Doing business abroad is a lucrative career option, especially when you know that a foreign economy is booming and there is demand for certain type of products and services, that you can provide. But, doing business overseas never came without its obstacles. Let’s assess the challenges of doing business abroad. With the economic disparity prevailing in the United States post-recession, it may seem like a brilliant idea to start a business in promising overseas markets such as India and China. However, entering and sustaining in the global business scenario is a lot more complicated than selling products and services in your home country. Read more…

Trading under the symbol GRPN, the stock closed at $26.11. Shares opened at $29.15 and briefly touched a high of $31.14.

Related story: Groupon closes up 30% after jumping 50% at open

Groupon sold 35 million shares Thursday at $20 to investment banks that sold them to clients. Nearly 50 million shares were traded Friday, indicating early investors flipped the stock for quick profits, common with hot IPOs.

The online daily-deal pioneer sold only 6% of its stock, the smallest “float” of any IPO this year, according to researcher Dealogic PLC.

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First, a disclaimer: I don’t like Windows XP. Microsoft’s current operating system, Windows 7, is slicker, safer, less annoying, and just plain better. I recommend it frequently, and wince when I find myself having to use an XP machine.

That said, I’m fascinated and, in a peculiar way, inspired by XP’s astonishing longevity. Microsoft formally introduced the software at a rather somber press event on October 25th, 2001 in New York City, just six weeks after the 9/11 attacks. A decade later, it’s still the planet’s most widely-used operating system. Absolutely nobody would have predicted that back in 2001, when an operating system that was more than three years old was considered to be long in the tooth.

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What is the loan amount I am eligible for? Can more than two of us take a joint home loan? BankBazaar.com answers all your queries.

I along with five others plan to buy a plot of land and construct apartments for us. We are considering a joint loan. I would like to know if: 1. We can get a joint loan? 2. Will there be any legal problem in obtaining such a loan? 3. Will we all get tax benefits for the loan amount? – Arnav

Yes, it is possible for a group of six people to take a joint loan. Banks allow anywhere between two and six persons to take a joint loan, depending on their respective credit profiles.

However, banks as a rule do not allow friends or even siblings to take a joint loan. A Read more…

The Northbrook-based insurer, which is struggling to reverse marketshare losses to its chief rivals, plans to reduce base commissions to 8% from 10%, it said in an internal announcement to agents. But variable commissions, based on meeting customer loyalty and growth goals, will expand, giving the best-performing agents the ability to earn as much as 16%. Currently, top performers can earn as much as 14%.

Crain’s first reported Allstate’s plans to cut base commissions in June.

The compensation changes have been in the works for months and have angered many agents, who already were under pressure for failing to hit growth goals, a shortcoming they blame on Allstate’s uncompetitive rates.

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Many organizations suffer huge capital losses due to embezzlement. If not controlled at the right time, it can create a grave problem for the organization. This Buzzle article deals with methods of preventing embezzlement in a business firm. In any business organization, there is a lot of cash inflow and outflow. If cash flows are not monitored on a regular basis, there are significant chances of someone from the organization taking undue advantage of it. Read more…

On 6^th August, 2011, S&P downgraded US credit rating from AAA to AA+. The fundamentals of US credit were going down for quite some time and it was just a matter of time before US credit rating would have downgraded. The rating agency also slammed US lawmakers for not taking the right action to solve the country’s mounting debt burden.

The rating agency has also warned that it can downgrade US credit rating to AA if the country’s lawmakers fail to cap the mounting debt, reduce the expenditure significantly over a period, and implement prudent fiscal policies. Thi

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