Volcano adventures

7:00 ET, Fri 17 Aug 2007

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Tourists tired of traipsing around cities and in need of something more dramatic to spark their imagination could opt for a volcano adventure.

From Alaska to Zaire, Forbestraveler.com has compiled a list of the top volcano adventures for travelers seeking an unusual holiday:

1. Kilauea - Hawaii

The 4,091 foot volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983. Located in Volcano National Park on the island of Hawaii, native guides conduct by-appointment only tours.

2.Mount Liamuiga Volcano - St Kitts

Located on the Caribbean island of St Kitts, a six-hour round trip to the crater of the 3,792 foot volcano takes visitors through bamboo rain forests and tropical glades.

3. Mount Kilimanjaro - Tanzania

It is the largest mountain in Africa and although the volcano is not active, there is hot magma just 1300 feet below the crater summit, which soars to 19,340 feet. Visitors usually take a five-day hike and must be aware of altitude sickness.

4. Mount Vesuvius - Italy

The eruption of the volcano in 79 AD destroyed the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Each year thousands of tourists visit Pompeii and the National Archaeological Museum in Naples where they can see well-preserved frescoes.

5. Augustine, Douglas, Illiamna and Redoubt volcanoes - Alaska

Located on the east coast of Katamai National Park and Lake Clark National Park, the chain of volcanoes, which range in height from 3,053 to 10,197 feet, are just four the state's 80 potentially active volcanoes. Homer Air Service, a flight-seeing company, conducts a Ring of Fire Tour of the four peaks which takes in a crater lake and a glacier.

6. Nyiragongo Volcano - Zaire

The giant volcano reaches 11,384 feet. A gas eruption in 2002 killed 42 people and left 120,000 homeless. Today visitors can be taken on an expedition culminating in a three-day trip to the crater rim.

7. Yellowstone - United States

Although it is not the classic shape of its conical cousins, Yellowstone is the largest super-caldera on earth, with half of the geysers on earth and other unique geological formations.

8. Shiga volcanic complex - Japan

No mountain in this range that rises to 6,696 feet has erupted for the past 10,000 years but it is still an active geothermal attraction and the largest ski resort in the country.

9. Ambrym Volcano - Vanuatu

It is a favorite with volcanologists and botanists because of a near permanent lake of boiling lava and a lush rainforest. Travelers can venture with a guide to the hottest hotspots in a region -- wherever an eruption is happening.

10. Mount Taranaki -- New Zealand

The dormant volcano was used as a stand-in for Mount Fuji in the film "The Last Samurai." Adventure sports are a favorite on the Waingongoro River which winds it way down the near perfect cone.

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.

Avoid These Costly Investment Blunders

Thursday August 16, 7:00 am ET
By Sue Stevens, CFA, CFP, CPA

Buying a fund or a stock is relatively easy. It's the selling part that can get complicated.

With the stock market roaring up and down (and mostly down, lately) hundreds of points in a day, you may find yourself thinking about cashing in on some of your gains. Or perhaps you're thinking about locking in a loss on a holding because you want to be able to reduce the effect of capital gains elsewhere in your portfolio.

But before you pull the trigger and sell, you'd better know where you stand with both realized and unrealized gains and losses. Realized gains and losses reflect the selling you've already done for the year to date. Unrealized gains and losses reflect how a security you still hold has changed since you bought it. For example, if a stock has appreciated but you haven't sold, you have an unrealized gain in it. If you know where you stand with realized gains and losses, you can use that information to determine if you want to sell some of your current securities with either a gain or a loss.

For example, if you find you have substantial realized gains so far this year, you may only want to focus on selling securities that you're holding at a loss. If you have loss carryforwards on your tax return (see Schedule D), you may want to net those out by selling some securities that have appreciated strongly, thereby reducing the capital gains tax you'll owe on those appreciated securities.

What Is Cost Basis?
The "cost basis" is the original purchase price of an asset plus any reinvested dividends and capital gains.

If you ignore reinvested dividends and capital gains, you'll end up paying tax on those shares twice. And you don't want to pay more tax than you have to.

