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April 4,
2006
Written
by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews
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IRTA Conference Held In Amsterdam
Both IRTA’s
Global Board and Europe Chapter Board met in the Netherlands near
Amsterdam on March 24 and 25. The board meetings addressed
comprehensive agendas and were followed by a mini-conference
complete with keynote speaker, marketing seminars, and trading
session.
There were 45
attendees from eleven countries (United States, Spain, Poland,
United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, China,
Singapore, Canada) at the conference. Therecia Venema of E Banc
Trade Netherlands arranged the event with the Hotel Harrlem Zuid,
and graciously sponsored an after-dinner canal cruise with
transportation and drinks included.
The IRTA Global
board discussed the IRS Stakeholders Reception attendance in
February, unsubstantiated reports of barter statistics from
fictitious organizations, and their upcoming September international
conference in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida.
The IRTA Europe
Chapter examined the importance of continued unity, especially in
light of a recent BBC report about the EU cracking down on
alternative methods of funding potential terrorists. The members
also voted for chapter leadership:
President—Reiner
Husemann (EBB, Germany)
Vice President—Richard Logie (TBEX, Scotland)
Secretary—Therecia Venema (E Banc Trade, Netherlands)
Treasurer—Dariusz Brzozowiec (BCI, Poland)
“Once again, I
am proud the IRTA was the unifying force that brought together so
many different countries, so many different exchange models, and
many different perspectives on the industry,” Krista Vardabash, IRTA
Executive Director, asserted.
Trade Exchange Owners...
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Bartercard Happenings
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In its first
month of operation, Bartercard Real Estate (Bartercard’s
wholly-owned UK subsidiary) has achieved sales of 35 properties,
substantially ahead of early internal target forecasts.
Bartercard members have deposited, on average, 30% of the total
purchase price in trade pounds.
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Franchise
sales by Bartercard over the past six months include Australia’s
five sales totaling A$1.6 million and UK deals valued at 524,000
pounds. In Australia, Bartercard now has 60 offices, 55 of which
are independent franchisees. The UK operation has 15 offices
with 10 owned as franchisees, and the potential for 150
franchisees according to management.
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Bartercard
has acquired total equity interest in D-ISC Holdings, which
developed a proprietary software-platform administering to the
HR intranets of large corporations. The objective is to enhance
loyalty between a company and its employees and customers.
D-ISC has a
contract to provide customer and staff loyalty programs for Cendent,
one of the world’s foremost providers of travel and real estate
services in the world. Additionally, companies within the Bartercard
network will be able to sell their products and services through the
D-ISC channel, enabling Bartercard to expand its
business-to-business activities through its list of international
corporate partnerships. For further details on this strategic
acquisition see
www.bartercard.com.
Bartercard has
reached an agreement with Texaco UK, enabling its members to
purchase fuel at a discount from all 1,485 Texaco outlets, with a
fixed buying price for the week ahead. Bartercard Executive Chairman
Wayne Sharpe was delighted that the buying power for their UK
membership is proceeding as planned.
Get
New Money-Making Ideas And Valuable Contacts!
You can obtain
useful, informative ideas and contacts in every available back-issue
of BarterNews.
BBX Forms Real Estate Fund For Property Acquisitions
Sydney-based BBX
Holdings is forming a subsidiary, the BBX Property Investment Fund,
for residential real estate ventures. Both cash and barter currency
is being sought from investors and BBX members for the new
subsidiary, which is intended to be traded on the Newcastle Stock
Exchange. According to BBX’s CFO, Tim Creasy, “The BBX Property Fund
is unique in that it will be the only fund that utilises barter
currency.”
The barter
exchange looks to use 33% barter currency, 33% cash, and 33% debt
funding for acquiring property both in Australia and New Zealand.
For more information:
www.ebbx.com.
IMS Activities Taking Place On Many Fronts
International
Monetary Systems (IMS) has acquired Southern Barter Exchange’s
clients, adding to its Continental Trade Exchange network. A
definitive agreement was reached with President Kenn Flemmons, of
the Memphis (TN) firm, who, according to IMS’ Don Mardak, runs one
of the finest trade exchanges in America. (This transaction does not
include Flemmons’ SBE operation in Little Rock, Arkansas.)
Master Trade
Barter Systems of Los Gatos (CA) has been procured as well. CEO Don
Mardak, says this is a strategic acquisition for IMS as it
strengthens their presence in the dynamic Silicon Valley market. The
company now has over 2,000 members in Northern California.
IMS (OTCBB:INLM)
has received a commitment for additional funding from private
investors for up to $1.2 million; the company intends to use the
proceeds to conclude acquisitions of strategically located trade
exchanges. The company also reported revenues for February of
$526,000, an increase of 42% over February 2005. For more
information go to
www.internationalmonetary.com.
