From the barter desk of Bob Meyer…12/18/07


Bartercard Trade Dollars Provide Assist For Children’s Centre

Bartercard UK is one of the sponsors for a new centre for children with sensory and neurological conditions (difficulties that include autism, cerebral palsy and Down’s Syndrome). Bartercard members have already begun contributing trade dollars which has reduced the cash expenses for the Bibic Centre.

Americans Love Dining Out

• Americans spend an average of $390 billion a year in restaurants versus $364 at the grocery store.

• There are 303 million people in the U.S. and only 10% of the households have more than 5 people, versus 21% that did in 1970.

• The median, or mid-point, household income in 2005 was $48,200.00.


Travelers Checks Still Popular

We read so much about credit cards and the explosive growth of gift cards that we tend to overlook that travelers checks still hold a prominent role for the traveler. American Express alone sells $20 billion of these pre-paid travelers checks annually.

Because of the float on uncashed traveler’s checks, Amex earns interest on that $20 billion to the tune of millions. Talk about earning money on an financial instrument!

China Big Furniture Producer, Too

Toys, electronics, and now furniture. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, national consumption of office furniture from China has increased 34.3% this year over last year.

Builders Shed Land Inventory

Centex, the third largest homebuilder in the U.S., just wrote off $510 million worth of value on property it both owned and had options to buy. The company is also about to let another $450 million in land and options go up in smoke. Centex CEO Tim Eller explained, “We are navigating through one of the most challenging environments for the last 25 years.”

Bruce Karatz, head of KB Homes, says this is the worst he’s ever seen. And Lennar Corporation has sold 11,000 home sites in 32 communities (in eight states) for $525 million, less than the book value of $1.3 billion…thus eating the difference of $775 million.


Warren Buffett Still Likes Stock Market

Warren Buffett, appearing December 11 on CNBC cable-TV, said he was concerned about consumer spending and doesn’t expect Christmas sales to equal last year’s. He still likes the stock market though, and feels positive about it moving into the new year.


Mideast Oil Money Goes To Hollywood

Warner Bros. Entertainment has quietly struck a multi-billion strategic alliance with Abu Dhabi Media Co. It’s a new entity formed by the emirate to create feature films and video games, as well as to build an entertainment infrastructure in the region.


A New Twist In World Oil Supplies

The economies of many big oil-exporting countries are growing so fast that the need for energy within their borders will add new strains to the global oil market.

In some cases, the governments of these countries subsidize gasoline heavily for their citizens—selling it for as little as 7-cents a gallon, which fosters wasteful habits.

Indonesia has already made the flip. Within five years the same is expected for Mexico…the #2 source of foreign oil for the United States. Iran, the world’s fourth largest exporter, will soon follow.

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The column “From The Desk of Bob Meyer” is the first part of the Tuesday Barter Report, to read the entire report see: TUESDAY

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 20th, 2007 at 6:01 am and is filed under Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.