| Credit card companies in profits crisis
More credit card companies have been quietly raising a variety of charges to restore their profitability, according to Moneyfacts. Its latest survey shows that six card companies have made big changes to their charges in the past three weeks.Offers to transfer a card balance free of charge have almost all disappeared. Moneyfacts says banks are responding to last year’s ruling by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) that credit card default fees should be cut to just £12. "Battling with rising bad debts and a huge loss in revenue from the capping of default fees, credit card providers have been forced to look for other ways to maintain their income stream," said a spokesman for Moneyfacts."Changes range from interest rate increases, by as much as 10 per cent (on cash transactions), to shortening of interest-free deals," the spokesman added.
'Follow the money' to local searches
Written on a white board behind Reporters' Row in the Oakland Business Review cube farm is a mantra scrawled by my editor that is as true in business as it is in business reporting: "Follow the money." So, let's begin a journey from that white board, letting the "money" lead us wherever it may go. Along the way, we'll find some landmarks indicating that we're on at least one road taking us toward economic revival. As it happens, I am currently in the market for some of that "money," along with most people in my profession and the companies that own them. Newspapers need money. They're losing it. They're losing a lot of it. And they're shedding people like me. So, where is the money going? Well, newspapers depend largely on advertising to survive. Advertisers, in general, are decreasing their print ad budgets and pumping more money online because new search-engine marketing tools are allowing them to drill down more precisely to the potential customers who are looking to buy their goods or services.
General Electric to Buy Sanyo Credit for $1.1 Billion (Update6)
March 23 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co.'s commercial finance division agreed to buy Sanyo Electric Credit Co. for about 135 billion yen ($1.14 billion) to increase office- equipment leasing and lending to small companies in Japan. GE, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, will pay 3,250 yen ($27.58) a share, 62 percent more than the closing price in Tokyo, Sanyo Credit said in a statement today. The purchase should be completed in the second quarter, GE said. General Electric is shifting into more company lending in Japan after the government tightened consumer credit rules and limited the interest that can be charged. Japan's economy grew at the fastest pace in three years in the fourth quarter as surging exports prompted spending on factories and machinery.
Mexico embraces its own movies
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's small, struggling film industry previously managed to produce one big local hit a year -- if it was lucky. This year, it already has clocked three. Local pics produced by market-savvy indie Lemon Films and the first crop of local films made by the major Hollywood studios are forging local records at the box office. So far this year, Mexican B.O. is up 20% year on year, driven in part by the performance of the three local pics. On the top of the heap is horror pic "Km 31," still in theaters and on track to earn more than $11 million. Pic will wind up as one of the top all-time horror films, from any country, in Mexico, and probably finish as the No. 3 all-time local B.O. earner behind last year's toon "Una pelicula de huevos" and "El Crimen del Padre Amaro." It may even best "Huevos." "Km 31" is the sophomore effort from producers Billy and Fernando Rovsar, following the Tarantino-esque "Matando Cabos," the No.
What are the advantages of going public?
Last year was a less than stellar year for the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) where public offers of equity were concerned. This was likely as a result of a depressed stock market which provided low valuation multiples for those companies which braved the market. The only issuers were Supreme Ventures Limited and NCB Capital Markets Limited, which conducted an Ordinary Share, Initial Public Offering (IPO) and Preference Share IPO respectively. Both Offers were arranged by NCB Capital Markets Limited. Perhaps as a result of analysts' views that the stock market has bottomed out and that it is likely poised for a rise, there seems to be a vigorously renewed interest in IPOs and other equity issues. The media and companies alike seem once again to be focusing on issues which brought companies to the market in 2004/2005 and had so many companies contemplating IPOs for 2006.
The founder of Vote for the Worst talks about Sanjaya and ...
When this season of “American Idol" is over, whether or not Sanjaya Malakar wins, the wildly coiffed contestant should thank Dave Della Terza, the suburban Chicago resident whose Web site, VoteForTheWorst.com, may be helping Sanjaya hang on to his “Idol" perch. Against all odds and despite repeated condemnations from the show's judges, the controversial Sanjaya has stayed in the singing competition and has even avoided the being among the lowest vote-getters in recent weeks. Perhaps not so coincidentally, on March 20, Della Terza, a 24-year-old who teaches television courses at College of DuPage, made his first appearance on Stern's Sirius satellite radio show. Due to those appearances and a torrent of coverage from all over the world, the site's stats have gone through the roof in recent weeks, thanks interest in Sanjaya and the site's support of the 17-year-old singer.
New Global Abundance Program Provides Busy Families With An ...
CHICAGO, IL (FV Newswire) - With the cost of just about everything rising, from gas to rent to milk, families are squeezed more than ever to earn more money. "Many are working two and three jobs just to keep a roof over their heads. And any thoughts of improving their lifestyle is looking more and more hopeless," said Chad Hershey, an online entrepreneur who feels he's discovered a home-based business that could change all of that.
Hershey and thousands of similar entrepreneurs are embracing GAP (Global Abundance Program), an automated marketing system designed especially for small and home-based businesses.
"Forget spending your last penny on advertising. The GAP system can do all of that for you. You don't even have to sell anything to make money with GAP," Hershey said.
Ethics questions follow P'ville BOE dealings
State taxpayers send $65 million a year in school aid to Pleasantville to offset the city's poverty and to improve low student test scores. The financially mismanaged system has burned through 10 superintendents in 10 years. A state monitor has been appointed to oversee the district. But district insurance contracts that benefit school board members, family and friends as well as school employees are the subject that commands much of the board leadership's attention. Insurance contracts are at the heart of what appears to be multiple violations of state ethics laws. A Press of Atlantic City investigation of board insurance contracts reveals a too-cozy relationship between board leaders aligned with corrupt politician Craig Callaway's organization and certain contractors. Former Atlantic City Council President Callaway went to prison last month for a bribery conviction, but family members and supporters remain in positions of power in Pleasantville and Atlantic City.
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