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June 30, 2009 Written
by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews
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From
the desk of Bob Meyer...06/30/2009
Bartercard�s Incredible Sales Staff
The world�s largest trade exchange, with 65,000 members, is
Bartercard. Launched 18 years ago by Australia�s
entrepreneurial Wayne Sharpe, the company focused on setting
up a superior barter training and operational system. The
diligence has paid off.
In an industry that sees a turnover of sales people,
Bartercard can boast of their top seven sales people. They
have sold 8,000 new members between them, all paid. The
record for a single month of personal sales is 43 members.
And eleven other sales people have signed up 35 in a month.
Bartercard�s best are: Rod Bryan 1,259 sign-ups; Kevin
Dienoff 1,165; Steve Mills 1,248; Paul Marcello 1,023;
Michael Tynne 1,157; Mac Mackie 1,129; Rose Lawlar 1,022.
Value of World�s Millionaires Assets Slid 20%
The ranks of the world�s millionaires shrank at the fastest
rate in 2008, with North America suffering the biggest
wealth loss worldwide, according to a survey by Capgemini
and Merrill Lynch & Co.
The global slump in property and equity markets last year
cut the number of millionaires by 15% to 8.6 million, wiping
out two years of increases, the firms said in their 13th
annual World Wealth Report. (The value of the world�s
millionaires� assets slid 20% to $32.8 trillion, after a
9.4% increase the previous year, the survey said.)
Surprisingly, the U.S. wealthy fared better than many of
their overseas counterparts. While the nation�s millionaire
population fell 19%, the U.K. had a 26% drop, Russia fell
29%, India dropped 32%, and Australia and Canada both topped
23%. (Those least affected included Brazil with a 9% drop,
and China with a 12% drop.)
Vancouver�s Commercial Real Estate Booming
Having had the good fortune to spend time in one of the most
beautiful cities in the world, it�s good to see Vancouver
(BC) is doing so well with its commercial real estate
(office buildings, shopping centers and other properties).
Because of the low vacancy rates (4.2%), prices are holding
up in Vancouver, versus most cities in the U.S. where
average prices are down 25% to 35% in most locations.
Companies Plan To Operate With Less Employees
Consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide conducted a new
survey of 179 companies and reports that 52% of those
surveyed expect to employ fewer people three to five years
from now than they did before the recession began. And 73%
expect employees to shoulder more of the cost of health care
than prior to the recession.
All
back issues of �From the Desk...� can be accessed by
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Hyundai Motor America
Barters 1,300 Cars
According to Automotive News, Hyundai Motor America traded
1,300 brand-new Tiburon coupes to corporate barter company Active
International. The deal included very little cash, with the bulk of
the invoice price consisting of advertising credits that Hyundai
will use in its media buying plan.
Hyundai made Active International promise (agree to) that the cars
wouldn�t be resold to Hyundai dealers or to undercut Hyundai�s own
marketing programs�for example, by reselling cars to a used-car
superstore that could offer them for less than Hyundai dealers�
deeply discounted prices.
Active International did $1.4 billion in corporate trade business in
2008.
Attention Trade Exchange Owners. . .It�s GROW OR GO!
The magic bullet for growth is sales, always has been and always
will be...yet the industry�s overall growth is anemic. Why? Maybe
it�s because we�re not providing on-going education about our unique
way of doing business. Knowledge is always a pre-requisite to taking
sustained action.
And for those newcomers, the lifeblood of an exchange, awareness of
and understanding about the value of trading is even more important.
If you expect prospects to come aboard and your members to be more
active traders, but you are perplexed when the results are less than
you desire...there�s a good reason. You must continually educate
and motivate every month--month after month after month!
Such action is necessary because, let�s face it, more cash business,
not trade, is of paramount importance to your members. You must
break through this �cash only� focus and redirect their thinking
toward barter. Although most exchanges don�t see the importance of
doing so, many industry leaders are taking action and so can you.
As the owner of your own operation, there is an easy and
inexpensive solution for moving forward...look
into using The Competitive Edge newsletter. It�s a
camera-ready, 4-page, professionally written, informational
marketing tool...available in PDF format as well as print. So
regardless of how you reach your prospects and clients, you will
have the necessary vehicle.
Written especially for you, the busy trade exchange owner, I am
certain it will be the best investment you ever make.
For more information about The Competitive Edge, and how it
can benefit you
click
here.
New Tax Breaks For
Small-Business Owners
(This information is
provided by active members of the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants.)
Situation:
Your client has a small business and is considering some capital
expenditures this year but is wondering about the tax implications.
