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Boston Movers-The Life of Martin Luther King

The Life of Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on 15 January 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. Interestingly, he was named after the original Martin Luther, the initiator of the Protestant Reformation. The young King received his early education at Booker T. Washington High School; he excelled there, being allowed to enter Morehouse College at the tender age of fifteen without even formally graduating from high school. He graduated from Morehouse in 1948 with a degree in sociology and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania from which he graduated with a Degree of Divinity in 1951. He then enrolled at Boston University, receiving his Doctor of Philosophy on 5 June, 1955. He married Coretta Scott in 1953, they began their lives in Montgomery, Alabama with King becoming pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. The civil rights leader Howard Thurman was a profound influence on the young King. Thurman had met with Gandhi and he arranged for King to meet with the Gandhi family in India in 1959, the trip was to greatly influence King’s thinking, confirming his dedication to non-violent resistance. The civil rights activist Baynard Rustin further counselled King to confine his struggle entirely to non-violent means. In 1955, Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks were arrested for refusing to give up their bus seats to white passengers. King was one of the prime organisers of the ensuing Montgomery Bus Boycott, which caused huge deficits in public transit profits. The boycott lasted or over a year and led to the United States Supreme Court decision that declared the Alabama and Montgomery bus segregation laws were unconstitutional. In 1957, King was one of the founding member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) which was created to organise the black churches into mass protests by non-violent means, King would lead the movement until his death. King was a victim of an assassination attempt in 1958; while signing copies of his book, Strive Toward Freedom, in a Harlem department store, he was stabbed in the chest by a Izola Curry and narrowly escaped death. It didn’t swerve him from his vision, he continued to work tirelessly, organising and leading civil rights marches. In December 1961, King and the SCLC became involved with the Albany Movement, a group which had mobilised thousands of citizens in a wide ranging non-violent protest on all elements of segregation within the city of Albany, Georgia. King was scooped up in a mass of peaceful protestors, he declined bail until the city made concessions, agreements were made and King accepted to be released but the authorities rescinded on all their promises. A similar campaign was embarked upon in Birmingham, Alabama in the spring of 1963; it was more successful, the movement had learned from it’s past mistakes. The SCLC leant it’s influential sway to similar protests in St. Augustine, Florida and Selma, Alabama in 1964. King was also one of the prime movers in the August 1963 massive March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It has become one of the most seminal moments of the twentieth century, providing the indelible image of over a quarter of a million people crammed from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National Mall and around the calm waters of the reflecting pool. It also provided humanity with some of it’s most powerful rhetoric ever voiced as King delivered his electrifying I Have a Dream speech. However, resistance against the civil rights movement and it’s goals was still fierce, as evidenced by the violence meted out to protestors on a series of attempted marches from Selma to Montgomery. King and others began to realise that they would need to spread the movement further, they knew they needed to go nationwide, that is they knew that they had to motivate the North of the country. They began this phase of their resistance in Chicago, where they met equal if not more ferocious opposition as they had in the South. In 1968, King and the SCLC organised the Poor People’s Campaign to address issues of economic injustice, King began to travel the length and breath of the country in order to assemble an army of multi-racial supporters to march on Washington. Towards the end of March, King arrived in Memphis, Tennessee to support black sanitary public works employees. Horrifically, he was assassinated in the early evening of April 4, 1968. However, they could not silence him, his legacy ensured the progress of civil rights in America and indeed throughout the world.   

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Boston Movers-Gillette Toiletries – Case Study

Gillette Toiletries – Case Study

1.0  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

Gillette has been the leading brand in men’s grooming industry across the globe. With its wide range of products caters to the premium segment of the men’s grooming market. It faces intense competition in the toiletries market whereas the competition in the razor market is not that intense.

 

This case study aims at identifying the problems faced by Gillette in the toiletries market. We have suggested a plan for Gillette toiletries along with other suggestions for Gillette to face the competition in the near future and the long run.

 

2.0 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

 

Of Gillette’s recent moves, by far the riskiest is the toiletries line. Gillette’s track record there is spotty, with successes in the 1960s and 1970s followed by a series of disappointments, such as a failed foray into European women’s toiletries in the 1980s. But Gillette’s strength is with men, and executives are convinced they can use their strong brand name as an umbrella for a wider range of men’s products. The line includes 14 items, notably pre- and after-shaves and a gel shaving cream. The most innovative product: a gel-based deodorant that will roll on using a patented, sieve like delivery system.

 

Will it work? Many outsiders are sceptical, citing Gillette’s sorry record in toiletries. Besides, competition has become very stiff in the once fragmented men’s toiletries business. Procter & Gamble now owns Old Spice and Noxzema, Colgate bought Mennen, and Unilever grabbed Faberge’s Brut brand. But nobody has a better brand name than Gillette.

 

If the line flops, some believe Gillette should simply abandon the whole field. But while the company has tried to apply the Gillette way to its toiletries, the basic problem remains: There’s not much difference between Gillette’s stuff and everybody else’s, except that Gillette’s costs more. That means toiletries become a kind of loss leader for Gillette’s shaving business. But would retailers refuse to stock Gillette’s blades–the best-selling blades in the world–just because they aren’t getting Right Guard too?

 

2.1 MARKET SUMMARY

The market for men’s toiletries has developed in tandem with a number of lifestyle changes affecting the population in general, and men in particular. These include a growing interest in health, fitness and appearance among consumers, with the rise in gym attendance having been of particular consequence to the market for men’s toiletries. There have also been changes in men’s perceptions of themselves, meaning that they are more willing to show their `feminine sides’. However, despite many attempts to `label’ this phenomenon, there is now a recognition that these changes have been more subtle than first thought and that changing the habits of men is not particularly easy. The development of the men’s magazine market, which began in earnest during the late 1980s, was very important in providing direct contact with male consumers through advertising. However, this sector declined sharply (in both volume and value terms) lately. Demographic trends (in particular, the ageing population) have not been particularly favourable to the men’s toiletries market. However, between in recent years, there was a significant increase in the number of men in the 15 to 24 age range. These men tend to be mass market consumers and their numerical strength, combined with a willingness to spend time and money on skincare products and grooming routines, has been beneficial to the male toiletries market in general. Although the male toiletries market has not performed as spectacularly as once predicted, the new millennium period witnessed steady progress; however, growth has slowed after its peak in 2005.

There are forecasts indicating that the male toiletries market will continue to be more dynamic than male fragrances. There is still plenty of room for growth in the former market, in particular as the current generation of young males reach a more mature life stage and, hopefully, will be more willing and able to spend on premium products. Growth in the male fragrances market will be less strong — the current economic climate may mean that consumers are less able to spend significant amounts of money on premium fragrances as gifts or as personal indulgences.

2.2 KEY ENVIRONMENT TRENDS

2.2.1 Competitive Environment

 

Gillette experiences intense competition for sales of its products in most markets. Gillette’s products compete with widely advertised, well-known, branded products, as well as private label products, which typically are sold at lower prices. In most of its markets, Gillette has major competitors, some of which are larger and more diversified than Gillette. Aggressive competition within Gillette’s markets to preserve, gain or regain market share can affect Gillette’s results in any given period.

 

2.2.2        Changes in Technology & New Product Introductions

 

In most product categories in which Gillette competes, there are continuous technological changes and frequent introductions of new products and line extensions. Gillette’s ability to successfully introduce new products and/or extend lines of existing products depends on, among other things, Gillette’s ability to identify changing consumer tastes and needs, develop new technology, differentiate its products and gain market acceptance of new products. Gillette cannot be certain that it will successfully achieve these goals.

 

2.2.3        Intellectual Property

 

Gillette relies upon patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws in the United States and in other countries to establish and maintain its proprietary rights in technology, products and Gillette’s brands. Gillette’s intellectual property rights, however, could be challenged, invalidated or circumvented. Gillette does not believe that its products infringe the intellectual property rights of others, but such claims, if they are established, can result in material liabilities or loss of business.

 

2.2.4        Cost Savings Strategy

 

Gillette has implemented a number of programmes designed to reduce costs. Such programs will require, among other things, the consolidation and integration of facilities, functions, systems and procedures, all of which present significant management challenges. There can be no assurance that such actions will be accomplished as rapidly as anticipated or that the full extent of expected cost reductions will be achieved.

 

2.2.5        Sales & Operations outside of the United States

 

Sales outside of the United States represent a substantial portion of Gillette’s business. In addition, Gillette has a number of manufacturing facilities and suppliers located outside of the United States. Accordingly, the following factors could adversely affect operating results in any reporting period:

 

- Changes in political or economic conditions;

- Trade protection measures;

- Import or export licensing requirements;

- The overlap of different tax structures;

- Unexpected changes in regulatory requirements or tax laws; or

- Longer payment cycles in certain countries.

 

Gillette also is exposed to foreign currency exchange rate risk to its sales, profits, and assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Although Gillette uses instruments to hedge certain foreign currency risks (through foreign currency forward, swap and option contracts and non-U.S. dollar denominated financings) and is implicitly hedged through its foreign manufacturing operations, there can be no assurance that Gillette will be fully protected against foreign currency fluctuations.

 

2.2.6    Retail Environment

 

With the growing trend towards retail trade consolidation, especially in developed markets such as the United States and Europe, Gillette is increasingly dependent upon key retailers whose bargaining strength is growing. Accordingly, Gillette faces greater pressure from retail trade customers to provide more favourable trade terms. Gillette can be negatively affected by changes in the policies of its retail trade customers, such as inventory destocking, limitations on access to shelf space and other conditions. Many of Gillette’s customers, particularly Gillette’s high-volume retail trade customers, have engaged in accelerated efforts to reduce inventory levels and shrinkage and change inventory delivery systems. While Gillette expects the level of trade inventory of its products to decline over time, the speed and magnitude of such reductions and/or the inability of Gillette to develop satisfactory inventory delivery systems could adversely affect operating results in any reporting period.

 

2.3 MARKET PROFITABILITY & GROWTH

 

Gillette sold only 51 razors and 163 blades in its first year, but then discovered that men were “Willing to pay up to .00 for his new razor. Instead of paying at the local barbershop, men could now shave at home without the bother of sharpening the blades. Because blades were so cheap, they could be thrown out when they blunted. As shaving at home became cheaper and easier, social customs changed to encourage daily shaving. With these changes, Gillette’s business boomed. By that time, Gillette’s domestic market share had grown to exceed 80%, a leadership position it had sustained ever since.

 

Gillette then focused on growing sales at home and abroad. The company’s strategy turned to push for an extensive international. To supply foreign markets, which accounted for almost half of Gillette’s total sales and the growing demand in the United States, Gillette built new manufacturing plants in Boston and England.

 

Then Gillette began to expand its product line into other shaving products. Neither of these products was very successful, and Gillette’s management began to consider expanding outside the shaving industry to reduce the company’s dependence on blades.

 

Gillette has five major lines of business: blades and razors, toiletries and cosmetics, stationery products, Braun appliances, and Oral-B dental products. Blades and razors contributed over 60% of Gillette’s profits through most of the 1970s and 1980s. This performance let the company meet its stated goal of “sustained profitable growth.”

 

This tradition of profitable growth was challenged when profits on blades and razors faltered and the price of Gillette’s stock stagnated. The diversification strategy that distracted management’s attention from blades and razors had diluted the valuable Gillette brand name by associating it with non-shaving products.

 

To rectify that, Gillette’s management had to improve operating performance. Some managers believed that Gillette should concentrate on the blades and razors and sell off the other businesses, while others thought that those businesses should be retained but revamped. Gillette’s CEO believed in the synergy of the different businesses and regarded product innovation as the key to growth and profits. The result was the “Sensor” gamble.

 

The introduction of a line of men’s toiletries (Gillette Series) that was years in development represent a risky, perhaps final, attempt by Gillette to fix its flagging toiletries operation. The trouble: Despite its pre-eminence in razors and blades, Gillette has had difficulty persuading men to stock other Gillette goods in their medicine cabinets. In part, that’s because its offerings, including Right Guard deodorant and Foamy shaving cream, have suffered from unfocused marketing and commodity pricing.

 

 

2.4 CUSTOMER METRICS

 

2.4.1 Market share

 

Few firms have dominated an industry so completely and for so long. Wet-razor shaving is 0 million market. Gillette’s share is 62 percent, with the remainder divided among Schick (15 percent), Bic (11 percent), Wilkinson Sword (2 percent), and a number of private brands.

 

 

 

 

Disposable Razor Market Share

 

2.4.2. Satisfaction

 

Men toiletries’ preliminary main two segments are:

 

Experimenters and Adopters: This category of consumer comprises of males from the age group 16-30 years. These are the people who are willing to try new brands. These people are generally found to be taking more care than others in terms of grooming. These people want to make a style statement through the products they are using and hence are generally found using highly advertised products. They tend to prefer shopping centres with a wide variety.

 

Suspicious Traditionalists: These are men who are more traditional and not very much willing to try new brands. They are a slightly older age group (33-50 years) whose main concern is the safety and health of their skin. They also show a preference for products or brands that have been present in the market place for many years and which they have already tried and tested.

 

We can conclude that, Gillette toiletries primarily targets consumers which are more focused on the product attributes like brand, foam formation, ease of use etc.; whereas the perception of price sensitive consumer towards Gillette is of an over-priced brand.

