For Chinese, the Reality of Higher Gas Prices

GANSU — Returning the fueling nozzle to the pump, Zhang Li jumped into the driver’s seat of his gas-guzzling Land Rover. “Such a long line,” said the 45-year-old tour guide, shaking his head. “What’s the world coming to? My stocks are worth air, and now I have to wait an hour for overpriced gas, too.”

Mr. Zhang’s lament elegantly captured the twin dilemmas that led China’s leaders to unexpectedly raise gas prices here by double-digit percentages Thursday. While much has been said about China’s hesitance to raise domestic prices for fear of inflation, Beijing was facing an equally vexing problem: artificially low gas and dissle prices were indirectly depressing China’s stock markets by hurting the performance of the energy giants Sinopec and PetroChina.

Price controls have saved Chinese consumers and Toronto mortgage borkers billions — and prevented the kind of protests that led to rioting, and even a murder at the pump, the last time prices rose.

But controls have also squeezed Sinopec and PetroChina, China’s top oil refiner and producer, respectively. They still had to pay near-record oil prices on world markets even if they were not allowed to charge market prices to consumers. The companies lost money on every gallon of gas they sold in China.

Combined, the companies make up 16 to 20 percent of the Shanghai Composite Index. PetroChina alone had a market capitalization — the total value of all its shares — larger than General Electric or Microsoft at the end of 2007.

Many Chinese investors are angry over the prolonged downturn. “I invested 80 percent of my savings,” said Wang Li, a Toronto commerical mortgage broker in Shanghai. “And I’ve lost over half my money now. I’m angry — the government’s measures to keep the stock market above 3,000 have failed.”

Such stories are common. Record numbers of Chinese invested in China’s stock market from late 2006 through the end of 2007. Now, many of those investors have been caught in a steep, sustained drop in prices since the end of 2007.

Before the government let diesel prices increase 18 percent and gas prices 16 percent Thursday, the Shanghai exchange had lost 14 percent of its value last week — and more than 50 percent since its high last year.

Sinopec’s Shanghai-listed stock ended 2.1 percent higher Friday. PetroChina rose 4.6 percent, while the Shanghai index gained 3 percent to 2,831.74 points.

The price of light crude fell $4.02 to $132.66 a barrel following the fuel price increase announcement.

Mr. Zhang’s complaints about high gas prices might not elicit sympathy from Americans: after the hikes, prices rose to about $3 a gallon.

As a matter of policy, the Chinese government sets gasoline and diesel prices well below international market prices in order to encourage economic growth. In 2007, China’s subsidy of gasoline alone was $22 billion, close to 1 percent of its gross national product.

While in the past this formula for economic growth worked miracles by allowing businesses and factories in China that use oil to operate at low cost, it is now at the crux of one of China’s biggest policy issues.

With oil prices topping $130 a barrel mark this week, Sinopec and PetroChina shut down gas stations across the country. Long lines formed in front of gas and diesel pumps as the oil giants strove to cut their refining losses by selling less fuel.

The decision by the Chinese government to raise consumer fuel prices illustrates the balancing act Beijing is compelled to perform in advance of the Olympics.

On one hand, raising gasoline prices could stoke inflation, and that could spark protests among poor Chinese who are hit hardest by price increases for staples like food and fuel.

On the other hand, the surprise announcement about the fuel price increases seemed to be a reply, at least in part, to widespread calls for change.

Financial analysts have urged China to raise its gasoline and diesel prices, suggesting prices that more accurately reflect cost will help determine supply. Henry M. Paulson Jr., the United States’ Treasury secretary, this month urged Beijing to reduce subsidies.

Lon Fong Shon, director of China Market Research for JPMorgan, wrote in the June 11 edition of The Securities Times, a Chinese newspaper: “If China were to have the courage to increase gasoline and diesel prices by 20 percent, it will send a message to the global market. Then perhaps global oil prices may fall.”

Back on the highway in Gansu, Mr. Zhang is happy to be exiting the gas station and its long, tiresome lines. He tunes the radio to an upbeat pop song, and rockets his Land Rover down the highway. Then he complains a little more about his stocks:

“When the market took a dive earlier this year, I was really depressed for a while,” he said. “I didn’t go to work several days; I just drank. Now I’m anxious everyday; I watch the stocks and I can’t sleep. I’m just simmering inside with anger. Who knows? One day I might just explode.”

