Vital Marketing Concepts
Marketing is nowadays a vital aspect of every business. The price of an item increases on account of marketing, but reliance on it has attained an inevitable aspect of buying/selling behavior of consumers/producers due to multiple reasons such as competitive market structures (e.g., monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and niche markets), economical communication technology, information revolution, MNCs, globalization, battle for competitive edge, and Brand Identity phenomenon. Marketing is the managerial effort through which goods/services move from producer to the consumer. The Effective Marketing is “The right product/service with right way, in the right place, at the right time, at the right price and making a profit in the process”. The American Marketing Association offers the following formal definition: “Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” Encyclopedia Britannica defines, “Marketing is the sum of activities involved in directing the flow of goods and services from producers to consumers.” According to Kotler, the shortest definition of marketing is “meeting needs profitably”.Marketing is required for increasing sales and achieving a sustainable market segment for product or service. Customer gets satisfaction from the product or service, entrepreneur gets profit on sale, and business achieves reputation or goodwill. Effective Marketing materializes reputed business, profitable sale, and satisfied customer. The investigation of demand behavior is focal area of marketing. Consequently, marketing has two parents, economics and psychology. Economic considerations of demand behavior are pull or visible factors while psychological leanings are push/invisible factors behind any demand behavior. A marketing effort concentrates on customers’ propensities for psychological satisfaction and designs multiple incentives of economic benefits for customers. An effective marketing approach accommodates economic rules of selling/buying and psychological tendencies of sellers/buyers. There are seven major reasons of marketing:
To inform about new product/service or product awareness
To introduce a new business or business awareness
To motivate/persuade someone for buying or demand creation
To create stable customer account or achieving customer loyalty
To attain Sustainable Competitive Advantage
To achieve reputation or Goodwill,
To realize Brand Equity
Marketing vs. Selling: – The aforesaid concept of effective marketing covers the full experience of a business deal between seller and buyer; however, there are two distinct aspects of effective marketing, i.e., selling and marketing. Perceptually, Sellers and Marketers are two different groups in a marketing activity. They have distinct views towards the customers. Harvard’s Theodore Levitt drew a perceptive contrast between the selling and marketing concepts: “Selling focuses on the needs of the seller; marketing on the needs of the buyer. Selling is preoccupied with the seller’s need to convert his product into cash; marketing with the idea of satisfying the needs of the customer by means of the product and the whole cluster of things associated with creating, delivering, and finally consuming it.” The strategic alignment between marketing and selling is vital for better results. “A study from App Data Room and Marketo found that sales and marketing alignment can make an organization 67% better at closing deals, reduce friction by 108%, and generate 209% more value from marketing.”Marketing vs. Branding:-Branding is the marketing process by which a marketer or brand manager reduces a company’s reputation to a single word or phrase or design. The American Marketing Association defines a brand as “a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.” There is a well-known rule in marketing: “Sell what people are buying.” Similarly, the well-performing rule in branding: “Brand the attributes that people love.” An established brand creates consumer trust and emotional attachments; as a result, brands foster relationships among consumers, products and business that lead to the valuable benefits to a producer such as premium pricing, low promotion cost, loyal customer and constantly growing market share. In a nutshell, a branding effort enhances Brand Equity for sellers. Brand Equity is the brand’s power derived from the goodwill and name recognition that it has earned over time, which translates into higher sales volume and better profit margins against competing brands in the market. The vital strategic aspect of Brand Equity creation is internal branding. “Internal branding consists of managerial activities and processes that help, inform and inspire employees about brands.” In a branding effort, a marketer or an entrepreneur adopts four perspectives for an effective branding – Consumer Perspective (to ascertain desirability of product/service by multiple consumers), Company Perspective (to improve, technically and aesthetically, presentation and delivery process of product/service), Competitive Perspective (to understand and exploit differentiability/parity content of products/services with respect to competitors), and Brand Perspective (to work on creation of possible brand equity). It is noteworthy that, in branding, you create a perception of product/business while, during marketing, you motivate or persuade someone for actual buying. Branding is who you are while marketing is how you affect consumers’ decision process. More specifically, “Branding or Brand Management is a communication function in marketing that includes analysis and planning on how that brand is positioned in the market, which target public the brand is targeted at, and maintaining a desired reputation of the brand.”Marketing vs. Advertising: – Marketing deals with multiple business efforts to realize ‘Profitable Sale’ such as market research, pricing & distribution of product/service, branding, selling and public relations. Advertising is just one component of marketing. In advertising, an entrepreneur or business communicates to the potential buyers about his/her products or services. Advertising is defined as:”Any form of communication in the paid media”. The prominent advertising mediums are, print media, electronic media and social media. Conceptually, marketing is the way or strategy to convince potential buyers that you have the right product/service for them, while, advertising is conversion of marketing strategy into specific communication media. In advertising, you tell the potential customers about the existence and availability of right product/service for them. The greatest issue of present-day advertising is Cluttering. “An Advertising Clutter refers to the excessive amount of ad messages consumers are exposed to on a daily basis.” It is vital responsibility of a marketer to manage the clutter. The clutter management means to find the right time and place to connect with target customers and to send impeccable messages to them about your business or offerings.Marketing vs. Networking: – Networking is a systematic human interaction with fellow human beings to exchange information and opportunities. Business Networking is dynamically linked with effective marketing. Business networking is an outcome of socio-economic interactions of an entrepreneur. The networking efforts shape a business circle. It is noteworthy; a business circle is a sub-circle of a big socio-economic circle of an entrepreneur. A business cannot survive or flourish, at least with full potential, without proper interaction among all economic agents/stakeholders. Executives’ presence in a big socio-economic circle and related associations is vital to develop an effective business networking. The business networking, BtoB and BtoC, is the crucial aspect of effective marketing.Concisely speaking, the effective marketing is combination of networking, branding, marketing, advertising and selling. The networking earmarks areas of targeted customers, branding prepares ground through shaping/reshaping of perceptions/emotions of prospective customers, advertising informs them about product/service through multiple media, marketing motivates them for buying, and selling materializes the actual profitable sale.
