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Fixed rates the way to go?

June 21st 2010 06:14

An increased number of borrowers are choosing fixed rates as the cost differential between fixed and variable loans narrows.

The popularity of fixed rate home loans rose in all states except Western Australia to break the 3% barrier nationally for the first time in eight months, according to May loan approval data.

Despite having seen a number of interest rate rises over the past several months, new borrowers continue to shy away from the more stable, less flexible loan type.

“Borrowers are still very much concerned that, at present, longer-term fixed rates are usually more expensive than variable,” spokesperson Kristy Shepherd said. “However, the cost gap is closing.”

Shepherd said it will be interesting to see whether variable rates, which currently account for almost 97% of all the listed-broker’s new home home loan comparison approvals will soon begin to experience a fall in popularity even though rates have steadied for the time being.

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Kickstart Business Strategy With Clear Objectives

June 18th 2010 01:11

Business plan strategies tend to focus on competitor analysis and financial projections. But, it is equally important to be able to clearly explain in your business plan strategy what your company objectives are.

Company objectives typically consist of three things:
1. The Company’s Value Statement. While most people are well aware that every individual has values that define their lives, the fact that all businesses have values as well is often overlooked. Just as a person’s values represent their highest priorities, a company’s values are statements about how they will treat customers, suppliers, and their team.

You can more efficiently plan for your company’s future in your business plan strategy by taking the time to identify your business’ beliefs and principles.
2. The Company’s Vision statement. Your vision statement is the dream you have of what you want your company to become. Think about what you do best, why you do it and how you want to do it.

Consider your Vision statement your company’s operating philosophy, expanded to include the things you find fundamentally important. This will be very helpful to refer back to when you are faced with difficult decisions in the heat of the moment. You will better be able to choose the options best suited to your company when you keep it’s vision close at hand.

3. The Company’s Mission Statement. A company’s mission statement is more concrete than their Value Statement or their Vision Statement. A mission statement (or purpose statement, as it is often called) describes what your company does.

Your mission statement is the place where you state what customer pain you fulfill, and how you intend to fulfill it.

In other words, it is in the mission statement where you tell the world why you exist. It is important for everyone connected with a company to be able to quickly and efficiently describe its mission statement.

When you take the time to think through your company objectives in your business plan strategy, you will have them available when faced with difficult choices or decisions in your business. This will keep you on track and your business focused on the future.

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ATO crackdown on big business

June 18th 2010 01:10

The latest enforcement drive of the esteemed Australian Taxation Office is to target large firms. The government authority hopes to raise extra revenue by auditing up to one third of the 1,300 largest firms in Australia, most of which are public companies. The rationale produced by the ATO is that these firms will present one of the largest tax risks. The way that the commissioner of Taxation looks at the definition of a large firm is if it turns over more than $250,000,000.00 or if it dominates a market for a particular good or service in Australia. Companies are classified on a scale of non-compliance from high through to low risk.

High risk candidates will be watched very closely and auditing is likely to reveal significant problems which these companies will need to deal in order to prevent the ATO taking significant action against them. The ATO has hastened to add that only a very small proportion of reviews will lead to full blown audits. The way that the the ATO intends to collect information about these companies is by examining the past compliance of the business, if they have risk management procedures in place, through industry monitoring and cooperation with other sectors of the government such as state based revenue agencies. According to Michael D-Ascenzo, there will also be an eye of suspicion over companies that utilise tax professionals with a history of shady tax practices. The head tax man says that each company will be run through a series of risk filters to identify the possibility of non-compliance.

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What is Happening In Australian Business

June 18th 2010 01:09

Miners holding firm
Australia's biggest miners have called for the Rudd government to sign tax guarantees similar to those in developing and unstable nations after the first round of top-level negotiations on the resource super-profit tax failed to make progress yesterday. The Australian

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Petrol Tipped to Drop to $1 a Litre

January 17th 2007 07:46

According to The West Australian we could be paying $1 a litre for petrol within a week - but don't get used to it.

The culmination of a warmer than usual winter in the US, increased production and a drop in demand from other key markets has pushed oil prices to below $US52 a barrel

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How Many Ads Do You See in a Day?

January 16th 2007 08:10

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that people today see up to 5000 ad messages a day, that's more than double what it was 30 years ago.

Advertisers today are trying to fill all blank spaces, such as supermarket eggs stamped with the name of a new CBS show and trays used in airport security lines have been hawking Rolodexes

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Pizza Promotion Results in Death Threats

January 12th 2007 08:57

CNN reports that the Dallas based pizza chain Pizza Patron have sparked controversy after offering to accept Mexican pesos.

"This is the United States of America, not the United States of Mexico," one e-mail read. "Quit catering to the damn illegal Mexicans," demanded another

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Oil Price Drop to Benefit Australian Motorists

January 11th 2007 08:46

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that US crude oil prices have fallen to a 19 month low.

February crude fell $US1.62 to $US54.02 a barrel, due to milder temperatures over the US winter and better stockbuilding and inventories for petrol. The fall will eventually benefit Australian drivers. It takes a minimum of seven days for the price drop to flow through to pumps

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Pick up a Home Loan at the Supermarket?

January 10th 2007 08:07

The West Australian reports that shoppers may soon be able to grab a mortgage at the checkout as speculation mounts Australia's supermarket giants are about to start a major push into financial services

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