Regions Online Banking - Chemical Market Associates, Inc. (CMAI) announces the completion of theanlysis of 2011 global acetyl, an annual global study covering historical trends and projections for future supply, demand, production capacity and trade World of acetic acid, vinyl acetate monomer, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, acetic anhydride, cellulose acetate, industry polyvinyl alcohol for the period 2005 to 2015.

Included with eachanlysis was 12 months access to CMAI’s online capacity and supply and demand database with power midterm update and demand, incorporating the latest market outlook CMAI. Theanlysis is a necessary resource for business managers and planning professionals who need to make strategic decisions in a rapidly changing economic environment and the global market.

After reaching high levels of operation at the beginning of the study period (2005), the acetic acid market worldwide has experienced a period of rapid expansion, which will culminate with a burst of capacity coming into service in 2010 to 2012. Global capacity of acetic acid extended to more than twice the rate of demand over the past five years, driving utilization rates in the industry down. The period of rapid expansion of the global market of acetic acid is most pronounced in 2010 and 2011.

The overall balance of the AVM is best understood from a regional perspective, because the market is generally driven by the regional economy and regional balance supply and demand. The North American market has always operated in the low 80 percent range and should continue to operate near these levels in the carryforward period (2010-2015). South America has not the capacity of the AVM and is usually provided by the North America. The European market LCA is changing with the recent decline in capacity leads to higher imports; the region should become the largest importing region in the world by the end of the forecast period.

Methanol carbonylation accounts for the vast majority of the production of acetic acid, and the share has increased over time, as this process is the most competitive of the effect on the production of acetic acid roads. Essentially all of the new capacity for the production of virgin acetic acid is based on the carbonylation of methanol. Carbonylation of methanol-based acetic acid is expected to account for nearly 90 percent of supply over the next five years. Production to recover acetic acid generated in the manufacture of polyvinyl alcohol is also increasing, which represents the remaining 10 percent of the new offer.

Changes in the shares of regional supply capacities reflect growth in the Middle East and North Asia, while the asset base in North America has changed very little and Europe has seen some decline in recent years. The global demand for acetic acid will increase by over five percent per year over the next five years, increasing to over 12 million metric tons by 2015. Over the same period, the VAM market should grow at an average rate of 4.5 percent per year to over six million metric tons in 2015. Acetic acid and VAM demand growth stems from a variety of different derivatives, which vary by region. Segmentation of demand in North America and Europe is more diverse than in other regions. In Asia, demand segmentation acetyl varies considerably across countries.

To learn more about the challenges and market prospects for this industry CMAI, about the 2011 World acetyl www.cmaiglobal.comanlysis now. Theanlysis is presented in the book and CD-ROMs, and access to CMAI’s Online Capacity and Supply / Demand databases. Updates to the database capacity are available to customers throughout the year they occur, and an updated bi-annual supply and demand database offers a fresh look as markets develop. Customers benefit from the updated market information, which is necessary for strategic business decisions.

CMAI is the leading provider of market planning and Business Advisory Services offers a unique combination ofanlysis and consulting expertise for the global chemical, plastics, fibers and chlor-alkali industries. With offices in Houston, New York, London, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Bangkok, Singapore and Shanghai, CMAI has provided expert advisory services to a wide range of businesses in value chains and multiple geographic regions since 1979. CMAI services customers are oil and chemical companies, technology & EPC companies, law firms, the banking and financial institutions, processors of plastics, textile & apparel manufacturers, brand owners, grocers and retailers, government agencies and commercial companies.

For more information about monitoring acetyl World 2011, visit the website at CMAI www.cmaiglobal.com

Readmore »» “Regions Online Banking”  »»

Danisco, Shares of Danisco Denmark has jumped more than 26% Monday after the group of food ingredients has agreed to be acquired by DuPont in a $ 6.3 billion deal.

DuPont / quotes/comstock/13 *! Dd / quotes / nls / dd (DD 49.76, -0.22, -0.44%) said Sunday it will pay to 5.8 billion in cash for Danisco / quotes/comstock/11i! Dnsof (DNSOF 92.45, 0.45, 0.49%) and take around 500 million and debt of the company.

Danisco produces food ingredients specialist such as emulsifiers and sweeteners, and also has a large business enzymes, with customers in the textile sector, the industries of biofuel and biodefense.

DuPont said the company would be a tight fit with its own nutrition and Applied Biosciences Divisions.

Laurence Alexander, ananlyst at Jefferies & Co., said in a note to clients that DuPont has been more vocal about the possibilities of industrial biotechnology than any other large North American company. He added that the division of food ingredients would fill gaps in DuPont “farm to fork” strategy.

Danisco shares have rallied about 26% to Copenhagen to 668 kronor ($ 115.7), slightly above the offer price of 665 crowns.

SEB Enskildaanlyst Henrik Simonsen said that if another bidder cannot be excluded, DuPont is the most likely buyer because it already operates a joint venture with Danisco ethanol.

DuPont said it would finance the transaction with approximately $ 3 billion and existing cash, the rest from debt. The transaction is expected to close early in the second quarter and provide a lift to earnings in 2012.

For 2011, the acquisition is expected to reduce reported earnings by between 30 cents and 45 cents per share, DuPont said. The group of chemicals already had a profit of 2011 between 3.30 and 3.60 and $ a share.

“This transaction is a perfect fit with our strategic growth opportunities and we will help resolve global challenges presented by the dramatic growth of population in coming decades, particularly related to food and energy,” said CEO Ellen Kullman DuPont in a statement.

“In addition, biotechnology and specialty food ingredients have the potential to change the industry landscape, such as substituting renewable materials for the processes of fossil fuels and to meet food needs in developing economies”, Kullman added.

Readmore »» “Danisco”  »»

Is Facebook Really Shutting Down, Late Saturday night and Sunday morning, rumors spread of Facebook’s imminent demise in the Internet like wildfire pushed by the wind through the dry brush, head of Google Trends and inspiring a flurry of tweets very troubled. Think about the equivalent of Chicken Little went viral, and count them as living proof of the capacity of the Internet for transmission of opinion and speculation as if they were facts.

A series of unfortunate events
Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported and well-informed sources have confirmed Goldman-Sachs was seeking major investments in shares of Facebook, the establishment and 2 million minimum purchase prices, and specifying Purchasers should keep their shares until 2013. Goldman estimated the value of Facebook at about $ 50 billion (USD), outlining plans to purchase shares totaling $ 1.5 billion (USD) or about 1.5% of the current value of the private company.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who has so far refused to comment publicly on the movements of Goldman, has always remained suspicious of Wall Street, discouraging speculation on whether or when he can take his audience Palo Alto station. Significant investment from Goldman, coupled with a $ 500 million (USD) cash infusion from Russian Technologies Digital Sky Facebook gives cash to hire IT professionals in high-powered by a pool of super-charged and extend its reach through a wide range of cloud computing technologies. According to Reuters, “The vehicle appears to be designed to allow Facebook to sell shares to a larger number of donors, without triggering a settlement Securities and Exchange Commission requires financial reporting major public companies with more than 500 investors. This is because the vehicle could be considered a single investor. ”

On Friday, the veteran tech journalist, Muckraker, and populist David Rushkoff has produced an editorial for CNN Money, and his opinions were well informed largely mistaken as fact. The piece speculates on the future of Facebook, drawing on examples from AOL and MySpace, and reasoning that social networking sites follow essentially the same cycles as the dots of water popular in the world real: people get tired of the same old environment and they move on. If they are smart, tech wizards who create the sites of there cash holdings before their fields turn to ghost towns. Applying this reasoning, Rushkoff wrote: “As I read the situation, we are witnessing the beginning of the end of Facebook. These are not symptoms of a company that wins, but whoever is cashing out. ”

Problems with reading comprehension
The fundamental error from thousands of readers for taking strong opinion CNN facts established a tribute to the powerful prose Rushkoff, but a serious misunderstanding. While millions and displayed their tweeted “BMC!” Coolly and calmly Kanalley Craig noted in the Huffington Post, “Whatever the reason for this rumor, it’s safe to say that as a site with over 500 million and users and 500 investment from Goldman Sachs recently Millon, Facebook will not stop anytime soon. “

Readmore »» “Is Facebook Really Shutting Down”  »»

If I asked you "what is most important of marketing?" I wonder what your answer?

