Q How will BBB recognize National Small Business Week, and what advice will it offer?
A May 20-26 is National Small Business Week and a time to celebrate the growing business demographic in our country.
Entrepreneurs and small business owners are the backbone of the U.S. economy. Anywhere from 60 percent to 80 percent of the new jobs in the country are created by the about 27.2 million small businesses in the U.S. It is estimated that over half of Americans either own or work for a small business.
In honor of National Small Business Week, Better Business Bureau is encouraging small business owners to take advantage of the many resources for small businesses from BBB and from the Federal Trade Commission:
• Code of business practices: The BBB Code of Business Practices represents sound advertising, selling and customer service practices that enhance customer trust and confidence in business. Even for businesses that are not BBB Accredited, this code should be a roadmap for creating and managing an ethical business.
• Code of advertising: One hundred years ago, BBB was founded on the principles of truth in advertising, which rests first and foremost with the advertiser. All BBBs review local ads, and BBB's New York office reviews national ads. The BBB Code of Advertising lays out principles, definitions and suggestions for ethical advertising that all businesses can adopt.
• BBB data security: With data breaches becoming all too common in the news, BBB partnered with data security experts at Symantec Corp., Visa Inc., Kroll's Fraud Solutions and "NACHA -- The Electronic Payments Association," to produce free, easy-to-understand data security guidelines, with checklists and links to data security resources for small businesses. BBB's Data Security -- Made Simpler arms small business owners with the information they need to protect their customers and their business. For more information, visit www.bbb.org/data-security.
• BBB TrustBrief: This is a free, thrice-weekly email to help small business owners stay on top of headlines and get guidance and expert advice on running a business. Sign up for a free subscription at www.smartbrief.org/bbb.
• Tips on direct selling: BBB and the Direct Selling Education Foundation partnered to create a series of articles, videos and PSAs to educate direct sellers, their customers and even those considering a career path in direct selling. Free tips and advice you can trust on direct selling are available at www.bbb.org/us/dsef-tips.
• Federal Trade Commission: Wondering what kind of proof you need to back up the claims in your ads? Planning on using email to publicize your company? Thinking about buying a franchise or business opportunity? Concerned about your legal obligation to keep information secure?
The FTC has free resources on best practices for complying with the law, many of which you can order in bulk for your employees at no charge. Written with a minimum of legalese, the FTC offers online tutorials, videos and more than 100 to-the-point publications created with the small business owner in mind: http://ftc.gov/bcp/business.shtm
Get answers to your questions each Friday from Jim Winsett, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau Inc., which serves Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia. Submit questions to his attention by writing to Business Editor Dave Flessner, Chattanooga Times Free Press, P.O. Box 1447, Chattanooga, TN, 37401-1447, or by emailing him at dflessner@ timesfreepress.com.
Stocks slump after bad US report - Belfast Telegraph
Friday, 18 May 2012
Japan's Nikkei 225 plummeted 2.4% to 8,660.23, as a strengthening yen battered the country's behemoth export sector.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 2.1% to 18,802.45 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 2.2% to 4,064.40.
South Korea's Kospi fell 2.5% to 1,798.36. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, mainland China and New Zealand also fell.
US stocks closed lower after a report showed manufacturing slowed in the mid-Atlantic region for the first time in eight months, to minus 5.8 from 8.5 in April.
Readings below zero indicates contraction.
