"My Two Cents" by Cindy Pickens - Cynergy
Financial Literacy + A Little Adventure + A Lot of Logic = Financial Freedom

As some people move up in the corporate world, they find themselves working harder and harder to satisfy an insatiable desire for more and more ... more money so they can drive a faster car, live in a bigger house and dine in a swankier restaurant. The result is an affluent lifestyle, but it's not exactly a life. (Read on)

Recently came the news that Bill Perez, Nike's CEO, had resigned from the company. Although Mr. Perez arrived with an excellent reputation, having served as CEO for the family-owned S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., he was, to many, a surprising choice for a company with a tradition of hiring from within. Yet at the time, co-founder and chairman Phil Knight believed Nike would benefit from the guidance of this "outsider." Thirteen months later, he changed his mind and promoted a 27-year veteran of Nike. (Read on)

Silicon Valley Sees Gain in Jobs, Point to a Successful Reboot
By: Pui-Wing Tam
From: The Wall Street Journal

For the first time in four years, Silicon Valley had a net increase in jobs, in one sign that the U.S.'s technology capital may be turning the corner after a long economic downturn. That is the conclusion of an annual report by Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a nonprofit group representing businesses and government agencies in the San Francisco and San Jose, Calif., area. (Read on)

Calculating The Dow Jones Industrial Average
By Investopedia Staff, (Investopedia.com)

A Brief Summary
In the U.S. there are three major indicators, or indexes, of market movements. These three are the Nasdaq Composite, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA or "the Dow") and the Standard & Poor's 500. As a collective, these market indexes are referred to as the Security Market Indicator Series (SMIS). They provide a basic signal of how specific markets perform during the day. Of these three, the DJIA is the most widely publicized and discussed. Fortunately for us, it is also the easiest to calculate and explain. (Read on)

New Tax Extension Filing Rules / Avoid IRS Audit
By: Judee Slack (Cynergy Guest Speaker)
SlackTax, Inc.

Do you need more time to file your 2005 individual tax return?
If so, you can file for an extension of time to file your return. However, even with an extension, you must estimate how much you owe, and send in that amount by April 17, 2006. (Year 2005 taxes are due on April 17 this year because April 15 falls on a Saturday.) (Read on)

How to Clean Up Your Digital Dirt
By: Jared Flesher
CareerJournal

According to a recent survey of executive recruiters, 75 percent use search engines to uncover information about candidates, and 26 percent have eliminated candidates because of information found online. (Read on)

MS Excel Helpful Hints 1.1
By: O'Shea Toran (Cynergy Web Cast Presenter)
Training / Development / Operations Professional

MS Excel
Show me the… FORMULAS!
Ever get someone else’s spreadsheet and wonder how they arrived at their totals? Well, there are various ways to audit a spreadsheet for this information but a fun way is to do the following:
(Read on)