Social Capital and It's Importance

Recently I came across a article which described about Social Capital and its importance and how we can save a lot of money for little or nil effort. And here I wish to give you a brief outline of it and show you the value of the social capital. What is social capital? The Social capital is the capital which is obtained through service to others. With every service rendered, you get a chance to get some favor in return. For life in the big cities, it is certain that it is more difficult to accumulate social capital because people know little and therefore do not see the value of helping someone. However, in small towns, social capital is a much more powerful tool.

Large firms are much less present, and competition is less severe for small traders. Prices in chains stores like bakery, supermarket, mechanics, etc are extremely high relative to manufacturing costs. But shopkeepers in smaller cities may sell goods and provide services at a much lower price. A price that is even lower if you helped this person to move last week. Let us see how to create and use the capital with some examples. Helping your landlord to perform certain tasks in the building could help you reduce your few dollars rent and reduce in your share of maintenance expenses of the building you are rented. Organize your neighbor’s lawn and help him to mend repair his truck or be a baby sitter for someone. Using the social capital depends on what you need.

The idea of social capital is to serve without knowing what service you will receive in return, not even knowing if you need anything from this person in the future. This is why it is important to build social capital with people from varied occupations and knowledge: a kind of diversification of capital. To summarize, social capital is a very powerful tool that many can use to save money. Moreover, it is highly likely that social capital have preceded the money as a way to exchange services. The important is to build a kind of community of people around you who are able to perform various tasks and help you in many areas.

Oil Stocks Declining Globally Except US

According to the U.S. Agency for Energy Information (EIA), global oil inventories fell by 1.3 million barrels per day in last 60 days. A situation largely due to consumption exceeds production. On average over the last two months, stocks have been valued at 2.652 billion barrels; while the figure of 2.649 billion was recorded in the same period of 2012.World production meanwhile was 83.3 million barrels per day in January and February, against 83.4 million in the comparable months of 2012. At the same time, consumption has reached 86 million bpd, against an average of 85.3 million in January-February 2012.

 Information on global stocks comes as the abundant supply overseas increasingly worried investors. Fears, which increased Wednesday following the release of statistics showing an increase in the trend. According to the weekly report from the U.S. Department of Energy on oil reserves, U.S. crude oil inventories rose 1.1 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 22. Experts noting they are now at their highest since July to 377.5 million barrels. Situation was due to both less energy consumption than a sluggish increase in crude oil production of 14.6% in 2012 compared to the previous year in 2012, something that had not been observed since 1995. A context that could worsen in the absence of agreement on the U.S. budget obtained - in extremis - Congress on Friday. Such an outcome automatically opening the way for drastic cuts could lead the United States into recession. Means lower demand for crude.

How to become rich?

You learned good principles in your life that help you manage a large number of situations that you are facing. Forget them when it comes to managing your money as applied not make you richer. But probably makes you poorer. Here are six principles you have to strictly follow to become rich: Do not settle for average. Search for the best. Funds "means" as index funds perform better than 80% of actively managed funds. Trust in your instincts and what your heart tells you. It is better to listen to your brain and if you sell coldly losses, rather than thinking that prices will rise and you will chase your losses.
 If you do not know how, ask an expert. Seek help from an expert may be useful in the case of complex financial or very specific topics such as taxation. To manage your money, especially if you want to get rich, no one will do better than you. You'll get the price you pay. In terms of investments, the less you pay fees and the yield obtained is important. Crisis, we must act quickly to resolve the problem. Do not panic. Invest every month and you can enjoy automatically the benefit, the market declines or increases without you pack whatever the trend.

 Is to invest regularly over time is important. History repeats itself. As it is written on every financial prospectus, "Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance." Do not choose funds based on rankings of the year; look at the behavior of the bottom 3, 5 and 10 years. Behave wisely in case of market volatility and market down trends. Because what you have learned does not apply with respect to managing your money, you must spend at least a minimum time to acquire a financial literacy. It is this; investment in time that makes the difference between a successful investor and one who realizes low performance.

The European debt crisis going to end soon!!!

Europe emerging from a period to improve its financial situation that began in August last year, when the President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi announced that it would needed to support countries that are deficient in the Euro zone. This intention is then translated by a specific program for Italy and Spain, to limit the level of interest rates on their debt.

 However the optimism is reversed because of the accumulation of issues such as political scandal in Spain, financial conditions of Ireland. Hence the international markets react accordingly. Indebtedness of most European countries in relation to Gross Domestic Product is rising despite the efforts of Member States. With an average debt of the Euro zone (8000 billion Euros) over 90%, the smallest increase in interest rates impact the refinancing. The Euro zone should refinance more than 1,000 billion Euros in 2013.

 Reforms of the costs and revenues of government continue to impose. Economic lethargy does not seem to decrease. The European GDP growth is almost nil. Hence it is still in recession phase. Without growth, tax revenues are also lethargic and financial costs of states continue to be excessive. In this context, most European economies saw their unemployment rates are increasing. The question that remains is whether this or will improve? Basically, this is the strength of the U.S. economic recovery we can expect an early growth at the end of 2013. And the creation of 157,000 jobs in January 2013 is really good news. But the weakness of Europe is the situation of its banks. Without going into a pessimism that has no purpose, it should not diminish the vigilance that the Euro zone needs to restructure.

Gold will continue to shine in 2013!

