Federal Reserve Current Prime Interest Rate - Market Update

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Federal Reserve, every now and then takes care of the economy and the growth of it. The Federal Reserve tries to balance the economy thereby, stipulating the growth, and make sure that no problems are hovering around in the economy.

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New Poll Shatters Romney's Electability Argument


mitt romney

Mitt Romney has long-claimed he stands the best chance at defeating President Barack Obama, pointing to polling numbers showing him polling nearly even with Obama in key swing states. But now he's not the only one.

A new Quinnipiac poll of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida voters shows Gingrich polling within the margin of error of where Romney performs against Obama:

  • Florida: Romney with 45 percent to Obama’s 42 percent; Obama at 46 percent to Gingrich’s 44 percent.
  • Ohio: Romney at 43 percent to Obama’s 42 percent; Gingrich with 43 percent to Obama’s 42 percent.
  • Pennsylvania: Obama edging Romney 46 – 43 percent; Obama tops Gingrich 48 – 40 percent.

The margin of error for each head-to-head matchup is just over 2 percent.

Gingrich also holds large double-digit leads in the primary races in all three swing states — which is particularly relevant in the early-voting Florida.

While there are certainly many components to "electability" — from temperament to appeal to independents — Romney no longer has a monopoly on the promising poll numbers. Yet another reason for him to worry.

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REPORT: At Least One European Central Bank Is Dusting Off Its Old Printing Press


printing press

As the eurozone debt crisis persists, one plan of action that hasn't been completely pulled off the table is a break up of the eurozone, which would involve countries abandoning the euro.

According to WSJ reporters David Enrich, Deborah Ball and Alistair MacDonald, at least one eurozone country's central bank is holding meetings to plan for such a scenario.

In recent weeks, officials at Ireland's central bank have held preliminary discussions about whether they might need to acquire additional printing capacity in case the euro zone ruptures or Ireland exits in order to return to its prior currency, the Irish pound, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials have discussed reactivating old printers or enlisting a private company, the people said. "All kinds of things are being looked at that weren't being looked at two months ago," according to a person at one meeting. A spokeswoman for the Irish Central Bank declined to comment.

In a recent note to clients, Nomura estimated the value of each country's currency in the event of a euro breakup. According to their analysis, Ireland's currency would depreciate by 28.6% over a five year period against the current EUR/USD rate.

SEE ALSO: MORGAN STANLEY: This Is What The Euro Economy Will Do In 2012 And 2013

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Fair Debt Collection Means Following The Rules

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Did you ever feel as if you were unfairly losing a battle with a debt collector? If so, you may not be aware of the legal arsenal available to you.

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MEMO: Democrats Hit Romney For 'Multiple Political Personality Disorder'


mitt romney

A new hard-hitting memo from the Democratic National Committee attacks Mitt Romney for having "multiple political personalities" — an extension of the long-running charges of flip-flopping leveled against the one-time GOP front-runner.

The DNC has dominated the anti-Romney ad space, largely because the other Republican candidates have been unwilling — or unable — to land any blows against him. The new memo notes Romney's latest reinvention — from, as the DNC puts it, The Economic “Mr. Fix-It” to PalainRich (Palin-Cain-Gingrich) — as a result of Newt Gingrich's rise to front-runner status.

Despite Gingrich's rise, polls still show Romney as most competative against President Barack Obama in a general election matchup.

Read the memo below:

DNC Memo 

From:    Brad Woodhouse, Communications Director, Democratic National Committee

To:         Interested Parties

Date:     December 7, 2011

RE:        Mitt Romney and the plague of Multiple Political Personality Disorder (MPPD)


Mitt Romney’s two decade political career has been characterized by one reboot after another of his campaign, political  strategy and even his beliefs.  If you combine the number of times Mitt Romney has “revamped” his approach to his various campaigns and his positions on the issues he could easily be diagnosed with multiple political personality disorder – or MPPD. 

If we were extremely generous and set aside Mitt Romney’s constant and politically calculated shape-shifting on issues, looking only at his multiple political personalities over the course of his nearly 20 year political career,  we still woke this morning to at least personality number five after the latest re-launch of his campaign. 

