From the desk of Bob
Meyer...12/19/06
IMS
Flying High!
International
Monetary Systems had record revenue and trade transactions
for November. Trade volume totaled more than $11 million in
sales. (IMS only reports one side of the barter
transactions. Most barter companies report both sides.) That
$11 million figure was an increase of 80%, compared to
$6,100,000 for the same period last year.
Gross revenue
billed was nearly $1.2 million, versus $696,000 for November
of last year...a 72% increase. And 195 new clients were
enrolled in the IMS barter network last month, the second
highest total in the company's history.
For more
information on IMS:
www.internationalmonetary.com.
The
New
York Times Article On Trade
Exchanges Inaccurate
On Sunday, December 10, an article titled, "Taxing Virtual
Economies" discussed taxing online video games in which
players work, play and increasingly earn real money...income
that some argue should be taxed.
In the article one paragraph jumped out at us...as reprinted
below:
Taxing virtual
economies actually has a precedent. In the ‘70s, the IRS
cracked down on so-called barter clubs, an estimated $200
million economy in which club members earned "trade dollars"
in a virtual currency, either by selling goods or performing
services. In 1980, the IRS ruled that such transactions
could be taxed, even though no actual money was involved.
The clubs quickly dried up.
The IRS ruling for barter transactions did not occur in
1980. It was in 1982 that the Tax Equity & Fiscal
Responsibility Act (TEFRA) was enacted. Furthermore, the
commercial barter industry worked with the IRS in the
formation of this Act to provide a legitimacy to the
industry.
Under TEFRA trade exchanges (commercial barter clubs) were
considered third party record keepers...the same as banks,
credit card companies, and stock brokers. And they provide
1099s to the government on their clients' transactions.
Additionally, the notation that "the clubs quickly dried
up"
is incorrect as well. The industry is alive and well, with
hundreds of trade exchanges in the U.S., and an additional
400 or so exchanges operating world wide.
National Venture Capital Association Says
Immigration Major Source Of Vitality
A new study from the National Venture Capital Association
titled, "American Made: The Impact of Immigrant
Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness,"
points out some little known facts about the vitality that
immigrant entrepreneurs bring to our shores.
According to the report, over the past 15 years, immigrants
have started 25% of U.S. public companies that were
venture-backed. These businesses employ 220,000 local
people, and have a current market capitalization that
exceeds $500 billion. Further evidence indicates that
foreign professionals in certain fields, such as computer
science and biotechnology, create jobs and wealth. And,
thus, are important contributions to our economy.
Intel Corporation's Venture-Capital Arm
Reaches $1 Billion In 2006
The Santa Clara (CA) chip-maker has long been among the most
active venture-capital investors, and has crossed the
billion dollar threshold for annual investments for the
third time in 2006. (In 1999 the firm's VC division invested
$1.2 billion, and in 2000 $1.3 billion.)
About 56% of the dollars Intel Capital invested this year
went to companies based outside of the United States. Recent
investments in Vietnam, China, and Germany reflect the
company's continued focus on firms that are experiencing
rapid growth in technology adoption in other countries.
Top
From the desk of Bob
Meyer...12/12/06
Barter Industry Appearances At Major Events A
Positive Move
In November Bartercard representatives attended the 12th
Annual Worldwide Leadership Conference at the Doha Marriott
Hotel in Qatar. An estimated 60,000 participants listened to
some of the world's greatest speakers--Stephen Covey, Jack
Welch, Ken Blanchard, and Mark Sanborn.
Earlier in the month IRTA Executive Director Krista
Vardabash and President Lois Dale, along with Dr. Lee Oi Kum,
Executive Chairman of BarterXchange Singapore, spoke at the
Global Entrepolis Singapore (GEX) 2006 Conference.
Such efforts over time will pay big dividends in an industry
that needs to actively seek out all exposure possible. Since
perception is reality, the only way to change today's
perception is through education and action.
The power of using a trade dollar currency to facilitate
that most profitable incremental business can then be more
readily understood. In short, it's time for a more ambitious
vision to move forward. If our industry continues to walk on
the same path, conducting "business as usual" we can only
expect the same results.
Rubbing elbows and dialoguing with those outside our usual
sphere is an excellent first step. The mover in the universe
is thought...what we imagine we can become.
Google Testing Radio Ad Sales
After the completion of a lengthy integration of dMarc
Broadcasting, Google is now testing software that will help
make advertising on radio more efficient and cost-effective.
The move is seen as a way to take Google's successful
online-ad formula into the realm of traditional media.
The new system lets companies upload their radio spots to
Google and indicate how much they plan to spend, where the
ads will run, the stations they will play on and at what
time.
Google's ambitious efforts to take over advertising in all
areas of mainstream media could take many years to fully
implement, because they will be up against the Madison
Avenue establishment. (They've already experienced several
failures at penetrating the print market.)
Gift Cards Stay Popular Despite Breakage
The National Retail Federation expects shoppers to buy close
to $25 billion in gift cards this holiday season. They're
one of the most popular gifts in America...yet there are
concerns.
In August, the federal Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency told banks that they should disclose their terms
and conditions in a way that both giver and getter could
clearly understand. (Almost all bank cards levy purchase
fees of a few dollars, and charge other fees if the
recipient doesn't use them up within six to 12 months. Gift
cards from retailers are better but not perfect.)
And Research firm TowerGroup figures that nearly $8 billion
of gift-card money will ultimately end up unused this year.
That's a considerable amount of breakage.
Top
From the desk of Bob
Meyer...12/05/06
"We Are Not Swappers!!"
(Krista Vardabash, IRTA Executive Director)
A November article in The Wall Street Journal about
online sites promoting the art of barter followed their
usual pattern of reporting examples and opinions on both
sides of a question.
Most of the article focused on various online sites that
offer direct, one-to-one trading opportunities for members.
Krista Vardabash was called and the article alluded to her
conversation with the author:
"Not everyone is
convinced online bartering, at least pure direct-trading
sites, will work. Krista Vardabash, executive director of
the International Reciprocal Trade Association, says Web
sites that count on direct trading are impractical. ‘It's
for the same reason that old-fashioned barter didn't work,'
she says. ‘Eventually some of them are going to find out
that they have to introduce a trade credit.'"
In a follow-up conversation with Vardabash, she told me that
the reporter contacted IRTA to inquire about online trading,
and wanted statistics regarding swapping sites. Vardabash
says she explained to the reporter that swap sites are a
different model than commercial trade exchanges.
She then provided the reporter a brief tutorial on what
commercial exchanges do and how they operate. She explained
that a trading unit is necessary to make more swaps happen,
because of the restrictive nature of direct trading...which
is what most swapping sites facilitate.
Vardabash said it was good to be quoted in the WSJ, but
thinks the idea of having commercial trade exchanges lumped
together with swapping sites is an indication that more
education is needed. She indicated that perhaps the word
barter is doing the commercial barter industry more harm
than good...concluding vigorously that we are not swappers!!
Readers, what are your thoughts?
Billionaire Encourages Young People To
Government Service
Samuel Heyman has amassed a fortune in real estate, building
materials and chemicals. And today the 67-year-old American
investor also owns a part of one of the world's most storied
financial markets, the London Stock Exchange.
Educated at Yale and a graduate of Harvard Law School,
Heyman started his career in the Justice Department as a
trial lawyer during the administration of John F. Kennedy,
earning $2,500 a year. Five years later, the early death of
his father in 1968 brought him back to his family's real
estate business in Connecticut.
He still encourages young people to go into government
service, noting in a 2002 interview with The Wall Street
Journal that 30% of his fellow 1963 Harvard Law
graduates went on to work for the government, but only about
3% of 2001 graduates did.
(He has donated $45 million to found the Partnership for
Public Service, a nonprofit agency that aims to motivate
graduates to consider jobs in the federal government.)
Think Tank Changes Name To Peterson Institute
Peter Peterson is a former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and
the senior chairman of Blackstone Group, a private
investment banking firm he co-founded in 1985. He is an
outspoken advocate of reducing the U.S. budget deficit and
has authored two books on the subject. Peterson has also
been chairman of the Institute for International Economics
since its founding in 1981.
The Institute, a prominent voice in policy debates over
globalization and free trade, is changing its name to the
Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics--or
the Peterson Institute, for short--in honor of the think
tank's founding chairman.
China
Becoming R&D Center For Pharmaceutical Companies
Major drug manufacturers around the world are eyeing China
as the answer to sophisticated laboratory services. And they
see China as an emerging competitor to India...long the
most-popular destination for outsourcing chemistry research
and drug development.
