September 3rd, 2010 by admin

Fears of the US economy facing a double-dip recession were expressed after pending sales of previously owned US homes rebounded unexpectedly in July and new claims for jobless benefits fell last week.

The data released recently including sturdy sales from retailers in the US last month followed a report displaying a surprising gain in manufacturing and suggesting that the US economy has been able to retain some underlying strength.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

This is an economy that has hit a soft patch. It’s not an economy that appears to be heading towards a double-dip recession,” said Brian Levitt, an economist at OppenheimerFunds in New York.

Investors appeared to agree that fears of a double-dip recession might have been overdone as they sold U.S. government debt for a second straight day and bought stocks. The broad Standard & Poor’s 500 Index ended up 0.91 percent.

The National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed, rose 5.2 percent in July from June. Analysts had expected the index, which leads actual sales by a month or two, to fall 1 percent.

Home sales have dropped sharply since a popular tax credit for home buyers ended in April and the surprise gain in pending sales raised hopes the sector could soon stabilize.

The minutes of the U.S. central bank’s last policy meeting showed that some policymakers believe that the outlook would have to deteriorate “appreciably” to spur fresh monetary support.

Tags: Home sales, recession, stocks, tax credit

August 28th, 2010 by admin

If you have been looking for quotations and reasons for workplace success, this blog with inspiring quotes will help you in more than just a way. The blog, which is a compilation of timeless quotes, will surely lift your spirit as well.

Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get a heart-ache when we read those lines written by the hand of a master and recognize them as our own, as the tender shoots which we stifled because we lacked the faith to believe in our own powers, our own criterion of truth and beauty. Every man, when he gets quiet, when he becomes desperately honest with himself, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source.  There is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, to discover what is already there. – Henry Miller, Sexus

To be a good human being is to have a kind of openness to the world, an ability to trust uncertain things beyond your own control, that can lead you to be shattered in very extreme circumstances for which you were not to blame. That says something very important about the condition of the ethical life: that it is based on a trust in the uncertain and on a willingness to be exposed; it’s based on being more like a plant than like a jewel, something rather fragile, but whose very particular beauty is inseparable from that fragility. – Martha Nussbaum

Life becomes religious whenever we make it so: when some new light is seen, when some deeper appreciation is felt, when some larger outlook is gained, when some nobler purpose is formed, when some task is well done. – Sophia Lyon Fahs

Tags: appreciation, inspiring quotes, quotations, timeless quotes

August 27th, 2010 by admin

A Charlestown “Welcome Center” full of free maps, smiling staff waiting to answer questions, and brochures to area attractions will be greeting tourists stepping from the city parking garage on Ann Street.

Mission of the center is not the same as that of official Charlestown visitor center just across the street. In the recent years, at least 8 privately-run visitor information centers have come up around the Holy City to provide information and vouchers in return for a sales pitch for vacation clubs and time shares.

From TheSunnews.com:

Those involved in the industry say these operations provide a valuable service to visitors. They bring thousands of tourists to Charleston each year for presentations and steer thousands more to local tour operators, restaurants and other businesses that directly profit as a result, supporters said.

Critics, including the Charleston Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, fear that this marketing scheme confuses visitors, subjects them to aggressive sales tactics and steers them only toward attractions that honor industry coupons.

Helen Hill, executive director of the visitors bureau, said she has fielded several complaints over the years from upset folks who mistakenly thought her nonprofit organization was hawking time shares to them.

“The key is that they be as upfront as possible about what they are trying to do,” she said. “We don’t want visitors to leave with a bad experience or a bad taste in their mouth about Charleston.

David Compton, owner of Old South Carriage Co., remarked that Vacation Station Vouchers has been helping his business get dozens of customers each week.

Tags: area attractions, industry coupons, marketing, vacation clubs, visitor center

August 25th, 2010 by admin

If you have been looking for inspiring business quotations, these motivational quotes for executives and marketers will help you in endless ways. Read on to find more!

The most important quality in a leader is that of being acknowledged as such. All leaders whose fitness is questioned are clearly lacking in force. – Andre Maurois

There are two kinds of companies, those that work to try to charge more and those that work to charge less. We will be the second. – Jeff Bezos

There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else. – Sam Walton

To think that the new economy is over is like somebody in London in 1830 saying the entire industrial revolution is over because some textile manufacturers in Manchester went broke. – Alvin Toffler

We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects. – Alexis de Tocqueville

What we actually learn, from any given set of circumstances, determines whether we become increasingly powerless or more powerful. – Blaine Lee

You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world. – Tom Brokaw

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. – Mark Twain

You can’t operate a company by fear, because the way to eliminate fear is to avoid criticism. And the way to avoid criticism is to do nothing. – Steve Ross

Tags: certification, criticism, inspiring business quotations, motivational quotes, positive qualities, quality, quotations

August 20th, 2010 by admin

It will take a few years to dig the United States out of the recession, a campaigning President Barack Obama said this Tuesday.

Obama is eager to put a human face on his contention that the US is bouncing back, thanks to resilient success stories and help by the government. But the president is expected to have a tough time with millions of people out of work and economic growth still on the slower side.