Here’s a look at the multiple political personalities of Mitt Romney: 

 

The Unabashed Social Liberal: When he ran for the Senate in 1994, he was an unabashed social liberal – proclaiming to be more of a champion for gay rights and a woman’s right to choose than even Ted Kennedy.  He also held himself out as the ultimate independent Republican – famously rejecting the Reagan-Bush era by declaring in one debate with Kennedy: “I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush.  I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.”  

The Competent Manager: By the time he ran for Governor in 2002, Mitt Romney was on to personality number two – the competent manager who was best suited to run the state – a moderate Republican who promoted the role of government in solving tough problems like health care and climate change – and who was still a social liberal on issues like abortion.

The Social Conservative: By 2007 when he started running for President, Mitt Romney, who once said he be a better advocate for gay rights than Ted Kennedy, ran as a social conservative – appearing before every right wing social gathering he could find to promote his brand new anti-choice, anti-gay rights social views.  He even tried to out-social conservative Mike Huckabee and ran hard to win over Iowa’s social conservative voters in an unsuccessful effort to win the state’s first in the nation caucus. 

The Economic “Mr. Fix-It”: After personality number three failed to win Romney the Republican nomination in 2008, he was on to political personality number four in 2011.  An economic “Mr. Fix It” whose private sector experience was supposed to set him apart from the rest of the field.  Gone were his desperate appeals to social conservatives to accept him as one of their own and instead Romney, for the better part of year, focused almost exclusively on the economy and shied away from personal political attacks on his primary opponents.

But while Romney campaigned as the presumed nominee – training all his fire on President Obama and ignoring his rivals – an unexpected roadblock popped up in his path in the form of…Newt Gingrich.

PalainRich (Palin-Cain-Gingrich): Time for another reboot, and political personality number five.  Now Mitt Romney has morphed into some bizarre version of Sarah Palin, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich.  In a speech today he stopped even pretending he cares about the middle class and instead echoed these tea party favorites in blaming the middle class for the struggles they face.  Instead of believing that Americans are greater together, Mitt Romney has, overnight, adopted the far right wing view that the middle class and people trying to enter it should simply be on their own to fend for themselves.

Mitt Romney woke up this morning channeling the inner tea party voices of the likes of Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich for one reason and one reason alone: to try to gin up interest for a campaign that has rarely found the support of more than 25 percent of the primary electorate.  After all, what’s a candidate to do when he’s been campaigning for president for half a decade but still has 75 to 80 percent of voters in HIS OWN party who prefer someone else – almost anyone else – to him?

The Romney campaign also signaled today that they are ready to get negative and personal – preparing to send out surrogates to attack Newt Gingrich’s private life in a desperate attempt to block his path to victory.

The problem for Mitt Romney is his latest reinvention is no more likely to be successful than the last, or the one before that, because it feeds the very problem his reinventions seem to be trying to solve: that with Mitt Romney, you never you know what you are going to get and you simply can’t trust him to lead.

IT’S JUST MATH: 75% > 25%

WITH ROMNEY VERSION 5.0, MITT HAS STARTED ANGLING FOR THE ANYONE-BUT-ROMNEY VOTE

ROMNEY IS REBOOTING HIS CAMPAIGN TO ATTACK NEWT GINGRICH

HEADLINE: “Newt Gingrich Poll Vault Prompts Mitt Romney Reboot” [Politico12/7/11]

The Romney Campaign Is “Making An Immediate Shift In Tactics.” “The Mitt Romney campaign is making an immediate shift in tactics, a move that is necessary because, as one Republican close to the campaign put it, “What they are doing now isn’t working.’” [ABC News Radio, 12/6/11]

Romney Campaign Strategy: Use Surrogates To Make References To Gingrich’s Past. “Integrity: When former Vice President Dan Quayle spoke about the importance of Romney’s integrity ‘when he’s in public life. When he’s in private life,’ that was no accident. Romney will not go after Gingrich on personal issues, but ABC News has learned that you can expect to see Romney surrogates making fairly direct references to Gingrich’s tumultuous past, in the vein of what Quayle did. You can also expect to see Ann Romney and the Romney family on the trail much more, especially in South Carolina, to create a visual contrast. Their presence on the trail ‘speaks for itself.’” [ABC News Radio, 12/6/11]

