May
6, 2003
Written
by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews
Caterpillar
Uses "Currency" (Frequent Flyer Miles) for 20 Daily Flights
Construction
and mining equipment manufacturer Caterpillar has found an effective
way to automate what for many travel managers is the worst possible
nightmareappropriating travelers' frequent flyer miles and using
them to buy air tickets for others.
To achieve this
success Caterpillar is using TravelWare, a third-party company based
in Salt Lake City that specializes in tracking and optimizing mileage
for corporate clients.
Caterpillar has
calculated that it is saving 10% on its air bill by obtaining tickets
with mileage rather than cash, with some parts of the business reaping
even higher rewards.
Under the TravelWare
deal, every flight booked with the company's agency is automatically
queued to TravelWare. They scan its database to see if anyone in the
traveler's business unit has enough mileage points to pay for the flight.
If so, TravelWare attempts to buy the ticket on barter...using that
mileage.
One in five of these
attempts is successful for a total of 20 flights per day. To further
optimize its resources, Caterpillar only uses mileage on more expensive
flights which tend to cost fewer points per real mile.
NASDAQ
Forms Strategic Barter Arrangment With Market Wire
The Nasdaq Stock
Market is forming a strategic partnership with Market Wire, a Los Angeles
press-release distributor, to be its recommended disseminator of corporate
news. The agreement contains a barter component in that Nasdaq is receiving
a warrant that can be exercised for a non-majority stake in Market Wire.
In exchange, Nasdaq
will also promote Market Wire on its Nasdaq.net
web site. The site is a portal for Nasdaq's new Corporate Services Network,
which is expected to make Nasdaq more competitive in servicing publicly
traded companies.
If
you haven't read the current issue of BarterNews,
get yourself a copy now! Orders are shipped the same day we receive
them. (Click on Order Form.)
Women's
World Banking Provides Money On Grassroots Economic Level
From time to time
we report on how one person's actions can make a difference. Nancy Barry,
the 53-year old founder of New York based Women's World Banking, is
such a person.
Barry, who graduated
from Harvard with an MBA, began working with the World Bank, and although
she rose quickly through the ranks, she tired of its bureaucratic nature.
Consequently, 14 years ago she left to head Women's World Banking, a
much smaller, more-personal version of the World Bank.
The organization
is a global network of microfinance organizations and banks that provide
low-income women from 40 countries with small loans. Women's World Banking
has now made loans to more than 10 million poor people.
The average loan
is $356, and 98% of the women who get loans repay them with interest
or a fee. To people in developed countries these small loans seem trifling,
to impoverished women of Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe
they provide hope of a better future for their children. And it enables
them to realize their potential and talents.
SPECIAL
Announcement: Be a part of the largest, most all-inclusive
special real estate report we've ever published...coming in the next
issue of BarterNews.
If your company
offers any type of real estate service (assisting sellers and buyers,
offering notary, property management, or counseling services) you should
be in this special issue. Plus, of course, all types of properties available
on trade-anywhere in the world! To get your company's ad in this unique
issue contact: bmeyer@barternews.com.
Do it now, so you don't miss this great issue!
The
following message was used to promote one's trade exchange. The exchange
owner sent this flyer/message out to every member....
Trade
Is The Competitive Edge-Spread the Word!
We have begun co-publishing
a monthly newsletter entitled The Competitive Edge that is a
generic overview of barter in today's competitive marketplace.
In addition to providing
the newsletter to you (our members) we have also begun a prospecting
campaign using the publication. Each month we mail The Competitive
Edge to businesses that would be an asset to our exchange, and follow
up with phone calls.
Many trade exchanges
have successfully used this newsletter, published by BarterNews
magazine, to educate potential clients about trade and therefore attract
new members. And we hope to have the same results here!
You can help us
spread the word by providing some counter space or other conspicuous
area to display The Competitive Edge to your clients. Waiting
rooms, bookshelves, reception areas...wherever your customers have a
chance to pick up a copy of the newsletter, they also will have a chance
to find out more about bartering in today's economy.
Each month's issues
offers new insights into the advantages of using trade and how it can
improve a company's cash position. Every business owner will find the
articles interesting and educational.
To learn
more about The Competitive Edge newsletter and how it can help
build your trade exchange, click
here.
Every
barter company in the world is listed here click
through to our global list of barter companies.
PLEASE NOTE: The
Global List and the U.S. List of Barter Companies has been updated.
Check out the new companies added, as well as changes made to the existing
listings.
Get
New Money-Making Ideas, and Valuable Contacts!
You
can obtain these ideas and contacts in every every available back-issue
of BarterNews.
Here
And There. . .
- Walt Disney Co.
isn't very popular with cable and satellite operators after once again
informing them of a 20% rate increase for the popular ESPN sports
network. However, a barter offer by ESPN executives to avoid the 20%
hit may help the situation a bit.
Under the offer,
a lower rate schedule of 11% to 16% could be obtained if distributors
(cable and satellite operators) agree to carry a range of its new
products, i.e. ESPN Deportesthe Spanish language channel,
and ESPN HDa high definition offering. ESPN also is looking
for better deals for ESPN2 and ESPN Classic.
