stock market

Williams Formula One Racing Team Offered on Frankfurt Stock Exchange

Have you ever wanted to own an Formula One team? Usually that would cost you millions upon millions of dollars, the kind of cash that only an automaker (like Ferrari or Mercedes-Benz) or an incredibly wealthy individual (like Richard Branson or Vijay Mallya) could afford. But the Williams F1 team is offering an unprecedented opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

For the first time in F1 history, the team will offer publicly-traded shares on the open stock market – in this case the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It's part of an effort to raise capital and ensure the team's future as its leadership – Frank Williams and Patrick Head – are growing older.

Although the team has nine world championships to its name, these days it's having trouble keeping up with the competition.

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Tags: Frankfurt Stock Exchange, ipo, shares, stock, stock market, williams, williams f1, williams grand prix engineering

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Philanthropy Not as Screwed as Financial Markets

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Charity, Big Givers

We're gripped by an unusually strong bear right now. He's squeezing financial markets viciously. And, it comes as no surprise that charitable giving is suffering. Nonetheless, philanthropy is staying ahead of investment hits. Even with stock market calamity, we're still able to find the occasional heart of gold out there.

Don't get me wrong, the situation's grim for the nonprofit sector. Craig M. Joseph of InQuest International, a full-service philanthropic consultancy, observes that the USA Giving Index – calculated by the Center of Philanthropy at Indiana University – is down 35 percent from its 2007 peak. That year, $306 billion in charitable gifts were made. With the steep decline over the past two years, though, a lot of organizations won't get the funding they need.

Of course, it could be worse. If philanthropy followed the Dow, gifts would have fallen more than 40 percent to less than $184 billion – rather than the estimated February 2009 level of $199 billion. With numbers this large, $15 billion may not seem like a lot, but in the hands of an efficient charitable organization, it can change a lot of lives.

For now, the news is "less negative," but there is still a lot of pain that still has to be pushed through the markets, as much of the Wall Street calamity likely has yet to be visited upon consumers. Let's just hope that we still find some room in our wallets to support our favorite charities.

Tags: charitable, charitable contributions, charitable giving, charitable organizations, CharitableContributions, charitablegiving, CharitableOrganizations, charity, financial crisis, FinancialCrisis, giving, non-profit, nonprofit, philanthrophy, philanthropist, philanthropists, philanthropy, recession, stock market, StockMarket

Colonnade Hotel Offers Rates Based on Stock Market Volatility

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

The Colonnade Hotel in Boston is taking advantage of the current stock market volatility with their Bull and Bears package which gives guests a discount depending on the stock market trend of the day. The package, which is available Sunday through Thursday gives guests 20 percent off their stay if the market goes down, or 10 percent if the market goes up. The package is designed for the business traveler and includes a double occupancy room, in-room breakfast, high speed Internet access, an overnight shoeshine and parking. Rates start around $300 and the hotel does have a great feature for summer, it's one of the only hotels in the area with a rooftop pool.

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Tags: boston, colonnade hotel, ColonnadeHotel, stock market