Read this blog about free trade and global events.
http://www.ftaaconsulting.com/blog/
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Creating and Marketing Winning White Papers Seminar
I ran into this very interesting blog about writing white papers, which might be very useful.
The seminar will be held in San Diego, California.
Here are some factoids about the seminar:
- Interactive, hands-on white paper writing and marketing training
- Full day at San Diego Hyatt Regency Mission Bay in San Diego
- Limited to only 25 people (so get a spot while they are available)
- Held September 21st
- To be taught by Michael Stelzner
Here is the link to the seminar and more details:
http://www.whitepapersource.com/seminar/
Participation requirements: Bloggers must be based in the United States or Canada. Please reply to this post with a link to your post.
Monday, May 07, 2007
US Democracy and Latin America
The US has for some time now being aware of significant changes in political governance throughout Latin America. From Mexico to Chile, a majority of countries have recently appointed new Presidents, some of whom have dramatically changed the way they see the US and their own neighbors.
Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Argentina and of course Cuba are for the most part against US international policies, trade and influence that the US exerts over other regions. Interestingly even when they do not agree and often like Chavez in Venezuela bash the US (and recently anyone who he believes gets in his way), they all want to export to the US. While several of these these individuals - I would not go as far as to call them "leaders" do their best to threaten to cut off oil exports, nationalize, confiscate or privatize US and Europe companies, other countries are trying hard to create a vision for the future where democracy and economic growth will benefit their country or region. Why is it then that the latter group is unsupported by the US whereas the former are tolerated?
Last month former Vice-President and wanna be President Al Gore, canceled a much touted environmental meeting in Florida, because Colombia's President Uribe was also scheduled to speak, indicating that Uribe could be under investigation for past ties with a paramilitary group. Not only did Gore offend most Colombians but also many others throughout Latin America, leading many to believe that sometimes political retort is better than a level head and proves that there is no such thing as being innocent until proven guilty.
More recently, Democrats stalled on free trade issues with Colombia mostly on US politics - since the Republican incumbent is in favor, the Democrats must by default be against it. On May 6th, The Washington Post characterized President Uribe as a "staunch alley of the US". Yet the US Democrats he met with pretty much gave him the cold shoulder while heavily promoting "friendship" with Syria, North Korea and a few other non-friendly governments.
It appears that ignorance is a blessing and that many in Government need to wake up and realize that the animosity from Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia is a two way street and did not occur overnight. Judging others objectively is hard enough, judging others without knowledge is just plain ignorance.
Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Argentina and of course Cuba are for the most part against US international policies, trade and influence that the US exerts over other regions. Interestingly even when they do not agree and often like Chavez in Venezuela bash the US (and recently anyone who he believes gets in his way), they all want to export to the US. While several of these these individuals - I would not go as far as to call them "leaders" do their best to threaten to cut off oil exports, nationalize, confiscate or privatize US and Europe companies, other countries are trying hard to create a vision for the future where democracy and economic growth will benefit their country or region. Why is it then that the latter group is unsupported by the US whereas the former are tolerated?
Last month former Vice-President and wanna be President Al Gore, canceled a much touted environmental meeting in Florida, because Colombia's President Uribe was also scheduled to speak, indicating that Uribe could be under investigation for past ties with a paramilitary group. Not only did Gore offend most Colombians but also many others throughout Latin America, leading many to believe that sometimes political retort is better than a level head and proves that there is no such thing as being innocent until proven guilty.
More recently, Democrats stalled on free trade issues with Colombia mostly on US politics - since the Republican incumbent is in favor, the Democrats must by default be against it. On May 6th, The Washington Post characterized President Uribe as a "staunch alley of the US". Yet the US Democrats he met with pretty much gave him the cold shoulder while heavily promoting "friendship" with Syria, North Korea and a few other non-friendly governments.
