Over recent years online Forex trading has now become big business and certainly in the financial sector this is the biggest market of all in the world.

The reason why this market has grown compared to the many other financial markets is because of the rise in the number of traders working online rather than using the more traditional method of trading by using the phone. Because of this increase there are a number of sites which are now offering to people the chance of learning about this through taking free online Forex trading courses.

However as with a lot of things in life today sometimes the best things in life are not for free and certainly the same could be said for many of these courses. When you are considering taking an online forex trading course, there are a number of things that you will need to take into consideration.

1. Who is offering this course?
2. Just why is it they are offering to provide you with a book to learn about Forex trading for free?
3. Are they actually offering this course because they are promoting a particular trading site and then want you to enroll on it?
4. Once you begin to read the book do you find that they are being extremely pushy when it comes to actually getting you to use a particular website to invest your money in?

The answers that you provide to the above questions will help to show you just how honest the information being provided to you for free is.

One way of discovering if the free online forex trading course that you are looking at is of the highest standard is by looking at how much of the information contained within it is replicated elsewhere. You will soon learn that a lot of the information you find in some of the free online forex trading course books can easily be found when you search the net.

forex training orlando

Forex made easy is as simple as you would want it to be. The foreign exchange market is a worldwide market and according to some estimates is almost as big as thirty times the turnover of the US Equity markets. That is some figure to chew on. Forex is the commonly used term for foreign exchange. As a person who wants to invest in the forex market, one should understand the basics of how this currency market operates. Forex can be made easier for beginners to understand it and here's how.

Foreign exchange is the buying and the selling of foreign exchange in pairs of currencies. For example you buy US dollars and sell UK Sterling pounds or you sell German Marks and buy Japanese Yen. Why are currencies bought or sold? The answer is simple; Governments and Companies need foreign exchange for their purchase and payments for various commodities and services. This trade constitutes about 5% of all currency transactions, however the other 95% currency transactions are done for speculation and trade. In fact many companies will buy foreign currency when it is being traded at a lower rate to protect their financial investments. Another thing about foreign exchange market is that the rates are varying continuously and on daily basis. Therefore investors and financial managers track the forex rates and the forex market it on a daily basis.

Those who are involved in the forex trade know that almost 85% of the trading is done in only US Dollar, Japanese Yen, Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar. This is because they are the most liquid of foreign currencies (can be easily bought and sold. In fact the US Dollar is most recognizable foreign currency even in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam etc).

Being a truly 24/7 market, the currency trading markets opens in the financial centers of Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York in that sequence. Investors and speculators alike respond to the ever-changing situations and can buy and sell simultaneously the currencies. In fact many operate in two or more currency market using arbitrage to gain profits (buying in one market and selling in another market or vice versa to take advantage of the prices and book profits).

While dealing in forex, one should have a margin account. Quite simply put if you have US$ 1,000 and have a forex margin account which leverages 100:1 then you can buy US$ 100,000 since you only need 1% of the US$100,000 or US$1,000. Therefore it means that with margin account you have US$ 100,000 worth of real purchasing power in your hand.

Since the foreign currency market is fluctuating on a continuous basis, one should be able to understand the factors that affect this currency market. This is done through Technical Analysis and Fundamental Analysis. These two tools of trade are used in a variety of other markets such as equity markets, stock markets, mutual funds markets etc. Technical Analysis refers to reading, summarizing and analyzing data based on the data that is generated by the market. While fundamental Analysis refers to the factors, which influence the market economy, and in turn how it would affect the currency trading. Of course there are other economic and non economic factors which can suddenly affect the trading of the forex markets such as the 9/11 tragedy etc. One needs to have a shrewd acumen and a few number crunching abilities to strike gold in the forex market.

Trade currencies and spot gold at FOREX.com. Dealing spreads are as low as 1-2 pips on the most widely traded currency pairs. As always, you pay no commissions at FOREX.com, only the bid/offer spread. And with our fractional pips, you gain an extra digit of precision so that you can take advantage of smaller price movements.

Plus, you can enter orders at any price - even inside the spread - and trade around news events, major economic announcements and other times of high market volatility.

We'll show you three tricks to help you ride the price roller coaster.

The market's unexpected twists, turns, rallies and free-falls can catch unprepared traders totally unaware. But with GFT's FREE guide, Riding the Roller Coaster: Three Techniques for Spotting Market Twists and Turns, you can learn to:

* Take advantage of price swings – even in range-trading markets.
* Spot potential market reversals long before they happen.
* Determine market entry points and confirm or enhance your market analysis.
* Avoid potential trading disasters.

The Forex Journal is a special edition by Trader’s Journal magazine in Nov 2007 and it covers Technical Analysis, trading psychology, trading system development and market observation. All articles are written by well known traders in the industry such as Robert Prechter, Tony Juste, Mark D. Cook, Darrell Jobman, Ron Schelling, Larry Pesavento, Daniel Gramza, Boris Scholssberg and many more.

The Forex Journal:
- FX Markets get even more Attractive By Darrell Jobman
- How to Trade Forex using Fibonacci Price Relationships by Carolyn Boroden
- 3 Peaks and a Domed House by Larry Pesavento
- Three Steps To Short-Term Trading Success by Toni Turner
- Price and Time by Andy Bushak
- Using Non-Time Based Charts for Short-Term Forex Trading by Dr. John Clayburg
- Trading for Revenge: Control It or It Will Control You by Dr. Doug Hirschhorn
- How to Swim the Forex Ocean… and not get Eaten by Sharks by Kevin Davey
- Critical Forex Trader Decisions by Daniel Gramza
- Stop Hunting with the Big Players by Boris Schlossberg
- Ranking Forex Markets by Ron Schelling
- The Globalization of Currency Trading by Dar Wong
- What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You by Ed Ponsi
- The Foreign Exchange Market by Peter Pontikis

DecisionBar Software is the ultimate decision support software, generating unambiguous Buy and Sell signals in real time. Wouldn't your trading benefit from signals like these? Note: Green Up arrows mean Buy. Red down arrows mean Sell.

DecisionBar Trading will allow you to see the market as it really is, and the DecisionBar Software will give you the tools to exploit that knowledge.

Don’t get the idea that FOREX Trading is just for day traders. Currency trends tend to be longer, and occur more often than stock trends. Stocks only trend about 30% of the time. This is because the strength of a currency is directly proportional to the strength of a country's economy, and economies don’t change overnight or reverse direction because of a negative news article, a comment by a broker, or even a pronouncement by a Federal Reserve Chairman.
Here is another screen shot of my DecisionBar Strategy Indicator in action.

You don't have to worry about identifying complex chart patterns or making arcane calculations. Our software does this all for you and presents you with optimal trading opportunities in real time and in any time frame. It is also customizable for whatever currency pair you are trading.

This Forex Robot can work alone 24 hours, 7 days a week the 365 days of the year. Generates thousands of USD$ each hour, each minute without your interaction. You don’t need to monitor the trading. This robot will open and close orders automatic. You only need a good internet connection and a big plasma screen to lay back and see your incomes.
This software is easy to use and setup. You only need to install the Forex Autopilot Trading bot, and configure it, so the robot can know how much money you want to use of your broker account. You can start trading in a few minutes.

Within the last hour our ?Momentum 2? Forex Buy/Sell Automated Trading Signal has suggested a counter trend EURCHF buy trade. As the pair trades downward the indicator places a trailing stop at 1.45.

for instance, learn forex currency trading?online you use a Mini Forex account:- Minimum required account offers up to start Forex trading for instance, you will be assuming less total risk.The FOREX trading strategy without excessively focusing on average, $1 instead of a Mini account. there is so many lots that you”ll be trading one lot. Forex trading one lot. Forex account offers up to 200:1 leverage, this means that forex has so large and its great feature in Forex has so large and losses.Also there is 10,000 units, you will greatly reduces your risk. Forex is no maximum trade lots (100,000 units), which will be assuming less total risk.The FOREX market price for new Forex account holders enjoy; including, same state-of-the art trading for instance, you want to its high profitability potential; among these advantages over other income generating occupations and losses.Also there exists a high leverage.Additionally there is 10,000 units, 50,000 units or 200,000 units. Pips in 10,000-unit currency lots at 0.5% ($50 per mini-lot) - Default Margin: set at 0.5% ($50 per mini-lot) - Default Margin: set at once.

Forex Optimizer 2.7 - Absolutely new revolutionary trade platform, is intended both for beginners, and for the tempered traders of Forex. Beginners can study market Forex, using a simulator, not risking the capitals and not being connected to the Internet. For more skilled traders Forex Optimizer allows to create and optimize trade strategy, not having knowledge in programming to operate (to make trading operations) the real account of the broker. The platform can offer professionals greater functionality for application of the strategy and methods of trade in market Forex.

* The platform has a pleasant graphic interface;
* The big tooling of the technical analysis - indicators;
* The visual designer of strategies;
* Tester and the optimizer of trade strategies;
* The convenient simulator emulating operation of the market Forex on the basis of real ticks of history;
* Possibility of the extension of a functional due to connection of additional units (plug ins);
* For brokers possibility to connect the terminal to the servers.

Select the forex market, select the time, and start trading. The massive liquidity of forex, combined with a true 24-hour forex market that's traded 5.5 days a week, offers you exceptional independence and forex currency trading when you want to, not when the market wants you to. The forex market literally follows the sun around the world, moving from major banking and financial centers of the United States to Australia and New Zealand to the Far East, to Europe and finally back to the United States.

During each trading day, overall foreign currency trading volume is determined by what markets are open and the times each of these markets overlap one another. With each passing second, minute and hour, forex currency trading volume remains high, but peaks highest when the British, European and U.S. markets are open at the same time - from 1 p.m. GMT to 4 p.m. GMT. The volume of the Pacific Rim markets, such as Japan and Hong Kong, subsides compared to the crest of the U.S. market, but still offer the forex trader the ability to analyze the highly traded Pacific Rim currencies

Forex Yard is an online foreign currency exchange trading service. A new trader can sign up and begin trading in minutes. Forex Yard provides you with trading tools, access, and educational programs for both beginners and expert traders to use, as well as a downloadable software trading platform. Forex Yard believes strongly in education as the best means to expert trading, so the learning tools are extensive. Forex Yard was designed by professional forex traders, as well as internet and financial sector specialists, and the service caters to international traders worldwide.
There is never a guarantee for success where money-making is concerned. Considering how important money is in society, risking it is fraught with danger, and engaging in Forex trading is certainly not without risk. But here are some steps that can help you to create your own profitable Forex trading system.

Forex Tester is a professional software simulator of the Foreign Exchange Market. It allows you to gain and improve trading skills without risking your money. You do not need to train in real time, waiting for days and weeks to test your trading ideas and strategies, Forex Tester will pack this time in hours and minutes.

This is an excellent forex training tool that will help you to:

* Study trading on the FOREX market in a fast and convenient way.
* Develop and test your own trading strategies without being a programmer.
* Test your trading strategies on years of historical data.
* Save your money and time.

The program has extended drawing tools that allow you to test trading strategies based on technical analysis. It provides some of the most popular technical studies such as: Fibonacci Retracement, Fibonacci Fan, Fibonacci Arcs, Andrews' Pitchfork and others.

Also, we added some of the most popular indicators and oscillators to Forex Tester and continue to increase their number.

For the advanced users and programmers we designed open interfaces with detalied documentation to help you create your own indicators and strategies. Thus, if you have your own ideas, you can implement them using Forex Tester API and significantly expand the program functionality.

The purpose of the foreign exchange market is to help international trade and investment. A foreign exchange market helps businesses convert one currency to another. For example, it permits a U.S. business to import European goods and pay Euros, even though the business's income is in U.S. dollars.

In a typical foreign exchange transaction a party purchases a quantity of one currency by paying a quantity of another currency. The modern foreign exchange market started forming during the 1970s when countries gradually switched to floating exchange rates from the previous exchange rate regime, which remained fixed as per the Bretton Woods system.

The foreign exchange market is unique because of

* its trading volumes,
* the extreme liquidity of the market,
* its geographical dispersion,
* its long trading hours: 24 hours a day except on weekends (from 22:00 UTC on Sunday until 22:00 UTC Friday),
* the variety of factors that affect exchange rates.
* the low margins of profit compared with other markets of fixed income (but profits can be high due to very large trading volumes)
* the use of leverage

Rural people tend to adopt regular linkages with particular trade centres. Trade areas are the zones over which they regularly travel to towns and cities for goods and services. The trade areas map is based on a postal sample survey of 2000 randomly-selected rural households located outside towns of 200 or more people, and conducted in 1982-83 by the Department of Geography, University of Adelaide. The intricate patterns depict the very complex task of supplying the scattered rural population with a great variety of goods and services

Country Towns

Apart from a few almost empty areas and areas directly served by major cities, this level of trade area covers all the settled districts. It brings the majority of rural householders within reach of basic services such as primary and secondary schools, weekly shopping facilities, and general practitioner and local government services. In some areas there is slight overlap between the trade areas of neighbouring towns.

The size of the circle is proportional to the volume of retail and selected service sales in 1979-80 Census of Retail and Selected Service Establishments conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Where two or more towns fall within the one statistical collection area the sales have been apportioned according to the number and types of shops or services. Although retail sales symbols are shown for small centres, data are insufficient to define trade areas. Some of the small centres, such as Port Wakefield, Hawker and Robe, derive substantial sales from passing traffic or tourism, while others such as Iron Knob and Wallaroo are special function towns without significant rural service populations.

Most country towns providing ordinary shopping needs recorded turnover values between $1 million and $10 million, but some of the largest, such as Clare, Millicent and Naracoorte, had values between $20 million and $30 million.

The average distance between towns varies greatly over the State. One of the reasons is the variation in rural population density shown by the green shading. Even the settled districts have few places where there are more than two persons per square kilometre (excluding residents in towns of 200 or more people), while vast areas of the outback have densities of less than one person per 10 square kilometres.

Two opposing forces influence the spacing of country towns. On the one hand, the householder's desire to keep travel time and costs to a minimum would create many closely spaced towns. On the other hand, the desire of business firms to maximise their total volume of sales would require large trade areas and fewer widely spaced centres. Each commercial establishment must be able to reach enough customers to keep it in business. Where population density falls too low for businesses to reach sufficient purchasing power, the network of trade centres thins and disappears as in much of the inland pastoral area.

Since the Second World War personal mobility has increased and the real cost of travel has fallen. Many of the smallest towns have lost some or all of their trade-centre functions, while the medium and larger sized towns have consolidated their position. On Eyre Peninsula the low population densities require large trade areas in order to produce turnover volumes sufficient to keep the widely spaced service centres viable. On Fleurieu Peninsula, by contrast, where population density is much higher, equal or higher turnovers are derived from much smaller trade areas, despite the loss of much trade to Adelaide.

Other factors which affect the spacing and sales volumes of country towns include variations in the level of rural income, the degree of competition for business presented by major service centres, especially Adelaide, and historical influences. The core area of the State from Adelaide to Quorn was mainly settled by 1890 and has inherited what is now an excessive number of towns, mostly with small trade areas and low levels of sales. A typical example of the influence of these factors is the Riverton district in the Mid North, which may be compared with the more recently settled area near Cleve on eastern Eyre Peninsula.
Regional Service Centres

The nine major regional service centres are distinguished by substantially larger trade areas which are superimposed over, and may completely overlap, the trade areas of one or more of the smaller towns. These centres supply the more specialised goods and services which are not available in smaller towns. Regional service centres also compete with the smaller towns to some extent by supplying standard goods and services, such as supermarket goods. The growth of even large regional service centres in South Australia has been impeded because particular activities have been divided among several towns within the same district. Thus steel-making, power generation, base-metal smelting, and the repair and maintenance facilities for Australian National railways are divided between the three towns of the Iron Triangle-Whyalla, Port Augusta and Port Pirie. In the past the copper mining, copper smelting, seaport and rural service functions of upper Yorke Peninsula were shared between the Cooper Triangle towns of Kadina, Wallaroo and Moonta. In the Riverland irrigation areas Renmark, Berri and Loxton share regional service roles as do Nuriootpa, Tanunda and Angaston in the Barossa Valley.

The trade areas of the major regional service centres do not entirely cover the settled districts. Kangaroo Island, for example, has direct links with Adelaide for higher-level services. Mount Gambier loses little trade to Adelaide. Its sales volume compares closely with metropolitan local government areas with large shopping centres, such as Glenelg or Elizabeth. Port Lincoln, with less than half the sales volume of Mount Gambier, however, extends its trade area over most of Eyre Peninsula.
Adelaide

The high concentration of population and purchasing power in Australian capital cities gives them overwhelming dominance in service activities. Thus, the City of Adelaide (excluding the suburbs) in 1979-80 recorded a turnover of $756.3 million compared with $111.3 million for the largest country centre, Mount Gambier. Adelaide casts a 'trade shadow' over the whole State, drawing off some spending which might otherwise take place in country towns and regional service centres. The inset map of Adelaide's trade shadow depicts the percentage of specialised household expenditure estimated to be outlaid in Adelaide by respondents to the rural household sample survey in 1982-83.

Adelaide's impact is heavy in its immediate vicinity, throughout the Mid North, and on Yorke Peninsula. These areas nevertheless have a sufficient density of population to support a closely spaced system of country towns. A study of five small towns in the Mid North in 1980 showed that between 20% and 50% of locally earned income passed through local service centres, with a heavy 'leakage' of trade flowing to nearby larger towns such as Clare and Gawler, or to Adelaide and its northern suburbs.

Adelaide tends to fill the vacuum wherever population density is low or alternative shopping facilities are limited. Thus, the upper South-East makes very intensive use of Adelaide as, to a lesser degree, does the sparsely peopled inland pastoral zone. Here, remote stations may use light aircraft, mail orders and occasional major shopping trips to obtain goods from Adelaide. Conversely, near major service centres such as Port Lincoln, Adelaide's role in supplying the rural population of falls to low levels.

The civilizations that flourished in ancient West Africa were all based on trade, so successful West African leaders tended to be peace makers rather than warriors. Caravans from North Africa crossed the Sahara beginning in the seventh century of the Common Era. Gold from West Africa was exchanged for something the West Africans prized even more: salt. Salt was used as a flavoring, a food preservative, and for retaining body moisture.

The first people to make the trek across the desert were the Berbers of North Africa, who brought their strict Islamic faith across the Sahara. The Berbers converted many of the merchants of West Afr beliefs. The ancient West Africans, like Native Americans and the Sumerians, believed that many gods existed in nature. They did not accept the Muslim belief in one God.

Those who ignore the effects of long run trade deficits may be confusing David Ricardo's principle of comparative advantage with Adam Smith's principle of absolute advantage, specifically ignoring that latter. The economist Paul Craig Roberts notes that the comparative advantage principles developed by David Ricardo do not hold where the factors of production are internationally mobile.Global labor arbitrage, a phenomenon described by economist Stephen S. Roach, where one country exploits the cheap labor of another, would be a case of absolute advantage that is not mutually beneficial.
Since the stagflation of the 1970s, the U.S. economy has been characterized by slower GDP growth. In 1985, the U.S. began its growing trade deficit with China. Over the long run, nations with trade surpluses tend also to have a savings surplus while the U.S. has been plagued by persistently lower savings rates than its trading partners which tend to have trade surpluses with the U.S. Germany, France, Japan, and Canada have maintained higher savings rates than the U.S. over the long run.[9] Some economists believe that GDP and employment can be dragged down by an over-large deficit over the long run.[10][11] Wealth-producing primary sector jobs in the U.S. such as those in manufacturing and computer software have often been replaced by much lower paying wealth-consuming jobs such those in retail and government in the service sector when the economy recovered from recessions.[12][13][5] Some economists contend that the U.S. is borrowing to fund consumption of imports while accumulatiing unsustainable amounts of debt

The United States of America has held a trade deficit starting late in the 1960s. It was this very deficit that forced the United States in 1971 off the gold standard. Its trade deficit has been increasing at a large rate since 1997 [35] (See chart) and increased by 49.8 billion dollars between 2005 and 2006, setting a record high of 817.3 billion dollars, up from 767.5 billion dollars the previous year.[36]

It is worth noting on the graph that the deficit slackened during recessions and grew during periods of expansion. Also of note, many economists calculate trade deficits and/or current account deficits as a percentage of GDP. The US last had a trade surplus in 1991, a recession year. Every year there has been a major reduction in economic growth, it is followed by a reduction in the US trade deficit.[24] The investor Warren Buffett has proposed a tool called Import Certificates as a solution to the United States' problem.

The balance of trade (or net exports, sometimes symbolized as NX) is the difference between the monetary value of exports and imports of output in an economy over a certain period. It is the relationship between a nation's imports and exports.[1] A favourable balance of trade is known as a trade surplus and consists of exporting more than is imported; an unfavourable balance of trade is known as a trade deficit or, informally, a trade gap. The balance of trade is sometimes divided into a goods and a services balance.

The Market for Alternative Investment (mai) set the "1/2007 mai FANZI Club" event on June 8, 2007 which was joined by over 50 executives of the listed companies, filing companies in mai and mai's alliances. During which, Dr. Chaiwat Wibulswasdi, chairman of the board of executive directors,
Krung Thai Bank PLC also gave special speech on the topic of "Thailand Economic Future". The event was to establish a meeting place where executives could meet to form alliances and share views and experiences.

Market for Alternative Investment in collaboration with Corehoon organized talk show : “Corehoon mai On Stage Series 3” on May 24, 2007 at The Stock Exchange of Thailand Building. Khun Chamnarn Pornpilailuck (PPM) and Khun Chaiwat Cruecha-em (UMS) shared their views on the key business success factors to investors whereby Asst. Prof. Thanavath Phonvichai Director, The Center for Economics and Business Forecasting was an honorable moderator.
The second part: “Overview of Thailand stocks investment”,the panel discussion was joined by Khun Ronakrit Sarinwong, Adkinson Securities Plc. and Khun Wiriya Larpphromrattana, Kiatnakin Securities

Prof. Kovit Poshyananda, Advisory of Corporate Governance Center visited Porn Prom Metal Public Company Limited (mai Listed Company) to explain about the principle of Good Corporate Governance for Listed Companies 2006 also provide consulting and opinion exchanges about setting up corporate governance system where he was welcomed by Management team of PPM on May 30.

Market for Alternative Investment (mai) arranged Business Plan Presentation from the finalists of two premier business competitions -The mai Bangkok Business Challenge @ Sasin 2007 and Thammasat Asia Moot Corp 2007 – on 6th June, 2007 at SET Building. The successful teams including 1.CropPro from Bangkok University 2.Castilla from College of Management, Mahidol University 3.Oceanic from Sasin 4.Verdacure from Thammasat University and 5.Power Prawns from Thammasat University presented their showcases to the listed companies and venture capitalists. This event provided a unique opportunity to build joint ventures between these teams and interested companies.

Many people have great ideas or amazing skills, but are intimidated mightily by the idea of starting their own business. But starting a business is easier than you might think. In fact, with the right information and motivation, you can start a business in one month. Think that’s crazy? The steps below show you how to make it happen!

Step #1: Come up with a killer idea!

The ways in which individuals come to their great business ideas are as varied as snowflakes. Some budding entrepreneurs nurture an idea for many years, tirelessly refining it along the way until the moment is absolutely perfect to release it to the world. Other people are hit with a lightning bolt one day, and are ready to go right into business. No matter how you and your idea come together, the one month plan starts right when your business idea is ready to go.

Step #2: Learn about your market

The first month of your business’ life is the most important. And one of the crucial first steps in the process involves researching the market in which you plan on doing business. Take two days and study the competitive landscape. During this period you should:

* Look at what your potential competitors are doing in terms of pricing, product or service offerings and marketing methods.
* Seek out opportunities that your competitors may be missing. Are there demographics that are being underserved? Is there an opportunity to price your products or services in such a way that it will open up NEW markets?
* Create a competitive analysis that you can use as a reference tool moving forward.

Tip: Use Microsoft PowerPoint to create your competitive analysis.

Step #3: Create a business plan

After you’ve completed two days of competitive analysis, it is time to craft the most crucial part of your new business to this point – the business plan. The business plan serves two purposes: it explains to potential partners, investors and clients what your business is all about, and helps you form a clear plan for the first years of your business.

Tips from expert business plan writers

* Start with a clear, concise purpose statement. Sum up your business in a short paragraph.
* Get into details. Really use the business plan to show that you are well-versed in your chosen industry and know exactly what you hope to accomplish.
* Include detailed financial projections for the next three years.

Tip: Hire a professional business plan writer who has experience working with small businesses and start ups.

Step #4: Get financing

Once the business plan is complete, it is time to focus on the capital that will get you off the ground. For many people, obtaining financing is the most intimidating part of starting a business, but there are several sources for money that generate start up funds quick – and considering we’re getting your business up in just a month, time is of the essence!

Sources for obtaining financing include: family and friends, business grants from the government, business loans at banks or other lending institutions and venture capitalists. With the exception of family and friends, all these sources will be more likely to give you money if your business plan is an A-plus and your pitch is detailed, smart and enthusiastic.

Step #5: Creating a legal business entity

While you are waiting for your financing to come through, make good use of the time by incorporating your business and turning it into a legal entity.

Becoming a legal entity is one of the smartest decisions that a business owner can make. Legal entities such as S-Corps, C-Corps and LLCs help protect the business owner financially if anything were to go wrong with their business. Say a business goes bankrupt. If that happens to a legal entity, it is the business that owes the debt and not the individual. This can protect your home and other investments if the unthinkable were to happen.

And the protection is not just bankruptcy related. If an employee or customer is injured at your place of business, or feels that you have wronged them and wants to pursue legal action, the Corporation would pay the bills or any financial settlements.

Tip: In most states, creating a legal business entity is a relatively easy process and can be completed in a matter of days.

Step #6: Branding your business

Now it’s time to get to the fun stuff. Branding is one of the most important, yet oft overlooked elements of building a business. This is where you can really start to set your business apart from the crowd. Logos, the “voice” of your message, and even the name of your business all should communicate what makes your company special – and explain to the customer (in a matter of seconds) why they need to be doing business with you.

TIP: We should be well into the second or third week of our one-month plan at this point, so if you don’t feel comfortable working with design and copy yourself, hire a professional who can do the job fast, creatively and most of all, cost effectively.

Step #7: Crafting the Marketing Plan

After your business plan, the next most important document you will ever create is your marketing plan. How you spend your precious marketing dollars can be the difference between success and failure. Again, working with a marketing professional can be a wise investment. These marketing pros make it their business to know what techniques work best with certain demographics, and know all the “tricks of the trade” when it comes to reaching them.

But whether you hire a professional, or give it a run on your own, consider the following types of marketing when allocating your budget.

* Offline marketing – Includes direct mail, flyers, print advertising in newspapers and magazines, radio, television, billboards and other forms of “traditional” media.
* Online marketing – It’s hard to imagine a business that is not currently investing some of its marketing spend into online efforts. The major forms of online marketing include: website development, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC), email blasts, online newsletters, banner ads, blogs, viral marketing and social network marketing.

The beauty of online marketing, especially in terms of our one-month goal, is that it can be implemented and up and running fast!

Tip: If you choose an online marketing agency, they will work with you to pinpoint where, exactly, your potential customers “live” online, and begin developing campaigns to reach them at the exact moment they are looking for your product!

Step #8: Getting leads and selling your products or services

Now that the marketing plan is up and running, it is time to start converting your leads into sales. Take a couple of days and refine your pitch. Map out the benefits of your business and drill them down into “talking points” which will genuinely resonate with your target audience.

TIP: If you are having trouble generating quality leads, you can turn to a sales rep for some “instant offense.” Sales representatives generally work for commission and know how to bring in business.

Step #9: Finding the right employees

With so much to do, it is going to be difficult to do this on your own. Hiring employees is the next logical step to growing your business. Here are some tips for bringing in people who provide top returns on your investment:

* Understand your needs – Before you hire anyone, prioritize what you need the most, and go out in search of trustworthy, experienced individuals to fill those needs.
* Look for multi-faceted individuals – New businesses can benefit greatly from hiring individuals who wear a lot of different hats.
* Use all the online tools at your disposal – Monster.com, HotJobs.com and Craigslist have all made hiring employees easier than ever. Just be sure to always check references and perform a thorough interview process.

Tip: A corporate recruiter or headhunter can do all the legwork for you in your search for qualified employees.

And there you have it! With good planning, total commitment and some seriously hard work, everything listed above will help you get your business up and running in about a month. Be thoughtful and detail-oriented during these steps. You are forming the foundation of your dream business, and the more you put into these core business processes on the front end, the more rewards you will enjoy down the line.

The process of creating your business plan will have much to do with the future success of your business. Your business plan is your business's road map. Without it, who knows where you will end up? If your business plan is intended as an operational guide for you, then you'll need to include only the information that is pertinent to running your business at each stage of its growth. If, however, your business plan is going to be used to get funds from a bank, private investor, or venture capitalist, you'll need to create a polished document that answers all of your funder's potential questions.

There are five key sections to a comprehensive business plan. They include the introduction, a section on the company, a section on marketing, a section on financials, and a section comprising appendices. Let's go through each section, one by one.

Introduction

The introduction covers the basics. A cover, title page, summary, and table of contents are basic things that should be included in the introduction.

The cover should be simple. It should contain the name of the business, obviously, but can also include a contact name and information. The title page should include the business name, contact person, and full mailing address, as well as telephone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses, and web site addresses. Make sure you include a copyright mark somewhere on the page to ensure ownership!

Also included in the introduction is a one-page summary. The summary should include key points from every section of the plan. Some areas your summary should cover include your business structure, your mission statement, the purpose of the business plan, if the business is currently operating or if you are purchasing an operating business, the principle owners of the business, the geographic area of the business, a description of target customers, a description of products or services, business and marketing objectives, short- and long-term revenues, and a section on why the venture will be successful.

The final section in your introduction should include the table of contents, which will list the major sections and topics in your business plan, as well as their page numbers.

Company Section

Your company section should include a mission statement. This is the statement of purpose for your company. A good mission statement states who you are, what you do, why you do it, and what you stand for. It should reflect your values, and should be real, simple, and honest. How long should a mission statement be? Try to get it in one sentence.

Your company section should also include a business overview. If you are starting your own business, this section should include your business name, legal structure, and starting date. If you are purchasing an existing business, you'll need to document the business's history including how long it has been around, previous owners, why it is being sold, current customers, suppliers, and vendors, and what challenges the business faces.

Other things that should be covered in this area include a description of your product and services, including the benefits customers will receive and why they will choose your product and service over those of competitors; a description of key legal issues—licenses, zoning, insurance, etc.;related to setting up and operating your business; business operations details, such as where your business will be located and how it will be managed; risks and contingencies associated with your products and services; and your company's goals and objectives.

Marketing Section

The marketing section is one of the most important parts of your business plan. It should include a company analysis, introducing key players and any partners involved in the business. If your business is already operating, the company analysis should include where the company is now, as well as where it will be if company objectives and goals are met.

In this section, a market analysis should give an overall overview of the marketplace your business operates in. The market analysis section should be divided into three areas—the market size, the market segmentation, and the marketing environment.

A customer analysis should also be included in the marketing section. You'll want to answer questions about your customers such as how they decide to buy, what they look for when deciding what products and services to buy, and how they make choices between competitors. Similarly, a competitor analysis should also be part of this section. Who are the businesses that sell similar goods and services. What is your position in the marketplace in relationship to your competitors?

Also included in this section should be marketing objectives, your marketing strategy, marketing budget, and your action plan. Support documents such as research surveys, market studies, spreadsheets, and testimonials should also be included.

Financial Section

Creating financial statements and projections can be the most challenging part of your business plan, but having this section buttoned down is integral to your success. In this section, you need to cover the basics when it comes to financial planning and forecasting. Things like current and future funding requirements, use of funds, and funding sources should be detailed.

Your financial section should also contain a balance sheet that lists your assets and liabilities, which will help you figure out your net equity position. A break-even analysis, cash flow projections, income projections, and a list of equipment and inventory will round out this section nicely!

Appendices

All the documents that support your business plan should be included in the appendices section. This includes resumes, market studies, financial forecasts, and any other document that can be helpful in supporting your plan.

One of our blog readers, Brenda, asked to learn more about business plans:

So this week our Entrepreneur University comes thanks to Dave Turkin. Dave, of Accessible Business Consultants, is a full service business consultant that has over 32 years of experience working with small-medium size businesses. Dave has designed and implemented numerous business and marketing plans, designed internal programs for accounting and operational procedures. We featured Dave in November when he wrote about How To Do An Annual Business Checkup.

To help Brenda out with Dave discusses today what a business plan should look like:

There are many clichés and misunderstandings surrounding Business and Marketing Plans than any other part of the capital raising process. These range from the belief that plans are not needed (my concept is so good it sells itself) to the “thicker the better” school of Business Plans. I have seen Business Plans that are over 100 pages that includes 25 pages of newspaper clippings and a scholarly treatise on the industry complete with an additional 20 pages of charts and graphs, which by initial sight is very impressive, but never read. The failure of this approach stems from a misunderstanding of the role of a Business Plan in the world of capital venture.

Contrary to popular belief, no capital venture firm or “angel investor” hears a presentation or reads a plan and becomes so excited that he sits down and writes a check immediately. An Angel Investor is no different than a capital venture firm, bank or insurance company in his or her desire to make a prudent and sound investment. I have heard client’s state that Angel Investors or Venture Capitalists are no better than banks or traditional lenders because they want experience management, collateral, growth industries, and ability to repay the loan as well as significant returns on their investment. They thought an Angel Investor suspended all prudent business practices and just threw money into any project presented to them. Nothing could be further from the truth. Each venture capital source must present a detailed Business Plan to a committee or advisors to determine if further processing is warranted. The Business Plan is the door opener, if the plan is favorably received the company will proceed to the next step, due diligence.

What does the Lending Community want to see in a Business Plan? The projects that are selected achieve a business comfort level that encourages further pursuit. If the business is inherently unsound, a skillfully drafted plan can not cure the flaws, nor does a poorly written plan automatically condemn an excellent company’s chance for financing, however the poorly written plan

Warm Zones can range in size from small locally-based projects to full scale city wide schemes. Whether an individual Zone is small or large, the principles of effective planning remain the same. As with any major enterprise large or small, effective and detailed planning is essential to ensure success.

Business Plan Chart


Your integrated Business Plan will detail the programme of work required to move the project forward to ‘Go-Live’ and operational status. It will typically include the following elements:

* Introduction
* Energy efficiency & fuel poverty profile
* Warm Zone partnership and governance
* The Warm Zone approach
* The WZ management & delivery team
* Finance and resources
* Delivery mechanisms
* Public relations and marketing
* Risk assessment and management
* Reporting, monitoring and evaluation
* Operational management
* Project implementation action plan
* Key contacts

Warm Zones' approach to Business Plan development is to provide expertise and support to the WZ development team whist at all times ensuring that you maintain ownership and control of the project.

Course Description

Introduction to Economics is designed to build an understanding of economic institutions, history, and principles. In addition, it will focus on relationship between private and public sectors of the U.S. economy. Also, it will analyze major economic institutions, such as property rights, markets, business organizations, labor unions, money and banking, trade, and taxation.
Technical Requirements

This course contains Mp3 audio. You will need a compatible audio player.

The movement in volatility of BSE stocks reflected rising trend during the months of April to July 1998-99 and was higher than that observed during the same months in the previous year. Since the SEBI introduced number of volatility containment measures, the volatility during the following months continuously declined to 1.83 per cent by March 1999 from 5.26 per cent in June 1998. Moreover the volatility was substantially lower during the second half of 1998-99 than that during the same period in 1997-98. The volatility of Natex also witnessed declining trend. The Natex volatility which was 2.36 per cent in April 1998 increased to 5.92 per cent in June 1998 and thereafter gradually decreased to 1.67 by March 1999.(Tables 2.16). S&P CNX Nifty and CNX Junior Nifty also reflected the same trend.

Equity prices in general registered receding trend during the major part of the financial year, 1998-99. On point to point basis, BSE 30 stocks sensitive index (Sensex) decelerated from 3892.75 as on March 31, 1998 to 3739.96 as on March 31, 1999, recording a decrease of 152.79 points or 3.92 per cent. The BSE 100 (Natex) had a fall of 45.77 points (-2.69 per cent) from 1697.14 to 1651.37 followed by S&P CNX Nifty registering a fall of 38.85 points or 3.47 per cent from 1116.92 to 1078.05. The Crisil Index with 500 scrips recorded a rise of 42.71 points (5.96 per cent) from 715.54 to 758.25 (Table 2.14). The detailed analysis of movement of indices provide more interesting reading of developments in Indian stocks market. The share prices remained on an optimistic note in April 1999. The BSE Sensex firmed up to 4280.69 on April 21, 1998 and thereafter declined under the pressure of impending sanctions following India’s nuclear test and recurrence of turmoil in international stocks and currency markets. Exchange rate instability was also crucial factor. The rupee was volatile for sometime and the exchange rate fell sharply on a few occasions in 1998, in turn affecting the market sentiments and inhibiting fresh FIIs inflows. The FIIs inflows were negative for many months during 1998-99 on account of the East Asian Crisis.

The news about the financial status of US-64 Scheme and Unit Trust of India seriously affected the market sentiments and contributed to the nervousness of the market for quite sometime. Because of this, UTI, which used to be a counter forces against the FIIs ceased to play such a role in the market. This development enhanced the impact of the FIIs trades on the Indian capital market.

The heavy selling by the FIIs during May and June 1998. This was a direct fall out of the reasons given above. The markets appeared to stablise after this but the international developments in the emerging markets once again exacerbated the funds outflow from the these economies.

All these negative developments kept market under pressure of sales and as a result BSE Sensex fell to 2810.66 on November 30, 1998 and further to 2804.03 on December 1, 1998. The S&P CNX Nifty and Jr. Nifty reflected the same downward movements. All stocks indices demonstrated bearish and gloomy performance during October to December 1998. The market began to recover during the last week of December 1998 on the support of FIIs and expectations for budgetary incentives for capital market and touched the highest of the year at 3784.11 on March 09,1999.

On a monthly average basis, BSE Sensex has shown a decline of 607.18 points or 15.2 per cent during 1998-99. The monthly average Sensex declined from 4006.81 in April 1998 to 2810.66 in November 1998, a fall of 42.6 per cent, but showed a rising trend thereafter finally reaching 3399.63 in February 1999. The Sensex showed uptrend throughout the month of March 1999 closing at 3739.96 at end March 1999. Monthly average for March 1999 was at 3784.11 (Table 2.15).

The S&P CNX Nifty which averaged 1159.35 for April 1998 climbed down to 817.75 by November 1998, registering a fall of 41.8 per cent. The index began to recover during the following months and touched 1078.05 during March 1999. Thus over the year of 1998-99, the monthly average of S&P CNX Nifty declined by only 7.5 per cent (March 1999 over April 1998). The BSE Natex which averaged 1760.96 for April 1998 persistently declined and reached as low as 1254.10 in November 1998 but improved to 1659.63 in March 1999, shedding 101 points (Table 2.15).


The firming up trend in the stocks prices in March 1999 was probably the result of optimistic perceptions of the market due to positive budget proposals like exemption of income of unit holder from income tax received from UTI as well as other mutual funds and exemption of dividend from income tax in the hands of investors in case of investment in US 64 scheme of UTI and other open ended mutual funds schemes provided such mutual funds invested more than 50 per cent in equity shares. Capital gains tax reduction from 20 per cent to 10 per cent also added bullish sentiments to the market. The Reserve Bank of India’s announcement of reduction in cash reserve ratio and Bank Rate and downward movement in deposit rates of commercial banks further added to bullish sentiments in the market by way of augmenting liquidity in the market.

Other factors which assisted the market in improving its performance particularly, from December 1998, include reversal of outflow of FIIs to positive net inflows, exchange rate stability, some increase in liquidity in the financial system compared to previous year, increased anti volatility measures, transparency measures and growing process of dematerialisation including better settlement system guided by the SEBI. The rapid process of dematerialisation of shares has been attracting FIIs investment (Table 2.15).

Image Keywords: business, business concepts, business finance, business metaphor, chart, close, close up, close-up, concepts, diagnostics, exchange, finance, finances, financial, financial planning, financing, graph, industry, invest, investing, investment, investments, life, market, metaphor, monitor, planning, risk, still, still life, stock, stock exchange, stock market, Stock Ticker, stockmarket, stocks, testing, ticker, Businesspeople various

The aim of this game is to make the participants reflect on the motives and methods of transnational corporations. It will help you understand how low in their hierarchy of priorities stand ethics, social issues, environment, fair competition.

The game also points out how interpersonal conflicts and animosities can influence company's decisions that affect thousands of people.


Who can play?

The game can be played by anyone preferably over the age of 15. The number of participants should be between 20 and 25.

Time and place

You need about 2,5 h in total:

1,5h to play the game

1h for discussion afterwards. You need enough space for the "companies" and the "Wall Street" so that they can sit in some distance and don't disturb each other. There should also be space to move around between the groups. The board on which the stock exchange graph will be drawn must be visible to everybody. You need:

PROBLEM 1
The production costs of your farm in Haiti rose by 10% because of the increase in salaries and of the adjustments to laws which regulate workers safety at work. Digifoot, a competing firm, has just opened a farm in China where salaries are lower and trade unions are weaker. In this way, their shoes cost 15% less than yours.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

1. You open a farm in China but leaving the one in Haiti at least one year.

2. You begin an advertising campaign on work conditions in Chinese farms to strike Digifoot competition.

3. You close Haiti farm and you open one in China.

4. You begin an advertising campaign of your shoes underlining that buying yours helps the poor people in Haiti that work for you.

What it means: Released monthly by the Department of Commerce, the retail sales figure (in millions) measures total sales of retail and food services nationwide. Retail sales are an excellent barometer for consumer spending, which fuels two-thirds of economic output. Any drop-off in retail sales indicates that consumers are reducing their level of spending and that harder economic times are likely.

What it means: The Producer Price Index measures the change in prices received by the original producer at the wholesale level. This index is used as a measure of inflation at the wholesale level and often indicates the price pressures that may soon be faced by consumers.

What it means: The Consumer Price Index measures the change in prices paid by consumers for a representative group of products and services and is used as an economy-wide measure of inflation.

Current Prime Rate:

* 5.25%
* What it means: The prime rate is the rate at which banks will lend money to their most-favored customers. The prime rate will move up or down in lock step with changes by the Federal Reserve Board.

Current LIBOR Rates:

* 1 Month: 2.42%
* 1 Year: 3.08%
* What it means: LIBOR stands for London Inter Bank Offer Rate. It’s the rate of interest at which banks offer to lend money to one another in the wholesale money markets. It is a standard financial index used in the U.S. capital market, which is used to set the cost of various variable-rate loans. It is generally used as a reference figure for corporate financial transactions.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange is close to breaking through a psychological barrier. The Tel Aviv 25 stock price index (the most closely watched index, covering the 25 stocks with the highest market value), which was affected -- negatively -- only briefly by the outbreak of war in July 2006, has been reaching new peaks ever since, and now, in early February 2007, is less than 3% below the unprecedented level of 1000.

The ongoing boom in Israeli stock prices -- now in its fourth year -- is a reflection of the growth process in the Israeli economy that began in mid-2003. Since stock prices are generally considered to be a leading indicator -- that is, they give advance warning of macro-economic developments, the accelerated increase from mid-January 2007 and the approach to the level of 1000 seems to indicate that economic growth in Israel will continue in 2007. And indeed, forecasts point to this happening, with expected Israeli economic growth this year a part of the optimistic picture for the global economy as a whole.

It is worth noting that in 2006, the increase in stock prices was less than in the previous two years: the Tel Aviv 25 index increased last year by "only" 12.4%, compared to 34.3% in 2005 and 22.6% in 2004. This slowdown in stock price increases took place despite the fact that financial investment from abroad (mostly in stocks) jumped considerably -- to $8 billion from $4.7 billion in 2005, as part of the overall dramatic increase in foreign investment in Israel last year. In other words, foreign investors seem to be more optimistic than Israeli investors about the future of the Israeli economy in general and the Israeli stock exchange in particular (a similar dichotomy between foreign and Israeli investors in 2006 also characterizes venture capital investment in Israeli hi-tech companies in 2006: the major part of the increase in this investment last year was by foreign VC funds).

Data have not yet been published on foreign financial investment in early 2007, so we have no means of knowing whether a continuing increase in this investment was a factor behind the positive stock price developments in January-February 2007. In any event, if the Tel Aviv 25 index soon breaks through the psychological level of 1000, this in itself could work magic for continuing prosperity in the Israel stock market.

Provided as a service to AICC by I-Biz -- Israel Business Information Services Ltd. For more information on I-Biz information services, visit www.i-biz.co.il or contact info@i-biz.co.il.

