Twitter a Useful Business Tool

The new rave in social networks in 2009 is the 14 million user diarist called Twitter. This social network has had nearly 99 million hits last month and has become a very useful tool for companies such as Starbucks, Whole Foods and Dell looking for new ways to market their growing companies. Twitter allows constant status reports from the cell phones and the computers through 140 different character “tweets”. This might seem a little obsessive making updates at breakfast or even reading constant status changes of some of the many celebrities that are using the social network. Though this social network has proven to be huge advantages for companies to get feedback fast and even has become a way for companies to find ways to gain buyers through peoples posts. Intuit, the maker of QuickBooks and TurboTax, monitors Twitter for people writing about Mint, a personal finance Web site that competes with its Quicken Online. Intuit then writes to them and offers its service. Twitter was originated in 2006 and it has grown dramatically since then people are finding new uses for it all over the country. Corey Menscher developed the Kickbee, an elastic band with vibration sensors that his pregnant wife wore to alert Twitter each time the baby kicked. Many believe it could be used as a security device and it is used for people to gain group interest easier because on twitter you do not have to develop the groups like Facebook they seemingly self assemble themselves. This is proving to be a useful tool. Do you think that this could make blogging obsolete?

When do you see the economy rebounding?

LONDON, England — Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, has kicked off the first quarter earnings season with a loss of nearly $500 million.
Markets haven’t taken the news well. Alcoa is a nasty reminder that the sting of the recession continues to bite. There will be plenty of other reminders.
The U.S. earnings decline has now lingered for six straight quarters and it’s not over yet. The expectation is that profits for companies in the S&P 500 will decline for three more quarters including the current one, according to Bloomberg data.
Marc Faber, a well-known analyst, predicted this week that the S&P could go back down to 750 — a fall of some 10 percent from its recent high — before rebounding in the summer.
Even though markets are supposed to anticipate recovery, there are still plenty of reasons to be cautious. Nouriel Roubini, who predicted the economic crisis we are now in, remains bearish, and expects the U.S. economy will continue to contract this year.
And Mike Mayo, the banks analyst, is predicting that loan losses at U.S. banks may exceed Great Depression levels.
Mayo, isn’t a household name. But anyone who follows Wall Street closely knows his name well. He’s the guy who correctly took a bearish stance on banks in 1999, when others remained bullish.
He thinks mortgage-related losses are only about half way to their peak. While credit card and consumer losses are about a third of the way from their worst levels.
George Soros expressed skepticism this week about whether the market rally had legs, pointing to problems in the real economy.
Soros says recently announced changes to fair value accounting rules will keep problem banks in business, and that in turn will only delay any economic recovery.
Confidence of course, plays an important role in any rebound. It was only a matter of time before the reminders of the depth of this downturn hit investors once again.
Alcoa is the first of those fresh reminders — it won’t be the last.
Meanwhile, the problems of the banks persist, and as long as that continues, any real recovery will have to wait.

