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Setting up a small business in Canada requires determination, motivation, high moral and know-how of the business. Following are the steps you need to follow to start up with small business.

Identify Your Business Opportunity: Identify the best possible business for you from the multiple opportunities. It is important to find where you desire lie to understand your personality type.

Prepare a Business Plan: Business plan is must for any business, a business plan permits you to gain a better understanding of your industry structure, competitive landscape, and the capital requirements. Business Analyst observes that companies with business plan have 50% more profits and revenue than non-planning businesses. Writing a business plan just makes good business sense.

Get Start-up Money: To start any business, capital investment is must. Start-up funds for every business is different depending on type of business selected. Finding the money you need may come from a source you never thought of. In Canada the sources of getting money are following:

Canada Small Business Loan Program:

It helps you with your financing needs. Under this program, the Government of Canada makes it easier for small businesses to get loans from financial institutions by sharing the risk with lenders. Program works following ground:

- Who is Eligible: Business which can carry profit with gross annual revenues $5 million or less.

- Who is not eligible: Business which does not fall under Canada Small Business Financial Program is farming business, non-profit organizations, charitable trust and religious organizations.

- How much financing is available?: Provides up to $500,000 of financing, from this no more than $350,000 can be used for purchasing leasehold improvements or improving leased property and purchasing or improving new or used equipment.

- How to apply for Loan?: You need to apply for loan at your bank. If the bank decides to grant you a loan, they register it with Industry Canada. The list of lenders are ATB Financial, Bank of East Asia, Bank of Montreal, Caisses populaires Acadiennes, Caisses populaires de l'Ontario, Canada's Credit Unions, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Canadian Western Bank, GE Capital Financial Services, HSBC, Laurentian Bank of Canada, Mouvement des caisses Desjardins, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, TD Canada Trust.

Note: Agri-Food Canada has a similar program for the farming industry.

Canadian Youth Business Foundation:

- It is a national charity that provides young entrepreneurs.
- Young entrepreneurs from 18 to 34 may get up to $15,000 as a start up capital, with flexible three to five year repayment schedules.
- 2-year mentoring program need to be attended where you are matched up with dedicated business mentors or business professionals.

Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC):

- It is a financial institution wholly owned by the Government of Canada. BDC plays a vital role in delivering financial and consulting services to Canadian small and medium-sized businesses.
- Co-Vision loan can be up to $100,000, which can be repaid over 6 years. If needed, entrepreneurs can postpone principal payments for 12 months.
- Co-Vision specifically targets businesses in the manufacturing, distribution, services and tourism sectors.
- Projects such as working capital, acquisitions, fixed assets, marketing and start-up costs, or the purchase of a franchise can also be financed under Co-Vision.

Name Your Business: What's in a business name? Find the right name which will distinguish you from your competitors, provide your customers with a reason to hire you, and aid in the branding of your company. Learn what you need to know to find a name for your business.

Select a Business Structure: Deciding on the Business Structure is very important decision; this decision should not be taken lightly. Whether you choose the popular Limited Liability Company (LLC), a sole proprietorship or form a corporation; your choice will have an impact on your business liability, fund-ability as well as taxes due.

Get Your Business License and Permits: Depending on your chosen business structure, may need to register your business with the state authorities. Setting up your small business may require an employer identification number (EIN) which is also used by state taxing authorities to identify businesses. Additional paperwork can entail sales tax licenses, zoning permits and more.

Set Up Your Business Location: One of the multitude of tasks in starting a business is the setting up of your office. There are many steps in office set up including where to locate your office (home or office space), buying the necessary office equipment, designing your work space and getting supplies.

Get Business Insurance: As a new small business owner, you have the responsibility to manage the risks associated with your business. Don't put your new start-up at risk without getting the proper small business insurance to protect your company in the event of disaster or litigation.

Maintain Accounting System: Unless you're from accounting or finance background, the accounting and bookkeeping aspect of running your business can't be avoided. Maintaining your Accounts will help you to understand the financials of running a business and advert failure.

Along with the above you also need to know business legal structures, taxes like GST, PST, Payroll tax and Corporate Income Tax and employer obligations. You can also acquire information from any Business Directory Canada, Online Directory Canada, Yellow Pages Canada or Business Telephone Directory Canada.

Conclusions: There are many entrepreneurs who have lost their everything due to failure in their business. This article will help as a pathway to those who need to Setup a Small Business in Canada.

Since time immemorial, a system had already been in place to properly guide us on how we should conduct our daily lives. The system started as crude but with ingenuity, progress in this area has provided a way for human beings to enjoy the refinements of life. If we could only tap the full capacity of our intelligence, there is no way to measure what the human mind can possibly conceptualize and create.

Without technology, we wouldn't be where we are now. A tech company has been constantly on the move to invent products and services all designed for automation. You don't have to be an experienced analyst to think where all these is heading. Common sense will tell you, tech companies are in for the long haul and they are here to stay.

In 2009, the Japanese electronics maker Nintendo bagged the no. 1 spot for the top 50 companies in the world and the past 5 years have been witness to a 36% rise in sales annually. Games are really fascinating, huh...tell you something. A tech company, believe me, will consistently play a bigger role as the market demands continue to rise. It would be wise to consider putting in some of your money here. Well, there is a huge database of electronics companies for you to choose where to invest. Is it profitable? Yes. It can make you rich. Successful investors knew it when the tech company trend was just relatively small, to say the least, was unknown when it just started out..

For those whose interests lie in information technology, investing here would be the best move. Thousands upon thousands are turning to the internet everyday. Business opportunities in the internet are growing by leaps and bounds as people have discovered work from home jobs. If you have been skimming all along, it's time for you to take action. Thousands of low-key investors have become millionaires in the tech company feat doing their business from the comforts of home. I'd say, I'm one of these guys. Just don't forget, do your own research so you can make an intelligent decision.

The tech company niche has had its share of ups and downs, too. For as long as you are in the field of investing, expect times like these. But this should not stop you from making that critical move. Tech company fields have tightened their belts because they knew they'll ride it out. It is extremely valuable for you to make your own in-depth analysis.

You may not have heard of Carlos Sim but he is the stalwart behind America Movil, considered the fourth largest cellular carrier with more than 190 million subscribers. With the right management philosophies, business outlook and well-thought out strategies, such tech company does promise a bright future and ensure profitability many times over. These companies too, continue to expand in developing markets driven by a firm belief that consumers will always hunger for new, modern gadgets and ideas. So, do not stay in that warm cocoon. Make or break, you need to take action now. This sector does not promise substantial returns but awesome profitability, indeed.

The South Florida region knows too well that the real estate slump has truly hit the housing industry real hard, with vacancies rising and leasing rates falling down.

While the residential markets are bearing the brunt, surprisingly, commercial properties here continue to fetch record prices and have remained buoyant because of much lower vacancy rates.

A Quick Overview Of Commercial Property Markets In South Florida

A closer view of the areas markets reveals just how poorly commercial real estate is faring, at least in terms of occupancy. In Miami, for example, residential units in the central business district increased 55% since 2000, while the office increase was 9.5%, according to local real estate industry observers. And even if developers contemplated a new office building, the construction companies were likely tied up with residential jobs until recently, notes some analysts. Overall, South Florida's economy has been steadily improving, and those forces have combined to boost the office market there.

Why The Commercial Market Wasn't Hit As Hard As The Residential Sectors

According to housing market analysts, unlike the residential market, where investors are most often private individuals, commercial real estate investors are more diverse and not nearly as tied to mortgage rates. Commercial property market also investors include institutional buyers such as pension funds that pay cash instead of borrowing money. Many analysts have noted that there's still strong demand for commercial real estate, particularly among foreign investors, and many don't see any slowing of investor interest, particularly in retail and hotels.

As home-ownership trends are tied directly to income and interest rates, observers have noted that home buying was made unusually affordable in the past few years because of low interest rates and the popularity of mortgage-financing options such as interest-only loans. This trend has led to high demand, a lot of speculation and lots of new building.

However, when interest rates began to soar, it became much harder for individuals to afford or even to qualify for housing loans. This end result has produced a glut of homes and condos in many areas. While interest rates also affect commercial mortgages as well, cheap debt has been one major factor why there has been so many bidders on the commercial buildings sold over the past few years, which have pushed prices to record levels and yields to record lows as well.

The Office Markets May Be Slow, But The Retail Sector Is Booming

Some commercial market analysts note that they are seeing some softness in the office sales market, particularly in Broward County, where they aren't well tenanted, but are seeing high demand in the retail sector, where grocery store-anchored centers are selling quickly as soon as developers finish them. Rental rates in the west Miami-Dade industrial markets] are down currently, however, the value of commercial properties has gone up, even in weak markets like today, as more investors prefer real estate more than equity markets, and have paid premium prices to be in this real estate market.

