Archive for February, 2010
February 25th, 2010 | 
Author: Its Not All About The Money But It Has Alot To Do With Investing
Sin and sorrow everywhere
People dying in despair
Happy Birthday to you; Happy Birthday to you.
When a kid my grandfather gave me a crisp dollar bill for my birthday. It wasn’t about the money; it was about him. As a kid I also heard theological and monetary snipes at the church “All the church wants is my money”. This week we are reminded that it is not all about the money; it is about the man.
Theological jargon (“sin”) may not be germane to your conversations. However sorrow always evokes loss stirs questions about what matters and tears become our vocabulary. So what does this have to do with the stock market? Funny you should ask.
Every corporation (profit or nonprofit) portrays its leadership. Corporate boards and officers may hide for a while behind press releases and balance sheets but revelation ultimately casts beams of light on the board room the office suite and the sacristy.
Forbes magazine maintains a “Corporate Scandal Sheet” It lists twentytwo New York Stock Exchange corporations under current indictment for accounting “imbroglios”.
- Their “sins” described: “…overstated results by inflating capital expenses and hiding debt”..
- “Shredding documents…after the SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) launched an inquiry….”
- “Boosted profits and hid debts totaling over 1 billion….”
- “Overstated 100 million in sales….”
The sorrow? Abject disappointment for investors pension recipients company employees (mail room clerks janitors) children and tax payers. It is about the money.
Proxy season busies me with reading and voting on behalf of clients. Proxy votes give authorization to the directors to “elect” “approve” and “ratify”. Shareholders submit proxy votes with confidence that the Board of Directors will act with integrity. Many don’t.
During 2003 under John Paul II’s direction the Pope’s charity authorized 69 million dollars in expenditures to help allay the “grave difficulties caused by tensions and conflicts” around the world. Congregants give with confidence that the Pope’s Charity will act with integrity. He did.
About the writer:
Ray Randall serves clients as a registered investment advisor with his firm Ethos Advisory Services Essex Massachusetts http://www.ethosadvisory.com. He has wide experience within the financial services industry writes a weekly newsletter for Ethos Advisory Services and coordinates the developments at Echievements . Ray holds a Masters Degree from GordonConwell Theological Seminary Hamilton MA. You may email him or call (8778953756).
Posted in 
Its Just Common Sense!
Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine newsletter offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkellyTNI.net. Net word count is 835 including guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly 2003.
Its Just Common Sense!
When a group of outsiders behaves in a way that hurts your business you usually do something about it. Yet many business people are amazingly casual about their own external audiences. To me at least they seem to ignore the reality that those behaviors really do impact their organizations.
Even when they do realize it they often fail to associate the damage with the one remedy likely to help public relations Americas behavior modification specialists.
Not surprisingly the fundamental premise of public relations spells out why businesses need public relations. Namely to help alter the perceptions and thus behaviors of their key target audiences which almost always leads to achieving their business objectives.
Heres what the premise says: People act on their own perception of the facts before them which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create change or reinforce that opinion by reaching persuading and moving todesiredaction those people whose behaviors affect the organization the public relations mission is accomplished.
And heres how you can apply it to your business.
Have you ever thought seriously about who these groups are that can wield such power over your organization? In addition to obvious audiences such as customers prospects and employees would your list of key external audiences also include such publics as area residents political officeholders minorities fraternal groups trade and industry leaders nearby military personnel and union leaders? The test is do their behaviors affect my business in any way? If they do they belong on the list.
Now put the names on that list into priority order and for starters lets see how we might approach the group at the top of your list your key target public.
Cant affect how they perceive you or behave towards you unless you take the time to find out how they currently perceive you and your business. Interact with several members of that important outside audience and ask a lot of questions. Have you heard about us? Do you have a positive opinion about us? And listen carefully for any hint of negativity such as inaccurate beliefs about your product or service quality and pricing. Do you notice other misconceptions about your business or a recurring rumor that needs to be confronted directly?
When you monitor individual perceptions this way the responses you receive allow you to establish your public relations goal. For example neutralize that rumor or clear up that misconception or correct that inaccuracy.
