Dimitris Thalassinos, 75, is tired. He is serving his last customer before packing up for the day. Most days he is at his shop in Athens' ancient Pandrossou street market for 12 hours.
But today he is leaving early.
"We used to have families coming here, on their way to the Acropolis," he says handing change back to an American student. "Now it's mostly couples. It's quieter now."
Like many others working in the industry he is concerned about the slump in tourism. Although last year was a profitable one, in the few weeks since May's inconclusive elections, bookings have plummeted by 50%, according to George Drakopoulos, general director of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE).
At the front of his store hangs a picture of his younger self, eager to begin a new business.
It reminds him, he says, of how things have changed: "Life is different in the market now. We don't know each other as well as we used to. But we are trying to change that."
Join togetherHe and his fellow shopkeepers have decided it's time to unite.
Their peak season has already begun and they are not prepared to wait around for a stable government to be formed and come up with a plan of action to save the industry.
The shopkeepers, many in their seventies, have navigated their way through social media and rebranded the market.
“Start Quote
End Quote Onic Palandjian Up GreektourismWe need to show other Greeks that if each of us tries to do something small for our country, then a lot can be achieved”
Through its Facebook page, each shop owner gets a chance, not only to showcase their products globally, but also to tell their stories through old photographs of the market which they post to the site.
It even has a new logo.
It is a refreshing alternative to the Athens portrayed almost every day in the news: strikes, neo-Nazi protests, people so poor they're trawling through bins for food.
Broadcasts on television screens across the world hardly conjure up an ideal image of Greece as a top tourist destination.
FallingLast week Greece's Central Bank announced a 15.1% drop in tourism receipts compared with the same period last year.
The depressing figures have prompted many Greeks - like the Pandrossou shopkeepers - to do the job of marketing Greece themselves.
Last month New Yorkers would have noticed a huge billboard displaying the turquoise waters of the Greek Mediterranean overlooking Times Square.
It was not paid for by the Greek government, but by a voluntary group called Up Greek Tourism - set up by Yorgos Kleivokiotis, a Greek living in Doha.
He cannot stand to see his country in the position it is in.
His passion for his homeland inspired him and the rest of his team to raise more than $20,000 through crowdfunding .
"We are not competing with the government," says Onic Palandjian, who heads the Up Greek Tourism office in Athens, "but the fact is if ministers were given $20,000, they would never have accomplished this.
"We need to show other Greeks that if each of us tries to do something small for our country, then a lot can be achieved."
Secrets shared“Start Quote
End Quote Alexandros Trimis DopiosMost Athenians are excited and proud to be a part of their community. They want to share it and show people their city through their eyes”
Their message is spreading.
In San Francisco, a group of Greek students keen to introduce tourists to the "real" Greece have formed Dopios, which means "local" in Greek.
It pairs visitors with Athenian locals.
"We wanted to give people the chance to fall upon the little secrets that no travel guide will tell you about," says Alexandros Trimis, one of the team which is launching the service in June.
"Most Athenians are excited and proud to be a part of their community. They want to share it and show people their city through their eyes."
The country's beaches, its sea and its weather remain unaffected by Greece's troubles and although the country's economic and political structure is tottering, its archaeology, of course, also remains intact.
But still tourist numbers continue to slide.
So far this year there has been 25-30% drop in German tourists alone, according to SETE.
Dionysian attractionIf those tourists are to return, they must be reminded of Greece's positive attributes in a coherent and organised way.
The self-help schemes, like Dopios and Pandrossou Street Market are a nice idea, but may not be enough to create the impact needed to achieve the much-needed substantial increase in bookings.
Peter Economides, brand strategist and founder of the international campaign "Give Greece a Chance", says Greeks have lost their way and now every single Greek must be involved in rebranding their country.
He says the image foreigners have of Greece and its people is Dionysian - fun-loving, but disorderly and chaotic. Like the 1960s film of the novel Zorba the Greek and its wily and anarchic central character, it is a distortion of an idea.