Romney Campaign Strategy: Attack Gingrich’s Temperament. “Temperament: The Romney team sees Gingrich’s temperament as a weakness. Romney himself will highlight the importance of temperament by discussing his record as a leader. Surrogates are likely to go after Newt directly. The question that will be posed is, ‘Who do you want to make decisions?’ One Romney adviser added, ‘Gingrich is everything people don’t like about Washington.’ Romney might not try to directly rough up Gingrich at the ABC News debate Saturday in Iowa, but he will try to establish that contrast in leadership and temperament and hope Gingrich digs a hole for himself. ‘Gingrich never does well when he’s doing well,’ a Romney aide said.” [ABC News Radio, 12/6/11]

ROMNEY RECENTLY HIRED SARAH PALIN’S SPEECHWRITER…

In Recent Weeks Romney Hired Former Palin Speechwriter Lindsay Hayes. “[Romney campaign’s chief strategist, Stuart] Stevens, who has made a second career out of writing dialogue for recurring TV characters, persuaded Romney to surrender the speechwriting responsibilities to him — and in recent weeks, Stevens in turn has deferred to the punchy prose of Lindsay Hayes, a former speechwriter for Sarah Palin.” [New York Times11/30/11]

…AND HIS SPEECH TODAY AT THE RJC CHANNELS THE RHETORIC OF TEA PARTY FAVORITES GINGRICH, CAIN, AND PALIN

Mitt Romney: “President Obama is replacing our merit-based, opportunity-based society with an entitlement society.” [Romney, Speech to Republican Jewish Coalition, 12/7/11]

  • Newt Gingrich: "Over the last 40 years, we have become an entitlement society. We have evolved into people who say 'Give it to me now.'" [Telegraph Herald, 5/4/06]
  • Herman Cain: ''We must go from an entitlement society to an empowerment society, which means we help people help themselves.” [New York Times, 11/6/11]

Mitt Romney: “That which is earned by some is redistributed to others. And the only people to enjoy truly disproportionate rewards are the people who do the redistributing – the government.” [Romney, Speech to Republican Jewish Coalition, 12/7/11]

  • Newt Gingrich: “Now you have a president who says openly, you know, some people make too much money, and maybe he should decide. Now, I mean, his idea of redistribution is that politicians decide how much you ought to get to keep of what you earn.” [Newt Gingrich, On The Record With Greta Van Susteren, 5/20/10]
  • Newt Gingrich: ‘He wants to redistribute wealth. I want to make sure everybody has a chance to create wealth. You know, if somebody hasn’t created it, you can’t redistribute it.’” [Newsmax, 3/5/11]
  • Sarah Palin: “Voters were not told what it was that he truly believed in until we saw some snippets here and there that were uncensored, unedited when he alluded to his desire to redistribute wealth and to fundamentally, transform America. Now, people are realizing what he meant by that. Fundamental transformation of America and they are saying no, that is not what we need. What we need is a great restoration of America.” [Fox News, 8/12/11]

Mitt Romney: “President Obama has adopted an appeasement strategy.” [Romney, Speech to Republican Jewish Coalition, 12/7/11]

  • Newt Gingrich: “The Administration's commitment to "multilateralism" at the U.N. is nothing more than appeasement.” [Human Events, 8/9/11]
  • Herman Cain: “Appeasement is not a strategy. As Ronald Reagan proved, strength is thestrategy.” [World Net Daily, 5/2/11]

Mitt Romney: “This election will come down to a president who wants to ‘fundamentally transform’ America, and a Republican candidate who can restore America and get back to the founding principles that made this nation great. “ [Romney, Speech to Republican Jewish Coalition, 12/7/11]

  • Newt Gingrich: “President Obama Wants To Change America Into A Different Country. I Want To Renew The American Dream.” “‘I think President Obama wants to change America into a different country. I want to renew the American dream, that all of us are endowed by our creator with certain alienable rights, that we have the right to pursue happiness.” [Newsmax, 3/5/11]
  • Sarah Palin:  "We must not fundamentally transform America as some would want; we must restore America and restore her honor." [National Journal, 10/2/10]

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Incredible Images Competing In The National Geographic Photo Of The Year Contest


DON'T USE, KAMELIA

National Geographic is currently considering photo submissions for its annual Photo of the Year contest.

