numismatics

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More weakness

U.S. stocks are poised for more weakness next week, after a slide in the Nasdaq wiped out hopes that technology shares could pull the market out of the subprime pain felt by financial institutions on Wall Street. "Tech had been the big winner since the August sell-off," said Paul Nolte, director of investments at Hinsdale Associates. "In any type of correction, you're likely to take money out of where you've done well." Stocks experienced another slide on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) finishing off 223 points at 13,042, capping a week of pain that shaved 4.1% from the blue chip index. "We've had a confluence of worries about the dollar, energy prices and subprime problems that's really got investors nervous and they don't want to be hanging around the equity market," said Nolte. Hit by continued weakness among financial stocks, the broad S&P 500 index ( SPX) lost 21 points to 1,453, adding up to a 3.7% drop on the week. Yet most of the bleeding was seen in the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) , which fell 2.5% to 2,627 on Friday. For the week, the Nasdaq shed a breathtaking 6.5%. Retail highlights week Next week, the market will turn to the September pending home sales index on Tuesday, October retail sales on Wednesday, and regional manufacturing surveys for November on Thursday, for the latest snapshot on the ailing U.S. economy. "The business surveys will help us figure out who's getting really hurt by the whole housing collapse and who's benefiting from a weak dollar and overseas growth," said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets. Helping take the pulse of U.S. and global consumers, Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) and Home Depot Inc. (HD) will also report earnings on Tuesday, followed by JC Penney (JCP) on Thursday. Bad economic data may lift market odds that the Federal Reserve will continue lowering interest rates, although Fed chief Ben Bernanke's uncertainty last week in testimony to Congress left some investors concerned. "Back in August, we had the whole financial crisis leading up to the Fed cutting rates and then we were off to the races," said Hinsdale's Nolte. "Now we need another event like that" if the market is going to pull itself up, he said. Inflation data -- the October producer price index on Wednesday and the consumer price index on Thursday -- might hold back hopes about further rate cuts.

NASDAQ

HOW QUICKLY THE mighty techs have fallen. The Nasdaq had been enjoying an incomparable run in 2007, rising more than 18% to a peak of 2859 on Halloween. Through a turbulent year the tech-heavy composite index was beating the Dow Jones Industrial Average by nearly seven percentage points and the broader market by more than nine. Subprime landmines and $100 oil be damned; life in the tech sector was good. So it's something of a shock that investors who were giving thanks for techs would find November to be so frightening. The Nasdaq has plunged 8% this month, most of that coming just this week. All equity markets are in a bad way right now, but the tech index is getting hammered significantly harder than the Dow or the S&P 500, leaving investors to sort out whether the Nasdaq is just oversold or, more dreaded, that the flight to tech is over. First, a word on how we got to this point so rapidly. The cow that kicked over the lantern in the barn was Cisco Systems (CSCO: 28.58, -1.05, -3.54%). It all started with the company's first-quarter earnings report after the markets closed Wednesday. "Although they had an in-line report, they didn't do better than expected, so that was a disappointment," says Art Hogan, chief market economist at Jefferies & Co. "And even more disappointing was the revenue guidance. So [Thursday] and [Friday] we're really feeling the spillover effect of 'Wow, if it's bad for Cisco, it's bad for a lot of people.'

wedding cameras

Would you believe it my cousin is getting married. Although the wedding is at the end of the year, he has asked me to help him in some of the wedding planning. I am all excited, this is my first wedding planning or is it planning wedding. Whatever!! I spoken to him and have asked him to budget for his wedding. So that we could decide if it is going to be a lavish hotel reception or an intimate garden affair. The next hurdle is who is going to pay for the wedding. Traditionally, it is the brides’ families that pick up the tab for the wedding but that has all changed and more and more grooms’ families are getting involved in the payment. The next stick issue is how you raise the subject of the wedding expenses. I believe the best way is for the couple to speak to the parents separately. In order not to have a miss understanding later it is best that the couples can get their parents to commit to a specific amount of money. The other option may be if they could ask their parents to commit their finances to a certain part of the wedding like the ceremony, catering or honeymoon. I told my cousin that he should also work out a figure that both of them can contribute to the wedding. Now comes the serious part of the planning and that is to do the budget for the wedding. As a rough guide the cost for a 150 wedding guest is $25,000 and this may be higher depending on location (higher in urban area). Next is to work out a percentage of the budget to be allocated for the various items. I have worked out a breakdown as such (I do hope my cousin will approve it), Reception: 48%-50% Ceremony: 2%-3% Attire: 8%-10% Flowers: 8%-10% Entertainment/Music: 8%-10% Photography/Videography: 10%-12% Stationery: 2%-3% Wedding Rings: 2%-3% Parking/Transportation: 2%-3% Gifts: 2%-3% Miscellaneous: 8%. I also planned for a contingency fund of 5% from the budget. This is for the unplanned expenses. Now what have I not included. Oh Yes, the honeymoon, must budget that also. Something else that is critical but must not be forgotten and that is to get a good wedding cameras. as we do not want to miss out of getting the perfect wedding pictures. I am glad that my cousin has been setting aside about 20% of his income for the last 2 years just for the wedding. That cousin of mine has a whole list of how to reduce his expenses just to achieve that 20% savings. What he has been doing is that he has cut down on coffee from two cups to one only a day, buying songs through the internet instead of buying CDs. All this hardship over the last two years is worth it, now that he has extra cash to cover part of the wedding expenses. It was also smart of his to use this savings to open a money-market account and he also bought CDs. I am sure it is going to be a great wedding because we were prepared and have commence our wedding planning early.