Home

Advertisement

November 23rd, 2008

Here are a few ways for you to pick up more office cleaning contracts for your business. You can use these methods over and over again so that you can build a system that generates more office cleaning contracts consistently. That should be your goal. Considering you won't get every contract you bid on, you must know that the more quotes you provide to potential customers, the more potential contracts you will pick up.

Cold Calls:

This is a fantastic way to get more office cleaning contracts. Although I'm sure you probably hate talking to people on the phone, this is a little different. You are not going to be trying to close the sale over the phone. You simply want the chance to meet with the client so that you can present them with your proposal. That is when you will close the sale. And because of this, most potential clients will meet with you because they know that they are not under any obligation to do anything with you.

Newspaper advertising:

Advertise your business in all the local newspapers. Most people who own businesses look in there frequently for services they require for there businesses. One line ads won't really do anything in terms of return on investment. I would recommend something with some images that can stand out and grab the customer. Don't forget to include all your contact information.

Internet Advertising:

You can also advertise your website all over the internet. Look up local classified ad websites for your local area, and advertise your business in there as well. The great thing about advertising on the internet is that you can also add a link back to your website which is great for your web presence. It will also help with link exchanges, employee recruitment, and more. Use these 3 ways and pick up more office cleaning contracts.

Office Max Uncovered

  • Nov. 23rd, 2008 at 1:47 PM
OfficeMax operates nearly 1,000 superstores throughout America including Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, in addition to several others in Mexico. Besides offering office products, business machines and related items, OfficeMax superstores also feature their CopyMax and FurnitureMax departments which are what the company refers to as convenient store-within-a-store sections of their operation. They also provide two national call centers for any questions you might have about the products they market and sell, in addition to 19 delivery centers throughout their various store locations.

OfficeMax markets its services and products to their customers by providing over 30,000 items via its award winning eCommerce site, OfficeMax.com and the direct-mail catalogs it sends out. Let’s take a look at some of the numerous products and services they have to offer.

Supplies

In the area of supplies, you can go online or directly to the store to view an abundance of business and school related items. Beginning with the basics of different kinds of pencils and paper, you can also explore the assortment of binders, presentation boards, folders, staplers and paper clips they have. There are also numerous types of pens, markers and other writing elements. Various kinds of correction tape, adhesive tape and self-stick notes and flags are a few more of the items you can purchase at OfficeMax.

Technology

OfficeMax offers a wide variety of Audio-Visual products and accessories including microphones and speakers, TVs and VCRs, laser pointers, multi-media, overhead and slide projectors and screens. They also have a wide range of calculators which include graphing, scientific and financial varieties in addition to the basic mathematical kinds.

Furniture

If you’re looking for anything from a bookcase, to mat that goes under your office chair to help it roll easier, you can find it at OfficeMax. They also sell different types of filing cabinets, desks and drafting tables. OfficeMax even carries a wide variety of home-based and commercial safes.

Print Services

OfficeMax provides print services in quite a few areas which include business cards, invitations, labels and custom-made calendars. You can order one of their ready-made designs or by uploading your files through their website, get a quote on what it will cost to have your own, personal designs and documents printed, and the timeframe you can expect it to be completed in. Some additional services are binding and finishing, digital color prints of your files or photos and also large format printing.

Office Recycling Scheme - Top Tips

  • Nov. 23rd, 2008 at 1:47 PM
Setting up an office recycling scheme is something that all businesses can do to help the environment, and in many cases save money. Regardless of how many people work in your office, there are always steps that can be taken to recycle some of your waste. This article provides five useful tips to follow when setting up any recycling scheme.

Implement in Stages
When setting up an office recycling scheme it is often a good idea to implement the recycling scheme in stages, rather than trying to recycle everything at once. In most offices the recyclable material that makes up the largest percentage of waste is likely to be paper. On average paper waste makes up around 40% of the waste from a standard office. It is therefore a good idea to start your recycling scheme by recycling paper. Once this has been in operation for a few weeks, other waste streams can then be introduced.

Keep it Simple
From experience laziness is often one of the main problems with any type of recycling scheme. In a busy office environment some people will simply use the nearest bin to dispose of their waste, rather than walk to the opposite side of the office to dispose of a few pieces of waste paper in a recycling bin. Making recycling an easy option by placing recycling bins in convenient places is therefore a good way of eliminating this excuse. Recycling bins should be placed next to printers, photocopiers and other areas which are likely to generate a lot of paper waste. Desk top recycling trays can also be used in larger offices to collect the paper waste for recycling. These can then be emptied into the larger recycling bins at the end of each day.

