Grape Glut

The recession is hitting the grape farmers hard in California wine country, where the spot markets for grapes has virtually dissapeared.

A number of salient points to highlight here as a result of this plummet in demand for grapes.

1. Wine makers are clearing their inventories.

Due to the economic recession, there has been a plummet in the demand for these grape wines and thus, retailers have no choice but to stop ordering and making wine. They have to clear off the wine on their shelves before they start to pile up to an insurmountable amount. With regard to that, they will have to stay away from imports for now.

As a result of this, the people at the vineyards have no choice but to keep the grapes for themselves and they must make their own wine with those premium grapes or else they will rot away very quickly.

Big vineyards like the Beckstoffer Vineyards have turned to the making of their own bulk wine and boutique wine. Once they have finished making it, they immediately sell it to the retailers at low price and earn a small profit from them while they wait for the recession effect to wear off.

2. Consumers benefit

As a result of this move by many vineyards, consumers can expect to get their premium wine as early as the holiday season in 2009, for instance, during the Christmas season. They are available at low prices from 20 bucks onwards. It's really a steal for premium wines today but the vineyards have no choice as this is the only way to deal with the grapes. It is an imperative move, really.

In my opinion, I believe that it is a pretty shrewd move to manufacture your own wine. Afterall, grapes are perishable fruits and under the humid weather condition now, it is not advisable to store them for a long period or the quality of the grapes will drop badly.

Then again, I believe that there is an alternative as to how the vineyards owner can actually deal with these grapes.

They can possibly continue selling these grapes to the retailers, but this time round, at a lower price for a fixed number of years. Let's look at it this way, the economy is bound to recover in the coming years and the demand for grapes will definitely return. By drafting a contract with these retailers, you can continue to get a steady income and it is fixed for the rest of the years. The downside to this is that you will have to lower the price at which you sell these grapes to them.

However, if you can secure a good deal, and have a steady demand for your grapes, there is really no harm in doing the deal. Afterall, there is no gurantee that the demand for the grapes will return even after the recession is over. The demand for them is really determined by the speed at which the retailers clear their inventories. You really can't afford to make your own wine and sell them all your life can you? Hence, I believe that the vineyard owners can possibly strategise for the long term and plan out exactly how they can sell these grapes at an optimal price that will allow them to make a consistent amount of profits.


Credits -flavourofwines, -alzheimersadvocacy

ANTM Cycle 13 Winner

Nicole

Credits -topmodel

Facial Cleansers

Clinque's 3 step wash

Biotherm's ultra effective

Kiehl's

Credits -cdnwrite, sasa, -kiehl

Indicators

Last year, the oil price per barrel surged all the way to USD$145, a terrifying moment that traumatized the world. With such a scenario, you will not be surprised the economy will sink into depression.

Let's just scan through the industries that require oil. Electronics, railway, culinary, finance, engineering, wait a minute, I shall stop listing because practically all activities use oil.

With a slight triggering, the whole economy will be tilted sideways and many of us will tip of the scale just like that.

This is to me personally, the most salient factor that stands out apart from the rest. Without jobs, there is simply no nothing, simple as that and end of story.

This is often over-rated, people rumour that there is a recovery or a boom and everyone starts to invest in the stock market, causing it to rise respectively. However, when the realistic results are released, everyone become flabberghasted and they start to run all over the place like frantic ants.

I don't really see how this industry play a huge role in determining the state of the economy. It is afterall a luxury good and if people does not demand for it, it does not really mean they are cutting on their spending power. Afterall, they have so many other avenues to spend their money.

This measures consumer power, literally. When the retail sales start to drop, so will consumer confidence; almost pro rata. Nonetheless, without jobs, they have no money and they can't spend.

Home sales play a huge role also because of the various industries that is intricately connected to it. Examples are the lightning industry, bricks industry, construction industry, banking industry, the Fed, and so many many more.

Credits -cnn

Low Interest rates

As we can all see, the U.S banks interest rate are still at an all time low because of the following key reason


It is needed to help boost the number of jobs due to the recent 10.2% of unemployment


So how does a low interest rate actually helps to boost job? The typical answer to this question is that with a lower interest rate, small businesses can borrow more in this adverse financial economy and thus they have the money to expand their operations and eventually hire more people.


Contrary to popular belief, that does not seem to be the case at all. Ever since March 2009, the Fed has already forced the interest rates down all the way to a record 0%. But what actually happens to the unemployment rate in the United States? It is climbing higher and higher day by day, month by month to the 10.2% now.

So the perplexing question here is, does low interest rates effectively aid in the creation of jobs?


Personally, I'm pretty ambivalent about it. For one, I feel that the small businesses can no doubt borrow more since the odds are not against them. However, the small businesses are not helping to assuage the problem of unemployment at all. The big businesses on the other hand are cutting more jobs, even giant corporate companies are no exceptions.


With that in mind, who is actually taking in people? The answer is no one. The healthcare industry has already reached a saturated level and the education sector has all the people they need, the corporate industries are slashing jobs. So the net effect is higher unemployment.