Estimates to develop and market a new drug often run as high
as $1.2 billion. Much of that cost goes for the slow process
of sifting through thousands of compounds, in hopes of
finding one that works against the disease being targeted.
In the U.S., the overall cost of a chemist to do drug
development work is around $250,000 a year. In China,
chemists with similar educational backgrounds may be hired
for as little as $25,000 a year.
Top
From the desk of Bob
Meyer...11/28/06
IMS Does It Again...Acquiring Steve Webster's
Alliance Barter
International Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM), continues its
"PacMan-like" focus of acquiring the nation's top trade
exchanges. Their latest coup being Alliance Barter, one of
the best operated exchanges in the country with an
especially strong trade dollar. The Rochester NY-based
Alliance serves clients in Buffalo and Syracuse, with a
Canadian office in Toronto.
Don Mardak, CEO of IMS, says this merger will open the door
for expansion into Canada, in addition to bringing a wealth
of new products and services into the IMS Barter network.
Steve Webster, the founder and owner of Alliance Barter, is
a long-time respected leader in the commercial barter
industry and a member of the IRTA Barter Hall of Fame. He is
the only person who has been president of both industry
trade associations, IRTA and NATE.
This is Steve Webster's 29th year in the barter business. An
excellent cover story on Alliance Barter was published in
BarterNews, to view the article click on
www.barternews.com/pdf/34-37Alliance.pdf.
For more information on IMS:
www.internationalmonetary.com.
Silicon Valley Hospitals To Barter Patient
Data
If you had some health challenges and had to be hospitalized
several times you know the antiquated methods for acquiring
a patient's health data, i.e. filling out numerous forms,
over and over, with the same information, even when the
patient's stay is in the same hospital.
The exchange of data in Silicon Valley is going to change
that scenario. Three area hospitals (L. Packard Children's
Hospital, El Camino Hospital in Mountain View; and Stanford
Hospital/Clinics) along with the Smart Health initiative
will undertake the creation of a unified electronic patient
record that will be available to doctors and patients
anywhere, anytime.
By exchanging such information, lower costs for local health
care providers will be realized, and it will facilitate
improving the quality of care for everyone.
IRTA Releases Universal Currency (UC) Report
Trading among IRTA-member trade exchanges, which use a trade
credit called "Universal Currency," was brisk in October,
according to a report from UC trade broker Jen Ashworth.
The top three traders for the month were Advantis
International, IMS Barter, and Florida Barter. The newest
member to the UC system is Greenapple Barter, located in
Pittsburgh (PA).
Also noted was San Antonio-based Alamo Barter, which sold
over $25,000 worth of toys, tools and showroom merchandise
in October, and another $27,000 the first 15 days of
November.
China's Tourism Sector Takes Off
China's National Tourism Administration says the industry is
booming. A lot of it has to do with China's per-capita
income, which surpassed $1,700 last year and has stimulated
domestic tourism.
Economists have maintained that once incomes get past
$1,000, people have money to spend on things besides
necessities.
Meanwhile, an influx of foreign visitors is expected...in
addition to the 2008 Olympic Games, Shanghai will hold the
World Expo in 2010, while Guangzhou will host the 16th Asian
Games that same year.
Economist Reveals How Home Values Affect
Economy, GDP
Jan Hatzius, chief U.S. economist at Goldman Sachs in New
York, says that modern mortgage finance has magnified the
effect of home values on spending.
According to Hatzius, when people take cash out of their
homes through home-equity loans and refinancings, which they
were doing at an annualized rate of $558 billion in the
first quarter of 2006, they tend to spend about 50-cents of
every dollar outside home improvement.
If house prices merely stabilize, people's diminished
ability to use their houses like automated-teller machines
would subtract about 0.75 percentage point from annualized
GDP growth in 2007.
Top
From the desk of Bob
Meyer...11/21/06
IRTA Sends Formal Invitation To NATE For
Unified 2007 Conference
The commercial barter industry has had two parallel trade
associations for the past twenty-two years. Much has changed
within the industry over the years. Not only have many of
the players (exchange owners) changed, but the agendas of
decades ago are no longer applicable.
Given the aforementioned, along with some new challenges the
industry's two associations are facing, the International
Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA) Board of Directors sent
a formal proposal to the National Association of Trade
Exchanges (NATE) Board of Directors on October 16, 2006,
suggesting that the two organizations stage a unified annual
conference.
IRTA's Executive Director recently sent the following
statement to BarterNews:
"The IRTA felt that in the current environment of exchange
consolidation in the U.S. and with fictitious associations
claiming to represent the industry (i.e. NABA), it was
critical to join forces.
"The strongest and most reputable exchanges have supported
either IRTA or NATE over the last 25+ years. These are the
exchanges that should continue to lead and leverage the
strengths of each other.
"We understand that the NATE board will be
considering this proposal at their next board meeting, and
we hope to report soon that there will indeed be a joint
conference for both owners and brokers in 2007."
IMS Pushing Ahead As 3rd Quarter Report
Indicates
International Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM) has filed its
third quarter report, for the period ending September 30,
2006. Noted in the report was its recent acquisition of
National Trade Association, as well as other investments in
the company's infrastructure and the continued commitment to
internal growth.
Gross revenues increased to $1,687,573, compared to
$1,674,125 for the third quarter of 2005. Total expenses
were $1,803,266 versus $1,559,723. The company's
year-to-date consolidated gross revenue for the nine-months
ending September 30 totaled $5,240,400, compared to
$4,413,101 for the same period in 2005, an increase of 19%.
Total expenses for the nine months ending September 30 were
$5,241,215, compared to $4,091,555 for the same period last
year, an increase of 28%.
Year-to-date loss for the first nine months of 2006 was
$192,369, compared to a profit of $120,656 for 2005. Assets
grew 96% during that period from $7,937,986 at the end of
2005, to $15,168,231 at the end of September 2006.
IMS Barter is a national trade exchange with more than
15,000 customers, representing 22,000 cardholders in 40 U.S.
markets. For additional information on IMS:
http://www.internationalmonetary.com
MBA Program Designed For Sustainable Business
Studies
The Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI) in Seattle (WA), a
privately run institution, is specifically designed to
prepare students to build enterprises that are not only
financially viable, but socially responsible and
environmentally sustainable.
Founder Gifford Pinchott III, has helped launch over 700
businesses. He devotes one-third of his time to facilitating
groups addressing environmental issues. For more information
see
http://www.bgiedu.org.
Cashless Vending To Take Off
Some $1.46 trillion in consumer spending, on transactions
valued at less than $5, occurred last year. Now new cashless
technology on vending machines, which will accept credit and
debit cards (taking MasterCard's PayPass cards which are
waved in front of a reader) is underway.
Coca-Cola and MasterCard International plan to equip 1,000
vending machines in the Philadelphia area. It is the biggest
roll-out of its kind in the $40 billion U.S. vending
industry.
Top
From the desk of Bob
Meyer...12/05/06
"We Are Not Swappers!!"
(Krista Vardabash, IRTA Executive Director)
A November article in The Wall Street Journal about
online sites promoting the art of barter followed their
usual pattern of reporting examples and opinions on both
sides of a question.
Most of the article focused on various online sites that
offer direct, one-to-one trading opportunities for members.
Krista Vardabash was called and the article alluded to her
conversation with the author:
"Not everyone is
convinced online bartering, at least pure direct-trading
sites, will work. Krista Vardabash, executive director of
the International Reciprocal Trade Association, says Web
sites that count on direct trading are impractical. ‘It's
for the same reason that old-fashioned barter didn't work,'
she says. ‘Eventually some of them are going to find out
that they have to introduce a trade credit.'"
In a follow-up conversation with Vardabash, she told me that
the reporter contacted IRTA to inquire about online trading,
and wanted statistics regarding swapping sites. Vardabash
says she explained to the reporter that swap sites are a
different model than commercial trade exchanges.
She then provided the reporter a brief tutorial on what
commercial exchanges do and how they operate. She explained
that a trading unit is necessary to make more swaps happen,
because of the restrictive nature of direct trading...which
is what most swapping sites facilitate.
Vardabash said it was good to be quoted in the WSJ, but
thinks the idea of having commercial trade exchanges lumped
together with swapping sites is an indication that more
education is needed. She indicated that perhaps the word
barter is doing the commercial barter industry more harm
than good...concluding vigorously that we are not swappers!!
Readers, what are your thoughts?
