The Real Reason the Saudis Won't Provide More Oil

The media is up in arms over the fact that Saudi Arabia has told the United States that it won't be increasing its supplies of oil into the market. Talk show hosts have been up in arms, arguing that the Arab nation is gouging the US and other Western countries with high prices. Why don't they just provide more oil? Why be so greedy? Don't the Saudis know what we have done for them? It appears the situation may not be that simple.

According to energy economists, the Saudis are suppose to double its output over the next ten years. However, it is being reported by the New York Times that "capacity will probably stall near current levels, potentially creating a significant gap in the global energy supply" according to government officials and energy executives in both the US and Saudi Arabia. Just recently a friend of mine told me that the stock market advise newsletters were about to release this story. But it is really old news because the article is over four years old.

So over four years this story was out there, but little has been done about it. This is just among a long list of reasons why we have needed a national energy policy. Four years ago gas was a little more than half the price it is today. That was the time to take advantage of important information such as this, but I am sure the politicians didn't want us to be alarmed. Maybe if we ignored it, the problem would some how go away.

The United States is sitting on approximately 200 years worth of oil based on current consumption levels according to most analysts in the energy industry. It is at places we may not like to explore -- Alaska, the coast of California, and the coast of Florida. But our technological abilities to pursue such in a manner that is environmentally sound and with minimum impact is better now than ever and our freedom, economy, security, and future hang in the balance. We should have taken action four years ago. We should have taken action four decades ago. We certainly better take action today.

According to recent surveys on marketing, most advertising attracts sellers (others who want you to buy more ads) and not buyers. Do you want to know why? Email info@HoustonBusinessShow.com and put "marketing audio" in the subject line and we will get it to you.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Weak Dollars and Weak Dollar Stores

For quite some time we have heard about the fact that the dollar is losing its value. Well this reality hit close to home when I recently made a stop at a 99 Cents Only store. I wanted to visit because I have been curious to see if these popular stores have been affected. You have heard about the "shrinking dollar", but a shrinking dollar store? That is exactly what has happened to the massive dollar store chain.

99 Cents Only stores have been around for more than two decades and have enjoyed nothing but growth. In the Houston area, I have noticed a couple of the chain stores have closed and the one I went to this week actually shrunk. It is about 2/3rds the size it use to be. They literally moved the shelves and put up black plastic above the last aisle to cut it off from the rest of the building. Being curious and knowing I would write about the subject, I asked what happened and why. They pointed out the obvious, but wasn't sure why the company made the decision. Was it because of a lack of items available that they can sell for that low price? A need to pay lower rent (although I have no idea how they will lease the rest of the building)? Or was it a need to shrink the store so they could lay off people? I may never know, but I have to assume it has to do with the weak dollar.

It doesn't stop there, we have a local chain called King Dollar, which is home of "Nothing Over $1." Well, that was the case until a month ago when the latter portion of the sign became "Nothing Over $1.09." There are no rumors of it becoming the $1.09 King. It simply doesn't sound right.

These are among the most tangible signs of the weakened economy that I have seen yet and they are very real (in spite of the light approach I take here). Of all the issues the government needs to address, strengthening the dollar should be one of its biggest priorities.

According to recent surveys on marketing, most advertising attracts sellers (others who want you to buy more ads) and not buyers. Do you want to know why? Email info@HoustonBusinessShow.com and put "marketing audio" in the subject line and we will get it to you.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

How Hillary Clinton Can Win

There is a scenario in which Hillary Clinton can win. That is by getting the nomination in 2012. It is safe to say the Democratic Party has absolutely no intention of getting her the nod. To me, as an outsider (I am not a Democrat), I believe the Democratic machine decided very early to choose Obama. Not the rank and file voters (like those from Florida and Michigan who supported the New York Senator and are being disenfranchised), but the leadership.

They do this because Democrats haven't been able to win a Presidential election without minority (and African-American) support in particular. Now, if they go with Hillary, they will alienate this important demographic. However, Hillary has no intention to give up and she has no interest in waiting until 2016 to run. I believe she is officially running for 2012.

