So Many Office Celebrations

By

Celebrations for different important events in co-workers lives are important.  People spend a large part of their day with co-workers and become close friends with many of them.  So taking the time to celebrate a new baby or a birthday can be very important.  But it can also get out of hand or cause problems in the work place.  This article gives some good advice on office celebrations that may be helpful…

Q. It seems there’s a cake in the conference room every week celebrating a birthday, a new baby or a wedding engagement. Are personal celebrations appropriate at work?

A. Yes, but in moderation. We spend a lot of time with our co-workers, so it is natural to want to note life events and achievements with them. It is also a morale booster, providing a chance to step away from your desk for a while and have some fun.

“People are so used to dealing with computers and not human beings; celebrations give us a chance to be human again, to connect with others in the organization,” said Peter Handal, chairman of Dale Carnegie Training, a company in Hauppauge, N.Y., that focuses on interpersonal skills.

But frequent celebrations can also cause resentment, if employees are continually asked to make financial contributions or if parties interfere with work.

“When it’s forced, it’s not fun,” said Kate Zabriskie, president of Business Training Works, a consulting firm in Washington that specializes in business etiquette.

“If you don’t have time to plan your kids’ birthday party,” she said, “you don’t want to be forced to help plan a party for someone who isn’t really your friend.”

If you want to read more, you can view the complete Kamaron Institute Job Market article by clicking the following link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/business/yourmoney/20career.html?ex=1337313600&en=571f6e939ad61752&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Kamaron Institute business news, educational career and parenting reference tips and resources.  

Winston Churchill's Impact on the 20th Century

By

Winston Churchill, like Lincoln, was a great leader.  His life impacted the whole world.  Time Magazine described well how important Churchill was to the 20th century, “The political history of the 20th century can be written as the biographies of six men: Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. The first four were totalitarians who made or used revolutions to create monstrous dictatorships. Roosevelt and Churchill differed from them in being democrats. And Churchill differed from Roosevelt — while both were war leaders, Churchill was uniquely stirred by the challenge of war and found his fulfillment in leading the democracies to victory.”

Below are just some of his many great quotes and a little about him…

Winston Churchill – Great Quotes

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

“All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.”

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”

“Broadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all.”

“Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.”

Winston Churchill – BIO


Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was an English statesman, sailor in the Royal Navy and author. Well-known as an orator and strategist, Churchill was one of the most important leaders in modern British and world history. A prolific author, he won the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature for his many books on English and world history. He was voted the greatest-ever Briton in the 2002 BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.
He fought during the Second Boer War and at the Battle of Omdurman. At the forefront of the political scene for almost sixty years Churchill held numerous political and cabinet positions. Before the First World War he served as President of the Board of Trade and Home Secretary during the Liberal governments.  In the First World War Churchill served in numerous positions, as First Lord of the Admiralty, Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air. He also served in the British Army on the Western Front and commanded the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. During the interwar years he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
After the outbreak of the Second World War Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain in May 1940 Churchill became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and led the British war effort against the Axis powers. Churchill's speeches were a great inspiration to the embattled Allied forces. After losing the 1945 election Churchill became the leader of the opposition. In 1951 Churchill again became Prime Minister before finally retiring in 1955. Upon his death, he was granted the honour of a state funeral which saw one of the largest assemblies of statesmen in the world.
Education lesson resources from Kamaron Institute for parents and teachers.

The Dow's 23rd Record Close of 2007

By

Even though there may have been some not so good news today, it didn't seem to bother investors.  People are seeing the positive and the Dow has hit yet another record close!  It doesn't appear to be slowing down either…

Wall Street shot higher Wednesday after investors shrugged off a mixed reading on the housing sector and focused on the positives: a jump in industrial output, a retreat in crude oil prices and new cash pouring into the stock market.

The Dow Jones industrials rose 103.69, or 0.8%, to 13,487.53, to its 23rd record close of the year. It also had a new trading high, 13,489.57.

Broader stock indicators also advanced. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 12.95, or 0.9%, to 1514.14, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 22.13, or 0.9%, to 2547.42.

Stocks initially slipped after Commerce Department data showed applications for building permits fell by the biggest amount in 17 years during April punctured an early rally. But they gradually regained strength, finding support from a Federal Reserve report that showed industrial output rose by more than expected in April, and a rebound in U.S. crude and gasoline inventories that caused crude oil prices to pull back.

News that billionaires Warren Buffett and Edward Lampert were upping their equity investments also gave investors confidence that stocks have further to climb, although the Dow has risen more than 1,300 points in the past two months.