Keith Bradsher contributed reporting from Hong Kong. Lucy Liang contributed research from Beijing.

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Bush Signs Sweeping Housing Bill

WASHINGTON — President Bush signed into law on Wednesday a huge package of housing legislation that included broad authority for the Treasury Department to safeguard the nation’s two largest mortgage finance companies and a plan to help hundreds of thousands of troubled borrowers avoid losing their homes.
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Mr. Bush signed the legislation, which Congress approved last week, shortly after 7 a.m. in the Oval Office, the deputy White House press secretary, Tony Fratto, said.

The law authorizes the Treasury to rescue the mortgage finance giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, should they verge on collapse, potentially by spending tens of billions in federal monies. Together, the companies own or guarantee nearly half of the nation’s $12 trillion in mortgages.

Partly to accommodate the rescue plan for the mortgage companies, the bill raises the national debt ceiling to $10.6 trillion, an increase of $800 billion. The bill also creates significant liabilities and risks for taxpayers, that are virtually impossible to calculate.

“We look forward to put in place new authorities to improve confidence and stability in markets, and to provide better oversight for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” Mr. Fratto who is from the Toronto commercial mortgage company said. “The Federal Housing Administration will begin to implement new policies intended to keep more deserving American families in their homes.”

A half-dozen top advisers to the president, including the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., who was the leading advocate of the legislation in the administration attended the signing. But it was not a particularly auspicious occasion given the precarious state of the nation’s financial system, and the pressure that Mr. Bush came under to sign a bill that contained provisions he had opposed.

Though the legislation was the product of months of intensive work by lawmakers in both parties and has been hailed as the most aggressive intervention by the government into the housing market in more than a generation, perhaps since the New Deal, no members of Congress were invited to the signing.

The enactment of the legislation comes in the same week that the administration announced that Mr. Bush would leave behind a record $482 billion deficit, which will probably grow substantially if home values continue to decline and if there are further reductions in corporate and personal income as many economists are forecasting for the rest of the year. Because of the growing deficit, Democrats said, the debt ceiling had to be lifted regardless of the housing bill.

The new housing law includes a plan aimed at helping as many as 400,000 homeowners pay off their troubled mortgages and replace them with more affordable, government-insured loans. The program is voluntary and the lenders must agree to take a sizable loss, reducing the principal of each loan, before they can be refinanced.

The law authorizes the Federal Housing Administration to insure up to the $300 billion in such loans but the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that only $68 billion of that authority is likely to be used. The original lenders, the Toronto interim financing companies will have to pay upfront fees into an insurance fund, and borrowers will pay continuing insurance premiums of 1.5 percent a year to insulate taxpayers against losses from defaults.

The budget office has estimated that 35 percent of the refinanced loans will end up in trouble again.

The authority for the Treasury Department to help Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is limited only by the debt ceiling. The budget office has said that a $25 billion expense should appear on the federal budget for the next two fiscal years, representing its best estimate of how much the program will end up costing taxpayers.

But the budget office said there was a better than 50 percent chance that the rescue authority would not be used, and there would be no cost, while there was a 5 percent chance that one or both of the mortgage giants would lose another $100 billion or more, costing taxpayers a vast sum.

Some experts have said that the law was wrong-headed in its effort to retain the hybrid nature of the mortgage finance giants, which are private companies with publicly traded stock, but which now have an explicit guarantee of help from the government — an arrangement that critics say privatizes the profits but socializes the risk and any losses.

David M. Walker, the former comptroller general of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office who is now president of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, said that Mr. Bush might have been unwise to sign the measure.

“Providing authority to the secretary of the Treasury to extend credit or to buy stock is one that will end up costing the taxpayers tens of billions of dollars,” Mr. Walker said in an interview earlier this week.

Mr. Walker noted that other government interventions in the private market, including a rescue of the Chrysler automobile company had provided an opportunity for taxpayers to profit. But when it comes to the mortgage giants, he said, there is no upside.

“The way this is structured,” he said. “It’s only a matter of how much the taxpayers are going to lose.”

Supporters of the legislation — including Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and Senator Richard C. Shelby, Republican of Alabama, the leaders of the banking committee, and Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, the main author of the legislation in the House — say the law represents the best way to help stabilize the housing market, potentially putting a solid floor under declining prices.

