Okay, I'm exaggerating but an overall gain of 6% when the broader indexes are up 14% for the year isn't exactly a shot in the arm.

For much of 2006, the health care sector, particularly the biopharmaceutical sector, found itself fighting myriad problems: anemic pipelines, widespread patent expirations; higher costs, and a slew of legal and regulatory threats that saw no shortage of industry lawyers in the courtrooms and in front of Congressional panels for much of the year. Not helping the industry was the election of a Democratic Congress, which triggered a four point drop in the American Stock Exchange Biotech Index in the days after the November election.

But that was then and this now.

With the stock market cratering last Tuesday, a recent series of iffy economic reports, and seemingly contrasting views on the direction of the U.S. economy between the current and former Federal Reserve Chairmen, health care looks like a strong defensive play in 2007. Analysts project that the S&P Healthcare index will post an earnings increase of 11% in 2007, compared with 5% profit growth for the S&P 500.

That, among other factors, could put a stake in a health care mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) in play – a good defensive stance when investors are taking a hands-off approach to more aggressive sectors.

Healthy Sector

There's more to the health care sector than just bad economic news and a spat between Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan. Sure, with U.S. economic growth faltering a bit, a defensive sector like health care should attract more attention. There is also plenty of good news coming out of the sector in 2007, most notably:

• Strong valuations
• Tighter cost controls
• A slate of impressive new drug development pipelines
• Solid balance sheets

A host of sector analysts see the same scenario I do.

Says Global Insight, the Boston-based analytical group: "Among the 10 sectors that comprise the U.S. stock market, the healthcare sector currently has the best attributes for an overweight position, from both the fundamental and risk perspectives. This is due to the robust prospects for strong growth in earnings and free cash flow that result from positive demographics, new technology, faster sales, and positive pricing power."

Much of the bullish attention on the sector is honing in on biotech, where the historically volatile industry seems to be calming down and shaping up in '07. "We see impressive pipelines and we've seen an increase in biotech's willingness to charge and receive premium pricing," says Eric Schmidt, a managing director at Cowen who is bullish on health care this year.

A good, safe fund like the Vanguard Health Care Fund fits well in this increasingly rosy scenario. Fund manager Ed Owens is a veteran, steady hand at the helm – he's been with the fund since 1984.

The guy knows the landscape. Take 2006 -- in  a year when health care stocks underperformed relative to other key S&P Indexes, Owens looked overseas to the fund's European and Japanese pharma holdings, such as Roche and Takeda Chemical, which helped pump up returns and help the fund outperform last year. (The fund returned 10.87% last year, well ahead of its benchmark S&P Healthcare index).

Adaptability is Owens' calling card – for example, the fund averages about 30% of its holdings from overseas companies – and it has paid off handsomely over the years for fund investors.

It all adds up to a major long-term buying opportunity in 2007. The key ingredients are all there – an economy expected to slow in 2007, a record-number of Baby Boomers hitting 60, and a market move away from aggressive stocks and into defensive ones.

Consequently, I see an unstoppable trend with health care stocks in 2007.

 

Any business owner worth his or her salt knows that time is as much a commodity as widgets or washing machines.

So when an opportunity arises to save some time -- and maybe some money -- a lot of small business owners will sit up and take notice.

The tax season may give them just such an opportunity.

According to the Conference Board, more people are electing to file their taxes online, apparently with speed and transparency trumping any security concerns on the part of filers. The Board interviewed 10,000
Internet users for its study.

The Conference Board reports that in 2007, about 39 percent of tax filers will file their 2006 federal taxes online. That's up from 28 percent in 2004. Make no mistake, filing one's taxes online is big and  getting bigger. About 65% of taxpayers elected to file their tax forms online for three or more consecutive years. Almost 50% of taxpayers have been filing online for more than five years, says the Conference Board.

"Speed, convenience and choice are compelling an increasing number of consumers to toss their pencils and papers and file their federal taxes electronically," says Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board  Consumer Research Center. "Whether using professional tax services or do-it-yourself software, electronic filing continues to grow year after year. And, by far, direct deposit is the preferred refund method. This  year's ability to split refunds among up to three accounts is yet another choice that should broaden the appeal of electronic filing."

Just because more Americans are filing their taxes online doesn't mean  that they're not getting professional help to do so. The study reports that among online filers consumers, about 40% plan to use a professional tax service. The Board also reports that the amount of online filers using IRS e-file has declined since 2004, "as the pool of  eligible filers has likely shrunk due to increased complexity in returns and as more alternatives become available."

What really interests me about the study is the fact that Americans are finally getting over their security fears in using the web for personal  financial issues. The study reports that Americans are less concerned abou  security when filing taxes online. Today only 43 percent of Internet users are "extremely" concerned about filing taxes online, down from 52 percent in 2004.

Getting money back faster seems to be a big issue, too. In 2006, 70 percent of online tax filers elected to snag their refund by direct deposit while 18 percent opted for the proverbial check-in-the-mail. What was the main reason for those opting not to file online? Reason number one is that most taxpayers do not do their own taxes (34 percent). Coming in second (23 percent) were concerns about personal information on the World Wide Web.

 

As a small business owner, I’m constantly amazed at the rising cost of health care.

Currently, the cost for health care coverage under my plan with Aetna is $770 per month. And believe me, it’s a fairly bare-bones plan.

So I’ve been thinking about those new health care savings accounts (HSA's). In my research I found a report this week from the Conference Board that says such plans are growing by leaps and bounds.

But they could even be more popular if the health care industry did a better job explaining how health care savings plans work – and offered a wider variety of them.

 “If people find the information they’re offered about HSA plans too confusing, the programs will fail,” says Jon Gabel, author of The Conference Board report and senior fellow at the National Opinion Research Center. “People are unlikely to switch to plans that they don’t understand.”

Also known as consumer-driven healthcare plan, health care savings accounts are a high-deductible health plan combined with a tax-advantaged spending account. HSA's, which were created by the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, are individually-owned and fully-portable spending accounts. Employer contributions to HSA's are optional.

The data I found mostly relates to employees who use such plans, although small business owners and self-employed people can use them, too. But the numbers look much better from a savings point of view.

The Board reports that in 2005, about 2.4 million U.S. workers, or 3.5 percent of employees with job-based insurance, were enrolled in a consumer-driven healthcare plan. An average had a deductible of approximately $1,900 and an employer contribution of $553 in HSA plans – annually.

Compare that to my $770 per month and now we’re getting somewhere.

In the five case studies included in the Conference Board report, three of the plans included experienced lower increases in medical claims expenses during the first year of operation (compared to traditional health care plans). What does drive the cost of HSA’s up is catastrophic illness. Some companies experienced increases in claims expenses related to such illnesses that were similar to or higher than those in traditional plans, the Board reports.

I’ll keep my eye on health care savings plans and report back accordingly. But what I’m seeing right now is that HSA’s represent a significant cost savings compared to traditional health plans, although that cost could rise if you or someone on your family has a serious illness or injury.

