SevenToTen - Blogging About Everything

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

1. Check your DUNS number

It’s a nine-digit identification number assigned by credit-rating company Dun & Bradstreet (DNB) that lets banks and other potential lenders see a snapshot of your company’s bill-paying history and general financial stability. To apply for one, go to D&B’s website and, under Customer Resources, click on “Get a DUNS Number.”

2. Clean Up Personal Credit History

Have a pristine personal credit history. For small firms, you are usually the guarantor of any loan a bank extends to your business, a loan officer will scrutinize your credit record. People who don’t honor their personal commitments generally don’t honor business commitments either. Macieira-Kaufmann notes.

3. Your planned use for the loan

Banks love to see a business purpose likely to boost revenues. They are also impressed if you’ve invested a significant sum of your own money in the business. It shows you have a stake in its success.

4. Cash Flow and Profitability

When it comes to your repayment ability, a bank checks out your firm’s cash flow and profitability. The issue of collateral doesn’t really come into play with small business loans, which are usually unsecured.

But in service businesses with few material assets, banks do sometimes consider accounts receivable to be a form of collateral.

5. Geographic location

The location of your business and the general economic condition, your industry and whether it’s growing.

6. Deposit Balances

It always helps to have your business account at the bank you hope to borrow from.

What is Warren Buffett thinking about Europe? The billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway chief will visit the Continent next month to scout out possible acquisitions of family-owned companies.

Angelo Moratti of Italian oil refiner Saras and Eitan Wertheimer of Israeli metalworker Iscar - a company Berkshire purchased in 2006 in its first overseas buyout - are arranging the trip, which comes as Buffet decides what to do with $40 billion in cash on Berkshire’s balance sheet.

Buffett said in Berkshire’s 2007 annual report that big acquisitions are necessary to keep returns up to par. “Though our managers may be the best,” he wrote, “we will need large and sensible acquisitions to get the growth in operating earnings we wish.”

Buffett has shown he prefers to buy into companies in which the owners are fully involved in operating the business, a preference that will no doubt help determine his itinerary next month.

The mammoth pay and disastrous performance of Countrywide Financial’s Angelo Mozilo, Citigroup’s Chuck Prince, and Merrill Lynch’s Stan O’Neal should be enough to make the public furious. Each CEO departed with $100-million-plus compensation after misadventures with subprime mortgages.

Now add the economic slowdown to the mix; ordinary Americans are worried about making ends meet while failed pooh-bahs rake it in.

The problem is that corporate boards can always find a way to pay the boss whatever they like. Over the past 25 years CEO pay has risen regardless of the economic or political climate. It rises faster than corporate profits, economic growth, or average workforce compensation.

A recent study by the compensation consulting firm DolmatConnell & Partners found that CEO pay in the companies of the Dow Jones industrials increased at a blowout 15.1% annual rate over the past decade.

A more sensible alternative to the current compensation system would require CEOs to own a lot of company stock. If the stock is given to the boss, his salary and bonus should be docked to reflect its value.

As for bonuses, they should be based on improving a company’s cash earnings relative to its cost of capital, not to more easily manipulated measures like earnings per share. They should not be capped, but they should be banked - unavailable to the CEO for some period of years - to prevent short-term gaming.

Oil hit another record high but has since pulled back. The dollar showed some strength and corporate earnings were pretty good.

Boeing blew away earnings estimates. Ford posted a surprise profit. And even though investors were disappointed by Microsoft’s quarterly forecast, they issued a healthy outlook for its next fiscal year. The worst of the credit crunch may finally be behind us.

No more major bombshells from financial institutions, a sign that the Fed’s six rate cuts since last September and massive injections of liquidity into the banking system may be working.

In fact, Merrill Lynch indicated yesterday that it would pay its dividend this quarter, relieving investors who were anticipating a cut. There seems to be cause for optimism about the markets. The Dow is active again and the bond market is not acting as if it is in recession anymore.