Billionaire Encourages Young People To
Government Service
Samuel Heyman has amassed a fortune in real estate, building
materials and chemicals. And today the 67-year-old American
investor also owns a part of one of the world's most storied
financial markets, the London Stock Exchange.
Educated at Yale and a graduate of Harvard Law School,
Heyman started his career in the Justice Department as a
trial lawyer during the administration of John F. Kennedy,
earning $2,500 a year. Five years later, the early death of
his father in 1968 brought him back to his family's real
estate business in Connecticut.
He still encourages young people to go into government
service, noting in a 2002 interview with The Wall Street
Journal that 30% of his fellow 1963 Harvard Law
graduates went on to work for the government, but only about
3% of 2001 graduates did.
(He has donated $45 million to found the Partnership for
Public Service, a nonprofit agency that aims to motivate
graduates to consider jobs in the federal government.)
Think Tank Changes Name To Peterson Institute
Peter Peterson is a former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and
the senior chairman of Blackstone Group, a private
investment banking firm he co-founded in 1985. He is an
outspoken advocate of reducing the U.S. budget deficit and
has authored two books on the subject. Peterson has also
been chairman of the Institute for International Economics
since its founding in 1981.
The Institute, a prominent voice in policy debates over
globalization and free trade, is changing its name to the
Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics--or
the Peterson Institute, for short--in honor of the think
tank's founding chairman.
China
Becoming R&D Center For Pharmaceutical Companies
Major drug manufacturers around the world are eyeing China
as the answer to sophisticated laboratory services. And they
see China as an emerging competitor to India...long the
most-popular destination for outsourcing chemistry research
and drug development.
Estimates to develop and market a new drug often run as high
as $1.2 billion. Much of that cost goes for the slow process
of sifting through thousands of compounds, in hopes of
finding one that works against the disease being targeted.
In the U.S., the overall cost of a chemist to do drug
development work is around $250,000 a year. In China,
chemists with similar educational backgrounds may be hired
for as little as $25,000 a year.
Top
From the desk of Bob
Meyer...11/28/06
IMS Does It Again...Acquiring Steve Webster's
Alliance Barter
International Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM), continues its
"PacMan-like" focus of acquiring the nation's top trade
exchanges. Their latest coup being Alliance Barter, one of
the best operated exchanges in the country with an
especially strong trade dollar. The Rochester NY-based
Alliance serves clients in Buffalo and Syracuse, with a
Canadian office in Toronto.
Don Mardak, CEO of IMS, says this merger will open the door
for expansion into Canada, in addition to bringing a wealth
of new products and services into the IMS Barter network.
Steve Webster, the founder and owner of Alliance Barter, is
a long-time respected leader in the commercial barter
industry and a member of the IRTA Barter Hall of Fame. He is
the only person who has been president of both industry
trade associations, IRTA and NATE.
This is Steve Webster's 29th year in the barter business. An
excellent cover story on Alliance Barter was published in
BarterNews, to view the article click on
www.barternews.com/pdf/34-37Alliance.pdf.
For more information on IMS:
www.internationalmonetary.com.
Silicon Valley Hospitals To Barter Patient
Data
If you had some health challenges and had to be hospitalized
several times you know the antiquated methods for acquiring
a patient's health data, i.e. filling out numerous forms,
over and over, with the same information, even when the
patient's stay is in the same hospital.
The exchange of data in Silicon Valley is going to change
that scenario. Three area hospitals (L. Packard Children's
Hospital, El Camino Hospital in Mountain View; and Stanford
Hospital/Clinics) along with the Smart Health initiative
will undertake the creation of a unified electronic patient
record that will be available to doctors and patients
anywhere, anytime.
By exchanging such information, lower costs for local health
care providers will be realized, and it will facilitate
improving the quality of care for everyone.
IRTA Releases Universal Currency (UC) Report
Trading among IRTA-member trade exchanges, which use a trade
credit called "Universal Currency," was brisk in October,
according to a report from UC trade broker Jen Ashworth.
The top three traders for the month were Advantis
International, IMS Barter, and Florida Barter. The newest
member to the UC system is Greenapple Barter, located in
Pittsburgh (PA).
Also noted was San Antonio-based Alamo Barter, which sold
over $25,000 worth of toys, tools and showroom merchandise
in October, and another $27,000 the first 15 days of
November.
China's Tourism Sector Takes Off
China's National Tourism Administration says the industry is
booming. A lot of it has to do with China's per-capita
income, which surpassed $1,700 last year and has stimulated
domestic tourism.
Economists have maintained that once incomes get past
$1,000, people have money to spend on things besides
necessities.
Meanwhile, an influx of foreign visitors is expected...in
addition to the 2008 Olympic Games, Shanghai will hold the
World Expo in 2010, while Guangzhou will host the 16th Asian
Games that same year.
Economist Reveals How Home Values Affect
Economy, GDP
Jan Hatzius, chief U.S. economist at Goldman Sachs in New
York, says that modern mortgage finance has magnified the
effect of home values on spending.
According to Hatzius, when people take cash out of their
homes through home-equity loans and refinancings, which they
were doing at an annualized rate of $558 billion in the
first quarter of 2006, they tend to spend about 50-cents of
every dollar outside home improvement.
If house prices merely stabilize, people's diminished
ability to use their houses like automated-teller machines
would subtract about 0.75 percentage point from annualized
GDP growth in 2007.
Top
From the desk of Bob
Meyer...11/21/06
IRTA Sends Formal Invitation To NATE For
Unified 2007 Conference
The commercial barter industry has had two parallel trade
associations for the past twenty-two years. Much has changed
within the industry over the years. Not only have many of
the players (exchange owners) changed, but the agendas of
decades ago are no longer applicable.
Given the aforementioned, along with some new challenges the
industry's two associations are facing, the International
Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA) Board of Directors sent
a formal proposal to the National Association of Trade
Exchanges (NATE) Board of Directors on October 16, 2006,
suggesting that the two organizations stage a unified annual
conference.
IRTA's Executive Director recently sent the following
statement to BarterNews:
"The IRTA felt that in the current environment of exchange
consolidation in the U.S. and with fictitious associations
claiming to represent the industry (i.e. NABA), it was
critical to join forces.
"The strongest and most reputable exchanges have supported
either IRTA or NATE over the last 25+ years. These are the
exchanges that should continue to lead and leverage the
strengths of each other.
"We understand that the NATE board will be
considering this proposal at their next board meeting, and
we hope to report soon that there will indeed be a joint
conference for both owners and brokers in 2007."
IMS Pushing Ahead As 3rd Quarter Report
Indicates
International Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM) has filed its
third quarter report, for the period ending September 30,
2006. Noted in the report was its recent acquisition of
National Trade Association, as well as other investments in
the company's infrastructure and the continued commitment to
internal growth.
Gross revenues increased to $1,687,573, compared to
$1,674,125 for the third quarter of 2005. Total expenses
were $1,803,266 versus $1,559,723. The company's
year-to-date consolidated gross revenue for the nine-months
ending September 30 totaled $5,240,400, compared to
$4,413,101 for the same period in 2005, an increase of 19%.
Total expenses for the nine months ending September 30 were
$5,241,215, compared to $4,091,555 for the same period last
year, an increase of 28%.
Year-to-date loss for the first nine months of 2006 was
$192,369, compared to a profit of $120,656 for 2005. Assets
grew 96% during that period from $7,937,986 at the end of
2005, to $15,168,231 at the end of September 2006.
IMS Barter is a national trade exchange with more than
15,000 customers, representing 22,000 cardholders in 40 U.S.
markets. For additional information on IMS:
http://www.internationalmonetary.com
MBA Program Designed For Sustainable Business
Studies
The Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI) in Seattle (WA), a
privately run institution, is specifically designed to
prepare students to build enterprises that are not only
financially viable, but socially responsible and
environmentally sustainable.
Founder Gifford Pinchott III, has helped launch over 700
businesses. He devotes one-third of his time to facilitating
groups addressing environmental issues. For more information
see
http://www.bgiedu.org.
Cashless Vending To Take Off
Some $1.46 trillion in consumer spending, on transactions
valued at less than $5, occurred last year. Now new cashless
technology on vending machines, which will accept credit and
debit cards (taking MasterCard's PayPass cards which are
waved in front of a reader) is underway.
Coca-Cola and MasterCard International plan to equip 1,000
vending machines in the Philadelphia area. It is the biggest
roll-out of its kind in the $40 billion U.S. vending
industry.