In that regard, I guess you could call HSA’s the “fingers crossed” plans. We’ll see if that’s really the case.


 

We've spent some time on this blog talking about generating financing for your business. But what do the decision-makers - - the banks, the credit lenders, the Small Business Administration, and other financial organizations -- look for when deciding whether or not to lend you their money?

Actually, it's not all that complicated. The information below will give you a heads up on what more traditional financial institutions will ask for when you apply for lines of credit or loans through the Small Business Administration (SBA.). The SBA, by the way, has an excellent checklist of documents needed for its loan process.

For both types of common loans (short-term and long-term), your business (or business-to-be) requires the following documentation before your loan request can be evaluated:

• A business profile. This is a written statement.  A document describing the type of business you own, and includes details, such as annual sales, number of employees, length of time in business and specifics of ownership.
• Loan request. This is a description of how you want the loan funds to be used. This statement should include purpose, amount and type of loan.
• Collateral. This gives the lender a description of the collateral you’re offering to secure the loan, including equity in the business, borrowed funds and available cash.
• Business financial statements. These are complete financial statements for the past three years as well as well as current interim financial statements.
• Personal financial statements. These are statements of all the owners, partners, officers and stockholders who owning 20 percent or more of the business.
  

Be sure that your financial statements are carefully prepared and up-to-date! The strength and accuracy of your financial statements will be the primary basis for the lending decision to go in your favor, so be sure that yours are carefully prepared and up-to-date. 

The most important documents in your financial statements are:

• Balance sheets from the last three fiscal year-ends.
• Income statements revealing your business profits or losses for the last three years.
• Cash flow projections indicating how much cash you expect to generate to repay the loan.
• Accounts receivable and “payable aging,” breaking your receivables and payables in to 30-, 60-, 90- and past 90-day old categories.
• Your personal financial statements from you along with statements from your business partners listing all personal assets, liabilities and monthly payments, as well as your personal tax returns for the past three years.
  

What to include a loan proposal…in a nutshell:

• Business name and address
• Names of principals and their social security numbers
• Purpose of the loan---be as specific as possible about what it will be used for? (salaries, equipment, etc.)
• Amount of money you need: EXACTLY
  

Business description:

What kinds of business?

History?

How many employees and current business assets do you have?

Management:

Offer a short description on each principal…including background and education, experience, skills and accomplishments.
Market:  Demonstrate knowledge over your product(s) and where it fits in the market(s). Competition and role in the overall marketplace
Sketch customer profile and how you business can fulfill customer needs.

How banks will review your loan proposal (in a nutshell)?

1. First and foremost, they want to see PROOF they will be repaid
2. That means they'll investigate your credit
3. Outside sources of funding (at least 25-50%) will strengthen your case
4. Sufficient experience to pursue business enterprise
5. Suitable cash flow for business to run
   

The key? Be prepared and have both your documents and financial story in order. If so, the road to solid financing is wide open.

 

Unless you're independently wealthy, you'll probably face the most common (though hardly unsolvable) problem when you start up your business. That is securing a reliable cash flow and obtaining financing sources. Big questions and daunting procedures, such as "how do I apply for a loan?" or "what is a credit line?" or "what if I'm a victim of discrimination?" could discourage and frustrate the most enthusiastic of new business owners. But, they don't have to hold you back.

If you do your homework and are prepared for the inevitable difficulties of this complicated process, you'll be well ahead of your competitors. That's a good thing - - after all, there is only so much money to go around.

Where should you start?

A good rule of thumb here is to discount nothing (and no-one) in the preliminary brainstorming stages. Financing can come from a vast number of people and institutions, including your family and friends. However, in all cases, you should strive to make the process wholly professional and for obvious reasons always respect the money (and time) of others.

Helpful hint: It's best to pursue parallel funding from several sources, including your own savings, family and friends, potential investors and bank loans. So it makes sense to hire an attorney to help you with payback terms, or you can draft your own terms of agreement to re-pay any loans.   One thing is certain: Disputes over money can make or break a relationship!  So you'll also want to look as professional (re: prepared!) as possible, and an attorney can help you there.

Here are some more specific suggestions about where to start looking for the money:

• Personal Savings: Use your own savings to finance many up front costs. Saving up over the years can give you a head start and if available, is obviously the best option when looking for funding sources.
• Family members and friends. Here's a group of your most staunch supporters and loyal allies. These familiar individuals are far more likely to loan you money without interest and/or at a far lower rate than a bank. (You'd be surprised how many companies started with help from personal friends or family.) However, there also the same people who might take you a little less seriously, maybe they even knew you when you were in grade school. That's all the more reason to present them with a re-payment plan that's satisfactory along with a neatly organized business plan. You don't want to lose their friendship and loyalty.   It's best to approach your family and friends with a list of funding options. Don't play with anyone's money, including loans from your mother or father.  
• Angel investors or Venture capital firms: Be forewarned. These investors are usually more inclined toward large experienced businesses, but that doesn't mean they won't sometimes take a calculated risk on a Really Good Idea and an impressive new business owner.
• Finance Companies: According to the Small Business Association, finance companies are consistent backers of new small-sized companies.  Benefits of using a finance company include their flexibility and longer-lease times. They can also provide you with funding more quickly. On the other hand, finance companies charge much higher rates.
• Banks and credit unions: This route requires you to write an effective loan proposal. It's helpful to remember exactly what banks are looking for, so you don't waste time and you know what to emphasize in your application for loans.
  

In the next small business blog, we'll go into more detail on what banks and lenders look for when deciding to fund a new business venture -- or not.

 

There's an old joke about a bar owner who bragged, "I opened this place 15 years ago with $78 in my pocket and boy, have we made progress! Today, I'm $298,000 in debt!

No doubt about it, debt can kill a small business, and seriously hurt your chances of reaching a finance company for a small business loan or other financing.

So here is an important thing to remember: Managing your debt load is just a piece of your overall debt puzzle. And recognizing red flags that indicate you are in trouble is another.

The bigger picture - how debt can impact your small business, the steps you can take to control debt, credit and borrowing issues, and who to go to for help if you need lending help - those are the underpinnings of the debt management structure.

It's also important to understand what debt management is not.

It's not, for example, another name for bankruptcy, although that's a common misnomer. Debt management doesn't mean you are in bankruptcy, or even on the way there. Bankruptcy is usually reserved for those who can't pay their debts and need legal protection. Debt management is reserved for those who can pay their debts, but need a little help in doing so.

Put it this way:

Bankruptcy is permanent and debt management is temporary.

Bankruptcy is for small business owners who don't even have enough cash on hand to pay for food and shelter. Debt management is for people who can't afford to pay all of their debt obligations.

Bankruptcy is for small businesses that have no money to pay creditors. Debt management is for people who have simply fallen behind on their payments to creditors.

Bankruptcy is for small business owners who can only afford to pay cents on the dollar on their debts. Debt management is for people who plan on paying 100% of their debts (with a potential break on interest, depending on the good graces of their creditors).