by: Financial Analyst, Todd Benjamin

Bank failures: '09 tally reaches 23

Cape Fear Bank in Wilmington, N.C., and New Frontier Bank of Greeley, Colo. were shuttered. The closures will cost the FDIC an estimated $801 million.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Two banks failed Friday, bringing the 2009 tally to 23, according to the government.
Cape Fear Bank of Wilmington, N.C., and New Frontier Bank of Greeley, Colo., closed their doors for the last time Friday, said the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Charleston, S.C.-based First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Charleston will assume control of all Cape Fear's deposits.
The failure of Cape Fear will cost the Deposit Insurance Fund an estimated $131 million, according to the FDIC.
Cape Fear Bank held assets worth $492 million and total deposits of $403 million as of March 31, according to the FDIC.
For New Frontier, the FDIC created the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Greeley which will remain open for roughly 30 days to allow depositors time to open accounts at other insured institutions. San Francisco-based Bank of the West will provide operational management.
At the end of the 30-day transition period, the FDIC said it will mail checks to those depositors who have not closed or transferred their accounts during the transition period.
The FDIC said the failure of New Frontier will cost the Deposit Insurance Fund an estimated $670 million. New Frontier held total assets of $2 billion and total deposits of about $1.5 billion as of March 31.
The FDIC will continue to fully insure individual accounts up to $250,000 through the end of 2009.
Biting the dust
Bank failures in 2009 have become a near-weekly occurrence, and regional banks have come under significant pressure during the recession. A total of 25 banks failed in 2008.
Rising unemployment has made it hard for many consumers to keep up with expenses, and has led to a higher default rate. As a result, credit has been extremely tight as banks have been fearful of lending to cash-strapped customers.
Banks are also wary of rising writedowns stemming from the rapid decline in home prices, which has left mortgage-backed assets almost worthless. Many remain reluctant to lend, despite several actions taken by the government to inject liquidity into the economy.
Stress tests
To determine how much capital banks need, the government began "stress tests" to see which institutions would survive under worse-than-expected economic conditions.
President Obama met Friday with top financial regulators to discuss the tests. Officials have said they will release the results by the end of April

Map
Where the banks are failingBank failures and foreclosures keep mounting
View map


By Julianne Pepitone, CNNMoney.com contributing writer
Last Updated: April 10, 2009: 9:33 PM ET

Some Quick Information on Student Loan Forgiveness and Repayment Programs

In a our time of an economic recession it is imperative that people make sure to keep out of the red, especially college students starting their career with a standard low income. This is why it is so important for students to have some common knowledge on the advantages of student loan forgiveness and repayment programs that are available to students all over the United States. These plans help eliminate that debt that is slowly piling up on many students not having the financial support to rid themselves of this debt. Ironically, most of these programs receive a low number of applicants demonstrating that many college students are oblivious of these opportunities. It is important to take advantage of these opportunities so you don’t need up like the hundreds of students that have debts ranging over $50 thousand dollars. Being said there is a difference between student loan forgiveness and student loan repayment. Student loan forgiveness programs are backed by the Federal government and through these loans students actually have portions of their debt erased from your lender’s books. Federal programs such as the Stafford and Perkins loans are a couple of forgiveness programs that offer this to college students. A student loan repayment program is more general than student forgiveness programs. They are used to eliminate loans from public and private lenders. Under these loans you can gain additional funds to pay off your loan or the payment can be made directly to your lender by your employer. Though it is important to acknowledge that the amount of eliminated under these student forgiveness and repayment loans could be taxable income on the year you receive them. Meaning if you have a thousand dollar loan this might increase your taxable income by the IRS by a comparable amount but, the significant advantages of these loans shouldn’t discourage you from using these programs. To make sure your loan is not subject to taxation you should include provisions on why they should be forgiven. Some provisions are listed on the link stating “The basics of Student Loan Forgiveness and Repayment Programs.” There are tons of these programs that are available gives students plenty of opinions. If you have any questions feel free to comment on the blog and I will try to help you out as best as possible.

Check out the New Features

For those you haven’t noticed there are new applications on the side of the blog that can help you keep up to date on all your business news needs including new podcasts and the Nobosh top 10. Both features include daily business news topics helping you the up and coming business mogul the opportunity to stay on top of the game. Thanks for your support and hope you are having a great time on the blog.

AIG $85 Billion Dollar Bailout

American International Group Inc. was seized by the United States for an estimated $85 billion deal proving that the companies collapse could pose too great a threat to our own financial system here in the United States. "The ability of AIG to meet its obligations is important to the stability of the U.S. financial system and to getting credit flowing to households and businesses," Federal Reserve spokeswoman Michelle Smith said. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/16/aig-90-billion-bailout-fu_n_175190.html). Through the hard negotiations between the United States government gains 79.9% equity in the company in the form of warrants called equity participation notes. The two-year loan will carry an interest rate of 8.5 percentage points. The loan will be secured through the assets of AIG, including its profitable insurance businesses protecting the FED if the market continues to sink. And if AIG rebounds, taxpayers could look forward to a huge payoff through the government’s equity stake. AIG’s shares have are now down 94% for the year and this financial pain has been through is horrible corporate level management. Also the company lost billions through the crumbling housing market causes them to seek the help of the FED. With this money AIG will be paying off foreign and domestic banks some of whom received their own multibillion-dollar U.S. government bailouts. All this is fine and dandy if AIG ends up paying off their debt but what happens when they don’t. The FED is in more debt trying to bail themselves out through the down fall of multibillion dollar companies. Let us know how you feel and be sure to check the link on the side for additional information.

