Hi Elaine,

I'd be more than happy to help!  A general rule for nested fractions is this:

As for the sign (positive or negative), it simply depends on what numbers are positive or negative to begin with.  If you have a specific problem you need help with, please let me know.

Elijah

Elaine, when dealing with multiplication and division, just count up the number of negative signs.  Pair of negatives always cancel each other out, so if the number of negatives is even, the answer will be positive. 

If the number of negatives is odd, all but one will cancel out, and the remaining one negative sign will make the final answer a negative number.