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HR Shaikh Non Profit Auditors

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:06:00 -0700

HR Shaikh has required skill set and expertise in the area of non profit audit. Non profit audit is basically audit of non profit organizations. These organizations do not function with a profit motive. Their motto is service. They usually have funds that are used for various activities and they are accounted for in the books of accounts. These accounts are audited periodically. Non profit firms must consistently demonstrate where it receives its funds from, what happens with the funds, where do they go and what percentage of it is used in charitable work. According to the regulations there is no official requirement for nonprofit audit. But it is a practice amongst most non profit organizations to use audit in their bylaws. The annual audit is usually a statutory component for closing the fiscal year and showing that the organization spent the money that was donated by its donors according to the mission or guidelines of the organization.

HR Shaikh specializes on non profit accounting audits. All the information can be sought from this link http://www.hrshaikh.com/Services-Audit-a.html. There is a designate treasurer who maintains the books of a non profit organization. There are other members of the board who are co signors of a check. Some non profit organizations require financial secretaries to categorize all the deposits received according to how donations are designated then to deposit the funds. The auditor is usually an external consultant. The auditor is familiar with nonprofit accounting but usually does not take part in the money management. The auditor performs the actual audit and he requires input from the person in charge of the books, the treasurer and the financial secretary.

For income, the audit essentially reviews procedures so as to ensure that there is a two person system is used to count out cash correctly and deposit it into the exact sub-accounts. The money in a non profit organization is usually accrued through donations or granted for specific purposes hence these funds must be categorized upon receipt. It is the job of the auditor such as HR Shaikh to confirm that the expenditure that is incurred is legitimate. The auditor uses all available information such as minutes of the meetings and approved budgets to determine of all the money spent received proper authorization. The auditor also reviews expense receipts provided by the member of the non profit or anyone who is using his own funds in order to purchase something for a specified budget. All receipts should be equal to the money reimbursed as approved by the organization’s board. Non profit organizations need to have an open book policy which makes it easier for scrutiny and examination. The job of an auditor such as HR Shaikh is to validate the money trail.

HR Shaikh is equipped with the personnel who have the experience and expertise to carry out the non profit audit in a smooth and cost effective way. They are accurate and timely. All the required details about HR Shaikh’s audits can be found at http://www.hrshaikh.com/Services-Audit-a.html

Non Profit Auditors, HR Shaikh Seyar, CPA

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:34:00 -0700

HR Shaikh, Seyar CPA has required skill set and expertise in the area of non profit auditor. Non profit audit is basically audit of non profit organizations. These organizations do not function with a profit motive. Their motto is service. They usually have funds that are used for various activities and they are accounted for in the books of accounts. These accounts are audited periodically. Non profit firms must consistently demonstrate where it receives its funds from, what happens with the funds, where do they go and what percentage of it is used in charitable work. According to the regulations there is no official requirement for nonprofit audit. But it is a practice amongst most non profit organizations to use audit in their bylaws. The annual audit is usually a statutory component for closing the fiscal year and showing that the organization spent the money that was donated by its donors according to the mission or guidelines of the organization.

HR Shaikh Seyar, CPA Financial Statement Auditors and Experts

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:28:00 -0700

HR Shaikh, Seyar, CPA LLP is a well-known name for financial statement auditors today and their expertise lies in catering to a number of industries and hence they are familiar with different sectors and their practices. The biggest advantage that comes with HR Shaikh, Seyar, LLP is the audit is proven to be cost effective and economical. The general practice is to identify internal control gaps and critically analyze them. Then they come out with a range of solutions to fix the issues. They provide number of services. The list can be found here http://www.hrshaikh.com/Services-Audit-a.html

An audit of financial statements is more commonly known as the review of the financial statements of a company or firm or any other legal entity. It can also include a government entity or a non profit entity. Once the review is done the auditors such as HR Shaikh, Seyar, LLP publish an independent opinion on the sanity of the financial statements. They provide an opinion on whether the statements were relevant, accurate, complete and fairly presented. It is important that the financial statements are prepared under certain guidelines set by the highest Accounting association of the country. The financial statement auditors check if this has been done too.

The authority over the audit of financial statements usually rests with firms with practicing accountants like HR Shaikh, Seyar, LLP. This is because financial statement audits require specialist financial reporting knowledge. The audit of financial statements is also referred to as one of the many attestations or assurance functions provided by auditing and accounting firms. Hereby the firms provide an independent opinion on published information. Organizations also employ or hire internal auditors for audit purposes. Their function will not be to attest to financial reports. Their focus is on the internal controls of the organization. External auditors may or may not choose to seek the assistance of internal auditors or place full reliance on the work that they have executed.

The audits that they perform add credibility to the assertion by a firm’s management that its financial statements fairly represent the firm’s position and performance to the organization’s stakeholders. The primary stakeholders also known as the principal stakeholders are the shareholders of an organization. There are other parties who would be interested in the opinion too. Tax authorities, banks, suppliers, regulators, customers and employees may all have an interest in ensuring that the financial statements that are prepared are accurate. Audits are designed in such a way that it reduces the possibility that a material misstatement is not detected through audit procedures. A misstatement can be a missing statement or false information caused by either human error or fraud. Audits are done because they add value by easing the cost of information asymmetry, not because they are made compulsory by law. Audit is a global concept but the practice differs from country to country.

Texas Sales Tax - Audit Exposure Review, HR Shaikh Seyar, CPA

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:00:00 -0700

The State of Texas is now routinely conducting Sales Tax Audits of businesses. Hence it is important for Texas based businesses maintain their Texas Sales Tax related activities up to date. As the probability of your business coming under an audit from the State Comptrollers’ office has increased almost 60 % it is advisable to have an Exposure Review prior to a potential Texa sales tax audit.

HR Shaikh Seyar, CPA (http://www.hrshaikh.com) one of Houston’s largest 25 accounting firms can help. Texas Sales Tax Audit Exposure Review is very important to determine what could be your potential tax liability could be if an audit is conducted on your company. The review will be helpful in correcting issues, if any. The sales tax audit review is a great tool to ensure the safety of your company in event of an audit. HR Shaikh Seyar CPA’s team of professionals will help to determine any necessary changes that may be needed if an audit gets conducted. The team pays personalized attention to each and every client and offers customized solutions that will help to minimize the tax liability in an audit process.