The Florida Marlins New Stadium and Its Promising Economic Gains

Let’s play ball!!! The Florida Marlins have finally came to agreements with the Miami Dade city council to build a state of the art baseball stadium in the middle of Little Havana on the old Orange Bowl grounds. The retractable roof ball park will seat 37,000 fans with plans to be done by 2012. The owner Jeffery Loria, hopes to host the World Baseball Classic Finals in 2013 gaining a higher fan base and promote the futuristic stadium. Not only are the Marlins management giving the Miami community and Marlins fans a new home for ball games; they are promising huge economic gains for the community. The Marlins are speculating that through the construction of the new ball park it should create $609 million dollars in direct construction expenditures and they are promising that $457 million will be spent locally to purchase goods and services and provide labor necessary for construction. They are predicting that the construction of the stadium will create a total economic output of $815 million for Miami. The Marlins are also promising approximately $341 million of income for Miami area workers during construction period and generating $24 million of fiscal revenues (taxes and fees) for state and local governments. Along with the construction benefit’s they are hoping to provide 2,708 jobs for the operations of the new ballpark and this would be an estimated $140 million of income for these workers. This sounds like a no brainier for the Miami Dade city council to sign this agreement but, the reason for their concerns is the $347 million that they have to dish out to make sure that this amazing new stadium gets built. The city has pushed off this stadium for almost ten years and many people think that this stadium could lead the city into a debt that is not needed during our economic recession. Though if the Marlins follow through on their promises this could allow for a ton of jobs for the city. For more info check out the executive summary for the Marlins new stadium at http://www.marlinsnewballpark.com/pdf/executive_summary.pdf . Are you behind the new ballpark?

Overview of President Obama's trip to the G20 summit this Week

On Obama’s Weekly Video Podcasts, President Obama explains to the United States the extreme importance of keeping good relations with nations all over the globe. During this week President Obama has certainly added to his frequent flyer miles meeting with the G20 Summit, Chinese President Hu Jintao, and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. These meetings taking place in London were conducted for building reforms to help neutralize our economic, terrorist and environmental problems on a global scale. At the G 20 summit President Obama explains that each country is building economic strategies trying to help their banks to start lending in this global economic recession. President Obama states on the importance of the G 20 summit trying to create innovative techniques to spur growth and gain jobs for the millions all over the world. Also, the G20 summit is constructing a reform to our financial framework that should help end the market abuse and risky speculations that continues to drive our global economy into debt. Following the G 20 summit President Obama meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao where both parties agreed that the mutual benefit of our economic relations are extremely important to the growth and progress of each nation. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and President Obama meet signing a treaty to making strides on reducing the nuclear arsenals of our countries as well as making an effort to ride the loose nuclear material that is floating around the globe. Do you think that these strides that the G 20 summit are good enough for now or do you think they should be making more direct reforms instead of promising speculations on future reforms? Please comment and discuss. And for additional information check out Obama’s Weeky Video Podcasts link on the side of the blog page.

Economic Globalization Outpacing Political Globalization, Commission Chief Says, Proposing Creation of Economic Coordination Council, Global Reserve System

"Ethics refers to standards of behavior that tell us how human beings ought to act in the many situations in which they find themselves-as friends, parents, children, citizens, businesspeople, teachers, professionals, and so on."

