Schools pay students for good behavior, grades
NPR Oct 22, 08 6:45 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Schools in Washington, DC, hope to expand children's minds by filling their wallets. Students who get good grades, attend class, and behave earn points that will net them paychecks of up to $1,500 each year, NPR reports. "Every child has a switch, and it's our job as educators to find it," said one principal of the "Capital Gains" program, the brainchild of a Harvard economist.
More »
System rewards as much as $50 for A's—and half depends on graduation
Chicago Tribune Oct 17, 08 1:55 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Chicago public high schools are paying students for good grades under a program funded partly by Harvard University, the Tribune reports. Freshmen get $50 for A’s, $35 for B’s and $20 for C’s, with half their earnings held until they graduate. Some 20 other Chicago-area schools, encompassing about 1,650 students, are participating in the program, which also relies on private donations.
More »
opinion
TheStreet Oct 6, 08 8:30 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
The stock market is no place to keep a dollar these days, warned hollering financial guru Jim Cramer today on Mad Money . Another depression is possible and energy woes are likely, he said, so the smart investor will free up money needed in the next 5 years by selling stock. Tuck that cash away in FDIC-insured banks accounts, and only keep the stocks that are still safe.
More »
Oracle of Omaha needed 'to be loved
and never criticized'
Time Sep 24, 08 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Warren Buffett’s personal life is a lot messier than his balance sheet, according to a biography. In The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life , which hits stores Monday, the Oracle of Omaha for the first time cooperates with a biographer, producing a revealing look at the folksy billionaire, Time reports. Buffett had a terrible relationship with his mother, the book reveals, and has since relied on powerful women to guide him as he focuses exclusively on business.
More »
ANALYSIS
It's a full-time gig for some, and cities make little headway with efforts to stop begging
City Journal Sep 22, 08 4:21 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Panhandling has turned professional, with determined and resourceful "spangers"—spare-change artists—overwhelming street corners throughout the country, some pulling in as much as $40,000 a year, Steven Malanga writes in City Journal . Beggars can even turn to the web for shakedown tips. If that seems like an unlikely destination, that's exactly the point: Many are hardly helpless, or even homeless.
More »
Commemorative issue marks Lincoln's 200th birthday, and the coin's 100th
CNNMoney Sep 22, 08 1:40 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
The US Mint today unveiled four new designs that will adorn the back of the Lincoln penny next year to commemorate the bicentennial of Honest Abe’s birth, CNNMoney reports. The classic portrait of the 16th president will remain on the heads side. The reverse will depict scenes from Lincoln’s life, from his humble beginnings to service as an Illinois state senator.
More »
Investors seek options, others dip into savings for house payments
Wall Street Journal Sep 19, 08 10:54 CDT
(Newser)
-
Wall Street’s crisis has prompted a variety of reactions in everyday lives as Americans rush to decide where to put their faith and their dollars—and try to avoid the pain, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some are pulling their money out of the markets as conditions worsen, while others plan to stick it out. Still others see investment in the tangible, like gold—or even cows—as the safest way forward. Those without investments are paying with their jobs.
More »
Spanish study gives new meaning to 'drug money'
LiveScience Aug 5, 08 6:50 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Chances are, you're carrying cocaine in your wallet. Trace amounts of it, anyway. A new Spanish study finds that paper money around the world is often contaminated with cocaine, LiveScience reports. Though concentrations vary by year and city, US bills had an average of up to 28.8 micrograms of cocaine on them—with some bills topping 1,300 micrograms. In Europe, Spain’s money is the most contaminated, with an average of 155 micrograms. By contrast, it's virtually nonexistent in Ireland.
More »
Reuters Aug 5, 08 11:26 CDT
(Newser)
-
Charlie Sheen is the highest-paid primetime TV actor at $825,000 per episode, but the Two and a Half Men star's $20 million per year pales in comparison to Oprah's haul. The media mogul took home $385 million last year, Reuters reports in deconstructing TV Guide ’s annual list of top earners.
More »
Man has been trying to exchange millions in moldy notes for years
Associated Press Jul 29, 08 8:45 CDT
(Newser)
-
It was found in a suitcase in an alfalfa field. It was in a tree. A treasure map led to a coffin full of money. Customs broker Franz Felhaber has been giving different stories about how he came to have up to $20 million in decomposing dollars for years, the AP reports. About $6.4 million has now been seized and Felhaber will need to get his story straight if he wants it back.
More »
Star wants son to earn his living
Times (UK) Jul 21, 08 10:45 CDT
(Newser)
-
Add Sean Connery to the list of wealthy patriarchs who want their children to make their own money. The 77-year-old actor is worth $170 million, but his 45-year-old son, Jason, will “never receive a penny” of it, Connery’s ex-wife and Jason's mother Diane Cilento told the London Times .
More »
OPINION
Your community banker cares, and may even have good deals
New York Times Jul 19, 08 10:35 CDT
(Newser)
-
Community banks may seem like quaint relics to those who prefer banking online, but IndyMac's meltdown should have us thinking differently, Ron Lieber writes in the New York Times . Lieber visited a bank in small-town Maryland, and found a friendly, gray-haired manager who gives banking a personal touch. “If you miss a beat, I’ll call your mother,” he jokes—sort of.
More »
Feds want to see it as a whole; see more small banks failing in future
Reuters Jul 14, 08 2:40 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is looking to sell recently capsized IndyMac as a whole to one healthy bank, an executive told Reuters today. The FDIC took over IndyMac on Friday after nervous customers withdrew more than $1.3B in 11 days. "I don't expect there will be large bank failures," COO John Bovenzi said. "There will be small bank failures."
More »
High society fliers take rides with friendly billionaires
New York Times Jul 12, 08 3:03 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
Today’s brand of hitchhiker isn't on a street corner thumbing rides, but at airports that serve cushy private planes, the New York Times reports. Seeking the prestige and elation of flying in a $40 million jet, these riders reserve seats with friendly billionaires. “There are a lot of people in the social world who don’t have the equipment to fly privately on their own,” says one New York high society author.
More »