Online Journal July, 2010

Jul
29
2010

Written by:
Shali Zhu

Consumer Optimism: Unwarranted or Inevitable?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended this May down 7.9% for the month, its largest monthly decline since February 2009 and the biggest percentage drop for May since 1940. However, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan gauge of consumer sentiment showed that consumers’ view of the state of the U.S. economy actually became more optimistic in May. Between April and May of this year, the gauge rose 1.4, from 72.2 in April to 73.6 in May. According to an article by the Wall Street Journal, the rise in consumer optimism is derived entirely from consumers’ more positive outlook regarding the direction of the economy. But with stock prices swinging wildly and all three major markets – Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ Composite, and S&P 500 Index – in the red for the year, is this consumer optimism misplaced?

Jul
24
2010

Written by:
Thomas Loeffler

America and China: Converging or Diverging Interests?

With China’s inhabitants representing nearly one-sixth of the world’s population, it’s no wonder their competitive edge has been in their labor workforce. For years American companies have been outsourcing production to countries like China where more affordable manufacturing costs have become profitable investments. Adding to their already competitive advantage, foreign exchange risk has rarely been a deciding factor with China because they have historically pegged the Yuan against the U.S. dollar. The announcement from the People’s Bank of China has now given American companies a reason to rethink about the costs associated with outsourcing to China; but has it given them a reason to take action? There are two lenses one can view this decision through. The optimist would believe the Chinese have loosened their policy to devalue the dollar against the Yuan in favor of both countries’ interests.

Jul
17
2010

Written by:
Shali Zhu

The Consumer Side of Financial Reform

You know that the financial regulation bills recently passed by the House and the Senate are targeted primarily toward reforming the way business is done on Wall Street, but how does the passage of these pieces of legislation affect consumers like you? In order to answer this question, we need to first take a look at the two versions of the financial reform bill.

Jul
13
2010

Written by:
Wade Senti

Dealing with Rejection

As a people, we must accept the inevitable nature of rejection – whether it is in school, at work, or in relationships. It is tough to deal with, especially when rejection means deferring from a life path or a future that may never be realized.

As graduation nears – the quest for greater opportunity begins. However, many of us, including myself are at odds with the idea of choosing the right path and getting into the most competitive and ‘best fit’ graduate school or professional opportunity, while also dealing with the prospect of complete rejection.

After gathering the necessary materials – LSAT, GMAT, GRE, MCAT, recommendation letters, transcripts, and a personal statement, the task can be daunting. However, to push forward in life, one must do all of this – even if employment is the first stop before graduate school.

Jul
9
2010

Written by:
Thomas Loeffler

Waging a Cyber Threat

The unprecedented proliferation of the internet in the last two decades has surfaced concerns about the security of our wireless network. Favorably and unfavorably, our ability to transmit information has grown at a faster rate than our ability to protect that same information. In other words, top secret data and your marital status on Facebook still travel through the same wireless pipeline. This fact alone is reason enough for a serious reevaluation of our country’s cybersecurity standards. Cybersecurity needs to be on par with the top priorities for America as an integrated component to our national defense and standards in infrastructure.

Jul
4
2010

Written by:
Gautam K Sawhney

Fannie & Freddie

Since the housing bubble, the two biggest losers which have grabbed continuous media attention have been the mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In order to keep the companies afloat, the Treasury Department has injected $83.6 billion into Fannie Mae and $61.3 billion into Freddie Mac. The government bailout for the mortgage giants was to cover losses of mortgage-backed securities which, Fannie and Freddie owned or guaranteed. Since September 2008, Fannie and Freddie have been under government conservatorship.

Archives