Business Feeds

NY Times

Air travellers endured cancellations and disruptions Monday as pilots for Lufthansa, Europe’s largest airline, began a four-day walkout that has already forced the grounding of hundreds of flights.

The German flag carrier was operating a sharply reduced schedule that involved scrubbing roughly half of Monday’s 1,800 scheduled flights, up from an initial plan of 800 daily cancellations for the duration of the strike. The airline said some pilots that had been scheduled to work through the strike were not showing up and a spokesman estimated that as many as 1,000 flights might not get off the ground Monday.

The airline said most of the canceled flights were on domestic German routes, where Lufthansa was offering to rebook passengers on trains to their destinations. For

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Each year we read tax tips about how to legally pay less in taxes. But another thing to stay informed about if you want to avoid trouble with the IRS is red flags or warning signs that might potentially trigger closer looks from the tax authority and even an IRS audit. Here are some ways you can help ensure that you stay beneath the IRS radar.

• Don’t be a Loser

The IRS expects that during difficult economic times many people with file negative returns or returns that show that they either broke even on the year or lost money, instead of making money. But if you remain in that status year after year, the IRS will start to get suspicious that you are just saying you lost money in order to avoid paying taxes on your earned income.

• Don’t Take Ridiculous Deductions

Maybe you gave to charity last year, or maybe you had some business expenses. You

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Dell’s earnings were closely watched in many quarters because it suffered the most in 2009 among PC vendors. HP, with a more diversified business model and bigger consumer play, wasn’t hurt as badly, and Acer, with its focus on the stronger consumer segment, surpassed Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) as the number two PC vendor in the world.

Dell reported net income of $334 million, or $0.17 cents per share, a slight dip from the $351 million, or $0.18 cents per share it reported a year ago. EPS on a non-GAAP basis, which excludes one-time charges related to the acquisition of Perot Systems, was $0.28.

Sales rose 11 percent year-over-year to $14.9 billion, with some business units doing better than others. Dell’s commercial business sales to large businesses and corporations rose 11 percent, while SMB rose 13 percent and consumer rose 25 percent.

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Of all the firms to go off the cliff in the fourth quarter of 2008, nVidia took the hardest hit, with sales plunging 60 percent year-over-year and the company posting a loss. One year later, its sales have more than doubled and it could have done better if it had all the supply it needed.

The graphics vendor reported net income for the period ended Jan. 31 of $131.1 million, or 23 cents a share, compared to the loss of $147.7 million, or 27 cents a share, in the same quarter one year earlier.

Revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter more than doubled year-over-year from $481.1 million in fiscal 2008 to $982.5 million this year. Revenue was also up 9 percent sequentially from the third quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected nVidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) to report earnings of 20 cents a share on revenues of $957.2 million in revenue.

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When it comes to ideas for improving profits at a startup or other small business, it’s hard to beat the experience of SCORE. This non-profit small business counseling and mentoring service has helped more than eight million entrepreneurs succeed.

And when it comes to getting ahead in business, it’s all about making the right moves at the right times, says Ken Yancey, CEO of SCORE.  Here are five ways to prepare your business for improved profitability:

1. Create new offerings to grow your customer base. Start by better understanding your customer demographics and why they buy your products and services. Then think of ways to win clients over with new and diversified products. Many

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Generally speaking, the main thing an average consumer needs to know about the value of the dollar is that when the dollar loses value compared to other currencies, American products are cheaper for foreigners to buy. When the dollar gets stronger, on the other hand, those foreign products or imports are cheaper for Americans to buy.

But you do not have to be a big international investment banker to participate in the currency markets. If you are planning a trip to Europe two years from now, for example, and you expect that the dollar is losing ground compared to the value of the Euro, you might want to convert some of your American dollars into Euro now. Stash those Euro notes and if your prediction is right then you might get more buying power while on your vacation two years later. Read more…

Dell does not make a lot of acquisitions, but it has made a number of acquisitions all centered around one specific type of product market. Datamation will tell you which.

Dell plans to acquire KACE Networks in a move to beef up its compliance and systems management offerings for midsized businesses.

Terms of the deal to buy the privately held systems management appliance company were not disclosed.

That’s the second purchase this week for Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), which is not normally an acquisitive company. Earlier in the week, it purchased the assets of Exanet, a bankrupt Israeli company that makes Linux-based clustered network-attached storage management software.

While not known for making many acquisitions, Dell does seem to have an eye for systems management software for the SMB market.

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The Wall Street Journal
Fans of HSN, the home shopping network, might recognize Debbie Meyer, the soft-spoken uber-housewife who sells nifty inventions – say, a device that creates holes in cupcakes, while they’re baking, for no-mess filling – as if teleported from the 1950s. What many may not realize is that behind the apron is a shrewd entrepreneur who’s built a company, Housewares America Inc. of Clearwater, Fla., with more than $100 million in annual revenues. Her patented products, including best-seller Debbie Meyer GreenBags, are now sold in Target, Kohl’s, Bed Bath & Beyond and other stores. Meyer, 59, whose breakthrough invention in 1999 was a cake cutter, recently teamed up with Reynolds to sell vacuum-seal bags.

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Who would have expected that the culture for philanthropy would have grown in such a ravaged economy? The Wall Street Journal reported that although private giving has fallen 6% in 2008. Nonetheless, the recession seems to have triggered altruism in certain individuals and the urge to help others is stronger than ever. 

If you’re of those who gave in to their altruistic instincts and started a philanthropic organization, you might have already considered making your organization a tax exempt nonprofit under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. If so, you’ve probably already had a look at some of the formation requirements.  

B

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