The Miracle of Forex
November 30, 2009
My father, who owns a small parts store and garage for vintage British sports cars, called me up recently and droned on and on about how he is getting killed by the Euro. Confused as to how the Euro could possibly be affecting his small and seemingly insignificant business, I asked him how. "Because of the Euro!"
He went on to explain, after calming down of course, that the distributor that he orders his vintage parts from had increased their prices by roughly 30% due to the dollar’s poor performance against the Euro. Apparently, it takes about $1.30 USD to buy the same merchandise that may be acquired with 1 Euro.
Essentially, the relationship between the dollar and the Euro is the same as we have always had with the Canadians-only we have become the Canadians in this bizarre scenario!
After getting off the phone with dad I decided to investigate this currency exchange question a lot further and came to one startling but very true realization-the stock market is for chumps! Foreign Exchange is where it’s at.
The Demise of Buy & Hold
November 30, 2009
Based on consistent results I think Buy & Hold should be renamed Buy, Hold & Bye-Bye. It sounded great for a while, especially for the huge majority of investors who don’t have the time or interest in really doing due diligence on investments.
Investing, for some, might be just a hobby, but it can sure be an expensive one. Yet, if you’re like many of us, you know there are opportunities for putting your money to work and having it grow. Nonetheless, investing, like any business (and it is a business) has its own unique challenges. Her are what I consider to be the top three.
1. Intelligently Deciding What to Buy
When it comes to Mutual Funds, there are today over 13,000 choices. You’re going to check out each one, right? Yeah, right. And even for those you do check out, what are you going to look at? Past performance? What else can you look at? But as it says on the bottom of every prospectus, past performance is no guarantee of future results. And in these days of cockeyed cooked books, past performance is barely a guarantee of past results! So you need to decide not only what to buy, but you have to be darn sure you know when to sell it when future results of an investment don’t match your expectations.
0% APR Credit Cards: How Can They Do That?
November 29, 2009
0% APR Credit Cards: How Can They Do That?
by: Ed Vegliante
During the days when the federal bank interest rates were at its lowest, back in 2002 and 2003 to be specific, countless credit card providers offered 0% APR credit cards to many consumers. Needing only to pay the outstanding balance, smart consumers were able to charge up to their limits without incurring monthly interest charges. The question that some people were asking when these cards were at their peak of popularity was this: how do credit card providers make money off of this type of plan? Well, good question! Let’s examine 0% APR credit cards and the way they really work and if they are still available to you today. You just might be surprised at the answers!
Annual Fees. Depending on the credit card provider, some card holders have been charged an annual fee for the privilege of having a 0% APR credit card. Annual fees for some of these cards generally run from $15 to $20, even higher.
Buying Flights Online
November 28, 2009
Buying Flights Online
by: Joseph Kenny
One of the greatest things to happen to the world of travel in recent years is the advent of low cost airlines. Not only do they offer flight travel that is cheaper than any previous airlines by far, but they also offer some other great innovations in booking and paying for flights. Part of the growth in popularity of these airlines is that they are so easy to work with online.
Unlike conventional airlines that use ticket agents and travel agents and require you to buy your tickets in person, the low cost airlines made everything available through a simple and comprehensive website that everyone could understand and use. The method of selling air tickets became so popular that these airlines are teaching the more traditional airlines how to act and are leading the way in innovation in the sale and marketing of these flights.
Mortgage Loan Lead
November 27, 2009
Mortgage Loan Lead
by: Jay Conners
If you are a loan officer or mortgage broker looking to purchase mortgage loan leads, you may be considering what type of mortgage loan lead to purchase, and which company to purchase them from.
There are a few different types of leads to choose from and literally hundreds of lead companies to buy them from.
A few different types of the mortgage loan leads you can purchase would be “real time” leads, which are only seconds old by the time you receive them. There are also the old or recycled leads which you can receive relatively cheap and usually in bulk.
Be careful with the recycled leads because you can guarantee that they have been through many loan officers before they have reached your desk, so don’t be expecting much on the quality end of these leads.
Than there is the live transfer lead where the prospect is transferred to you from a representative of the lead company once they have made contact. Just make sure you are available to take the call.
Once you have decided which type of lead is best for you, it comes time to decide on which lead company to invest in.
Accounts Receivable in Accounting Software
November 26, 2009
Accounts Receivable in Accounting Software
by: John Cantrell
Typically one of the most important parts of setting up new accounting software would be to be able to invoice your customers in a professional manner and to control who owes you what and how long it has been outstanding for.