Bonds have fallen in recent weeks, raising the yields. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions and lower yields are usually associated as a sign of economic weakness. And for consumers, even though it’s still a painful time because of rising food and gas prices, the first of the government’s tax rebate has hit mailboxes.

Of course, it still is a rough economic environment. The surging price of food threatens to disrupt U.S. consumer spending patterns and the global economy. That’s where the Federal Reserve will hopefully step in. Many fear that more rate cuts could lead to a further weakening of the dollar, which in turn, could fuel more speculation in the commodities markets and drive food and gas prices even higher.

So higher interest rates, not more cuts, might be exactly what this market and economy needs. Hopefully, the Fed will send a strong signal to investors Wednesday that it is getting ready to sit tight.

Stocks futures rose as investors eyed a possible $22 billion deal for chewing gum giant Wrigley, an investor’s $170 million bid for more shares of Ford, and turned their focus to this week’s Federal Reserve meeting.

Investors are expecting the Fed to lower rates yet again at the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. Many economists expect the central bank will hold rates steady after that cut in a bid to keep inflation in check.

A slew of high-profile economic reports will come out this week - Tuesday (consumer confidence report), Thursday (Inflation issues for personal and income spending report) and Friday (government’s monthly jobs report).

Oil prices hit another record trading high near $120 a barrel after a refinery strike in the U.K. Shares of automaker Ford soared in pre-market trading after billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corp. said it would make a bid for 20 million shares valued at $170 million. The $8.50 a share offer represents a 13.3% premium to Friday’s close. Kerkorian, who already owns 4.7% of Ford, is looking to control more than 5% of the company.

Verizon posted first-quarter earnings results that met Wall Street’s expectations. Sales were up 5.5%, but shares were flat in pre-market trading.

In major deal news, Mars and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway are near a deal to buy chewing gum giant Wm. Wrigley Jr. for more than $22 billion. Microsoft’s deadline for Yahoo to respond to its takeover passed on Saturday, which means the three-month battle for Yahoo may soon turn hostile.

Also over the weekend, Continental Airlines said it would not pursue a merger with another carrier. Media conglomerate Walt Disney could be hurt by a controversial photo of 15-year old singing and acting superstar Miley Cyrus which appears in an upcoming June issue of Vanity Fair.

The photo which shows her posing topless, although with her chest covered by a bedsheet, was seen as too racy for the wholesome “Hannah Montana” franchise, which produced $1 billion in sales for Disney last year. Disney shares were up nearly 1% in early trading in Frankfurt despite the news of the photo over the weekend.

In global trade, Asian markets headed mostly higher. European shares also rose in early trading.

In recent years, a pseudoscience has emerged around the theory that left-partedness signals leadership potential, while parting on the right suggests a little something off-kilter. Among CEOs of the 50 largest companies in the Fortune 500, only three part their hair on the right. Here’s a sampling of top execs and their ‘dos.

1. Warren Buffet

America’s richest man and chief of the 500’s 11th-largest company comes across as the classic left-brainer: rational and assertive.

2. Jamie Dimon, J.P. Morgan

Banking’s alpha dog swooped in and got Bear Stearns for the fire-sale price of $10 a share. Was it moxie - or the left part?

3. Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo

As CEO of the $39 billion consumer giant, the leftie ranks No. 1 on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business list.

My blog focuses on economy and businesses but from time to time, I do have certain posts on fashion targeted at women. I mean, I can’t help but notice the latest fashion trends and bargain buys from my wife’s shopping activities, given that I am the one who always have to settle the credit card bills at the end of the month. I figure what is good for my wife must be good for women at large.

Economy and fashion actually goes hand in hand. Our economy is in the doldrums right now and jobs are at stake, so lots of retail stores are suffering. But since Mother’s Day is near, I believe my wife deserves some rewards and I don’t really begrudge her excessive spending during this period.

