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Jamaican Business News
Supreme optimism
Despite having to write off plans to expand into Trinidad and facing higher liabilities for its main revenue earner, Cash Pot, Supreme Ventures executives are projecting an 85 per cent increase in net profit for 2008.
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A respite from high gas prices
Jamaican consumers can expect a slight ease in gasoline prices over the next few months as concerns over a US recession will likely push the price of its main input - oil - downwards in the near future, believes Dr Raymond Wright, consultant and...
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Bookmakers once again seek amendments to licensing requirements
For years local bookmakers have been trying to get government to make amendments to regulations that they say would ease the stranglehold that bureaucratic red tape has on expansion of the business.
At the forefront of the bookmakers' ire is the...
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International Business News
Canadian dollar stays at 8-month low; stocks rise
TORONTO -- Stock markets advanced Wednesday morning in the wake of data showing a strong resurgence in U.S. consumer spending in November. The Canadian dollar was at an eight-month low.
U.S. retailers saw sales rise by one per cent last...
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Oil prices fall on rising supply from non-OPEC nations, mild US weather
NEW YORK (AP) - Crude oil prices slid yesterday, as the market gauged OPEC nations' commitment to cutting oil production and the effect of a mild US autumn on fuel supplies.
Also deflating prices, Iraq resumed pumping oil out of a pipeline in the...
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French economic growth stagnates
Economic growth in France stagnated in the third quarter of the year, official figures show.
Statistics agency Insee reported zero growth between July and September - after a 1.2% expansion in the previous three months.
The abrupt slowdown has...
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Achieving a balanced budget
Written
by Dennis Chung
Sep 16, 2005
Dennis Chung
Last week the Sunday Herald carried an article entitled "Revenues $5 billion below target". Reference was made to an interview where Dr Omar Davies mentioned that in addition to the shortfall in tax revenues, April to July 2005, of $4.4 billion, there would be additional fallout of $500 million caused by the recent demonstrations.
The July fiscal numbers show that year-to-date,
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Are bonds right for me?
Written
by Charles Ross
Sep 05, 2005
Despite the fact that the Jamaican government has been active in international bond markets since the 1990's, many Jamaicans are not aware of the very attractive investment opportunities that these US dollar denominated securities can offer to investors.
For many people with money to invest, the first thing that comes to mind is either a bank account or a repurchase agreement (repo) with a securities dealer.
While a bank account may pay interest at rates of two to 3.5 per cent and a repo may
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Is your boss listening
Written
by CNS
Sep 05, 2005
MANY organisations are failing when it comes to 'upward communication', that is ensuring feedback from employees to management.
A survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and CareerJournal.com showed that 59 per cent of employees felt that their organisations listened to what they had to say.
Companies fared better with 'downward communication' - or messages coming from management to employees - with 68 per cent of employees and 66 per cent of human resource
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Landing a new job at 55
Written
by CNS
Sep 05, 2005
IT may not be easy finding a job when you are 55 or older and forced into taking retirement. But The Five O'Clock Club, a career coaching and outplacement service, cites statistics that shows those 55 and older Americans who want a job are more likely to have one.
It just may take a little longer.
A recent survey on older workers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that those aged 55 to 64 who actively search for work, typically take only four weeks longer to find a job than the
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Passing up vacation leads to lower productivity
Written
by Copley News Service
Sep 05, 2005
Maybe it's just easier to go to work.
Otherwise, what else could explain the results of a series of studies showing that American workers vacation far less than workers in other countries, that they willingly pass up vacation time and that many on vacation might still be connected to the office.
It makes little sense.
Here are some of the findings:
. The Families and Work Institute reports that, on average, American workers take 14.6 days of vacation per year. That compares to an average of
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Securing Jamaica's productivity
Written
by Dennis Chung
Sep 02, 2005
Last week the OUR announced it had granted a seven per cent increase, per kilowatt hour, to the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to compensate them for damage sustained in hurricane Ivan. The same day the Observer reported on pages two to three that Cable and Wireless (C&W) wanted a single rate for all fixed-line calls. The latter of course was overshadowed by the increase from the JPS.
Both cases will mean higher rates for consumers and businesses.
