FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Fourth consecutive daily advance for the AUD so far, bolstered by increasing risk appetite in the global markets.
After a dreadful May, the Aussie dollar is finding some relief at the beginning of June: the RBA cut the overnight rate 'only' 25 bps on Tuesday, against a widely expected 50 bps; GDP figures for the first quarter have surprised growing 4.3% YoY and the unemployment rate has come in at 5.1% early in the Asian session, in line with expectations.
J.Kruger, Technical Strategist at DailyFX, affirms that the bearish outlook on the cross remains unchanged, although he assesses the likeliness of a rebound due to technical studies showing 'oversold' conditions, "…and we see shorter-term risks for more of a bounce towards 1.0000-1.0200 area where the next major lower top is sought out ahead of underlying bear trend resumption…".
AUD/USD is now advancing 0.32% at 0.9946, with the next hurdle at 1.0016 (high May 15) ahead of 1.0028 (50% of 1.0475-0.9581) and 1.0070 (high May 14).
On the flip side, a violation of 0.9875 (hourly sup Jun.6) would bring 0.9767 (MA10d) and 0.9738 (hourly low Jun.6).
Money Mission: Build a money machine - Jamaica Observer
Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could design a machine that can generate cash every hour of the day? Whether you were eating, playing or sleeping, this device would ensure that you were consistently supplied with a steady stream of income. Your money problems would be history and the lifestyle of the financially free would be yours forever.
While many of us would love to possess a magic money machine, this apparatus would probably be impossible to build, and it would definitely be illegal. However, the concept of creating an income source that could eventually produce earnings without your personal effort is something that is entirely in your power to achieve.
Do you have to work to earn?
Most of us have grown up with the idea that the only way to earn money was to physically work for it. We were taught in school to study hard, get good grades and look for a nice job with attractive fringe benefits. For the most part, our education system does not foster entrepreneurial thinking which focuses on teaching people how to create income-generating systems.
Creating a system that will produce income requires us to think differently about how we earn. Most employees and self-employed people are paid for their time and physical effort; to get an income they have to carry out some activity. This type of earning is called linear income, which requires the work output to be constantly repeated in order to make more money.
How can you get paid for something that doesn't always demand your time and effort? The answer lies in understanding how to create passive income sources, which are not dependent on your direct involvement to produce your earnings. While you would initially have to work at building this 'money machine', it will eventually generate income without your physical efforts.
How to earn while you sleep
The simplest form of passive income is portfolio income, which is derived from investments that generate earnings. These include stocks that provide dividends, bonds and money market instruments that pay interest, and real estate that supplies rental income. However, it can take many years for you to build a large enough asset base to generate a meaningful income.
Another way to earn passively is to build a money machine that brings in residual income. Residual income is generated when your initial work output is designed to pay you over and over again. For example, if you create a product such as an eBook, music score or an application for a smartphone, you can sell your work repeatedly without having to produce it from scratch again.
Building a money machine that utilises other people's work effort to generate income is another means of creating passive earnings. This is known as leveraged income, which involves working along with other people in order to increase your final work output. Business owners generally make use of leverage when they hire employees to carry out various tasks.
Turn-key money machines
You don't have to start your own traditional enterprise to earn from leveraged income. There are direct selling companies that allow individuals to become independent representatives to distribute their goods and build networks of other business owners. The networking organisation will reward business builders with a percentage of the revenue generated by their teams' efforts.
We are living in the age of technology, which makes it easier for everyone to earn passively. Even if you don't have the financial means to amass assets which generate portfolio income, or the technical know-how and talent to create a product for sale, or the time and resources to build a business, you can still seek to earn passive income online.
One Web-based option is called affiliate marketing. Online businesses, such as Amazon.com, encourage persons to sign up as affiliates and market their products and services. Anyone with a simple website can promote these offerings and receive a commission on sales. You would have to use creative marketing techniques which encourage persons to purchase your affiliate products.
Start the building process
Lasting freedom from financial stress will come when you find a way to build a passive 'money machine' of your own. Your mission for this month is to learn more about the concept of passive income. You can find several articles on this topic on www.financiallysmartadvice.com and other websites.
