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Although Egypt’s cabinet has been in power for more than two months now, they have been unable to solve Egypt’s unrelenting political tension, which has taken its toll on the economy. The ongoing trials and tribulations of the deposed president’s court case have also had a huge effect investor sentiment.

But it seems some have gotten used to the turmoil. The Egyptian Exchange’s three main indices recorded stable performances, with some even recording small gains at the beginning of the reporting period starting August 21. All that changed after thousands of protesters broke down a security wall in front of the Israeli embassy and then storming the building on the evening of September 8.

When authorities finally intervened, the streets became a war zone throughout the night and into the early hours of September 9. The subsequent call for stability from the government raised more concerns about security issues.

By the end of the period, the EGX 30 had dropped 8.1%, settling at 4,364.60 points from 4,747.17 points. It was more of the same for the EGX 70 and EGX 100, which recorded losses of 4.5% and 6.6% to end at 540.55 and 826.99 points.

London - The growth in Africa's Facebook numbers show that it has touched a chord with users at a near mass level. Social media played a part in the Arab Spring and they've been arguing about what part ever since. Here at Balancing Act we decided to engage with social media about 12 months ago and this article looks at what we've discovered since then.

Balancing Act's universe of users is about 11,000 people, around 70% of whom are interested in telecoms and Internet in English and French and 30% in broadcast and film: that's those topics from Africa, not anywhere else. We are a specialist, niche media so bear these figures in mind when looking at the stats below.

Readers sometimes write and talk about "in your blog" and the "the blog you write" but besides the Top Story every week in these e-letters (which are based on facts but are opinionated), the rest is a newsletter. It comes out at a particular time so people know when to expect it and it has sections so they know where to look for things that might interest them. We could do a blog separately but somehow what's the point when you have a weekly opportunity to say something?

So about 12 months ago we decided to get engaged with social media to see in practical terms what it meant. Since it eats time like some minor addiction, you have to decide what you're going to do and how much of it. We chose to put time into LinkedIn because it is a site for professionals rather than Facebook that has taken advantage of corporate interest but is still fundamentally individuals.

You can't appear on all social platforms so we chose Twitter rather than the slightly more long-form Tumblr and we chose You Tube rather than Vimeo. In other words, we made somewhat safe choices on the basis that it's easier to be on platforms that are well-known and established with existing audiences. So for example in African terms, You Tube is up in the Top 5 most-used sites in those African countries analysed by alexa.com whereas Vimeo and Tumblr are not.

BANGKOK - World stocks fell Wednesday after a meeting of Europe's finance ministers failed to stem fears that the euro currency union is hurtling toward a breakup. Banking stocks slumped after some of the world's top financial institutions were slapped with a credit rating downgrade.

European shares headed south in early trading. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.8 per cent to 5,296.40. Germany's DAX shed 0.7 per cent to 5,760.28 and France's CAC-40 lost 0.6 per cent to 3,007.73. Wall Street was also headed for a lower opening. Dow Jones industrial futures fell 0.6 per cent to 11,501 and SP 500 futures were 0.6 per cent lower at 1,189.40.

Sluggish trading began earlier in the day in Asia, where Japan's Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.5 per cent to close at 8,434.61. South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.5 per cent to 1,847.51. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 1.5 per cent to 17,989.35. Australia's SP/ASX 200 swung back and forth until settling 0.4 per cent higher at 4,119.80.

Mainland Chinese shares plummeted, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index falling 3.3 per cent to 2,333.41. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 4 per cent to 994.02.

Sentiment was dented after a meeting in Brussels of finance ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro ended without an announcement on plans to contain the debt crisis that is threatening to shatter the currency union.

Like the little girl in the old jingle, when student loans are good they are very, very good, and when they are bad they are horrid. President Obama and his new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are trying to do something about it.

At best, they make it possible for students to attend college without having to pay up front the constantly rising tuition and fees and living expenses.

At worst, the loans can hang like a millstone for many years, whether or not the borrower can get and keep a job and make enough to keep up regular payments. A default can mean a poor credit rating that could block buying a car or a house.

Americans now owe more on student loans than on credit cards, reports the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It puts the total student-loan debt at $550 billion. The FinAid.org website puts the total even higher, at $830 billion, with the average 2011 graduate owing $27,204. The nonprofit Project on Student Debt says the average debt of 2009 Maine graduates was $39,237.

Outrage over this debt load has led to an online petition asking the president to forgive the student loans altogether. Signon.org , an offshoot of Moveon.org , already claims more than 600,000 signatures. Some signers pledge to stop all payments on their loan debts when one million have signed. Total forgiveness is unlikely, if only because federal aid money could be better spent elsewhere.

It should be the most exciting tech company on the block. Instead, it remains a media wallflower. The notion that Linkedin is boring has become something of a media meme.

TechCrunch once called it " the boring social network that won’t find you a date but may land you a job ." My colleagues openly admit that they ignore Linkedin . In fact, most Linkedin members rarely look at the site.

Are you seeing a pattern here? Linkedin is just not sexy .

This is a huge injustice, of course. Other tech companies with IPOs get all the media limelight, even though Groupon is an infamous disaster area which may or may not go belly up if its revenues decline, Zynga's business model consists entirely of Damocles Swords , and Twitter may or may not have a viable revenue model.

Linkedin, meanwhile, continues to plod away. It's latest new feature? A business card scanner . Zzzz.

by Elizabeth Waibel
Nov. 29, 2011

The Penguin, a restaurant at One University Place, will have its grand opening this Thursday at 3 p.m. The restaurant (1100 John R. Lynch St., Suite 6A) serves a casual lunch menu with daily specials and more sophisticated dinner entrees, such as duck a l'orange and steaks. A reincarnation of a restaurant that was located in the same area in West Jackson that closed in the early 1980s, The Penguin is open Monday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Visit thepenguinms.com or call 769-251-5222 for information.