It appears that ignorance is a blessing and that many in Government need to wake up and realize that the animosity from Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia is a two way street and did not occur overnight. Judging others objectively is hard enough, judging others without knowledge is just plain ignorance.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Not surprisingly
Felipe Calderon is the president elect in Mexico. Not surprisingly, Mexico's highest courts ruled in his favor stating that he won fair and square. It is now up to him to bring together a very divided country, polarized by his opponents leftist tactics.
On a side note, its amazing that few US news networks picked up on this. Mexico's action is perhaps the most important news this year, especially for its largest trading partner to the north. In terms of economic impact, people and resources, we underestimate Mexico's importance.
On a side note, its amazing that few US news networks picked up on this. Mexico's action is perhaps the most important news this year, especially for its largest trading partner to the north. In terms of economic impact, people and resources, we underestimate Mexico's importance.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Mexico and elections
The defeated candodate washed out by hail storm on Wednesday. Manuel Andres Lopez Obrador, better known by intitals AMLO has, quite unsuccessfully attempted to mutiny against democracy.
Sometimes losing can make a winner.
Sometimes losing can make a winner.
Friday, July 07, 2006
ESPN and soccer
Espn blew it, how lousy can it get? David O'Brien should have stayed away - far away - from soccer, he knows more about other things (we hope) than being a commentator. Plus his comment on "teaching" us how to listen to a new way of narrating soccer is immature and only highlights his ego.
Do us a big favor O'Brien, stay away from any sport.
Do us a big favor O'Brien, stay away from any sport.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Oil companies defending profits......
...not amazingly oil companies are defending huge profit increases. I can just imagine the good old boys patting themselves on the back congratulating each other on a job well done and counting their bonuses. Someone should remind them that their profits are a direct result of someone else's misery in this case of the many thousands affected by the last hurricane season.
There have been many hurricanes in the past, Andrew for one did considerable damage, and we didn't see the price gouging evident after Katrina and Rita. Did oil companies use the last two to increase their margins ?
Have oil companies rolled out the best of the PR people to make everyone else the bad guy, under the pretense of having to invest millions to make us feel good about oil reserves?
Claiming that this is a global industry and gouging are two different things. Use another excuse.
AP: Oil Company Execs: Fuel Relatively CheapSunday June 18, 11:36 pm ET By John Heilprin, Associated Press Writer
Oil and Gas Company Executives Defend High Pump Prices As Essential to Maintaining Supplies
Reuters: US oil defends record profitsSunday June 18, 2:44 pm ET By Jeremy Pelofsky
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top executives at three big U.S. oil companies defended record profits on Sunday as necessary to finance future investment, and one cautioned that summer gasoline pump prices could go higher with hurricane season underway.
There have been many hurricanes in the past, Andrew for one did considerable damage, and we didn't see the price gouging evident after Katrina and Rita. Did oil companies use the last two to increase their margins ?
Have oil companies rolled out the best of the PR people to make everyone else the bad guy, under the pretense of having to invest millions to make us feel good about oil reserves?
Claiming that this is a global industry and gouging are two different things. Use another excuse.
AP: Oil Company Execs: Fuel Relatively CheapSunday June 18, 11:36 pm ET By John Heilprin, Associated Press Writer
Oil and Gas Company Executives Defend High Pump Prices As Essential to Maintaining Supplies
Reuters: US oil defends record profitsSunday June 18, 2:44 pm ET By Jeremy Pelofsky
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top executives at three big U.S. oil companies defended record profits on Sunday as necessary to finance future investment, and one cautioned that summer gasoline pump prices could go higher with hurricane season underway.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Corporate Fraud
The news today is about Enron's Lay and Skilling being found guilty.
There is also a side article about auditors.
MSN Corporate Fraud Alive and Well "....But those auditors — typically larger, big-name accounting firms — haven’t done such a great job, according to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the body that was created by Sarbanes-Oxley to audit the auditors. After conducting inspections on those accounting firms' operations, the board found last November that three major accounting firms — Ernst & Young, Price WaterhouseCoopers and BDO Seidman — were failing “to identify and appropriately address errors” made by their clients, including mistakes that were “likely to be material to the firms’ financial statements.” The board and the firms say they are working to correct the problems."
