June 22, 2004
Written
by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews
We
Want You To Know...When you sign up to receive the
FREE weekly Tuesday Report announcement your e-mail address
will never be sold, traded, or given to another party.
ITEX
Moves Forward On Several Fronts
ITEX Corporation
(OTCBB:ITEX) has announced third quarter fiscal 2004 results showing
success in several areas, including:
• Income
from operations for the 3rd quarter was $284,000, excluding reduction
of certain accruals, i.e. legal accruals of $101,000. Also a reduction
of $66,000 on prior accruals for the dismissal of a labor claim
dispute. Including these reductions, reported income from operations
for the quarter was $451,000.
• Revenues
for the quarter decreased 16% to $2.3 million from $2.7 million
from the prior year’s similar quarter. Revenues for the nine-month
period ended April 30, 2004 is down 5% compared to the same period
in 2003.
• Selling,
general, and administrative costs declined from $833,000 to $491,000,
41%, from the prior year, due partly to the divestiture of corporate-owned
offices.
• Total
liabilities were reduced from $2,401,000 to $1,292,000 since the
July 31, 2003 fiscal year end, reflecting improved efficiencies,
renegotiated contracts and leases, and divestiture of non-essential
services.
According the
Steven White, CEO, “Results for the third quarter of fiscal
2004 reflect our successful efforts to create profitable operations.
During the first three quarters, management focused on selling corporate-owned
stores along with improving the balance sheet by reducing debt and
settling outstanding legal issues.
“During
the third quarter, we completed the divestiture of our last corporate-owned
office, moved into new corporate headquarters in Bellevue (WA),
settled all material lawsuits, and generated a profit with positive
cash flow.
“Moving
forward, we can focus on the opportunities in front of us to drive
revenue growth. I encourage all shareholders to read our quarterly
report on Form 10-QSB, which can be found at www.sec.gov.”
Trade
Exchange Owners...
Build Rapport & Empathy With Your Client Base!!
The most powerful
marketing tool in the barter industry, The Competitive Edge
newsletter, is a monthly, ready to use, professional 4-page publication...no
work is needed! Click here
Upcoming
Political Conventions Will Again See
Barter Playing Important Role
Soon the two
political parties will be holding their national conventions and,
if precedent continues, barter will be playing an important role.
In the past
issues of BarterNews we have reported how these convention
settings are viewed by Corporate America as an excellent opportunity
to impress a very important set of customers.
Previously,
we’ve seen Pacific Bell distributing 600 cellular phones to
delegates and the media, in exchange for the publicity of being
the official local telephone carrier.
Additionally,
General Motors once provided 310 cars for use by party officials,
Mitsubishi has provided the big-screen TV sets, Xerox has been the
official document producer, and AT&T has handled the long distance
and internet access service.
In short, corporate
executives see the national conventions as the political equivalent
of the Olympics. It’s a highly visible showcase for products
and services. And offers a golden opportunity to promote corporate
images with the people who set national policy, as well as with
the national media.
BarterNews
issue #62 is now available...Get
yourself a copy now! Orders are shipped within two
business days. (Click on Order Form.)
Stash
Tea Traded With B&Bs
Stash Tea Company,
manufacturer and cataloger of more than 80 blends of tea, expanded
the company’s awareness when they successfully bartered with
more than 1,000 bed-and-breakfast inns.
They did so
through a program where the inns were included in a 78-page B&B
guide that Stash publishes annually. Participating B&Bs received
a sampler box of tea as a “thank you” for joining the
promotion.
Innkeepers can
order additional product from the Stash Tea catalog at a discount.
In exchange, the inns provide a free night’s lodging to Stash
catalog and retail customers who pay for a two-night stay.
Get
New Money-Making Ideas And Valuable Contacts!
You can obtain
useful, informative ideas and contacts in every available back-issue
of BarterNews.
“Just-in-Time”
Financing Enables Greater & More
Profitable Global Trade
Major corporation
buyers and sellers presently settle their payments predominantly
by a paper-heavy method called the letter of credit, first popularized
by the Medici banking family of Florence more than 400 years ago.
