I love going to the movies, don’t you? According to The Nielsen Co., African-Americans patronize movie theaters an average of seven times a year (which has trended down slightly over the past two years).

The general population attends an average of eight times a year, and Hispanics attend approximately 11 times annually. In spite of the recession and the rising costs of movie night (and matinees), box office business is booming; as 2009 was a record year for gross ticket sales.

Let me tell you why you pack power whenever you hit your local movie house—and I know these things because I work for Nielsen, and we not only track television viewing habits, but we measure consumer trends and behavior around the world as well. Nielsen partners with Rentrak Corp. for accurate box office performance data.

by James Wright

(NNPA)—The financial reform package that is making its way through both houses of Congress will benefit African-Americans by changing the banking system to ensure that it becomes more responsive to low and middle income consumers and makes financial literacy education more readily available.

That’s what Cecelia Rouse, a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, told journalists during a recent conference call regarding the president’s plan to address disparities within the financial system.

The paradox of singles and money is—the good thing is that everything falls on you and the bad thing is that everything falls on you. When you’re single you have the luxury of spending, saving and investing money when, where and how you want to. You are independent, self-reliant and self-sufficient. You don’t have the nagging money fights that many couples have about money. The downside of being single is that the income, decisions and responsibilities associated with spending, saving and investing money starts and stops with you. There’s no one to fall back on in the event you lost your job or source of income. There’s no nagging partner who will challenge you and force you to rethink certain money decisions that oftentimes lead to mistakes. As a result when you’re single, you have to be twice as smart, twice as cautious, and twice as responsible than the average couple with money.

(NNPA)—Ben Sherwood in his book, “The Survivors Club,” studied people who had survived some of the most horrendous human tragedies. According to Sherwood, “No matter the adversity, the navy says, survival is a mentality, a way of thinking. Survival is also a lens, a way of perceiving the world around you. The survivors in the military share a constant outlook and approach, which they believe can also be applied to the struggles of everyday life. They understand that crisis is inevitable and they anticipate adversity. When they face a challenge, they observe and analyze the situation, devise a plan, and move decisively. If things go wrong, they adapt and improvise. If they get overwhelmed, they recover quickly. They also know how to wait for the worst to end.”