reliable-web-hostings.com

Eleven-year-old Levi Stinson is Shallowater’s youngest entrepreneur. He sells flavored ice treats in the summer, and he works just about every day from noon until 4 p.m. His business is in Shallowater, and it’s called Shallow-Ice.

Stinson says he makes a profit, “Sometimes I make $60 a day, sometimes $30.”

newschannel10.com

11-year-old entrepreneur uses his business skills in Shallowater is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Four years after the more than 50 levees and floodwalls gave way during Hurricane Katrina, business owners are rebuilding New Orleans’ economic lifelines in a spirited environment flowing with creativity, community, mentorship and collaboration. Dozens of support organizations and incentives are contributing to the uprising with evidence of real results: The April unemployment rate for the New Orleans metro area was 5.3 percent, compared to the nation’s 8.9 percent.

“While known for its creative roots, New Orleans is fast becoming a business mecca as well, drawing innovative companies in everything from digital media to film, fashion, technology and more to find their place in the city,” says Amy Cosper, VP/Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur. “Business owners are brimming with invention and entrepreneurial energy after the clearing away of previously embedded industry and practices.”

To watch a video with local business owners discussing how entrepreneurs are leading the economic recovery, visit www.entrepreneur.com/neworleans.

prnewswire.com

New Entrepreneurial Culture Taking Hold in New Orleans is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Auto sales have been absolutely clobbered–down 28% year over year–so the government, dealers, and auto makers are coming up with all sorts of inventive ways to attract business.

Mark Muller, owner of Max Motors, said the program builds on an earlier offer where customers had a choice between a $250 gas voucher or a gun voucher of the same value. An AK-47 can cost twice as much. Muller calls the initial deal an overwhelming success. He also says it generates a lot of publicity and really angers “liberals.”

Max Motors also offers more family-friendly promotions. Last Saturday, four used cars were sold for $5 each. The cars–including an 2001 Mustang and a 1998 Jeep Cherokee–went fast, and brought hundreds of customers to the lot. Max Motors sells several brands including Chevrolet, Ford and Pontiac.

businessinsider.com

Free AK-47 for every pick-up truck is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

by reliable-web-hostings.com

The case puts the spotlight on Apple, whose public face as maker of the wildly successful iPhone contrasts with its reputation for a highly secretive corporate culture.

But according to a report in the influential Nanfang Daily, Sun, a 25-year-old product manager, became frantic after discovering that one of 16 prototypes of Apple’s fourth-generation N90 iPhone had gone missing. The iPhone is Apple’s hottest-selling device and the latest version is a well-kept secret.

Sun vented his growing frustration in text messages to his girlfriend and a former classmate, and tried to find the missing device, the Nanfang Daily said. But company officials from Foxconn‘s security division apparently got suspicious and raided his home.

The Yunnan native jumped from his 12th floor apartment the day after, according to the report.

The incident, which triggered an investigation from local police and within Foxconn itself, sparked a Web firestorm in China and has provoked criticism of Apple’s intensely guarded culture.

The company has previously threatened lawsuits against media and bloggers that try to publish information about its upcoming products, often arguing they obtained the information from employees who violated confidentiality agreements.

reuters.com

China suicide puts spotlight on secretive Apple culture is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

A Seattle outlet of the 16,000-store coffee behemoth is being rebranded without visible Starbucks identifiers, as 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea.

Two other stores in Starbucks’ native Seattle will follow suit, each getting its own name to make it sound more like a neighborhood hangout, less like Big Coffee, a Starbucks official told The Seattle Times on Thursday.

“The Goliath is coming at me under a new name,” said Dan Ollis, owner of Victrola Coffee Roasters, a coffee shop on 15th Avenue in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, about a block-and-a-half from the made-over Starbucks set to open next week.

chicagotribune

Stealth Starbucks: Seattle-based coffee giant opening neighborhood shops in disguise is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

It’s a deliberate move to tailor prices to fit local demand and inventory — right down to the individual store level, according to the Wall Street Journal.

