When you are looking for financing for your business, you need good business credit. Having business credit that is separate from personal credit is a good idea, since it can protect your personal finances from business failure, and it can help you establish your business as its own credit-worthy entity. [...]
Consumer confidence has taken a hit for the second month in a row. This is not particularly good news on the corporate finance front. With consumers not terribly confident about the economy, it means that they are less likely to spend money. This means that the [...]
Financial stocks can’t seem to hold onto gains made earlier. Indeed, today, the stock market opened higher. However, early gains have been erased as concerns about the health of financial companies continue to loom large. Right now, these financial companies rely a great deal on a housing market recovery. [...]
In the world of personal finance, and advance is something that is not particular desirable. It indicates that you are out of money, and that you might need a little bit more to plug the gaps in your cash flow.
In business finance, though, an advance is a little bit different. [...]
Earnings from blue chip companies are helping drive the Dow higher today. Indeed, the surprising earnings have been helping blue chip stocks, while the Nasdaq drops and the S&P 500 struggles. Of course, it is worth noting that the Dow Jones Industrial Average only includes 30 companies. If those [...]
While improvements to the employment picture have been seen in recent months, the unemployment rate is persistently high, and companies are not hiring. Even if job losses slow, the fact that businesses are reluctant to hire more workers continues to cause problems in the overall economy. Only seven states [...]
One of the ways that many companies raise capital is through charging fees. These fees are usually charged on top of regular service prices, allowing companies to advertise low rates, and then make up for it by tacking on the fees. It is hard to find an industry that has [...]
As a business, you are doubtless interested in the mechanics of money. At least you should be. It is important to understand how money flows through the system, as well as how banks make their money and make it available for use in corporate finance. If you are interested in [...]
By now, most businesses know that in order to have more reach, and improve their online marketing, it is necessary to become involved in social networking. It’s all part of reaching out to clients and customers, and making connections that attract people to their web sites and places of business. [...]
Today is Blog Action Day. Bloggers from around the world are writing about a single them. This year, it’s global climate change. Interestingly, companies that have made an effort to be sustainable have actually fared quite well during the financial crisis — at least that what’s a report from [...]
As earnings season continues, questions about the economy naturally arise. So far, third quarter earnings have been quite encouraging. And today, the good news continued. JP Morgan reported spectacular third quarter earnings, and that is providing hope that the rest of the financial sector will follow suit. The news [...]
Earlier, the Obama Administration had proposed taxes on multinationals in order to help raise $200 billion in revenue. However, at the urging of big business, that plan has been shelved. Businesses have managed to dodge a tax bill that some were concerned would tax businesses at a time when [...]
One of the things that has been a feature of economic discussions lately has been the likelihood of a “jobless recovery.” That is, there are signs that the economic recession is over, and that things are improving (even though this is happening slowly). However, the job market continues to [...]
Geico wins points for creative advertising in the past. From the gecko to the money pile with googly eyes. I also really like this Speed Racer commercial. It’s classic.
One of the best ways to help your corporate cash flow is to advertise. If you have a catchy commercial or other [...]
One thing that many entrepreneurs do when they are starting a business is to use their personal credit get the ball rolling. While this may be the only way to get started, it is important to realize that it is vital that your business have its own credit as well. [...]
Many companies are starting to feel a little more optimistic today. And it’s little surprise. The stock market is rallying as reasonably good economic news filters in. First of all, Alcoa earnings offered a pleasant surprise for investors. Expected to report yet another quarter of losses, [...]
One of the most important things you can do as a business is to make sure that you are the kind of business a lender is interested in providing financing to. One of the most important things that lenders look for is your payment history. While there is a [...]
Good news on the job front: The service sector expanded in September. This is encouraging in an economic climate in which jobs have been lost. The expansion of the service sector is good news for those on the job hunt, since it indicates that there [...]
I really enjoy The Office. One of the recurring themes in the show is that Michael Scott is something of an incompetent manager. However, the people working under him manage to do reasonably well in spite of his ineptitude. One of the funnier things that happens in an episode of [...]
After a couple of months of respite on the labor market, September turned out to have been something of a disappointment. Unemployment has hit 9.8%, and jobless claims rose in September. For the most part, the pace of unemployment has been slowing since things reached a high in January. [...]
One of the things that the Federal Reserve has done in order to help stimulate the economy is to keep monetary policy rather lax. Interest rates are very low, and Fed chair Ben Bernanke told members of Congress today that they would remain low for an “extended period.” This news [...]
After 10 years as Chairman and Chief Executive of Chevron, David J. O’Reilly is planning to retire at the end of the year. O’Reilly began as a financial analyst and worked his way up the ranks of Chevron. He was also instrumental during the integration with Texaco when that [...]
One of the facts about corporate finance is that borrowing money is necessary. Any business needs to be able to borrow money in order to keep up a cash flow that provides smoothness in operations. However, business loans are decreasing as banks worry about the viability of businesses and [...]
Women are climbing the ranks in the business world, and many of them wield a great deal of powerful. Fortune routinely puts out a list of the 50 most powerful women in business. This year, 13 of those 50 run Fortune 500 companies. That’s an increase over the two that [...]
One of the ways that credit card issuers make money is by charging high interest rates and attempting to keep you in debt. Minimum payments are purposely low so that you can continue to pay them, and interest rates are high so that credit card companies make more money. This [...]
