Consumer Confidence

Earlier this week, the Conference Board announced July’s Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) at 112.6, its highest level since August 2001 (Consumer Confidence Hits 6-Year High). The CCI is a lagging indicator, reflecting where the economy has been, but not necessarily where it is going. Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center states:

“An improvement in business conditions and the job market has lifted consumers’ spirits in July”

The monthly survey from which the CCI data is compiled, was completed on July 24th, two days before the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 310 points. Yesterday, a fluctuating week for Wall Street ended with the DJIA falling 281 points and government data demonstrating weaker than expected job growth, and unexpected rises in unemployment (Job growth weaker).

There was a net increase of 92,000 jobs in the month, down from 126,000 added in June, a reading that was revised lower in the latest report. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a 135,000 gain in July.

The unemployment rate was 4.6 percent, up from 4.5 percent in June. Economists had forecast that the rate would remain unchanged.

The events from the past week suggest consumer confidence has peaked, which compounds the ongoing credit issues.

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Participating in conversation

Today I had an opportunity to meet with an old friend of mine, whom I have had numerous discussions with over the years. Reflecting on today’s and other conversations I have had, these are four short tips on how I participate.

Understand the concepts:

I have learned that details constantly change depending on the audience, and think of conversations as a pyramid. The top or “point” is a broad topic and the base expands exponentially with ideas, people, and continued conversation. This emphasizes a mindset that discards pre-conceived notions and focuses on progressive change.

Listen:

Listening is a simple form of feedback that provides an opportunity to learn from every conversation that you participate in. I listen by engaging my audience with consistent eye contact and ask questions about what they discuss. What I have found most difficult is reserving my personal opinion until I am asked, but find it refreshing to have productive conversations while saying as few words as possible.

Know your audience:

How you receive and provide feedback requires an understanding of the audience you are speaking with. Adaptability to a situation provides an open forum where both parties can build a continued two-way discussion of words and ideas. This open-mindedness allows for better management, products, and relationships between two parties; however, all feedback should be constructive.

Know where you add value:

Understanding your industry, art, product, and etc allows you to have the right conversations. Collaborate with those that have different strengths than you, ask the right questions, and the results will be positive. In addition, you create new contacts when questions arise in the future.

When utilized together, the preceding will help you participate and lead future conversations.

Technorati Tags: conversation, organic, coworking

Facebook Makes an Excellent Banking Medium

Globalization. From Forbes Magazine to Fast Company, and every blog in between, globalization appears imminent. With the web bringing people together at an exponential rate, people will become less dependent on physical location. Communities of creative talent are developing worldwide, and are using the web as their infrastructure to talk and collaborate. With a number of web applications for tech geeks to play with, Facebook has taken a different approach, and built the infrastructure.

From an article on CNNMoney.com:

The short version is that Facebook is taking its two major assets - its 24-million-members (growing at about 150,000 per day) and its strong technology underpinnings - and making them available to all comers.

The banks that I have collaborated with are all focused on their respective communities, from the neighborhood to the world. Facebook built a broad community comprised of college students, high school students, and businesses, and has opened its doors to developers providing an e-commerce platform open 24 hours, 7 days a week. This is an excellent opportunity for banks to provide services to this community from balance inquiries to bill payment. In is mobile banking a piece of the puzzle, I discussed Geezeo and the services they are providing to college students. They have partnered with CashEdge, which provides “online financial applications for banks, credit unions, and wealth management firms”. Their service is targeting college and high school students, and plan to offer a broader range of products in the future.

Mobile commerce is already prevalent in South Korea and Japan. China has become the newest home to creative talent. The use of mobile social networking is prevalent in India. Facebook has 24 million members with limited international access.

Who wants to offer financial services?

Technorati Tags: Banking, Facebook, Finance, Geezeo, Mobile Banking, service

How to Buy Real Estate

For those that read my twitter messages, you know that I had tremendous difficulty getting to Washington, DC a few weeks ago. Unfortunately I discovered sub-par customer service, by no fault of the two employees I was dealing with. It is frustrating that a service I need is unavailable to me because I do not have a credit card. Like many people, I inappropriately used my credit cards in college so I have been responsible for two years.

On this sunny Saturday morning, when I needed a credit card swiftly, I went to the only place that I thought could help. The customer service representative I spoke to was unable to assist me with securing a credit card; she allowed me to vent my frustrations for a few minutes, and made me feel better.

Reminded of the ideas I talked about in my introduction, I listen to feedback and discuss what I learn. This website has allowed me to freely express my ideas, and this community has helped me every step of the way. Now, I need some help of my own.

