Casual Articles

Human Resources Which Will It Be?: Self-Service Pre-Employment Background
During the last number of years, a variety of Background checking systems have offered automated self-service systems where all the Human Resource personnel has to do is type in the search order and wait the appointed amount of time for the search to be returned to their email address. It seems simple enough, and for many companies no doubt it is preferable to the vagaries of human contact and the subsequent chance of human error. In fact, in a perfect world this may indeed be the more efficient way to order your background checks.However, as the more cognizant among us have come to realize, this is far from a perfect world and the seemingly perfect systems have their flaws. While some of the more experienced HR personnel may find it easier to order their background screening searches through automated systems, other human resource people may find it troublesome, costly and very time consuming. Essentially, what you are doing as an HR person is the work that should be allocated to the background checking service. You are using that background screening service’s system to order and conduct the research yourself. You have taken as much as thirty percent of your office time, in order to transform yourself into a self-service employment screening system. You are incurring hidden costs and overlooking desired services.If this is not incredibly time consuming, then you should factor in the mistakes you and your assistants make while conducting background screenings in the course of the month. Orders come in all the time where there are spelling mistakes or typos on names and relevant information. There are overlapping search orders. There are orders for searches on candidates who are al

lar steel products for the energy industry. Even though the stock traded up in the $48 range yesterday, I am looking at what it closed at, which is $45.76. The last time that it closed over $46.50, which was back in April, the stock shot up close to $52, then slipped down a bit and then traded up to the $55 range and then it nosedived to the $45 range a few weeks later. So there may be something here, you just need to be in tune to the trading on the stock, just like Lone Star, just pick your entry and exit points before hand and stick to it.

Other stocks that made nice moves on Tuesday include Dean Foods (NYSE: DF) which traded up $1.35 to close at $36.05, Apple computer (NASDAQ AAPL) traded up $1.32 to close at $58.32, Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) traded up $1.25 to close at $52.69, Wellcare Health Plans (NYSE: WCG) traded up $1.18 to close at $49.48, Hologic (NASDAQ: HOLX) traded up $1.42 to close at $36.94 and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) shot up $2.66 to close at $51.69.

Under Ten

Other stocks that made moves on the upside under ten bucks include MicroFinancial (AMEX: MFI), an equi

Funny Side to Outsourcing!
Once upon a time, the CEO of an outsourcing company decided to take an international tour to visit the company’s clients, prospects, investors and well wishers. Here are some excerpts from the CEO’s diary on his travels:Breakfast with Client AClient A: “We like your company because you’re so focused.” CEO: Our goal is to always remain focused and provide you ‘value added’ services. Client A: But, we feel your company is too small and we do not want to be a big part of your business… CEO: Our goal is to grow this company aggressively so that you are one of ten large clients, not the only large client Client A: But, we do not want you to grow that large, because we may not continue to get such customized service CEO: Our goal is neither to grow so large that we cannot provide you with customized service nor to remain so small that you become a large part of our business Client A: What size are you looking at then? CEO: A couple thousand people over a couple years Client A: Our other vendor with a few thousand employees is not able to provide us with the type of service you are providing, so we do not want you to grow too large. But we don’t want you to remain too small either… CEO (sighs inwardly): You’ve had awful weather in the past few days with all the rain, snow, wind… Client A: How is the weather in India? CEO: Hot. We do have rain spells that cause havoc… Client A: Will that affect my operations? CEO: Not once in the last 6 monsoons. We provide transportation to all employees. Client A: What if your transportation breaks down?Lunch with Client BClient B: We like your company because you are focused, and you prov

It’s Wednesday June 14, 2006, and we are trying to get over the hump of the trading week but the worry still looms across the board. Metals have been dropping like a rock, Gold and Silver have dropped over 20% from their highs, and this is partially due to the decrease in demand from the jewelry industry and the decrease in demand from India.

India has been a big buyer of precious metals across the board, this emerging market was a big catalyst in the metals craze. Now that along with the other slipping emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, China, South Korea aka the “BRICK” countries, India has tighten their belt. So supply and demand has come into play. Those highflying metals stocks have been knocked down but we could see a slight rebound in the coming weeks.

Companies that are based in the “BRICK” countries and trade here in the United States, across the board have been evacuated from, the money flow out of these companies have caused them to slip almost on a daily basis. But it may be time to start to look at these companies again just to get a handle on those companies that were guilty by association and dragged down.