Some of you may respond with a product. Items able to overcome problems and meet customer needs is the most important part of marketing. Because with quality products, the problems faced by consumers is expected to be resolved quickly.

This answer was not wrong. But what is important to note also is the product that you create should always be able to answer the needs of consumers. Products you might be able to launch now solve the problem today. But tomorrow is not necessarily. Therefore, you must continue to make your products are always "new".

Update product is one way. By updating the content of information products with the latest developments, it is expected that emerging problems can be resolved.

But in addition to products, there is one more important part of marketing. What is it?

Namely how to sell the product itself.

This is where the importance of running a variety of marketing techniques and to monitor their effectiveness.

From a variety of marketing techniques you are doing, what techniques are running optimally, what new techniques affect half-optimal, and what does not produce effects at all.

That way, you run a marketing campaign is under your control. You've learned how to increase sales of your products.

However, in the Internet business whatever you do, you should not be complacent. ACTION You must continue to study the most recent sales trends. So you really understand what an effective marketing technique today and why the technique is effective. That's when you deserve dubbed marketing expert.

In closing, please answer the following questions to determine the level of your marketing:

1. What is the biggest advantage of the products you offer?
2. What common mistakes marketers?
3. How to change consumer behavior?
4. What do you do to adjust dnegan changes from the consumer side?

If you are able to answer questions quickly and confidently, then you are studying marketing well. But if the answer you are still in doubt, it means you need to hone your marketing skills.

With a good understanding of marketing, you will know how to make your Internet business more forward again.

Readmore »» “What is Most Important of Marketing”  »»

Understanding Organizing Products

Structuring products or that we are familiar with the term often display is a way of structuring the product mainly of the product that is applied by certain companies in order to attract customers. To clarify the meaning of such displays, William J. Shultz, "Display consist of simulating the customers attention and interest in a product or a store, and desire to buy the product or patronize the stores, through direct visual appeal." Display is a way to encourage attention and consumer interest in the store or the goods and encourages the desire to buy through the attraction of vision (direct visual appeal).

Implementation of a good display is one way to obtain self-service success in selling their goods. It can be seen in supermarkets. As for display purposes are classified as follows:
1. Attention and Customer Interest
Attention and customer interest, namely to attract the attention of buyers is done by using colors, lights, and so forth.
2. Desire and Customer Action
Desire and action customer, namely to generate the desire to have the goods on display in the store, after entering the shop, then make a purchase.
Furthermore, the display is divided into several parts:
1. Window Display
Displaying the goods, the price of the card images, symbols, and so the front of the store called the window.
2. Interior Display
Display of goods, images, price cards, and posters in the store. The interior display is divided into several sections, as follows:
a. Open display
Open display, namely the goods displayed on suatun the open so it can be approached and handled, seen and examined by potential buyers without the help of care workers, such as self-displays, island displays (the goods placed on the floor and well laid out so as to resemble the island- island).
b. Display Closed
Closed displays, namely the goods displayed in a closed atmosphere. The goods were not approached not held or examined by a prospective buyer, except for the assistance of service personnel. This aims to protect goods from damage, theft.
c. Display Architechtural
Architectural display, which shows the goods in its use, for example in the living room, bedroom, kitchen with amenities. This method can increase the appeal because the goods displayed realistically.
3. Exterior Display
Display of goods outside the store, for example at the time of a sale and night markets. This display has several functions, among others:
a. Introducing a product quickly and economically.
b. Help producers who distribute their goods quickly and ekononomis.
c. Help coordinate Advertising and Merchandising.
d. Cause the continuity of the scheme and the theme color of the wrapper.
e. Build good relationships with the community, for example on holidays, birthdays.
Besides the three kinds of displays that have been described above, should also note a few things in the display, which is as follows:
a. Store Design and Decoration
Store design and decoration, namely in the form of signs such as symbols, symbol, emblem, posters, drawings, flags, and slogans. These signs are placed on a table or hung on the store. Store design is used to membimbibing prospective buyers toward merchandise and information to their members about the use of such goods. "Decoration" is generally used in the framework of special events, such as sales at times of holidays, Christmas and new year.
b. Dealer Display
Dealer display, namely the arrangement implemented in a way wholesaler comprising symbols and instructions on using the product. By showing the use of products in pictures and instructions, then this display also gives a warning to its sales staff so that they do not provide information that is not in accordance with the instructions in the picture.

Readmore »» “Organizing Products”  »»

AdSense is an ad serving application run by Google Inc. Website owners can enroll in this program to enable text, image, and video advertisements on their websites. These advertisements are administered by Google and generate revenue on either a per-click or per-impression basis. Google beta tested a cost-per-action service, but discontinued it in October 2008 in favor of a DoubleClick offering (also owned by Google). In Q1 2010, Google earned US$2.04 billion ($8.16 billion annualized), or 30% of total revenue, through AdSense.

Google uses its Internet search technology to serve advertisements based on website content, the user's geographical location, and other factors. Those wanting to advertise with Google's targeted advertisement system may enroll through AdWords. AdSense has become a popular method of placing advertising on a website because the advertisements are less intrusive than most banners, and the content of the advertisements is often relevant to the website.

Many websites use AdSense to monetize their content; it is the most popular advertising network. AdSense has been particularly important for delivering advertising revenue to small websites that do not have the resources for developing advertising sales programs and sales people. To fill a website with advertisements that are relevant to the topics discussed, webmasters implement a brief script on the websites' pages. Websites that are content-rich have been very successful with this advertising program, as noted in a number of publisher case studies on the AdSense website.

Some webmasters invest significant effort into maximizing their own AdSense income. They do this in three ways:[citation needed]

They use a wide range of traffic-generating techniques, including but not limited to online advertising.

They build valuable content on their websites that attracts AdSense advertisements, which pay out the most when they are clicked.

They use text content on their websites that encourages visitors to click on advertisements. Note that Google prohibits webmasters from using phrases like "Click on my AdSense ads" to increase click rates. The phrases accepted are "Sponsored Links" and "Advertisements".

The source of all AdSense income is the AdWords program, which in turn has a complex pricing model based on a Vickrey second price auction. AdSense commands an advertiser to submit a sealed bid (i.e., a bid not observable by competitors). Additionally, for any given click received, advertisers only pay one bid increment above the second-highest bid. Google currently shares 68% of revenues generated by AdSense with content network partners.

Oingo, Inc., a privately held company located in Los Angeles, was started in 1998 by Gilad Elbaz and Adam Weissman. Oingo developed a proprietary search algorithm that was based on word meanings and built upon an underlying lexicon called WordNet, which was developed over the previous 15 years by researchers at Princeton University, led by George Miller.

Oingo changed its name to Applied Semantics (company) in 2001,which was later acquired by Google in April 2003 for US$102 million.

In 2009, Google AdSense announced that it would now be offering new features, including the ability to "enable multiple networks to display ads".

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org

Readmore »» “AdSense”  »»

Pa Millionaire Raffle, According to the Lottery Corporation of Pennsylvania, the last of 500,000 raffle tickets sold Millionaire a few days ago for today January 1, 2011 draw. PA Lottery said the Millionaire Raffle tickets sold earlier this year that lottery tickets last year.

Winning Numbers Millionaire Raffle tickets will be randomly selected to 6:59 p.m. on January 1, 2011, when show the Lottery drawing will broadcast live the selection of four and one million, the number of top prize raffle ticket and four and one hundred thousand, second Number of prices in the draw. The rest of the PA winning lotto numbers can be found on January 2 at their website.