Bankruptcy is for small business owners who will soon lose some, most or all of their assets. Debt management is for people who don't lose assets.

Bankruptcy is for small business owners who may never get credit again. Debt management is for people who will get credit again.

In short, debt management is a viable alternative to bankruptcy for those entrepreneurs who can afford to meet their debt obligations. But note that, if a bleak debt situation goes largely ignored, the path from debt management to bankruptcy can be a short one.

 

Here are some common financial “red flags” to look for in your busy life:

Your bank account is consistently overdrawn – If you keep getting those thin envelopes in the mail from your bank telling you that your checking account is overdrawn, it’s time to regroup and find out why you’re not keeping up. Tip: Ask your bank for overdraw protection against your checking account. For a few bucks each month, most banks will be happy to comply.

You are only able to make the minimum monthly payments on your credit cards -- A biggie.  If you can’t maintain a clean credit card bill each month then you’re staring at big trouble down the road. At 15 percent or so interest, card companies clean up when you only pay the bare minimum of your monthly bill. At those rates, that new jacket you bought for $80 three months ago can cost you $350 in a few months if you don’t pay your credit card bill in full. Tip: If you have multiple credit cards, cut all of them up save one. And only use that for emergencies.

You and your partner – if you have one -- are arguing about money – Money is an emotional issue; a power struggle sometimes between couples who usually have different ideas how cash should be handled. If you and your spouse or partners are haggling over bills more than usual, it’s probably because your bills are higher than usual. Tip: Agree on a budget and a spending allowance, if necessary. Then stick to it.

Your savings account is busted – Money experts agree that a savings reserve of six-months worth of your annual salary is mandatory to ride out rough economic times, like the loss of a job or a serious illness. If you don’t have any money at all in your savings account, it’s time to re-examine your budget and see where your money is going every month. Tip: When you get paid pay yourself first – meaning take 10 percent of your check out and stashing it in a savings or money market account.

You are juggling your monthly bill payments – If you’re applying selective reasoning to your monthly bill payments (“Hmmm – we’ll pay the phone bill this month, but not the dog walker”) then you’re in over your head financially. Tip: Lose the dog walker and any other luxury item on your “to pay” list. In tough times stick to the staples: home, heat, groceries, and electricity. You might not think about it, but 20 years ago, nobody had an Internet bill or a cell phone bill. But you probably do now.

If the first step in getting out of financial trouble is knowing that you’re in financial trouble, then the next step is to take action to get out of that trouble.

First item on the menu is to budget your expenses. We’ll talk about that extensively in this blog. Create a spending plan that allows you to reduce your debts. Itemize your necessary expenses (such as housing and health care) and optional expenses (such as entertainment and vacation travel). Again, make sure you stick to the plan.

Then try and cut out any unnecessary spending such as dining out too much and haunting Circuit City, E-Bay or Home Depot. Don’t be above clipping coupons or purchasing generic products at the supermarket. If you feel you can’t resist using your credit card switch to a bank debit card where money is immediately draw from your checking account to pay for a purchase.

If you have revolving credit card debt try using money from your savings account (normally they’re low-paying interest accounts) and use the cash to pay off your high-interest rate credit card bill.

Above all else, formulate a financial plan for the short and long term that includes a monthly budget and a savings account deposit goal of six months of your annual salary. Build a plan that will allow you to meet your basic life needs and one that will allow you to sleep at night. If you do create and maintain such a plan, you’ll be sleeping like a baby before you know it – and not a red flag in sight.

I believe the reason for people to get into serious debt situations is a lack of a real-world financial education. How to budget. How to live on a limited income. How to avoid credit troubles. Those kinds of things.

One solution to the problem – an easy one in my book – is to tally up your income and your outflows and see where you are, debt-wise. Another is to recognize how much debt is too much debt.

There are some other big, hard-to-miss red flags that tell you you’ve accumulated too much debt. Here are a few signs that you just might have too much debt:

If you haven’t got more than $10 in your savings account, and haven’t made a deposit to savings in months, you just might have too much debt.

If you’re in the habit of post-dating checks, you just might have too much debt.

If you habitually pay bills late, you just might have too much debt.

If you had to sell valuables, like a car, an old baseball card collection, or a family heirloom piece of jewelry, you just might have too much debt.

If you habitually pay the minimum on your credit card statement, you just might have too much debt.

If you’ve ever taken a cash advance on a credit card to pay off another bill, you just might have too much debt.

If you’re forever borrowing money off of family and friends, you just might have too much debt.

If it’s early in the calendar years and you already have a cash “crisis” you just might have too much debt.

If you’re surprised by the amount of money you owe on your credit card, or the low amount of money you have in your bank account, you just might have too much debt.

If you live from paycheck to paycheck, you just might have too much debt.

To figure out if you have too much debt, use one of the many online loan repayment and income estimation calculators available on the Web. They’ll help you calculate how much debt you have, how much you can afford to pay, and help you develop a budget or action plan to get out of debt.

 

There is no law that says Americans HAVE to spend their returns -- but too many of us act like we do.

There is a better use for that money, as two tax specialists point out.

Margaret Van Brunt, assistant dean of the Rohrer College of Business at Rowan University, and Rick Marmon, associate professor of accounting and finance, both certified public accountants, estimate that 75 percent of taxpayers get a refund, which in 2005 averaged more than $2,000. “A cash windfall like this, of course, has Americans across the country struggling with tough decisions, like whether they should buy the plasma TV or book that last-minute cruise. As tempting as it may be, consumers would be far better off resisting the temptation,” Van Brunt says.

Van Brunt and Marmon have a better idea on what to do with your tax refund -- actually, they have five of them:

1) Avoid the refund-anticipation loan. Don’t borrow against your expected refund. Despite numerous warnings by consumer-watchdog groups and reams of bad press, refund-anticipation loans — which allow taxpayers to borrow against their expected refund — continue to be a popular waste of money. The appeal of these loans is that they deliver cash in a day or two, via a tax preparer, who's repaid when the real refund arrives. The problem with these loans is that they don't come cheap. Typically, borrowers pay about $30 to $165 (costs vary, in part, by the loan amount) for what typically turns out to be roughly a 10-day loan. The cost usually includes administrative fees as well as interest charges, which can be downright usurious. That's not the only problem. If, for some reason, the refund is held up or denied by the IRS, you still owe on the loan.

”We advise not to shrink refunds before they even arrive. For those with a real need for fast cash, a better option is simply to file electronically and have the refund deposited directly into a checking or savings account. Opting for this faster treatment has no cost and should deliver the refund in about 10 business days, rather than the four to six weeks it takes via snail mail,” says Marmon.

Some people take out a refund-anticipation loan as a means of paying for their tax preparation. The tax preparers encourage this by allowing the taxpayer to deduct the cost of preparation from their refund-anticipation loan. (In other words, the loan includes the cost of the tax preparation, which is then covered when the refund arrives.) But these days, just about anyone can file his or her tax returns for free online through the IRS Web site.