The Florida commercial real estate market continues to remain a cyclical industry notes industry analysts, and it is early in the office sector's recovery. Those investors who paid really high prices for commercial buildings, especially those who funded these using floating-rate debt or interest-only loans in the early years, are hopeful on their optimistic growth projections to deliver.

To be exact, the office recovery is uneven in most markets, as longtime struggling office markets like the one in Dallas, Texas are improving despite high vacancy rates from previous overbuilding. Other areas like Cleveland and Detroit are also slightly improving, despite limited job growth.

Wall Street is in the middle of a crisis that is spilling over into Main Street. The roots of the problem were laid many years ago. The answers are still coming out. The answers could cause more problems. We will not recover from this anytime soon.

Each individual has to think about what risks they are willing to incur and how to grow their own nest egg.

Let's start with the origin of the current financial problem. During the 90's Alan Greenspan started lowering interest rates. We had significant periods of very low interest rates. This lead to too many people buying houses. On the surface, nothing is wrong with that. Home ownership is a good thing. Many of these people would not have normally qualified for a loan. Since rates were so low, the lenders could still charge a premium and make decent money on the loan. Many of these loans were adjustable. So if interest rates went up, so would their payment.

A quick aside about housing starts. Housing starts are one of the single most important guides to the economic health of our country. An average house cost about $250,000. It takes about 6 months to build. People are spending several years' salary in a single purchase. There is labor in building it, appliances, wood, paint, tile, carpet and everything el. Once you buy it, you typically get some furniture for it. All of this is financed. With that financial package come the title company, loan processing and the loan itself. With each house, there are several times your incomes spent in a single period. Economic growth is measured but the total activity. A house contributes quite a bit to that.

So there were several years where housing was great and a lot of loan packages out there that were good packages as long as rates stayed low.

Throw in Wall Street starts making new markets based on mortgage-based derivatives. There are so many mortgage-based derivatives out there and each one is confusing. To oversimplify it, they created trading markets for sections of the loans and were trading them amongst each other. Essentially they were generating volume and commissions for themselves. This was not too different from Enron.

Eventually interest rates went up. All those sub-prime loans that were adjustable, their monthly payments went up. These loans were good when payments stayed the same, but now the monthly payment was going up by several hundred dollars. Guess what people started doing - not payment the mortgage.

Many banks, brokerage houses and other financial institutions were holding these and now the payments weren't coming in. The value of a loan from someone who cannot pay is not very good. Multiply that by several thousand.

Multiple things start happening all at the same time. Housing starts go down. Home prices stagnate or fall. Lending stops or slows because they have no money to lend because the loan payments are not coming in. All of these are bad.

What has happened it the Wall Street players who have the most assets in sub-prime mortgages are left without a seat when playing musical chairs.

On top of all this, add on increase in gas, and groceries.

Bear Stearns, Lehman Bros and Merrill Lynch have all failed and other companies were told to buy them or help them with guarantees by the government. The government just outright saved Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

This hurts Main Street because the credit market is gone for awhile. No new development anywhere or the construction jobs to build them. Small business lines-of-credit will get scarce. Small business that has financial institutions or construction companies as clients will have longer cash cycles. Once again, all of these are bad.

The biggest culprit in all this is Wall Street. The games they play to inflate trading volumes have been nothing more than Enron Part II. The trading they do is immensely complex. Sarbanes Oxley did not quite cover that.

So what is an individual supposed to do about it?

1) Do not stay away from Wall Street completely. There is nothing wrong with owning GE, Google, Ford or any other of the still solid companies out there. Just do not expect to get rich from them. They get brought down by the rest of the Wall Street gang.

2) If you want true financial independence, it is up to you to do something about it. You eventually need to find your own way to make money that does not rely on anyone else or any other company. This means starting your own business. It can be something on the side or full time. In our current climate, this will be your retirement.

The forces that affect our financial lives are out of the control of the individual. This means it is up to the individual to do something about it.

I was watching Larry King Live the other day when his guests were Michael Reagan (Republican), Jesse Ventura (independent), and Katrina Vanden Heuvel, an Obama Supporter and Democrat. After listening to them for a while I said "what are they talking about?" After watching programs like this and really paying attention to the discourse, it's apparent to me that the news media in all its great wonder, power and splendor is either deliberately ignoring the fundamental issues or they are scared to even think about the real fundamental issues that plague this nation. If you are wondering what are these issues, let me enumerate some of them for you:

The American economy and subsequently the dollar is suffering largely because of 3 things:The Iraq War
The policies of the Federal Reserve (which is not government owned)
The real estate industry including but not limited to the banking system, the National Association of Realtors (NAR), property appraisers, and mortgage brokers

The invasion of Iraq and the hanging of Saddam Hussein was predicated on a deliberate lie from the start. (No one knows who authored the lie)The oil companies have the resources to develop technology that can free the American people from oil dependency.

The electric car
The air car These are just a few of some very important issues that have affected the US economy and how other nations view the US. Since I am not writing a book, I will just briefly delve into these different issues. I strongly recommend that you do your own research. Truth is exposed when you look at all the facts from many sources.

The Economy's Woes

One of the most obvious reasons why this economy is just less than spectacular is because of all the money that is being spent in Iraq. No one ever talks about how this war affects the average American citizen. No one ever explains that the US citizen is the US economy. If we don't have money to spend or are unwilling to spend the money that we do have, the economy either slows down and/or comes to a halt. So it's very easy to see that as we go so goes the economy. To make matters worse, every dollar that is printed and put into circulation has debt calculated into its value. What this means is that each dollar is borrowed money. The money is borrowed by the US government from the Federal Reserve. But how does the government pay this debt? Taxes. So we the people pay taxes in part to pay off the government's debt to the Fed. But the only currency that we can pay taxes with is the dollar itself, which creates an infinite loop. To take it a step further, the interest is compounded.

Prior to the Iraq invasion, the Bush administration took the US into debt when there was a major surplus. So the money that was needed to initiate the invasion didn't even exist. Well it didn't exist for No Child Left Behind. So Bush got Congress to authorize borrowing more money from the Fed. As the fed authorized the government to print more money, the dollar weakened which means that the interest owed per dollar increased because it takes more money to pay the same amount of interest. Again, the debt will be paid by the people. As I stated earlier, the people are the economy. One thing that people don't think about is that the dollar has no "real" value. The dollar is not backed by any precious metals, resources, real estate, technology, intellectual property, or anything that any person or country can appraise. The dollar is not real money. It's fiat money that is backed by nothing. If a country wants to cripple the US, they only need to reevaluate the dollar. The problem with that is this would cripple the global economy as well. So the US, as well as other countries, are in a precarious position. The only countries that are on solid ground, sort of solid ground, are the oil countries and countries rich in natural resources. If there is a worldwide economic collapse, they can always barter. The countries that don't have a lot of natural resources may have to sell/trade away their land if it is of strategic benefit to a resource-rich country. But of course, resource-poor countries will be swindled out of their land because they're desperate.

"REAL" Estate

Land will continue to be one of the most prized possessions on this planet. Unfortunately, most people don't think about it in a meaningful way. The real estate market is experiencing the bubble burst phenomenon. I believe that the real estate industry as a whole is partially responsible, especially the executives and CEO's sitting at the helm of this industry. Many of these men and women are not dumb bunnies. There are many college graduates and MBA's that fill these ranks. There is also years upon years of experience that fill their collective brain trust. I find it ludicrous to believe that they did not see this coming. Alan Greenspan referred to the activities of investors as irrational exuberance when referring to the stock market circa 1996. Many of those financial guys/gals, stock brokers, financial analysts, and pundits alike didn't like Greenspan's real assessment of the financial climate. As far as these financial guys were concerned the market needed to keep going up so long as they continued to sell financial products. About 4 years later the market gave back a lot of its winnings. 401(K)s, TSAs, mutual funds, stocks and other financial instruments lost around 50% of their market value (give or take a few points).

So if you look at the real estate market, you don't have to be Greenspan to realize that prices shot up too fast, too high, and in too short a time. But too many average Joes and Janes were giddy with the prices their homes were now worth. To dig an even deeper ditch, a lot of homeowners sold their current homes for a higher priced newer home with their newfound equity only to learn that the property taxes you pay for higher priced homes is really high for the average Joe and Jane. Combine that with excessive subprime lending and you have a major problem. A lot of people don't realize that subprime lenders were allowed to give loans based on relaxed lending criteria. By who? Know one ever talks about that.

