Carnival of the Capitalists (Free Money Finance)

Welcome to this week's edition of the Carnival of the Capitalists.

I'm sticking with my usual method of hosting a carnival -- listing a summary of each piece with the author's reason for submitting the post to the carnival (for those that submitted one) and/or a bit of the post itself as a summary -- so you readers know what to expect before you get to the post. I also put the posts into what I saw as meaningful categories, though several of these cover multiple topics.

With that said, here we go:

Personal Finance

Be a Financial Advisor - Money Magazine has ranked hundreds of careers and have decided that the job of Financial Advisor ranks third. That’s not too shabby. Here are the stats provided by the magazine.

What's all the HYIP about? - A response to a fellow blogger about so-called high-yield investment plans.

Turn In Tax Cheats And Make Money - You can make up to $10 million turning in tax cheats to the IRS - this is how.

Advice on Preparing for NASD Licensing Exams - After some recent experiences studying for multiple NASD/NFA licensing exams (the infamous "Series x" exams) I thought I would offer a few tips to others who may be facing this process, and who aren't being shepherded through the process by a firm-sponsored training program. For such self-learners, here are some tips.

Apply Yourself! - When applying for insurance, what you don't say can be as important as what you do, and sometimes the government has a say, too.

Removing Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) - Question: "How do I remove PMI?"

Fearless Philosophy Flashback: We Can Make April 15th Just Another Day - It’s that time of year again – April 15th, the federal income tax deadline. Time to cross your fingers and hope you filed correctly lest you be visited by your friendly neighborhood IRS agent. There is a better way.

Potter Economics - A fun, brief explanation of the economic structure in the world of Harry Potter!

You, Inc. And The IRS - Because it is that time of year and time to lose the fear of audits.

Investing - A Look at the Numbers - Bottom line: Investing is easy. Don’t make it harder than it has to be.

Sell vs. Hold - Is it time to sell an investment property?

If you don’t flaunt, have you failed? - A more down-to-earth point of view from a millionaire.

Circuit City’s Surge in Flat-Panel TV Sales Not All Good for CE Co’s - Steven Towns, editor of The Japan Stock Blog notes Circuit City reported a breakout quarter largely on strong sales of "advanced" TVs or plasma and LCDs. He explains that this is great for CC shareholders as well as consumers but not necessarily for the CE firms. Find out why.

People/Career Management

Get a New Job Offer Every Month - This week at The Career Intensity Blog we will focus on five ways to demonstrate value and receive job offers and/or new each month.

The Starbucks Moment - How Random Encounters Lead to Closing Deals - Two days ago you presented a proposal to someone you hope will soon be a new client. You stopped by your favorite Starbucks for coffee this morning and the prospect was two people ahead of you in line.

When Money is Not an Option - Money has always been seen as the best reward a firm would give to their employees for a job well done. Nowadays, this kind of method is not frequently practiced because of the lack of funds as well as for the money-saving efforts of firms.

Employment at Restrained Will - Why employment at will is not the terrible thing that some critics - and a lot of French students - imagine.

What's So Great About Teams? - As a natural-born contrarian, I find it interesting to look at "received wisdom" of this kind and ask myself how truly wise it is, so I'm curious why teamworking is so fashionable. Is it because it really does produce outstanding benefits? Or is it because "team players" are more malleable and easily controlled by authority than people of a more independent character?

"Slow" Teams - You can’t create an effective team instantly, on demand. Teams take time: time to come together; time to learn one another’s strengths and weaknesses; time to discover how best to cooperate; time to grow into something greater than the sum of their individual parts. It isn’t a process that can be rushed.

Unmotivated Employees - Is It Your Fault or Theirs? - An article from Harvard Working Knowledge puts all the blame for unmotivated employees on the manager. I challenge that assertion and claim that employees share the blame too.

Marketing

10 Tips To Improve Your B-B and B-G Direct Mail Campaigns - Don’t confuse direct mail with junk mail. While all junk mail is direct mail, not all direct mail is junk mail.

A Customer Satisfaction Study in the Blogosphere - Trying to learn from poor customer relations, I examine the viral spread of bad press.

