation. This week, host Chris LoCurto talks with Tom Rath, author of the best-selling book, StrengthsFinder 2.0.

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Source: http://www.daveramsey.com/article/entreleader-spotlight-sweatt/lifeandmoney_business

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SURPRISE! Guess Which Candidate Actually Receives The Most Negative Media Coverage.

Yep. It's Barack Obama, according to Pew Research.  

Barack Obama media coverage

From Pew's press release:

As the presidential campaign shifts from the Republican primary fights to a general election matchup between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism shows that the president’s media coverage in 2012 has been consistently negative while his Republican challenger has experienced a more mixed narrative.

Obama’s negative coverage exceeded positive coverage in 14 of 15 weeks studied, while positive coverage outweighed negative for Romney in six of the 15 weeks and was fairly evenly divided in four more.

The likely cause of this? A number of factors, most prominently the Republican primary season and the media repeating their candidates' attacks on Obama. Also, Pew cites a "tenuous" economy, the unfavorability of the health care law as it was challenged in the Supreme Court, the still-high unemployment rate, and an early-year surge in gas prices.

Please follow Politics on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/Puh-UUClSZg/obama-media-coverage-is-most-unfavorable-of-2012-candidates-2012-4

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Legal Tips For Debt Settlement ? What Consumers Need to Know About Debt Settlement

Legal Tips For Debt Settlement – What Consumers Need to Know About Debt Settlement Are you looking for an answer to the question of legality of eliminating debt? Can you legally eliminate debt? The answer is yes. You may be surprised to know that under the Constitution of the United States there is a provision [...]

Source: http://www.legaldebthelponline.com/2012/04/23/legal-tips-for-debt-settlement-what-consumers-need-to-know-about-debt-settlement/

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Ways You Can Get a Mortgage

Are you currently more than prepared to own your own home? If that is so, you can make such a thing take place by getting a home loan that really allows you to purchase the property you want. Prior to you’re able to get your hands on the needed mortgage, you will find many things [...]

Source: http://www.legaldebthelponline.com/2012/04/20/ways-you-can-get-a-mortgage/

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