My question then is "Who audit's the auditors?"
There is also a side article about auditors.
MSN Corporate Fraud Alive and Well "....But those auditors — typically larger, big-name accounting firms — haven’t done such a great job, according to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the body that was created by Sarbanes-Oxley to audit the auditors. After conducting inspections on those accounting firms' operations, the board found last November that three major accounting firms — Ernst & Young, Price WaterhouseCoopers and BDO Seidman — were failing “to identify and appropriately address errors” made by their clients, including mistakes that were “likely to be material to the firms’ financial statements.” The board and the firms say they are working to correct the problems."
My question then is "Who audit's the auditors?"
Friday, May 19, 2006
English
WASHINGTON - Whether English is America’s “national language” or its national “common and unifying language” was a question dominating the Senate immigration debate.
and so our taxes are used to debate definitions? Maybe its not the immigrants who need to learn English.
and so our taxes are used to debate definitions? Maybe its not the immigrants who need to learn English.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Baseball Hype
All this hype about a drug user beating the Babe's record is really turning people off a wonderful sport. The guy in question, supposedly as one major media group said "stuck on 713" has been using steroids for years. Its not a question of guilty or not, its all about ethics and keeping sports clean.
Earlier this week I was watching a game with my son and I was not surprised that teens have no respect for the baseball player in question who in their own way "turns them off" and I would agree. It seems that MLB and the team needs to reconsider the statistics, as far as I'm concerned the player doesn't derserve it and no matter what, will always go down in history as having reached the mark using steroids.
Earlier this week I was watching a game with my son and I was not surprised that teens have no respect for the baseball player in question who in their own way "turns them off" and I would agree. It seems that MLB and the team needs to reconsider the statistics, as far as I'm concerned the player doesn't derserve it and no matter what, will always go down in history as having reached the mark using steroids.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Monday, February 06, 2006
Super Bowl Ads
Yesterday we watched the Steelers beat the SeaHawks, in a game full of bad passes and many calls. The game was ok, nothing really exciting happened and Steelers did win. Pretty good for the wildcard team and their 5th SuperBowl.
What was a big loss were the ads. Always hyped and worth watching yesterday's, with few exceptions were definitely blah to bad, the worst of them all General Motors' Hummer - wow someone should be fired for that one !
The Budweiser ads "Magic Fridge" and "Bear Attack" funny and as always animals are cute, except for the streaking sheep - pretty lousy. Sierra Mist and the "Security Wand was hilarious and pokes fun at a lot of things as was Sprint's "Crime Deterrent."
Only time and revenues {or is it inflated egos} will tell us which were the best and which were successful.
You can see the ads at http://video.google.com/superbowl.html
What was a big loss were the ads. Always hyped and worth watching yesterday's, with few exceptions were definitely blah to bad, the worst of them all General Motors' Hummer - wow someone should be fired for that one !
The Budweiser ads "Magic Fridge" and "Bear Attack" funny and as always animals are cute, except for the streaking sheep - pretty lousy. Sierra Mist and the "Security Wand was hilarious and pokes fun at a lot of things as was Sprint's "Crime Deterrent."
Only time and revenues {or is it inflated egos} will tell us which were the best and which were successful.
You can see the ads at http://video.google.com/superbowl.html
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Election Update
Chile - President elect Michelle Bachelet, won Chile's top job January 15th, 2006, defeating her rival in a second election run-off. Madam Bachelet is expected to continue to run her country along the same lines as Chile's outgoing President Ricardo Lagos.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Can Latin America Compete?
In today's ever smaller world, can Latin America compete with lower cost regions and high tech markets or are they destined to remain in an quasi-development-catch-up phase ?
