Forbes: Warren Buffet Overtakes
Bill Gates as World's Richest Person

U.S. financier Warren Buffet, 77, has overtaken his friend and partner in philanthropy, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, as the richest man in the world according to Forbes magazine's annual list of billionaires.

Consumer Reports' Investigates the Truth
Behind Labels that Imply "Made in the USA"

Whether motivated by patriotism or recent health and safety alerts regarding goods made abroad, consumers may look to find domestic-made goods, but finding a product’s homeland on the label isn’t always easy, says Consumer Reports.

Americas United Bank (AUB)
Appoints George Sevilla

Americas United Bank (AUB) announced the appointment of George Sevilla to the position of Director of Sales headquartered in Glendale, CA. Sevilla recently held the position of Team Leader for Banco Popular North America and brings over 10 years of banking success and experience to AUB.

Attracting the News Media to Your Business

As a business owner, sometimes you have to act as your own public relations agent to gain brand exposure and clients. To send a news release or press release to the news media is a way to receive coverage and put your company's name in the spotlight.

Know Your Marketing Strategy Elements

Market planning is an essential task that must be continually undertaken. There will always be shifting market conditions, changing customer needs, and competitive threats. This means that what worked in the past may not work in the future, thus requiring revisions in how a product is marketed.

The U.S. Dollar Losing its Luster?

Many analysts contend that the dollar's decline has tarnished its reputation as the world's soundest currency. Many countries, including the oil-rich states of the Persian Gulf, are increasingly eyeing alternatives to the dollar. But other experts counter that American economic leadership and the dollar's dominance as the principle reserve currency are likely to last for many years to come.

Bush Outlines Ideas to Boost Faltering Economy

President Bush says he wants as much as $150 billion of tax relief to stimulate the U.S. economy, which has been hurt by rising energy prices, a steep housing slump and problems in the manufacturing sector.

Greenspan and Other Experts on the U.S. Economy

As a business owner, you might be trying to learn how the U.S. economy will perform in 2008. You have heard about recession, inflation, cooling, mortgage crisis and more. A survey by Bloomberg News Service among economists and a series of recent interviews to former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan can help us understand where we are.

Background on SBA’s Lender Oversight Program

The SBA-backed lending is a $66.7 billion dollar industry with nearly 5,000 lenders and Certified Development Companies (CDCs). About 650 lenders are in its Preferred Lender Program (PLP). As such, SBA takes its lender oversight responsibility very seriously. There are a variety of ways in which it performs this duty.

Builder Confidence Remains at Its Lowest Point

Builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes remained unchanged in November due to continuing mortgage market problems, a substantial inventory overhang and ongoing concerns about the effects of negative media coverage, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. The November HMI held even with October’s upwardly revised 19 reading, its lowest point since the series began in January of 1985.

Spanish-Language Ad Spend
Increases 2.3 Percent in First Half

Total ad spending in Spanish-language media for the first half of 2007 reached $2.87 billion, up 2.3% over the same period last year, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

166,000 New Jobs Created in October, 2007

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 166,000 in October, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.7 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, health care, and leisure and hospitality. Manufacturing employment continued to decline, and construction employment was little changed.

Target Audience – One of the Four P’s

Do you know who your target audience is? If you don’t know, you are not maximizing your advertising and/or marketing efforts. A marketing strategy blends the elements of the marketing mix, also known as the four P’s (product, price, placement, promotion).

Hispanic News Media and Press Releases

If you own a business company or you are a public relations practitioner, there are several things you should know before sending a press release to the Hispanic news media. News editors, producers and reporters see press releases (alson known as news releases) as information. But information contained in press releases should be of interest to their audiences.

Existing-Home Sales Fell 8.0%

Total existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – fell 8.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate 1 of 5.04 million units in September from a downwardly revised pace of 5.48 million in August, and are 19.1 percent below the 6.23 million-unit level in September 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Even so, prices rose in the Northeast and Midwest.

Bernanke Warns on US Housing, Economy

US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has reminded investors around the world that the US economy is facing a prolonged period of sub par performance. In a speech in New York he said that the US housing slump will be a "significant drag" on U.S. growth into next year, though he added that evidence of a broader impact on spending was limited.

Market Intelligence Summit to Reveal
Consumer Diversity and Growth

America is undergoing a tremendous cultural shift as Hispanics, Asians, and African Americans are forming an increasingly important part of our nation—with over 80 percent of the nation’s growth and nearly 100 million people. The marketing opportunities presented to Fortune1000 companies by these changes are exactly what The 4th Annual Multicultural Market Intelligence Summit addresses.

The Consumer Price Index Virtually Unchanged

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was virtually unchanged in July, before seasonal adjustment, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported. The July level was 2.4 percent higher than in July 2006.

Word of Mouth is Still Alive...

Word of mouth, the oldest marketing tool for businesses, is still alive with a great deal of credibility. As a business owner, you have adquired clients by word of mouth. People come to your place because someone else told them about you. Nothing has changed in this regards, except for something you should take into account: conversion levels of all available marketing tools.

Geotargeting to Reach Online Hispanics

When you launch an ad campaign to only reach Hispanics online in the United States, you don't need to pay for adviews and adclicks from Internet users based in Canada, Mexico, France or Colombia. It would be a waste of money. How to solve this problem? The answer is "geotargeting," a practice of customizing an advertisement for a product or service to a specific market based on the geographic location of potential buyers.

