Visitors to the Mall of America were astounded when money started falling from above on Black Friday. A Minnesota man, Serge Votobyov, went to the mall with $1,000 in small bills that day with the intention of making some people pretty happy.

As a crowd gathered round a trio that was performing the Christmas carol, ‘Let It Snow’, Serge made his way to the fourth floor of the mall. From the railing he tossed the bills over the side and down onto the crowd.

He filmed the crowd reaction and posted it on his YouTube account under the video title “Crazy Guy Throws $ 1,000 Dollars off 4th Floor at Mall of America.” Each bill was stamped with the URL of his YouTube account. He then posted about it on his Facebook page and directed people to his video.

Shortly after the money drop, Serge was cited by police for disorderly conduct. He said he didn’t understand how his act of generosity was being disorderly. He filmed the confrontation and posted it on YouTube as well.

Mall of America spokeswoman Sarah Schmidt said the act could have gotten someone hurt. She said it was the first time anything like this has happened at the Mall of America and fortunately it didn’t turn into a serious situation.

He claims he did it for several reasons. He said he is going through a divorce and it was his last thousand dollars. He wanted to spread some holiday cheer and do a pay-it-forward kind of thing. He also said it was his way of countering the greed that goes along with Black Friday. He also says he hopes he can one day do it again.

By Cyber Monday, Serge had more than 170,000 views of his video. He suggested that when people watch his video, YouTube will pay him and when he gets enough, he will give away another $1,000 though he wasn’t clear to whom or how he would go about it.

While authorities and management of the mall may not have approved of the stunt, those who were able to catch the money were certainly delighted.

The concept of crowdfunding is relatively new in the business world but it has definitely taken off quickly. Thanks to sites like IndieGoGo and Kickstarter millions of entrepreneurs are receiving the money they need to get their small businesses really rolling and now the SEC has ruled on how the process will legally work. Currently most crowdfunding sites simply provide the supporters with a small reward, such as a product, for their contribution but many companies are hoping that they’ll be able to provide actual stock or a share in the company.

Thanks to today’s SEC ruling these companies will now legally be able to provide supporters with a share of the company, if they desire. This is good news because it will help spur on the crowdfunding concept much more rapidly and it will definitely help build hundreds of thousands of new small companies that will create jobs and improve the work force in many ways. As a whole this is absolutely great news for everyone and millions of entrepreneurs are surely very happy about the ruling. The new rules will go into effect soon and the various crowdfunding sites will likely follow the new process very shortly thereafter.

Stock values and the stock market as a whole are a major player when it comes to the overall economic situation. The economy has been in recovery for quite some time now and the slow rate of recovery has concerned many people. Fortunately now it looks like things are still continuing to improve which is obviously great news.

Today the overall stock indexes in America and around the world performed very well which continued multiple weeks of high performance. The American stock market indexes are now higher than they have been in well over a year which is a great sign for the recovery of the entire economy worldwide. Even better news is the fact that nearly all analysts and economists agree that things are going to continue recovering which will bring nothing but good news.

Economic recovery is still a slow process but the fact that things are still consistently recovering is obviously a sign of things to come. It might still be many more years before the economy is as strong as it was before the recession but as long as things continue the way they are going it is only a matter of time before strength and stability is restored in the global economy.

This week marked a record high for the past year for stock markets around the world which is absolutely great news for everyone. The fact that the stock market is once again performing well and has even been breaking numerous records in the past month is great news because it shows some financial stability finally and this is surely amazing news.

Fortunately there is even more news to follow the stock market’s amazing performance over the past week. Many analysts feel that, because of the solid performance not just this week but the past few weeks, the stock market is now expected to continue recovering more and more over the course of a few months which will bring some serious economic relief to millions.

In every single way this is great news for everyone. Not only does this mean increased savings and investments for millions of people, it will also bring lots of savings on a large majority of commodities. The recovery of the stock market is just another sign that the economy is in fact recovering and if the recovery continues it will be nothing but great news for billions of people around the world. Hopefully the next few weeks and months will bring even more economic recovery in the form of stock market recovery and if current trends are to be trusted it probably will.