As a business owner it is important to note that once your company faces an audit that has resulted in a deficiency assessment, the possibility of your company getting targeted for audit increases many folds. Hence our audit help will be of enormous help to you for being prepared for the coming eventuality. Therefore make sure that you are able to get it right in the first time itself and not face an audit the second time from the State.

Our expert and proficient team will undertake many tasks during preventive audit such as,

Reviewing the record keeping and accounting of the company. They will make sure that all your records are proper and in order:

The team will review taxability issues;

They will review and evaluate the Sales Tax Return preparations done by the company.

Keeping them up to date is mandatory in case of a looming audit;

Calculate approximate Sales Tax Liability exposure in case of an audit.

Though the above list includes majority of points that our professionals will cover, there may be many other customized solutions that will be provided according to the company. According to the client’s requirement, each case will be reviewed by our professionals and experts and hence client specific solutions will be offered.

As clients are busy in the other aspects of the company, we at HR Shaikh, Seyar CPA provides complete taxing and auditing solutions for Oil Royalties, Business Valuations, Fairness Opinions, and other complex accounting issues. For more information on HR Shaikh CPA please call (713) 328-4000 or visit http://www.hrshaikh.com

Houston Accounting Success with HR Shaikh, CPA

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:37:00 -0700

HR Shaikh CPA, (http://www.hrshaikh.com/ is an expert on Texas Sales Tax, IRS Representation, Oil Royalities, and Business Valuation to companies that belong to diverse industries in diverse sectors. As an organization it is required to comply with the financial reporting requirements. HR Shaikh CPA assists companies in not only complying with these requirements but they also put their best foot forward to help the organization anticipate and resolve issues at very early stages in order to avoid them becoming blunders. Services provided by HR Shaikh include:

Texas Sales Tax Representation The IRS (Internal Revenue Services) is a bureau of the Department of Treasury, the body responsible for effective tax collections across the length and breadth of the United States of America. The tax laws applied in the U.S. are formulated by the Congress and are thus national in nature.The state of Texas too comes under the jurisdiction of the Texas IRS. To understand and comply with the aforementioned laws could prove to be a confusing affair for many people. In fact people not having a legal background might not even understand the foundation on which these laws are based or the reason behind its existence. To make the lives of such people getting caught in this web of laws and regulations is the purpose behind the founding of H R SHAIKH SEYAR ltd. One can gain easy access to their vast array of services by visiting their web site http://www.hrshaikh.com/HRS_ourservices_tax_b.html .

Payroll Management and Payroll filing – Most organizations today do not have an in house payroll management system. It is generally outsourced to someone like HR Shaikh who has the technical expertise. Payroll management is generally the information system that keeps the record of the information of salaries that are given out to employees periodically. They also file the pay outs and keep individual accounts of all the employees;

Accounting and Book Keeping services – Bookkeeping is nothing but recording of financial transactions. Transactions may include any of the following such as sales, purchases, income and payments that are made by an individual or an organization. Books are usually kept by the bookkeeper. Accountancy is a process performed by an accountant. It is an art of communicating financial information about an organization or a legal entity to its stakeholders such as shareholders and managers. The communication is usually in a statement format. The formats used are standard in nature. These statements in money form show the economic resources under the control of the business entity. Discretion has to be shown in order to present information that is relevant and reliable to a user.

Financial statement preparation in accordance to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) – For a business entity, all relevant information has to be presented in a structured manner. GAAP are called financial statements. They are standard ways of presenting economic resources of an organization. They basically include four kinds of financial statements. The Balance sheet which contains the assets and the liabilities of an organization, the Income statement which is also referred to as the Profit and Loss account of the business, a statement of retained earnings shows the company’s retained earnings over a period of time and finally A Cash flow statement that depicts the company’s operating investing and financial activities. It shows the company’s inflow and outflow of cash

Professional review and compilation services to medium and small firms

Compiled or Reviewed Financial statements, in accordance with Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review services issued by AICPA

Custom financial reports for Management and Internal Use – Custom financial reports are special reports that are used by the management to take important strategic decisions. They can be reports that show the health of a particular business or a part of the business or even a sub activity. It can determine the budgets and investment required and can be used for forecasting important business results.

More information on HR Shaikh CPA please call (713) 328-4000 or visit http://www.hrshaikh.com

Barrett International Technology Prescription Counting Device

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 11:16:00 -0800

The pharmaceutical prescription filling and validation device recently developed and patented by Barrett International Technology, INC., promises a revolution in how prescriptions can be counted and filled for patients. This innovation offers not only increased accuracy in how prescriptions are filled, since there is less likelihood of human error, but offers a more hygienic solution to prescription counting, since the possibility of spreading germs by contact with people is virtually eliminated.

Oftentimes at pharmacies, patients in need of their medications are confronted by abnormally long wait times due to short-staffed agencies and overworked pharmacists. Given this stressful environment, the capacity for human error in filling prescriptions increases, and patients needlessly suffer lengthy waits as a result. Barrett International Technology has come up with a unique solution to this problem, easing the process of filling prescriptions both for the patient and the pharmacist. Carolyn Barret's new device, known as the CSB, is a portable prescription filling device which would allow the pharmacist to program a given amount of pills to be dispensed per prescription, and fill multiple prescriptions at the same time, based on parameters set by a computerized interface. The CSB itself uses a tray at the top where a given amount of pills are dispensed by the pharmacist, and based on the algorithms entered by the programmer, the pills are calculated by weight and volume, and properly dispensed into a rotating tray of bottles at the bottom of the device. The pharmacist can then confidently remove each bottle, knowing that the proper type and amount of medication has been dispensed into the receptacle.

The portability and ease of use of this device are what set it apart from current pill counting machines available on the market, and its applications extend far beyond the pharmacy. For example, its portability could allow it to be easily used in situations where proper medical facilities or pharmacies are not readily available, such as in the cases of disaster relief areas, or military field hospitals. The convenience and accuracy of the CSB would thus allow rapid relief for people in need, while at the same time allowing medical professionals on duty to devote their time to other important matters.

The aspect of hygiene is another important advantage to the CSB. In places such as hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics, where ill patients are often present, the CSB would eliminate direct human contact with the medication being dispensed, thus assuring a germ-free environment for both the pharmacist and patient, and reducing the transmission of disease vectors. In today's health situations, where diseases such as the H1N1 virus and others have high rates of infection, the need for a safe and reliable means to dispense medication becomes even more paramount than it has in the past.

