Here's What Is At Stake For Republicans In Tonight's Presidential Debate


GOP tea party debate

The third Republican Presidential debate since Labor Day — and arguably the most important one yet — takes place in Florida tonight, and will it determine once and for all which candidates can compete with the top-tier on the national stage.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are the front-runners in this race, but the large field of candidates trailing may determine which finishes first, or even mount an insurgent campaign for the nomination.

Here's what's at stake for Republicans tonight:

  • Jon Huntsman: He's made some progress in New Hampshire polls, but can he truly break into this race? His debate performance at the Reagan library earlier this month was well regarded, but he faltered last week. Huntsman's (exceedingly) long-shot campaign depends on him looking the more electable candidate, while landing big blows on Perry and Romney over controversial statements in their pasts. If he can't regain his momentum tonight, he likely never will.
  • Michele Bachmann: Bachmann's campaign has undergone a slow collapse since her victory at the Iowa Straw Poll in August. After highly-embarrassing gaffes on the HPV vaccine, Bachmann needs to right the ship tonight. She can't win the nomination, but she can steal votes from Perry.
  • Ron Paul: As always, Paul has a significant and loyal base, but he has shown little ability to find an audience beyond that. His comments on the September 11th attacks last week were particularly objectionable to GOP voters, and if he ever did pick up momentum, would come back to haunt him. Tonight, he will continue his attacks on Perry, which indirectly helps the rest of the field.
  • Mitt Romney: The New Hampshire front-runner is buoyed by some big endorsement pick-ups in the past few days. He is preparing to hammer Perry on Social Security — an area they have sparred over in the past two debates. Romney will try to make Perry look extreme, but expect him to take some blows tonight as he begins to steal some of Perry's time in the spotlight.
  • Newt Gingrich: The former Speaker of the House remains a non-factor in debates, despite his carefully-reasoned answers. Gingrich has tried to refocus he debate on Obama — as if he's a representative for the GOP, not a candidate. Don't expect that to change.
  • Gary Johnson: This is his first debate since May, and the libertarian has almost no national name recognition. He'll get some airtime, but his presence will likely make Perry and Romney look more like front-runners, and the rest of the field like fringe candidates.
  • Rick Santorum: He has overshadowed Michele Bachmann in the past two debates as the defender of social conservatism. If he does that again, his will be a major endorsement going into next year.
  • Herman Cain: The former Godfather's Pizza CEO has been unable to adapt to a national campaign, with awkward TV appearances and gaffes. He refused to name his economic advisers the other day. He won't be a major factor.
  • Rick Perry: The overall front-runner leads in Iowa and national polls, but Romney has gained on him in recent days. He's been overshadowed by Romney — and even the lesser candidates — in the first two debates. He needs to reverse that trend tonight, before the unelectability doubts take root.

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How To Find The Best Bad Credit Debt Consolidation Loan Company

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Are you in need of consolidating your credit card, or do you have a history of bad credit? Well, you need not to worry at all. Well, there are several options of and places of finding a debt consolidation loan company. Presently, there are many people suffering all kinds of financial crisis due to the issue of bad debt.

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The Upside of Economic Downturns

Upside of economic downturnsWe could ruminate all day about the negatives of economic downturns. But that wouldn't make us any money. Instead, let's focus on the ways that hard times actually help the economy.

If you're an investor willing to look through the short-term uncertainties, now is the time you'll find opportunities that simply weren't around during the boom times.

The Tale of a Cheap Makeover

Back in 2008, Steak n Shake, a well-known Midwestern burger and shake brand, was on the verge of going out of business. Reckless expansion produced a horrific balance sheet and a burn rate of $100,000 per day!

Ultimately, an activist investor named Sardar Biglari took over and righted the ship. Despite taking over during the Great Recession, he performed a remarkable turnaround that benefited the company, its employees, and certainly its shareholders. While you may have missed the Steak n Shake turnaround, it's not too late to benefit from Biglari's magic touch: His sights are now focused on Cracker Barrel (CBRL). His holding company, Biglari Holdings (BH), owns 9.3% of the shares and is fighting for a board seat.

If Biglari wins, you can bet there will be big changes, including slashing of management perks and compensation. (Current CEO Michael Woodhouse won't go down without a fight. Would you if you earned total compensation of more than $30 million from 2007 through 2010?) It's realignments like this that can put money in shareholders' pockets.

Big Changes in Banking

Another opportunity for opportunistic investors is in banking.

As of Sept. 9, 71 banks had failed so far this year. Those closings are painful but essential to the healing process.

The closings involve the transfer of assets from troubled and poorly-run institutions to stronger and better-run entities. While many banks are facing a case of merger indigestion, the best are making solid progress toward a very profitable future. For investors, this should result in rising dividends (nice inflation hedge), as well as increased multiples on their earnings.