2012 was the eleventh consecutive year in which the price of gold has increased. End of 2002, one troy ounce (a little over 31 grams) of gold was worth just under $ 400. Today, you will pay $ 1,700 for the same amount of gold. It has long been the gold price rises. Is it time to take profits? Apparently not. Some analysts predict that 2013 will be a year of gold and hence any one may expect the uptrend of gold. Demand for gold may have declined in the third quarter and the following weeks, but chances are that 2013 is a good year for the precious metal.

The analysts see two reasons. First, we note that many central banks continue to run the printing press. History shows that it is associated with an increase in the price of gold. The second reason is the debt crisis, especially in Europe but also in the United States, where budget discussions are intense. Anyway, it seems that 2013 will be a year of great uncertainty, and it is always a fertile ground for potential gold boom. But predicting the price of gold over the next few months or years would be like trying to read the future in coffee grounds. However, most experts believe that gold will exceed the $ 1,800 mark in 2013. The biggest optimists even see the yellow metal flirting at $ 4,000 and more. Do you think gold will reach new heights in 2013 yet?

Stock market and Cyber attacks!

You probably agree with me that the stock market is not exactly a model in terms of evolution controlled. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the latest to have lived a chaotic Monday. The volume was low that day because of its 216 trading 3825 shares was suspended. Indeed, the motor trading Exchange not working properly. Trading engine seems to be something complicated. One can imagine that it might fail. But the boundary between technical complexity and incompetence is subtle. Transaction volumes and high frequency put more pressure than ever on the hardware that manages exchanges in the world. This is an arms race. And exchanges cannot keep. There is also the problem of attacks on the Exchange since places like 'Partisan' and 'Siberia'.

These are not real places of course. But it is logical that we highlight here. Anyone with a keyboard, modem and computer skills can target the stock market or individual for malicious purposes. A man has been jailed in Hong Kong for conducting an attack distributed denial of service (DSD) on the news website of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. DSD in an attack, the server maintains a website is overwhelmed by so many requests at the same time it stops. There was not any site. This was when ads are published sensitive price changes. The stunt Tse Man-lai was forced to stop the Exchange trading of eight titles including HSBC. You cannot have a regulated market where some investors have access to information that could affect the prices and other cannot. The attack was totally a publicity stunt because Tse runs a company of cyber security software product anti-DSD. He took screenshots of the website after the attack, hoping to use for future marketing campaign. Its purpose was to show how much damage an attack could cause DSD your business and the importance of having the right software protection.

Few Financial Mistakes We Should Avoid!

Regardless of our income, financial situation or lifestyle, it is wise to manage personal finances and avoid unnecessary spending. Many people do not pay enough attention to where their hard-earned money goes. Here is a compilation of some financial mistakes and tips to avoid them.

Credit card Usage:

 According to famous economist, a credit card is an essential financial tool, but only when it works for you and not vice versa. The credit card allows you to make online payments, regulate your purchasing power, to accumulate rewards points and build a solid credit rating. By cons, it is easy to fall into the traps when you are in financial pressure. Avoid all cash advances, unpaid balances, minimum payments and late payments in a credit card. These are all ways leads you to get into debt and sullying your credit reputation. It is also necessary to handle the number of credit cards and their limits as they may hurt you when you apply for a car loan or mortgage.

Budget:

 Do not holding a personal budget is a mistake that could cost you without you even knowing it. Holding a budget is your advantage to take the time to analyze your income and expenses and then focus on what is important to you. A budget is not synonymous with austerity, but prosperity, because knowing where your money goes and you can avoid unnecessary leaks profit pleasures (restaurants, trips, outings and other). 3. Not realize that the "little expenses" add up quickly. You maybe realize or not, but daily losing $ 3 is more than $ 1,000 annually, enough to pay for a trip! Day to day, these expenses seem innocuous, but your budget will prove just the opposite. A simple change in your habits will save you considerable sums.

Financial commitments:

When you make financial commitments such as buying a house, a car or even furniture, make sure you do not live on the edge of your means. The game plan here is in case of a loss of income that would stretch or if an increase in interest rates and therefore monthly payments. Live to the nearest dollar that you do bring additional stress and not happiness.

 Having an emergency fund:

 Would you be able to find $ 2,000 to repair your car in case of mechanical failure? Can you able to pay $1,000 for unexpected medical expenses? In addition to a transaction account (also called checking account) and a savings account, you should have an account for emergencies to bet the contingencies of life. Do not rely on your credit card to fix these problems because you risking to pay the price. Do take advantage of discounts: Without falling into consumerism, trying to find good deals when shopping. Competitive traders such as banks, dealers, supermarkets, shops, tour operators and others cut their prices to have you as a customer, so enjoy. Just be careful: a discount is not necessarily a bargain!

Open a joint bank account:

 Love is blind, it is known. Opening a joint bank account may seem like a good idea when the relationship is doing well, but when things escalate, you may regret your decision. Make arrangements just between you and your spouse and think twice before opening a joint bank account. Avoid unnecessary bank charges: Paying a withdrawal fee is an aberration! Try to withdraw money from ATMs of your bank and take larger amounts to avoid annoying situations. In addition, you will be less likely to spend the cash on you compared to a credit card.

Take advantage of tax cuts:

 When you make investments or save money, you use all the financial vehicles available to save tax? The government offers a variety of products for tax saving which are tax-advantaged. Contribute the maximum to those who make the most sense for your situation.

Plan your future:

 We are good at planning things trivial: dinner with friends, a romantic evening or a weekend with the family, but how much time does we spend planning our future? Buying a house, organizing a major trip, planning a career or studies are all crucial decisions. Make sure you think about and plan for your future that is to your liking.