Consider different ways in which you can generate passive income. Start by saving and investing as much as possible to build your portfolio income sources. Do you have any talents or ideas that can be packaged into a product that can be sold repeatedly? Look at ready-made business opportunities in network marketing or become an affiliate for someone else's online business.
Don't be afraid to attempt something new in your search for passive income opportunities. Carefully research all options to ensure that they are legitimate, and don't give out sensitive financial information online. Over time, you could build a money machine that gives you the ability to live the life of your dreams.
Cherryl is a money coach, business mentor, and founder of Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services. Her upcoming book The 3 Ms of Money will reveal all the secrets she learned about financial success. Get more advice on money and business matters at www.financiallysmart.org and www.entrepreneursinjamaica.com. Email comments to cherryl@financiallysmartonline.com.
Finance Minister Biti a 'punch bag', says prominent labour consultant - The Zimbabwean
"Our Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, is a punch bag," Makings said in Harare addressing business people gathered for the monthly Express Management meeting.
This meeting is sponsored by the British Council and is attended by prominent business people especially those that were trained in the United Kingdom (UK).
"He cannot do anything right now because his hands are tied.
"What he says and does is all controlled by the government which as you know is broke and so there is really nothing that he can do to solve the economic crisis.
"We really cannot blame Tendai Biti because he is just a punch bag in the government."
The statement comes at a time when Zimbabwe is expecting a high level delegation from the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the country.
The delegation is coming to Zimbabwe to investigate and try to find out the nation's economic recovery progress.
"The IMF are coming next month (June) to see how we are faring," Anthony Hawkins Head of the University of Zimbabwe's Business School, said in an exclusive interview last month.
He said:"There is nothing really new about this but I think this time around they will ask where our diamond cash is going to and how it is being used.
"As you probably know the Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, has said we could earn about $600 million from diamonds but the Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Obert Mpofu, on the other hand, says this might not be the case and so this will have to be clarified to the delegation."
Hawkins said he did not know whether Zimbabwe has paid anything yet to the IMF.
"I cannot comment on our repayment schedule because I have not heard about any repayments yet," he said.
"However, they will be worried about our diamond cash just like they were worried about the oil cash in Angola and how that was used before they could come in and help that country."
Hawkins said as long as the country did not repay its outstanding debts, the IMF would not "budge a finger" to help the economic recovery programme.
Zimbabwe's outstanding arrears to the IMF have now reached $140 million at a time when the country owes the Washington-based group $550 million, Biti, the Minister of Finance, has already confirmed.
He said Zimbabwe's outstanding arrears under the Fund's Extended Credit Facility (ECF) now amount to $140 million.
The ECF replaced the Fund's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility.
"Zimbabwe does not have the capacity to pay off the IMF's arrears from its own resources," Biti said in Harare.
"In this regard, the country will need to request cooperating partners for a concessional bridging loan or grant to settle arrears to the IMF."
He said clearance pf ECF arrears would unlock new financing arrangements from the IMF, within the context of a Fund supported financial arrangement, which would then be used to repay the bridging loan obtained from the cooperating partners.
"Zimbabwe will, however, need a track record of implementing sound macro-economic policies and assurances that arrears to other official creditors are programmed to be cleared," Biti said.
Biti has already confirmed that Zimbabwe owes multilateral institutions a grand total of $2,504 billion, of which the World Bank is owed $1,126 billion, the IMF, $550 million, the African Development Bank (AfDB) $529 million, and the European Investment Bank (EIB), $221 million.
President Robert Mugabe has said there is an urgent need for Zimbabwe to achieve external debt sustainability through a comprehensive debt relief and arrears clearance programme.
"This must be strongly supported by my government and all the development partners and creditors," President Mugabe said.
Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, has also said it is "clear that Zimbabwe cannot rehabilitate its infrastructure and move forward with its socio-economic transformation reforms if the debt overhang challenge is not urgently resolved".
Finance Committee: Why we support the Galvin Rebuilding Project - Abington Mariner
Dear fellow taxpayers of Wakefield,
The purpose of this letter is to explain the rigorous examination of the facts performed by of the Finance Committee before deciding to vote unanimously for the Galvin Rebuilding Project.