It will be difficult, maybe even impossible, for Clinton to beat Obama if he is an incumbent in 2012. She is passionate about making sure that there is a Republican in that office when 2012 comes around. The best way of doing that is by making sure Sen. John McCain wins this year. Furthermore, with the Republican Senator being in his early 70s already, there is a very good chance that the seat could be completely wide open in 2012 and create a tremendous opportunity for all contenders.

Who would have bet that Hillary Clinton would become McCain's best supporter? Politics does make strange bed fellows.

According to recent surveys on marketing, most advertising attracts sellers (others who want you to buy more ads) and not buyers. Do you want to know why? Email info@HoustonBusinessShow.com and put "marketing audio" in the subject line and we will get it to you.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

yourBusinessChannel.com Is Worth Visiting

I love those things that gives us a window into the future of business and business media in particular. It is hard to tell what we see will end up filling that void on the front end. Sites we like and don't like are largely based on preference. Every once in a while, however, I find a site that simply "wows" me. That is the case with yourBusinessChannel.com.

My exposure to the site first came through an email that had a subject line asking "Are you receiving my emails?" I get hundreds of emails daily and I often have a bias towards those whose name I recognize. There was a good chance that I missed previous ones or I dismissed them as spam. But I was looking now and I opened the link to the site and to my surprised I was very impressed.

It helped to have low expectations -- when you get suggested links as often I do, that is always a sound thing to do. But when I got to yourBusinessChannel.com, I noticed immediately that it loaded very fast yet enjoyed plenty of "flash," had a huge number of links that begged to be viewed, and several other practical resources. The number of resources they have are impressive, including sources of business ideas, how to build a business, how to create revenue streams, and more.

The site has so many resources and links, I'm reluctant to say what it "is" and "is not' without more research, but it appears it is not a typical business news site. It isn't competing against CNBC, MSNBC, or other business media sites. Rather, it is more of a high tech clearing house of business information, with great tools that allow business in people to add more content to their sites, create additional revenue streams, and find other practical business information.

The only down side, if there is such, is that the site seems to require you provide email to access any of its video content. There is no charge for much of it (although there is for some of it), they just want your email, etc. This is contrary to what is standard in business today. However, who knows, maybe the time is right for such an approach.

The website sought me out for advise because of the work I have done with the Houston Business Show site and I am, of course, flattered. I will be surprised, however, if there is anything I can add to add to this excellent website.

According to recent surveys on marketing, most advertising attracts sellers (others who want you to buy more ads) and not buyers. Do you want to know why? Email info@HoustonBusinessShow.com and put "marketing audio" in the subject line and we will get it to you.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

That Stubborn Recession

That stubborn recession. Won't it ever come? What? Surely we are in one? You have to wonder in light of a recent press release from the Conference Board which provides updates of economic activity. The problem is simple. It takes two quarters (six months) of continued economic decline to have a recession. We have been crying "recession" for almost a year, but have struggled to tie together months of decline. It has been really difficult for the doomsayers.

The Conference Board today has only made it even tougher. In a recent press release they point out that there has been an 0.1 percent increase in the Composite Index of Economic Indicators in April and this is the second month in a roll that we have seen such an increase. In March it went up 0.4 percent. It doesn't bode well for those who celebrate decline. The index measures the following ten areas (from Investopedia.com):

1. the average weekly hours worked by manufacturing workers

2. the average number of initial applications for unemployment insurance

3. the amount of manufacturers' new orders for consumer goods and materials

4. the speed of delivery of new merchandise to vendors from suppliers

5. the amount of new orders for capital goods unrelated to defense

6. the amount of new building permits for residential buildings

7. the S&P 500 stock index

8. the inflation-adjusted monetary supply (M2)

9. the spread between long and short interest rates

10. consumer sentiment

The most recent report average a net increase in the above areas. Read the complete release for more details.