10 Reasons to Use SEO Software
Are you sick and tired with endless days and weeks of boring SEO work? Thousands of people find themselves completely bogged down in on and on checking of their website rankings, sending numerous requests for link exchange and trying to find the right keywords for optimization in the hope of making their goods sell like hot cakes or attracting flows of targeted traffic. SEO takes all their time, but no results are still seen after a considerable period of this agony. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?To tell you the truth, I was near giving up the idea of site promotion and even of my online business itself, but for these simple calculations. Remember the multiplication table? 450,000 people search, for example, for “pizza delivery” in Google monthly. The first website in Google search results page gets 60% of all users’ clicks. The site that ranks 1st for “pizza delivery” gets, therefore, 270,000 clicks and 270,000 prospective sales every month. Aren’t these 270,000 worth sweating for?The figures kept me trying to find the solution for my SEO problem. And, finally, I’ve found one. Here are 10 reasons why to set your choice on SEO software:1. SEO tools save your timeThe first and the most obvious benefit is time-saving. A good SEO tool does your 3-hour manual work in 3 minutes. Time is money, they say. Save your time, save your money.2. SEO tools make your SEO convenientSEO software automates your SEO work at every step, so that it becomes more effective and better organized.3. SEO tools let you perform different tasks simultaneouslySEO software is an indispensable assistant that lets you perform numerous tasks simultaneously, making your work many times more productive.4. SEO tools use proven SEO techniques that give resultsSEO software is based on time-proven SEO techniques that really give results. You won’t spend your time in vain using ineffective methods of SEO promotion.5. They save your work from human factor related mistakesHuman beings are prone to making mistakes, especially when distracted. Now headache, family row or interesting TV-program is unlikely to influence your SEO tool. Your SEO is protected against mistakes that can cost you much.6. They automatically save your work historyAn SEO tool collects and presents the information on your SEO campaign success over a period of time. It keeps you informed, whether you are moving in the right direction or not and suggests when something is to be changed.7. They let you analyze dataBest SEO software generates clear reports that let you not only see the results, but analyze each step you take, which is crucial to your SEO success, and share your work with a colleague or a friend…8. SEO tools can be scheduled to work on autopilotSometimes SEO software (for example SEO PowerSuite) can be scheduled to perform the tasks on autopilot. You have your time to spend it on whatever you want.9. They are cheaper then SEO companies’ serviceEven the most expensive SEO tool is many times cheaper then services from professional SEOs that may cost you some $4,000 monthly. Besides, it seems quite illogical to pay some guys for using the same tools you can use yourself.10. SEO tools get adjusted to SEO environment changesSoftware developers keep track of any SEO environment changes and get their software adjusted. And you don’t have to pay to an SEO company again and again, or study tons of articles on these changes yourself.These are only a few benefits you get from using SEO software for site promotion. Choose the right tool and you’ll discover other significant advantages it has. Save your time and get to Google’s top hands down.
How to Write a Business Plan for a Computer Repair Business
So, you have decided to open up a new computer repair business, but really are not sure how to proceed. If that is the case, below we are going to tell you everything that you need to do in order to not only make an educated business decision. But also, the steps you need to take to create a comprehensive business plans that will at the very least, provide you an excellent road map for your new venture.There are many different kinds of formats used to create a business plan. In this example, we are going to assume that you will not need an outside financing source and that your computer repair business will only be a local operation, at least initially.The concept behind a business plan is relatively simple to understand and execute. Essentially, you want to make sure that what you are thinking about opening is financially viable, and if so, then write down everything that you need to accomplish in order to turn your idea into a profitable endeavor. Below we are going to layout a traditional business plan and let you know precisely how to complete each section.# 1 – Executive Summary – You really do not have to work on this section of the business plan if you do not planning on showing it to anybody, or you are not looking for investors or an outside financing source. That being said, if you are really serious about turning your new enterprise into a profitable going concern that has the ability to not only grow, but is also sustainable, you should sit down and spend a few hours writing out the executive summary.The executive summary which is also sometimes called the management summary, goes at the very beginning of the report, but should only be written AFTER you have completed the entire business plan. Its intended purpose is to capture the reader’s attention, get them interested in the business, and briefly explain the concept and everything else that is contain in the report.# 2 – Business Description – This is where the real work starts when you decide it is time to get serious, and begin writing out your business plan. What you want to try and do is to get all of you ideas down on paper so that you can refer back them in the future if you need to.Please do not be concerned with you writing style at this point, but only the information. Later, after you are sure you have included everything that you want or need, you can go back and clean up the material. Below are some of the things that need to be discussed in this section.A) Why you believe this is a good business to start.B) What do you know about this type of business.C) What skills are you bringing to the table.D) What skills do you need to acquire.E) Who is your market.F) Why is there a need for the service or product you plan on supplying?G) Why you believe that your business will be able to serve your market better than any of your competitors.H) What will make your business standout from the competition.Okay, you get the idea. Please do not limit yourself to the things we discussed above, but also include anything and everything else that you think could be important.# 3 – Market Analysis – This might be the most important consideration for anybody that is thinking about opening up a new computer repair business. After all, if there are already 14 other similar companies competing in your neighborhood, it would probably be a good idea to think about doing something else.In all seriousness, you really have to understand your competition at the highest level, know what their fees are, be familiar with the services they provide, and figure out a way to improve on everything that they do. If you are confident you can meet or exceed the stipulations mentioned above, then your new business just might have a chance of succeeding. Below you will find some of the areas you need to research and be familiar with.A) Write down each and every store or standalone operation that you will be competing against.B) Note each and every service that they provide.C) Figure out exactly what they charge for each job.D) Here is the tough one, ask yourself, now that I know everything about my competition, how am I going to everything they do, better and cheaper?If you are able to answer that last question, and you are happy with the way you answered it, you just might have a real chance of making it.