The chart shows producer price index (PPI) data that measure price changes. Percent changes in prices from a year ago are shown for both stand-alone hotels (the gold bar) and hotels attached to casinos (the red bar). Prices began dropping for hotels in February 2020 and the price reductions continue to persist, but hotels attached…
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The total assets held by the Federal Reserve include Treasury securities, Mortgage Backed Securities, and Repurchase agreements, in addition to other assets. As of September 2, 2020, the Federal Reserve had total assets of $7,017,492 (in millions of dollars) and as of September 4, 2019, the Federal Reserve had total assets of $3,761,508 (in millions…
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Personal saving is equal to personal income less personal outlays and personal taxes; or can be viewed as the portion of personal income that is used either to provide funds to capital markets or to invest in real assets such as residences. Personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income (DPI), frequently referred to…
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In the past six months, businesses have been making numerous short-term decisions that can have long term operational benefits. The key is to evaluate and operationalize these short-term decisions to provide long term benefits to the business operations. The fact is that almost all businesses during the past six months have been forced to do…
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Recently, I have been having conversations with clients on how they need to get back in touch with what is going on with and in their business. Below is a simple methodology on how to get back in touch. Sign all the checks the business issues! Yes, it is that simple. Sign the business’s checks…
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The economy is in flux, interest rates have increased over the past year and lenders are starting to be less flexible on their loan covenants. Business executives need to be completely aware of their business’s financial condition, especially how leveraged the balance sheet is and loan covenants that relate to the debt on the balance…
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The first minimum wage rate was established in the United States with The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the initial minimum wage was $0.25 cents per hour. This chart shows Federal minimum wage from 1968, which was $1.60 per hour, to January 1, 2019 where the Federal minimum wage is now $7.25 per…
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Executives need to understand that ratios are derived from the key components of a business’s financial statements and those ratios need to be viewed as a system that interrelates a business’s financial statements and operations. Ratio 1 – Gross Margin Percent: All businesses have different expenses that total up to cost of goods sold (COGS),…
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The Federal Fund Rate is the interest rate that banks and credit unions borrow money from the Federal Reserve. (The blue line on the chart.) The Prime Rate is the interest rate that banks and credit unions lend money to their best customers. The Prime Rate is generally 3 percentage points above the Federal Fund…
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Budgeting: Is it worth the time and effort? Simply stated – businesses should be budgeting for annual business plans, special projects, capital equipment purchases, new product development and more. Businesses that fail to budget have no defined plan to project growth, manage and judge the performance of the business. Lack of any kind of budgeting…
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