Lottery Examiner- http://www.examiner.com/lottery-in-national/pa-lottery-millionaire-raffle-tickets-sold-out-for-january-1-2011-drawing

Readmore »» “Pa Millionaire Raffle”  »»

Since 2001, Google has acquired many companies, mainly focusing on small venture capital companies. In 2004, Google acquired Keyhole, Inc..[71]

The start-up company developed a product called Earth Viewer that gave a 3-D view of the Earth. Google renamed the service to Google Earth in 2005. Two years later, Google bought the online video site YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock.[72]

On April 13, 2007, Google reached an agreement to acquire DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, giving Google valuable relationships that DoubleClick had with Web publishers and advertising agencies.[73] Later that same year, Google purchased GrandCentral for $50 million.[74] 

The site would later be changed over to Google Voice. On August 5, 2009, Google bought out its first public company, purchasing video software maker On2 Technologies for $106.5 million.[75] 

Google also acquired Aardvark, a social network search engine, for $50 million. Google commented in their internal blog, "we're looking forward to collaborating to see where we can take it".[76] And, in April 2010, Google announced it had acquired a hardware startup, Agnilux.[77]

In addition to the numerous companies Google has purchased, the company has partnered with other organizations for everything from research to advertising. In 2005, Google partnered with NASA Ames Research Center to build 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) of offices.[78] 

The offices would be used for research projects involving large-scale data management, nanotechnology, distributed computing, and the entrepreneurial space industry. Later that year, Google entered into a partnership with Sun Microsystems in October 2005 to help share and distribute each other's technologies.[79]

The company also partnered with AOL of Time Warner,[80] 

to enhance each other's video search services. Google's 2005 partnerships also included financing the new .mobi top-level domain for mobile devices, along with other companies including Microsoft, Nokia, and Ericsson.[81] 

Google would later launch "Adsense for Mobile", taking advantage of the emerging mobile advertising market.[82] 

Increasing their advertising reach even further, Google and Fox Interactive Media of News Corp. entered into a $900 million agreement to provide search and advertising on popular social networking site MySpace.[83]

In October 2006, Google announced that it had acquired the video-sharing site YouTube for US$1.65 billion in Google stock, and the deal was finalized on November 13, 2006.[84] Google does not provide detailed figures for YouTube's running costs, and YouTube's revenues in 2007 were noted as "not material" in a regulatory filing.[85] In June 2008, a Forbes magazine article projected the 2008 YouTube revenue at US$200 million, noting progress in advertising sales.[86] In 2007, Google began sponsoring NORAD Tracks Santa, a service that pretends to follow Santa Claus' progress on Christmas Eve,[87] using Google Earth to "track Santa" in 3-D for the first time,[88] and displacing former sponsor AOL. Google-owned YouTube gave NORAD Tracks Santa its own channel.[89]

In 2008, Google developed a partnership with GeoEye to launch a satellite providing Google with high-resolution (0.41 m monochrome, 1.65 m color) imagery for Google Earth. The satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on September 6, 2008.[90] Google also announced in 2008 that it was hosting an archive of Life Magazine's photographs as part of its latest partnership. Some of the images in the archive were never published in the magazine.[91] The photos were watermarked and originally had copyright notices posted on all photos, regardless of public domain status.[92]

In 2010, Google Energy made its first investment in a renewable-energy project, putting up $38.8 million into two wind farms in North Dakota. The company announced the two locations will generate 169.5 megawatts of power, or enough to supply 55,000 homes. The farms, which were developed by NextEra Energy Resources, will reduce fossil fuel use in the region and return profits. NextEra Energy Resources sold Google a twenty percent stake in the project in order to get funding for project development.[93] Also in 2010, Google purchased Global IP Solutions, a Norway based company that provides web-based teleconferencing and other related services. This acquisition will enable Google to add telephone-style services to its list of products.[94] On May 27, 2010, Google announced it had also closed the acquisition of the mobile ad network, AdMob. This purchase occurred days after the Federal Trade Commission closed its investigation into the purchase.[95] Google acquired the company for an undisclosed amount.[96] In July 2010, Google signed an agreement with an Iowa wind farm to buy 114 megawatts of energy for 20 years.[97]

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/

Readmore »» “Acquisitions and partnerships Google”  »»

Internet marketing or online marketing, Internet advertising, e-marketing is the marketing of products or services over the Internet that can provide unique benefits by minimizing the budget and reach a global information distribution in an era where people are more likely now that most people almost instantaneous instance if you want to buy something electronic goods suppose people tend to select information from the internet rather than go so far as to simply ask the price or buy it, either by phone but that's not right because we simply do not directly see the shape and model the goods.

Internet in marketing within the scope of web-based marketing we are familiar with the term web advertising and web marketing. Method and internet marketing strategy includes a variety of services such as:

* markeeting combination

* Marketing based perlaku

* Review the reasons

* Context advertising

* Marketing

* Advertising exhibition

* E-mail marketing

* In-text advertising

* Interactive Advertising

* Internet news release

* Newsletter marketing

* Algotirma

* Online Research Martket

* Online reputation management

* Search engine marketing

* Pay per click

* Search engine optimization

* Marketing social medila

* Blog marketing

* multivariate testing and optimization

* Viral marketing

* software-based Advertising

Readmore »» “Internet Marketing is ...”  »»

Mega Millions: How Winning Numbers Would Change Our Lives - I’m not really into lotteries. I’ve never even played one. In fact, the only direct impact they have on me is an annoying one—namely, they often delay me while waiting in a convenient store line. Thanks to the lottery addicts who are busy scratching off their latest loser. Don’t get me wrong. Annoying players notwithstanding, I’m just fine with lotteries. They obviously raise a lot of revenue and they are a self-selected tax. So I’m all for them. They’re just not right for me.

But thanks to Mega Millions, I’m starting to reconsider that.

I read in the USA Today where it’s gotten up to $237 million. Holy cow, people. That’s a lump sum cash value of nearly $151 million. So maybe I should play.

After all, we are expecting our fifth child in July. And our little bundle of joy will certainly cost us a pretty penny, indeed. As will the help we had just cut back on. And while these expenses are costly, they’re nothing that a quick hundy million couldn’t cover. And just think what it would mean for the triplets. We could get these little monsters anything they wanted.

But, now that I think about it, that might not be such a good idea. They’re already fighting tooth and nail over what toys they already have. I thought Kirby was gonna go all Kung-Fu on Sammy for picking up her Dora book the other day. And you better not think about touching even one of Jack’s matchbox cars. Unless you want an earful. Or want to see a bizarre looking tantrum.

In fact, the fighting over material possessions has reached an all-time high at our house, thanks to Christmas and two well-intending but over indulgent Santas. Just last night, I was lamenting the fact that we had gotten them too much. Who would have thought that adding more toys to the mix would lower their overall contentment level, but I promise that’s what has happened. At least judging from all the fighting. And ugliness.

Speaking of ugliness, I’ve witnessed some of the ugliest things ever when it comes to fighting over money. One family I know intimately is currently in the middle of a lawsuit that’s costing them, quite literally, hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. Because the son of an extremely wealthy decedent has sued his two siblings as well all of the trustees of their various trusts. The details aren’t important, but this part is: The fallout has not so sad to witness. The two siblings have not even spoken with their brother in over two years.

I know that not everyone fights over money. In fact, I truly don’t think our kids would. I know my wife and I wouldn’t fight over money. It just doesn’t mean that much to either one of us.

Wait a minute, if that’s the case, why am I contemplating playing Mega Millions?