The Nasdaq has fallen for the 8th straight day, today may mark number 9 and that is something that hasn’t happened since 1984. While the Standard & Poor's 500 closed at a seven month low yesterday. This is all due to concerns that the FOMC will raise interest rates, so hang in their because there are gems in this rubble that you may want to pick up, you just need to be patient.

In the alternative energy sector, you have a company that will begin trading today and they are in the Ethanol game. VeraSun Energy Corporation (NYSE: VSE) The Company has Ethanol plants in both Iowa and South Dakota. They sell a branded fuel, VE85, at service stations in the Midwest. Now this is a pure play in the Ethanol arena, but this is one of three Ethanol companies that will be taken public shortly. Even though the initial budge has come from Capitol Hill, that is not enough to drive the investors to the frontlines of these new issues. So the timing may be wrong and these new issues just may put a ton of pressure on other publicly traded Ethanol companies once they hit the market, such as Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ: PEIX).

But it could have a ripple effect and trickle down to other alternative energy companies that may be involved in the solar power arena.

Tropical Storm Alberto turned down the burners before it hit Florida yesterday and did not pose the danger than most forecasters predicted. So the storm never made it to Hurricane status, and just dumped rain on the areas near Tallahassee, Florida.

Movers and Shakers

Some major movers in yesterdays trading session included Maverick Tube Corp (NYSE: MVK), the stock soared to close up $16.99 at $62.65 after they agreed to be acquired by Tenaris (NYSE: TS) for over $3.19 billion or $65 a share. Tenaris made this an all cash deal, which made it even more attractive to the board of Maverick Tube.

Diodes, Inc (NASDAQ: DIOD) shot up to close up $4.94 at $38.39, this was based on the semiconductor company announcing that they were increasing their second quarter guidance, So they expect growth of 10-12% as opposed to about 3%, so in other words they are looking for revenue in the vicinity of approximately $82 million compared to first quarter revenue of $73.6 million. Earlier this year the stock traded up from $33 to hit $41 but once it broke that level it tried for $42 and then in the mid $43 range it hit a ceiling and fell sharply to the $32 range and that was on good earnings. So keep that in mind if you jump into this one as that same ceiling may still exist.

Lone Star Technologies (NYSE: LSS) traded up $2.94 to close at $46.54, now there is no news out and the stock traded almost triple the daily volume, trading close to 2.8 million shares. Now I need to lay something out for you on this one, the last time that it traded at $47.55 which was on March 10, 2006, the stock shot up to $62.99 by mid April but came tumbling down shortly afterwards. So this may be one to look at just plan out your exit point before diving in.

Here is another stock that traded over triple their average volume, NS Group, Inc (NYSE: NSS) which traded up $1.21 to close at $45.76 on over 1.4 million shares traded. Now the company produces seamless and welded tubular steel products for the energy industry. Even though the stock traded up in the $48 range yesterday, I am looking at what it closed at, which is $45.76. The last time that it closed over $46.50, which was back in April, the stock shot up close to $52, then slipped down a bit and then traded up to the $55 range and then it nosedived to the $45 range a few weeks later. So there may be something here, you just need to be in tune to the trading on the stock, just like Lone Star, just pick your entry and exit points before hand and stick to it.

Under Ten

Other stocks that made moves on the upside under ten bucks include MicroFinancial (AMEX: MFI), an equip

Cheap Internet Banner Advertising - Friend or Foe?
For years internet banner advertising dominated the World Wide Web. Everyone was bidding ridiculously high amounts of money for banner advertisements. Then came the dot com crash and banner advertisements lost its luster. Internet banner advertising has become a thing of the past, or has it? The truth is there is still a place for internet banner advertising, now I’m not saying that the banner ad is making a comeback. But, they have gotten quite a bit cheaper, to the tune of mere pennies, over the years and if you utilize them right they can be a great marketing tool for your online business.Internet banner advertising used to be simple! All you had to do was throw up some flashy banners and wait for people to come crawling to your web site. Those days are over, now you have to earn their click with great copyrighting. But, that is ok because I am about to show you some simple techniques that will allow you to put the banner ad back in your marketing arsenal.The following steps will help you transform your cheap internet banner advertising into a priceless marketing weapon. With these simple instructions, there will always be traffic on your web site.1. For starters forget about all of the flashy stuff! To get the clicks you need to use great copyrighting. With a banner ad you have limited space so every word must count. You need to capture the reader’s attention in your first statement. If you don’t, you will not get the click. It is best if you can make your banner ad look like a traditional classified ad.2. The placement of your ad is critical for your success. You need to find the right network and make sure you list your ad on sites that focus on your niche. It is a

that were guilty by association and dragged down.