Awareness
In order for an office recycling scheme to be successful it is important to make sure that everyone is aware of the recycling scheme and what is expected of them. There are a number of different ways that this can be done, depending on the size of the office. Firstly the recycling scheme can be introduced during an office meeting, or through the use of a memo or email (preferably an email as this eliminates unnecessary waste). Posters in prominent places such as staff notice boards, near photocopiers, next to bins, etc. is also a good idea as this will provide a constant visual reminder of the recycling scheme.

Monitoring
It is important that the recycling scheme is monitored on a regular basis to ensure that it is working properly. Introducing the recycling scheme in stages will help the monitoring process. Depending on the size of the office it is often beneficial to make somebody, or even a group of people, responsible for the recycling scheme.

Feedback
Recycling can be a very rewarding process for the environment, the business and the people that contribute to the recycling scheme. It is therefore important to keep people up-to-date with the progress that is being made. This can be done by either sending a monthly email or placing a poster on the staff notice board detailing the amount of materials that have been recycled. Your waste management and recycling company may be able to help you with this by providing you with a monthly tonnage report.

Office Space For Lease

  • Nov. 23rd, 2008 at 1:48 PM
Leasing office space is a chief concern for many businesses. Besides the influence of the cost of office space lease, there are several other vital factors. Some important factors that play a role in office space selection is satisfaction of the employees, output, limitations for growth and, very importantly, the corporate look. To get a fair deal, it is important to have an expert who has knowledge of the current market trend and, of course, the person must have a good understanding of your needs. A veteran tenant representative can successfully get you a very suitable deal.

Tenants do not look for new office space very often but landlords are used to renting out their office spaces repeatedly. Therefore, the tenant has to be really smart and alert and should get a representative exclusively for this purpose. Even if it requires a nominal fee, it will save you from further expenses and keep you from having major complications. In the long run, you will realize that the money spent to hire a tenant representative for dealing with your office space lease issue, is well worth it!

To buy or to lease office space? –This is a question that every business has to consider carefully. The future is absolutely uncertain, especially owing to the ever-changing nature in the rate of the U.S office vacancy and stock markets. So it is essential that the business owner carefully studies the pros and cons of buying or leasing office space.

Now let us see, what are the pros of leasing office space.

First, leasing gives the tenant the option of making a choice of places and the image the area projects. The leasing option is indeed favorable, especially if you are in retail or the restaurant business. The reason is, these businesses depend upon location and image.

One important plus of leasing is that you won’t have to invest a lot of money in office space and therefore you can easily devote that money to running your business,

Also, you don’t have to bear the responsibilities of ownership. An owner of a property has too many responsibilities and carrying them out eats up a lot of time. Thus leasing office space allows you to be focused on your venture and run it smoothly.

Among the cons of the leasing process, the first thing that deserves a mention is the erratic cost factor. With leasing, your rent may increase annually, subjecting you to high costs by the end of your lease. Another downside of leasing is not having any equity. You will be funding someone else’s retirement with your lease payments.

However, office space leasing is a fairly flexible process. The cost of office space depends on the actual footage that is leased. Usually, the tenant has to pay a one-month security deposit in advance for the leased space and for services in a yearly contract. All services are prepaid. The usual price range of leasing single offices, two office suites, three office suites and four office suites are $90-$150, $200-$350, $280-$425, $400-$750 per month, respectively.

Offshore Employee Leasing

  • Nov. 23rd, 2008 at 1:48 PM
Offshore Outsourcing is now a widely known compelling business strategy several companies, from small to large scaled ones, had been turning onto to continually maintain their stable status in today’s overly competitive market. This approach has already been globally proven beneficial and reliable as well.

Having an outsourcing company to rely on gives you the following advantages:

•There would be no further need for you to worry about government taxes, manpower related fees, unemployment insurance costs, etc.
•You can now give your full concentration on the core of your business since the recruitment and staff management will then be entrusted to us.
•Keeps your mind away from the worrisome budget allotment and complicated tasks associated with traditional recruitment matters.
•Great customer experience that can be provided by our friendly team.
•Flexibility in time schedules since we are functioning 24 hours a day, ensuring adjustability unto your prescribed time frame.
•Additional revenues due to operating and overhead costs reduction.
•Our leased employees come fully equipped with proper working area and tools such as computers, internets, etc. along with its accessories. You will only be paying us a fraction of the cost in comparison to the actual charges of using local manpower resources in your area.

