Seven To Ten

High oil prices are driving the U.S. economy into a recession, George Soros, the famous fund manager and commodities investor, told members of the Senate Commerce Committee in testimony Tuesday.

The committee received testimony from a former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) official, a consumer rights activist, Soros and others in an attempt to find out if oil prices are being manipulated by speculators.

“The rise in oil prices aggravates the prospects for a recession,” Soros told the committee. “Only when a recession is well and truly in place is a decline in consumption likely to outweigh the factors.”

Soros said the potential for “distinctly harmful effects” of a further increase in oil prices makes speculation “intellectually unsound” and “potentially destabilizing.”

Recent investor interest in commodities is an issue of intense debate. Some analysts believe that commodities investors have boosted the price of crude with speculative trading, treating oil as a hedge against inflation due to the weakened dollar. The witnesses agreed that speculation has artificially boosted the price of oil.

“We’re paying, some believe, as high as a 50% premium to the pockets of speculators that are operating in markets that are completely unpoliced,” said Michael Greenburger, a University of Maryland professor and former CFTC official.

Mark Cooper, director of research at consumer rights organization Consumer Federation of America, said $40 of oil’s price is “baloney” and can be chalked up to speculation.

But others say market fundamentals are playing a large role in the doubling of oil prices in a one-year span, driven by strong global demand and a shrinking supply. Oil companies’ role in the escalating price of crude has also come under intense scrutiny lately. Some analysts have accused Big Oil of failing to invest enough of their profits into exploration and drilling.

Last Thursday, the CFTC announced it had launched a wide-ranging probe into oil price manipulation six months ago, saying it would get more information on the effect investors are having on the market. The commission’s public acknowledgment of a normally secret probe has sparked talk that it has evidence oil companies are withholding oil from the market in an attempt to manipulate prices.

Regarding speculators, CFTC has previously said that it had not found any evidence that traders were artificially inflating prices. On the day the CFTC announced its investigation, crude oil futures dropped $4.41 - the third-biggest one-day slide since 1991 - and prices have hovered around that $127-a-barrel level since.

I hate our formal education. I mean, we spend close to a quarter of our lives in school but they never teach us how to handle money. We are told to work hard and be good employees. This is something which is not healthy for us or our children because we always have to struggle to make ends meet.

There are many books and online resources which teach you how to create and manage money. This website, Money.co.uk, is a new financial portal with over thousands of high quality articles about Credit Cards, Mortgages, Insurance, and anything related to money. Your financial knowledge will increase by leaps and bounds once you have absorbed all their content.

To get out of debt, I always believe in putting a limit on credit cards spending. But don’t ban or abhor credit cards, as the emergency funds can come in handy. Also you can get petrol, dining or shopping discounts from credit cards. Fitting in the right credit cards into your lifestyle may be a boon than a bane.

There are many credit card providers with a wide range of products, what to choose and how to choose remains the most frequently asked questions. In addition to credit cards, you can also get free quotes for insurance and mortgage by visiting the site.

Besides harnessing Credit Cards debts, you also need to expanding your knowledge in business and investment. Grasping the basics of accounting is necessary to trace and manage your money. List down all your assets and liabilities and you realize your current net worth.

With the right investments, you can look forward to a comfortable retirement. Don’t think you need a large salary for this to happen, some people have amazing earning powers but still manage to save little, if at all. Putting aside a portion of your salary to generate more income is important. 10% is a good start. After a few years while adding 10% each month, you will be surprised that your earned salary is insignificant compared to the lucrative business or investment income.

Leverage your time and money to your advantage once you sense a good opportunity. There are many types of investing like real estate, merchandising, stock market, commodities, etc, or maybe you can create your own business and brand it. Branding is very important in business in order for potential costumers to buy your products.

After you established your income stream or portfolio, it is time to resign from your regular job and concentrate on expanding your business. You will be busy enough looking for new market trends and opportunities that abound. Money is easy to achieve if you are serious in gaining them. Subscribe to their financial email newsletter and RSS feeds of financial blogs today.

There are two key factors of a weak dollar. A surge in exports and expectations that the economy will begin to show signs of the growth during the second half of the year.

The dollar has helped lift sales at U.S. manufacturers that export their goods, including large multinational companies like Boeing, General Motors and Apple. Trade numbers published by the Commerce Department showed that exports jumped 1.6% percent in January.

And with hopes that the economy will bounce back in late 2008, that should also be good news for the dollar. That’s because the Federal Reserve would stop lowering interest rates if the economy shows signs of recovering.

Rate cuts are partly to blame for the weak dollar because lower short-term rates have helped fuel the rise in oil and other commodities and undermine confidence in the dollar.