What about you? Would you play? How would all that money change your family dynamic?

http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2010/12/29/mega-millions-how-winning-numbers-would-change-our-lives/

Readmore »» “Mega Millions: How Winning Numbers Would Change Our Lives”  »»

The foreign exchange market (forex, FX, or currency market) is a worldwide decentralized over-the-counter financial market for the trading of currencies. Financial centers around the world function as anchors of trading between a wide range of different types of buyers and sellers around the clock, with the exception of weekends. The foreign exchange market determines the relative values of different currencies.

The primary purpose of the foreign exchange is to assist international trade and investment, by allowing businesses to convert one currency to another currency. For example, it permits a US business to import British goods and pay Pound Sterling, even though the business's income is in US dollars. It also supports speculation, and facilitates the carry trade, in which investors borrow low-yielding currencies and lend (invest in) high-yielding currencies, and which (it has been claimed) may lead to loss of competitiveness in some countries.

In a typical foreign exchange transaction, a party purchases a quantity of one currency by paying a quantity of another currency. The modern foreign exchange market began forming after February 1973, when countries gradually switched to floating exchange rates from the previous exchange rate regime, which remained fixed as per the Bretton Woods system.The foreign exchange market is unique because of

* its huge trading volume, leading to high liquidity;

* its geographical dispersion;

* its continuous operation: 24 hours a day except weekends, i.e. trading from 20:15 GMT on Sunday until 22:00 GMT Friday;

* the variety of factors that affect exchange rates;

* the low margins of relative profit compared with other markets of fixed income; and

* the use of leverage to enhance profit margins with respect to account size.

As such, it has been referred to as the market closest to the ideal of perfect competition, notwithstanding market manipulation by central banks.[citation needed] According to the Bank for International Settlements,[3] as of April 2010, average daily turnover in global foreign exchange markets is estimated at $3.98 trillion, a growth of approximately 20% over the $3.21 trillion daily volume as of April 2007.

The $3.98 trillion break-down is as follows:

* $1.490 trillion in spot transactions

* $475 billion in outright forwards

* $1.765 trillion in foreign exchange swaps

* $43 billion currency swaps

* $207 billion in options and other products

Market size and liquidity

The foreign exchange market is the largest and most liquid financial market in the world. Traders include large banks, central banks, currency speculators, corporations, governments, and other financial institutions. The average daily volume in the global foreign exchange and related markets is continuously growing. Daily turnover was reported to be over US$3.98 trillion in April 2010 by the Bank for International Settlements.

Of the $3.98 trillion daily global turnover, trading in London accounted for around $1.85 trillion, or 36.7% of the total, making London by far the global center for foreign exchange. In second and third places respectively, trading in New York City accounted for 17.9%, and Tokyo accounted for 6.2%. In addition to "traditional" turnover, $2.1 trillion was traded in derivatives.

Exchange-traded FX futures contracts were introduced in 1972 at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and are actively traded relative to most other futures contracts.

Several other developed countries also permit the trading of FX derivative products (like currency futures and options on currency futures) on their exchanges. All these developed countries already have fully convertible capital accounts. Most emerging countries do not permit FX derivative products on their exchanges in view of prevalent controls on the capital accounts. However, a few select emerging countries (e.g., Korea, South Africa, India—; ) have already successfully experimented with the currency futures exchanges, despite having some controls on the capital account.

FX futures volume has grown rapidly in recent years, and accounts for about 7% of the total foreign exchange market volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe (5/5/06, p. 20).

Top 10 currency traders

% of overall volume, May 2010 Rank Name Market share

1 Germany Deutsche Bank 18.06%

2 Switzerland UBS AG 11.30%

3 United Kingdom Barclays Capital 11.08%

4 United States Citi 7.69%

5 United Kingdom Royal Bank of Scotland 6.50%

6 United States JPMorgan 6.35%

7 United Kingdom HSBC 4.55%

8 Switzerland Credit Suisse 4.44%

9 United States Goldman Sachs 4.28%

10 United States Morgan Stanley 2.91%

Foreign exchange trading increased by over a third in the 12 months to April 2010 and has more than doubled since 2001. This is largely due to the growing importance of foreign exchange as an asset class and an increase in fund management assets, particularly of hedge funds and pension funds. The diverse selection of execution venues have made it easier for retail traders to trade in the foreign exchange market. In 2009, retail traders constituted over 5% of the whole FX market volumes (see retail trading platforms).

Because foreign exchange is an OTC market where brokers/dealers negotiate directly with one another, there is no central exchange or clearing house. The biggest geographic trading centre is the UK, primarily London, which according to TheCityUK estimates has increased its share of global turnover in traditional transactions from 34.6% in April 2007 to 36.7% in April 2010. Due to London's dominance in the market, a particular currency's quoted price is usually the London market price. For instance, when the IMF calculates the value of its SDRs every day, they use the London market prices at noon that day.

Market participants

Unlike a stock market, the foreign exchange market is divided into levels of access. At the top is the inter-bank market, which is made up of the largest commercial banks and securities dealers. Within the inter-bank market, spreads, which are the difference between the bid and ask prices, are razor sharp and usually unavailable, and not known to players outside the inner circle. The difference between the bid and ask prices widens (from 0-1 pip to 1-2 pips for some currencies such as the EUR). This is due to volume. If a trader can guarantee large numbers of transactions for large amounts, they can demand a smaller difference between the bid and ask price, which is referred to as a better spread. The levels of access that make up the foreign exchange market are determined by the size of the "line" (the amount of money with which they are trading). The top-tier inter-bank market accounts for 53% of all transactions. After that there are usually smaller banks, followed by large multi-national corporations (which need to hedge risk and pay employees in different countries), large hedge funds, and even some of the retail FX-metal market makers. According to Galati and Melvin, “Pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, and other institutional investors have played an increasingly important role in financial markets in general, and in FX markets in particular, since the early 2000s.” (2004) In addition, he notes, “Hedge funds have grown markedly over the 2001–2004 period in terms of both number and overall size” Central banks also participate in the foreign exchange market to align currencies to their economic needs.

Banks

The interbank market caters for both the majority of commercial turnover and large amounts of speculative trading every day. A large bank may trade billions of dollars daily. Some of this trading is undertaken on behalf of customers, but much is conducted by proprietary desks, trading for the bank's own account. Until recently, foreign exchange brokers did large amounts of business, facilitating interbank trading and matching anonymous counterparts for large fees. Today, however, much of this business has moved on to more efficient electronic systems. The broker squawk box lets traders listen in on ongoing interbank trading and is heard in most trading rooms, but turnover is noticeably smaller than just a few years ago.

Commercial companies

An important part of this market comes from the financial activities of companies seeking foreign exchange to pay for goods or services. Commercial companies often trade fairly small amounts compared to those of banks or speculators, and their trades often have little short term impact on market rates. Nevertheless, trade flows are an important factor in the long-term direction of a currency's exchange rate. Some multinational companies can have an unpredictable impact when very large positions are covered due to exposures that are not widely known by other market participants.

Central banks

National central banks play an important role in the foreign exchange markets. They try to control the money supply, inflation, and/or interest rates and often have official or unofficial target rates for their currencies. They can use their often substantial foreign exchange reserves to stabilize the market. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of central bank "stabilizing speculation" is doubtful because central banks do not go bankrupt if they make large losses, like other traders would, and there is no convincing evidence that they do make a profit trading.

Forex Fixing

Forex fixing is the daily monetary exchange rate fixed by the national bank of each country. The idea is that central bank use the fixing time and exchange rate to evaluate behavior of their currency. Fixing exchange rates reflects the real value of equilibrium in the forex market. Banks, dealers and online foreign exchange traders use fixing rates as a trend indicator.

The mere expectation or rumor of central bank intervention might be enough to stabilize a currency, but aggressive intervention might be used several times each year in countries with a dirty float currency regime. Central banks do not always achieve their objectives. The combined resources of the market can easily overwhelm any central bank. Several scenarios of this nature were seen in the 1992–93 ERM collapse, and in more recent times in Southeast Asia.