Prime Outsourcing is a professional offshore employee leasing and outsourcing company. We provide you with high quality and low priced outsourcing services. We take charge of the intensive recruitment and proper supervision of your remote employees. Therefore, allowing you to focus on your core business - your company's strategic growth and development.

Our company has the perfect Asian location- Manila, Philippines- the largest English speaking country in Asia. With this strategic location, you surely will be encountering no difficulties relating with our employees concerning your specified project requirements.

Our integrated team is composed of web specialists, developers, graphic designers, video editors, and other professionals- who are willing to provide you great services and will surely consummate the qualifications you had set. They are individuals that exhibit dependability, flexibility and dedication to excellence. All of them are college graduates with bachelor degree and most of them have several years of experience- a guarantee that you will have only the best.

Sending your human resources to us gives you all the cost, quality, and time advantages that Prime Outsourcing can provide. Furthermore, it moves you one step ahead of the competition.

You have your dreams and, together, we will reach them. Your goals are our goals too!

Give us a try and experience the prime quality service that we offer. You surely won’t regret it.

Offshore Employee Outsourcing

  • Nov. 23rd, 2008 at 1:48 PM
Need help in achieving your company’s full potential?

Offshore Employee Outsourcingwould be the best solution for you!

Outsourcing is one of the most powerful business tools to date. Several companies in various parts of the world are deploying this strategy to continually maintain their stability in the overly competitive market while still providing low-priced products and services to their customers.

If you’re not much familiar with the outsourcing industry, several questions must have been currently roaming on your head. And most probably, the first question that would pop-out into your mind is “What is outsourcing all about?”

Offshore outsourcing is a kind of strategy wherein services are procured from external suppliers overseas. It is a set-up in which non-core operations are delegated from an internal department within an establishment to an outside supplier with specialization on that kind of operation. It offers you great cost, quality and time advantages. This helps in substantially lowering overhead expenses and enables you to focus on your company’s core competencies such as strategy and growth.

Maybe you’re now wondering how this strategy would provide you with such advantages. We’ll give you a larger view of how outsourcing will work out well for you.

As an outsourcing company, we will be providing you with these benefits:
•Deferment from the following liabilities: non-productive administrative costs, human resources related fees, government taxes, levies, unemployment insurance costs, in-house training expenses, etc. Since we will appear as your employee on record, we will take care of all these for you!
•Our leased employees will be submitted to your company fully geared up- with their own office table, computer, internet access, and everything they could possibly need! Wow! Isn’t that a relief from the burden of budget allotment not only for your staff but also for your equipments?
•By outsourcing overseas, you can take advantage of the value of less than par foreign currencies. Imagine you will only be paying us a fraction of the cost in comparison to the actual charges of using local manpower resources in your area.
•Say goodbye to the worrisome budget allotment and time consuming tasks associated with traditional recruitment and staff maintenance matters! We will also handle those duties for you! We will take care of almost all of the routine maintenance and development tasks for you.
•Round the clock service availability! We operate 24 hours a day, 6 days a week, 4 weeks a month.

You can now focus on the mainstream of your business. This will further boost your ability to compete with other large-scaled businesses out there.

Prime Outsourcing is an IT outsourcing and offshore employee leasing company. We specialize in high quality, cost-effective, flexible services that ensure utmost client satisfaction. As a team, we are determined to provide you with the utmost services you deserve. It is our goal to assist you in becoming more efficient and competent.

Our office is located in Manila, Philippines- known as one of the largest English speaking country in Asia. Our employees speak fluent English and are familiar with Western business trends and practices.

Our company takes pride in having highly competent and dedicated professionals who are constantly updated in technological developments and regularly practices the latest in Information Technology. All of them are college graduates and most of them have several years of experience on their respective fields. We have the people who know how to get the work done!

During the course of our leasing program, we continually work on their skills enhancement. We regularly conduct in house trainings and constantly monitoring their progress.

We have the following professionals ready for you:
•graphic designer
•creative writer
•programmer
•web developer
•general staff
•and much more!

See how Prime Outsourcing can move you one step ahead of the competition!

Contact us today and we will do our best to earn your business!

Offshore Gaming Update July 2007

  • Nov. 23rd, 2008 at 1:48 PM
Offshore Banks - Offshore banks in numerous jurisdictions have agreed to close bank accounts belonging to firms operating online gaming businesses. Included in this decision were some of the larger offshore jurisdictions. This will make it harder for the offshore gaming sites to accept payments. If they can get a credit card processor they need a bank for the credit card processor to wire the funds into. Offshore gaming may soon become extinct but it is definitely on the endangered species list. Panama banks have not opened new accounts for offshore gaming sites for some time now. Most of the sites are licensed in jurisdictions like Costa Rica.