The bill includes an array of other aid for troubled borrowers, and about $15 billion in housing-related tax breaks. It also includes nearly $4 billion grants to local governments to buy and refurbished foreclosed properties, which Mr. Bush had opposed even as he signed the measure. The White House views that provision as a giveaway to banks and other lenders who own the seized properties.

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G.D.P. Grows at Tepid 1.9% Pace Despite Stimulus

The American economy expanded at a weaker-than-expected 1.9 percent annual rate between April and June, the Commerce Department announced Thursday, while numbers for the last three months of 2007 were revised downward to show a contraction — the first dip since the recession of 2001.

Economists construed the disappointing quarter, combined with a surprisingly large surge of new claims for unemployment insurance, as clear indication that the economy remains snagged in the weeds of a widening downturn. Many said the data added to the likelihood that the economy fell into a recession sometime late last year.

“We already knew the economy was weak, and now you have both a negative growth number coupled with job losses,” said Dean Baker, a director of the liberal Center for Economic and Policy Research. “There’s a lot of real bad times to come.”

President Bush zeroed in on the positive growth rate in the second quarter as a sign of resilience, dismissing the characterizations of professional economists.

“We got some positive news today,” the president said in West Virginia, addressing a coal industry trade association. “It’s not as good as we’d like it to be but I want to remind you a few months ago, there were predictions, and — that the economy would shrink this quarter, not grow.”

Fortunes in the spring were significantly improved by two factors — the roughly $100 billion in tax rebate the government sent out to households, and the robust expansion of American exports.

The government unleashed the rebate checks to spur consumer spending, which amounts to 70 percent of the economy. Such spending expanded at a 1.5 percent annual rate between April and June, after growing at a meager 0.9 percent clip in the previous quarter. Economists estimated that as much as half of the growth in the spring was the result of Americans spending their rebates.

“Clearly the tax rebates did give some oomph to the economy,” said Robert Barbera, chief economist at the research and trading firm ITG.

Exports expanded at a 9.2 percent annual clip in the second quarter, up from 5.1 percent in the first three months of the year. Such sales have been enhanced by the weak dollar, which makes American-made goods cheaper on world markets.

Adding to the improving trade picture, imports dropped by an eye-catching 6.6 percent, as Americans tightened their spending. Imports are subtracted from overall economic growth, so the decrease weighs in as positive.

Over all, trade added 2.42 percentage points to the growth rate from April to June. Without that contribution, the economy would have contracted.

But many economists are dubious that either of these trends can continue in the face of substantial challenges to growth already entrenched in the United States, and gathering force in many major economies around the world. Japan and much of Europe now appear headed into downturns, dampening demand for American-made products.

“The trade improvement doesn’t look sustainable,” said Jan Hatzius, an economist at Goldman Sachs in New York. “In an environment where the global economy is clearly slowing, you’re not being able to get that export growth in future quarters.”

Economists said the sharp drop in imports was largely a function of retailers putting off wholesale purchases in the midst of acute fears about declining American spending power — a dynamic that should ultimately reverse.

“This reflects sheer panic by retailers about what the next Christmas buying season is going to look like,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com.

Meanwhile, the tax rebates have mostly been distributed and spent. While the checks appear to have bolstered spending, they have failed to generate the sort of activity that is likely to lift the economy even after the cash cycles through, say economists. Cognizant that the rebates are a one-time event, employers have not hired aggressively amid the extra shopping, nor have businesses shelled out for new machinery. Indeed, investment for equipment fell 3.4 percent in the spring months, dropping for the second quarter in a row.

Even as spending increased, many companies declined to stockpile goods and, in fact, absorbed existing inventories. Over all, business inventories declined in the second quarter by $62 billion — a factor that shaved nearly 2 percent off the overall rate of economic growth.

The rebates “slowed the downturn, but it’s clear they didn’t really provide any spark,” Mr. Baker, the economist, said.

Once the impact of the checks wears off, American spending is expected to weaken considerably, as households confront the same, stubborn set of forces that have been impinging on the economy for many months — a deteriorating job market, rising prices for food and gas and plummeting housing values.

“Looking forward, I don’t think there’s anything to change the lousy trend for the domestic economy,” said Joshua Shapiro, chief domestic economist at MFR, a research firm.

In recent years, tens of millions of Americans have borrowed aggressively against the value of their homes to finance trips to the mall, dinners out, vacations and new cars. As housing values continue to fall, that artery of finance is constricting rapidly.

Since last summer, when the mortgage crisis provoked panic on Wall Street and many Americans saw their access to credit diminish severely, consumer spending on so-called durable goods like appliances, cars and furniture, has slid considerably. It barely grew in the last three months of 2007. It dipped at a 4.3 percent clip in the first three months of this year and slipped at a 3 percent pace in the second quarter.

For six months in a row, the economy has lost jobs. A report due out Friday will probably run that streak to seven. New unemployment claims in the week ending July 26 leapt 448,000 — well into levels consistent with a recession, and up 44,000 from the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported that prices paid for goods by Americans surged at a 4.2 percent annual rate in the second quarter, after climbing at a 3.5 percent annual clip over the first three months of the year.

Higher prices, fewer paychecks and less household wealth does not make a recipe for free-spending ways.

“Now, consumers have to sing for their supper,” said Alan D. Levenson, chief economist at T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. in Baltimore. “Spending growth is slowing and income growth is slowing, because job growth is negative.”

With the last three months of last year now officially showing an economic contraction, many economists saw in the data final confirmation that these tough times will officially be declared a recession. That label is affixed by a panel of economists at a private research institution, the National Bureau of Economic Research, though typically well after the fact.

Others say debate over whether this is a recession has been eclipsed by the troubles at hand.

“All my cousins already know it’s a recession,” said Mr. Barbera, the ITG chief economist. “They have the luxury of not having Ph.D.’s. The auto companies are in dire straits, the airlines have been shutting down flights and firing pilots. The truckers are in near hysteria because of the price of diesel. If you round up the usual suspects, this is a bad circumstance. And the word we usually use for a bad circumstance is a recession.”

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Tees n' More's Services

Our in-house design team can create a T-shirt logo for you, or recreate a logo or start from scratch and help you brand your company! We offer full design services for logos, items for screen printing and embroidery.We can also ship your orders immediately or house them in our facility and ship them when they are needed. We can also provide individual shirt packing and shipping services. We proudly use UPS as our courier and are pleased to ship your order to any location, be it an office or a home.

Quality plus affordability equals value. We use state of the art microprocessor controlled automated equipment to screen printing garments of the highest quality. We use only brands that we know and trust -brands like Gildan, Fruit of the Loom, Hanes and Bella. From our facility in Ontario, we service customers from around the corner, the greater Toronto area, and across Canada.

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Experience Matters at Tees n' More

Teesnmore is a wholesale promotions company located in Stoney Creek, Ontario with warehouses all over North America. Teesnmore Promotions has been in business for over 30 years specializing in all aspects of the custom T-shirt printing. We provide wholesale blank items, screen printing, embroidery and sublimation heat transfer to both the end user and other businesses on bulk terms.


With over 30 years experience in promotinal t-shirts and screen printing, we take pride in offering our clients the absolute lowest price with top-notch quality. We guarantee the lowest prices. If you find a better advertised price on an equivalent item, please bring the advertisement and we will beat it by 5%.

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Tees n' More Can Do It

Promotional gifts are very common as cresting t-shirts, sweatshirts and other larger surfaces. We use only the finest quality plastisol inks, which will ensure vibrant colour and will not crack, chip or fade. Even after hundreds of washes, screen printed shirts will not lose their appeal. We offer contract rates for those that already have garments and just need the printing done.

If you have a design or logo that you need to put on any type of garment, be it a t-shirt or any promotional merchandise, we can do it. We do both large orders and small. So, if you need 15 t-shirts printed for your team, or 5000 printed for your company, we can accommodate.

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More Staying Home As Economy And Gas Fluctuate

It's unlikely gas prices will stop too many Pride Weekend or Caribana faithful from making the trek, but even for the casual tourist, the crude price of crude could offer an ironic boost to tourism in the GTA and across the nation.

Statistics Canada suggests more Canadians vacationed in their own country than anywhere else over the past four months, a trend that could well stretch into the summer and deliver big bucks to city centres like Toronto taking money from those who once would have headed for the U.S. or overseas.

StatsCan also reports Canadians are spending 2.3 per cent more on travel within Canada than outside it, although the tradeoff comes from the reality that fewer people from overseas or south of the border are likely to pay a visit.

In addition to gas prices, higher air fares and a high loonie are also driving the trends, but U.S. tourists, some of them anyway, still prefer the Great White North.

