Feature
Article
A New Tax
Deduction for Domestic Production
A new tax deduction becomes available this year for a
wide range of U.S. companies that produce goods or deliver services
within this country's borders. It's called the domestic production
deduction (DPD), and it appears in Section 199 of the American Jobs
Creation Act of 2004. The change is rooted in global trade
agreements. Since 2000, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has
declared that certain U.S. tax incentives amounted to unfair
subsidies for exports. These incentives, including the foreign sales
corporation and extraterritorial income deductions, were designed to
reward companies for creating jobs in export
industries.
Deductions are being
phased
out
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DeKaser's Financial Market
Outlook
Breathe
Deeply
Last month's
issue addressed the popular belief that Americans are struggling
under a mountain of debt. After reviewing some metrics and research,
I suggested it was time for a deep breath. The burden is not now,
nor is it likely to soon become, as onerous as is generally thought.
But other risks to consumer spending certainly exists, and the low
personal savings rate is among them.
Savings rates should not be
problematic
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DeKaser's Seven State Tour
State Economic
Outlook
Don't Miss
Richard DeKaser's Seven State Tour! Join Chief Economist Richard
DeKaser with Economist Ryan Reed to find out the economic status of
your state. This free, seven-state webcast tour of the midwest
region will give you the critical news you should know for '06. Here
are just some of the upcoming dates:
Missouri, Tuesday, April 4
Pennsylvania, Thursday, April
6
Kentucky, Tuesday, April 11
What's the
economic pulse of your
state?
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Finance and Treasury
Getting a Grip On
Prosperity
Arguing
that America is ill served by its economic statistics has become
fashionable. Stodgy old national-income accounts are said to do a
poor job of measuring the modern "knowledge" economy. They are
especially bad at picking up firms' "intangible" investments, such
as building brands or training staff. Measure this spending
properly, the argument runs, and America's true economic health
would be revealed. Investment and output growth would be higher; the
pesky external deficit would be lower. As Business Week put it
recently, the "unmasked" American economy is "a lot stronger than
you think".
You can't teach Intangibles
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Business Planning and
Strategies
The Retirement Age
It's no secret that the 76 million
Americans born between 1946 and 1964 -- the baby boomers -- have
been driving cultural trends since their infancy, from rock 'n' roll
to Rogaine to real estate. But the next boomer trend will likely
have the biggest impact on Corporate America yet:
retirement.
Baby boomers leaving the
workforce
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Legislative
& Regulatory
Why
Not Let Companies Ignore a Law?
When Christopher Cox, a California congressman,
was named to head a bitterly divided Securities and Exchange
Commission nine months ago, many doubted that he would be a tough
regulator. His major initiative, to
force better disclosure of executive pay, has been widely supported.
Although, he seems to have calmed the internal battles, Mr. Cox
faces three decisions that are likely to determine his reputation as
a chairman.
The decisions are piling up
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Human Resource and Benefits
Class Action Employment
Litigation
In many class
action cases, plaintiffs seek to certify a class encompassing
thousands of employees across multiple facilities and job titles.
Fortunately for employers, before such a broad class can be
certified, Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires
plaintiffs to establish, among other things, that there are common
questions of law or fact among the proposed class members (the
"commonality test").
How to Avoid Rule 23
'Commonality'
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Personal Investing
Get Shorty
Short-sellers have long had Tractor Supply Co.
in their crosshairs, convinced shares of the all-purpose retailer to
the rural U.S. would fall hard when consumer spending slowed. But
last month the $2 billion (sales) chain served up a surprise:
Same-store sales in the fourth quarter rose 10%, double estimates.
The stock jumped 20% in an hour. American consumers have
embarrassed bearish economists who predicted that higher interest
rates, spiking energy prices and slower home sales would produce a
sharp slowdown in spending.
The Collapse of the American
Consumer
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Economics
The Double Whammy That
Could Ignite Inflation
Stellar productivity growth in the U.S. has
become such a common feature of the economic landscape, it's easy to
take it for granted. That would be a mistake, especially now when
efficiency gains are slowing down. This year smaller productivity
increases will give businesses less of an offset to rising labor and
other costs than in recent years. That will put pressure on
companies to lift prices to keep profits from getting squeezed. At
stake: the future path of inflation and interest rate decisions by
the Federal Reserve.
Unit labor
costs will be speeding
up
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Sales and Marketing
The Decline and fall of TV
advertising
The times they
are a-changing, and with them have come several forces that,
collectively, are conspiring to spell the end of TV advertising as
we know it today. As with
all human endeavors, the advertising and marketing professions will
probably simply adapt to the loss, evolving and shifting in new
directions so rapidly that few will take the time to reminisce about
the days when TV spots ruled the advertising world. Unfortunately
for those of us in the business, there is simply no good media
alternative on the horizon to replace the TV ad. Nothing can yet
rival it in terms of effectiveness. No banner ad, no embedded
content, no sports sponsorship, no product placement can deliver as
compelling or persuasive a selling message as a well-crafted
30-second TV ad.
The Lost Art of Commercial
Advertising
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International and Trade
Tough Rate Calls at the Fed, ECB, and
BOJ
Tracking monetary trends is sometimes as exciting as
reading a how-to manual on refrigerator repair. But maybe not this
time around. Anyone interested in the 2006 global economic outlook
should be paying attention to the Bank of Japan, the European
Central Bank, and the U.S. Federal Reserve right now.
Bankers and big
policy delimmas
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Trends and Technology
Share sales by
insiders at high level
Equities
Selling of US stocks by company officers,
directors and other corporate insiders in February reached the
highest level since just before the dotcom bubble burst, recent data
showed. High levels of insider activity are sometimes viewed as
indicators of turning points in the market and many investors
incorporate the data into their market analysis. High levels of
sales by executives might indicate a lack of confidence in the
prospects of their companies, although February is a traditional
time for stock transactions after the release of full-year
results.
Insider activity viewed as turning points in
the market
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Small Business
Multi-level Marketing Sounds Great,
But...
Network marketing is
certainly a legitimate business model, if done right. Everything
from laundry detergent to protein bars are sold this way, and yes,
some people make a lot of money. The idea is that the company brings
in independent sales representatives to start sales teams, and those
people bring in people below them, hence the term "downline." Every
time someone in a downline sells something, everyone above gets a
small share of the commission.
"Foolproof, so simple, and so
lucrative"
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Women Business Owners
Gender Card
In the last 20 years, Mary Naylor led her
company from a one-woman operation to an award-winning business that
serves many blue chip clients. As a female business owner, Naylor
often finds she is the only woman at business forums but has learned
to use her "minority" position to her advantage. Naylor says, "As a
woman, I am sensitive to employees' personal concerns like needing
flexibility to care for children or aging parents, attend ball games
and teacher meetings."
Gender in
business, is it
irrelevant?
Woman
Business owner of the
month
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