Ethereum was created by Vitalik Buterin, a college dropout who, although enthused by the potential for Bitcoin, felt that there could be a better platform. Buterin, who has been compared to Steve Jobs, feels that his creation provides a robust platform for others to develop on and create powerful applications. Buterin recently released his first production-ready version of Ethereum but even prior to this release, there had been a rush of startups to utilize the open platform and create blockchain-based businesses for new products and services, or for the support of their existing businesses....

Initial claims for benefits fell to 310,000 for the week through Sept. 4, a decrease of 35,000 from the previous week’s revised level and fewer than economists expected, according to seasonally adjusted data released Thursday by the Department of Labor. Weekly volumes are now less than 60,000 away from the last level before the pandemic, 256,000 on March 14, 2020. It’s progress considering that claims hovered in the 750,000-900,000 range for much of the last year....

Here’s a quick look at the most significant economic indicators of the day and what they tell us. Initial Claims for Unemployment Benefits The number of people initiating claims for unemployment insurance unexpectedly rose for the first time in four weeks, though it wasn’t far off from the typical volume seen before the pandemic began. There were 248,000 claims last week, up from 225,000 the previous week, seasonally adjusted data from the Department of Labor showed....

Here’s what you need to know about the mortgage insurance premium deduction. What Is Mortgage Insurance? Lenders typically require private mortgage insurance when they feel that there’s a higher risk of default on the part of the homeowner. The mortgage insurance helps the lender secure the debt in the event of default. In general, you can expect to pay for mortgage insurance when you can’t (or don’t want to) put down at least 20% on the property....

A cost object is a financial term used in cost accounting to indicate something to which costs are assigned. For instance, a product produced by a company is the cost object for direct materials, direct labor and manufacturing overhead. A cost object can also be a project, a service, a territory, a department or a customer - whenever management would like to quantify a cost. A cost object is a management accounting or cost accounting term and is used when allocating direct and indirect costs....

Leases often are cheaper in the short term, but in the long run, purchasing a vehicle is generally less expensive. Weighing the pros and cons of leasing vs. buying a car will help you come to the decision that is right for you and your family. What’s the Difference Between Leasing and Buying a Car? A car lease is a contract in which one party permits another party to drive a vehicle for a specified period of time in exchange for periodic payments, usually monthly installments....

Review advice on when to send a letter of appreciation, what to include in your letter or email, writing tips, and examples of notes to send to relay your thanks for help and support at work. Why Send an Appreciation Note Sending a letter of appreciation lets colleagues know that their hard work and help are noticed and valued. Everyone likes to know that they are appreciated. Plus, taking the time to show that you’ve noticed always makes a good impression....

How to Measure Value The most popular way to measure value is the price-earnings ratio, or P/E ratio, which represents the multiple of earnings that an investor is paying to own a stock. For example, a 20x P/E ratio means that investors are paying 20 times the company’s annual earnings. Forward P/E ratios take into account expected earnings growth over the next 12 months, which means that they tend to be lower than the P/E ratio for growing companies....

Here are four major types of risks that investors face, along with some strategies for dealing with the problems caused by these market and economic shifts. Economic Risk One of the most obvious risks of investing is that the economy can go bad at any given moment. Following the market bust in 2000 and the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the economy settled into a sour spell, and a combination of factors saw the market indexes lose significant percentages....

How does a dividend growth strategy work? A dividend-paying company that experiences growth year over year, are covering their expenses, and have continuously more cash flow than the previous year are candidates for dividend growth investing. These companies usually slowly increase the dividends they pay to shareholders due to their continuous growth. Sub-Strategies for Dividend Growth Investing Though techniques differ by practitioners, the gist of the dividend growth approach tends to involve some combination of the following:...

Read on for more information on what a mouth swab drug test is and how you can respond to your employer when asked to take this test. What Is a Mouth Swab Drug Test? A mouth swab drug test collects saliva from inside a person’s mouth. The saliva is sent to a lab for testing. While there are instant-read mouth swab drug tests on the market, employers don’t typically use these tests because they aren’t included in the Oral Fluid Mandatory Guidelines released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)....

The nominal interest rate shows the price of money and reflects current market conditions. It may be influenced by the Fed funds rate or another benchmark rate. This nominal interest rate tells you how much money you will either pay (such as in interest on a loan) or receive (such as interest on a savings account). The real interest rate is what tells you how much purchasing power you as an investor or saver, or a lender, actually earns from that interest....

Small business owners should learn about the circumstances under which they could pay themselves with an owner’s draw and the tax and legal consequences, if any, of doing so. What Is an Owner’s Draw? A sole owner or co-owner can take money out of their business through an owner’s draw. Owner’s draws can be taken out at regular intervals or as needed. The draw comes from owner’s equity—the accumulated funds the owner has put into the business plus their shares of profits and losses....

Learn more about PLLCs and how they work. What Is a PLLC? A PLLC is a type of limited liability company, a business that works like a partnership but has the liability protection of a corporation. Some states do not allow certain types of professionals to form an LLC but instead require them to form a PLLC. Usually, the members of a PLLC must belong to a profession that requires a license—CPAs, attorneys, chiropractors, or architects, for example....

Gold Gold is the most popular precious metal in the world as individuals and governments, over thousands of years, ascribe tremendous value to the metal that reflects light like no other. Gold has a dual role — it has industrial uses as well as financial applications. Gold has a high resistance to heat, it is malleable, and it conducts electricity. Therefore, industrial users consume 10 percent of the mine supply of gold each year, including the electronics, dentistry, and medical sectors....

One of the driving forces behind taking out piggyback loans, also called combo loans, was the tax deduction available for paying all that interest versus paying a mortgage insurance premium that was not tax-deductible on a single loan. The second benefit is that the total payments on a combo loan are often much lower than payment with a private mortgage insurance. How Combo Loans Work Combo or piggyback loans are financing that combines a first mortgage with a second mortgage (with or without a down payment)....

Keep reading to learn more about what these futures are and how you can trade them. What Is an E-Mini S&P Future? An E-mini S&P future corresponds to the S&P 500, which is widely considered a benchmark for U.S. stocks. When the S&P moves up, E-mini S&P futures move up, too. ES contracts correspond to a month, similar to the way options on a stock may expire weekly. The most active ES contracts are extremely liquid, and the daily trading volume typically exceeds one million....

What to Know About Interval Funds Before You Invest It’s vital to know that these funds are not the same as other funds, such as mutual funds, closed-end funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). As with any type of investment, interval funds have certain uses that can work in your favor or with your own investment goals. Still, when not used for the right reasons, these funds can end up costing you money....

This economic indicator consists of the following three concepts. You must understand these first if you want to comprehend GDP per capita. The first concept is “gross domestic product.” That measures everything that a country produces in a year. The components of GDP are personal consumption, business investment, government spending, and exports minus imports. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports it quarterly, updating its estimate each month. The second is “real GDP,” which is GDP without the effect of price changes....

The limits on the dec page are the maximum you could be ​paid, not necessarily how much money you’ll receive. Here’s what you need to know about how much you will get paid in a claim, and how replacement cost or actual cash value coverage make a difference. How Much Will You Be Paid for Your Claim? How much you can expect to be paid for your insurance claim depends on three key factors....