Carnival of the Capitalists (Free Money Finance)

Welcome to this week's edition of the Carnival of the Capitalists.

I'm sticking with my usual method of hosting a carnival -- listing a summary of each piece with the author's reason for submitting the post to the carnival (for those that submitted one) and/or a bit of the post itself as a summary -- so you readers know what to expect before you get to the post. In addition, I am posting the entries in the order they were submitted.

With that said, here we go:

Why do Credit Cards Expire? - Have you ever wondered why credit cards have an expiration date? According to industry experts, there are two main reasons…

Coke, Green Tea and Trust - The new Enviga drink from Coke is being sold as a "calorie burning" product, yet Coke's own chief scientist says it is not a weight loss product. One has to wonder if this is good brand stewardship.

Referral business: Customer evangelists - Getting referral business and new customers, through recommendations by satisfied customers and clients, is a dream of most business owners and managers. Of course, it’s often more likely thought about as an abstract concept, than really put into practice. Many business owners dream of referral business, but not every entrepreneur takes advantage of this powerful marketing tool.

The World Trade Organization and Sustainable Development - Does the World Trade Organization do enough to promote sustainable development and protect the environment?

Why They Want You to Be Broke! - Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki's New Book is Not Looking Out for You! Why would anyone read a book about how to handle money by two people who have both filed bankruptcy?

How’s YOUR Resolution? - I say "how" and not "what" because I'm talking about a different resolution than the made-and-broken New Year's one, followed by the made-and-broken Lent give-ups.

Lean Six Sigma is a Fraud for Engineering Consultancies - Where I work, we use Lean Six Sigma. LSS is a formal method for tracing work flows and processes in order to find inefficiencies. It's a total fraud for our organization.

Forbes: Head To Head: U.S. Congress' Small Biz Agenda - Forbes recently published an interview with two congressmen (one from my home state...which currently ranks a whopping 38th on the small biz love list) regarding small business issues. Neither of their responses really hit the mark for me. So, here are three things I would push for were I a member of the upcoming 110th Congress.

The Right Way to Write-Off Expenses (Part 1) - Write-offs can be headache when it comes to preparing income tax returns for your business. They are often what causes a business to be red-flagged by the IRS because there are so many regulations and many small business owners just aren’t sure how to do it right. I will be addressing this in two parts, simply because there are so many different items to cover.

Milwaukee Assessor’s Office and Milwaukee Public Schools screw up on property taxes - Milwaukee’s public school district is crying because $9.1 million that they wanted to squeeze out of taxpayers was erroneously left off property tax bills that were sent earlier this month. They’re pointing the finger at the Assessor’s Office, who is pointing the finger right back at them.

Sticky Fingers - Folks leave a lot of money "on the table" when they're looking at their health benefits.

An Index Investor’s Year End Investment Returns - It’s time for me to look into how our investment portfolio did this year. Given our rather simplistic approach to stock investing, it’s easy to see what our rate of return is for the year.

Outsourcing, Disasters and the One-Man Band - Online businesses are vulnerable to physical infrastructure damage. Do you know where your website host is housed?

3 Business Rules To Live By - 3 rules to live by in business that will help you be more successful. They're not the only rules, but they're important ones.

The Hardest Working Leader in Show Business? - What the late great James Brown can teach us about leadership, management, and collaboration.

Remote Workers - A quick look at telecommuting from a manager's perspective. While I don't say that working remotely is wrong I point some potential issues I faced when working with remotes.

Against All Odds - In case you forgot to pick up a newspaper or turn on a TV today, John Edwards officially tossed his hat in the ring for the presidency in 2008. He impressively embraced and acknowledged the power of the Internet by making the announcement on YouTube.

The SEC's Proposed Section 404 Guidance - Evaluating the SEC's new guidance for complying with Sarbanes-Oxley section 404's assessment of internal controls over financial reporting.

Mortgage Lenders Don't Want to Compete on Price - Yet that is exactly what you want them to do.

Did You Feel the World Financial Foundation Shake? - The collapse of the petrodollar system is happening real-time with Iran's switch to the euro.

Saddam Hussein Executed - Here’s my opinion on the recent events following Saddam Hussein’s execution.

New Research on How to Maintain a Sharp Brain - More and more research is coming out on the benefits of brain fitness - including maintaining and facilitating peak performance skills used by CEOs, traders, top athletes, and fighter pilots.
Wealth Building Thru Gold Investing - It is All About Supply and Demand - It took me a good year and a half to get back into the groove after the pounding I took during the internet implosion of 2000. That was an extremely painful year and I was in no hurry to donate more money to Wall Street. I tried a few of the same old things from 2000 in early 2002 with little success. By late 2002, I discovered Adam Hamilton and the world of commodity stock investing.

Nike Stakes Its Soccer Future on Ronaldinho - Nike introduces its latest signature line in January and the first to feature a soccer player - two time world player of the year Ronaldinho. The future of Nike's soccer division may rest at his feet.

Top 10 business shenanigans for 2006 - Backdating, soaring CEO salaries and pretexting. Just three of the top 10 corporate shenanigans for 2006. Here's the list.

Self-Esteem…on Borrowed Credit - Overspending is top-of-mind as we come off the “gift-giving” season.

The Trade Deficit vs the Federal Budget Deficit - Do deficits matter? Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. Thomas Nugent, writing in National Review Online, applies some simple balance sheet analysis to both the trand and federal budget deficits. While this works passably well in the case of the trade deficit, it falls flat on the issue of the budget deficit.

Encouraging numbers for new home sales - The Census Bureau today reported that new home sales were 3.4% higher in November relative to October, on a seasonally adjusted basis. When I suggested two months ago that we'd seen the worst for home sales, many or our readers responded with derisive skepticism. But so far, my analysis seems to be holding up.

5 Keys to Getting Good Buys on Great Stocks - It's every investors dream; getting in on a fantastic company for a song. It's kind of like hitting on the company when it's down, but in a nice way. You can take advantage of a firm's temporary misfortune to give your investment portfolio a substantial shot in the arm. As with any investment you've got to do your homework. There are several keys to make this strategy successful in the long term. In the long term however, this could be one of the most powerful investment strategies in your arsenal. Here's what to look for when selecting these stocks.

Online Shopping is Real - Online shopping has become a more viable option than ever for bringing home the loot.

Frequency Is The Key To Revenue Success - The reason frequency matters is because when you’re exposed to a call to action two or more times, you’re more likely to respond than were you only asked to act once. And if you get more than one opportunity to address a suspect, prospect or customer, you have the opportunity to tell your story more ways and in greater detail. Frequency allows you to build relationships that last.