In my post, Real Estate Cash Flow and Sensitivity Analysis, I discussed my process for assessing real estate value. The data reflects this post at PhillyBlog.com. However, there are people who want to help including Kelliann’s, The Black Sheep, The Bishop’s Color, and Monks. My neighbors and I are doing everything we can.

Technorati Tags: Banking, community, entrepreneur, Real Estate

Is Mobile Banking a Piece of the Puzzle?

Check out Geezeo Mobile; which allows customers to combine their deposit accounts, and receive up-to-date balances via text message. The company plans this service to be part of a larger personal finance portfolio, which has not been released yet. I like the concept, but think text messaging is limited to this application and important notifications from your bank. What I would like to see are traditional online banking services; including availability updates, balance transfers, and bill pay, become available on mobile devices. I think that the key to mobile banking is to make it a part of the total package, which can easily be scaled when demand increases in the future.

Technorati Tags: Banking, Mobile Banking, Geezeo

What Financial Services are Needed by the Web Community?

One trend that is abundantly clear when one, or a select group of people suddenly have an influx of income, is that they mismanage those funds. These issues apply to athletes, entertainers, lottery winners, and start up companies; just to name a few. An excellent post in The Funded’s advice section titled “Pick the First Investors REALLY Wisely” states:

Your first investors in the angel round or Series A will set the tone for your business and all of your fundraising going forward in a big way. These investors will be your long-term partners in any future funding event, helping your company secure future rounds, or, in the worst case, sabotaging future rounds through indecision or desire for control.

Unfortunately, the discussion on this topic continues behind closed doors but the knowledge to be gained is invaluable across business sectors.

My experience in business has taught me that it is imperative to focus on a community and offer the service and products that will benefit them, not you. I have learned that many of the young entrepreneurs in the web community want to maintain their creative control, while having access to office resources, health benefits, and capital when needed. This is just a short list but I ask you, the web community, what financial services do you need?

Technorati Tags: Banking, community, entrepreneur, Financing, service, startup company

Goodwill: why does it become impaired?

When performing analysis on a company that has changed / is changing ownership, goodwill is a balance sheet indicator to watch. In its simplest sense, goodwill is the purchase price of a company less its book value; or sum of total assets less total liabilities. My question is; can goodwill amortize? According to Statement 142 from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), it cannot. Instead, the acquisition is tested annually for impairment, which predominately occur irregularly and in varying amounts.

Goodwill as a term was used to reflect the fact that an ongoing business had some “intrinsic value” beyond its assets, such as the reputation the firm enjoyed with its clients. The accounting sense of goodwill followed as a plausible explanation of why a firm sells for more than the value of its net assets.Goodwill is difficult to assess in cases where personal contact is important. An accountant who sells his practice would not be able to guarantee that all of his clients would transfer to the buyer. When purchasing a business of this nature it is important to be sure that provisions are made for an adjustment in the sales price after an initial trial period to see if the client base has eroded.- Goodwill - Wikipedia 

This brings up a question: if goodwill is amortizing; or at least being impaired on a year-to-year basis, what is causing it? Is it the loss of a trade name? Did a principal / rainmaker decide to leave after acquisition? Was the company overvalued? The answer depends on the industry, type of company, and etc.If you have feedback, please get the discussion going.

Technorati Tags: banking, goodwill, impairment, commercial, industrial

How to Start Business

“The Internet is a pretty amazing tool for business—so long as you know how to use it. It is essential to understand that the Internet doesn’t work like more traditional forms of media. The Internet has changed the way that businesses and consumers interact. In order to help you understand this new paradigm here are a few of the key concepts essential to success on the Internet - especially in the blogosphere.”
Chris Pirillo

I can’t say it better than Chris Pirillo.

Continue reading How to Start Business by Chris Pirillo

Technorati Tags: coworking, Independents Hall

Mobile Banking: It’s Important.

I came across an article from JOIS Inc about the importance of Mobile Banking; which has been implemented by Bank of America, Citibank, and Wachovia.

“Currently there are around 200Million mobile customers in USA , out of which great deal of customers already using text messaging ( aka SMS) and Web browsing using Mobile devices. First we would like to address what any technology innovation brings to industry or its customers. Like internet technology,Mobile technology also brings advantages and disadvantages.”

This company offers a service that is important to my friend Alex Hillman. Recently we were discussing the redesign of a local Bank’s online banking software, and his disappointment with their service. Alex and his friends are constantly on the go, and require mobile access to account balances, paying bills, and transferring money. Once implemented, the opportunities are endless; including the ability to instantly notify customers about fraudulent transactions.

I am interested to see how many other banks implement this service.

Technorati Tags: Alex Hillman, Banking, JOIS Inc, Mobile Banking, mobile, web 2.0