Neteller Forfeits $136,000,000 - Neteller in the interest of avoiding prosecution by the USA for violating their online gaming laws by facilitating payments from Americans for illegal gambling has agreed to the loss of the money. It seems they will be allowed to remain in business and will be monitored to ascertain that they are not doing business with any Americans. After 18 months of monitoring if they come up clean they will have all their charges dropped. They are facing criminal charges. Now which will be dropped if all goes well. I expect the monitoring involves the USA looking over some records and ID documents of account holders.

Offshore Gaming Outlook - Seems pretty bleak to me. The real problem for the gaming industry is the payment solution. If they can solve that they may flourish but I doubt they can solve this. All payment solutions lead to a bank account and now the banks are cutting them off.

Online Gambling in Panama - Not going to work. No bank account and expensive licenses.

Offshore Merchant Account Advantages

  • Nov. 23rd, 2008 at 1:49 PM
A business is not complete without a merchant account that allows it to accept credit card payments from customers. Almost all businesses have a normal merchant account, but many of them might be better off with an offshore merchant account.

An offshore merchant account works just like a normal merchant account. The only difference is the location of the bank that is offering the account. An offshore merchant account is offered by a bank in a different country than the business, while a normal merchant account is usually offered by a bank in the same country.

It might be difficult for new businesses to get accepted for a normal merchant account, while it might be relatively easy for an offshore merchant account. The normal requirements of having existed at least two years and making a security deposit of several thousand dollars are often forfeited when a business creates an offshore merchant account.

An offshore merchant account also provides some economical advantages to the business. The business can shop around to find the best deal in the whole world since it is no longer bound to select a bank in only one country. The offshore bank account might also help the business decrease its taxes because of the location of the bank it is working with.

The only real problem with an offshore merchant account is the higher processing fees, but this part of the deal is slowly changing due to increased competition. Still, the higher processing fees might be a small issue compared with the many advantages offered by offshore merchant accounts.

Offshore Newsletters, Books and Guides

  • Nov. 23rd, 2008 at 1:49 PM
Introduction - Our law firm has clients that come to us referencing some book they read about offshore banking or offshore corporations. We have read a lot of this material and though it was time to comment on it and the same for the offshore newsletters.

Offshore Guides and Books - The big problem is that the material written in these books is generally at least one year old, often longer than that. The laws have a habit of changing. Panama just changed the tourist visa laws for instance and now it will be out of date in numerous books. We have also read a lot of these books that have plain gross errors in addition to time related errors. The author is trying to sell books. Most of the guides cover 20 or 30 jurisdictions. It is a massive undertaking to get all the laws correct in each jurisdiction and most research other books and if the original author has an error then the errors carry through in all the books that used the erroneous one as a source text. Offshore Guides and Books are flawed by definition since they take so long to write, copyright, print, distribute and take to the marketplace in the form of inventory. Do not rely on the book. Remember the author of the book be he a lawyer or not is not going to represent you if trouble comes knocking on your door. You are still going to have to go out and find a lawyer to represent you. Be on guard with offshore books and guides.

Offshore Newsletters - We see these being offered all the time. Generally these are tied to the people holding offshore seminars on asset protection, retirement or real estate.

Often accountants, lawyers and other legitimate authorities author these newsletters. Problem is these authorities are not your lawyer or accountant and they will not represent you in the event of any problems following their advice. The other problem is these professionals are not in a straight up client relationship with you. They are working for the seminar company, not you. You are not their client. It is their job to see that you buy things from the company they work for. In the case of real estate the company is going to get a commission on anything you buy so it is not in their best interests to get you the best deal. The more you spend the more they make. The extra commissions they earn on your purchases can very well increase the cost you will pay for real estate. Generally speaking these so called experts have a conflict of interest between you the reader and the people they work for and their material is best taken with a large grain of salt. Remember the prices you see listed on their websites for real estate are going to be what we call "gringo Prices", inflated prices for the foreign purchaser.
This means picking a vendor form the wide ranging offshore outsourcing planning for India providers who has the resources, knowledge and ability to sustain client’s success, believing it to being their own; those with the strengths to adapt, respond, anticipate and capture markets in innovative ways. With even festive decorations and party planning being now currently offered under the broad umbrella of services that are being successfully outsourced, there is a lot to be said about offshore outsourcing services to India based firms that provide a cost-advantage, standard quality and timely delivery of varied business models. Yes, it’s no wonder that even families in Winchester that began with outsourcing holiday decoration needs to a professional firm to come in and design, install, maintain, remove and store lighting displays of a unique kind for Christmas are attributed with having started a new trend of specialized outsourcing that can be offshored for manufacturing of affordable themes and decorative items!.

