Financial life in a big town

In a recent performance review, my sister was rated "below expectations." Her boss said she took too long to complete a project. However, this really wasn’t her fault.

During that time, she had a lot of computer problems. Also, management changes created some confusion and her co-workers weren’t very cooperative. But she still got a bad review.

Now she’s on three-month probation with a warning that her current project must be completed on time. It’s not clear what will happen if she doesn’t meet the deadline.

I don’t think this is fair, because many things are out of her control. And the rules seem to be different for her. For example, her boss has positioned her monitor so that he can see what she’s doing.
My sister tries hard, despite getting little cooperation from others. I feel that "below expectations" should be for people who goof off all day. What do you think?

I think you only have one side of the story. When someone receives a reprimand, the automatic response is to point out other reasons for the problem. That’s just human nature.

But here’s the catch: people who never see their own flaws continue to repeat the same ineffective behaviors. So your sister needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror.

Your sister received a low rating because her project was late. Other factors may have contributed, but her boss believes she was responsible. She needs to stop fretting about "fairness" and concentrate on self-improvement.

To get off probation, she must focus like a laser on her upcoming project deadline cash advance flexible payments. If unavoidable obstacles arise, she needs to tell her boss immediately. And nothing but work should appear on her computer monitor.

If you continue to encourage your sister’s search for scapegoats, you will only perpetuate the problem. Instead of collaborating in her denial, try to help her save her job.

I am 24 years old with a job that bores me to death. Now that I’m in graduate school, I’ve realized that I truly hate this field. However, I am clueless about what I might prefer.

My parents say I should stick with this profession because the pay and benefits are good. What’s your opinion?

Somewhere along the line, you wandered down an inappropriate career path. But that doesn’t mean you have to stay there.

If you do, a lack of interest and commitment will limit your success. And no salary or benefit package is worth a lifetime of unhappiness and boredom.

Although your Mom and Dad undoubtedly have your best interests at heart, parents often make lousy career counselors. You need to seek out professional advice.

As a graduate student, you should have access to career counseling through your school’s placement office. Explore different occupations until you find one that energizes and excites you.

Marie G. McIntyre is a workplace coach. Send questions and get tips at www.yourofficecoach.com.

2008, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

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REYNOLDS, Ind. — This one-stoplight farming hamlet had big dreams in 2005 when it was christened BioTown USA.

Its goal: to become the first U.S. community to meet all electricity and gas needs through renewable energy by using everything from farm waste to sewage.

Industry and government officials led the early charge. BP installed a gas pump offering an ethanol fuel blend, and South Dakota-based VeraSun Energy Corp. started building an ethanol production plant near town pay day loans.

Former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns stopped by in support, as did the band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Visitors also included a group of Chilean corn farmers who were touring the Midwest and interested in learning more about biofuels.

But the visitors are long gone, and many say the excitement is, too. Money problems, leadership changes and other obstacles have sparked skepticism that Rey

The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into whether Alcoa Inc (AA.N: Quote, Profile, Research), one of its subsidiaries and people connected with the unit committed fraud, corruption and bribery in its relations with customer Aluminum Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba).

In a motion filed Thursday with the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, the Justice Department asked the court to put a temporary hold on a Alba’s civil suit against Alcoa, the world’s largest supplier of alumina, the principal raw material used in making aluminum.

The suit also names affiliate Alcoa World Alumina LLC, former Alcoa World Alumina Vice President of Marketing William Rice and Victor Dahdaleh, an agent of Alcoa and Alcoa World Alumina, as defendants.

“The Alba complaint alleges numerous facts which, if true, could be relevant to the government’s criminal investigation and a potential criminal trial,” the department wrote in its motion.

Last month, Alba, one of the worlds largest smelting firms, filed suit seeking more than $1 billion from Alcoa, accusing the firm of participating in a 15-year conspiracy involving overcharging, fraud and bribery.

In the suit, Alba accused the defendants of steering payments for alumina to companies abroad in order to pay kickbacks to a Bahraini government official.

Alba, which is 77 percent owned by the government of Bahrain, also accuses the defendants of overcharging it for alumina payday advance. It did not name the official to whom bribes were allegedly paid.

According to the suit, the bribes were sent through a series of shell companies controlled by Alcoa and resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in overpayments. 

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OTTAWA – More clouds over the U.S. financial industry and a report showing Canada's manufacturing and forestry output declined in November, combined to help push the loonie down by more than a cent today.

The loonie fell 1.06 cents US to close at 99.62 cents US in Toronto on Thursday, just a day after the Canadian currency closed above the U.S. dollar for the first time since early January.

Earlier in the day, the loonie fell by as much as 1.55 cents US in intraday trading – the biggest one-day drop in 2 1/2 months – after Statistics Canada reported that the Canadian economy barely edged forward in November.

Output from the depressed Canadian manufacturing sector decreased 0.3 per cent in November, reaching its second-lowest level since the beginning of 2007.

