Don't Forget to Vote!
Election Day is this Tuesday, November 2, and early voting is available in many states now. Make sure your voice is heard by casting your vote.

 

Strong earnings for businesses in a wide range of industries, from CSX to GE to Cargill, may indicate faster economic growth in 2011.

Visit http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_45/b4202054307945.htm to view the full article online.

 

Tuition at four-year public universities rose again this year, outpacing inflation, according to a report released Thursday by The College Board. Federal aid to states and students softens the bite.

Visit http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2010/1028/Tuition-at-public-colleges-jumps-8-percent-College-Board-reports to view the full article online.

 

The foreclosure crisis intensified across a majority of large U.S. metropolitan areas this summer, with Chicago and Seattle – cities outside of the states that have shouldered the worst of the housing downturn – seeing a sharp increase in foreclosure warnings.

Visit http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fiw-foreclosure-20101028,0,6074148.story to view the full article online.

 

1. "There are better ways to find a job." A recruiter or agency is one part of a job search, but it shouldn’t be your primary source – and maybe not your secondary one, either. Referrals – that is, a connection made by someone you know – remain your best bet.

Visit http://www.smartmoney.com/personal-finance/employment/10-things-employment-recruiters-wont-say/ to view the full article online.

 

Career experts often offer helpful tips for reducing job interview anxiety. But you don’t want to reduce job interview anxiety; you want to avoid it altogether. Before you say, "But that’s impossible!" let’s clarify: You don’t actually have to eliminate the anxiety. You only have to avoid letting it show.

Visit http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2010/10/27/21-ways-to-avoid-job-interview-anxiety to view the full article online.

 

Manolo Marbán, 59, is still living in his house in Toledo and going to work in the small pink-and-aqua pet grooming shop he bought here in 2006, when he got swept up in Spain’s giddy real estate boom.

Visit http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/world/europe/28spain.html to view the full article online.

 

European Union leaders appear headed for a clash over tougher budget rules, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel sticking to a call for a treaty change that would suspend the voting rights of countries that repeatedly violate deficit and debt limits.

Visit http://www.marketwatch.com/story/eu-leaders-expected-to-clash-on-budget-rules-2010-10-27 to view the full article online.

 

Not all MBA applicants are models of sophistication – as evidenced by the crying, the handstand demonstration, and the occasional attempted bribe

Visit http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/oct2010/bs20101020_748841.htm to view the full article online.

 

Mississippi's three historically Black universities will begin receiving less money from the settlement of the decades-old desegregation lawsuit in 2012.

Visit http://diverseeducation.com/article/14317/ to view the full article online.

 

NBMBAA's 3rd Annual Mideast Regional Conference, "Change, Challenge, and Opportunity: Investing for the Next Decade," takes place November 11-13 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The conference will feature leadership development and entrepreneurial workshops, a Diversity & Education Career Fair, networking opportunities and more.

Visit http://blackmbamideast.org/about_conference.htm to view the full article online.

 

Since the arrival of the Apple iPad in April of 2010, we've seen a handful of competitors step up with inexpensive tablet alternatives in all shapes and sizes. With the Galaxy Tab, Samsung has created a true peer of the iPad--an uncompromising product that stakes out new territory in terms of both design and features.

Visit http://reviews.cnet.com/tablets/samsung-galaxy-tab-sprint/4505-3126_7-34194814.html to view the full article online.

 

When Jeff Bezos belittled the Nook’s lending feature in a New York Times interview, he probably didn’t anticipate that Amazon would embrace the exact same limitations less than a year later.

Visit http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/10/amazon-now-embraces-nook-sophies-choice-lending-features/ to view the full article online.

 

The bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek talks about why he rarely uses his personal brand to promote his business.

Visit http://www.inc.com/articles/2010/10/tim-ferriss-on-personal-branding.html to view the full article online.

 

More than 500,000 workers have left the financial sector since the recession began. Many of them became franchisees.

Visit http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217410 to view the full article online.