Do politics affect the way they are doing business and if so what can be expected in 2006?
Your comments are welcome.
Do politics affect the way they are doing business and if so what can be expected in 2006?
Your comments are welcome.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Latin American Currency Exchanges
Currency Per US Dollar
Argentine Peso 3.03700
Bolivian Boliviano 7.99500
Brazilian Real 2.27200
Canadian Dollar 1.16230
Chilean Peso 522.54997
Colombian Peso 2,274.00006
Ecuador Sucre 25,000.00063
Guatemalan Quetzal 7.62500
Mexican Peso 10.57810
Peruvian Nuevo Sol 3.44530
Venezualan Bolivar 2,145.00001
1/13/2006 9:27 AM eastern time
Argentine Peso 3.03700
Bolivian Boliviano 7.99500
Brazilian Real 2.27200
Canadian Dollar 1.16230
Chilean Peso 522.54997
Colombian Peso 2,274.00006
Ecuador Sucre 25,000.00063
Guatemalan Quetzal 7.62500
Mexican Peso 10.57810
Peruvian Nuevo Sol 3.44530
Venezualan Bolivar 2,145.00001
1/13/2006 9:27 AM eastern time
Monday, January 02, 2006
Latin American Election Update
COUNTRY & DATE (see Nov. 25th)
Honduras - Nov 2005. President elect Manuel Zelaya Rosales .
Chile - Dec 2005. Election run off January 15. Michelle Bachelet and Sebastián Piñera. Madam Bachelet obtained 46% of the votes last December 11, 2005 and Piñera 25.4%.
Bolivia - Dec 2005. President elect Evo Morales, leftist anti-USA. Morales has already scheduled his trip around the world. Starting with Cuba and Venezuela, he is scheduled to visit, among others, France and South Africa. Morales has a huge challenge ahead of him, as he must now prove to those who elected him that he can in fact lead Bolivia and bring economic stability to that poor nation.
Haiti - Jan 2006. A mess, elections postponed again, for the fourth time, as those in charge have not distributed 3.5 million voter ID cards and 35 presidential candidates will certainly mean a run-off. In the meantime Justices have been fired, havoc reigns and South Florida suffers.
Whether or not the results of the election will impact the rest of Latin America remains to be seen. Venezuela's Chavez has, while certainly a loud mouth, has used the threat of oil to control his position and is already at odds with Mexico and maintains a polite rapport with Colombia.
Honduras - Nov 2005. President elect Manuel Zelaya Rosales .
Chile - Dec 2005. Election run off January 15. Michelle Bachelet and Sebastián Piñera. Madam Bachelet obtained 46% of the votes last December 11, 2005 and Piñera 25.4%.
Bolivia - Dec 2005. President elect Evo Morales, leftist anti-USA. Morales has already scheduled his trip around the world. Starting with Cuba and Venezuela, he is scheduled to visit, among others, France and South Africa. Morales has a huge challenge ahead of him, as he must now prove to those who elected him that he can in fact lead Bolivia and bring economic stability to that poor nation.
Haiti - Jan 2006. A mess, elections postponed again, for the fourth time, as those in charge have not distributed 3.5 million voter ID cards and 35 presidential candidates will certainly mean a run-off. In the meantime Justices have been fired, havoc reigns and South Florida suffers.
Whether or not the results of the election will impact the rest of Latin America remains to be seen. Venezuela's Chavez has, while certainly a loud mouth, has used the threat of oil to control his position and is already at odds with Mexico and maintains a polite rapport with Colombia.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Strike in New York
Today is the second day public transit workers in New York City strike, illegally. Taking a lesson from the French they have decided to strike - you got it- during the busiest time in the city. Amazingly, the union leader that is firing the "misled" masses isn't even US born and in this age this quite old fashioned individual has extreme left tendencies. Ah, the beauty of living in a democracy.
