Letter From Camden Fine, President Independent Community Bankers of America to Secretary Geithner

Dear Secretary Geithner:

On behalf of the 5,000 members of the Independent Community Bankers of America, we greatly appreciate and support the Administration’s proposal to establish a Small
Business Lending Fund that would provide capital to interested community banks.Under the program, banks with less than $1 billion in assets could receive capital investments up to 5 percent of their risk-weighted assets, and those with between $1
and $10 billion in assets could receive up to 3 percent. $30 billion in repaid Troubled Asset Relief Program funds would be transferred to the new program.

February 17, 2010 Letter. Apparently as of yesterday in my conversation with the Independent Community Bankers of America, this proposal is still held up Congress.

Who is Fair Issac and What is so Fair About It?

FICO (NYSE: FICO), founded in 1956 as Fair Isaac by engineer Bill Fair and mathematician Earl Isaac, provides consulting services and enterprise decision management systems. They developed the FICO scores, a measure of credit risk, which are the most used credit scores in the world. FICO scores are available through all of the major consumer reporting agencies in the United States and Canada: Equifax; Experian; TransUnion; and PRBC.[1] FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation.

It's amazing how this statistical modelling method has become the standard for measuring credit and financial risk modelling to the consumer. Our financial health and lives are affected by the Fair Issac in every aspect of our lives literally. FICO and your credit score can determine:

-Whether or not you "qualify" for a credit card.

-Whether ot not you qualify for a home loan and how much of an interest rate you will pay on that loan.

-Whether or not your qualify for an auto loan.

- Whether or not you qualify for a small business loan, credit card or line of credit.

-May effect certain job prospects or opportunities.

- May effect certain health an insurance policies that you qualify for.

-Can and does effect whether or not you can rent an apartment or home.

-May require the need for an individual to place a deposit down before getting electric and or phone service.

Fair Issac (FICO) has a huge impact on quality of life issues. Most of us depend on some form of credit in the United States and if you have a lousy credit score this is going to have a direct impact on you. This is especially true if you do not generate other sources of income and cash flow "outside of the box" of a regular job. The good news is that you can turn your credit score around with time, usually within a two year period of conistently paying your bills on time, communicating with your creditors and staying on top of your credit file with the credit bureaus.

" The FICO score, which Fair Isasc says is used by 90% of the 100 largest banks, and other similar scores hold sway over the lives of millions of people. Some consumer groups have raised concerns about whether credit scores are being used properly and whether they are valid resources of credit risk for some groups of consumers especially minorities and lower -income individuals, says Travis Planket, the legislative director for the Consumer Federation of America."

Credit scores, which are calculated using proprietary models are also criticized for a lack of transparency. The new score model FICO 08 will target folks in the subprime category of scores in the 600's. These are the people that lenders are really struggling to predict how well they might pay their bills.

FICO 08 the newly implemented credit scoring system, rolled out in 2008 aims at connecting a making some adjustments to the scoring model and will be more "forgiving" to occasional slips by consumers. Despite the new scoring model, consumers still have to make sure the information in their credit reports which Fair Issac relies on to come up with the credit score is accurate. Errors must be disputed with the three major credit bureaus.

See article "FICO Reveals How Common Credit Mistakes Affect Scores", by Jerermy Simon, Creditcards.com

See also Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey

Start-Ups Chase Cash as Funds Trickle Back

Starting a new business is easier than it was a year ago, but wealthy investors, venture-capital firms and banks are still trickling out money very selectively.

Track The Stimulus

Track the Stimulus details where these investments are made, what jobs are being created and where, and attempts to measure whether these programs are achieving what they sought to achieve whether it is creating jobs, lowering the cost of borrowing to banks and corporations, etc.

China, Holding Upper Hand on Exchange Rate

China Says It Will Not Adjust Exchange Rate By SEWELL CHAN
Published: March 24, 2010

WASHINGTON — Despite mounting pressure in Congress for the Obama administration to declare China a currency manipulator, the Chinese government is giving no indication that it will change its exchange rate policy.

After meeting with officials at the Treasury and Commerce Departments on Wednesday, China’s deputy commerce minister, Zhong Shan, told reporters, “The Chinese government will not succumb to foreign pressures to adjust our exchange rate.”

Important Points in the article:

- Mr. Zhong's visit to Washington comes weeks before an April 15 deadline for the Treasury to deliver its semiannual report on foreign exchange. Many economists believe that China has deliberately undervalued its currency to support its export-oriented economy.

- China's position has raised the ire of members of both parties in Congress, who say that the exchange-rate problem is holding back job growth in the united States.

-The Treasury has not found China to be manipulating its currency since 1994, making the argument among others, that manipulation involves intent.