The rapidity, ease of use, and convenience of the CSB could also conceivably lower the costs of filling one's prescriptions. With more prescriptions being able to be filled quickly by a pharmacist, fewer hours would be needed to have prescription counts done by hand and double-checked, which accounts for much of the time spent filling prescriptions. This would allow pharmacies to lower their costs while allowing a greater amount of pharmacist-patient interaction, which is integral to ensuring patient compliance with proper self-administration of medication, as well as ensuring that a patient is fully aware of the ramifications of the medication they are to receive.

Finally, the portability and simplicity of use of the CSB set it far beyond the pharmaceutical counting devices currently available on the market. Current pill counting machines tend to be bulky, which would prevent their ease of transport into situations such as field hospitals, as previously mentioned. Furthermore, their cost is often prohibitive to all but the most well-funded organizations. The CSB is not only easily transportable, but also carries a lower cost than conventional pill counting devices, which makes it not only useful for traditional pharmacies, but could very well make it an integral part of future medical emergency situations. The ability to fill multiple prescriptions at once is another advantage which makes the Barrett International Technology CSB device a step beyond other industry predecessors; instead of filling one prescription at a time, the CSB can perform a multitask role. The CSB promises to revolutionize the way in which prescriptions are filled, and patients, pharmacists, and medical professionals will all benefit from this new patented technology.

Why I would choose Nancy Pelosi over Hillary Clinton!

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:42:00 -0800

We are currently in a ground breaking adventure. The adventure is, obviously, centered around political figures. And, we women can see a good cat fight and enjoy it because we have the leisure to do it when our work is done. The two kitties in the ring who are bearing their claws while being ostensibly on the same side, of course, are Hillary Rodham Clinton and Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi.

At this moment, Hillary Clinton is running a weak second in first women categories. Nancy Pelosi is not only the first woman speaker of the house, but she is also the first Italian American speaker of the house and the first Californian speaker of the house. That's a lot of firsts there for even Hillary Clinton to overcome. And, to add salt to the wound, Pelosi and her family own most of the real estate in San Francisco. That, together with her husband's interest in Apple computers and a California vineyard, makes Nancy Pelosi one of the wealthiest members of Congress.

Now, you might say that Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi have never actually sparred in public. But, then you might only be looking at the couple's suit feuds. If you are looking for the best dressed between the two, a daily rating can be given on whose suit is snappier and whose jewelry actually goes with the suit. Most women who are enjoying the cat fight would rate Nancy Pelosi as beating Hillary Clinton hands down in tastes in clothing, jewellery and accessories. Of course, Nancy Pelosi has a sophisticated, wealthy dress style probably due from her background of being the pampered pet of a doting political and real estate venture family.
Hillary Clinton comes off as needing to fire her seamstress. We are almost thinking that she has her clothes made from simplicity patterns and drawn on a graphic board.

What is really fun copy is to watch the facial expressions of both women who have crashed through the glass ceiling. Both Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi have frozen faces. When a smile breaks on one of their mirror trained masks, it is as if their was a crack in their make up. In that category of stony faced poker players, both women come out evenly matched.

But, in the cat arena of femininity and softness, Nancy Pelosi wins. She is naturally graceful and her reactions on screen ,at least, do not look contrived. When she talks to the cameras she does not look like she is running for office since she already has an office. Hillary Clinton looks like a female Nixon with arms straight up at the sides and basking in the adulation of the people because she's a genius and works harder than all of them. Nancy Pelosi is a born leader who approaches her public appearances as part of her role in communicating with her followers who know that she is somebody who works in the public sector because of choice and not because her husband did not bring in a big enough pay check. We all really heard Hillary Clinton use that reasoning in letting us know why she was condescending to work so hard for all of us.

Seems that the cat fight between Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi is only a secret because no reporter wants to be clawed by getting caught like the monkey in the middle. But, politically speaking, when Hillary Clinton was going to use her new position to try and impeach, get it impeach (as in getting even with the Republicans and Ken Starr for trying to impeach her husband, Bill Clinton) George W. Bush for what trumped up charge we don't know, Nancy Pelosi had the breeding to put a stop to it. Seems like Hillary Clinton has a get even attitude whereas Nancy Pelosi has a natural instinct to stop situations that are like the ridiculous becoming a farce.

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Is Hunch a Bigger Threat to Google Than Bing?

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:51:00 -0700

Haven't heard of Hunch? It is a fun, new "decision engine" that helps you decide things based on a series of questions and an algorythmic hunch. And while it will never get the traffic garnered by Microsoft's renamed... err... new search engine, it is definitely more of a "decision engine" considering that it actually gives you an answer.

Now, whether or not that answer is correct or not, well, that's another story. Personally, I prefer the Cohen Brothers movies to Christopher Guest's mockumentaries -- even if I thought This is Spinal Tap was absolutely hilarious -- but Hunch's hunch was that I'd like Guest's films best.

OK, so it is definitely not perfect. But it does have one thing over Bing. It's different.

And that's Bing's problem. Most people are going to visit Bing and think "so what?" It doesn't give superior results to Google, and it doesn't do anything different, so people aren't going to feel any need to switch.

At the very least, Hunch provides a different experience. And that's how Google will eventually be brought down. Either someone is going to come up with something very different under the hood that makes the results spectacularly and quite-obviously superior, or someone is going to come up with a whole different way to search the web.

In fact, Bing's biggest challenge to Google is through Internet Explorer rather than the search engine itself. Were Microsoft were to make Bing the default home page for IE installations and duplicate Chrome's ability to do a web search through the address bar, only using Bing instead of Google, then Bing would no doubt get a boost in market share. (And I'm sure some Microsoft engineers are cooking something like this up right now.)

But Bing itself? Microsoft will have to do a little bit better than provide the same basic user experience. Perhaps they should get into the hunch game too...?

Source: http://webtrends.about.com/b/2009/06/16/is-hunch-a-bigger-threat-to-google-than-bing.htm

Does Alternative Billing Mean Lawyers Can Tear Up the Time Sheet?

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:44:00 -0700

This past week, both Philadelphia-based Saul Ewing and Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis announced alternative fee arrangements (described here and here) for their respective clients. So does that mean that lawyers at those firms can toss their time sheets out the window, or clear those electronic billing programs off their hard drive? Maybe not. As discussed below, while proponents of alternative fees contend that they make time sheets irrelevant, others believe that firms still need to keep track of hours spent either to ascertain profitability or justify bills to clients.

Back in February 2008, Tom Kane endorsed alternative billing at Legal Marketing Blog, (specifically, the Jay Shepherd approach), but remarked that it seems foolhardy not to keep time records, if only to evaluate profitability of fees and levels of costs. Ron Baker, alternative-fee guru and founder of Verasage Institute heartily disagreed, asserting that many firms that employ alternative fees operate without time sheets. Miller explains that these firms know their costs up front, so they don't need to review them after the fact by looking over a time sheet. Instead of time sheets, Baker endorses fixed-price agreements and change orders, chief value offers and price-lead costing.

But what if clients don't go for that approach -- and insist on viewing a law firm's time sheets? That's the concern that Rees Morrison raises today at the Law Firm Department Management Blog. Morrison believes that corporate counsel has the right to request timekeeping records even where a firm works on a pre-agreed, set fee arrangement. Morrison addresses both sides of the records issue from the client's perspective.

If the law department decides that a fee for a service is acceptable, why should the law department be entitled to know how the sausage was made? If a law firm manages to make a big profit on the representation, having taken a risk on a set fee, that’s no client's concern. Also, part of the trade-off by a law firm for agreeing to a fixed fee is to be able to eliminate the hassle of detailed bills.

Still, if I were a general counsel, I would not want a firm to beseech me for additional money if a matter demands more work than they thought when they agreed to the fee if that firm has squirreled away some of my payments on very profitable matters. That situation assumes a portfolio of matters being handled by the firm. Additionally, I would want to know the economics of the services provided so that I can use that information if I need to find a replacement firm.

I understand Baker's point that timesheets are necessary or particularly meaningful for analyzing profitability. But if clients want to see a time sheet, are we, as attorneys obligated to provide one if a fee has been agreed to in advance? What's your view?

Source: http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2009/06/does-alternative-billing-mean-lawyers-can-tear-up-the-time-sheet.html

1.92 Million Reasons Not to Download Music

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:34:00 -0700

Stunned. That is my reaction to the news that a Minnesota jury has ordered a 32-year-old woman to pay $1.92 million to the music industry for downloading music. That is $80,000 per song for each of the 24 songs she is said to have downloaded.

The woman's reaction: "Good luck trying to get it from me. ... It's like squeezing blood from a turnip."

This was the second trial for the woman, Jammie Thomas-Rasset, in the first downloading case to go to trial. Two years ago, a jury ordered Thomas-Rasset to pay $222,000 for downloading the songs -- $9,250 per song. The judge declared a mistrial and Thomas-Rasset opted for a second go-around.

The woman's lawyer, Kiwi Camara, told reporters that when he first heard the verdict, he was "angry about it." He had felt confident that any liability finding would be for the statutory minimum amount of $750 per song.

There remains the possibility that the parties will still reach a settlement. A spokesperson for the music industry said after the verdict, "Since day one we have been willing to settle this case ... and we remain willing to do so." The music industry has made its point with this verdict and has nothing further to gain by chasing after money it will never recover. As for Thomas-Rasset, she should be looking for a way to put this nightmare behind her. Let's hope both sides find a reasonable way to bring this case to an end.

Source: http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2009/06/192-million-reasons-not-to-download-music.html

The Folly of the National Sales Tax

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:56:00 -0700

Facing a historic national debt that President Obama correctly characterized as "unsustainable," yet still desiring to implement some sort of national health-care package, US policymakers, notably Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, have recently hinted at the possibility of a national sales tax. More specifically, they hint at possible implementation of a national value-added tax (VAT) which would tax at a certain rate the difference between the cost of inputs and the price of the output along each individual step of production.

Beyond the factual objection that a national tax on consumption would fall disproportionately on low-income consumers who spend a greater percentage of their income on consumption goods and save at a lower rate than do higher-income consumers, the VAT is a particularly odious proposal for all consumers because of its effect on overall economic activity.

Because it places an extra cost onto every step of the productive process, the VAT necessarily decreases the marginal productivity of both capital and labor in literally their every possible application. Without affecting the actual scarcity of the basic physical resources available for use in an economy, a value-added tax simply makes each step of each productive process less efficient, with a certain fraction of output being destroyed by government. The final result of this economywide loss in efficiency is a real increase in the scarcity of both capital goods and final consumer goods on the marketplace.

The VAT is a rare and heinous type of government policy that attacks not the ratios of exchange between certain goods, but rather the availability of every single good produced within a national economy. Put another way, a VAT has the ability to increase in real terms the prices of every good legally produced and sold within a country's borders. By decreasing the real output derived from national resources in this manner, the VAT necessarily decreases the material standard of living for all of a nation's consumers.

Furthermore, these effects are not mere theoretical points but real effects that are certain to be felt by the everyday consumer. Any VAT that would be able to raise a sufficient amount of money to fund new health-care initiatives would necessarily place a significant burden on each step of the productive process, resulting in a noticeable decrease in the standard of living of every consumer.

The burden of a value-added tax would fall disproportionately onto those goods that require long productive cycles involving several processes and that result in a final good valued much more highly by society than the raw inputs they require — for example, automobiles and personal computers. Such goods are the end products of the types of long-term processes into which businesses tend to heavily invest capital and labor during the boom portion of a credit-expansion cycle, as Mises explained in his theory of the trade cycle.

During the beginning of a recession, as the insufficiency of real demand for these products becomes apparent to entrepreneurs, they must, in an attempt to return to profitability, decrease or halt the production of these long-processed goods, or reduce their price to market-clearing levels. However, by more harshly increasing the costs of long productive processes, a value-added tax would make that second option, a price reduction, impossible — or at least highly unprofitable and ultimately loss-inducing for makers of goods such as cars and computers. Therefore, the only alternative left to such firms facing a VAT in the event of a recession is to even more intensely halt their production of those goods, exacerbating the rise in unemployment of laborers within those industries.

Even if we were to ignore all other consequences of the value-added tax, this economic reality ought to dissuade President Obama from considering a VAT, as it will especially harm the already-ailing domestic automakers. The introduction of a VAT would require more direct subsidies to the American automakers, though perhaps that is no deterrent for President Obama.

As if this weren't enough, not only do all consumers face higher prices for everything, but the introduction of a VAT would tend to distort market signals of consumers' preferences between certain categories of goods. In the form of higher prices for highly-processed goods, a VAT sends entrepreneurs a phony signal that consumers prefer goods of high processing over those of low processing more strongly than they actually do. This is similar to Mises's teaching that a central bank's credit expansion, when not supported by real savings, falsely distorts the picture of consumer preferences between current and future goods. And, as was central to Mises's teachings, no economy can efficiently allocate resources without an unhindered and market-determined price system.

Unfortunately, because the general Keynesian theories of capital and interest and of consumer choice do not accurately describe the phenomena of resource allocation and of consumer choice, President Obama will not be offered any valuable advice about the potential catastrophe that would result from the introduction of a VAT.

The most striking irony of the fact that the president's economic team is considering the VAT is that it stands in stark contrast to their economic policy paradigm thus far. As neo-Keynesians, top figures from Bernanke to Obama himself have blamed the recession on insufficient aggregate consumer spending by the private sector. It is curious, then, that these top-ranking left-liberal politicians and economists would even consider the implementation of a tax policy that would, as its explicit goal, increase the real price of literally every consumer good and thereby depress the overall efficiency and activity of the American private sector.

Source: http://mises.org/story/3502

Why I Expect Serious Stagflation

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:32:00 -0700

When doing interviews for my new book on the Great Depression, a natural question comes up: will the present crisis turn out as bad as the 1930s?

My standard answer is typical for an economist: "yes and no." On the one hand, there were very specific reasons that unemployment broke 25 percent in 1933, and we don't have those factors in place today. So I don't think the official unemployment rate will get anywhere near that catastrophic level, though it could very well come in at the #2 spot in US economic history.

However, even though unemployment rates will not be as severe, I still predict that we are in store for a miserable decade of economic stagnation. Given all of the huge assaults of the federal government into the private sector in just the past six months, I frankly don't understand how anyone except true believers in Karl Marx can be seeing "green shoots."

What is perhaps worse, laid on top of the stalled output in goods and services, I predict Americans are in store for the worst price inflation in US history. Just as stagflation referred to the combination of high unemployment and price inflation rates in the 1970s — something Keynesians thought was impossible — we can use the term hyperdepression to refer to the mix of hyperinflation and a serious recession in real output. In the remainder of this article I'll explain my pessimistic outlook.

Why Did Unemployment Hit 25% in the 1930s?

The single biggest blunder Herbert Hoover made was insisting that businesses maintain wage rates after the stock-market crash in October 1929. Hoover adhered to an "underconsumptionist" theory of the business cycle, in which a small shock to business could end up cascading into a full-blown depression if market forces were left to their own devices. In Hoover's view, the worst thing businesses could do in 1930 would be to slash wage rates, because then workers would have even less money to buy products; there would be a downward spiral into oblivion.

The problem was that the United States was still on a gold standard, and so the Fed couldn't inflate the economy with new paper money with reckless abandon (the way it has done in subsequent recessions). When Americans began panicking and pulling their money out of the banks, the overall quantity of money (measured by aggregates such as M1 or M2) fell sharply, declining by about a third from 1929 to 1933.

Because of the shrinking money stock as well as people's desire to hold larger cash balances, prices in general fell substantially as well, falling at an annualized rate of more than 10 percent for portions of the Hoover years.

This is why Hoover's high-wage policy proved so disastrous. With everything except labor getting cheaper by the month, unemployed workers found it difficult to re-enter the work force. With sales and revenues plummeting, no employer wanted to hire workers at the same wage rate prevailing at the height of the boom in 1929. Because Hoover insisted that wage rates stay the same, even though the market-clearing wage rate was falling with productivity and general prices, the result was larger and larger unemployment. This is Econ 101.

In our present crisis, we don't need to worry about unemployment rates hitting 25 percent. Even though federal policies will reduce labor productivity, and even though Obama's pro-union policies will exacerbate "wage stickiness," over the next few years I predict large price inflationthat will tend to mitigate these factors. In short, most workers will still be able to find jobs, because Bernanke's running of the printing press will ensure that their paychecks don't buy very much at the stores. Consequently, it won't be as difficult for employers to justify taking on people laid off from other firms, compared to the situation in the Hoover years.

Why Real GDP Will Stagnate

I am not going to be foolish and give annual rates of projected real GDP growth; let me simply summarize my view by saying that the economy will be in the toilet for a decade. (Consult another economics PhD for a precise translation of those terms.)

I really don't understand how even some free-market analysts on CNBC and the like can talk about the recession ending this year, or who speculate that we've finally "hit rock bottom." If they really believe that, then I wonder why they spend so much of their careers praising free markets and blasting socialism? If all of Bush's and now Obama's enormous interventions only yield a few quarters of a moderately bad recession, then what's all the fuss about?

We have all been desensitized to the federal power grabs, because they have been so sudden and so sweeping. The human mind is able to adapt to any new environment fairly quickly.

Let's think back just one year ago. Remember when plenty of people were worried about the "unjustified" intrusion of the Federal Reserve into the Bear Stearns takeover? Contrast that to today, when the federal government is literally acquiring outright, common-stock ownership in major banks, where the precise accounting mechanism is a conversion of (TARP) "loans" that it forced some of these banks to take, and which the government (as of this writing) refuses to allow to be paid back.

Or how about this one: in the spring of 2008, the Bush administration pushed through a stimulus tax cut that cost a little more than $150 billion. Do you remember that at the time, this was considered a fantastic sum of money? Analysts on CNBC fretted about the impact on the deficit and interest rates.

Well President Obama's stimulus package was $787 billion; the expected federal deficit this fiscal year is $1.8 trillion. The CBO projects that the federal debt as a share of the economy will doubleover the next decade, from about 41% last year to 82% by 2019.

Beyond the massive shift of resources to the government, though, are the massive intrusions of federal power into various sectors. The feds have already partially nationalized the banking sector (a process started under that "laissez-faire conservative" George Bush); they have taken over one of the biggest insurers in the world (AIG) and two of the Big Three car companies; and they have taken over Fannie and Freddie and now control more than half of US mortgages.

On top of that, they are pushing through a plan to cap carbon-dioxide emissions — which allows the government to control energy markets, and — oh why not? — they are trying to nationalize health care too. Just to make sure investors around the world stay clear of the American economy, the Obama administration has overturned secured-creditor rights in the Chrysler fiasco and has hired 800 new IRS employees to put the screws to wealthy filers with international business operations.

It is no exaggeration to say that the last time the government expanded this much, this quickly, was under FDR's New Deal. And we got a decade of misery during that particular experiment. Why would things be different this time?

A Dollar Collapse, Just for Good Measure

As if all of the above weren't bleak enough, on top of that we have the very real possibility that the dollar will crash. Central bankers have openly discussed switching away from the dollar and into a "basket" of currencies; this talk would have been unheard of even 18 months ago.

It's true there are deflationary forces at work, but I believe Bernanke has overcome them and will continue to do so. First of all, look again at what he has done to the "monetary base," which basically captures how much in reserves Bernanke has pumped into the banking system:

I know, I know, there are all sorts of clever arguments economists can give, to explain why there's "nothing to see here, folks." But if and when the dollar collapses and we see 20+ percent price inflation, I think people will look back at the above chart and wonder, "How in the heck did we manage to convince ourselves to worry about deflation?"

For what it's worth, the monetary aggregate M1 (very liquid assets such as cash and checking deposits) rose by 17 percent during 2008. Remember, during the Hoover years the Fed was unable to prevent M1 from falling at a steep clip. We need to keep these differences in mind before drawing any conclusions about what happens to prices "during a depression."

One last point about deflation/inflation: If you have been reading CNBC headlines and listening to Ben Bernanke, you would get the impression that we are still experiencing "deflationary pressures" in 2009. But guess what? If you look at the non-seasonally-adjusted consumer price Index figures maintained by the BLS, you will see that from December 2008 to April 2009, prices have risen at an annualized rate of 4.3 percent. Yes, you heard right: if you throw out the "seasonal adjustments" and just look at the raw CPI figures, over the last four months the rate of price inflation is well above Bernanke's professed "comfort level."

Conclusion

I realize there is a temptation to give very gloomy forecasts, since that's the way to attract attention. You may think I'm succumbing to that here. But looking back over my arguments above, I don't see where emotion or sensationalism is creeping in.

Let me try one last thing to get my point across. Suppose in 2007 you were handed a piece of paper and a pencil, and were asked, "Come up with a list of bullet points for how to generate severe stagflation in the years 2010 through 2019."

Wouldn't your list look pretty similar to what has already happened?

Source: http://mises.org/story/3488

Analytics in the Cloud: 5 Lessons Learned

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:28:00 -0700

Every company—from the smallest start-up to the largest firm—needs to be agile in today's market to respond to changing dynamics and new competition. But these days it's often the smaller companies who are better positioned to adapt: as the barriers to entry have decreased, emerging companies now have access to data streams—and techniques for analyzing them—that used to be the exclusive province of the largest companies. At the same time, the CIOs of larger organizations now find themselves as much bound by their legacy systems and data as they are empowered by them. The costs of managing these legacy systems are getting in the way: too much of the budget goes to maintenance, and not enough is left over for new development and technologies.

Nowhere is this dynamic more apparent than with Business Intelligence (BI). As BI once again rises to the top of priority and wish lists, CIOs are struggling with the costs of meeting internal demands while keeping within their budgets, and still finding time for innovation. The costs of proprietary servers and storage devices, as well as the space and energy to manage them, are off the charts and highly visible to every CFO, CTO and procurement professional. Proliferating copies of data into multiple one-off analytical systems—seemingly one for every question to be asked—only adds to the costs, and even new "data appliances" can cost in the tens of millions to scale up as requirements grow.

Clearly, new approaches are needed to cost-effectively scale BI systems while meeting the demand for information on the front lines. Here are some examples of how forward-looking organizations are doing large-scale analytics in the cloud to break the logjam. (For more background on the cloud technology being discussed here, see CIO.com's recent article, "Greenplum Spins 'Enterprise Data Cloud' Vision".)

1. Hold the line with commodity hardware.

Most new analytic data engines run on inexpensive commodity hardware, transforming IT cost models and conventional wisdom about the costs of new systems. As Mark Dunlap, a consultant with Evergreen Technologies and a veteran of massive data warehouse projects at Amazon and Fox Interactive, puts it, "If you're using proprietary hardware, you're in a losing battle. Sooner or later, whatever company's developing that technology will not be able to keep up. We've seen it over and over and over again—they won't keep pace with what commodity systems are doing."

2. Buy capacity when you need it, not according to a closed appliance size

Clint Johnson, VP of Business Intelligence at Zions Bancorporation, says he's avoiding locked-in purchase models as they tackle massive data challenges. "We like the ability to add hardware easily, incrementally," says Johnson. "Specialized appliances we looked at scaled in very specific size increments." Not only are those new purchases large, they may be substantially greater than near-term needs—but payment is not scaled to usage, it's by total capacity.

3. Unused server power is a priceless resource -- use it.

Typical capacity utilization rates on distributed servers used for BI applications or data marts are often at 20 percent or below, leaving substantial system power unused. Newer software can harness that power with effective provisioning strategies. Brian Dolan, Director of Research Analytics at the Fox Audience Network, says, "With my Greenplum [cloud-based] database, I get to share 40 nodes with the production system. I use them when I need them, and then I give them back." Building "sandboxes" as needed—mapping servers (or cores) and data stores into the form needed—addresses the task at hand efficiently. A well-designed server pool, with the right software for flexible provisioning, becomes your internal "cloud."

4. Keep asking, keep changing -- and keep the data.

New practices in BI are echoing the "agile" methodologies programmers are finding effective. Complex techniques, statistical analyses, and new analytical models emerge and disappear. For example, Ryan Hawk, T-Mobile Director of Information Management, and his analytics team needed to build models of telecom usage—propensity to churn, revenue generation, and more— but were challenged because "data is a business case—we have to decide what we can afford to store on our MPP systems," Hawk says. "The hardest thing is having to purge data every 60 days—you can't do much trending."

By shifting their data warehouse into an agile, virtualized infrastructure, T-Mobile now has flexible access to more data and can analyze and rethink at will. Like Fox, they're able to build analytical "sandboxes" on-demand to discover new questions. Grab data to explore those questions. Tear it down, and do it again. Data is the other element of the "cloud;" keep it where you need it, and use as appropriate.

5. Run programs "close to the data."

Dolan's team at Fox might work with two weeks' worth of data: 100 billion lines, 10s of terabytes. Exporting, transforming, moving and distributing that data in chunks (extract, transform and load: ETL style), constrained by bandwidth and system load factors, used to take 3 to 4 days. Rebuilding all the joins, indexes and other structures within the data would consume another day or two. But with new in-database analytics technology, Fox can run programs directly in the database, eliminating the bottlenecks standing between his team and business insights. According to Dolan, "Inside our Greenplum database, setting up two weeks' worth of data takes us about 20 minutes."

Exploiting information has become an imperative for all businesses, and this continues to become even more important as data growth accelerates and new streams of precious information emerge. Supporting the teams who will provide agile response is a competitive necessity.

Merv Adrian is principal at consulting firm IT Market Strategy.

Source: http://www.cio.com/article/495019/Analytics_in_the_Cloud_Lessons_Learned_

To URL Shorten or Not to URL Shorten

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:13:00 -0700

That seems to be the question these days in the age of Twitter. Because Twitter only allows 140 characters per tweet, it is a good idea to use an URL shortener to save as much space as possible.

And there are a lot of good services out there that will not only allow you to shorten your URL, but even track how many clicks came through the shortened web address. TinyURL and bit.ly are among the best URL shorteners. And if you really want to get fancy, you can use awe.sm to customize your shortened URL, though it will set you back $99 a year.

One important but often overlooked feature of these services is the type of redirect. The 301 redirect tells Google the page has moved permanently, which means Google will count the link as pointing to the actual destination. This is important if you are posting a link to an article as it effects search engine optimization (SEO).

Perhaps the best question is whether or not you should be shortening the URL in the first place. Using one of these services is great for posting links on Twitter. After all, the standard URL will take up most of your message if not shortened. And they can be great for sending a link through email when the full URL might get cut off. They are perfect for Facebook updates and instant messages.

But that's about where they should stop. Occassionally, I'll see a blog or an article use a shortened URL as a link rather than the full web address. Heck, I've even seen this done on the New York Times website.

Here's the problem: there is no guarantee that a year from now that URL shortener is going to be around. Right now, they are all the rage with Twitter's popularity going through the roof, but don't expect all of them to be around for years and years. And what's going to happen to all of those links when the company is no longer around? Those 301 redirects turn into 404 page not founds.

So if you are writing a tweet, go for it. But for blog posts, articles and basic web content, stick with the full web address.

Source: http://webtrends.about.com/b/2009/06/11/to-url-shorten-or-not-to-url-shorten.htm

Restaurants on the Ropes

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:50:00 -0700

When Americans get stressed out, one thing they do is eat. But apparently not enough.

The dismal economy has punished retailers, with companies like Circuit City and Linens ’n Things going extinct and dozens of others losing money. Now it’s hitting their cousins in the restaurant industry, too. The Bennigan’s and Steak & Ale chains were early casualties, going belly up last summer. This year, with Americans cutting back on spending, sales at restaurants could fall by 10 percent or more. Analysts don’t expect widespread closures, but some chains are likely to close unprofitable outlets, cut back on service, and look for other ways to reduce costs.

As in retail, companies that help people save money will weather the storm better than others. Chains like McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Olive Garden, which offer ample portions at value prices, should do OK and maybe even pick up market share. It helps if they’ve been run conservatively, with low borrowing costs and cash held for a rainy day.

Other eateries are in a pickle. Fancy restaurants that had long waits a few years ago are now begging for customers and offering sales. Midpriced casual dining outlets are losing customers to cheaper fast-food joints. Even some dollar-menu franchises are suffering if they’re overdependent on mall traffic or clustered in regions where the economy is weakest. A key factor is debt: With sales down everywhere, many companies that borrowed heavily to remodel, expand, or buy other franchises now find that interest payments gobble up a nerve-wracking amount of cash flow.

Since debt is such an important menu item, we scoured data from ratings agency Standard & Poor’s to gauge which well-known restaurants are facing tough challenges. The following list represents companies that meet two criteria: They have a credit rating of B or lower, and S&P assigns them a negative outlook. Landing on this list doesn’t mean the company is likely to declare bankruptcy or close its doors. But these firms are vulnerable to deteriorating economic and financial conditions. And the negative outlook means there’s a chance S&P could downgrade the company’s rating over the next six to 24 months. Here’s our watch list:

Perkins Restaurant and Bakery. Company accountants could probably use some of the comfort food on the menu at this diner-style franchise, which has about 500 locations, mostly in the Midwest. Like other restaurants, Perkins has been able to cut food costs since they soared in 2007. But revenue has fallen, and the parent firm lost $9.7 million in the first quarter. S&P says the firm’s liquidity position is “tenuous.” With market share of just 8 percent, Perkins is more vulnerable to a lousy economy that competitors like Denny’s (22 percent market share) and IHOP (19 percent). Perkins also owns theMarie Callender’s Restaurant and Bakery chain, which suffers from similar financial burdens. Plus, Marie Callender is based in hard-hit California, which has been hammered by the housing bust.

A company spokesperson says Perkins has cut expenses by $7.3 million to help shore up its finances, delayed some remodeling, and called a halt to expansion.

El Torito. Slumping sales and steep debt are an unappetizing combo, especially in California, where this chain is based. The parent firm, Real Mex Restaurants, has bought time by extending a key credit line until next January. But S&P has questioned whether the company, owned by a group of private-equity firms, will have the cash flow to comply with loan terms over the next two years. Real Mex also ownsChevy’s, the Acapulco chain, the more upscale El Torito Grill, and several other eateries. All are facing the same woes.

Real Mex says that cost-cutting has helped sustain earnings, and it recently hired a new CEO to help turn things around. The company also announced plans recently to issue new debt that would help cover a major payment due to lenders next year. If that offering is successful, it would indicate investors' confidence in the chain.

Sbarro. Many of this pizza chain’s 1,070 outlets are in malls, where traffic is down and spenders are stingy. That contributed to a $5.7 million loss in the first quarter, more than double the red ink from a year ago. Interest payments on debt gobble up much of the company’s cash flow, leaving little margin for error. The company is especially vulnerable to any rises in food or commodity costs and to competition that could force prices down. With about 40 percent of sales coming during the Christmas season, the company will need strong December results at a time of high unemployment and weak spending. A Sbarro executive declined to comment on the company's financial prospects.