Over 20,000 photos are competing in three categories -- people, places and nature. The top winner will be selected among the finalists in these groups and will be awarded $10,000 among other coveted prizes.

Nat Geo was kind to share with us some of its editors' favorite images that are in the running. The winner will be announced on December 15.

Water Temple During Sunset

Photo and caption by Byron Yu/National Geographic Photo Contest

A temple built to server the Goddess of the Lake; I experienced a brief moment of piety when the sunset bounced off the backdrop of the clouds.

Celestial Falls

Photo and caption by Tyler Roemer /National Geographic Photo Contest

Christie Glissmeyer of Hood River, Oregon is leading the women's white water boating industry and pushing the boundaries to the next level. Glissmeyer is the women's world waterfall record holder of 82 feet off of Metlako Falls. She has also won multiple white water kayaking competitions. Pictured here is Celestial Falls along the White River in Oregon, which is tucked away close to a sleepy cowboy town in Tygh Valley.  On a icy 28 degree Super Bowl Sunday morning Christie is setting herself up for the fifty + footer off of the falls which was pumping out about 260 CFS that day.

The Gemini Tower

Photo and caption by Elena Baroni/National Geographic Photo Contest

Copenhagen, The Gemini Towers, private residential building by the river. I had to wait about 2 hrs and hoped some residents would come in or out and kindly let me in. It was worth waiting coz this building its so unreal.

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A Day in the Life of EntreLeadership Master Series

You could feel it in the air. The excitement was palpable. Recently in San Antonio, Texas, lives were being changed. Businesses were mending and leaders were taking the first steps in creating cultures that will take their companies to heights they?ve never imagined. Welcome to EntreLeadership Master Series.

On day two, the topic on everyone?s mind was hiring. Dave took the attendees through his process early in the morning. The event continued with a panel of his leaders, including Debbie LoCurto, vice president, Financial Peace University Church Department, Matt Woodburn, chief operating officer, Bill Hampton, executive vice president, plus Dave, sitting down to answer any questions in a no-holds-barred session. Here?s a sampling of some of the inquiries and the solutions offered.

Q: How do I inspire employees who are not getting the job done? I usually tell them once or twice to get their act together. If they don?t, I get ticked off and fire them. How can I avoid this and start building a company where people want to do their best work?

Debbie: I would have everyone write down what they do every week. That?s your starting point. Then, sit down with each of them and discuss what they have written. After the meeting, create key results areas for each position. Most corporations would call these job descriptions. But it?s much more. It?s defining in detail what winning in that position looks like. A job description gets you hired. The key results area moves your company forward. This is what you need to execute week in and week out.

Bill: One thing we?ve learned is that sometimes what the person thinks they are supposed to be doing and what you are expecting are totally different. When they write it out, it will help you clarify each position. You can then say, ?Hey, that?s exactly what they are supposed to be doing,? or ?Oh man, we?re way off.?

Matt: Once you get that put together, you hopefully have a meeting of the minds. To make sure everybody stays on the same page, require your team to turn in weekly reports. A lot of elements that go into that weekly report are going to come from their key results areas. It?s going to give you a one- to two-page quick glance what that team member accomplished for the week for you, and if they are staying on track.

Q: I have a hard time finding qualified candidates to join our team. How can I generate a bigger pool?

Matt: We are experiencing something similar in our company. It?s been very hard to find technical hires for web development, programming, etc. We are experimenting with some recruiting companies that will actually go out and target people of these specific talents. We are also creating a branding campaign that will go out to all kinds of potential candidates. It tells them what a great place we are to work for. We want them to think of us like they think of Google or Amazon for some super-tech programming jobs.

Find out where the talent you are trying to attract gather. Do they have a convention? Can you set up a booth there? You need to somehow get your name out to them.

Dave: You need to put a bounty on the position. Pay your team for referrals. And then, get your team jacked up about it. Try to do some blogging and get some awards for being the best place in the world to work?your culture, integrity, who you are, the pay. Build up your reputation. Then it becomes a privilege for someone to work there.