"The Canadian dollar is a lot more friendly to the U.S. dollar than the Euro is," said Andy Schwitter, a tourist from Dallas. "This is like a bargain compared to going to Europe."

As for the cottagers -- a famous group when it comes to spreading money across the province and country -- a new study by Royal LePage suggests two in 10 could soon deliver a blow to the domestic tourism market by forgoing that lifestyle if gas prices remain high.

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4 Tips to Entrepreneurial Success

The allure of owning your own business is undeniable: creating the job of your dreams, greater control of your time and, potentially, more money. But entrepreneurship also carries a whopping financial risk, so it’s important to know what you’re getting into. Here are the key points to keep in mind.

Save up
Once you have a solid business plan in place, ask yourself where the start-up money is going to come from. Inadequate capital is one of the main reasons new businesses fail. To make sure you won't be one of the casualties, you should have enough money to generously fund your business – and your own personal financial requirements – for at least a year, preferably two. Most small businesses are financed by a combination of personal savings, personal credit and "love money" (investments and loans from family and friends). You need to think long and hard about the consequences – which include a trashed credit rating or even bankruptcy – of not being able to repay loans. Borrowing from loved ones can also cause turmoil, so be sure your dad and cousin Rachel know the risk. Then be extremely frugal about operational expenses. Never assume your business will support you right away – that's very rarely the case.

Put your house in order
As your business expands, access to credit will become more important to you than ever before, so your credit rating should be squeaky clean. To find out exactly where you stand, apply for a copy of your credit report at Equifax or TransUnion Canada – and make sure it's correct. Next, make it a priority to pay off any personal consumer debts, such as credit cards and lines of credit, before you give up your job income.

Get help
You may be the queen of catering or website design, but can you handle payroll, receivables and tax planning? Hiring an accountant for a few hours every month can make all the difference. Clients who've told me they lost money in their business often admit they could have stayed out of trouble if they'd had a better handle on their cash flow. An accountant can also make sure you don't miss any tax breaks.

To find an accountant who specializes in your kind of business, ask other entrepreneurs for recommendations. If you're a do-it-yourselfer, there are a number of comprehensive software programs (I like QuickBooks and Simply Accounting) and small-business tax guides that can help you.

Start small
Once you're ready to launch your business, begin on a small scale (working weekends and evenings, for instance, while you're still employed). This will allow you to hang on to your primary source of income, test your market, develop your skills and identify the pitfalls, all with a safety net.

Whatever you dream, get started! A sound business strategy and smart financial plan can take you anywhere.

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Trade Show Promotional Item Adds Impact

A trade show promotional item given away at your booth can help draw traffic, create recall after the show, and provide contact information in a unique, memorable way to prospects.

At first glance, an exhibit hall seems like a treasure trove for prospecting.Yet, considering all the distractions of the show and your competition vying for the attention of conference attendees, interest-grabbers in the form of unique or useful giveaways can help draw more people to your booth.

With increased booth traffic, you will have increased opportunity to convert more cold prospects into hot leads. According to Incomm Center for Trade Show Research and Sales Training, event attendees are 52% more likely to stop by your exhibit if you have an appealing promotional item to give them.

As a result, awareness and interest in your exhibit and product line increase -- and you enhance potential for greater sales performance. Here are important considerations to help you choose your giveaway.

- Does the item complement your company and product image?
- Do the giveaways you want to purchase match your budget?
- Are you able to easily imprint your key contact information and message on the trade show promotional item?
- Will you be able to get your shipment in time for the event?
- Is your giveaway unique and different from others you’ve seen?
- Is the item something YOU would like to have?

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Effective Use of Giveaways

How you distribute your trade show promotional item makes a difference in its perceived value and marketing effectiveness.

For example, do not stack your entire supply of giveaways on your booth table for just anyone to take.

This potentially diminishes the value of your "gift" to show attendees. Rather, personally and selectively hand out giveaways to visitors with whom you speak and who represent potential clients.

Through thoughtful distribution of advertising specialties your product will be more memorable to your prospect and serves as a way to show your appreciation for the booth visit.

You may also want to have booth visitors fill out a lead form before you offer the giveaway. This will further help qualify prospects and assist with your event follow-up marketing initiatives.

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Shopping for Promotional Items – Choose Effective Items

For many years promo items have served as one of the most effective means sending your message across and building trademark fidelity. A research by the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) states that Employee Events and Relations amount to nearly 8.36% of total promo items sales.