For companies like San Francisco-based Gap, it’s helped to improve merchandise margins at its stores, including Banana Republic and Old Navy.

This strategy helps boost profits whenever items selling well in one region offset the need for deeper discounts somewhere else. Analysts say how much, when and where to slash prices can make a big difference to the bottom line.

“What works in Topeka, Kans., doesn’t work in San Francisco,” said John Long of consultancy Kurt Salmon Associates. “You can’t take the peanut butter approach that every store has the same customers and the same competitive issues. Things like pricing become a lever that retailers absolutely have to use.”

mercurynews.com

Stores offering discounts based on location is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

by www.reliable-web-hostings.com

That is how much the Obama Administration has distributed to 25 states under a new program designed to jumpstart the stalled construction of rental housing developments around the country. The government hopes the program, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will create thousands of jobs for contractors, engineers, architects and general construction workers, and provide affordable housing options for middle-income families.

Under the program, the 25 states that receive federal assistance will distribute that money among the developers in exchange for their unsold tax credits. That funding should help restart construction on their sites.

But don’t hold your breath in hopes of getting work – or a roof above your head – right away. The money’s journey into the right hands will take time, and most states are unlikely to see construction begin within the next six to nine months, McIlwain says. After that, these projects will take another two years on average to be completed. (That may actually be a good thing, he says, as rental prices are falling now in most parts of the country.)

Here’s a glimpse at how 10 states are planning to use the Recovery Act funds they have received so far.

10 States With Housing Jobs on the Way is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The story began in Spain. Carasso’s father, Isaac, a physician, migrated from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Barcelona and started a business in 1919 to sell yogurt in Spain using cultures from the prestigious Pasteur Institute. He named the yogurt Danone after son Daniel’s nickname. Throughout its early years Danone yogurt was marketed as a health food and sold by prescription through pharmacies. In 1929, Daniel Carasso, having studied business and bacteriology, established the Danone brand in France.

Carasso and his company survived the Great Depression, World War II, post-war recessions, mergers and acquisitions, and changing consumer lifestyles to transform yogurt from an obscure ethnic food to a worldwide sensation. His story holds inspiring lessons about the healthiest ingredients in business: innovation, collaboration, and long-term commitment.

Along the way, Carasso remained dedicated to yogurt no matter what happened. He ignored the beginning of the Great Depression because he was too busy trying to find dairy stores for his product in France, as the New York Times reported. After fleeing the Nazis in 1941, he found U.S. partners with whom he created the American version, under the name Dannon. Yogurt rose from obscurity and niche markets into the mass consumer mainstream when adding fruit jam to the sour product proved a marketing breakthrough. The American Dannon was sold to Beatrice Foods, and Carasso returned to Europe after World War II to grow Danone into a global brand, merging several times along the way to form Groupe Danone in 1973. In 2008, the Groupe had worldwide sales of $20.48 billion.

Carasso’s success involved a lifetime of innovation, yet the innovations were often very simple. Enhancements to make a product more user-friendly can quickly propel something from the margins to the mainstream without radical new inventions. Carasso’s success is a tribute to finding creative but very simple innovations that keep enhancing the product and cause leaps forward in popularity. Adding jam to yogurt doesn’t require scientific genius or grand statements about disruptive technologies, but it was game-changing for yogurt anyway.

For instance, the same thing happened with the growers’ cooperative marketing cranberry juice under the Ocean Spray name. For years, the tiny tart berry grown in New England bogs was an acquired taste for a small niche market. Ocean Spray’s Dannon-like breakthrough was the creation of blended juices to add sweetness and pizzazz – cranraspberry, cranapple, crangrape, cranpeach. (They tried cranprune, but that didn’t work, as many of us would have predicted.) Successful companies are open to creative partnerships to add something from outside the core to enlarge a product’s appeal.

Contrast Carasso’s long-term dedication to yogurt with the way many businesses have been conceived in recent years — as empty vessels for making money rather than enduring contributions to well-being. Before the recession, the world moved so fast that tech products could become obsolete in months, if not minutes. Before the recession, some entrepreneurs dreamed less of their product and more about cashing out. During the recession, some entrepreneurs are undoubtedly thinking about giving up rather than selling even harder.