2) Save your refund. Everyone should have a bit of extra cushion in his or her budget in case of the unexpected, such a job loss, illness or injury. A tax refund can help build that cushion. An emergency fund should consist of three to six months' worth of living expenses held in a cash account like a money-market fund. Unfortunately, with interest rates so low, people earn next to nothing on their money. But just knowing it's there can be a source of comfort when times get tough.

3) Contribute to an IRA. If you invested a refund in a tax-deferred account earning 8 percent annually, you could double your money in less than 10 years. 

And an IRA — particularly a Roth IRA — is a great way to do it. With a Roth, there isn't any sort of upfront tax break (like there is with a tax-deductible IRA), but qualified withdrawals taken after age 59 1/2 are completely tax free. Van Brunt and Marmon recommend giving up the deduction and going for the Roth — which is all yours for the rest of your life. You don't have to share it with anybody. And remember: There's still time to make a 2006 contribution (the deadline is April 17), as well as one for 2007.

4) Pay off debt. These days, the average household with at least one credit card is carrying more than $9,200 in credit-card debt, according to CardWeb.com. Tackling high-interest credit-card debt is one of the smartest ways to use a tax refund, and doing so provides an immediate return on investment. (And most likely at rates that would be difficult to duplicate in today's stock market.)

5) Consider your children. If college costs continue to rise at their current pace, four years at a private college 18 years from now could cost more than $320,000. Needless to say, people with children need to start saving early. Using a refund to contribute to a 529 College Savings Plan or a Coverdell Education Savings Account is a great way to do it.

Both of these accounts offer tax-free withdrawals for qualified college costs. With a Coverdell Education Savings Account, annual contributions are limited to $2,000 (per beneficiary), and income limits do apply. The beauty of a Coverdell Education Savings Account, however, is that, like an IRA, you can invest funds any way you like.

Good ideas all -- and certainly better than buying that racing boat or that Aspen time share you've had your eye on.

 

When you opened your own business, little did you know that not only would you have a brick and mortar storefront, but a digital one, too.

With today's advanced web site design and management capabilities, retail-oriented applications like web site shopping carts, checkout counters and "storefront" pages, customers can buy your products online just as easily as they could by walking through your door.

If you don't have storefront capabilities on your web site, you're missing out. If you do, you have a big advantage over your competitors who don't.

Shopping Carts Explained

Most components of a business web site are defined by style; by look and feel. Not your shopping cart component - - that's defined by its functionality.

In the e-commerce world, functionality trumps glitzy graphics and bold palettes every time. Thus the best storefront web designs are glam-free and are built with service and simplicity in mind.

The idea behind web site shopping carts is straightforward: to acquire a customer's payment information, accurately, securely and with simplicity. The shopping cart component is usually built-in via the HTML code, installed right in on the server where your web site is hosted. Some shopping carts are designed to be installed and maintained on a "secure" server to handle sensitive customer data. E-shopping carts are typically designed using HTTP cookies or query strings and are stored on servers that can be accessed on a moment's notice (i.e. when the order is generated by the customer).

Shopping cart packages come in two primary varieties: download-and install software or software that is leased from a web hosting company that will maintain your shopping cart in return for a monthly or annual fee. Web hosting companies will not only design and manage your shopping cart software, they will update the site for security measures and add new wrinkles as new technologies become available (for example, your shopping cart site may be advanced with an audio component that walks technology-challenged customers through the checkout process). Prominent shopping cart site providers include Nexternal Solutions, 3dcart, Volusion, Monstercommerce and 1ShoppingCart.

King of the Jungle

Perhaps the most famous shopping cart page is from Amazon.com. There, developers have built the blueprint for the ultimate shopping cart page. It has easy-to-use click-through icons on every page, no matter where you are on the Amazon site. When you select a book or a DVD, for example, you simply click on the "Proceed to Checkout" (or the "Continue Shopping" icon if you want to keep going) and pay your bill by debit or credit card. Amazon's shopping cart has some amazing features that other business web sites raced to copy. It's designed to not only remember your contact information and credit card number, but also has an intuitive customer relationship management (CRM) component that knows the kinds of books and DVD's you like, offering suggestions for similar products
that you might want to buy.

The site also offers a "gifting" component, where you can buy a book and send it to a friend as a birthday gift, instead of having it sent to your home. Perhaps the best aspect of the Amazon shopping cart software is its low-key, flash-free design. The shopping cart doesn't bombard you with audio pitches or visual gimmicks. Instead, it resides almost in the background, readily available when you decide you need to check out and order and pay for your item.

What to Look For

When shopping for storefront software, functionality, security, and dependability are the primary considerations. Customers will move onto your competition if they feel their financial data is exposed, if they have trouble using the site, or the site doesn't work. Flexibility is key, too. You want to be able to add new features as your site (and your business) grows dynamically. You'll want an easy-to-use back end to process and manage orders and handle customer inquiries. Obviously, secure and accurate credit and debit card functions are critical, as are site sections for cross-promotion and marketing capabilities.

Here are some other key feature's you'll likely need.

No Limits – Look for shopping car software that let's your storefront grow with your business. Specifically, opt for a software package that doesn't limit how many products you can sell. A good shopping cart design should accommodate future products you'll be selling – in
addition to the ones you are selling now.

Add-ons – Brick and mortar stores offer customers beneficial add-ons like coupons and warranties to go with their products. Make sure your shopping cart software offers the same thing.

Front of the Store Displays – Imagine you're at Borders and you walk in the store to see a favorite author's book prominently displayed right by the entrance. Your web site should also have a "front door" display function to highlight and advertise top-selling products on the home page of your web site. Good web storefront software not only offers home page product placement and advertising, it should also include a box inside the ad so consumers can click and buy the product.

Track Sales and Manage Inventory – The best shopping cart site designs include an accounting feature that allows you to tracks sales and replace items sold in your inventory. Consequently, your web site should have the ability to note a sale, send a message to your
database, and automatically have the product replaced by a similar one so you won't run out of inventory.

Think Volume – Your best customers are the ones that buy in bulk. Accommodate them by including a volume pricing mechanism where the product's unit price can be changed (usually reduced) automatically for busy buyers.

SEO Marketing – Shopping cart software packages should have a feature that enables your product or service to climb up the major search engine lists. The ones that do that best have HTML file pages that generate keywords, Meta Tags, and search engine optimization (SEO) text placement.

Tell a Friend – Add a feature on your shopping cart page that enables users to "tell a friend" about one of your products or services.

Allow for Feedback – Amazon.com has a great feature that allows customers to rate the products a customer is considering buying through a feedback function. Encouraging customers to write reviews and place comments is good for business (it gives other customers confidence that your product is worth the investment, since other people use it and like it). Manage the review/feedback function so that negative reviews and "flame" emails don't poison your web site.

Gift Certificates – Your shopping cart software should allow customers to buy online gift certificates from your company. Your software should also offer customers a gift-wrapping option. It's a great marketing tool and customers will appreciate the convenience.

