How to Register Your Business

 Have you ever wondered how businesses register their names? You can  now check a name online for possible use as a business name. The New Jersey State Business Gateway Service has a free online search feature here. Checking Google is also a recommended site to get an understanding of similar names to ones you like.  The IRS does not accept punctuation in the title of a business of any kind, including apostrophes, except a dash (-). Asking an attorney to check a prospective name is also a good idea.

It's important to register the name of a new business to get a national or federal tax ID number and pay taxes. This exact situation happened to me last  week as I registered the name of my new business. Your banker can help you set up a sole proprietorship, and draw up papers for Limited Partnerships and more complicated businesses.

An article in today's Wall Street Journal happens to address this very topic of  choosing business names and the legal problems that can arise if names are repeated or even close to another name. Many big businesses monitor the market to be sure their names aren't misused around the world as well. Perhaps McDonald Corp.'s hounding of the "McDonald Castle" owners in Scotland was going a bit too far in the direction of reputation management.

Watch Out For Flaming Tornadoes!

These must be exogenous shocks; any one of which, if true, could conceivably affect stocks and real estate investments:

dailykos.com

* Flaming tornado: On rare occasion, the wind can whip fire into a whirl as strong as a tornado. A storm of such twisters killed 38,000 people in Tokyo in 1923.

* Poisonous cloud: In 1986 in Cameroon, 1,700 people and 3,500 animals mysteriously dropped dead simultaneously. Scientists discovered that a nearby lake had absorbed carbon dioxide from the dormant volcano beneath it, and then spewed out a 16-mile cloud of death that moved at 125mph.

* Asteroid strike: Astronomers believe a 220 million-pound asteroid hit the earth's atmosphere over Siberia in 1908, producing an impact equal to 185 atomic bombs, and felling 80 million trees—but killing no one, because the area was so remote.

* Snake attack: Days before Mount Pelee blew in the Caribbean in 1902, hordes of poisonous snakes, sensing the coming eruption, poured into the streets, biting and killing at least 50 people.

Daily Beast

Christina Romer's Optimistic Presentation: "Back to a Better Normal"

    Christina Romer's lecture called "Back to a Better Normal: Unemployment and Growth in the Wake of the Great Recession" presented at Princeton University, April 17, 2010, exceeded my excited anticipation. Her message remained solidly optimistic, despite present day observations of an ominous nature. My synopsis is taken from my notes and the written speech.

   "By almost every indicator, the US economy is finally on the road to recovery."

   "The New Normal" is a concept discussed by President and advisers frequently. "We are very far from normal."

    Current unemployment rates reflect a severe shortfall, a collapse of aggregate demand as an effect of the financial crisis that caused a loss of wealth, disruptions of credit, devastation of state and local government budgets, greater caution on the part of consumers and firms, and fall in output around the world. The "rise in long-term unemployment is the almost-inevitable consequence of the severe recession." Romer emphasizes "there is every reason to expect that long-term unemployment will come back down when aggregate demand recovers."

    Challenges reduced but not yet eliminated are credit that remains tight, businesses aren't hiring, state governments have budget shortfalls...It's currently "a replay of what happened during the recovery from the Great Depression."

Christina Romer, President Obama, Lawrence Summers

Photo by Pool/Getty Images North America

    Consumption is not likely to be "the main engine of a strong recovery." Monetary policy is "unusually tight given the condition of the economy". We are"growing again, but not booming". The economy is "not predicted to reach normal levels for an extended period...There are limits on the role government can play."

"What More Can We Do?"

a) "Our focus as policymakers should be on how we can help the private sector recover faster."

b) tax incentives for businesses to employ and retain workers.

c) "additional fiscal relief to the states" extend unemployment insurance benefits extensions, caused by shortages of jobs not workers, and provide capital to small banks to lend to small businesses.

d) open markets to US goods, to move "global economy to more balanced growth."

e) energy conservation through rebate programs.

    Rapid recovery can "help ensure that unemployment does not remain permanently higher". Return of economy to normal is "both possible and a policy imperative...High unemployment is a disaster for the economy"and "more importantly, a tragedy for those affected."

   Can we do better than "just get back to where we were before the recession?" "Could good economic policies lead to economic growth that is stronger and more durable than before?" The answer, Romer says, is yes, with these economic transformations:

1. "Dealing with the Budget Deficit": "budget problem was years in the making." To get fiscal house in order, health reform legislation include mechanisms experts say will "slow the growth of health care costs over time...Vigilance on "implementation of the reforms" is necessary "to make sure that those mechanisms work" and a range of other measures are needed.

2. "Rebalancing Demand": higher personal savings and investment are the goals. New investments in clean energy, biotechnology, healthcare and information technology are better than borrowing, consumption spending and "unsustainable" construction.