But it could have a ripple effect and trickle down to other alternative energy companies that may be involved in the solar power arena.

Movers and Shakers

Under Ten

Other stocks that made moves on the upside under ten bucks include MicroFinancial (AMEX: MFI), an equi

Forums for Marketing - The Right Way!
Forums have great potential for marketing but this potential is blunted by some marketers, abusive use of this medium. You will notice that some threads have been started so that two or more forum members can pretend that they do not know each other (or that they,re not one and the same person, even); these members who are in cahoots with one another will then actively discuss the business and the site as if it were the greatest thing since sliced bread.Forums can be used for marketing purposes, but there,s a need to prioritize the needs of the members who are in the forum because they wish to share their ideas as well as to get other people,s legitimate advice. These people are not in the forums so that they can be ,taken for a ride,.The Right to AdvertiseTo have the right to advertise in forums, you should become a legitimate forum member. This is not accomplished by merely registering for membership. Forum members are only legitimate forum members when they actively participate in the discussion. Their posts must be relevant to the topic being discussed, they should make sense and they should clearly indicate the forum posters, intention to help.In short, people who have a right to advertise in forums are those who are forum members first before they,re marketers. They are people who relegate their marketing intentions to the background and prioritize their duty to help other forum members. In another way of putting it, these are people who give more to forums than what they take.The Right Way to Market your site To help your marketing intentions along, you should join forums whose members you wish to

panies once they hit the market, such as Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ: PEIX).

But it could have a ripple effect and trickle down to other alternative energy companies that may be involved in the solar power arena.

Movers and Shakers

Under Ten

Other stocks that made moves on the upside under ten bucks include MicroFinancial (AMEX: MFI), an equi

Customers Expect More
What makes a successful salesperson?I’ve often asked that question at seminars, and the answers have been all over the ball park.“You’ve got to have the right product,” some say.It helps. But we’ve all known salespeople who went broke trying to move superb products and others who could make fortunes selling ice cream on an iceberg. A really good salesperson can rack up more sales with a mediocre product than a mediocre salesperson can make with the greatest product in the world.“You’ve got to make plenty of sales calls,” others say. “The more calls you make, the more sales you’ll get.”As a general rule, that’s true, but it doesn’t go far enough. If you think about it, the more passes a quarterback throws, the more passes he’ll complete.But a quarterback who completes three out of four passes will put points on the board much more regularly than one who completes one out of four, even though both may throw the same number of times. A baseball player who hits .350 will cross the plate much more frequently than one who hits .200, even though both take the same number of swings.Similarly, a salesperson’s success doesn’t depend on the number of calls. It depends on the number of sales. An effective salesperson and an ineffective salesperson may make the same number of calls, but it’s the effective one who eats steak and lobster instead of hamburger.Still others say, “you’ve got to master the mechanics.” That helps, too. But mastering the mechanics won’t put you on top of the sales charts unless you master the right mechanics.In today’s market, as in none before, it is crucial that we learn selling savvy. The sales environment has changed radically in four

revenue in the vicinity of approximately $82 million compared to first quarter revenue of $73.6 million. Earlier this year the stock traded up from $33 to hit $41 but once it broke that level it tried for $42 and then in the mid $43 range it hit a ceiling and fell sharply to the $32 range and that was on good earnings. So keep that in mind if you jump into this one as that same ceiling may still exist.

Under Ten

Other stocks that made moves on the upside under ten bucks include MicroFinancial (AMEX: MFI), an equi

Can People Find Your Product In eBay?
It is reported that 80% of eBay users use the eBay search function to search for items that they wish to buy. It is also reported there is an average of about 80 million searches each day. If this is the case, then it is very important that your listed item in eBay is able to appear when a search is initiated by the users. As such, understanding and optimizing the means by which your item can be found by the users is very important.It is reported that majority of the users use ‘Title only” instead of “Title and description” for their searches. If this is the case, it is logical to pay attention to the words you use in your title description. Since eBay has increased the title character field from 45 to 55 characters, you should make full use of the spaces given. As with any optimizing technique, it is always recommended to use as many popular keywords as possible. You can make use of the top searched keywords function provided by eBay when you pick your keywords for your title. From these most popular searched keywords, you can know the terms people used in their searches and what the most popular products are. For example, the title “Mitsubishi fan” is not good enough. This title is too brief and only contains 14 characters (including spaces). A better title will be “Mitsubishi electric fan 3-speed with timer. Auto Off”. This title has 52 characters (including spaces) and is more descriptive. It has additional information like 3-speed with timer and auto off which is very important information.To further improve the visibility of your product in eBay, you can use the eBay Keyword program. This program will show eBay users your customized advertisements based on your specified search k

Under Ten

Other stocks that made moves on the upside under ten bucks include MicroFinancial (AMEX: MFI), an equipment leasing company that at one point traded in the $16 range but that was a long time ago, the stock traded up 19 cents to close at $3.59 on little to no volume. There is really no interest in the stock by the street, I just mentioned it because someone actually bought the stock.