As is our mandate, the Finance Committee members gave serious consideration to the tax impact of the various Galvin proposals, as we do in reviewing each budget and article presented to the Committee. The financial reports we have provided in various public forums show that over the last several years the town has found multiple ways of finding savings in its operating budgets in these lean economic times. In our opinion, we are going in a much better direction today than in the past. All of the Town’s citizens, be they on retirement income or incurring the expenses of starting young families, are under real financial constraints. We consider that reality when analyzing the budgets and projects that are essential to running our town. The Finance Committee has listened to the facts about the current state of the Galvin Middle School, asked lots of questions, and has concluded that the Galvin needs to be rebuilt.
We, as a town, are in a situation where we have to make an important decision. In so doing, we all must assess the long-term benefits together with the short-term costs in deciding the proper solution to our capital needs, the Galvin included. Therefore, it is not a decision to either fund a new school, or not. We must be clear, deciding to not fund and build a new Galvin does not mean we, as a town, will not spend any money on the Galvin! Instead, it would mean that we would waste our precious financial resources on basically superficial repairs to a school that is too far broken, and thus our tax money would not be well spent. Similarly, it appears as though the School Building Authority’s decision to refuse financial support for the renovation plan was made with the same goal of safeguarding the State’s taxpayers.
We must also keep in mind that the estimated tens of millions of dollars some are recommending that we spend on renovation would NOT solve the educational problems of the current school at all. The bones of the current school were built roughly 60 years ago, and it is fair to say that the tenets of school design have changed dramatically in that time. We relied on the expert opinions of those on both side of the issue in our decision making process. The input overwhelmingly suggested that the town needs this new middle school in order to be able to properly teach the children of today.
Our point is that voting “No” to the new Galvin would represent a dangerous waste of our town's money and resources. Additionally, the money thus wasted on Band-Aid solutions would necessarily have negative impacts on all the other budgets in town, thus pushing us back into the cycle of not being able to spend enough on maintenance and upkeep. We need to avoid that cycle.
A recent “No” argument articulated by Mr. Lowrey in the May 29th edition of the Item needs to be corrected. He inaccurately stated that if the new Galvin increases the value of his house, his taxes go up. This is a common misunderstanding of our property tax laws, and has to do with the difference between town-wide improvements and house-specific improvements. Under Proposition 2 1/2, the total property taxes raised by the Town cannot go up by more than 2.5%. Therefore, if everyone receives a 5% bump in home and commercial values due to a new Galvin, then the tax rate must be decreased by 5%. The only way Mr. Lowrey’s taxes would be higher, relative to the rest of town, would be due to an improvement to his home – like a new kitchen – but not for a town-wide improvement like a new Galvin Middle School.
When the town last looked at rebuilding the Galvin, back in 2003, the bill to the town would have been roughly $19M. Now nine years later, that amount is up to $38M. Given these two data points, it is only reasonable to assume that kicking this can down the road for another eight to ten years, by not supporting this rebuilding project today, would cost the town upwards of $70M, outside of assistance from the state. There is no fiscally sound argument to vote against this proposal at this time.
Finally, in her “No” argument in the Item on Tuesday the 5th of June, Mrs. Hull seemed to imply that the citizens of Wakefield will actually be footing the entire bill for a new Galvin, since the state’s portion of the cost comes from taxpayers. It is important to note that the state’s portion comes from all the taxpayers in the Commonwealth, not just the citizens of Wakefield, and that those state funds will be used by someone else if we don’t use them.
After listening to all of the presentations, and considering all of the data, the Finance Committee came to the well supported conclusion that this project is absolutely in the best financial interest of the town. We, as a committee, encourage all of the citizens of voting age to please recognize this opportunity to make an effective investment in Wakefield. Please get out on Saturday and vote “Yes” for this initiative.
-Brian Cusack, chairman, and Gerard Leeman, vice-chairman, Wakefield Finance Committee
Forex: EUR/USD slides just 0.07% on Spanish downgrade - FXStreet.com
FOREX-Dollar recovers on Bernanke, euro surrenders gains - Reuters
* Bernanke testimony offsets dollar weakness
* Surprise China rate cut boosts some riskier currencies
NEW YORK, June 7 (Reuters) - The euro surrendered all gains to traded little changed against the dollar o n Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank was ready to shield the economy but offered few hints that further monetary stimulus was imminent.
