Headlines----

 

Bridge Transport

   Growth 1

      Streamline Sales Tax Up-Date

            agenda/other information from Dennis Brown, ELA

       2001 UCLA Internet Report Finds Ups and Downs

           LECO Selects eMarket Capital for Web-Based Financing

              WiredCapital  Selects ” The Old Man” Harry Kellogg

                    Third Quarter Online Sales Statistics—eCommerce News

                       The Economy Changes Everything, Including Coins in Circulation.

                           Tuesday  Federal Reserve “ Beige Report”

                              ( Gloomy, that’s why it is on the bottom )

 

#### denotes press release

 

eLease Up-Date:  Capital Stream/Equidity/LiveCapital   ----tomorrow

 

A memorial fund has been established by Jeffrey's family:

 

Jeffrey J. Wong

Princeton Memorial Fund

Office of the Recording Secretary

Princeton University

P.O. Box 140

Princeton, New Jersey 08544-0140

 

Telephone:  609/258-5283

 

It is my understanding that this fund will be used for student aid and/or

scholarships but the actual purposes have not yet been established.

 

______________________________________________________________

 

       Bridge Transport

 

  I had an application in the fall of last year for this Company.  It was derived direct from lessee after "seeing us on the Internet".

 

The first tip-off was his adamant refusal to PG or even supply personal credit info. 

 

The second tip off was seemingly lack of outside info on this Company,

besides the references which were provided.

 

 The third tip off was the bank was out-of-state and one that I never heard of.  When we initially called for the   reference we left a message on the contact's voice mail, and our inquiry was promptly returned with a six figure DDA and amply comparable tenured corp-only  reference. Already suspicious, we called the "officer" back immediately after hanging up and got his voice mail again.  Repeatedly.  So we called 411 for a listing   in that area code and could not find a record of a telephone number for that bank.

 

  We contacted the lessee, without confronting him with our suspicions, and merely told him we could not get a comfort level without either certified financial

 statements or PG info.  He became very angry, not just irritated, but actually "rageful" in response.

 

  It occurred to me at the time that the last lessee to respond to an adverse decision with such furious ire was a company called Lila back in the late 80s,

  which unbeknownst then, became a notorious fraud well known in our industry which I was lucky enough to miss the bullet on as well.  It, too, was originated

from an inbound, first-time contact, and if memory serves me correctly, was corp-only as well.

 

 Believe me, Kit, I do not consider myself an expert on fraud, nor am I attempting to gloat for passing on a bad deal that other contributors to this forum did not.

  But I will pass along a little wisdom that I learned from others early in my career.  When you get a seemingly meritorious application that was originated outside of

  your usual marketing channel, you may want to ask yourself  "why has my company received this great deal?"

 

Jim Fleming

nationalbusinesscredit@yahoo.com

 

____

 

I am really appreciative of John Gallo's fraud alert.  It made me consider that Leasing News is an excellent vehicle to communicate such alerts as it is so timely broadcast to many in our industry.

 

 I don't know if there are enough alerts to create a separate section in your news, but you might consider a regular format for such items.

 

 If our industry knows that this is a good place to post such alerts, we all might avoid some painful losses.  Thanks for the unique service your Leasing News provides.

 

Best Regards,  Paul Menzel, CLP

 

*************************************************

Paul J. Menzel, CLP

Senior Vice President / General Manager

Leasing Division

SANTA BARBARA BANK & TRUST

P.O. Box 1199

Santa Barbara, CA 93102-1199

1 South Los Carneros Road

Goleta, CA 93117

(805)560-1650

PaulM@sbbt.com

 

 

( A good idea.  Perhaps we should have an “alert” section, which is

different than the complaints posted on the bulletin board. What

do readers think of Paul’s idea. editor )

 

Growth 1

 

one of my sales guys came up against Growth 1 Funding Corp.