Back in the good old days, you could buy a little community bank at book value and wait for it to be acquired at a premium. In the meantime, you could collect a healthy dividend. Now investors are better off going with the big banks. Their massive scale and low cost of funds make them big bargains among a gun-shy group of investors.

Two that seem attractive are Wells Fargo (WFC) and Bank of America (BAC). While both have considerable exposure to mortgage fallout, each offers a compelling case for investors. Wells Fargo is a better-run organization with a history of excellent customer services and retail expertise. Bank of America has more compelling challenges and is priced accordingly. But B of A recently received a jolt of confidence in the form of a $5 billion loan from Warren Buffett. The best part of the deal is that it includes warrants to purchase 700 million shares of B of A stock at $7.14.

If those investments seem too risky, why not load up on Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B)? This venerable institution is cheaper than it's been in years, priced at just over book value and growing at 8% to 10% per year. As they say, you're getting the best investor the world has ever known, for free. Now that's a deal! See? Times aren't so bad after all.

Motley Fool contributor Buck Hartzell owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway and Biglari Holdings, and warrants in Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool owns shares of Biglari Holdings, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Berkshire Hathaway, and has created a ratio put spread position on Wells Fargo. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Berkshire Hathaway.

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/09/22/the-upside-of-economic-downturns/

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HP's Chairman: Here Are The Three Reasons We Canned Leo Apotheker (HPQ)


leo apotheker hp

On a conference call with analysts, HP chairman Ray Lane spelled out the three reasons the board decided to can Leo Apotheker:

1. HP's executive team was not on the same page. "This is a big company that requires the executive team to be on the same page ... we didn't see an executive team working together," said Lane. [It must have been filled with executives fighting each other.]

2. No operating execution. Interestingly, Lane and the board like Apotheker's strategy, they just hate his inability to pull it off. Lane said Apotheker couldn't get down deep in the business to land it ahead of expectations.

3. Communications were horrible. Sounds like Apotheker's undoing started on August 18 when the company announced plans to kill the TouchPad, and potentially spin out the PC business. It was muddled message, and the board didn't appreciate it.

Lane wasn't just negative on Apotheker. He was also negative on Mark Hurd. He said Apotheker came and the company's spending had been cut to the bone and it couldn't operate. Apotheker had a strategy, but the board saw "weakness" and didn't think he'd get the job done.

Lane believes that the three areas of deficiency he outlined are strengths for Meg Whitman, the new CEO. Her greatest attributes are, "leadership," "team play," "communications," and "execution," according to Lane.

Don't Miss: HP Chairman Ray Lane: This Board Didn't Even Hire Leo, So Stop Ripping Us

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Psychotherapy For Secular Bear Markets: You Are Not As Dumb As You Think


1966-1982 Secular Sideways Markets = 5 Cyclical Bull + 5 Cyclical Bear Markets

1966-1982 Secular Sideways Market = 5 Cyclical Bull + 5 Cyclical Bear Markets

Lately I’ve been getting this nagging feeling that everything I touch turns to dirt. Every time I buy a stock that is already down a lot, the one that my analysis leads me to believe is cheaper than dirt, it declines more. Did I completely lose my ability to value stocks? Did I start ignoring Will Rogers’ advice to buy stocks that go up, and if they don’t go up, don’t buy them?

No, I didn’t get dumber, and my stock-picking skills haven’t diminished. I was simply a willing participant in the latest cyclical bear market. Bear markets make you feel dumber than you are, the same way bull markets make you feel smarter than you are.

Feeling dumb makes you do the opposite of what you should be doing. Fear and pain—yes, continued losses cause a lot of pain—are dangerous things because they can make you and me panic, lose confidence, and do the opposite of what we should be doing. To alleviate pain we sell, we react, we default to the only asset that made us money so far in the bear market—cash! Cash is only king when other assets are princes. When you cannot find a stock with a long-term superior risk/reward profile, then cash is King with a capital K. However, during a cyclical bear market, cash is slowly demoted to a prince as great companies are thrown out the window with the junky ones. You have to actively remind yourself of the eight-letter word T-O-M-O-R-R-O-W!  Yes, tomorrow.  Think of the lyrics from Annie: 

When I’m stuck with the day that’s gray and lonely
I just stick out my chin and grin and say, ohhh 

The sun will come out, tomorrow
So you gotta hang on’ til tomorrow

Of course, we don’t know if tomorrow is really tomorrow or five years from now. But investing is a marathon, not a sprint, and do not let the bear market turn you into a sprinter. First of all, remind yourself that you are not as dumb as your portfolio makes you feel. You have occasionally bought a stock that made you money. This is what I do: I pull out a chart of a stock on which I made a boatload of money or one I sold for the right reasons before it declined.  I do this with pleasure, trying to relive my smart days. We all have these stocks, the ones we nailed. We tend to forget about them during the bear market phase. But I suggest you remember them now, when you feel lonely and miserable, so you’ll have more of these names to remember in the future, since cash will not bring the pleasure of victory in the long run. The cyclical bull market is still there; it is just hiding under the ugly sentiment of the cyclical bear market. Believe me, it will show its happy face. It is just a matter of time.

