Goldman Sachs said it has reversed course on the financial sector, and now recommends investors underweight the sector, amid rising inflation, a weak consumer and slowing global growth.

While policy makers have grown increasingly shrill in their warnings about the danger of $135-plus oil, there is very little they can do as long as growth, particularly in the developed economies of the United States and Europe, remains sluggish. With banks still struggling to shore up their balance sheets and consumer confidence deteriorating on both sides of the Atlantic and in Japan, resorting to higher interest rates to counter inflation may do more harm than good.

Recent college graduates tend to grab many of the employment-related headlines, as reporters and columnists seek to help them on the path to their first full-time jobs. But what about the vast majority of the workforce? The journeyman professionals and mid-level executives who are discovering some challenges mid-career? Just because they are road-tested doesn't mean they have all the answers. Fortunately, taking a cue from those recent graduates, experts agree that there's a solution that can help mitigate mid-career curveballs -- continuing self improvement.

The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States is expected to grow 41.8 percent in the next six years to 4.3 million, with total revenues surging 39 percent to more than $539 billion, according to new estimates by HispanTelligence. Spurred by growing entrepreneurial trends and affluence among the nation's largest minority population, the increase is expected to come at a robust rate of 8.5 and 8.7 percent, respectfully, over the next couple years.

For more than two decades, the annual Hispanic Business 500 directory has served as a barometer of the U.S. Hispanic economy. A purchase of the 2007 directory provides the top 500 Hispanic-owned companies list in Excel format including: CEO names; company addresses and telephone numbers; e-mail addresses for 375 companies and Web addresses for 430 companies; and company revenue and employees numbers for 2005 and 2006.

In 1980, Dr. David Molina formed a company to serve low-income patients in California. Today, Molina Healthcare, under the stewardship of Dr. Molina's son. Dr. J. Mario Molina. Molina Healthcare has ascended to the top of the health care sector of the HB 500, and into the second position overall. Recently, we had a chance to talk to the company's personable CEO.

Wholesalers are rationing rice. Gas prices are higher than ever. Your family vacation is costing you twice what you planned. In this economic environment you and your business are still expected to turn a profit. It's time for some serious time at the drawing board. We talked with the nation's top Hispanic Business CEOs who have already had those meetings. They've seen local markets dry up, customer tastes change with the wind, and now they share what they're doing to stay strong in the tough times.

The Hispanic Business 500 have endured turbulent economic times before, but market conditions proved especially bearish for U.S. Hispanic companies in 2007. Revenues for this year's HB 500 slid backwards 0.6 percent to $36.1 billion. It is the first such dip since 2002, and only the third in the directory's 26-year history. It should come as no surprise that more than 41 percent of CEOs cited market conditions as the top barriers to growth in 2007.