I admit, I have seen indicators that the economy is a little softer than I would normally like to admit and I know places other than my Houston have been hard hit. I have seen office space available longer than most would prefer, I have seen a jump in the price of our family's gallon of milk, and other signs of struggle. But this is a remarkably resilient economy and seems to be quietly proving that in spite of headlines with a really negative message.

According to recent surveys on marketing, most advertising attracts sellers (others who want you to buy more ads) and not buyers. Do you want to know why? Email info@HoustonBusinessShow.com and put "marketing audio" in the subject line and we will get it to you.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Did Obama Protest Too Much?

President Bush took his political opponents on in Israel by comparing them to those who tried to placate Hitler in the days leading up to World War II. Barack Obama quickly rose to the occasion by protesting "I resemble that statement." Okay, not those exact words, but Bush didn't point the finger at any particular person and Obama quickly assumed he was talking about him. I guess "if the shoe fits, wear it."

The protest reminds me of situations that break out in my house. I find a mess in the kitchen that you can tell was caused by kids and ask "who is responsible for..." and, of course, before I even finish, the most guilty party yells "not me." I'm afraid Obama protests too much.

Obama is a traditional "progressive" and has described himself in those terms -- "jobs, peace, and freedom" (although I have no idea how his policies will generate any of the above). Many Democrats are talking about appeasement as well, but they are doing it for pragmatic reasons. Many initially supported the war (e.g., Hillary Clinton) and argue they based that decision on the data they had seen. It was, in their opinion, the right decision at the time. Some, like Dennis Kucinich, made an ideological choice. No matter how bad the data looked (and it obviously had some credibility because much of the international community came up with similar results), he would vote against it. All along, Obama claimed he would have done the exact same thing.
Obama used this commitment as a wedge between Clinton and the most liberal forces that dominate his party. Clinton implies that it was easy for Obama to criticize since he was in the Illinois Legislature as a State Senator when she voted for the war. I guarantee you, he was telling the truth. He is an ideologue. A pacifist. He would vote "no" regardless of what he say. And those are dangerous positions for the leader of the free world to hold.

It requires a certain degree of pragmatism to be President, in my opinion. You have to be philosophical, but you have to be able to make decisions based on political, economical, and national security realities. Obama is proving over and over again that he doesn't have that ability. What do we expect from the man the National Journal calls the most liberal in the US Senate? Obama reminds me of Neville Chamberlain, a progressive in his own right who believed humans had evolved too much for Hitler to drag the world into conflict. Chamberlain was wrong and so is Barack Obama.

The above article originally appeared at RedState.com. It was edited for BizPlusblog.

According to recent surveys on marketing, most advertising attracts sellers (others who want you to buy more ads) and not buyers. Do you want to know why? Email info@HoustonBusinessShow.com and put "marketing audio" in the subject line and we will get it to you.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

China's Population Control Program and An Earthquake

The recent devastating earthquake to hit China has many rethinking the Draconian 1979 policy that made it illegal for couples to have more than one child. Why? Because it appears that thousands may have lost their only child due to this natural disaster. China's rich have paid thousands in fines to be exempt from the policy, but what about the many poor that dominates this region that didn't have that luxery? There are other reasons why this policy is a disaster and I discussed them in a previous article commemorating the US reaching 300 million. Here is an excerpt from that article:

The reality is, countries are not poor because of how many people they have. They are poor because of economic policies. One of my favorite examples is Singapore, which is the second most densely populated independent country in the world. In spite of the fact that Singapore has almost twice as many people per square mile as the much poorer Mexico, it is one of the most affluent countries in the world and has the highest standard of living in Asia, and is ranked 11th in the world. Instead of encouraging population control, it has education programs and tax incentives that encourages large families. It has virtually no natural resources of its own, but the people enjoy high incomes and unemployment of less than 3 percent. This is, of course, one of the lowest unemployment levels in the world (the US, which has around 10 percent of the population per square mile, is at 5 percent). This didn't happen by accident, but by policies that support economic freedom, wealth creation, and by avoiding taxation that weakens economic growth.

