IMF:Fiscal Policy During Financial Crisis

The International Monetary Fund published December 29th, 2008 a staff position note named Fiscal Policy for the Crisis. The document, among other things, reviews five case studies of fiscal policy during financial crisis featuring the Great Depression, the Banking Crisis in Japan in 1997, the Economic Crisis in Korea in 1997, the Savings and Loan (S&L) Crisis in the US (1980s–1990s) and the Nordic Banking and Economic Crises.

Lessons from history are thought usually helpful for assessing market situations. Take your time to review.

Antonio Spilimbergo, Steve Symansky, Olivier Blanchard,and Carlo Cottarelli
806K PDF, 38 pages

Financial Crisis Timeline II

BBC, like REUTERS, have their own extensive crisis timeline which provides text coverage since April 2007. The timeline starts with a quick guide to the origins of the global financial crisis.

April, 2007, New Century Financial, which specialises in sub-prime mortgages, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced cuts of half of its workforce.

The timeline is named Global credit crunch.

Financial Crisis Timeline I

REUTERS have made an extensive crisis timeline which covers in details the current financial crisis around the globe. The timeline provides video and text coverage since September 14th, 2008 and is updated daily.

September 14th, 2008 investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection.

The timeline is named Global Financial Crisis and is in the middle of the page, just below the leading news for the day.

Risk Assessment Quiz

Recently I have come upon a worksheet that some might find a handy tool for their risk assessment process. This worksheet tries to asses your overall risk-taking capacity and to give a numerical score on your risk tolerance along with suggesting sample asset allocations. Not very sophisticated but at the same time neat and insightful.

Risk Assessment Quiz (doc file, 43KB)

This quiz is designed as a starting point for financial discussions. It should not be used to make final decisions.

One of The Best Explanations of The Financial Crisis

THE LAST LAUGH

How to Invest Now

In light of the recent market turmoil, experts from Zacks Investment Research give guidance on how to construct your portfolio whether you are aggressive, conservative or somewhere in between.

Business Plan for a Startup Business

Looking for a neat way to write your business plan? Well, look no more.

The Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE®) have provided on their web site an extensive guide how to construct your business plan under the name Business Plan for a Startup Business.

A good proof that the guide is popular and with potentially high value is the fact that the document has been downloaded more than 1 million times from the Templates section of Microsoft Office Online, one more place where the plan is also available.

SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" is a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). They boast to have helped nearly 8 million small businesses.