"Fed" eral Policies

The Fed (Federal Reserve) tells banks what rules they can lend by. The fed also tells banks how much cash they must keep in reserves. The Fed dictates how much currency will be in circulation in our economy. The Fed is the bank behind all banks. There are really smart guys and gals that work over there at the Fed. It's naive to think that they did not see this one coming. It is naive to think that the good people over at the National Association of Realtors could not imagine that the real estate market was experiencing an episode of irrational exuberance. This phrase was coined only a few years earlier by a man who ran the Fed for many years. Unfortunately, property appraisers were rewarded by mortgage brokers for justifying higher appraisals. Mortgage brokers sent appraisers more business and the banks approved more loans. Round and round the carousel goes. Faster and faster the ride until people start flying off. All the while the Fed did nothing. This was only part of the problem.

The Invasion of Iraq

For most people, the invasion of Iraq seemed logical. We were afraid of the terrorists striking us again. We should attack! The only problem was that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. The Bush administration saw to it that he scared up support for the invasion from the people and bluntly told the UN that we're going to invade Iraq even if the UN didn't agree. Dare I say that I am the great prognosticator, but I didn't buy it from the start. I actually believe that diplomacy does work. I watched Gen. Colin Powell addresses the UN on WMDs and I didn't see all of this so called evidence. He was a pawn. You see, prior to Bush winning the presidential election in 2000, there was talk that Gen. Colin Powell could be the first black president, as a Republican! The idea was that he would get the black vote which Republicans knew would guarantee a win. He was respected by Republicans and many people for planning Operation Desert Storm. But several years after his UN Security Council address, Powell does almost an about face and tells Tim Russert (R.I.P.) on Meet the press that he was misled and we should not have invaded Iraq. 5 years later we are effectively in a recession. George Bush calls it a "slow down," whatever that means. This is our president, a beacon of intellectual discourse and a stalwart of morals. I still don't think he won in 2000. The people were lied to. Check out the HBO movie Recount.

Big Oil, Big Profits, Little Social Responsibility

Back in the early 1900s, the idea of an all electric automobile was in the works. There was even an electric car called the Baker Electric (you can also google Owen Magnetic) back in 1909. Jay Leno has one (1909 Baker electric) in his garage that still works today! (google Jay Leno's Garage) Oil companies right now have the resources to produce this technology, but they don't want to. Some argue that the oil companies are sitting on patents right now. Instead they have decided to take in record profits while the economy comes to a "slow down." One hundred years has gone by and still no advancement with the electric car on a large scale. We've had such technologically advanced aircraft such as the Stealth bomber, and SR-71 Blackbird, and yet we couldn't create an electric car. Give me a break!

Thankfully there are private companies that are working on alternatives to the gas-driven internal combustion engine, but even fewer are working on totally electric vehicles (Google Tesla Motors). There's even an air car! You can find it on youtube. Clearly we can do better. I think it's not helpful to wait for a crisis before we move into action. We should always be on the look-out for a better, more efficient way of doing things. We should no longer endorse the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. We would be better served if we adopted a "we can always make it better" mindset. This is fundamentally a policy issue, which means politics.

So I close with this. Neither Republicans nor Democrats have done the things that people need the most: better education. I only list education because everything else flows from education. If people were more educated about money, the average citizen would be more fiscally responsible. Education isn't just going to the school house and taking tests. Education is teaching students the significance and relationship of all things. A more educated populace would not tolerate the political games we are enthralled with today. A more educated populace would have a lot less crime, if any, than we do today. A more educated populace would have kept the focus on the evolution of humankind. We would be better off if we were better educated, but politicians of the ruling parties have done little to make things better for the American people.

REPUBLICANS 0.5, DEMOCRATS 0.6 Note: Good ideas have come to fruition because of both of these parties, but I think they feed the people scraps and sell them as hearty meals. Dem's only get 0.6 because they claim to be for we the people. Republicans get 0.5 because they claim to be for freedom of the individual (i.e. less government, lower taxes). Neither get a full point because they've both deceived the public. Nobody wins.

Mexican drug cartels are now advertising for young men to step up and to come and join their ranks to fight the Mexican army. The ads and banners premise those who join will make good money have food and a place to stay even while in training. The Journal has learned that this same type of advertising is planned for Juarez, TJ and other Mexican border cities.

Mexican drug cartels according to recent press reports have military style training camps on and near the border with the United States. These Training camps are for military-style killers. Federal authorities say these camps have Afghanistan and other middle eastern instructors who teach the latest military fighting tactics that are utilized in Iraq and Afghanistan by the Islamic radicals that are fighting and killing American and allied troops in those countries. Mexican officials admit they know of special training camps in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas and Michoacan, where newly recruited Zetas take intensive six-week training courses in weapons, tactics and intelligence gathering.

Iran is believed providing at least some of the money for this recruiting and training program. The training camps are teaching hit and run gorilla technique's. Cells of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) have sent their seasoned veterans to oversee the training of the new troops and to direct the war against the Mexican government on behalf of the Mexican Cartels. Trained fighters from al-Qaida, Hizballah (Party of God) Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have been seen in Mexico and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reported cells from these terrorist organizations are believed here in the U.S. as well. According to a well placed CIA operative.

The El Paso Journal has been told by an anonymous caller who claims to be an Lt. of a Mexican cartel said in advance, "that the Mexican drug cartels would be advertising for recruits to train as cartel soldiers to fight the Mexican army which has been sent to the border with the U.S. to extinguish the Mexican drug cartels". Just today a week or so since he made the predictions banners where string across a main artery in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico advertising for recruits. He also said they would be advertising on the internet which has also happened. His predictions have been accurate so far. He told of the Mexican army coming to each border town before they did. The Journal has not reported any of his predictions to date without confirmation from other independent unrelated and reliable sources.

The Mexican government first realized that Islamic radical militants were already starting to infiltrate the country in statements by high-ranking Mexican officials prior to and following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks indicated "that Islamic extremist organizations has sought to establish a presence in Mexico".

Former Mexican national security adviser and ambassador to the United Nations, Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, stated, that "Spanish and Islamic terrorist groups are using Mexico as a refuge... In light of this situation, there are continuing investigations aimed at dismantling these groups so that they may not cause problems". He also mentioned that the terrorist groups in question are located in the northern part of the country. "Islamic people" in Mexico sparked speculation among observers that the Lebanese Shi'ite terrorist organization Hizbollah have established cells in Mexico.
Remarks made by Mexican public officials indicate the real possibility that al Qaeda cells are present in Mexico and could potentially attempt to cross the U.S. southwest border to conduct additional attacks.

The former director of Mexico's Center for Intelligence and National Security (Centro de Inteligencia y Seguridad Nacional-Cisen), Eduardo Medina Mora, remarked that the possibility of an al Qaeda attack against the United States launched from Mexico "could not be ruled out."

National Migration Institute (Instituto Nacional de Migracion-INM) official Felipe Urbiola Ledezma made more alarming statements during remarks to the press, Urbiola said, "We have in Mexico people linked to terrorism and we are constantly observing unusual immigration flows...[people connected to] ETA, Hizbollah and even some with links to Usama Bin Laden."

Other terrorist and criminal groups are in Mexico including the Russian mafia groups such as the Poldolskaya, Mazukinskaya, Tambovskaya, and Izamailovskaya have been detected in Mexico. The Moscow-based Solntsevskaya gang is also reported to be present in the country, as are other mafia gangs from Chechnya, Georgia, Armenia, Lithuania, Poland Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Albania, and Rumania. Their major activities include drug and arms trafficking, money laundering, prostitution, trafficking in women from Eastern and Central Europe and Russia, alien smuggling, kidnapping, and credit card fraud.

Reforma a leading Mexican newspaper reported that U.S. intelligence agencies had detected a partnership between the Tijuana-based Arellano-Felix Organization (AFO) and Russian mafia groups based in southern California. In a separate story, Reforma reported that members of the former KGB-affiliated Kurganskaya group in San Diego had met with AFO operative Humberto Rodríguez Banuelos.

Reforma reported that for at least the last ten years the Russian mafia was supplying Mexican drug traffickers with radars, automatic weapons, grenade launchers, and small submersibles in exchange for cocaine, amphetamines, and heroin. It cited a 1996 sting operation in which undercover DEA agents posing as Russian mafia members sold Carillo Fuentes operatives 300 AK-47s and ammunition in Costa Rica.

Even ten years ago, ten Russians, including four known members of the Russian mafia, were arrested at Mexico City's international airport when they arrived on a KLM flight from Amsterdam. The mafia members included Aleksandr Zakharov, one of the leaders of the Moscow mafia and founder of the Uralinvest, known to have a principal role in organized crime in Russia. Another detainee was Nicolay Novikov, a Uralinvest director who had been imprisoned on three previous occasions for arms trafficking. A third was Yevgeniy Sazhayev, who had been arrested on two previous occasions for drug trafficking. The fourth was Vladimir Titov, wanted for various assassinations and who had escaped from several Russian prisons with the help of the mafia. The four men, who were traveling with six women, were apparently en route to Acapulco and Cancún. The group was reportedly deported. The Interpol head in Mexico, Juan Manuel Ponce, corroborated accounts that the group had been carrying arms and a substantial amount of cash.