Nawaz ‘money laundering’ on NAB radar - Nation
ISLAMABAD - The National Accountability Bureau initiated inquiry into a reference filed by Minister for Interior Rehman Malik against the PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif on charges of money laundering. “We have received the reference and initiated inquiry into the matter,” said NAB spokesman Zafar Iqbal, addressing a press briefing here Thursday.He said Rehman Malik, in a media talk, had mentioned two references against Nawaz – of those one had been filed in NAB while the other had been forwarded to Public Accounts Committee.However, he did not clarify as whether the reference with NAB pertains to the alleged embezzlement of $32 million or the other one.“As we are yet scrutinising the documents of the reference, it would be disclosed later as how much amount involved in this case,” he told the media. He rejected the impression that President Asif Zardrai had directed NAB chairman to suspend inquiries against Nawaz Sharif rather he had directed him not to commit any political victimisation like the one the former had been facing in the past. The spokesman said reference had been referred to the investigation team which started examination of the received documents assuring that the decisions would be taken on merit. He said so far, NAB had recovered Rs2.012 billion from the parties involved in the Rental Power Plants case after the Supreme Court handed it over to them on March 13, 2012.He said Rs 1,091 million have been recovered from Pakistan Power House and Walters International, Rs546 million from Techno Energy, Rs50 million from Young Gen, Rs225 million from Gulf Plant and Rs100m from Reshma Power Plant and that the process was yet going on.He said that NAB recommended placing Federal Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and two former federal ministers on Exit Control List; however the recommendation was yet to be executed. However, he said the recovery would follow the initiation of probe into criminal liabilities against any of these accused. He said Pervaiz Ashraf had already recorded his statement with NAB, adding no money had yet been recovered from the said three ministers as the investigation team was yet examining the case. To a question about NAB’s stance on writing letter to Swiss authorities, the spokesman said they had already drafted a letter but the Supreme Court said it should be written by the Attorney General with the approval from Prime Minister.Regarding NICL case, he said the defence ministry was investigating the military officials while the case of a civilian CFA Saeed-ur-Rehman is under-probe in NAB.
Stocks turn higher on better manufacturing report - Yahoo Finance
NEW YORK (AP) -- The fastest growth in U.S. manufacturing in 10 months gave stocks a lift in early trading Tuesday and put the Dow Jones industrial average on track for its highest close in more than four years.
The Institute for Supply Management said its national manufacturing index rose to its highest level since last June. Orders, hiring and production were all higher.
A measure of manufacturing employment rose to a nine-month high, a hopeful sign ahead of Friday's monthly jobs report.
The manufacturing report jolted stock indexes out of a morning stupor. The Dow was up 96 points to 13,310 a half-hour before noon, putting the average on course for its highest close since Dec. 28, 2007.
In a separate report, the Commerce Department said construction spending ticked up slighly in March, following two months of declines.
Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ, said the two reports looked like evidence that the U.S. economic recovery is on solid footing despite turmoil in Europe and a weak jobs report last month.
"I think investors are encouraged there's at least one place in the world where it's still worth investing," Stovall said. "They're not ready to give up on this bull market yet."
Other indexes pushed higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 14 points to 1,412, seven points shy of its closing high for the year, set on April 2. The Nasdaq composite climbed 32 points to 3,079.
Major car companies are reporting monthly auto sales on Tuesday. Industry watchers expect overall sales to rise 2 percent for April compared with a year earlier.
The S&P finished April in the red, its first losing month since November. The Dow managed a tiny gain.
Among stocks making big moves:
— Chesapeake Energy Corp. jumped 7 percent on reports that the company will replace its chairman, Aubrey McClendon. McClendon, the company's founder, was under fire for taking out more than $1 billion in loans using the company's wells as collateral. Chesapeake recently agreed to end the program that allowed McClendon to take personal stakes in the wells. McClendon will stay on as CEO.
— Archer Daniels Midland Co. gained 7 percent after the food conglomerate reported profits that beat analysts' expectations. Profits dropped by nearly a third over the past year, pulled down by one-time charges and lower weaker results from its ethanol and oilseeds businesses.
— Avon Products Inc. fell 8 percent, the biggest drop in the S&P 500. The company said earnings plunged 82 percent, hurt by a bigger restructuring charge, commodity costs and rising labor costs. The results were worse than analysts had expected.
Columbia business owner sentenced to 3 years - News-Democrat
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A Columbia business owner has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for sending money to Iraq for more than a decade.
Shakir Hamoodi pleaded guilty earlier to violating federal sanctions by sending about $200,000 to family, friends and charities in Iraq from 1991 to 2003. Investigators found no evidence that Hamoodi was aiding the Iraqi government through the financial contributions.