Top
From the desk of Bob
Meyer...11/14/06
Former Trade Exchange Owner Ray Bastarache
Scores Again...Turning $50,000 Into $5.2 Million
Our cover story of BarterNews Issue #20, published in
1989, was about Ray Bastarache, the young, ambitious, and
extremely focused 28-year-old founder of BarterNetwork Inc.
(BNI).
My visit to Milford (CT), where I spent three days with
Bastarache, was a most noteworthy one. For the first time, I
became aware of how the second generation of exchange
owners...the younger ones...were different than their
predecessors.
It was Bastarache who first suggested that his generation
would be the ones to truly tap the potential and riches of
the commercial barter industry.
And it was a decade later that Bastarache did so, selling
his company to the first of the dot-com venture capital
firms--BarterTrust.com. (The sale was announced at the IRTA
convention in Vancouver, Canada, and reported on in Issue
#51.)
In that sale Bastarache, unlike his peers, again showed
wisdom beyond his years, when he chose to take all cash,
rather than the promise of a greater return in stock and
options. (Which in retrospect was the right move, as
BarterTrust ultimately filed bankruptcy.)
Never satisfied, he was involved in other business ventures
while running BNI. Among his most profitable moves was the
purchase of a large Milford downtown office building in
1992. He picked it up from the FDIC in a foreclosure sale,
for $50,100.00.
I vividly remember our phone conversation after the deal was
completed, when he ecstatically explained that he had
negotiated to lease some of the spaces in the underground
parking garage back to the city, which would cover most of
the amortization of the building's loan he had just
finalized. Quite an accomplishment for a young man in his
thirties!
Bastarache quickly took action, making necessary
improvements and turning the vacant shell into commercial
offices. He then moved BNI into the building and leased out
the remaining space. Much of the improvements were done on
trade.
Last week Bastarache, who now lives in Massachusetts, sold
the Harbor Towers Building at 1 New Haven Avenue for
$5,225,000...100 times the amount he paid for it.
Active International Appoints Thomas Ruderman
Forty-eight-year-old Thomas W. Ruderman has been appointed
chief human resources officer of Active International, a
corporate barter and global marketing company.
Ruderman's experience is impressive. His 20 years of human
resources experience include more than 15 years with General
Electric Company and most recently as senior vice president
of HR with Citigroup's credit card business. Prior to that
he was vice president of HR for CIGNA Health Services.
Author/Speaker Uses & Promotes Barter (ITEX)
On His Web Site
In his new book, "MORE Business Lessons For Entrepreneurs:
Volume 2," Mark Csordos continues to deal with the mental
and emotional aspects of starting and running a business.
The book is a sequel to "Business Lessons For Entrepreneurs:
35 Things I Learned Before The Age Of Thirty."
In his most recent book, Csordos has a chapter on the use of
barter. On his web site,
www.markcsordos.com, he actively promotes his use of
ITEX and sells his books and other programs on trade.
The Internet Pales In Comparison To The
Innernet
What is the most complex network yet developed? If you
guessed the world wide web, guess again.
The human brain, with its electrochemical matrix of over one
hundred billion neurons, makes the internet look like a
fancy spider's web. Within the brain, each neuron is linked
to about 50,000 other neurons...making a total of one
hundred trillion connections.
The Future Is Bright For Boomers Becoming
Entrepreneurs
According to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, adults
ages 55 to 64 have been the group most likely to start a new
business in the past decade. Older entrepreneurs often tap
their 401(k) or home equity for working capital, but,
surprisingly, banks are interested in later-life
entrepreneurs.
Why? They have networks and experience, and their kids are
out of the house. Indeed, strong networks are what separate
thriving retiree entrepreneurs from all the rest. In short,
boomers who learned how to win friends and influence people
have a bright future.
Some Manufacturing Leaving China For
Less-Expensive Locations
The lowest-end production is starting to migrate away from
China to areas that can offer even less-expensive conditions
than China. Southeast Asian nations such as Malaysia and
Indonesia, as well as Vietnam, have become the new hot spot
for manufacturing.
In a way, China has become a victim of its own success.
Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, a group that has collectively
been a bigger investor in China than either the U.S. or the
European Union, decreased total investment 6.5% in
2005...but in the first half of 2006 plunged 31%.
Home Builders Actions Showed Good Insight
As the housing market recedes, the recent reports on
builders who used options when buying land, to reduce their
exposure to the growing uncertainties of the real estate
market, reflected their wisdom.
According to a report by Credit Suisse, builders have
reduced their exposure by using more options on land, so
they can walk away from deals. The report says that at the
end of last year, 46% of such options contracts were
utilized in 2005, 42% in 2004 and 12% in earlier years.
Top
From the desk of Bob
Meyer...11/07/06
400,000 Europeans Prefer Barter
According to a study by the European Security Transport
Association (ESTA), most Europeans (62%) feel paper money is
still king and favor its use over that of electronic
payments.
And 64% of those surveyed believed that moves to reduce the
use of cash in society would damage commercial and national
life in their country. Yet an estimated 400,000 Europeans
said they preferred barter rather than using conventional
payment methods.
Industry Veteran Fred Hammer Acquires Another
ITEX Brokerage
For three decades Fred Hammer has been providing his
services to clients through various exchanges. Originally an
independent owner, he moved his company into the ITEX
organization in 1986 and has been operating out of his
Carmichael (CA) office.
Hammer's latest feat is the purchase of the other ITEX
brokerage in Sacramento (Direct Business Exchange with over
700 clients) from Kristen Feuz. Hammer will operate both
offices during November, with a focus on the annual
Christmas Trade Show & Auction, and subsequently will
consolidate operations into larger space at 3400 Cottage
Way, Suite 101A, in Sacramento.
Bartercard Sells Australian Headquarters
Looking to repay all long term debt, Bartercard has sold,
and will leaseback, its Australian headquarters. The sales
price for the building was A$13,500,000. After paying off
the long term debt, the balance will be used to finance
further expansion in the UK and the UAE, and for working
capital.
The company reported the building had a "net book value" of
A$3,519,221, so the sale represents a "substantial" profit,
and saves approximately A$1 million per year in capital loan
repayments.
Baywatch Is Back On A Straight Barter Basis
The Baywatch TV show, all 109 hours, will be available to TV
stations in the fall of 2007 under a 3-year term on a
straight barter basis...advertising time in exchange for
programming.
Litton Entertainment and Freemantle Media North America will
be providing broadcasters the programming on both analog and
digital tiers.
Regardless Of Your Beginnings, Huge Success
Is Possible
Reinforcing the fact that one's attitude and tenacity can
get you to the top, is the story of Shirene Lopez. A day
after her 14th birthday she started working at a Fountain
Valley (CA) Del Taco restaurant, mopping floors and cleaning
tables.
Now the 42-year-old executive has been named president of
the fast-food chain. Del Taco, founded in 1964, operates or
franchises more than 470 restaurants in 13 states.
Bull Market Sees U.S. Ultra-Wealthy
Households Increasing
The number of U.S. households valued at $10 million or
higher more than doubled from 1995 to 2004, to 530,000,
according to the Federal Reserve. Money managers exclaim,
"$10 million isn't what it used to be!"
Much of the wealth is a result of a four-year bull market
with stock indexes setting records. Of course not all stocks
are created equal...case in point is the $100,000 a share
price for billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.
That stock is up 5,555 times since May 10, 1965, the day
Buffett took control of the former textile company and the
stock was selling for $18 a share. (By contrast, the Dow
Jones Industrials Average is up about 13 times since that
date.)
Buffet, Berkshire's chairman, has long opposed a stock split
on the theory that the high price tends to discourage buying
by short-term traders.
Mexico Still Suffers From "The Bite"
Mexican officials have estimated that as much as 9% of
Mexico's gross domestic product is siphoned off annually to
corruption. In 2005 that would have amounted to $69 billion,
or more than the nation spends on education and defense
combined.
One out of every 5 businesses in Mexico admits to making
"extra-official" payments to win public contracts, speed
government paperwork or skirt regulations, according to a
2005 report by the Center for Economic Studies of the
Private Sector in Mexico City.
The average Mexican's most frequent brush with the system is
la mordida, or "the bite." Those are small
bribes...tips and other extracurricular handouts that public
servants and others squeeze out of the citizenry to perform
routine functions.
Pre-School Embraces ‘Red Paper Clip' Barter
Strategy
Moreton Hall Pre-school in Bury St. Edmunds, England, is
following the barter idea of the 26-year-old Canadian Kyle
MacDonald of Montreal which was introduced to the world when
he started with One Red Paper Clip and over a series of 15
barter moves acquired a house.