-Senator Lindsey Graham (R) South Carolina states that, "China's merchantilist policies are hurting the rest of the world, not just America. It helped create the global recession that we're in. The Chinese want to be treated as a developing country, but they're a global giant, the leading exporter of the world.

- Two senators pointed to a new study by the Economic Policy Institute, a labor- backed research organization, saying the growing trade deficit between China and the United States resulted in the elimination or discplacement of 2.4 million American jobs between 2001 and 2008.

Watch Video: Business News Network (Out of Canada great programming) The Close : March 24, 2010 : Quantifying China's Cheap Currency [03-24-10 4:35 PM]

Much of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations is an attack on mercantilism. The Wealth of Nations, one of the earliest attempts to study the rise of industry and commercial development in Europe, was a precursor to the modern academic discipline of economics.

Venture Lists and Other Tidbits 2010 Still a Challenge for Start-Up Venture Funding

Are you in search of venture funding...BEWARE? Know what you are getting into and how much you are giving up when you deal with some of these funders. A venture capitalist's motto is maximum ROI (Return on Investment). There is no romance here, this is all about the money especially now as the economy is shifting. Being part of the dot com boom and bust during the 90's and living in the San Francisco Bay area was quite an experience QUITE for me. I am glad because it has taken a lot of the myth of the process and bull which I can now share with others. Respect to my Berkeley, CA posse of engineers, coders and entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs who know ahead of time that they are going to take this route as an exit strategy must do their due diligence and get to know the venture funders there are going to engage and who will engage them because indeed this will be an engagement until the bitter end or not, ultimately an attractive IPO (Initial Public Offering).

Many years ago, I read a book about Ron Conway, The Godfather of Silicon Valley: Ron Conway and the Fall of the Dot-coms (Paperback)-Gary Rivlin (Author). It is a great read and I was delighted to meet Mr. Conway in person last fall at an event hosted by Warren Lee and Canaan Partners called StartupAtWork. It's a great event. Check out Ron's investments at Crunchbase.

Venture Hacks is also an excellent source as well as Scott Digs, Venture Dig. Here is the list that he complied, http://venturedig.com/venture-capital/the-top-75-venture-capital-blogs/.

Keep your head high enough to touch the clouds and your reality grounded enough not to get into a Bad deal. If you are a start-up and are in the process of raising capital via this route or have other questions please feel free to fill out some initial questions. If you have problems with the form email startuplendingmodels@gmail.com. Thanks

Small Business Know the IRS and Understand Your Taxes

Over the last year and a half, I have gotten a crash course in a Wills, Trust and Estate matter that could make your hair stand while assisting a client through the help and guidance of attorney(s) and other professionals. As a start-up business owner, I also work as a certified paralegal and in small business finance. Fortunately, I have an extensive background in writing, research, case law analysis with in the trenches down and dirty work, court house visits and meeting clients in coffee shops and train stations included. I have a renewed sense of how serious and how amazing the powers of the Internal Revenue Service really are.

Without disclosing too much about this situation, let me say this, if you have assets, it is
seriously important to work with and hire "extremely" competent professionals with respect
to the management and the advice offered with regard to your estate. Actually, if assets, a business and or any other wealth has been passed onto you, it is seriously important to know what the heck is going on. Grill your lawyers, accountants and other professionals, do your research and make sure what they are telling you is correct, because this can be the difference between financial freedom or a financial nightmare. Don't let a $250 or $300 an hour charge impress you, especially if this or these individual(s) does more to harm then to help you.

As a small business owner, your relationship with the Internal Revenue Service is one that
can make or break you quite seriously. How many people really understand the tax code? How
many people understand how taxes are computed? Do you understand how payroll and social security taxes work? Do you know how to deal with liens? This is a very complex matter but in hindsight, when Joe the Plumber asked now President Obama about how much his taxes would increase under his plan, Mr. Wurzelbacher approached Obama and asked him if he believes in the American dream. He proceeded to tell Obama that, "after working as a plumber for 15 years, he is going to purchase his own business. The catch was that the business was worth more than $250,000 and Joe asked if he would be taxed more under Obama's plan."

"I'm being taxed more and more for fulfilling the American Dream," he said to Obama. While Obama made several attempts to explain his tax plan, the bottom line was always that Joe would suffer from increased taxes. "I'm gonna cut taxes a little bit more for the folks who are most in need and for the 5% of the folks who are doing very well - even though they've been working hard and I appreciate that – I just want to make sure they're paying a little bit more in order to pay for those other tax cuts," Obama told Joe.

Most recently, I came across the very informative web site of Alvin Brown & Associates, LLC
and I am extremely grateful to have found it. Check it out for yourself www.irstaxattorney.com also check out the forum at www.irsforum.org.

The Directory of State Tax Administrators may also be a helpful tool.