Hedge funds as speculators

About 70% to 90%[citation needed] of the foreign exchange transactions are speculative. In other words, the person or institution that bought or sold the currency has no plan to actually take delivery of the currency in the end; rather, they were solely speculating on the movement of that particular currency. Hedge funds have gained a reputation for aggressive currency speculation since 1996. They control billions of dollars of equity and may borrow billions more, and thus may overwhelm intervention by central banks to support almost any currency, if the economic fundamentals are in the hedge funds' favor.

Investment management firms

Investment management firms (who typically manage large accounts on behalf of customers such as pension funds and endowments) use the foreign exchange market to facilitate transactions in foreign securities. For example, an investment manager bearing an international equity portfolio needs to purchase and sell several pairs of foreign currencies to pay for foreign securities purchases.

Some investment management firms also have more speculative specialist currency overlay operations, which manage clients' currency exposures with the aim of generating profits as well as limiting risk. Whilst the number of this type of specialist firms is quite small, many have a large value of assets under management (AUM), and hence can generate large trades.

Retail foreign exchange brokers

Retail traders (individuals) constitute a growing segment of this market, both in size and importance. Currently, they participate indirectly through brokers or banks. Retail brokers, while largely controlled and regulated in the USA by the CFTC and NFA have in the past been subjected to periodic foreign exchange scams.[8][9] To deal with the issue, the NFA and CFTC began (as of 2009) imposing stricter requirements, particularly in relation to the amount of Net Capitalization required of its members. As a result many of the smaller, and perhaps questionable brokers are now gone.

There are two main types of retail FX brokers offering the opportunity for speculative currency trading: brokers and dealers or market makers. Brokers serve as an agent of the customer in the broader FX market, by seeking the best price in the market for a retail order and dealing on behalf of the retail customer. They charge a commission or mark-up in addition to the price obtained in the market. Dealers or market makers, by contrast, typically act as principal in the transaction versus the retail customer, and quote a price they are willing to deal at—the customer has the choice whether or not to trade at that price.

In assessing the suitability of an FX trading service, the customer should consider the ramifications of whether the service provider is acting as principal or agent. When the service provider acts as agent, the customer is generally assured of a known cost above the best inter-dealer FX rate. When the service provider acts as principal, no commission is paid, but the price offered may not be the best available in the market—since the service provider is taking the other side of the transaction, a conflict of interest may occur.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forex

Readmore »» “Foreign exchange market / Forex”  »»

Online advertising is a form of promotion that uses the Internet and World Wide Web for the expressed purpose of delivering marketing messages to attract customers. Examples of online advertising include contextual ads on search engine results pages, banner ads, Rich Media Ads, Social network advertising, interstitial ads, online classified advertising, advertising networks and e-mail marketing, including e-mail spam.

Competitive advantage over traditional advertising

One major benefit of online advertising is the immediate publishing of information and content that is not limited by geography or time. To that end, the emerging area of interactive advertising presents fresh challenges for advertisers who have hitherto adopted an interruptive strategy.

Another benefit is the efficiency of advertiser's investment. Online advertising allows for the customization of advertisements, including content and posted websites. For example, AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Google AdSense enable ads to be shown on relevant web pages or alongside search results of related keywords.

Revenue models

The three most common ways in which online advertising is purchased are CPM, CPC, and CPA.

* CPM (Cost Per Mille), also called "Cost Per Thousand (CPT), is where advertisers pay for exposure of their message to a specific audience. "Per mille" means per thousand impressions, or loads of an advertisement. However, some impressions may not be counted, such as a reload or internal user action.

* CPV (Cost Per Visitor) is where advertisers pay for the delivery of a Targeted Visitor to the advertisers website.

* CPV (Cost Per View) is when an advertiser pays for each unique user view of an advertisement or website (usually used with pop-ups, pop-unders and interstitial ads).

* CPC (Cost Per Click) is also known as Pay per click (PPC). Advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their listing and is redirected to their website. They do not actually pay for the listing, but only when the listing is clicked on. This system allows advertising specialists to refine searches and gain information about their market. Under the Pay per click pricing system, advertisers pay for the right to be listed under a series of target rich words that direct relevant traffic to their website, and pay only when someone clicks on their listing which links directly to their website. CPC differs from CPV in that each click is paid for regardless of whether the user makes it to the target site.

* CPA (Cost Per Action) or (Cost Per Acquisition) advertising is performance based and is common in the affiliate marketing sector of the business. In this payment scheme, the publisher takes all the risk of running the ad, and the advertiser pays only for the amount of users who complete a transaction, such as a purchase or sign-up. This is the best type of rate to pay for banner advertisements and the worst type of rate to charge.

o Similarly, CPL (Cost Per Lead) advertising is identical to CPA advertising and is based on the user completing a form, registering for a newsletter or some other action that the merchant feels will lead to a sale.

o Also common, CPO (Cost Per Order) advertising is based on each time an order is transacted.

o CPE (Cost Per Engagement) is a form of Cost Per Action pricing first introduced in March 2008. Differing from cost-per-impression or cost-per-click models, a CPE model means advertising impressions are free and advertisers pay only when a user engages with their specific ad unit. Engagement is defined as a user interacting with an ad in any number of ways.[1]

* Cost per conversion Describes the cost of acquiring a customer, typically calculated by dividing the total cost of an ad campaign by the number of conversions. The definition of "Conversion" varies depending on the situation: it is sometimes considered to be a lead, a sale, or a purchase.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_advertising

Readmore »» “Online Advertising”  »»

Idaho Lottery, Scam artists are always creating new ways to steal money or identity. The Better Business Bureau recently issued a list of top scams used during the past year. Some scams are old and familiar, others are new. So it is important that people stay on their guard when it comes to protecting their money and identity.

The Office of the justice budget of 11.5 million people experiences some type of identity fraud within two years the United States. It is a fraction of the number of scams that can come via the Internet, telephone, in your mail and your door. Some scammers promise to make money with their potential victims. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” said Captain Ken Brown of the Idaho Falls Police. Police said the robbers put a deposit account numbers, promising large sums of money, only to raise money to hold accounts. “Many of them come from third world countries,” said Brown. “We find from Jamaica, Nigeria, some European countries and Canada.”

The Better Business Bureau has issued a list of 2010 high and hard scams. As the loans fees, sales door to door where people are using sales tactics, high pressure for the consumer have pre-pay for a product that never happens.The “grandparents scam, where the victim receives a message form someone claiming to be a friend outside the country who needs money wired to them because they had problems. However, scams job hunter seeking job seekers to pay fees to take into consideration for a job. Whenever someone requests an account number or social security number, consumers should be cautious. It is best to call the police, the sheriff’s office, state police or the FBI if a person believes they have been contacted by a scammer attempting a coup. Top Scams Advance Fee Loans: Web Sites offering credit-challenged borrowers of loans. Lenders charge a fee to be connected in advance to receive the loan. Once money is wired, borrowers do not receive the loan. Auto service contracts: Consumers can receive postcards or phone calls implying that their warranties are about to expire and offering to ease their worries about the car repair bills by purchasing many consumers, then it is extremely difficult to get money for any “extended warranty”. Repairs. Selling door-to-door sellers of magazine subscriptions, burglar alarms, home repairs, vacuum cleaners and other items used high pressure sales tactics to obtain payment for items or services that does never happens or does not meet the customers? Expectations.

‘Free’ Trial Offers: Consumers are encouraged to order a product such as teeth whitening, anti-aging pills or other products may be covered by a TV personality. After receiving the product, they discover that they were registered to receive additional products for a monthly fee which can be hundreds of dollars. It can be extremely difficult to obtain a refund or to stop spending. A friend / family in distress: Also known as the grandparents scam. The victim receives a message from someone? Friend? Or? Family member? Claiming they are outside the country and have had problems. The victim is asked to wire thousands of dollars to pay legal fees or bonding.