The staff, children, and parents aim to follow a similar
strategy to help raise £70,000 to pay off their school debt.
The barter idea was the brainchild of the pre-school
committee fund-raiser Liz Fordham. Within 3 days the paper
clip had become champagne.
Top
From the desk of Bob
Meyer...10/31/06
Dale & Vardabash To Address Global Barter
Conference In Singapore
Lois Dale,
managing director of IMS (OTCBB:INLM), will speak at the
first Asian barter conference being held October 31 and
November 1, as part of the Global Entrepolis Show in
Singapore.
Krista Vardabash,
executive director of the International Reciprocal Trade
Association (IRTA), will also address the conference. The
Global Entrepolis program is expected to attract more than
15,000 attendees. As a special feature of the event, Lois
Dale was interviewed by CNBC on October 30.
Don Mardak, CEO of
IMS, declared, "It is very exciting to see the global reach
of barter, as the Asian leaders of the Global Entrepolis
Show have decided to make this dynamic business tool an
integral part of their program. I am certain that Lois and
Krista will do a wonderful job representing the North
American barter industry."
Cargill Enters Renewable Natural-Gas Industry
To Earn Fuel-Trading Warrants
The Minneapolis farm-commodity processing giant's move into
the fledging renewable natural-gas industry is expected to
give a big boost to the business of turning livestock manure
into methane gas.
Cargill's move in this direction will consist of recruiting
farmers whose livestock operations are big enough to
generate a reliable supply of manure for conversion into
methane, which is then sold to natural-gas utilities.
Cargill isn't investing in any specific company that
provides the conversion, but will earn fuel trading warrants
for business it brings to the companies that operate a
"digester" (a facility that can cost $1 million to build and
uses micro-organisms to convert manure).
BixXchange Is Flying High
BizXchange, a
Seattle-based trade exchange, was recognized by the Puget
Sound Business Journal as one of Washington's "100
Fastest Growing Private Companies for 2006." Businesses are
given the award, and ranked, based on net operating revenue
growth for the previous three years.
BizXchange was
formed in January 2002, and has since facilitated nearly
$100 million in barter transactions among its over 1,100
members. They have offices in Seattle and Oakland (CA).
Barter Consultants' Busman Appeared On NBC
Nightly News
Lee Anne Busman,
exchange co-owner of Barter Consultants in Atlanta, happily
reported that she was interviewed by NBC Nightly News. The
segment was aired on Saturday, October 28.
Wilkerson Owns Trade Exchange & Two
Professional Basketball Teams
Charles Wilkerson,
who tried to buy Barter Systems Inc. in the mid ‘80s (with
the intent of moving the company to Denver from its Memphis
headquarters), is the owner of Barter Americas trade
exchange.
He's also the
owner of two American Basketball Association (ABA) teams.
The ABA is like a "minor-league" system for the National
Basketball Association (NBA).
Wilkerson owns the
Arkansas Aeros and the Arkansas River Catz. Reportedly, at a
recent ABA owners meeting, Wilkerson had the owners on the
edge of their seats with his many stories about barter.
Frequent-Flyer Miles For Charity
Lufthansa
frequent-flyer members can donate miles through the Miles
and More program to HelpAlliance, Living Lakes, and SOS
Children's Villages. Donations ranging from 10,000 to 40,000
miles will enable schooling for Indian children, help
conserve wetlands in Brazil and support Asian orphans'
lodging, medical care and schooling.
IRTA's Universal Currency Offers 45-Page
Holiday Publication
Jen Ashworth, UC's
enthusiastic trade broker, recently provided all UC member
trade exchanges with a comprehensive, 4-color, PDF file full
of a wide array of products and services available to them
for their holiday business inventory.
For additional
information contact:
jen@irta.com.
Top
From the desk of Bob
Meyer...10/24/06
Idea + $27 = Nobel Peace Prize!
In 1976
Muhammad Yunus, when taking a trip to the village of Jobra
in Bangladesh during the devastating famine of that year,
met a woman who was struggling to make ends meet as a weaver
of bamboo stools.
She needed
to borrow money to buy materials; but having no assets the
conventional banks shunned her. Her only option was to turn
to local money-lenders whose extortionate rates of interest
consumed nearly all her profits.
Yunus,
then a professor of rural economics at Chittagong
University, reached into his own pocket and gave the woman
and several of her neighbors loans totaling $27. When they
surprised him and paid back the loans, he started traveling
from village to village offering more tiny loans. And in the
process, cutting out the greedy middlemen.
That led
to his founding of the Grameen Bank (Grameen means "village"
in Bengali), and the rest is history. The bank has now
loaned $5.72 billion to 6.6 million Bangladeshi, 97% of whom
were women, and today provides services in more than 70,000
villages.
This year
Muhammad Yunus received the Nobel Peace Prize, a
long-overdue stamp of international recognition for his
accomplishment of the seemingly impossible. He enabled
millions of people to become productive, self-reliant
citizens by extending them a little credit, so they could
fight their way out of poverty and climb the economic ladder
with dignity.
Yunus
popularized the term "microfinance," and there are now
several web sites that enable individuals to give or lend
small amounts of money to others who post their funding
needs. One is
www.donorschoose.org, where public-school teachers
can post wish-lists for supplies and resources their budgets
won't cover; later kids often send pictures and thank-you
notes to the donors.
Globalgiving.com
works similarly but funds small charitable projects around
the world, and
kiva.org
connects users with loan-seeking entrepreneurs outside the
United States. At
prosper.com,
those with money to lend can view requests from U.S.
residents with Social Security numbers. (The sites all have
layers of safeguards, such as verifying hardship tales and
checking terrorist databases.)
Barter Funded $50 Million In Scientific
Research
In Canada,
the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) had
been paying for scientific research with fish. The
department offered fisherman extra quotas of snow crab and
other species, in exchange for scientific surveys and stock
assessments.
But then a
New Brunswick crabber went to court, arguing that the
fisheries minister had no right to take quota from his fleet
to pay for scientific research. A federal court of appeal
backed him up, ruling that that the scheme was illegal
because the minister was paying with assets that didn't
belong to him...in effect misappropriating resources.
The DFO is
now conducting a review to see how much of its science will
be affected ,and how many programs it may have to pay for
out of its budget. It was estimated that about $50 million
worth of scientific research was acquired through the barter
project.
IMS Kicks Off Its Holiday Expos With Major
Success In Chicago
International Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM) used the newly
acquired Illinois Trade Association's Annual Trade & Holiday
Gift Show at Harper College in Palatine as a launch pad for
the company's upcoming series of eleven Barter Expos.
All-time
interest along with a record attendance carried the day at
the October 21 holiday show in Palatine. IMS expects large
client turnouts will also take place in the scheduled cities
of Milwaukee (WI), Modesto (CA), Columbus (OH), Reno (NV),
San Jose (CA), Hartford (CT), Denver (CO), Chattanooga (TN),
Santa Rosa (CA), and Las Vegas (NV).
For
further details, contact the office nearest you for dates
and directions.
Suze Orman Advises Barter As Means For
Business Women To Find Greater Wealth
Famed
financial advisor Suze Orman, writing in the November issue
of PINK, says business women should learn more about
barter, because it's one of the twelve ways women can find
financial liberation. Orman suggested it's an excellent
means for obtaining travel, dining, giving gifts and
conducting business without using cash.
TTi CORRECTION
In last
week's issue we reported that TeleTrade International (www.eValues.net)
was the only barter site certified to be 99% hacker
safe...due to an independent, daily certification program.
That report was incorrect, as we later learned. Other online
barter sites that have third party certified verification
include:
http://www.worldtradebanc.com,
http://www.bartercenterinternational.com and
http://www.dobarter.com.
China's Reserves Top $1 Trillion
China's
holdings of foreign currencies and securities now top $1
trillion...a sum greater than the annual economic output of
all but nine countries. Roughly 70% of the Chinese reserves
are believed to be in U.S. dollar assets and 20% in euros.
Another 10% are in other currencies, including the Japanese
yen and Korean won, according to economist Brad Setser at
Roubini Global Economics.
Another
indication of the worldwide respect China is getting is the
recent initial public offering of Industrial & Commercial
bank of China, Ltd. the world's biggest IPO which starts
trading October 27. It attracted $350 billion of demand from
global investors and $80 billion from domestic investors for
the $21.9 billion deal! (China Merchants Bank Ltd. had $100
billion of demand for its $2.4 billion deal last month.)
Top
From the desk of Bob
Meyer...10/17/06
Barter Plays Role In Google's Goal To
Ultimately Broker Ads Everywhere!