In a bear market, it is easy to forget about buying. Selling is a much easier decision to make. Every time you buy a stock you look dumb because it usually goes down afterward. I recently bought a couple of incredibly cheap stocks and, of course, they declined. I don’t feel smart about these buys right now. However, a while back I analyzed these companies, figured out what they were worth, determined an appropriate margin of safety, and got my buy prices. The stocks declined but fundamentals had not changed, so I bought the stocks.

You cannot worry about marking the bottom in every buy. My objective is not to buy at the bottom and sell at the top. No, my objective is to buy a great company when it is cheap and sell it when it is fairly valued. I suggest you do the same. Will Rogers’ advice is great, but unfortunately I have yet to meet a human being who has figured out how to apply it in real life. No, you are not as dumb as bear markets make you feel.

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Here's Why 'The Web's First Credit Badge' Is A Stupid Idea


Wayne's World

An email with the subject line, "How many personal finance bloggers can actually walk the walk?" appeared in my inbox yesterday.

"Credit Sesame Announces The Web's First Credit Badge Program," said the press release, "free badges authenticate identities and certify good financial standing, enhance personal brands, and encourage trusted online interactions ..."

The personal branding bit jarred me--since when does spotless credit make me Julia Allison?--but I was even more baffled by the sheer idiocy of sharing such personal information with the world, going so far as to claim it as bragging rights worthy of a Facebook or Match.com profile. Who would do such a horrible thing?

"Probably the same people who have a bumper-sticker on their car raving how their kid is an honor roll student," says Luke Landes, a credit expert who blogs at Consumerism Commentary.

But while most people aren't looking to discuss their credit standing on a first date, similarly they aren't out to flood their inbox with shady marketing promotions and solicitations.

"It's definitely a marketing ploy," Landes says. "They'll get people to sign up for the service so they'll get personal information from average consumers, and partners can send advertisements. Sesame users will verify their credit information, and the website can present them with offers that Sesame could be compensated for, if not now then in the future."

Knowing your credit score is a good thing, but putting such information out for all the world to see means there is no telling who you will attract, or what the consequences of doing so with Credit Sesame might be, even if the company has noble intentions. Consumers have already seen the fallout when supposedly "good" companies had their customers' information breached by hackers, and flaunting your credit, along with Credit Sesame's logo, might make you a prime target for identity theft.

And on a more cynical note, you would also be an unpaid advertiser for a company you barely know. Until you read the fine print, says Landes, you do not know what the tradeoff will be, or how the company is making its money, perhaps by selling your social security number or address to nebulous third parties.

"The idea came to us when we saw how people are sharing their stuff, their experience, and what they read," Credit Sesame founder and CEO Adrian Nazari explained over the phone."People were even sharing their lunch."

But your credit score isn't a Cosi salad, and with this in mind, Landes strongly warns consumers against buying in.

"By having a badge [Credit Sesame] is creating an impression that isn't necessarily true--that they're a trustworthy company like the Better Business Bureau," he said.

Consumers shouldn't trust Credit Sesame right off the bat, and realize that buying the "badge" won't boost their credibility because much like a Better Business Bureau or VeriSign logo, any business, or creditholder in this instance, can pay to have one. Even the notion of the badge itself, which offers Good, Excellent, and Verified ratings for not-so-responsible cardholders, is akin to buying Lori Gottlieb's kid a trophy for winning fifth place

Until the badges are widely adopted across the board, says Justine Chang, Communications Manager at CreditKarma.com, my landlord, employer, mortgage lender, and future ex-husband won't be checking for it, rendering the badge all the more pointless. 

"Consumers don't want to share their credit rating with anonymity," says Kenneth Lim, CreditKarma.com's CEO. "No one wants to show that they don't pay their bills. Conversely, if you are showing your high score, you are bragging. In our experience, consumers don't want their finances to go social."

Judging from all the above you shouldn't either, but if you are considering a credit badge or signing up for any "social service," make sure you ask these questions first:

  • What will this cost? In the case of Credit Sesame, there's no fee to sign up, which should send a signal that if you aren't paying money to use the service, then you will be "paying" with something else you're providing, i.e., your personal data.  
  • Are the terms subject to change? If they are and your data are at risk, you'll definitely want to know about it.
  • What is the benefit to the company if I sign up? Ask the company they're making their money, and be sure to read the terms and conditions to see if they're sending your info to third parties.

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American Tourist Visa: Tips On Extending

It might be possible to prolong the time period left on a Canadian or American visa. Choosing to complete the application process alone can be quite a huge challenge and mistakes can occur. Getting assistance from an immigration law firm can certainly help explain the process to you and definitely will make it easier to [...]

Source: http://www.legaldebthelponline.com/2011/09/21/american-tourist-visa-tips-on-extending/

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