Lottery and Check scams: Victims receive letters in the mail from companies purporting to be from a foreign lottery, publisher clearing house or another reputable company or charity. Often, the letter contains a check look authentic. In most cases, victims are asked over hundreds of dollars back to the crooks – ostensibly to cover taxes or other fees can. Hunter Job Scams: A scammer asks job seekers to pay a fee to be considered for a job scheduling other, an out-of-town interview and ask the applicant to send money to cover an airfare. Other scams try to access personal information such as bank account or social security numbers, under the guise of evaluating somehow a potential employee. Mystery Shopping: Consumers may be told they will be paid at the shop in a store and evaluate its customer service. Victims can receive authentic-looking checks that are supposed to cover the cost of purchases. They are asked to wire money to the crooks to evaluate a money wiring service such as Western Union or MoneyGram. The checks are fake, and the victims suffer a loss and bank charges. E-mail Phishing: New phishing attack against fraudsters posing as government agencies or delivery companies in the boxes pop up everywhere. Whatever the configuration, the goal of any e-mail phishing is the same: to trick the victims to disclose sensitive financial information or infect the victim’s computer with viruses and malware. Work-At-Home Systems: Application websites that people can live in the house using Google or Twitter or by purchasing a kit that includes educational materials or products to sell. Many of these scams are no trial offer, with victims being billed each month for the cost of materials or other mystery. Legitimate employers do not require employees to make an initial investment.

http://usspost.com/idaho-lottery-24847/

Readmore »» “Idaho Lottery”  »»

The foreign exchange market (forex, FX, or currency market) is a worldwide decentralized over-the-counter financial market for the trading of currencies. Financial centers around the world function as anchors of trading between a wide range of different types of buyers and sellers around the clock, with the exception of weekends. The foreign exchange market determines the relative values of different currencies.

The primary purpose of the foreign exchange is to assist international trade and investment, by allowing businesses to convert one currency to another currency. For example, it permits a US business to import British goods and pay Pound Sterling, even though the business's income is in US dollars. It also supports speculation, and facilitates the carry trade, in which investors borrow low-yielding currencies and lend (invest in) high-yielding currencies, and which (it has been claimed) may lead to loss of competitiveness in some countries.

In a typical foreign exchange transaction, a party purchases a quantity of one currency by paying a quantity of another currency. The modern foreign exchange market began forming after February 1973, when countries gradually switched to floating exchange rates from the previous exchange rate regime, which remained fixed as per the Bretton Woods system.The foreign exchange market is unique because of

* its huge trading volume, leading to high liquidity;

* its geographical dispersion;

* its continuous operation: 24 hours a day except weekends, i.e. trading from 20:15 GMT on Sunday until 22:00 GMT Friday;

* the variety of factors that affect exchange rates;

* the low margins of relative profit compared with other markets of fixed income; and

* the use of leverage to enhance profit margins with respect to account size.

As such, it has been referred to as the market closest to the ideal of perfect competition, notwithstanding market manipulation by central banks.[citation needed] According to the Bank for International Settlements,[3] as of April 2010, average daily turnover in global foreign exchange markets is estimated at $3.98 trillion, a growth of approximately 20% over the $3.21 trillion daily volume as of April 2007.

The $3.98 trillion break-down is as follows:

* $1.490 trillion in spot transactions

* $475 billion in outright forwards

* $1.765 trillion in foreign exchange swaps

* $43 billion currency swaps

* $207 billion in options and other products

Market size and liquidity

The foreign exchange market is the largest and most liquid financial market in the world. Traders include large banks, central banks, currency speculators, corporations, governments, and other financial institutions. The average daily volume in the global foreign exchange and related markets is continuously growing. Daily turnover was reported to be over US$3.98 trillion in April 2010 by the Bank for International Settlements.

Of the $3.98 trillion daily global turnover, trading in London accounted for around $1.85 trillion, or 36.7% of the total, making London by far the global center for foreign exchange. In second and third places respectively, trading in New York City accounted for 17.9%, and Tokyo accounted for 6.2%. In addition to "traditional" turnover, $2.1 trillion was traded in derivatives.

Exchange-traded FX futures contracts were introduced in 1972 at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and are actively traded relative to most other futures contracts.

Several other developed countries also permit the trading of FX derivative products (like currency futures and options on currency futures) on their exchanges. All these developed countries already have fully convertible capital accounts. Most emerging countries do not permit FX derivative products on their exchanges in view of prevalent controls on the capital accounts. However, a few select emerging countries (e.g., Korea, South Africa, India—; ) have already successfully experimented with the currency futures exchanges, despite having some controls on the capital account.

FX futures volume has grown rapidly in recent years, and accounts for about 7% of the total foreign exchange market volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe (5/5/06, p. 20).

Top 10 currency traders

% of overall volume, May 2010 Rank Name Market share

1 Germany Deutsche Bank 18.06%

2 Switzerland UBS AG 11.30%

3 United Kingdom Barclays Capital 11.08%

4 United States Citi 7.69%

5 United Kingdom Royal Bank of Scotland 6.50%

6 United States JPMorgan 6.35%

7 United Kingdom HSBC 4.55%

8 Switzerland Credit Suisse 4.44%

9 United States Goldman Sachs 4.28%

10 United States Morgan Stanley 2.91%

Foreign exchange trading increased by over a third in the 12 months to April 2010 and has more than doubled since 2001. This is largely due to the growing importance of foreign exchange as an asset class and an increase in fund management assets, particularly of hedge funds and pension funds. The diverse selection of execution venues have made it easier for retail traders to trade in the foreign exchange market. In 2009, retail traders constituted over 5% of the whole FX market volumes (see retail trading platforms).

Because foreign exchange is an OTC market where brokers/dealers negotiate directly with one another, there is no central exchange or clearing house. The biggest geographic trading centre is the UK, primarily London, which according to TheCityUK estimates has increased its share of global turnover in traditional transactions from 34.6% in April 2007 to 36.7% in April 2010. Due to London's dominance in the market, a particular currency's quoted price is usually the London market price. For instance, when the IMF calculates the value of its SDRs every day, they use the London market prices at noon that day.

Market participants

Unlike a stock market, the foreign exchange market is divided into levels of access. At the top is the inter-bank market, which is made up of the largest commercial banks and securities dealers. Within the inter-bank market, spreads, which are the difference between the bid and ask prices, are razor sharp and usually unavailable, and not known to players outside the inner circle. The difference between the bid and ask prices widens (from 0-1 pip to 1-2 pips for some currencies such as the EUR). This is due to volume. If a trader can guarantee large numbers of transactions for large amounts, they can demand a smaller difference between the bid and ask price, which is referred to as a better spread. The levels of access that make up the foreign exchange market are determined by the size of the "line" (the amount of money with which they are trading). The top-tier inter-bank market accounts for 53% of all transactions. After that there are usually smaller banks, followed by large multi-national corporations (which need to hedge risk and pay employees in different countries), large hedge funds, and even some of the retail FX-metal market makers. According to Galati and Melvin, “Pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, and other institutional investors have played an increasingly important role in financial markets in general, and in FX markets in particular, since the early 2000s.” (2004) In addition, he notes, “Hedge funds have grown markedly over the 2001–2004 period in terms of both number and overall size” Central banks also participate in the foreign exchange market to align currencies to their economic needs.

Banks

The interbank market caters for both the majority of commercial turnover and large amounts of speculative trading every day. A large bank may trade billions of dollars daily. Some of this trading is undertaken on behalf of customers, but much is conducted by proprietary desks, trading for the bank's own account. Until recently, foreign exchange brokers did large amounts of business, facilitating interbank trading and matching anonymous counterparts for large fees. Today, however, much of this business has moved on to more efficient electronic systems. The broker squawk box lets traders listen in on ongoing interbank trading and is heard in most trading rooms, but turnover is noticeably smaller than just a few years ago.