Boil it all down and the $1.65 billion Google acquisition of
internet video-sharing site
YouTube.com
is this: "I'll trade you part of my company for your
company."
Google's market cap of $132 billion means that the
transaction represents 1.3% of Google's value, and they
obtain the Internet's 14th most visited web site. When
coupled with Google's status of #3 most visited site, it
will yield even more traffic, ad opportunities and revenue.
(Because YouTube shows more than 100 million video clips per
day, it will significantly broaden Google's ad-brokering
activities beyond simple text ads to larger amounts of video
advertising online.)
YouTube, a 19-month-old San Bruno (CA) firm, not only hits
"pay dirt," but will have the financial backing of Google to
continue developing features and sharpening its focus on the
future.
Google pulled off the all-stock transaction, (using what
they had, to get what they wanted), so as to make it
tax-free for YouTube shareholders. Additionally, the barter
acquisition was cheaper for Google than had they paid cash
from their roughly $10 billion hoard.
Moreover, consider that from the time the deal was rumored
on the street until it became "real," Google's market value
went up over $3 billion. So the endeavor, from one
perspective, was "paid for" by Wall Street!
It's one more step in Google's ultimate aim: To not only
broker ads on the Internet but also in radio, print media
and television.
Editor's note:
Another huge winner in this bartered agreement is Sequoia
Capital. They put up $11.5 million for a 30% stake in
YouTube. They now hold $495 million in Google stock...a
return of more than 4,200% in one year!
IMS Record Enrollment Announced
International Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM) has reported 443
new clients were enrolled in the IMS Barter network in their
third quarter, far exceeding any previous quarterly total.
With the recent procurement of the Illinois Trade
Association's sales staff, the company's fourth quarter
numbers are anticipated to be even greater.
What Are The Five Most Dangerous Words In
Business?
According to Warren Buffett, the 76-year-old chairman of
Berkshire Hathaway, the five most dangerous words are, "Everybody else is doing it!" He contends that to avoid
business scandals one must resist temptation, despite peer
pressure or even industry practice. Buffett's mantra might
be summed up as: Don't follow the herd.
Technology's Effect On Securities Trading
The 214-year-old New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is about to
undergo a dramatic change with the introduction of
electronic-trading. When the changes are complete, the
target date is December, brokerages acting on investors'
behalf will be able to buy and sell shares of NYSE-listed
stocks electronically.
Today the typical order sent to the NYSE takes an average of
nine seconds for execution, under the new system it will
take less than a second to execute. And the bundle size for
buying and selling shares will increase from the present
1,099, to 1,000,000.
So to illustrate the difference in trading speed, it would
be like getting a pizza delivered...instead of the usual 30
minutes or so, you'd have it in three minutes!
Top
From the desk of Bob
Meyer...10/10/06
The successes of larger barter companies are evident in the
following stories...
ITEX Prepays Entire BXI Acquisition Debt
Nearly 3 years prior to maturity, ITEX has wiped the
incurred debt of $2,300,000 from their books. CEO Steven
White was pleased to make the announcement that the last
payment was voluntarily made on October 4, 2006.
The debt was retired with funds generated from cash flow
which validates the success of the BXI acquisition.
According to White, the principal discount and interest
savings from early payment on the loans saved ITEX
approximately $240,000 over the life of the promissory notes
and term loan. ITEX presently has no long-term debt.
White added, "Through July of 2008, we will
continue to pay BXI shareholders a 5% earn out on revenue
over $3,000,000 per quarter, not to exceed $37,500 per
quarter."
For more information on ITEX Corporation, the largest trade
exchange in the U.S. with 22,000 member businesses, visit:
www.itex.com.
BBX Net Profits Soar 323%!
Business Barter Exchange (BBX) of New South Wales,
Australia, reported a net profit after tax of $1.08 million,
an increase of $825,000 or 323% over the previous year. The
exponential growth in trading activity included a
significant increase in the number of real estate
transactions within the exchange's membership, which totals
4,535.
Gross revenue was $10.06 million, up over 21% of last year's
figures. Trading volume was $146 million, a 61% increase
compared to last year's trading volume of $90 million.
IMS Picks Up Another $2.1 Million In Funding
International Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM) announced it has
received another $2.1 million in debt and convertible-debt
financing from a private investor. (IMS recently acquired
Jack Schacht's Illinois Trade Association and National Trade
Association. IMS now has 15,000 members in 39 U.S.
locations.
Additional funding details (Form 8-K) can be accessed at:
http://www.sec.gov.
Hedge Fund Business A Tough Grind
Last week we noted that 125 hedge funds control 80% of the
$1.23 trillion of the industry's assets. Since January 2005,
more than 1,000 funds have shut down while 2,600 new hedge
funds have been launched, according to Hedge Fund Research
Inc. of Chicago.
Top
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 cafés, 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.
Top
From the desk of Bob
Meyer...09/26/06
Kyoto Treaty Suggests Barter As Way To Stem Pollution
The Kyoto Treaty came into being in February 2005. It is
seen as a way for many of the world's nations to stem the
increase of CO2 emissions, protect the world's ecosystems,
and upgrade energy efficiency in a variety of areas.
The key to the Treaty is based on tradable permits, issued
globally, to emit a total fixed amount of CO2. A country
cannot emit more CO2 than it has permits for, or it faces a
stiff penalty. Permits can be bought and sold or traded.
Business Barter Exchange (BBX) Announces
Record Membership & Net Profits
Trade volume in BBX trade dollar currency passed $100
million for the first time in the company's history,
totaling $146 million for the year and up 61% over last
year.
The company announced a record net profit after tax of
$639,819 for the year ended June 2006...an increase of
$385,090 and up 151% over the previous year.
Active membership numbers passed 4,500 for the first time as
well, reaching 4,535 or up 5.5%.
Whitmer Suggests Another Focus
Scott Whitmer is the founder of Florida Barter, one of the
larger independent trade exchanges, located in Orlando (FL).
A proven veteran in the industry, he runs a very successful
exchange. He's also a past president of IRTA, and has held
many other board positions. So his recent musing at the IRTA
convention are noteworthy.
According to Whitmer, our industry focuses almost
exclusively on the owner of a business that is a member of
one's exchange. He suggests if you'd like to see more
trading activity from this member, it would be a good idea
to expand your vision and consider the owner's spouse and
kids.
Family members often play a major role in the spending of
the trade dollars. Get to know them, learn more about their
tastes and desires, and you will get more business from this
member, Whitmer asserts.
For more information on what Florida Barter has to offer
see:
www.FloridaBarter.com.
Flippers Having Trouble
HomeSmartReports.com, a San Juan Capistrano (CA)
company, tracks housing data and home flipping activity in
147 metropolitan areas.
The firm considers
a house flipped if it is sold within nine months of being
purchased. Tracking those transactions, they found that
17.1% of all homes flipped in the second quarter were money
losers for the sellers, losing a median of $38,975.
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From the desk of Bob
Meyer...09/19/06
Commercial Barter Industry Looks To Emulate Visa Card Model
The seed has been
planted and the commercial barter industry, struggling to
find its place in the world of commerce, will undergo a
transformation in the coming years that promises to catapult
it into an incredibly important position in the business
world.
In 1968, a
38-year-old assistant banker in Seattle named Dee Hock
revolutionized the way the banking community interacted with
the Visa credit card model, where banks would cooperate with
one another to process Visa cards anywhere at any time.
Today the Visa
International network is the largest business enterprise
globally, with annual sales volume of $4 trillion. There are
22,000 financial institutions operating in over 200
countries, serving one billion customers.
The world's gross
domestic product now approximates $49 trillion. Therefore, a
conservative figure of the unused time and unsold products
would number in the trillions.
By emulating the
Visa model, the commercial barter industry can create a new
enterprise whereby millions of business owners could
monetize their unsold time/products. The incredible wealth
created could provide the needed capitalization to build
business communities around the globe, provide needed jobs
and other opportunities, as well as moving millions out of
poverty.
See the first
article following this column for more information on how
this historic possibility for the commercial barter industry
has come about…
Martin Pushes Client Enrollments To New Highs
Barbara Martin,
national sales manager for International Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM),
is leading the company's sales efforts to new heights. The
company's outside sales force signed up 118 new clients in
July, second at that time to the 121 that IMS Barter
enrolled in January.
The August number
for new member enrollments totaled 190, shattering all
previous records and validating the company's commitment to
organic growth through new client sales.
Marketing Professor Says Direct Trading Is
Huge
According to Dr.
