During my career I've had a wide variety of jobs, starting as a Deep Sea Diver in the United States Navy before moving on to college. I studied international business when I was in college because I've always been more interested in living and working in foreign countries than visiting them as a tourist.
After failing in my attempts to become the next Ronnie Lott or even the next Rudy, I spent a few years at Merrill Lynch before the need to explore got the better of me. Since then I've lived and worked in the United States, South America and Asia.
When I'm not writing or immersed in a book, I enjoy scuba diving and training for my next kickboxing match.
Japan's economy shrank more than expected during the last quarter of 2011, as a strong yen and floods in Thailand hampered Japanese efforts to recover from last year's earthquake and tsunami.
Chinese imports plummeted during the month of January, signaling that the rapid economic growth of the world's second biggest economy might be slowing down.
Chinese imports dropped 15.3% in January, compared to the same month last year, while exports fell by just 0.5%.
The Bank of England announced on Thursday its decision to inject another 50 billion pounds into the British economy, in an effort to support the United Kingdom's economic recovery.
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted to increase the size of its of asset purchase program by 50 billion pounds to a total of 325 billion pounds, while maintaining the official Bank Rate at 0.5%.
Credit Suisse reported an unexpected 4th quarter net loss of 637 million Swiss francs ($699 million) on Thursday, compared to a profit of 841 million francs during the same quarter a year earlier.
China reported unexpectedly high inflation in January, fueled in part by increased spending during the week long Chinese Lunar New Year.
China's National Bureau of Statistics reported that January inflation surged to 4.5%, well above consensus estimates.
South Korea's opposition leader threatened that if her party wins the race for president, it will scrap the free trade agreement between South Korea and the United States.
Democratic United Party (DUP) chairwoman Han Myeong-sook said that unless the current government revises certain clauses in the free trade agreement, her party would be forced to repeal the entire free trade agreement if it w
Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) had its credit rating lowered by Standard & Poor's on Wednesday, with the credit rating agency citing Sony's weak profit outlook. The credit rating agency lowered Sony's rating one notch from A- down to BBB+, with a negative outlook.
Every one of Asia's major stock markets ended trading on Wednesday higher, as hopes of a deal between Greece and its creditors were on the rise.
Asian stock markets have been sensitive to any news coming out of Europe regarding the financial crisis that the region has been experiencing.
Swiss banking giant UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) announced that its 4th quarter net profit fell 76% to 393 million Swiss francs ($427 million), down from 1.66 billion Swiss francs for the same quarter a year earlier. The result fell well short of the forecast of 737 million Swiss francs in a Reuters poll of analysts.
Spain's top three banks announced that they would comply with new government regulations by setting aside billions of euros for extra provisions against bad real estate loans.
Last week the Spanish government announced new regulations aimed at ensuring that banks are equipped to deal with widespread losses in Spain's real estate market.
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