US Car Review » Import vs Domestic

Money Saving Ideas for Wedding Catering

Car Pro — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 07:14:10 +0000

Many brides will spend over half of their wedding budget providing a full catered meal for their guests, which can be wonderful if your finances permit. However, if you find yourself with limited funds there are several ways to save while still preserving the lavish and elegant atmosphere of a traditional wedding meal.If a full dinner is important to you consider serving buffet style. A served dinner not only requires knowing what each guest would like well in advance (chicken vs. beef, etc.), but also considerable catering staff to serve the meal. Buffets allow greater flexibility for both you and your guests. Last minute changes can be made to the menu without any serious ramifications, and guests can decide what they want to eat and how much of it they want. Plan on saving anywhere from 10% to 50% simply by choosing a buffet. If you really want a served dinner, other options include cutting the overall number of guests or making the reception by invitation only.You may also want to consider an evening ceremony, starting between seven and seven thirty, where you serve hor‘dourves and a dessert. This option allows you to serve a large number of guests exotic food for slightly less than a basic meal, or an array of domestic hor’dourves for significantly less than a full dinner. You can reasonably expect to save at least another 25% over serving a buffet dinner. A pleasant side effect of serving hor’dourves is that you do not need seating for all of your guests at the reception site, which means you can use a smaller facility and do not need chairs and tables available for all of your guests. While this may not seem significant, keep in mind that renting a simple chair will cost at least $1.50 each, a basic table will cost $12.50 or so, a tablecloth will be another $10.00, and you will probably need a centerpiece as well.If your budget is particularly tight and you do not want friends or family to make the food for your reception, do not be afraid to use local bakeries to supply your guests with hor’dourves and even dessert. Your selection may be somewhat limited, yet you will not have to pay the 15-18% gratuity most caterers charge. To customize the presentation, you can go to your local restaurant supply store and buy some inexpensive yet elegant food trays. Most bakeries will be happy to put your order on your own serving dishes.An often overlooked option are small catering operations run by stay-at-home moms and retired chiefs. These businesses are typically suited to smaller weddings; however, they are usually willing to expand their menu to accommodate special and unusual requests.On a final note, be sure to carefully research exactly what each caterer provides. Some simply provide the food, others go so far as to cover non-alcoholic beverages, a dessert, silverware, china, and even tablecloths. It is often more affordable when you work through the numbers to use a caterer with a comprehensive package, but not always. Ask for references from your potential caterer, view pictures of their work, and taste samples of menu items to ensure you make a wise decision.

Written by MacKenzie Wood, owner of D.I.Y Wedding Planner. Their website specializes in do-it-yourself wedding planning resources such as wedding budgeting tools, “how to” articles, and features a directory with reviews of wedding related businesses. For more information visit www.DIYWeddingPlanner.com.

Does the High Cost of Printer Ink and Laser Toner Cartridges Got You Down?

Car Pro — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 08:16:39 +0000

With the steady growth in the number of foreign and domestic manufacturers in the remanufacturing industry, the cost of laser toner cartridges has been reduced significantly.

Toner

Laer printers that use toner cartridges offer several advantages over inkjet printers. They also print much more quickly than inkjet cartridges, and laser toner works on almost any paper type. The only downside to laser toner printers is that they cost more initially than inkjet based printers. However, unlike ink, toner is a dry powdery substance. The copier or laser printer’s fuser is responsible for melting the laser toner to create a permanent image on the paper. When your toner cartridges become empty, you have several options for purchasing a new toner cartridge. Besides opting for a new OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) toner supply, you owe it to yourself to try a new compatible brand or remanufactured cartridge. While most all of the major office supply store chains offer their own brand name replacement cartridges, there are now several reputable online retailers offering extremely good deals on ink, toner and copier toner cartridges. Compared to the office supply store chains, which offer minimal savings, online outlets are selling at near wholesale prices with savings in the range of 30-60% off. The price differences have little to do with any difference in quality, but rather the heightened competitive environment of the internet itself.

Compatible vs. Remanufactured Toner Cartridges

While the toner cartridge manufacturing industry is not entirely standards-based, the two terms “compatible” and “remanufactured” are used loosely and are sometimes used synonymously. A compatible toner cartridge is generally a new toner cartridge made with all new parts and components, while a remanufactured toner cartridge is a used cartridge core that has been disassembled cleaned, re-built and tested and may contain up to 90% new components. Both the compatible and remanufactured cartridges are built to, and may exceed, the specific OEM specifications of the printer manufacturer. The industry-leading cartridge remanufacturers often operate under the same ISO-9001 quality systems that an OEM manufacturer might use. A reliable source will ensure that the customer receives good quality products and a satisfactory customer service. As a customer you should only buy a product when you are fully confident about the company and the product it supplies. Before purchasing a new compatible or remanufactured cartridge, check the retailer’s performance guarantee and their product warranty. A good guarantee should cover the entire cartridge life cycle, or the period it would normally be in use. It should warrant the cartridge free from material defects and workmanship. Be sure to read the retailer’s Terms and Conditions of Sale.

One particular area where enormous savings can be had is in purchasing compatible MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) toner cartridges on the internet. These cartridges have a special toner in them that is required when printing your own checks complete with bank routing and account numbers. Good MICR toners can be purchased at a fraction of the price of genuine online. Just be sure any online company you consider buying from guarantees their cartridges meet and/or exceed OEM standards. Look for statements such as “ISO 9001 Certified – MICR toner cartridges will exceed ANSI (American National Standards Institute), ABA (American Banking Association) and CBA (Canadian Banking Association) standards”. The American Banking Association requires a MICR toner cartridge to produce an Iron Oxide Signal Strength of 50. Europe and Canada require a signal strength of 80. One online supplier I found stated the signal strength of the MICR toner formula is 100 to 114. While most manufacturers rigorously test each formulated batch of MICR toner with a signal strength check batches of toner with a signal strength of less than 100 should be rejected by the quality control department. Compatible MICR toner cartridges are high-quality, reliable alternatives to high-cost OEM products. Each MICR cartridge should be guaranteed to meet ABA/ANSI MICR character signal strength specifications while also delivering highly reliable, consistent results for your most important financial documents.

Worried About Your Printer Warranty

Many consumers worry that the use of compatible or aftermarket printing supplies will void their printer’s warranty. The answer is no. More simply put, this means that your printer warranty cannot be voided just because you choose to use compatible products unless the manufacturer can prove that the compatible product caused direct damage to your printer. In cases such as this, the manufacturer may choose not to repair your printer but your warranty would remain in effect for all other warranty issues.

For more information see:

MAGNUSON-MOSS WARRANTY IMPROVEMENT ACT

United States Code Annotated

Title 15 Commerce and Trade

Chapter 50 Consumer Product Warranties

15 Section 2302 Section C.

For more information on equipment warranties, visit the Federal Trade Commission on the web. See Consumer Protection – Federal Warranty Law at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.shtm

Environmental Benefits

Aside from saving money, by using a remanufactured product you can help reduce the impact on the environment and divert the flow of materials into the landfills. Most all local municipalities have special collection bins for used printer and toner cartridges, as well may companies will buy back the empties.

