Census figures revealed that the wealthiest Americans (10% of the population) earned a 11.4 times more than those living almost at the poverty level. Even if it’s just a rise of 0.2 times from 2007, that is still an ratio increase that clearly shows the disparity between earning capacities.

While income declined across all social classes, the middle and lower classes saw a more significant decrease compared to the income drops for the rich ones.

Unemployment and home foreclosures are the ones to blame for this trend. The recession left many middle class white collar Americans jobless and homeless as markets fell square on their asses.

Many Americans who were more comfortable spending in previous years aren’t as comfortable now as austerity measures sank in to the general consciousness.

Source: MSNBC

The Lundberg Survey, which monitors gas prices in the US, cites that the average price of a gallon of self-serve at the pumps is $2.52.

The survey pegs the lowering crude oil prices at the world market to be the driver of the pump prices. Demand is down over the past two months.

The lowest gas can be found in St. Louis, Missouri at $2.16 and the highest is in Anchorage, Alaska at $3.29.

Typically, summer prices rise due to increased travel, however the recession and the continuing unemployment has greatly affected US demand on the consumer level.

Source: CNN

Indexes were at one-year highs prior to Wednesday’s decline.

Early tallies revealed that the Dow lost 0.5% or 45 points. The Standard & Poor lost 0.9% or 10 points. Tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.1% or 23 points.

The trading day started out with a positive tone as report from the Labor Department revealed that jobless claims fell for the third straight week, hinting that the job market is finally improving.

However, the dismal housing report and the drop in commodity prices prompting another losing day for investors.

Many were hoping that the rally will be sustained as The Fed declared that the recession is over. The recovery, however, remains to be slow.

Source: CNN

Unfortunately, not everyone’s cut for entrepreneurship. The Wall Street Journal ran an article of five questions any budding entrepreneur should ask oneself. Quite a handy guide, I might say.

Paraphrased, here are the key abilities that any entrepreneur should have (with comments):

1. Passion – Being an entrepreneur means that you should be able to effectively market and sell your product or service. Many might have the gift of gab but nothing helps a salesperson more than having the belief and passion in the product or service he or she provides.

2. Risk Taking – It might mean taking out a loan or using your life savings. Quitting your full-time job perhaps.

3. Decision Making – Decisions have to be made and some trickier ones need to be made not only swiftly but also smartly.

4. Multitasking – You might not have that large a capital to be able to hire people for various positions, so be prepared to be able to take on several responsibilities at a time.

5. Stress Tolerance – Putting up a business takes real time and effort. Establishing organizitions are tough and growing pains are inevitable so better be sure you can take risks and absorb unfavorable consequences.

However, with new credit card laws in play, new marketing restrictions will prevent card companies from offering credit cards to people below the age of 21.

A related rule, anyone under the age of 21 who seeks to have a credit card will be required to submit a proof of income or will require another to co-sign the application. The co-signer basically will be taking responsibility for the child’s debt.

College seniors are said to have $4,100 in credit card debt on the average. Stricter measures would probably benefit college kids to be more money-savvy.

Source: MSNBC