But what good is that public relations goal all by itself? No good of course until you know how youre going to achieve it. And that means you need a strategy. Since there are really just three ways to affect perceptions or opinion you must decide whether the public relations goal can be achieved by creating opinion/ perceptions where there isnt any or by changing existing opinion or by reinforcing it.
And so with goal and strategy all set the real work begins. What are you going to say to those individuals whose perceptions of your organization you wish to alter? In other words you need a message that in addition to being crystalclear as to intent will be persuasive credible and really compelling. And you must be specific as to whether you seek to correct a misconception an inaccuracy a rumor or a mistaken belief about the organization.
Every bullet needs a gun to fire it at the target. And the same goes for your message. The beasts of burden that will carry your message to the right eyes and ears among your target audience will be communications tactics. They include news releases letterstotheeditor speeches newsletters brochures facetoface meetings broadcast interviews and dozens of others.
In due course you will wonder if youre making any progress. Best way to tell is to monitor members of your target audience all over again. Ask questions similar to those you used earlier and listen carefully for indications that their perceptions now reflect the corrective elements of your message.
Not enough movement in their perceptions? Youll want to think about increasing the number of different communications tactics youre bringing to bear as well as an increase in their frequencies. And dont forget to reevaluate the factual basis and impact of your message itself.
Your ongoing monitoring of perceptions among your key target audience will begin to reveal changes in that opinion as time passes. And that spells success in public relations.
end
About the writer:
Bob Kelly counsels writes and speaks about the fundamental premise of public relations. He has been DPR PepsiCola Co.; AGMPR Texaco Inc.; VPPR Olin Corp.; VPPR Newport News Shipbuilding Drydock Co.; director of communications U.S. Department of the Interior and deputy assistant press secretary The White House. mailto:bobkellyTNI.net. Visit: http://www.prcommentary
Is Your Money Keeping Up With Inflation?
In today8217;s unpredictable global economy you obviously never know what is going to happen next. Uncertainties and concerns regarding the Iraqi threat North Korean crisis and hidden terrorist cells and networks continue to loom in the back of the minds of consumers. Moreover the stock markets and industries around the world.
Price inflation is another major concern for everyone. The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) number released by the U.S. Department of Labor8217;s Bureau of Labor Statistics states that prices in all U.S. cities are up 0.1 in the month of December for the calendar year of 2002. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a program that produces monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services. Furthermore the national unemployment rate continues to remain steady at 6.0 for the month of December 2002. Believe it or not this may not be as bad as it sounds.
Economic theory suggests that an increase in the inflation rate will lead to a decrease in the national unemployment rate. But since the unemployment rate is currently 6.0 this may also suggest that in order for this rate to eventually decrease we should expect more inflation in the future. The recent upsurge in oil prices together with precious metals supports this theory and may also be a hint of what8217;s to come.
Well it seems that you probably can8217;t avoid inflation but there are definitely opportunities that you can take advantage of in order to keep up with it. One option might be to consider depositing your money into a savings account rather than a money market account. Most major banks are currently yielding an Annual Percentage Yield (APY) that ranges from 0.5 to 0.75. Even though this is pretty low it is higher than what most money market accounts are currently offering.
One of the best rates that I have recently seen is ING Direct8217;s offering of 2.25 APY for their Orange Savings Account. But if these rates are not what you are looking for consider investing in the stock market. With the latest downturn in the economy shares are pretty cheap and going fast. There are now many online brokerages that allow consumers to purchase stocks for a small fee. For instance Sharebuilder lets consumers invest for as little as 4. However please be wary this investment option is a greater risk so you should consult with a financial advisor before taking this step.
Whether you choose to put your money in these investment opportunities or not it is up to you. But just remember that if you don8217;t you are actually losing money because the 8220;purchasing power8221; of your dollar is decreasing as the inflation rate is increasing.
About the writer:
Carlos T. Fernandez is the business columnist for Dominican Times Magazine a publication that focuses on the hispanic culture and the issues affecting its communities. He is also the publisher of a popular financial planning and management website entitled Building Wealth (http://buildingwealth.blogspot.com).
ctfernandezhotmail.com