Spectrum Toner provides an amazing range of compatible discount laser toner cartridges, copier toner cartridges and printer ink cartridges manufactured for all the leading printer/copier brands. Visit http://www.spectrumtoner.com or call 1-866-359-4-INK for more detailed information about laser toners and any of our special offers and quantity discounts that are available.

Phone no. 1-866-359-4-INK
Address: Cartridge Pro, LLC 4904 Atlantic Ave, Ste 102 Raleigh, NC 27616 USA

Fax 919-875-8624

This article is the property of www.SpectrumToner.com. Article use is allowed only if author bio remains intact and an active link is placed on the site.

Steven Aaroe is an author and has been writing content for laser toner cartridges, copier toner cartridges, printer cartridges, inkjet, canon, lexmark, hp, hewlett packard, discount brother printer cartridges, color ink toner cartridges.

For more information please visit http://www.spectrumtoner.com

Setting Up Business in the Uk, and How to Find the Right Offices – Fast

Car Pro — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:03:19 +0000

Setting up a business overseas will always present the proprietor with a range of challenges â challenges which will vary from becoming versed in local employment law and getting to grips with corporate taxation, all the way through to navigating the disparities of the real estate market from country to country.

Speed of setting up a business

In todayâs business climate – more than ever before – time is the key issue. Maintaining first mover advantage is critical in todayâs rapidly changing business world; and for many businesses, the speed with which they can establish a new operation may mean the difference between failure and success. This is an important issue when expanding in your domestic market. But when the corporate strategy dictates overseas expansion, the issues become altogether more complex.

Location

To confuse matters further, in countries such as the UK, choosing the location of your office can be critical to its success. To many, the UKâs small size â relative to the US, for example â may appear to make a real estate location decision easier. After all, five miles in one direction or the otherâ¦ how much difference can that really make? The answer â in London at any rate â is that it can make a huge difference: the character of the city, the polarisation of business sectors and skills and the transport links will all have a major impact on the success of a new business.

Evaluating headline rents vs total occupation costs

Then there is the issue of the premises themselves. Again, taking London as our example, there is a bewildering array of office accommodation available â from the small office suite in a period building, to the brand new, eco-friendly office in a state-of-the-art modern business centre â all being offered on different terms. Some leases will be on a short-term basis, while others will be offered for a 5-year term only; some office leases may include additional extras, such as fit-out costs or service charges, and occupiers may incur huge penalties for breaking the lease early.

Additional costs may include agentsâ fees, other professional fees, local business rates, support staff, office equipment rentals and rising energy costs, all of which will result in the bottom-line occupational cost bearing little resemblance to the initial, headline rental figure.

Serviced office solutions

If you are considering setting up a new, overseas operation in the UK, it is worth considering the role that the serviced office can provide.

First and foremost, given the time-critical path that most businesses now run to, serviced offices can provide an immediate âhomeâ â one that can be literally up and running, fully-staffed, cabled up and connected within days. â¦Unlike the time involved in short listing your potential office, then negotiating and signing a conventional lease, fitting out and furnishing the space and staffing up, which can take months.

Second, with serviced offices costs quoted on an all-inclusive basis (with no hidden extras such as service charges and local rates) it can give you a quick snapshot of your total occupation costs, and how these vary from location to location, enabling you to make an informed decision, using like-for-like information.

Thirdly, with full support services as part of the package, you can focus on your business, and rely on the fact that the serviced office provider will staff and manage the day-to-day support your business requires.

Case study: ReachLocal UK Inc.

ReachLocal is a leading global provider of local online marketing solutions that makes available to advertisers over 98 percent of the major search engine landscape through alliances with Google, Yahoo! and MSN. Founded in 2004, ReachLocal is a privately held U.S. corporation backed by VantagePoint Venture Partners, Rho Ventures and Galleon Crossover Fund. The company is headquartered in Woodland Hills, California with offices located throughout the United States; Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Toronto, Canada; and most recently – London, UK.

(ReachLocal came to the UK in April 2008 to prepare for the launch of its European head office and begin offering its patent-pending services to SMBâs throughout the UK. (ReachLocal Launches In Western Europe).

The Executive Offices Group provides fully serviced offices and meeting space, video conferencing and virtual office facilities in prime locations across London and the UK.

For more Details visit: http://www.executiveoffices.co.uk/

Breaking All the Rules – Exclusive World Class Investments to Help Double Your Net Worth and to Establish Your Legacy!!

Car Pro — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:20:03 +0000

BREAKING ALL THE RULES! Exclusive World Class Investments to Help Double Your Net Worth and to Establish Your Legacy!!

Cabal Capital Management, LLC announces the launch of the Legacy Fund which provides special alternative investment opportunities into extremely low risk, and very high financial return Advanced High Income Generation Projects through direct investments.

This fund which is not a private equity fund is unlike all other investment pool funds that exist today by offering investments that are focused on both strategic and tactical investment opportunities into Highly Advanced Income Generating Project(s) producing crucial and vital, very high demand commercially valued product(s) that are being sold directly into the largest “Major” Universal Demand Markets in the world. These investments allow risk adverse accredited investors the ability to participate in the revenues generated from these projects which allows for and achieves both capital growth and preservation, while providing the investor an extremely low risk opportunity with the benefit of dependable and sustainable alpha generation and the long term growth from these projects. These fully integrated projects have been designed to last 40 to 50 years or longer for their life cycles regardless of the global financial and credit markets.

Our fund is well positioned to effectively tap into these markets to the benefits of our investors. The growth dynamics of the United States and Western Europe is based upon local, regional and domestic consumption of all the products these projects produce. This fund is targeting routine and consistent annual double digit returns (15 – 21%) to investors un-correlated to all securities, commodities, currencies and the credit markets themselves since there will not be any exposure to these markets. All project investments within this special investment vehicle have been specifically developed and designed to perform across various business cycles regardless of global economic conditions to include recessionary and depressionary environments as well.

The current global credit crisis, current stock market contractions and wild swings in the commodities markets does not and will not impact our ability to produce consistent annual double digit returns now or in the future for our investors since we will never have, need or rely on the credit markets to establish margin accounts or leveraged positions which most all hedge fund type investment vehicles require to operate. We do not require nor will we ever utilize prime services which the large investment banks provide (Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, etc.). We do not rely on the stock, commodity or currency exchanges to generate income since we can not control any of the events occurring in those exchanges for our investors, thus we are totally un-correlated to all securities, commodities, currencies and credit markets.

In the case of Deflationary and or Inflationary Markets, they will have no real effect on these projects and the products they produce. Coincidentally inflation will only increase the value of the products coming out of the projects. Deflationary markets will have very minimal impact on the products produced within these projects since these products are and always will be vital for any country to maintain a stable economy, thus they will always be in very high demand through out the world regardless of the global economic conditions.