According to Mexican analyst Jorge Fernández Méndez, the Russian mafia bosses had come to Mexico in order to mediate in the gang war being fought between the CFO and various other groups for control of drug trafficking routes through Mexico in the wake of the death of Alejandro Paez.
It is well known that the Russian mafia is deeply entrenched in the criminal fabric of the Mexican drug cartels and still today plays an important roll in providing guns and other weapons to the cartels and are purveyors of, drug smuggling, money laundering, prostitution, trafficking in women from Eastern and Central Europe and Russia, alien and terrorist smuggling, kidnappings for ransom.
The self proclaimed Mexican drug cartel Lt. says," that we will be offering Mexican soldiers very attractive pay packages and other benefits to cross over and go to work for us". He told the journal we can look for that new development to be happening soon. He also predicts that "active current duty Mexican soldiers and Mexican Federal Police officers will be killed by well armed and trained cartel soldiers".

Google these Sources:

Hundreds being rounded- up and many Arrested in Juarez Mexico

The U.S. placed Mexico under a travel alert As Thousands of Armed Mexican Troops Patrol the Streets of Juarez

Linking of drug cartels on the Texas border with Middle East terrorist

President Bush's top intelligence aide has confirmed that Iraqi terrorists have been captured coming into the United States from Mexico

Americans Being Kidnapped, Held and killed in Mexico

They're known as "Los Zetas"

Reforma Reforma Mexico City Newspaper.

Library of Congress Federal Research Division: Terrorism and Crime...

http://www.cnn.com

http://www.lagunajournal.com

http://www.limeshine.com

http://bajasur.craigslist.com.mx/lab/604707210.html

You've made a firm decision to start your own business. You know what product or service you're going to offer. You know who your customers are, who your suppliers are and where you want to locate. You understand your business, you have the experience. You're all set to launch your dream.

Now What? Money to start and run your business, right? May be you have a little stashed away, or family, friends or relatives are going to help you get stated.

You will need to determine how much money you are going to need-and can you get it?

Do you know how & can you get the money-right now? If your business idea is sound, you have established a track record as a manager, and you have some collateral, then you have an excellent chance of obtaining theELOC's equity Lines of Credit, business financing or loans to get started. Even without collateral you may be able to get it.

Remember lenders and financial institutions offering loans and equity Lines of credit - ELOC's that you approach for loans want to lend you money, as long as you meet their requirements. Business loans for small to medium business may be the majority or only why they generate money from the interest you pay for their company.

They look at the individual or company as the potential borrower as a possible source of income for the lender. Professional lenders in general are very knowledgeable about financing. They know what their requirements are and how to determine quickly if you meet there requirements. If you don't know, the lenders will not lend you money. It's that simple.

Financing your business comes with planning and effort. You will need to research, organize your thoughts and plans before presenting your proposal for funding. Know the type of lender that might be right for you, and think about how to approach and present loan proposals to them. Have a clear plan, stay focused, present realistic financial numbers. Sure tell them the big $$$ opportunity, but keep it simple. Bankers want to see that you have a solid plan for building that big idea and revenues.

Note - Tell your friends and family how you are going to be the next Bill Gates or Donald Trump but not the lenders. They want to hear your excitement! ... Just be careful!!

Lender requirements for your business will involve: your personal credit reports, type of business, region, market for your product, your potential cash flow, collateral, etc.

Be prepared by making sure that your personal and financial assets match up with the requirements.

Do not be intimidated by the lender, he want the business; just make sure he is right for your business too. Ask questions about there lending policies and what they expect should they give you a loan. It is not always about the money after the fact.

For example, venture capitalists that lend you start-up money in return you find out they want a large part of the ownership, or a bank offers and aggressive interest rate that you do not feel comfortable with. Make sure the fit works both ways and you have a clear understanding or the terms and conditions of the loan arrangement.

If you do not feel comfortable or know how to prepare your business for funding, ask some one you know for assistance or hire an service provider that is experienced with preparing business financing, business equity lines of credit, aged corporate shelf companies etc to get you started quickly. They can save you a lot of time and rejections. It is worth the small investment to get your business started.

You will be surprised by the amount of knowledge that is needed to borrow successfully.

Lenders look for collateral to secure the loan in most cases, offer higher interest rates they charge, and the amount of control they place on your business during the term of the loan, etc. They have different objectives. Again ask questions? Some are looking for big returns. Others are content with a safe paycheck. Others may want a seat on your board.

Part 2 - Thinking through & preparing the financial plan for lending?

Have a great day & much success with your business!

Wm Cole Smith

All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2008

Platinum fell today, the most in four months on speculation that demand from the auto industry would drop, since that is where it is mostly consumed, while output has stabilized. Palladium also dropped. Platinum closed at $1,630.00, down by $106.00, and Palladium closed at $365.00, down $14.00 as of the NYME close on August 1, 2008.

U.S. auto sales remained at the lowest annual rate in 15 years, in July 2008. That fueled concerns that demand will decline for platinum and palladium for auto-emissions control parts. Production in South Africa, the source of 78 % of the world's supply, has stabilized after power shortages disrupted mines in January. As of August 1, 2008 the production of Platinum was reported at 36,282 ounces.

The rout in the platinum group of metals continues to unfold, a senior analyst said. The automobile manufacturers reports, and a brighter supply outlook out of South Africa continue to present a hurdle to price advances.

Platinum futures for October delivery tumbled $106.00, or 6.1 %, to $1,630.00 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYME), the biggest one day drop since March 7. The most active contract slid 5.9 % this week, the third straight weekly decline.

Palladium futures for September delivery sank $14.00, or 3.2 %, to $365.00 an ounce. The price dropped for a sixth consecutive week, declining 3.1 %. The most active futures fell 17 % last month, the biggest such decline since a 22 % plunge in March.

General Motors, Ford Motor and Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. reported declined sales last month, record gasoline prices depressed demand, for trucks and large vehicles, and a slowing economy kept consumers away from dealer lots. Ford Motor reported a 15 % drop from a year earlier, Toyota's sales fell 12 %, and GM posted a 27 % decline.

The Platinum group metals have been hit the strongest as investors believe they have hit their top and want to be in the more liquid gold, where they can get in and get out quickly. With platinum below $1,700 an ounce, it is expected that good industrial buying in South American countries will occur.

Platinum, which gained 36 % this year through June, tumbled 15 % in July, partly because of poor automobile sales. It was the biggest one month drop since December 1988.

Platinum reached a record $2,308.80 on March 4, 2008 partly because of output cuts in South Africa. But, by May, precious metal output, except for gold, rose at a 2.6 % annual pace, according to Statistics in South Africa.

Platinum fell as the dollar rose against the Euro, following a government report that showed U.S. employers eliminated fewer jobs in July than the analysts had forecasted. Some investors sell metals priced in dollars, and that includes platinum and palladium, when the U.S. Currency gains.

The dollar rose 0.6 % against the Euro, heading for its biggest weekly gain since June 13. The dollar traded at $1.5541 per Euro, up 3.1 % from a record low reached on July 15, 2008 against the European currency.

Dollar traders are also anticipating further strength in the currency as conditions in Europe continue to pressure the Euro towards the $1.54 level.

Many firms benefit significantly from either setting up on their own or partnering with a third part to set up a customer financing program for their products. Key benefits are increased sales, cash flow, customer loyalty, etc.

But are there also some risks for the company to be aware of also - Of course there are and let's look at some of those risks.

We would also point out that these risks are in fact the same ones taken on by independent leasing firms also.

Foremost from a risk perspective is that fact the customer financing program will be viewed by the customers as the one and same as your company. Therefore customer service and financing ability are in fact now part of your firm's reputation.

Companies may also find that the borrowing costs to set up a program are in fact higher than their normal business operating costs. Naturally the method in which the finance division is set up also affects the debt levels of your company. No business wants to fail because it took on higher debt in an effort to in fact help their customers!

On a long term basis company lenders might view your firms foray into customer financing as an additional risk factor, which they might try to compensate on by imposing restrictions such as additional covenants, requests for more equity into the firm, etc. The bottom line is simply that setting up a customer financing scenario may in fact affect your own firm's ability to borrow.