Want a simple solution to this dilemma? Don't have your brokerage or mutual fund company reinvest the capital gains and dividends. You can direct them to put those payments directly into your money market account. Then later you can decide just where you want that additional money to go. It's certainly simpler than hunting down all reinvested capital gains and dividend payments.

Some brokerages keep track of the cost basis for you. Look at your statement to see if it reflects "cost." Even if it doesn't, you may want to give your brokerage a call to see if they can send you that information, or you may be able to retrieve it online. Some companies have that information but don't make it available unless you specifically ask.

Calculating Cost Basis
The IRS allows you to use one of four methods when calculating your mutual fund's basis. You'll need to think about this decision before you actually sell anything. Your choice will affect how you treat sales in the future.

* Average cost (single category): Most people (and brokerages) use this method. You add up all of your purchases of the security, including reinvested dividends and capital gains, and divide by the total number of shares you own. To determine whether your gains/losses are short-term or long-term, you assume the oldest shares are sold first. Once you use this method to calculate the cost basis of shares you've sold, you must continue to use this method for the rest of the shares you sell in the future.
* Average cost (double category): This is similar to the above method, but first you sort your shares into two categories: those in which your gains and losses are short-term and those in which you have a long-term gain or loss. Then you add up the purchases in each category and divide by the number of shares in each category.
* Specific-share identification: This method is a little trickier, but it can also save you money. You specifically tell the brokerage which shares you want to sell and use the cost basis of those specific shares. For example, you may have bought shares of XYZ company five years ago when prices were higher--let's say $15 per share. Then later you bought more shares when the price was lower--say $5 per share. If you specifically tell your brokerage firm to sell the shares that you purchased at $15 and you sell them at $16, you only have to pay tax on the $1 per share of capital gain. If you specified the shares with a $5 cost basis, you'd owe tax on $11 per share.
* FIFO (first-in, first-out): If you don't specify a method for calculating your basis, the IRS will assume you're using FIFO. This method assumes that when you sell some of your shares, they are the first shares you bought. If those shares have a lower cost basis, you'll end up owing more in capital gains tax (and vice versa).

When calculating cost basis on stocks, the average cost basis may not be used.

Figuring Out How Much You Owe
To find out how much income tax you'll owe, you subtract your basis from the fair market value of the security when you sell it. If you held the security longer than one year, you'll have either a long-term capital gain (if you sold it for more than your basis) or a long-term capital loss (if you sold it for less than your basis). If you held the security for less than one year, instead of long-term gains or losses, you'll have short-term gains or losses.

You can net out capital gains and losses against each other.You can then use as much as $3,000 of capital losses in any one year to offset ordinary income on your tax return. Unused losses can be carried forward indefinitely to future years.

If someone has gifted you securities, you retain their cost basis. That means the donor needs to tell you what that basis is. Then going forward you need to keep track of additional purchases and reinvested dividends and reinvested capital gains. When you eventually sell the investment and calculate your basis, you start with the donor's basis and add to it any additional purchases and reinvested amounts. For more on this topic, see IRS Publication 551 at www.irs.gov.

Why Basis Is Important
The higher your basis, the less you pay in taxes. It's that simple, but record-keeping for this purpose is anything but simple. Ideally, the day you buy a stock or fund, you should start a notebook or spreadsheet entry that documents your purchase. Then you would add to your records as you purchased more or reinvested dividends and capital gains.

If you're like many people, you've thrown out old statements and have no idea about reinvested amounts. There are a couple of ways to recreate these records:

* Take a look at each tax return you've filed since you had the investment. Reinvested dividends and capital gains will be on Schedules B and D. However, many brokerage firms just lump together all your dividends and capital gains for tax purposes. If that's the case, you'll just see something like "Schwab" listed, not each individual security. And for basis purposes, you need to break it out by individual security.
* Contact each brokerage firm and request year-end statements for as long as you've had the investment. They should show both purchase amounts and reinvested amounts.

Going forward, basis may become even more important. In 2010, the step-up in basis at death will be modified. ("Step-up in basis" means that the person who inherits an asset doesn't also inherit the deceased individual's cost basis; instead, the new owner's basis in that asset "steps up" to its current market value.) In 2010, a general basis increase will be allowed up to $1.3 million. Spouses will be allowed an additional $3 million of stepped-up basis.

