Q4 Earnings Really Weren't Too Bad — Except For Banking - CNNMoney.com
Posted by: admin in Today NewsQ4 Earnings Really Weren't Too Bad — Except For Banking - CNNMoney.com
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Filed under: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Ripoffs and Scams, Simplification
Even so, the first time that I helped plan a funeral, I was absolutely overwhelmed. My family and I were in shock and were totally baffled by the confusing array of services that the funeral home offered. When it came to the coffin, however, we had some definite ideas. Basically, we wanted an affordable, attractive wooden casket that would bio-degrade, letting our loved one re-enter the earth. This wasn’t all that simple to find. We learned that coffins are like wedding dresses. They cost a lot of money, are used once, and are generally put away for eternity. Even discount coffins (and yes, they do exist!) started at $700, and prices went well over $20,000. We finally agreed on a model that cost around $1,000 and left us feeling only moderately screwed. Meanwhile, the funeral director did everything he could to hard-sell us on the more pricey models, up to and including making us feel that we were cheating our loved one on her final gift. On some levels, it’s simple to understand why coffin companies charge so much. To start with, they’re dealing with an best consumer. People buying caskets are depressed, often feel guilty, and aren’t really in the mood to haggle or comparison shop. For many people, a beautiful coffin is the last way to say goodbye, and they want to do everything in their power to honor the deceased. Throw in the fact that there’s a definite time constraint on burials, and it becomes clear that, emotionally, logistically and economically, undertakers have their customers over a barrel. Besides, it’s not like they really need to focus on repeat business. To be fair, it’s also worth noting that coffins cost a lot to produce. They’re often constructed out of rare woods or pricey metals, feature all sorts of costly hardware and have beautiful woodwork. The materials aren’t cheap to procure and it takes a highly-skilled craftsman to construct the final product. One solution to the coffin dilemma is a little bit of forward planning. A few days ago, Tom Barlow noted that funeral pre-arrangement can be a major scam; however, a tiny bit of research and an honest speak with your family members can save a lot of money down the line. For example, The Natural Burial Company offers a very interesting selection of relatively inexpensive, biodegradable coffins (I hate re-using the terms “coffin” and “casket.” Is “carcass vessel” in poor taste?). Natural Burial’s products include woven wicker caskets, simple pine boxes and recycled-paper “Ecopods.” These items are available through a wide network of funeral homes, churches and cemeteries, giving you numerous reasonably-priced, attractive, and green choices for your large trip across the river Styx. Another option is making your own casket. This is a great way to save money, get in touch with your worries about death, and build an awesome piece of furniture. Essentially, a casket is nothing more than a wooden box, approximately six feet long, and about 12″-18″ square. Depending on how you accessorize it, it can make a great bookcase, an oversized coffee table, a large hope chest, or even an entertainment center. While you can create something more elaborate, this can also be a very simple carpentry project. In addition to several kits, MHP Caskets carries a wide variety of easy-to-follow plans at very reasonable prices. If you want something a tiny more elaborate and fun, you might take a peek at Casket Furniture. In addition to an impressive array of kits, they also offer some truly fantastic pieces, including a casket coffee table, a casket phone booth, and casket sofas. Allowed, most of these items are aimed at the Goth market, but they’re available in beautifully-finished light wood, which means that they’ll blend well with your Ikea furniture. Ideal of all, they’ll help you prepare for a visit from your in-laws…or the grim reaper! Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and co-author of Military Lessons of the Gulf War and A Chronology of the Cold War at Sea. Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Tax Turn on a TV during tax time, and you will see plenty of commercials for tax preparation chains offering to help you get your money fast. What they often don’t say is that they intend to get you that money by way of a Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL). Essentially, they prepare your tax return and see how much your refund is going to be. They will give you a loan against that refund so that you can walk out with your money today. But here’s the catch: There are fees associated with those loans, and they’re not cheap. Taxpayers will pay, on average, about $100 to get one of these loans. That might not sound like much, but when you figure that they are paying this $100 just to get a ten day loan, it’s astronomical. Ten day loan? That’s right… if a taxpayer files electronically and does direct deposit of their refund, it will usually take ten days or less to get their refund. These tax preparation chains are counting on you wanting your money right away, and that’s why they push these loans. But you can get your money pretty fast for free. So why not save yourself the money and just do the regular electronic filing and direct deposit! Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Record-keeping, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud. Filed under: Economic data, Politics, Headline news, Recession
Today’s federal budget proposal marks the first time in America’s history that a budget plan has been in excess of $3 trillion. Bush claims that his budget is “good” and “solid” and that the passing of this budget will help keep the troubled American economy growing. All in all, this budget looks to lift government spending by 6% during the fiscal year 2009, and it will probably come to no one’s surprise that defense gets a nice tiny boost from today’s budget. Bush is looking to allocate 8.2% of his spending on security, and the budget is looking to stake a $70 billion “placeholder” for war costs during 2009. The Pentagon should be pleased with its figures, as Bush is looking to allocate $515.4 billion its way… the highest allocation since WWII (and represents a 7.5% jump). Even with the high numbers that we are seeing for the war and national security, opponents of the plan, from both political parties, have been quoted as expressing their views that the numbers are underestimated, and basically unrealistic. Makes you wonder just how high the price tag will go; it’s a scary thought. With so much having been invested in making America safer over the past five years, you’ve to start to wonder when is that safety going to materialize? Senior citizens appear to be on the losing end of things this time around. Bush’s plan proposes a curb on Medicare spending. All together, the budget is set up to save $196 billion in government health care programs over the next five years. Politicians have already started coming out of the wood work to announce their displeasure with Bush’s plan.
With both sides of the aisle expressing displeasure with Bush’s proposed budget, don’t be very surprised to see some changes before all is said and done. What is your take on Bush’s plan? What suggestions would you have to make this plan a better one, or do you like what you see, and would recommend Congress leave it be? Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor’s Observer. Filed under: Marketing and advertising, News Corp’B’ (NWS), Business of sports, Headline news
Ratings for the contest between the New York Giants and New England Patriots were up 9% from last year. Figures for the number of viewers weren’t immediately available from Nielsen. The most watched program of all time was the 1983 finale of “M-A-S-H.” Until now, the most-watched Super Bowl was in 1996 when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers. Shares of News Corp (NYSE: NWS), whose Fox Network broadcast last night’s game, are down 18% over the past year as Wall Street worried that Rupert Murdoch’s media empire would be injured by a slowdown in advertising spending and the Hollywod writers’ strike. New York-based News Corp also is set to report fourth quarter earnings after the close of trading this day. Analysts are expecting the media conglomerate to report earnings of 28 cents on revenue of $8.26 billion, according to Bloomberg News. Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Michael Nathanson anticipates profit at Fox TV to have increased 62% to $181 million, helped by higher advertising sales, Bloomberg stated. Thanks to the Super Bowl, that business should continue to perform well for several more quarters. The other large winner from the Super Bowl will be New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and his brother Peyton, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback who lead his team to victory in last year’s Super Bowl. Peyton has become a ubiquitous TV pitchman since the game. There’s no doubt that advertisers would probably give their left arms to have both Manning brothers endorse their products.
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When I was in high school, I took a class titled “Death and Dying.” In addition to learning about the grieving process and reading afterlife narratives, my class studied the ins and outs of the funeral industry. We inspected coffins, read Jessica Mitford’s 
American President George Bush announced his 
Last night’s Super Bowl may have been the 
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