If your firm is larger then analysts and firms looking at your firm might in fact be raising issues and perceptions around which business you are actually in, i.e. your products, or the financing of those products. Business owners and financial managers will always want to ensure that ultimately they are sticking to their core business model and philosophies. If your firm becomes too enamored by financing you possibly run the risk of total business failure. There are numerous cases in financial history where firms collapsed because of the shenanigans of the finance division.

We have heard the term in business 'sticking to our knitting', which of course simply means that management needs unique skills to run a business, and those skills are different in financing. Owners and managers related to the customer financing division must have strong skills in financial sales, structuring, and credit... Naturally we are also inferring that additional skilled personnel ultimately must be hired.

No company every wants to look back in hindsight and say that if failed or stumbled because efforts and funds went into financing, as opposed to r&d, marketing, staff, and product growth. Do not let a customer finance program become an obstacle to your ultimate business success

Business owners should ensure that there is good communications between the main operating company and the customer financing division - clear goals and philosophies should be set out re the function of such a customer finance program.

In summary the benefits of offering financing to your customer are very obvious, and proven true by some of the largest and most successful companies in the world - but all you have to do is to do it right! Ensure your firm is aware of the risks and challenges and monitor your customer financing program on an ongoing basis to ensure you are not straying from your core business model.

Penny stock brokers claim they can make you very profitable trades in the penny stock market. They say they will do all the work for you. So now you can just sit back and wait for the money to flow in right? There is only one problem with that theory. You will be waiting forever as no penny stock brokers have your best interest in mind.

You see, penny stock brokers earn a very nice commission when you trade through them. They are also paid a flat fee for there services. They are not at all interested in you making money! They only care about lining their own pockets. I have worked with many penny stock brokers before and can tell you that I never did as well as I do now. All I have ever experienced is penny stock brokers that give me unsound advice that makes them money. So if penny stock brokers will not make you money, how do you do it?

The truth is, you can do it all by yourself with great success! I never made much money at all with penny stock brokers. It was only when I took matters into my own hands that I really started to see a large cash flow come from my investments. So you see, I am my own penny stock broker, and I would not have it any other way! It is really not as hard as you may think to be your own penny stock broker.

What is so great about not dealing with penny stock brokers is that my life is in my own hands. I no longer listen to anyone. I have earned my financial freedom by trading penny stocks and am living my life the way I have always wanted! I simply took my life and did what I wanted with it. No more penny stock brokers for me.

Without the US juggernaut pushing us toward prosperity, the world economy is about to fall into an abyss. Don't let people talk about the rise of Chindia (China and India) and economic decoupling from the US. World growth has been powered by the US Fed dumping money into the financial markets, since 9.11. Just as the Soviets crumbled economically during the end of the cold war, the US is now making the same mistake. This will be the last world economic cycle they drive, the next boom will almost certainly be out of Asia.

If you're into investing, the holiday period is a great time to reflect on the year passed and look at developing some short term financial strategies for the year ahead. While any good investor always has a long term plan quietly working to consolidate their wealth, it's the short term opportunities that can really boost your growth.

Examine the global economy's performance over the last few years and BOOM!- that says it all. Since the central banks poured money into the global markets post 9.11, the world has been awash with money. The resultant excess liquidity made money cheaper and therefore credit easier for both business and personal loans.

Of course there were several factors that came into alignment and ignited the boom. Growth in China, India and Russia lead a resource resurgence, and interest rate cuts by the Fed in the US created an American led economic revival that triggered growth around the world. The US markets are 25% of the global economy- and although some analysts talk of an economic 'decoupling', the truth is that world economic fortunes are still very much dependant on conditions in America- at least for this economic cycle anyway.

So with ample money available on the world bourses there was plenty of money made available for lending. The way these international money markets work is not unfamiliar to those of us with our own loans, except that deals are done on a much larger scale. In the international arena anyone with enough security can acquire millions or billions of dollars in credit at a wholesale interest rate. These borrowers, usually banks, then on-sell the credit as loans or mortgages to businesses and individuals adding a margin to the interest rate that provides them with a profit.

While interest rates are low, the borrower's ability to repay the loan increases, allowing the lender to offer more money. Offering more credit also allows the lender to increase their profit margin. If credit is cheap, available and used wisely, it becomes a marvellous tool that can help you increase your wealth very, very quickly.

If you were to have borrowed money at the very start of the housing boom, you would have not only been able to buy a house cheaply, but you would enjoy a small mortgage at low interest rates- and for some it meant they could buy a house cheaper than they could rent one. But even if you bought at the peak of the housing market early last year, while your loan would much larger, low interest rates kept repayments at a manageable level.

Economic conditions between 2002 and 2007 assisted the growth of credit. Low unemployment, wage increases and on-going low interest rates meant that the banks could continue to issue more and more affordable credit to borrowers. For many home owners, the purchase of big ticket household items and even cars could now be added to the home mortgage.

Correspondingly, many well known financial institutions issued a range of new credit cards. It was now possible to get $50 000 unsecured at rate of 10%! In fact credit was available for anything from margin loans to buy shares with, through to plasma TVs. Credit had never been seen before on a scale like this, and practically any employed person was eligible to join in.

With all this credit available to be spent on all manner of things, the world economy was boosted thereby feeding the system- more credit equalled more spending. You didn't need to have a million dollars to live like a millionaire any more, you just needed to borrow the cash. As long as you could afford the repayments, the millionaire lifestyle was yours today.

Of course, if a borrower had been diligent during this period by not over committing to credit and working hard to reduce their loan currently they will have increased their wealth. The value of the assets acquired will have risen while they have worked to reduce their debt, thereby increasing their equity and eventual returns on their purchase.

The importance of this strategy can not be underestimated. The principal of using a credit to advance your position is a fundamental building block of wealth creation. The most basic of all errors that brings down companies and individuals alike is the accumulation of too much debt. Unfortunately like most things, for one reason or another economic booms can't last for ever. And when the good times end, the lenders need higher returns on their money- so up go interest rates.

Is there anyone out there who hasn't heard the alarm bells ringing since last June? The "credit crunch" is on its way and here comes the pain. If you think things are bad now, just wait, they are going to get worse. Sub-prime mortgage defaults in the US wiping out billions of dollars across the board. Stifled growth, falling employment, and dampened consumer spending are pushing the US economy toward the brink of recession. And rather than let things take their normal course, by letting interest rates rise, the US Fed is subsidising the losses itself, by lowering interest rates. The party is over!

So if you haven't been working hard to pay off your mortgage or loan, now is a good time to start. Or if you're getting nervous now about the future now is equally as a good a time to downsize your home, car, or lifestyle. Sell for what you can at the top of this market and sit on the cash in the meantime. Another 6 months might be too late. While world governments will stave off disaster as long as they can, it's only a matter of time before it all crashes down around us.

All the signs are there. Gold prices are up, institutional investors are running for cover. Anyone with any market savvy is seeking to cut debt and cash up as fast as they can. When the bust comes, interest rates will finally rise and the borrowers that can no longer service their debt will be forced into a sale of assets. Credit will tighten. Money will become expensive and when the sellers outnumber the buyers, demand drops and prices fall. Who can forget the pain of the late 80s and early 90s.

Unmanageable debt is not something you want to be stuck with come 2009. If you are in debt, use this year to get yourself in a sustainable financial situation. Long term, it can only be to your benefit.

You have a wealth of choices in how to buy and sell stocks these days, but you always need a stock broker. Learn how to pick a broker who will give you exactly the service level you want and ensure you don't overpay!

Due to the financial markets deregulation that began in the U.S. in the 1970's and today extends into many countries around the world, investors have more choices of stock brokers than ever before. However, with this wealth of choices comes the responsibility (some would say opportunity!) to choose just the right kind of stock broker to meet your needs.

Let's begin with explaining what a broker does. While you do choose and hire your broker, it's important to remember and understand that they are, at the end of the day, a salesperson. They work for a stock brokerage house who is out to make money for themselves and their sales staff (the brokers!). The broker's job is to carry out your transactions. Brokers are paid by salary, commissions on sales or a mixture of both.

In the U.S., to become a broker one must first pass two licensing exams called Series 7 and Series 63. If they successfully complete these exams, the broker is then allowed to advise you, solicit business from you, and to execute your transactions for you.

Got that? A broker can advise you, try to sell you, and do your trades for you. Now that you know that, it's easy to understand the basic difference between a full service stock broker and discount stock broker. Basically, full service brokers offer you advice and hand holding, whilst the discount folks just execute your trade orders and perhaps try to solicit more business from you.