Peru Copper (AMEX: CUP) shot up 20 cents to close at $4.30 on Tuesday, now this stock has traded wildly with speculation of a takeover by Southern Copper (NYSE: PCU), now as we said the company announced that Southern Copper is not the only fish in the sea. With metals hitting a bottom in this range you can expect the interest in Peru Copper to spring up again as any suitors that are out there are sitting on the sidelines waiting for the right moment. As an investor you want to buy on rumor and sell on news, not the other way around. So expect Peru Copper to gain some interest, trade a little higher in the coming days and weeks, and you may want to look at other gold, silver and copper companies that fell from grace lately as the sell off was overdone.

Back in March NPS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: NPSP) traded in the $14 range but since then it has fallen to the $4.95 range where it closed on Tuesday, up 15 cents. This tumble was due to federal regulators proposing a new clinical trial for their PREOS drug. Now despite their improved earnings and revenue being shown the street had no mercy on this one. At this point their negative EPS is very close to their stock price. So on the heels of that debacle the company decided to restructure, eliminating half of its staff, closing facilities and scrapping a deal that they had with Allergan to promote its chronic dry eye drug Restasis. The stock is at its 52 week low, which is also their all time low, pretty much, and the damage is done, so you may see an upward swing in the stock but not overnight. I really do not see it trading below $4 so the downside is limited compared to their upside potential. Do your homework on this one as it may be something to look at.

Other stocks that moved higher yesterday under ten bucks included Waster Services (NASDAQ: WSII) which traded up 12 cents to close at $2.92, McData Corp (NASDAQ: MCDTA) traded up 10 cents to close at $4.03, AVI Biopharma (NASDAQ: AVII) traded up 9 cents to close at $3.39 on over 1.2 million shares traded and Bookham (NASDAQ: BKHM) which traded up 21 cents to close at $3.18.

Downers

Other stocks that traded down yesterday included Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) which traded down $8.30 to close at $123.43, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) which traded down $5.75 to close at $139.25, UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) which traded down $4.35 to close at $98.76 and Blackrock (NYSE: BLK) which traded down $4.80 to close at $123.59. Now they are part of the financial sector that got hammered as of late, but its oversold. Investors need to start looking at the brokerage stocks again as Investment banking is changing in so many ways and trading revenue will grow in 2006. We just need to stay in tune to the industry, but these stocks should have some type of bounce today and longer term should do well.

Hansen Natural (NASDAQ: HANS) traded down $6.06 to close at $149.95 they are going to be splitting shortly.

Baidu.com (NASDAQ: BIDU) traded down $5.99 to close at $78.20 , this sell off has to do with the drop in emerging markets. This seems to be oversold but if it breaks the $77.66 mark it could fall into the mid $60 range. So just be on top of it.

Other stocks that traded down include Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) which traded down $4.77 to close at $185.25, Arcadis (NASDAQ: ARCAF) traded down $4.27 to close at $39.35 and Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM) which traded down $4.20 to close at $95.51.

Now some stocks under ten bucks that received the royal smack down yesterday include Datalink (NASDAQ: DTLK) which traded down $1.05 to close at $4.96, Gold Reserve Inc (AMEX: GRZ) traded down 74 cents to close at$3.96, Fieldpoint Petroleum (AMEX: FPP) traded down 60 cents to close at $4.51, Bema Gold (AMEX: BGO) traded down 50 cents to close at $4.10, Miramar Mining (AMEX: MNG) traded down 43 cents to close at $3.16 and Transmeridian Exploration (AMEX: TMY) which traded down 40 cents to close at $4.45.

Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

Recent Analyst upgrades include Dean Foods (NYSE: DF) which was upgraded to an Overwieght from a Neutral Weight by Prudential Equity Group

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I have been able to pinpoint specific examples of colleagues who have exemplified strategic leadership in their professions.

When you reach the position where you can't afford your debt repayments, it's time to take action.

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Casual Articles - Wall Street to Main Street: News, Views and Commentary: June 14, 2006

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