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• U.S. Stock Markets Subdued Ahead Of U.S. Presidential Election - 4 November 2008

U.S. stock markets were rather subdued on Monday, closing practically flat ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 5.18 points (0.06 percent) closing at 9,319.83, while the broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 2.45 points (0.25 percent) closing at 966.30 and the Nasdaq composite increased 5.38 points (0.31 percent) to close at 1,726.33. In Europe, the London FTSE gained 1.51 percent, the Paris CAC40 rose 1.17 percent and Frankfurt’s DAX rose 0.62 percent.

• Airline Merger of Inconvenience Equals Stock Value Loss - 16 may 2008

The facts are upfront and bare. Northwest and Delta will not reduce the numbers of their hubs. They will not force any personnel to leave. This is great news if you work for either airline. It is time to parachute out of either stock as well. There is no joy in owning any slice of the world’s largest airline.

• How to Spot Thoroughbred Stock Early - 13 may 2008

Stock is not like a race horse. Offspring need not be like parents in business skills. Compare today’s Ford with the previous generation of Gates. A business Guru at the helm makes all the difference. However, investors rarely know until the stock has appreciated already. Do not lose hope though, you can spot winning stocks of tomorrow, by being aware of the following:

• The ‘No Comment’ Clue to Mortgage Losses on Your Stocks - 23 April 2008

The portly Chair Person is a business Guru. The local stock market hangs on to his every word. Business channels on television depend on his interviews for their rankings. He pays top dollar (in his currency) for women executives. His corporate office is a gold standard of material aspirations. Never mind about his identity. Reflect instead on the weight of his words.

• How Your Financial Planning Can Benefit from the Demise of Capitalism - 22 April 2008

You may prefer the term ‘rebirth’ to demise. Some die-hards may not see the Bear Stearns fire sale as a disruptive business event. Aimless debate is a luxury. Most of us are concerned with tightening belts to prepare for lean times ahead. You have to be an incurable optimist or Chinese to see a bright economic 2008.

• Business Lessons from Mobile Wars - 18 April 2008

2007 was not a uniformly bad year for all business. Banks will like to banish the nightmares. Most iPhone users and its legendary maker will remember the last calendar year forever.

• Hail the Stock Master - 10 March 2008

Our usual disclaimer will not suffice. We never tire of assuring you that our references to stocks are above board. However, we should also warn you that this post about Cairn Energy Plc (LON: CNE) is not a fairy tale.

• Emergency Protection against the Gathering Inflation Storm - 6 March 2008

You cannot wish harrowing inflation even on an enemy. Scenes from Zimbabwe, Palestine, and Burma make you cry. Starving children, riots in search of food, heaps of worthless currency-unbearable agony is everywhere.

• The Best Time to Enter New Technology Stock - 6 March 2008

You could think that you are on a set of a science fiction film. A surgeon sits at a console making natural cutting, probing, sealing, and related motions. Miniature instruments inside a patient at a far corner of the theater mimic the surgeon with dramatically reduced scales. The company which makes such equipment has chosen the romantic brand name of da Vinci. However, this is hard-headed and profitable business. Intuitive Surgical Incorporated (NASDAQ: ISRG) has a market capitalization of more than $10 billion. This Sunnyvale, CA Corporation made an Initial Public Offer (IPO) in June 2000. Is it too late for investor to enter the robotic and remote surgery space?

• Back to Business Management Basics to Survive in Today’s Stock Market - 27 February 2008

Does Ambac deserve a bail-out? Are assurances of dollars enough to prevent writedowns? How much exposure can stock or a bond take based on credit ratings anyway? Why do regulators allow Insurance industry players to take such massive risks? What should small stock investors make of the rumors in stock market circles?

• The Small Business Route to Better Financial Planning (Part 1) - 23 February 2008

Please take a look at our earlier piece entitled “Can a “Made in USA" Financial Planning Strategy Save Us from Recession” The 2008 Economic Stimulus Package makes serious attempts to get small business going. That is the inspiration for this piece. You could be in a salaried job, have a small enterprise going already, or simply be on the look-out for extra cash: here is a forum which you can use.