So this will be your second step, if you set up your ledger first, otherwise it is where you will start.
Before you start the actual process of invoicing from your new accounting software package you will need to set up your customers, some products and then almost certainly enter into the system the balances that customers owe you at this stage.
There will probably be provision in your accounting software for entering customer opening balances.
The age trial balance that you print out of your accounting software must equal the manual list that you started with. If it doesn’t because you have made a mistake somewhere, left an entry out, or even entered the same amount twice, and you start using the package for invoicing without rectifying the problem then you will just make it harder for yourself because you don’t have anything to balance back to. Do not start invoicing in the accounting software before your customer balances balance exactly.
Fiscal Measurements
November 25, 2009
Fiscal Measurements
by: A. Raymond Randall
A former colleague at a major stock brokerage firm always confused “fiscal” with “physical”. On June 30th, he would talk about the close of the “physical year”. Just a mental block for an intelligent man. Fiscal year-end differs for corporations with most ending June 30th while others use December 31st. Fiscal is fancy jargon for “show me the money”.
Measurements connotes appearances men notice. Year-end fiscal measurements get the attention of both genders. A friend reminds me, “You cannot track what you do not measure”. Many market watchers measure the stock markets performance by tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average. So, just what is the Dow Jones Industrial Average?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
When Charles Dow, a journalist, devised his index for securities, most investors were bond buyers. Bonds provided predictable ownership with specific interest payment (coupon) and a promised return of your money (principle) on a specific date (maturity). Only a few investors wanted stocks; for most, stocks were too risky.
Think you have trouble following stock prices? In 1884, investors read charts with prices up 1/4 point, down 1/8th point. All seemed rather perplexing (frankly, it is not much different today with newspapers printing decimal stock-closing prices.
Market Success
November 25, 2009
Who are the successful investors?
There are those who follow the advice of their brokers and financial planners or those who choose to use their own good judgment? If you care to compare the results of the past 4 years from 2000 to now I believe you will see who as done the best job.
In the old days at the Chicago stock yards they used to have an old sheep who led the lambs to the slaughter when they arrived on the train. It seems there were lots of investment sheep in 2000 that followed the advice of their brokers and financial planners and were slaughtered. Let’s hope you were not in that herd.
When the next train (bear market) arrives (and it will) in the station and you get off I hope you will not follow that old sheep. You have been given another chance to recoup some of your money (current bull market). Don’t be slaughtered (again).
The successful investor is one who thinks for himself. Are you an independent thinker or one of the sheep about to be cut into pieces? Do you relish the idea if thinking for yourself and participating in financial success? Of course, you will be scorned by Wall Street and their minions and told you need an "expert" to help you invest your money. We have seen what the "experts" did from 2000 on.
Is It OK To Fire A Customer…?
November 24, 2009
Is It OK To Fire A Customer…?
by: Michael Gravette
Or is the customer always right? That’s what you’ve always been
told. If you’re in business, you know how ridiculous that
statement is. The customer isn’t always right, the customer is
often wrong. Worse yet, you know it, he knows it, and he knows
you know. However, that is not the reason you fire a customer.
Sometimes a confrontational attitude is just a way for a customer
to save face when he knows it was his fault and not yours. There
is nothing wrong with letting the customer save face. You
apologize for the screw-up and tell him it will be taken care of
and, sometimes, this leads to a very good relationship with that
customer. Sometimes not.
There will be customers that no matter what you do, it’s not
right or good enough. They seem to want an argument, not fix the
problem. The more you try to appease them, the more aggressive
they get.
Even though you may want to please every customer, you just
can’t. It really hurts when you can’t please a customer. I’ve
Decentralized Organization Structures Empower and Energize
November 23, 2009
Decentralized Organization Structures Empower and Energize
by: Jim Clemmer
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.” — E. F. Schumacher, 20th century German economist and conservationist
The evidence is clear and overwhelming. Centralized, hierarchical organizations work about as well as the old Soviet Union. Despite all the evidence, we keep smacking into many variations on the centralization themes. What makes things even worse is how senior managers in these dysfunctional organizations proclaim empowerment, participation, teams, leadership, trust, and the like. They often take partial measures while expecting total success. They liberate parts of their organizations while limiting other parts. They push hard with one foot on the accelerator while also pushing hard with their other one on the brake. Their words say, “you are empowered”. Their actions say, “you are empowered as long as you get approval first.”
