With just about everyone seem to be talking about recession, layoffs and slowdown would-be college graduates are left wondering what the future holds for them. There was a time when a college degree promised a great career and job security but with the recession looming overhead, situations have changed.

Studies have shown that people who graduate during a recession usually start at a lower pay than their counterparts who graduated during better times. They also tend to switch jobs often.

The prospects for those graduating now are not all grey and bleak though. Companies will not stop hiring, they will just be more choosy about whom they hire. As a matter of fact, many companies prefer to hire interns because it is cost effective. There is a lot you can do that will help you get the upper hand while job hunting in a poor economy.

Prepare your resume: A polished resume will go a long way towards creating a good impression. If your college’s career centre has facilities such as resume writing, make good use of it.

Act early: Start job hunting even before you graduate.

Refine your search: Be clear about the kind of job you want. For instance, if you are an MBA graduate, specify whether you want to be involved in sales or marketing or accounts. This will help filter your options.

Do not hesitate to take up temporary jobs: By working as a temp, you can prove your mettle. Besides, you also gain work experience and also get access to internal job listings.

Be prepared for interviews: Practice the skills you would need to ace an interview. You can approach a career counselor to help you with feedback.

Make use of campus facilities: Participate in campus recruitment drives and use networking services to connect with alumni. It pays off to know people who are already placed.

Cut costs: In an economy which went haywire on bad credit, it will be difficult for fresh graduates to get credit. So, if you have to, move in with your parents while you hunt for a job.

Stay optimistic: Remember the recession will not last forever.

Jobs which involve consumer staples thrive in any kind of economy. These include jobs in sectors like healthcare, grocery, beauty aids, home products, utilities, energy and so on.

Although college graduates are hit hard by the recession, they certainly have an advantage over less educated workers. Fresh graduates will be glad to know that in spite of the recession, skills and knowledge are still valued and in demand. All it takes is some strategy, planning, preparation and of course, luck.

Related Links: Recent College Graduates and the Economic Recession | How to Get a Job in Recession | Students Hit First by Recession

Many parents wonder how they can teach their kids the value of money. Educating children about spending, saving and investing will enable them to use money wisely in future.

You can introduce the concept of money to children as soon as they learn to count. For instance, take your child along with you when you go shopping and tell him the value of different items in the store. You can teach the kids to spend smart by using discount coupons and gift vouchers. Show your child that he or she is responsible for their money. They should be taught how to handle and keep their money safe.

Encourage children to save money. You can give your kid a fixed allowance regularly and ask them to set aside a part as savings. Open a savings account for each of your children and ask your kids to manage it. It will give them sense of ownership and lot of responsibility. Setting up a piggy bank is a good method of saving money and keeping track of savings. When the piggy bank is filled with set number of dollars, move the money from piggy bank to child’s savings account. Now, let your child starts with the empty piggy bank all over again!

Wells Fargo Bank offers good resources for children to learn about money. Wells Fargo’s Hands on Banking page has instructional courses for kids, teens and young adults. You can open Goal savings account with your kids in Wells Fargo and transfer the money from your account to your child’s account whenever you want to pay for allowance or rewards for good scores in the school.

Cultivate good spending habits in children. Your children learn from you. Set an example in the way you spend. Show them how to evaluate ads and how to use credit cards wisely. Help children to distinguish between needs, wants and wishes. This will go a long way in encouraging frugal spending in future.

If your children are in their teens they can be made to do simple chores in exchange for money. In this way, they will learn about the time and effort it takes to make money. College going kids can be encouraged to take up part time jobs to supplement their allowance and meet their needs.

Money games are a great way of teaching kids how to make and manage money. There are several board and online games which serve the purpose.