Chief advantages of using offshore outsourcing services:
Cost-effective, time bound and value added propositions promised and delivered in a customized manner after assessing client’s business model are among the chief advantages offered by offshore outsourcing services, such as leading Indian vendors provide.
As corporate and personal lives get more hectic and cost-cuts make up for savings on tax and funds besides lowering administrative burden by utilizing the resources of an offshore partner with the right knowledge, resources and reliability for sustaining business continuity, it makes sense to outsource, feel business owners based abroad.
Offshore outsourcing not only frees up a lot of time but with vendors enhancing their current knowledge base and empowering workforce to add to existing technical expertise and well as imbibe best practices for client benefit, there is a greater demand for offshore outsourcing services from India that combine cost cuts with commitment to improved results.
Client goody bag offered by leaders in offshore outsourcing services:
At Eupath, the preferred choice for quality conscious vendor from India for sustained success in offshore outsourcing services, the commitment doesn’t end with signing the contract agreement; Eupath team follows through with helping add in as many optimized services to gain clients’ benefits that are quantifiable, customer-centric and achieved at cost-effective prices. Speak to the experts in offshore outsourcing services today to know customized plans that can be implemented through cutting-edge technology to place your business in the industry forefront; Eupath’s Hyderabad office number is: +91-40-66686061
Some other factors associated with the success of offshore outsourcing services India based firms are currently offering:
Offshore outsourcing services Indian consultancy and management firms are now offering foreign based clients include minimal risk involving high productivity and measurable profitability business delivery models that are planned in accordance with local culture to be a perfect fit.
The customer-centric approach to first evaluating the client company’s business objectives and then planning and implementing a customized business delivery model keeping in mind cultural diversity and communication aspects that need to be adapted afresh, are all contributing factors for successful delivery of the offshore outsourcing services India based firms offer.
Other advantages offered by offshore outsourcing services India based firms provide include improved standard quality infrastructure at reduced costs, quantifiable cost savings, lowered capital outlay and operation costs.
Added to this is the reliability of experienced and dedicated workforce committed to using cutting-edge technology in a 24/7 work model and proven results from satisfied client testimonials as recorded in a verifiable portfolio.
Apart from these immediate benefits of choosing an experienced offshore outsourcing services India provider, a foreign business owner can also rest assured that projects will start quicker and come with a timeline guaranteed to accelerate product time to market and win wider customer base while success partner studies and incorporates adaptable and applicable new trends in offshore outsourcing to the remaining length of the project.
Growth of offshore outsourcing services India: reasons and types of success stories.
Outsourcing when it first began in the early 1980’s dealt mostly with the non-core business functions of the IT industry that were related to setting up and maintaining customer service support groups, as aided by call centers and BPOs, managing back-end processes and technical help-desk responsibilities. Slowly, their sustained success, reduced cost of operations, better tactical and more professionally managed portfolio of services aiding confident, cohesive and strategic approach business continuity and growth helped BPO service providers in the IT domain offer the same quality to other industries, such as financial, medical, educational and legal companies. Thus, started the current wave of offshore outsourcing services India with more innovative management approaches, reliable and cost-effective delivery of seamless integration of business operations and better formal governance structures so customers and their business were always assured of the opportunity to excel through cost-efficiency, agility and growth – and so it has remained.
In today's competitive business environment, small- and medium-sized businesses are often edged out by their larger counterparts. Until now, large multinational corporations enjoyed the advantage of having affordable resources spread out across the globe. Their use of offshore software development meant that they could get the custom software they needed at a fraction of the cost of utilizing in house employees. Times have changed, though, and now businesses of every size can regain the competitive edge by outsourcing software development.

As many executives can attest, however, shepherding projects through to completion using virtual teams can have both advantages and disadvantages. Here is an overview of both:

Benefits of Virtual Software Development Teams

There are several direct benefits of virtual teams. Because they are global in nature, you can take advantage of high degrees of expertise while paying much less than the prevailing wage. Since all parties come together for a single purpose, utilizing an offshore software development company also leads to shorter project durations and balanced team resources. Further, because the team members work from various locations, the risks are more evenly distributed.