# 4 – Organization and Management – More than likely when you first start your computer repair business, you are not going to have any employees. But, there are going to be certain jobs, like setting up a computer network for a large company that could require a little extra manpower. If so, have you thought about who you know that you can bring in at a moment’s notice that would be willing to work part-time.Next, people that enjoy working on computers are usually very organized and hopefully you happen to be one of them. If not, it is really going to be very hard for you to run a company that is in an industry that is time sensitive. After all, when you tell somebody that you are going to arrive at their home or business at 4 pm, and you show up three hours later, do you really think that they are going to call you the next time they have a computer problem?Another thing that you need to take into consideration in this section, is as your company grows and you acquire more and more customers, when do you hire another computer technician and who do you hire? Do your hire somebody that already has a great deal of experience and will demand a very high salary? Or, do you hire a novice that you can train that will be less expensive? Below are some of the things you are going to need to ask yourself in order to complete this section of the business plan.A) Am I organized, and if not, how do I improve in this area?B) Am I good at training people?C) Do I have any friends that will part-time work?D) Do I know how to delegate, or do I have to do everything myself, so that I know it was done correctly?E) Can I accept other people’s shortcomings and help them improve in those areas?F) Should I invest my capital in my staff and how much of an investment can I justify?And, you thought it was going to be easy to open a small computer repair business. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. If you are not prepared to at the very least to answer some of or all of the question in this section, starting your very own business just might not be a great career choice.# 5 – Services and Products – This is an area that you really should not have too much trouble with. If you do, then you definitely should not be thinking about starting a computer repair business. In this section, you need to use the information you gathered about your competition and write down all the services or products you plan on promoting, as well as the fees you plan on charging for your services.# 6 – Marketing, Advertising, and Sales – Computer geeks by their very nature are usually not outgoing people that make good salesman. That being said, your business needs customers and to get them you are going to have to think out of the box and come up with some creative ideas. We are going to provide you a few proven marketing and advertising techniques below, but you really need to figure out what your competition is doing in this area, and then either copy them or come up with better schemes.A – Website – Of course you are going to have to build a website, after all, you are in the computer business. Hopefully, you know how to properly SEO your new site, if not, find somebody that does before you waste your time, effort, and money by creating a site that nobody is ever going to see.The good thing about a computer repair businesses is that virtually every one of them is a local operation. That means that your competition on the internet for highly targeted traffic will not be that fierce. In other words, if you correctly onsite and offsite SEO your new website, there is a very good chance that it will move up the search engine rankings extremely quickly and you will get to Google’s first page, and just maybe, the top spot on that page in only a couple of months.TIP # 1 – Remember this is a local business, and when you select your URL it is critical that you choose a local name. What we mean by that is, if the name of your new business is “Joe’s Computer Repairs”, that is not what you want to use for its URL. Instead, you want to use your towns name in the URL.That means if you live in Dallas for example, you want your URL to be “DallasComputerRepair.com”. The reason you want to do this is very simple to understand, all of the search engines will move your site up their rankings whenever somebody in Dallas types in the search term “Computer Repair”.TIP # 2 – For any new business, it is absolutely critical that when somebody does find your website, you get them to either give you a call or send you an email. To do this, you really have to offer a great deal that everybody who visits your site, is sure to see. A few examples you could use are the following.I – Second repair visit FREE.II – Half price on service calls for all new customers.III – Free antivirus and malware software for all new customers on first service call.B – Low Cost or Free Advertising – All new businesses have the same problem, which is they are not generating any cash. Thus, they cannot afford to spend too much on marketing or advertising. So, you have to find ways to promote your business that are either totally free, or cost very little. Below we are going to provide a few suggestions, but you know your local market far better than we ever could, and you need to come up with your own marketing ideas.I – Craigslist’s – If you are not familiar with this site, it allows you to place classified ads for free, so use it. In addition, there are quite a few other sites that provide the same free service, so please find them, and use them.II – Social Media – Almost everybody has heard of the following websites Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. These types of sites are called social media and they allow their users to interact with one another. If you were able to build up a strong local following on anyone of these sites, almost assuredly, your business would eventually turn into a huge success story.111 – Flyers – Printing out 10,000 flyers is not that expensive and they can be a fantastic marketing tool. Not only can you hand them out in your neighborhood, you can also distribute them to the local businesses and put them up on bulletin boards at grocery stores.IV – Neighborhood Newspapers – If you are fortunate enough to live in an area that receives a free neighborhood newspaper delivered to your door each week, you might want to think about advertising in it. Their advertising fees are very reasonable, and your ads just might be able to generate enough leads to get your new business off the ground.It really does not matter if you are the very best computer repair engineer in the world, if nobody knows about you, your business will surely fail. In reality, this might be the most important section in your business plan, because if you do not develop a marketing and advertising program that is going to work in your local market, almost assuredly your new business will not be around for more than a year, if that long.