The plausible solution here is for the government to step in when it comes to job creations. By giving the small businesses the choice to choose whether they want to hire is not feasible at all. Any businesses in the right mind will not risk hiring more people when they themselves are skeptical about the outlook of their businesses. If I were them, I will borrow as much as I can due to the low interest rates but I will wait till the economy recovers completely before I start to hire. Even though it might be an arudous journey ahead to work on low manpower, I believe I will pull through!



Credits -marketwatch, -biojobblog

Weak Dollars

For the generations of college kids who learned the ABCs of global economics from Paul Samuelson, a weak dollar is supposed to tip the balance of trade in favor of the nation's exporters. So why is the trade deficit exploding?

Definition of Trade Deficit : Imports exceed Exports

When your currency is weak, people will buy goods from your country especially if their currencies are stronger than yours. This is because this will permit them to ship a larger amount of goods at a lower price that before. Exporters in the country should have a time of their life during this period where the U.S dollar is at an all time low.


"While the weak dollar gives Wall Street every reason to tout the stocks of individual exporters, the flood of petrodollars leaving the country continues to wash the foundation out from under the rest of the overall economy."


"A close look at the September trade data shows most of that widening gap -- $20.5 billion -- stems from petroleum imports."


Even though the United States has been heavily involved in the exports industry, much of their efforts to earn a huge profit has been oblierated by the evil oil industry. It is imperative that they continue to import oil, first because they do not have much themselves and secondly, they function on oil more than anything else. Because of the heavy imports of oil, the profits made from exports are offsetted and trade deficit starts to explode as a corollary.

This problem is further exacerbated when the oil prices hike whenever the U.S dollars dive. It just pulls the two extremes further apart each time it happens. You get lower profits when your dollar weakens and thus you have to pay more dollars for the same volume of oil now.


So isn't it flagrant now why the trade deficits are exploding now?

Credits -marketwatch, -investorwords, -wtrg

Vincent von Gogh

The business of art is the art of business.




I wouldn’t want other people to make a decision for me.



Are you hard-selling me this product?



This is a gallery; can you give me some space?



These are often the remarks made by customers who are actually put off by the staff in an art gallery.

Some of the staffs at a gallery have taken the hard-selling approach by questioning the rationale of the existence of the customers in the gallery. They have the propensity to sell these pieces of art like how they would art a supermarket. It seems a bit insulting and taunting to question those that are there for the exhibition because everyone is there to appreciate the art.

It is really intricate and ambiguous when it comes to the purchase of art as far as I am concern. Even if I went forward to the gallery with the intention to purchase, I might not settle for a purchase if I am not really impressed with the art or the salesperson.



In the world of art, it is really about the whole package, not just the art. It includes the ambience, the people, the surroundings, the sales team and the presentation. You really have to sniff these interested buyers out amidst the sea of viewers.

The precision of timing is of paramount importance as well. You should not go in too early or too late, rather, you should go in just at the right timing where they are ruminating.



Then again, when you move in, you should listen to understand, not question their desire for it or telling them about your opinions. I suppose they just need a pair of listening ears and further reinforcements when it comes to the purchase of art.



It is not a fad or an iPod product, which people purchase to keep up with the trend. To me, it is something personal, something that is esoteric to you, relatable to you in your own ways. The role of the staff is to listen and then understand why this piece of art is so personal and importance to the potential buyer.

Once you understand that, I surmise that the potential buyer will open up and tell you his or her story. That is when you can creep in and sell the piece of art surreptitiously without him knowing that it is a business deal at all.

Credits -photo.eos, -artrenewal.org, -southwindsgames, -samcooks

Home Sales Next Year

"By putting cash in the hands of financially healthy home buyers, the credit will continue to help draw down inventory and stabilize home prices to encourage a strong and sustainable housing recovery," said NAR President Charles McMillan in a news release.

I think this is extremely promising and I am actually believing that this will eventually work out. That is the sustainability of the sales of the homes even after the tax credit ends in Mid June 2010 which is great news! This is mainly because people buy because of the discounts they get and eventually the number of foreclosures is offsetted by the number of new purchases. With a lower number of houses left dwindling around the corner, the Fed will make more money.




However, my only concern is that the people who are offering the $8000 and $6500 tax credits respectively might be suffering big time, imagine the number of sales multiplied by the amount of money per credit. It is a gargantuan sum and how are they going to recover that sum?

Then again, if the home prices will be sustainable because of this program, it is certainly worth it because the money that can be earned from each home will definitely be more than $8000 in the long run :) Just look at the utilities bill of each household, the maintainence fee, the service fees like rubbish collections and the demands of a new household in that area.
 
 

 
Like I said before, houses play a pivotal role in the industry because it requires the help of so many other industries to function properly. Examples of such are the bricks industry, bank industry, furnitures industrsy, oil industry, lighting industry, gardening industry, tax industry, consumer goods industry, luxurious goods industry and etc. So much money can actually be made from an occupied home and so much money can also be lost from an unoccupied home. Thus, if the tax credit can relieve the number of foreclosures, it is definitely a worthy and safe bet.
 
 
Credits -marketwatch, -ourcountryspresident, -yourroadmaptohome, -bendoregonrealestate