There are also terrific intangible benefits to using virtual software development teams. You can have access to highly trained specialists who not only use their expertise to further your project, but who can also share their knowledge with others in your company. Your project can also conform to best practices by implementing quality standards. In addition, you gain the benefit of increased flexibility by having the ability to add team members as the project becomes more complex or labor intensive. This can lead to extremely agile software development.

Drawbacks of Virtual Software Development Teams

Virtual teams have unique characteristics. Unlike long-time staff members who work in the same office, the collaboration on virtual teams is temporary and usually limited to specific projects. This can be a benefit, since the team shares a vision and works toward the same goal, but it can also be a project's downfall, since there may be no infrastructure in place to support quality control and intra-team communication. In addition, virtual team members often speak different languages and work in different time zones, which can make effective communication difficult. Cultural differences can translate into project delays when days of worship or national or regional holidays interfere with deadlines.

Overcoming Obstacles and Maximizing Benefits

While there are both advantages and disadvantages to outsourcing software development, the benefits ultimately outweigh the pitfalls. It's not easy, however, to develop the know-how and management style to successfully supervise virtual teams. In order to do so, it's helpful to look to an offshore software development company that specializes in distributed software development in virtual teams. Their consulting services and training courses can help you develop procedures to avoid problems and increase the effectiveness of your processes. They can also assist you in preparing your employees to become members of virtual teams as well as provide the technical infrastructure to ensure success.
Points to remember when considering a vendor for offshoring American jobs
As with the transfer of any job role and functions, the nature of offshoring (migrating services to a remote location and external services provider to avail a competitive advantage) is also fraught with a certain risk level that comes steadily on the heels of obvious values. A foreign based business owner thus, needs to be aware of potential risks associated with offshoring American jobs (e.g. experience of the vendor, proven level of expertise and reliability, ability to transform business model planning to high level management and optimization, disaster management and security technology of the best grade etc.) to avail best quality services from an overseas vendor.
Business owners keen on offshoring American jobs to developing nations are thus advised to research their chosen vendor and visit them at least once to check out infrastructure, technology and workforce capabilities, besides doing a thorough value and risk assessment.
Pick a vendor based on his knowledge of offshore outsourcing techniques and strategies and how well he can translate your business objectives into a definite, customized business delivery model, not simply the cost-cuts he offers.
If possible, a foreign business owner considering offshoring American jobs should participate in at least one lead group workshop conducted by the vendor to outline the professional talents of his team and work with him to ensure the service provider has the ability to analyze and develop given recommendations into concrete deliverables.
The chosen service provider should combine a number of desirable traits, including complete consultancy and management services support for offshoring American jobs across varied industries and levels, ensure smooth and strategic integration of internal resources with exact evaluation of offshoring process’s viability, guide client on the prioritization of offshorable activities and help select the perfect offshoring model for his business.
Oil is by far the most widely traded commodity in the world. It is also the most corrupt.

By way of example we need look no further than the events of the past two years. What with our TV screens filled with images of blazing oil pipes in Iraq, traffic jams in Shanghai and hurricane disasters in the US. A seemingly endless list of horrors endlessly regurgitated. All this with one goal in mind: to convince us all we face an oil crisis of biblical proportions.

OPEC warns they cannot keep up with demand. We see faceless "experts" wheeled in to pontificate on China´s insatiable oil demands. They “fret” over gasoline and heating oil shortages, the failure to discover new oil fields and agonize over how our oil reserves will sink to dangerously low levels within twenty years.

Now, of course, the market is all in a lather over Iran and whether they will hold oil off the market. Oh, sure, as if they don`t need our money as much as we need their oil.

Inevitably, crude oil prices rocketed from $25 per barrel to a recent high of $72. At the time of writing the price stands at $66 which, the media breathlessly warns, represents merely a pause for breath before its run continues to $150 and gasoline to $5.30 per gallon.

Now before you rush out to replace your SUV with a battery driven car with the power of a hair dryer, you should know the real facts, the real story. Talk about being spoon-fed a plateful of old baloney! Let me expose the three popular myths (=lies):

MYTH #1 - Demand Heavily Outstripping Supply
The monthly reports from the IEA (International Energy Agency), the bible for the trading pits, contradict this. Worldwide, inventories grew to near record levels, having climbed steadily since the invasion of Iraq. So, if demand exceeds supply how come we see inventories climbing? Consider the perversity of rising inventories AND rising oil prices.

