Credit card debt management is act of elimination of different credit card debts. Under the program, a single lender works for the borrower. There are many methods of applying this management program, however for fast processing and instant result, online method is an important tool.

The easiest way to shop for a credit card to meet your needs is through the internet. There are many web sites that allow you to enter specific criteria and then match you with potential credit card offers. Just make sure you select a card with terms and conditions you can live with. Due to keeping soft norms offering of credit card, more and more people are falling prey to the credit card debts. For getting rid to such situation the lending authority has configured credit card debt management to fight away from debt trap.
The idea behind credit card debt management is to replace a number of higher interest loans with a single credit card that carries a lower interest rate. Over time, this can save a great deal of money. The preferred method of securing a credit card debt management for those with bad credit is to borrow against the value of your home. If you do not own a home, or if the current market value of your home does not exceed the remaining balance on the credit card amount, a credit counselor may be able to help you by negotiating lower interest rates from your existing creditors. Find out what credit card debt management options are right for you.
There are many lenders available in the money market in prospect of offering credit card debt management program. With their own policies and plans, these lenders try to offer this credit card debt management to the affected debtors. However for fast processing and instant result, online method of availing the facility of the credit card debt management program is preferred these days both by the lenders and borrowers. If individuals are worried about giving their information on the net, then they can take heart in the fact that most of these sites have a well-defined encryption system in place that makes sure that the information you give remains protected.
In a nutshell, credit card debt management is taking all your credit card debt dues and consolidating them into one monthly payment. This way, you don’t have to worry about managing the payments individually. Aside from that, it may also provide you the additional benefits:
• Save more money in the long run
• Low monthly payments
• Debt relief in a shorter time
• Reduce interest payments
• Waive late and overtime fees
• Credit improvement

Corporate finance is an area of finance dealing with the financial decisions corporations make and the tools and analysis used to make these decisions. The primary goal of corporate finance is to enhance corporate value while reducing the firm’s financial risks. Equivalently, the goal is to maximize the corporations’ return on capital. Although it is in principle different from managerial finance which studies the financial decisions of all firms, rather than corporations alone, the main concepts in the study of corporate finance are applicable to the financial problems of all kinds of firms.

The discipline can be divided into long-term and short-term decisions and techniques. Capital investment decisions are long-term choices about which projects receive investment, whether to finance that investment with equity or debt, and when or whether to pay dividends to shareholders. On the other hand, the short term decisions can be grouped under the heading "Working capital management". This subject deals with the short-term balance of current assets and current liabilities; the focus here is on managing cash, inventories, and short-term borrowing and lending (such as the terms on credit extended to customers).

The terms Corporate finance and Corporate financier are also associated with investment banking. The typical role of an investment banker is to evaluate investment projects for a bank to make investment decisions.

 
Capital investment decisions

Capital investment decisions are long-term corporate finance decisions relating to fixed assets and capital structure. Decisions are based on several inter-related criteria. Corporate management seeks to maximize the value of the firm by investing in projects which yield a positive net present value when valued using an appropriate discount rate. These projects must also be financed appropriately. If no such opportunities exist, maximizing shareholder value dictates that management return excess cash to shareholders. Capital investment decisions thus comprise an investment decision, a financing decision, and a dividend decision.

The investment decision

Management must allocate limited resources between competing opportunities ("projects") in a process known as capital budgeting. Making this capital allocation decision requires estimating the value of each opportunity or project: a function of the size, timing and predictability of future cash flows.

Project valuation

In general, each project’s value will be estimated using a discounted cash flow (DCF) valuation, and the opportunity with the highest value, as measured by the resultant net present value (NPV) will be selected (see Fisher separation theorem). This requires estimating the size and timing of all of the incremental cash flows resulting from the project. These future cash flows are then discounted to determine their present value (see Time value of money). These present values are then summed, and this sum net of the initial investment outlay is the NPV.