Should You Hire a Designer?

Shopping cart software design is a unique craft and most small business owners don't have the expertise and capability of designing such software on their own. In all honesty, unless you have deep knowledge of HTML code and web software, taking the do-it-yourself option isn't recommended, especially for something as critical as your web site's online payment system.

That's why hiring a web designer may be a good option. Your designer should be able to not only design your shopping cart software, but also design the software in such a way that it's pleasing to the eye, easy to use, and offers most or all of the feature detailed above. If you hire a designer, have them create a mock-up system first, so you can test drive your shopping cart before your customer does. The entire design process, along with your test run, shouldn't take more than a month, but make sure not to rush the process. You'll need some time to iron out wrinkles and test myriad features that accompany the shopping cart software.

Pricing for web site shopping cart software depends on how many features you want for your site. A basic shopping cart design can cost as low as $350 to $1,000. But a shopping cart program with full graphics, loads of bells and whistles, and good SEO features can cost up to $5,000.

Make sure that your web design firm not only builds your site but manages it as well (especially during the first key months of operation). You might have to pay more, but you'll have the peace of mind knowing your web site's storefront is in steady hands. In general, shop for a shopping cart designer like you would a new car. Check out as many designers as you can, kick some tires, and talk to as many people as possible. Ask a web designer for references and check them out. If a designer ignores or denies your request for references, that's a red flag.

Above all, keep your customer in mind first when shopping for a shopping cart web site component. Think convenience, security and functionality and you'll be way ahead.

 

A tough day on Wall Street, with stocks falling 400 points on increased credit concerns over the struggling mortgage lending market. And the news isn't getting any better.

Insurance giant AIG released a report today showing that borrowers in the category just above sub prime are showing increased residential mortgage delinquencies

AIG is a good position to know. The company is the world's largest insurance company and will have its hands full if lenders can't collect from borrowers. It's also one of the largest mortgage lenders in the world. The company says that more than 10% of its sub prime mortgages were 60 days overdue, while 4.6% in the category just above sub prime were late during the second quarter.

In addition, total delinquencies in AIG's $25.9 billion mortgage insurance portfolio clocked in at 2.5%.

Delinquency rates for first mortgages, which represent 90% of AIG's domestic mortgage business, also jumped to 3.89% in June, up from 3.56% in April, AIG says.

Although second-lien mortgages only made up 10% of AIG's mortgage insurance portfolio, it incurred $159 million in the losses during the second quarter.

These mortgages are susceptible to defaults and are especially sensitive to falling home values, the report adds.

With banks and lenders tightening credit, and with borrowers struggling to keep up with payments, the landscape for the rest of 2007 looks rough. The rest of us will just have to ride it out.
 

Anyone who's been following these blogs knows that I'm a stickler for saving money. You can't plan for the future if you're blowing your kid's college fund on hot tubs or vacations to Disney World (don't  laugh -- I actually know people who have done this).

Now comes word from yet another study that U.S. retirees are up the creek without a portfolio, let alone a paddle. According to a new study from Boston College's Center for Retirement Research, almost half of U.S. households will be unable to maintain their current  living standards—even if they work to age 65. There is no shortage of reasons for this predicament that retirees could find themselves in, but the study does say that declining Social Security replacement rates and employers’ shift from defined benefit plans to 401(k) plans have led to 32% of people aged 51 to 61 being at risk.

Things weren't this bad 15 years ago. The BC survey notes that, in 1992, just one-fifth of those households were at risk of coming up short in retirement.

Factors contributing to lower Social Security replacement rates include the increase in the average retirement age from 65 to 67. In 1992, the average retirement age for people between ages 51 and 61 was 65.2 years, but by 2004 it went up to 66.

The BC study adds that currently, 35% of early baby boomers born between 1946 to 1954 are at risk, as are 44% of late boomers born between 1955 and 1964. In addition, nearly half of Gen Xers face the possibility of a paltry retirement thanks to smaller Social Security benefits and increasing age longevity.

I take no issue with the study, save one thing: nowhere do the study researchers place the blame on overspending consumerism - - the bane of any long term saving plan, in my book. The plain fact is, we're not saving enough, and the decline in Social Security benefits and  employee retirement funding programs aren't helping matters.

 

Managing your own expectations is a big part of your investment planning process. We’ve all heard about “buy-and-hold” investing and why it doesn’t really matter what the market’s doing when you get in, as long as you stay in. And there’s a great deal of truth to that thinking.

Studies show that stocks can grow (on average) up to 10 to 12 percent annually, and bonds can grow up to six to eight percent for longer term Treasuries. Compound interest (your accumulated investment returns rolled over year after year), a long-term outlook, and a  disciplined investment strategy can yield big bucks over decades.

The trick for buy and holders is in staying in the markets so they don’t miss its sharp upticks—money that’s hard to make back. While market-timers, on the other hand—those Wall Street daredevils who weave in and out of the financial markets to try and capture the most  optimal moments—risk missing those market spikes.

Market timers also tend to experience higher transaction costs than their buy and hold counterparts. That’s because every time they buy or sell securities, they incur transaction costs. Even if they achieve above average returns, these costs could be counterproductive.

It becomes obvious, then, that trying to time the market can be risky. Between 1962 and1991, for example, a buy-and-hold strategy was best. Those investors buying common stocks in 1962 would have had returns of 10.3 percent. If those same investors, however, tried to time the market, they’d have missed just 12 of the best performing months. And their returns would have been only 5.4 percent.

There are also tax reporting complications associated with market-timing techniques. Going in and out of the market several times in one tax year (sometimes several times in a month) generates numerous taxable gain and loss transactions. All of which must be accounted for on the investor's income tax return.

So why try to jump in-and-out and time the market? It's high maintenance, complicated, tax-disadvantaged, and the performance of your portfolio suffers.

Hey, other than that, it works just great.

 

Step 1: Learn the (Source) Code: ABC’s of HTML

Ask a web designer about Da Vinci and his code and you’re apt to get a blank look in response. But ask a web designer about source codes and you’ll fill your notebook.

Why not? Knowing your source code can mean the difference between a polished, professional web site and one that that your audience might think a kindergarten student slapped together.

Seven Keys to Understanding HTML Code

HTML is the Universal Web Language

Knowing HTML gives you much more control over how your web site looks

How HTML works

Knowing HTML Files

Knowing HTML Tags

Knowing HTML Tools

Other key Web languages

What is HTML?

While there a several languages you can use to design a web site, far and away the most prominent, productive and popular code is HyperText Markup Language, or HTML. The building block of web site design, HTML code is the primary language on the World Wide Web – virtually all web sites are created using HTML. It’s the quintessential web language code, giving all you need to create and manage the text, images, sounds, and links that will make up your company web site. HTML’s uniformity and user-friendliness is its calling card. Its code is so easy to use that you can apply it to your web site on any kind of computer and any kind of operating system. Changing or adding colors, managing text size and inserting photos and images pictures on your Web site are at the top of the list of advantages gained from learn basic HTML.