MYTH #2 - China Voraciously Sucking-In Oil
Yeah, right. The same IEA reports show that in 2004 China increased its imports by a fairly modest 900,000 barrels per day. Compare this with daily world consumption of 20 million barrels. In 2005, China´s imports actually dropped! They not only consume less but they manage to sell the stuff to the US! But the market boys refuse to allow these facts get in the way of a good story!

MYTH #3 - No New Discoveries of Oil Reserves
The Department of Energy itself estimates that world reserves stand at some 7.6 trillion barrels. To put this into perspective, since 1971 the world consumed just 767 billion barrels! This estimate includes (quite apart from the huge tar sands deposits in Alberta and Venezuela) the recent finds off the coast of West Africa, the Gulf of Mexico, the South China Seas and the Falkland Islands. These taken alone equal half world consumption to date.

Oil crisis? The only crisis I can see, the world is drowning in the stuff! We have enough for the next 400 years! How many people do you know failed to get their tanks filled due to shortages?

So what lies behind these spiraling oil price? We need look no further than those profiting from it, the usual suspects, namely the oil producers, the oil companies and speculators, mostly in the guise of hedge funds. All big winners in the Wall Street crap game. All aided and abetted by the sold-out financial media. They conspired to coin an extra trillion or more dollars in profits at the expense of Joe Average. All effortlessly achieved under the glazed eyes of our elected politicians.

These same politicians stood by during the plunder by DOT.CON stocks, the collapse of the rigged stock market, the wipe-out of peoples` savings and pension funds and the billions of dollars stolen by the "captains of industry." Now they watch helplessly while this latest oil swindle unfolds.

So What Can You Do? If the politicians refuse to act then we must. Firstly, why not follow my example and send this article to your elected political representative? Demand an explanation. At the very least urge the banning of these avaricious hedge funds. They exist for no reason other than to manipulate markets, up or down, purely for personal gain, fleecing you in the process. Send copies to your friends. Urge them to do likewise. Get hopping mad! Stop the Wall Street hucksters from getting their $150 per barrel oil.

Secondly, do not trust Wall Street with your money; do not assume your job and your pension are safe. They are not. Have an escape plan. Get a second income. Check out this link http:www.techno-twerp.com for some real advice. In these uncertain economic times, be prepared for the unexpected.
As burgeoning economies push the demand for oil to historic highs, some analysts say the world's oil production is in the process of peaking. Believing that an oil crisis -and, thus, higher prices - is inevitable, some investors are seeing dollar signs in their future.

According to the International Energy Agency, 2004 world oil demand increased by a higher rate than any year since 1988. And if current trends continue, worldwide oil demand will exceed 120 million barrels per day, according to the Energy Information Administration.

As oil fields yield less oil to satisfy this demand, prices are predicted to keep climbing. Forward-looking investors who see an opportunity to profit from these high prices are entering drilling partnerships with oil and gas exploration companies in geographical areas known to have established oil fields. Such drills may result in commercially marketable oil being found, bringing an investor anything from modest monthly checks to great wealth.

Although it's a risky investment, a good drilling partnership program may only have to hit one successful well to create a substantial profit. In addition, drilling partnerships can offer outstanding tax advantages.

However, investors should be cautious and research the company thoroughly before investing, said Dr. Roger L. Cory, President of Mammoth Resource Partners, a company that explores for oil and gas in oil-rich areas of Kentucky.

Cory says the company sets itself apart from others in the industry in the way it does business - more communication with and accountability to its investors. Through its "Partner Communication System," for example, investors are kept up-to-date on drilling activities via an online drill log. They also are able to see the status, GPS coordinates and permit numbers for each drilling project as it progresses.

Investors also should consider the net revenue interest - the percentage of the profits that investors receive from the sale of the oil produced, Cory said. Mammoth offers competitive net revenue interest.

Another thing for a potential investor to address is whether the company takes steps to increase the likelihood of striking oil. Mammoth packages multiple wells into one project and uses computer technology to minimize the risk of "dry holes."

And unlike others, Cory says, Mammoth includes already-producing wells in its packages to provide income and offset risk while exploring for new strikes.
This morning Exxon, the largest energy company in the world reported record profits of $10.36 billion for the second three months of the year. This was up from $7.64 billion from the same period a year ago. You will notice that the earnings were just shy of the record $10.71 billion they reported in the fourth quarter of last year, 2005. All companies have cushions; the accountants call them reserves. There is always flexibility in the reporting of a company’s earnings. Exxon very easily could have used their flexibility to come in with earnings that were below last year’s fourth quarter record in order to avoid the embarrassment of posting another new record quarter. The company knows that the Congress is looking over Exxon’s shoulder because the American people are looking over the government’s shoulder. This is especially true with Congressional elections, and both houses of Congress up for grabs.

