Written by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews

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Bentley's First Month As Operating Company Impressive

In January, its first month as an operating business, Bentley Commerce Corp. (OTCBB:BLYC) reported booking more than $80,000 in trade fees and processing nearly $2 million in trade volume, as 19 independent trade exchanges went online with the new Virtual Barter 3.0 software. Another 15 exchanges are expected to be online by mid-February.

"These 34 exchanges are the first of the 180 independents that comprise our network," Joe Crump, president of the Crump Barter Network subsidiary, disclosed. He said the feedback from exchange owners about the new Bentley Virtual Barter software has been "incredible."

Bentley's new CEO Bruce Kamm added, "Activity should grow exponentially as more and more trade organizations continue to join our collaborative online trade network."

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Corporate CEOs Are The MVPs Of The Business World

Elan Journo, writer/editor for the Ayn Rand Institute says it's morally proper to pay top salaries to successful CEOs for the same reason that it is morally proper to do so for Super Bowl quarterbacks.

Journo says in order to have a winning season the CEO's strategy must encompass countless long-range factors. He must devise a game plan to grow the business in the face of competitors, not only in the company's own "league," but also in all the leagues in the world. The CEO often calls the plays years in advance, and often for a team of tens or hundreds of thousands of workers whose livelihoods depend on his judgment.

And in the business world, every day is the Super Bowl. There is no off-season or respite from the need to perform at one's peak.

The difficulty of running a corporation also makes good CEOs as hard to find as great quarterbacks, with the similar result that companies pay millions to valuable CEOs, so they will not be hired away by a competitor.

Journo concludes, "Just as we admire a quarterback's skills and understand the importance of rewarding him accordingly, justice demands that we appreciate the long-range, life-enhancing mental skills of successful CEOs and admit that they too deserve every penny of their salaries."

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NFIB Says Small-Business Provides Reliable Economy Forecasts

The National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation says that small-business indicators provide accurate economic forecasts months sooner than even preliminary official government numbers are published.

NFIB contends that small-business indicators forecast the level of unemployment four to five months in advance with remarkable accuracy. And their Index of Business Optimism more accurately forecasts changes in gross domestic product than the government's Leading Indicators, the University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index or the Conference Board Index.

NFIB's monthly "Small Business Economic Trends" are released midmonth on www.nfib.org/research.

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Of the 100 largest "economies" in the world, only 47 are nation states. The other 53 are multinational corporations. Wal-Mart and Exxon Mobil Corp., are the world's largest companies in terms of sales, having annual revenues that exceed the gross domestic product (GDP) of all but 20 of the world's 220 nations.

Globalization has been going on for centuries, since the camels plodded across the silk road to bring finery to the Mideast and, ultimately, to Europe from China.

Its rampant growth in the last three decades can be attributed in part to the vast improvements in communications and transportation, the capital surpluses generated by U.S., European and Japanese manufacturers, more efficient global banking, and the reduction of trade barriers.

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Here & There...

• International Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM), cover story of BarterNews' issue #61, has retained Florida-based Mirador Consulting. The corporate consulting firm will implement a five-part program including stockbroker relations, media relations, shareholder/investor communications, and Internet coverage. Mirador specializes in micro-cap and middle market NASDAQ-listed companies.

  International Monetary Systems also announced a record-breaking month in December, with first-ever trade volume of over $4 million. Client billings exceeded $410,000, an 45% increase over the same month in 2002.

• The U.S.-China Business Mediation Center made its debut last week (January 29th), giving companies leery of the unpredictability of China's judicial system, and the costs of binding arbitration, a new option in business-dispute resolution. The Mediation Center will have offices in New York and Beijing.

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• Priceline.com is offering best-price guarantees for cruises booked on its site. The new guarantee is simple: if a seafarer books a cruise on the site and within 48 hours finds a better online price elsewhere, Priceline will refund the difference. (Cruise products offered by Expedia and Travelocity don't offer best-price guarantees.)

• United Airlines is now letting members of a brand new club—Ameniti—take advantage of free-ticket perks. Each time an Ameniti member buys one full-fare ticket in any class for domestic travel he or she can get another ticket free, as long as both passengers travel together on the same itinerary. Ameniti membership costs $295 a year, but there's no limit on the number of freebies a member can earn.

• According to a Banc of America Securities report, home-ownership rates have risen to 68% of the U.S. population...up from 64% a decade ago.

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