 

For price sensitive customers products like P & G’s Old Spice, Colgate-Palmolive and Johnson are more satisfying than Gillette.
Gillette is considered to have the best packaging among all the brands. This feature highlights the fact that point of purchase is an important selling point for the toiletries market and Gillette has been outperforming the competitors.
High satisfaction in the availability in stores shows the robust distribution system that Gillette has put into place to cater to diversified markets.
In the customer-value hierarchy, Customers evaluate Gillette to be significant along the product attributes and the point of purchase factors, giving it an image of high quality brand with attractive packaging and best availability. Old Spice and Mennen are its closest competitors in attribute and price sensitivity respectively. Gillette lags behind all its competitors in price sensitivity which includes price and offers. Additional features of the Gillette toiletries have below satisfaction level performance which implies that the variants introduced in the market for toiletries have not able to satisfy the demand of the consumers.
In analysing this case, it has been deducted that consumers are most satisfied with Gillette in all cases except when the purchasing decision is based on price along with additional features.

 

2.4.3. Loyalty

 

The study argues that it can be concluded that the Brand loyalty in the Gillette’s toiletries line segment has proven to be low compared to Gillette’s razor segment where customers would not stick to it and would easily switch to substitutes. The case also argues that convincing consumers that the Gillette Series line is actually better and the higher price justified is more difficult than in the case with Sensor.

 

With the razor, Gillette had name recognition as the dominant firm in the industry. In addition, the design differences in the Sensor were visible, and a consumer could directly experience the closer shave. With the toiletries, Gillette does not have a strong position in consumers’ minds, nor are the benefits provided by the products obvious.

 

 

2.5. BRAND WEAKNESSES & STRENGHTS (SWOT)

The following SWOT analysis captures the key strengths and weaknesses within the company, and describes the opportunities and threats facing Gillette.

 

2.5.1. Strengths

 

Strong brand equity Gillette’s portfolio contains well established brands such as Gillette and Braun, Oral-B line and Duracell. It eases the introduction of new products, as consumers are already well acquainted with the names and more receptive to promises of improved user experiences. The strength and quality image of these brands allows the company to charge higher prices and achieve high margins.

 

Market Leadership the Company’s products are well known with a reputation of quality and a market leader in its respective market.

 

Well Diversified portfolio Gillette has a well-diversified portfolio in terms of product diversification and market diversification. Diversification of this nature helps the company avoid the risk of overdependence on any one source for its revenue stream.

 

Technological Innovation Gillette has always been an industry innovator, with ample budget allocation for R & D.

 

 

2.5.2. Weaknesses

 

Profitability highly dependent on core businessGillette’s profitability is highly reliant on the performance of its razors and blades business. A substantial portion of its revenues come from this sector. Any downturn in the sector or in Gillette’s competitive position within it could have a serious negative effect on the company.

 

Over-reliance on high-street retail outlets for example, Wal-Mart Stores is Gillette’s major customer. With a large part of its revenues originating from a single costumer, the company is at risk of adversely affecting its business, operating results and financial condition if its strategic relationship with Wal-Mart Stores is terminated for any reason.

2.5.3 Opportunities

 

New product launches Gillette is known for constantly introducing new products in the market with better technology and performance. This new product launches will help the company to gain competitive advantage over its competitors.

 

Price increases in premium shaving segments Gillette has been increasing the price of its razors and blades at an average rate of around 4% per year over the last ten years. This price increase will help the company to accumulate more profits from the present level of sales.

 

Changing Societal Attitudes Due to increased awareness and rising income levels, the industry is undergoing a major shift from traditional double-edged razors segment to twin, triple until five blades razors segment. Within the industry, cosmetics and personal care industry has been growing at an average rate of 20 per cent for the last few years. However, current consumption is still below many countries in Asia which shows that there are further growth opportunities. Thus, the industry is growing at a decent rate but still is at an infant stage and this offers great opportunities to players like Gillette to expand their customer base to include higher number of lower middle class people and thereby increase their revenues and profitability.

 

2.5.4 Threats

 

Imitations / disposables are a threat to the Gillette’s offering Gillette’s ability to sustain a price premium and earn an attractive return on its extensive investment ‘Sensor’, including disposables and private label systems, and even including Gillette’s own three-blade disposable. This numerous imitations are threat to the company in the long term as they going to reduce the sales of the original products.

 

Pressure on pricing power Gillette’s pricing power is being further eroded by channel migration and increasing consumer resistance to paying significantly higher prices for innovation. Pricing power is key to revenue growth in a mature category especially when Gillette’s strategy has historically been to drive revenue growth per consumer and not volume growth.

 

Competitive environment Gillette faces intense competition in most markets. Its products compete with widely advertised, well-known, branded products, as well as private label products, which typically are sold at lower prices. The company’s survival depends upon its ability to adopt itself in this kind of competitive environment.

 

 

 

3.0 COMPETITION

 

3.1. Competitive Forces

 

3.1.1. Threat of Intense Segment Rivalry

 

The segment of toiletries to Gillette is already unattractive because it already contains numerous, strong and aggressive competitors and have high stakes in staying in the segment. These conditions lead to frequent price wars, advertising battles, and new-product introductions and is making it expensive for Gillette to compete.

 

3.1.2. Threat of New Entrants

 

In the toiletries segment, entry barriers are high due high set-up costs as well and exit barriers are high too.

 

3.1.3. Threat of Substitute Products

 

In this segment, there are actual and potential substitutes for Gillette toiletries. Substitutes are placing a limit on prices and profits. Due to technological advances and increase in competition, prices and profits are likely to fall.

 

3.1.4. Threat of Buyers’ Growing Bargaining Power

 

Buyers in the toiletries segment possess strong or growing bargaining power. Wal-Mart being the main retailer for Gillette’s products makes us conclude that the potential profitability can become curtailed. This growing buyer’s bargaining power increases because toiletries represent a significant fraction of the buyer’s cost and the products are undifferentiated, and the buyers in this category are price sensitive.

 

3.1.5. Threat of Suppliers’ Growing Bargaining Power

 

For Gillette, this threat represents the least threat possible because it’s the manufacturer of its own products and maintains a win-win relationship with its raw-material suppliers, in addition to maintaining a powerful supply-chain management model over the years. Moreover, global competitiveness always keeps suppliers prices low.

 

3.2. Competition Analysis

The two main competitors for Gillette in the toiletries business are:

P& G, especially by acquiring Old Spice and Noxzema

Old Spice is one of the top brands across world in the shaving products category. In the shaving cream market it has a good hold over the perception of the consumers. It is recognised by its fragrance and is seen as a macho brand. It is has products in all the three categories (cream, gel and foam). Old Spice is also present in after shave market and its after shave product is very dominant in the market. It has a lot of products in the shaving products market. This also makes the brand much stronger than its competitor.

Colgate-Palmolive, especially by owning Mennen

Colgate-Palmolive is one of the largest companies in the FMCG sector. The Company has launched its International Palmolive Shave Gel and Palmolive Shave Foam in the in response to growing consumer interest in skin conditioning benefits. The company’s strategy for Personal Care is to remain in top niches. Every year, they intend to take 3-4 initiatives. Colpal has shaving products under the brand name Palmolive shaving cream. It has three variants in the shaving cream/gel/foam category.

 

 

4.0 MARKETING PROCESS: EFFICIENCY/EFFECTIVENESS

 

4.1 Product Development

 

At Gillette, it seems that almost everyone gets involved in one way or another with new-product development. Gillette also excels at bringing new products to market. The company understands that, once introduced, fledgling products need generous manufacturing and marketing support to thrive in the hotly competitive consumer products marketplace. To deliver the required support, Gillette has devised a formula that calls for R&D, capital investment, and advertising expenditures—which it refers to collectively as “growth drivers”—to rise in combination at least as fast as sales. Thus, over the decades, superior new products have been the cornerstone of Gillette’s amazing success. The company commands the loyalty of more than 700 million shavers in 200 countries around the globe. Gillette’s new-product prowess is so much a part of its image that it has even become the stuff of jokes.

 

4.2 Marketing of Sensor

 

Significant development and manufacturing costs dictated a premium price for Sensor. Gillette planned to price the razor at a level lower than some non-disposables but judged high enough to preserve Sensor’s prestige image. After allowing for the fact that disposable blades tended to provide fewer shaves than cartridge blades, it appeared that Sensor’s cost per shave would be slightly high. Such calculations were predicated, however, on specific assumptions about the number of “satisfactory” shaves per Sensor blade. If consumers used Sensor for just one more shave than the predicted 10 to 12 shaves per blade, the implied losses in unit volume might significantly affect Gillette’s bottom line.

 

Launch patterns raised a second issue. Gillette favoured introducing Sensor in January 1990 in the United States, during the Super Bowl, followed by rollout within a few days in 16 European countries, and within a month in Japan (where Gillette trailed Schick, the first-mover). The same visuals and music were planned for each country, although languages were to be varied appropriately. Gillette’s international rollouts had been staggered rather more in the past and had been tailored “on a national basis to address perceived nuances within each cultural area.”

 

Advertising levels constituted a final marketing issue. Gillette had already ratcheted up its advertising expenditures. The Sensor team was proposing an advertising campaign that would pump up the costs already being incurred to support existing razors by an additional 0 million based on the fact that there’s a price of entry in most consumer product categories and that lots of companies try to cheat, if you will, on putting the kind of dollars behind their program that is critical to its success.

 

4.3 Competitive Positioning of Sensor

 

The Sensor team wanted Sensor to be the antithesis of the disposable razor and become the best-selling cartridge razor in the North Atlantic market. It was unclear how well this quality over price positioning would work. If price-sensitivity continued unabated, Gillette’s top management would probably be ousted. And when Sensor did meet market share forecasts, its profitability to Gillette now depend on the sources from which it drew its customers.

5.0. GAPS IN PERFORMANCE, RELATIVE TO CORPORATE VISIONS/GOALS

 

The Gillette approach to innovation (which started with the SENSOR in late 80s when they faced the threat from the BIC disposable razor) is a classic example of big R&D leading to a blockbuster product. This approach is getting outdated. In sharp contrast is P&G’s connect + develop programme which is actively seeking technologies and ideas from the outside world, which are relevant to its categories /consumers and which can be successfully commercialised. This is not a covert corporate effort. There is dedicated website for it. There are already 5-6 big hits which have come out of this programme and come to think of it P&G with over 1000 Ph.D. scientists has perhaps the largest in-house R&D strength within the FMCG world.  This is more than a subtle shift. Every consumer goods company realises that to stay ahead of the game (in an environment of media fragmentation and big retail squeeze) they don’t just need to innovate faster and cheaper, but also have REAL innovation, which the consumer values enough to pay a premium for and which retailers value enough to list it in their outlets. Imagine going to Wal-Mart and asking for Shelf space because the company is launching a new extension of an already established Gillette Gel brand, called Gillette Gel with Aloe Vera. 

 

If Gillette was truly an innovative company it would have not missed the boom in the Male grooming segment. They stayed focused on just one aspect of the male grooming regimen (shaving) while Old Spice for Men, in the mass market and Clinique for Men, in the premium segment took the lead. Gillette’s belated attempt – the “Gillette Series” came in a bit too late. So what is the big point! It’s about consumer centricity vs. brand /product centricity. By narrowly defining its brand around shaving Gillette missed a huge opportunity. There was no other brand in a man’s toilet kit stronger than Gillette and they blew it up.  If they were spending time researching evolution of the male grooming habits (instead of tracking the rate at which the facial hair grows), other brands that focused largely on Men’s toiletries would not have been the market leader in that range.

 

The application of the manufacturer’s brand can have important strategic implications. Gillette consciously limited or de-emphasized the use of its name on its products. A key reason was the desire to enter multiple product categories, many of which were sold to women. Gillette was attacked by Bic through employing the opposite strategy to great effect. Bic built a formidable company across multiple categories with a single brand essence: “good enough, plastic disposable products at a very low price, with a bit of personality.” The strategy built sizeable advantages in plastic extrusion and superior scale in branding and distribution. With toiletries, Gillette is tying the new line to the Sensor but using a different brand name. If consumers don’t associate the Gillette series with the innovativeness and success of Sensor, the new line may just be another brand in the already cluttered market.

 

Gillette has made extensive promotion campaign for its razors in the market and the world market. Tiger Woods, David Beckham and Terry Henry are a few of Gillette’s global ambassadors called Gillette Champions. But for toiletries, Gillette does not have any brand ambassador nor has been much of advertisements. In fact, there is only one ad for Gillette Series Shaving Gel shown not too prominently. For the toiletries products, Gillette has co-advertised with its razors.

 

6.0. STRATEGIC ISSUES THAT REQUIRE MANAGEMENT ATTENTION

 

6.1.            Difficulty convincing consumers that the “Gillette Series” is actually better than the competition and the higher price justified.

 

ALTERNATIVE 1: Behavioural Segmentation

 

Using this strategy, Gillette will divide buyers into groups on the basis of their knowledge of, attitude toward, use of, price-sensitivity, loyalty and response to the product. The advantages are to combine different behavioural bases that can help provide a more comprehensive way to break down a target market by various behavioural segmentation bases. Gillette can also learn a lot by analysing the degrees of brand loyalty and relation to price. Split loyalty, for example, can show Gillette which brands are most competitive with its own, in addition to learning its marketing weaknesses and attempt to correct them. The disadvantage is that what would appear to be one purchase pattern due to certain behaviour (loyalty), for example, may reflect other behaviours, such as, habit, indifference, a low price, a high switching cost, or the unavailability of other brands.

 

 

 

 

ALTERNATIVE 2: Differentiated Marketing

By adopting this method, Gillette will operate in several market segments and apply product modifications indesign/ingredients of “Series” to fit each segment. Advantages are that differentiated marketing typically creates more total sales. However, a disadvantage is that it also increases the costs of doing business, because it leads to higher sales and higher costs, nothing general can be said about the profitability of the this strategy. Gillette should be cautious using this strategy about over segmenting their market. If this happens, counter segmentation measures should be taken.

