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DeKaser's Financial Market Outlook
Looking in
the Right Places
The recent surge in commodity prices,
notably oil but other products, too, has taken a toll on the
economy. It probably subtracted half a percentage point from real
GDP growth in 2004 and definitely redistributed wealth across
industries, including billions of dollars from airlines to oil
producers. But a persistent rise in inflation is not among its
outcomes.
 Look to the labor market when judging inflation
prospects
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Trends & Technology
New
Weapons Stop Identity Theft
The motivation of the folks who write
viruses and launch other attacks on computers is murky. But the goal of
phishers, people who lure you to phony financial sites on the Web in
order to steal passwords and account information, is theft, pure and
simple. They pull it off primarily by fooling their unsuspecting
victims, rather than by exploiting flaws in software.
Attack identity theft at its root
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Business
Planning & Strategies
'Keystone'
Business Strategists to Assure Revenue Growth for All Partners
Business ecosystems are widespread
within industries such as banking, biotechnology, insurance, and
software. As with biological systems, the boundaries of a business
ecosystem are fluid and sometimes difficult to define. Ecosystems
traverse industries and encompass the full range of organizations that
influence the value of a product or service.
IBM and Microsoft stay at the center of their
business ecosystems through a network of partners
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Human Resources & Benefits
Good Guru
Guide: The Motivators
What does
actually motivate people? Is it money? Is it power or even nice canteen
food? Many commentators stress that it isn't the obvious and tangible
rewards and benefits that motivate staff to go the extra mile, but
rather the more informal qualities about a working environment - such
as verbal recognition when they do a good job, and the strength of team
feeling.
Motivating employees to give you their best
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Economics
Job Optimism
Boosts Consumer Confidence in U.S.
Economists were particularly
encouraged by a fall in the percentage of respondents saying jobs were
hard to get, to 22.6 percent from 24.3 percent. During the last three
months there has been a swift improvement in the perceived availability
of jobs - the sharpest rise in confidence since January 2000. This
optimism has yet to be reflected in the official figures, however,
which have continued to register lackluster jobs growth.
The status of national employment
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Finance & Treasury
2005 Outlook
In a recent interview, Financial
Accounting Standards Board Chairman Robert Herz reported that the
Board has three main goals that will guide its projects in 2005:
simplification; improvement of U.S. standards;
and convergence with the International Accounting Standards Board
on a set of high-quality, comprehensive rules that can be used
globally.
Pending rules that will most affect financial
reporting
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International
& Trade
China Update
Stories include possible penalty
for its currency policy, their threat to buy from Japan
instead of U.S, and how the U.S. industry's textile
data implies such threats.
China's current state of affairs
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Personal Investing
The Five
Don'ts
The tube is filled with ads featuring
financial advisers making charming toasts at a client's family wedding
or wildly cheering his kid on the soccer field. No question, many
financial advisers and brokers care for their clients and give good
advice to go along with the neighborly bonhomie. But some widely
offered counsel would hurt your portfolio's performance. Be careful if
an adviser is pushing these ideas.
The modesty approach to money management
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Legislative & Regulatory
CFO
Whistleblower Reinstated by Court
A federal judge has reportedly ordered
the reinstatement of David Welch, a former CFO of Cardinal Bankshares
Corp. Welch was the first person to win whistleblower protection under
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act after he raised accounting questions at the
company and was fired last year.
The Sarbox whistleblower provision
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Small
Business
Low-Cost Marketing
Tactics for Small Businesses
Small businesses that don't approach
promotion aggressively can't look to an alternative. It's a daunting
challenge today to be a small business. You generally offer a select
group of products or services in a secondary location with minimal
exposure and virtually little or no advertising to support the need for
a daily influx of prospects.
What's a small business to do
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