From the desk of Bob
Meyer...10/3/06
The Barter Company Celebrates 10th
Anniversary
The Barter Company trade exchange is celebrating its 10th
year in business with the announcement of an expansion into
Destin, Florida.
TBC founder Ric Zampatti, in addition to providing exchange
services to 2,000 businesses in the Atlanta area, also has
an established billboard company. TBC is hosting its annual
golf outing on October 16 at the Brookfield Country Club in
Roswell, and a holiday trade show on November 4 at the Cobb
Galleria Centre.
For more information see:www.thebartercompany.com.
$9 Trillion In Unregistered Land
The second annual Clinton Global Initiative held in NYC last
week saw heads of state, celebrities and the super-rich,
gathering to raise funds to help solve the world?s problems.
The buzz at this year?s meeting centered on a topic
heretofore all but ignored...registering poor people?s
property so they could borrow against it to build
businesses, etc. Many citizens of developing countries
(estimated to be 85%) don?t formally have title to their
land, which is a key source of urban poverty.
Unregistered land in developing countries has an estimated
total of over $9 trillion. It?s wealth locked-up, which
keeps people in poverty instead of being an asset that can
lift them up.
Saying that ?land ownership is the cornerstone of economic
stability in any region,? Craig DeRoy, the president of
First American Corp., a seller of title-insurance and credit
information, committed $1 million in cash and in-kind
services to develop a ?template? to give the poor in
developing countries a way to establish land titles.
Hedge Fund Industry Controlled By A Few Firms
There are nearly 7,000 hedge funds, but 80% of the $1.2
trillion in the industry?s assets are controlled by 125
firms, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc. of Chicago.
ITEX Brokers Association Considered Vital By
Management
The ITEX Corp. (OTCBB:ITEX) with 22,000 members is the
largest trade exchange in the United States. Just a week
after the completion of the International Reciprocal Trade
Association?s annual convention at the TradeWinds Resort in
St. Petersburg (FL), the IBA (ITEX Brokers Association)
hosted the first of three annual ?Regional Conferences? at
the same venue.
The three-day event was attended by ITEX licensees and
franchisees, as well as four representatives from the
corporate office. Continuous meetings and workshops were
conducted to bring new information and programs to the
attention of the brokers, and to promote a spirit of mutual
cooperation.
Chairman and CEO Steven White believes these conferences are
vital for keeping everyone in the ITEX organization
well-informed and connected.
The next ?Regional Conference? will be held in Salt Lake
City, and the final event will take place in Dallas.
For more information:
www.itex.com.
World Economic Forum Downgrades United States
Serial budget deficits in the U.S. make the country?s
economy less competitive, according to a study by the World
Economic Forum, an institute in Switzerland.
A rise in public debt means an increasing portion of
government spending will go toward debt service, and less
money is available for infrastructure spending (schools and
other investments that could boost productivity). Heavy
goverment borrowing tends to drive up the cost of money,
i.e. businesses borrowing costs.
The research institute downgraded the U.S. because of other
long-term potential costs such as health care and pensions.
The U.S., which fell to sixth place, has been replaced at
the top by Switzerland. Finland remains second, Sweden rose
to third. India ranks 43rd out of the 125 countries in the
survey, China ranks 54th, Russia 62nd and Brazil 66th.
New Online Business Search For Nighthawks &
Travelers Alike
A new web site,
http://www.ilate.com, is the only web site of its kind
in which users can search local businesses that are open
much later or much earlier than their competitors.
Businesses are searchable by category, and by their days and
hours of operation.
The web site lists businesses that provide the ?necessities?
of life, such as pharmacies, supermarkets, walk-in clinics,
libraries, internet caf?, grocery stores, restaurants, pet
shops, book stores, computer shops, hardware stores,
department stores, car rentals and post offices.
BizXchange Honored
On September 21 the East Bay Business Times put on a
banquet honoring BizXchange in Oakland (CA) as one of the
?FAST 50,? the 50 fastest growing privately held companies
in the East Bay. (BizXchange was #25.)
And for the second year in a row, BizXchange in Seattle was
selected as one of Puget Sound Business Journal?s 100
Fastest-Growing Private Companies in Washington State.
For more information see:
www.bizx.com.
?Dr. Phil? Diet-Pill Maker Provides Barter
Option To Settle Suit
Buyers of diet products endorsed by TV psychologist Dr. Phil
McGraw will be eligible for some cash refunds in addition to
an exchange option (to receive Nurtrilite multivitamins),
under terms of a $10.5-million lawsuit settlement alleging
that the products didn?t work as advertised.
The Shape Up products, which are no longer distributed or
sold, included shakes, bars and multi-vitamins, made by CSA
Nutraceuticals of Irving, Texas.
Internet Advertising Growth Explosive
Internet advertising spending in the U.S. jumped 37% in the
first half of this year, compared with the same six months
of 2005. Advertisers spent $7.9 billion to push products and
services, the Internet Advertising Bureau reported.
Search engines account for the largest ad format on the Web,
at about 40% of total revenue. The top two U.S. search
service providers are Google and Yahoo.
Current U.S. Listing Information...
The Cash Exchange
800 E. Magnolia Avenue
Knoxville, TN 37917
Ph: (865) 521-7800
Fax: (865) 524-5277
E-mail:
jerrysr@cashexchange.us
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