From Timesofindia.indiatimes.com:

The president’s economic outlook, coming in the heat of a divisive congressional campaign, reflected his tricky political reality. He must try to persuade people soured by the sagging economy that they should re-elect Democratic leaders now, but he also is laboring to get voters to measure his efforts with a long view, as he looks ahead to his own re-election campaign in 2012.

Darting into Seattle to stir up enthusiasm and cash for Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, Obama spoke as a president whose agenda is on the line. He has pushed through all his big legislative items with virtually no Republican backing.

Obama’s heavy fundraising tour, touching just about every region of the country in three days, underscores the stakes of the November election. It is one that will be seen as a referendum on Obama and on Democratic control of Congress.

Obama said that 8 million jobs will be brought back in the next few years to take the US fully out of the recession.

Tags: Barack Obama, economic growth, economic outlook, Obama, recession

August 13th, 2010 by admin

If you have been looking for inspiring quotations to succeed at the workplace, these quotes will help you to stay ahead of the rest in absolutely no time.

Not the maker of plans and promises, but rather the one who offers faithful service in small matters. This is the person who is most likely to achieve what is good and lasting. – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds. – Orison Swett Marden

I hope that my achievements in life shall be these — that I will have fought for what was right and fair, that I will have risked for that which mattered, and that I will have given help to those who were in need that I will have left the earth a better place for what I’ve done and who I’ve been. – C. Hoppe

Ineffective people live day after day with unused potential. They experience synergy only in small, peripheral ways in their lives. But creative experiences can be produced regularly, consistently, almost daily in people’s lives. It requires enormous personal security and openness and a spirit of adventure. – Stephen Covey

We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit. – E. E. Cummings

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tags: achievements, curiosity, inspiring quotations, Quotes, success

August 10th, 2010 by admin

If you are running a business and want to effectively communicate product profiles and benefits within the shortest possible time, this YouTube video is a must-see for you. This video will help you ascertain how Web 2.0 video marketing should be utilized in today’s social marketing dominated online world.

Tags: marketing, social marketing, Video Marketing, Web 2.0, YouTube video

August 6th, 2010 by admin

If you are in the mid-20s and already think that the world is all after you for breaking you down, it is time for you to relax a bit and think with a calm and positive mind frame.

The transition from college to the real world can be extremely difficult for some of us with unexpected changes taking place on the personal and professional fronts. This may range from work, added responsibilities, relationships demanding time and commitment, money, and desire for getting recognized and can seriously impact your growth, personally and professionally.

From Timesofindia.indiatimes.com:

Start of the race

Many believe that the urge to compare (courtesy our rank driven education system) makes things worse. “Because everyone is just starting out, there’s constant monitoring of progress. This leads to pressure and takes the fun away from a new job,” cites 22-year-old Ronak Gandhi, currently pursuing CAT. Psychologist Alina Philip pins the frustration down to the nature of work youngsters grapple with. “Since they are at the bottom of the ladder, they do the maximum work and get the least credit,” she explains.

Relationships

As you approach your mid-20s, you experience the pressure to settle down. “Parents start looking for prospective partners,” says Ujwala, “You haven’t achieved much in life, but the pressure has already begun. It’s like sitting on a time bomb.” Men, on the other hand, complain of pressure to reach financial stability, like an unspoken deadline to be dealt with.

Lack of soft skills

College life prepares you from the academic perspective, but the real world initiates you into what’s needed to succeed. “The tact to deal with bosses, the maturity to handle competition and the diplomacy to deal with irritating colleagues is all new,” adds Ujwala.

However, things can be put to rest by careful thinking and defining the short-term and long-term personal and professional goals and sticking to them. In addition to that, happiness and success are bound to come easy if you are satisfied and emotionally stable.

Tags: commitment, financial stability, growth, professional goals, rank driven education system, relationships, responsibilities

July 31st, 2010 by admin

According to a new survey by Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Capgemini, the number of millionaires in India has increased by 50 percent in 2009.

It was also revealed that the net worth of millionaires from Asia is now more than that of their European counterparts for the first time buoyed from strong market results.

The number of millionaires in India has risen more than 50 percent to 126,756 in 2009 while China is fourth in the list after the US, Japan, and Germany with 477,000 millionaires.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

The survey has found that there were three million millionaires in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region last year. The survey claims that the wealth held in Asia is around $9,700 billion, compared to $9,500 billion in Europe.

Nick Tucker, head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management’s operations for the UK and Ireland, told Financial Times: ‘It’s not a bubble. Asia has caught up with Europe in terms of its high-net worth population and their wealth.’

The survey defines millionaires as people with net financial wealth of more than $1 million, excluding their primary residence. The wealth of the millionaires in both regions increased last year after the stock markets recovered from the slump of the previous year.

It was claimed by the survey the wealth held in Asia is around $9,700 billion, compared to $9,500 billion in Europe.

Tags: Capgemini, market, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, millionaires

July 29th, 2010 by admin

Want to know how different online marketing strategies can help you in promoting business prospects? Then this YouTube video will help you in finding the same. In this video, you can find how emphasizing upon online marketing strategies can help you promote the products and services of your business.

Tags: business, online marketing strategies, YouTube video