June 2008

This morning on The Opening Bell, I talked to two gentlemen who have completely different points of view on whether or not you should pay off your mortgage before you retire. It was any excellent debate and a very important topic for any one of the millions of baby boomers who face this decision. Mom and Dad, if you're reading or watching this -- take notes! :) Brad Levin of Legacy Wealth ... read more

In this week's edition of America's Greatest Business Rivals we explored the battle between Subway and Quiznos--the biggest battle in the sandwich category. Greg Brenneman, Quiznos' president & CEO joined me and David Henkes, the vice president of Technomics. What makes this one of America's Greatest Business Rivalries? Take a look. ... read more

Just when you thought it wasn't possible, it happens again. Meet the Jared Fogel (of Subway fame) of McDonald's. Chris Coleson decided in a life changing or should I say defining moment that he needed to take control of his life and lose weight. So how did he decide to do it? By eating only at McDonald's. Is it possible? Yes it is. He chose healthy at McDonald's and lost 86 pounds since ... read more

Have you ever wondered who is the greatest athlete in the world? We hear about the best basketball, baseball or golf players but what about the best overall athlete. The Wall Street Journal spent almost six months researching the very best. They brought together five sports scientists and exercise psychologists and reviewed a list of 79 male athletes. They measured them based on individual ... read more

Think the planting of corn crops can't get any worse? Hold on to your hats. A lot depends on the ability to replant those crops particularly in places like Iowa, which are now starting to see water levels recede.  The question now is how successful those corn crops will be, the level of risk or contamination and what the future holds for everything from feed prices, ethanol prices and finally the ... read more

In the wake of the devastation in the Midwest due to flooding, we thought we would take a look at the percentage of homeowners who are insured for an incident like this, and what those uninsured can do. Unfortunately, given all of the natural disasters this year --whether they be wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes or flooding -- it's going to be a difficult year for homeowners and most likely ... read more

One of the reasons it took me some time to write my blogs was because I had two very cool engagements this week. One was on Wednesday when I appeared on Good Morning America with my friend Mike Santoli from Barron's. Diane Sawyer interviewed us about the current housing climate and if escalating fuel and food prices will change habits and create a mass exodus from suburbia to more metropolitan ... read more

This week's Market Maven on The Opening Bell was Bob Doll of Blackrock, the global chief investment adviser and vice chairman. As always, he makes such great points about the U.S. economy, global economy and where the U.S. stock market is headed. Take a look. ... read more

This morning on Money for Breakfast in any exclusive interview I talked to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of The Interior, Dirk Kempthorne about the future of drilling for oil on the continental shelf. We talked about the responsibilities of the Department of Interior and why he believes drilling for more oil is safe, a necessity and can help raise funds for the government. After my ... read more

- Women own 48% of all businesses in the United States. That's approximately 9.1 million businesses. - Women business owners contribute more than $3.6 trillion to the marketplace each year. - Women account for more than 70% of consumer spending. - Women influence almost 85% of the purchasing decisions in this country. - 55% of women provide half or more of their household's ... read more