John Labunski Long Term Investing Advices

US Small Businesses ‘Nervous’ about the Economy
According to the National Small Business Association’s 2008 Survey of Small and Mid-Sized Business, most small and medium-sized companies in the US believe that the economy looks bleaker than five years ago.

The survey of businesses indicated that 71 per cent of respondents thought that the economy was worse than it was five years ago. This figure was up by a massive 43 per cent from 2007. Half of the small businesses that participated in the survey also admitted that they had encountered some difficulty in securing credit during the last year due to the impact of the global credit crunch. In addition to this, nearly half of the respondents stated that they expected a recession to occur in the next year.

The number of survey respondents who said that they would seek bank loans for financing fell to just 28 per cent this year, which is the lowest figure since the annual survey began fifteen years ago. This notable decline in people seeking loans shows a real lack of confidence in the US banking industry.

Small businesses are important to the US; they are often described as the backbone of the country’s economy. Prior to the publication of their survey results, the National Small Business Association (NSBA) had already voiced concerns to their members that the current US housing crisis could lead to a recession.

Todd McCracken, president of the NSBA, concluded the results of his association’s survey in a statement. He said: “Our survey shows plain and clear how the economic slowdown is affecting small business. This year, a whopping 71 per cent (of respondents) have a negative outlook on the economy - clearly small business is feeling the pinch.”

These fears over the impact of the economy on US small businesses will undoubtedly spread to the UK soon. This means that if you’re a small business and you’re worrying about the impact of the global credit crunch, you should prepare yourself now. You can do this by ensuring that your small business has an effective website, which is a cost-effective way to help you to generate sales leads online. You could also boost the activity of your small business website by investing in some online advertising such as a Google Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign.

Source:

Reuters

Author/Posted by: Jason Tissuix

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Author: Shaun Parker

At 39 years of age I came into an unexpected inheritance. Not having experienced disposable income before I wanted to invest it wisely. I want to be able to enjoy this myself without jeopardising any inheritance that I could pass on to my own children. However, as soon as the news of my good fortune was out, advice came flooding in.

Put it in the bank, buy stocks and shares, set up a business as well as the sillier ones of putting it under the mattress! I took some time out to think about it and also to think about what i wanted to do with it.

I wanted an investment that I could see dividends from now rather than waiting for retirement. I decided, along with 50% of the UK’s homeowners, to invest in property instead of pensions. Property investment seemed like a good idea but with the security of banks looking rather precarious, mortgage rates rising again and the property market being unstable, I was unsure where to turn. Some research was in order.

I considered overseas investment properties. Rental rates were good. I could rent out a beach front apartment in the Caribbean and treat myself to regular diving holidays with the added benefit of income from renting out for the rest of the year. Or a property near the Black Sea. A beautiful up and coming holiday destination but people are still nervous because of the regions history.

I could keep back some of my inheritance and invest in a condo hotel in the US. This involved buying a room or a suite within a hotel and paying the hotel management to rent it out for me when I wasn’t using it.

If I wanted to stay nearer home I could buy land in the UK but with planning permission and councils being notoriously difficult was there the possiblity that I may just end up with a stretch of the next motorway running through my land, or worse still, losing it to compulsory purchase?

Not so keen on these last two ideas. I wanted to see, in bricks and mortar, what I was getting.

Being a rather distrusting person, I decided not to invest in an overseas property although I was reassured it was safe. Various locations in the UK come and go when it comes to investment trends. Except one. London - the financial capital of the world. It made sense.

City highfliers are in line for Christmas bonuses this year set to top 9 pounds billion. Thats a 15% increase on last year. Salaries of city workers are now, on average, 90,000 pounds with the rest of the country on 25,000. pounds Plenty of disposable income there!

Apparently, flats overlooking the Thames are now going for half a million and property values have risen at a rate of 20% this year in comparison with 8% for the rest of the country.

Author: Bart Samuri

How to make online investments safe for you.

Many companies currently have sites on the internet where you can get information about buying stocks from them. Usually these sites are genuine, but you always should make sure before doing any business transactions over the internet as there may be thieves trying to get your money. Every time you put your credit card or pin number on the internet you are putting yourself at risk for identity thieves, hackers and money thieves. You might want to check out the company from real people from banks or who have experience with that company in order to make sure it is genuine. Another option is to pay in person with cash while still owning online stock so that you don’t have to put any personal information on the net.

Another thing you should watch for is not to purchase too many stocks in industries such as tobacco, alcohol, sex or gambling. To an inspector this will look bad because these types of stocks are known as sinful stocks and are considered unethical. While most investors do not fill there purchasing list with all of these industries, it is usually hard to resist buying a few because of how much money the generate for the buyer. However, if you keep your list of sinful stocks to a minimum, you will generally be overlooked and left alone.

In order to be successful in the stocks you have to have a good idea about what you are purchasing. With luck and good information you could gain financially very quickly. To avoid loosing money however, you will want to get very good information before purchasing any stocks.