2010 U.s. Kitchen Cabinet & Countertop Mfg. Industry Report-Aarkstore Enterprise

February 23, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment 

The Kitchen Cabinet & Countertop Mfg. Industry report, published annually by Barnes Reports, contains timely and accurate industry statistics, forecasts and demographics. The report features 2010 current and 2011 forecast estimates on the size of the industry (sales, establishments, employment) nationally and for all 50 U.S. States and over 900 metro areas. New to the report this year are: financial ratios, number of firms and payroll estimates. The report also includes industry definition, 5-year historical trends on industry sales, establishments and employment, a breakdown of establishments, sales and employment by employee size of establishment (9 categories), and estimates on up to 10 sub-industries, vanities and wood kitchen cabinets.

Table of Contents :

Users’ Guide

Industry Definition and Related Industries

Industry Establishments

Sales and Employment Trends

Financial Ratios

Establishments

Firms and Payroll

Sub-Industries – 2009 Estimated Industry Sales ($Millions)

Sub-Industries – 2009 Estimated Number of Establishments

Sub-Industries – 2009 Estimated Number of Employees

5-Year Trend – Estimated Industry Sales ($Millions)

5-Year Trend – Estimated Number of Establishments

5-Year Trend – Estimated Number of Employees

2010 United States metropolitan areas – the agency estimates
2010 U.S. Metropolitan Areas – Estimated Industry Sales ($ Millions)
2010 U.S. Metropolitan Areas – Estimated number of workers
Year 2011 U.S. Metropolitan Areas – Estimated Number of Number of Establishments
Year 2011 U.S. Metropolitan Areas – night Estimated Industry Sales (million yen)
2011 U.S. Metropolitan Areas – Estimated number of workers
2010 U.S. States – Estimated Number of Establishments

2010 U.S. States – Estimated Industry Sales ($Millions)

2010 U.S. States – Estimated Number of Employees

2011 U.S. States – Estimated Number of Establishments

2011 U.S. States – Estimated Industry Sales ($Millions)

2011 U.S. States – Estimated Number of Employees

For more information, please see: http://www.aarkstore.com/reports/2010-US-Kitchen-Cabinet-Countertop-Mfg-Industry-Report-35271.html

PH.NO. 919272852585

Drop Shipping Wholesalers

January 22, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment 

Drop shipping has received much attention recently online. There are over 36 million hits for the term on Google to a recent survey. Apart from the organic search results, there were dozens of ads for sites wholesaler, drop ship lists of these companies and money making courses.
What is Drop Shipping?
Drop shipping is actually a very simple concept. The best way to explain it is to compare the traditional retail environment with dropshipping idea. Suppose we want to create a physical selling flashlights. Remember that most small towns and even big cities have really not enough customers to support a store that only sells flashlights (you can insert a micro-niche product here).
Before our store opens, we’ll need hundreds if not thousands of flashlights to put on the shelves. Think about that for a minute. Consider every retail store you’ve ever shopped at. What do they all have in common? Inventory in the warehouse floor, and probably much more in store room in back. How much do you think all these torches (or whatever you want to sell) cost? Most retail stores (even small one) need to invest heavily (dozens or even hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars) up front statement. This statement is usually purchased in bulk from a wholesaler or distributor at a discount to retail prices.
The same problem applies to online stores – you need to ship goods to your customers. Even a store that sells cheap products can easily run into tens of thousands of dollars in up front inventory costs. And that’s before the first customer places an order. Fortunately, there is a good alternative. When we sell online there are no shelves to stock. Why bother to keep anything in stock? This is where wholesalers get rid ship comes in.
How Drop Shipping Wholesalers Jobs?
A drop shipper is a common stockholder, who is also willing to send directly to your customers drop shipping wholesaler sells items at the same discounted rate to the dealer and also typically charge a small fee for handling the transfer. This fee is usually around $ 3-5. The good thing about using a drop shipper is that you do not have to stock anything. Furthermore, you do not pay for the goods until you actually sell it.

The Definitive Brazilian Private Equity Guide: Part I

December 20, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

Someone forgot to tell to Brazil that we are in the midst of the worst global recession in history.

Brazil is quickly becoming a political and economic leader in Latin America and the world. As with the rest of the global economy, Brazil entered into a recessionary period in 2009, but economic data that have been emerging from the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (“IBGE”) increasingly point to a stabilization in the economy, further suggesting that the country has perhaps been less impacted than other markets in this global recession. After the 4.4% quarter-on-quarter decline in 4Q08 and a subsequent 3.5% decline in 1Q09, the country’s GDP reached US$417.8 billion at 2Q09, up 5.2% from the prior quarter, and projected GDP growth for the second half of 2009 is running at about 4.0% or even higher (see Figure 1).
Many economists point, because from this year's global economic recession, a major barrier to changing trade patterns in Brazil for the first time, China surpassed the U.S. to become Brazil's largest trading partner. In addition, copper and oil prices remained relatively strong, Brazil's commodity-based economy continues to show strong growth in the expansion, consumer spending increased 2.1%, 2Q09, on behalf of 23 quarter. Any Ph.D. in economics can tell you that, on the technical side, it is ginormous.
All this good news will get a clear recognition of the market. Meanwhile, in 2008 Brazil's Bovespa index is down 45.0% or more, Brazil's main index is about 66.7% YTD, up 15.6%, 3Q09 alone, significantly (see Figure 2) is the United States, the Dow Jones industrial average is more than. Similarly, as sovereign bonds, while showing optimism in Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and other countries for many, and probably more widespread pessimism.
And as if things were not good enough, Brazil is the heavy favorite in 2010 World Cup in South Africa, it is the 2014 World Cup hosts, and it was only the first South American country ever to host the Olympic Games, as are now planning to bring the ultimate sporting event and the worldwide audience in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
One could say that the things you are in Brazil. Muito bom indeed.
Private Equity in Brazil
With such favorable economic conditions, the buzz in Brazil again starts to converge on the topic of private equity. Like its fellow BRIC countries India and China, Brazil maintains some of the same arguments for the “perfect market environment for private equity.” Hundreds -– if not thousands –- of bankers’ pitchbooks abound with respect to the wonderful opportunities in Brazilian private equity, and we ourselves might be culpable for a few of those. Brazil is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, and, with an estimated population of 190 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in the world. It is the world’s tenth largest economy and the largest national economy in Latin America. Brazil boasts a solid and modern financial system that escaped the financial crisis relatively unscathed, an improving and credible legal system, a strong local investor base, robust capital markets, and, perhaps more so than any other Latin American country, there has been a strong emergence of a new middle class. According to the Funda??o Getulio Vargas, a Brazilian research institute, since 2002 Brazil, previously notorious for its extremes in income distribution, is now demonstrating the emergence of this strong middle-class society.
Yada, yada, yada. Unfortunately, pretty much what we heard ten years ago, twenty years ago and every other time the emerging markets in general become a popular topic of conversation. Thinking back to years such as 1994 and 2000, everyone was similarly optimistic about the great private equity opportunities in Brazil and throughout Latin America. When Madonna and the mullet were still cool circa 1994, anything with a pulse in Argentina attracted capital, and through the late 1990s, any Latin American company whose only asset was a domain name very often brought in hundreds of private equity professionals ready to write a check. Where is Argentina today? Don’t ask. Sure, Brazil becomes popular when Maria Bartiromo discusses the great opportunities in Brazil on CNBC, but as anyone that has been in the emerging markets for many years will tell you, the ups and downs of Brazil and the emerging markets in general can be stomach-wrenching to say the least. We love you dearly, Maria, but we didn’t see you in 1995 or 2001, when things were perhaps a smidge less uplifting in the region.
With that said, we do strongly believe that Brazil currently poses significant opportunities for private equity investors, and we sincerely hope that private equity investments in the country take firmer hold than in other times during the country’s history. For Brazilian companies and the Brazilian economy in general, attracting private equity can be an important source for continued economic growth. But what makes now such an opportune time for private equity transactions in Brazil? “Besides the favorable macroeconomic data and the fact that between 65%-70% of all Latin American private equity capital is focused specifically on Brazil, there are many reasons why the current situation in Brazil is different now than in other years. For one, while the financial sector has shown improvement in the last decade, access to capital for the middle-market and growth companies continues to be difficult, and thus the need for private equity as a source of capital for these early-stage and middle-market companies,” said Roger S. Leeds, Chairman of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (“EMPEA”), Professor at the School of Advanced International Studies (“SAIS”) at Johns Hopkins University and a former partner at Apax Partners & Co. “In addition, what’s significant about today is that there is a tremendous amount of Brazilian institutional capital being committed to the sector, as one sees pension funds, for example, placing significant amounts of capital in local private equity funds.”
*** Article too long to search for in full. See the link below to read full article
http://www.alternativelatininvestor.com/private2.php

Learning from Lebanon

September 11, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

Today’s news is still filled with grim financial statistics from all around the globe. Yet there is one headline that hasn’t gotten much attention: Beirut is Booming!

Yes, that Beirut! When you think of Lebanon, your first thought is probably related to a history of war, civil unrest and political instability. So you might be surprised to learn that the country has not only dodged the global financial crisis, it’s actually thriving in the midst of it.

The country’s past turmoil is directly related to Lebanon’s need to create a conservative economic system—since the next crisis was expected at any moment they had to be prepared for the worst.

We know that hindsight is 20/20 and we admit that the U.S. has not suffered through the same kinds of instability that lead to Lebanon’s conservative economic approach. But since the U.S. banking system seems poised to take its last breath before succumbing to nationalization, let’s imagine there is such a thing as reincarnation for banks. If that were the case, maybe there is something to be learned from Lebanon that banks can apply in their next lifetime.

In 1999 Lebanon’s Central Bank changed the rules to discourage commercial banks from investing in risky overseas investments. It was a way to get local banks to funnel the excess liquidity of the banking sector into their own economy.

As recently as 2007, Lebanon was teetering on the brink of all out civil war. Because it was a risky political environment and because there was growing concern about the global economy, chief banker Riad Salameh made a very fortuitous decision. He barred the banks from investing in anything complicated or that included toxic subprime loans. Risky packages bundled up with debt were strictly off limits.

Basically, the bottom line mandate was this: “Do not invest in products you don’t understand or that are not transparent.” What a concept! It was an order that helped shield Lebanon’s banks from the global financial collapse.

The banks followed orders and scaled back on debt while at least 30% of their assets were held as cash. Salameh even forced weak banks to merge with bigger ones if it appeared that they were heading for trouble. In other words, unlike the U.S. banking system, somebody with vision was manning the helm. While the rest of the world’s banking system slowly unraveled, Lebanon was prepared.

Today their Central bank treasury vaults are chockfull and in 2008 the banks posted $10.5 billion in deposits, a record high and the best year in Lebanon’s financial history. Banks are also enjoying huge profits with average increases of 30 percent from 2007. Profits at Bank of Beirut had a 51 percent over 2007.

A big chunk of these record deposits and profits are a result of the thousands of highly educated young people from Lebanon who have gone to work abroad and are now sending their money home because investing elsewhere has become too risky. With some 12 million Lebanese overseas and only 3.5 million still in the country, deposits from expatriates make up a third of the economy.

But if those overseas workers, wherever they are, get caught up in other unraveling economies with mounting unemployment statistics, maybe those hefty wire transfers home will start to dwindle. We’ll keep our eye on that.

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Banker Magazine awarded Salameh the 2008 prize of best Central Bank Governor in the Middle East for his excellent financial and monetary performance. Salameh’s trophy case is filling up—he also received the best Central Bank Governor in the World Award in 2006 and, for three consecutive years, received the best Central Bank Governor in the Middle East Award from Euromoney magazine.

That’s pretty impressive, but I don’t plan on holding my breath while waiting for Paulson, or even the head of Citigroup or Bank of America, to receive that kind of recognition.

The Secret To Get Paid To (GPT) Sites

July 1, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

I started investigating get paid to or GPT sites as a natural extension of paid survey websites. While they are different, there are also some similarities such as the low barrier to entry and the fact that some GPT sites also host surveys. There are a lot of get paid to sites out there I’ve found, but some are certainly more reputable than others, especially those that pioneered the industry like Cash Crate.

I thought it would be helpful to put together an introduction to get paid to sites which are a long proven method for making money online and are especially useful for those who are unfamiliar with building websites or selling online.

Introduction to Get Paid to Sites:

You can think of get paid to websites as a middleman between you and advertisers. The advertising companies pay GPT sites to generate leads and send potential customers to them to see their services. The GPT sites then pass along a portion of their earnings to you when you visit their advertisers and perform some action. These actions can be any of the following:

? Visiting a website and registering to take surveys

? Opening a free user account on the website

? Reading email advertisements

? Referring a friend to the website

? Purchasing a refundable trial subscription, service or product

? Signing up for a newsletter

These are the most common actions, but there can be others as well. After doing these offers you get paid from the GPT site once they verify your approval for the offer. For example, you may get paid $20 for signing up for a free magazine subscription trial.

As long as you make sure to cancel your subscription before the trial period is over you get paid $20 for free. You can make a lot of money with get paid to sites and you can make substantially more if you have a credit card that you can use to sign up for free trials.

Of course there are also offers available to those without credit cards although they generally pay less. These offers may pay anywhere from $0.50 to $2.00 apiece and with the more established GPT sites they can really add up.

Why Should I Use Get Paid to Websites?

The main draw of get paid to websites is that you can make money with them even if you don’t have your own website or any computer related skills. All you need is the willingness to spend some time completing offers online.

If you have a webpage for referrals and a credit card to use you can make even more money with GPT sites, but it’s not necessary. It is also helpful to use a spreadsheet of some kind to keep track of completed offers and payments due when you are active with GPT sites.

You can make significant money through get paid to websites. Recent entries on blogs and forums that I’ve read indicate $100-200 as a minimum is quite easy and some people are making in excess of $2000 a month. Judging from what I already know about get paid to websites these figures are accurate and you can do the same with a little effort.

Who Can Use Get Paid To Websites?

Most GPT sites are restricted to U.S. users although recently there have been some that are opened up to international users. Even so, there still aren’t many international offers although this is getting better for people in the U.K. and Australia. Overall your best chances of making money with GPT sites is if you are in the U.S.

One way you can get around this restriction is by signing up and then focusing your efforts on referring other U.S. based users and earning affiliate commissions based on their activity.

Are GPT Sites Scams?

You will always find scams on the internet there’s no doubt of that and the get paid to industry is no exception. However, there are many legitimate and credible GPT sites out there that are being run by responsible business people that will listen to your concerns and will pay on time every month.

My advice would be to stick with the established get paid to sites because you know their track record of paying users. As with other areas on the internet be cautious of new sites and work within the GPT rules and you’ll be fine.

Another recommendation is to get a throwaway email address and phone number to avoid sales calls and junk mail you’ll receive from aggressive marketers.

Wrapping Up Get Paid to Websites

My suggestion would be to stick with one or maybe two of the major get paid to sites. The reason is that there is quite a bit of overlap and duplication among the sites and that could result in your not getting paid for legitimate offers you’ve completed.

Aside from that it can become quite difficult and cumbersome to keep track of multiple sites, offers and potential payments on an ongoing basis. If you can take advantage of it then definitely sign up for all the programs and use their affiliate programs, but stick to just a few for completing offers.

Most get paid to sites have very generous affiliate programs and you can make some outstanding recurring passive income once you build a solid active user base. These active users will then recruit other users building your passive income even further.

I receive a nice steady monthly income from GPT sites without even logging in or using them just based on referrals. This is something that anyone can duplicate for themselves to make a steady monthly income online.