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I think the PRs that get picked up by the news service and get on the blogs and financial websites are like preliminary advertising that doesn't cost the company much. They probably have to pay to release the PR through PRnewswire, but no additional advertising costs.
The nice thing about advertising on the Internet is that it is instant. I can have an add up on Google, Yahoo, and MSN in 15 minutes and the exposure is only limited by what you are willing to pay for pay per click (PPC) advertising. I have no doubt that the company is well aware of this (they mentioned PPC in one of their PRs) and they will use it as one their methods of advertising. They also own the Domain Name Cashnow and many other variations of that domain name and can use those domains that get organic search engine traffic to drive traffic to their new Esprit website. I'm very interested to see how they handle the Internet advertising.
I think that once the FOREX site is operational and the company feels that all the "bugs" are worked out we will see the start of an advertising campaign that will make people aware of Esprit and FOREX. Right now, the PRs they have put out that mention FOREX are showing up on FOREX related websites and blogs primarily through RSS feeds.
To me, it wouldn't make sense for the company to pay for any FOREX advertising until they have the site up and fully operational. They have stated in PRs that they are getting ready to ramp up their Internet advertising once the site is ready.
The April 2nd date is a target they are shooting for to have an operational FOREX site. If they are successful on meeting that self-imposed deadline... great! If they miss it by a week am I going to bail? No! I would rather have them present a solid FOREX site that works properly rather than try and meet a deadline they were shooting for.
I've always believed it is good to set goals and try to complete projects on time, but remember, they are goals they are trying to achieve but other unforseen factors may come into play. The CUSIP change is a good example. They gave a mid-range date of when it might occur, they filed the paperwork, the TA did whatever TAs do, and now it is in someone elses hands. To me, they are doing what they said they would do regarding the CUSIP and symbol change. They are following through and to me that is what is important.
Good morning MNM... I agree with you about Jack Chang. Perhaps some of the new people on the board should take a look at some of the past posts about Mr. Chang and his accomplishments.
Hi everyone, kind of quiet around here this morning. Hi KA12!
Yes, I've been a member for several years.
I see we get the same newsletter...
I put in a buy order for .0012 at 2 minutes before the close and they filled it at .0011 46 seconds after the close.
LOL... I agree! KA12 is definitely a great member of this board. We missed her when she was in Vegas! Glad that she is back and posting again. Feel bad that she is injured and not up to 100%, but I'm sure she will heal quickly.
I always enjoy reading your posts KA12... and the fact that you are always willing to pick up the phone and make a call when you want more info.
Thanks for the info KA... hope your ankle is doing better today.
looks like still doing mirror trades...
That is what I thought happened...
I just hit the ask for 200,000 shares at .0012 at 10:15am, bought it at .0012 and didn't see it print .0012 as the last. It stayed at .0011.
Good morning everyone! Nice to see .0012 at the ask this morning and .0011 at the bid. I would also like to see .0013 print and hold today. Always like those upticks...
Thanks MNM, I think this board has been very respectful and I hope we all keep it that way. I welcome all types of opinions because I think it keeps people sharp and involved. The last thing I want to see is a lemming train of thought where we all go running off a cliff...
Good night to everyone!
That is possible. I guess we will know by the end of the week. Checking the chart, we haven't been below .001 for six trading sessions. I think we have built a solid base at this level.
In late January and into February, CHNW was between .0001 and .0004 for 14 trading sessions and then in 5 trading days ran up to .002. Retraced to .0007 and then climbed above .001 where it has set a new base.
I'm not a technical chartist and I welcome all opinions, but to me, it looks like the bollinger bands are tightening again...
If Esprit Financial Group was a company that had everything in place for several years including Forex, payday loan, EM2, ewallet, on the Frankfurt exchange, Garr Winters, Jack Chang and was trading at this pps, then I think your point would be very valid. This company is really just beginning. The name was just changed to Esprit Financial Group, we are awaiting a CUSIP and trading symbol change, and the Forex hasn't even been launched yet. The plans are being set into motion, we need to give this company some time to perform. I think I'm in on the ground floor and they haven't even poured the cement for the floor. They are still mixing the concrete.
I guess I'm not trying to change your opinion, I'm just explaining where I stand and why I'm a shareholder of Esprit.
I have to keep reminding myself that the appointment of Garr Winters and the management reorganization only happened a little over two months ago.
I think this company that was beaten down and traded at a low of .0001 a month ago is doing a very good job of building a company that will surprise many people.
Yes, like everyone else, I loved the explosive run to .002 and wanted/expected it to repeat the next week and then again the next week. But I have to be realistic and I'm very glad to see it build a solid base at .001.