We?ve won ?Best Place to Work in Nashville? five times in a row. Everybody is yakking about us. It creates a buzz out there, and that is what you want.

Q: I?m ready to hire my first team member. You always recommend multiple, multiple interviews, but at what point does the candidate think I?m crazy? Do I need to put on a fake mustache?

Bill: All your interviews don?t have to be that formal. Maybe the first time, you have coffee with the guy. It?s brief. Then you get together in a more formal interview. After that, go tee it up or just hang out. Then, meet with the guy and his spouse. You learn so much more just hanging out than in a specific interview. Very quickly, you can decide whether he has the skills for the job or not. That?s the easy one. It?s the other factors. It?s his integrity. It?s his character. It?s his personality.

You need to tell him that it?s going to take numerous interviews on the front end, though, so he doesn?t think you are a crazy freak. Say something like, ?We are going to take all this time because we care about you, and we care about your family. I would much rather figure out now that you are the wrong person for the position then figure it out a month after you got here. So I apologize for the time we take in this interview process.?

At the end of day, I care about them. And I want to find out before the process starts whether they are right or wrong. They?ll thank you for it later.

Dave: I would recommend just claiming up front what you are doing: ?This matters so much to me that we are just going to take some time. It?s going to seem a little weird. What I really want to do is let you get to know me to see if you want to work on this team. I want to get to know you too. We?re just going to talk a long time four or five times in different settings and get to know each other.?

No leader should lead without these principles. It?s what your team members need to see in you, and what you want to see in them. Learn more about the EntreLeadership Live Events, and put Dave's 20 years of proven business principles to work for you.

In 20 years, Dave has grown his company to a national winning brand with more than 300 team members who have impacted millions of lives. His company has been named one of the ?Best Places to Work in Nashville? four years in a row. EntreLeadership is how he?s done it and how you can do it too. Get your copy of the new book now!

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The Pirate Scourge Is Having Some Unfortunate Side Effects For Luxury Yachters


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In recent years, the activity of pirates in the Arabian Sea has brought increased attention to the area.

But it has also decreased the number of luxury yachts.

Sail World is reporting that the fear of piracy has caused a severe reduction in the number of yachts expected to travel near Yemen and Oman in 2012.

Only two years ago, up to 200 yachts traveled these waters, but in 2011 only 55 owners risked the journey through the dangerous area. Many yacht rallies and events in the region are already being cancelled for 2012 as the number is expected to decrease even further.

Earlier this year, a US team of four in a rally were murdered by pirates while a Danish crew of ten were held hostage for months. Another South African couple are still being held hostage.

While there is an increased military presence in the area, yachters are not being guaranteed of a safe journey. Without a solution in place, boaters who want to remain safe are being forced to travel around the Cape of Good Hope instead of taking the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean Sea.

The lack of stability and safety in the waters is affecting the industry side as well. Because it is recommended that boaters avoid the area, the marina business is far below its previous glory.

Now check out the yacht of the week >

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Twilio Raises Another $17 Million To Help The World Communicate


Jeff Lawson Twilio

Startup Twilio, which provides a way for software developers to add voice and SMS services to their apps, has raised $17 million round from Bessemer Venture Partners and Union Square Ventures. Both companies also invested in the company's last round.

Twilio will use the money to expand its presence around the world (which means the 85-person startup is hiring).

CEO Jeff Lawson told us the company makes a profit on its services, but is spending heavily to expand. The point of taking VC money is "to bring on headcount and really capitalize on the market leadership position that we're in."

Developers use Twilio's APIs to build voice and text messaging into their apps --  it's like Amazon Web Services, but for messaging services. We recently reported that angel investors Dave McClure and Ron Conway just created the second annual Twilio Fund for startups that use Twilio's messaging platform.

Twilio has gotten most press attention for powering consumer apps like GroupMe (which was bought by Skype only 85 days after launch, Beluga (acquired by Facebook), and Yobongo. But Lawson told us that most of the company's revenue comes from enterprises -- for instance, Hulu built its customer service line on Twilio, and Intuit was able to add two-factor authentication to its online services within days instead of the nine months it originally allotted for the project.

See also: The Ultimate Guide To Learning Brogramming -- The Hard Way

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