• The Small Business Route to Better Financial Planning (Part 2) - 23 February 2008

The Small Business Route to Better Financial Planning (Part 1)

Tax Incentives to Stimulate Small Business Investment (continued)

The other fruit on the Economic Stimulus Package tree that you must pluck is the extra $125 thousand of equipment investment you can write-off in 2008. You do not have to go all the way to the ceiling, but what an opportunity this is to ramp up your small business! There are any numbers of door-step services in your neighborhood that are either scarce or provided by illegal immigrants. Now is the time for you to get the equipment that can take your hobby, skill, or strength to a new commercial level. Cooking is one favorite: Brooklyn Cheesecake sold all its baking equipment in 2006. This company from Fairfield, NJ now licenses its trade-marks. Is selling confectionery under the “The Healthy Bakery” label exciting, or what? Who knows-perhaps you can register an even better name! Converting a part of your home in to an office, setting up your own fuel-cell electricity generator, starting an organic farm, and starting a video-conferencing center, are just random samples of the innumerable new cash generating investments in equipment that you can choose.

• Is Small Prettier in Financial Planning? (Part 1) - 15 February 2008

Have you read our earlier publication “Customer Benefits versus Profits for Financial Planning Service Providers”? We brought you examples of how small community and regional banks have done better than the large international ones in 2008. Every week of early 2008 has brought more bad news about large financial institutions going down because of bad loans. Is there a lesson in how smaller banks have stayed away from such a mess? Should investors favor stocks of small businesses? Are there limits to profitable growth in the business world? Could future losses hide in today’s blue chips?

• Perspective Environmental Scanning for Accurate Stock Price Prediction (Part 1) - 11 February 2008

Forecasting qualities and profits from stocks go hand-in-hand. The stock market mechanism depends largely on differing projections about the future outcomes of current business developments. We have published an article on this web site entitled “Stock Investment Tutorial from Sub-Prime Gainers”. This piece takes the earlier article forward, so that all of us can strive for the professional acumen of former regulators, present consultants, and their distinguished cronies. Though it does help speed up matters if you have buildings full of analysts at your command, classic business management techniques of environmental scanning do not have capital moats of entry barriers.

• Perspective Environmental Scanning for Accurate Stock Price Prediction (Part 2) - 11 February 2008
Perspective Environmental Scanning for Accurate Stock Price Prediction (Part 1)

Networking for Exclusive Financial Planning

There is no established alternative to domain expertise for top stock picks through environmental scanning. You can develop a theory about a business model, and trace life cycle links through academic means. However, you will probably never be certain enough about your modeling to back it with meaningful stock investment decisions. Can you sell blue chips just because of a notion that the future for that sector or player may not be as bright as today? Can you risk your savings on pink stocks just because you feel that they may have great futures? You can certainly aspire to be invited to the right events, but how do you differentiate between small talk and real leads?

• Customer Benefits versus Profits for Financial Planning Service Providers (Part 2) - 9 February 2008

Customer Benefits versus Profits for Financial Planning Service Providers (Part 1)

Business Differences between External and Internal Marketing

It is relatively safe for stock investors to support Internal Marketing investments, while continue to be skeptical of External Marketing extravaganzas. The People and Process elements of Internal Marketing are likely to be the most productive parts of a Marketing Mix. Unfortunately, most stock market quarters are more tuned to External Marketing developments, and little is known about the recruitment, training, and logistics planning processes of companies that are top stock picks of yesteryear. Studies of Internal Marketing processes over time, especially lean ones, can help stock investors distinguish between stocks of the past and others that are headed in to stagnation and decline.

• What the Administration Can Teach Business about Stock Value (Part 1) - 2 February 2008

Bureaucrats are often profiled as individuals who are less competent and effective in management terms than executives in corporations that work for profits. The reality is that business management techniques can work regardless of organizations structure and nature. Similarly, just as all managers in a company do not have the same levels of competence, so an administration can also have individual members who work effectively for positive changes. The Homeland Security Department and the Office of Management and Budget have recently introduced major cost-saving measures that all corporations should try and emulate.