What I look for is when the company puts out a PR, is it informative or is it fluff? Everyone wants and asks for transparency. I don't think anyone can argue that this company hasn't been transparent. Of course, we always think they should tell us more.... give us more details.... but in reality, many times they can't or aren't ready to, but they do want to inform us of their activities. The next thing I look for is are they doing what they are promising? So far, I think they have done very well. Things do take time, some deadlines may not be met, and if they aren't met, is there a reason?
One more time... I have to remind myself this "new company" is only two months old! I need to watch them closely but I also need to give them time to grow and not worry about every little thing.
This was the press release announcing Garr Winters as CEO... only two months ago...
Cash Now Corporation (Cash Now) Appoints New CEO Garr C Winters, and Management Reorganization
LAS VEGAS, NV, Jan 16, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/
MNM... very good points that you made and I have posted your statements again. As you said, "Now that's unique!"
"Not unique??? What companies are you comparing Esprit too. I can't think of one, anywhere near .0011 myself."
"Finding a financial company that does all this, and it's under a penny. Now that's unique!"
I tend to agree with billyboy55. I think it would be difficult to do a reasonable comparison because of the differences in companies. In addition to the examples billyboy gave, I would add a variable such as this company has Jack Chang and his expertise. How do you compare that to another company in the ewallet and ATM business?
I understand why you might want to try and compare companies to evaluate potential, but I think that there are just too many known and more importantly UNKOWN variables to make any justifiable conclusions.
Everyone, remember to do your own research to make informed decisions. I think it can be valuable to read others opinions, statements and claims, but be sure to follow up and see if you can verify what is being stated.
Hey MNM... good to see you today. I was gone yesterday and it took a long time to read through all the posts to get caught up. I added to my postion today. Looks like a great base here and ready for it to move up. I might be away from the computer over the next few days and wanted to increase my number of shares...
Have fun at the track meet!
While I was writing that last post, the rest of my million filled at .001 so I just hit the ask again.
Oh... you didn't upset me. I agree with your post. I usually put up bid support lower than I think it will go and in this case I got a partial fill. I'll hold the rest of the million til end of day and hit the ask again.
Good for you. I have been buying at the ask this morning (about 4 million) but I did have a buy for a million shares at .0010 just to see if they would grab it. They grabbed about half after 3 hours or so.
well, I got about half of my million share buy filled at .0010... thank you! Looks like I might have to move up to the ask now to finish the buy.
I've had a buy for 1 million shares in at .001 most of the morning. Haven't had a bite on it yet.
I've also been buying at the ask of .0011 and have no problem getting filled in 1-2 million share blocks.
that was me...
Welcome back KA12 and Allinxxl1968! I have been gone all day and just trying to get caught up on all the posts! Still have a ways to go it looks like.
Thanks for calling the TA and asking about CUSIP status. You are the bomb!
Hope you had a great time in Vegas and sorry to read about your injury. Get well soon and again, welcome back!
I believe that Garr is 60 this year and Jack Chang is in his late 50's but I'll try and verify that.
Good try.... but not a very good effort. Perhaps you should do some better DD.
The addresses you are talking about for the company officers is the Las Vegas address for the Incorp National Registered Agent Service. Here is a link to their website http://www.incorpservices.com/. Currently, there are 15,385 business entities registered under resident agent Incorp Services, INC.
Here is why companies incorporate in Nevada: Link:http://www.incorpservices.com/nevada-corporations-llc.aspx
Nevada has become well known as a US corporate haven among business planners, attorneys and accountants. Experts in the fields of asset protection, privacy, and tax strategies have come to know Nevada as "America's Tax Haven." Another benefit is that your business location and operations DO NOT have to be in Nevada to form a Nevada entity or take advantage of the benefits Nevada has to offer. You need only have a resident agent (registered agent) located within the State.
Nevada's privacy, liability protection and tax-free status for corporations have made it the clear choice as the preferred state for incorporating closely-held businesses. This is why Nevada now ranks in the Top Ten of states with the largest number of incorporations. This is an impressive accomplishment for a state ranked 37th in total population.
Nevada's pro-business attitude has resulted in both INC Magazine and Money Magazine ranking it #1 among all states in recent years for its favorable business climate. Nevada has clearly established itself as the "Corporation Capital of the West," and continues to set new incorporation records every year.
Other Important Reasons to Incorporate in Nevada
No Corporate Income Tax
No Taxes on Corporate Shares
No Franchise Tax
No Personal Income Tax
No I.R.S. Information Sharing Agreement
Nominal Annual Fees
Minimal Reporting and Disclosure Requirements
Stockholders are not Public Record
Link: https://esos.state.nv.us/SOSServices/AnonymousAccess/CorpSearch/CorpSearch.aspx
Thanks for the info MNM... I see you are now hooked on paintball!! Take care and remember you are only as old as you think you are... except you will feel more aches and pains in the morning!