• Monopoly:  A classic game which requires a player to buy and sell properties and collect rent.
• Game of Life: The player has to make decisions regarding their career and other aspects of life. The decisions will influence the player’s income and expenditure.
• Payday: This game teaches kids to manage an income, pay bills and meet unexpected expenditures.
• Money wise Kids: A great way to learn the art of budgeting.
• Money Bags: This game teaches kids to count coins. They can earn money for various activities.
• Easy Money: Similar to Monopoly. You can buy and sell properties to earn money.
• Counting Coins: Use this game to teach children how to count coins.
• Change Maker: This game teaches kids to determine total change on various purchases.

Websites like Minyanland are also helpful in teaching kids about money. Minyanland is a new innovation in teaching children the art of money management. It is a virtual community focused on financial education and economics. Minyanland has an economy which is very similar to that in the real world. Kids learn to earn, spend and invest money wisely. There is even a virtual bank at Minyanland where they can invest their savings. Parents can also set up accounts at Minyanland and link them to their children’s accounts so that their children’s allowances are payable at Minyanland! Combine this with wonderful graphics, sounds and internet safety and you get an excellent and fun tool to teach your kids about money management.

Teaching kids about money is fun as long as both you and your children enjoy it. The key is not to bore and confuse the kids with the details of stock market and banking system. Keep it simple, your kids will love it!

Related Link: Wells Fargo Resources for Kids

This is a lesson that many investors have been taught before, but so many investors have a difficult time following: do not chase after a bear market rally. In the past three days the Dow has gained over 550 points and has risen back above 7,000. Many on Wall Street are now asking whether this is a real sign of the bottom or if this is simply another suckers rally like several others have been in the last few months.

The main lesson that everyone should understand is that in a market that has an economic backdrop like we have right now there simply is no reason whatsoever to chase stocks higher in the hopes that this is the beginning of a huge move.  The simple fact of the matter is even in a brutal bear market there are going to be some violent swings higher because no market is going to go in a straight line in either direction. In fact, bear market rallies are typically much quicker, but also more short-lived than bull market rallies.

With an economy that is bleeding jobs and consumers losing trust in the overall system there is no reason to believe this is the start of a strong bull market. I am not saying that the bear market isn’t getting close to over, for that is much harder to determine, but rather I am simply stating that any bull market that would come in the future will be very slow to develop because of the slow economic recovery.

Don’t feel the need to chase your favorite stocks higher during these bear market rallies. The stocks will have big up days and big down days, and it is up to you to make sure you buy them at the right time.

All big guys are talking about mark-to-market accounting for the past few days. The House Financial Services subcommittee on capital markets is holding a hearing on this issue today, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EST, to explore problems facing mark-to-market accounting.

What is this mark-to-market accounting?

Basically the assets are marked to the market value. Mark-to-market accounting means that companies must value the assets on their balance sheets based on the latest market value of the assets even if the assets are not sold for that market value. This is the major problem for all banks because of declining mortgage value all across the country.

Let me explain. Assume that a bank made a $200 million loan on a building in San Francisco Downtown. Also, assume that buildings on both sides of this building were sold at foreclosure for $1 million each. This will bring down the market value of the building that took the loan from the bank. The building in this example is not sold. Still, the loan on this building has to be written down to market value of the defaults in the area. This is basically putting additional pressure on the banks that have billions in mortgages and loans. This also creates downward death spiral for many banks.

When there are more foreclosures in the area, the market value of the building goes down further. When the value of mortgage related securities goes down, the bank’s capital values go down. Then, the bank will struggle to maintain the capital required by regulation. Now, they will try to sell some assets to meet the capital requirement. This will further depress the market prices in the area. When all these happens, stock investors will get panicked and start to sell the stock of the bank. One more punch, the bank is dead or it will ask for bailout.

Few days ago, Warren Buffett called for suspension of mark-to-market accounting. He is the big investor in Wells Fargo. Naturally he is worried. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke also commented that banks should not be forced to fail by arbitrary accounting rules. He supports mark-to-market but said the current rule may require adjustments to get past the current market meltdown. This was seen as a strong positive for the banks if a modified rule allows them to avoid further markdowns because of an illiquid market.

Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., the panel’s chairman, doesn’t agree for the suspension of mark-to-market. “While companies need stability, investors still need accurate information,” he said in a statement. “We therefore cannot allow for fantasy accounting that wishes away bad assets by merely concealing them. I want to find a way to still provide investors with the information needed to make effective decisions without continuing to impose undue burdens on financial institutions”.

Let us hope that something good comes out of today’s hearing. Any good news for the banks will trigger another stock market rally. Whether that rally can be sustained is a totally different question!

Related Link: House panel looks at accounting rules

Too often in the recent economy I have heard people saying that money market accounts at their local bank are paying virtually nothing and there is no point in putting any money in them. While it is certainly true that many money market accounts are paying very small amounts, that is no good reason to avoid them altogether. The truth is banks can’t payout huge amounts on things such as money market accounts and certificates of deposits because interest rates are at zero right now.

Despite the fact that the Federal Reserve has placed interest rates at zero to try to stimulate the economy and the savings accounts on average are quite low, there are still ways to benefit from money market account promotions and special rates. In these times where banks need liquidity on their balance sheets they need these money market accounts opened more than ever, so they will continue to run some specials. Many banks are now offering rates as high as 2.5% or so for a limited time as an introductory rate. In fact, if you particularly good at staying ahead of the game you can typically move your money around and continue to get introductory rates at one or more of your local banks.

While 2.5% may not seem like a whole lot on the surface I continue to wonder why people scoff at the notion of putting their money in a savings account that will earn them this money. Simply put, there is no free lunch in this economy and if you want to make a little bit of cash while still saving up money, finding the best money market rates is still very important. Just because rates aren’t high by historic standards mean you should put your money under the mattress at home. Find an FDIC insured bank with a decent money market yield and help grow your money slowly over time.

Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit sent emails to employees stating that the bank had operated at a profit for the first two months of this year, logging its best performance since the third quarter of 2007, the last time it booked a quarterly profit. It brought lot of cheers to the market today. Citigroup closed at $1.45 today, up $0.40 (38%).

Investors are desperate for the good news. That’s why one email from Citigroup CEO pushed Dow up by 379 points (5.8%). If the Citigroup news is really credible, why not the shares jumped from $1 to, say $5? Why it jumped only 40 cents? Technical analysis shows that there is still not enough momentum in Citigroup stock. The reason is that many retail investors don’t want to jump in right now. Most of today’s action came from hedge funds and short-sellers that tried to cover their positions in Citigroup and other banks in U.S.

I don’t want to speculate on Citigroup’s profitability at this point. Citigroup CEO may be telling the truth now. We will know the facts only when they report quarterly results. It appears that the government bailout is working. That itself is a big relief!

Citibank news triggered good rally in Asian markets too. Right now, all Asian markets are up. Japan stock market jumped 4.4%, Hong Kong market jumped 3%. South Korea, Taiwan and Australian markets also went up.

I personally don’t believe that this rally can be sustained. This could be one of the bear market sucker rally. We are going to deal with the current recession for many more months to come. Deep rooted recession will not go away by one piece of good news. However, I welcome and feel good about the news from Citibank just because there is not much good news these days. Feeling good is different, investing is different. Knowing the difference will make lot of difference in your bank balance.

Related Link: Banking Stocks

Today Barney Frank, head of the House Financial Services Committee, said that he expects the SEC to restore the “uptick rule” within the next month. The markets and many strategists cheered this move quite strongly as many believe the decision to withdraw the uptick rule in 2007 contributed to the huge losses on Wall Street in the past year.

What exactly is the uptick rule? The uptick rule is specifically used to regulate short-selling in the financial markets. The rule says that someone wishes to sell a stock short must do so only when the price of the equity that they are shorting is higher than the price of the previous trade. The uptick rule was first established in 1934 as Rule 10a-1, but was abolished in July of 2007.

What is the purpose of the uptick rule? The uptick rule was developed with the goal of preventing short sellers of the market from adding to the downward momentum of the price of an individual stock. Put in the most simple terms possible the uptick rule was designed to help mute major market sell offs and prevent short sellers from piling on to stocks that are being crushed by the market.