The NPV is greatly influenced by the discount rate. Thus selecting the proper discount rate—the project "hurdle rate"—is critical to making the right decision. The hurdle rate is the minimum acceptable return on an investment—i.e. the project appropriate discount rate. The hurdle rate should reflect the riskiness of the investment, typically measured by volatility of cash flows, and must take into account the financing mix. Managers use models such as the CAPM or the APT to estimate a discount rate appropriate for a particular project, and use the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) to reflect the financing mix selected. (A common error in choosing a discount rate for a project is to apply a WACC that applies to the entire firm. Such an approach may not be appropriate where the risk of a particular project differs markedly from that of the firm’s existing portfolio of assets.)

In conjunction with NPV, there are several other measures used as (secondary) selection criteria in corporate finance. These are visible from the DCF and include payback, IRR, Modified IRR, equivalent annuity, capital efficiency, and ROI.

Valuing flexibility

In many cases, for example R&D projects, a project may open (or close) paths of action to the company, but this reality will not typically be captured in a strict NPV approach. Management will therefore (sometimes) employ tools which place an explicit value on these options. So, whereas in a DCF valuation the most likely or average or scenario specific cash flows are discounted, here the “flexibile and staged nature” of the investment is modelled, and hence "all" potential payoffs are considered. The difference between the two valuations is the "option value" inherent in the project.

The two most common tools are Decision Tree Analysis (DTA) and Real options analysis:

    The DTA approach attempts to capture flexibility by incorporating likely events and consequent management decisions into the valuation. In the decision tree, each management decision in response to an "event" generates a "branch" or "path" which the company could follow. (For example, management will only proceed with stage 2 of the project given that stage 1 was successful; stage 3, in turn, depends on stage 2. In a DCF model, on the other hand, there is no "branching" - each scenario must be modelled separately.) The highest value path (probability weighted) is regarded as representative of project value

    The real options approach is used when the value of a project is contingent on the value of some other asset or underlying variable. (For example, the viability of a mining project is contingent on the price of gold; if the price is too low, management will abandon the mining rights, if sufficiently high, management will develop the ore body. Again, a DCF valuation would capture only one of these outcomes.) Here, using financial option theory as a framework, the decision to be taken is identified as corresponding to either a call option or a put option - valuation is then via the Binomial model or, less often for this purpose, via Black Scholes; see Contingent claim valuation. The "true" value of the project is then the NPV of the "most likely" scenario plus the option value.

Capital structure

Achieving the goals of corporate finance requires that any corporate investment be financed appropriately. As above, since both hurdle rate and cash flows (and hence the riskiness of the firm) will be affected, the financing mix can impact the valuation. Management must therefore identify the "optimal mix" of financing—the capital structure that results in maximum value. (See Balance sheet, WACC, Fisher separation theorem; but, see also the Modigliani-Miller theorem.)

The sources of financing will, generically, comprise some combination of debt and equity. Financing a project through debt results in a liability that must be serviced—and hence there are cash flow implications regardless of the project’s success. Equity financing is less risky in the sense of cash flow commitments, but results in a dilution of ownership and earnings. The cost of equity is also typically higher than the cost of debt (see CAPM and WACC), and so equity financing may result in an increased hurdle rate which may offset any reduction in cash flow risk.

Management must also attempt to match the financing mix to the asset being financed as closely as possible, in terms of both timing and cash flows.

One of the main theories of how firms make their financing decisions is the Pecking Order Theory, which suggests that firms avoid external financing while they have internal financing available and avoid new equity financing while they can engage in new debt financing at reasonably low interest rates. Another major theory is the Trade-Off Theory in which firms are assumed to trade-off the Tax Benefits of debt with the Bankruptcy Costs of debt when making their decisions. One last theory about this decision is the Market timing hypothesis which states that firms look for the cheaper type of financing regardless of their current levels of internal resources, debt and equity.

The Dividend Decision

In general, management must decide whether to invest in additional projects, reinvest in existing operations, or return free cash as dividends to shareholders. The dividend is calculated mainly on the basis of the company’s unappropriated profit and its business prospects for the coming year. If there are no NPV positive opportunities, i.e. where returns exceed the hurdle rate, then management must return excess cash to investors - these free cash flows comprise cash remaining after all business expenses have been met. (This is the general case, however there are exceptions. For example, investors in a "Growth stock", expect that the company will, almost by definition, retain earnings so as to fund growth internally. In other cases, even though an opportunity is currently NPV negative, management may consider “investment flexibility” / potential payoffs and decide to retain cash flows; see above and Real options.)