We learn from Singapore, one of the most "over populated" countries in the world, that large numbers of people don't hurt economies. Government policies do. China and India's economic renaissance is proving that every day as they change their policies and move towards free markets.

If "more people" is "bad", why does virtually every city in the country encourage people to move to them and as towns lose numbers it is a sign of decline? The common sense behind the need for more people in cities works the same for countries, as long as the policies of the government work.

I hope that China learns this lesson and uses this tragedy as an opportunity to change a program that makes good science fiction but terrible policy.

Warning: the above video is graphic and disturbing to some.

According to recent surveys on marketing, most advertising attracts sellers (others who want you to buy more ads) and not buyers. Do you want to know why? Email info@HoustonBusinessShow.com and put "marketing audio" in the subject line and we will get it to you.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Houston Area Job Board

Recently dBusinessNews released the following announcement:

Kevin Price, Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) announced the addition of a new jobs board on HoustonBusinessShow.com. "The job board is new to the Houston Business Show, but is powered by one of the most powerful companies on the Internet when it comes to finding jobs and employees." From day one individuals will find 1.5 million jobs online.

In addition to over a million jobs in thousands of areas, the site offers numerous additional tools including:

* How to Make Your Resume Stand Out

* Find Out What Your Background Shows

* How to Get your Resumes in Front of Hiring Managers

* How to Get More Exposure to Employers

* And Get a Free Salary Report (learn what others in your field are making.

Many of the resources on this site are free and tools are available for both those looking for a job and looking to hire.

Visit the Houston Business Show Jobs site today to post a job, post a resume, and explore the many great resources for employers and potential employees. Email us at Info@HoustonBusinessShow.com if you have any questions.

I am, of course, delighted by this addition and wanted to share it with my readers. The great thing about it is that you can post to find a job or an employee anywhere.

Listen to a helpful audio program on dealing with job loss by clicking here. It is an interview with Kathie Bowersox of Quantum Leap Success Coach.

Obama Demonstrates Major Weakness

Hillary Clinton won big in West Virginia, bigger than many pundits expected. When I saw the numbers on TV this morning I thought I was suffering from sleep in my eyes. Hillary Clinton won 67 percent and Barack Obama has a mere 26 percent. I knew she was suppose to win big, but I was shocked. John Edwards, who has been out of the race since February, had 7 percent. Clinton's margin of victory over Obama was greater than Obama's numbers over a candidate who is no longer running. If that doesn't make him and his supporters nervous, nothing will.

Clinton won by margins of 2 to 1 and a full 75 percent in the exit polling wanted to see this race continue. The Senator from New York has given every assurance that she plans on accommodating her new favorite state. The message to Kentucky (one of two states, with Oregon coming up in a couple of weeks), a state very similar to West Virginia politically is "jump in, the water is still great" for those entertaining supporting Clinton.

West Virginia is a heavily Caucasian state. People in that ethnic group expressed serious concerns about whether Obama is trustworthy and electable. Is this parochial racism common only in this geographical area or is this an indication of serious weaknesses that needs to be over come? Obama's supporters have argued that Democrats can't win without enthusiastic black support. They are to the Democrats what the "Religious Right" is to Republicans, it is argued.

However, using the same analogy, is Barack Obama the Democratic equivalent of religious leader Pat Robertson? Robertson was a well educated (Yale Law School), son of a US Senator, and successful business leader in his own right. He too appeared to be the ideal candidate for many Republicans on paper when he ran in 1988 and was certainly able to move crowds. In the end his strengths ended up being his weakness. It has come later for Obama, but could Obama be unraveling?

According to recent surveys on marketing, most advertising attracts sellers (others who want you to buy more ads) and not buyers. Do you want to know why? Email info@HoustonBusinessShow.com and put "marketing audio" in the subject line and we will get it to you.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.