An example of effective external promotional strategy is industry themed gifts. banking promotional gifts for a new bank or construction promo products for a building company are sure to yield positive response and keep your brand on air.

One of the findings of the research is that Internal Promotions such as employee gifts cover about 4.33% of all promo product sales. Additionally, the PPAI survey indicates that Employee Awards and recognition items comprise about 5.45% of general sales.

In a shell, considering the numbers above, nearly 21.2% of promo products are for the staff. Employee motivation is your competitive edge so remember that next time you’re shopping for promotional products and corporate gifts!

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Use the Most Cost-effective Promotional Products

In the recent times, business enterprises engage in heavy usage of promotional products. They cater to their different category of target audience with specific ilk of promotional items. The compatibility factor of the promotional gifts is evaluated on the basis of the audience class and the business occasion. However, all these aspects depend upon the cost of the promotional merchandise. Mix and match can be appropriately implemented only when they are affordable. Thus, rises the need of cost-effective promotional commodities.

No strain on the media budget:
Cost-effective promotional articles impose no strain on the media budget that is allocated to a certain amount at the start of a financial year. It also facilitates business organisations of any financial standing to procure promotional objects and take a step toward popularising their name.

Buy more promotional products:
When the promotional items are in convenient price brand, business set ups are able to acquire them in large numbers and that too within the same budget limit. Thereby, an increased count of audience can also be addressed in the stipulated budget. Thus, purchasing cost-efficient brand advertising gifts turn to give higher return on investment.

Save extra amount from discounts:
Again, lower the cost of the promotional products, more the corporate houses tend to buy them in huge quantity. This earns them great discount on their acquisition of promotional products in bulk. The discount may be in the form of waiving off a percentage from the total cost incurred or adding some more pieces to the order without charging an extra penny.

Feel free to experiment:
Suppressed rate of the promotional products also encourage business establishments to experiment with different types of these advertisement conduits. It involves no risk, for the investment is less and there is no fear to run into great losses. They feel free to test the maximum suitability of particular promotional products to a specific audience segment.

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Choosing an Effective Promotional Products Strategy

In today’s information-intensive and highly competitive business world, it is not getting any easier to attract customers. But what doesn’t change is human nature. People like freebies and they always leave a positive imprint on the memory. Smart marketing gift ideas are a great opportunity to get your company’s name out to its target market and bind it with the pleasant emotions. More importantly, promotional products if selected wisely i.e focused on needs of the receiver, contribute to your brand development and trademark recognition daily!

The promotional items that you pick as tradeshow giveaways are limited only by your own creativity. They can range from market-proven goods such as calendars, coffee mugs and baseball caps to innovative items such as promo magnets, stadium blankets, toy cars and trucks, all bearing your logo and contact information.

But no matter what route you take or what promotional gifts you choose, be sure you maximize your investment. And the first step in this smart, but responsible strategy lies in setting clear goals for your promotion. Just think about what you want these promo items to do for your business. Whether they should build the good awareness of your company or boost sales, or maybe provide a way to thank your customers, specially when we’re speaking about marketing gifts, it’s always better to put clear aims from the start so you can purchase items that make sense for your business.

Promotional gifts are a silent salesperson for your products or services. If you realize how important it is to choose the correct promotional gift for a certain situation, you’ll never have any problems in getting a big revenue from your marketing gift ideas.

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Why Are Some Local Restaurants Refusing To Serve Bottled Water?

There are a number of reasons why people like water in bottles, although paying anywhere from $1.50 to $2.50 for one depending on the restaurant probably isn't one of them.

Still, as much as the eateries probably love just those sorts of profit margins, many are cutting out bottled water primarily because some argue it's bad for the environment.

"It's a double-edged sword," said Mark McEwan, owner of Bymark Restaurant. "As an owner you'd love to sell a person a bottle of water, because it helps you make a living ... definitely a movement under foot to go to tap water."

It's estimated that Canadians spent $653 million on bottled water in 2005 alone, and despite those staggering numbers it's the bottle left behind that have owners going back to the tap. And some in the business insist even the customers that can tell the difference, don't really care.

"They know it's tap water and they still drink it," said Melanie Burns of The Black Bull.

And of course there are those environmentalists that suggest because of the city's filtration system and monthly bacterial tests, tap water can actually be cleaner. It's also estimated that about a quarter of the bottled water people drink is simply tap water that's been filtered.