(The process, requiring the banks of buyer and seller to exchange
documents, often takes two weeks.)
But recently
companies have begun investing in new internet-based platforms that
instantly link buyer and seller...sometimes relegating banks to
the sidelines. Although these online procurement efforts were started
in the late 1990s, they’ve gained significant traction in
the marketplace only in the last two years.
TradeCard, a
company launched in 1994, allows a buyer to connect the flow of
physical goods with the flow of electronic funds by handling both
through the same electronic document. (TradeCard had 750 major clients
at the end of 2003.)
A similar product
is being pushed by UPS Capital, a subsidiary of logistics titan
United Parcel Service. Last year the firm handled $1.4 billion in
payment transactions.
At stake is
more than a tech upgrade. Today the cost of processing trade documents
is more than 5% of the total annual value of world trade! Consider
that the present cost of processing a simple transaction is about
$400, up to 24 forms must be completed for each transaction,
and that half of all letter-of-credit transactions are rejected
by banks because of incorrect information.
The growth and
usage of just-in-time financing is not surprising, considering the
savings in time and money. It’s a natural evolution, following
the explosion of just-in-time manufacturing and just-in-time inventory.
And as the financial supply chain works faster, the physical supply
chain can move faster, too. Which in turn greases the global supply
chain and the interdependence of nations around the world.
Every
barter company in the world is listed on our web site,
click through to our Global List of
Barter Companies.
Did
you know that your classified ad gets one full year exposure in
the
Tuesday Report archives?!
For
information on The Barter Marketplace click
here.
The
Barter Marketplace archives click
here.
Independent
Restaurant Owners Concerned
As chain restaurants
extend their reach into urban locales, independent restaurant owners
are beginning to join forces through a new organization. Known as
the Council of Independent Restaurants of America (CIRA), they now
have 15 chapters scattered across the United States.
CIRA’s
objective: To protect the independent restaurant owners’ turf
by joining forces against the chains...working together to buy co-op
billboard ads, post links on local web sites, and spread the word
that independent restaurateurs are people with a passion for food
who are working together to better their communities. Don Luria
is the president of CIRA, phone: (520) 579-5771.
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.)
Here
& There...
- Last year
Russia’s economy grew by 7.2%, and the national government
now has a $100-billion surplus, thanks to the high price of oil.
Vladimir Putin’s economic policies—including his 13%
personal flat tax—is a positive too.
Today, for
the first time in Russian history, a nascent mortgage market exists
and entrepreneurship is flourishing. What’s needed now,
in a big way, is more foreign direct investment to modernize an
inefficient and unprofitable industrial base. That will come about
as Russia makes a commitment to civil liberties, democracy, and
the rule of law.
- Whether you’re
buying or bartering for a used car, be aware of one thing...we’re
seeing the sharpest drop in used-card prices in over 40 years,
according to CarMax.com.
- Have
you signed up to receive a summary via e-mail of the
Tuesday Report every week? If not, go to the top of this
issue (right hand corner) and sign up!
- The latest
World Wealth Report, a study conducted by consulting firm Capgemini
Group and brokerage house Merrill Lynch, shows the wealthy last
year poured a large portion of their more conservative cash and
bond holdings into riskier assets increasing their fortunes...of
those the biggest driver of wealth was stocks.
Between 2002
and 2003, 48% of high-net-worth individuals around the world increased
their appetite for risk. The total fortunes of high-net-worth
individuals in North America swelled $1.1 trillion in 2003, with
Europe gaining $300 billion and Asia up $600 billion.
- Economists
looking for clues about the future of the nation’s housing
boom might want to take a look at Australia. Like the U.S. they
enjoyed a spectacular run-up in home values over the past few
years, with the reasons for the boom being similar...low interest
rates, easy credit, and buyers seeking to offset stock-market
losses.
The only critical
difference is that home prices in Sydney fell 7.5% in the first
quarter of 2004, and could tumble by 20% by the end of the years,
according to Australian Property Monitors. The fall in prices
was a result of policy-maker moves to rein Australia’s inflated
property market by raising interest rates, plus a new tax on investment
properties (similar to our 1986 real estate tax hike).
|