SavvySugar

Most Shocking Headline: Biggest Fraud in Banking History

SavvySugar — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:30:31 -0800

Banks have been going through big drama from the beginning of the year all the way through the end. In January, a French rogue trader named Jérôme Kerviel managed to lose about $7.2 billion with a series of bogus transactions. The 31-year old trader was responsible for betting on the markets' future performance for his employer, French bank Societe Generale. The enormity of this scandal ($7.2 billion!) makes it one of the shocking headlines of 2008.

The affects of the huge loss were realized by law enforcers and Kerviel was sent to jail - only to be released after three months in prison. He walked out of jail and into a job offer from Lemaire Consultants & Associates. The company specializes in computer security and system development, and while Kerviel had very little IT experience and his degree is in finance, his demonstrated knowledge of electronic risk controls got him the job.

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How Money Are You: France's Vacation Policy

SavvySugar — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:29:19 -0700

We celebrated Bastille Day with a variety of flaky croissants this morning, but it's likely many French citizens are enjoying their long Summer vacations and traveling over the holiday.

We might all have a little more joie de vivre if we had as many days off as the French. Do you know what the law says about how much time off French workers are entitled to?

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News Flash: The Biggest Fraud in Banking History

SavvySugar — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 07:49:00 -0800

While U.S. banks have been making daily news for their financial troubles, France's Societe Generale made the biggest bank headline yesterday. A rogue trader named Jérôme Kerviel managed to lose about $7.2 billion with a series of bogus transactions over the past year. The 31-year old trader was responsible for betting on the markets' future performance and it's unclear if he sought personal gain from the fraudulent trades. Financial Times reports that these could be "the biggest frauds in investment banking history." The bank has filed a police report and it will be interesting to see what the punishment will be for the enormous scale of the fraud.

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French Women Don't Get Broke

SavvySugar — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:32:44 -0800

It seems that we can learn more than diet tips and food moderation from French women. They could teach us a thing or two about managing our money as well. It's no secret that Americans are the best consumers in the world and we've racked up massive credit card debt to prove it.

A few years ago, our personal savings rate was actually negative, while the French savings rate was almost 12 percent. Maybe they'll write a book with a recipe for boosting our own savings? I have a pretty strong feeling it would highlight saving in moderation. And here's a related money tidbit for you: The word budget comes from the French word bougette.

How are you doing in building up your own savings?

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Forbes Ranks the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World

SavvySugar — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:00:18 -0700

For the sixth year in a row, Forbes has rounded up its list of the world's most powerful women. It measures influence by scoring each female leader on visibility (not to be mistaken for popularity) and the size of the organization or country these women lead. The top spot remains unchanged from the previous three years, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel sits at number one of 100 for leading the fourth largest economy in the world.

Notable American newcomers to the 2009 rankings include Michele Obama who debuted at number 40 (just ahead of Oprah Winfrey at 41 and Britain's Queen Elizabeth at 42); Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor at 54; Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius at 56; Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano at 51; and Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Schapiro at 55. Visit Forbes for the full list, and find out who are the 10 most influential women when you read more.

Angela Merkel: Chancellor, Germany
Sheila Bair: Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., US
Indra Nooyi: Chairman and chief executive, PepsiCo, US
Cynthia Carroll: Chief executive, Anglo American, UK
Ho Ching: Chief executive, Temasek Holdings, Singapore
Irene Rosenfeld: Chairman, chief executive, Kraft Foods, US
Ellen Kullman: Chief executive, DuPont, US
Angela Braly: Chief executive and president, WellPoint, US
Anne Lauvergeon: Chief executive, Areva, France
Lynn Elsenhans: Chief executive, Sunoco, US

Americans' Love Lives Most Stressed by Recession

SavvySugar — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:30:48 -0700

We didn't need an international poll conducted in Canada, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Australia to determine the recession is affecting most people's lives. But the differences in the ways we're responding to economic worries are definitely interesting. Here are some interesting conclusions from the poll's responses.

Added stress or ruined relationship/marriage: 30 percent of Americans, 23 percent of Canadians, 24 percent of the French, and 12 percent of Germans.
Extended working life: Unlike Europeans' and Canadians' shorter projections, Americans believe it will take another 10 years of working before retirement because of the recession.