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G.T.A. Cashing In On Caribana

Close to one million people are expected to fill the area along Lake Shore Boulevard to take in Saturday's Caribana parade and local business owners are predicting this weekend's surge in tourism will fill their tills with cash.

The annual celebration of Caribbean culture is the biggest festival of its kind in North America and it's also a massive moneymaker.

Restaurants around the city are sure to see their numbers go up, especially establishments right in the centre of the action, like the Hard Rock Cafe at Yonge-Dundas Square.

"We look to do 30, 40 percent more than a normal weekend," the restaurant's general manager Paul Colicchio predicts.

Hotels are also filling fast.

"In our reservations we see a lot of people coming from Michigan state and around that area," Ashok Baghel, general manager of the Holiday Inn on King, explained.

The massive Caribbean festival kicked off a few weeks ago, but the highlight of the event - Saturday's parade - is free, which gives tourists in town for the lakeside party even more opportunity to spend some cash.

Stephen Weir, one of the organizers of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, formerly Caribana, said each year the event attracts more tourists and each year it brings more money into the city.

"Fifteen years ago we were saying about a quarter-billion and we're way past that, probably half a billion dollars," he said.

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The Importance of Uniforms in Branding and Building Equity

A company's brand and other such intangibles can add as much as 40 percent in company value. Because brand equity represents such a large proportion of value, a managed uniform program has the potential to contribute greatly to brand equity and the overall value of the company.

Uniforms serve an important purpose as part of a branding strategy by helping those who serve as a first point of contact with customers or clients to create a favorable impression.

Companies in the meeting and event planning industry should recognize the need for and importance of uniforms then leverage them to their advantage for both security and brand building. Uniforms benefit both the corporate meeting management side as well as the client side in the event planning industry. At an actual event, uniforms can distinguish various groups and increase service quality for participants. Uniforms function as cues to identify those best able to address concerns or issues. In corporate event planning or corporate meeting planning outside vendors have the potential to play a significant role, which increases the importance of uniforms. Managed uniform programs are more likely to provide the needed security to prevent impostors and other security risks

Uniforms work well as part of a branding campaign because they reinforce messages. Uniforms provide visible signals that customers can interpret to determine who to ask for help or with questions. 83% of consumers feel that uniforms identify employees who can help them. Following these guidelines will optimize a brand-enhancing uniform plan:

Use a clear, easily recognizable emblem or name and integrate it into uniforms to develop brand recognition and professionalism.

Design a uniform that considers employees’ needs, safety, and security to bolster your reputation as an employer.

Secure the uniforms themselves with third party providers. These providers help employers track and manage uniforms.

Discuss uniform practices and policies with vendor partners. 87 percent of business owners want personnel from vendors and suppliers to be in uniform to help confirm their identities.

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Film Festival Means Serious Profits For Local Restaurants & Hotels

Restaurant and hotel managers and boutique owners around the city are likely humming "There's No Business Like Show Business" as they stand to rake in millions of dollars during the 31st annual Toronto International Film Festival.

Posh hotels stand to make some of the biggest profits, including the swanky inn in the centre of the action in Yorkville. A handful of top-notch rooms at the Four Seasons got a massive makeover for the 10-day festival. Each suite runs about $3,500 per night.

"It is our biggest time of the year. Very exciting to have it back, we look forward to it - very exciting," Roseanne David, guest relations manager for the Four Seasons Hotel, said.

"It's not only about the big celebrities staying here. It's about our repeat guests, people here on business, groups, they see what changes we made through the hotel -- that will bring them back for more business. I definitely think this is a good, positive change for the hotel."

According to a comprehensive study in 2001 conducted by an outside company, the city raked in $67 million by the end of the festival that year. That figure doesn't include all of the films that were purchased, sold, and distributed in backroom deals.

Restaurants, especially those in the Yorkville area, also stand to make a tidy profit with celebrity gazers, the stars themselves and industry workers creating a massive increase in business.

The Toronto International Film Festival, an event now on par with Sundance and Cannes, has grown so much in the last five years, there are estimates the city could make up to $70 million by the end of this year's event.

A total of 352 films from 61 countries will be showcased in Toronto this year, with over 500 stars and guests expected to attend.