Let's look at an example: Joe dies in 2010 and leaves securities valued at $2 million to his only son, Peter. Let's say Joe's basis is $500,000. Peter will be able to step up the basis on $1.3 million of his inheritance. But the other $700,000 will retain his father's basis. (This is just like the gifting rules for basis that I touched on above.) Then Peter will need to track his additional purchases and reinvested dividends and capital gains until he sells the securities.

Accurate record-keeping is essential. Estates may take much longer to settle if basis needs to be recreated. Holding securities until death to take advantage of the step-up in basis may no longer be a viable strategy. So be forewarned: If you don't have accurate basis records, bite the bullet and find a way to build these records. If you don't, the price could be heavy: paying tax more than once on reinvested dividends and capital gains or creating problems for your heirs by delaying the settlement of your estate.

IRS Publications
If you want more information on investments and taxes, the following IRS publications may help. (You'll need Adobe Acrobat to view or print out the PDF files.)

Publication 544: Sales and Other Disposition of Assets
Publication 550: Investment Income and Expenses
Publication 551: Basis of Assets
Publication 564: Mutual Fund Distributions

A version of this article appeared March 9, 2006.

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Wall Street Rebounds; Investors Eye Fed

Friday August 17, 6:06 am ET
By Joe Bel Bruno, AP Business Writer Investors Eye Fed for Momentum After Dow Reverses From 343 Point Loss NEW YORK (AP) -- In what's becoming a familiar story on Wall Street, stocks have had a dramatic late-session turnaround as buyers streamed back into the market. The question of course is whether Thursday's surge, which pulled the Dow Jones industrials up from a more than 300 point loss to close only narrowly lower, will be the one that sticks.

The market, which has had several such comebacks this month, has been giving back all its gains of late and then some amid unrelenting volatility. And many analysts believe the answer lies with the Federal Reserve.

Bargain hunting rather than a belief that the bad times are over was partly behind this latest last-hour advance -- stocks have fallen so far amid worries about the availability of credit that investors were willing to place some bets. The market pretty much ignored the Fed's latest injection of cash into the banking system, a move designed to alleviate the fears about credit that have sent stocks plunging for weeks.

What investors really want is an interest rate cut, and one that comes before the Fed's Sept. 18 meeting.

"I think there is more confidence of a lasting rally in equities if the Fed cuts rates, and that makes it easier on days like this to do bargain hunting," said John Lonski, chief economist for credit-rating agency Moody's Investors Service. "And, the more investors sense that the U.S. economy can shoulder losses arising from subprime mortgages, the closer we are to stabilization in equities."

So far, though, the Fed shows no signs of acquiescing. It has relied on adding money into the banking system to try to soothe the markets. Central banks around the world have been supplying billions of funds to banks in the past week to make cash available for lending and keep interest rates from rising amid signs that credit was drying up.

The New York Fed -- which carries out the central bank's market operation -- announced Thursday an overnight repurchase agreement worth $12 billion. This was on top of a 14-day "repo" worth $5 billion announced before the market opened. The Fed uses a repo to buy securities from dealers, who then deposit the money into commercial banks.

It's not what the market wanted. The Dow was down as much as 343 points Thursday.

But the Fed has its reasons for not giving in -- for instance, moving too soon could send a message that policymakers are being too reactive. Also, lower rates risk sending inflation higher, and keeping inflation in check has been the Fed's primary concern.

"Speculation about what their move will be is what is going to control equities for the time being," Lonski said.

The turnaround Thursday was driven by buying of blue chip stocks, specifically among beleaguered banks and brokerages. Before the buyers returned, the major indexes had reached the levels of a correction, defined as a 10 percent drop from the market's highs.

The Dow, which closed just above 14,000 on July 19, was down about 1,150 points, or 8.2 percent, by Thursday's close.

Some analysts were hopeful that the market will be able to build on Thursday's momentum.