A note: don’t confuse HTML with Uniform Resource Locator, or URL. While the former is the universal language used to create web site code, the latter is the standard address that leads you to a particular document or location on the World Wide Web. While you don’t need any advanced web design certification to use HTML, knowing how it works and how it’s composed gives you the foundation you need to build a stellar web site.

The HTML Process – At a Glance

HTML = Hyper Text Markup Language

An HTML file is a text file that is comprised of small markup tags

HTML markup instruct the Web browser how to display the page

Each HTML file should include either an htm or html file extension

HTML files can be generated using a simple text editor

How Does HTML Work?

In a word, HTML applies pre-set series of tags to manage and format text format text, establish hyperlinks to separate web sites, and create and place graphic images.

These tags exist in HTML files, which reside on a web server that are either managed by an Internet server provider (ISP) or by your own company. The Web server is plugged into the World Wide Web. When a web user calls up your web page by typing in your web site address (your URL), that opens the HTML file residing on the Web server.

Consequently, after a Web user asks for your HTML page, the Web server transmits a single, unbroken thread of ASCII text throughout the Internet where it is sent to the  Internet to the user’s computer. In turn, the web user’s browser transfers the thread of text into the web page the user sees on his or her computer.

HTML offers myriad technology tools to manage the web design process. 

Primary among those are:

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) -- Enables web users to create unique language presentation formats  for your web site.

JavaScript – A scripting language that enables you to build more interactive elements to your web site.

Dynamic HTML (DHTML) – Gives your audience, the web user, more control over how the web page is viewed the page dynamically

Another technology toolset that enables you to add more applications and functionality to your web sites are called “plug-ins”. Rich with graphics, voice, and video images, plug-ins can enliven text-laden web sites and give readers more incentive to bookmark your web site 
once they visit it.

Examples of plug-ins include:

Adobe's Acrobat

Macromedia's Shockware and Flash

Apple's QuickTime and QuickTime VR

Real Audio's streaming audio

Understanding HTML Tags

While HTML is often referred to as a computer “language” in actual truth HTML is more a series of “tags” that frame key elements like words, terms, paragraphs, and graphics. Each HTML document includes a  head and a body

The process for generating an HTML file is simple and  straightforward. In designing your web site, begin with a starting  HTML tag <html>, and finish with an ending HTML tag, </html>. The text that lies between your starting and ending HTML tags is your 
actual web content, i.e. what your readers see when they bring up your web page.

Remember that HTML tags aren’t case sensitive, so you don’t have to worry about turning your “CAPS” button  on or off when inserting HTML code. You will, however, have to leave a single space between your tag and your text.

Essentially, your web tags direct the browser and provides instructions on what it should do when creating your web site. Tags number well into the hundreds so there is no real point in learning the definition of each one. Most web design packages insert tags automatically, exactly where they belong, without your having to tell the software to do. Just know that tags are important  -- you need them to create and change text, insert graphics and images, or link to another web page. In short, web tags are the traffic cops of the World Wide Web.

Understanding HTML Tools

When working with HTML, you really don’t need any special software or programs – plenty of web designers use MS Word, for example, to create HTML content.

Basically, the only real technology tool is a basic text editor that can save your web file as an ASCII text – an acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. The most popular standard for encoding text documents on computers, ASCII documents are text  documents that are easily viewed and managed for content use both on basic computer word files and on Internet web pages.

Since HTML is platform independent, saving your HTML files in ASCII text format is the easiest and most effective method of doing just that.

Common text editor tools that work easily with ASCII files are Simpletext and Notepad. But even Microsoft Word or Word Perfect files can be easily saved as ASCII files and used to create web-based HTML files. In MS Word, for example, you are given the option when saving a file to save it as “Text” or “Text Only”. By saving your file in either format, you’re converting that file to ASCII text.

For More Information

If you have a yen to learn more about HTML code and web design, there is no shortage of web sites that cater to the topic.

Some of the best include:

EchoeEchoe.com

PageResource.com

WebSiteTips.com

 

OK, I was afraid of this . . .

It's one thing to see a handful of homeowners crying in their beer over their adjustable-rate mortgage payments going up.

If my Dad taught me one thing, it's buyer beware. So I only have so  much sympathy.

But it's quite another when that guy's friends and neighbors start  fretting about the housing market - - and start putting the breaks on  their spending habits. That's what's happening with the all-important Consumer Confidence  Index, which is falling for the first time in a while. According to the Conference Board, its consumer confidence index fell sharply in August (to 105.0 from 112.6 in July), as home values continued to decline, stock prices dropped, and employment growth slowed.

A handful of other measures of investor confidence also declined during August, including the ABC/Washington Post consumer confidence index and the University of Michigan ’s consumer expectations index —  a key leading economic and stock market indicator.

That's disturbing news for small businesses, which could soon feel the pinch of decreased consumer spending. It's not going to help the stock market, either. Historically, when consumer confidence wanes, stock market performance suffers, as well.

I wish I could say that the economic environment will get any better soon. The most recent S&P/Case-Shiller home price index shows  that U.S. home prices fell by a record amount in the second quarter, as banks tightened their lending standards and home sales fell.

So what we have now is a perfect storm brewing that threatens the U.S. economy. Lousy credit, a decline in consumer confidence, and a struggling stock market all combine to spell bad news for the U.S. economy. To me, consumer confidence is particularly worrisome. The Consumer Confidence Index accounts for 70% of all spending in the U.S. -- to see it in retreat is a real red flag.

One sure sign that the Conference Board numbers are for real is in the second-quarter numbers from Wal-Mart and Home Depot. Both are bellwethers of consumer spending trends and both are reported lousy second quarter sales and earnings, as consumers significantly reduced their discretionary spending. Wal-Mart’s same-store sales rose by the smallest amount (1.9 percent) since the company began tracking same-store sales in 1980, while Home Depot’s second-quarter same-store sales fell 5.2 percent.

The storm is brewing. Could be time to batten down the hatches.
 

In these blogs, I talk off and on about the importance of not having all of your investment eggs in one basket. Too many investors, unfortunately, put all of their money into last year’s highest performer and cross their fingers. That's a losing strategy, and if you don't believe me, ask an Enron investor.

What such investors really need is a tried and true technique for investing successfully—diversification. Doing so is one of the best ways to protect your investment portfolio from the pendulum swings of the economy and the markets. Simply defined, diversification has you divide your investments across different types of assets. Since a separate account portfolio may invest in different securities, a decline in the value of one security may be offset by the rise in the value of another.

While there have been hundreds of books written on the right way to diversify a portfolio, no one of them can possibly provide you with a perfect understanding of what it takes. What I can try to do here is educate you on the basics, including how diversification works and  why it’s important.