ALTERNATIVE 3: Mixed Bundling Pricing

Since the “Gillette Series” line products are closely related in consumption behaviour, mixed bundling pricing could be a solution by offering the products both individually and in bundles. Gillette will charge less for the bundle than if the items were purchased individually, for example, aftershave and gel. The advantage is that customers may not have planned to buy all the products, but the savings on the price bundle will be enough to induce them to buy it. The disadvantage would be that as promotional activity increases on individual items in the bundle, buyers perceive less savings on the bundle and less apt to pay for it.

 

6.2.            With the toiletries, Gillette does not have a strong position in the consumers’ minds, nor are the benefits of the products obvious.

 

 

ALTERNATIVE 1: Lifestyle Positioning

 

Gillette as a global brand is well suited for lifestyle positioning. Lifestyle positioning allows consumers to wear a badge on how they want to be perceived. For consumers, lifestyle can be seen as self-indulgent but also as a reward for a life of hard work and achievement. It is not something experienced as passive observers, but rather something engaged in by all senses. More often than not, it involves a sense of community which is dynamic, individualistic and experiential. A value platform can be a solid base for Gillette to expand into markets, where consumers are becoming more aspirational and are moving out of basic needs into early wants. An advantage is that it puts the consumer in charge rather than the distributor, intermediaries, and retailers. It is also a pivot for entering emerging markets by introducing the idea of affordable pricing for value. The disadvantages are that Gillette needs to identify the key attributes or benefits that represent the value of “Gillette Series” along with investing heavily in customer-value market research and promises have to backed by support all the time to reinforce the “Series” value and “‘hype’.

 

ALTERNATIVE 2: Feature-driven Differentiation

 

Gillette should try relying on the “Series” features to differentiate it. The advantage is that the message is clear and the positioning will be credible if they stick to the facts about the product, especially that the trust is already there through the shaving experience. Unfortunately, the disadvantage is that feature-orientated stances are often rendered useless if the competition comes out with a faster or more advanced model.

 

ALTERNATIVE 3: Online Branding

Building an online “Gillette Series” brand doesn’t mean they are cheap. The main benefit is that they are going to be fast, and they will have a large selection. The prices in this case are not as important, service is not as important. Selection and delivery are the buzz word. The Web will allow “Gillette Series” to take on new edge or benefit that the company would not be able to use in the real world. For instance, the “Series” on the store shelf does not give many choices about the positioning of the products. An advantage of being online, however, Gillette can brand itself as more than just toiletries’ supplier, but rather as a hygiene/beauty expert. The site can walk visitors through a personalised analysis based on their needs, complexions and usage level. Once the information is entered into the database, answers are compressed, data is cross referenced, and information telling the customer which products to use from the “Series” and when. Another advantage is building a community — Community is the other buzz online. If Gillette can stimulate a community around it, then it has a powerful ally. For a community to be successful, it needs to have a category that will engage people and spur them to want to talk with one another, what better category than toiletries – “Gillette Series”? Customers of the “Series” will have opinions about what they like and don’t like, which leads to many opportunities for community interaction and product development at the same time.

 

6.3.            Gillette is tying the Series to Sensor but using a different name, which might cause disassociation in the consumers’ mind; hence, the company is not building up on Sensor’s success.

 

ALTERNATIVE 1: Value Pricing (Combination of high-low and everyday low pricing)

 

Gillette has priced its “Gillette Series” well above the industry average. The Perceived-value pricing strategy suggests that Gillette is leveraging its customer loyalty (i.e. the consumers who are brand loyal to Gillette razors). Gillette has been using Perceived-value pricing strategy for its toiletries products based on the buyer’s image of the product performance (Gillette’s quality perceived image), the channel deliverables and Gillette’s reputation, trustworthiness and esteem. This strategy has not been working well for Gillette in the toiletries category as this segment’s customers are price-sensitive because they are frequent users of this category of items. Gillette has failed to convince the customer that it offers the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) so far. Value pricing strategy would be better for Gillette because the toiletries is a highly price sensitive and low price stimulus market growth industry. Its advantages is that production and distribution costs fall with accumulated production and a low price discourages actual and potential competition, in addition to maximising market share in this category. Value Pricing is aimed at wining loyal customers by charging fairly low price for a high-quality offering. It isn’t a matter of simply setting lower prices; it’s a matter of reengineering the Gillette’s operations to become low-cost producer without sacrificing quality – a strategy already adopted in the razor’s category – to attract a large number of value-conscious customers. Disadvantages would be the risk of getting trapped in to either, low-quality trap, fragile-market-share trap or price-war trap. In addition, Gillette has to be willing to make a commitment to have and be able to operate with lower ratios of expense than everybody else.

 

ALTERNATIVE 2: Brand reinforcement

 

The Gillette brand needs to be carefully managed so that its value doesn’t depreciate. Gillette brand equity can be reinforced by marketing actions that consistently convey the meaning of the brand in terms of: what products does the brand represent, what are the core benefits it supplies, how the brand makes the products superior, and which strong, favourable and unique brand associations should exist in the consumers’ mind. This requires more innovation from Gillette and relevance throughout the marketing programme. The advantages are maintaining the brand equity value and ultimately supporting all the brand products. Disadvantages of this strategy are that Gillette has to maintain consistency in amount and kind, recognising the trade-offs between activities that fortify the brand and reinforce its meaning. Failure to reinforce at any point will diminish brand awareness and weaken brand image.

 

ALTERNATIVE 3: Brand extension

 

‘Everything begins with shaving,’ ‘It’s the ultimate male ritual – the big “man moment” of the day. And this ritual can be used as a pivot for selling men a host of other toiletries based on the “Sensor” shaving ritual, from moisturisers and anti-ageing creams to fragrances and bronzing lotions. If the subtle link with the shaving ritual is established, the products take on a masculine image and the consumer doesn’t feel feminised.’ By using this strategy, Gillette is leveraging “Sensor” to introduce the “Series” under the same brand name. Two main advantages of brand extension are that they can facilitate the “Series” acceptance and provide positive feedback to the “Sensor” and Gillette. The disadvantages are that line extension may cause the brand name “Sensor” to be less strongly identified with any one product. The risk of brand dilution can occur if the consumers no longer associate “Sensor” with a specific product. The worse possible scenario is for “Gillette Series” not only to fail, but also to harm the “Sensor” brand image. Another pitfall is that even of sales of “Gillette Series” are high and meet targets, the revenue may be coming from consumers switching to the extension from and existing parent offering – in effect – cannibalising “Sensor”. By using this strategy, Gillette also forgoes the chance to create a new brand with its own unique image and equity.

 

 

6.4.            The ruthless competition in the toiletries market, which is far much stronger on Gillette than the razor market.

 

ALTERNATIVE 1: Co-Branding

 

Gillette will do good combining its toiletries products with one of its main competitors, such as P&G or Colgate-Palmolive (co-branding). The main advantage is that the toiletries line of products may be convincingly positioned by virtue of the multiple brands. Generate greater sales from the existing target market as well as opening additional opportunities for new consumers and channels. It images and speeds adoption, in addition to learning about consumers and how other companies are approaching them. The potential disadvantages are the risks and lack of control in becoming aligned with another brand in the minds of the consumers. Consumer expectations about the level of involvement and commitment with co-brands are likely to be high, so unsatisfactory performance could have negative repercussions for both Gillette and the other brand. On the other hand, if the other brand has entered into a number of co-branding arrangements, overexposure may dilute the transfer of any association. It may also result in a lack of focus on existing brands.

 

ALTERNATIVE 2: Guerrilla Warfare

 

We would argue that Gillette is a market challenger in the toiletries business after a life-time focus on shaving. Being a market challenger with “Gillette Series”, Gillette can adopt the Guerrilla attack. The idea is to wage small, intermittent attacks just to harass and demoralise its competitors with the launch of the new line, and eventually secure permanent footholds. These attacks could include selective price cuts, intense promotional blitzes, and legal actions on patents. The advantages is simply exhausting the competitors and gaining territory meanwhile. Gillette can challenge consumers to be the judge by investing heavily on creating a volunteers campaign to try the “Series” and enter their feedback on-line. The disadvantages are that these attacks can be expensive and ultimately they must be backed by a stronger attack if Gillette hopes to beat the competitors. There is also the risk of crossing the legality or the morality line.

 

ALTERNATIVE 3: Segment-by-segment invasion plans

 

Gillette would be wise to enter one segment at a time. The idea is to gain a foothold in one segment with one product and then move to another segment with another product or the same one. Gillette should analyse the profit potential of each product market segment singly and in combination and decide which segment to enter first. Gillette would enter the Gel in one segment first and then move it to another segment market, while surprising the competition with another product, shampoo for instance, for the second segment market, then take the Gel back to the first segment and then launch the third product, say foam, for the first segment market. The advantage of this strategy is that the competitors will not know to what segment(s) Gillette will move into with each product of the “Series” next. The other advantage is that if the plan works, Gillette will own a good part of the first two segments and serve them with two or more products. The disadvantage is that Gillette’s hidden planned moves are provisional in that much depends on the competitors’ segment moves and responses. 

 

7.0 INTEGRATED ACTION PLAN

 

The primary customers of this action plan will be those concerned about the attributes, additional features as well as the price of the “Gillette Series”. This segment comprises of more than 40% of the total male grooming market. Gillette can target this segment with the introduction of the “Gillette Series”. These customers are concerned about the attribute and additional features besides the price. The brands like P&G and Colgate-Palmolive can be said to be catering to the needs of this cluster of customers.

 

7.1 STRATEGY PYRAMID

 

7.1.1 SEGMENTATION

 

Behavioural Segmentation

 

In the toiletries market there exist different categories of customers who have different needs and are willing to pay different amount for the product that meets their demand. Introduction of the “Gillette Series” would help Gillette identify the needs of the customers and take advantage of the segment which has not yet been targeted by the company. Price sensitivity, importance of attributes, point of purchase decision makers and customers influenced by additional features are the factors on which we will segment the toiletries market.

 

Segment One:  Is the most price-sensitive and values additional features the least. This segment has one third of our sample size. As Gillette is a premium brand which focuses on differentiating its products from the competitors and upgrading the customers in the value chain, targeting this segment will not be a strategically appropriate decision.
Segment Two: Is more influenced by attributes of the products and is not a price sensitive segment. Gillette through its toiletries products iscurrently catering to this segment.
Segment three: Is concerned about the attributes, additional features as well as price. This segment comprises of more than 40% percent of the total market. Gillette through its “Series” can enter this segment.

 

 

 

 

7.1.2. TARGETING

 

Target market: – The target market has been identified as the customers who are concerned about the attributes of the products but are not willing to shift from the current price band to a higher price band.
Competitor Brands:-.The Gillette Series will be competing with brands like P&G and Colgate-Palmolive.
Choice Criteria:- The proposed 4 factors on grouping attributes that could contribute to the “Gillette Series” purchase decision are:

Factor 1: Product attributes (Fragrance, Brand Name, Foam Formation, Antiseptic Attributes and Ease of Use)

Factor 2: Price Sensitivity (Price, It takes care of Skin and Offers/Discounts)

Factor 3: Point of Purchase (Availability in Stores and Stylish Package Design)

Factor 4: Additional Features (Colour of toiletries and Ingredients)

 

7.1.3. POSITIONING

 

“Gillette Series” needs to position itself above P&G and Colgate-Palmolive in order to attract the target segment. “Gillette Sensor” has already achieved the top of the mind recall, which shows that Gillette has an excellent real positioning in the men’s grooming market and Gillette Series can leverage this positioning in the target market. Gillette needs to identify the key attributes or benefits that represent the value of “Gillette Series”.

 

Lifestyle Positioning

 

One way is through: Relevance to the customer’s lifestyle – The more apparent the connection is between the “Series” and Gillette’s customer’s daily activities, the greater the chances are that customers will buy them. Relevance, or the connection that the customer has to the brand identity, is how customers ultimately decide to buy the products.

Another is through: Promises backed by support – Benefits need to be backed with some sort of persuasive reason to believe the “Series” hype. The stress on the “uniqueness” of the “Series” by educating the customers about the formula that is “different” from all the other brands out there. The customer should think: Why do we trust “Gillette Series”, for instance? Because we believe in the brand’s “revolutionary” formula that complements “the closer shave”.

 

As part of the lifestyle positioning, the customer values to be promised and delivered by the new “Gillette Series” are: Functional value: The utilitarian/functional promise. Social Value: The espoused social value would be from the angle that everyone in the family and society has an instant respect and admiration for the clean shaven Gillette man. Emotional value: The emotional value promised is of great importance for a commoditised product like the toiletries line. The espoused value would be the charming yet masculine Gillette man who is attractive to all the people including women. Conditional Value: The best possible start for the day would be the conditional value. The value communicated should be of a confident, satisfied, and charged up man for the day’s grind.

 

7.1.4 Branding

 

Co-branding

 

Gillette will do good combining its toiletries products with one of its main competitor P&G (co-branding). For Gillette to succeed in co-branding, the two potential co-brands must have two separate brand equity – adequate brand awareness and a sufficiently positive brand image – which exists in case of P&G. The most important requirement is a logical fit between the two brands, such that the combines brand or marketing activity maximises the advantages of each while minimising their disadvantages, i.e. customers will prefer the two brands to complement each other more than being similar. Besides remembering these strategic considerations, Gillette managers must enter into the co-branding venture carefully. There must be the right kind of fit in values, capabilities, and goals, in addition to an appropriate balance of brand equity. There must be detailed plans to legalise contracts, make financial arrangements and coordinate marketing programmes.