The news caused a sharp reversal in the euro, which earlier had traded to its highest since May after China's central bank cut benchmark rates to support growth in the world's second-largest economy.
The U.S. dollar had been hindered by expectations for more easing by the Federal Reserve, expectations that were countered by Bernanke's almost sanguine tone, which indicated the Fed was far from crisis mode..
"I don't think he is definitely saying that QE3 is on the way," said Fabian Eliasson, vice president of currency sales, Mizuho Corporate Bank in New York. "He's saying what he has said before, reassuring people that they will act if things deteriorate further. In other words, they are there if needed, but they don't feel they are needed yet."
The euro was last at $1.2568, little changed from the prior close.
"Despite economic difficulties in Europe, the demand for U.S. exports has held up well," Bernanke told Congress.
Earlier the euro had climbed to a session high of $1.2625, using Reuters data, its highest level since May 23, before surrendering gains. Traders had earlier cited resistance around $1.2625.
The euro also climbed to its highest since May 23 against the yen at 100.61 yen before surrendering some gains to trade at 99.93 yen, up 0.4 percent.
Until Bernanke, trading had been influenced by China's delivery of twin surprises on interest rates, cutting borrowing costs to combat faltering growth while giving banks additional flexibility to set deposit rates. [ID:nL3E8H76KL}.
"Rate cuts in China serve to reduce China's exposure to global weakness," said Douglas Borthwick, managing director of Faros Trading in Stamford, Connecticut. "Rate cuts in combination with a stimulus program - still to be announced, should shelter Asia somewhat from global weakness, and should help keep a bid to Asian growth and currencies."
Decent demand at a Spanish bond auction and expectations that European policymakers may take further steps to support the global economy also led to demand for perceived riskier currencies such as the Australian dollar, which rose to a three-week high.
The global economy has floundered in recent weeks, and risks to growth have mounted on concerns about a possible Greek exit from the euro zone and the fragility of the Spanish banking system, putting pressure on euro zone politicians and global central banks to come up with a credible policy response.
Speculation that Spain could become the fourth euro zone country to need an international bailout prompted investors to sell the euro heavily last week, although European sources have said Germany and European Union officials are urgently exploring ways to support the country's stricken banks.
Many market players were already expecting euro gains to be limited. A Reuters poll suggested the euro was unlikely to recoup recent steep losses against the dollar in the next 12 months.
"The euro can bounce up to $1.2630 but then it will be a sell on rallies as Europe's problems are ... considerable," said Stuart Frost, head of Absolute Returns and Currency at fund manager RWC Partners in London.
The dollar managed to outperform the yen which was hit broadly as risk appetite improved and also dampened by recent threats from Japanese authorities to curb its strength.
The dollar was 0.5 percent higher at 79.61 yen after posting a session peak of 79.78, also the highest since May 23 using Reuters data, well off a 3-1/2 month trough set on June 1.
The dollar was also bolstered against the yen by a report showing the number of Americans lining up for new jobless benefits fell last week for the first time since April, a reminder that the wounded labor market is still slowly healing.
"The number was very close to expectations," said Vassili Serebriakov, senior currency strategist at Wells Fargo in New York. "We've had a deterioration in the last few months and now it looks like claims are plateauing."
Finance board seeks to soften impact of budget hike - Westerly Sun
NORTH STONINGTON — Why did voters reject the budgets put before them on Tuesday?
Board of Finance members tried to answer that question Wednesday while they determined how to cut the budgets enough to win the support of voters.
The board asked the Board of Selectmen to cut its $8.3 million budget by between $100,000 and $200,000, and restructure the cost of bridge repairs so that the initial cash outlay comes partly from the town’s undesignated reserve funds and a note renewal, instead of just from property taxes. The Board of Education was asked to cut its $12.5 million budget to less than $12.4 million.
Those reductions would hold the spending increase to 2.6 percent. The original proposal was an increase of 3.7 percent from the current budget.
In addition to making the cuts, board members also tried to determine why voters rejected the budget. The general government budget was rejected by a 3-to-1 margin, and the education budget was rejected 2 to 1, with 20 percent of eligible voters casting a ballot. Some suggested that, because of low attendance at public budget meetings, some voters may not have been well informed.
