In the next month or so, those of us who get health insurance and other benefits from our jobs will be receiving our annual open enrollment packets in the mail. If your employer offers several different insurance plans or levels of coverage, you’ll be able to switch plans at this time. You will also be able to opt in to receive coverage that you might have skipped in previous years and perhaps even arrange to open special tax-advantaged savings plans to pay for health care costs and dependent care.

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Oil N’ Gold

More Analysis and Technicals on Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Gold & Silver

Crude oil failed to follow strength in Wall Street and declined. News that the Enbridge 6A pipeline will resume operations soon disappointment oil traders and the front-month contract initially slumped to as low as 74.66. It was the stronger-than-expected inventory report that arrested the fall and narrowed the loss. Price ended the day at 76.02, down -1.02%. Oil product prices, however, performed better with gasoline slipping -0.33% and heating oil climbing +0.18%. Today in Asia, price extended the fall for the third consecutive day.

Gold pulled back after the rally on Tuesday broke a record high.

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After successfully winning her claim against Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston (Liberty Life) at both district and appeals court levels, Theresa Willcox’s disability attorney sought compensation for the attorney’s fees charged Willcox to bring her claim before the Courts. Whe

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It should be. Because, done well, public relations can help promote your business for the long term in a way that a paid advertisement never will.

A public relations strategy also has the potential to extend your marketing reach beyond where your direct mail and e-mail marketing can ever go. It reaches both influencers (journalists and bloggers) and those they influence (your potential customers) bringing credibility to your business locally, regionally and sometimes nationally.

That said, it takes time and investment to get it right. Public relations is not all about spin and schmooze.  Like all aspects of marketing it requires you to know your target market and plan an approach that really gets your company noticed.

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For most of us, the biggest purchase we’ll ever make is a home — whether we’re talking about a condo or a mansion, housing is the largest portion of most of our budgets. There are plenty of opinions on whether that’s a good situation, but the fact of the matter is that, here and now, most people are interested in owning their own homes.

Considering Transportation Costs

But while a house is typically the biggest purchase we might make, there are a couple of other sizable purchases that many households make over the years. The second largest is most often an automobile: the cost of purchasing a car is generally sizable and it also has extensive upkeep costs that an owner must pay over the years. A vehic

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Ten-year treasury yields increased to the highest in five weeks as the view that the North American economy – the world’s largest – is likely to face a second round of weakness took a further step back. Risk appetite seems once again to be back on the table after a round of Chinese data suggested that the domestic economy is recovering from a slowdown engineered by its own authorities to prevent a stimulus-induced recovery snowball out of control.     

Eurodollar futures – U.S. 10-year yields reached 2.845% this morning as S&P equity index futures jumped in response to strong industrial output growth and healthy retail sales data in China. The spread

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At one point in life, you undoubtedly have been a victim of poor customer service. Perhaps it was a curt and unhelpful telephone call, or maybe a grumpy restaurant server. Of course, no one likes to stand in a slow line at the Post Office with live workers who appear to operate like robots. All of these situations are a great learning experience of what not to do for your customers.

Exceptional customer service is like attracting bees to honey. The better your treat your customers and clients, the more likely they will return to do business with you. But how do you ensure that your employees provide that top-tier level service?

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