"The fundamental buyers are coming back into the market, and typically trading in the last half hour of the day is where the smart institutional money is going," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank. "There's a feeling that maybe we've pushed it too far, and this gives us a running start for positive markets worldwide on Friday."

Still, the market is quite fragile. Thursday's buying also came from traders or hedge funds trying to cover losses from what's known as short trading. In short trading, an investor sells borrowed stock on a bet that the market will fall; when the market rises, the investor must buy stock to pay back the debt.

Moreover, analysts contend each trading day seems to bring about new worries about credit -- needed to fuel corporate profits and takeovers -- is drying up. The latest catalyst for selling was bad news from Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest mortgage lender, which had to draw on a billion-dollar credit line to fund its operations.

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

Watch the Trailer

All he wanted was to disappear; instead, Jason Bourne is now hunted by the people who made him what he is--legendary assassin. Having lost his memory and the one person he loved, he is undeterred by the barrage of bullets and a new generation of highly-trained killers. Bourne has only one objective: to go back to the beginning and find out who he was. Now, in the new chapter of this espionage series, Bourne will hunt down his past in order to find a future. He must travel from Moscow, Paris and London to Tangier and New York City as he continues his quest to find the real Jason Bourne--all the while trying to outmaneuver the scores of cops, federal officers and Interpol agents with him in their crosshairs.

Production Status:	Released
Logline:	Legendary assassin Jason Bourne uncovers mysteries of his past, which puts him in the cross-hairs of a superkiller.
Genres:	Action/Adventure, Thriller, Adaptation and Sequel
Running Time:	1 hr. 51 min.
Release Date:	August 3rd, 2007 (wide)
MPAA Rating:	PG-13 for violence and intense sequences of action.
Distributors:	Universal Pictures
Production Co.:	Kennedy/Marshall Company, Ludlum Entertainment, MP Beta Productions
Studios:	Universal Pictures
U.S. Box Office:	$131,552,425
Filming Locations:	New York, New York, USA Madrid, Spain Paris, France London, England Riga, Latvia Tangier, Morocco New York City, New York, USA Toronto, Canada London, England, United Kingdom Berlin, Germany Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Produced in:	United States

Beckham starts first game, scores first goal for Galaxy in SuperLiga victory over D.C. United

By BETH HARRIS, AP Sports Writer
August 16, 2007

AP - Aug 16, 2:15 am EDT More Photos

CARSON, Calif. (AP) -- It was a night of firsts for David Beckham.

The English superstar started his first game for the Galaxy, scored his first goal on a free kick in the 27th minute and Los Angeles beat D.C. United 2-0 in the SuperLiga semifinals.

"The free kick was the first I've taken for eight weeks, so it was quite pleasing," he said. "I felt I was going to score as soon as I had the ball in my hands."

Beckham also notched his first assist on the Galaxy's second goal. He sent a long pass to a streaking Landon Donovan, who scored on a breakaway in the 47th minute for a 2-0 lead.

"David makes a big difference in there, and it's not just the goal," Donovan said. "It was a big lift for everyone. We were all excited. It was nice."

The Galaxy advanced to the Aug. 29 tournament final in Carson against Mexican club team Pachuca, which tied Houston 2-2, but won 4-3 on penalty kicks.

The winning team earns $1 million, which the Galaxy could put toward paying Beckham's $6.5 million yearly salary.

Beckham also earned his first yellow card after fouling United's Jaime Moreno in the 18th minute. Beckham got fouled once in the first half, when he also took two corner kicks.

Fans cheered and women screamed as Beckham prepared to take a 26-yard free kick. After he connected inside the left post, he was mobbed by teammates. Goalkeeper Joe Cannon even scampered across more than half the field to join the celebration.

"The guy hadn't even taken a free kick in practice," Cannon said. "Think about what happens when he can start playing every day and start doing those things."

Beckham waved to the crowd a couple times while blue, gold and white confetti fluttered through the air, reminiscent of the scene when he was introduced amid much fanfare July 13.

He was stopped on a 28-yard free kick in the 58th minute, when United goalkeeper Troy Perkins leaped to the left and caught the ball.

"He hit it well, but I wasn't in a good spot, either, and he caught me," Perkins said. "When you get a player who can hit a ball to either side, you've got to keep to one side and make him beat you."