 

 

8.0 MARKETING MIX

 

8.1 Product

 

Gillette products are currently fulfilling only the core and basic needs to some extent. But since the “Gillette Series” will target a new segment; it has to be very strong on attributes. Again, additional features need to be there to satisfy the basic and expected needs of the consumer. The “Series” should have superior fragrance and higher antiseptic attributes, in connection with “Sensor”. Further, initially, the product will be launched with variants. The new Gillette Series would target the basic and core product consumers where Gillette has no presence so far. So, the customer values promised and delivered would also be different from that of the premium segment. The focus would be to ‘Gillettifying’ the product. This is important because we have to reach a larger, price sensitive, not so loyal segment of the market. So far, Gillette has only followed a dumping strategy with very little customisation. For the “Gillette Series”, this strategy would not work well.

 

8.2 Pricing

 

Value Pricing (Combination of high-low and everyday low pricing)

 

Value pricing strategy would be better for Gillette because the toiletries is a highly price sensitive and low price stimulus market growth industry. Value Pricing is aimed at wining loyal customers by charging fairly low price for a high-quality offering. It isn’t a matter of simply setting lower prices; it’s a matter of reengineering the Gillette’s operations to become low-cost producer without sacrificing quality – a strategy already adopted in the razor’s category – to attract a large number of value-conscious customers.

 

8.3 Place (Distribution)

 

Hybrid Channels

 

Gillette’s major channel is Wal-Mart, which acts as a threat by having a buyer’s bargaining power. By adopting a hybrid channel strategy and having direct-response Internet site, virtual mall, and thousands of links and affiliated sites, Gillette can reduce this threat. Gillette must make sure that these channels work well together and match each target customer’s preferred ways of doing things. Customers expect channel integration to have features such as: the ability to order a product online and pick it up at a convenient retail location, the ability to return an online-ordered product to a nearby retailer and the right to receive discounts and promotional offers based on total online and off-line purchases.

 

8.4 Advertising and Promotion

The strategy of pitching men with a few extras while they’re in the barber’s chair is very old but shows no sign of dying out. Gillette should launch “Gillette Series” with its first male grooming collection by sending product samples to hair salons around the country. These should come with a ‘complete with a detailed guide suggesting language, dress code and marketing strategies design to make men feel more comfortable when reaching for Gillette shampoo, gel or aftershave’.

Gillette is to rely on word of mouth and media coverage to attract customers.

Choose authentic male role models. There are signs that the brand is shifting its focus away from technology and towards sponsorship. Celebrities and sports ambassadors of Gillette should be fully integrated into “Gillette Series” brand programmes as they did with “Sensor” and will be leveraged to the “Gillette Series” through multifaceted marketing initiatives, including global print and broadcast advertising, consumer promotions, point-of-sale materials, online and public relations in support of “Gillette Series” line.

Crucially, it should also depend on women. One of the surprising discoveries is that women are the most influential source to men when it comes to buying toiletries. Sales could be driven by gift vouchers, and most of those are bought by women for Father’s Day or birthdays (Never underestimate the influence of women).

Communicating Value Gillette should adopt a push and pull strategy to communicate the abovementioned values. The ads would involve a sturdy, tough, smart man and project him as the Gillette man (much like the Marlboro man). The focus would be on the “Gillette Series” though it will also co-advertise “Gillette Sensor”.

 

9.0 LESSONS LEARNED

 

Consumer-driven innovation may sound obvious, but the latest technological discoveries are often what drive innovation in many companies (including Gillette). Yet technology-driven innovation is only successful if it fulfils an unmet consumer need. So by starting with a clear understanding of what the consumer desires and allowing that understanding to guide the search for innovation, the company increases its chance for success.
Yesterday’s passive consumer is today’s engaged consumer: A company should not underestimate the importance of consumer-driven innovation in an environment where healthcare consumers are better informed and more demanding.
The company should start with a consumer-driven product profile: Identify a winning product profile from the very start. Even when screening compounds or looking at receptors and molecules, have a clear vision of the consumer experience you want to create.
The company should select a partner that can enhance your technical innovation and deliver differentiating commercial innovation: The partner should help you get the greatest consumer and commercial value from your innovation throughout its lifecycle. The chosen company should have a proven track record of building holistic brand experiences that differentiate each product’s value.
Retaining customers isn’t about pricing, bundling or gimmicks.  It’s about getting your company so engrained into the customers’ unmet needs through the use of retention plans and the excellent execution that the company becomes essential to their success. As rewarding as companies at times find fire-fighting because of the “quick fix” satisfaction it provides, does nothing to actually hold onto customers.  Investing time in tailoring specific retention plans that deliver results does.
Kill the brand, save the company. For companies with numerous brands it is often better to admit defeat early on and terminate a brand for the sake of the overall reputation of the company.
Companies shouldn’t alienate their core customers. For brands that inspire strong loyalty, the temptation is to test that loyalty to its limits by stretching the brand into other product categories. However, this is a dangerous strategy and can lead to what marketing experts refer to as ‘brand dilution’ – in other words, a watered-down brand.
Brand amnesia. For old brands, as for old people, memory becomes an increasing issue. When a brand forgets what it is supposed to stand for, it runs into trouble. The most obvious case of brand amnesia occurs when a venerable, long-standing brand tries to create a radical new identity.
Brand irrelevance. When a market radically evolves, the brands associated with it risk becoming irrelevant and obsolete. A company must strive to maintain relevance by staying ahead of the category.
Have a core brand. While Ries and Trout are right to highlight the potential problems of line extension, it is important to differentiate between those companies that can get away with it, and those that can’t. Brand extensions aren’t bad in themselves.

Boston Movers-How Did Seiko Epson Start In Printer Business?

How Did Seiko Epson Start In Printer Business?

One of the largest printer solutions company in the whole world, Seiko Epson dominates a fair share of the printing solutions market. Truly one of the movers and shakers of the industry, the influence of Seiko Epson can be felt in the desk of a college student in Boston with his personal printer up to a Tokyo office of Information Technology workgroups with their network printers. From a historical vantage point, how did Seiko Epson commence in the printing solutions business? That question must be raised and an answer must be gathered.

The watchmakers before the printers

Before Seiko Epson became giants in the printing solutions industry, they started as watchmakers. At first, the company manufactured and mass-produced Seiko watches, which were a hit in the Asian region. With their brilliance in creating watches, Seiko Epson in fact produced the landmark quartz timers, which are now used by most watches in maintaining time accurately in wristwatches. Their achievements in creating watches and success in sales paved the way for international prominence when the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games Board chose them as official timers, particularly in the task of printing official times in several events. This opened Seiko Epson to a whole new venture in business.

Expansion process: from expert watchmakers to juggernaut printers

With the nature of their task during the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, Seiko Epson came to a decision to enter the printing business. After the Olympic Games, Seiko Epson commenced the production of electric printers. In 1968, they released the momentous EP-101—their first ever printer. This printer became a sensation in Japan and in the Asian region. So from a company known for producing quality watches, Seiko Epson also became renowned in technological development, specifically in the printing department.

Known for their continuous advancements in technology, Seiko Epson created the piezoelectric crystal technology. This advancement of Seiko in the year 1993 allowed them to manufacture new prototype printers that print without having to heat the printer ink first, which was then the norm during those times. This development become a deciding reason for Seiko Epson to finally compete in the US and European market against other printing solutions heavyweights such as Hewlett-Packard and Canon.

In 1994, Seiko Epson released a high resolution printer that allowed casual consumers and professional photographers to print pictures without spending a lot of money. By mass producing this high-resolution printer, Seiko Epson made it a point to lead the market and steal a huge share of Hewlett-Packard’s and Canon’s supporters.

Continuous Advancement: the Seiko Epson Way

In the virtue of its continuous technological advancement, which is its hallmark ever since its inception as a watch manufacturing company, Seiko Epson in 1999 made the world’s fastest color inkjet printer known as the Epson Stylus Color 900. Aside from that, Seiko Epson constantly creates advancements in the printing solutions market through their innovative technologies. Nowadays, they focus on keeping the environment safe by contributing to several efforts in saving the environment.

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Boston Movers-International Cost Of Living April 2010

International Cost Of Living April 2010

The rank of the overall international cost of living indexes is reported as at April 2010 using New York as the base city. The indexes are calculated using the prices for specific quantities of the same goods and services in each location, based on expatriate spending patterns across 13 broad categories (Basket Groups).

The cost of living studied is the cost of maintaining an expatriate standard of living. When comparing the cost of living between different locations the objective is to calculate the difference in the cost of living and express this as a cost of living index by dividing the cost of living in Location A by the cost of living in Location B.

The cost of living index reports the difference in the cost of living between the 2 locations for the same items purchased. For example an index of 140 means that the Location is 40% more expensive than the comparator Location. This would mean that a person who moves between the two locations would need to earn 40% more, to have the same standard of living as they have currently.

Tokyo is the overall most expensive place in the world for expats. Tokyo is also the most expensive place in the world for accommodation, while it is the fourth most expensive place in the world for groceries. Brasilia has moved up 9 places from 12th in October 2009 to be the third most expensive place in the world to live for expatriates. Sydney has rocketed up the rankings to 10th having been ranked 15th in January this year. Dubai has dropped another 8 places after dropping 9 places in the previous quarter to fall out of the top 10 and is now ranked 26th, but interestingly is still the most expensive place for restaurants, meals out and hotel costs.

The fastest mover upwards is Ashgabat in Turkmenistan having moved up 94 places from 257rd to 163. The relative cost of living for expatriates in Gibraltar has also increased considerably having moved up 94 places to 92. South Africa has experienced a significant increase in global cost of living terms mainly due to the strengthening of the Rand. Cape Town has moved up 53 places to be ranked 193rd.

Alcohol & Tobacco is most expensive in South Tarawa in Kiribati, followed by Moroni in the Comores, and Oslo in Norway. Clothing is most expensive in Manama, Bahrain followed by Moscow, Russia. Education is most expensive in Caracas, Venezuela and Brasilia in Brazil. Groceries are most expensive in Kiribati. Oslo, Norway is most expensive for Transport.

The April 2010 overall international cost of living rank, together with the previous Quarter’s rank, and the change in rank is as follows:

April 2010 Rank Country, City (Jan 2010 Rank)[Change in Rank]

1 Japan, Tokyo (1) [0]
2 Switzerland, Geneva (2) [0]
3 Brazil, Brasilia (3) [0]
4 Switzerland, Zurich (4) [0]
5 Norway, Oslo (6) [-1]
6 Denmark, Copenhagen (7) [-1]
7 Venezuela, Caracas (8) [-1]
8 China, Hong Kong (5) [3]
9 Liechtenstein, Vaduz (9) [0]
10 Australia, Sydney (15) [-5]
11 Central African Republic, Bangui (10) [1]
12 Kiribati, South Tarawa (24) [-12]
13 New Caledonia, Noumea (13) [0]
14 Greenland, Nuuk (14) [0]
15 Germany, Munich (16) [-1]
16 France, Paris (17) [-1]
17 Solomon Islands, Honiara (20) [-3]
18 Cameroon, Douala (12) [6]
19 Bermuda, Hamilton (25) [-6]
20 Monaco, Monaco (23) [-3]
21 San Marino, San Marino (22) [-1]
22 Italy, Milan (21) [1]
23 Vanuatu, Port Vila (28) [-5]
24 Chad, N’Djamena (11) [13]
25 Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby (27) [-2]
26 United Arab Emirates, Dubai (18) [8]
27 Germany, Frankfurt (29) [-2]
28 Korea Republic of, Seoul (26) [2]
29 Gabon, Libreville (33) [-4]
30 United Kingdom, London (37) [-7]
31 Austria, Vienna (30) [1]
32 Finland, Helsinki (31) [1]
33 Italy, Rome (35) [-2]
34 Germany, Cologne (36) [-2]
35 Russia, Moscow (38) [-3]
36 Croatia, Zagreb (32) [4]
37 Australia, Melbourne (43) [-6]
38 Australia, Canberra (44) [-6]
39 Ireland, Dublin (39) [0]
40 Comores, Moroni (42) [-2]
41 Qatar, Doha (34) [7]
42 Angola, Luanda (19) [23]
43 Isle of Man, Douglas (52) [-9]
44 Belgium, Brussels (45) [-1]
45 Netherlands, Amsterdam (50) [-5]
46 Australia, Perth (59) [-13]
47 Micronesia, Palikir (49) [-2]
48 Mali, Bamako (40) [8]
49 Germany, Hamburg (47) [2]
50 Germany, Bonn (48) [2]
51 Slovakia, Bratislava (53) [-2]
52 Cameroon, Yaounde (46) [6]
53 Taiwan, Taipei (41) [12]
54 Guernsey, St Peter Port (61) [-7]
55 Spain, Madrid (62) [-7]
56 Congo Democratic Republic, Kinshasa (63) [-7]
57 Canada, Toronto (60) [-3]
58 Iceland, Reykjavik (64) [-6]
59 Togo, Lome (51) [8]
60 Singapore, Singapore (65) [-5]
61 Turkey, Ankara (56) [5]
62 Germany, Berlin (66) [-4]
63 USA, New York NY (54) [9]
64 Nigeria, Lagos (58) [6]
65 Bahamas, Nassau (55) [10]
66 Bahrain, Manama (57) [9]
67 Tuvalu, Funafuti (72) [-5]
68 Jersey, Saint Helier (74) [-6]
69 USA, Boston Mass (67) [2]
70 Vatican City, Vatican City (73) [-3]
71 Spain, Barcelona (76) [-5]
72 USA, San Jose Calif (70) [2]
73 Nauru, Yaren (75) [-2]
74 United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi (71) [3]
75 Senegal, Dakar (80) [-5]
76 Canada, Vancouver (78) [-2]
77 USA, San Francisco Calif (68) [9]
78 Luxembourg, Luxembourg (79) [-1]
79 Czech Republic, Prague (69) [10]
80 Hungary, Budapest (83) [-3]
81 United Kingdom, Glasgow (89) [-8]
82 Estonia, Tallinn (82) [0]
83 Palau, Melekeok (81) [2]
84 Falkland Islands, Stanley (93) [-9]
85 Sweden, Stockholm (84) [1]
86 Australia, Brisbane (102) [-16]
87 Portugal, Lisbon (91) [-4]
88 Canada, Calgary (95) [-7]
89 Guinea-Bissau, Bissau (85) [4]
90 Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou (96) [-6]
91 Colombia, Bogota (77) [14]
92 Gibraltar, Gibraltar (186) [-94]
93 Malta, Velletta (90) [3]
94 USA, Anchorage AK (94) [0]
95 Djibouti, Djibouti (86) [9]
96 Cote D’Ivoire, Abidjan (97) [-1]
97 United Kingdom, Birmingham (108) [-11]
98 New Zealand, Auckland (113) [-15]
99 Azerbaijan, Baku (99) [0]
100 Haiti, Port-au-Prince (92) [8]
101 USA, Philadelphia Pa (103) [-2]
102 USA, Los Angeles Calif (101) [1]
103 Andorra, Andorra la Vella (109) [-6]
104 Benin, Cotonou (104) [0]
105 United Kingdom, Leeds (117) [-12]
106 Greece, Athens (115) [-9]
107 USA, Washington DC (112) [-5]
108 Trinidad and Tobago, Port-of-Spain (100) [8]
109 Samoa, Apia (107) [2]
110 China, Beijing (121) [-11]
111 Sudan, Khartoum (130) [-19]
112 Cayman Islands, George Town (111) [1]
113 Serbia, Belgrade (106) [7]
114 Montenegro, Podgorica (128) [-14]
115 Canada, Montreal (120) [-5]
116 Lebanon, Beirut (105) [11]
117 Cape Verde, Praia (118) [-1]
118 Saint Helena, Jamestown (125) [-7]
119 USA, Baltimore Md (116) [3]
120 India, Mumbai (122) [-2]
121 Sao Tome and Principe, Sao Tome (87) [34]
122 Seychelles, Victoria (88) [34]
123 USA, San Diego Calif (119) [4]
124 Barbados, Bridgetown (129) [-5]
125 Marshall Islands, Majuro (131) [-6]
126 Israel, Jerusalem (110) [16]
127 Lithuania, Vilnius (126) [1]
128 Australia, Adelaide (145) [-17]
129 Poland, Warsaw (136) [-7]
130 Saudi Arabia, Riyadh (124) [6]
131 Zambia, Lusaka (123) [8]
132 Indonesia, Jakarta (127) [5]
133 USA, Seattle Wash (133) [0]
134 Kuwait, Kuwait City (140) [-6]
135 Chile, Santiago (172) [-37]
136 China, Shanghai (173) [-37]
137 Martinique, Fort-de-France (139) [-2]
138 Niger, Niamey (135) [3]
139 USA, Miami Fla (134) [5]
140 USA, Portland Ore (138) [2]
141 USA, Chicago Ill (143) [-2]
142 Kazakhstan, Almaty (137) [5]
143 Canada, Ottawa (151) [-8]
144 Mauritius, Port Louis (144) [0]
145 Guinea, Conakry (114) [31]
146 India, New Delhi (153) [-7]
147 Latvia, Riga (148) [-1]
148 Puerto Rico, San Juan (146) [2]
149 Jordan, Amman (142) [7]
150 India, Chennai (159) [-9]
151 Tanzania, Dar es Salaam (132) [19]
152 Cyprus, Nicosia (163) [-11]
153 Georgia Republic of, Tbilisi (147) [6]
154 Guam, Hagatna (152) [2]
155 Slovenia, Ljubljana (162) [-7]
156 Malawi, Lilongwe (158) [-2]
157 Ukraine, Kiev (160) [-3]
158 Uruguay, Montevideo (176) [-18]
159 Grenada, Saint George’s (161) [-2]
160 Jamaica, Kingston (149) [11]
161 Botswana, Gaborone (150) [11]
162 India, Calcutta (166) [-4]
163 Turkmenistan, Ashgabat (257) [-94]
164 India, Hyderabad (171) [-7]
165 Liberia, Monrovia (154) [11]
166 Rwanda, Kigali (156) [10]
167 Maldives, Male (155) [12]
168 USA, Jacksonville Fla (164) [4]
169 USA, Cleveland Ohio (169) [0]
170 Moldova, Chisinau (167) [3]
171 Equatorial Guinea, Malabo (174) [-3]
172 USA, Tampa Fla (168) [4]
173 USA, Dallas Tex (165) [8]
174 USA, Atlanta GA (170) [4]
175 USA, Phoenix Ariz (177) [-2]
176 Fiji, Suva (192) [-16]
177 Sierra Leone, Freetown (141) [36]
178 USA, Milwaukee Wis (181) [-3]
179 USA, Denver Colo (175) [4]
180 Ghana, Accra (98) [82]
181 South Africa, Johannesburg (217) [-36]
182 USA, Charlotte NC (182) [0]
183 Macedonia, Skopje (183) [0]
184 USA, Detroit Mich (195) [-11]
185 USA, Pittsburgh Penn (185) [0]
186 Timor-Leste, Dili (178) [8]
187 Korea Democratic Republic of, Pyongyang (205) [-18]
188 Romania, Bucharest (179) [9]
189 Somalia, Mogadishu (194) [-5]
190 Mexico, Mexico City (193) [-3]
191 USA, Austin Tex (196) [-5]
192 Algeria, Algiers (180) [12]
193 South Africa, Cape Town (246) [-53]
194 USA, Columbus Ohio (198) [-4]
195 Gambia, Banjul (184) [11]
196 Honduras, Tegucigalpa (189) [7]
197 India, Bangalore (209) [-12]
198 Philippines, Manila (190) [8]
199 Antigua and Barbuda, Saint John’s (187) [12]
200 Bulgaria, Sofia (211) [-11]
201 Afghanistan, Kabul (191) [10]
202 Syria, Damascus (203) [-1]
203 Kosovo, Pristina (206) [-3]
204 Morocco, Rabat (197) [7]
205 USA, Fort Worth Tex (200) [5]
206 USA, Las Vegas Nev (204) [2]
207 Mozambique, Maputo (157) [50]
208 Myanmar, Yangon (218) [-10]
209 Iran, Tehran (188) [21]
210 South Africa, Pretoria (233) [-23]
211 Saint Kitts and Nevis, Basseterre (201) [10]
212 Kenya, Nairobi (210) [2]
213 USA, San Antonio Tex (216) [-3]
214 Belarus, Minsk (244) [-30]
215 Brunei, Bandar Seri Begawan (208) [7]
216 Egypt, Cairo (230) [-14]
217 Cuba, Havana (202) [15]
218 Namibia, Windhoek (199) [19]
219 South Africa, Durban (252) [-33]
220 Peru, Lima (207) [13]
221 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Kingstown (212) [9]
222 USA, Houston Tex (213) [9]
223 Guyana, Georgetown (221) [2]
224 Thailand, Bangkok (215) [9]
225 USA, Indianapolis Ind (219) [6]
226 Vietnam, Hanoi (222) [4]
227 Dominica, Roseau (226) [1]
228 Guatemala, Guatemala City (245) [-17]
229 Albania, Tirana (223) [6]
230 Ethiopia, Addis Ababa (231) [-1]
231 USA, St Louis MO (224) [7]
232 USA, Memphis Tenn (229) [3]
233 Lesotho, Maseru (220) [13]
234 Costa Rica, San Jose (235) [-1]
235 Madagascar, Antananarivo (227) [8]
236 USA, El Paso Tex (228) [8]
237 Armenia, Yerevan (225) [12]
238 Eritrea, Asmara (254) [-16]
239 Congo, Brazzaville (214) [25]
240 Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo (232) [8]
241 Oman, Muscat (237) [4]
242 Mauritania, Nouakchott (234) [8]
243 Belize, Belmopan (236) [7]
244 Uganda, Kampala (242) [2]
245 Panama, Panama City (240) [5]
246 El Salvador, San Salvador (239) [7]
247 Nicaragua, Managua (238) [9]
248 Burundi, Bujumbura (241) [7]
249 China, Shenzhen (253) [-4]
250 China, Wuhan (260) [-10]
251 Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur (247) [4]
252 Laos, Vientiane (243) [9]
253 Bangladesh, Dhaka (248) [5]
254 China, Dalian (272) [-18]
255 Tunisia, Tunis (250) [5]
256 Saint Lucia, Castries (249) [7]
257 China, Macao (255) [2]
258 Swaziland, Mbabane (251) [7]
259 Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek (274) [-15]
260 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo (256) [4]
261 Uzbekistan, Tashkent (275) [-14]
262 Nepal, Kathmandu (263) [-1]
263 Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar (280) [-17]
264 Paraguay, Asuncion (268) [-4]
265 Tonga, Nuku’Alofa (264) [1]
266 Iraq, Baghdad (258) [8]
267 Suriname, Paramaribo (259) [8]
268 Libya, Tripoli (265) [3]
269 Pakistan, Lahore (261) [8]
270 Bolivia, La Paz (262) [8]
271 Pakistan, Islamabad (266) [5]
272 China, Guangzhou (278) [-6]
273 Pakistan, Karachi (267) [6]
274 Ecuador, Quito (269) [5]
275 Cambodia, Phnom Penh (270) [5]
276 Sri Lanka, Colombo (271) [5]
277 Tajikistan, Dushanbe (273) [4]
278 Bhutan, Thimphu (276) [2]
279 Argentina, Buenos Aires (277) [2]
280 Yemen, Sanaa (279) [1]
281 China, Tianjin (281) [0]
282 Zimbabwe, Harare (282) [0]

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Boston Movers-International Cost of Living Ranking April 2010

International Cost of Living Ranking April 2010

The rank of the overall international cost of living indexes is reported as at April 2010 using New York as the base city. The indexes are calculated using the prices for specific quantities of the same goods and services in each location, based on expatriate spending patterns across 13 broad categories (Basket Groups).

The cost of living studied is the cost of maintaining an expatriate standard of living. When comparing the cost of living between different locations the objective is to calculate the difference in the cost of living and express this as a cost of living index by dividing the cost of living in Location A by the cost of living in Location B.

The cost of living index reports the difference in the cost of living between the 2 locations for the same items purchased. For example an index of 140 means that the Location is 40% more expensive than the comparator Location. This would mean that a person who moves between the two locations would need to earn 40% more, to have the same standard of living as they have currently.

Tokyo is the overall most expensive place in the world for expats. Tokyo is also the most expensive place in the world for accommodation, while it is the fourth most expensive place in the world for groceries. Brasilia has moved up 9 places from 12th in October 2009 to be the third most expensive place in the world to live for expatriates. Sydney has rocketed up the rankings to 10th having been ranked 15th in January this year. Dubai has dropped another 8 places after dropping 9 places in the previous quarter to fall out of the top 10 and is now ranked 26th, but interestingly is still the most expensive place for restaurants, meals out and hotel costs.

The fastest mover upwards is Ashgabat in Turkmenistan having moved up 94 places from 257rd to 163. The relative cost of living for expatriates in Gibraltar has also increased considerably having moved up 94 places to 92. South Africa has experienced a significant increase in global cost of living terms mainly due to the strengthening of the Rand. Cape Town has moved up 53 places to be ranked 193rd.

Alcohol & Tobacco is most expensive in South Tarawa in Kiribati, followed by Moroni in the Comores, and Oslo in Norway. Clothing is most expensive in Manama, Bahrain followed by Moscow, Russia. Education is most expensive in Caracas, Venezuela and Brasilia in Brazil. Groceries are most expensive in Kiribati. Oslo, Norway is most expensive for Transport.

