A Week's Worth
By Robert Kilborn
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The yo-yoing of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the last few weeks brought it back to 10919.05 at Friday's close, led by brisk new earnings reports from Walt Disney Co. and electronics retailer Best Buy. They posted quarterly gains of 6.7 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively.
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Last year was tough on corporate chiefs, remember? In February, Carly Fiorina was forced out at Hewlett-Packard. In June, Hank Greenberg quit under pressure at the giant American International Group. And the trend is only gathering pace, outplacement specialist Challenger, Gray & Christmas reports. A month ago, a record 139 CEOs moved on. The old mark (129) was set last March.
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When it comes to saving for retirement, how much is enough? Kiplin-ger's Personal Finance magazine polled 1,017 Americans and found that 23 percent don't know. Still, 63 percent said they think they're "on track." Kiplinger's rule of thumb: For a yearly income of $50,000 (at a 5 percent drawdown rate), a retiree needs a $1 million nest egg.
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While new car shoppers are good at researching different models, most fail miserably when looking into financing. A poll by an auto financing group, Americans Well-Informed on Automobile Retailing Economics, indicates 7 out of 10 have no idea what payment terms a dealer may offer and have not asked a bank or credit union how it can help. Only 30 percent said they were "very interested" to learn more on the subject.
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