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« Customers Don’t Pay On Time? These Tips for Collecting on Overdue Accounts Can Help | Main | 3 Business Tips for Getting Organized for Tax Season »
Tuesday
Feb042014

Top Stories in Business and Finance - January 2014

FACTOR KING® offers this quick monthly rollup of important stories related to business and finance. We also track leading economic indicators each month giving you a quick snapshot of the status of the economy.

Top Business & Finance Stories for January 2014

  • Proposed Increase to Minimum Wage: Proposals for minimum wage increases are being introduced at local, state and national levels of government. President Obama is working to raise Federal minimum wage to $10.10 by 2016. [Source USA Today]
  • More Data Breaches Shake Consumer Confidence: After Target suffered a major security breach during their busiest shopping season, now other stores have fallen victim to similar crimes. Neiman Marcus and Michael’s have recently fallen prey, and there are bound to be more. [Source Forbes]
  • Amazon Earnings Announcement Falls Short: Amazon’s stock dropped almost 8% upon the announcement that their earnings fell short of projections. [Source Forbes]


Leading Economic Indicators for January 2014

  • Real Estate:  Typical seasonal trends were followed in December as the number of available homes on the market and the median list price per square foot index dipped as compared to November. The same is expected to be reported once January numbers are released.  [Source Movoto.com]
  • Employment: 2013 ended with the weakest job growth in years due to a very poor December report. However the economy added 2.2 million jobs total for 2013, which is on par with the previous year. Due to the cold weather and resulting slump in manufacturing, it’s difficult to predict what the January Jobs Report (to be released Friday) will reveal about the state of the economy.  [Source CNN and Marketwatch]
  • Stocks, Bonds, and Interest Rates: Stocks suffered during a tough January which is proving to continue into February with the Dow tumbling more than 5%.  This slide is a result of reported sluggish U.S growth that adds to investor worries about the global economy. Mortgage interest rates are holding steady and are predicted to do so throughout 2014. Eventually rates are predicted to rise as the Fed continues to taper the stimulus. The Fed pared its bond-buying program by $10 billion for the second straight month.  [Source Seattle Times and USA Today]


Opportunities for Career & Personal Growth

  • 9 Simple Things Great Speakers Always Do [Inc]
  • How 2014 Will Be The Year To Monetize Big Data [Entrepreneur]
  • Four Types Of Business Tools You Haven’t Tried – But Should [LifeHack.org]

Any other important business or financial news to report?  Please share by leaving a comment below.

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