Every President of the United States has paid lip service to American energy independence. It’s like listening to the President’s State of the Union Address. The last seven Presidents within 1 minute of speaking at the State of the Union have always said, “I am please to report tonight that the State of the Union is strong,” with emphasis on the word strong. Each President has proclaimed the need for energy independence, and then has always backed down from doing anything about it.

The answer by the Democrats is to create a tax to confiscate or simply take away what they deem to be excess profits that Exxon, and its associates are making. The Republicans pine away about the need to open up the Southeast coast of Florida to offshore exploration, as though that’s going to bring in millions of barrels per day. The answer is that both parties are wrong. Exxon is simply tacking onto OPEC dictated price the Arab states wish to charge us. It’s more complex than that, but not by much.

Decades ago, the oil world was run by the seven largest oil companies on the planet, most of them American owned. For those of you old enough to remember back in 1973, the Arabs use an embargo against the United States, and all countries supporting Israel. The big oil companies in the United States controlled, and received 60% to as high as 65% of all the revenues generated by the Arab states.

The first cartel was formed back in 1960. From 1960 until 1973, OPEC which is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries had very little power (we mean leverage) over the oil companies. In 1973, that certainly changed. By then the United States was bringing in daily about 35% of energy needs from overseas. Inflation was rampart; commodities in general were rising out of sight, and then all hell broke loose.

The Egyptians and the Syrians attacked Israel on two fronts. The date was Octobers 6, 1973. With the secret support of then President Nixon every weapon short of nuclear was ordered to be flown to Israel to save the Jewish state. Israel was successful in repelling the invasion, but OPEC two weeks later put an embargo against oil shipments to the United States. The Arabs then raised prices for our European allies by 70 plus percent from $3 to more than $5 per barrel. We are now at $70 plus per barrel by comparison with no adjustment for inflation.

In the 1970’s, our economy was much more intertwined with oil, and energy than it is today. We have learned to become more efficient with our machines and processes. Back then, we were propelled into a recession by the dramatic increase in oil prices. Europe went deeper into recession than we did. The lessons haven’t been forgetten, but they haven’t been learned either.

There has been no attempt by the United States for over 30 years to even begin a program of true energy independence. The answer is not to penalize efficiently run Exxon for knowing how to be extremely profitable. Remember the first principle of politics, people vote with their feet.

The Seven Sisters (giant oil companies) who controlled oil prices and policies for generations ceded that power in 1973 to the Arab states. Oil unfortunately is in all the bad neighborhoods of the world, and that’s not going to change. We are at the mercy of Arab pricing for a commodity that is the oxygen of our economy. If Arab oil stops shipping tomorrow, every car and truck, train, and plane would grind to a half shortly thereafter. The United States would have to go to war to maintain our economy and the bad guys know this. They will only push us so far, and no further.

The Arabs want our economy and our Western Europe friends to continue to grow. They want China, and the Pacific Rim to continue to grow. Only through growth can the world afford to pay for Arab oil. They do not want to gouge us, or anger us. It’s not in their interest. They do want to extract the maximum amount we are willing, and able to pay for a barrel of their liquid gold.

One of the consequences of this action is the position that GM finds itself in, and perhaps Ford is in a worse position. GM and Ford are selling cars with obsolete technology, fuel inefficiencies, in a world of Japanese competitors chomping at the bit waiting to assume the title of the largest car company in the world.

Our legacy airline companies are now in the position of having a profit statement that is inversely connected to the price of fuel. Eighteen months ago you could fly a 747 from California to Europe for $30,000 in fuel costs. Today the fuel cost is more than $100,000, and getting more expensive.

If the United States wants to achieve energy independence, we must do what France has done. Our electrical generation like France should become nuclear based over the next 15 years. For those who shudder, and cry when they hear the world nuclear, let them know that for more than 50 years the US Navy has had hundreds of vessels run by nuclear power and there has never been a nuclear incident with one of them.

Our cars have to be modeled along European lines. The Europeans have been paying more than $5 per gallons for years and they have learned to deal with it. If GM and Ford can’t handle the problem, the Japanese car companies will handle it for them. After all, the Japanese have been eating Detroit’s lunch for years. Why should it change?

Profile

[info]kimrasheleigh
kimrasheleigh

Latest Month

November 2008
S M T W T F S
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30      
Powered by LiveJournal.com
Designed by Tiffany Chow