# 7 – Financial Projections – The great thing about starting a computer repair business, is that in most cases, you will not have to spend a great deal of money to get it up and running. You do not have to rent a store, more than likely you already have a car, computer, and some, if not most of the software that you need. In addition, you do not have to put anybody on the payroll right away. So, other than your advertising expense, you really do not have any cash flowing out of the business.The most important thing for you to note in the financial projection section of your business plan are the capital expenditures you need to make to open the business. These could include but are not limited to a new laptop computer, more software, a better cell phone plan, and your advertising expenses.As for your income projections, you should definitely set goals for yourself using realistic figures. After all, you do not want to set your goals so high, that you later become discouraged when you don’t achieve them, and you do not want to set them so low, so as to not challenged yourself.ConclusionFor the most part, the people that do well in business not only had a great idea to start with, but were also committed to their company and were willing to put in the time and effort that was required to make their firm a success. Working for yourself requires far more determination and discipline than just about anything else you can do in life.That being said, starting a new computer repair business is not without its risks. But, then again, it is not without its rewards either. If you feel the time is right and you have all the skills that are required to run this type of business, then why not go for it? After all, what is the worst that can happen; you lose a little bit of time and money, and end up having to get a job working for somebody else if your business does not make it.
What Form of Entertaining Works Well For You?
Entertaining is something that we all do from time to time in our lives. Some do it more than others while some do it quite rarely. Frequency aside entertaining is one of the most common and enjoyable of activities, that is practiced by every culture on the planet. But what is it really? The most common idea brought to mind is simply bringing people over for dinner but it is much more than that.While the basic concept of entertaining usually involves food there is no set rule that it has to be formal and also no set rule that it has to be standardized by any means. When you invite people into your home you are entertaining but the type, theme, and mood of the event is completely up to you. Many people choose to throw special parties and get togethers during the holiday seasons and may or may not put up impressive displays of decorations.These parties and gatherings are the ones where family members gather in addition to friends, which makes them even more enjoyable. Of course you don’t have to wait for a holiday to entertain people in your home. Any excuse will do from a new promotion, new home, new baby on the way, or you may need no excuse at all. The themes for the events are also as varied as the people hosting them.As mentioned there are massive holiday gatherings but what do most people do when they simply want the company of friends? Well the most common form of entertaining practiced by the everyday person is to order a pizza and watch a movie. This is typically performed for a simple social gathering of friends and can last all night if the company and movies are good enough.More formal gatherings like dinner parties or social events are usually more about meeting people for the first time or entertaining important people. This is less of a friendly atmosphere and more of a professional form of interaction but it is still nonetheless important. The scale of the gathering also differs from events and themes.A typical social gathering between friends can be as small as two and as large as thirty. A formal gathering for a new member of the community or a professional meeting can be from thirty to five hundred. It all depends on when, where, who, and why. There are even some people who make a living out of entertaining and planning large scale events for parties and gatherings. This as you can imagine is a very hectic but rewarding career path.Then you add in all of the caterers and performers for large events and entertaining becomes more complicated but also more fun. The end goal is for people to mingle, enjoy themselves, and eat good food. There may also be business related purposes to some meetings but at its core entertaining is about getting to know other people.Entertaining has many forms, themes, purposes, and crowd sizes. What your guests will be treated to is entirely up to you. Everything ranging from the simple movie night and pizza to the formal dinner parties with complicated meals is at your disposal. So the only thing left to ponder is how you will entertain your guests when they arrive at your home and how long the occasion will last.
How to Avoid Fraud When Buying Business Online
Everything is available online nowadays. From clothing, to house furniture, and even car equipment, you name it, the internet has it. It’s no wonder that even companies are joining in online listings in hope to find business buyers. That makes it easy for those who are interested to buy business online. But how sure are you that the business that you’re interested to buy is legit, and how do you protect yourself from online fraud.
Read on to find out how you can protect yourself from fraud business listing sites.Check the reputation of the website-Once you land on a business listing page, check the legitimacy of the site. How do you do that? Navigate the page; go through the different pages of the site. If an ad keeps on appearing, to the point that it hinders your browsing, or if there are too many links (some of them are not related to the business), most likely it is a farm site. If you notice such entities, hit the back button immediately and look for a more reliable listing site.Check the business listings-Now, if the website doesn’t have link farms and from the looks of it, it’s a legitimate online site where business for sale is available, then you may now proceed to looking into the business listing on the site. And you’re asking how would you know if the businesses on the site are legit? Take a look on the company profile. See if it includes all the vital information that as a buyer, you need to know. If there are some inconsistencies or if you notice that the company is not credible, you might as well go over to the ones that you think would not cause you any trouble once you click the buy button.See if the site is secured-If you show interest on buying the specific company on the list, the site would prompt into a contact form where you’d need to input your personal information so that the site can further assist you. However, it should not ask for more than your name, email address, phone number, your location’s zip code or your city. It shouldn’t ask for your credit card number or other information that would lead to your finances. If it did, don’t fill it up and leave the site.Buy and sell business online sites make the business-buying transaction in a breeze. Although, however enticing it may be, you should remember to protect yourself. The online world is a tricky one. So always be wary.
Chase Your Dreams With Personal Loans
Personal loans provide solution to many problems these days and can be used for a wide range of reason. Personal loans provide great freedom to the borrowers to fulfill their needs, wants and desires. Personal loans provide a lot of support to the borrowers looking for financial sustenance.Personal loans are basically of two types – secured and unsecured. Secured personal loans require the borrower to pledge collateral to the lender. The collateral may be his home his car or any other of his assets. Unsecured personal loans do not require the borrower to pledge anything in return. Unsecured personal loans in today’s world are a better option than secured personal loans for those who can’t offer any security. No proof of any thing is required and also loans do get processed quickly. Unsecured loans typically have a higher APR then secured loans because the lender gets no security for his investment.Now days there are many lending organizations which are involved in providing loans to the people who need money. They provide all kinds of services to their customers from different quotes to expert advice by their counselors. Every thing is done in a very short time according to the need of the customer. Customers are given every thing they require to make themselves acquainted with the situation. Due to increasing competition there are many organizations making these offerings at very reasonable price. Which basically means customer is the king. The rates of interest can also be bargained upon providing options which would have been difficult to get earlier.Secured or unsecured personal loans through these organizations are approved very quickly. The organizations have relationships with banks which limit the time in which the loan is sanctioned so that the both parties are at ease with the situation. Apart from that there are few other benefits of personal loans through lenders· people who are not sure about their stance can get expert advice by the experts· the personal loan rates offered are quite low· people can choose their own repayment plans with the flexibility of paymentWhile applying for loans online people must be careful. People often get charged extra commissions sometimes and get duped. Normally that sort of thing is very rare and depends on person to person and how they handle things. People usually get the best deals on personal loans which do suite their requirements.Previously people who had bad credit ratings such as people with county court judgments, (CCJs), defaults, arrears and also bankruptcy had difficulty in getting a loan. Now days they can also get personal loans very easily and at very appropriate terms. Lending organizations provide proper guidance to people with how to improve on their reputations and help build a favorable condition for the future. They help in building a good credit score and other facilities as well. The services provided are also one of the best apart from that there are several fringe benefits such as they save a lot of time, very little effort is required by the customer and everything is reliably done.You can use these personal loans both secured and unsecured for various purposes such as· For debt consolidation· For house construction· For purchasing any assets such as car or machinery· For purposes such as holidays· For pay day purposes· For wedding purposes· For education purposesThe main aim of personal loans is to provide an option to the customers so that they can utilize their privileges and the opportunity that is available to them. To make their dreams come true and achieve what they want to achieve.
7 Advantages to Getting a FREE Online Auto Loan Quote Before Visiting a Dealership!
1) When you go to the supermarket you have a budgeted amount you are willing to spend so, why would you go to a dealership without a budget?As a General Motors and Hyundai Product Specialist and former Finance Manager I see buyers do this everyday. They come into the dealership without knowing what is the best price they can get for the vehicle. On top of this they don’t know what interest rates they qualify for before coming to the dealership.Not knowing best vehicle price + Not knowing interest rate = You Pay more!Regardless of what type of credit you have you should always research and know the vehicle price and interest rate you qualify for before you enter any dealership. You can accomplish this by getting a FREE Auto Quote and FREE Auto Loan Quote before you visit the dealership.Doing these two activities before visiting the dealership will save you both time and money. As well as make your auto buying experience better. Because no one really likes going to the auto dealer.In fact I’m sure most people would rank the experience last on their preferred list of things to do, just above going to the dentist to get a root canal.2) Not All dealerships are Created Equal – Know which dealerships offer programs for perfect and less than perfect credit.Any dealership can deal with a person with perfect credit. However, not every dealership can handle individuals with less than perfect credit. By getting a FREE online auto loan quote you gain the following advantages:a.) Find dealers that work with all customer types regardless of credit.b.) Get approved for a vehicle loan regardless of credit.c.) Know exactly what type of autos you qualify for.3) Know what’s on Your Credit Report before you visit the Dealership.There’s nothing worse than walking into a dealership and expecting a 5% interest rate and then having me, the Finance Manager quote you 21%. I’ve had to tell countless people this and some of them are upset as if I personally had something to do with what rate they qualify for and what is on their credit reports.The truth is that you are responsible for your credit score, which largely determines what rate you qualify for. I rarely have any problem with customers who are educated about their credit scores because they already know the rates and types of autos they qualify for.My advice is to get your FREE Credit Report and find out your credit score before you go to the dealer. This will allow you to know what rates you qualify for and to see exactly what good and bad things may be lurking on your credit report.The advantage of submitting an online auto loan quote is that dealerships will automatically contact you with the types of autos you are approved for regardless of your credit.4) Entering a FREE online auto loan quote gives you access to multiple dealerships