Content about Entertainment

CHICAGO — If there is one investment philosophy that approaches universal agreement among financial advisers, it’s the need for careful diversification in every portfolio in order to minimize risk, but exactly what does diversification mean, and how can you tell if your investments are truly diversified?

One popular TV show on finances features a segment called “Am I Diversified?” in which viewers call in, give the host their top five holdings and the host lets them know if they are properly diversified. According to Jason Whitby, MBA, CFA®, CFP®, AIFA®, senior financial adviser with Miami-based Investor Solutions, it’s not that simple. “The idea of five-stock diversification is mostly refuted by the financial community,” he says, “which tends to agree that the number of individual stocks needed for diversification is actually closer to 30.”

There is still time to register for the GreenEarth Affiliate workshop in Savannah, Georgia on April 20th and 21st.

Savannah was the named the "destination of choice" by our Affiliates who participated in our recent workshop survey and we know you will love Savannah! This historic city is known for its charm and beauty; a city famous for its role in both the Revolutionary and Civil wars, for being the birthplace of the Girl Scouts and the setting for John Berendt's book "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil.

CHICAGO — Helping to ring in a better new year are the Federal Reserve Board, the nation’s unemployment numbers and job growth, mortgage applications, and pending home sales.

ALL BUT ONE OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICTS reported an increase in economic activity in a report filed Nov. 30. The districts saw a slow to moderate upward trend in consumer spending, with the strongest upticks occurring in vehicle sales and tourism dollars. Manufacturing activity and overall bank lending also increased slightly.

THE NOVEMBER JOBLESS RATE was down to 8.6%, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, with an estimated 120,000 jobs added—that’s the fifth month in a row to post 100,000 or more new jobs, a first since April 2006. However, a downswing in wages slightly offset that good news.

The department reports a decrease in the weekly seasonally adjusted unemployment claims in the week ending Dec. 3, as the number went to 381,000 from the previous week’s revised number of 404,000.

WASHINGTON — The Henry Hub spot price for natural gas averaged $3.56 per MMBtu in October, 34 cents lower than the September average, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook report released Nov. 8.

This month’s Outlook lowers the 2011 forecast by 6 cents to $4.09 per MMBtu and lowers the 2012 forecast by 19 cents to $4.13 per MMBtu compared with last month’s report.

Even while the delivered cost of natural gas continues to decline, EIA expects the cost of coal delivered to electric generators to increase by 6.4% during 2011. The net effect will be relatively modest growth in retail electricity prices over the forecast horizon, the report says.

For route drivers, EIA forecasts that the annual average regular-grade gasoline retail price, which averaged $2.78 per gallon in 2010, will increase to an average of $3.54 per gallon in 2011, before declining to an average $3.46 per gallon in 2012. The agency expects that on-highway diesel fuel retail prices, which averaged $2.99 per gallon in 2010, will average $3.84 per gallon in 2011 and $3.79 per gallon in 2012.

LOS ANGELES — I have shopped all over the world: in Toronto, I shop at Rochester Big and Tall. In New York, Rochester Big and Tall. In London, Rochester; Chicago, Rochester. Being 6-foot-4 with 37-inch sleeves, my choices in clothing have been pretty limited. At most big and tall men’s stores, Nehru jackets are just coming into style.

That was a bit of a problem when I was a personal manager and knew that there’d be some “Hollywood” people judging me on my “look.” Though I love dressing well, most clothing stores are fashion museums to me, and stylish clothes the artifacts.

I compensated with ties. I became known for having an amazing tie collection: thin, wide, vintage and new. While designer threads were out of the question because they weren’t made in my size, I got people to focus on the one fashion accessory where I could compete.

Instead of accepting my limitations, I concentrated on the positives.

CHICAGO — Early September brought a new proposal—the Americans Jobs Act—from President Barack Obama, which includes incentives for small-business owners to aid in cutting taxes and adding employees.

The proposal cuts employer payroll taxes in half, offers a series of tax credits for companies that hire workers who have been unemployed for longer than six months, establishes an “infrastructure bank” to offer loans for private-sector projects, funds a variety of transportation projects, intends to modernize schools and vacant properties, extends unemployment benefits and subsidizes jobs training programs, pumps money into communities for teachers and first responders, and sets up a summer jobs program for teens.

The bipartisan super committee in Congress—tasked with finding ways to reduce the nation’s debt by December—was due to hear the president’s proposals on cutting debt later in the month.

NEW YORK — The National Cleaners Association (NCA) will host the Texcare 2011 Trade Show Oct. 15-16 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, Secaucus, N.J. Admission will be free for active drycleaners.

NCA promises “all the latest and greatest new technologies and solvents will be running live and demonstrating for you what they’re capable of.”

Attendees can expect to see the revolutionary advances in drycleaning solvents to ahead-of-the-curve wetcleaning systems and the latest in tensioning equipment, computer software and more, NCA says.

Show manager Ann Hargrove says Texcare educational sessions never conflict with exhibit times. This year’s seminar program has been developed specifically to help drycleaners weather the current economic storms. Presentations will include:

LAS VEGAS — The Clean Executive Committee (CEC) announced sites and dates for the next three Clean Shows during a press conference earlier today. As reported Sunday by American Trade Magazines, New Orleans’ Morial Convention Center will host the event over three days in 2013.

In 2015, the Clean Show returns to Atlanta, which last hosted the exhibition in 1987. Las Vegas has been chosen to host the 2017 event.

Show dates are:

• 2013 — June 21-23, 2013
• 2015 — April 17-19, 2015
• 2017 — June 19-21, 2017

The dates reflect a more concise and efficient three-day format designed to give exhibitors and attendees a better value for their time and money invested in the Clean Show, the CEC says.

If the three-day experiment doesn’t work as well as hoped, the CEC could return to the four-day format, according to David Cotter, CEO of the Textile Care Allied Trades Association and Clean 2011 Chairman.


CHICAGO — Every month, I like to align my column to the magazine’s theme. But the May had me stumped. What do I know about “Retooling for Recovery?” I don’t own a plant—not even a ficus.

Then I realized that each of us does some retooling on an daily basis, by taking information and using it as hope for the future. We’re a little bit like Little Orphan Annie, thinking that tomorrow, the world will be a better place. It’s why we buy lottery tickets. It’s why we get out of bed.

WASHINGTON — President Obama signed a bill into law last week repealing an unpopular reporting requirement attached to last year’s healthcare reform legislation.

Set to begin in 2012, the requirement would have asked businesses to issue an IRS 1099 form to any individual or corporation from which they purchased more than $600 in goods or services in a tax year.

Many small-business advocates had called the expanded requirement an unnecessary and unfair burden for small businesses, saying it would create a mountain of paperwork.

WASHINGTON — With winter ending and natural-gas prices holding steady, operators are focusing on the skyrocketing cost required to drive their routes.

Motorists currently experiencing a jump in pump prices will likely see further increases from now through spring since the recent increase in crude oil has not yet been fully passed through to gasoline prices, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest short-term energy outlook.

WASHINGTON — Natural-gas inventories are expected to remain high through 2011, resulting in an average Henry Hub natural-gas spot price of $4.16 per million Btu (MMBtu) for the year, $0.22 per MMBtu lower than the 2010 average, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest short-term energy outlook.