Small Business Grants

The City Council approved grants yesterday for three small businesses in Jackson to buy equipment and technology. Brent's Drugs (655 Duling Ave.), Myers Insurance Group (4915 Interstate 55 North, Suite 206 B) and The Copper Iris Catering Co. (115 N. State St.) will receive up to $5,000 to $10,000 each under the Small Business Development Grant program.

The downtown branch of the TVA Employees Credit Union hardly seems like the staging ground for an insurrection. It's a spacious, quiet place in a building just down Wall Avenue from the concrete TVA towers. There's a Christmas window display for Mission of Hope full of teddy bears and Barbie dolls, and inside you can find cheerful tellers and a complimentary carafe of coffee on a table near the door.

But in recent months, placid financial facilities like this one have become rallying points for hundreds of thousands of people disaffected with American banking and corporate profiteering in general. Credit unions"nonprofit, member-owned cooperatives that specialize in small-scale checking, savings, and lending"have been touted as a populist alternative to the Bank of Americas and Citicorps of the world.

Last month, a Los Angeles art-gallery owner started a Facebook frenzy with a campaign called Bank Transfer Day, encouraging people to close their accounts at commercial banks on Nov. 5 and move the money into local credit unions. The Credit Union National Association, a trade group representing about 90 percent of the country's credit unions, estimates that 40,000 people did just that. That capped a swell that started at the end of September, when many banks (including Regions and SunTrust, in Knoxville) announced new monthly fees of $4 or $5 for debit-card users.

The banks were reacting to limits on their charges to retailers included in financial reforms passed by Congress, but outraged customers"who have seen a steady increase in financial fees of various kinds"responded by taking their business elsewhere. CUNA says more than 650,000 people nationwide opened credit union accounts in the following weeks, more new members than credit unions saw in all of 2010. Even though the biggest banks quickly dropped their new fees, the damage was done, and credit unions had enjoyed an unusual burst of publicity.

Some of that momentum carried over locally. Glenn Siler, CEO of the Knoxville-based TVA Employees union, says there was a moderate bump in new memberships over the last few months. Originally open, as its name suggests, only to local TVA workers, the institution has had a community charter for about the last 10 years. That means membership is available to anyone who lives, works, attends school, or worships in eight local counties: Blount, Jefferson, Loudon, Sevier, Hamblen, Knox, Roane and Sullivan. To join, you just have to deposit $5 in an account.

The program is to be Nov. 30 in Frost Kalnow Room. Family members of all ages can stop by anytime between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., but they must register by Nov. 29.

Families are to create gingerbread-style houses with graham crackers and icing. Participants are asked to bring one package of graham crackers; decorations for the house and the "glue" are to be provided. Decorations can be old Halloween candy, stale cereal, marshmallows or other items to decorate the houses; people should not take colored sugar.

The event is free. Register by calling (419) 447-3751 or by stopping into Junior Library.

Author to visit library

Tiffin-Seneca Public Library is to present the program "Rainbows in the Dark" at 1 p.m. Dec. 3 in Frost Kalnow Room.

Dear Opening Credits,
My wife and I recentlyhad our first child. In today's world, your credit score plays a large impactin insurance rates, borrowing ability, etc. Because of this I would like tostart establishing credit history for our child. If I add my child as anauthorized user to our credit card accounts, will this begin a credit historyfor him to where he will start out at a higher level and be able to takeadvantage of better opportunities? Or will this do absolutely nothing for him? -- M.W.

Dear M.W.,
Please tell me you'rejoking. You don't really want your infant to be an authorized user on your credit card account, right? Where, pray tell, would heeven keep the card -- tucked into his diapers? Perhaps use it as a teethinginstrument? I'm guessing you won't actually give the kid the card, but I think youmay be jumping the gun a bit here.

So, assuming yourquestions are genuine, here are your answers.

If your home is in need of some serious repairs and you are low on savings, it would be wise to look into home improvement loans. These loans give you the opportunity to get those much needed repairs or upgrades to your home done, and at the same time you will be increasing your credit rating. As your home is being repaired, you will be making timely payments to the lender and this will benefit you in the long run. This is why this type of loan has so much to offer, and will put you in a great financial place in the future.

Increasing House Value

With home improvement loans, you have the opportunity to raise the value of your home. This is a great thing because in the future you may want to place it on the market, and you will be able to get top dollar with the upgrades. There are many things you can do to upgrade the value of your home, and if you do it sensibly you will maximize the return for your home and make considerable profit. This will all be possible due to the loan that you took out to fix the property up, and this loan will be one of the best investments you can consider. A great way to increase the value of your home for the future is to put an addition on your home such as an extra bedroom. This will help you in the now, and financially help you in the future when it is time to sell.

Big Or Small The Task Can Be Completed

The wonderful thing about home improvement loans is that regardless of the scale of the task it can be finished. Whether you are doing simple repairs like fixing small plumbing issues, or you are tackling larger jobs such as new windows throughout the home the fact is you are going to need the money to do so. Many of these tasks big and small, can actually be very expensive and often at the worst of times. You can be sure that if you are considering that new roof, it will be most evident that you need one when there is a large storm upon you. This is why these loans are so convenient, they allow you the capital that you need to get those jobs done. With minimal fuss, and simple application processes you can have the money you need to get your tasks done as well.