We're in danger of entering a new Dark Age
By forgetting what made us who we are, we risk losing the hard-won gains of the Enlightenment, warns Liam Fox.

The Ecomony Can't stop the Party at the Winter Music Conference

Winter Music Conference is the most important worldwide networking event in the dance/house music industry connecting people from all over the global. It has tons of international superstars in the dance music industry represented every year and it allows DJs from the amateur level all the way to the professional tycoons the ability to gain new knowledge through the many seminars, networking events, and parties. Every part of the dance industry is represented in this magnificent week from radio stations, video programmers, producers, and distributers to name a few. Also, it allows thousands of DJs to get the national exposure needed to launch them to superstardom. The annual winter music conference has been gone for almost a week allowing everyone to get back to their regular routine without the hangover of the pool party from the day before or the all night concerts on south beach. Though the Winter Music Conference might seem as just a week to party and let loose, it provides enough revenue for our world renowned nightlife to continue running well after the spring breakers have left the Miami area. The amount of revenue might have dropped off a little from prior years but the world exposure has not. Industry insiders say that there has not been a drop off in tourism having numerous hotels, including the Gansevoort South, the Doubletree Surfcomber and the Shelbourne were all sold out, with rates ranging from $299 to $900 a night. Proving even in a down economy people want to party and it is obvious that Winter Music Conference gives people the reason to spend money on mojitos for the annual weekly festivities. For any more information on the Winter Music Conference check out the links under Winter Music Conference on the side of this blog.

stock market suffers

Stocks suffer their worst week since November
A late-day rally can't undo the damage from earlier in the week. Unemployment hits a 25-year high. Apple slumps on a downgrade. Wells Fargo slashes its dividend. Coca-Cola will invest in China.
[Related content: stocks, investments, stock market, financial crisis, economy]
By Charley Blaine and Elizabeth Strott
Despite a late-day rally on Friday, stocks suffered their worst weekly losses since November after a government report showed unemployment in February reaching the worst levels since 1983.
The Dow Jones industrials, down as much as 124 points at 3:20 p.m. ET, finished the day with a 33-point gain to 6,627. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed up 1 point to 683.
The Nasdaq Composite Index finished down 6 points to 1,294, mostly because of weakness in such key stocks as Apple (AAPL, news, msgs), Google (GOOG, news, msgs), Research In Motion (RIMM, news, msgs) and Amazon.com (AMZN, news, msgs).
Despite the rally, which appeared to be short-covering by speculators who had sold stocks short during the week, the Dow finished down 6.2% for the week, its worst loss since the week of Oct. 6, when it fell 18%. The S&P 500's 7% loss and the Nasdaq's 6.1% loss were their worst since the week of Nov. 17.
The selling extended the losses for the Dow and the broader S&P 500 to levels not seen since 1996. The Nasdaq finished at six-year lows.
The Dow and S&P 500 have now fallen more than 20% since Jan. 16, the day before President Barack Obama was sworn into office; the Nasdaq is off 15.4% The major averages are down more than 53% from their 2007 highs.
Stocks opened higher on Friday but quickly faded after the miserable February jobs report showed the economy is slumping badly since the recession began in December 2007.
The U.S. unemployment rate hit 8.1%, up from 7.6% in January and a 25-year high. At the same time, the Labor Department said employers shed 651,000 jobs in February, the 14th straight month of job declines.
Job losses since December 2007 now total an estimated 4.4 million.

Week 4

Social entrepreneurs act as agents for our society seeking to generate social value rather than profits. They identify and solve social problems on a large scale.

"Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry." Bill Drayton, CEO, chair and founder of Ashoka

What's in the Green Stimulus Package for social entrepreneurs?