The Columbia Daily Tribune reports ( http://bit.ly/KcIjnn) that U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey sentenced Hamoodi Wednesday
Stocks sink to year's lows - The Canberra Times
Australian stocks have sunk to their lowest level this year as investors begin to panic over the crisis in Europe after reports of a run on Spanish banks.
Europe’s main stock markets tumbled and the euro hit a new four-month US dollar low as worries spiked over the eurozone debt crisis that is plaguing Greece and now circling Spain.
The newspaper El Mundo reported depositors had withdrawn one billion euros in the recently nationalised Spanish bank, Bankia since last Wednesday.
At the open on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 64.5 points, or 1.56 per cent, at 4,092.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 64.5 points, or 1.55 per cent, at 4,143.7.
A week of turmoil on global markets has led to all of this year’s gains being wiped off the local Australian market.
The previous 2012 lowest point for the All Ordinaries was on January 3 when the index reached 4,155 points while the lowest point on the ASX/200 was at January 3 when it reached 4,101 points.
IG Markets analyst Stan Shamu said investor worries had extended into the Australian market.
‘‘Investors are now in panic mode,’’ Mr Shamu said.‘‘The fear factor is at play with the whole Spanish bank uncertainty. The fears are that the banks are not in good shape and it gives rise to fears of a run on banks.’’
But he predicted bargain hunting would kick in at some stage on Friday.
Due to the uncertainty, the best performing sector at the open was gold stocks.The spot price of gold in Sydney was $US1,574.77 per fine ounce, up $US26.64 from Thursday’s local close of $US1,548.13 per ounce.
Australia’s biggest company BHP was 2.1 per cent lower at $32.10, while Rio was down 3.5 per cent at $56.18. Fortescue Metals lost 6.5 per cent to $4.69.The major banks were all around two per cent lower.
US stocks have closed with losses well above one per cent as negative news continued from Europe.National turnover was 269.2 million securities worth $797.4 million.
need2know:
- SPI futures were down 76 points at 4084
- Aussie 10-year bonds yields at record low
- The dollar has dropped to 98.90 US cents
- In New York, the S&P500 tumbles 1.5%
- In London, the FTSE100 drops 1.2%
- In Frankfurt, the DAX falls 1.2%
- Brent oil slides to $US107.49
- Spot gold rallies to $US1575
- Australian business press review
In corporate news, ANZ chief executive Mike Smith will deliver a speech to a Trans Tasman Business lunch.
Dollar drops
The Australian dollar has fallen back below 99 US cents amid reports of widespread bank withdrawals in Spain and Greece as fears grow that the eurozone debt crisis will worsen.
In early trade, the dollar fell as low as 98.85 US cents and was recently buying 98.90 US cents, down from 99.47 US cents on Thursday.
HiFX senior trader Stuart Ive said a news report last night that deposit holders had withdrawn around one billion euros from the, partially nationalised, lender Bankia in the past week saw equity markets and the Australian dollar slump overnight.
‘‘That report suggested basically a run on Spanish banks,’’ he said.
Similar reports have emerged regarding banks in Greece, where the country is facing a possible exit from the euro zone, in recent days.
Mr Ive said global confidence took another hit early this morning after ratings agency Moody’s downgraded the debt ratings of 16 Spanish banks overnight.
‘‘It’s just adding to a very dark situation that we are seeing,’’ Mr Ive said.
Aussie bonds rally
Australian bond futures have risen to new record highs as Europe’s debt crisis took a turn for the worse as the focus shifted to Spain’s troubled banks.
The 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 96.875 (implying a yield of 3.175 per cent), a record high, up from 96.780 (implying a yield of 3.220 per cent), on Thursday. The June three-year bond futures contract was at 97.490 (2.510 per cent), up from 97.380 (2.620 per cent).
RBC Capital fixed income strategist Michael Turner said Australian bond futures rallied after the Spanish reports that deposit holders had withdrawn around one billion euros from the lender Bankia in the past week.