You can view this USA Today article if you would like to read more:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/2007-05-16-wall-street-wednesday_N.htm?csp=34

Kamaron Institute personal finance business references, tips and resources. 

Stay At Home Moms Have Been Working!!!

By

Lots of moms have been home with their kids which is one of the most important jobs there is!  Now they may be ready to go out and get a new job (outside the home).  This article from The New York Times offers some good advice to mothers in this situation…

Q. You have been a stay-at-home mother for several years. Your children are in school now, and you are considering re-entering the work force. Will you be able to find fulfilling work?

A. Absolutely. Even if you haven’t been paid, you have still been working. Women often fail to see that while they were raising children, they were honing their skills in time management, people management and organization, said Jen Singer, creator of MamaSaid.net, an online site for part-time and full-time stay-at-home mothers.

Q. What is the first step a stay-at-home mother should take to re-enter the paid work force?

A. Figure out what, exactly, you want to do. Start by writing down your goals, priorities, strengths and weaknesses, said Steve McMahan, president of the Atlantic region for Kforce, a professional staffing firm based in Tampa, Fla. Then, analyze those skills and interests to evaluate how they might have changed during the years at home.

“Analyze every previous significant work and volunteer experience and break it down into the basic components of what each job entailed — the ones you liked, and the ones you didn’t. Then you’ll see opportunities,” said Carol Fishman Cohen, co-author of “Back on the Career Track: A Guide for Stay-At-Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work.”

If you want to read more, you can view the complete Kamaron Institute Job Market article by clicking the following link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/business/yourmoney/29career.html?ex=1335499200&en=bb75e00f433453bb&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Kamaron Institute business news, educational career and parenting reference tips and resources.  

Learning from Abraham Lincoln

By

Abraham Lincoln is one of America's best known Presidents.  He is known for his honesty and integrity.  It is a great legacy that he left.  He was President during a tough time but he stood up to the challenge.  He was a great leader who we can all study and learn from.

Abraham Lincoln – Famous Quotes

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

“Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?”

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”

Book about Lincoln Lincoln on Leadership

Biography of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was President of the United States from March 4, 1861 to April 15, 1865. As an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery and a political leader in the western states, he won the Republican Party nomination in 1860 and was elected president later that year.

Lincoln helped preserve the United States by leading the defeat of the secessionist Confederacy in the American Civil War. He introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery, issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1865.

Lincoln's leadership qualities were evident in his close supervision of the victorious war effort, especially his successful selection of Ulysses S. Grant and other top generals. Historians conclude he brilliantly handled the factions of the Republican Party by bringing the leaders into his cabinet and forcing them to cooperate. In crisis management, he defused a war scare with the United Kingdom (1861), he outmaneuvered the Confederacy and took control of the border slave states in 1861-62, and he managed his own landslide reelection in the 1864 presidential election.

Education lesson resources from Kamaron Institute for parents and teachers. 

S&P 500 Is About To Hit a New Record High

By

Stock market investors must be enjoying watching the stock market perform so well.  Especially after so many years of not-so-good results!  It wasn't long ago that the Dow hit a new record high and it has continued to go up.

The S&P 500 is about to beat its own record that was set back in 2000!  It doesn't sound like a long time ago but it has been 7 years! 

Here's a little news shared from USA Today on the subject:

Seven years after hitting its all-time high, the S&P 500, the large-company stock index that has been overshadowed by the blue-chip Dow's 21 record closes this year, is just 15 points away from posting a record of its own.

While S&P 1527.46 doesn't carry the cachet of Dow 13,000, it is an important milestone that Wall Street is eyeing closely.

The reason: 1527.46 is the record close the Standard & Poor's 500 set back on March 24, 2000, before succumbing to a multiyear bear market that wiped out nearly 50% of its value.

After rising 4.86 points to 1512.58 Wednesday, the benchmark index that accounts for 75% of the total value of the U.S. stock market, is 1% away from rewriting the record books.

A new high for the S&P 500 is significant because it is a much broader gauge of the market than the 30-stock Dow. Also, many investors lost lots of money investing in funds that mimic the index back in the go-go '90s. Taking out the old high would also be the latest confirmation that the four-year uptrend that began in October 2002, and has lifted virtually all major U.S. indexes to new highs, is still intact.

You can view this USA Today article if you would like to read more:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/2007-05-09-sandp-usat_N.htm?csp=34

Kamaron Institute personal finance business references, tips and resources.  <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />