Latest Public Company Articles

High IQ: Change Your Eating Habits & Super Boost Your Intelligence Quotient

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:12:13 -0700

"Fish is a food for your brain" is an old belief. But nowadays fish is very polluted with mercuy and dangerous substances, so I will not recommend fish for consumption. Instead, I suggest to eat fish oil. It has fats which contain DocasaHexanenoic Acid and is beneficial for the brain and acts as a protective layer.

A majority of our brain is made up of fat and that fat is either DocasaHexanenoic Acid or Arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid is found in unprocessed dairy products like butter and DocasaHexanenoic Acid is found only in fish and not in any other plant or vegetation.

It is very important to use a fish oil which is exceptionally good and has good reputation. I have done research and have clinical with patients, which shows the following trends.

1. Liquid form of fish oil is far better than capsules.

2. Not all brands are good

3. Carlson's brand is the best and purest of all existing brands today.

It may not be the only brand that is exceptionally good, but till now I have come across many and have found that carlson's brand is the best as far as fish or cod liver oil is concerned. You can find this brand at Mercola.com or at any health store near your house.

Vegetables

Nothing can ever match the nutritions that pure vegetables can provide us. Alzheimer's has been known to occur because of deficiency of folic acid (green vegetables are very rich with it). Similarly, there are many other elements, antioxidants and phytochemicals that vegetables provide us with and can help us in keeping our brains sharp.

The easiest way to eat enough of vegetables is to prepare vegetable juice on a regular basis.

But the type of your metabolism is a key factor to decide what all you need to consume. For example, if you are a protein metabolic type, you need not eat vegetables. You can have half of what is usually recommended. That is for a protein type adult, one can eat half a pound of vegetable and this will be sufficient.

If you are a protein type of guy your diet should consist of low potassium vegetables like beans. Lettuces and the usual diet like collard greens have high potassium content and may cause biochemical imbalance. Also, if you have a metabolic type you also don't need much vegetable juice consumption. A carbohydrate metabolic type wil beneft if he consumes more vegetables like collard greens, kale, Swiss chard etc. These are very much not suggested for the protein types.

I do recommend organic food if you want to get the most nutritious input, but if you cannot afford to buy them, don't give up eating vegetables altogether. Eating vegetables in any form, organic or not is good and better not have them in your ration at all.

Raw Eggs

The best source for high quality nutrition is raw whole egg. It is also very much affordable by all. It is especially for those who are protein deficient. You may face some difficulty initially to eat them, but you will greatly improve your health, if you eat raw egg. Boiled or cooked eggs will not result in the same, so the lesser you cook the egg the more nutrition you will consume.

Commander Selvam : Sri Selvam Siddhar from Hindu Temple of Georgia

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:41:06 -0700

Akasthya Yoga by Swamiji Sri Selvam Siddhar- Dr Commander Selvam

The Word YOGA comes from Sanskrit and means to unite, the coming together of Soul and God. Yoga is a process by which you can dissolve your Self with God. Yoga is a method of meditation which brings a breakthrough in the evolution of human awareness. By this process a person becomes moral, united, integrated and balanced. The all-pervading divine power can be felt or experienced as a cool breeze. "Know thyself" is the main theme of all the scriptures - it becomes evident and one reaches an absolute understanding of oneself.
Yoga is not only for the physical body, people practice yoga for many reasons to feel more connected, to quiet the mind and to strengthen the body. It is a mind body practice that enhances physical and mental fitness, as well as spiritual well being.
Yogis view that the mind and the body are one and that if it is given the right tools and taken to the right environment, it can find harmony and heal itself. Yoga therefore is considered therapeutic. It helps you become more aware of your body's posture, alignment and patterns of movement. As people worldwide know the benefits of yoga, it makes the body more flexible and helps you relax even in the midst of a stress stricken environment. This is one of the foremost reasons why people want to start practicing yoga - to feel fitter, be more energetic, be happier and peaceful.
The main aim of yoga that we are trying to achieve is to unite our soul with the super consciousness which is Our God. Our physical and mental healthiness is essential in order to reach this target.
Yoga emphasizes good health and prevention of illnesses and diseases. Yoga is also used as a therapy to help us recover and over come illness and stresses caused by a hectic lifestyle. Our bodies and minds reflect the stress, tension and depression that we subject it to everyday.

Sri Selvam Siddhar has designed specific Yoga Workshops to deal with various physical and mental issues that one might suffer from. The workshops that we run are as follows:
    Akasthya Yoga Workshop For Weight Loss.
    Akasthya Yoga Workshop For Back Pain.
    Akasthya Yoga Workshop For Balancing Sexual Energy.
    Akasthya Yoga Workshop For The Respiratory System.
    Akasthya Yoga Workshop For Stress.
    Akasthya Yoga Workshop For Mental Health.
    Akasthya Yoga Workshop For The Digestive System.
    Akasthya Yoga Workshop For Womens Health Issues.
    Akasthya Yoga Workshop For Eye, Neck and Shoulder.
The workshops can be tailored to meet the individuals own fitness level, covering beginners, intermediate and advanced yoga. We also offer Yoga workshops for yoga teachers.
We practice Yoga in its ancient and original form respecting its ancient theories and principles.
Pranayama - a short introduction
The term Pranayama is a word from the ancient Indian language Sanskrit. It refers to the regulation of our breathing activity and to controlling our life force. We all know that none of us can live for longer than a few minutes without breathing, yet many people either don't breath well or are unaware of what it means to breath properly. With a bad breathing habit a person only utilizes a fraction of their body's potential life force.

Prana is an energy or a form of life force which we can perceive in nature: for example wind is an energy that we don't see, yet we know it exists because of the movement of the trees or grass etc. Similarly Prana is also invisible but we can still perceive it, for instance when we put our fingers in front of our nose and feel our breath. Therefore our breath is an external manifestation of Prana. When we learn to control our breath, then we can regulate the subtle energies in our body and also control our mind.

In Yoga there are several breathing exercises that harmonize the flow of Prana in our body. There are five different forms of Prana in our body which regulate various bodily functions; Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana and Samana.

There are three different forms of Pranayama exercises: Puraka, Kumbhaka and Rechaka. Puraka is inhalation, Kumbhaka is holding the breath and rechaka is exhalation

For more information about Akasthiya Yoga by Swamiji His Holiness Sri Sri Selvam Siddhar also known as Dr. Commander Selvam call USA Toll free # 1-888-232-1818 or e- mail AVTEMPLE@AOL.COM WWW.SIDDHIUSA.COM

Start Bailing America Because Big Companies In Hot Water Are Squealing For Help

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

How in the world did this horrific economic crisis happen so fast? Suddenly we are hearing that the economy is on the verge of collapse and it only seems like a few months ago that we were pulling teeth just to get some economists and politicians to even admit there was a slight recession going on. It just goes to show that you can not put much stock in what some people say. Of course, homeowners, business owners, working folks, and even retired folks have seen this coming for a while now whether the bigwigs, so to speak, wanted to admit it or not. When you go to the gas station to fill up your car and fuel costs a dollar or more a gallon than it did last year, there is a problem. When you go to the grocery store and almost everything you put in your cart seems to have gone up ten percent or more, there is a problem. When neighbors all around you are losing their homes to foreclosure and you are in serious jeopardy of being next in line, there is definitely a problem. What average Americans now wants to understand is why there are so many of these big company executives making millions of dollars every year when the companies they are in charge of running are going broke? Even if some of chief executives have been let go or downright fired, they are taking severance pay of more millions with them. What is up with that? The last time average Americans checked, we did not get bonuses for screwing up our job when it had an adverse affect on the company we work for. For average people there certainly are no rewards involved. What we want to know now is why we must allow our tax dollars to rescue all of these companies? We have been told that it will not help us directly to catch up our delinquent home mortgage payments and we probably will not be getting fuel for our cars any cheaper, it will not even make the cost of milk, eggs, and bread go down at the grocery store. Maybe it might be true that in order to prevent a domino effect for every area of our economy, that the government must do something to clean up the big mess that has been allowed to take place, but there must be some measures put in place to make sure that big companies do not run themselves in the ground with risky loans and over paid executives and then expect the government to bail them out. Hey, the restaurant down the street does not get bailed out or the local grocery store that is an old family owned business. These kinds of small business hate to have to shut down too, but the government does come in and rescue these folks now does it?

Charming Shoppes and Plus Size Clothes

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The first public face, outside of the original Charm Shoppes store, of Charming Shoppes was the Fashion Bug stores which opened in the 1960's. Considered pioneers of computerized inventory management and sales, Fashion Bug stores were wildly popular and expanded quickly all the way through the 1990's. In 2000 Charming Shoppes purchased Catherine's Stores Corporation in an effort to firmly plant themselves into the plus size women's clothing market. They followed this quickly with the purchase of Lane Bryant in 2001, adding the plus size powerhouse to its already successful Fashion Bug and Catherine's dynasty. It quickly followed the Lane Bryant acquisition with the launch of Pettite Sophisticate, a store catering to smaller size women. If we take a look at the company's financial performance based on their stock price, we see that in 1993 they split their stock, and immediately afterwards saw a sharp decrease in stock price over the next three years (adjusted for split price). That brings us to 1996, a year when the Charming Shoppes successfully remade itself as a socially responsible company by helping women and children in need, focusing on women's' health issues, and brining attention to family and financial issues that women face. This program was championed by then CEO Dorrit J. Bern, and marked an immediate, sharp rise in stock price that lasted through the year. Charming Shoppes stock price continued to fluctuate up and down over the next several years, but moved generally in an upward trend. It was seemingly unaffected by the acquisition of Catherine's and Lane Bryant, and was in a holding pattern through much of the late 1990's and early 2000's. In 2003 we see a sharp rise in the stock price that has continued through h2007 before seeing any decline whatsoever. This can be directly tied to the opening of the Lane Bryant website to internet sales, a move that brought an incredibly lucrative new revenue stream in for the Charming Shoppes Corporation. Sales have declined in 2008, one can assume in part due to the prevailing economic conditions in the country. Compared to previous years, sales for the Charming Shoppes Corporation are down $265 million over the first two quarters. That's 20% of their total sales. Not something to take lightly. Taken as separates, Lane Bryant is down $47 million, Fashion Bug is down $69 million, and Catherine's is down $24 million. It's possible that they'll make up the difference in the second two quarters of the year, but historically they have had very few strong 3rd and 4th quarters. What does this mean for the plus size fashion industry? Not much, but the Lane Bryant sales figures are a good indicator that there is quite a bit less demand for plus size clothes so far this year. One can assume this is due in part to less disposable income due to the slowing economy and gas prices since none of the other large fashion houses has seen a comparable rise in sales.

Advantages of Using a Wholesale Optical Laboratory

Mon, 19 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Using a wholesale optical laboratory is becoming more popular among independent opticians. Choosing the right manufacturer is important for both the health and success of an independent optician's practice. Learning about how other opticians select their wholesale laboratories and understanding which questions to ask can greatly help an optician decide which manufacturer is best for their practice. The increasing popularity of using a wholesale optical laboratory as a source for both frame and contact lenses is demonstrated by a 2004 survey report on the 2020mag website. Of the 221 vision care facilities polled by the survey, 82% stated that they purchased products or services from a wholesale lab. One possible reason for this dramatic interest is that such labs offer a wide variety of services in addition to their eye care products. These services include educational programs, technical support, online ordering and remote tracing. One important consideration in choosing a wholesaler is the quality of the lenses which they produce. There are several points to keep in mind when investigating the quality of a lens. One important issue is whether or not the lab is capable of manufacturing the most up-to-date technologies. For example, can the manufacturer produce silicon hydro gel contact lenses which provide comfort while allowing six times more oxygen to reach the eye than previous contact lens designs? Another important consideration is the quality of the anti-reflective coated lenses offered. Anti-reflective coating makes use of a series of metal oxide layers to increase the lens's ability to improve vision, reduce eyestrain and enhance an individual's cosmetic appearance. Indeed, the 2004 survey stated that 76% of the eye care professionals polled stated that the quality of the anti-reflective coating brand was either an extremely or a very important consideration in choosing a lab. Another significant issue determining the quality of a lens is the techniques used to manufacture and inspect the lens. The way in which a frame is drilled and mounted during the manufacturing process not only impacts the quality, but also the time and expense of production. The nature of the remote tracer (a device which is able to outline the inner border of a frame as well as to describe the size and shape of the lens) may also be an important consideration for many independent opticians. Indeed, 81% of those polled by the 2020mag survey stated that they have in fact sent frame tracing data over the Web. The Internet is also becoming a popular method for ordering eye care products from wholesale manufacturers. While the 2004 survey found that 65% of eye care professionals have ordered products over the phone, and that 58% of eye care professionals have ordered products via fax, many labs have found that the interest in ordering products over the Internet is rapidly growing. Wholesale optical laboratories are able to yield several potential benefits to independent opticians. They are able to provide quality products at affordable prices as well as offering valuable services including product support and education of emerging technologies.

What it Takes to get an A Class Office

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Ok so you have got your nice car a successful business and have now gone to buy your dream office in the country, this has been a success and now is the time to look at renovating your office. We all have watched the programs at home where they buy a house, barn or office for 30,000 pounds and spend a couple of months in renovations then sell them off for a nice lump sum, giving them 40% profit. But is it really that easy, what they do not show on the television is the stress and strains of getting all the correct builders, electricians and plumbers in place. A few tips on renovating an office is firstly decide on what sort of look and feel you would like for yourself and the staff. Would you like it to look more professional or more cosy, you will have to weigh up the benefits and the negatives of both, for example if you were to make the work place too cosy would your staff benefit from this or would it feel like more of a second home for them. Once you have decided the theme of the office then comes the expertise of selecting the correct colours and office furniture, if you have chosen to go with the professional look you will need to get elegant looking leather chairs and other top of the range elegant office equipment. Remember to be very particular when it comes to choosing your office furniture as this is where the whole theme will literally come into effect. To make an A class office you will need to invest quite abit, if you don't have many ideas for yourself of how you want the office to look then the best advice is to visit other peoples offices or look at the way in which celebrities and other stars would decorate there own workplace, you can find pictures and information in all the glossy magazines that are available. Whatever route you decide to take in decorating your office do not forget to implement some technology and innovation into your workplace such as top of the range computers and software to keep your business running smoothly. Do not heavily rely on what you have seen on the television, you must put hard work into building up your small empire making sure you get top furniture, top technology and top staff then you will reap all of the benefits of having an A class workplace.

How to Increase the Selling Price of Your Company

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Two companies that are recognized as among the best at making successful acquisitions are General Electric and Cisco Systems. These companies have been star performers in growing shareholder value. The core principal that runs through almost every acquisition is integration. Over the past 10 years Cisco Systems has acquired 81 companies. Their stock price is up a remarkable 1300%. GE outperformed the S&P 500 index over the same period by 300%. There are several categories of strategic acquisition that can produce some outstanding results: 1. ACQUIRE CUSTOMERS - this is almost always a factor in strategic acquisitions. Some companies buy another that is in the same business in a different geography. They get to integrate market presence, brand awareness, and market momentum. 2. OPERATING LEVERAGE -the major focus in this type of acquisition is to improve profit margins through higher utilization rates for plant and equipment. A manufacturer of cardboard containers that is operating at 65% of capacity buys a smaller similar manufacturer. The acquired company's plant is sold, all but two machines are sold, the G&A staff are let go and the new customers are served more cost effectively. 3. CAPITALIZE ON A COMPANY STRENGTH - this is why Cisco and GE have been so successful with their acquisitions. They are so strong in so many areas, that the acquired company gets the benefit of many of those strengths. A very powerful business accelerator is to acquire a company that has a complementary product that is used by your installed customer base. Management depth and skill, production efficiency/ capacity, large base of installed accounts, developed sales and distribution channels, and brand recognition are examples of strengths that can power post acquisition performance. 4. COVER A WEAKNESS - This requires a good deal of objectivity from the acquiring company in recognizing and chinks in the corporate armor. Let me help you with some suggestions: 1. Customer concentration; 2. Product concentration; 3. Weak product pipeline; 4. Lack of management depth or technical expertise and 5. Great technology and products, poor sales and marketing. 5. BUY A LOW COST SUPPLIER - this integration strategy is typically aimed at improving profit margins rather than growing revenues. If your product is comprised of several manufactured components, one way to improve corporate profitability is to acquire one of those suppliers. You achieve greater control of overall costs, availability of supply, and greater value-add to your end product 6. IMPROVING OR COMPLETING A PRODUCT LINE - this approach has several elements from other acquisition strategies. Successfully adding new products to a line improves profitability and revenue growth. Giving a sales force more "arrows in their quiver" is a powerful growth strategy. You take advantage of your existing sales and distribution channel (strength). You may be able to improve your competitive position by simplifying the buying process - providing your customers one stop shopping. 7. TECHNOLOGY - BUILD OR BUY? This is a quandary for most companies, but is especially acute for technology companies. Acquiring technology through acquisition can be an excellent growth strategy. The R&D costs are generally lower for these smaller, agile, more narrowly focused companies than their larger, higher overhead acquirers. Time to market, window of opportunity, first mover advantage can have a huge impact on the ultimate success of a product. First one to establish their product as the standard is the big winner 8. ACQUISITION TO PROVIDE SCALE AND ACCESS TO CAPITAL MARKETS - In this area, bigger is better. Larger companies are considered safer investments. Larger companies command larger valuation multiples. Some companies make acquisitions in order to get big enough to attract public capital in the form of an IPO or investments from Private Equity Groups. 9. PROTECT AND EXPAND MATURE PRODUCT LINES - This has been very effectively done in the pharmaceutical sector where a new technology is acquired to repurpose and re patent drugs. 10. PROTECT CUSTOMER BASE FROM COMPETITION - The telephone companies have done studies that show that with each additional product or service that a customer uses, the likelihood of the customer defecting to a competitor drops exponentially. Get your customers to use local, long distance, cellular, cable, broadband, etc and you will not lose them. Multiple products and services provided to the same customer dramatically improve retention rates. 11. ACQUISITION TO REMOVE BARRIERS TO ENTRY - For example, a large commercial IT consulting firm acquires a technology consulting firm that specializes in the Federal Government. The larger IT consulting firm has valuable expertise that is easily transferable to government business if they could only break the code of the vendor approval process. After many fits and starts, they simply acquired a firm that had an established presence. They were able to then bring their full capabilities from the commercial side to effectively increase their newly acquired government business. Many larger firms have established business development offices to execute corporate growth strategies through acquisition. These experienced buyers search for companies that fit their well-defined acquisition criteria. In most cases they are attempting to buy companies that satisfy one or more of the criteria from above. The more of these characteristics your company can provide the acquiring company, the more value they can create post acquisition. They are often willing to pay a much greater price than a rule of thumb financial multiple for your company. You are a highly valued strategic acquisition.

Tips for a Better Recruitment

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Recruitment is one important ingredient in creating a successful business. It is better to have committed and responsible individuals to include in a particular group. It is will be easy to finish a goal. In any meeting or business appointments that you facilitate, you have to recruit new people that can help you in giving references like flyers and information sheets. These tools are effective ways in recruiting the right individuals for their specific specialization or expertise. It also involves self-sacrifice to recognize the participation of your new members and your own involvement. Make a connection on how you can have information to know if you have similarities, like the same neighborhood or same school, which you attended. A personal connectivity between you and the person in that relative aspect of recruiting makes you the person much better. You must at least give an idea of the history of the company or group your recruit wants to join. It is very important for that individual to know what he feels in regards to his recruitment. Give the exact issues you want to point out to the person. It is better to tell them what you need from them, if they can contribute their support and loyalty to you. They will have to understand their tasks and know what you are expecting from them. It could be helpful to advice them to give their commitment to you. You need to make them feel that you are willing to entrust a task or and you are willing to help them in accomplishing the work even without much supervision. Encourage your recruits to inform you in advance if they cannot do the tasks or the possibility of doing it because of pressures or other concerning matters. In recruiting, there must be a certain agreement that needs to be established. You must lay down the conditions and issues regarding their work. Tell them the steps and instructions they need to follow. In this way, they will be able to execute accurately the work that is assigned to them. Be sure that the persons you are recruiting are screened correctly. You must know their capabilities and skills. It is an advantage that you have at least an insight to the whole personality of the person. Many instances have happened that recruits tend to make false information regarding their application. Make sure you have that deep knowledge on their personalities and performance in their previous companies or groups where they belonged. Develop a message that you are endorsing benefits like pensions, housing, retirement plans and health benefits. They should know that you are promoting human rights and equality to employees. Show them that their future will be better and they need not worry about their security concerning their positions as new members. You should be aware that you must distribute tasks and involve them to responsibilities where they can learn and grow as a person. As a leader, you must understand that you need to involve them in various activities and let them help you address the information you want to point out to others. Do not be self-centered and share your ideas and inputs. This may give them the impression that you also want them to progress. To make sure that you get the right persons that you want, you can use two methods in recruiting. First is the principle of wholesale recruitment. In this method, you gather a number of persons who are interested in joining your particular group, individuals who are aspiring to get a position and being a member. The idea of this method is to get a wider view on those applicants. This strategy lets you give the information to many people. If possible, use only few people to gather and get the names of the aspiring to be members. On the other hand, retail recruitment involves the direct contact with the person. This is the main procedure you do in this method. The idea of identifying someone who is interested by directly addressing to the person the issues and concern they want to know. Choose the person that is most qualified and dedicated to really joining the group. You can talk to the person on the phone for confirmation and information why they want to get into your group. Gathering the best information on who you want to get is the very important thing in signing up your recruit. You can work harmoniously and finish any task with full trust and loyalty to one another.

Where To Go Public?

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

There are many ways to go public in the US and there are many different listings and quotations. The three major levels of listing are: THE OTC PINK SHEETS: Often referred to as "pinks", These companies are listed by the National Quotation Bureau (NQB). As of today, neither the NASD nor the SEC require Pink Sheet companies to maintain current reporting status nor undertake costly annual audits. However, this is soon changing. (Note, however, this is currently changing. Please see http://www.pinksheets.com/otcguide/categories.jsp ) THE OTC BB: The OTC Bulletin Board is operated by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and requires that all companies whose stock is traded on the OTC Bulletin Board (or Nasdaq or Amex) maintain their current reporting status with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which includes current audited financial statements. EXCHANGES: While the OTC PINK SHEETS and the OTC Bulletin Board are excellent stock markets, some clients are interested in trading on one of the more mature U.S. stock markets - Nasdaq Small-Cap, Nasdaq NMS, NYSE or AMEX. There are varying levels of qualification for each exchange including asset levels, number of shareholders, required Board level committees, and market capitalization. All exchanges require the company to maintain a current reporting status with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which includes current audited financial statements Typically, a company wishing to trade on one of these exchanges will need a minimum of $20 - 100 million in annual revenue and net profits of at least $2 million annually. For a US company a quotation on the US stock markets is a way to: 1)Leverage a larger retention of ownership; 2)Grow your company faster and make it more powerful by attracting top personnel without necessarily huge cash outlays; 3)Grow your company faster and make it more powerful by attracting top notch team members to your board of directors; 4)Raise money faster and cheaper by increasing the "liquidity" factor for your investors; 5)Grow your company faster and make it more powerful by increasing your ability to attract "mergers", "acquisitions" and "strategic partners; 6)Grow your company faster and make it more powerful by increasing its ability to compete for large corporate contracts; 7)Leverage your personal return on investment as an owner by decreasing the amount of time it will take you to make money on your investment, as well as increasing the valuation of your company, as well as, changing the liquidity of your asset to a much more liquid form than that of a private company; 8)Grow your business faster and make it more powerful by increasing your status in the eyes of all those you do business with. For a foreign corporation a qutation on the US stock markets is a way to: 1)Increase liquidity for the owners of the corporation by tapping into a liquid US market; 2)Tap into the US capital market (the largest in the world) for expansion of business at home and internationally; 3)Hedge against foreign currency - by diversifying your holdings into US dollars it is a way to hedge against the foreign markets volatility; 4)Tap into the huge leverage possible on the US stock market as detailed in leverage point above. Often time foreign laws and exchanges do not permit the owners the huge leverage available on the US stock markets. For example, being able to raise 100million dollars and keeping 70-80% control of the US corporation is not something you can do on all foreign exchanges;) 5)Expand your business into the US and tap into strategic alliances-- US companies are more likely to do business (and do business on more favorable terms) with a US public corporation than a foreign corporation; 6)Tap into US and International personnel pools. Key US and INTERNATIONAL personnel are more available to a US public corporation; 7)Tap into the international MERGER and ACQUISITION market. US and INTERNATIONAL businesses are more likely to become an acquisition or merger candidate for a US public corporation. (c) 2007 Charlene Kalk