I am now convinced that the OUR
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The role of capital markets and credit ratings
Written
by SVenkat Raman
Sep 02, 2005
From this week we start a series of articles by Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS) - the Caribbean's own credit-rating agency and the first to offer regional credit ratings. Credit ratings form a cornerstone of bond markets across the globe and the establishment of CariCRIS, an initiative of various central banks and financial institutions from across the region, is aimed at catalysing regional bond markets and enhancing publicly available credit analysis. This
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AIR JAMAICA: A strategic approach
Written
by Peter W Jones
Sep 02, 2005
I have been reading the various articles written on Air Jamaica over the last month or so and I am amazed at what the "THEORISTS" have been prescribing.
Regional Carrier
This will not be seen in our lifetime, as a regional carrier is an emotional response and not an approach that speaks to any real grasp of the airline industry in the Caribbean whether it be socially, politically or economically.
To facilitate the rapid movement of tourism in the Caribbean not only from North
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What Do You Know About Your Pension?
Written
by Allan Lewis
Aug 20, 2005
Private and public pension plans (also referred to as pension schemes and retirement systems) have the potential to do good or 'evil'. 'Good' pension plans provide an improvement in the economic well being and financial security of participants by providing reasonable and realistic retirement and ancillary benefits transparently and cost effectively. Alternatively, pension plans can be corrupted if some stakeholders (e.g. plan sponsors) use the pension funds in ways that are inimical to the
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Breaking the old job description mindset
Written
by Aubyn Hill
Aug 20, 2005
LAST WEEK'S article that called the job description (JD) a 'limiting document' and offered the Desk Performance Instruction (DPI) as an empowering alternative has caused a great many people, who would not normally think about a job description, to think about the nature of the document.
Responses have been very positive and responders had made it clear that they are now thinking differently about the conventional job description. One or two of the responses would suggest that there is a
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Managers Must Manage!
Written
by Aubyn Hill
Aug 20, 2005
MANAGERS MUST manage is such a simple truth, so axiomatic that it is hard to believe that so many people who are called managers - or call themselves managers - completely miss it. Too many managers participate in the blame game. They blame the government, their peers and subordinates, the marketplace, competition and some take it to the real extreme and blame God. Avoiding responsibility for personal behaviour in business is probably the most fundamental weakness that a manager can
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Hire a very positive attitude
Written
by Aubyn Hill
Aug 20, 2005
PARTICIPANTS IN retreats that I conduct ask me on a regular basis what attributes do I look for when I'm hiring a person.
My answer is quite simple. Eighty per cent of the basis on which I hired people when I led management teams as the chief executive officer was for their very positive attitude.
By the time a candidate who is seeking a senior executive post in any organisation which I led would reach my office, many others would have vetted the person for his technical skills, managerial
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Flat tax as an economic, competitive advantage
Written
by Aubyn Hill
Aug 20, 2005
THIS PAST week I heard our very respected tax tsar, Clive Nicholas, speaking on the radio about Jamaica's inability to collect all its taxes and, by inference, the complexity of our tax system.
Albert Einstein once observed that "The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax." I believe the overriding majority of Jamaican taxpayers share this view and are painfully aware that our current tax system is a nightmare of complexity.
It is time that Jamaica put in
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CEOs at risk
Written
by Aubyn Hill
Aug 20, 2005
MANY YOUNG people aspire to become the chief executive officer (CEO) of a company, and that is a very good thing. We need a lot more people to go into business and have the chance of being very good business leaders.
Many CEOs last a long time in their jobs for all kinds of different and good reasons. However, very few of these aspirants, share-holders, media-practitioners, board members, or even new CEOs have a thorough appreciation of how risky is the job of the CEO.
EVANGELIST AND
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Corporate cleanliness lacking
Written
by Aubyn Hill
Aug 20, 2005
IN THE past year or so Trafalgar Road and Knutsford Boulevard have begun to look better and cleaner - especially Trafalgar Road. The gentrification and greening of Trafalgar Road was spearheaded by NCB when they put in really fine landscaping around their head office, placed elegant plants and palms in the dividing island of the road before the bank's head office and then secured the permission of the KSAC and other authorities to make a green park next to their ATM kiosk and parking lot.
A
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Corroding tolerance
Written
by Aubyn Hill
Aug 20, 2005
IT WAS an absolutely horrible spectacle. And it was a jarring first for me.
Last Thursday, I happened to be on Knutsford Boulevard early in the morning only to find a number of heavily armed policemen and their cars, yellow tape and some passers-by. And the horror the body of a dead man lying in the exit portion of the gateway I was about to enter.
This was just one day after the incredible carnage that erupted at the now infamous Devon Road location that left five people dead
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