U.S. wants to keep banks private in new rescue plan

February 23, 2009
Joint Statement by the Treasury, FDIC, OCC, OTS and the Federal Reserve
Washington, DC – The U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Federal Reserve Board today issued the following joint statement:
"A strong, resilient financial system is necessary to facilitate a broad and sustainable economic recovery. The U.S. government stands firmly behind the banking system during this period of financial strain to ensure it will be able to perform its key function of providing credit to households and businesses. The government will ensure that banks have the capital and liquidity they need to provide the credit necessary to restore economic growth. Moreover, we reiterate our determination to preserve the viability of systemically important financial institutions so that they are able to meet their commitments.
"We announced on February 10, 2009, a Capital Assistance Program to ensure that our banking institutions are appropriately capitalized, with high-quality capital. Under this program, which will be initiated on February 25, the capital needs of the major U.S. banking institutions will be evaluated under a more challenging economic environment. Should that assessment indicate that an additional capital buffer is warranted, institutions will have an opportunity to turn first to private sources of capital. Otherwise, the temporary capital buffer will be made available from the government. This additional capital does not imply a new capital standard and it is not expected to be maintained on an ongoing basis. Instead, it is available to provide a cushion against larger than expected future losses, should they occur due to a more severe economic environment, and to support lending to creditworthy borrowers. Any government capital will be in the form of mandatory convertible preferred shares, which would be converted into common equity shares only as needed over time to keep banks in a well-capitalized position and can be retired under improved financial conditions before the conversion becomes mandatory. Previous capital injections under the Troubled Asset Relief Program will also be eligible to be exchanged for the mandatory convertible preferred shares. The conversion feature will enable institutions to maintain or enhance the quality of their capital.
"Currently, the major U.S. banking institutions have capital in excess of the amounts required to be considered well capitalized. This program is designed to ensure that these major banking institutions have sufficient capital to perform their critical role in our financial system on an ongoing basis and can support economic recovery, even under an economic environment that is more challenging than is currently anticipated. The customers and the providers of capital and funding can be assured that as a result of this program participating banks will be able to move forward to provide the credit necessary for the stabilization and recovery of the U.S. economy. Because our economy functions better when financial institutions are well managed in the private sector, the strong presumption of the Capital Assistance Program is that banks should remain in private hands."

Key stock indexes at '97 levels; traders have 'nowhere to hide'

S&P 500 sinks below November low
Updated
By Adam Shell, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — Investors, not yet convinced that the buying opportunity of a lifetime has arrived, sent stocks tumbling on Monday to their lowest levels in more than 11 years amid a growing crisis of confidence in the government's ability to fix the ailing financial system.
In what amounts to a psychological blow, the Standard & Poor's 500 closed below its November low. It fell 3.5% to 743.33, extending its bear market losses to 52.5%, its biggest decline since the 1930s.
HITTING BOTTOM?: Maybe not yet
Increasingly, jittery investors are unwilling to commit cash to a stock market riddled with economic uncertainty and a lack of a clear, coherent game plan from the government to rejuvenate the banking system and get credit flowing again. Citigroup shares jumped 9.7% to $2.14 and Bank of America rose 3.2% to $3.91 amid more rumors of coming government aid.
"The biggest issue today is the banks," says Timothy Vick of Sanibel Captiva Trust. "In the absence of a bank plan from the government that makes sense to shareholders, I don't think the economy or stock market will get any upward momentum."

Week 3

Corporate Social Responsibility- the idea that businesses should be held accountable for any of its actions that affect people, their communities, and their environment

Contributing to the community and environment- "What is good for business must also be good for the environment and people worldwide" Rittenhouse

The following article states how Obama, being the first black president of the United States, is proving how green may be an equally important color. In his inaugural address, he stated how the ways America is currently using energy is damaging our environment. With Obama as our leader, we as a country, should all contribute in "making the US a leader on climate change".

http://www.csrwire.com/news/14338.html

Week 2

Today I came arcoss this statement on CNNMoney.com -- Senate lawmakers voted Monday to confirm Tim Geithner as the next Treasury secretary amid ongoing uncertainty about the nation's economic future.
Read here: http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/26/news/geithner.senate.vote/index.htm

How do you feel about this new development ?

Circuit City Closing

Week 1

This class is dope! What do you think?