without traveling — saving you time, gas and money.In the past I’ve seen customers drive to several dealerships just to save a $100 dollars on their vehicle purchase price. That may have worked in the past but given gas prices who wants to drive around town and lose that money in gas. There is a better way you know? By submitting a FREE online Auto Quote you can get the best prices for any vehicle in the comfort of your home.When you submit an online auto price quote your request is sent to several area dealers who compete for your business by sending you quotes for any vehicle you choose. So why waste money and time driving around town when you can have multiple quotes sent to you while sitting in your comfortable robe and slippers. Choose the best price and then go to that particular dealership.5) Know what interest rate & terms you qualify for beforehand so you can enter a dealership and buy with confidence.By submitting an auto loan application you get the benefit of having several dealerships work to earn your business. Once you land on a particular car and dealership, go to their website and find their payment calculator. Most dealers have this listed under the Finance or Payments section of their website. Use this helpful tool to figure out your interest rate and possible monthly payments.6) You get pre-approved financing and this allows you to control the sales process because you know which vehicles you can afford to buy.Ah yes, there’s nothing like confidently walking into the dealer knowing you’re pre-approved! Beats the alternative of not knowing anything! The great advantage to getting an auto loan quote is that you get pre-approved and can walk confidently into any dealership knowing:*What vehicle you’ve been approved for*Amount that you will pay for your new or pre-owned vehicle.*Estimated monthly payments and terms (months) for your auto.I cannot stress enough how good it will feel to walk in with paper in hand of the vehicle you are about to purchase. It also allows the Sales Consultant to shorten the sales process thereby shortening your time at the dealership. Although, there are some people who actually like hanging out at the dealership. I know it sounds kinda weird but my son is one of those types of people along with some of our best customers.7) It’s absolutely FREE!Did I mention that getting an online auto loan quote is FREE! Oh yeah, I did. Just think, no getting dressed, starting up the car and driving around town wasting gas trying to haggle the best price out of each dealership. You just sit at your computer sipping your favorite beverage, fill out ONE auto loan quote and then magically; multiple dealers begin contacting you regarding your request. It’s that simple! The Internet is really a great thing!Good Luck with your auto loan search.Sincerely,Anthony Gipson Hyundai Product Specialist North America
S&P 500 Rallies As U.S. Dollar Pulls Back Towards Weekly Lows
Key Insights
The strong pullback in the U.S. dollar provided significant support to stocks.
Treasury yields have pulled back after touching new highs, which served as an additional positive catalyst for S&P 500.
A move above 3730 will push S&P 500 towards the resistance level at 3760.
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S&P 500 is currently trying to settle above 3730 as traders’ appetite for risk is growing. The U.S. dollar has recently gained strong downside momentum as the BoJ intervened to stop the rally in USD/JPY. Weaker U.S. dollar is bullish for stocks as it increases profits of multinational companies and makes U.S. equities cheaper for foreign investors.
The leading oil services company Schlumberger is up by 9% after beating analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue. Schlumberger’s peers Baker Hughes and Halliburton have also enjoyed strong support today.
Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna gained strong upside momentum after Pfizer announced that it will raise the price of its coronavirus vaccine to $110 – $130 per shot.
Biggest losers today include Verizon and Twitter. Verizon is down by 5% despite beating analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue. Subscriber numbers missed estimates, and traders pushed the stock to multi-year lows.
Twitter stock moved towards the $50 level as the U.S. may conduct a security review of Musk’s purchase of the company.
From a big picture point of view, today’s rebound is broad, and most market segments are moving higher. Treasury yields have started to move lower after testing new highs, providing additional support to S&P 500. It looks that some traders are ready to bet that Fed will be less hawkish than previously expected.
S&P 500 Tests Resistance At 3730
S&P 500 has recently managed to get above the 20 EMA and is trying to settle above the resistance at 3730. RSI is in the moderate territory, and there is plenty of room to gain additional upside momentum in case the right catalysts emerge.
If S&P 500 manages to settle above 3730, it will head towards the next resistance level at 3760. A successful test of this level will push S&P 500 towards the next resistance at October highs at 3805. The 50 EMA is located in the nearby, so S&P 500 will likely face strong resistance above the 3800 level.
On the support side, the previous resistance at 3700 will likely serve as the first support level for S&P 500. In case S&P 500 declines below this level, it will move towards the next support level at 3675. A move below 3675 will push S&P 500 towards the support at 3640.
SPDN: An Inexpensive Way To Profit When The S&P 500 Falls
Summary
SPDN is not the largest or oldest way to short the S&P 500, but it’s a solid choice.
This ETF uses a variety of financial instruments to target a return opposite that of the S&P 500 Index.
SPDN’s 0.49% Expense Ratio is nearly half that of the larger, longer-tenured -1x Inverse S&P 500 ETF.
Details aside, the potential continuation of the equity bear market makes single-inverse ETFs an investment segment investor should be familiar with.
We rate SPDN a Strong Buy because we believe the risks of a continued bear market greatly outweigh the possibility of a quick return to a bull market.
Put a gear stick into R position, (Reverse).
Birdlkportfolio
By Rob Isbitts
Summary
The S&P 500 is in a bear market, and we don’t see a quick-fix. Many investors assume the only way to navigate a potentially long-term bear market is to hide in cash, day-trade or “just hang in there” while the bear takes their retirement nest egg.