-
China's economy
is growing faster, 9% in the first quarter, than it has since 1998.
The growth spurt comes as more foreign companies invest in China
to produce goods cheaply for export. It could extend for years,
as China's domestic consumer market is just beginning to develop.
-
U.S. financial-services
companies plan to transfer 500,000 jobs (8% of total industry employment)
to foreign countries during the next five years, according to a
new study by A. T. Kearney. The study estimates an annual cost savings
of $30 billion for the financial-services industry.
The substantial
savings is exemplified by the following: A call-center employee
in the U.S. earns $20,000, in India about $2,500; a Wall Street
researcher with a college business degree and a few years experience
in the U.S. earns as much as $250,000, compared to $20,000 in India.
India is the most attractive country, followed by China, the Philippines,
Canada, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Australia, Brazil, Ireland,
Hungary, and Russia.
-
The National
Federation of Independent Businesses estimates that 60% of the roughly
41 million Americans who lack medical insurance are members of families
who own or work for small businesses.
-
The National
Restaurant Association tracks the health of the $426 billion restaurant
industry, and reports things are picking up a bit, snapping out
of a five-month slump. Sales increased 2.7% for February, the most
recent reporting month.
-
Venture-capital
investing is now at a five-year low, according to the MoneyTree
Survey released by PricewaterhouseCoopers. For the first time in
five years, quarterly venture investment dropped below $4 billion.
-
Iraq owes foreign
creditors anywhere from $60 billion to $120 billion. Michael Kremer,
a 38-year-old economist from Harvard, is researching the debt associated
with tyrannical regimes. He contends that Iraq cannot begin to pay
off all the debtowed. And if they don't, it could send a strong
cautionary signal to creditors in the developed world about lending
to dictatorships.
It could also
give rise to a more formal way of handling such lending in the future,
i.e. the U.N. Security Council, or even a coalition of the willing,
to declare future borrowing by tyrants illegitimate. Kremer argues
that if creditors are told in advance that lending to certain regimes
is illegitimate, they will be less likely to finance dictators.
-
A barter agreement
of sorts, regarding the restructuring of Iraq debt, is already underway.
Russia, with a $12 billion debt stake, is looking to discuss the
rescheduling of Iraqi debt provided Russian companies are allowed
to participate in the economic reconstruction of Iraq.
-
You will have
to toil a few more days on the government's behalf in 2003, as 74
days of income will now be required to pay a family's federal taxes.
Only 61 days of work are needed for housing and household operations,
according to the executive director of the Tax Foundation which
calculates such information.
-
Sales of PCs
to businesses have remained flat at roughly 87 million units annually
since 2000. Sobering news for the personal computer companies, since
businesses buy roughly two-thirds of all PCs.
-
Have you
signed up to receive a summary via e-mail of the Tuesday
Report every week? If not, go to the top of this issue (right
hand corner) to sign up!
-
Last year hotel
loans in the U.S. were only $1.8 billion, after dropping off dramatically
in the economic downturn after the 9/11 attacks. However, hotel
lending in 2003 is on pace to hit $5.5 billion.
-
New legislation
is being proposed in Congress that will allow for a much faster
deduction on tenant improvements for commercial real estate (including
shopping centers, office buildings and motels).
Under current
law, an owner who spends $1,000 on improvements for a tenant with
a 10-year lease can deduct 1/39 of the expense when filling out
their taxes each year for 39 years. The proposed amendment says
the owner could deduct 1/10 annually for 10 years, thereby recouping
their investment much faster. The law is expected to encourage owners
to make more improvements more quickly.
-
Online auction
sales of fine art are now a part of the past, as Sothebys.com
is ceasing operations. Sotheby's was "the last man standing"
in the effort to bring sales of fine art to the Internet. What happened?
The enduring part of an art auction allure was lost on the web,
i.e. the experience of a traditional auction acquisition after many
viewings, flattering attention from specialists, and a spirited
bidding war with a noted visible rival was missing.
-
The U.S. post
office is negotiating with its biggest customers-major credit card
companies-offering them a special discount for first class mail.
(This is different than the standardized price breaks for zip-code
sorted mail.) The Newspaper Association of America, representing
about 2,000 U.S. papers, contends these publications could lose
advertising if using the mail gets cheaper.
-
The credit-card
market in the U.S. is $1.2 trillion by purchase volume, annually.
The debit-card business/purchases are $480 billion per year. But
debit-card purchases are where the growth is, increasing by about
24% a year, or three times faster than the 7% growth in credit-card
usage, according to the Nilson Report.
-
More corporations
are using auctions to sell surplus property. Gwent Group reports
that real-estate auctions accounted for $63 billion in total sales
in 2001, up 50% from the previous three years. Intel Corp. plans
to auction off a 428,000 square-foot manufacturing complex on 68
acres in Puerto Rico, minimum bid $10 million, a fraction of the
replacement cost of $30 million.
The reason is
timing. Auctions are an expeditious way to get property off the
books by year end...as they can be completed in 30 days, versus
18 to 24 months when utilizing a traditional real-estate marketing
effort.
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