Management must also decide on the form of the distribution, generally as cash dividends or via a share buyback. There are various considerations: where shareholders pay tax on dividends, companies may elect to retain earnings, or to perform a stock buyback, in both cases increasing the value of shares outstanding; some companies will pay "dividends" from stock rather than in cash. (See Corporate action.) Today it is generally accepted that dividend policy is value neutral (see Modigliani-Miller theorem).

Working capital management

Decisions relating to working capital and short term financing are referred to as working capital management. These involve managing the relationship between a firm’s short-term assets and its short-term liabilities. The goal of Working capital management is to ensure that the firm is able to continue its operations and that it has sufficient cash flow to satisfy both maturing short-term debt and upcoming operational expenses.

Decision criteria

By definition, Working capital management entails short term decisions - generally, relating to the next one year period - which are "reversible". These decisions are therefore not taken on the same basis as Capital Investment Decisions (NPV or related, as above) rather they will be based on cash flows and / or profitability.

    One measure of cash flow is provided by the cash conversion cycle - the net number of days from the outlay of cash for raw material to receiving payment from the customer. As a management tool, this metric makes explicit the inter-relatedness of decisions relating to inventories, accounts receivable and payable, and cash. Because this number effectively corresponds to the time that the firm’s cash is tied up in operations and unavailable for other activities, management generally aims at a low net count.

    In this context, the most useful measure of profitability is Return on capital (ROC). The result is shown as a percentage, determined by dividing relevant income for the 12 months by capital employed; Return on equity (ROE) shows this result for the firm’s shareholders. Firm value is enhanced when, and if, the return on capital, which results from working capital management, exceeds the cost of capital, which results from capital investment decisions as above. ROC measures are therefore useful as a management tool, in that they link short-term policy with long-term decision making. See Economic value added (EVA).

Management of working capital

Guided by the above criteria, management will use a combination of policies and techniques for the management of working capital. These policies aim at managing the current assets (generally cash and cash equivalents, inventories and debtors) and the short term financing, such that cash flows and returns are acceptable.

    Cash management. Identify the cash balance which allows for the business to meet day to day expenses, but reduces cash holding costs.

    Inventory management. Identify the level of inventory which allows for uninterrupted production but reduces the investment in raw materials - and minimizes reordering costs - and hence increases cash flow; see Supply chain management; Just In Time (JIT); Economic order quantity (EOQ); Economic production quantity (EPQ).

    Debtors management. Identify the appropriate credit policy, i.e. credit terms which will attract customers, such that any impact on cash flows and the cash conversion cycle will be offset by increased revenue and hence Return on Capital (or vice versa); see Discounts and allowances.

    Short term financing. Identify the appropriate source of financing, given the cash conversion cycle: the inventory is ideally financed by credit granted by the supplier; however, it may be necessary to utilize a bank loan (or overdraft), or to "convert debtors to cash" through "factoring".

Financial risk management

Risk management is the process of measuring risk and then developing and implementing strategies to manage that risk. Financial risk management focuses on risks that can be managed ("hedged") using traded financial instruments (typically changes in commodity prices, interest rates, foreign exchange rates and stock prices). Financial risk management will also play an important role in cash management.

This area is related to corporate finance in two ways. Firstly, firm exposure to business risk is a direct result of previous Investment and Financing decisions. Secondly, both disciplines share the goal of creating, or enhancing, firm value. All large corporations have risk management teams, and small firms practice informal, if not formal, risk management.

Derivatives are the instruments most commonly used in Financial risk management. Because unique derivative contracts tend to be costly to create and monitor, the most cost-effective financial risk management methods usually involve derivatives that trade on well-established financial markets. These standard derivative instruments include options, futures contracts, forward contracts, and swaps.

Investment banking

Use of the term “corporate finance” varies considerably across the world. In the United States it is used, as above, to describe activities, decisions and techniques that deal with many aspects of a company’s finances and capital. In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, the terms “corporate finance” and “corporate financier” tend to be associated with investment banking - i.e. with transactions in which capital is raised for the corporation.

Personal and public finance

Corporate finance utilizes tools from almost all areas of finance. Some of the tools developed by and for corporations have broad application to entities other than corporations, for example, to partnerships, sole proprietorships, not-for-profit organizations, governments, mutual funds, and personal wealth management. But in other cases their application is very limited outside of the corporate finance arena. Because corporations deal in quantities of money much greater than individuals, the analysis has developed into a discipline of its own. It can be differentiated from personal finance and public finance.

Related Professional Qualifications

Qualifications related to the field include:

     Finance qualifications: Masters degree in Finance (MSF), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Corporate Finance Qualification (CF), Certified International Investment Analyst(CIIA), Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT), Certified Market Analyst (CMA/FAD) Dual Designation, Master Financial Manager (MFM), Master of Finance & Control (MFC), .

     Business qualifications: Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Commerce (M Comm), Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

     Accountancy qualifications:
          o Qualified accountant: Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Chartered Certified Accountant(ACCA), Chartered Management Accountant (CIMA), Chartered Accountant (ACA)
          o Non-statutory qualifications: Chartered Cost Accountant (CCA Designation from AAFM), Certified Management Accountant (CMA)

Apple has used a variety of distinctive advertising campaigns to promote its iPod portable digital music player. The campaigns include television commercials, print ads, posters in public places, and wrap advertising campaigns. All of these advertising techniques are unified by a distinctive, consistent style that differs from their other ads.

Style

The more famous commercials and print advertising featured dark silhouetted characters against bright-coloured backgrounds. The silhouettes are usually dancing, and in television commercials are backed by up-beat music. The silhouettes are also usually holding iPods and listening to them with Apple’s supplied earphones. These distinctively appear in white, so that they stand out against the colored background and black silhouettes. Apple seems to change the style of these commercials quite often depending on the song’s theme or genre.

The original television commercials and posters featured solid black silhouettes against a solid bright color, which usually changed every time the camera angle changed. Some of the television adverts also depicted highlights on the silhouettes using darkened shades of the background color, and shadows on the floor. Since then, various commercials in the campaign have changed the format further:

* One live action TV commercial made reference to the silhouette theme to emphasize its icon status. It involved a man walking past a set of silhouette posters, which came to life and danced when his iPod was playing, but froze when he paused it.
* In October 2004, an advert featured U2 performing their single, “Vertigo” as opposed to people dancing, to promote the release of the iPod U2 Special Edition. Because this edition was not white, iPods did not feature in the advert, but the microphone and guitar leads appeared in white instead. The band and the rest of their equipment were in silhouette, but with particularly clear highlights.
* The TV commercials for the iPod shuffle used a green background with black arrows moving in the background representing the “shuffle” icon. The silhouettes danced on top of the arrows as if they were a moving floor while listening to iPod shuffles hanging from white lanyards.
* Following the release of the fifth-generation iPod, two TV commercials, one featuring Eminem and the other Wynton
Marsalis, made radical changes to the style, by exchanging the solid changing backgrounds for abstract composite backgrounds based around a main color (orange and blue respectively). The camera shots alternate between the artists
performing their songs (Eminem sporting a white microphone, Marsalis’ drummer sporting white drumsticks) and traditional silhouette dancers listening to iPods. The solid silhouette were also traded for a more varied silhouette, which shows certain facial features of a person. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has suggested that this more complex composition will be the style of future commercials as well.
* In early 2006 a new type of iPod commercial was released. It was thirty seconds, and it spotlighted album art. The album art was constructed into a city, and then dismantled and it flowed into an iPod nano and said “1,000 songs in your pocket”, the slogan for the 1st Generation iPod.
* In August 2006, another reimagining of the iPod commercial was introduced through an ad for Bob Dylan’s album available in the music store, Modern Times. In this new style, the only silhouette facet of it was that it seemed lighting was reduced on the figure of Bob Dylan and the female dancer, while the iPod was brightened. Color variation, as well as reflection on the face of the guitar, is evident. The ad is much more realistic and the people, as well as details, are much more visible. This ad was an almost complete departure from the traditional, and even the Eminem-styled adverts of the past.
* In September of 2006, Apple once again reimagined their vision of the silhouette ad campaign to go with the new iPod nano aluminum case. They made a departure from the contrasting background and characters. Both the characters and the background are thrown into deeper shadow than we’ve ever seen before, and, in order to showcase the new colors of the nano, the characters swing their nanos around while dancing, which leaves a luminescent light trail.
* In November of 2006 Apple used their original style again in their Latino TV Ad.
* As of Macworld 2007, Apple debuted their new ad campaign, featuring a reverse color scheme of previous campaigns: Colored silhouettes on a black background, as well as a second styled ad featuring colored silhouettes amongst a dynamic, moving and multi-colored background.
* In May 2007, Apple reimagined their commercial again with a commercial for the song Mi Swing Es Tropical by Nickodemus & Quantic featuring Tempo, This commercial used watercolor textures and canvas for the backgrounds, and overlayed was video of outdoors scenery, The characters were also changed, being that they masked another texture or object within the silhouette.
* In June of 2007, a brighter version featured Paul McCartney strumming a mandolin performing his song “Dance Tonight” being very much like an updated version of the Eminem commercial, having backdrops of buildings and featuring Paul McCartney walking with animations of shapes around him.

* During Macworld 2007, There was a new iPod Shuffle commercial. It featured people showing off the clip that came with the second generation iPod shuffle. They attached the clip to different clothing while the color of the iPod also changed.

Influence on pop culture

* MAD Magazine - In the Series of Unfortunate Events movie spoof, Lemony Snicket is always shown in shadow (as is the case with the movie). In one panel of the spoof, he is shown with an iPod. In the MAD March 2006 issue the cover was a parody of the iPod silhouette ad and inside there were panels that spoofed the silhouettes.
* On the Family Guy episode, “Petarded”, Peter laments that losing the kids because of his mental retardation was worse than when Stewie starred in an iPod commercial. The next scene shows Stewie dancing to Scandal’s “The Warrior” in the same style as the people in the iPod commercials.
* An episode of Weebl and Bob (”Piepod”) shows them dancing in the style used in the advert.
* In the episode of The Simpsons ‘Thank God It’s Doomsday’, a poster on the wall of the Christian shop Homer visits displays a silhouette of God wearing an iPod. The caption reads ‘iGod’, and is a clear reference to the advertisements.
* In Stephen Colbert’s first Green Screen Challenge, an entry included Stephen Colbert dancing on a colored background
with a white iPod in his hand.
* In a Season 12 episode of MADtv, they introduced an “iRack” to hold iPod accessories; and also the “iRan.” These were relating to the issues of United States in Iraq and Iran, but poked fun at Apple nonetheless. They also made an “iPad”-skit.
* The website http://ipopmyphoto.com popularized by Wired magazine as consumer evangelism, allows iPod fans to create custom iPod ads from their personal photos.

NASDAQ indices are the indicators of business activity and objects of forex fundamental analysis. So, what is NASDAQ?

The NASDAQ (acronym for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations system) is an American stock market. It was founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), who divested themselves of it in a series of sales in 2000 and 2001. It is owned and operated by The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. the stock of which was listed on its own stock exchange in 2002. NASDAQ is the largest electronic screen-based equity securities market in the United States. With approximately 3,200 companies, it lists more companies and on average trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market.

History

When it began trading on February 8, 1971, the NASDAQ was the world’s first electronic stock market. At first, it was merely a computer bulletin board system and did not actually connect buyers and sellers. The NASDAQ helped lower the spread (the difference between the bid price and the ask price of the stock) but somewhat paradoxically was unpopular among brokerages because they made much of their money on the spread.

NASDAQ was the successor to the Over the Counter (OTC) and the “Curb Exchange” systems of trading. As late as 1987, the NASDAQ exchange was still commonly referred to as the OTC in media and also in the monthly Stock Guides issued by Standard & Poor’s Corporation.

Over the years, NASDAQ became more of a stock market by adding trade and volume reporting and automated trading systems. NASDAQ was also the first stock market to advertise to the general public, highlighting NASDAQ-traded companies (usually in technology) and closing with the declaration that NASDAQ is “the stock market for the next hundred years.” Its main index is the NASDAQ Composite, which has been published since its inception. However, its exchange-traded fund tracks the large-cap NASDAQ 100 index, which was introduced in 1985 alongside the NASDAQ 100 Financial Index.

Until 1987, most trading occurred via the telephone, but during the October 1987 stock market crash, market makers often didn’t answer their phones. To counteract this, the Small Order Execution System (SOES) was established, which provides an electronic method for dealers to enter their trades. NASDAQ requires market makers to honor trades over SOES.

Business

NASDAQ allows multiple market participants to trade through its Electronic Communication Networks (ECNs) structure, increasing competition. The Small Order Execution System (SOES) is another NASDAQ feature, introduced in 1987, to ensure that in ‘turbulent’ market conditions small market orders are not forgotten but are automatically processed. With approximately 3,200 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, its systems trade more shares per day than any other stock exchange in the world. NASDAQ will follow the New York Stock Exchange in halting domestic trading in the event of a sharp and sudden decline of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Market Share

As of 1 March 2007, NASDAQ is the largest Electronic Communication Network system in terms of shares traded. Approximately two out of every seven shares traded on the American financial markets are traded on the system. For New York Stock Exchange-listed securities or Tape A, it accounts for about 14-15% of the shares traded. For Tape C securities, it accounts for approximately 45-98% of the trading volume.

Fees

NASDAQ has a sliding fee system that offers lower liquidity removal fees and more favorable added-liquidity rebates based on how much trading volume the market participant executes on the NASDAQ system.

Quote availability

NASDAQ quotes are available at three levels. Level I shows the highest bid and lowest offer — the inside quote. Level II shows all public quotes of market makers together with information of market makers wishing to sell or buy stock and recently executed orders. Level III is used by the market makers and allows them to enter their quotes and execute orders.

www.nasdaq.com

To begin with your business card and its offers will be primarily based on your personal credit score and report. As a business entrepreneur you too must check about the credit card companies and their reporting credit agencies. The common agencies are Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, Business Credit USA, and Equifax. Before accepting a card it is important for you to check interest rates, offers, and rules and regulations pertaining to each card and always choose one that suits your needs and is most economical.

A business credit card will help streamline you finance management and keep separate personal and business accounts. It will help you build a descent business credit history that will spur your business activities to higher levels.

1. Always apply for a business credit card with a financial institution or bank where you have an established business reputation. This just means faster approvals and greater credit limits.

2. Never apply for more than one business credit card. Card hopping just has a negative effect on your financial standing. Furthermore, managing multiple cards can be a problem.

3. A business credit card is what must be used over a personal card for all transactions involving your business. For IRS purposes and easy accounting all business expenditure must be made through the business credit card.

4. Find out from the business credit card company whether they provide an itemized bill at the end of the financial year. A categorized and itemized detailed summary of transactions will make the bookkeeping process easy.

5. Prudent use of a business credit card will help you build business credit and stand you in good stead when you need credit lines or loans when your business expands and prospers.

6. Most business credit cards have reward schemes that offer clients facilities ranging from office stationary to travel and hotel discounts. Using the business credit card will help lower business expenses through use of rewards.

7. Providing employees with a business credit card will give you greater control of spending. And you as the employer can determine what the limits should be.

8. Most business cards will offer a 21 grace period after which you must stele all dues. To benefit from credit cards you must settle dues in full otherwise the interest payments will become a burden on your business. Stay away from late payments as it has a negative effect on your credit rating and report.

9. Use the credit card to make payments instead of checks it will help enhance cash flow.

10. Avoid taking cash advances on your card as it will escalate credit card fees and interest costs. Be smart and use business account debit facilities.

A business credit card is a privilege being offered by banks and other institutions. Be smart and prudent and the credit card will offer you many advantages. If you mismanage the credit card then you will be in serious trouble and on the road to financial ruin or bankruptcy.