Santa Ana, CA.  They may be the same one but a person by the name Roxana

Munoz, they are sending out a prefund rental agreement which it doesn't

state if they have to pay the vendor and any money they will receive is

considered earned, and the agreement is noncancellable/irrevocable. I

reviewed it and it is a cut and paste from other documents.

They give unbelievable rates for tough deals and I believe they have no

intention of funding.  The deal my guy lost was fro 350,000 a new purchase

of business and the owner husband and wife have a combined net worth of 75K.

They quoted 9.5% APR.

 

DJ

CIC

 

Don Johnson

 donlj@mninter.net

 

( Funding Tree is not part of Growth 1.  Leasing News perhaps has cleared

up the rumors about this company and hopes to set the record straight with

all the details tomorrow. editor )

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            

Representatives from 31 states, Washington, D.C., work to streamline sales taxes

 

By Catherine S. Blake, Associated Press,

 

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)   Delegates from 31 states and the District

of Columbia are gathering this week to lay the groundwork to

radically simplify the nation's sales tax laws.

The delegates plan to set rules and bylaws for a group planning

to overhaul the tax laws in most states within two years.

''This system needs to be elegantly simple so people can understand it,'' Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt told more than 100 delegates and observers Wednesday. ''We have to make this system good for retailers or there is no reason for them to support it.''

State sales tax laws have become increasingly complex in recent

decades as interstate commerce, including catalogue and Internet

sales, has burgeoned.

Retailers doing business in several states find themselves mired

in ''a great swamp'' of tax systems, said Charles McLure, senior

fellow for the Hoover Institute at Stanford University.

For example, McLure said some states tax raw peanuts, salted

peanuts and sugarcoated peanuts differently.

The Streamlined Sales Tax Project was initiated early last year

by state governments, with input from local governments and

businesses.

States that have already signed legislation allowing streamlined

tax laws are Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,

Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, North

Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas,

Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. The District of Columbia also has

approved such a law.

Sales taxes are levied in 45 states and the District of Columbia

by some 7,500 different tax jurisdictions. Buyers are supposed to

pay sales tax when they purchase something from an out-of-state

retailer, but those laws are rarely enforced.

Further, the Supreme Court has ruled that a state can't force a company headquartered elsewhere to collect sales tax unless the

business has a store or other physical presence there. Failure to

collect taxes from Internet sales cost states an estimated $26

billion in 2000.

_______________________________________________________________

 

 

 COST Issues Streamlined Sales Tax Project Report Card

 

    Governing States Meeting

 

The Council On State Taxation (COST) has issued a report card grading the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP) on an A-F scale.  It is contained in the

 COST briefing book sent to Governing States delegates provided in the PDF file attachment.  COST produced the briefing book because most delegates

recommending state legislation to accomplish sales tax simplification including the new uniform definition of leasing are not tax professionals and have not been

 involved with SSTP.  This lack of familiarity with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement or the tax concepts referenced during months of negotiations

 could pose a new challenge for ELA when Governing States delegates examine the new definition of leasing.

 

 Representing 530 multistate corporations, COST seeks to preserve and promote quitable nondiscriminatory state and local taxation of multijurisdictional

  business entities.  A 7 PM reception hosted by COST on Tuesday evening will be the first gathering of SSTP Governing States delegates that convene

 

  Wednesday, November 28 and Thursday, November 29 in Salt Lake City.

 

    Streamlined Sales Tax Project Meeting

 

The second and third attachments contain revised agendas for the SSTP Denver meetings convening within days of the Salt Lake City conference.  Public

sessions are now scheduled from mid-day Monday, December 3 through 3 PM on Tuesday, December 4. The agenda for public and closed sessions for

government personnel are forwarded for your review.

 

Dennis Brown

DBROWN@ELAMAIL.COM

 

http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/costandtax.htm

 

 

Hooray for Joe Woodley

 

I would like to join the voices that have commented on the coronation of Joe Woodley as CEO of United Association of Equipment Leasing.

 

  I have known Joe over the years to be personable, bright and knowledgeable.  I have also been a victim of the Woodley-Jones-Westover ethical lapses.  I believe that the opportunity or at least the appearance of a conflict of interest surely exists in this arrangement.

 

I don't know Bill Grohe but noticed that he also is listed as an employee of Westover.  I feel that the board of directors should search for a better remedy for the associations problems before turning control over to one of it's member companies.  Trade associations need to have unbiased objectivity to serve all of it's membership.

 

Mark A. Coffman

Charter Capital Group

mark@chartercapital.com

714.540.2992

562.485.4200 fax

####   #### ####################################

 

2001 UCLA Internet Report Finds Declines in E-Commerce,

Major Concerns About Online Privacy; Television Is the Primary Victim

of Online Use

 

    LOS ANGELES--UCLA's year-to-year

report on the impact of the Internet released today leaves little

doubt that going online is now a mainstream activity in American life

that continues to spread among people across all age groups, education

levels and incomes.

    However, the study also found that enthusiasm for e-commerce is

down, broad concerns remain about Internet privacy and security, and

television is the primary victim of increasing Internet use.

    "Despite the dot-com meltdown, we found that the Internet is more

vigorous than ever," said Jeffrey Cole, director of the university's Center for Communication Policy, a research unit in The Anderson

School at UCLA that is affiliated with the College of Letters and Science.

    "A large majority of Americans go online, Internet use continues

to increase and growing numbers of non-users expect to go online in the next year," Cole said. "Yet, many concerns about the Internet

remain from 2000, and new concerns have emerged in 2001."

    The UCLA study is based on a national sample of 2,006 Internet

users and non-users.

    Among the more than 100 major issues in the UCLA Internet Report

are findings on privacy, online security, children and Internet use, online shopping, television and Internet use, and sexual content of

online material.

--

The study found that 72.3 percent of Americans have Internet

        access, up from 66.9 percent in 2000. Users go online an

        average of 9.8 hours per week, an increase from 9.4 hours in

        2000.

--

Internet shopping -- Online purchasing in general continues to

        be strong; 48.9 percent of Internet users purchased online in

        2001, but down slightly from 50.7 percent in 2000.

--

Television and Internet use -- By every measure reported in

        the UCLA Internet Project, television is the primary victim of

        the growth of the Internet.

    "Without question, Internet users are `buying' some of their time

to go online from the time they used to spend watching television,"

Cole said. "The only social activity in American households that

suffers significantly as a result of Internet use is time spent

watching television."

    --  Privacy -- In both 2000 and 2001, the UCLA Internet Project

    found deep concerns about privacy among new users and very

    experienced users alike; prominent among the privacy issues

    was concern about credit card security.

    --  Children online -- 88.2 percent of adults say children spend

    about the right amount of time or too little time online, down

    slightly from 89.2 percent in 2000. Internet users and

    non-users agree that children can gain access to "a lot of

    inappropriate material" while online. Adults say the Internet

    does not negatively affect children's grades or friendships.

    Almost one-quarter of children now watch less TV than before

    they used the Internet.

    To download the UCLA Internet Report, visit www.ccp.ucla.edu.

            Harlan Lebo, 310/206-0510

            hlebo@college.ucla.edu

 

 

#####    ######    ########################    ###########

LECO Corporation Selects eMarket Capital

for Web-Based Financing

 

(King of Prussia, PA) – LECO Corporation has chosen eMarket Capital, Inc. (www.emarketcapital.com) to provide Web-based financing for its customers at http://leco.emarketcapital.com.  The simple process takes only minutes and offers applicants access to multiple funding sources.

 

eMarket Capital creates and maintains web-based private-label financing services for major equipment manufacturers.  The company is not a lender or broker, but serves as an intermediary for the manufacturer, the customer and multiple lenders.

 

“Working with eMarket Capital, LECO Corporation can look forward to increased customer volume and satisfaction, relying on our convenient web-based platform and dedicated customer service,” said Dean Stolberg, Vice President, Business Development for eMarket Capital.

 

LECO Corporation, of St. Joseph, Michigan, was established in 1936 as the Laboratory Equipment Company.  Today, LECO manufactures analytical instruments, spectrometers and metallographic products for dozens of industries.  Known for its cutting edge research and development, LECO’s teams of engineers create and test ideas that are ultimately incorporated into high-tech instrumentation for industry.

 

The LECO Leasing web site will enable customers to finance equipment purchases while getting the best terms available.  LECO customers may view multiple proposals any time of day and select the one that best fits their business needs – all online, in real time.

 

The process begins with the submission of a credit application online.  (Customers also have the option of printing out the application from the web site and faxing it to: LECO Leasing at 888-619-0062.)  In less than 48 hours lenders reply with financing proposals. The customized LECO Leasing web site will break out the key terms of each proposal to help applicants make leasing decisions.  Once a proposal is selected, financing is finalized.  Customers can contact LECO Leasing at 800-994-3415.

 

eMarket Capital, Inc. was founded by a group of experienced leasing professionals to create, host and manage private label financing programs for equipment manufacturers and distributors.  Located in suburban Philadelphia, eMarket Capital can be reached at 800-994-4369 or via the web at www.emarketcapital.com.

 

 

#####   ##########################################

 

WiredCapital Announces Banking Industry Leader, Harry Kellogg, To Board of Directors

 

 

IRVINE, Calif., / -- WiredCapital, Inc., a provider of enterprise software solutions to automate the front office operations of equipment leasing and financial service organizations, announces the appointment of Harry W. Kellogg, Jr., vice chairman of Silicon Valley Bank, to the company's board of directors.

 

A banking professional for more than 30 years, Kellogg is head of the Strategic Initiatives Group of Silicon Valley Bank and is responsible for the Bank's venture capital activities, corporate finance, international alliances and investments, and emerging technology lending.  Kellogg is also a member of the Bank's Executive Committee.

 

"I am truly excited to join WiredCapital's board at a time when the financial services industry is demanding more from their front office operations and seeking new solutions to automate and innovate," said Kellogg. "I believe that WiredCapital is poised for success with an experienced team, advanced technology and winning strategy that will place them at the forefront of front office automation."

 

Kellogg joined Silicon Valley Bank in 1986 as senior vice president of the Technology Division and was promoted in 1990 to executive vice president. Prior to joining the Silicon Valley Bank, Kellogg was the group manager of Corporate Banking at Bank of the West for five years.  He was also with Wells Fargo Bank for 13 years, including four years in Wells Fargo's Special Industries Group, a high-tech lending unit within Wells Fargo Bank.

 

"Mr. Kellogg is an invaluable addition to WiredCapital's board of directors.  He brings a wealth of experience and success in the financial services industry to our organization," said Kevin Riegelsberger, president and CEO of WiredCapital.  "His expertise in venture capital, financial services and technology is the perfect combination to provide strategic guidance and leadership on our board."

 

About WiredCapital  

 

WiredCapital, based in Irvine, Calif., develops enterprise software solutions for financial service organizations that enable front office salespeople, credit analysts and contracts managers to identify new revenue opportunities and quickly convert them into sales through rapid origination of new business transactions.  WiredLeasing, WiredCapital's flagship software suite, is an innovative solution that automates the equipment lease and loan origination process from sales to booking and provides a single access point for the information the front office needs to get a complete view of the customer relationship.  WiredCapital is backed by Softbank Venture Capital. For more information visit www.wiredcapital.com .

 

About Silicon Valley Bank  

 

Silicon Valley Bank serves emerging growth and middle market companies in targeted niches, focusing on technology and life sciences, while also addressing other specific industries in which it can provide a higher level of service and better manage credit through specialization and focus.

 

 

 Third Quarter Online Sales Statistics

 

By      

                         Beth Cox , e-commerce news

 

 

By the government's method of measuring, U.S. online retail sales for the third quarter of this year rose a measly .2 percent to about $7.5 billion.

But the new report from the Commerce Department for the July-through- September period is based on a survey of 11,000 retailers and does not include some popular online purchases, such as airline and concert tickets and spending at online brokerages.

Travel makes a huge difference in the numbers. Figures from the Nielsen// NetRatings and Harris Interactive eCommercePulse study released earlier found that an estimated $16.3 billion was spent online in the third quarter, jumping 60 percent from the third quarter of 2000 when consumers spent $10.3 billion online.

Travel led the eCommercePulse categories with nearly $4.3 billion in online spending in the third quarter, increasing 53 percent compared to the same period a year earlier.

The government said today in its report that online purchases climbed 0.2 percent to $7.472 billion in the third quarter after falling 1.8 percent in the previous three months. Online sales as a percentage of total retail sales remained steady at 0.9 percent.

Total retail sales fell 2.6 percent to $787 billion, the Commerce Department said. After the latest gain, online sales were 8.3 percent above those seen in the third quarter of last year, when they totaled $6.898 billion and accounted for 0.9 percent of overall sales.

The government's online retail sales figures are not seasonally adjusted to account for holidays and seasonal factors, which can spark huge swings in buying behavior.

 

_____________________________________________________________

 

 

The Economy Changes Everything, Including Coins in Circulation.

 

By Dan Robrish

 

ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHILADELPHIA – A surplus of coins attributed to the softening economy has prompted the U.S. Mint to begin layoffs.

Instead of 23 billion new pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters next year, mint officials now believe they'll need only 15 billion.

The mint had already made too many coins during the past year.

The mint has begun laying off 357 workers nationwide, including major coin-production plants in Philadelphia and Denver, U.S. Mint spokesman Michael White said Wednesday.

"When people are spending less money, there's less transactions out there," White said.

The drop in demand for new coins is staggering, said James Benfield, executive director of the Coin Coalition, a Washington lobbying group that supports the dollar coin.

Benfield and others speculate the coin glut is being compounded by many coins coming back into circulation after months or years on dresser tops and in shoe boxes.

But a spokeswoman for Coinstar, a company that operates 9,300 coin- changing machines in supermarkets, said the company is not seeing an increase in usage of its machines.

The machines count a shopper's coins and exchange them – minus a service charge – for cash or groceries. Coinstar estimated that Americans have $7.7 billion in spare change at their homes.

For the mint, lower production means lower profits because it charges the Federal Reserve for the full face value of a coin, though it costs less to manufacture.

For example, it costs 4½ cents to make a quarter, but the mint charges 25 cents. The mint sends the balance to the U.S. Treasury to pay for other government operations. But when demand drops, the mint has to cut costs just like a private company, leading to layoffs.

 

Everything changes.  As Socrates said many years ago, Charlie

Lester was there, “ You can’t step in the same spot in a stream

twice.”  The water is always moving.

 

That’s why I was curious as to the morning television show.  Bryan

Gumbel ruled the airwaves for several years, moved to another network,

and now he does not. 

 

My routine is to wake up around 6:30am, watch the local news in

bed, have coffee, sometimes watch fifteen minutes of the Today

show, get ready while hearing it, have breakfast ( egg beaters, turkey

bacon, rye toast, and maybe cantaloupe or some fruit—I am really

spoiled ) while I read two newspapers and watch the Today show,

 leaving around 8am.  When the kids went to school, I left at 7:30am and took them to school.  I usually get home around 7pm to 7:30pm---10 to 15 minute commute to work.

 

We look at leasing as tough.  Television is tougher.

 

Future of 'Millionaire' up in the air – ABC

 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ``Who Wants to Be a

Millionaire,'' the monster game show hit that spawned imitators

and propelled ABC to No. 1 in the ratings overnight, could be

yanked from the air as soon as next fall, a top network

official said Wednesday.

 

Lloyd Braun, co-chairman of ABC Entertainment Television

Group, characterized the status of ``Millionaire'' next fall as ''unsure.''

