| The Greenwashing Of America
In the business world these days, it appears that just about everything is for sale. Multibillion-dollar deals are commonplace, and even venerable institutions such as the Wall Street Journal find themselves put into play. Yet companies are not the only things being acquired. This may turn out to be the year that big business bought a substantial part of the environmental movement. That's one way of interpreting the remarkable level of cooperation that is emerging between some prominent environmental groups and some of the world's largest corporations. What was once an arena of fierce antagonism has become a veritable love fest as companies profess to be going green and get lavishly honored for doing so. Earlier this year, for instance, the World Resources Institute gave one of its "Courage to Lead" awards to the chief executive of General Electric.
Overspending on Kids Risks Parents' Financial Future
STRETCHING A $30,000 income isn't easy for Brittiany Dillon and her husband. Each month, gas and grocery bills alone eat up their disposable cash. But when it comes to their two-year-old daughter, the young parents she is 21 and he is 23 simply can't say no. "You want your child to have this idyllic childhood and not say 'My mommy never did this for me,'" says Dillon, a stay-at-home mom. For both her first and second birthday, the couple threw their daughter a birthday bash that set them back at least $600. Christmas gifts, planned to not exceed $50, somehow hit at least $300. That may not seem like a lot of money, but it's a fortune for the Dillons, who last year moved back in with family so they could make payments on their $30,000 credit-card debt, accumulated after a failed business start-up.
Market prices in Aug rate hike
Johannesburg - South African money market rates are currently pricing in a 20-30% chance of another rate hike in August after an expected increase of 50 basis points on Thursday. South Africa's 12-month negotiable certificate of deposit (NCD) was trading at 9.650% just before the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on April 12, where rates were left unchanged for the second successive month, but by the late afternoon on Wednesday it was a full 45 basis points weaker at 10.100%. A week ago the rate was at 9.750% - at the time close to a full expectation of a 50 basis-point increase. A senior money market dealer told I-Net Bridge on Wednesday that the reason for the increase was that the market was now pricing in more than 50 basis points ie. there is a growing risk that the 50 basis points increase on Thursday could be followed by another potential increase of 50 basis points in August at the next MPC meeting.
|