-Does this so called "leader" realize that his actions are causing more grievances than he is worth and that, like most stubborn managers, his union is being penalized $1 million per day not to mention that labor will be fined 2 days wages for everyday they are not back on the job ?
Maybe he doesn't care. As Andy Warhol said, everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame. In today's fast paced world it could very well be 15 seconds.
-Does this so called "leader" realize that his actions are causing more grievances than he is worth and that, like most stubborn managers, his union is being penalized $1 million per day not to mention that labor will be fined 2 days wages for everyday they are not back on the job ?
Maybe he doesn't care. As Andy Warhol said, everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame. In today's fast paced world it could very well be 15 seconds.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Latin American Elections
COUNTRY & DATE
Honduras - Nov 2005
Chile - Dec 2005
Bolivia - Dec 2005
Haiti - Jan 2006
Costa Rica - Feb 2006
Peru - Apr 2006
Colombia - May 2006
Mexico - Jul 2006
Brazil - Oct 2006
Ecuador - Oct 2006
Nicaragua - Nov 2006
Venezuela -Nov/Dec 2006
Honduras - Nov 2005
Chile - Dec 2005
Bolivia - Dec 2005
Haiti - Jan 2006
Costa Rica - Feb 2006
Peru - Apr 2006
Colombia - May 2006
Mexico - Jul 2006
Brazil - Oct 2006
Ecuador - Oct 2006
Nicaragua - Nov 2006
Venezuela -Nov/Dec 2006
Monday, November 21, 2005
News from around the world
Argentina - David Nalbandian wins the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, defeating top ranked Swiss Roger Federer in a 4 hour and 33 minute match. Two other Argentine tennis players, Guillermo Coria and Gastón Gaudio also fared quite well and are now ranked among the top ten tennis players in the world. Tennis fans will also remember Argentine Guillermo Vilas, who won 62 career singles from 1973 to 1986.
China - Chinese President Hu Jintao met with his Chilean counterpart Ricardo Lagos on November 18 to attend the signing ceremony of a free trade agreement between the two countries. Chile will enjoy immediate duty free access to China for its exports of copper, some agricultural products and some wood products. Among the Chinese exports expected to benefit from the FTA are machinery, computers, cars, cell phones, DVD's and printers.
USA - The world's largest carmaker, General Motors, has announced that it will cut 30,000 jobs in an effort to save $2.5 billion a year. Are they right focusing on efforts to "save" or should GM be focusing on ways to improve their business and market share ?
Mexico - Incumbent President Vicente Fox continues to spar with Venezuela President Hugo Chavez over free trade efforts in the Americas. While Chile, Colombia, Peru and Panama support free trade with the USA, Chavez opposes it and is doing his best to defeat all efforts in lieu of his own trade agreement. Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay are opposed to free trade with the USA but are not convinced that Chavez' plans are the best. Should free trade exist ?
China - Chinese President Hu Jintao met with his Chilean counterpart Ricardo Lagos on November 18 to attend the signing ceremony of a free trade agreement between the two countries. Chile will enjoy immediate duty free access to China for its exports of copper, some agricultural products and some wood products. Among the Chinese exports expected to benefit from the FTA are machinery, computers, cars, cell phones, DVD's and printers.
USA - The world's largest carmaker, General Motors, has announced that it will cut 30,000 jobs in an effort to save $2.5 billion a year. Are they right focusing on efforts to "save" or should GM be focusing on ways to improve their business and market share ?
Mexico - Incumbent President Vicente Fox continues to spar with Venezuela President Hugo Chavez over free trade efforts in the Americas. While Chile, Colombia, Peru and Panama support free trade with the USA, Chavez opposes it and is doing his best to defeat all efforts in lieu of his own trade agreement. Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay are opposed to free trade with the USA but are not convinced that Chavez' plans are the best. Should free trade exist ?
Monday, November 14, 2005
Media and the News
Are television news networks reporting news or are they turning events into "sensationalism" in order to generate more viewers ?
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