Jay-Z is a leader in the music industry and this week he announced that he would be holding a couple of very special events this spring. The events are set to be charity events which will benefit a specific scholarship fund in New York to help support kids desires to continue with their education.

Jay-Z reportedly decided to hold these charity events because of his personal battles with education and school. Jay-Z has admitted in the past that he did not ever finish high school and he has made it quite clear that he is bothered by that fact and this is exactly why he has become such a huge spokesperson for school and education for children. Through all of his work he has begun promoting education and these concerts are just the biggest and best step thus far which will hopefully raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for a very deserving charity in New York.

The two concerts are going to take place at Carnegie Hall in early February and like most charity events it will not be open for general public sale. Tickets are expected to range from $500 to thousands of dollars per seat which will definitely help raise some serious money; of course the performance will not be completely private as public tickets may end up becoming available at a later date depending on how high of demand the concert brings in. Either way the charity event from Jay-Z is great news for education advocates everywhere.

Shopping and consumer spending are the two biggest indicators of economic recovery so unless things quickly begin picking up many analysts will continue to feel less than positive about the current recovery of the economy. Fortunately it looks like good news is in store for everyone as American retailers are expected record turnouts for the upcoming Black Friday sales date.

Black Friday is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year and as a result it has a major impact on many stores. Not surprisingly in wake of the weak economy many stores have been doing whatever they can in order to draw in more customers and it seems this year thins are working out great. Thousands of additional customers are expected at nearly all major retailers which should easily mean an increase in revenue and profits around the country.

This is, once again, great news in terms of economic recovery and stability. The fact that consumer spending is going to continue growing is a great sign according to analysts because it shows confidence and improvement which should in short order begin to create economic growth. This could mean that a strong, solid, Christmas shopping season is all the economy needs to finally get back into the swing of things. It is still too early to say for sure what type of recovery will come from this holiday shopping season but overall analysts and experts are incredibly happy to say that the start of the holiday season is definitely going to be a solid start.

 

Peter Petersen became an instant billionaire in 2007. Co-Founder of the Blackstone Group, he found himself an instant billionaire when the group was offered for public. It was received in a spectacular manner and the founders were wealthy beyond imagination.

Pete had one wish and that was that he could have told the story to his father. His father had ran a Greek diner in Kearny, Nebraska and would have been elated at the success of his son.

Pete grew up in the 1930’s, a time when millionaires such as John Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie were the talk of the day. Pete was a millionaire 1000 times over and he did not know what he would do with a a billion dollars.

The idea of trying to make it grow left him cold inside. His father, who had given away much of his hard earned money to help other people, had left him with the thought that big spenders were a bad thing.

So there went the yacht and all the big ticket wasteful spending. He was also wondering what he would do with himself. He was retiring from business at 81, though his mind and energy were still performing a good pace. As his work load slowed…the phone calls slowed and the e-mails became non-existent. His day held too many blank spots. He became free of the business action and found himself joyless.

Pete felt like he had nothing but old age to look forward to. He missed the frequent interactions with people he respected. He missed being in the loop and being needed.

So he started looking at the billionaires he admired - Bill Gates, Eli Broad and Mike Bloomberg. He found that all were giving away their un-needed money to charities and organizations that gave back to the community.

Where could he step in and help out? Due to his time as a cabinet member in the Nixon White House he knew there was a good chance that the American children of the future would not have the chance to succeed like his generation had.

Due to American policy in the economic sector Pete had forecast a trend where we would lower our standards in order to supply quick fixes that would not hold up our economy in the long run. So a billion dollars went into the new Peter G. Peterson group. It would be dedicated to finding long range fixes to help the future generations.