One of the discussions going on at the G-20 summit happening in Philadelphia is all about the stimulus packages and exit strategies. However, the policymakers in the G-20 have agreed to keep stimulus measures in place until all of the countries involved are on their way to sustained recoveries [...]
Initial public offerings (IPOs) are gaining popularity right now in the corporate world. And it isn’t much of a surprise. After all, things are starting to improve in the economy, and companies are gearing up to raise a little capital by selling stock to the public and to companies that [...]
Recently, the Obama Administration expressed its desire to complete a regulatory overhaul of the financial system. As part of that overhaul, some are considering that regulators may need more power to limit bank bonuses.
Tying bank executive bonuses to risk
One of the issues right now is the [...]
We often look at titans of business and wonder how they got to where they are today. And, indeed, it really is interesting when you begin to look at entrepreneurs and study them. For the most part, many entrepreneurs started out as surprisingly…ordinary…people. OnStartups offers these 12 interesting facts [...]
One of the things that happens during a recession is that companies start hoarding cash. Preserving capital becomes important as cash inflows slow on reduced consumer spending. As a result, during a recession, merger and acquisition activity decreases. However, now that there are signs that the economy is starting [...]
Part of having a successful business is having good marketing that you can use to draw people in. And, with today’s social media and Internet stuff, having something that people will want to share is extremely important. Which is why I like the ETrade Baby commercials. They are funny and [...]
One of the issues that is affecting the economy to a great degree is the unemployment rate. Even though other economic data is providing hope for an end to the recession, there are now concerns about a “jobless recovery”. The fact that there are now five states with [...]
Small and medium sized business owners are cautiously optimistic about economic recovery, according to a survey performed by PartnerUp. (PartnerUp is an online community aimed at helping small businesses and entrepreneurs.) The results of this survey were released on the 15th. Some of the interesting results from this survey [...]
Today we saw the release of economic data related to consumer spending. Inventories are down, and the big number, U.S. retail sales, showed improvement in August. Of course, August retail sales are still down twice what they were last year at this time, but there is some definite improvement [...]
As the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers arrives, President Barack Obama prepares to address the nation on regulatory reform. His speech should be coming on momentarily, and he is expected to push for simpler regulations that actually do what they are supposed to do. He is also [...]
Bank bailout measures are being phased out right now, says Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Even though most of the bank bailout funds came under the Bush Administration, the Obama Administration still offered some help to banks, and had “placeholder” money set aside for “just in case.” However, Geithner says that [...]
For the first time in three months, consumer sentiment has improved. Indeed, it has improved sharply, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan index. The index measures consumer sentiment, how people feel about the economy, and shows that improvement was made to 70.2 from 65.7. This is a much better [...]
The recession is forcing many businesses to get creative with their financing. For many small and local businesses, the fact that the community banks themselves are having trouble with financing is putting the squeeze on their own projects. The fact of the matter is that entrepreneurs and other business [...]
One of the issues right now in corporate finance is concern over the solvency of banks. The largest banks received emergency loans and other help from TARP programs offered by the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve. But many small businesses actually get their financing needs fulfilled through smaller regional [...]
Businesses around the world are noting the movements in financial markets today. A few very interesting things happened today, on a day that might otherwise have been sort of boring. Despite the fact that there really isn’t any major economic data being released, there is plenty for the financial markets [...]
In this time of recession, it is interesting to think about today, Labor Day. After all, there are many who would be happy to be working today. (Of course, many in the retail sector and other service jobs continue to work today.) In any case, it is a day to [...]
I really like this MasterCard commercial. It’s a good one: Short, simple, memorable. Oh, and adorable. And it’s on a timely topic — back to school.
It occurs to me that advertising ought to be targeted. You want to approach people from a place they can recognize. And right now, that [...]
The latest news on employment is in, and it looks as though the unemployment rate has hit a 26-year high at 9.7%. Even though the report shows that the pace of job losses is slowing, the fact remains that the economy is still shedding jobs. And many agree that employment [...]
Businesses are still in rough shape as the latest retail sales data is released. August retail sales show weakness. With consumers still paying attention to their own bottom line, businesses are not see as much custom. However, the weak retail sales data wasn’t as bad as it has been [...]
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are two government sponsored entities (GSEs) that have been struggling lately. While private, the companies operate under a government mandate, and a de facto belief that the government is guaranteeing the loans it makes. However, Fannie and Freddie were not immune to the problems of [...]
One of the ways that big corporations get financing is through corporate bonds. These financial instruments are basically IOUs. You lend the company money, that it can use to cover expenses, and the company agrees to pay you back with interest. In some cases, you receive regular interest payments until [...]
One of the more interesting bits of news today is the fact that taxpayers actually have a $4 billion profit from the bank bailouts that came last year. The special financing that big banks received came with interest obligations, and that means that when big banks paid back what [...]
The world of business has been a bit rocked by the recent recession. Many small businesses and home businesses have been especially hard hit. But, are you desperate enough to try The Bar? According to the video below, the world of The Bar provides an opportunity for you to create [...]
Everyone likes a good profit story. And Intel is providing one. As the Dow and the S&P 500 head lower this morning, Intel has the Nasdaq hanging on in the black. Intel announced that its forecast for third-quarter revenue beats the Wall Street expectations. This is a sign that [...]