Foreclosure Acitvity Decreases 7% in June

Foreclosure Filings Still Up 87 Percent From June 2006

RealtyTrac, the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, released its June 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows a total of 164,644 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported during the month, down 7 percent from the previous month but still up 87 percent from June 2006.

The Online Advertising Playbook

Many Internet advertising campaigns are based on hunches and guesswork, because there has not been a standard resource that marketers could turn to for research-backed, trustworthy advice. The Advertising Research Foundation's Online Advertising Playbook is the new benchmark for best practices. It relies on data, not guesswork, to explain what's working and not working on the Internet, and answers all the most vital questions advertisers have about online advertising.

Foreclosure Filings Up Nearly
90 Percent From May 2006

RealtyTrac (realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, released its May 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows a total of 176,137 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported during the month, up 19 percent from the previous month and up nearly 90 percent from May 2006.


Scammer Says Goodbye to False Claims

A businessman has settled Federal Trade Commission charges that he sold his greeting card display rack business opportunities by misrepresenting the potential earnings that consumers could make. The FTC also alleged he did not provide any disclosure documents to purchasers, as required. The settlement bars the businessman from making false earnings claims, using shills, and misrepresenting the profitability of secured locations in the future, and prohibits him from violating the Franchise Rule or Business Opportunity Rule.

Why Most People Fail In Home Businesses!

At one time or another, we’ve all fantasized about creating our
own business and being so successful that we can tell the boss
or manager to “take a hike” and loose the compass! It’s
exciting to consider the possibilities. But then the fears
creep in. We’ve all heard stories about people who have joined
a home based opportunity full of hope and faith, only to unwind
shortly thereafter and fail miserably…and lose some good hard
earned cash in the meantime. And some of us have lived those
stories! Ouch! I have been on both sides of this continuum,
succeeding more often than not, but with enough range of
experience for both myself and others I’ve worked with to offer
some perspective.

Google to Acquire DoubleClick

Google Inc. announced a definitive agreement to acquire DoubleClick Inc., a global leader in digital marketing technology and services, for $3.1 billion in cash from San Francisco-based private equity firm Hellman & Friedman along with JMI Equity and management. The acquisition will combine DoubleClick's expertise in ad management technology for media buyers and sellers with Google's leading advertising platform and publisher monetization services.

USCIS Announces Extension of Filing
Time for Two Nonimmigrant Petitions

Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is giving employers and agents more time to bring foreign workers with extraordinary abilities to the United States. Petitioners can now file “O” and “P” nonimmigrant petitions under normal processing procedures up to one year before a scheduled event, competition or performance.

Civil Rights Groups Want
Foreclosure Moratorium

National civil rights groups are calling for mortgage lenders, loan servicers and loan investors to institute an immediate six-month moratorium on subprime home foreclosures resulting from reckless and unaffordable loans in the subprime market.

Committee Reviews State of
Health Care for Small Business

WASHINGTON – One of the biggest challenges currently facing entrepreneurs is a lack of health care coverage. Small business leaders and representatives from the health insurance industry discussed the reasons that small firms have difficulty providing coverage and potential solutions to this issue. This hearing marks the beginning of the committee’s work to make health care more affordable and available to this nation’s 26 million small businesses.

Advertisers Leading Ad Agencies into New Media

Internet radio and TV, online newspapers and magazines, and the so-called consumer-generated media, CGM, such as blogs, have opened a new way for advertisers and ad agencies to advertise products and services. However, are well known full service advertising agencies ready to use this new media?

TNS Media Intelligence Forecasts 2.6 Percent Increase in U.S. Advertising Spending for 2007 $5.5 Billion in Hispanic-Targeted Ad Spend by 2010

As the largest and fastest-growing minority market in the U.S., the Hispanic demo is drawing attention from all types and classes of advertisers. The rise in population and purchasing power has made the Hispanic TV and radio audience a highly desirable market for networks, TV and radio station owners, content owners and investors, according to Kagan’s Economics of Hispanic TV and Radio in the U.S.

The Mexican Business Council of Los Angeles
Applauds B of A's Credit Line to New Immigrants

The Mexican Business Council of Los Angeles (COEMLA) applauds Bank of America's new initiative that offers credit cards to customers without Social Security or Credit Card history, which will benefit thousands of immigrants through out the Los Angeles area.

National Debt Consolidation Scheme Misleads Consumers About Costs, Benefits, and Nonprofit Status, FTC Says

A nationwide debt consolidation business violated federal law by misleading and illegally telemarketing millions of consumers, according to the Federal Trade Commission, which is seeking consumer redress in federal district court, a freeze of the operation’s assets, and an end to its illegal practices. U.S. Unemployment Rate at 4.6% in 2006

Americans are working, inflation is under control and wages are increasing with December unemployment rate at 4.5%, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The wages surge was 4.2% in 2006 and the annual unemployment rate came in at 4.6%.

Skilled, Educated Immigrants Contribute
Significantly to U.S. Economy

Durham, NC -- Immigrant entrepreneurs founded 25.3 percent of the U.S. engineering and technology companies established in the past decade, according to a new study from Duke University. What's more, foreign nationals -- those living in the United States who are not citizens -- contributed to an estimated 24.2 percent of international patent applications in 2006.


Best 2007 Luxury SUVs, According to Consumer Reports

The new Mercedes-Benz GL- and R-Class luxury sport utility vehicles outpointed competitors from Volvo, Audi, and Cadillac in tests for the November issue of Consumer Reports.


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