‘‘Any time you see footage of people lining up out the front of banks its creates negative sentiment,’’ he said. ‘‘The focus is probably now on Spain as much as it is on Greece.’’
Ratings agency Moody’s added to the negative sentiment after it downgraded the debt ratings of 16 Spanish banks early today. Meanwhile, another ratings agency, Fitch, downgraded the credit rating of Greece, which installed an interim government overnight ahead of fresh elections next month, to CCC overnight, warning of the ‘‘heightened risk’’ the country could be forced out of the euro zone.
BusinessDay, with wires
Stocks extend overnight losses - DAWN Group
KARACHI, May 17: Stocks at the Karachi share market extended the bearish spell on Thursday, with the KSE-100 index taking a small loss of 17.99 points to 14,063.08 points.
In comparison to the heavy plunge of 233 points a day earlier, the drop of share values on Thursday was minor as bulls offered strong resistance.
The index touched high of 14,152.58, before giving in to profit-taking by mutual funds and foreign investors. The latter ended as net sellers of $4.20 million worth equity. Local individuals, companies and banks together bought shares valued at $7.10 million that softened the impact of foreign sell.
A broker said that much of the activity on Thursday was witnessed in the off-market.
Samar Iqbal, Equity dealer at Topline Securities, stated that the market remained ranged-bound throughout the day, with low volumes.
PTC fell after no developments on the International clearing house front. Cement stock DGKC recovered after remaining under pressure in last few sessions.
Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp also observed that fall in global stocks and commodities on Greek debt worries and limited foreign interest affected the sentiments despite expectations of improvement in Pak-US relations following the settlement of NATO supplies issue.
Investors were also awaiting the federal budget due next month.
Both major cement stocks resumed the climb on Thursday after having received severe battering in the several previous sessions.
Yawar-Uz-Zaman, analyst at InvestCap, informed that the cement manufacturers in the North had reversed the previous decrease of Rs10-20 per bag in prices.
The news flow was mixed with the federal cabinet directing ministry of finance to solve financial problems of the power sector. Banks hanging on to the old habit of investing in risk-free instruments with Rs143 billion parked in treasury bills on Wednesday.
The announcement of increase in power tariff was thought to add to cost of production.
The KSE-30 index shed just 2.48 points to 12274.18 points, representing that big cap stocks were holding onto their prices. That was also evident by the market capitalisation, which fell lightly by Rs3 billion to Rs3.594 trillion, against a big plunge of Rs59 billion the earlier
day.
Turnover was low both in terms of number of shares traded and their value, but compared to earlier day, there was marginal change of 2 per cent to 143 million shares of trading value of Rs5.015 billion changing hands on Thursday, compared to 146 million shares of value of
Rs5.133 billion traded on Wednesday.
Among lead gainers, UniLever Pakistan stood firm, up by Rs105 to Rs7157 and Nestle Pakistan added Rs21.25 to Rs4025.82. The biggest decrease was noted in UniLever Food, down by Rs130.45 to Rs3,115 and Rafhan Maize decreasing by Rs100 to Rs2,900.
In a total of 384 active scrips on Thursday, the gap between stocks ending in plus and minus territory narrowed down to 170 and 140, with another 74 closing unchanged.
On the list of top 10 volume leaders, PTCL saw trading in 19m shares, down by 53 paisa to Rs15.59. It was followed by D.G. Cement gaining Rs1.30 to Rs42.50 on 17m shares. BankIslami Pakistan kept up the rising momentum with gain of 98 paisa to Rs9.95 on 13m shares, Jah Sidd Co edged higher by 3 paisa to Rs15.94 on 12m shares, Engro Foods hit the upper cap by adding Rs3.02 to Rs63.60 on 8m shares.
Engro Corporation lost another 30 paisa to end at Rs102.99 on 6m shares, Lucky Cement gained 53 paisa to Rs125.73 on 4m shares, Azgard Nine rose by 28 paisa to Rs6.99 on 4m shares, JS Investments shed 11 paisa to Rs9.06 on 3m shares and Fatima Fertiliser conceded 26 paisa to Rs24.22 on 3m shares.