Solution: The
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains several provisions
designed to encourage small-business owners to invest in their
companies. Some of these provisions are available only for a limited
time.
Faster recovery of certain investments in business property:
Small businesses that invest in new property or equipment will have
the opportunity to increase the expensing or depreciation of the
purchases in 2009. There are two options to increase deductions
related to capital expenditures.
Increased limit on Section 179 expense:
Businesses can elect to expense, rather than depreciate, the cost of
machinery, equipment, vehicles and other tangible property placed in
service in 2009. The maximum deduction is $250,000, and the cost of
property in excess of this amount may be depreciated over the life
of the property. In 2010, the Section 179 cap will drop to $133,000
(indexed for inflation). After 2010, the cap returns to the prior
limit of $25,000.
The
Section 179 deduction cannot exceed taxable income. If the deduction
is limited, it may be carried over to future years. However, it
phases out for capital expenditures above $800,000 and limits the
tax break to smaller businesses. The phase out level on capital
expenditures also decreases after 2009.
Bonus depreciation allowed in 2009:
A small business may deduct up to 50% of the cost of �qualified
property� purchased and placed in service in 2009 (2010 for certain
longer-lived property). Qualified property is almost any capital
expenditure other than buildings.
The
Section 179 expense and the bonus depreciation may be used together.
However, the basis for depreciating the property must first be
reduced by the Section 179 expense.
Extended NOL carry-back period:
Normally, a net operating loss may be carried back two years and
carried forward 20 years to offset taxable income. For NOLs created
after December 31, 2007, the act provides a five-year carry-back
period. Therefore, if the business paid taxes in the prior five
years, the NOL may be carried back to the fifth prior year and each
succeeding year to offset income and refund taxes.
This provision applies to most types of businesses, as well as
individuals, provided that gross income did not average more than
$15 million in the three years leading up to the NOL. To claim the
refund, eligible businesses must file Form 1139 by September 15.
Eligible individuals must file by October 15 using Form 1045.
Shortened period for taxing S-corporation built-in gains:
Corporations which elect S-corporation status are not taxed at the
corporate level. Instead, the income, deductions and credits are
reported by the shareholders.
If
a C-corporation elects S-corporation status, any gain inherent in
property owned by the corporation at the time of the election and
sold within 10 years of the election will be taxed at the maximum
corporate rate (currently 35%). A provision of the act reduces the
10-year period to seven years in 2009 and 2010. This provision will
benefit corporations that became S-corporations (or acquired
property from a C-corporation) between 1999 and 2003.
Breaks for individuals who own small businesses:
An individual may exclude 75% of the gain from qualified
small-business stock acquired after February 17 of this year and
before January 1, 2011. To qualify, the stock must be held at least
five years and acquired at the original issue date. This provision
will benefit individuals after February 17, 2014, upon satisfying
the five-year holding period. Certain limitations apply to the
exclusion, which is normally 50% of the gain.
A
taxpayer who receives more than half of his or her income from a
small business may reduce the required 2009 estimated tax payments.
Normally, estimated tax payments must equal or exceed the smaller of
90% of the current year tax or 110% of the prior-year tax. In 2009,
taxpayers who qualify only make estimated payments based on the
lesser of 90% of the 2008 tax or 90% of the 2009 tax. This provision
benefits taxpayers with 2009 income greater than 2008.
�
International visitors look for BARTER CONTACTS in our Global Barter
Section. If YOUR exchange isn�t listed see the forms on the lower
left of the page. (Click
here.)
�
Attention trade exchange owners...thousands of visitors every month
visit our BARTER CONTACTS section on our web site where we have
names & addresses of barter companies in the USA. If YOUR exchange
isn�t listed, or the information is incorrect, you can correct the
situation by using the forms to the lower left of the USA map. (Click
here.)
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Hoteliers Must Expand
Thinking
If
you are reading the papers these days you�re probably amazed at the
problems and foreclosures within the hotel industry. Hoteliers of
every size and description are failing, because over-leveraged
hotels are not generating enough cash flow to cover their expenses.
In
the first five months of this year, U.S. hotel occupancy declined to
53%, the lowest total since Smith Travel Research began tracking the
figures in 1987. Revenue per available room, on average, has
declined to $52.78 so far this year, the lowest tally since 2004.
BarterNews
published an excellent study by the CPA of a Los Angeles-based hotel
chain (5 properties) which showed that the property would generate
an average of $24 per room in cash business when they traded their
rooms. The author of the article even suggested that �giving the
rooms away� would be financially better than letting them sit empty.
