Written by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews

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Magazine Industry Continues Expansion

The Internet was supposed to stifle the magazine publishing industry, but one only need walk into a Borders, Waldenbooks or Barnes & Noble to see evidence that that hasn’t happened. (Furthermore, most publications don’t even aspire to be sold through newsstand distribution.)

The National Directory of Magazines reports that there are 18,821 magazine titles available in the United States (latest figures from 2004), up from 13,541 in 1988.

Publications audited by the Standard Rate and Data Service during that same period increased to 2,570 from 1,723, while those audited by the Audit Bureau of Circulations grew to 708 from 559.

The largest growth in the United States and Canada, from 1994 to 2004, came in the area of college and alumni publications...from 707 in 1994 to 1,013 in 2004. Other high-growth magazine segments were agricultural supplies, medicine, travel, interior design and decoration, automotive, collectibles, golf, football and dogs.

While the Internet has become a popular place to get information, magazines are portable and often have information you can’t find surfing the ‘Net.

With the substantial growth in titles also comes more barter opportunities for media inventory. Most publishers are looking to fill ad pages, hence the competition for advertisers is ongoing and the environment for deals, trade and cash discounts, keeps expanding.

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Accommodations On Trade Most Plentiful In October & November

Looking to get an “autumn high” on trade? Some of the top accommodations at pricey ski resorts are available on barter all along the U.S. and Canadian Rockies.

So if you’ve ever wanted to enjoy Aspen or Vail in Colorado, Whistler in British Columbia, or any other renowned ski resort, now is the time to take advantage of the opportunities in the shoulder season.

For many, part of the appeal is that the streets are less crowded...absent are the summer throngs or soon to be winter skiers. And you can still hike the trails or go mountain-biking, fly-fishing, rock climbing, horse-back riding, rafting and kayaking in the fall, at much less cost than in July and August.

For accommodations check with the trade exchange in your area. To see our listings of U.S. barter companies click here.

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(If you are not sure if your subscription has lapsed, e-mail your name, address, and zip code to bmeyer@barternews.com.

Sports Celebrities Bartering With Cruise Lines

Cruise companies are enticing winter customers with celebrities from the world of sports. MSC Cruises will launch the first of five baseball-themed trips with Hall-of-Fame pitcher Bob Feller and former Orioles manager Earl Weaver in December.

Crystal Cruises has planned trips with former golf professional Billy Casper, Olympic gold-medalist figure skater Dorothy Hamill, and Don Shula, Miami Dolphins’ former football coach. In exchange for mingling with cruise guests the celebrities enjoy an all-expense paid vacation.

Bartered Oil Fills U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve

The U.S. emergency oil stockpile, known as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) has added more than $6.5 billion worth of crude since November 2001 and they did so without spending a dime.

President Bush decided to fill the SPR to its then 700-million-barrel capacity, and the government did so by taking advantage of an existing barter program between producers and the federal government, which sees oil bartered for the use of government land.

After Hurricane Katrina caused production slowdown, the President—in an effort to ease supply shortages—sold 11 million barrels of oil to petroleum companies for between $60 and $66 a barrel, bringing $702 million into federal coffers.

The Department of Energy estimates that the SPR’s stock has been acquired for an average cost of $27 per barrel. If it were all sold today at prevailing rates, it’d be worth $44 billion.

Every barter company in the world is listed on our web site, click through to our Global List of Barter Companies.

Log Onto eBay, Sell Your Home

Dan Whaley, 36, founded the Internet Travel Network back at the beginning of the dot-com boom in 1995. The company eventually became GetThere.com and was sold in 2000 to Sabre Holdings, owner of Travelocity, for $757 million.

Whaley, still a believer in the power of the Internet, recently auctioned off his San Mateo (CA) home on eBay for $1.2 million. (He paid $497,000 for the three-bedroom house in 1997.) The waterfront property received 152 bids in 10 days, according to Whaley, who started with an initial asking price of 99 cents! He chose the auction site to save on sales commissions and to get the best possible price for the house. Local brokers initially priced the home at less than $1 million.

Million Dollar Homes “A Dime A Dozen” In Some Places

There are more than 1 million owner-occupied homes in the U.S. worth $1 million or more, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics published September 2005. Once a symbol of unusual wealth, million-dollar dwellings now seem like a-dime-a-dozen in some places. Los Angeles County has an estimated 104,000 of them, and in neighboring Orange Country there are roughly 46,000. (In 2002 there were 595,441 homes worth at least $1 million, nationally.)

David Siegel, Time-Share King & Barterer Extraordinaire, Still Working On Palatial Estate

In a past issue of BarterNews we reported on the bartering efforts of David Siegel, the time-share king located in Orlando. He’s now two years into building his 90,000-square-foot Florida palace named Versailles. The home will sport an indoor hockey rink with its own Zamboni, four swimming pools (one Olympic-sized), a health spa with massage rooms, a stadium tennis court seating 200 spectators, a full-sized baseball diamond, and a two-lane bowling alley.

Trade Exchange Owners...

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Forbes Columnist/Economic Consultant Says Housing Downturn Will End Twenty-Five Year Borrowing Binge

A. Gary Shilling, President of A. Gary Shilling & Co., sees home prices falling which will create some very unpleasant economic after effects. Shilling says leaping house prices have made consumers feel wealthy so they save less and borrow more.

He doesn’t see high interest rates puncturing the housing balloon. The real threat is that prices will get so high that potential buyers will stand aside and nervous speculators will dump their properties on the market.

Already, he contends, the supply of existing housing for sale is jumping. Along with the anticipated sales dumping, the destruction of housing wealth will end the quarter-century binge of borrowing and spending. This will in turn initiate a consumer saving spree, spreading the pain up the retailing spectrum.

Ultimately, Shilling believes, a severe break in house prices could destroy enough net worth and spawn a big enough financial crisis to shift the good deflation of excess supply to bad deflation of deficient demand.

New “Plan Of Action” Incorporates Commodity-Based Finance

Thailand’s Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra met with his British counterpart Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street last week, to foster closer ties through a new plan of action which calls for the support of barter, i.e. trading Britain’s weapons for Thai agricultural produce.

The weapons are through BAE Systems, a UK government-supported manufacturer. The joint statement, released by the British government after the talks, said that the two prime ministers welcomed the accords as a sign of progress in cooperation between BAE Systems and the Thai government regarding the Thai Defence Modernisation Programme.

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Here & There...

• Mike Ames, Founder of TradeAmericanCard located in Orange County (CA), is handling the Gifts-In-Kind program for The Joyful Child Foundation. The organization was launched by Erin Runnion, mother of Samantha Runnion who was abducted from outside her home in Orange County in July of 2002, eleven days before her sixth birthday. The Joyful Child’s mission is to unite and uplift our nation’s communities in the protection and wonderment of all children. For more information call TradeAmericanCard at (714) 532-1610.

• 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!

• Andy Xie, Morgan Stanley & Co.’s chief regional economist based in Hong Kong, estimated recently that China’s economy “is more than twice as dependent on trade and fixed investment as on average in the world.” The gross value of China’s exports and fixed asset investment, he figured, could reach 89% of the country’s gross domestic product this year...compared with 60% in 2001.