The
Growth and Use of Secondary Capital (New Money) Creates
Unprecedented Wealth In Today’s New Age Of Possibility
There are many forms of secondary capital—which can
be defined as any financial instrument that measures and
communicates value in a common language. Would you like to see and
learn more about the many forms of secondary capital?
We have 75 free,
informative and inspiring, articles for you in our “Secondary
Capital Section.” Check it out...
www.barternews.com/secondary_capital.htm.
IRTA’s Former Executive Director Wearing Several Hats Today
Karen Hoffman,
IRTA’s Executive Director in 2000, prior to Krista Vardabash, says
she never thought she would really leave the barter industry. But
she did…and she says she misses the people.
What’s Karen up
to these days? She has founded an organization called the City of
Experts and is involved with The IDEA Coaching organization.
Additionally, she has landed the job as small-business blogger for
the St. Louis Dispatch. You can reach her at:
Karen@cityofexperts.com.
Munson Gets Ink With $150,000 Barter Deal
Jim Munson,
former BXI area director and now owner of BBX Business Exchange,
received a fine write-up in the Burbank Weekly after a large
print job was consummated on a cash blend basis (50% cash, 50%
trade) through his California-based trade exchange. Further
information an be accessed at
www.50-50trade.com.
Thousands Of ITEX Gift Items Available On Trade
ITEX
organization members Denise and Nick Bocci are offering over 4,500
products on trade to choose from at their web site,
www.atreasureforall.com. Candle holders from another member,
owner/craftsman Michael Powers, are available at
www.clearwatercabin.com.
Give
A Gift To A Friend Or Associate. If you know someone
who might benefit from this newsletter, feel free to forward it
to them! (See the “box” at the end of the newsletter
for the forwarding service.)
Paul Pilzer
Foresees Dynamic Future For Travel Industry
Paul Zane Pilzer
is a noted economist and multimillionaire software entrepreneur, an
adjunct professor, and the author of seven best-selling books as
well as dozens of scholarly publications. He told a Dallas (TX)
audience at the March 4, World Ventures Convention that the travel
industry provides a mode for creating great fortunes over the next
decade.
According to
Pilzer the demographics of the U.S. will create unprecedented
opportunities in the travel industry, including the creation of
wealth, as aging baby boomers begin traveling with a zest never
before seen in this country.
The travel
industry is transforming economies throughout the world. And perhaps
more importantly, it’s bringing distant and different people face to
face as more than 650 million people are traveling each year from
one country to another. This number will grow as prosperity
increases in developing countries, where more than two-thirds of the
world population resides.
More than one
out of every 15 people worldwide spend their work day catering to
travelers, which accounts for the global stock of lodging, food, and
transportation production reaching $3.5 trillion in annual revenue…
a figure that exceeds the size of every national economy except the
U.S. and Japan.
Every
barter company in the world is listed on our web site,
click through to our Global List
of Barter Companies.
Tax Laws
Affecting Second-Home Market
According to
Keunwon Chung, a statistical economist at the National Assn. of
Realtors who recently studied a vast pool of federal data on
hundreds of thousands of second-home mortgage closings, the boom in
second home purchases in the U.S. is being driven by a largely
unexpected ricochet effect of tax law changes in the late 1990s.
When Congress
amended the federal tax code in 1997 to permit up to $500,000 (for
married couples) and $250,000 (for singles) of gain on the sale of a
primary home to be spared from taxation, homeowners did not have to
buy expensive replacement homes anymore.
Under prior law,
the only way to avoid capital gains taxes was to “roll over” sales
gains to progressively larger and costlier homes. The amended tax
code, by contrast, allows primary home sellers to buy a smaller,
less expensive primary (replacement) residence, while using a
portion of the tax-sheltered gain to buy or make a down payment on a
second home for use either as a recreational property or as an
investment vehicle.
The growth in
the second-home market is being driven in part by demographics, but
mainly by equity-laden baby boomers who are looking to diversify
financial assets. (Second homes saw an average 55% gain in price
appreciation between 2000 and 2004 according to Chung, whereas the
stock market sagged dramatically from its 2000 dot-com highs…
Standard and Poor’s 500 index declined 15%.)
Chung sees the
second-home boom continuing for another decade, as long as the
boomers are still in their peak earning years and can afford some
homes for vacation purposes or investment.
Here & There. . .
- An
excellent site for finding information on bed and breakfast
inns, as well as securing gift certificates in any denomination
that never expire and are honored in more than 1,000 B&B’s, is
www.bnbfinder.com.
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