Some background first. Wall Street pundits say they divide the history of investing in the United States into two periods: before and after 1952. In that year, University of Chicago economic student Harry Markowitz published his doctoral thesis – a thesis that would make up the foundation for his breakthrough treatise on investing called Modern Portfolio Theory. Markowtiz’ paper caused such a stir and impacted so many investors that he won a Nobel Prize in economics in 1990.

What is modern portfolio theory? In Markowitz’ view, ground zero for investors is avoiding risk at all costs.  Markowitz defines risk as a "standard deviation" of expected returns.

Loosely translated, instead of considering risk on a single security level, Markowitz emphasizes measuring the risk of an entire portfolio. When considering a security for your portfolio, don't base your decision on the amount of risk that carries with it. Instead, consider how that security contributes to the overall risk of your portfolio.

Markowitz then considers how all the investments in a portfolio can be expected to move together in price under the same circumstances. This is called "correlation," and it measures how much you can expect different securities or asset classes to change in price relative to each other.

For instance, high fuel prices might be good for oil companies, but bad for airlines that need to buy the fuel. As a result, you might expect that the stocks of companies in these two industries would often move in opposite directions. These two industries have a negative (or low) correlation. You'll get better diversification in your portfolio if you own one airline and one oil company, rather than two oil companies.

When you put all this together, it's entirely possible to build a portfolio that has much higher average return than the level of risk it contains. So when you build a diversified portfolio and spread out your investments by asset class, you're really just managing risk and return.

Markowitz has a good point about risk, and its implicit partnership with diversification. After all, everybody’s heard the stories. How the guy at the gym or the lady at the hair salon made a fast killing on last year’s stock picks—or a friend tripled his “investment” one 
morning at the horse track. These are all well and good, but they’re stories about gambling, not investing—risky business that’s fine for entertainment if you can afford it, but not for financial planning. That’s because basing your financial decisions on guesswork not only 
prevents you from growing your money, but also increases your risk for losing it.

Which is one of the many reasons why I like diversification: it’s a technique that, combined with rebalancing, removes the guesswork and emotion from investing.

 

So you're a small business owner with a large appetite for life - but no time to live it?

Hey, I'm in the same category. But I recently ran into entrepreneurial expert Ty Freyvogel who warns all business owners that not only is your personal life suffering, your business may be at risk.

"No one can immerse himself in work nonstop, without a break, and  maintain a healthy sense of perspective," says Freyvogel, former entrepreneur, current angel investor, and founder of  makingsenseofyourbusiness.com. "Try it and you'll surely start to exhibit bad judgment in your business decisions. You'll start feeling the effects of constant stress. You may even eventually burn out, or worse, start experiencing health problems. At that point, your company will certainly feel the effects of your lack of balance. "Factor in the inevitable relationship problems you'll experience in your personal life, and you may end up unhappy and unfulfilled—at which point it won't matter if you have the most successful new company in the world," he adds.

The good news is, entrepreneurs can balance their "work" and "personal" calendars so that the pursuit of success doesn't overshadow other important aspects of life. It just takes a little strategy and forethought. And summer, when the natural tendency is to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather, is a great time to start.

Here's how:

Factor your family into your life. Hopefully, your family is  already one of the main reasons you work as hard as you do, but they still need your attention and affection and you need theirs in return. True, your business supports your livelihood, but without the things that really matter, your professional life will be empty and unfulfilling.

"The summer is the perfect time to make a new commitment to spending time with your family," says Freyvogel. "You don't necessarily have to work less. All you need to do is integrate your family into your world. Maybe you can coordinate this year's family vacation with one of your business trips, or while the kids are out of school, they could come to your business every now and then to interact and see how you run things. Let them see how much fun you are having. Even small children respond to a parent's genuine excitement about his or her work. As a bonus, you're teaching kids—by example—the importance of pursuing their passion in life."

Make a plan and stick to it. You know that business plan you've been following in order to build a profitable company? Well, now is a great time to create a plan for your personal life. Grab a calendar for the summer months and get to work! If you've got kids who will be playing on sports teams this summer, go ahead and decide now on the number of games you think you will be able to attend. Figure out which games on their schedules work the best with yours, then mark these dates on the calendar. Doing so ensures you'll give these family events the same weight you would a critical client meeting.

"Keep the calendar in front of you and when the dates are nearing, organize your schedule in a way that will allow you to meet the commitment you made to your child," says Freyvogel. "If you don't have kids, the calendar should still come into play. Mark some dates to take in a couple of sporting events and/or movies with friends or set aside at least one night each week that you can spend some one-on one time with your spouse. At the end of the summer, you'll be glad you did."

Don't overestimate how well your business is doing. If you have recently started a business and the money is flowing in faster than you ever imagined, spend with caution . . . whether the "currency" is time or money or both! Just because it seems like the money is there doesn't mean it will always be, so don't book an expensive or too lengthy vacation.

"I have seen it too many times," says Freyvogel. "A person reaches the million-dollar mark and suddenly becomes 'invincible.' This mistake can have a disastrous effect on a young business. You just can't run a fledgling company from a cruise ship. A start-up usually isn't mature enough to withstand the protracted absences of its founder, and cash flow may be too shaky to justify big, unnecessary purchases. So take the family on a weekend getaway to a local spot this summer or figure out some fun things to do in your hometown. You can enjoy time with them in a way that won't endanger your business."

If you do go on a vacation, make it a real one. What's the definition of a real vacation, you ask? A real vacation doesn't involve having a cell phone attached to your ear, a laptop that is constantly alerting you about new email, or a BlackBerry that can be carried every place you go so that you don't lose touch with the business for even a second. If you're going to do any of these things while you're on vacation, you might as well not even go, because you won't be able to really relax or give your family the attention they deserve.

"To avoid these activities, leave detailed instructions about what constitutes an emergency with whoever will be looking after the business while you are gone, and tell them to contact you only if such an emergency happens," says Freyvogel. "You'll be surprised at how much you will benefit from the time away. When you return from vacation, you'll be able to look at the business from a rejuvenated perspective."

Don't make every lunch a business lunch. Entrepreneurs tend to "do lunch," not have lunch. That's understandable. The mid-day meal is the perfect time to woo new clients, shore up relationships with existing ones, or just sit alone in a pub with a legal pad scribbling down new ideas. (And that's assuming you even take a lunch at all; many entrepreneurs wolf down a bag of chips at their desk.) But do this every day of the week and you'll start wondering if there is life outside the business sphere.

"Make at least one lunch a week this summer one that you spend with your family or friends," advises Freyvogel. "Take the kids to the park for a bag lunch or meet a friend at his or her favorite restaurant. Spending time with the kids, your spouse, or a friend will be a nice break from all of the mid-day business talk that fills your lunch break the rest of the week."

You don't have to have a family to take a little break this summer. If you've started a business but haven't yet started a family, you may think none of these rules apply to you. Well, you're wrong. Entrepreneurs are known for their inclination to work at breakneck speeds without ever coming up for air. The summer is a great time to take a break from the business even if it is just for one day to do something you enjoy, spend time with friends, or just sleep in.