Full-Service Stock Brokers

Full-service brokers usually offer a wide variety of financial products as well as investment advice and research. They charge higher fees than discount brokers. Full-service firms often offer bonds, derivatives, annuities and insurance in addition to stocks. Full-service stock brokers solicit business from you (e.g., call you up and say 'I think you should consider buying such-and-such stock because...'). Importantly, these stock brokers are mostly paid by commissions. This means he makes money when you buy and sell stocks. But he doesn't make money based on the performance of your portfolio or group of stocks making money for you! So his or her interests are not necessarily very aligned with yours.

Discount Stock Brokers

Discount stock brokerages do not offer any advice or research - they just execute your trade instructions. Because they don't have to hire expensive stock analysts and expensive stock brokers, discounters can charge considerably lower fees thatn full-service brokers. Most good discount houses also offer online computer order entry services. If you can handle ordering a book online from Amazon, you can use these firms online trading web interfaces - they are that easy. If you need to, you can speak with live brokers at these firms - the brokers are paid a salary usually, not commissions, so they are just there to help you, not to encourage you to make lots of trades.

Sound too good to be true? It isn't - you see, discount firms make most of their money by doing business in high volumes, competing mostly on price and the ease & reliability of their service.

A Warning

If you receive a call offering you the chance to buy shares at what is claimed a great price and that you're going to make money quickly and the price might 'go through the roof', beware! This is probably a 'boiler room' sales operation that is contacting you. Boiler rooms are sales operations that fleece the unsuspecting public by pitching them to buy stocks that have little merit - but that the boiler room probably bought earlier at a cheap price. Once they get you and others to buy in, driving the price up, they sell their position and leave you with stock that may well be worthless. Boiler rooms often break many laws and are always closing down one office and opening another.

How to Choose Your Broker

It's essential that you determine the level of service you need. If you aren't willing to do your own homework on choosing investments in the stock market, then a full service broker might be for you. If you plan to mostly buy investments for the long term and hold on to them, then you won't be trading so often and the higher commissions won't matter so much in the big picture. It's not going to sound high tech, but a great way to find a good full-service stock broker is by word-of-mouth recommendations. Ask your friends if they know of a great broker, or know someone who would know a good stock broker.

On the other hand, if you are planning to trade more often, then you really should only be doing this if your investing your own time to carefully research & choose your trades - and, in this case, discount brokers are ideal for you. They give you the lower costs of trades, which matters a lot since you'll be trading more often.

It’s almost a cliche in the investment world: Rising interest rates and higher gold prices aren’t supposed to get along. The reasons are seemingly clear: As interest rates head higher, the widespread perception is that gold—which doesn’t pay any interest—can’t go along for the ride.

And because it can’t go along for the ride—can’t generate those higher payouts—investors are inclined to look elsewhere. That’s what is supposed to happen, anyway. But the funny thing here, in later 2007, is that interest rates are up—the latest cut is the first since July of 2003, in fact—but gold’s been up, too, and has been since 2001.

So much for investment cliches.

It’s Not the First Time, Either

This cliche-busting phenomenon of rising interest rates and rising gold has happened before, of course.
It was back in the 1970s. You remember those days of “oil shock,” Jimmy Carter’s smarmy smile, Iran and Afghanistan? Well, after the overthrow of the Shah in late ’78. Iranian oil, formerly a safe bet for the US, took a drastic production cut from 5.2 million barrels in ’78 to just 1.7 million barrels in ’80.

Oil prices in the US soon rose 30 percent to $9 a barrel in ’78. Inflation followed right on its heels, jumping to a hefty 9 percent. Trying to catch up, the prime rate climbed as well, hitting nearly 12 percent—at the exact same time gold crossed the $200/oz barrier for the first time ever.

Just a year later, oil spiraled higher to $12.64 for another 40 percent jump. And everything else, not unexpectedly, followed: Inflation rose to 11 percent, interest rates hit a jaw-dropping 15.25 by year’s end, and gold crossed first the $300, then the $400 barrier, hitting $455 on its way to averaging $306/oz for the year.

But That Just Set The Stage

For The Thrilling 1980 Climax

In 1980, oil prices reached $21 a barrel due in large part to Iran invading Iraq. Accordingly, that spurred inflation to an “official” 13.58 percent. The prime answered with an almost loan shark 20 percent on April 2nd. And gold? It hovered in the $500 vicinity on that same April 2nd day, after setting the current $850/oz record on January 21st (thereby smashing the $500, $600, $700 and $800 barriers in one fell swoop).

So both gold and interest rates set nearly simultaneous records.

Then came the late 80s.

In ’87 and ’88, interest rates responded to higher oil and inflation by rising from 7.75 to 10.5 percent. Meanwhile gold followed suit, jumping $100 (from $390 to $499).

Interesting picture. Are we now seeing that same picture today?

What’s “Supposed” to Happen Isn’t Happening

What’s supposed to happen today with the price of gold has to do with the difference between interest rates and inflation.

When interest rates are lower than inflation, gold is supposed to be considered a good investment. When rates are significantly higher than inflation, though, borrowing is considered “expensive”— if the rate were 9 percent and inflation were 3.5 percent, for example, the resulting 5.5 yield would be regarded as “high.” Conventional wisdom says it’s during just such times that the price of gold is supposed to go south.

Yet with the prime currently at 8.25 percent and the “core” inflation rate (which is, ridiculously enough, minus the everyday essentials of energy and food) at under a measly 2 percent annual pace, the resulting yield should be high enough to put gold back on its heels. It hasn’t. While gold has been a bit range-bound of late, it shows no signs of heading south.

In fact, as mentioned earlier, it’s been up strongly, impressively, over six years now.

So…either this “rising interest rate theory of avoiding gold” is just a bunch of hooey…or, as in the late 70s, inflation really is a lot higher than its officially being pegged.

When Inflation, Interest Rates AND

Gold Go Up At the Same Time

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, “nine of the ten post-World-War-II recessions were preceded by sharply rising oil prices.” And that’s despite any tactics the Fed did or didn’t employ.

Higher interest rates are certainly no panacea. There can be so much weakness inherent in the economy, so much “oil shock,” so much debt, so much doubt, that higher rates simply fail to gain the expected traction (unless it’s to demolish the real estate market).

When the majority of people notice the inability of higher rates to calm the economy, when they witness raging inflation in their everyday purchases —something that isn’t, as in the 70s, reflected by “official government statistics”—then their attention can be drawn to other means of financial security. Like precious metals.
And that can be what’s accounted for gold’s 6-year bull run.

Hopefully, we won’t follow that startling post-World War track record and suffer a serious recession just up ahead. But whether we do or not, your job is to protect your family, yourself and your hard-earned assets in the best way you know how.

Now I realize that rates are on the verge of being cut to save the floundering housing industry. But, whether the interest rates are rising or falling, it’s not hard to see that the kind of financial security most of us seek comes in a gleaming, beautiful form.

Banks and lenders should be making all kinds of loans right now on real property and real estate. After all, the best time to buy a piece of property is at the bottom of the market when they are being sold too cheaply in distressed sales. If the bank lends money on such a piece of property, and it appreciates, even if the consumer or the borrower fails to pay, the bank owns an asset that is worth well above the original purchasing price; the exact opposite scenario of what hurt the banks so badly during the economic crash.

Unfortunately, due to new restrictions and banking rules, real estate lenders have to have more money on hand, and thus, are unable to lend out money right now when they should due to liquidity rules. The Risk Reward scenarios and valuations are completely out of whack, with the banks operational lending criteria. Of course, the banks are not looking at the consumer; they're looking at their own books, and afraid to make any risks right now.

Many banks are also highly exposed to commercial loans that they've made and commercial real estate is not out of the woods yet, and some say that crap is getting ready to hit the proverbial fan as we speak. This is all well known to economic analysts, bankers, and those in the real estate profession.

But what about consumer credit, revolving credit, credit cards, car loans, cash advances, and home equity lines of credit? Why are all these Consumer lenders being so sketchy? Because, they also have new rules, and this jobless recovery is continuing to shed jobs, even as the stock market points towards an expansion period, which has already started.

You would think that if the economy is now getting better that consumer credit would be loosened, as in the very near future credit defaults by consumers will go down drastically. Of course, right now everyone is playing it safe, so safe in fact, they may prevent the strong recovery that everyone is hoping for. Please consider all this.

The thought of personal bankruptcy is very frightening, however over 5.4 per 1,000 people have filed for bankruptcy last year, and this rate has been growing at an average of nearly 7 percent. Researchers have determined that the primary cause of personal bankruptcy is uncontrollable levels of consumer debt oftentimes coupled with an unexpected event, such as a major medical expense not covered by insurance, the loss of a job, divorce or death of a spouse. According to economists’ surveys, the classic bankruptcy filer is a blue collar, high school graduate who is the head of a household in the lower middle-income class with heavy use of credit. In order to protect both debtor, and creditor, laws were enacted to provide equal, and fair measures to satisfy the objectives of all parties. The primary purpose of the laws of bankruptcy are: (1) to give an honest debtor a fresh start in life by relieving the debtor of most debts, and (2) to repay creditors in an orderly manner to the extent that the debtor has property available for payment.