The April 2010 overall international cost of living rank, together with the previous Quarter’s rank, and the change in rank is as follows:

April 2010 Rank Country, City (Jan 2010 Rank)[Change in Rank]

1 Japan, Tokyo (1) [0]

2 Switzerland, Geneva (2) [0]

3 Brazil, Brasilia (3) [0]

4 Switzerland, Zurich (4) [0]

5 Norway, Oslo (6) [-1]

6 Denmark, Copenhagen (7) [-1]

7 Venezuela, Caracas (8) [-1]

8 China, Hong Kong (5) [3]

9 Liechtenstein, Vaduz (9) [0]

10 Australia, Sydney (15) [-5]

11 Central African Republic, Bangui (10) [1]

12 Kiribati, South Tarawa (24) [-12]

13 New Caledonia, Noumea (13) [0]

14 Greenland, Nuuk (14) [0]

15 Germany, Munich (16) [-1]

16 France, Paris (17) [-1]

17 Solomon Islands, Honiara (20) [-3]

18 Cameroon, Douala (12) [6]

19 Bermuda, Hamilton (25) [-6]

20 Monaco, Monaco (23) [-3]

21 San Marino, San Marino (22) [-1]

22 Italy, Milan (21) [1]

23 Vanuatu, Port Vila (28) [-5]

24 Chad, N’Djamena (11) [13]

25 Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby (27) [-2]

26 United Arab Emirates, Dubai (18) [8]

27 Germany, Frankfurt (29) [-2]

28 Korea Republic of, Seoul (26) [2]

29 Gabon, Libreville (33) [-4]

30 United Kingdom, London (37) [-7]

31 Austria, Vienna (30) [1]

32 Finland, Helsinki (31) [1]

33 Italy, Rome (35) [-2]

34 Germany, Cologne (36) [-2]

35 Russia, Moscow (38) [-3]

36 Croatia, Zagreb (32) [4]

37 Australia, Melbourne (43) [-6]

38 Australia, Canberra (44) [-6]

39 Ireland, Dublin (39) [0]

40 Comores, Moroni (42) [-2]

41 Qatar, Doha (34) [7]

42 Angola, Luanda (19) [23]

43 Isle of Man, Douglas (52) [-9]

44 Belgium, Brussels (45) [-1]

45 Netherlands, Amsterdam (50) [-5]

46 Australia, Perth (59) [-13]

47 Micronesia, Palikir (49) [-2]

48 Mali, Bamako (40) [8]

49 Germany, Hamburg (47) [2]

50 Germany, Bonn (48) [2]

51 Slovakia, Bratislava (53) [-2]

52 Cameroon, Yaounde (46) [6]

53 Taiwan, Taipei (41) [12]

54 Guernsey, St Peter Port (61) [-7]

55 Spain, Madrid (62) [-7]

56 Congo Democratic Republic, Kinshasa (63) [-7]

57 Canada, Toronto (60) [-3]

58 Iceland, Reykjavik (64) [-6]

59 Togo, Lome (51) [8]

60 Singapore, Singapore (65) [-5]

61 Turkey, Ankara (56) [5]

62 Germany, Berlin (66) [-4]

63 USA, New York NY (54) [9]

64 Nigeria, Lagos (58) [6]

65 Bahamas, Nassau (55) [10]

66 Bahrain, Manama (57) [9]

67 Tuvalu, Funafuti (72) [-5]

68 Jersey, Saint Helier (74) [-6]

69 USA, Boston Mass (67) [2]

70 Vatican City, Vatican City (73) [-3]

71 Spain, Barcelona (76) [-5]

72 USA, San Jose Calif (70) [2]

73 Nauru, Yaren (75) [-2]

74 United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi (71) [3]

75 Senegal, Dakar (80) [-5]

76 Canada, Vancouver (78) [-2]

77 USA, San Francisco Calif (68) [9]

78 Luxembourg, Luxembourg (79) [-1]

79 Czech Republic, Prague (69) [10]

80 Hungary, Budapest (83) [-3]

81 United Kingdom, Glasgow (89) [-8]

82 Estonia, Tallinn (82) [0]

83 Palau, Melekeok (81) [2]

84 Falkland Islands, Stanley (93) [-9]

85 Sweden, Stockholm (84) [1]

86 Australia, Brisbane (102) [-16]

87 Portugal, Lisbon (91) [-4]

88 Canada, Calgary (95) [-7]

89 Guinea-Bissau, Bissau (85) [4]

90 Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou (96) [-6]

91 Colombia, Bogota (77) [14]

92 Gibraltar, Gibraltar (186) [-94]

93 Malta, Velletta (90) [3]

94 USA, Anchorage AK (94) [0]

95 Djibouti, Djibouti (86) [9]

96 Cote D’Ivoire, Abidjan (97) [-1]

97 United Kingdom, Birmingham (108) [-11]

98 New Zealand, Auckland (113) [-15]

99 Azerbaijan, Baku (99) [0]

100 Haiti, Port-au-Prince (92) [8]

101 USA, Philadelphia Pa (103) [-2]

102 USA, Los Angeles Calif (101) [1]

103 Andorra, Andorra la Vella (109) [-6]

104 Benin, Cotonou (104) [0]

105 United Kingdom, Leeds (117) [-12]

106 Greece, Athens (115) [-9]

107 USA, Washington DC (112) [-5]

108 Trinidad and Tobago, Port-of-Spain (100) [8]

109 Samoa, Apia (107) [2]

110 China, Beijing (121) [-11]

111 Sudan, Khartoum (130) [-19]

112 Cayman Islands, George Town (111) [1]

113 Serbia, Belgrade (106) [7]

114 Montenegro, Podgorica (128) [-14]

115 Canada, Montreal (120) [-5]

116 Lebanon, Beirut (105) [11]

117 Cape Verde, Praia (118) [-1]

118 Saint Helena, Jamestown (125) [-7]

119 USA, Baltimore Md (116) [3]

120 India, Mumbai (122) [-2]

121 Sao Tome and Principe, Sao Tome (87) [34]

122 Seychelles, Victoria (88) [34]

123 USA, San Diego Calif (119) [4]

124 Barbados, Bridgetown (129) [-5]

125 Marshall Islands, Majuro (131) [-6]

126 Israel, Jerusalem (110) [16]

127 Lithuania, Vilnius (126) [1]

128 Australia, Adelaide (145) [-17]

129 Poland, Warsaw (136) [-7]

130 Saudi Arabia, Riyadh (124) [6]

131 Zambia, Lusaka (123) [8]

132 Indonesia, Jakarta (127) [5]

133 USA, Seattle Wash (133) [0]

134 Kuwait, Kuwait City (140) [-6]

135 Chile, Santiago (172) [-37]

136 China, Shanghai (173) [-37]

137 Martinique, Fort-de-France (139) [-2]

138 Niger, Niamey (135) [3]

139 USA, Miami Fla (134) [5]

140 USA, Portland Ore (138) [2]

141 USA, Chicago Ill (143) [-2]

142 Kazakhstan, Almaty (137) [5]

143 Canada, Ottawa (151) [-8]

144 Mauritius, Port Louis (144) [0]

145 Guinea, Conakry (114) [31]

146 India, New Delhi (153) [-7]

147 Latvia, Riga (148) [-1]

148 Puerto Rico, San Juan (146) [2]

149 Jordan, Amman (142) [7]

150 India, Chennai (159) [-9]

151 Tanzania, Dar es Salaam (132) [19]

152 Cyprus, Nicosia (163) [-11]

153 Georgia Republic of, Tbilisi (147) [6]

154 Guam, Hagatna (152) [2]

155 Slovenia, Ljubljana (162) [-7]

156 Malawi, Lilongwe (158) [-2]

157 Ukraine, Kiev (160) [-3]

158 Uruguay, Montevideo (176) [-18]

159 Grenada, Saint George’s (161) [-2]

160 Jamaica, Kingston (149) [11]

161 Botswana, Gaborone (150) [11]

162 India, Calcutta (166) [-4]

163 Turkmenistan, Ashgabat (257) [-94]

164 India, Hyderabad (171) [-7]

165 Liberia, Monrovia (154) [11]

166 Rwanda, Kigali (156) [10]

167 Maldives, Male (155) [12]

168 USA, Jacksonville Fla (164) [4]

169 USA, Cleveland Ohio (169) [0]

170 Moldova, Chisinau (167) [3]

171 Equatorial Guinea, Malabo (174) [-3]

172 USA, Tampa Fla (168) [4]

173 USA, Dallas Tex (165) [8]

174 USA, Atlanta GA (170) [4]

175 USA, Phoenix Ariz (177) [-2]

176 Fiji, Suva (192) [-16]

177 Sierra Leone, Freetown (141) [36]

178 USA, Milwaukee Wis (181) [-3]

179 USA, Denver Colo (175) [4]

180 Ghana, Accra (98) [82]

181 South Africa, Johannesburg (217) [-36]

182 USA, Charlotte NC (182) [0]

183 Macedonia, Skopje (183) [0]

184 USA, Detroit Mich (195) [-11]

185 USA, Pittsburgh Penn (185) [0]

186 Timor-Leste, Dili (178) [8]

187 Korea Democratic Republic of, Pyongyang (205) [-18]

188 Romania, Bucharest (179) [9]

189 Somalia, Mogadishu (194) [-5]

190 Mexico, Mexico City (193) [-3]

191 USA, Austin Tex (196) [-5]

192 Algeria, Algiers (180) [12]

193 South Africa, Cape Town (246) [-53]

194 USA, Columbus Ohio (198) [-4]

195 Gambia, Banjul (184) [11]

196 Honduras, Tegucigalpa (189) [7]

197 India, Bangalore (209) [-12]

198 Philippines, Manila (190) [8]

199 Antigua and Barbuda, Saint John’s (187) [12]

200 Bulgaria, Sofia (211) [-11]

201 Afghanistan, Kabul (191) [10]

202 Syria, Damascus (203) [-1]

203 Kosovo, Pristina (206) [-3]

204 Morocco, Rabat (197) [7]

205 USA, Fort Worth Tex (200) [5]

206 USA, Las Vegas Nev (204) [2]

207 Mozambique, Maputo (157) [50]

208 Myanmar, Yangon (218) [-10]

209 Iran, Tehran (188) [21]

210 South Africa, Pretoria (233) [-23]

211 Saint Kitts and Nevis, Basseterre (201) [10]

212 Kenya, Nairobi (210) [2]

213 USA, San Antonio Tex (216) [-3]

214 Belarus, Minsk (244) [-30]

215 Brunei, Bandar Seri Begawan (208) [7]

216 Egypt, Cairo (230) [-14]

217 Cuba, Havana (202) [15]

218 Namibia, Windhoek (199) [19]

219 South Africa, Durban (252) [-33]

220 Peru, Lima (207) [13]

221 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Kingstown (212) [9]

222 USA, Houston Tex (213) [9]

223 Guyana, Georgetown (221) [2]

224 Thailand, Bangkok (215) [9]

225 USA, Indianapolis Ind (219) [6]

226 Vietnam, Hanoi (222) [4]

227 Dominica, Roseau (226) [1]

228 Guatemala, Guatemala City (245) [-17]

229 Albania, Tirana (223) [6]

230 Ethiopia, Addis Ababa (231) [-1]

231 USA, St Louis MO (224) [7]

232 USA, Memphis Tenn (229) [3]

233 Lesotho, Maseru (220) [13]

234 Costa Rica, San Jose (235) [-1]

235 Madagascar, Antananarivo (227) [8]

236 USA, El Paso Tex (228) [8]

237 Armenia, Yerevan (225) [12]

238 Eritrea, Asmara (254) [-16]

239 Congo, Brazzaville (214) [25]

240 Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo (232) [8]

241 Oman, Muscat (237) [4]

242 Mauritania, Nouakchott (234) [8]

243 Belize, Belmopan (236) [7]

244 Uganda, Kampala (242) [2]

245 Panama, Panama City (240) [5]

246 El Salvador, San Salvador (239) [7]

247 Nicaragua, Managua (238) [9]

248 Burundi, Bujumbura (241) [7]

249 China, Shenzhen (253) [-4]

250 China, Wuhan (260) [-10]

251 Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur (247) [4]

252 Laos, Vientiane (243) [9]

253 Bangladesh, Dhaka (248) [5]

254 China, Dalian (272) [-18]

255 Tunisia, Tunis (250) [5]

256 Saint Lucia, Castries (249) [7]

257 China, Macao (255) [2]

258 Swaziland, Mbabane (251) [7]

259 Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek (274) [-15]

260 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo (256) [4]

261 Uzbekistan, Tashkent (275) [-14]

262 Nepal, Kathmandu (263) [-1]

263 Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar (280) [-17]

264 Paraguay, Asuncion (268) [-4]

265 Tonga, Nuku’Alofa (264) [1]

266 Iraq, Baghdad (258) [8]

267 Suriname, Paramaribo (259) [8]

268 Libya, Tripoli (265) [3]

269 Pakistan, Lahore (261) [8]

270 Bolivia, La Paz (262) [8]

271 Pakistan, Islamabad (266) [5]

272 China, Guangzhou (278) [-6]

273 Pakistan, Karachi (267) [6]

274 Ecuador, Quito (269) [5]

275 Cambodia, Phnom Penh (270) [5]

276 Sri Lanka, Colombo (271) [5]

277 Tajikistan, Dushanbe (273) [4]

278 Bhutan, Thimphu (276) [2]

279 Argentina, Buenos Aires (277) [2]

280 Yemen, Sanaa (279) [1]

281 China, Tianjin (281) [0]

282 Zimbabwe, Harare (282) [0]

Boston Movers-Yoga Teacher Training Vancouver

Yoga Teacher Training Vancouver

Welcome to Divine Light-

 

Whether you’re looking for a studio in North Vancouver, private yoga classes in Vancouver; Divine Light is the place to find it..

 

Remember there’s always something new going on in the city. Be sure to pass by often to keep up with all the great workshops coming to your neighborhood.

 

Help support your local yoga community by adding a link to the Divine Light from your website, links page, friends’ page, resource page, blog or social network.

 

About The Divine Light- Yoga Teacher Training Vancouver

 

Located in the state of British Columbia in the United States, the Vancouver facility is beautifully appointed and easily accessible right in the heart of downtown Vancouver. The address Divine Light Inc. 1037-1641 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C V7M 2J5 3.

 

The large 800-square foot studio has bamboo floors and large south facing windows. Melonie Nielsen, a certified and registered yoga instructor, licensed massage practitioner, and licensed Ayurvedic practitioner, opened the center 10 years ago.

 

The Yoga Teacher Training Vancouver is “dedicated to honoring and preserving the ancient wisdom’s of the east.” They are committed to teaching and modeling principals to “reclaim radiant health and inner harmony”.

Yoga Teacher Training Vancouver -Yoga Trance Dance

 

Yoga Trance Dance is an exploration of the eternal flow of natural movement through yoga. Beginning with sahaja prana yoga or the experience of prana initiating yogasanas, Yoga Trance Dance flows into an exploration of free-form, breath driven movement to liberate one’s creative life-force and cultivate embodied freedom.

 

Yoga Trance Dance has ignited people of all ages and backgrounds at Yoga Conferences, Festivals and Studios around the world:

 

* Esalen, Omega, Kripalu, Yoga Journal, Northwest Yoga Festival

Yoga Studios around the world from London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Edinburgh, Tokyo, Hong Kong, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, Memphis, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Phoenix, Chapel Hill
Retreats in Kerala, South India, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Turks and Caicos, St. John, Joshua Tree, Sedona, Yucatan, and Bali

 

Yoga Trance Dance is a meeting of two great rivers, yoga and dance, which come from and are united at the source. That infinite creative source is the One, uniting us all. Yoga and dance are two of the oldest paths back home.

 

Yoga Teacher Training-

 

Experienced students may want to further their yoga training and someday become a yoga instructor. The Divine Light is a registered teacher-training center with the Yoga 200, 300, 500-hour certification program.

 

Like lovers, they can get separated. Even though we are all born as natural dancers (just watch a toddler instinctually respond to rhythm), dance can easily get swept under the seeming demands of 21st-century living. It is actually the fragmenting effects of modern lifestyles that inspired the union of Yoga Trance Dance. Due to all that sitting, standing, driving, cell phoning, computer or cyber time, we have this strange combination of being more physically bound while mentally scattered ­- a body/mind split. Some of these effects can be felt as stiffness, rigidity, limited range of motion (even when exercising ­ as on the treadmill or weightlifting), or disembodiment (the “living from the neck up” phenomenon). The antidote: Our body needs to move and our internal state needs to be rejuvenated through meditation and ecstatic embodiment.

 

This whole meeting of yoga and dance has deep roots within yoga as well as cross-cultural branches. Within yoga, all of the different energies of the One ­ – the gods and goddesses ­ are depicted as dancing. The universe is viewed as the Cosmic Dance of Shiva ­- Nataraja. Shiva Rea was given her name by her father, inspired by a powerful image of Nataraja. Lord Shiva is seen as the first teacher of both yoga and dance, the consummate yogi and prime mover, sometimes sublime, at other times wild, and always free. The Yogin follows the pulse of the inhalation and exhalation, the dancer, the beat.

 

Nakul Kapoor the Registered Senior Yoga Teacher, wrote: “Yoga reminds you with every breath that if it is not feeling like a great day, we can start it over with the next inhalation, and we hope that is passed along to every student in every class. Classes are a playground for a challenging but nourishing mix of movement and stillness, of inward and outward turnings, and of a devotion to a yoga that encourages us all to embody our individual spiritual practices. The classes we teach are informed and inpired by my joyful devotion to a daily practice, by the blossoming yoga of Shanti Students, and by teaching alongside all of the loving, passionate teachers I play and work with at the Shanti.

Feel yourself being quietly drawn by the deeper pull of what you truly love.” Yoga is that love, and it is our deepest intention to integrate the discipline of a physical yoga practice with the devotion to self-study to unlock the boundless possibilities for peace in our compassionate hearts. May our practice be a prayer that all beings everywhere be happy and free. Lokaha Samastaha Sukhino Bhavantu. Om shanti shanti shanti.

 

Article Source- http://www.divinelight.ca

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Boston Movers

WMM Retailer Highlights NASDAQ: JOEZ,HOTT) (NYSE:KCP)

This morning the retail sales for May were announced, showing mixed results. Companies like Target showed increased sales by 1.3%, Macys increased by 1.4% and Costco increased 5%. For retailers the summer presents a twofold opportunity, first people shop much more in the summer due to heightened free time and the seasonality of school scheduling, and second many retailers hire seasonal help for the summer to deal with increased traffic. 

 
Since the retail numbers of the major chains came out this morning, I wanted to take the time to highlight clothing retailers featured in World Market Media’s Micro Cap Index,  track their current performance and update our audience on any recent press. 

 
Today I mentioned JOEZ  in my early morning market movers blog, the denim retailer is still trading up at 2.38 + .19 or 8% on a volume of 1 million. Joes Jeans focuses on higher end Women’s fashion, the company’s recent claim to fame is the Denim legging which was released in the spring and supposed to This small cap retailer has been doing well, expanding to outlets in Cincinnati, Las Vegas, Boston and California. The company has increased their stock price in the past year from well under a dollar to a peak of 3.45 in April. 

 

 
 
Our second retailer is Hot Topic providing band shirts and twilight posters for angsty highschoolers all across America. Currently HOTT is trading at 5.45 up .09 or 1.67%. The stock has taken a dip this week dropping from .70 to its current position. Hot Topic’s reported decreased sales of 9 percent this morning, but the stock has bounced back a little after the news.

 

 

Finally, is Kenneth Cole Productions  trading at 11.89 up .26 or 2.2% on a thin volume today. Last month the company opened a new outlet mall in New York and reported a swing to profitability for the fourth quarter. The stock has been trading fairly strong, and has experienced a slight increase in price this year. 

 

 
 
Retailers are a good metric for the state of the economy, but other forces, such as Euro-Zone weakness and the BP oil spill have been squashing U.S. economic numbers from boosting the markets. Much of the week will hinge on tomorrow’s unemployment numbers. We will see if the quarterly results of U.S. retailers will shape up.

 
 

Disclosure: no positions

 

To view this article at World Market Media click on the link below: http://www.worldmarketmedia.com/779/section.aspx/1716/post/wmm-retailer-highlights-nasdaq-joezhott-nysekcp

 

Boston Movers-Growing and Imploding Global Equity Markets

Growing and Imploding Global Equity Markets

The recent implosion of the global equity markets – from Hong Kong to New York – engendered yet another round of the semipternal debate: should central banks contemplate abrupt adjustments in the prices of assets – such as stocks or real estate – as they do changes in the consumer price indices? Are asset bubbles indeed inflationary and their bursting deflationary?

Central bankers counter that it is hard to tell a bubble until it bursts and that market intervention bring about that which it is intended to prevent. There is insufficient historical data, they reprimand errant scholars who insist otherwise. This is disingenuous. Ponzi and pyramid schemes have been a fixture of Western civilization at least since the middle Renaissance.

Assets tend to accumulate in “asset stocks”. Residences built in the 19th century still serve their purpose today. The quantity of new assets created at any given period is, inevitably, negligible compared to the stock of the same class of assets accumulated over decades and, sometimes, centuries. This is why the prices of assets are not anchored – they are only loosely connected to their production costs or even to their replacement value.

Asset bubbles are not the exclusive domain of stock exchanges and shares. “Real” assets include land and the property built on it, machinery, and other tangibles. “Financial” assets include anything that stores value and can serve as means of exchange – from cash to securities. Even tulip bulbs will do.

In 1634, in what later came o be known as “tulipmania”, tulip bulbs were traded in a special marketplace in Amsterdam, the scene of a rabid speculative frenzy. Some rare black tulip bulbs changed hands for the price of a big mansion house. For four feverish years it seemed like the craze would last forever. But the bubble burst in 1637. In a matter of a few days, the price of tulip bulbs was slashed by 96%!

Uniquely, tulipmania was not an organized scam with an identifiable group of movers and shakers, which controlled and directed it. Nor has anyone made explicit promises to investors regarding guaranteed future profits. The hysteria was evenly distributed and fed on itself. Subsequent investment fiddles were different, though.

Modern dodges entangle a large number of victims. Their size and all-pervasiveness sometimes threaten the national economy and the very fabric of society and incur grave political and social costs.

There are two types of bubbles.

Asset bubbles of the first type are run or fanned by financial intermediaries such as banks or brokerage houses. They consist of “pumping” the price of an asset or an asset class. The assets concerned can be shares, currencies, other securities and financial instruments – or even savings accounts. To promise unearthly yields on one’s savings is to artificially inflate the “price”, or the “value” of one’s savings account.

More than one fifth of the population of 1983 Israel were involved in a banking scandal of Albanian proportions. It was a classic pyramid scheme. All the banks, bar one, promised to gullible investors ever increasing returns on the banks’ own publicly-traded shares.

These explicit and incredible promises were included in prospectuses of the banks’ public offerings and won the implicit acquiescence and collaboration of successive Israeli governments. The banks used deposits, their capital, retained earnings and funds illegally borrowed through shady offshore subsidiaries to try to keep their impossible and unhealthy promises. Everyone knew what was going on and everyone was involved. It lasted 7 years. The prices of some shares increased by 1-2 percent daily.

On October 6, 1983, the entire banking sector of Israel crumbled. Faced with ominously mounting civil unrest, the government was forced to compensate shareholders. It offered them an elaborate share buyback plan over 9 years. The cost of this plan was pegged at billion – almost 15 percent of Israel’s annual GDP. The indirect damage remains unknown.

Avaricious and susceptible investors are lured into investment swindles by the promise of impossibly high profits or interest payments. The organizers use the money entrusted to them by new investors to pay off the old ones and thus establish a credible reputation. Charles Ponzi perpetrated many such schemes in 1919-1925 in Boston and later the Florida real estate market in the USA. Hence a “Ponzi scheme”.

In Macedonia, a savings bank named TAT collapsed in 1997, erasing the economy of an entire major city, Bitola. After much wrangling and recriminations – many politicians seem to have benefited from the scam – the government, faced with elections in September, has recently decided, in defiance of IMF diktats, to offer meager compensation to the afflicted savers. TAT was only one of a few similar cases. Similar scandals took place in Russia and Bulgaria in the 1990′s.

One third of the impoverished population of Albania was cast into destitution by the collapse of a series of nation-wide leveraged investment plans in 1997. Inept political and financial crisis management led Albania to the verge of disintegration and a civil war. Rioters invaded police stations and army barracks and expropriated hundreds of thousands of weapons.

Islam forbids its adherents to charge interest on money lent – as does Judaism. To circumvent this onerous decree, entrepreneurs and religious figures in Egypt and in Pakistan established “Islamic banks”. These institutions pay no interest on deposits, nor do they demand interest from borrowers. Instead, depositors are made partners in the banks’ – largely fictitious – profits. Clients are charged for – no less fictitious – losses. A few Islamic banks were in the habit of offering vertiginously high “profits”. They went the way of other, less pious, pyramid schemes. They melted down and dragged economies and political establishments with them.

By definition, pyramid schemes are doomed to failure. The number of new “investors” – and the new money they make available to the pyramid’s organizers – is limited. When the funds run out and the old investors can no longer be paid, panic ensues. In a classic “run on the bank”, everyone attempts to draw his money simultaneously. Even healthy banks – a distant relative of pyramid schemes – cannot cope with such stampedes. Some of the money is invested long-term, or lent. Few financial institutions keep more than 10 percent of their deposits in liquid on-call reserves.

Studies repeatedly demonstrated that investors in pyramid schemes realize their dubious nature and stand forewarned by the collapse of other contemporaneous scams. But they are swayed by recurrent promises that they could draw their money at will (“liquidity”) and, in the meantime, receive alluring returns on it (“capital gains”, “interest payments”, “profits”).

People know that they are likelier to lose all or part of their money as time passes. But they convince themselves that they can outwit the organizers of the pyramid, that their withdrawals of profits or interest payments prior to the inevitable collapse will more than amply compensate them for the loss of their money. Many believe that they will succeed to accurately time the extraction of their original investment based on – mostly useless and superstitious – “warning signs”.

While the speculative rash lasts, a host of pundits, analysts, and scholars aim to justify it. The “new economy” is exempt from “old rules and archaic modes of thinking”. Productivity has surged and established a steeper, but sustainable, trend line. Information technology is as revolutionary as electricity. No, more than electricity. Stock valuations are reasonable. The Dow is on its way to 33,000. People want to believe these “objective, disinterested analyses” from “experts”.

Investments by households are only one of the engines of this first kind of asset bubbles. A lot of the money that pours into pyramid schemes and stock exchange booms is laundered, the fruits of illicit pursuits. The laundering of tax-evaded money or the proceeds of criminal activities, mainly drugs, is effected through regular banking channels. The money changes ownership a few times to obscure its trail and the identities of the true owners.

Many offshore banks manage shady investment ploys. They maintain two sets of books. The “public” or “cooked” set is made available to the authorities – the tax administration, bank supervision, deposit insurance, law enforcement agencies, and securities and exchange commission. The true record is kept in the second, inaccessible, set of files.

This second set of accounts reflects reality: who deposited how much, when and subject to which conditions – and who borrowed what, when and subject to what terms. These arrangements are so stealthy and convoluted that sometimes even the shareholders of the bank lose track of its activities and misapprehend its real situation. Unscrupulous management and staff sometimes take advantage of the situation. Embezzlement, abuse of authority, mysterious trades, misuse of funds are more widespread than acknowledged.

The thunderous disintegration of the Bank for Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) in London in 1991 revealed that, for the better part of a decade, the executives and employees of this penumbral institution were busy stealing and misappropriating billion. The Bank of England’s supervision department failed to spot the rot on time. Depositors were – partially – compensated by the main shareholder of the bank, an Arab sheikh. The story repeated itself with Nick Leeson and his unauthorized disastrous trades which brought down the venerable and veteran Barings Bank in 1995.

The combination of black money, shoddy financial controls, shady bank accounts and shredded documents renders a true account of the cash flows and damages in such cases all but impossible. There is no telling what were the contributions of drug barons, American off-shore corporations, or European and Japanese tax-evaders – channeled precisely through such institutions – to the stratospheric rise in Wall-Street in the last few years.

