Trading and investing. Both sides of the same coin, right?

I wish it were that easy! Most people who own stocks ask themselves at some point, "Am I a trader, an investor, or both? And what's the difference?" I want to delve into some of the finer points of these two broad terms and allow you to choose which one fits you best.

Investing: putting your money in someone else's pocket and waiting

Let's start out by defining the terms. Investing refers to buying a stock with the hope of future gains, usually several years later. The word has its roots in the Latin "vestis," and directly relates to the idea of placing money in someone's pocket in anticipation of getting a return for the loan. The idea of having your capital or wealth working for you without any additional effort on your part comes from this classic meaning.

Investing is normally a passive activity after the initial purchase of the stock or fund.

Trading: putting your money in a bunch of pockets, and maybe a few roulette machines too

Trading, on the other hand, is an active pursuit - sometimes very active.

Trading is the buying and selling of stocks or other financial assets with the hope of making gains in a

Programs provide chefs, home repair and other services to help suburban seniors age in place.

The staircase in Adele Youngblood's two-story house in the Minneapolis suburbs is a daily challenge. The 76-year-old, who's had back and knee surgeries and a hip replacement, crawls up and down the stairs using her hands as well as her feet. But Youngblood refuses to move from the home where she has lived since 1963 and raised her three children. "I get a lot of flak from my friends about moving," says Youngblood, who has been divorced since 1979. "I tell them to be quiet. It's my decision, and they know I am happier in my home."

Thanks largely to a program run by the Jewish Family and Children's Service of Minneapolis, Youngblood has been able to continue living in memory-filled surroundings. The program arranged for a walker for each floor, grab bars in the shower and an emergency button if she needs help.

This program is part of a growing movement nationwide to help aging suburbanites like Youngblood stay in their homes safely for as long as possible. About 90% of retirees and 80% of baby-boomers say they want to remain in their longtime neighborhoods indefinitely, according to an AARP survey.

Like many seniors, Youngblood moved to the suburbs when her kids were young. But now those family-friendly communities of the 1960s are graying and becoming what's known as naturally occurring retirement communities, or NORCs. Following this generation are their children. "More baby-boomers have lived in the suburbs than any other generation, and the majority will continue to age in place or move

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's no longer a question of recession or not. Now it's how deep and how long.

Workers' pink slips stacked ever higher in March as jittery employers slashed 80,000 jobs, the most in five years, and the national unemployment rate climbed to 5.1 percent. Job losses are nearing the staggering level of a quarter-million this year in just three months.

For the third month in a row total U.S. employment rolls shrank -- often a telltale sign that the economy has jolted dangerously into reverse.

At the same time, the jobless rate rose three-tenths of a percentage point, a sharp increase usually associated with times of deep economic stress.

The grim picture described by the Labor Department on Friday provided stark evidence of just how much the jobs market has buckled under the weight of the housing, credit and financial crises. Businesses and jobseekers alike are feeling the pain.

"It is now very clear that the fat lady has sung for the economic expansion. The country has slipped into a recession," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. Indeed, there is widening agreement that the first recession since 2001 has arrived. Even Ben Bernanke, in a rare public utterance for a Federal Reserve chairman, used the "r" word, acknowledging for the first time this week

SEATTLE (AP) -- A person familiar with Microsoft's bid for Yahoo said Friday the software company is evaluating its offer in light of the economic climate and the Internet pioneer's deteriorating business.

The person, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said Yahoo Inc.'s share of the search market and overall condition have deteriorated since Microsoft announced its bid Feb. 1.

At the time, Microsoft offered $44.6 billion, or 62 percent above Yahoo's market value. The deal is currently valued at about $41 billion, based on Friday's closing share prices.

Yahoo's board formally rejected Microsoft Corp.'s bid, saying it undervalues the company. The Silicon Valley company has since explored alliances with Google Inc., News Corp.'s MySpace.com and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, but no alternative to Microsoft's offer has surfaced.

Yahoo spokeswoman Diana Wong declined to comment about assertions that the Web portal company's business is declining.

Yahoo and Microsoft both lost less than 1 percent of their share of U.S. Web searches in February, the most recent month for which data are available, according to the research group comScore. During that month, Yahoo grabbed 21.6 percent of searches, more than Microsoft's 9.6 percent. Google Inc.'s share