First Selectman Nicholas H. Mullane II said residents discuss the budgets among themselves and learn about the budget, even if they don’t attend the meetings.
“Do they network? Yes they do,” he said. “I differ with you that people do not know what they’re voting on.”
Several board members said they needed to find a better way to communicate meeting times with the public; others said communication wasn’t the issue.
“People choose not to go to the meetings,” said Selectman Shawn Murphy.
Resident Joe Gross added that some people routinely vote no the first time a budget is brought to referendum.
The 2011 revaluation created a “confusing element,” said Board of Finance Chairman Daniel Spring. Because the grand list, the value of all taxable property in town, dropped 16 percent after the revaluation, the board was forced to increase the tax rate by nearly $4 per $1,000 just to collect the same amount of tax as last year.
Members also discussed whether residents wanted to lower the bottom line of the budget or the tax rate, or both.
“I think the way I read it was that people were concerned about what they pull out of their pockets,” Spring said. Several members agreed that residents were probably not against the individual line items in the budget; they just didn’t want to pay for them all at once.
One possible reason for the failure of the education budget, noted Board of Education Chairman David McCord, is that some residents see the board as dysfunctional.
“That was a factor,” he said.
But he added that dropping the education budget below a 3 percent increase would mean laying off teachers.
“We’re bare bones, except for personnel,” he said. “All we have left is personnel.”
All non-tenured teachers have received layoff notices, McCord said, preparing for that possibility. If a budget isn’t approved by July 1, the school district would have to either hire those teachers back, which would give some tenure, or pay $5,000 a week in unemployment.
Twenty one teachers received notice at the high school, said Wheeler Principal Christopher Sandford, and they are now taking the skills they acquired at Wheeler and are actively looking to take them elsewhere.
“It’s just a lot of uncertainty in the building,” he said.
Regardless of why people rejected the budget, Spring said it’s important to maintain a focus on strategic goals, such as paying down debt, and to make cuts that won’t cause problems for the town down the road.
Resident Brian Rathbun told the board that the main problem with the budgets is that people just don’t have enough money to support them.
“I can’t go into debt helping the town to get out of debt,” he said.
Money looming even larger over Nov. election - CBS News
(CBS News) WASHINGTON -- President Obama is halfway through a two-day fundraising swing through California.
His trip underlines the importance of money in the 2012 campaign.
It's also being criticized by Republicans who say the president is spending too much time with celebrity Democrats.
The money-raising trip took him to San Francisco and Los Angeles, two towns where he hasn't been a stranger in recent weeks and months, spending plenty of time with the wealthy and famous in the entertainment and tech communities.
But his campaign tweeted Thursday that 98 percent of its donations in May were less than $250.
Either way, it's all about the money.
Mr. Obama got a warm welcome from campaign donors in the Los Angeles gay community Wednesday night, a group he considers crucial to his re-election prospects.
"I could not be prouder of the work we've done on behalf of the LGBT community," Mr. Obama said.
During his speech, he ticked off accomplishments under his watch, such as ending the war in Iraq.
But he also warned the audience about what's ahead during the campaign, and why their donations matter, saying, "You're going to see hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads, because the other side's not offering anything new."
To build a war chest that would enable him to counter those ads and run his campaign, Mr. Obama is spending two days on the West Coast to raise an expected $5 million.
He will have done 153 fundraisers since formally declaring his candidacy for re-election a little over a year ago - nearly double the number President Bush had done at the same point in 2004.
With the majority of outside super PAC dollars going to Republicans, raising money will be crucially important for Democrats in this election cycle.
In the Wisconsin recall election, unions spearheaded the effort to unseat Gov. Scott Walker after he successfully limited their power. But the union effort to get out the vote was overcome by the GOP advantage in money and TV advertising. Walker raised $30 million. His challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, raised only $4 million.
Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., chair of the Democrats' campaign committee, warned that the Wisconsin results should be "a wake-up call" that the party needs money for TV ads to compete with the super PACs.
A California political power broker once put it this way: "Money is the mothers' milk of politics."
Four years ago, candidate Obama outspent his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain by more than two-to-one - $730 million to $333 million.
To see Bill Plante's report, click on the video in the player above.
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