TIME TO SHUT OFF THE FAT CAT'S MONEY MACHINE - American Reporter
TIME TO SHUT OFF THE FAT CAT'S MONEY MACHINE
by Randolph T. Holhut
American Reporter Correspondent
Dummerston, Vt.
February 7, 2009
Printable version of this story
DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- On Friday, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said what a lot of us are thinking about Wall Street fat cats and how they are taking federal bailout money while handing out bonuses and pay raises to themselves.
"They don't get it," she said. "These people are idiots. You can't use taxpayer money to pay out $18 billion in bonuses...What planet are these people on?"
McCaskill said those words on the Senate floor as she proposed legislation to cap executive pay at any company getting federal bailout money at $400,000, or the U.S. president's salary.
"Right now, they're on the hook to us," said McCaskill. "And they owe us something more than a fancy waste basket and a $15-million dollar jet. They owe us some common sense."
Granted, my senator, Bernie Sanders, was saying this sort of thing last year. But since he is a socialist from Vermont, nobody paid attention to him. But as it usually happens, it takes some time for the Democrats to catch up to Bernie.
Capping executive pay at banks and other institutions that take federal bailout money is an idea whose time has come. That's why the Obama Administration announced Wednesday a plan to impose a cap of $500,000 for top executives at companies that receive large amounts of bailout money. Under the plan, executives would also be barred from receiving any bonuses above their base pay, except for normal stock dividends.
Let's review how we got to this point. The federal Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the Treasury Department has handed out $293 billion to shore up banks such as Bank of America and Citigroup and insurer American International Group. U.S. automakers General Motors and Chrysler also got TARP money. Recipients of government funds must follow rules limiting executive pay, but they haven't been enforced with any sort of vigor.
Despite a down economy, Wall Street financial firms handed out $18.4 billion in bonuses to employees - even though the government had to save the companies from collapsing. That $18.4 billion is roughly the same amount given out during the boom years in the mid-2000s. Last week, President Obama used words such as "outrageous," "shameful" and "the height of irresponsibility" to describe this largesse.
The Wall Streeters certainly didn't like what President Obama was saying. "I think President Obama painted everyone with a broad stroke," Brian McCaffrey, a Wall Street lawyer, told The New York Times last week. "The way we pay our taxes is bonuses. The only way that we'll get any of our bailout money back is from taxes on bonuses. I think bonuses should be looked at on a case by case basis, or you turn into a socialist."
Of course, the financial folks love socialism when the government gives them money. But suggest that the federal bailout money be used to stimulate lending rather than pay bonus, and you're Karl Marx incarnate.
"On Main Street, 'bonus' sounds like a gift," Larry Meyers, who works for an Italian securities firm, said to the Times. "But it's part of the compensation structure of Wall Street. Say I'm a banker and I created $30 million. I should get a part of that."
Using that line of reasoning, if your poor judgment and greed resulted in the loss of $30 million for the bank, those losses should come out of your pocket. Of course, things don't actually work that way. We've seen case after case of people who have destroyed companies, yet walked away with their pockets stuffed with money.
Given the shaky state of the U.S. banking industry, Citigroup, Bank of America and other major banks have no choice but to take federal bailout money. The government shouldn't have to offer the CEOs a bribe. That's why Obama's proposal is a good one. If you're going to take the government's money to keep your firm from going bankrupt, you should have to abide by the government's terms for executive compensation. Don't like the terms? Don't take the money.
Remember, this is our money being handed out to the fat cats. The least the Treasury Department can do is ensure that this money is being used productively.
Randolph T. Holhut, a journalist in New England for nearly 30 year, edited "The George Seldes Reader" (Barricade Books). Write him at randyholhut@yahoo.com, and read his blog about The Harvard Classics, updated daily at http://hclassics15.blogspot.com.
Copyright 2012 Joe Shea The American Reporter. All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment