A Rulebook For Selecting A Food Caterer For Your Corporate Conference

Planning a large corporate event entails matching a great number of particulars. Both you and your staff will have to select a location that can cater to attendees even while reducing the price and travel needs for the greatest number of people. You will have to look into accommodations and ground transporting to make certain those that attend have easy access to the venue. And you will have to employ a catering company you can trust to deal with the difficulties posed by a big event.

Unless you’ve worked with dependable caterers and event planners in the past, this last undertaking can be challenging. Very few catering companies have access to the equipment and employees necessary to satisfy the needs of a big conference, seminar, or convention. Below, we will provide a quick guide to help simplify the procedure.

Start Your Search as Early as Possible

Depending on the kind of event you’re planning, you may not know how many people may ultimately attend. Ticket sales, along with a forecast determined by earlier events, may help, but there will be an element of doubt; this can make it hard to hire a catering service.

Despite this challenge, begin looking as quickly as possible. Expert, well-regarded catering companies that handle large affairs typically become reserved early on. Waiting very long will restrict your choices and given that many food caterers let you adjust your food items and beverage minimums up to a month prior to your event, you are best off booking early.

Check Whether the Venue Has a Preferred List

A lot of locations keep a small listing of caterering companies with whom they’ve worked well before. Unless of course you’ve a strong personal preference for an unlisted firm, begin here; the firms on the checklist may already be familiar with the location, including any specific instructions by the supervisor. They will be less likely to make mistakes in the course of and following the event.

Request Prior References Of H! igh-Scal e Clients

A lot of caterers will claim they could accommodate a large trade event or conference, but have little expertise handling these kinds of events. Ask for referrals. Check with clientele who’ve hired the firm for massive affairs similar to the one you’re planning.

The references may likely have good things to declare about the catering company. Try to uncover additional details that can help you to determine whether or not the company is a great fit for your function. As an example, ask the clients whether or not they would have preferred to see anything done differently at their events; ask if they’d hire the food caterer down the road. Ask about places by which the caterer company demonstrated a bad performance.

Make Certain What The Food Caterer Is Going To Provide

Each and every catering company operates just a little differently. A few provide little more than the food and table delivery. Others will work tightly with the venue’s staff to make certain a sufficient number of chairs, tables, and table covers can be found. Still others may offer to organize the event with other distributors which can be involved with the food (i.e. delivery service, bartending staff, etc.).

Make sure you’re conscious of the products which will be handled by the catering service, and those you’ll have to address by yourself.

Make Note The Degree Of Expertise Throughout The Preparations

If you’re working with a food caterer that’s unfamiliar to the venue’s supervisors, observe their dependability. Are they on time for group meetings (in person or on the phone)? Do they seem to be structured? Do they make themselves accessible to you, or return your calls and email messages in a timely manner?

If the caterer is professional all through the negotiation and planning stages, they’ll probably show the same degree of professionalism during your function. Lateness, rudeness, and other traits are furthermore indica! tive of long term overall performance.

Finalizing the Last Details

Before formally employing the catering service, it is essential to clarify several “small” particulars. First, ask whether they can accommodate minor changes in timeline. If a speaker runs longer than intended, may the staff quickly adapt? Second, can the company supply veggie dishes, in addition to those that meet specific dietary needs (e.g. no nuts) for participants? Third, identify the lead individual with whom you should communicate changes and ask questions during the event.

Employing a food caterer for a large convention, trade exhibition, or fundraiser is different than doing so for a smaller function. Reference the tutorial above to select one that can dependably handle the job.

Looking for an event management company? Then visit wikipedia to get more info.

Pep Boys Earnings Preview

Pep Boys (NYSE: PBY  ) hasn't been able to establish an earnings trend, bouncing between beating and falling short of estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, Dec. 6. Pep Boys is engaged mainly in automotive repair and maintenance and in the sale of automotive tires, parts, and accessories through a chain of stores.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are bullish on this stock, with four analysts rating it as a buy and only one rating it as a sell. That rating hasn't budged in three months as analysts have remained unchanged in their opinion of the stock.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $523.2 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 5.4% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.13 per share. Estimates range from $0.09 to $0.15.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 82.1% assigning it an outperform rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars, with 79.4% giving it a rating of outperform. Fools have embraced Pep Boys, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 87 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Pep Boys, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Pep Boys's profit has risen year over year by an average of more than twofold over the past five quarters. Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows gross, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters.

!

Quarter	Q2	Q1	Q4	Q3
Gross Margin	25.9%	26.3%	26.1%	25.4%
Operating Margin	4.2%	5.1%	3.7%	3%
Net Margin	2.7%	2.4%	1.8%	1.2%

We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized service. Add Pep Boys now.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.

China to Kick Off $300 Billion Investment Vehicle for FX

(Photo: AP)

China is on the verge of launching a new $300 billion investment vehicle that would boost returns on foreign exchange reserves by setting up funds targeting two separate regions—the U.S. and Europe.

The vehicle had been planned prior to the onset of the European debt crisis, and was designed to boost returns on China's foreign exchange reserves by making more aggressive overseas investments, Reuters reported. The vehicle, according to two sources who declined to be named, is to operate two funds, one focused on U.S. investments and the other on European investments.

The new vehicle, details of which are still under discussion, would be affiliated with China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE). That is the portion of the central bank that is responsible for the daily management of China's $3.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves.

The U.S.-focused fund would be named Hua Mei, or China-US, and the Europe-focused fund is named Hua Ou, or China-Europe. Fund styles will be similar to that of the low-key Hong Kong-based Hua An, which in English is known as SAFE Investment Company Ltd., said the source, and through which SAFE has purchased stocks in dozens of overseas-listed companies.

Beijing has indicated recently that it intends to invest in the real economies of Europe and the U.S. aside from bond investments. The new venture will likely be Shanghai-based, according to the source, who said, "The company will issue yuan bonds. Then it can use the yuan to buy foreign currency from the central bank or even commercial banks for overseas investment."

The new vehicle is expected to have an arrangement similar to that of the China Investment Corp (CIC), the country's sovereign wealth fund. When CIC was created in 2007, China's Ministry of Finance issued 1.55 trillion yuan in special yuan bonds to swap yuan for $200 billion worth of foreign currency from SAFE as the initial batch of funds for CIC to manage.

Short Messaging Service (SMS) for Enterprise Messaging

SMS for Enterprise Messaging Value added services

Short message service, usually called SMS, is a globally accepted wireless service for enterprise messaging (mobile value added services) that enables the transmission of alphanumeric messages between mobile subscribers and external systems such as electronic mail, paging, and voice-mail systems.

The text comprises letters or numbers or an alphanumeric combination. SMS was created as part of the GSM Phase 1 standard. Each short text message is up to 160 characters is length when Latin alphabets are used and 70 characters in length when non-Latin alphabets such as Arabic and Chinese are used.

SMS comprises two basic point-to-point services:

• Mobile-Terminated short message (MT)
• Mobile-Originated short message (MO)

SMS Mobile-Terminated (SMS MT)

SMS (MT) are transported from the SMSC to the handset and can be submitted to the SMSC by other mobile subscribers via MO-SM or by other sources such as voice-mail systems, paging networks, or operators

SMS MT Services allow the deployment of various applications such as:

• Information Services (loyalty card members, delivery confirmation etc.)
• Real-time notifications and alerts (banking, finance and stock alerts, travel, sporting results)
• Direct Marketing offerings (promotions, new product announcement, events and shows, m-coupons)
• Ring tones, Logo downloads
• Quiz, live games

SMS Mobile-Originated (SMS MO)

SMS MO are transported from a MO-capable handset to the SMSC and can be destined to other mobile subscribers or for subscribers on fixed networks such as paging networks or Internet protocol (IP) networks (including the Internet and private e-mail networks).

SMS MO Services are typically used in deploying applications to receive information from Mobile users to an external short messaging entity, which is typically a computer connected to the internet. Such request for information is made by s! ending a n SMS from their mobile phones to a service number linked to the service of the content provider.

Typical SMS MO service examples are dedicated requests, voting or quiz applications. A customer can register his request for information e.g. Text Product ABC to +44 7979458584 to know the product details of the product or to text Yes to a mobile number to confirm presence in an event.

Why do enterprises need SMS based mobile data services?

SMS based mobile data services are not necessary for every enterprise or every division within an enterprise. As with any new communications/ IT application or service, the investment and cost of an implementation must be balanced by a sufficient economic return. Several research firms have stated that two to three years after a mobile data services implementation a company should see a positive return on their investment.

However, there are a few compelling reasons for enterprises to get on to tap the potential of SMS based mobile data services. For many enterprises, such wireless initiatives form ways to advance customer service, productivity, cost reduction, or simply functionality necessary to remain competitive. A good example is the financial industry where wireless services have played a role in maintaining competitive position in the consumer market. Many leading banks, stock brokers and mutual funds have already started such service in which their customers receive pre-defined business-rules driven alerts or notifications. These notifications or alerts are a result of SMS enabling of business processes. Such a service eliminates the need of conventional getting connected on voice, thereby reducing direct communication cost and indirect costs (time of people making voice calls) and complexity involved in the business process.

Of late, innovative and cost effective and business models for SMS based mobile data services have emerged by which the enterprises are not required to own the wireless communication infrastructure required for t! he said service. Instead, they get all the benefits by the hugely successful pay-as-you-go model. This reduces total cost of ownership of the new initiative.

There are a few Mobile Value Added Service Providers (MVASP) that have emerged in the past couple of years which provide high quality service as compared to operators, who do not focus in enterprise wireless messaging as the size of the market is sub-optimal from the perspective of operators. Moreover, the expertise required in providing high quality and end-to-end service requires expertise in both IT industry and telecommunications verticals which makes this service offering unique. Many enterprises globally are already benefiting from such SMS based wireless initiative to reduce cost and increase operational efficiency at work.

To deliberate and decide, whether SMS based mobile data services will provide tangible economic benefit to their business, there are a number of questions enterprises should ask can themselves. This type of strategising is a first step in defining the value SMS based mobile data services provide and is necessary to avoid initiatives that provide neat" capability without sufficient and early return. When evaluating your needs for mobile data services, questions to ask include:

• What all business processes, in which if the concerned person gets to know relevant information on the move, he/she will be able to take desired action?
• Is a significant percentage of an organisations work or workforce away from a fixed place of business?
• Is my enterprise ready for such a kind of initiative?
• Would such an initiative have the potential to reduce my total cost of communications?
• Can remote users easily access pertinent information from internal systems?
• What are my competitors doing with regard to wireless applications?
• Will using SMS based mobile data services improve my customer service?

Mobile data services are aimed to increase operational efficiency and reduce costs. When co! mputing the actual return on a wireless initiative, one must look at cost savings from increased efficiencies, productivity, customer satisfaction, and other such metrics. This is substantially more complex than discounting revenue generation, because many of the metrics are approximates and many of the benefits very subtle, but this estimation gives the most accurate measure of success.

Many companies provides mobile data services like ValueFirst Messaging Pvt. Ltd. www.vfirst.com is a leading enterprise messaging services company in India provides SMS on GSM/CDMA/GPRS also provides SMS sending software / applications services and products.

There are a number of metrics that will assist in determining the return of a wireless initiative. Take careful attention to assure that the metrics used relate directly to the type of solution. For example, when deploying SMSbased mobile data services for maintenance, look at the amount of time spent on a sales call. If billing is incorporated into the system, check the change in the billing cycle, to see that it has decreased. Some other metrics that may help measure the success of a wireless implementation are:

• Increased sales per employee
• Decreased time per maintenance call
• Increased customer service levels
• Reduced turnaround time
• Reduced communication costs

ECB Cuts Interest Rates Ahead of EU Summit

The European Central Bank cut interest rates for a second straight month in a policy meeting today, and may take additional measures to stimulate bank lending and fight off a recession.

ECB policymakers meeting Frankfurt today lowered the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 1 percent, matching a record low. They may also loosen collateral criteria to give banks greater access to cheap cash, said three euro-area officials with knowledge of deliberations, and might also offer longer-term loans than are currently available.

��They will have listened to the banks and will start some measures to alleviate some of the strains in markets,�� said Christoph Rieger, head of fixed income strategy at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. ��They will also keep open the option to go below 1 percent on rates, that��s no longer the magic floor.��

The ECB is focusing on getting banks lending again rather than increasing its purchases of government bonds, instead leaving it up to euro leaders to frame a “comprehensive” solution to the debt crisis. Later today, Europe’s leaders will meet in Brussels to frame the fifth “comprehensive” solution in 19 months.

ECB President Mario Draghi will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m in Frankfurt. Investors will be looking for signs that the ECB would be willing to step up its bond purchases to cap government borrowing costs if leaders agree on a concrete plan and timeline to stamp out the debt crisis.

Draghi said on December 1 that the ECB��s bond buying ��can only be limited.�� However, he added that, if governments move toward a ��fiscal compact,�� there may be room for ��other elements,�� without elaborating.

For now, the ECB will likely focus on addressing signs of a credit squeeze, which falls squarely within its remit. The central bank has ��observed serious credit tightening�� and is ��aware of the continuing difficulties for banks, due to the stress on sovereign bonds, the tightness of funding markets and ! scarcity of eligible collateral in some financial segments,�� Draghi said on December 1

The ECB is already lending banks as much money as they want against eligible collateral for periods of up to a year, and will likely add two-years loans to its arsenal today.

Shippers Face More Woes on Over-capacity (DRYS, DSX, GNK, AMKBF)

We’ve been watching the Baltic Dry Index, BDI, for a while now as it slides further and further down. The index, which measures freight rates for ships carrying commodity cargoes such as iron ore and coal, has slipped to 1,790 from about 4,200 in about a month and a half.? The drop in shipping rates has depressed the value of dry bulk shippers like DryShips, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS), Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX), and Genco Shipping and Trading Ltd. (NYSE:GNK). There’s even more bad news on the horizon for these shippers, based on some new evidence from A.P. Moeller Maersk (OTC:AMKBF).

Maersk Brokers have said that new dry carriers totalling 34.8 million deadweight tons, dwt, were delivered in the first half of 2010. Another 55 million dwt are on tap to be delivered by the end of the year. Maersk forecasts that 117 million dwt will be delivered in 2011.

The increase in tonnage increases competition for cargoes, and is almost certainly the cause for the dramatic drop in the BDI. Further evidence of the effect on new vessels is a report that three capesize ships, the largest in the dry bulk fleet, have been anchored in Singapore. When a large vessel is, essentially, mothballed, that means that shipping rates have fallen so far that it is no longer practical to keep a ship afloat. Capesize vessels are now being booked at $15,000/day, a price equal to the handysize carriers which displace less than 20% of capesize tonnage.

For a time, the falling BDI was thought to be connected to lower demand for commodities like iron ore. But iron ore shipments are currently stronger than ever. Seasonal demand from grain shippers helped hide the effects of the growing fleet size, which are just now becoming evident.

In a related development, demand for very large crude carriers, VLCCs, has also fallen. Day rates are down from $70,000/day to $10,000/day. VLCCs are capable of carrying up to 2 million barrels of crude, and as many as 74 ships were being used as fl! oating s torage for crude oil while the cargo owners wait for the price of crude to rise. Iran has recently released six VLCCs, with about 12 million barrels of oil, and sent the carriers to Europe.

New VLCCs are also being added a high rate, with 55-50 new tankers expected to be delivered by year-end. These deliveries are being offset somewhat as some 40 single-hulled tankers are removed from service.

The down market for VLCCs is expected to last through the rest of 2010.

DryShips and Genco are down about 30% since the beginning of the year, while Diana is off about 10%, although all are up slightly more than 1% in today’s trading.

The good news is that the collapse in the BDI probably does not indicate that the global economy is headed for the dreaded double dip. The not-so-good news is that the shipping companies are going to need an even bigger uptick in shipping than they’ve already gotten in order to soak up all the dry bulk capacity that’s coming.

Paul Ausick

Socialcast building better businesses with simple social tools

(gigaom.com) -- A simple emoticon can tell you wonders about the emotional state of your company, Socialcast and About.me founder Timothy Young revealed Thursday at GigaOM’s Net:Work conference. Socialcast experimented with a simple emoticon test in a Japanese factory, at the end of the workday asking each employee in an email to click on a happy, average or sad face, gauging how satisfied they were with the day’s work experience.

It’s a simple test, Young said, but it was also one that all employees could easily participate in. The resulting data points could be used to not only rate an individual employee’s satisfaction with his or her job, but also to help promote cohesion between team members and identify if certain groups or employees, such as graphic designers or salespeople, were becoming disenfranchised.

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VMWare recently acquired Socialcast, making Young VP of Social Enterprise. Despite the sophistication of its virtualization software implementations, Young said it has kept Socialcast true to its principles of providing simple business solutions can cut through the normally high level of complexity at an enterprise.

&ldq uo;We’re not really building software here,” Young said. “We’re helping people to unleash their power internally, become heroes and become more affective at their jobs. If we can provide really simple tools — not complex tools inside the workplace that they have to spend a lot of time training on and learning, trying to figure out how they drive value for their own jobs — if we give them really simple tools, they can use them to flourish.”

Photo by Pinar Ozger.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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• Infrastructure Q2: Big data and PaaS gain more momentum
• The Case for Increased M&A in 2011: Actions and Outlooks

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AutoNation: Insider and Institutional Investor Stock Sales in Third Quarter

Insiders are generally long-term investors due to restriction in making short-term profits. In contrast, wealth management institutions always have short-term investment. Wall St. Watchdog reveals information regarding the insiders and institutions which recently decreased stock shares of AutoNation Inc. (NYSE:AN).

SEC data indicate these insiders have sold AutoNation Inc.��s stock since 06/30/2011:

• Lampert Edward S: act as 10% Owner. On 10/28/2011, sold 1,222,456 shares, worth $49,203,900.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundatio: act as (See Footnote 5). On 11/10/2011, sold 914,898 shares, worth $30,987,600.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundatio: act as (See Footnote 3). On 11/08/2011, sold 833,020 shares, worth $29,788,800.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundatio: act as (See Footnote 2). On 11/04/2011, sold 617,833 shares, worth $22,594,200.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundatio: act as (See Footnote 3). On 11/03/2011, sold 594,396 shares, worth $22,176,900.

SEC data indicate that these institutions significantly reduced their stock shares of AutoNation Inc. in Q3 2011:

• VALINOR MANAGEMENT, LLC: On 06/30/2011, held 125,000 shares, worth $4,097,500. On 09/30/2011, held 0 shares.
• PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION OF COLORADO: On 06/30/2011, held 54,529 shares, worth $1,787,461. On 09/30/2011, held 0 shares.
• HANSEATIC MANAGEMENT SERVICES INC: On 06/30/2011, held 38,170 shares, worth $1,251,213. On 09/30/2011, held 0 shares.
• JEFFERIES GROUP INC /DE/: On 06/30/2011, held 37,039 shares, worth $1,214,138. On 09/30/2011, held 0 shares.
• TEXAS PERMANENT SCHOOL FUND: On 06/30/2011, held 31,511 shares, worth $1,032,931. On 09/30/2011, held 0 shares.

About the company: AutoNation, Inc. retails, finances, and services new and used vehicles. T! he Compa ny also provides other related services and products, such as the sale of parts and accessories, extended service contracts, aftermarket automotive products, and collision repair services. AutoNation operates throughout the United States.

Competitors to Watch:?Group one Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:GPI), Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG), Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH), Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT), CarMax, Inc (NYSE:KMX), Lentuo Intl. Inc (ADR) (NYSE:LAS), Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD), AutoChina Intl. Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUTC), General Motors (NYSE:GM), Toyota (NYSE:T), Ford (NYSE:F), CarMax (NYSE:KMX), AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) and America��s Car-Mart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRMT).

Sprint: RBC Says Hold On Cash Burn, Network Uncertainty

RBC Capital’s Jonathan Atkin this morning cut his rating on shares of Sprint-Nextel (S) to Sector Perform from Outperform, and cut his price target to $3 from $4, writing that the company’s entering its “peak cash burn” phase for several quarters, and there’s unlikely to be a “positive catalyst” during that time.

Atkin cut his Ebitda estimate for next year to $3.4 billion from $3.8 billion and ramped up his capital expenditure forecast for Sprint to $5.4 billion from $4.7 billion.

Cash will be drained by the construction of the company’s “Network Vision” upgrade to its facilities, and by spending on subsidies for Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone.

But the biggest issue he seems to foresee is the uncertainty about just how the company will successfully balance all the computing networks and technologies it now possesses or plans to implement:

We see significant uncertainty around the pace of Network Vision 4G implementation, iDEN termination, the ability to transition the iDEN customer base to CDMA, dual-mode FDD/TDD LTE phone availability and function, and the progression of Clearwire��s LTE build. Thus, the eventual margin accretion impacts from Network Vision, iPhone, and iDEN termination are difficult to project.

Sprint shares today are down 8 cents, or 3%, at $2.53.

Where To Go For Help And Advice To Start A Business

The Internet is a great resource for people who are thinking of setting up a home business - as well as all the articles you can find with practical advice, there are also many forums, where you can read about others' experiences, and ask questions.

Scary as it might seem to be getting advice on anything from the government, most governments go really out of their way to produce all sorts of easy-to-understand material on starting your own business. Encouraging you in business is a great way for them to both strengthen the economy and increase tax revenues.

Depending on your area, you might find that local government agencies are also keen to give you help and advice, and might even have some kind of 'small business centre' that you can visit.

Mentors are usually volunteers who think it would be nice to offer local businesses help and advice. They often have years of business experience, and can be really useful - if you find one, hang on to them.

Always willing to help and sadly neglected in our 'wired' age, you really should talk to a librarian. Libraries generally contain all sorts of business books and resources that they'll be able to point you towards, and they'll be more than happy to do research into obscure areas for you.

Pricey as they might be, lawyers know all about starting businesses - they've almost certainly done it thousands of times over. It can be well worth paying for an hour of a lawyer's time and just asking them every question you can think of.

A less expensive alternative to lawyers, accountants also know their stuff, especially (obviously) on the financial side. If you want your business to be profitable, you should take on board what your accountant tells you - and if you don't have one, you should get one. By the time they've helped you navigate through all the tax mazes, they'll almost certainly have made their fee back for you anyway.

If you think your business would be an attractive proposal to peo! ple who back businesses for a living, then you can try going to a 'business incubator' or some other kind of investor with your idea. If they like it, they'll often have a quick process set up to get your company up and running as soon as possible.

Work at Home

If you are tired of your present job, laid off, want to spend more time with family, and want to be your own boss, it is possible to work at home. Home jobs can include finance relates jobs such as bookkeeping, writing jobs such as copywriting, computer related jobs such as graphic artist, customer service related jobs such as sales, and professional related jobs such as architecture.

In trying to decide what kind of home business to start, you should do research to see if the business can be successful. Look at competing businesses and see what they charge. Read books, and search on the Internet. Also if you live with people, make sure you have their support for your home business. Have a spouse help with the kids. Explain to the kids how they can help make the business a success. Make sure you have enough money saved before you start to work at home. If you were a regular contributor to the household income, have at least six months' salary saved.

A mission statement can help define the purpose of you work at home business. A mission statement consists of your goals for the business. Define your business and write where you hope to be in six months, a year, and so on.

You can also write what income you hope to make. A mission statement can be changed as your business grows. Try to set a regular schedule for your business. You will feel more professional if you have certain times devoted to your work. Set aside a place to work. Try to make a home office and have the necessary office supplies. Don't be shy about setting prices. You shouldn't overcharge, but you shouldn't under price your work either.

When you work at home, it's important to keep up with your bookkeeping. Send out invoices as soon as possible. Record your expenses such as phone and Internet bills. Network with other people in your field.

Besides online communication, attend meetings, conferences, and trade shows. Choose a good business name, but don't choose the same name as another business. Determine w! hat busi ness structure you want, sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation.

If you need financing, look at loans, lines of credit, and grants. See if you need insurance coverage for your business. Determine if you need to set up a business account at the bank in addition to your personal account. Figure out how much you need to spend on advertising with online and print ads, products( pens, paper, clocks, calendars) with your business name on them, sales kits, and other promotional ideas.

The biggest part of starting your home business is to have persistence and patience. There will be failures and setbacks, but as long as you do the proper research and listen to your customers, you can have a profitable home business.

This Week's 5 Dumbest Stock Moves

Stupidity is contagious. It gets us all from time to time. Even respectable companies can catch it. As I do every week, let's take a look at five dumb financial events this week that may make your head spin.

1. Netflix buries the lede
A funny thing happened with the way Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX  ) describes itself this week in its press releases. Instead of referring to Netflix as a place with "more than 25 million members" around the world, Netflix is now serving "more than 20 million streaming members" around the world.

Yes, Netflix is now keying in solely on its streaming subscribers, but why 20 million? Are things worse than last month's guidance suggests? Netflix had 22.93 million streaming subscribers at the end of the third quarter, and its guidance calls for it to close the current quarter with 21.6 million to 23.5 million streaming couch potatoes.

One can argue that Netflix favors round numbers like 20 million and 25 million, but earlier this year it had no problem referring to itself as a service with "more than 23 million" members worldwide.

2. It's all about the Ohhhhhh
Overstock.com (Nasdaq: OSTK  ) is backing away from its O.co rebranding.

After months of confusing shoppers with its shorter domain through ads, apps, and even the O.co Coliseum in Oakland where the Raiders, A's, and Golden State Warriors play, Overstock is going back to its original moniker.

It will still keep O.co for its mobile and international initiatives -- and even the stadium name -- but it's retreating quickly to Overstock.com for the holidays.

A company executive confesses to Advertising Age that too many people confused O.co with O.com (which is currently not available for registration). I'm sure the folks at Advertising Age had a good laugh about the botched strategy that will continue to send mixed messa! ges.

3. The price is right at GameStop
GameStop (NYSE: GME  ) shares took a hit after another disappointing quarterly report yesterday. However, this is the second quarter in a row that finds the company sticking to its fiscal 2011 profit guidance, while hosing down its revenue and same-store sales growth projections.

This isn't a matter of margin resiliency. GameStop's guidance is getting worse. The video game retailer has been buying back its stock like there's no tomorrow. The move whittles away at the shares outstanding denominator in the EPS equation, masking the weakness in the numerator (i.e., earnings).

There is nothing wrong with share repurchase plans, especially if a company is able to buy back stock at the bottom. However, physical distribution -- and the resale of physical goods -- isn't a good long-term bet in the realm of video gaming.

4. Linked out
Corporate-minded social networking website LinkedIn (Nasdaq: LNKD  ) completed its secondary offering this week, but it was flooded by a larger number of insiders selling than the market originally expected.

Secondary offerings aren't fatal. It's a popular course these days for companies that go public with a limited number of shares offered, only to hit the market with a secondary offering at higher prices several months later.

Insiders selling shares aren't dilutive, but they do beef up the float. In short, the thin supply that was orchestrated before is now no longer a factor keeping the shares afloat. Given LinkedIn's lofty valuation -- the shares are trading for 258 times next year's earnings -- don't be surprised if the stock is trading lower a few months from now.

5. Joe DiMaggio hangs up his fund-managing cleats
Shares of mutual fund giant Legg Mason (NYSE: LM &nbs! p;) sli pped 3% yesterday, worse than the soft market as a whole, after the announcement that legendary fund manager Bill Miller would step down as co-manager of the Legg Mason Capital Management Value Trust. He'll continue to serve as chairman and co-manage a smaller fund.

There's no one that can take away Miller's amazing streak. His flagship fund beat the market 15 years in a row from 1991 through 2005. This is unlikely to happen again in our lifetime. It's a hitting streak of DiMaggio proportions. However, the fund's performance since then has been abysmal. The fund has lost badly to the S&P 500 in four of the five past years, including a gut-wrenching 55% defacing in 2008. The same fund that once watched over more than $20 billion in assets four years ago is now a $2.8 billion vehicle today.

Peter Lynch has been able to carve out a guru career because he went out on top at Fidelity Magellan. Miller won't have that kind of marketable luxury, making it odd that Legg Mason shares would get pounded on the news.

If you want to track these companies to make sure that they don't make another dumb mistake soon, consider adding them to My Watchlist.

• Add Overstock.com to My Watchlist.
• Add Netflix to My Watchlist.
• Add LinkedIn to My Watchlist.
• Add Legg?Mason to My Watchlist.
• Add GameStop to My Watchlist.
  
  

5 Steps To Successful Joint Ventures

JV's are THE MOST preferred and fastest way to increase sales and cash flows.

It's no longer a secret!

Everyone knows a good JV is the master key to online success.

But... why many people are failing to use this master key? Why so many website owners are not able to make use of this powerful strategy?

Here are some reasons:-

1) Other marketers are NOT WAITING for your JV offer. Before sending your JV offer, make sure to address the question 'What's in it for the JV Partner?'. Unless you give a compelling reason, most partners are not looking forward to your offer. No, it won't work that way...like, you offer one of your products for free and your partner will gladly endorse it to her list. No, it won't.

It takes time to craft an irresistible offer. The offer should be beneficial to your potential partner and her customers/subscribers.

Take it from me... I told you it takes time... but it's definitely possible.

2) Many JV offers are passed onto the 'recycle bin' with even being read (I told you... they are NOT waiting)

Some leading marketers get about 200 JV proposals every week! May be more. Most of these JV offers doesn't catch the attention of the busy marketer.

Some are lost due to SPAM email filters.

Solution?

Follow-up is the key. If you consistently follow-up, your chances of getting the attention of your potential JV partner is very high. Usually a second email will get the response.

A mixed-mode follow-up is sure to get higher success rates. An initial email followed by another email reminder and a phone call should normally get you going.

3) Another strong de-motivating factor is NOT sending personalized JV offers. If your proposal does not 'speak' directly to your partner, it's chances of succeeding are very thin.

That's why I told you earlier, it takes time to create your JV proposal. You need to visit your partner's website, subscribe to their newsletter, study their online content and read their publ! ications and articles before you attempt to draft your proposal.

Your JV proposal should address your potential partner directly, using their name. Mentioning a few things about their website, products, ezines or articles in your offer will surely catch their attention.

4) JV partners are not your affiliates. Differentiate your resellers with your strategic JV partner. To drastically raise the success rate of your proposal, offer a higher commission than your affiliates.

For example, if you are offering a 50% commission for your affiliates, your JV partner should be offered 60% or more.

5) Targeting a large corporation for your JV is a surefire way to failure. First, try and do several JV's with businesses similar or smaller than your own and build a track record. Then you can approach bigger businesses with a record of your successes.

Large businesses have large problems everyday to tackle. They have struggled hard to build their enterprise. They have their own range of products to sell and keep their customers happy.

However, if you have a compelling story to tell, along with factual proof of your claims, it will definitely bring you windfall profits.

I'm not discouraging you to keep away from these giants. I'm just telling you the right way to approach.

You see friend, I've revealed to you some key tips on Joint Ventures. Now, it's up to you. Follow these rules and create a compelling offer and I'm sure you will succeed in making highly profitable Joint Ventures.

No Cheaper Shot at Costco

Costco (Nasdaq: COST  ) is impervious to negativity. Although the discount retailer missed analysts' expectations, investors are taking the news in stride. Anybody who was waiting for a temporary plunge in Costco's stock price in order to take a position will have to wait a little longer.

Fiscal first-quarter net income inched 2.6% higher to $320 million, or $0.73 per share, including charges related to settling an income tax audit related to its Mexican joint venture and a contribution to a coalition supporting the reform of alcoholic beverage laws in Washington state; combined, these charges dinged earnings by about $0.07 per share.

Costco's net sales surged an impressive 13% to $21.18 billion, with same-store sales increasing by 10%. Excluding the effects of gas price inflation and foreign currencies, comps increased 7%.

Although Costco's shrinking margins contributed to the profit falling short of analysts' expectations, maybe the reason investors are taking the news in stride is the fact that Costco's sales increases are impressive in the current environment. Despite the fact that Costco recently raised its membership fees, it doesn't look like it's pulling a Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX  ) and alienating loyal customers, since membership fee revenue increased by 7.5%. While this is below the 10% fee hike, it is near enough that I don't worry about an exodus of customers.

Costco is one of the strongest retailers out there; that's one of many reasons I purchased the stock for the Rising Star portfolio I'm managing for Fool.com about a year ago. It's also a longtime Motley Fool newsletter service favorite.

Clearly Costco is holding its own in this difficult, highly competitive retail environment against low-priced rivals such as Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT  ) , Best Buy (NYSE: B! BY  ) , Target (NYSE: TGT  ) , and Big Lots (NYSE: BIG  ) . Costco was a major winner among the retailers that reported November same-store sales last week, too; its comps increased 9%, while Target's jumped just 1.8% and J.C. Penney's (NYSE: JCP  ) fell 2%.

If some investors were secretly hoping for a big miss so they could grab a stake at a better price, there's no such cheap shot at Costco right now. The stock is trading at 20 times forward earnings, quite higher than big-box peers such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy. However, Costco's an exemplary company, renowned for growth and execution, so it's still worth the premium price.

Are you aware of a company that's described as the Costco of Latin America? Check out the details by downloading the special report "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2012" free of charge.

Why Are No Bankers in Jail?

It’s the lingering question about the financial crisis, writes MoneyShow.com editor-at-large Howard R. Gold.

Why are no top executives of major Wall Street banks in jail more than three years after Lehman Brothers collapsed? Why have none even been charged with crimes?

Surely, someone must be guilty of something. Enron and the corporate scandals of the 2000s and the savings & loan failures of the early 1990s each resulted in more than 1,000 criminal convictions.

But this time is different, and I wanted to find out why. So I spoke with several federal prosecutors from the S&L and Enron eras, the people who actually brought successful criminal white-collar cases.

They told me it boils down to proving criminal intent beyond a reasonable doubt, resources, and commitment.

Let’s start with the first point, which was made on 60 Minutes last week and in The Wall Street Journal, where a former FBI official, David Cardona, said the Justice Department had decided to let regulators “take civil-enforcement actions”—like, say, the SEC’s actions against Citigroup (C), which Judge Jed S. Rakoff threw out last week—rather than go for criminal prosecutions, which have a much higher burden of proof

• Read Howard’s piece on why the SEC needs to do more to take on big Wall Street firms.

Samuel Buell, a professor at Duke University School of Law who was a lead prosecutor on the Department of Justice’s Enron Task Force from 2002 to 2004 told me the challenge in these cases is “coming up with strong evidence of criminal mental states.”

In other words, “you knew that you were putting out [material] that was false and misleading and you did it anyway” he said.

That was what the government did with Enron top executives Kenneth Lay (who died after being convicted),! Jeffrey Skilling (who is appealing his conviction), and Andrew Fastow (who co-operated with the government, pled guilty, and served time).

Enron’s finances were in some ways as complex and sophisticated as the derivatives trades made by the big banks, and the consequences were huge.

“Everybody recognized at the time that this was a cataclysmic event for the financial system. We had never seen a Fortune 10 company blow up overnight,” Buell explained.

But at Enron, there were blatant misstatements by top executives who clearly knew things were worse than they said they were.

There were also clear victims—investors and employees who lost their life savings in the company’s 401k plan. “In any fraud case you need a victim,” said Buell. “In Enron, you could tell a story of mom-and-pop investors who were deceived.”

During that time, CEOs of companies like WorldCom and Adelphia Communications also were convicted and sentenced to long prison terms.

But in the financial crisis, the questionable transactions were conducted by big banks with other large institutions, whose executives presumably should have known what they were buying—and even that the banks might short the very instruments they were purchasing. The rest of us were just collateral damage.

• Read Howard’s piece explaining Goldman Sachs’ (GS) many conflicts of interest.

Linking top executives to specific instances of fraud is a big problem, says Joshua Hochberg, who ran DOJ’s fraud section during Enron and is now a partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge in Washington, DC.

 “How do you tie them to the actual fraudulent mortgages or sale of products they knew were bad?” he asked. (Obviously that could be different for the mortgage originators themselves, like Countrywide, if the allegations in the 60 Minutes piece were correct.)

!

That wasn’t a problem with the savings & loans. “The thrift savings cases largely involved people [profiting] directly from the loans they were authorizing” said Hochberg.