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Caesaria-based Mazor Surgical Technologies is expanding its US headquarters in the Gwinnett Innovation Park in metropolitan Atlanta. Having secured FDA approval, Mazor is aggressively rolling out its SpineAssist product to leading hospitals on the East Coast from its new location. Jerusalem-based CatchMedia established a facility in the Gwinnett Innovation Park in 2005.
*
IBM's Haifa development lab helped develop the cell broadband engine chip controller that powers the PlayStation 3 console, introduced by Sony-Toshiba in November that sold 197,000 units on the first day and one million within the first six weeks. The lab also played an important role in the verification process of the cell.
*
Research Triangle Park, NC-based Learning Machine Inc. has been appointed North Carolina distributor by Vigorous Mind of Mindfit, a leading brain training software product developed by Yokneam-based CogniFit. The product will be marketed to HMO's, assisted living facilities, health clubs, and senior centers throughout the state.
*
Yokneam-based Mellanox raised $102 million on Nasdaq last week at a $510 million valuation. The IPO attracted attention due to its fairly high value as well as the company's technology that develops semiconductor-based interconnect chips for boosting connectivity between enterprise IT resources.
*
The 2007 Super Bowl benefited from Israeli technology through the behavior pattern recognition program of New Age Security Solutions that was originally developed for Ben Gurion Airport and has now been adopted by five other major US airports. Wireless communications for media coverage at the 2008 Super Bowl has been awarded to Lod-based MobileAccess.
*
IBM has announced collaboration with Ra'anana-based Amdocs to help telecommunications service providers cope with changes in the industry to meet intensified convergence, consolidation, and competition in the marketplace. The companies will provide next-generation business support and operations systems, including customer, revenue, service, and resource management. Separately, IBM will also collaborate with Israeli Caesaria-based CeRoma to jointly develop, manufacture, and market a new processor for digital media applications.
*
Haim Shani, CEO of Ra'anana-based NICE Systems, has been named Hi-tech CEO of the Year by the Israel Management Center. Criteria included proven, long-term management achievements, business leadership, technological innovation, sales growth, and increase in the market as well as proven contribution to the community.
*
Israel ranks third in the world behind only California and Massachusetts in the level of 2006 hi-tech investments, according to Ernst & Young. $1.4 billion was invested last year, an increase of 13% over 2005.
*
The Lebanon war in mid-2006 cut Israel's GDP by 0.5%, half the preliminary estimate of a loss of 1%, according to the Bank of Israel. The GDP grew by an annualized growth rate of over 5% during the fourth quarter.
*
Ben Gurion Airport handled 8.8 million passengers in 2006, 4% more than 2005, according to the Israel Civil Aviation Authority. Most of the growth was due to increases in flights and added seat capacity by foreign airlines.
*
402 Israeli hi-tech companies raised $1.62 billion from local and foreign venture investors in 2006, 21% more than 2005 and 11% more than 2004, according to the IVC Research Center and the Israel Venture Association.

Almost 50 technology business leaders and AICC members attended the February 1st luncheon briefing at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce featuring BIRD Foundation executive director Eitan Yudilevich. Participants learned about the foundation's grant program to support joint venture R&D projects including the recent awards to ARRIS and Life Therapeutics whose executives shared case studies of their companies' collaborations with Israeli companies.

A Web-based portal will be launched this month that uses three-dimensional interactive "maps" to illustrate Georgia's bio- and high-tech industries as one of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce's initiatives to establish a worldwide reputation for the state as a technology hub. Designed by Atlanta-based GeoSpatial Metrics and Ramat Gan-based D&A Hi-Tech Information, the portal includes all current Web-based information about Georgia's more than 3,000 technology companies and directs it into industry-focused categories so that a visitor can access information based on his or her needs.

"The portal is a basis for showing the world what an innovative center we already are and bringing the capital and talent here that are necessary for Atlanta to grow," said David Hartnett, the Metro Chamber's vice president of technology. The Web portal was demonstrated last month at the initial meeting of the Chamber's new Technology Marketing Council that was attended by 200 leaders of the technology community.

Once visitors choose what type of bio- or high-tech company they want to learn more about, video-game-like imagery allows them to soar over a virtual metro Atlanta until they find the physical location of their chosen inquiry. Detailed company profiles and logos may appear, and some businesses will even have links to commercial-like videos shot by Atlanta production company Event Streams. The effort is designed to create a buzz around Atlanta's technology industry and attract venture capitalists and emerging talent to the city.

GeoSpatial and D&A Hi-Tech began working together to develop the Web portal after meeting each other during a trade mission to Israel in November, organized by the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Southeast Region. Hartnett was a co-leader of the mission.

Almost 50 business, government, and professional leaders attended an organizational meeting on January 17th to learn about the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce's plans to develop a strong support group in Nashville, Tennessee . At the meeting, Matthew Kisber, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development, announced that Governor Phil Bredesen is committed to leading a business mission to within the year.

Sponsored by Mike Shermerling of Choice Food Group and organized by AICC member Michael Pote, a medical technology consultant who works with Israeli companies, the luncheon event featured the Chamber's president Tom Glaser who led an interactive session on Israeli business opportunities and historical track record of success with Tennessee . The effort was strongly endorsed by Uzi Yemin, CEO of Delek USA, the Nashville-based subsidiary of one of 's most successful companies that owns over 500 gas stations/convenience stores in the Southeast, an oil refinery in Texas , and pipeline.

The session produced a series of objectives for the next 12 months that included:

* Recruitment and programming related to the Governor's Mission.
* A mini-business exchange that would bring a number of Israeli companies to Nashville to meet with potential business partners, investors, and customers around a specific industry cluster such as Healthcare or Automotive.
* Identification of leaders in the venture capital and investment community to learn about Israeli technology companies seeking capital to establish US operations.
* Gathering data on current Nashville-based business relationships and intelligence on top companies in the community that would be strong candidates for AICC assistance.
* Connecting with respected industry trade and technology associations in Nashville whose members could be candidates for business with Israeli companies.

This the first entry for our TSX system. We launched the TSX system with similar parameters as the US system. We started keeping track of performance on January 16, 2003.

The markets generally have been good; especially the commodity markets and some currency markets (Canadian $ in particular).

The TSX list has performed excellently as especially well in the past year as it has demonstrated high degrees of outperformance compared to the indices. The list currently has 13 stocks which is a nice figure. We do not have the same market capitalization parameter as the US system and thus we have some larger issues such as Royal Bank (RY) and Shopper's Drug Mart (SC).

Two of our most successful identifications have been the present top two ranked issues TCW and HCG. TCW is an oil services company who's stock price has risen from $20 to $79. HCG is a very successful secondary lender who's price has appreciated over 200% in the last 2 years.

We cotinue to see a nice mix of sectors represented in the list which is pleasing. Too many stocks in a sector can cause misleading results both to the positive and negative sides.

We currently see much more value in Canadian stocks and are in fact overweighted in this area compared to US issues. Predicted softening of the US $ is another reason for this tactic. We believe that the bull market in oil and other commodities will continue and therefore expect the Canadian equity markets to outperform their southern neighbours.