There are two types of structured plans for filing for personal bankruptcy, Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. Over two-thirds of personal filers choose Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Basically Chapter 7 requires the debtor to liquidate all non-exempt assets, and have them distributed among creditors. Some examples of exempt assets include equity in a primary residence, and a retirement program. On the other hand, Chapter 13 does not require liquidation, rather a debtor agrees to a specific payment plan, whereby a portion of any unsecured debts is paid, and the balance is forgiven. It must be stressed, that under both plans, certain debts are ineligible for bankruptcy protection. These debts include government student loans, child support, alimony, and income tax debt. These must be paid back in full.

Some analysts are concerned that this unprecedented level of debt might pose a risk to the financial health of American households. In an attempt to reverse the increasing trend in personal bankruptcy, the federal government has recently implemented sweeping bankruptcy reform legislation. On March 10, 2005, the Senate passed S. 256, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. On April 20th, President Bush signed into law the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (Bankruptcy Act of 2005). This act makes filing for bankruptcy more difficult through income-means testing, tougher guidelines for the homestead exemption, increased lawyer liability and required credit counseling.

The economy right now is the worst anyone has seen in this country for a long time. Some say it will be the next depression of our time. Many people have lost their jobs due to their companies struggling and many businesses are having to close down after years of great success. Some businesses have been hit harder than others and this article will touch on those areas of business that have struggled so much and are in desperate need of help. Those businesses are Atlanta auto sales, Atlanta restaurants and Atlanta contractors have been the hardest hit by the failing economy in America.

Car sales are in the worst shape since the depression these days. Two major car companies, Chrysler and General Motors have now filed bankruptcy hoping as a last chance to save their businesses. These two companies alone have provided thousands of Americans with jobs all over the country. Large plants of these companies have had to be shut down causing a real economic crisis in many towns that solely relied on that company for business like Detroit and Flint, Michigan. What these companies needed to survive was a bit of help from the government which they did get and hopefully the combination of that and offering great deals on cars to people will get them out of their turmoil.

Restaurants have also been hurt by this economy. With Americans having a tighter budget, one of the first things to go is extras and entertainment expenses. Restaurants fall into this category and people just can not afford to spend $50 on a dinner out when that $50 can go a lot farther in groceries to feed themselves and their families. Many restaurants are downsizing their space or moving to a more affordable one to save their business and this is a great solution. Also, lowering prices a bit or offering a "stimulus package" special once a week will urge customers to come into their restaurants for a great meal that will not kill your budget.

The final area of business that has been greatly affected in this economy are builders and contractors. What was once a booming industry with areas booming and growing resulting in new construction has now died down due to the economy. People are staying put in their homes rather than building their dream home since many have lost significant savings in the stock market. Others that also wanted to remodel are now holding off until things get better. All of these decisions have hurt these contractors a great deal. A great idea is to push home renovations as a solution to moving to the bigger home. This in the long run will provide great equity in the homeowners house and at the same time give the builder some business. A win-win solution for all of the parties involved is a always a great idea.

With a bit of creativity in your marketing and a lot of luck these industries as well as others will succeed again.

Concerned investors are, shall we say, paying close attention to 2008 scenarios and the domino effect the home mortgage mess may have on stocks, toppling real estate, gold and the economy in general.

Sweating bullets may be more like it. Many in-the-know investors are now sweating bullets about what 2008 holds.

And rightfully so. The order of magnitude of the housing-ignited financial crisis-and its potential to widen and deepen-is far greater than the typical TV news-watching man and woman in America ever suspects. If they suspect anything at all.

So what could happen? How bad could it get? Are we in for a mere shake? Or a severe shake and bake?

Or could it, as with countless "paper dangers" in the past, somehow pass us by?

Ever see one of those domino-toppling exhibitions? Someone pushes a domino over, just one mind you, and it leads to a fascinating chain reaction that eventually topples each and every domino in the complex design. Well, if we can get away with comparing our complicated economy to one of those neat designs, here's one domino effect that (as plausible as it may turn out to be) we hope never happens.

The Trigger Domino

Could consumer spending be the trigger domino, the one that knocks all the others over? Yes, and for good reason. American consumer spending is the engine that drives the world economy. Our enthusiastic buying of cheap imports keeps China happy, and our tanking up with ridiculously high priced gas keeps Saudi sheiks in silk.

Which may, surprisingly enough, be a very good thing since both nations (plus other Gulf States), have nearly $3 trillion in cash reserves and are, needless to say, pretty disgruntled over the direction those dollars have been heading these last few years. Threats have even been made of the nuclear option, of China and the Middle East dumping their dollars in favor of the euro and a basket of other currencies.

So far, the great antidote for that nuclear option has been the American consumer-as long as Americans are eagerly spending, China and Saudi don't seem particularly trigger-happy. They show little interest in burying the very people who are buying their stuff.

But if that spending grinds to a halt, all bets are off.

The Fed's Hail Mary Pass

So...what is the 2008 outlook for the American consumer? Here's the one-word answer: Housing. With housing in historic trouble, America's home-based "ATMs" are effectively shut down. There will be no more borrowing against the formerly lofty appraised values of our homes, not when, in some areas in Florida for example, houses are already selling for half their 2005 values.

This is serious business. The president of Wells Fargo, John Stumpf, certainly didn't mince any words: "We have not seen a nationwide decline in housing like this since the Great Depression." Stumpf is by no means a lone voice in the wilderness. "I've never seen the market as bad as this. And it could get worse," said veteran Wall Street analyst, Ivy Zelman. Similar dire quotes could fill up this article.

The Fed's answer to this cataclysm in the making is arguably its answer for everything else these days: cut and print. Cut rates and print more dollars. The thinking here is that cut and print will lead to even weaker dollars, subsequently cheaper looking stocks to foreigners and-the Fed earnestly hopes-an eventual rising stock market. And that would include the average Joe's and Jill's 401ks.

Will this Hail Mary pass work? Will stocks go up and, even with housing crashing all around us, will we be encouraged enough to keep spending until the crisis is effectively over?

Question: Do most Hail Mary passes work?

The Dreaded Domino Effect

Okay, just so we cover the bases here, let's look at, worst case, what could happen in 2008.

In the third quarter 2007, foreclosures rose to their highest level since the Mortgage Bankers Association began keeping records back in 1972. Just as ominously, homeowners behind in their payments rose to a 21-year high. That frightening trend continues well into 2008.

With so many people either losing their homes or working at second or third jobs at McDonald's just to make their payments, buying the latest big screen HDTV not only isn't a priority, it isn't even a consideration. Neither is a new dining room set, fishing boat, next-generation computer or digital sound system. These are all discretionary purchases, luxuries hard-pressed folks can do without.

Consumer spending tanks.

The Fed keeps up with its cut and print strategy but, like drugs given to an addict, it seems to have less and less effect on the markets. Maybe that's because a credit crunch is now going on-nobody's borrowing and nobody's lending-not to mention the fact that banks are in terrible shape. Some estimates put their coming sub-prime losses at up to half a trillion dollars. Some estimates put it even higher than that. It's hard to throw a party for the latest rate cut when the house is burning down.

As hoped for by the Fed, with the dollar setting record lows virtually every week, foreign money is now moving into America's "cheap" stocks. But it's not happening fast enough and, burdened by negative consumer sentiment, the market isn't rising high enough. People aren't exactly thrilled over their meager 401ks.

Meanwhile, China and the Gulf States are now getting hit with a double whammy: their $2.7 trillion in cash reserves is losing value almost by the minute, thanks to the Fed's excessive rate cutting, AND their revenue from American consumer spending is plummeting.

Frighteningly enough, the nuclear option is now back on the table.

What happens if China and Saudi play that option? That's another story for another day. Suffice it to say, with a floundering economy and a decimated dollar, people are desperately searching for another means of savings and exchange. Something universally accepted by both sellers and buyers, that, unlike paper money, has never, ever been worth nothing, no matter what banks or governments throughout history have tried to do.

Gold.

By that time, an ounce of the shiny stuff could be worth well over $1,000. Maybe even over $2,000 or more. Who knows? What you should know, whether the domino's topple like this admittedly dark scenario or there's just the chance that this could happen to you, your family, your stocks or your home, is that gold still serves as both the ultimate money and the ultimate diversification... particularly if your portfolio only contains, well, paper.