The New Pink Sheet Categories Will Help Clean Up The OTC Market

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

The new Pink Sheets Trading Categories are a tool to help investors gather the information they need on publicly traded companies quoted on the Pink Sheets. Since Pink Sheets is a trading venue that is driven by OTC market trading demand, it is hoped that categorizing securities by their level of disclosure will greatly enhance the capital formation process, and help prevent Micro cap fraud. The following Pink Sheets categories are a tool to help investors make better informed, educated decisions, and are meant to improve transparency and provide adequate public disclosure in a credible and timely manner. Starting in May of 2007, every security that Pink Sheet quotes will be put into one of the categories described below. Emerging Equities List: The Emerging Equities List is appropriate for issuers that are in development stage and are actively raising capital or companies that wish to distinguish themselves as issuers with reputable managements and audited disclosure. To qualify for this category, companies must be SEC reporting and current in their SEC requirements and meet the Pink Sheets Guidelines for current information, including GAAP audited financial reports. Interim reports must be posted within 45 days and annual reports must be posted within 90 days after each fiscal year ends. The company must also provide detailed information on their financial officers annually to Pink Sheets. SEC Current The SEC Current category is for companies that are SEC registered and current in their SEC financial reporting requirements. Companies must post their disclosure by the SEC's EDGAR system, be current in their filings, file quarterly reports within 45 days and annual reports within 90 days. This level of listing requires a quarterly letter from the attorney vouching for the completeness of their quarterly reports and disclosures. Adequate Current Information Non-SEC-reporting companies that are quoted on Pink Sheets that do not have GAAP audits are listed in this category. Pink Sheets confirms that they have met the requirements for Pink Sheets Guidelines for providing adequate current information, which means they must post a quarterly letter from an attorney regarding the completeness and adequacy of their company's disclosure. They must support a management certified annual audit as well. Adequate Current Information for Banks and International Issuers Companies in this category are non-SEC-reporting federal or state regulated banks, insurance companies and non-U.S. companies listed on an international stock exchange. For banks and insurance companies, they must post to Pink Sheets the same information they provide to their regulators. Foreign issuers must post the same disclosures required in their home country exchange. Disclosures in a non-U.S. currency must be clearly labeled, in English and posted in a timely manner. Limited Information Available Economically distressed or bankrupt companies that get quoted on Pink Sheets that have posted some information in the last six months, either through the SEC or on the OTCIQ system, but whose disclosure is not current or complete. This category is also used for companies that have not yet met the requirements for the Adequate Current Information listing. No Information: Companies in this category have not posted any information in over six months through the venues described above. In many cases, this is because the company is in financial distress or otherwise on shaky ground. Public Interest Concern: For stocks with unsolicited spam, questionable promotion or other public interest concerns will be listed in this category. Companies in this category are on the verge of having their stock symbols blocked by the Pink Sheets. Only time will tell, as Micro cap fraudsters have continually found ways to get around the rules, but this author believes this move by the Pink Sheets should go a long way towards cleaning up the quality of the OTC companies quoted by the Pink Sheets. (c)2006 Stan Medley