The Direxion Daily S&P 500® Bear 1X ETF (NYSEARCA:SPDN) is one of a class of single-inverse ETFs that allow investors to profit from down moves in the stock market.
SPDN is an unleveraged, liquid, low-cost way to either try to hedge an equity portfolio, profit from a decline in the S&P 500, or both. We rate it a Strong Buy, given our concern about the intermediate-term outlook for the global equity market.
Strategy
SPDN keeps it simple. If the S&P 500 goes up by X%, it should go down by X%. The opposite is also expected.
Proprietary ETF Grades
Offense/Defense: Defense
Segment: Inverse Equity
Sub-Segment: Inverse S&P 500
Correlation (vs. S&P 500): Very High (inverse)
Expected Volatility (vs. S&P 500): Similar (but opposite)
Holding Analysis
SPDN does not rely on shorting individual stocks in the S&P 500. Instead, the managers typically use a combination of futures, swaps and other derivative instruments to create a portfolio that consistently aims to deliver the opposite of what the S&P 500 does.
Strengths
SPDN is a fairly “no-frills” way to do what many investors probably wished they could do during the first 9 months of 2022 and in past bear markets: find something that goes up when the “market” goes down. After all, bonds are not the answer they used to be, commodities like gold have, shall we say, lost their luster. And moving to cash creates the issue of making two correct timing decisions, when to get in and when to get out. SPDN and its single-inverse ETF brethren offer a liquid tool to use in a variety of ways, depending on what a particular investor wants to achieve.
Weaknesses
The weakness of any inverse ETF is that it does the opposite of what the market does, when the market goes up. So, even in bear markets when the broader market trend is down, sharp bear market rallies (or any rallies for that matter) in the S&P 500 will cause SPDN to drop as much as the market goes up.
Opportunities
While inverse ETFs have a reputation in some circles as nothing more than day-trading vehicles, our own experience with them is, pardon the pun, exactly the opposite! We encourage investors to try to better-understand single inverse ETFs like SPDN. While traders tend to gravitate to leveraged inverse ETFs (which actually are day-trading tools), we believe that in an extended bear market, SPDN and its ilk could be a game-saver for many portfolios.
Threats
SPDN and most other single inverse ETFs are vulnerable to a sustained rise in the price of the index it aims to deliver the inverse of. But that threat of loss in a rising market means that when an investor considers SPDN, they should also have a game plan for how and when they will deploy this unique portfolio weapon.
Proprietary Technical Ratings
Short-Term Rating (next 3 months): Strong Buy
Long-Term Rating (next 12 months): Buy
Conclusions
ETF Quality Opinion
SPDN does what it aims to do, and has done so for over 6 years now. For a while, it was largely-ignored, given the existence of a similar ETF that has been around much longer. But the more tenured SPDN has become, the more attractive it looks as an alternative.
ETF Investment Opinion
SPDN is rated Strong Buy because the S&P 500 continues to look as vulnerable to further decline. And, while the market bottomed in mid-June, rallied, then waffled since that time, our proprietary macro market indicators all point to much greater risk of a major decline from this level than a fast return to bull market glory. Thus, SPDN is at best a way to exploit and attack the bear, and at worst a hedge on an otherwise equity-laden portfolio.
S&P 500 Biotech Giant Vertex Leads 5 Stocks Showing Strength
Your stocks to watch for the week ahead are Cheniere Energy (LNG), S&P 500 biotech giant Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX), Cardinal Health (CAH), Steel Dynamics (STLD) and Genuine Parts (GPC).
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While the market remains in correction, with analysts and investors wary of an economic downturn, these five stocks are worth adding to watchlists. S&P 500 medical giants Vertex and Cardinal Health have been holding up, as health-care related plays tend to do well in down markets.
Steel Dynamics and Genuine Parts are both coming off strong earnings as both the steel and auto parts industries report optimistic outlooks. Meanwhile, Cheniere Energy saw sales boom in the second quarter as demand in Europe for natural gas continues to grow.
Major indexes have been making rally attempts with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 testing weekly support on Friday. With market uncertainty, investors should be ready for follow-through day breakouts and keep an eye on these stocks.
Cheniere Energy, Cardinal Health and VRTX stock are all on IBD Leaderboard.
Cheniere Energy Stock
LNG shares rose 1.1% to 175.79 during Friday’s market trading. On the week, the stock advanced 3.1%, not from highs, bouncing from its 21-day and 10-week lines earlier in the week.
Cheniere Energy has been consolidating since mid-September, but needs another week to forge a proper base, with a potential 182.72 buy point formed on Aug. 10.
Houston-based Cheniere Energy was IBD Stock Of The Day on Thursday, as the largest U.S. producer of liquefied natural gas eyes strong demand in Europe.
Even though natural gas prices are plunging in the U.S. and Europe, investors still see strong LNG demand for Cheniere and others.
The U.K. government confirmed last week that it is in talks for an LNG purchase agreement with a number of companies, including Cheniere.
In the first half of 2021, less than 40% of Cheniere’s cargoes of LNG landed in Europe. That jumped to more than 70% through this year’s second quarter, even as the company ramped up new export capacity. The urgency of Europe’s natural gas shortage only intensified last month. That is when an explosion disabled the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia that had once supplied 40% of the European Union’s natural gas.
