The Little Recovery That Could…Well, Maybe

Nick Beaudrot on how to un-demoralize (re-moralize?) the base: Banks. And Jobs.

Andrew Lo is a Professor of finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management.  He's also the director of MIT's Laboratory for Financial Engineering. Most people on Wall Street know him as the leading mind in hedge funds and financial engineering.

Hurricane Sandy isn’t just a natural disaster; it’s a financial disaster, too. Current estimates predict the superstorm will ultimately cost the country tens of billions of dollars. But that big, big number represents its total damage to the nation. What matters more is how much financial damage the storm does to you. When disaster strikes, many people count on insurance to bail them out. Insurance is important, no question, but it’s also important to remember that nobody cares more about your money than you do.

You can have these on a plane.

We just love the new year, from the festive parties to the chance to stay up past midnight for a reason other than catching up on "Homeland." We also love the elusive New Year’s resolution.

(WASHINGTON) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week by 17,000, reversing four weeks of declines. But the number of people seeking aid is consistent with a job market that continues to grow modestly. Unemployment claims rose the week of Dec. 15 to a seasonally adjusted 361,000 from a revised 344,000 the week before. The less-volatile four-week moving average fell 13,750 to 367,750, lowest since late October. Applications had surged in early November after Superstorm Sandy, then dropped back. (MORE: Weekly U.S.

(WASHINGTON) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week by 17,000, reversing four weeks of declines. But the number of people seeking aid is consistent with a job market that continues to grow modestly. Unemployment claims rose the week of Dec. 15 to a seasonally adjusted 361,000 from a revised 344,000 the week before. The less-volatile four-week moving average fell 13,750 to 367,750, lowest since late October. Applications had surged in early November after Superstorm Sandy, then dropped back. (MORE: Weekly U.S.

Lately I’ve found myself using more and more financial rules of thumb. A rule of thumb is a general guideline, an easy way to approximate a value quickly. But it’s not meant to be completely accurate. For instance, one standard financial rule of thumb is to save at least 10% of your income. A better goal is to aim for 20%. At MSN Money, Liz Weston once suggested that if you’re young, you can follow this rule of thumb: “Save 10% for basics, 15% for comfort, 20% to escape.” Sometimes experts will agree on a general rule of thumb, but not on specifics.