In all, Beckham played 63 minutes. He clapped his hands above his head while turning in a circle to acknowledge the cheers before putting the captain's armband on Donovan and heading to the bench.

AP - Aug 16, 2:14 am EDT More Photos

"I didn't expect to last an hour. It felt great," he said.

Beckham had played just 37 minutes in two previous games because of a nagging left ankle injury that didn't allow him to practice with the Galaxy for the first time until Tuesday.

The victory avenged the Galaxy's 1-0 loss to United last week in Major League Soccer action, when Beckham made his league debut on the road.

"It was a good strike," United coach Tom Soehn said. "He's been scoring goals all over the world like that."

Beckham took over as captain for Wednesday's match, a title previously held by Donovan. Beckham actively urged on his teammates, talking to them and waving his arms during play.

Donovan suggested to Beckham on Tuesday that he become captain.

"It made him a real part of the team," Donovan said.

As the halftime whistle blew, Beckham bent over and adjusted his socks, then stood up, a broad smile on his face as he waved and walked off the field.

The game, which wasn't part of the Galaxy season ticket package, attracted an announced crowd of 17,223 in the 27,000-capacity stadium.

Galaxy midfielder Cobi Jones, who is returning from a hip injury, entered in the 71st minute. The team was without defender Ante Jazic, midfielder Kelly Gray and forward Alan Gordon, who were all suspended after receiving yellow cards in each of their two previous SuperLiga games.

Save Money With These Alternatives to Popular European Cities

By Katherine Tom, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Travel
August 14, 2007

Experienced travelers know that setbacks can often be opportunities in disguise. Too rainy to hit the botanical gardens? You might discover a new favorite indoor café. Missed the train to your next stop? Extend your stay and check out that exhibit you didn't have time for. And currently, the unfavorable euro-dollar exchange rate provides a truly exciting opportunity: a chance to explore some remote corners of the map that might have escaped your attention before. These up-and-coming destinations offer many of the attractions of an Old-World European vacation at refreshingly reasonable prices. Often referred to as the Paris of South America, Buenos Aires offers European elegance at down-to-earth prices. If You Love: History Instead of: Athens | Try: Istanbul Athens may be the more obvious destination of choice for history buffs, but Istanbul — just across the Aegean — has an equally storied past, and buildings to rival the Acropolis (the breathtaking Hagia Sophia was a finalist in the recent New Seven Wonders of the World contest). For a bit more background, try Elizabeth Kostova's bestselling novel, The Historian, which provides beautiful descriptions of the ancient city. Sample Savings: You can find a moderate hotel in Athens for about $180/night. Similar accommodations would cost about $120/night in Istanbul. If You Love: Art Instead of: Paris | Try: Culver City For viewing art's heavy hitters, there's no match for the justifiably famous museums of Paris. But, if you want to check out some hot up-and-comers, head towards the burgeoning art scene in Culver City, California. The former "Heart of Screenland" has experienced a recent rebirth, complete with a 4-5 block strip of contemporary art galleries that the New York Times compared to a "nascent Chelsea." For those interested in starting their own collection, it's possible to find original works for $1,000 or less. Sample Savings: Admission to the Louvre is roughly $12, Musée d'Orsay is $10, and Centre Pompidou is $13.50. The galleries in Culver City are open to the public for free. Photo by: lucky kt If You Love: Food Photo by: jackol Instead of: Barcelona | Try: Bangkok Although Barcelona's avant-garde food scene makes foodies swoon, halfway around the world, traditional Thai food provides a similar sense of novelty and delight to diners. For those not used to the unique flavors of true Thai cuisine, a meal featuring bitter eggplant, sour larb salad, or pungent durian can hold as many surprises as the culinary foams and flavored essences served at El Bulli. Sample Savings: Dinner for two in Barcelona costs about $100. In Bangkok, expect to pay closer to $15. If You Love: Shopping Instead of: Milan | Try: Buenos Aires The combination of the devalued peso and a slew of traditional artisans and fashion-forward boutiques makes Buenos Aires a true shoppers' paradise. Pick up leather goods, silverware, and antiques for a song. San Telmo is the spot for antiques shopping, while the trendy Palermo Soho district gives its NYC and London counterparts a run for their money. Sample Savings: A leather jacket in Milan costs at least $250, but you can find one in Buenos Aires for around $100. Photo by: Dan.. If You Love: Architecture Photo by: Txapulín Instead of: Berlin | Try: Prague Since the fall of the Wall, Berlin has established itself as perhaps the premiere city for modern architecture in Europe. However, this renewed prosperity has also made Germany one of the most expensive destinations in Europe. Penny pinchers should head instead for Prague, where modern masterpieces such as Frank Gehry's famous Dancing House mingle with excellent Baroque, Rococo, and Art Nouveau buildings spanning the past 600 years of architecture. Sample Savings: A pint of beer costs around $5 in Berlin, compared to $1 for a pint in Prague.