Companies design Equity Incentive Plans ("Plans") to provide key, upper-level employees an equity interest in the company. The purpose of these plans is to motivate these employees to perform their best tie these employees' financial futures to the stock price of the company. As any transactional attorney knows, often the "Definitions" section of an Incentive Plan is the most important part. How key terms are defined make all the difference in applying the plan to the employees. This article will take a look at the key terms generally found in Equity Incentive Plans and will define these terms, hopefully assisting drafters who may be unfamiliar with some of them.

The following terms are generally found in Equity Incentive Agreements and are defined as such:

"Affiliate" - Affiliate generally means any corporation in an unbroken chain of corporations ending with the company, other than the company that owns, at the time of the determination, stock possessing fifty percent (50%) or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock in one of the corporations in such chain.

"Board" - Refers to the Board of Directors of the Company

"Change in Control" - Defining this term is very important to the substance of the agreement and doing it properly generally takes several pages. A change of control of the company can occur in a number of ways: (a) if any person becomes the owner of securities of the Company representing more than 50% of the combined voting power of the company's outstanding securities other than by virtue of a merger, consolidation, or similar transaction; (b) a merger, consolidation, or similar transaction involving the company whereby the merger or consolidation results in another company owning more than 50% of the combined voting power of the surviving entity; (c) the stockholders or Board approve a plan of sale, complete dissolution or liquidation of the Company; or (d) the individuals on the Board at the time the Plan is approved cease to constitute at least a majority of the members on the Board.

"Code" - refers to the latest adopted Internal Revenue code.

"Continuous Service" - means that the participant's service with the Company, whether as an employee, director, or consultant is not interrupted or terminated.

"Fair Market Value" - refers to the price of the stock, as is defined as the closing sales price for the company's stock as quoted on the appropriate exchange, as reported in The Wall Street Journal.

"Incentive Stock Option" - means an option intended to qualify as an incentive stock option within the meaning of Section 422 of the IRS Code.

"Option Agreement" - is generally defined as a written agreement between the Company and an Optionholder evidencing the terms and conditions of an option grant.

"Optionholder" - means a person to whom an option is granted pursuant to the plan.

"Participant" - means a person to whom a stock award is granted pursuant to the Plan.

"Performance Goals" - means the one or more goals established by the Board of Directors for the Performance Period based upon the Performance Criteria

"Stock Award" - means any right granted under the Plan, including an Option, a Stock Purchase Award, Stock Bonus Award, Stock Appreciation Right, or any other Stock Award.

These are the definitions for the most common terms found in Equity Incentive Plans. Before adopting one of the above-mentioned definition, be sure to consult the Board of Directors or Plan Administration Committee of your client to ensure correct usage.

As the city of Fort Lauderdale, along with other hosing slump-hit cities in the US, slowly begins to rise up and repair the damage brought about by rising foreclosures and low-buyer interest, 2008 may, according to economists and housing industry analysts, be actually a year for buyers, as home prices are at their lowest, and inventory levels are high.

According to researchers at the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 2008 represents the best window that buyers will have to find excellent deals with excellent financing. If they opt to wait, prices and interest rates will be higher and reluctant buyers may be forced out of the market.

The Weak Dollar May Actually Be Good For The Housing Market

Although the drop in the value of the U.S. dollar may end up costing Americans more when they travel overseas or buy more imports, the drop in the greenback's value has resulted in more manufacturing jobs going back to the U.S. It also may mean added overseas investments in U.S. commercial or residential properties as well. In just a few years ago, the Canadian dollar was only worth 70 cents in U.S.

Currency, however today, the Canadian dollar has been pegged at around $1.05 to $1.10 U.S. This should mean that the US market can expect more Canadians and Europeans to be buying property here, since prices in the US are approximately 50 percent cheaper than they were just three years ago. In addition, corporate profits are still strong with companies as diverse as Microsoft and Jack Daniels reporting near-record profits, and the economy has generated 4 million net new jobs, with wages rising as well.

Recovery Has Started Despite The Foreclosures

According to NAR researcher, the 41 percent increase in foreclosures has resulted primarily from investor-heavy real estate buys in states like Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada. The majority of these buyers are flippers whose investments did not payoff. In addition, the number of foreclosures in Utah, New Mexico, North Carolina and South Carolina is actually declining.

Other than the three states hit heavily by job losses in the automotive industry, which are Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, the states that first experienced a downturn in the Northeast, are now in recovery, an the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island were the first to feel the slump and are now well into a recovery. Furthermore, there appears to be a pent-up demand for first-time buyer properties due to a large number of Generation Ys, which refer to those born from 1977 to 1994, that are now buying their first homes. Furthermore, falling interest rates will again motivate many of these buyers to enter the markets now.

Reluctant home buyers these days need to realize that real estate still offers the best shelter, as some some interesting facts from the Federal Reserve shows that between 1995 and 2004, the average renter accumulated $4,000 in wealth, while the average homeowner accumulated $184,400. Furthermore, the usual homeowner holds their property for six years. Within this time frame, the NAR research shows that approximately 97 percent of the homeowners will have a positive equity position after that period of time.

http://www.hometerra.com/home.php - Fort Lauderdale Real Estate

In an amazing turn of events, county commissioners in two key New Mexico counties have taken giant political steps to revive the Nuclear Renaissance in this state. Concerns about the energy crisis, dependence upon foreign oil and global warming have recently led many politicians to suggest alternatives, namely nuclear energy. The record uranium price also helps bring big dollars into their local economies. Both counties are blessed with abundant uranium resources, which they are now encouraging to be mined.

What was once the world’s top producing uranium area, the Grants Uranium District has largely slumbered through the emerging uranium boom of the past three years. Stock analysts and investors discounted efforts by those uranium mining companies which have been moving their flagship projects forward, primarily Uranium Resources (URRE) and Strathmore Minerals (STHJF). In light of these developments, their opinions could soon change.

This past September, Cibola County passed a resolution supporting and encouraging uranium mining. The county clearly believes the renewal of uranium mining would provide a strong economic boost for its residents. This resolution did not surprise us. We first reported on the pro-uranium pulse of Grants (New Mexico) and Cibola County in late June 2005. The county’s head of economic development told us, “We will greet them (uranium miners) with open arms.” And then they did in both county and city resolutions which followed three months later.

What DID surprise us was the nearly identical resolution passed by McKinley County Commissioners. Having traveled through this county and interviewed various personalities, the county-wide resolution amounts to nothing short of a miracle. That’s because the adjacent Navajo Nation, in the four corners area (New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona), banned uranium mining in 2005. The city of Gallup is McKinley’s county seat. Gallup’s Wal Mart is reportedly where the Navajos do most of their shopping. More than 36 percent of Gallup’s residents are Navajo.

Even more amazing is the fact that McKinley County Commissioner Ernest C. Becenti, Jr, the gentleman who introduced McKinley County Resolution Number DEC-06-088 for consideration by the County Commission, is a Navajo. One of the primary reasons cited in the resolution was to replace the economic loss the county will suffer when the Pittsburgh & Midway coal mine shuts down in 2008. This resolution is likely to have a broad impact within the Navajo community in Gallup because it will help replace those lost mining jobs.

We talked with Mark Pelizza, vice president of environmental affairs for Uranium Resources, who told us, “We are pleased the principals of McKinley County understand the economic benefits of uranium mining.” How big is it? “The potential impact is huge,” Pelizza said, “At $100/pound and 10 million pounds U3O8 produced annually, it could bring $1 billion in uranium sales to the local economy.”

Strathmore Minerals’ vice president of environmental affairs Juan Velasquez wrote in an email, “We have enjoyed a lot of grass roots support from the folks in the Grants area, and we are heartened that McKinley County is favorable to our activities.” The resolutions should impact both companies in 2007 because they were the first to commence the required activities to obtain uranium mining licenses.

Uranium Resources has been actively involved in New Mexico since 1986, according to Pelizza, and obtained its NRC approval in the mid 1990s (recently reaffirmed by the NRC). Strathmore Minerals opened its environmental permitting office in 2005 and has been progressing through the state and federal permissions activities for two of its New Mexico uranium properties.

Over the past year, several other uranium companies became more active in the Grants Uranium District, such as Urex Energy (OTC BB: URXE), Laramide (LMRXF) and Western Uranium (WURNF). Another advanced stage junior uranium mining company, Energy Metals Corp (EMU) also holds properties in New Mexico, but decided to first develop its projects in Texas and Wyoming.

This past June, New Mexico State Senator Joseph A. Fidel, who represents one of the counties in the Grants Uranium District, told StockInterview, “The community will be very supportive of uranium mining. People will be cooperative and will react positively, when the time comes.” In June, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued LES a draft license to build and operate the first U.S. uranium enrichment facility in more than thirty years. It appears New Mexico’s time has come, and this state is back on track to revive its formerly world-class uranium mining industry.

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