U.S. News: A Shoebox of Penny Stocks and Other Investing Horror Stories

By SIMON CONSTABLE

So very often the mantra of personal finance is simple: Make small changes now, and decades from now you'll make some huge gains. 

It might not be as thrilling as riding the Coney Island Cyclone, but it seems to work. Slow and steady wins the day, at least financially. 

But what about when all that prudent advice goes out the window? What happens when the counsel of trained financial whiz-kids and seasoned sages is ignored? The following real-world examples from financial advisers across the U.S. should give you an idea. And here's a hint – it's not pretty. Read more here.

TheStreet: How Obamacare is Cutting Your Salary -- And Your Vacation Budget

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Economic reality is catching up with the  Affordable Care Act, aka  Obamacare, according to two recent reports. 

The problem is that while acts of Congress can be repealed, the basic laws of economics cannot. In this case, the law in question is one that most students are taught on the first day of economics class: There is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone always pays. 

Obamacare is proving no different. First, people with employer-based health insurance are paying in the form of lower salaries because of the extension of coverage to dependent children through age 25. 

Read more here.

Forbes: Why We Need To Stop Managing People Like Widgets -- Book

By SIMON CONSTABLE

When I first came to the United States, what was notable to me was the amazing conformity exhibited by employees. This manifested in terms of the way many spoke, what clothes they wore, and what hobbies they had (sometimes none.) In the land where individuality supposedly ruled, it was often absent on the surface in a lot of my colleagues. At least that’s how it seemed at the time.

What I now realize is that it was the managers that wanted conformity (and the employees complied in a  shallow way). For managers that meant it was easier to manage people. If two people were viewed as basically the same then they could be moved into each other’s roles. In some sense, the managers were treating people in the way that Henry Ford treated car parts — they needed to be interchangeable. The problem is that people aren’t made in moulds.

That reality is the focus of a recently published book, The End of Average: How We Succeed In A World That Values Sameness by Todd Rose.

Read more here.

WSJ: What Is Rolling Down the Yield Curve?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Sometimes you’ll hear investors talk about rolling down the yield curve. 

The term refers to a strategy of selling bonds before they mature in an effort to profit from rising prices. In bond markets, prices rise when yields fall, which is what tends to happen as bonds approach maturity.

The concept, while confusing, is important to understand, especially for those bond investors worried about rising interest rates. Read more here.

Forbes: Schlonging the Dragon: Three Essays To Get You Into B-School

By SIMON CONSTABLE

If you want to go to B-school you can write an essay which details every certificate you ever earned or every piece of paper you once shuffled. You could spend six months crafting something with many caveats and weasel words about what you did.

Alternatively, you could learn to tell a story. Compelling tales capture the imagination in 

ways that simply listing a series of events cannot. Here are three examples. In the first two cases, you will need to adapt the narrative to your specific work situation. Shoehorn your story into these templates.

The third essay is self explanatory and probably not applicable to most people.

Read more here.

Forbes: Worst Boss Part 9

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Part nine of a continuing series, which outlines how you too can be an appalling manager. Read part eight here.

To be supportive to your employees means that sometimes you must prevent them from hurting themselves. Such interventions can also sometimes cause your department to suffer. Still, it's what a compassionate person does.

Of course, as a potential "worst boss possible" you shouldn't be so caring. Instead, you should exploit your workers at a time when they really need help and compassion. Read more here.

Photo by Hayley Maxwell on Unsplash

U.S. News: Is the End in Sight for the Natural Gas Slide?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Investors hoping for a turnaround in natural gas prices may have to wait until the second half of the year, at the earliest. 

Prices for the commodity, which is used for heating homes, power generation and to make plant food, have been in a downtrend for almost two years. Front-month futures contracts were recently trading at $2.188 per million British thermal units on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The last major peak in prices was in February 2014 at more than $8, according to the Energy Information Administration. 

Reasons for the rout are legion and include the global decline in commodity demand, increases in supply from new techniques of extraction and a strong U.S. dollar, which makes all dollar dominated materials cheaper. 

Read more here.