Before there was Elvis, there was nothing

by Mira Oberman Tue Aug 14, 12:14 PM ET
MEMPHIS, United States (AFP) - A poor Southern white boy who brought black music into the mainstream, Elvis Presley made rock 'n' roll the international language of pop.

He was not the first to blend country with blues, but Elvis was the one to smash through the social conservatism and segregation of the 1950's and get white kids to shake their hips.

He changed the way people thought about music and made an indelible mark on American culture.

"Ask anyone. If it hadn't been for Elvis, I don't know where popular music would be," Elton John once said.

"He was the one that started it all off, and he was definitely the start of it for me."

While he may have been eclipsed by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones as the rebel turned into a square with his rhinestone-studded jumpsuits, Elvis continues to shape popular music three decades after his death.

"People are influenced by him whether they know it or not," James Henke, chief curator at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, said in an interview.

"He defined what it meant to be a rock star."

Before the pot belly and the sweat-stained silk scarves, before the pills, he was "Elvis the Pelvis."

He was sexy. He was dangerous. But he was still, as Ed Sullivan said, "a real decent, fine boy."

The combination of virulent sexuality, boy-next-door good manners, incredible stage presence and an ambitious manager propelled Elvis into television specials, films, blockbuster concerts and merchandising.

"You can thank or blame Elvis for the fact that a musical artist has to be this full performer and a carefully tended musical and social persona," said Jeff Melnick, a professor at Babson College and the editor of the Journal of Popular Music Studies.

"Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna... these folks all took in the notion that you create a brand where they buy the music and the movie and the t-shirts," he told AFP.

Elvis remains the best-selling solo artist of all time with over a billion records sold worldwide and continues to generate around 50 million dollars a year.

He was prolific, and his music was diverse. While his rich voice is unmistakable, there is no prototypical Elvis sound. His 23-year career spanned rockabilly, gospel, ballads, country, folk and even jazz.

Satellite radio station Sirius has an entire channel devoted to playing the 150 albums and singles that have been certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

But while he may have influenced generations of musicians, his iconic status does not carry the same kind of contemporary popularity as the Beatles or the Doors, whose songs get more airplay on traditional radio.

Elvis might have been the originator of cool, but he became far too mainstream in his later years to compete with the counter-culture revolutionaries of the late 1960's and 1970's who continue to enthrall generations of rebellious teenagers.

"Part of it is that there was the whole fat Las Vegas period and the bad movies," said Henke of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"But I don't think you can underestimate how powerful his music has been."

While Elvis scored a huge hit a few years back with a remix of "A Little Less Conversation" that was used in Nike's multimillion dollar World Cup advertising campaign, his estate has been reluctant to allow his music to be reworked.

"This is classic music, we don't want to get too trigger happy with it," said Jack Soden, chief executive officer of Elvis Presley Enterprises.

An aggressive global marketing campaign is underway to mark the 30th anniversary of his death on Thursday and expectations are high for sales of newly reissued CD box sets, "deluxe edition" DVD releases of Elvis films.

"A lot has been written and said about why he was so great, but I think the best way to appreciate his greatness is just to go back and play some of the old records," Huey Lewis once said.

"Time has a way of being very unkind to old records, but Elvis' keep getting better and better."