Captain D’s Seafood Kitchen. This chain’s thrifty appeal—“sit-down food at fast-food prices”—hits the right note during lean times. And aggressive cost-cutting has helped offset falling sales. But debt is still too high, compared with the company’s earnings. Parent company Sagittarius Brands got some relief last year from lenders who agreed to relax certain financial requirements. But the old terms go back into effect in 2010, and S&P doesn’t think the firm, which operates nearly 600 restaurants across the south, will be able to meet them. A breach could trigger higher borrowing costs or give lenders the right to call in their loans. The California-based Del Tacos chain, which Sagittarius bought in 2006, is under similar pressure. The company didn't respond to calls seeking comment.

Krispy Kreme. The famed doughnut chain got too chubby over the last 15 years, and it’s been closing unprofitable stores to help reverse several years of steep losses. Revenue has plunged since 2005, but cutbacks helped the company turn a $1.9 million profit in the latest quarter. Lenders have provided a breather by easing some of their requirements over the last two years. The temporary reprieve expires in 2011. By then, the company hopes that streamlining, profitable new overseas stores, and other measures will have strengthened its finances.

Spokesman Brian Little points out that Krispy Kreme has cut its debt by nearly 40 percent and has a $21 million cash cushion. The recession, he adds, isn't as daunting to Krispy Kreme as to other food chains: "We sell an affordable indulgence consumers will purchase when they can’t afford to treat themselves or their families to other luxuries."

Mastro’s. These elegant steakhouses may be among the nation’s best, but they’re also clustered in Arizona and southern California, where housing woes have char-broiled the economy. With just 7 outlets (including two Ocean Club restaurants), Mastro’s lacks the scale and geographic diversity of bigger chains like Morton’s and McCormick & Schmick’s. Sales have fallen along with customers’ net worth and corporate expense budgets, and Mastro’s cash flow is likely to get worse before the double-cut porterhouse ($68.50) comes back into style.

To cope, Mastro’s is scaling back expansion plans, and may only open four new restaurants by 2012, fewer than half its original target. “Returns to investors will be impaired,” says CEO Tom Heymann, “but doing this will improve our cash flow and still allow us to grow and meet our commitments to the banks.” And refrain from adding burgers and hot dogs to the menu.

Source: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/flowchart/2009/06/12/restaurants-on-the-ropes.html

Is Donald Trump Bankrupt ?

Mon, 18 May 2009 09:32:00 -0700

Let’s take stock at this point of the ongoing meltdown of the world’s economy. Forbes magazine has just announced that Microsoft mogul Bill Gates has 18 billion (not million, billion) dollars of his net worth over the last year. That put Bill Gates back in first place as the richest man in the world, followed by former Mr. World’s Richest Warren Buffett, who saw his net worth drop by $25 billion, or more than the gross domestic product of half the countries of the world. 1 Clearly, 2008 was not a banner year for the über-wealthy.

While everyone in the world has likely heard of Bill Gates, and maybe even of Warren Buffett (but that’s a stretch), there may still be no more famous member of the World Billionaire Club than Mr. Donald Trump. Affectionately known as “The Donald,” the 61 year old star of the TV show “The Apprentice” remains classified as a billionaire by Forbes. He’s ranked #450 of the world’s billionaires this year, with an estimated net worth of 1.6 billion (not million, billion) dollars. Of course, Mr. Trump has often disputed Forbes’ numbers. In 2008, he assessed his own net worth at more than double the 3 billion at which Forbes had him pegged.

But then, if Joe Six-Pack has learned anything these last few months, it’s that bottom lines in the hands of the truly wealthy perform some strange, trans-dimensional, dance. The average American is always sure exactly how much money he or she owes on their mortgage or, at the very least, their mortgage company is very sure. The cell phone bill does not “hover” around a certain figure. We would never think of asking our employer to set aside a few extra tens of thousands for our salary, “just in case.” Yet wealthy individuals, companies, and our own government have started to quote figures rounded to the nearest “billion” and, in some cases, “trillion,” numbers that leave us wondering if we’ve been invaded by aliens who do math with a different numbering system than we do.

Re-enter Mr. Trump. While Forbes rates his current net worth at around 1.8 billion, down from the 3 billion they assessed him at in early 2008, might his actual net worth be closer to, say, zero? In a year where solid, reputable companies like Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns have disappeared, and well-known banks like Wachovia and Wells-Fargo have had to be dismantled, anything is possible. And the signs of the Donald’s possible illiquidity are startling.

Followers of “The Apprentice” may well remember the two possible “rewards” for the first season winner. One was managing development of a golf course near L.A., the other supervising a new development on the site of the demolished Chicago Sun-Time building. The winner, Bill Rancic, chose the latter, but Mr. Rancic may well wish he could reconsider. The Rancho Palos Verdes Trump National Golf Course is doing quite well. The Trump Chicago Project, not so much. In fact a group of lenders to the project, led by Deutsche Bank, attempted at one point to sue The Donald over his troubled Trump International Hotel and Tower. Now, they’re willing to give Mr. Trump 90 days to start “making payments” on their loans. 2 After all, with the world economy in the state it’s in, better a promise of money than no money at all.

Not to mention the lawsuit over the failed resort-hotel in Baja, Mexico. The argument the investors intend to make in court is that they were not simply investing in any old hotel. They were investing in the Trump brand name. One investor bluntly said, “We went ahead with the project because it was a Trump project.” Or the ultra-luxury Waikiki Trump complex in Las Vegas, which was reportedly sold out in 2006 but now is finding that many buyers are unable to complete their sales, even at the risk of losing their deposits. 3 Or the fact that Trump’s Atlantic City Casinos have filed (again) for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, owing to the lack of interest in gambling right now. Stock market and otherwise.

But does this all mean that The Donald is really “down for the count”? Possibly. But then, many people reported the demise of the Trump empire in the late 1990s as well. Like the Energizer Bunny, Mr. Trump seems to keep on going. Everyone will need to wait and see whether Donald Trump will be hired again – or fired once and for all.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)
2 http://www.smartbrief.com/news/nareit/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=5B9398F4-781A-4183-90F1-005CA38CC153&copyid=2267B23B-428E-4D30-B9C1-C58E84D99C1E
3 http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090301/NEWS01/903010364/1001

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