Rich Rexeisen, a marketing professor at the University of
St. Thomas Business School in Minneapolis, bartering is a
bonanza for consumers. Bartering locally through internet
contacts is exciting, he asserted, because it makes people
begin to think about "what really does value mean."
Online Retailer Offers Barter Link
A wide selection
of newborn infant and toddler baby clothes can be found at
TheRetroBaby.com. They have added a link that says,
"Wanna Barter, Baby?" By clicking the link, one can review
what items and services are eligible for trade.
Can You Guess The Largest U.S. Seller Of
Single-Family Homes?
It's the Housing
and Urban Development (HUD) Agency. HUD, along with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and the Veterans Administration,
take possession of foreclosed homes and return them to the
market. Properties are sold "as is" and at or below
appraised value.
The agencies,
especially HUD, make them easy to buy with generous loan
terms and low up-front costs. HUD sold 57,930 homes during
the last 12 months with an average selling price of about
$79,000.
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From the desk of Bob
Meyer...09/12/06
UC Celebrates Tenth Anniversary
A decade ago, at IRTA's 17th Annual Convention, held at the
Mont Gabriel Resort near Montreal, Canada, the membership
unanimously voted to adopt a proposed Universal Currency (UC)
to enable inter-exchange trading.
The objective was for barter company members of the
International Reciprocal Trade Association to look to each
other as cooperative partners in servicing their
clients...ultimately providing a wider array of goods and
services.
The excitement and anticipation for the UC effort at that
time was summed up by Toronto resident Peter Tucker, who was
born in Barbados and educated in London: "This is the most
unusual group of entrepreneurs in the world. I've been in
international management and in various other organizations,
yet this group is the absolute best in the sharing of
information."
Jennifer Ashworth, the top-notch UC broker, reports some
exciting happenings are taking place at IRTA headquarters in
Rochester (NY). Jen says she will be sharing details with
the barter world in the near future.
Russia's Gazprom Barter Deal Part Of Strategy
To Enter East Asia Markets And Eventually USA
In the real world barter deals of significant size are
conducted and often reported as business transactions,
overlooking the barter component.
One such example is Gazprom, Russia's monopoly
state-controlled gas giant, which doesn't have its own
liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacities yet. As a result,
they enter into agreements with companies having the
necessary technology, wherein they exchange pipeline gas for
the corresponding amount of LNG, minus liquefying and
transportation costs.
The bartered LNG is then supplied to consumers, with the
goal of securing a foothold in that market...even if it
involves certain losses. (Their first endeavor was with
Mitsubishi Corp., in their attempt to move into the
Asian-Pacific LNG market.)
BizXchange Awarded Seattle Mayor's
Small-Business Award
Chris Haddawy, Sr. VP of Business Development, announced
that BizXchange of Seattle has been chosen as one of ten
small businesses in this entrepreneurial city to receive
special recognition for their accomplishments.
The Mayor's Small-Business Award looks at a company's
marketing, management, employee relations as well as
community involvement, before selecting them as one of the
outstanding ten small businesses in Seattle (WA).
For information on BizXchange:
http://www.bizX.com.
Advertising Veteran Porcarelli Joins Active
International
Jim Porcarelli has joined Active International as executive
vice president of corporate development. He will be a member
of the newly-formed Corporate Development Department, which
is responsible for implementing some of the larger strategic
initiatives across all facets of Active's business.
He has nearly 25 years of advertising experience: With
MediaCom, he served as chief marketing officer and director
of client services. He also created an industry-first
marketing strategy for Kraft Foods, and he led an
international team at the former DMB&B.
Jim Packer Will Handle Barter Sales For MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is taking back the sales function of its
4,000-title movie library and 10,000 television titles from
Sony Pictures Television. The company has decided the best
way to maximize its intellectual-property rights is to do it
themselves.
Jim Packer, a veteran of Disney's Buena Vista
domestic-television-distribution unit, was named president
of the restructured distribution group and will be
responsible for U.S. barter sales and syndication.
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From the desk of Bob
Meyer...09/05/06
Hewlett-Packard Creates "Tycoon Currency" To Stretch Its IT
Resources
One of the most
respected high-tech companies in the world has created their
own currency to stretch company assets for innovation. The
new Hewlett-Packard Tycoon currency will be allocated and
based on actual use and need.
It's a
virtualized, market-based system for managing and delegating
computer resources. Tycoon pulls a company's IT (information
technology) services into an abstract utility layer, and
users can barter or bid for it within their own companies or
among others.
It works like
this: Within a company, employees are given a certain number
of tokens per year to spend on computing resources. The more
urgent a user deems the need, the more tokens he can bid for
use of the equipment. Users who provide resources can, in
turn, spend their earnings (tokens) for using resources
later on.
Hewlett-Packard
has been testing Tycoon since November 2004 at its Singapore
offices and in several European locations. This summer a
pilot project took place with a Scandinavian company.
Engineers will use Tycoon to bid on access to high-powered
computers needed for simulations.
H-P says marketing
a commercial Tycoon won't happen anytime soon because the
technology represents a major shift in business processes.
But in the future it's expected to provide businesses that
otherwise couldn't afford high-powered computing, to be able
to access leading-edge technology through Tycoon.
Joe Uva Featured Keynote Speaker In Chicago
Joe Uva, president
& CEO of OMD Worldwide and president of Omnicom Media, will
be the keynote speaker at the Broadcast Advertising Club of
Chicago and the Chicago Interactive Marketing Association's
day-long program on September 21. The event will focus on
the convergence of the broadcast and interactive platforms.
As president of
Turner Entertainment Group Sales & Marketing, Uva developed
integrated marketing programs and oversaw its barter and
trade operations.
For more
information on the event:
http://www.chicagoima.org.
Travel Web-sites Growth Soaring
The online travel
boom continues as the number of travel web sites has grown
by 25% in the past twelve months. Over half of those global
sites are located in the United States.
Here are the top
five countries that host travel web sites, according to
research by Internet Security Systems:
1. USA
(60.4%)
2. Germany (12.9%)
3. Great Britain (5.0%)
4. Austria (4.2%)
5. Canada (2.9%)
6. Other (14.5%)
California, Twenty Other States Have Laws On
Scrip Expiration
Regarding the inquiry on expiration dates for various types
of scrip, electronic gift card and paper gift certificates,
the state of California banned expiration dates for said
items back in January, 1997. (See
Tuesday Report dated March 14, 2000.)
Six years later, in 2003, new consumer protections were
added in AB 2473. That bill required any company issuing a
gift certificate to honor that certificate even if the firm
filed for bankruptcy.
California passed another law specifically prohibiting
expiration dates or service fees on gift cards sold
after January 1, 2004. The only exception were cards that
hadn't been used in more than 2 years and with a value of
less than five dollars.
(For further information on such matters one should consult
with an attorney for the most recent and specific details on
such expirations in your state.)
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From the desk of Bob
Meyer...08/29/06
Travelocity and Points.com To Offer Program For Purchasing
Travel Services Using Frequent Flyer Miles
Thanks
to Peter Tucker, CEO of
CTEX.com,
for sending us the disclosure from Travelocity. We did not
publish his missive herein, because it was a much longer
story than our parameters for the Tuesday Report. (We
will be sending out a separate mailing, so you can read his
entire comments, to our e-mail list shortly.)
Most noteworthy
about this announcement is the fact that millions of people
(from a myriad loyalty programs worldwide) will now have a
way to directly spend their frequent flyer miles on travel
services.
The new program
"Book with Points," will allow loyalty program members
access to Travelocity's online booking engine. They will use
points or miles to book and purchase the travel reward,
exactly as if they were purchasing their travel with cash,
rather than loyalty points and miles.
Book with Points
will be available both on the
Points.com
consumer portal and as a stand-alone, branded product for
individual loyalty program operators. It's expected to be
operational in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Rob MacLean,
Points International's CEO, summed it up nicely: "While
millions of flights, hotel nights and other rewards are
provided every year, there continues to be demand for even
more access and availability. Our agreement with Travelocity
is uniquely positioned to help loyalty programs finally
follow through on the ‘any award, any time' travel promise,
and to do so using our two companies' world-leading
technologies."
This effort
creates a huge multi-billion-dollar open trade exchange
system, further reinforcing the promise and staggering
possibilities when melding many diverse partners into one
giant network.
Incredible Success Story
The first company
in India to be listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, back in
1999, was Infosys. The company, with 58,000 employees today,
was launched with $250 in 1981 by six young guys from India.
Chairman N.R.
