Rumour and Gossip

I heard it on the grapevine’ the old song goes. But the grapevine has the potential to cause your business strife, misunderstanding and ruin!

In effect the rumour mill and gossip are dangers you cannot ford to ignore. People who indulge in these behaviours are like muggers – they leave you feeling you have been robbed!

The incidences of psychopathic behavior in Australia and around the world have substantially increased in the last 10 years.

It is reliably estimated that 10% of managers or co-workers in Australia exhibit and engage in psychopathic behavior of some type. Psychopathic incidences are rising rapidly in the workplace where pressure is common place in order to survive.

1. What is a Workplace Psychopath?

Company branding is one of the most important
components of your marketing plan, particularly when
you are making an effort to establish your companys
position in the marketplace. Identity, differentiation,
and reputation are all part of the company branding
package. How people perceive your company largely
relates to how effective you brand is and how it is
portrayed, recognized, respected and remembered in

Are you ready to open your pathway to financial independence?

Well you should be. The sooner the better. But, how do you get started?

There is so much to know about investing and the truth is it will take a lot of training and guidance in order to get the hang of it. With our fast paced and ever changing economy, it will be hard to fit into the market with no experience. So the sooner you get started the better. You can start anywhere, read books, websites, financial publications, magazines, attend courses, seminars etc. but no matter what you do, make sure you start right now!

Investing Basics

Investing refers to the accumulation of some kind of asset in hopes of getting a future return from it. There are several different ways you can invest your money. You can invest in a bond, which is exchanging money for a promise of more money in the future. You could also invest in an capital investment, which is the exchange of money by a business for an addition to their ability to produce. No matter what you decide to invest in, the fundamentals are the same. You are basically buying risk. the more risk you take on, the higher price you can sell it for. That's basically what all investing boils down to. As an investor you are really becoming a risk manger.

What is FOREX (Foreign Exchange)?

Forex (Foreign Exchange) simply means the buying of one currency and selling another at the same time. In other words, the currency of one country is exchanged for those of another. The currencies of the world are on a floating exchange rate, and are always traded in pairs - Euro/Dollar, Dollar/Yen, etc. In excess of 85 percent of all daily transactions involve trading of the major currencies.

Four major currency pairs are usually used for investment purposes. They are: Euro against US dollar, US dollar against Japanese yen, British pound against US dollar, and US dollar against Swiss franc. The following notation is used for these currency pairs: EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, and USD/CHF. You may consider them as "blue chips" of the FOREX market. No dividends are paid on currencies. The investment profits come from well known "buy low - sell high".

Lucky? This lucky country's economy is on a record-breaking 14-year roll. The big question: Will it continue? Just imagine: From a few convicts dropped ashore in 1788, Australia has developed into a first-class global economy. The reforms enacted by former Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Treasurer Paul Keating during the 1980s set the stage for a remarkable run of prosperity. Specifically, they slashed import tariffs, floated the currency and reduced the power of big labor. The current prime minister, John Howard, who has been elected four times, has continued and expanded these reforms riding a wave of economic growth - 14 years of uninterrupted 4% to 5% growth. The national debt has been virtually eliminated, the currency is strong, the government has recently signed a free-trade pact with America, and it is starting to negotiate a pact with China. Australia received $42 billion in foreign direct investment in 2004. This is all great news, and our portfolio allocation in the Australia iShare (AMEX: EWA) has done very well, with a 105% gain over the past two years. The Australian iShare is up 15% so far this year and provides investors with exposure to about 60% of the total stock market. Some Warning Signs The question is of course, what should we do now. When things are going this well for so long, investors need to be skeptical and weigh the potential upside with the downside risk. - A shortage of skilled and semi-skilled workers and relatively high labor costs (minimum $400 a week).

For many Australians, both employers and employees, the workplace continues to be a place of harmony where each goes to work discharges their individual responsibilities and continues to get on with life.

This is confirmed by government statistics that suggest that 1,000 people per week are migrating to Queensland, Australia to live. The attraction is lifestyle; affordable property and housing, progressive government development and support for new business initiatives and low unemployment.

In addition there are a large proportion of immigrants coming to our shores from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand to name a few.

Sadly amongst this good news there are some concerns amongst employees. Over the last 10 years with out-placing, downsizing, outsourcing, redundancies, and other interesting forms of industrial justification for off-loading employees, the workplace has been experienced as difficult and for some 'a house of pain'.

Sydney, Australia November 10, 2005 -- In its latest report, Strategic Analysis of the Australian Sleep Apnea Therapeutics Market, global growth consulting company, Frost & Sullivan estimates the total market for sleep apnea therapeutics is now worth $24 million, but predicts the market will expand rapidly in coming years as diagnosis rates increase.

Available data indicates that 4 per cent of men and 2 per cent of women in Australia – more than 450,000 suffer from sleep apnea. However, only a small percentage of patients have been diagnosed and treated.

Frost & Sullivan estimates that an average of 15 per cent of the affected population or only 72,000 people have been diagnosed and treated.

This makes the potential for sleep apnea therapeutics market enormous.

Growing awareness of the gravity of this disorder and the need for therapy will expand the existing consumer base for sleep apnea therapeutics. In addition, Medicare’s recent decision to extend reimbursements to cover at-home diagnosis by an expert technician, will also contribute to market expansion in the coming years.

Sydney, Australia November 14, 2005 -- Total losses from credit card fraud will reach US$600m in 2005 across the Asia Pacific region, according to latest research from global growth consulting company, Frost & Sullivan. The report, World Credit & Debit Fraud, forecasts that despite the introduction of anti-fraud measures such as the new EMV (Europay Mastercard Visa) standard in several countries, overall credit card fraud losses will exceed US$1bn by 2009.

However, the introduction of standards such as EMV will slow the overall growth in fraud levels, according to Frost & Sullivan. Along with the rise in card use, levels of fraud also have gone up considerably. Several countries such as Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand have taken up national-level programs to move to chip-based payment cards.

Definition: A shelf company is a company which has been created but has ceased trading. Its memorandum and articles can be bought 'off the shelf'.
source: ANZ Bank Financial Dictionary

Back in the 'good old days', it took quite a while to create (or incorporate) a company. Yet, people often needed a new company ASAP, so providers of company registration services would pre-create companies and have them 'sitting on the shelf', ready for sale when required.

Someone wanting to create a company fast could buy one of these off-the-shelf companies (or shelf companies as they are more commonly termed) quickly and easily. All that was required for a buyer to purchase a shelf company was for the provider to transfer the shelf company's shares to the buyer, and arrange for the resignation of the directors of the original shelf company, who would be replaced by the new directors (the purchaser or their nominated agent/s). Sometimes, the shelf company name would also be changed by the buyer.