News Summary: Sluggish signs nudge stocks down

{ttle}

{cptn}","template_name":"ss_thmb_play_ttle","i18n":{"end_of_gallery_header":"End of Gallery","end_of_gallery_next":"View Again"},"metadata":{"pagination":"{firstVisible} - {lastVisible} of {numItems}","ult":{"spaceid":"7663536","sec":""}}},{"id": "hcm-carousel-438633409", "dataManager": C.dmgr, "mediator": C.mdtr, "group_name":"hcm-carousel-438633409", "track_item_selected":1,"tracking":{ "spaceid" : "7663536", "events" : { "click" : { "any" : { "yui-carousel-prev" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"prev","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } }, "yui-carousel-next" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"next","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // no more pages, don't beacon again // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } } } } } } })); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings = '"projectId": "10001256862979", "documentName": "", "documentGroup": "", "ywaColo" : "vscale3", "spaceId" : "7663536" ,"customFields" : { "12" : "classic", "13" : "story" }'; Y.Media.YWA.init(Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {(function() { try{ if (Math.floor(Math.random()*10) == 1) { var loc = window.location, decoded = decodeURI(loc.pathname), encoded = encodeURI(decoded), uri = loc.protocol + "//" + loc.host + encoded + ((loc.search.length > 0) ? loc.search + '&' : '?') + "_cacheable=1", xmlhttp; if (window.XMLHttpRequest) xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); else xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); xmlhttp.open("GET",uri,true); xmlhttp.send(); } }catch(e){} })(); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {if(document.onclick===YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.newClick){document.onclick=YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.oldClick;} }); }); });

Direct Sales: 5 Factors Small Businesses Should Consider ...

Susan Wilson Solovic is an award-winning entrepreneur and journalist, author of three best-selling books, multi-media personality and contributor to ABC News and other outlets, public speaker and attorney.?AT&T has sponsored the following blog post.

When I was a little girl I couldn?t wait for the Avon lady to visit my mom. She?d always give me little lipstick samples to play with. She?d spend 30 minutes or so showing my mom the latest and greatest products and leave with a nice order. In fact, I still have a collection of Avon Christmas collector plates starting in the 1970s my mom purchased from the Avon lady.

?The small business boom

What I didn?t realize then was that the Avon lady was a small business owner ? an independent consultant for a direct sales company. Direct selling companies like Avon have been around for years, and while most of the economy is shrinking or struggling, this market segment is booming.?

More than 15 million people make a full- or part-time living as independent consultants for a direct selling company. Approximately 74 percent of Americans have purchased a product or service from a direct sales representative. And it?s not just makeup anymore. You can purchase nearly anything through the direct sales distribution channel ? from jewelry and home goods to stun guns and power tools.

Why is the industry doing so well?? People need jobs, and it?s a way to get started in business for yourself without a huge start-up expense.? However, just as with any business, it?s not an instant cash flow machine.

What to consider before jumping in

It takes a strong commitment, hard work and a plan to be successful as a small business owner.? And it?s important to know, not all direct sales companies provide the same opportunities.? So before you decide this business model may be right for you, here are five factors to consider.

1.?Belief in the Product.?? No matter how exciting the business opportunity sounds, if you don?t believe in the product itself, you?ll have a tough time being successful.? The best marketing strategy for any direct sales representative is an almost evangelistic zest.? So don?t jump until you are comfortable that the opportunity is the right fit for you.

2. Instant Success.? Companies that try to entice you with instant success stories and big money should make you nervous.? If something sounds too good to be true, it is. As I noted earlier, it takes a significant effort to build your direct sales business.? You?ll need patience and the dedication to put an action plan together and work the business regularly. To attract independent consultants some companies try to get you all jazzed up about the opportunity and then pressure you to commit on the spot.? Do your homework before you sign on the dotted line.

3.?Established Company. It?s hard to know just how many direct sales companies there are in the market. Many of them frizzle out quickly. So make sure you choose a company with a successful track record. You don?t want to invest your time and energy building your business only to have the company go out of business.

4.?Upfront Fees and Inventory. One of the attractive things about a direct sales business opportunity is that it usually costs very little to get started.? So be wary of a company that requires a significant upfront fee or the purchase of large amounts of inventory. Both are red flags. I recently met a woman who had joined a direct sales company that required an $800 up-front in addition to purchasing inventory in advance ? money she really didn?t have. But she invested in the ?dream.? Sadly, her investment turned out to be for naught.? There are many similar stories, so be cautious and choose wisely.

5.?Success Dependent on Recruitment.? Success with some direct sales companies depends on recruiting other independent consultants.? Your compensation is a reflection of their sales and success. It?s what is known in the industry as a down-line. However, with a solid company you should be able to enjoy success based on your own efforts without building a down-line organization.

?There are people who have made significant amounts of money in the direct sales industry, but there are even more who haven?t been successful.? So a word to the wise: Assess any business opportunity carefully.? There?s no such thing as an overnight success.

?If you found this article interesting, share it with your colleagues using the links below.

