Chocolate-covered anything

This gift is as expensive as you want it to be. Find hand-dipped fruit from online sources from a local chocolatier or restaurant. Go even cheaper and bathe the fruit in chocolate yourself. Your Valentine’s not so sweet? Yes, Virginia, you can dip bacon.

This gift’s outlook for the future: I’m sensual and I will at least feed you.

Jewelry

Opening with a diamond is doable. But assume that she’s imagining bigger for every blingy purchase to follow. Look for something that reminds you of a dear or unique quality. Example: Answer her (or his) proclivity for Pirates of the Caribbean over-the-knee boots and rum, with inexpensive black pearl earrings.

Keep jewelry simple and understated until your wallet allows for carat growth. This packs the impact of the little padded box but doesn’t leave you buying the (gasp) engagement ring next.

This gift’s outlook for the future: You’re my Audrey Hepburn. She only got

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There is new information regarding CDs. Please click here for the latest version of this story.

The traditional certificate of deposit remains the most popular type of CD, but a growing number of financial institutions are offering a variety of nontraditional CDs that have an element of flexibility. If you’re willing to sacrifice some yield, you can find CD options that might better suit your financial needs.

Here are the more popular types of CDs.

Traditional

Deposit a fixed amount of money for a specific term and receive a predetermined interest rate. You have the option of cashing out at the end of the term, or rolling over the CD for another term. Most institutions allow you to add additional funds during the term or when rolling over. Penalties for early withdrawal can be quite stiff and will cause you to lose interest and, possibly, principal. Federal regulations stipulate only the minimum early withdrawal penalty. Read more…

Talking about business success is always great and uplifting. Talking about business failure not so much, why is that?

All too often failure is seen as a bad thing, not as an experience, a valuable lesson or the next important step on the ladder to success. Failure is painful, it dents our ego, but the truth is failure often teaches us more than success. We just need to learn to see failure as an opportunity to make it better next time.

You may say, there won’t be a next time, because you lost not only your shirt. This typically only happens if you discount failure, people who understand that they can also fail, often take far fewer risks.

Here is the thing, a good business plan includes the possibility of failure. Try it, make failure part of the plan, it can be very liberating.

You want for your money to work for you and to grow, right? But taking risks makes you feel uneasy? So is there a way for you to invest more safely? Of course there is!

There is a rule that is associated with investing that is ancient, and yet remains unchanged. This rule has guided the strategies for investing for people since commerce began and since money was originally invented. This rule is simple: The bigger that the risk is, the bigger the return. You can easily invest in investments that are safe and secure, but you are not going to grow rich very quickly because your profits will be small and steady instead. You are also, however, not likely to go broke or lose your investment however. Once you have a grasp on this concept and the principles surround it, then the answer to the questions above will rely solely on what rate of return you are going to be expecting from the investments that you make.

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In 2011, crude oil will significantly rise in price. This could particularly be a big opportunity for investors. While the oil business has always been profitable, new factors are triggering oil-price volatility. Understanding this will be key in determining the winners and losers in the oil game. The “New” Catalysts For Crude Oil Prices While traditional catalysts will still be of some importance in estimating crude oil prices, they will no longer control the show, or be of much help in selecting the best investments.

In the past, the market would regard five elements as having the most direct impact on crude prices: • The value of the U.S. dollar. • Crude-oil inventories. • Industrial performance as a measure of returning demand. • Supply constrictions. • And mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Those same five factors these days are less indicative of where the market is going or what participants are to profit most from the movement. As we move int

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Turkish inflation heading higher
Turkish inflation figures for January are due on Thursday next week. We expect a significant drop to 5.1% y/y vs December’s reading of 6.4% y/y. The massive drop could for the most part be attributed to a large base effect. In the coming months we expect Turkish inflation to continue to decline and it could maybe even drop below 4.0% y/y in Q1 11 (see page 3).

CNB moving closer to a rate hike
The Czech rate decision scheduled for next Thursday will undoubtedly draw attention. Despite it being broadly expected that the Czech central bank (CNB) will keep interest rates on hold maintaining the key policy rate at a record-low 0.75%, in our view the CNB will deliver fairly hawkish comments. It is very likely that a rate hike could be advocated by more than one CNB board member on the back of rising inflation. O Read more…