"Perhaps at one point," he says, "it was this lifestyle that attracted the tourists to Greece. But in the mind of many today, Zorba has become everything that is bad - a tendency to be lazy, to cheat, to avoid work."
With tourism representing 16% of the economy, Greece's new government cannot afford to waste time in reigniting the sector it so desperately needs to get through the crisis it is in.
It is no wonder Dimitris Thalassinos is tired after his long shift at Pandrossou street market.
For he and others like him carry a heavy burden.
Not only must they make a living from the tourism industry, they must also attempt to save it and in so doing, give the Greek economy the lifeline it so desperately needs.
Warren Buffett bucks trend, pumps money into print business - Economic Times
Doctor said Buffett is finding value in these companies because they often own hard assets, including real estate and broadcast properties, and have a strong brand name in their communities.
"These are great community assets, they have great brands," Doctor told AFP.
"Buffett is, at base, an opportunistic investor... See a business, or industry deep in the doldrums, and think you can leverage money out of a deal, one way or the other, and you've got an opportunity."
In an interview with The Washington Post, the 81-year-old Buffett said his move was "not a soft-headed business decision." But the investor said he sees prospects best for newspapers in smaller cities with "a feeling of community."
Still, to make the investment pay off, Buffett will have to find a way to stem losses in the news business, and he has indicated he will seek a new "digital strategy" for the companies.
"We must rethink the industry's initial response to the Internet," Buffett said in his message.
"The original instinct of newspapers then was to offer free in digital form what they were charging for in print. This is an unsustainable model and certain of our papers are already making progress in moving to something that makes more sense."
Dan Kennedy, a journalism professor at Northeastern University, said Buffett's strategy is not yet clear.
"If he means that newspaper companies should use their websites to come up with complementary content --- for instance, breaking news, blogs, features that aren't in the paper, that sort of thing -- then he may be on to something interesting," Kennedy said.
"But if he's got some sort of 'back to print' crusade in mind, then I'm skeptical."
Doctor said, "We may find out, looking back, that Buffett is just another greater fool, having believed his buy was close enough to the bottom to justify. Or we may see the code broken well enough on new business models."
Business Software IPOs Hope to Trump Market Woes - Moneynews (blog)
Sources familiar with the situation said others include AppSense, whose user virtualization technology allows people to use different devices; Marin Software, which offers an online advertising management platform; Rapid7, which makes network security software; Rally Software, a provider of project management tools; and CollabNet, which offers web-based software development tools.
These business software companies join other tech firms that are also looking to go public. Cloud-based phone systems provider RingCentral is close to picking bankers, sources familiar with the situation said. Ruckus Wireless, which supplies Wi-Fi products to mobile operators, has chosen Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as its lead underwriters, the sources said.
On Friday, cloud security provider Qualys Inc filed with U.S. regulators to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering. The California-based company picked JPMorgan Chase & Co and Credit Suisse as lead underwriters for the proposed offering.
All the seven business software companies offer products for the software as a service, or SaaS, market, in which software and associated data are hosted on remote servers, or the cloud. This segment of the market has been increasing in popularity because it is viewed as less costly and easier to implement than traditional hosting methods.
Tech behemoths including Oracle Corp, SAP AG and IBM Corp have spent billions to buy such companies over the past two years. The overall market for enterprise software grew 9.5 percent to $267 billion in 2011 and is expected to top $288 billion this year, according to Gartner.
That means these companies may form one bright spot in an otherwise moribund market for I POs.
This week was the slowest for IPO activity since January. Year-to-date global IPO proceeds total $53.2 billion, a decline of 44 percent compared with the same period a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Facebook's IPO in May further added to the chill, as market problems at its trading debut and a subsequent fall in its share price have burned scores of investors.
But these companies are hoping their dependence on businesses - as opposed to consumers - would set them apart from Facebook and other Internet companies.