Source: http://networkingexchangeblog.att.com/small-business/direct-sales-5-factors-small-businesses-should-consider/

mexico city first day of spring

U.S. Consulate in Berlin evacuated in false alarm

{ttle}

{cptn}","template_name":"ss_thmb_play_ttle","i18n":{"end_of_gallery_header":"End of Gallery","end_of_gallery_next":"View Again"},"metadata":{"pagination":"{firstVisible} - {lastVisible} of {numItems}","ult":{"spaceid":"2145892301","sec":""}}},{"id": "hcm-carousel-1785934130", "dataManager": C.dmgr, "mediator": C.mdtr, "group_name":"hcm-carousel-1785934130", "track_item_selected":1,"tracking":{ "spaceid" : "2145892301", "events" : { "click" : { "any" : { "yui-carousel-prev" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"prev","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } }, "yui-carousel-next" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"next","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // no more pages, don't beacon again // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } } } } } } })); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings = '"projectId": "10001256862979", "documentName": "", "documentGroup": "", "ywaColo" : "vscale3", "spaceId" : "2145892301" ,"customFields" : { "12" : "classic", "13" : "story" }'; Y.Media.YWA.init(Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {(function() { try{ if (Math.floor(Math.random()*10) == 1) { var loc = window.location, decoded = decodeURI(loc.pathname), encoded = encodeURI(decoded), uri = loc.protocol + "//" + loc.host + encoded + ((loc.search.length > 0) ? loc.search + '&' : '?') + "_cacheable=1", xmlhttp; if (window.XMLHttpRequest) xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); else xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); xmlhttp.open("GET",uri,true); xmlhttp.send(); } }catch(e){} })(); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {if(document.onclick===YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.newClick){document.onclick=YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.oldClick;} }); }); });

Obama Gives Hope to a Son at Portsmouth, N.H., Campaign Stop

FIRST PERSON | PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- I received news that my mother had passed just after midnight on Friday. Despite her Alzheimer's, she had been my biggest fan. She was the first to see the photos I took at campaign events; she had even accompanied me to several events. She had the honor of having her picture with her hero, Bill Clinton, and published in the Concord Monitor.

One, a Romney-Ryan rally at Saint Anselm College, had been an ordeal for her and she had asked me to take her away, away from the hate and bombast.

I sat with her until well past three in the morning saying my goodbyes. By the time I left -- if I was going to get to the Obama-Biden rally at Portsmouth's Strawberry Banke Museum -- I had slept all of one-half-hour in the past 24.

I felt I would go mad with grief if I didn't go to see the president. I struggled with whether it was the right thing to do, though I knew she would have wanted me to go. But did I want to go?

Thursday night was frantic, getting ready for the Obama-Biden rally and a Mitt Romney rally planned for Friday night, to counter the president in the battle for New Hampshire. I had visited my mother in the hospital in the morning and then later in the afternoon, before leaving to cover a "Veterans for Romney" press conference in Concord. It was a phony-baloney event in which the press was allowed to ask exactly one question -- a setup. As we left the conference, who should show up magically but Mitt Romney himself?

At the hospital, after seeing Romney sidestep a question about the Manchester's veterans hospital, I spent my last time with my mother. She was in full dementia. I did all I could to calm her. The nurse gave her medication and she went to sleep. I left with my sister.

She was to be transferred to a nursing home for short-term rehabilitation the following morning.

The calculations a family must do when confronted with Medicare (which would not pay for the nursing home unless she were in hospital three days) are inhuman and cruel. Should the Romney-Ryan ticket be elected, the dilemmas faced by families would be crueler, as there would be less options.

Did I want to go? Yes. I had seen the president several times, and after having been estranged from him and actually voting Republican for the first time in the New Hampshire primary (casting a ballot for Jon Huntsman), I had become increasing bound to him as the Republican Party had metastasized into a monstrous, anti-human thing.

The motto of the Romney-Ryan campaign seems to be "every man for himself," a command given sailors on a sinking ship. They had given up on America. I wanted to see Obama and his message of hope.

He did not disappoint. The 6,000 supporters who thronged the central square at the Strawberry Banke living museum had to wait two hours, but it was worth it. Obama was cool and in command, his tie loosened. At one point, he casually put his hand on his hip as he talked, alternating his cool with fire as he attacked the GOP. It was the Barack of old, the barn-burner orator.

And he did give me hope and helped lift my despair.

Because he cares. Barack Obama cares. He is not perfect, but when I was with him and his wife Michelle, Joe Biden and his wife Jill, I felt like part of a community. A community that cares.

Back home, the following day, I collected some of Mom's snapshots for her memorial. Pictures of my late father and her and a favorite dogs had been stuck into the frame of the mirror in her bedroom -- along with the temporary I.D. we had to get earlier this year so she could vote. (At the age of 86, it had been an ordeal.)

I saw she had draped my press pass from a N.H. primary debate over the mirror. As I removed the photos, I discovered she had also tucked into the mirror frame a photo of President Obama and his family.

It was nice to know I had done the right thing. It was a message from her.

It was nice to know the man I chose to see the day after she passed, seeking to be comforted, had been there to comfort her in her final days.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-gives-hope-son-portsmouth-n-h-campaign-130900215.html

sarah burke death etta james funeral erin brockovich dodgeball 2012 pro bowl postsecret ufc on fox 2