1. No market movement of salary recognised except in ‘exceptional circumstances’.
  2. 135 jobs to disappear, no answer on who will do the work that remains.
  3. Retrenchments effective mid-December, that’s some Christmas present!

One simple question to ask this week

If you are affected by the restructure you have this week to tell NAB what you think about the changes. FSU encourages all members to ask one simple question

Tell NAB what you think, by emailing: Business.Banking.Organisational.Change@nab.com.au
 
If you are affected by this restructure and need advice about your rights or any kind of industrial assistance please contact the FSU Member Rights Centre on 1300 366 378.

Tags: Bank Jobs, Jobs

The number of Americans accessing banking information on mobile devices increased sharply from the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2010 through the second quarter (Q2) of 2011, said a recent report from comScore.

According to comScore, 32.5 million users accessed banking services on mobile devices at the end of Q4 2011 (in June 2011), which up 21 percent from the 26.8 million mark seen in Q4 2010.

The 32.5 million mark represents 13.9 percent of the total U.S. mobile audience, comScore said.

“The investments in mobile made by financial services institutions, along with the continued growth in smartphone adoption, have had a truly positive effect on the use of mobile financial services,” Sarah Lenart, comScore vice president for Marketing Solutions, said in a statement.

Bank account holders accessing information via mobile banking apps grew at an even faster clip. From Q4 2010 to Q2 2011, the number of mobile users who reported using banking apps grew 45 percent.

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Tags: Banking, Banking Apps

Most cable companies outsource a number of jobs to small companies. These jobs include cable sales, cable installation, directional drilling and boring functions and placing underground drops among others. This can be great for the subcontractors that get these contracts because most cable companies are very good and reliable customers. The challenge is that they usually pay their invoices in 30 to 60 days. This places a burden on subcontractors because they need to carry their expenses for a month or two before being paid for the job.

A common way to handle this problem is to ask the cable company for a quick payment usually in exchange for a discount. A 2% discount for a payment in 10 days is common. Many times, this simple strategy can work and fix things. If it doesn’t, another alternative is to use a specialized form of business financing known as invoice factoring.

Factoring solves the problem of slow paying customers in a simple way. A

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Tags: Cable, Cable Installers

 

Direxion Shares, the ETF provider best known for its triple-exposure leveraged and inverse fund offerings, filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to bring to market four bull-and-bear pairs of triple-exposure equity ETFs focused on the industrial sectors, gold and silver miners and shares of Turkey-based companies.

The eight funds, which each have annual expense ratios of 0.95 percent, are:

  • Direxion Daily Turkey Bull 3X Shares
  • Direxion Daily Turkey Bear 3X Shares
  • Direxion Daily Industrial Bull 3X Shares
  • Direxion Daily Industrial Bear 3X Shares
  • Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bull 3X Shares
  • Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bear 3X Shares
  • Direxion Daily Silver Miners Bull 3X Shares
  • Direxion Daily Silver Miners Bear 3X Shares

 

In the filing, Direxion is plain about the risks of investing in leveraged funds that rebalance daily. R

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Tags: 3x Fund, Fund

Editors note: the video embedded below appears to not always work in certain editions of Internet Explorer. If you cant see the video, please watch it here.

If you know anyone who is a firefighter, you know that its not an easy job. Thats especially true for firefighters in the city of Detroit. A fire nearly destroyed the city in 1805 and inspired the citys motto: We hope for better things; it shall rise from the ashes. Since then, the city has had its ups and downs, but we always find a way to rebuild it.

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When it comes to small businesses in our communities, America seems to be dealing with a “Catch 22.” Researchers have found that small retailers account for 11 percent less of total retail sales than they did 20 years ago (57% in 1990; 46% in 2009), and independent bars and restaurants lost seven percent of total sales (71% in 1990; 64% in 2009). On the flip side, American Express OPEN Independent Retail Index, conducted by Civic Economics, has just released data about the importance of small businesses on a national, city, and even neighborhood level. According to the study, thriving small businesses in local communities lift real estate values. They found that over a 14-year period, neighborhoods with thriving independent businesses saw home values outperform markets by 50 percent. The report looked at 27 neighborhoods (in 15 major U.S. cit

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Tags: Businesses, Businesses Increase