Overall Canadian production of goods fell 0.2 per cent from October and the gross domestic product, a measure of the economy as a whole, gained just 0.1 per cent.

The Bank of Montreal said the small November gain – half as big as the growth registered in October – supports the view that the Canadian economy is braking and will likely record a 1.5 per cent growth rate in the fourth quarter, down from 2.9 in the third.

The bank's senior economist, Sal Guatieri, noted that with U.S. demand for Canadian products easing further, exports of manufactured goods will apply an even greater drag on the economy going forward, as will a slowdown in construction.

Still, the Canadian economy is expected to outperform its bigger southern neighbour going forward, particularly because of the robust employment situation and strength in sectors such as oil and minerals.

"The Canadian economy should be able to muddle through this rough patch without too many wounds," predicted TD Bank economist Pascal Gauthier.

That may not be the case for the U.S. and more bleak news came out Thursday, including the rating downgrade of a major American bond insurer as part of the unfolding subprime mortgage crisis that has floored the entire housing market and shaken consumer confidence.

The bond insurers, or monolines, offer a potential lifeline to banks affected by subprime woes, providing some insurance against credit losses. If the monolines are in trouble, that means less available relief for financial institutions already struggling with losses related to bad subprime mortgages.

As well, initial U.S. jobless claims for the week ending January 26th jumped to 375,000 from 306,000 in the week prior, further indications the American economy is slumping.

In Canada, the deepest pocket of weakness in November was the forestry and logging sector, which saw output drop 2.1 per cent during the month and was 11 per cent lower than last year.

As it has for most of the year, the Canadian economy was able to keep its head above water thanks to consumers and the services sector, which advanced 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively in the month.

After falling below 97 cents US last week, the loonie surged past parity this week to close at 101.31 cents US on Wednesday, largely in reaction to the Federal Reserve's aggressive attack on interest rates in an attempt to forestall a U.S payday loans in 1 hour. recession.

"The Canadian dollar's reaction was large, so it was a bit of a surprise because the gross domestic product (report) wasn't really that far from what economists were expecting," said CIBC senior economist Avery Shenfeld.

"You could also look at this in the context of the loonie having gained that ground in the last few days. It was a correction and might not all be due to the GDP report."

Opinion is divided on whether an American recession is unlikely, probable or already here.

Shenfeld, for one, doesn't believe the U.S. has yet slipped into a recession, saying other indicators, such as factory orders and household spending remain on the positive side of the line, if just barely.

Still, following the U.S. Federal Reserve's 125-point slashing of interest rates in the past two weeks, a growing consensus among economists believes the Bank of Canada will have little choice by to speed up its easing of rates as well, with forecasting a one percentage point drop by the end of June.

"One could have argued they should have cut half-a-point in January, but as it gets evidence of the U.S. slowdown, I think the bank will move up the pace for its next rate cut (on March 4)," Shenfeld said.

The central bank's senior deputy governor Paul Jenkins told a Commons committee on Wednesday that the bank regards a range of about 90 to 98 cents US for the loonie as justified by the fundamentals, such as commodity prices.

He said the bank would likely intervene if the dollar deviates too far from the range.

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Shares of Pfizer Inc. rose 2.8 percent Wednesday after the world’s largest drug maker reported fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations and raised its outlook for the year.

The company, which employs about 1,200 people at a research facility in Chesterfield, said net income for the company for the quarter that ended Dec. 31 fell to $2.88 billion, or 42 cents per share, from $9.45 billion, or $1.32 per share, a year ago. The year-ago results included divestiture gains of $1.11 per share. Excluding items, net income in the latest period totaled $3.6 billion, or 52 cents per share.

Revenue climbed 4 percent to $13.07 billion from $12.60 billion in the 2006 period, as international sales — buoyed by the weaker dollar — helped offset the loss of patent protection on blood pressure drug Norvasc and antidepressant Zoloft.

The results beat expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Financial of a fourth-quarter profit of 47 cents per share on $12.19 billion in revenue.
The company raised its outlook for revenue this year to a range of $47 billion to $49 billion, from a previous estimated range of $46.5 billion to $48.5 billion cash advances. It also lifted the lower end of its adjusted earnings forecast to $2.35 per share, from a previous range of $2.31 to $2.45.

Wall Street has forecast fiscal 2008 earnings per share of $2.34 on revenue of $47.12 billion.

However, the company warned that first-quarter revenue may not top year-ago results due to the loss of patent protection on Norvasc in 2007, allergy drug Zyrtec this month and colon cancer drug Camptosar in February. These products contributed U.S. revenue of about $1.1 billion in the 2007 first quarter.

Johnson & Johnson announced Wednesday that it will begin selling Zyrtec without a prescription in stores nationwide this week.

Pfizer shares closed Wednesday at $22.86, up 63 cents.

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