Narayana Murthy, 60, stepped down last week after 25 years
at the helm of the company he co-founded and helped grow.
Annual revenues today are more than $2 billion, and the
market capitalization is $21 billion.
Infosys' biggest
challenge came in 1995 when Murthy and his team decided they
couldn't accept the tough conditions demanded by General
Electric. They walked away from the U.S. firm's business at
a time when it made up 25% of Infosys's revenue and 8% of
its profit.
BBX Reports Barter Company "First"
Business Barter
Exchange (BBX) of Hornsby, NSW, Australia, has listed its
second company on a stock exchange...the BBX Property
Investment Fund. The Newcastle Stock Exchange listing was
initiated August 25, 2006, with a funding of over $4 million
in both cash and BBX trade dollars. BBX hopes to transfer
the fund to the Australian Stock Exchange later this year
for a full main-board listing.
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From the desk of Bob
Meyer..08/22/06
Report Confirms New Media Order Emerging
PQ Media of
Stamford (CT) predicts that marketers will remain enamored
with placing products wherever they can...in movies, TV and
radio, on web sites, in video games and lyrics, newspaper
and magazine articles, and even in the plots of novels.
Product placement
is an example of a phenomenon known as "ad creep," loosely
defined as popular culture becoming increasingly
commercialized.
Spending on paid
placements worldwide will reach $3.1 billion in 2006. In
2005 it was $2.2 billion, and by 2010 product placements are
expected to reach $7.6 billion annually.
There are two
types of product placements: (a) paid ones, where marketers
spend money to weave their wares into the plots, scripts and
content of entertainment, and (b) bartered placements which
occur when a company's product is provided in exchange for
being mentioned or used.
Former SEC Chairman, Wharton Professor
Bartering Services
WisdomTree
Investments of New York is among a new crop of
money-management firms specializing in exchange traded
funds. (WisdomTree has $400 million under management.)
Recently the company added high-profile supporter, former
SEC chairman Arthur Levitt as a senior adviser, providing
him a stake in the company in exchange for his role...which
is yet to be formally defined.
The company's
marketing materials also feature the endorsement of Jeremy
Siegel, the well-known professor from Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania. He received a stake in the firm,
as well, for his backing.
TradeAmericanCard Gave Early Assist To Money
Mailer
Decades ago when Garden Grove-based marketing company Money
Mailer was just getting started, they regularly used the
services of TradeAmericanCard. The Orange County-based trade
exchange, through their numerous members, provided them with
a variety business needs useful to a startup company.
Today, the firm is owned by Atlanta-based private equity
firm Roark Capital, and they're continuing to build a
powerful marketing organization with the recent acquisition
of DX Marketing, a provider of market research, customer
prospecting, data mapping and digital printing services.
Money Mailer mails 175 million envelopes to 21 million
households on behalf of more than 30,000 local, regional,
and national advertisers. Valpak Direct Marketing Systems, a
unit of Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises, is the other national
mailer which distributes coupons to homes.
For more information one of the nation's oldest (35-years
old) trade exchanges see:
http://www.tradeamericancard.com.
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From the desk of Bob
Meyer...08/15/2006
If You Can't Get Blood Out Of A Turnip, Take The Turnips!
Finland's President Tarja Halonen has approved a draft
agreement with Russia to convert $30 million loan into
barter. Russia will provide $30 million worth of goods and
services to pay off its Soviet-era debt over the next two
years.
Once the agreement is signed, at a ceremony in Moscow this
week, the sides will then draw up a list of merchandise to
be supplied. Finland is particularly interested in receiving
research and training equipment from Russia.
This will be the fourth, and final, debt conversion
agreement between Russia and Finland, as Russian authorities
have pledged to seek an early settlement of Soviet-era
debts.
Entrepreneur Software Whiz Embraces Barter To
Fund Start-up
Andy Astor, the co-founder of EnterpriseDB (EDB), having
little capital for his startup software company, used equity
incentives and innovative management techniques to get his
company off the ground.
The firm has made some impressive inroads into a market
controlled by Oracle, IBM and Microsoft, by using an open
source solution as its platform (PostgreSQL). From its
start, the two key goals for EDB were to focus on improving
its platform and build a world-class customer support
system.
Recently Sony dumped Oracle and is using EDB for its online
gaming properties, such as Everquest, which are data
intensive. Astor's company showed it has the capability to
handle huge amounts of interactions in real time, at all
hours...plus Sony estimates its cost savings are 80%!
EnterpriseDB envisions an enormous future as they are
looking at an enterprise database market of about $13
billion. While he used a form of barter to get off the
ground, Astor recently snagged $16.5 million in venture
capital funding. Astor said he was not looking for money,
"but the investors came to us, and we got a terrific
valuation."
With the capital, the firm is in the process of building-out
an enterprise sales organization. Selling complex software
is certainly a high-touch process, requiring a strong
experienced team. Needless to say their future looks bright.
IMS Barter Has Option For Lois Dale's New
York Commerce Group
Don Mardak, CEO of IMS Barter (OTCBB:INLM), announced that
his company has acquired an option to purchase the assets of
New York Commerce Group, NYCG. During the option period the
companies will operate under a revenue-sharing arrangement.
NYCG, formerly known as Barter Advantage, was founded by
Lois Dale. Known as the "First Lady of Barter," she is one
of the industry's respected leaders and the current
president of the International Reciprocal Trade Association
(IRTA).
A 700 client strong organization, NYCG has key relationships
with numerous New York-based media companies, ticket brokers
and corporate barter firms, which will provide IMS Barter
members a host of new and exciting travel destinations.
For more information see
http://www.internationalmonetary.com.
Kudo's For Michael Mercier's Metro Trade
Association
The Detroit News
recently had an extensive piece about some of Metro Trade
Association's satisfied exchange members:
Restaurant owner Gary Sussman noted that he's received more
than $500,000 in cleaning services, appliances, and
renovation work on his Sweet Lorraine's Cafe and Bar in
Southfield (MI) over the 15 years he's been a member of MTA.
Cloverleaf Pizza's general manager Carol Corrie says it was
a line of credit from MTA that enabled them to come back
after a five-alarm fire destroyed their establishment. The
Eastpointe eatery closed for a year, because it was not
totally covered by insurance.
Al Buffenn, owner of Top Value Car and Truck Service in
Southfield, joined the exchange three years ago and has
decreased his business cash outlays by $20,000 through
barter purchases.
In the article, Charles Owens, state director of the
National Federation of Independent Business, was quoted as
saying, "The pro's of bartering are obvious, I can't see any
negative in it. I think it's rather clever, it sounds like
another entrepreneurial approach to solving a problem."
"What most people don't understand, is it provides the same
as cash flow," pointed out Mike Mercier, president and
founder of the Troy-based Metro Trade Association. Always a
viable way of doing business, bartering is especially
helpful when companies are cutting back and scrimping to get
by.
For more information go to
http://www.metrotrading.com.
The Shunkwiler's Barter Authority Web Site
Unique
In Norfolk (VA), the husband and wife team -- Vic and Terry
Shunkwiler -- have put together an informative and
encompassing web site for their trade exchange, The Barter
Authority. It sports a terrific hotel and restaurant
section, and an online 75-page color directory complete with
members' logos. Visiting their site, one feels impelled to
take Vic's friendly suggestion: "Let's Trade!"
For more information check out
http://www.thebarterauthority.com.
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From the desk of Bob
Meyer..08/08/2006
Red Paper-Clip Barterer Lands Book Deal
Last week we reported that 26-year-old Kyle MacDonald of
Montreal signed a movie option deal with DreamWorks. As an
aspiring writer, his most recent success might be considered
more relevant...he has signed a book deal with publishing
powerhouse Random House.
MacDonald and his girlfriend Dominique Dupuis have recently
moved into their new, 1920's two story house in Kipling,
Saskatchewan.
Google Placing Ads On XM's Radio Channels
Following up last week's news on Google's going after radio
spots (via the dMarc media network they purchased), the Web
search company and XM Satellite Radio are working together
wherein XM will gain access to Google's roster of
advertisers without incurring the full cost of running an
ad-placement business. XM runs advertising on about 100 of
its non-music channels.
More Bartered Radio Time Coming To UK Radio
Stations
UBC is the largest independent airtime sales point to media
agencies in the UK. And UBC Media has just signed a 3-year
deal with Sky News Radio, which currently provides scripts,
audio and bulletins, for radio stations in the UK.
The link-up will result in a rapid expansion of the Sky News
Radio service, delivering a weekly reach to UBC's network of
5.5 million adults via barter syndication.
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