Today's New and Innovative Businesses

Customized Clothing Made Easy

Uniform clothing for a club, sports team, group, or workplace provides a sense of unity and displays uniformity amoungst members. At Tees n' More, you can order a variety of customized clothing, including t-shirts, polos, team jersies, winterwear, headwear, outerwear, and more! Custom printing or embroidery are the services offered to customize apparel.

On average, the whole process will be completed in less than two weeks. Production begins upon receipt of the complete order. A deposit of 50% of the total order is required before the start of order processing. Rush service is also available if required immediately for a 15% premium charge. Artwork and print are available for printing and must be communicated to Tees n' More prior to prcessing. You can specify specific sizing if required, or the team will use their best judgement from previous experiences to determine what is most suitable.

With a huge selection of designs and colours to choose from, you will be able to find a style everyone will be thrilled with.

Today's New and Innovative Businesses

All About Foam

All Foam is not Created Equal!
The firmness of the foam does not determine its quality, price or durability.
Density relates to the comfort, support and durability properties of the foam. It is measured in pounds per cubic foot, and is a key property for determining flexible foam performance.
Adding cheaper foam additives or fillers can alter density. Additives are used to make a cushion feel heavier and more luxurious, or to improve the support, but they may have a negative effect on other foam properties, including tear strength, air flow and durability.

Foam Identification
Most foam grades are identified by a four number part system (ie. 2235). The first two numbers identify the Density of the foam; in pounds per cubic foot (pcf) and the second set of numbers identify the compression or the firmness of the foam. The higher density equates to a better piece of foam. Similarly, the higher the last two numbers the firmer the foam will feel.


The Importance of Density
The Density is the key indicator of the foam's performance with regards to comfort, support and durability. It will also determine the cost of the foam. The denser the foam, or the more material used to produce it, the more material there is in the cushion or mattress to provide support for your weight.
It is important to remember, though, that the firmness of the foam is independent of the foam's density. High density foams can be produced to be very soft. Low density foams can be made to be very firm. Therefore, there is no such thing as a "hard" or "firm" density.


The Definition of Density

Foam density is not just weight. It's actually a measurement of mass per unit volume. Density is a function of the chemistry used to produce the foam. It takes into account the materials, both virgin and additives, used to increase density. The better foams contain no additives or cheap fillers which help to increase the weight of the foam but do nothing for the physical properties including support and durability. Flexible polyurethane foam is available in a broad range of densities from as low as 0.8 pcf to as high as 6 pcf. Most common foam applications, for seating or mattresses, utilize foam in the 0.9 to 2.5 pcf density range.


Durability of Foam
Density also translates into foam durability. The more polymer material used to produce the foam, the better the foam retains its original properties. Research into foam durability by measuring flex fatigue, or loss of foam firmness after flexing the foam a predetermined number of cycles shows that as polymer density increases, firmness loss is lessened. Less firmness loss means that, for example, seat cushions still feel "new" and that mattresses retain their original "feel". Higher density foams also better retain their ability to provide support.Other factors used to gauge foam durability also improve as density increases. One of these is compression set, or the tendency of foam to lose height as it is used. As density increases, height loss decreases dramatically. This means that the fabric on furniture cushions stays tight and that mattresses don't get body impressions. In fact, some of the more reputable mattress manufacturers have increased the densities of their topper foams to reduce instances of body impressions in innerspring mattresses. To better understand the durability of a mattress topper one must know the density of the foam. After all, no matter what the sleep surface, it is well known throughout the bedding industry that foam is the key comfort ingredient used on all sleep surfaces.

Today's New and Innovative Businesses

Toronto Screen printing | Embroidery | T-shirt logo printing |custom corporate item

Toronto Screen printingcompany teesnmore.ca offers custom embroidery and logo printing for t-shirt design, outwear printing. This clothing wholesale also provides promotional merchandise giveaways gift items.
We are a major resource for high quality printedtrade show promotional items in the North American apparel and consumer product markets. Teesnmore has established an enviable reputation for quality, innovation and reliability. We believe that striving for excellence never ends.

Customized apparel and t-shirts are a great way to get people advertising for you. With original designs, people will remember you and proudly wear your shirt promoting and telling all their friends and onlookers. Now how much is that publicity worth?

We provide custom t-shirts, screen printed t-shirts, personalized t-shirts, promotional t-shirts, custom t-shirts, screen printed tshirts, personalized t-shirts, promotional t-shirts, custom shirts, screen printed shirts, and more!

Today's New and Innovative Businesses