Consumer spending is frequently used as the baseline for economic improvement so it is not surprising that many people eagerly await monthly information regarding retail store sales. Fortunately this month the news was great overall as it indicated some significant recovery in the economy all around the United States.

During the month of September Americans spent almost 4% more than they had been on average during the year. At first 4% might not seem like a big gain but this increase of 4% is in fact quite substantial as it means retailers and small business owners are seeing millions more dollars in revenue. This is a good thing for everyone as it means that the recovery of the U.S. economy and thus the worldwide economy is still carrying on strong.

Economic analysts worldwide say that this continued increase in retail sales and spending is great news as well since it has been a continuous increase. This month may have been the biggest increase so far but it is not the first increase; the combination of multiple months of successive increase in spending is incredible promising as it means that there is in fact more money moving and thus the economy is recovering. No word on if most economists expect this to have a significant impact on anything at this point though most are hopeful that this increasing trend toward more spending will likely continue through the rest of the year as well as the holiday season.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz challenged Congress and the President to put aside the partisan politics and take action for the good of the country and the American people. In an open letter, Schultz called upon the leadership of the United States to put aside political differences and work together to return the confidence of the American people to its government. In a letter published in the New York Times, the CEO demanded that the leadership of both political parties sit up and take notice to the demands of its citizenry. Schultz and 100 other business leaders have a signed two-part accord to withhold campaign contributions to either party until transparency and bipartisanship is made apparent with a fair and well rounded debt and deficit package. The group also pledged to take necessary steps to accelerate investments in jobs and hiring. The written pledge is a significant move on the part of top business leaders to invest in America and help put an end to the economic uncertainty.

The President’s speech was well written and focused on creating jobs, but not on reducing debt. 60 % of the cost of the $447 billion dollar jobs bill comes from tax cuts, credits and programs targeting the support of Republicans. The funding needed to pay for it came from spending cuts and closing tax loopholes. The Republican Party must act on creating jobs and being fiscally responsible according to Shultz. If they fail to put citizenship ahead of partisanship, there could be a different party leading the country in the next election. Congressional leaders have been in gridlock over raising the debt ceiling, spending cuts and taxes, but the needs of the American people have gotten lost in the politics. Howard Schultz and the business leaders of America that signed with him know that their businesses depend upon the spending of the American consumer and the consumer depends upon American businesses for jobs.

Shultz and Starbucks represent a business model that is overlooked by the Republican and Democratic Parties; they represent a mixture of fiscal responsibility, progressive social policy and cultural tolerance. Starbucks provided health insurance for all its employees at a time when the business was losing money. Now all workers receive basic health care coverage for only a modest contribution. Starbucks provides a pension and profit sharing program to all employees as well. The call to action to Congress by Starbucks and the other business leaders will certainly demand similar concessions of bipartisanship for the same values demonstrated by Starbucks.

The Business leaders of our country are willing to take the risks needed to bolster our flagging economy and President Obama’s speech reflected that he is embracing the bipartisanship necessary to effect the same change. This is great news for people needing jobs and for the economy.

Larry Powell is the superintendent of the Fresno County School District in California and this week he did something that shocked everyone in the district. Powell made an astonishing announcement that will help resolve some major budget issues in the district; he gave up his salary for the entirety of his remaining years at the school district.

Powell’s current contract will expire in 2015 and he says that he will not be accepting any type of salary or pay from now until at least the end of his term. In the three years that he gave up his salary he will save the school district approximately $800,000 in pay which Powell says he simply doesn’t need or want. This incredibly generous act has surprised and shocked the entire school district and it will definitely have a big impact on the district’s budget for the next few years.

Powell says his reasoning for giving up the salary is that he simply doesn’t need it at this point in his life. Powell is planning to retire in 2015 when his current term ends and according to his latest press release he simply feels that it is more worthwhile for him to leave the money for the school district to keep expanding and adding new programs. Throughout his career Powell has always been regarded as a giving man and with this final act of kindness he has sealed his legacy of kindness by giving the school district their largest contribution ever.