Commercial companies

An important part of this market comes from the financial activities of companies seeking foreign exchange to pay for goods or services. Commercial companies often trade fairly small amounts compared to those of banks or speculators, and their trades often have little short term impact on market rates. Nevertheless, trade flows are an important factor in the long-term direction of a currency's exchange rate. Some multinational companies can have an unpredictable impact when very large positions are covered due to exposures that are not widely known by other market participants.

Central banks

National central banks play an important role in the foreign exchange markets. They try to control the money supply, inflation, and/or interest rates and often have official or unofficial target rates for their currencies. They can use their often substantial foreign exchange reserves to stabilize the market. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of central bank "stabilizing speculation" is doubtful because central banks do not go bankrupt if they make large losses, like other traders would, and there is no convincing evidence that they do make a profit trading.

Forex Fixing

Forex fixing is the daily monetary exchange rate fixed by the national bank of each country. The idea is that central bank use the fixing time and exchange rate to evaluate behavior of their currency. Fixing exchange rates reflects the real value of equilibrium in the forex market. Banks, dealers and online foreign exchange traders use fixing rates as a trend indicator.

The mere expectation or rumor of central bank intervention might be enough to stabilize a currency, but aggressive intervention might be used several times each year in countries with a dirty float currency regime. Central banks do not always achieve their objectives. The combined resources of the market can easily overwhelm any central bank. Several scenarios of this nature were seen in the 1992–93 ERM collapse, and in more recent times in Southeast Asia.

Hedge funds as speculators

About 70% to 90%[citation needed] of the foreign exchange transactions are speculative. In other words, the person or institution that bought or sold the currency has no plan to actually take delivery of the currency in the end; rather, they were solely speculating on the movement of that particular currency. Hedge funds have gained a reputation for aggressive currency speculation since 1996. They control billions of dollars of equity and may borrow billions more, and thus may overwhelm intervention by central banks to support almost any currency, if the economic fundamentals are in the hedge funds' favor.

Investment management firms

Investment management firms (who typically manage large accounts on behalf of customers such as pension funds and endowments) use the foreign exchange market to facilitate transactions in foreign securities. For example, an investment manager bearing an international equity portfolio needs to purchase and sell several pairs of foreign currencies to pay for foreign securities purchases.

Some investment management firms also have more speculative specialist currency overlay operations, which manage clients' currency exposures with the aim of generating profits as well as limiting risk. Whilst the number of this type of specialist firms is quite small, many have a large value of assets under management (AUM), and hence can generate large trades.

Retail foreign exchange brokers

Retail traders (individuals) constitute a growing segment of this market, both in size and importance. Currently, they participate indirectly through brokers or banks. Retail brokers, while largely controlled and regulated in the USA by the CFTC and NFA have in the past been subjected to periodic foreign exchange scams.[8][9] To deal with the issue, the NFA and CFTC began (as of 2009) imposing stricter requirements, particularly in relation to the amount of Net Capitalization required of its members. As a result many of the smaller, and perhaps questionable brokers are now gone.

There are two main types of retail FX brokers offering the opportunity for speculative currency trading: brokers and dealers or market makers. Brokers serve as an agent of the customer in the broader FX market, by seeking the best price in the market for a retail order and dealing on behalf of the retail customer. They charge a commission or mark-up in addition to the price obtained in the market. Dealers or market makers, by contrast, typically act as principal in the transaction versus the retail customer, and quote a price they are willing to deal at—the customer has the choice whether or not to trade at that price.

In assessing the suitability of an FX trading service, the customer should consider the ramifications of whether the service provider is acting as principal or agent. When the service provider acts as agent, the customer is generally assured of a known cost above the best inter-dealer FX rate. When the service provider acts as principal, no commission is paid, but the price offered may not be the best available in the market—since the service provider is taking the other side of the transaction, a conflict of interest may occur.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forex

Readmore »» “Foreign Exchange Market (FOREX)”  »»

Forex AB is a Swedish financial services company. The company was started in 1927 as a currency exchange service for travellers, at the Central Station in Stockholm. The owner of Gyllenspet's Barber Shop, according to the legend, discovered that most of his customers were tourists in need of currency for their trips. The owner began keeping the major currencies on hand.

The company was subsequently acquired by Statens Järnvägar (now SJ AB), the Swedish State Railways, which expanded the operations until it was sold off to one of the managers, Rolf Friberg, in 1965. The company was the only one apart from the banks that was licensed to conduct currency exchange in Sweden.The company, which is still wholly owned by the Friberg family, has expanded into Denmark, Finland and Norway and has over 80 shops, often located at train stations or airports. The decrease in the business brought on by introduction of the euro has made the company look for alternative sources of revenue, like applying for a banking licence and attempting to move into more regular transaction services, earlier handled by Svensk Kassaservice, a subsidiary of the state owned Swedish postal company, Posten.

Since 2003 Forex is a licensed bank.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forex_Bank

Readmore »» “Forex Bank”  »»

Marketing Plan - A marketing plan is a written document that details the necessary actions to achieve one or more marketing objectives. It can be for a product or service, a brand, or a product line. Marketing plans cover between one and five years. A marketing plan may be part of an overall business plan. Solid marketing strategy is the foundation of a well-written marketing plan. While a marketing plan contains a list of actions, a marketing plan without a sound strategic foundation is of little use.The marketing planning process

Marketing process can be realized by the marketing mix in step 4. The last step in the process is the marketing controlling. In most organizations, "strategic planning" is an annual process, typically covering just the year ahead. Occasionally, a few organizations may look at a practical plan which stretches three or more years ahead.

To be most effective, the plan has to be formalized, usually in written form, as a formal "marketing plan." The essence of the process is that it moves from the general to the specific, from the vision to the mission to the goals to the corporate objectives of the organization, then down to the individual action plans for each part of the marketing program. It is also an interactive process, so that the draft output of each stage is checked to see what impact it has on the earlier stages, and is amended.

Marketing planning aims and objectives

Behind the corporate objectives, which in themselves offer the main context for the marketing plan, will lie the "corporate mission," which in turn provides the context for these corporate objectives. In a sales-oriented organization, the marketing planning function designs incentive pay plans to not only motivate and reward frontline staff fairly but also to align marketing activities with corporate mission.

This "corporate mission" can be thought of as a definition of what the organization is, of what it does: "Our business is …". This definition should not be too narrow, or it will constrict the development of the organization; a too rigorous concentration on the view that "We are in the business of making meat-scales," as IBM was during the early 1900s, might have limited its subsequent development into other areas. On the other hand, it should not be too wide or it will become meaningless; "We want to make a profit" is not too helpful in developing specific plans.

Abell suggested that the definition should cover three dimensions: "customer groups" to be served, "customer needs" to be served, and "technologies" to be used [1]. Thus, the definition of IBM's "corporate mission" in the 1940s might well have been: "We are in the business of handling accounting information [customer need] for the larger US organizations [customer group] by means of punched cards [technology]."

Perhaps the most important factor in successful marketing is the "corporate vision." Surprisingly, it is largely neglected by marketing textbooks, although not by the popular exponents of corporate strategy - indeed, it was perhaps the main theme of the book by Peters and Waterman, in the form of their "Superordinate Goals." "In Search of Excellence" said: "Nothing drives progress like the imagination. The idea precedes the deed." [2] If the organization in general, and its chief executive in particular, has a strong vision of where its future lies, then there is a good chance that the organization will achieve a strong position in its markets (and attain that future). This will be not least because its strategies will be consistent and will be supported by its staff at all levels. In this context, all of IBM's marketing activities were underpinned by its philosophy of "customer service," a vision originally promoted by the charismatic Watson dynasty. The emphasis at this stage is on obtaining a complete and accurate picture.