 

``I'd like to think that there'll be a place on our schedule

for that show'' next fall, he told reporters during a conference

call to discuss the network's progress so far in the current

season. ``But at the same time, I'm not going to tell you there

will be any guarantees. ... We cannot say with certainty that

'Millionaire' is going to be on the fall schedule.''

 

Braun's words marked the latest development in the

unraveling of a game show once feared by other networks for its

ability to dominate prime-time television.

 

The Regis Philbin-hosted show rocketed to prominence after

its launch in August 1999, propelling ABC to No. 1 in the ratings as the network carried episodes three and four times each week.

 

As recently as February, ``Millionaire'' was still finishing

in the top 20 each week for most or all of its editions among

total viewers, although the ratings were less stellar for

younger audiences.

 

As the numbers fell, ABC reduced the show to two episodes

per week on its current fall schedule. In the most recent week ended Nov. 25, one of the show's two editions finished 40th in

 

the ratings overall for total viewers, while another edition finished 72nd. The nearly 10 million people who watched the show on Nov. 19 was about half the show's average audience for the same time last year.

 

 

Tuesday  Federal Reserve “ Beige Report”:  Gloomy

 

 Economy Weakened Further In Past Two Months

 

 

A Wall Street Journal Online News Roundup

 

The economy, jolted by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, weakened further in October and November, the Federal Reserve said. Production declined at American factories and airlines and hotels struggled with a sharp drop-off in travel.

 

In its latest survey of economic conditions around the country, the Fed found "evidence of additional slowing in most regions" and said this outweighed the faint signs of recovery reported by a few Fed districts.

 

The survey, compiled from information supplied by the Fed's 12 regional banks, will be used by policy makers when they hold their last meeting of the year on Dec. 11 to consider changes in interest rates.

 

Earlier this week the economy was officially declared by the National Bureau of Economic Research to have been in recession since March. The downturn is the first in a decade.

 

Many economists believe the central bank will cut interest rates for an 11th time this year at the December meeting in a continued effort to lessen the severity of the downturn.

 

Inflationary risks were low, the Fed said, as prices appeared generally stable nationwide.

Consumer spending was mixed, as most districts saw spending stay at or below levels before Sept. 11. Sales of luxury goods fell, but many discount stores saw business pick up as shoppers "sought value," the Fed said.

 

Retailers in many parts have begun bracing for a disappointing  Christmas sales season, the central bank said.

 

The Conference Board reported that consumer confidence fell in November for a fifth straight month, reflecting growing concerns by Americans about the recession's impact on the labor market. The unemployment rate shot up to 5.4% in October as 415,000 Americans lost their jobs, the largest number in 21 years.

The Fed reported that the rising number of layoffs had taken pressure off wages and that the weak economy was keeping a lid on inflation generally. Prices of cars, gasoline and computers fell during the survey period while prices of insurance and health care rose.

 

Analysts say the Fed, which has already pushed interest rates down to the lowest level in 40 years, will keep cutting rates until there are signs that the economy has stabilized and begun to rebound.

 

The Fed report, known as the beige book for the color of its cover, said most regions found lingering troubles for the travel industry with a major car rental company filing for bankruptcy in Florida and sharp declines in hotel occupancy rates and the number of passengers flying on airlines.

 

However, the Fed report said New York City saw hotel bookings rebound in October to 75% occupancy after falling below 50% in late September. But the October rate was still 12 percentage points below a year earlier.

 

For manufacturing, which has lost more than 1 million workers since early 2000, the Fed reported continued grim news with further declines in production, new orders and employment.

 

The first of the Fed's 10 rate cuts occurred Jan. 3 and the reductions have accelerated following the terrorist attacks, with three half-point moves since that time. The federal-funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, is now down to 2% - its lowest level since September 1961.

 

Fed board member Laurence Meyer took issue with critics who contended that the central bank may be making a mistake by continuing to reduce rates so aggressively.

 

He said worries that the Fed could run out of ammunition are wrong and it would be misguided for the central bank to hold back on rate cuts simply because rates have already been pushed to such low levels.