Tips for fine wine investment

By Bill Weston

Approaching wine as an investment is a practice which can pay off in many ways. There are few investments that can be enjoyed with a fine meal when your money is doing well. A wine investment is something that has many dimensions to consider as you become more heavily involved with the industry and is not something to be taken lightly.

It’s a practice that requires knowledge, patience, and a discerning palette. As a consumer, it’s important to understand what actually makes a wine valuable as it’s not simply the age of the bottle or the region from which it was imported and depends upon the intricacies of the actual wine market. 

Image attribution: SmartPhotoStock; free license

To judge the quality of a wine specifically as a wine investment you must begin by looking at several key factors. The vineyard from which the wine came from and the skill of the winemaker are very important factors as well as the genetics of the vine that produces the grapes.

However, as the vine ages, the number grapes it will produce lessens and the availability of the raw material affects the value of the wine itself. The skill and reputation of the winemaker responsible for the vineyard can also play a key role in the fluctuation of the wine price.

A fine wine investment is not a totally apolitical atmosphere and wine investment can seriously impact the exports of any region. For this reason, there are constant attempts made to justify the superiority of any particular region's products over another.

There is the taste of the wine itself versus the weight of the name actually placed on the bottle and sorting through the factors leaves one bottom line: price. This is the universal determination of quality as the scarcity of a wine does not impact its flavour, but it does impact its price tag.

It’s also important to recognise that not all wines improve with age and it does have an upper age limit when it comes to taste. Judging the position of a wine on its arch of maturity can only be done through tastings and the wine press usually takes it upon themselves to conduct these tastings and distribute the information.

The close monitoring of a specific release will be the source which collectors depend on to determine the price that they are willing to pay. Once in the market, receiving a return on your fine wine investment is typically done through auction and these auctions play a large role in controlling the fluctuation in price of collector grade wines.

About the author: Bill Weston writes on a number of subjects including fine wine investments. You can find out more about investing in fine wine at http://www.boltonsinvestments.com/

Financial news: 02/26/2013

• MarketWatch: The Dollar Index recently hit a six month high
• Bloomberg: Fed budget cuts to cost .4% in GDP growth
• CNN: Economy benefits from indebted individuals per data 
• Fox: U.S. checking accounts reach 54 yr high of $902 billion
• MN: Recession a real risk of fed spending cuts per governors 
• BI: Increased equity market valuation defies bearish analysis
• ZH: Monetary policy is misguiding investor economic reasoning
• BBC: After 2.5 yr low against dollar, U.K. pound falls further
• Reuters: Italian markets feel sting of national election results
• AP: German Central Bank advocates French austerity
• CNBC: Japan's economy likely to feature monetary easing

Are accounts receivable an asset to a business?

US-PDGov

By Adella Fitzroy

Ask any accountant where accounts receivable are held in the financial realm and they will tell you that they are assets, something that benefits a company's financial health. Unfortunately, what some people would consider a benefit might end up being so. The trouble with accounts receivable is that they are a promise to pay for goods or services that have been sold to a customer. So what happens to accounts receivable that are not paid by the customer?

In many cases, accounts receivable can be beneficial to the company who carries them. They are, after all, a promise to pay for goods and services received. In some cases, however, that's as far as they go. Financial failure, malicious intent, and other factors result in debtors to a company failing to make good on their accounts. On the positive side, a company that carries a reasonable amount in accounts receivable can value itself higher using these accounts as an asset on their books.

The usual course of action, after collection efforts fail, is to write a bad account receivable off as a bad debt. Other times, another company might buy a company's accounts receivable as a benefit to them, in which case the selling company is relieved of the burden of the money that is owed.

Some creditor companies turn accounts receivable over to a collection agency or similar company in order to collect payment. Sometimes this is successful, but short of success this course of action often results in more debts that is incurred by the company holding the accounts receivable. Still other firms choose to take their debtors to court, which again can result in a settlement of the amount owed, but can also result in more costs, or even the bankruptcy filing of the debtor, in which case the money is often never recovered.

Another problem that presents itself when a debtor fails to make good on their account is that the company that is carrying the account receivable continues to spend time and money on maintaining the account despite not receiving the benefit of the money that is owed.

Perhaps one of the biggest problems with the failure to collect on an account receiving is that even though work was performed or goods were delivered, and money was not received to compensate for the time and materials rendered, that time and those materials used in the engagement of the goods sold were still paid for by the creditor company, which again fails to receive benefit and goes into arrears for the product and/or labor involved.

The solution used by many companies is to not offer credit. For this reason certain sales might not be made, and either client companies will either wait until they can purchase with cash or they might even go to a company that will accept their credit. The chance of this happening is up to the potential creditor. Only time and a history of results will determine the best policy for the credit company in the long run.

About the author: Adella Fitzroy is a small-business owner who received funding and financial advice from EBF Group Ltd. She found that the advice she accumulated and received from the company was important in helping her review the progress and profit of her company.

Financial news: 02/25/2013

• MN: Billionaires including Warren Buffett are selling stocks
• Bloomberg: Living cost $10,000 extra for a coffin buyer
• CNBC: Dollar value to rise on spending cuts and new tax
• Option Queen: Low interest rates do not limit effects of payroll tax
• Fox: Congress to hear FRB Chairman testimony this week
• BI: Yahoo  tradition of telecommuting frowned upon by new CEO
• ZH: High gas prices are putting downward pressure on stocks
• BBC: U.K. credit rating downgraded to Aa1 by Moody's
• Reuters: Tens of thousands of Spaniards protest austerity again
• AP: Italian election could backtrack economic progress
• CNN: Eurozone GDP to contract .3% in '13 after -.6% in '12

Pros and cons of timeshare investing

US-PDGov

By Andrew Donaldson

It is difficult for the current generation to appreciate that the concept of regular vacations to nice resort areas is a relatively new experience for the average family. Although the wealthy and upper class have always found a way to enjoy their time off, it wasn’t until the 1950s that the opportunity to take regular vacations became commonplace for the working class. As more people began to travel on vacation in the post-war years, hotel chains began to spring up along the highways. An increasing number of resorts followed as popular destinations.

With the number of vacationers growing into the millions, developers offered them the opportunity to gain control over the costs of their trips and stays at nice locations. This concept is based on the idea of fractional ownership, or what is known as timeshare.

In its simplest form, timeshare is an arrangement where several people own and share the use of a specific property. The property is divided into time intervals, usually periods of one or two weeks, and the members of the ownership group use their allotted interval for vacation. When the term timeshare first became widely used, it almost always referred to a home or residence in a vacation area. Today, the concept is adapted to a range of properties, including camping areas, boats, and even airplanes. Any property that has a high cost can be made affordable with fractional ownership programs.

Since most timeshares are a part of a larger development, there is almost always a third-party management company that controls the available intervals of time. The timeshare market has experienced phenomenal growth, and there are now national companies that manage timeshare intervals. With companies like Resorts International, timeshare owners can even swap their times between other properties for a small fee.

Good news and bad news

The timeshare concept is a very practical way for families to make quality vacations more affordable. Because prices for stays in desirable areas always increase, the ability to control that cost through ownership is often a chance to save money over the long term. In fact, many people have made attractive returns on their investment. They achieve this in two ways. First, they rent their weeks out to someone else at rates that generate a profit. Secondly, some timeshare interests appreciate enough that they can be sold at attractive levels above the original cost.

The downside of timeshare results from the same factors that affect any idea that gains rapid popularity. Many developers rushed into the market and created properties that were poorly planned and constructed. They often used high-pressure tactics to sell these properties to uneducated consumers. The result has been a black mark on the industry for many consumers who have lost money on properties worth far less than the purchase price.

Another factor that many people fail to consider or plan for is the ongoing management and maintenance fees that come with every timeshare interest. These costs are usually assessed monthly to all owners on a pro rata basis. Without good management, these fees are burdensome and have a negative effect on the economics of a timeshare.

Many people are attracted to timeshares in other countries. These, too, can be attractive investments. However, they come with their own set of risks and legal issues. It is important to thoroughly understand all aspects of owning a foreign timeshare interest.

With careful and educated shopping, a timeshare can make a great investment for profit and fun. With so many options, it is possible to find many good properties from which to choose.

About the author: This article was written by Andrew Donaldson, a passionate financial guru who loves writing articles across the web to share his knowledge. He writes this on behalf of Wordwide Accom, your number one choice for finding a holiday home, especially in Italy where WWA inspects every Rome apartment on their site. So make sure to check them out when going to Rome!

Project management tips from the world's greatest project managers

There are many challenges that come with project management from managing a budget, adapting to changes, keeping on schedule, to leading a team. For this reason, there are large skill gaps between the average project manager and a great one. The best project managers do things far differently and have specialized knowledge that enables them to be superhumanly effective. Here are some collected tips from the world’s greatest project managers.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs was known to be one of the greatest project managers in the tech world. Rather than try to separate parts of a project into individual departments, he created an environment that was collaborative. Everyone could keep up with every aspect of the project however detached the departments were in the roles they played.

Jobs’ process integrated all the departments, resulting in many benefits. One of these benefits was that everybody that worked for Apple understood how the company worked on a deep level. That meant that the customer service knew how to deal with technical problems, the marketing department understood how the software worked, etc. This is part of the reason why Apple has built such a large following.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates shared many of his project management philosophies in a Ted Talk which can be seen in this URL: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/bill_gates.html. One of the standout ideas is defining metrics and milestones to track the progress of a project. The concept is simple and is something that many great project managers use.

Here are some of the other gems you can take away from this talk:

- He starts with the results and identifies all the possible projects that can lead to the results. He compares all of them and goes with the one that can create the most impact towards the goal.

- He looks at what’s feasible in terms of scale and budget. After defining the limitations, he creates a plan for execution.

- He knows that projects change all the time. That’s why he remains flexible in the projects and plans for changes.

Richard Branson

Richard Branson’s Virgin brand is composed of 150 different companies and over 20,000 employees. His favorite advice for managing his businesses and projects has always been to hire smart. Richard Branson has admitted he start his projects by hiring people smarter than him. He carefully evaluates the people he hires and delegates everything to talented individuals, only keeping track when needed.

The lesson here is that you can’t do it all alone. Many project managers have a hard time passing off big responsibilities to others. The key to pulling it off and being able to trust somebody else is to know your team. Find the talented individual that can carry out important tasks and delegate so that you can focus on the bigger picture.

The one common thing that the world’s greatest project managers have in common is mindset. They have strong beliefs in how things should be organized and how they should operate. This all comes from experience and experimentation. Every project manager should manage a project according to his or her philosophy, but keep an open mind for learning, growing, adapting, and experimenting.

About the author: Sally writes for Milestone UK who specialise in Primavera courses and Oracle training in the UK, to learn more about their enterprise solutions.

5 of history's most infamous cases of insider trading

By Peter Wendt

Ever since there was profit to be made investing in businesses, insider trading has lurked beneath the surface, favoring those with the right connections. Regulations against these practices placed greater scrutiny on those exploiting their positions, but that does not stop unscrupulous individuals from trying to slip under the radar. The following are five of the most famous cases of insider trading in history.

 

William Duer

William Duer orchestrated the first high-profile case of insider tading in United States history. An influential figure during the Revolutionary War era, he became the secretary to the Board of the Treasury under Alexander Hamilton. Duer had no moral scruples when it came to using his power to gain insight into the market, and he kept his contacts even after he went into private speculation. He invested in several banks for a number of clients before a brief panic in the industry ruined both his finances and his credibility. The actions of Duer eventually led to the establishment of Wall Street.

 

Albert H. Wiggin

The great stock market crash of 1929 exposed the seedy underbelly of a world bloated by falsehoods and expectations. Perhaps no single man was so vilified by the public as Albert H. Wiggin, the head of Chase National Bank. Investigations revealed that Wiggin had short sold over 40,000 shares of his own bank, meaning he made about $4 million off intentionally poor business practices, a strategy that was legal at the time.

 

R. Foster Winans

Unlike the other members of this list, R. Foster Winans was not a powerful executive or government figure. Instead, he wrote a column for The Wall Street Journal titled "Heard on the Street." Winans analyzed a different stock every week, and his opinions were so respected that he often directly influenced that stock's performance. Realizing this, he started accepting bribes to reveal his findings early. A court later ruled that his actions were illegal, despite some questions.

 

Raj Rajaratnam

Raj Rajaratnam was the billionaire founder of the Galleon Group hedge fund firm. He began receiving insider information from former schoolmates in a number of large corporations, standing to make an estimated $60 million from the illegal sharing. Rajatnam was arrested in 2009 and sentenced to 11 years of jail in 2011, the longest sentence ever given for insider trading, and also fined $150 million.

 

Martha Stewart

Few criminal cases reached such notoriety as that of famed homemaking expert Martha Stewart. Stewart built an empire on wholesome cooking, cleaning and decorating, but she also amassed a considerable fortune through savvy investing. In 2001, however, she raised eyebrows by selling 4,000 shares of a company one day before its shares dropped as the result of an FDA decision. It was later revealed that her broker had ties to the company's CEO and advised her to make the sale. Stewart spent several months in jail for her crimes.

Peter Wendt is a writer & researcher living in Austin, Texas. If you've been harmed by insider trading, or if you've been accused of insider trading yourself, Wendt recommends visiting Austin business attorney, John McDuff.