Risk issues are always addressed through risk management and the review procedures for each and every investment made. Unlike most projects which have been developed, planned and master planned, every assumption for each project invested in has been tested, validated, verified and proven or it’s not incorporated into these project(s). Each and every project is also backed up by a detailed Input / Output Financial Cash Model which is a detailed Program / Project Financial Blueprint that shows the quarterly inter-relationships of investments, operational production revenues, operational expenses at all levels, taxes, imposts and fees, special circumstances events, and financial obligations during the life of the Program / Project.

Since energy production and consumption is the key element to any industrialized country, and with energy consumption increasing globally at an annual rate of 5 – 6 %, energy is and always will be vital to both the U.S. and Western European Economies. Allocating to Energy and Bio-Fuels production are two major key areas of involvement and investments within our seven pronged program investment strategies approach, which consists of the following options available to us: Energy: Oil & Gas (Example Project to follow), Bio Fuels: Algae Based Bio-Diesel and Jatropha Curcas {plant} direct fuel source. Algae Based Bio-Diesel is a direct fuel source currently available and ready for full scale production and delivery {This is Direct Fuel Source and is not a blend for gasoline or other fuel sources!} Algae Based Bio-Diesel Fuel production utilizes proprietary photo enhanced, micro nutrient enhanced, continuous flow, automated, sensor quality controlled, bio-chemical industrial processes and then are pressed, centrifuged, oils separated from water, water treated, cooked, cracked and treated all within a 12 hour cycle (Start to Finish) to complete one batch made ready for use in any diesel engine. Initially 270 Million Gallons per quarter to several Billion Gallons of bio-diesel per quarter will be produced depending upon the initial size of a project program. This Algae Based Bio-Diesel Fuel source has a Cetane Rating of 105 -117 compared to 80 – 85 Cetane Rating for #1 diesel fuel currently produced by all the major oil companies, which provides more power, better millage and performance while emitting 60 – 70% less emissions across the board vs. normal standard crude oil based diesel fuels. Algae Based Bio-Diesel emits no sulfur and or nitrogen into the atmosphere, Alternative Energy: Solar / Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Production, Wind and Electric Fuel Cell Systems, Natural Resources: Gold, Platinum and other Precious Metals Groups and Diamond Mining: Refining, Assaying, Separation using advanced physical technologies and Bullion production of Gold and Platinum as well as Processing, Cutting, Valuation Appraisals of Diamonds and other Precious Stones, Water: Proprietary Water Science / Technology to Produce Fresh Drinking Water to meet Agricultural, Industrial and Human Public Health needs in critically water short areas through Water production, bottling facilities and distribution. This can be accomplished with any available water supply {in ground water tables, above and below ground reservoirs with a high saline content normally not recommended for human consumption}, Sea Waters & Brackish Waters anywhere Globally, Hydroponics: Food Production: Fish Shrimp, Prawns, Fruits Vegetables utilizing USDA inspectors to garner Grade A Choice Status to include direct marketing into Major U.S.A. and International Consumer Demand Markets, and Special Opportunities: Aviation Fuels: JP-1 to JP-12 for Commercial and Military Applications from Algae Based Direct Fuel Sources as well as Advanced Hyper-Speed Information Technologies and other Advanced High Income Generation Project Opportunities as they become available.

It should be noted that traditional large project investments consist normally of only one income generation production element and typically requires three years at the earliest before the investors see any type of modest return on their investment. Our projects produce immediate results in the first year due to their very nature and global demand. These Exclusive World Class Projects which are available to us for investments have no less than 2, but normally include 5 or more Major Integrated Income Production Elements within each project. It should also be noted that each income producing element within these projects are so strong that they could stand on their own and support the entire project, which is why many of these elements are developed together to form an Advanced Integrated Income Generation Project depending upon the requirements and location of the program.

All of the projects that this special opportunity fund invests in involve Proprietary Advanced Technologies and Advanced Physical Science / Processes (not known to the great majority of Asset Manager Companies Staffs). Other types of investment pool managers, hedge funds, etc. do not know or even have access to these world class development engineering people and the technologies assets and projects that they develop, implement and manage. Currently we have in excess of $10 Billion Dollars worth of Advanced High Income Generation Projects available to us for investments.

Another Special Note of consideration is that each investment will bring with it potential tax advantages not typically found with other types of investments. Depending on where the project(s) are located and how the project are legally structured and set up (Development Corporations, Development Authorities, etc. which are authorized by local, state or federal governments) could result in tremendous tax advantages, which each investors tax advisor will need to qualify and determine the best approach for each investors own tax liabilities depending upon their current tax status, situation and strategies.

These projects are developed, implemented and managed by Highly Reliable, Senior Internationally Experienced Technical Managers, Senior Science Managers and Senior Logistics / Project Security Management Staffs, which have planned, developed, evaluated and trouble-shot economic development projects and strong income generation projects in over 65 countries during the past 40 years.

There are in excess of 300 Top Level Executive Technical Managers with over 30 years of Experience in each of their perspective Development Sectors available for all projects that our fund invests in. These projects are designed to insure extreme depth of expertise and experience management which is available to any project at any and every stage of the project program, regardless of location of the project anywhere globally.

The results of this Special Investment Vehicle fund are highly advantageous investment opportunities that by far exceed the majority of investment opportunities available to investors from a financial return as well as extremely low risk standpoint by investing in Outstanding Advanced High Income Generation Projects carried out by highly reliable and responsible individuals and organizations.

Face to face meetings are welcomed and encouraged in order to quantify, qualify, verify and validate these investment opportunities which stem from the Americana way of project development and implementation with the application of Science, Engineering, Logistics, Security and Management which dates back to over 200 Years during the American Expansion of the United States of America. Never before in the history of mankind has the shear number and sizes of these Universal Demand Markets through out the world been in place and more importantly, primed and ready to handle and accept these vital and crucial very high demand, commercially valued products coming from these projects; Available for immediate investment. ** (dual element example project within a fully integrated project to follow)

Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, Cabal Capital Management, L.L.C. is managed by Kent Sullivan: www.cabalcapitalmanagement.com

** Fully Integrated Oil & Gas / Real Example Project:

This Oil & Gas production program is headed up by a Top Level Senior International Consultant which is an Oil and Gas Industry Executive who has been involved in the Oil & Gas Industry over the past 50 years. This Oil & Gas Executive is the Systems Developer, Scientist, Equipment Designer and Engineer who is recognized as an expert in his field by the U.S. Department of Energy who also has called him upon him frequently in the past to trouble shoot particular Oil and Gas fields as a technical advisor and as a trouble shooter to rectify any and all problems associated with troubled oil and gas production fields.

This Top Senior International Consultant has a proprietary and proven 12 step methodology for siting, drilling, completing and production techniques for all wells. He has a historical commercial success rate of 92% for bringing in all of his wells sited, drilled, completed and producing which also has a normal life span of 15 to 20 plus year’s worth of production.

This Advanced High Income Generation Oil and Gas project is comprised of the following:

A Top Down Electric Air Hammer System which is highly sensorized with Professional Engineers and Scientists managing all operational positions. These auto sensor rigs provide detailed information by satellite to a centralized operations and training center where all decisions are made by people with 45 – 50 years of successful completion and production experience.

Each oil and gas well completed will be drilled in both soft and hard rock beds and will vary in depths from 3,000 feet to over 13,000 feet. All wells in this program will be completed initially in the state of Texas, in the United States of America.

Typical production wells will produce 60 barrels of oil per day to 500 – 600 barrels of oil per day and the gas wells will produce in a typical range of 2 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to in excess of 20 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The total net operating investment will be returned within 4 months of production for each well.

Multiple producing formations will be completed and isolated with proprietary tools and instruments which will be operated simultaneously through out the life of the wells. The typical life of these well are 15 – 20 years because of the 12 different proprietary methods used for siting, drilling, completion and production techniques, tools, proprietary materials and instruments used on each and every well which prevents formation damage and increases the life cycle of each well to maximize the highest production obtainable.

This program consists of hundreds of oil and gas wells sited, drilled, completed and in production within a 1 – 2 year period. These wells will be sited, drilled and completed in historically very well known and documented oil and gas producing formations within the state of Texas, in the United States of America.

Investors will receive an estimated 15 – 21% annual return per year on their investment, with payments coming at the end of each year from this program. The threshold investment will be an aggregate amount of $400 hundred million dollars which is what the minimum program investment calls for.

Estimated program revenues are based on $60 dollars a barrel and $6.5 dollars per thousand cubic foot of natural gas. Over the last year crude oil (West Texas Intermediate) has sold as low as $50 dollars a barrel up to as much as $147 dollars a barrel. Over the past year natural gas has sold from $5.5 dollars a thousand cubic foot to $11.3 dollars per thousand cubic foot.

Example Oil & Gas Well Profile: One well; properly sited, drilled, completed and producing will conservatively produce 100 barrels of oil per day and 4 million cubic foot of natural gas per day. This provides the overall program (100 barrels x $60 per barrel = $6,000) $6,000 dollars per day of revenue. Each 4,000 cubic foot of natural gas (4,000 x $6.5 per thousand cubic foot = $26,000) $26,000 dollars per day of revenue. Total revenue for this example is estimated at $32,000 dollars per day of program revenue for this example.

** All wells in this program will not produce the same **

Each month this represents a program return of (30 days x $32,000 = $960,000) $960,000 dollars of revenue coming from this one (1) example well. The investment program we are offering involve several hundreds of program wells being sited, drilled, completed and operating within a 1 to 2 year period.

Remember, this is only two elements of a fully integrated Advanced High Income Generation Project which will involve in most cases several other elements (normally 5 or more) to generate very substantial amounts of revenues over the course of the project life. With the combination of several other Advanced High Income Generation Elements within one project, this will enhance the financial returns and revenues of the program itself, and thus will also greatly reduce and virtually eliminate any associated risk due to the diversification of the different Major Income Generation elements within each project.

Once again, the result of this Special Investment Vehicle fund are highly advantageous investment opportunities that by far exceed the majority of investment opportunities from a financial return and an extremely low risk standpoint by investing in Outstanding Advanced High Income Generation Projects.

Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, Cabal Capital Management, L.L.C. is managed by Kent Sullivan: www.cabalcapitalmanagement.com

Exclusive World Class Investment Manager to Help Double Your Net Worth!!

Sharia Compliant Investments Providing Consistent Annual Double Digit Returns for 10 – 20 – 30 Year in Extremely Low Risk Investments

Car Pro — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 06:59:24 +0000

Sharia-Compliant Fund Providing Extremely Low Risk Investments and Consistent Annual Double Digit returns for 10 – 20 – 30 Years!

This fund which is not a private equity fund and is Sharia-Compliant is unlike all other investment pool funds, hedge funds, etc. that exist today by offering investments that are focused on both strategic and tactical investment opportunities into Highly Advanced Income Generating Project(s) producing crucial and vital, very high demand commercially valued product(s) that are being sold directly into the largest “Major” Consumer Universal Demand Markets in the world. These investments allow risk adverse accredited investors the ability to participate in the revenues generated from these projects which allows for and achieves both capital growth and preservation, while providing the investor an extremely low risk opportunity with the benefit of dependable and sustainable alpha generation and the long term growth from these projects. These fully integrated projects have been designed to last 40 to 50 years or longer for their life cycles regardless of the global financial and credit markets.

In the case of Deflationary and Inflationary Markets, they will have no real effect on these projects and the products they produce. Coincidentally inflation will only increase the value of the products coming out of the projects. Deflationary markets will have very minimal impact on the products produced within these projects since these products are and always will be vital for any country to maintain a stable economy, thus they will always be in very high demand through out the world regardless of the global economic conditions.

Since energy production and consumption is the key element to any industrialized country, and with energy consumption increasing globally at an annual rate of 5 – 6 %, energy is and always will be vital to both the U.S. and Western European Economies. Allocating to Energy and Bio-Fuels production are two major key areas of involvement and investments within our seven pronged program investment strategies approach, which consists of the following options available to us: Energy: Oil & Gas (Example Project to follow), Bio Fuels: Algae Based Bio-Diesel and Jatropha Curcas {plant} direct fuel source. Algae Based Bio-Diesel is a direct fuel source currently available and ready for full scale production and delivery {This is Direct Fuel Source and is not a blend for gasoline or other fuel sources!} Algae Based Bio-Diesel Fuel production utilizes proprietary photo enhanced, micro nutrient enhanced, continuous flow, automated, sensor quality controlled, bio-chemical industrial processes and then are pressed, centrifuged, oils separated from water, water treated, cooked, cracked and treated all within a 12 hour cycle (Start to Finish) to complete one batch made ready for use in any diesel engine. Initially 270 Million Gallons per quarter to several Billion Gallons of bio-diesel per quarter will be produced depending upon the initial size of a project program. This Algae Based Bio-Diesel Fuel source has a Cetane Rating of 105 -117 compared to 80 – 85 Cetane Rating for #1 diesel fuel currently produced by all the major oil companies, which provides more power, better millage and performance while emitting 60 – 70% less emissions across the board vs. normal standard crude oil based diesel fuels. This Algae Based Bio-Diesel product emits no sulfur and or nitrogen into the atmosphere, Alternative Energy: Solar / Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Production, Wind and Electric Fuel Cell Systems, Natural Resources: Gold, Platinum and other Precious Metals Groups and Diamond Mining: Refining, Assaying, Separation using advanced physical technologies and Bullion production of Gold and Platinum as well as Processing, Cutting, Valuation Appraisals of Diamonds and other Precious Stones, Water: Proprietary Water Science / Technology to Produce Fresh Drinking Water to meet Agricultural, Industrial and Human Public Health needs in critically water short areas through Water production, bottling facilities and distribution. This can be accomplished with any available water supply {in ground water tables, above and below ground reservoirs with a high saline content normally not recommended for human consumption}, Sea Waters & Brackish Waters anywhere Globally, Hydroponics: Food Production: Fish Shrimp, Prawns, Fruits Vegetables utilizing USDA inspectors to garner Grade A Choice Status to include direct marketing into Major U.S.A. and International Consumer Demand Markets, and Special Opportunities: Aviation Fuels: JP-1 to JP-12 for Commercial and Military Applications from Algae Based Direct Fuel Sources as well as Advanced Hyper-Speed Information Technologies and other Advanced High Income Generation Project Opportunities as they become available.

These projects are developed, implemented and managed by Highly Reliable, Senior Internationally Experienced Technical Managers, Senior Science Managers and Senior Logistics / Project Security Management Staff. There are in excess of 300 Top Level Executive Technical Managers with over 30 years of Experience in each of their perspective Development Sectors available for all projects that our fund invests in. These projects are designed to insure extreme depth of expertise and experience management which is available to any project at any and every stage of the project program, regardless of location of the project anywhere globally.

We understand that most Investors, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Major International Banks, Hedge Funds, Fund of Funds, Private Equity Funds and others do not have the technical resources, capability, background and or understanding to evaluate, determine and differentiate between good and bad Large Advanced High Income Generation Projects, Project Developers, Project Implementation Capability and Management of Highly Integrated Multiple Income Steam Revenue Generation Projects.

This is the strength of the Asset Manager and where he excels; during the past several years he has been mentored, tutored and trained by some of the oldest and most highly respected, responsible, highly sought after and experienced Development Engineers who have planned, master planned, developed, managed, evaluated and trouble shot Economic Development Projects, Strong Multiple Stream Income Generation Projects, conducted Nation Building and Humanitarian Projects in over 65 countries during the past 40 years. The training he has received allows him to thoroughly review, comprehend and evaluate Project Development, Project Implementation, Logistics, Security and Management of these projects as well as the risk management associated with each potential investment. This process has provided him with the understanding, knowledge and insights of Project Development, Implementation, Logistics Operations and Infrastructure development of large income generation projects to determine unequivocally, which Highly Advanced Income Production Projects are viable and which ones are questionable investments at best.

Face to face meetings are welcomed and encouraged in order to qualify, verify and validate these investment opportunities which stem from the Americana way of project development and implementation with the application of Science, Engineering, Logistics, Security and Management which dates back to over 200 Years during the American Expansion of the United States of America. Never before in the history of mankind has the shear number and sizes of these Consumer Universal Demand Markets been in place and more importantly, primed and ready to handle and accept these vital, crucial and very high demand, commercially valued products coming from these projects.

Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, Cabal Capital Management, L.L.C. is managed by Kent Sullivan: www.cabalcapitalmanagement.com

** Fully Integrated Dual Element – Oil & Gas / Real Example Project **

This Oil & Gas production program is headed up by a Top Level Senior International Consultant who is an Oil and Gas Industry Executive which has been involved in the Oil & Gas Industry over the past 50 years. This Oil & Gas Executive is the Systems Developer, Scientist, Equipment Designer and Engineer who is recognized as an expert in his field by the U.S. Department of Energy who also has called him upon him frequently in the past to trouble shoot particular Oil and Gas fields as a technical advisor and as a trouble shooter to rectify any and all problems associated with troubled oil and gas production fields.

This Advanced High Income Generation Oil and Gas project is comprised of the following: A Top Down Electric Air Hammer System which is highly sensorized with Professional Engineers and Scientists managing all operational positions. These auto sensor rigs provide detailed information by satellite to a centralized operations and training center where all decisions are made by people with 45 – 50 years of successful completion and production experience.

Example Oil & Gas Well Profile: One well; properly sited, drilled, completed and producing will conservatively produce 100 barrels of oil per day and 4 million cubic foot of natural gas per day. This provides the overall program (100 barrels x $60 per barrel = $6,000) $6,000 dollars per day of revenue. Each 4,000 cubic foot of natural gas (4,000 x $6.5 per thousand cubic foot = $26,000) $26,000 dollars per day of revenue. Total revenue for this example is estimated at $32,000 dollars per day of program revenue for this example.

** All wells in this program will not produce the same **

Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, Cabal Capital Management, L.L.C. is managed by Kent Sullivan: www.cabalcapitalmanagement.com

Providing Consistent Annual Double Digit Returns for 10-20-30-40 Years or more on Extremely Low Risk Investments in Multiple Stream – Highly Advanced Income Generation Projects through direct investments.
info@cabalcapitalmanagement.com

The Legacy Fund Launch – Providing Extremely Low Risk Investments and Consitant Double Digit Returns for 10-20-30 Years

Car Pro — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 07:07:53 +0000

THE LEGACY FUND LAUNCH – Providing Extremely Low Risk Investments and Consistent Annual Double Digit returns in Excess of 20 – 30 Years!

Cabal Capital Management, LLC announces the launch of the Legacy Fund, a Special Opportunity Fund which provides special alternative investment opportunities into extremely low risk, and very high financial return Advanced High Income Generation Projects through direct investments.

This fund which is not a private equity fund and is Sharia-Compliant, is unlike all other investment pool funds, hedge funds, etc. that exist today by offering investments that are focused on both strategic and tactical investment opportunities into Highly Advanced Income Generating Project(s) producing crucial and vital, very high demand commercially valued product(s) that are being sold directly into the largest “Major” Consumer, Industrial and Governmental Universal Demand Markets in the world. These investments allow risk adverse accredited investors the ability to participate in the revenues generated from these projects which allows for and achieves both capital growth and preservation, while providing the investor an extremely low risk opportunity with the benefit of dependable and sustainable alpha generation and the long term growth from these projects. These fully integrated projects have been designed to last 40 to 50 years or longer (similar to their predecessors) for their life cycles regardless of the global financial and credit markets.

This fund is well positioned to effectively tap into these markets to the benefits of its investors. The growth dynamics of the United States and Western Europe is based upon local, regional and domestic consumption of all the products these projects produce. This fund is targeting routine and consistent annual double digit returns (15 – 21%) to investors un-correlated to all securities, commodities, currencies and the credit markets themselves since there will not be any exposure to these markets. All project investments within this special investment vehicle have been specifically developed and designed to perform across various business cycles regardless of global economic conditions to include recessionary and depressionary environments as well.

Any tightening regulatory environment, the current global credit crisis, current stock market contractions and wild swings in the commodities markets does not and will not impact our ability to produce consistent annual double digit returns now or in the future for our investors since we will never have, need or rely on the credit markets to establish margin accounts or leveraged positions which most all hedge fund type investment vehicles require to operate. We do not require nor will we ever utilize prime services which the large investment banks provide (Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, etc.). We do not rely on the stock, commodity or currency exchanges to generate income since we can not control any of the events occurring in those exchanges for our investors, thus we are totally un-correlated to all securities, commodities, currencies and credit markets.

Since energy production and consumption is the key element to any industrialized country, and with energy consumption increasing globally at an annual rate of 5 – 6 %, energy is and always will be vital to both the U.S. and Western European Economies. Allocating to Energy and Bio-Fuels production are two major key areas of involvement and investments within our seven pronged program investment strategies approach, which consists of the following options available to us: Energy: Oil & Gas (Example Project to follow), Bio Fuels: Algae Based Bio-Diesel and Jatropha Curcas {plant} direct fuel source. Algae Based Bio-Diesel is a direct fuel source currently available and ready for full scale production and delivery {This is Direct Fuel Source and is not a blend for gasoline or other fuel sources!} Algae Based Bio-Diesel Fuel production utilizes proprietary photo enhanced, micro nutrient enhanced, continuous flow, automated, sensor quality controlled, bio-chemical industrial processes and then are pressed, centrifuged, oils separated from water, water treated, cooked, cracked and treated all within a 12 hour cycle (Start to Finish) to complete one batch made ready for use in any diesel engine. Initially 270 Million Gallons per quarter to several Billion Gallons of bio-diesel per quarter will be produced depending upon the initial size of a project program. This Algae Based Bio-Diesel Fuel source has a Cetane Rating of 105 -117 compared to 80 – 85 Cetane Rating for #1 diesel fuel currently produced by all the major oil companies, which provides more power, better millage and performance while emitting 60 – 70% less emissions across the board vs. normal standard crude oil based diesel fuels. This Algae Based Bio-Diesel product emits no sulfur and or nitrogen into the atmosphere, Alternative Energy: Solar / Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Production, Wind and Electric Fuel Cell Systems, Natural Resources: Gold, Platinum and other Precious Metals Groups and Diamond Mining: Refining, Assaying, Separation using advanced physical technologies and Bullion production of Gold and Platinum as well as Processing, Cutting, Valuation Appraisals of Diamonds and other Precious Stones, Water: Proprietary Water Science / Technology to Produce Fresh Drinking Water to meet Agricultural, Industrial and Human Public Health needs in critically water short areas through Water production, bottling facilities and distribution. This can be accomplished with any available water supply {in ground water tables, above and below ground reservoirs with a high saline content normally not recommended for human consumption}, Sea Waters & Brackish Waters anywhere Globally, Hydroponics: Food Production: Fish Shrimp, Prawns, Fruits Vegetables utilizing USDA inspectors to garner Grade A Choice Status to include direct marketing into Major U.S.A. and International Consumer Demand Markets, and Special Opportunities: Aviation Fuels: JP-1 to JP-12 for Commercial and Military Applications from Algae Based Direct Fuel Sources as well as Advanced Hyper-Speed Information Technologies and other Advanced High Income Generation Project Opportunities as they become available.

These projects are developed, implemented and managed by Highly Reliable, Senior Internationally Experienced Technical Managers, Senior Science Managers and Senior Logistics / Project Security Management Staff. There are in excess of 300 Top Level Executive Technical Managers with over 30 years of Experience in each of their perspective Development Sectors available for all projects that our fund invests in. These projects are designed to insure extreme depth of expertise and experience management which is available to any project at any and every stage of the project program, regardless of location of the project anywhere globally.

This fund understands that most Investors, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Major International Banks, Hedge Funds, Fund of Funds, Private Equity Funds and others do not have the technical resources, capability, background and or understanding to evaluate, determine and differentiate between good and bad Large Advanced High Income Generation Projects, Project Developers, Project Implementation Capability and Management of Highly Integrated Multiple Income Steam Revenue Generation Projects.

A Special Note of consideration is that each investment will bring with it potential tax advantages not typically found with other types of investments. Depending on where the project(s) are located and how the project are legally structured and set up (Development Corporations, Development Authorities, etc. which are authorized by local, state or federal governments) could result in tremendous tax advantages, which each investors tax advisor will need to qualify and determine the best approach for each investors own tax liabilities depending upon their current tax status, situation and strategies.

Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, Cabal Capital Management, L.L.C. is managed by Kent Sullivan: www.cabalcapitalmanagement.com

Exclusive World Class Investment Manager to Help Double Your Net Worth!!

Aerial Work Platforms, Find Boom Lifts, Scissir Lifts and Fork Lifts

Car Pro — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 06:54:29 +0000

AWPs or Aerial Work Platforms are becoming more of a necessity for many construction projects. What type of AWP do you need?

A cherry picker (also known as a boom lift, man lift, basket crane or hydraladder), is a type of aerial work platform that consists of a platform or bucket at the end of a hydraulic lifting system.

Articulated lifts, also known as boom lifts or hydraulic platform are almost exclusively hydraulically powered, and are the closest in appearance to a crane. They consist of a number of jointed sections, which can be controlled to extend the lift in a number of different directions, which can often include ‘up and over’ applications.

A scissor lift is a type of platform which can usually only move in the vertical plane. The mechanism to achieve this is the use of linked, folding supports in a criss-cross ‘X’ pattern. The upward motion is achieved by the application of pressure to the outside of the lowest set of supports, elongating the crossing pattern, and propelling the work platform vertically. The Platform may also have an extending ‘bridge’ to allow closer access to the work area (because of the inherent limits of vertical only movement). The bridge is also known as “extendable deck” option.

Brief industry History: Let’s go back for a little history. In 1993, the industry had just recovered from a massive downturn in business in the early ’90s and most observers expected sales to climb about 15 percent annually for a few years. Sales had been good in 1993, with scissor lifts up about 40 percent over the low point in 1992. Then came 1994 and sales jumped almost 80 percent; ’95s sales popped 47 percent and finally ‘96 came in with another vault of 20 percent. Total sales in 1996 were estimated in excess of 33,000 scissor lifts. In the boom machines, sales for 1996 were close to 12,500 units, which compares with about 4750 units in 1993. Sales were up more than 50 percent in ‘96 vs. ‘95. Where is all of this demand coming from? Most is coming from the rental equipment business. Machinery dealers have built huge rental fleets of these machines, primarily because they see the rental fleet as a way to make a lot of money and the best avenue through which to sell the machines to the end customers, generally contractors in the building industry.

Aerial work platforms are also being purchased by the independent rental houses such as Hertz Equipment Rental, Prime Equipment and U.S. Rentals. At last count, there were about 25 manufacturers selling these machines in North America, most of them stationed here full time, with a few importers from Europe. Names such as JLG, Simon, Skyjack, Snorkel, Mayville, Grove and Genie are the big players in the boom and scissor lift markets. Then come a slew of companies that share the “what’s left” category. Without doubt, the biggest of the aerial work platform companies is JLG, which is the Caterpillar of the work platform industry. While you can’t equate the two companies in terms of size, they are similar in market penetration and leadership in the business.

JLG, based on our estimates, accounted for about 23 percent of scissor lift sales in 1996 and approximately 38 percent in boom lifts, where it dominates. JLG’s sales have climbed from $123 million in 1993 to $413 million in 1996 and should be in the range of $500 million for the year that ended this July 31.

Skyjack, located in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, is second in the scissor lifts, ranked closely behind JLG. The company is another success story in recent years and achieved sales results for the fiscal year just ended of $197 million (Canadian) versus $129 million for the prior year, a 53 percent increase. The company’s scissor lifts account for an estimated 83 percent of total sales, while expansion into self-propelled boom lifts and truck lifts is growing rapidly and now accounts for about 17 percent of the total. In the scissor lifts the top players after JLG and Skyjack are Upright, Mayville, Grove (Manlift) and Snorkel in that order.

Upright, based in Selma, Calif., accounts for about 14 to 15 percent of the scissor market and has been growing at a fast pace like the other major suppliers.

In the boom lifts, Genie is a distant second behind JLG, followed by Grove and Snorkel. The top four companies in the boom lifts account for over 75 percent of the industry’s sales. One of the eye-catching events thus far in 1997 has been the acquisition of Simon Aerials by Terex Corp., which already has Mark Industries as part of its stable of businesses. Simon and Mark together will be a major force in the scissor lift business, as well as the boom business. The Simon Access purchase cost Terex $90 million.

Terex Cranes, a subsidiary of Terex Corp., will operate the access business and the Mark and Simon brand names will disappear, to be known in the future as Terex Aerials. Thus far in 1997, sales of machines continue to move forward, perhaps at a slower rate than seen in recent years, but ahead nonetheless. We are looking for growth of about 5 percent in the domestic market this year at best, some of which may be inventory building. Yes, there will be a downturn perhaps in the next year or two, but not like the one that devastated the business in the early ’90s. And I’ll go out on the limb and say that there will be consolidation within the industry as companies not having aerial work platforms among their product offerings will seek those that do. Great Deals on Genie, Grove, JLG, Snorkel, Lull

Great Deals on Genie, Grove, JLG, Snorkel, Lull Boom and Scissor Lifts

Benefit From Orlando Foreclosures in a Down Economy

Car Pro — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:54:24 +0000

There are many homeowners who are in danger of being foreclosed upon on their homes and the number of foreclosures is only going to continue to increase throughout the rest of 2008 and 2009. The reason why is because of two trends that are linked to one another that is going to simply compound the foreclosure problem.

The first trend is record number of homeowners due to relaxed lending requirements by sub prime lenders and low interest rates over the last five years. Many people who currently own a home either would not have qualified for a loan under traditional lending requirements or would not have qualified for a home at the price they got qualified under.

As a result of these loose lending requirements people who currently own a home are now realizing that they can no longer afford the home any longer. Perhaps they might have suffered a decrease of hours on their job. Maybe they may have lost their job and forced to take a low paying job. Others may have been counting on bonuses from their jobs and these bonuses have been cut back or eliminated due to performance by the company. Whatever the reason is, these homeowners can no longer afford their home.

The second trend is the economic financial recession that is taking place in the United States and other parts of the world. Although the US economy is not in a recession by the technical definition (Real Gross Domestic Product declines for 2 straight quarters), GDP numbers can be revised at a point in the future. Therefore most economists typically don’t declare a technical recession until, in many cases, after a recession has already occurred.

All signs point to the fact that we are in an economic recession right now. According to a recent article in Newsweek magazine, “There has never, in the postwar U.S., been a 1 percentage point increase in unemployment without a recession having been declared, and much of that increase in unemployment occurs after the recession started…” Considering that we are closing in on a 2 percentage point increase, that’s a clear sign that we are in a recession.

The foreclosure trend continues to drive higher as a result of the economic recession. When the economy slows down people lose jobs or have less money. Less money means they can’t pay their bills and if one of those bills is a mortgage, foreclosure occurs.

The economic recession continues to drive higher as a result of the foreclosure trend. When foreclosures increase it causes a major hindrance on the economy. Foreclosures increase the supply available for real estate, putting price pressure on the values of real estate. This hurts home builders, real estate agents & brokers, mortgage professionals, title company owners, property managers and any type of professional who is tied to the real estate industry.

By starting a foreclosure prevention business you can help limit the amount of foreclosures that occur and continue to drag the economy. While certainly there are a large number of home buyers who got loans they probably should have never qualified for that distracts from the fact that there are many other home buyers who can afford their home and just need help in getting back on track.

How can you tell the difference between a homeowner who can’t afford their home vs. a homeowner who experienced a temporary setback? Here are some examples and we’ll also show you some solutions as to how you can help these homeowners as well.

One example of a homeowner who you can help is homeowners who have adjustable rate mortgages. These are people who had mortgages that they could afford previously. However, due to the mortgage adjusting to a higher rate, their mortgage is no longer affordable.

Through your foreclosure prevention business you can negotiate with the bank on the homeowners’ behalf to do what is known as a loan modification. This is where the lender agrees to change the terms of the loan, usually either the interest rate or the length of the loan (i.e. 30 years to 40 years) to help the borrower be able to make mortgage payments.

What type of knowledge will you need to be able to provide this service for people? You will need to learn how to contact the bank on the client’s behalf, get in touch with the loss mitigation department and negotiate with the bank on various options to help the homeowner become current on their mortgage payments.

You will also need to learn how to direct the homeowner to provide the necessary documentation and paperwork that will increase the chances of the bank accepting the loan modification.

The key to getting loan modifications accepted is to be able to clearly demonstrate to the bank that the situation that caused the borrower to fall behind is a temporary situation and a situation that is beyond the borrowers’ control. For instance, if the borrower lost his or her job and it took 6 months to find another job, that’s an example of a situation that can get a loan modification approved.

With a foreclosure prevention business you can earn anywhere from a couple of hundred dollars a deal all the way up to a couple of thousand dollars a deal. More importantly, this service can also position to acquire deals that you otherwise would not have came across if you only offered buying the property as a solution.

Mike Warren is a real estate investor who is an expert in the fields of pre-foreclosures, defaulted notes and judgments. Mike is the creator of a 3 day seminar that teaches how to benefit from Orlando foreclosures. This seminar is dedicated to teaching real estate investors how to create Multiple Income Streams with Orlando foreclosures.

Government Environmental Policies and Regulations

Car Pro — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:25:01 +0000

(Abhishek Uppal, Clean Technology Private Equity 2009; Reference to DB Advisors Investing in Climate Change)

There is an opportunity for governments to use climate change as an impetus for growth during the credit crisis.

Update on the UN negotiating process
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is responsible for international climate change negotiations. In December 2007, negotiators met for the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali. The conference included meetings of the 13th Conference of Parties (COP 13) to the UNFCCC and the 3rd Meeting of the Parties (MOP 3) to the Kyoto Protocol.

The countries participating in the conference agreed to adopt the Bali Road Map. The Road Map is meant to lead to a binding commitment to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. This commitment should be negotiated at COP 15, which will take place in Copenhagen in December, 2009.

The Bali Road Map, agreed by the parties to the UNFCCC at the conference:
4. Gained acknowledgement from the signatories to the UNFCCC, which includes the US, EU, China and India, that evidence for global warming is unequivocal and that reduced emissions were required to avoid severe climate change impacts;
5. Stipulated that nations would develop policy and incentives to protect forests;
6. Recognised that nations would enhance cooperation around adaptation;
7. Underscored the need for nations to facilitate transfer of clean technologies.

The next 12 months will be crucial in determining how well these ideas can be expressed at a global policy level, particularly in the face of weaker economies.

New developments in national and regional regulation
Significant regulatory and legislative activity also took place at the national and regional level over the course of the past year.

United States:
· The America’s Climate Security Act, also known as the Lieberman-Warner bill, made it through Senate and House. It represents an important milestone in US regulation, as it included long-term emissions reductions targets that were reasonably ambitious and it proposed a cap-and-trade scheme for the power, transportation and industry sectors;
· A long awaited discussion draft of the Dingell-Boucher Climate Change Bill was released early in October 2008. The Bill seeks to cut US greenhouse gas emissions by around 80% over the next 40 years and calls for a cap-and-trade program to achieve these reductions, with two major provisions for carbon offset credits: a domestic offset program and an international emission allowance program.
· Barack Obama has announced his support for emissions cap-and-trade, and talked extensively about energy security, alternative energy policy and creating new ‘green’ jobs.
· Significant regional leadership has emerged on climate change. Thirty-two states now have renewable portfolio standards, up from 25 in 2007, a number of regional climate initiatives are moving rapidly towards instituting cap-and-trade regimes with the Northeastern Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) starting to trade, and Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32) established a comprehensive program of regulatory and market mechanisms for mitigation in California.
· Congress extended incentives for wind and solar as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. The Production Tax Credit (PTC) has been extended for one year for large-scale wind projects and the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) has been extended for eight years for solar projects. The new legislation now also permits utilities to take advantage of the energy tax credits. $2.5bn was granted for CCS demonstration.

European Union:
· In the Climate Action and Renewable Energy Package released in January, 2008, the European Commission committed to unilaterally reduce overall emissions to at least 20% below 1990 levels by 2020 (and to 30% if other developed countries make comparable efforts), and targeted increasing the share of renewable energy use to 20% by 2020;
· In a revision of the EU ETS, the European Parliament’s Environment Committee voted in October, 2008, to cut EU greenhouse gas emissions from most industrial sectors by 21% from 2005 levels by 2020 and to phase out free allocation of emission permits, leading to full auctioning, with an exception for energy-intensive sectors that face international competition;
· On a more cautious note, Germany’s government has backed an almost total exemption for industry from the new European rules that would force companies to pay for the carbon dioxide they emit through auctioning emission credits in the ETS rather than through the current system of free distribution of permits. Italy is also pushing for free distribution of carbon permits for specified sectors, and a coalition of eastern European countries has pressed to delay discussion of the EU climate plan beyond December 2008;
· A framework has been developed to allow additional state aid for carbon capture and storage demonstration plants;
· The EU has proposed capping carbon dioxide emissions from new vehicles to an average of 130g/km by 2012, compared to the current 158g/km;
· While most developments have indicated increased ambition and action in the climate change space, the EU goal of increasing the share of biofuels in transport to 10% has been rolled-back to 5%, in light of food vs. fuel debates.

China:
· In December 2007, China issued its first white paper on energy conditions and policies that advocated for energy conservation, accelerated technological innovation, and improved coordination between energy and environmental development;
· The tax rate for big cars has been doubled to 40%, while the tax on cars with small engines has been reduced from 3% to 1%;
· Government buildings are now required to conform to energy efficiency standards;
· Ten provinces, municipalities and regions have begun piloting a new energy regulation to stop fixed-asset projects that do not meet national energy standards. This regulation is set to be rolled-out nationwide once piloting is complete;
· In 2009-10, a package of laws will come into force that aim to create a “recycling economy”, reduce pollution 10% below 2005 levels by 2010, and increase monitoring of capital-intensive assets.

India:
· The Indian National Action Plan on Climate Change was released in June, 2008. The plan established 8 national ‘missions’ running through 2017, which include major investments in solar capacity, energy efficiency, water use efficiency, and forestry;
· The Indian government is also mandating the retirement of inefficient coal-fired power plants and requiring big consumers of energy to conduct energy audits.

Abhishek Uppal college graduate from Cornell University.

International Hosting Customers – Key Considerations

Car Pro — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:57:27 +0000

“The Internet has finally arrived at your office – maybe your
company is in Malaysia or maybe it is in England? Needless to
say, your company is not located in North America unless your
with http://www.weblinkhosting.com. Yet now you’ve got a web
site that needs a home on the Internet. Are you hosting needs
the same as those of North American businesses. Probably a good
deal of the key technical and feature requirements are identical
however, there are certain considerations that you should keep
in mind when looking for web hosting.

Payment Issues – Most developed countries have been penetrated
by a credit card system – which is likely accepted by web hosts
worldwide. Can your company use a credit card to pay for hosting
- if so, then this probably isn’t a major problem. However, if
you must send a business check, remember that sending payment to
a web host overseas can be expensive, not accepted by the web
host, or lengthy due to mailing delays.

Currency – What about your local currency, is it accepted by the
web host? The standard for hosting worldwide is without question
the US$. So even if your web host is in Canada, Brazil, or
France, expect the company to at least offer services in US$
alongside your local currency. If you do choose an overseas web
host, are there possible currency expenses you need to consider?
Yes. If you are selecting a high end hosting system costing
several thousand dollars per month – an exchange rate
fluctuation could raise/lower your hosting costs significantly.

Technical Support – What are the technical support
considerations for your company. Web hosting is an important
aspect of doing business online, and if you experience technical
difficulties with your website you will want to get them fixed
quickly. Does the hosting company offer technical support in
your local language (if English is not acceptable to you?) What
about hours of operation – remember that 9AM in your local time
zone may not be 9AM where your web host is. Most major web hosts
in North America operate with 24/7 technical support – however,
your company should ask the host before signing with them.

Bandwidth Connections – While many countries around the world
are rapidly growing out their network infrastructures, some of
the most developed Internet-connections are still in the United
States. Does your country have the bandwidth capacity to handle
the potentially large volume of traffic your web site could
receive? If so, is it more expense than if your web host was
international? Aside from this, check to see the speed of the
equipment your local web host is using vs. an international web
host. Which company offers the more powerful servers?

Keeping key issues in mind when analyzing international web
hosting companies is important. There are advantages to choosing
a local web host (eg. currency and convenience) and a
non-domestic host (eg. greater features and Internet connection
speeds). Ultimately, if you remember to ask about some of the
above factors, your company will find a superior web host.
Remember that whether your web site resides in Europe, Asia, or
North America, the method with which you administer your site is
likely to be the same. “

Hosting Article Creator – Companies like ipowerweb.com,
midphase.com, weblinkhosting.com, lunarpages.com.