3. "Financial regulatory reform" : new sets of rules needed to "curb destructive bubbles" require greater accountability of Wall Street, consumer protections, new rules for financial system  -  a "regulatory framework where capital and liquidity requirements control excessive risk-taking and where regulators consider risks to the system as a whole and not just to individual institutions."

4."Investing in Education and Innovation": with investments in education, basic science, new labs and research facilities.

The Cold Heart of America: Are American Banks Global? Iff They Convert Currency As A Service

Janet Tavakoli

Janet Tavakoli wants us to talk about how American banks could improve, when she says that "most of the media covers-up for the banks." I have great admiration for her vast accumulated knowledge of investment banking. Coming from the same cohort as Michael Lewis at Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, etc., she has written fantastic articles and videos to watch on C-Span.

I do have one teensy suggestion that could help win the hearts of minds of visitors and travelers of all nationalities. That is, local American bank branches should be global money-converters.

Most American banks will not change small amounts of money (U.S.D. $200, say) if you walk in and request it. You must have an account at that bank, and then deposit it into your account. There may be a few that do, but in general American banks won't. They are not "of service" in that way.

Last week when I drove through the Canadian border crossing at Ivy Lea, the foreign exchange building at the border where I have changed my dollars in the past was seasonally closed. When I stopped to change currency of my few dollars at an HSBC branch in the next large town, Watertown, New York, I was haughtily, imperiously told by a branch supervisor that HSBC is a "Global Bank" and that this is why they don't change currency.

I retorted that this is exactly what global banks do: they change money, otherwise they are not "global" ipso facto. They were definitely not being of service to me. It appears arrogant and narrow not to change small amounts, at least of popular foreign currencies. As my teenager says, "it's not good." American banks could do a lot better.

This is not some service that changed after 9/11. It has ever been thus in America, at least for the last thirty years. I am only referring to currency exchange that is a routine service at airports that good travelers need, not the money-laundering that is legendary to the mafia and terrorists. Sure it's probably an intractably hard legal issue and most Americans will think I'm just spinning my wheels (like I did last week!) and dismiss it. It's just one easy example of what outsiders of every country consider American arrogance. It makes others angry at America; it doesn't endear America. No country is perfect, but at least this is changeable.

Since my last post, I have been thrown off course by the double whammy of a death in the family - my mother was in her 93rd year - and an almost fatal car crash on the day-long drive home from the funeral. We thought it would be a clear day to drive home, with a little drizzle in spots, but ran into wind and saw a few snowflakes.

Most unexpectedly somewhere between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on my way to the Princeton area of New Jersey, my car spun in more than a complete 360 degree circle and then stalled to a  complete stop in the middle lane of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in a wintry mix just over a week ago, on Tuesday, March 30, 2010.

Alone with my sixteen-year-old, we were extremely lucky traffic was light. I got out and stopped all traffic, just by waving my arms myself on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and told her to stand beside the road. It was in elevated mountain terrain, and the highway itself was elevated fifty feet. There was nowhere to go, no houses, police or plows to help us out. I would love to be able to thank the Good Samaritan who drove my SUV to the side of the road while I slowly stopped Turnpike traffic all by myself. It all took fewer than ten minutes and then we were off again. My recently-tuned Lexus RX350 SUV had only 17,000 miles on it. I guess I shouldn't have pumped those brakes when we slid.

White-out conditions then began, traffic slowed to 30 mph. and prevailed until I could reach the next (rare) exit over an hour later where we stopped unexpectedly for the night at a new Best Western three miles down the mountain in six heavy inches of snow.  Another daughter had just told me the weather radar for the area was clear! That area of Pennsylvania doesn't get the weather attention Philadelphia gets, where reporters stand outside six hours before a flake drops.

If only I could thank this thirty-five-ish man and his girlfriend in their black SUV for saving my life, I would love to. He really risked his life to drive my car to the side of the Turnpike. I admired him so much. He was extremely brave, but I have no idea who he is. Hope he emails me.

The good news is, at least not all Americans are as cold-hearted as they appear to be in the banks when you just want to change a few dollars.

Managing the Unknowns in a Time of Uncertainty

M. El-Erian Photo: CNN

I like the way Mohamed El-Erian, CEO and CIO of PIMCO, on CNBC just now, talked about the need to second-guess in business, because of the "known-unknowns" and the "unknown-unknowns" as he called them.

Most of life is uncertain, and the need to manage uncertainty will always rule our lives, both business and personal.

(As it did the Fedex driver who was just stuck in the snow in our driveway for over an hour.)

How Fast is America?

By nature I am optimistic, and it worries me that "too big to fail" American company officials are getting government bailouts excessive enough to allow the usual comfortable fancy travel junkets and bonuses. At the same time, "too small to survive" companies, despite many being deserving, are being eaten alive for lunch by shorting day traders ganging up online with impunity.

The government has drawn a line in favor of big business while sending thousands of its best former students to invade a far-away country in wintertime. After the Second World War, returning troops created the largest post-war boom the country has ever had and didn't sit around doing nothing as expected according to this book. America continues to believe it can afford everything but healthcare for all and helping American small businesses.

Glad to see that averages went up in November on American exchanges, despite the fact that I spent most of it writing my novel, keeping an eye on the market, as usual, though not positively glued.

Here's a good speed test website called 10-fast-fingers.com that tests your typing speed and lets you practice and improve your score. It's like playing a game against yourself and includes simple English words. Other languages are possible on this test, too. I found it fun, and got 85 words per minute to my surprise, with 0 errors. If only I were that way in real life and with my investing!

Forbes: Billionaire Similarities

Forbes Magazine found a few connecting dots between billionaires in this year's The 400 Richest Americans 2009 list:

Many of them :

1) Had an important early failure that they learned from.
2) Had parents with math-related careers.
3) 15% didn't finish college. Of course this means that 85% did finish college, and the others, such as Bill Gates had superior social advantages and earlier schooling.
4) Received MBAs from top-tier colleges. At least MBAs don't hurt.
5) Had September birthdays.
6) Worked awhile at Goldman Sachs.
7) Were members of Yale's Skull & Bones Club.

Few of us have September birthdays or were members of Yale University (and a former boys' club). Few of those who made their own billions had dark skin or were female, I notice. Oprah Winfrey, a notable exception, powered past many of the white male majority of billionaires.


Oprah Winfrey

Obviously, these billionaires are more different than alike. The world is changing, and the future has yet to be written. Let's see more diversity. That list should include more women, too, more than one half of the world's population.

America Is A Wonderful Country

Now we hear that the AIG bonus money was paid out last Friday. Those bonuses won't be returned. What could the administration and AIG have been thinking? It's a wonder there isn't a revolutionary mob at the doors of the kings (and they are mostly male) of AIG (my former neighbor included).

There are so many causes of the recent financial collapse and each person will have a different explanation of the causes when they think about it. Memories fragment over time. The mists of time prevail.

If we could only rewind the clock and go back and change what went wrong. How far back would we have to go? Would we really want to go back to a possibly mythical simpler time with a straightforward, easy set of rules?

Looking forward, how will America adjust to new tight economic credit markets? If the Chinese obtain dominating control of our market and tighten credit? No American wants to go there. No one in the administration wants to talk about it, or even acknowledge it.

The focus is on credit and the economy, housing, foreclosures, lending limits, the stock market. The large issues of energy, healthcare and educational reform will have to wait.

What is the destiny of America that it can map out by itself and form a strategy to get there? What does America do well, the best in the world?

Here are a few important social values:

1. education for all.
2. cars, making and distributing, for almost all adults, green initiatives notwithstanding, and the oil and gas to run them.
3. household heat for all.
4. computer and software makers.
5. wealth consciousness and compassion for those less fortunate.
6. washers and dryers.
7. air conditioners.
8. crowd control when necessary, e.g. Disney Parks.
9. Disney and other outdoor parks.
10. food distribution is excellent.
11. Post office delivery sometimes is next day.
12. excellent highway infrastructure.
13. delivery services, like UPS and Fedex.
14. news services are pioneers.

There are so many more that I haven't listed. These above are a few values to get you thinking about "what makes America great". A friendly bank-lending environment may have dropped off my list. Financial services need better regulation to help Americans hold onto democratic ideals in the country. Saving AIG and Goldman and other companies involved in the bailout, if that's been useful, has many of us wondering when improvement will become clear.

As Dr. Christina Romer said yesterday on "Meet the Press", America has a wonderful base of labor, a capital base, technology and we will learn how to recover from this current economic "mess". She says it will take some time, but things should improve. Sales should pick up, jobs numbers should turn around, and consumer confidence should return.

Today's rocky stock market didn't instill much confidence. But hey, tomorrow is a new day.

Justice Must Be Seen To Be Done

Now that Bernie Madoff has been incarcerated, it is thought that the market is reacting with approval as the market is going up. Some of his relatives and employees should be counting time.

This article by Vicky Ward about an upcoming article in Vanity Fair would appear to prove that the Noel family of Greenwich could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of Madoff's Ponzi scheme. They're still "living large and loving life".

It's interesting that many of Madoff's victims, seen on CNBC yesterday afternoon, are holding the SEC responsible for giving his firm the financial "seal of approval", rather as if they assumed his firm was "too big to fail" and solid because others trusted him with their money. Of course, he had pension and hedge money from many, like the pipefitters of Northern New York State, who had no idea that their money had been funneled off.

Makes sense that focusing on ways of being happy and at peace will take one's mind off the opposite. Doesn't it make you want to take up praying hard, if you don't already do a lot of it?