Inasmuch as an occupancy rate of 62% to 65% is usually the breakeven
point for a hotel, today�s challenging times (53% occupancy) call
for some expanded thinking. Embracing barter with a greater emphasis
would be a good start.
Money-Making Reports Available From BarterNews
The Myths Of Paper Money
By Benjamin Gisin
There are two popular myths about paper money. The first is that
government prints so much paper money that it causes inflation.
Secondly is that there is nothing backing the paper money. These
myths are so prevalent they have taken on a mantra of reality. These
myths are often associated with interests wanting to sell gold.
These myths are usually put forward as the cause of inflation and
economic ills. They draw attention away from how the monetary system
works, resulting in the wrong medicine recommendation for our
economic woes. The monetary system is a process of indebtedness that
curtails the economy by saturating it with debt and then being
unable to find enough qualified borrowers to keep the economy going
with more debt.
Paper money is a complex process that is a small piece of the larger
money process of indebtedness. The purpose of paper money is to
provide bank checking and savings account holders the option to
convert what is in their bank account to paper money. Paper money
has nothing to do with government printing to finance its operations
or cause inflation.
The
following explanation of the paper money process will provide some
insight:
�
The Bureau
of Engraving and Printing, which is a division of the United States
Treasury, prints all denominations of paper money upon order from
the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed). The Fed is a private banking
corporation created by law with responsibilities to report its
operations to the government. The Fed pays the Bureau of Engraving
and Printing for the cost of printing the paper money.
�
The Fed
puts the printed money in its vaults and awaits orders from banks
who need paper money to cash checks or for ATM machines. Paper money
is a debt of the Fed.
�
The Fed
must create the reserves that banks use to buy the paper money from
the Fed. This is done by the Fed buying, on the open market, U.S.
Treasury and other debt securities. When the Fed buys securities, it
credits the reserve account of the bank where the securities dealer
has his account. It is this debt the Fed has to banks that banks use
to purchase the paper money from the Fed at face value.
�
The Fed
collateralizes the cash it ships to banks with the same basket of
securities it purchased to create the reserves.
�
What the
Fed owes banks in terms of reserves, is transferred to what the Fed
owes in the form of cash at the bank.
�
When a
customer cashes a check or makes an ATM withdrawal, the bank lowers
what it owes the customer�s checking/savings account in exchange for
the paper money which is an obligation of the Fed.
For
the person unfamiliar with banking process, these six points of
explanation can be confusing. The bottom line is that paper money is
issued by banks (not government). The issuance of paper money is
offset by the simultaneous extinguishing of checking/savings account
money. The more paper money in circulation, the less money is in
circulation via checks and debit cards.
So
the use of one form of money (paper money) extinguishes another form
of money (checking and savings deposits). Primarily, it is the
banks� creation of checking and savings account money, and further
secondary lending of that money, that causes inflation and increases
the amount and speed of money in circulation.
As
of 3/31/09 (source: FDIC) the U.S. banking system was obligated for
$8,954 billion in customer deposits. As of 4/2/09 (source: Federal
Reserve) there was $865 billion of paper money in circulation. When
you deposit paper money in a bank, your bank account goes up by the
same amount as the paper money that is now out of circulation and
vice versa.
All
paper money issued by the Federal Reserve is collateralized (backed)
by some type of security. In recent months, the Fed purchased
securities representing bonds collateralized by residential homes.
Some of these bonds now collateralize some of the paper money in
circulation (source: Federal Reserve).
The
printing, issuance, and collateralization of paper money have little
to do with financial and economic meltdown. The nation�s economic
woes are the result of a financial system based entirely on complex
processes of indebtedness. The money products of these processes
(bank accounts and paper money) make an inferior means of exchange
by virtue of saturating the economy with debt, barriers to access in
that someone must qualify for credit and their use as savings,
rather than circulating media.
For
more information and discovering what options are emerging,
subscribe to Peaceful Economics newsletter. Annual subscription
$21.95, for 6 issues. Phone (208) 523-2717, or send check to PO Box
3662, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83403.
For
speaking engagements, radio interviews or comments phone (208)
523-2717, or e-mail
editor@touchthesoil.com.
Benjamin Gisin is a veteran banker and former senior agricultural
approval officer for one of the nation�s largest agricultural banks.
Since 1998, he consults businesses and agricultural producers facing
credit challenges. He writes and lectures extensively on the
evolution of money, economics and food security.
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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 70 free, informative and inspiring, articles for you in our
�Secondary Capital Section.�
Check
it out...
www.barternews.com/secondary_capital.htm.
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