A "traditional" - albeit product-based - format for a "brand reference book" (or, indeed, a "marketing facts book") was suggested by Godley more than three decades ago:

1. Financial data—Facts for this section will come from management accounting, costing and finance sections.

2. Product data—From production, research and development.

3. Sales and distribution data - Sales, packaging, distribution sections.

4. Advertising, sales promotion, merchandising data - Information from these departments.

5. Market data and miscellany - From market research, who would in most cases act as a source for this information. His sources of data, however, assume the resources of a very large organization. In most organizations they would be obtained from a much smaller set of people (and not a few of them would be generated by the marketing manager alone).

It is apparent that a marketing audit can be a complex process, but the aim is simple: "it is only to identify those existing (external and internal) factors which will have a significant impact on the future plans of the company." It is clear that the basic material to be input to the marketing audit should be comprehensive.

Accordingly, the best approach is to accumulate this material continuously, as and when it becomes available; since this avoids the otherwise heavy workload involved in collecting it as part of the regular, typically annual, planning process itself - when time is usually at a premium.

Even so, the first task of this annual process should be to check that the material held in the current facts book or facts files actually is comprehensive and accurate, and can form a sound basis for the marketing audit itself.

The structure of the facts book will be designed to match the specific needs of the organization, but one simple format - suggested by Malcolm McDonald - may be applicable in many cases. This splits the material into three groups:

1. Review of the marketing environment. A study of the organization's markets, customers, competitors and the overall economic, political, cultural and technical environment; covering developing trends, as well as the current situation.

2. Review of the detailed marketing activity. A study of the company's marketing mix; in terms of the 7 Ps - (see below)

3. Review of the marketing system. A study of the marketing organization, marketing research systems and the current marketing objectives and strategies. The last of these is too frequently ignored. The marketing system itself needs to be regularly questioned, because the validity of the whole marketing plan is reliant upon the accuracy of the input from this system, and `garbage in, garbage out' applies with a vengeance.

*

o

+ Portfolio planning. In addition, the coordinated planning of the individual products and services can contribute towards the balanced portfolio.

+ 80:20 rule. To achieve the maximum impact, the marketing plan must be clear, concise and simple. It needs to concentrate on the 20 percent of products or services, and on the 20 percent of customers, that will account for 80 percent of the volume and 80 percent of the profit.

+ 7 Ps: Product, Place, Price and Promotion, Physical Environment, People, Process. The 7 Ps can sometimes divert attention from the customer, but the framework they offer can be very useful in building the action plans.

It is only at this stage (of deciding the marketing objectives) that the active part of the marketing planning process begins. This next stage in marketing planning is indeed the key to the whole marketing process.

The "marketing objectives" state just where the company intends to be at some specific time in the future.

James Quinn succinctly defined objectives in general as: Goals (or objectives) state what is to be achieved and when results are to be accomplished, but they do not state "how" the results are to be achieved.[3] They typically relate to what products (or services) will be where in what markets (and must be realistically based on customer behavior in those markets). They are essentially about the match between those "products" and "markets." Objectives for pricing, distribution, advertising and so on are at a lower level, and should not be confused with marketing objectives. They are part of the marketing strategy needed to achieve marketing objectives. To be most effective, objectives should be capable of measurement and therefore "quantifiable." This measurement may be in terms of sales volume, money value, market share, percentage penetration of distribution outlets and so on. An example of such a measurable marketing objective might be "to enter the market with product Y and capture 10 percent of the market by value within one year." As it is quantified it can, within limits, be unequivocally monitored, and corrective action taken as necessary.

The marketing objectives must usually be based, above all, on the organization's financial objectives; converting these financial measurements into the related marketing measurements.He went on to explain his view of the role of "policies," with which strategy is most often confused: "Policies are rules or guidelines that express the 'limits' within which action should occur."Simplifying somewhat, marketing strategies can be seen as the means, or "game plan," by which marketing objectives will be achieved and, in the framework that we have chosen to use, are generally concerned with the 8 P's. Examples are:

1. Price - The amount of money needed to buy products

2. Product - The actual product

3. Promotion (advertising)- Getting the product known

4. Placement - Where the product is located

5. People - Represent the business

6. Physical environment - The ambiance, mood, or tone of the environment

7. Process - How do people obtain your product

8. Packaging - How the product will be protected

(Note: At GCSE the 4 Ps are Place, Promotion, Product and Price and the "secret" 5th P is Packaging, but which applies only to physical products, not services usually, and mostly those sold to individual consumers)

In principle, these strategies describe how the objectives will be achieved. The 7 Ps are a useful framework for deciding how the company's resources will be manipulated (strategically) to achieve the objectives. However, they are not the only framework, and may divert attention from the real issues. The focus of the strategies must be the objectives to be achieved - not the process of planning itself. Only if it fits the needs of these objectives should you choose, as we have done, to use the framework of the 7 Ps.

The strategy statement can take the form of a purely verbal description of the strategic options which have been chosen. Alternatively, and perhaps more positively, it might include a structured list of the major options chosen.

One aspect of strategy which is often overlooked is that of "timing." Exactly when it is the best time for each element of the strategy to be implemented is often critical. Taking the right action at the wrong time can sometimes be almost as bad as taking the wrong action at the right time. Timing is, therefore, an essential part of any plan; and should normally appear as a schedule of planned activities.Having completed this crucial stage of the planning process, you will need to re-check the feasibility of your objectives and strategies in terms of the market share, sales, costs, profits and so on which these demand in practice. As in the rest of the marketing discipline, you will need to employ judgment, experience, market research or anything else which helps you to look at your conclusions from all possible angles.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_plan

Readmore »» “Marketing Plan”  »»

Mta, For the third time in as many millions of years of straphangers, the commuter rail riders and drivers of metropolitan New York will once again pay more for transportation starting December 30.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Jay Walder said the agency had no choice given its financial situation, which has already introduced closings of subway lines and any reduction in bus service. The biggest hike is about a third of all users of the subway and buses that use 30-day unlimited MetroCard. It will rise from $ 89 to $ 104. The base fare for personal travel on buses, subways and stays Access-A-Ride $ 2.25 for seniors and pay 1.10. Single tickets available in vending machines are and 2.50.

The seven days will MetroCard to $ 29. The express bus fares and 5.50 establishments with off-peak rates of $ 2.75. Most Long Island Rail Road fares will increase by 7.6 percent to 9.4 percent depending on the type of ticket and how far the passenger travels. Tolls on MTA bridges and tunnels will rise to $ 6.50 to most parts for cash customers and increase by 23 cents to 4.80 and at most parts for E-ZPass users. More detailed information can be obtained online at mta.info. Although the fate of ATM is precarious, the Long Island Bus riders face an uncertain future since their travel is concerned. The MTA at its meeting on 15 December approved a 2011 budget without money for Long Island Bus. The problem is that the MTA has been subsidizing the commuter bus line by tens of millions of years and is reluctant to continue the largesse.

MTA officials said Nassau and must be 26 million by the bus in the operation. Nassau recently voted to provide 9.1 million. “I think that Nassau County has an obligation to fund the bus service in Nassau County,” said Walder MTA meeting last week. In a recent communication with the Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, Walder said: “As you know, all counties in the MTA region are responsible for funding local bus operation. Although all other counties in the region meets its obligation, in recent years the MTA has been forced to provide up to 26 million a year to offset the shortage of Nassau County. In essence, it takes money from taxpayers throughout the region to subsidize the MTA bus service in one county. “The MTA is required to notify the Nassau County 60 days prior to any decision to discontinue service on the line, which carries 109,000 daily, including many from Queens.

But talks between the MTA and Nassau County are underway. Mitchell Pally, who represents Suffolk County MTA board, said he was optimistic some sort of agreement between officials of Nassau and the MTA could be reached. In any case, he said, the finances were such that the service could continue until spring. Nassau County has its own problems, with a deficit of 343 million in 2011.

http://usspost.com/mta-24687/

Readmore »» “MTA”  »»