Find out how these nationalities differ on ways to save money when you read more.

Importance of building nest egg as financial goal: 53 percent of Austrians, 43 percent of the French, 35 percent of Americans.
Avoiding credit cards as means to save money: 50 percent of Americans, compared to 11 percent of Germans and 17 percent of Italians.
Cooking at home and bringing lunch to work to save money: Popular with Americans and Canadians, but only 20 percent of Italians consider it a top-of-the-list money saver.
Love for cars: 30 percent of Americans and Britons said cars would be among the last three things they'd give up to save money, compared to 14 percent of Italians and 18 percent of Spaniards.

I'm Asking: What's the Farthest You've Traveled For a Wedding?

SavvySugar — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:00:58 -0700

A friend of mine just returned from a three-week vacation that spanned seven countries, and it all kicked off with a wedding in southern France. She made the most of her long-distance trip by turning the single event into a full-blown vacation, smart girl.

It's certainly going the distance for a pal to attend a wedding overseas. I've never had the opportunity to attend an international wedding, but I've flown cross-country for nuptials. What's the farthest you've traveled?

Ranked: 100 Most Powerful Women in the World

SavvySugar — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:00:18 -0700

The women on Forbes's fifth annual list of the 100 most powerful women in the world control $26 trillion worldwide, and the list is an impressive grouping of government and company leaders. While these individuals are doing quite well for themselves, women hold just 15 percent of top corporate jobs in the US and are chief executives for less than 3 percent of the country's biggest companies. Here are the top 10 most powerful females; visit Forbes for the full list.

Angela Merkel: Chancellor, Germany
Sheila C. Bair: Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), US
Indra K. Nooyi: Chairman and chief executive, PepsiCo, US
Angela Braly: Chief executive and president, WellPoint, US
Cynthia Carroll: Chief executive, Anglo American, UK
Irene B. Rosenfeld: Chairman, chief executive, Kraft Foods, US
Condoleezza Rice: Secretary of state, US
Ho Ching: Chief executive, Temasek Holdings, Singapore
Anne Lauvergeon: Chief executive, Areva, France
Anne Mulcahy: Chairman, chief executive, Xerox Corp., US

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Thinking of Taking a Trip? Some Airline Tickets Are on Sale

SavvySugar — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:00:51 -0700

While most airlines have supersized their ticket prices to cover rising fuel costs others have begun to reduce rates on certain routes in an attempt to bump up demand. The New York Times put together a sale list that highlights bargains that could spark a little wanderlust in any homebody. The best deals include:

American Airlines and its affiliate, American Eagle, have been offering some low fares to the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Mexico and Bermuda. The deals, which are good for travel between Sept. 2 and Dec. 10, include round-trip tickets as low as $152 from Miami to Port of Spain or Trinidad and Tobago. The prices don't include taxes and the sale ends today.

For some additional deals, read more.

JetBlue just announced its annual fall sale, with one-way fares as low as $79 between Austin, Tex., and Fort Lauderdale; $109 between Boston and Chicago; and $169 between Long Beach, Calif., and Washington. Most of the sales, though, are out of Kennedy Airport in New York, including one-way fares from $149 to Denver; $155 to Cancún; $59 to Charlotte, N.C.; and $159 to Las Vegas.
Air France extended the book-by date of a late-Summer and early-Fall sale to Europe to Aug. 5. Round-trip fares include New York to Paris from $628, Philadelphia to Madrid from $706 and Boston to Prague from $720, including fuel surcharges, but not taxes and security fees.

All the greatest bargains are announced midweek and do come with restrictions, like blackout weekends around holidays. Check out the whole guide for more details.

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Your Two Cents: How Many Hours Do You Work Each Week?

SavvySugar — Sat, 31 May 2008 11:04:19 -0700

According to The Wall Street Journal, President Nicolas Sarkozy has drafted a bill that would end France's 35-hour work week saying, "The 35 hours have delivered a serious blow to our country, we cannot stress this enough. How could we have this stupid idea to believe that it is by working less that we will create more wealth and more jobs?"

Thirty-five hours seems almost like a part time job to many overworked Americans, but this French conversation got me wondering how many hours you spend working during an average week.

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