"Based on talking to a lot of bankers, public software investors and analysts, the opportunity for SaaS companies to go public should be viewed differently from the fortunes of consumer-facing Internet companies or other potential IPO candidates," Marin Software CEO Chris Lien said. "There are some strong underlying reasons why the next generation of software companies is emerging."
San Francisco-based Marin, with 330 employees people worldwide, generated $36 million in revenue and is expected to grow by over 50 percent this year, Lien said.
In January, Singapore-based Temasek Holdings and SAP Ventures, the investment arm of SAP, became the latest investors in the company.
Marin Software is expected to choose bankers to underwrite its IPO in a few months, said Lien, who founded the company in 2006.
SCRUTINY ON PRICING
To be sure, one risk for investors in cloud-based companies could be the growing incidence of Internet security breaches, the most recent example of which came this week when social networking site LinkedIn and online dating service eHarmony said the passwords of millions of online accounts had been compromised.
The Facebook IPO debacle could also hurt the valuations these companies hope to achieve in a public offering.
"High quality companies right now in today's environment can go out and markets are open for business," Rapid7 CEO Mike Tuchen said. "Facebook stumbling isn't a window-closing event, though there will be more scrutiny to pricing."
Tuchen declined to comment on his company's IPO plans.
These challenges mean that many of these processes are likely to be dual-track, where the company explores both an IPO and a sale.
CollabNet CEO Bill Portelli said with his company generating cash and closing on a recent $4.5 million capital raise with existing investors, it is weighing all options equally - going public, being acquired or recapitalizing with a private equity firm.
Ruckus Wireless said it is "looking at all options."
The other companies and the banks declined to comment.
Thanks to the Jobs Act, these companies have little to lose in at least preparing for IPO filings. The law allows companies with less than $1 billion in revenue to file registration statements confidentially, giving them room to resolve any regulatory issues out of the public eye and even pull an offering without the stigma attached to a withdrawal.
AppSense, whose investors include Goldman Sachs, and Tableau had revenue of around $70 million in 2011. Rally Software's revenue was about $50 million, Atlassian's about $102 million, and Ruckus's about $120 million.
TEST OF APPETITE
A test of investor appetite for business software companies could come as early as this summer, when Palo Alto Networks and ServiceNow, which filed to go public earlier this year, are expected to debut, sources familiar with the situation said.
Palo Alto declined to comment, while ServiceNow did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Workday Inc, a business management software company, has hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to lead its initial public offering later this year, sources previously told Reuters.
These offerings are expected to be among this year's largest tech IPOs, and would follow the listings of other enterprise software companies, including Guidewire Software Inc, Jive Software Inc and Demandware, which all saw their shares rise after their debut.
"Enterprise software is extremely sticky," said Tom Blakey, a tech portfolio manager at Boston's Essex Investment Management, which manages $1.1 billion.
"If there is a maintenance stream attributed to the product, it's recurring. You can start to see that there's an intrinsic value to these revenue streams versus revenue that is derived from a network effect, such as certain business lines tied to social media-related companies."
© 2012 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.
Europe stocks mostly lower; Madrid soars - Brisbane Times
European stocks have closed mostly lower, with the notable exception of Madrid, amid growing speculation the Spanish government will ask for EU help for its stricken banks.
Dealers said concerns over Spain - hit by a drastic three-notch Fitch ratings downgrade on Thursday - and disappointment that the US Federal Reserve plans no immediate new stimulus measures more than offset the impact of China’s first interest rate cut in three years.
The losses, however, were modest, coming after a strong technical bounce earlier in the week and with investors adjusting positions before the weekend, when reports say EU officials may discuss a Spanish aid request.
A modest turnaround on Wall Street also helped as US President Barack Obama said European leaders were well aware of the need to act to solve a eurozone debt crisis which is threatening global growth prospects.