Law

GM and ERISA Stock Drop Litigation - This story from The Auto Channel about GM's motion to dismiss being denied by a district court in Michigan in an ERISA fiduciary class action could not be more timely.

An open letter to the Honorable Judge Carl J. West - James Hamilton of Econbrowser is unappreciative of the class-action lawsuit against Ralphs Grocery Company that was supposed to be on behalf of people like him.

Economics

The Week Ahead: Your Financial Road Map for April 17-21, 2006 -The weeks upcoming economic and financial indicators, schedule of Treasury announcments and auctions and a few select earnings reports.

Corporate Profits and Social Security Privatisation - Certain economists seem to have changed their minds about social security privatisation.

Drum on the Minimum Wage - One problem with hiking the minimum wage is the effect it has on the choice teenagers make betwee school and work.

US Trade Deficit Improving is Spin! - The improvement noted by the MSM of the trade deficit in February is just "spin". There was no improvement!

Technology

Being a technopreneur - You could be a technically competent person but what would it take for you to start up a business? A technology-driven business at that.

Computer recycling part 2 - The Philippines is one of the Asian countries most plagued by e-waste. Simply put, we’ve got quite a lot of electronic items languishing in our landfills.

More "honest" search - New search applications make life tougher for search engine optimizers and advertisers. Should we care?

General Business

Business mentors: Sharing knowledge - As a business person, who has vast experience in many areas, you are ideally suited to become a mentor and share your learning with someone else. As a blogger, helping others should be part of your quest.

The Networked Book - This is a post about a fascinating project we recently did related to the future of publishing on the internet. Lots of implications for marketing, copyrights, customer relations, and of course, the publishing industry.

Ethics as a Core Competency - Business ethics can be such a grey area. Sometimes, it's a real challenge picking right from wrong. Businesses need to turn ethics into a core competency. Some experts here provide advice on how to run a business tghat's ethical, and still makes money.

The 4 Biggest Mistakes Businesses Unwittingly Make To Limit Their Growth And Success- Mistake #3 Offering Prospective Customers Little To Believe In - People spending money, whether an individual consumer or a corporate buyer, needs to know they can trust you'll deliver whatever benefit they're buying. They need to know all the reasons they can believe in you, your company, and your collective ability to deliver. And this is where many businesses fail to succeed to the level of their potential, they don't adequately convince their prospect they're worthy of earning their business.

The Right Way to Run a Railroad - Lessons from Norfolk Southern Railroad's work in recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

Miscellaneous

5 Phenomenal Women Worth Knowing About - 5 Short blurbs about strong women who represent women's intellectual power and our community-focused ways. Female talents that drive world affairs.

Zig Zag Zin - This story is getting passed around like a good blunt, not only between bloggers, but among serious wine connoisseurs, creative wine labels having made the March cover of Wine Enthusiast magazine. Adam Strum, in the Enthusiast's Corner, discusses the "crazy wine label phenomenon."

Six Sigma at US Fuels - US Fuels launches Six Sigma to maintain its customer-focused stretegy by providing at least 96.9-percent invoice accuracy.

Playing Berber or chump in the souks of Marrakech - Haggling is a way of life in the souks, and I gave it my best effort. ... I got an antique wall hanging down from $1,200 to $100. I too was told that I trade like a Berber. Well, I think it was an antique. Maybe they faked the weathering. Maybe I am not like a Berber. Maybe I am like a chump.

Nailed! - It is not every day that middle managers get to present to the Executive Committee. When one finance type tries to pull a rabbit out of the hat, however, both get nailed.

No State Left Behind? - Teacher qualification rates are improving. There is still work to be done, but we are getting there.

UK: Opportunities for writers and entrepreneurs - On Freelance UK, there are two recent articles talking about opportunities. One is for new writers to get published and the other one is for small business owners to get mentoring from Dame Anita Roddick.

Thanks for visiting the Carnival of the Capitalists! If you want to know a bit more about Free Money Finance, see my posts of the week for last week. And don't forget about the free book giveaway I'm having all month.