I notice some purchases from her on this website, Bandlet, so I checked it out and and found they sell lots of women’s authentic brand name apparel, BCBG, Dolce & Gabanna, Ralph Lauren, INC, Charter House, Tahari, etc.

Besides clothing, they also offer designer bags, sunglasses, shoes, and accessories. I am impressed at their amazing prices which are kind to my budget. Click on the Dress category and you will find lots of summer dresses that are as cute as can be. I chanced upon a pretty dress at only $20 - Belle du Jour (a green floral faux wrap dress) which will definitely look fabulous on my wife and this will be my little surprise for her.

Even if you aren’t into fashion, I think it is a good idea to check out this site. Dress to kill at only $20.00 and under. My wife is obsessed with Dolce & Gabanna and I think all girls love to stock their closet with this brand. Brandlet will offer you free shipping for orders exceeding $99. There is also a 30 Day money back guarantee if the products do not meet your satisfaction.

Having a husband and wife in the same business is tantamount to a rocky marriage. Experts feel that two CEOs who share management of the same business can be stressful.

On the other hand, spouses with separate businesses can be successful in their own regard and share their successes with one another without feeling like they are in competition.

Being a small business owner is often a 24/7 job. It is important to sit down with your spouse to discuss familial responsibilities. For instance, who will handle the household duties, such as cooking and cleaning? Who will take care of the kids if one has to stay home sick?

Love is not enough to get you through everything. Crystal clear over-communication should be the rule of the day.

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said Wednesday that his company’s $44 billion offer for Yahoo Inc. reflects Yahoo’s worth and the software maker has no plan to raise it.

“We know what Yahoo’s worth. $44 billion is a lot of money,” Ballmer said at a conference in Milan.

Ballmer said Microsoft is “prepared to move forward alone without Yahoo” if the bid doesn’t succeed. The cash and stock bid — valued at $44.6 billion, or $31 per share, when it was first made — is now worth about $43 billion, or $29.88 per share.

Without specifying a precise price, Internet pioneer Yahoo has maintained it is worth more to Microsoft even though its shares had fallen below $20 before the bid.

Citigroup delivered another quarter of devastating results, losing more than $5 billion due to troubles in its fixed-income business and higher consumer credit costs, adding it would cut an additional 9,000 jobs.

The New York-based company also recorded more than $15 billion in writedowns, with the lion’s share coming from subprime-related direct exposures. But investors cheered the news, sending shares of Citigroup more than 6% in early trading, as the results were not as bad as some had feared.

Citi, however, did surprise analysts by delivering better-than-expected top line growth. The company said revenue rose sharply to $13.22 billion from the previous quarter, still it remained at just about half of what it was a year ago.

At the same time, Friday’s results paled in comparison to the eye-popping $9.83 billion quarterly loss the company suffered three months ago - the worst ever recorded in the 196-year history of the firm and its predecessors.

Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit said he was not happy about the results, but noted that he believed that efforts to cut costs, sell non-core businesses and beef up risk management would pay off.

“I think you will see we are taking all the action you’d want us to take to maximize the value of this franchise,” said Pandit.

Since Pandit’s ascension to the CEO post in December, management has made great strides in shaping up what some critics have called the company’s bloated corporate structure.

On Thursday, Citi announced it would sell its commercial lending and leasing business to General Electric for an undisclosed amount. The company has also announced other major moves including the sale of Diners Club International and its stake in Brazilian credit card company Redecard SA.

Citigroup’s results wrap up what has been a particularly tough week of results for the nation’s largest financial firms. Merrill Lynch recorded a loss of $1.96 billion, after about $6.6 billion in new writedowns. The company also said it planned to cut about 3,000 more jobs.

Wachovia Corp. surprised Wall Street Monday with a first-quarter loss of $350 million, while Washington Mutual reported a loss of $1.1 billion, or $1.40 a share, on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase topped Wall Street expectations after reporting earnings of $2.4 billion. Still the results were just half of what they were a year ago.