In London, the benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies closed down 0.23 per cent at 5,435.08 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 slipped 0.22 per cent to 6,130.82 points and in Paris the CAC 40 lost 0.63 per cent to 3,051.69 points.
Madrid bucked the trend, gaining 1.77 per cent amid increasing speculation the government will call on the EU, perhaps as early as this weekend, for help to stabilise its struggling banks.
The market view is that outside help for the banks would take the pressure off Madrid and give the government greater leeway to get the economy growing again and stabilise the public finances.
The European single currency meanwhile gave up most of Thursday’s gains, sliding to $US1.2482 from $US1.2561 late in New York on Thursday. It struck a 23-month low late last week at $US1.2288.
In Asian trade earlier on Friday, markets fell, with investors more focused on Bernanke than Beijing’s surprise rate cut.Tokyo tumbled 2.09 per cent, Hong Kong was down 0.69 per cent, Shanghai lost 0.51 per cent and Sydney fell 1.09 per cent.
AFP
Railroad Stocks a Profitable Investment: A Special Report by Profit Confidential, a Leading Financial Newsletter - Houston Chronicle
Mitchell Clark, contributor to Profit Confidential, is keeping a close eye on railroad stocks right now, partially because he loves the railroad business and partially because lower diesel prices have a positive impact on this sector.
New York, NY (PRWEB) June 08, 2012
Mitchell Clark, contributor to Profit Confidential, is keeping a close eye on railroad stocks right now, partially because he loves the railroad business and partially because lower diesel prices have a positive impact on this sector.
In the article, “Lower Oil Prices an Absolute Gift to Railroad Companies,” Clark states lower oil prices are a godsend to the global economy right now.
“Oil just under $100.00 a barrel accurately reflects global fundamentals; but, around $90.00 a barrel, oil prices are oversold,” argues Clark.
Clark believes owning brand-name railroad stocks is highly profitable over the long term and is a stock market sector often ignored by Main Street investors.
“During first-quarter earnings season, many railroad companies noted that they were able to increase their freight prices without affecting demand,” says Clark. “In addition, they were able to grow their earnings despite a significant increase in diesel fuel costs, due to higher oil prices.”
Clark predicts this trend will continue into 2013 and lower oil prices will be the icing on the earnings cake.
“If the stock market corrects further, I’d consider railroad stocks for new income-seeking investors,” says Clark.
Profit Confidential, which has been published for over a decade now, has been widely recognized as predicting five major economic events over the past 10 years. In 2002, Profit Confidential started advising its readers to buy gold-related investments when gold traded under $300 an ounce. In 2006, it “begged” its readers to get out of the housing market... before it plunged.
Profit Confidential was among the first (back in late 2006) to predict that the U.S. economy would be in a recession by late 2007. The daily e-letter correctly predicted the crash in the stock market of 2008 and early 2009. And Profit Confidential turned bullish on stocks in March of 2009 and rode the bear market rally from a Dow Jones Industrial Average of 6,440 on March 9, 2009, to 12,876 on May 2, 2011, a gain of 99%.
To see the full article and to learn more about Profit Confidential, visit http://www.profitconfidential.com.
Profit Confidential is Lombardi Publishing Corporation’s free daily investment e-letter. Written by financial gurus with over 100 years of combined investing experience, Profit Confidential analyzes and comments on the actions of the stock market, precious metals, interest rates, real estate, and the economy. Lombardi Publishing Corporation, founded in 1986, now with over one million customers in 141 countries, is one of the largest consumer information publishers in the world. For more on Lombardi, and to get the popular Profit Confidential e-letter sent to you daily, visit http://www.profitconfidential.com.
Michael Lombardi, MBA, the lead Profit Confidential editorial contributor, has just released his most recent update of Critical Warning Number Six, a breakthrough video with Lombardi’s current predictions for the U.S. economy, stock market, U.S. dollar, euro, interest rates and inflation. To see the video, visit http://www.profitconfidential.com/critical-warning-number-six.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/6/prweb9583518.htm
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