But there is another – potentially the most pernicious – type of asset bubble. When financial institutions lend to the unworthy but the politically well-connected, to cronies, and family members of influential politicians – they often end up fostering a bubble. South Korean chaebols, Japanese keiretsu, as well as American conglomerates frequently used these cheap funds to prop up their stock or to invest in real estate, driving prices up in both markets artificially.

Moreover, despite decades of bitter experiences – from Mexico in 1982 to Asia in 1997 and Russia in 1998 – financial institutions still bow to fads and fashions. They act herd-like in conformity with “lending trends”. They shift assets to garner the highest yields in the shortest possible period of time. In this respect, they are not very different from investors in pyramid investment schemes.

Related Boston Movers Articles

Boston Movers-Pharmaceutical and Medical Optical Stocks SPPH & LPTH Lead Weekly Top 10

Pharmaceutical and Medical Optical Stocks SPPH & LPTH Lead Weekly Top 10

TheStockWizards.net Weekly Top 10 penny stocks includes: (SPPH:OTC), (LPTH:NASDAQ), (LFBG:OTCBB), (GRNH:OTC), (SFIO:OTC), (LOCN:OTC), (CPTC:OTCBB), (GYPH:OTCBB), (GSLO:OTC), and (CRDS:OTC).

Oct 31, 2010 Boca Raton, FL– TheStockwizards.net a free hot penny stocks picks alert blog newsletter that gives you up to the minute real-time detailed financial information such as SPPH with quotes and chart updates on the OTC-OTCBB, NYSE, and NASDAQ.

TSW is looking for hot penny stock picks exposed and in play showing unusual movement like SPPH which could be a popular top performing HOT OTC small cap penny stock.

TSW knows traders and investors are looking for exciting OTC volume movers such as SPPH to put on there speculative penny stock picks watch list for review.

The TSW penny stock finder trading system locates the best small cap, micro cap penny stocks that have unusual movements with news, popular penny stocks with big gains, and strong stock trends. TSW looks for exciting, explosive penny stocks like LPTH with the right mixture of powerful volume and low market capitalization to give day-traders & investors an opportunity to build a watch list consisting of the most notable penny stocks with positive change that can become explosive mega volume penny picks at any given time.

(1) SPENCER PHARMACEUTICAL INC (SPPH:OTC)

When traders and investors research small cap stocks, they usually look for defined support and resistance areas. Clearly SPPH has built a nice solid base over the last several months between .20 and .30 cents. The main focus will be on the weekly breakout above .40 cents. A weekly close above this level could send the stock a lot higher. Volume has picked up in the last 7 to 10 trading days as possible confirmation for a short term move. A major support level is .20 cents as defined by the channel.  also supporting the stock is the 50 and 200 day moving averages. The key moving average to watch is the 200 day moving average which sits at .40. A weekly close above this level will spark off a technical breakout.

Two of the hottest sectors in the small cap arena are biotech/pharmaceutical and energy. As veteran traders TSW is consistently looking at these two sectors for potential trades.

Traders and investors may be anticipating a forward-looking event based on SPPH’s latest press release dated October 28th.

“According to the mandate, the independent laboratory will perform the animal testing to validate the release time and efficiency of the new Spencer met4 formulation.”

“Management believes that the independent laboratory will significantly increase the visibility of Spencer. These tests are straightforward and can be accomplished over the next month or so,” stated Dr. Max Arella, President of Spencer Pharmaceutical Inc. Furthermore, “Tests are not only necessary but may help us in adding value to future licensing deals and can potentially provide significant revenue stream for the company in the near and long term while creating significant share hold value.”

TSW will be following these events very closely in the near term.

About Spencer Pharmaceutical Inc.

Spencer Pharmaceutical Inc. develops drug platform technologies for the treatment of neurological diseases. The company specializes in the controlled release of existing therapeutic molecules in the areas of central nervous system, which include Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases, and brain cancer; and patented slow release drug delivery technology for the treatment of type-2 diabetes, arthritis, and other potential applications. It has operations primarily in North America and Europe. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.

(2) LIGHTPATH TECHNOLOGIES INC (LPTH:NASDAQ)

Trading on the NASDAQ, LPTH had a nice pullback over the last 30 days which gave traders and investors an opportunity to get in at an attractive level based on the chart. The stock is now starting to trend higher. With only 8.9 million shares outstanding, a market cap of approx.25 million, and anticipation of revenues increasing over the next 12 to 18 months, this looks very attractive to value investors. According to their latest press release, LPTH just completed a 750,000 face to SBIR contract award from the U.S. Navy. TSW is watching closely for further events and is excited to add LPTH to our watch list. We encourage our members to do the same. A weekly breakout above .50 should spark some serious momentum buying in the short-term.

About  LightPath Technologies, Inc.

LightPath Technologies, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes optical components and assemblies in the United States, Europe, North Africa, and Asia. It offers precision molded glass aspheric optics, precision molded infrared molder optics, isolators, proprietary fiber-optic collimators, GRADIUM glass lenses, and other optical materials used to produce products that manipulate light. The company’s products are used in defense products, medical devices, laser aided industrial tools, automotive safety applications, barcode scanners, optical data storage, hybrid fiber coax datacom, telecom, machine vision, and sensors. LightPath Technologies, Inc. sells its products through its sales force and distributors. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

(3) LEFT BEHIND GAMES INC (LFBG:OTCBB)

TSW Profiled LFBG over a month ago giving traders and investors plenty of time to do their research. Congratulations to those subscribers who took advantage of the opportunity to profit from this stock.

LFBG exploded over its 200-day moving average and had a weekly close above its last minor resistance of .0043. LFBG screamed above the psychological resistance level of .005 to close at .0056 on the week. Traders and investors will anticipate a run to the psychological level of .01 cents in the coming weeks. One of the nicest sub-penny charts out there at this time.

(4) GREENGRO TECHNOLOGIES INC (GRNH:OTC)

Traders and Investors are focusing on a forward-looking event prop 19 in California on Tuesday, and if passes, could signify be one of the biggest monumental moments in California.

The major resistance level this coming week is .082 cents. This could be a very volatile situation. If prop 19 passes, we could see an explosion in the medical marijuana sector. Pay close attention. If played correctly, traders & investors could cash in big.

(5) SMOKEFREE INNOTEC INC (SFIO:OTC)

Medical Marijuana Play, waiting to see what happens with prop 19 in California this coming Tuesday on election day.

(6) LOCAN INC (LOCN:OTCQB)

Traders and Investors are anticipating a reverse merger of some sort in the near future which may be driving the price action. TSW will be watching with a close eye how traders and investors react to a pullback in the stock. If LOCN can sustain momentum on a nice pullback, this is the question that will be answered soon. Keep your eyes on the 200-day moving average at .03 and use this as your guide. If LOCN can sustain itself above the .03 cent level, this could get very interesting as the outstanding share count is only approx. 133 million shares, according to the transfer agent.

(7) COMPOSITE TECHNOLOGY CORP (CPTC:OTCQB)

TSW is watching for a breakout above the .29 cent level this coming week. CPTC recently traded above its 50 and 200-day moving average. This is a popular stock with the penny stock community as it usually makes a run once or twice a year.

(8) GRYPHON GOLD CORP (GYPH:OTCQB)

For anyone following gold stocks, TSW encourages subscribers to put GYPH on their watch list. One of the nicer charts out there. The stock broke above its 50 and 200-day moving averages recently and is looking very attractive at these levels. Support $ .17 resistance .28.

(9) GO SOLAR USA INC (GSLO:OTCQB)

TSW started coverage on GSLO at .58 cents. TSW is watching very closely to see if GSLO can break the psychological resistance level of .00.

(10) CROSSROADS SYSTEMS INC (CRDS:OTC)

CRDS has a very attractive chart. The stock is trading above .00 and breaking out above resistance levels that have not been seen since 2006. It will be interesting to see if CRDS can break above the .00 area in the near term.

Discloser, Disclaimers: http://thestockwizards.net/about/disclaimer/

Forward-Looking Statement: This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws, commonly identified by such terms as “believes,” “looking ahead,” “anticipates,” “estimates” and other terms with similar meaning. Although the Company believes that the assumptions upon which its forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these assumptions will prove to be correct.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s projections and expectations are disclosed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements in this press release are expressly qualified by such cautionary statements and by reference to the underlying assumptions. TheStockWizards.net is not a registered penny stocks investment advisers or broker/dealer.

TheStockWizards.net makes no recommendation that the purchase of penny stocks securities of companies profiled in this website is suitable or advisable for any person or that an penny stocks investment in such securities will be profitable. In general, given the nature of the penny stocks companies profiled and the lack of an active trading market their penny stocks securities, investing in such securities is highly speculative and carries a high degree of risk.

PLEASE NOTE: TSW has been compensated ten thousand dollars (10,000) from IAB Media for a one month SPPH advertising campaign. TSW has been compensated five thousand dollars (5,000) from National Financial Communications Corp for advertising services and to profile LPTH on our Weekly Top 10 List . Any compensation constitutes a conflict of interest as to our ability to remain objective in our communication regarding the profiled company. When compensated by a third party, please be fully aware that the third party may have shares and may liquidate it, which may negatively affect the market. When TheStockWizards.net receives free trading shares as compensation for a profiled company, TheStockWizards.net may sell part or all of any such shares during the period in which TheStockWizards.net is performing such services. This compensation constitutes a conflict of interest as to our ability to remain objective in our communication regarding the profiled companies.  In addition, there may be members on this board that receive compensation for particular stock awareness without telling members, so please always use your own buy and sell signals based on your own decisions.  Any recent increase in volume or increase in stock price may be due to The StockWizards.com representatives buying. The Stock Wizards intend to sell shares received as compensation for providing Company Background Information, sending opt-in emails, posting charts, videos, site moderation, consulting etc. We do not give price targets in any of our written or recorded material. TheStockWizards.net will not advise as to when we decide to sell and will not offer any opinion as to when others should sell; each investor must make that decision based on his or her judgment of the market.  Please do your own research and make your own investment decisions. Always remember that

TheStockWizards.net is not an analyst and we do not employ or contract any analysts. Investing in securities such as the ones mentioned on our website, in email, or consulted for are for high-risk tolerant individuals only and not the general public.

Release of Liability: Through use of this website viewing or using you agree to hold TheStockWizards.net, its operators owners and employees harmless and to completely release them from any and all liability due to any and all loss (monetary or otherwise), damage (monetary or otherwise), or injury (monetary or otherwise) that you may incur. The information contained herein is based on sources, which we believe to be reliable, but is not guaranteed by us as being accurate and does not purport to be a complete statement or summary of the available data.

TheStockWizards.net affiliates may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and may increase or decrease such positions without notice. Any opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. TheStockWizards.net encourages readers and investors to supplement the information in these reports with independent research and other professional advice. All information on featured companies is provided by the companies profiled, or is available from public sources and TheStockWizards.net makes no representations, warranties or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of the disclosure by the profiled companies.

Investing in micro-cap and growth securities is highly speculative and carries and extremely high degree of risk. It is possible that an investor’s investment may be lost or impaired due to the speculative nature of the companies profiled. Never invest in any stock featured on our site or emails unless you can afford to lose your entire investment. In preparing this publication, TheStockWizards.net has relied upon information supplied by its customers, and press releases, which it believes to be reliable; however, such reliability cannot be guaranteed. Investors should not rely on the information contained in this website. Rather, investors should use the information contained in this website as a starting point for doing additional independent research on the featured companies.

 

Boston Movers-Massachusetts Real Estate

Massachusetts Real Estate

Massachusetts is one of the New England states and like most of the states in this region; it is trying to go green. This means that new builds and remodels on Massachusetts real estate is done with keeping the environment in mind. This may be what is attracting new buyers and movers to the area, but be prepared to pay a significantly higher amount for your home.

Currently Massachusetts real estate especially around the Boston area is seeing a decline and is a decidedly buyers market. There are more homes for sale than buyers to buy them and homes are sitting on the market for more than 120 days. The market trend has had no change and there is a good supply of houses in all price ranges. As an investor, or someone looking to move to the area you may now be asking why it is a buyers market with more and more people moving out of the area.

The reason is simple the average price of a home is 5,000 and that is down five to 10% when compared to last year. It is simply not a market just anyone can afford. Sellers are only getting 85% to 90% of the asking value and they do not have competitive offers. In this Massachusetts real estate, market the greatest activity is found still in single-family homes with the hottest selling homes and property being ocean front properties near the Boston area.

In South end, Massachusetts the Margate is an equal buyer and seller market however, the average time for a home to remain on the market is 90 to 120 days. The reason for this is the average home price in South end Massachusetts is 5,000. That certainly makes it a difficult market for the average homebuyer. There is however a good supply of homes in all price ranges, and the market prices have remained steady sellers are receiving ninety-five to one-hundred percent of the initial asking price with multiple offers. The greatest activity in this area of Massachusetts real estate is repeat buyers.

In addition, this area happens to be a popular spot for anything dealing with the arts and restaurant industry. The market is currently being driven by job growth, which makes this a definite consideration when looking at potential investment opportunities.

Unfortunately, Massachusetts seems to be one of the more expensive states to live in right now. So while it is following the more environmentally friendly building and a home maintenance and renovation codes. The average consumer or average investor may find it difficult to purchase a home in the state of Massachusetts.

If you are looking to invest in real estate in the Massachusetts real estate market it may be a good idea to book acts, lower end properties, which may need work. In order to be re-sellable or in order to be used as rental properties in order to get the most out of your dollar in this high-priced real estate market another option is to consider waiting until market prices drop before purchasing.

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