 

During the recession, the logic was ubiquitous: The economy is terrible – better to wait it out! It is a three-year fast track to a remunerative, respectable career! It's not just learning a subject &ndsah; it's learning how to think! Law school, always the safe choice, became a more popular choice. But now a number of recent or current law students are saying – or screaming – that they made a mistake.

Visit http://www.slate.com/id/2272621/ to view the full article online.

 

Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in three months, a signal the labor market may be starting to mend.

Visit http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-28/unemployment-claims-in-u-s-unexpectedly-decline-to-a-three-month-low.html to view the full article online.

 

Many are facing a dilemma: over 50, unemployed and running out of options. With no job prospects long before they can afford to retire – and Social Security benefits still years away – many unemployed workers in their 50s and early 60s are struggling to pay the bills, the mortgage, health-care expenses and college tuition. It's a scenario that was unimaginable to many just a few years ago.

Visit http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303436904575570663472679240.html to view the full article online.

 

To pay or not to pay is the question now facing some homeowners. Not because they can't afford their mortgage, but because they don't want to keep paying on a home that's lost value.

Visit http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130868236 to view the full article online.

 

Looking for a good deal? How’s 50% off sound? Once a bargain-basement super-deal, getting half-off is now about what shoppers can – and should – expect from a sale, experts say.

Visit http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/deals/how-50-discounts-really-work/ to view the full article online.

 

A majority of big companies cut their giving in 2009, according to a study released Wednesday by the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, in New York.

Visit http://philanthropy.com/article/Nearly-60-of-Big-Companies/125101/ to view the full article online.

 

Chief executive sparred with chief fake-news comedian over the velocity of change Wednesday evening, separated only by a desk designed like a slice of the Capitol dome – and by a gap in perception over the accomplishments of the Obama administration in its first 21 months.

Visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/27/AR2010102707167.html to view the full article online.

 

Dan Thystrup, owner of a paddleboat manufacturing company in Indiana, says he was told it was the new health care regulation that helped prompt a doubling of his firm's premiums. Thystrup, who'd been providing health insurance for his workers for more than two decades, said he had to make the difficult decision to drop coverage for both his workers and himself.

Visit http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130861732 to view the full article online.

 

What is "the elite"? A principled answer to this question would be mighty helpful for evaluating contentions that the tea-party movement is enlivened by opposition to what he calls the "New Elite", which is alleged to be "isolated from mainstream America and ignorant about the lives of ordinary Americans."

Visit http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/10/tea_partys_suspect_populism to view the full article online.

 

You doled out extra vacation days to make up for paltry bonuses to your top performers. After the 401(k) match was cut, you passed out gift cards to remind your stars how much they mattered. In a tough economy, it's the little things, right?

Visit http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/22/pf/jobs/employee_retention.fortune/index.htm to view the full article online.

 

In this excerpt from his book, The Communicators: Leadership in the Age of Crisis, author Richard S. Levick contrasts how Burger King and Technorati responded to critical comments on websites – and how you "do not play around on the Internet."

Visit http://www.fastcompany.com/article/the-communicators-leadership-in-the-age-of-crisis to view the full article online.

 

Major changes to health-insurance coverage and costs, new rules for flexible spending accounts, and some interesting new employee benefits make it particularly important to review your options carefully this year. Here are five ways to make the most of these changes when selecting your 2011 options.

Visit http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/ask/archive/5-things-you-should-do-during-open-enrollment.html?si=1 to view the full article online.

 

Attention bargain shoppers! It is October – and Black Friday specials are here. The year’s most popular discount shopping event, referring to the Friday after Thanksgiving, is arriving ahead of Halloween this year, with some promotions beginning this week and others throughout November.

Visit http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/business/28friday.html to view the full article online.

 

No, you don't have to skydive or ride a motorcycle on the Great Wall, like Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson did in the movie "The Bucket List." But if you're facing retirement and have a to-do list, you may not want to wait for the economic recovery to arrive before living your dreams.

Visit http://www.bankrate.com/finance/retirement/slump-brings-retirees-bucket-list-bargains-1.aspx to view the full article online.