"Even a little time away will help you gain a new perspective on where the business is in your plan and which goals you think it's time to tackle," adds Freyvogel. "Don't underestimate the power of a 'mental health day'!"

Finally, says Frevogel, don't assume it's okay to scrap your newfound sense of balance when the mercury begins to drop a few short months from now. These "summer suggestions" are actually meant to be followed all year long.

"Common sense is really the best barometer for balancing your life with your work, no matter what the season," says Freyvogel. "Always ask yourself with each decision you make, 'How will this affect my business?' and 'Can I personally live with this decision?' There is a healthy balance for you, and you can find it. In the end, wise business and life choices will make your profits higher, your blood pressure lower, your family closer, and everyone happier . . . and maybe even a bit more tan!"

 

I'm blogging on the road today on the way to New York and noticed a nice piece from my old buddies at Newsmax.com (full disclosure: I used to write Newsmax's daily financial commentary from 2003-2005) on the jobs picture and on prospects for the U.S. economy.

I follow a wide variety of different business news and opinion sites and I'd slot Newsmax into the more right-of-center, pro-Wall Street publishers and that's perfectly fine. But lately, I've noticed a more bearish tilt coming from Newsmax, with more and more editorials touting tough economic times ahead. Again, no problem there - - I've penned a few blogs on these pages talking about the same scenario.

In today's editorial, Newsmax notes that  the U.S. Department of Labor reported that non-farm payrolls rose by 132,000 in May and that the unemployment rate held steady for the second month in a row at 4.5 percent. The payrolls report was cheered by Wall Street “experts” as an indication that the U.S. economy is healthy and that the bull market in equities is firmly intact.

But the financial gurus at Newsmax see these numbers as skewed, and  see any concuding U.S. economic scenario as anything but "healthy".

Says Newsmax: "While we agree that the employment report was favorable and that the U.S. economy is still expanding, a closer look at the payrolls report suggests the best days might already be behind us. And, the fact that the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of  only 0.7 percent during the first quarter of 2007 is certainly nothing to shout home about."

The editors point to the fact that the lion's share of May’s employment gains came from the service sector where 135,000 jobs were created, and the federal government, which added 40,000 jobs. At the same time, 24,000 jobs were lost in the retail sector, while the important manufacturing sector suffered a loss of 18,000 jobs.

Peering deeper into the future, the folks at Newsmax say that job growth is actually in full retreat, and the U.S. economy in full retreat mode right behind. "Job creation has slowed considerably since March 2006. Even more important, the number of hours worked by  manufacturing production workers has been trending significantly lower over the past year. Not surprisingly, we rarely (if ever) hear the major financial media or Wall Street “experts” comment on these trends."

The editorial also notes that the help-wanted sections of major newspapers are in decline, as well (although I would argue that's because fewer people rely on newspapers for their information these days, a fact reflected in subscription losses from major U.S. newspapers across the board.) But, as Newsmax points out, on-line job board ads fell by 2% last month, as well.

I'm inclined to agree with Newsmax that the rosy scenario painted by the U.S. Department of Labor, based on the last jobs report, ain't so rosy. We've had six years of sustained growth and we could well be topping out. And if we were, the jobs picture would be the first  place to go to verify that.

But, as Newsmax proves, you have to do a little digging first to get the real story.

 

The Federal Trade Commission routinely warns consumers and businesses about online fraud. They're doing so again -- but this time the scam artists are using the FTC's good name in an email spyware gambit. According to a statement from the FTC this morning, consumers, including corporate and banking executives, appear to be targets of a bogus e-mail supposedly sent by the Federal Trade Commission but actually sent by third parties hoping to install spyware on computers. The bogus e-mail poses as an acknowledgment of a complaint filed by the recipient, and includes an attachment. Consumers who open the attachment to this e-mail unleash malicious spyware onto their computer. The agency warns consumers who get this e-mail that purports to be from the FTC:

- Don’t open the attachment.
- Delete the e-mail.
- Empty the deleted items folder.

According to the FTC, the hoax e-mail is personalized, and contains the name of the recipient and their business. The bogus message explains how the complaint will be used, who will have access to it and states, “Attached you will find a copy of your complaint. Please print a hard copy of the complaint for your records in the upcoming investigation.” Opening the attachment downloads the malicious spyware.

Emails touting spyware offers  is one of the most common forms of online fraud out there. What makes this particular campaign perilous is the fact that the perpetrators are using an official U.S. government agency, it's logo and letterhead, and email address. I  don't have any actual studies on this, but my get tells me that consumers respond more aggressively to directives bearing Uncle Sam's imprint.

So the watch word here is "caution". Don't go for the FTC gambit and don't open any email offering spyware offers with the FTC's name on it.

Consumers can learn more about protecting themselves from malicious spyware and bogus e-mails at OnGuardOnline.gov, a Web site created by the FTC in partnership with other federal agencies and the technology industry to help consumers stay safe online. The site features modules on spyware and phishing, at http://onguardonline.gov/spyware.html and http://onguardonline.gov/phishing.html

 

They say a happy employee is a productive employee.

But this summer, with gasoline prices inching up toward $4 per gallon, cash-strapped employees don't have much to smile about.

Here's some proof. According to Wayne Hochwarter, a professor of management at Florida State University's College of Business, Americans' work attitudes have been negatively impacted by the rising price of oil and gas.

In a FSU study of 1,000 workers across the U.S., 60% of employees say that the price of gas has significantly reduced the amount of money they have to spend on other things, while 45 percent reported the need to pay off debts more slowly or not at all. Additionally, 26 percent indicated that the cost of gas has necessitated going without basics such as heat or air conditioning, or even cutting back on food purchases, over the past few months.

What's more, Hochwarter reports that those most affected by gas prices tended to experience stress both on and off the job. Such stress include: negative views of work and the company, sluggishness, antagonistic behavior, feeling overwhelmed and sadness.

"Most of these effects can be attributed directly to distraction while at work," Hochwarter said. "Those I've talked to spent a significant amount of time worrying about their financial situation."

Hochwarter also asked whether employees felt alone in their sacrifices or if their company had to tighten its belt as well.

"Certainly, only a handful of employees noted that their company changed plans or had to go without because of the price of gas — even companies that rely heavily on fuel for their operations," he said.

That could spell trouble for small businesses. The FSU study reports that those employees most affected by gas prices who did not see the company sacrificing were less committed to getting things done while at work. Compared to those who felt that their company was doing without, those who felt alone in their sacrifice:

• Were 15 percent less committed to the company.
• Had job performance levels that were 12 percent lower.
• Were 20 percent less willing to stay late or work extra if needed.
• Were 25 percent less likely to give "maximum effort.

"The price of gas has contributed to the perceptions of many that they are simply never going to get ahead," Hochwarter said.

Not a good report for small businesses. From what Hochwarter found, when employees feel they can't get a fair shake in the consumer marketplace, their work tends to suffer. That could make your bottom line suffer, as well.