Daniel Carasso lived though a century’s worth of turbulence and destructive change, some of it much worse than anything happening today. He persisted when others gave up, reached out to partners to help him implement his vision, remained true to his values, and never lost his passion for yogurt. Maybe it wasn’t consuming his product himself that gave him a long life; maybe it was enduring confidence and belief in his product. Doing what one cares about — as a force for good in the world — is the real prescription for personal longevity.

bloomberg.com

Love Your Product and Live Longer is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The effort would represent a striking shift from the rescue program’s original mandate, since it would direct billions of bailout dollars toward a plan that aims more at saving jobs than at righting the financial system. Some economists estimate that small businesses, defined as firms with fewer than 500 workers, employ most of the country’s workforce.

A proposal being floated by senior Treasury Department officials calls for using the bailout funds to expand a government program that helps small companies borrow from banks at low rates to keep their businesses going, the sources said. These “working-capital” loans would come with few restrictions and could be used to buy inventory, hold on to employees and pay off short-term debt.

The initiative would bulk up the Small Business Administration’s most popular lending program, called 7(a). Lines of credit for small companies could greatly increase in size. If a firm failed despite receiving this help, the government would cover most of the losses on the federal loan, perhaps as much as 90 percent. Lines of credit act like the credit cards for companies — short-term, revolving debt used to pay a variety of immediate expenses.

washingtonpost.com

White House Eyes Bailout Funds to Aid Small Firms is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

In addition to getting information about the many faces of Jerusalem (including religion – duh, but also Real Estate and Shopping!), visitors can actually submit vocal prayers that are being heard in real speakers overlooking the old city of Jerusalem. The angels over at Jerusalem.com report that hundreds of prayers have already been submitted from more than 72 different countries.

Michael Weiss, the site’s Founder calls the site one “that belongs to every friend of Jerusalem throughout the world who wishes to interact with the city and feels as closest as possible to physical Jerusalem”.

And at $750,000, Jerusalem.com is the most expensive domain ever bought in Israel.

businesspundit.com

Jerusalem.com for $750,000 is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The bill, H.R. 2965, the Enhancing Small Business Research and Innovation Act of 2009, was introduced to reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which is set to expire on July 31st of this year. However, language in H.R. 2965 will change the definition of a small business from the current definition of “independently owned” to include businesses owned up to 49.9 percent by a single venture capital firm, or 100 percent owned and controlled by multiple venture capital firms or syndicates. (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-2965)

prnewswire.com

New Bill Could Divert Billions in Small Business Contracts to Corporate Giants is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Amazon.com Inc. closed accounts with its affiliates in North Carolina to avoid paying a proposed sales tax, according to media reports Friday. In an email, Amazon reportedly told marketing affiliates in the state that the move was a direct result of North Carolina’s push to levy a tax on purchases made through Amazon affiliates.

Ahead of pending advertising tax legislation, Amazon took a preemptive strike by dropping affiliates effective immediately. They took this action early because the date the laws go into affect is unclear and the affiliate program must be closed to state affiliates PRIOR to the law passing or a presumption of nexus will be established.

If you aren’t familiar with the advertising tax (Amazon tax) issue, you can catch up on all the coverage here.

California and several other states have similar legislation pending.

5staraffiliateprograms.com

The end of Amazon Associates Program? is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Shreelaxmi Suresh received recognition for her work after she developed a website for Kerala Bar Council, located in the country’s south.

The youngster has displayed a keen interest in computers and art since she was in Kindergarten.

With a little assistance from her father, Shreelaxmi managed to find a ‘knack’ for web design.

At the age of eight, Shreelaxmi had already created the official website of her school, a website for deaf people and a news website for children written in Malayalam language.

Her newest creation, The Kerala Bar Council site, aims to update people on legal matters and offer free legal aid through the website.

bigpondnews.com

Nine-year-old starts up web business is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

From drop off to pick up every aspect of the pet’s comfort has been thought through, with pre- and post-flight walks, comfortable waiting areas, and boarding on either side if necessary. The animals are walked (or carried) onto the plane where they board the main cabin, escorted by pet attendants. The interior of Pet Airways’ planes have been converted to carry 50 pets and the attendants—not pet owners. Kennels in all sizes are mounted to vertical rows, and each pet travels in comfort and safety inside the cabin, not underneath.

Fly with Pets AirwaysFly with Pets Airways is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The Democratic-controlled House passed the climate change bill, a top priority for Obama, by a vote of 219-212. As has become routine on major bills in Congress this year, the vote was partisan, with only eight Republicans joining Democrats for the bill. Forty-four Democrats voted against it.

Climate change legislation still must get through the Senate. Senators were expected to try to write their own version but prospects for this year were uncertain.

After the House vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he hoped the Senate can pass a bill “this fall.”

‘BIGGEST JOB-KILLING BILL’

Republicans said the bill was a behemoth that would neither effectively help the environment nor improve an economy reeling from a deep recession.

House Republican leader John Boehner called the measure “the biggest job-killing bill that has ever been on the floor of the House of Representatives.”

Representative Joe Barton, the senior Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee that played a key role in the bill, said it would set unrealistic targets for cutting carbon pollution. “You would have to reduce emissions in the United States to the level that we had in 1910,” Barton said.

reuters.com

House passes landmark climate change bill is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Under current law, qualified individuals can file for a home office tax deduction if they use a portion of their home as a principal place of business or a place to meet with clients. However, although studies indicate that 53 percent of American small businesses are home-based, few take advantage of this tax deduction.

Gonzalez’ legislation would direct the Secretary of Treasury to establish an optional, easy-to-use standard for this deduction.

“Home-based businesses are one of the fastest growing segments of our nation, providing jobs and nurturing our economy,” Gonzalez says. “To maximize the job creation role that small businesses can play in our economy, they need the right tools, which we are helping to provide by simplifying the tax deduction regulations.”

Companion legislation in the Senate is being sponsored by U.S. Sens. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine and Kent Conrad, D-N.D.

The Snowe-Conrad-Gonzalez initiative has been endorsed by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the IRS National Taxpayer Advocate Service, and the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy.

bizjournals.com

Gonzalez sponsors tax simplification bill is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Although Apple chieftain Steve Jobs has roundly rejected the idea of adult apps for the iPhone since its 2007 release, companies far and wide have been building softcore apps for it. The latest version of the iPhone OS includes parental controls, sparking speculation that Apple may cave and finally allow adult apps.

First Apple allowed porn, now this? As an Apple fan, I’m sad.

businesspundit.com

Apple Store Approves Vibrator iPhone App??? is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Apple has finally allowed pornography into the iTunes App Store. The application, called Hottest Girls, costs $2 and includes “2200+ images of topless, sexy babes and nude models”.

UPDATE: TechCrunch is reporting that Apple has pulled the app from its App Store, stating, “it appears someone over at Cupertino [has] ultimately decided to reject the first such app.” However, the removal of the app is only a temporary one, according to the app’s developer, who states the he made the decision to stop distributing the app himself.

Allen Leung, developer of Hottest Girls, posted on his web site that his app is “temporarily sold out” due to overload on his image server.

The application itself is terrible. Four photos are shown on screen at once and tapping one will pull a full sized version from the server. From here you can look at it or save it to your photo-roll. There is no slideshow to display a progressive striptease of the same model, so you are limited to one picture at a time before you have to navigate back to the main screen, which shows a lack of understanding as to how a porn app should work. You could of course just use the application for downloading and view the pictures later in the Photos application.

You can, however, pick a category. On offer are Popular, Asian, Blonde, Brunette and Swimsuit. This is a little less specialized than what you will find on most porn sites, and it is also distinctly softcore: while there are nipples to be seen, that’s about it. A smartly-worded Google image search would do better if you’re looking for titillation.

wired.com

Porn Hits the iPhone App Store is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

“The technology’s there, we’ve got a veteran ball club, I think it can work,” said Jackson, via his newly installed webcam. “We had a couple of IT guys in to lay down the network and hook me up with a super-fast connection. I’ll get video streams from the sidelines and I’ve got a guy coming in tomorrow to show me how to diagram plays remotely using this cool new whiteboard technology. The guys don’t need me to be there to hold their hands — and frankly there are stretches during games when there are about a million more productive things I can be doing with my time. Now, instead of sitting there like an idiot, I can hit the proverbial pause button, walk to the refrig, catch up on some reading, or just stare off into space. By the time the fourth quarter rolls around I’m fresh, alert and engaged. Wish I thought of this sooner.”

huffingtonpost.com

Phil Jackson Prepares to Coach 2009-2010 Season from Home Office is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The $554 billion Desertec project will consist of transmission lines spanning from the Maghreb desert to Europe. Concentrated solar power plants (CSP)–potentially placed in countries with cheap land like Libya, Morocco, and Algeria–will feed massive amounts of solar energy to high voltage direct current (DC) transmission lines spanning thousands of miles to the European continent. CSP plants are already in operation in the United States, but the Desertec project would be the first instance of CSP transmitted over a long distance. If successful, the project could cover 15% of Europe’s energy needs.

In order for the project to be socially palatable, the Desertec consortium will have to make sure that African countries involved receive ample compensation. One suggestion is to allow host countries to keep a proportion of solar energy produced by CSP for free in return for providing sites.

Ambitious transmission line projects aren’t limited to Europe. The $10 billion Green Power Express, a 3,000-mile transmission project that would bring wind power from North Dakota to Chicago and Minneapolis, is currently in the planning process.

businessweek.com

Desertec: World’s Largest Solar Pipeline Charges Ahead is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

“Travelers” come into a city and try to sell ashphalt, roofing, yard work and other home improvement work.

The BBB says travelers often use cheaper materials and perform poor quality work. They collect their money after completing the work, and eventually leave town.

Often they pressure a customer into buying the service.

Officials recommend checking the Better Business Bureau about any company.

BBB issues summer scam warning is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Critics of this practice are often large companies which become targets of entities known as “patent trolls.”

Sneaky Strategy

A patent troll acquires one or more patents in a portfolio that provide broad protection for a given technology. The trolls then begin a systematic process of asserting the patents to obtain licensing revenue, usually against large companies with deep pockets.

In some cases, the cost of defending the patent lawsuit is more expensive than simply giving in and paying the requested licensing fees. In many cases, the large companies often pay up.

While some may liken this ability to extortion, if the current proposed legislation is passed and weakens the patent system by devaluing patents owned by entities that do not make, use or sell the product or process covered by the patent, the legislation might do more harm than good.

As an example, independent inventors often do not have the means to make, use or sell an invention, and are only able to make money from an idea by getting a patent and licensing it to large companies. The ability to think up an invention, patent it and subsequently make money off the idea is central to continued innovation.

There are many instances where people are good at inventing but have no means to manufacture the product they invent. The present patent system allows these people to capitalize on their ideas and promotes innovation.

Should the proposed legislation pass, if someone wanted to derive maximum revenue for their patented idea, they will also have to make the invention covered by the patent. The result of such legislation, as currently proposed, will actually stifle innovation and diminish creativity and entrepreneurship.

Many credit the U.S. patent system with the technological boom that has transpired over the last 50 years. Such a powerful tool has provided unprecedented economic growth. While the system may not be perfect, it is still a viable and credible system that awards innovation. Instead of reforming the patent system as proposed, legislation should be restricted to punish the bad actors that utilize the system as it was not intended.

wbjournal.com

Patent Legislation Will Stifle Innovation is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Click fraud occurs when bots rack up scores of fake clicks, thus depleting an advertisers’ budget. In that case, advertisers can actually see the clicks as they’re reported, but in the case of Facebook, the social net seems to be recording and charging for clicks that don’t exist at all, even from bots (according to the aggrieved advertisers). Their tracking software is reporting numbers that are 20-100% lower than what Facebook is reporting.

In a response, Facebook said it was on the case and would have the controversy sorted out by the end of the day: “Over the past few days, we have seen an increase in suspicious clicks. We have identified a solution which we have already begun to implement and expect will be completely rolled out by the end of today. In addition, we are identifying impacted accounts and will ensure that advertisers are credited appropriately.”

techcrunch.com

Facebook Advertisers Hit by Click Fraud is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The software, which is still in the prototype stage, will tackle the future issue of millions of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) charging at the same time and straining the electrical grid. Google’s software will use so-called vehicle dispatch algorithms to smooth the load on the grid, optimize use of on-the-grid solar and wind power, and generally make things easier for grid operators by helping to maintain a steady frequency on transmission wires. This steady frequency should reduce the need for utilities to increase or decrease electricity flow to keep pace with demand.

Vehicle-to-grid technology–a system where EV batteries feed captured electricity to the electrical grid when necessary–is still years away. Google’s one-way grid-to-car system, in contrast, could hit the streets much sooner. Of course, Google isn’t the only company working on smart charging software. The Chevy Volt will have a smart charging system when it’s released next year, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory announced in April the development of its own smart charger controller.

fastcompany.com

Google Developing Smart Charging for Plug-In Electric Vehicles is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The chamber will partner with Southern Utah University, Dixie State College, the Dixie Business Alliance’s Small Business Development Center and the Center for Education, Business and the Arts to organize an entrepreneurship competition, educational events and development of a brochure outlining state and local business incentives.

“For many of Utah’s smaller communities, entrepreneurship provides the best opportunity for economic growth”, said Jason Perry, GOED’s executive director. “Kanab’s entrepreneur forum is a model for other rural Utah towns.”

sltrib.com

Kanab gets $100,000 for entrepreneurs is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The Office Depot Adopt a Small Business contest will recognize 500 of the “best and smartest small businesses in the country” and award the winners a total of $1 million. To enter, send in a two-minute video of what you are doing to be smart in this economy. Entries are accepted through July 31.

And even if you aren’t selected, the winning videos will be posted online, so you pick up some additional strategies that may work for you

entrepreneur.com

Office Depot Launches ‘Self-Bailout’ Plan for Entrepreneurs is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

“I’m passionate that this is something that will save babies lives”
Chris Ebejer

Chris Ebejer, 42, who runs the Melford Inn, said he had a eureka moment six years ago in an unusual place when he woke up on the couch one morning following a party. In a flash of inspiration the father of one decided he would design a baby suit that changed colour when the baby’s temperature went up. And now the pint pulling part-time scientist will see his ‘Babyglow’ invention flying out of production plants around the world at more than a million a month

‘Babyglow’ took six years and more than £700,000 of investment to get to the manufacturing stage.

The £20 garments, which come in pink, blue and green change to white when a baby’s temperature rises above 98F (37C).

With a £12.5 million deal already signed with manufacturers Quality Workwear 4U in Milton Keynes, Chris is working on deals in the U.S. and is in negotiations with major High Street stores.

dailymail.co.uk

Pub landlord signs multi-million pound deal for baby suit invention is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Bank of America Corp (BAC) — the largest U.S. bank — said its default rate, those loans the company does not expect to be paid back, soared to 12.50 percent in May from 10.47 percent in April.

The bank is paying the price of expanding rapidly in recent years and of holding one of the highest concentrations of subprime borrowers among the top card issuers, analysts said.

In addition, American Express Co (AXP.N), which accounts for nearly a quarter of credit and charge card sales volume in the United States, said its default rate rose to 10.4 percent from 9.90, according to a regulatory filing based on the performance of credit card loans that were securitized.

The credit card company also holds a large exposure in California and Florida, two of the states most affected by the housing crisis and unemployment.

Citigroup (C.N) — the largest issuer of MasterCard branded credit cards — reported credit card chargeoffs rose to 10.50 percent in May from 10.21 percent in April.

“Chargeoffs went up to record highs,” said Walter Todd, a portfolio manager at Greenwood Capital Associates, referring to the entire U.S. credit industry.

Credit card losses usually follow the trend of unemployment, which rose in May to a 26-year high of 9.4 percent and is expected to peak over 10 percent by the end of 2009.

If credit card losses across the industry surpass 10 percent this year, as analysts and bank executives expect, loan losses could top $70 billion.

tradesbydee.blogspot.com

U.S. credit card defaults rise to record in May is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

The museum has invited the public to vote for the breakthrough, which has had the greatest impact on the past, present and future to mark the London attraction’s 100th anniversary.

Curators have selected ten items from past centuries, which will form a special Centenary Journey trail at the museum to enable visitors to find out more about them.

The list includes the V2 rocket engine, Model T Ford motorcar and Crick & Watson’s model of the structure of DNA.

The Centenary Journey will be launched on June 26, 100 years after the museum became an independent organisation, and people who want to cast their votes can do it via the museum’s website, with the results to be Announced in October.

The Centenary Journey objects are:

1. Thompson’s Atmospheric Engine
2. V2 rocket engine
3. Cooke & Wheatstone’s five-needle telegraph
4. Stephenson’s Rocket
5. Reynolds’ X-ray set
6. Model T Ford motorcar
7. Penicillin
8. Pilot ACE (Automatic Computing Engine)
9. Crick & Watson’s DNA model
10. Apollo 10 module (ANI)

newspostonline.com

Search for the greatest ever invention launched in London is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Time is running out for California residents wanting to take advantage of a $10,000 tax credit. The state set aside $100 million to help home buyers purchasing newly built homes, hoping to jump start the moribund residential-construction market. But only about 20% of the pot is left.

“We’re less than four months into it, and all the tax credits authorized are gone, or practically gone,” said Tim Coyle, a senior VP with the California Building Industry Association (CBIA).

The program launched in March and by June 3 nearly $24 million in tax credit certificates had already been issued, according to the state’s Franchise Tax Board.

That leaves nearly $76 million in credit available – but there are already numerous claims on that money. In fact, if all the submitted applications are approved, only $17.5 million will be left in the fund. And it has a run rate of about $10 million per week.

“The program is working better than intended,” said Coyle. “It’s really pushing people off the fence.”

The credit is available on a first-come first-served basis and was supposed to last through March 2010. Almost any newly built home qualifies, as long as it’s an owner-occupied, principal residence on which property tax is paid. It could be a single-family home, a condo, a coop, a manufactured home or mobile home — even a houseboat. Only owner-built housing does not qualify. There is no cap on the home price or buyer’s income.

cnnmoney.com

California running out of $10,000 tax credits is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

Users will only be permitted to select one username for their profiles, as well as for any Pages they administer. The name must total at least five characters and can only include alphanumeric characters, a period or full stop. Non-Romanized characters are not currently supported.

Once it’s been selected, you won’t be able to change or transfer it.

Facebook pages with vanity URLs are especially valuable to businesses, many of whom would likely be willing to pay significant chunks of money for the rights to a good vanity URL.

Be sure to check out this FAQ for answers to common questions, and if you’re an administrator of Facebook Pages, get more details here. If you want to ensure you keep the rights for a trademark or other protected name, contact Facebook here.

Why isn’t Facebook trying to sell or auction off vanity URLs before letting common users

Facebook Vanity URLs Coming This Weekend is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

More such plants are on the way in Spain. Solar Millennium and its Spanish partner expect to start up a twin plant, Andasol 2, next spring and plan to begin building a third 50-MW plant early next year.

Spain’s Abengoa Solar and Sener, meanwhile, are each testing solar thermal plants with integrated molten-salt storage. Both use a “power tower” configuration in which arrays of mirrors direct sunlight onto a central solar receiver where the light directly heats a molten salt. This configuration matches that of Solar Two, a 10-MW solar thermal demonstration plant at Sandia National Laboratories, in New Mexico, built in the 1990s. The power-tower design makes energy storage cheaper and more compact because the salts can be safely heated well beyond the limit of the synthetic oils.

ieee.org

Largest Solar Thermal Storage Plant to Start Up is a post from: Top Business Opportunities

To see the candidates’ stances on health care, taxes, the SBA and immigration, click here.

BARACK OBAMA

• Budget and Economy: Obama promises to cut taxes for the middle class and eliminate income taxes for seniors making less than $50,000 while raising taxes for those making more than $250,000. He proposes $50 billion to jumpstart the economy and a $1,000 emergency energy rebate to American families. By investing heavily in the green and renewable energy sector, Obama hopes to boost the clean energy economy, creating 5 million new green jobs. He also proposes a fast-track plan for energy made in America, which will free the country from oil-dependence, giving Americans more opportunities to work.
• Jobs: Obama’s platform includes a plan to inject $50 billion into a nation-wide State Growth Fund and Jobs and Growth Fund with the intent to prevent state and local job cuts. Another plan is legislation that would give tax credit to companies that maintain or increase their full-time workforce, among other requirements. By investing in green innovations, Obama’s plan would create 5 million new jobs, increase job training programs for clean technologies and create additional new jobs by creating and expanding federal renewable energy requirements. He has a plan to increase workplace flexibility.
• Energy: Obama says he would invest $150 billion over 10 years in clean energy. He has proposed increased fuel economy standards and would require that a quarter of electricity consumed in the U.S. be derived from clean, sustainable energy sources by 2025. He also supports various research efforts toward technological advances in the cleaner use of coal, production of hybrid cars and other alternative energy sources.
• Free Trade: Obama’s platform includes fighting for fair trade, using trade agreements to strengthen labor and environmental standards world-wide and oppose agreements that fail to meet benchmarks, such as the Central American Free Trade Agreement. He plans to assert pressure on the World Trade Organization to improve trade agreement enforcement and among other requests, ask that it stop nontariff barriers on U.S. exports. Amending the North American Free Trade Agreement to focus on the needs of American workers is also part of his platform.
• Housing: Obama proposes creating a $10 billion fund to help prevent foreclosures, eliminate some taxes and fees for families who must sell and offer counseling to homeowners. He would allow troubled homeowners to refinance a loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration. He has also proposed a “credit card bill of rights” to provide disclosure of hidden credit costs and would provide tax credits to 10 million middle class homeowners who struggle with mortgage costs.

Click here to see where McCain stands on these issues.

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The latest version of the Senate bill, which is expected to be quite similar to the one defeated in the House of Representatives save for stronger homeowner protections, could contain language, as did the doomed bill, that would waive provisions of federal acquisition law pertaining to small businesses. “It’s just a typical Bush Administration move where they’ll put something in a bill that doesn’t need to be there just to give themselves more power,” says league president and founder Lloyd Chapman.

Chapman says such a loophole would allow the Secretary of the Treasury to ignore federal rules that direct billions of dollars in government contracts to women-, minority- and veteran-owned small businesses. “This allows the Bush Administration complete leeway to abolish federal contract laws that affect small businesses,” he says.

entrepreneur.com

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Who will walk down the aisle with Yahoo? Microsoft? Google? Time Warner’s AOL? Even News Corp. is getting into the act, considering a plan to team up with Microsoft in its bid for Yahoo.

The Bachelor, aka Yahoo, has a lot of hot, crazy babes to choose from. If you’re a small business that wants to place ads on search engines to get people to click over to your Web site, you just may want to tune in.

Each potential merger scenario could affect the future of your Internet ad dollars.

Most analysts believe Microsoft will prevail in its bid for Yahoo, and while that may seem on the surface to mean higher prices for ads because there will be less competition, think again.

“Heaven would be if Microsoft purchased Yahoo, kept Yahoo intact under the Yahoo brand, and used Yahoo search and Yahoo Search Marketing to power Microsoft Live,” she says.

MSNBC YourBiz

Yahoo merger holds peril for small biz is a post from: Top Business Opportunities