Will the return of the uptick rule help the current market? I believe the return of the uptick rule is a good sign for the market in the long run, but it certainly isn’t the answer to the economy and its problems. The removal of the uptick rule was likely a miscalculation by the SEC, and the reinstatement of the uptick rule should be seen as a sign of returning a state of calm to the market. Since the market is looking for any kind of calming in the current climate the uptick rule should help things marginally. The uptick rule is no savior, but it is a start!

According to the survey by National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Americans are lacking basic knowledge about Insurance. Honestly, I am surprised. I thought that most Americans know these things. Apparently not.

“Now more than ever, consumers need to be mindful of the impact their insurance decisions can have on their financial future,” said Terri Vaughan, NAIC’s chief executive. “By arming themselves with the facts — and improving their insurance IQ — consumers can make sure they are adequately protected, without paying more than they should for that coverage.”

More details about this survey and the results are here. NAIC sponsored InsureUOnline.org also provides useful resources to understand more about insurance policies and the ways to save on insurance.

Today, we got the mixture of good news and bad news. Whenever someone asks me “do you want to hear good news first, bad news first?”, I always opt to hear bad news first. The reason is that I get rid of the bad news first and take the good news to compensate for weird feeling associated with bad news.

Here is the bad news. Actually couple of them.

Bad News #1. Economy Fell off a Cliff

Mr. Buffett delivered the bad news “Economy fell off a cliff”. Most of us already feel it. But, when we hear the confirmation from people like Warren Buffett, it doesn’t sound good. He also cautioned that unemployment rate may still climb up. More about this here.

Bad News #2. Stock Market could go much lower

Mr. Roubini delivered his gloomy prediction in RGE Monitor.

Bad News #3: Social Unrest?

Barton M. Biggs, managing partner at Traxis Partners (hedge fund), said he thinks it’s “50-50” as to whether the economy begins to recover over the next year or “whether we are going into a depression and a deflation,” which could conceivably be as painful as the 1930s. “If we’re going into the 1930s,” he said, “it’ll be survivalism, and we’ll have very substantial social unrest.”

Now, for some good news…

Good News #1: Some Companies are hiring

It’s a fact that crisis presents huge opportunities for some industries. Healthcare Industry is one of them. AP reports that even some banks are hiring in technology arena. More on this here.

Good News #2: Peter Lynch’s Optimism

Peter Lynch, Fidelity’s legendary stock-picker, said “I can’t tell you anything about where the market will be in the next six months or 12 months or two years. But at some point in the future, I think you’ll look back and see that we’ve gotten through this and that stocks turned out to be the best bet.” More on this here.

So… how do you feel? Optimistic or Pessimistic?

If you are like most mutual fund investors you are looking for some of the top mutual funds available to you that you can count on to outperform the overall market. As an investor in a mutual fund you must realize that no mutual fund manager can always make the right stock picks and no mutual fund will be immune from economic downturns such as the one we have right now.

The true key to finding the best mutual fund is to look for consistent out performance by the mutual fund. What does this mean? It means that this mutual fund needs to perform better than the average mutual fund in its peer group quite consistently. If you are looking at a large cap growth mutual fund then you should compare this fund against others that invest in similar companies. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples and not apples to oranges.

The best mutual fund managers will clearly state their investment theories in annual reports, and you would be wise to look closely through these reports. Understand what this mutual fund manager is thinking about the market and see if you agree with his method of picking stocks that should do well in the future. Another often overlooked point that is very important is the length of time this manager has spent with this particular mutual fund. It is a huge plus if the mutual fund manager outperforms over a long period of time at the same fund, but it is a red flag if the mutual fund has done very well, but continues to switch managers in recent months or years. Manager tenure should be one of the main things you look for in a top mutual fund.

The best of the mutual funds will also have the things that we should be able to count on, but aren’t always able to. These things include; great customer service, no-loads, and low management fees. There are tons of mutual funds out there, as an investor you can afford to be picky!