In Q2, sales increased 165% to $8 billion and LNG earned $2.90 per share, up from a net loss of $1.30 per share in Q2 2021. The company will report Q3 earnings Nov. 3, with investors seeing booming profits for the next few quarters.
Cheniere Energy has a Composite Rating of 84. It has a 98 Relative Strength Rating, an exclusive IBD Stock Checkup gauge for share price movement with a 1 to 99 score. The rating shows how a stock’s performance over the last 52 weeks holds up against all the other stocks in IBD’s database. The EPS rating is 41.
Vertex Stock
VRTX stock jumped 3.4% to 300 on Friday, rebounding from a test of its 50-day moving average. Shares climbed 2.2% for the week. Vertex stock has formed a tight flat base with an official buy point of 306.05, according to MarketSmith analysis.
The stock has remained consistent over recent weeks, while the relative strength line has trended higher. The RS line tracks a stock’s performance vs. the S&P 500 index.
Vertex Q3 earnings are on due Oct. 27. Analysts see EPS edging up 1% to $3.61 per share with sales increasing 16% to $2.2 billion, according to FactSet.
The Boston-based global biotech company dominates the cystic fibrosis treatment market. Vertex also has other products in late-stage clinical development that target sickle cell disease, Type 1 diabetes and certain genetically caused kidney diseases. That includes a gene-editing partnership with Crispr Therapeutics (CRSP).
In early August, Vertex reported better-than-expected second-quarter results and raised full-year sales targets.
S&P 500 stock Vertex ranks second in the Medical-Biomed/Biotech industry group. VRTX has a 99 Composite Rating. Its Relative Strength Rating is 94 and its EPS Rating is 99.
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Cardinal Health Stock
CAH stock advanced 3.2% to 73.03 Friday, clearing a 71.22 buy point from a shallow cup-with-handle base and hitting a record high. But volume was light on the breakout. CAH stock leapt 7.3% for the week.
Cardinal Health stock’s relative strength line has also been trending up for months.
The cup-with-handle base is part of a base-on-base pattern, forming just above a cup base cleared on Aug. 11.
Cardinal Health, based in Dublin, Ohio, offers a wide assortment of health care services and medical supplies to hospitals, labs, pharmacies and long-term care facilities. The company reports that it serves around 90% of hospitals and 60,000 pharmacies in the U.S.
S&P 500 stock Cardinal Health will report Q1 2023 earnings on Nov. 4. Analysts forecast earnings falling 26% to 96 cents per share. Sales are expected to increase 10% to $48.3 billion, according to FactSet.
Cardinal Health stock ranks first in the Medical-Wholesale Drug/Supplies industry group, ahead of McKesson (MCK), which is also showing positive action. CAH stock has a 94 Composite Rating out of 99. It has a 97 Relative Strength Rating and an EPS rating of 73.
Steel Dynamics Stock
STLD shares shot up 8.5% to 92.92 on Friday and soared 19% on the week, coming off a Steel Dynamics earnings beat Wednesday night.
Shares blasted above an 88.72 consolidation buy point Friday after clearing a trendline Thursday. STLD stock is 17% above its 50-day line, definitely extended from that key average.
Steel Dynamics’ latest consolidation could be seen as part of a larger base going back six months.
Steel Dynamics topped Q3 earnings views with EPS rising 10% to $5.46 while revenue grew 11% to $5.65 billion. The steel producer’s outlook is optimistic despite weaker flat rolled steel pricing. STLD reports its order activity and backlogs remain solid.
The Fort Wayne, Indiana-based company is among the largest producers of carbon steel products in the U.S. It engages in metal recycling operations along with steel fabrication and produces myriad steel products.
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STLD stock ranks first in the Steel-Producers industry group. STLD stock has a 96 Composite Rating out of 99. It has a 90 Relative Strength Rating, an exclusive IBD Stock Checkup gauge for share-price movement that tops at 99. The rating shows how a stock’s performance over the last 52 weeks holds up against all the other stocks in IBD’s database. The EPS rating is 98.
Genuine Parts Stock
GPC stock gained 2.8% to 162.35 Friday after the company topped earnings views with its Q3 results on Thursday. For the week GPC advanced 5.1% as the stock held its 50-day line and is in a flat base.
GPC has an official 165.09 flat-base buy point after a three-week rally, according to MarketSmith analysis.
The relative strength line for Genuine Parts stock has rallied sharply to highs over the past several months.
On Thursday, the Atlanta-based auto parts company raised its full-year guidance on growth across its automotive and industrial sales.
Genuine Parts earnings per share advanced 19% to $2.23 and revenue grew 18% to $5.675 billion in Q3. GPC’s full-year guidance is now calling for EPS of $8.05-$8.15, up from $7.80-$7.95. The company now forecasts revenue growth of 15%-16%, up from the earlier 12%-14%.
During the Covid pandemic, supply chain constraints caused a major upheaval in the auto industry, sending prices for new and used cars to record levels. This has made consumers more likely to hang on to their existing vehicles for longer, driving mileage higher and boosting demand for auto replacement parts.
Fellow auto stocks O’Reilly Auto Parts (ORLY) and AutoZone (AZO) have also rallied near buy points amid the struggling market. O’Reilly reports on Oct. 26.
IBD ranks Genuine Parts first in the Retail/Wholesale-Auto Parts industry group. GPC stock has a 96 Composite Rating. Its Relative Strength Rating is 94 and it has an EPS Rating of 89.