Thanks MNM... I appreciate you spending the time to give your thoughts on that post. I definitely agree with your feelings about having Jack Chang heading up a division of Esprit. I like having the multiple revenue streams instead of putting all your eggs in one basket.
Garr has been involved with the payday loan side of the business for several years and is working with an established base and infrastructure.
Jack is heading up the ATM and Electronic Money Management (EM2)division that he has been involved with for many years. He can definitely hit the ground running and has the contacts that most companies can only dream about.
Richard is getting the Forex division operational. This is the new division that has great potential. So far, announced deadlines have been met and I'm looking forward to see how this part of the buisness grows.
Thanks MNM... I'm curious to get your thoughts from my post #20180 regarding Creditcard solutions and Jack Chang. His association with CSS was in September into January. Looks like he was involved with them getting into Africa and now Esprit is sending Jack to Africa. Interesting coincidence....
Thanks for the person mark...I marked you earlier!
I wonder if there is any connection with this company? I saw that in September of 2006, Jack Chang was an advisory director for a UK business called Creditcard Solutions and he was still involved with them in January 2007. Link: http://www.creditcardsolutionsuk.com/home.html
Jack Chang appointed as Advisory Director of Business Development
September 2006
London, United Kingdom - Jack Chang has officially been appointed as Advisory Director of Business Development for CCS UK Ltd where some of his existing work includes project managing the implementation of a major card issuing platform within Africa and Malaysia.
As a multi-disciplined individual, Mr Chang has held CEO and other corporate-level positions in sales, corporate development, and technology in large and small corporations. His past customers included consumers and businesses at large as well as some of the largest of the Global 500 companies, including Citibank, Coca-Cola Enterprises, American Express, Sears, Visa, EDS, and NationsBank/Bank of America, etc., for whom he had also provided strategic planning and business advisory support.
"The appointment of Jack Chang signals our desire for a unified global reach utilizing his technology and business development experience to progress some of our projects which require an in-depth understanding of various software, platform and network technology requirements" says Sharon Hay, Senior Programming Consultant within CCS UK Ltd.
Link to Article: http://www.creditcardsolutionsuk.com/Company_News_4.htm
In January 2007, Creditcard Solutions announced a major West African Bank Debit Card program that Jack Chang was involved with for the company
Major West African Bank Debit Card Program
January 2007
London, United Kingdom - In a significant development, CCS, working with its preferred payment processing partner for Africa and South Asia, has received provisional approval from the Management Executive of one of West Africa's largest banking establishments for the positioning of a white label prepaid debit card program to initially over 100,000 of the bank's 1 million account holders.
After nine months of formal discussions a final face to face presentation and white paper was presented to the Banks Executive Committee by CCS and its Processing Partner, at the end of November 2006 resulting in the banks provisional authorization for the implementation of a local currency debit card program.
Both Mark McDonald, Managing Director of CCS and Jack Chang, Advisory Director of Business Development have taken the lead role in closely working with CCS technology partners to provide ongoing consultancy during the development of the project, and will be providing program management and marshalling adjunct resources (card production, ATM, POS terminals, telecom providers) etc.
The projects volume potential will make it singularly the largest and most high profile project facilitated by CCS within the region.
West Africa is now experiencing a significant demand for prepaid card services as local banks experience a transformation in repositioning their infrastructure to take advantage of new opportunities caused by the growth of e-banking, ATM expansion and consumers access to the internet.
Link to the above article: http://www.creditcardsolutionsuk.com/Company_News_8.htm
Some information on doing business in West Africa...Interesting to me. Just curious about the business climate there and opportunities.
Link to the following: http://www.buyusa.gov/westafrica/en/79.html
Brief on selected Central & West Africa
In general, the Central and West African market can be divided into several tiers of opportunity:
* Cote d'Ivoire (French), Ghana (English), Senegal (French) and The Gambia (English) are generally regarded as good markets with political stability and relatively easy entry.
* Nigeria (English) and Cameroon (English and French) are looked at as good markets that may pose more of a challenge.
* Togo (French), Benin (French), Gabon (French), and Guinea (French) are good markets, generally open to U.S. products, but where entry into the market may require extra effort.
Markets which are developing but should not be discounted are Mali (French), Mauritania (French), Niger (French), and Cape Verde (Portuguese and French). While Chad (French) and Equatorial Guinea (Spanish and French) are developing countries with pockets of opportunity, and Liberia (English) is in the process of rebuilding its economy and infrastructure.
Interest in American products is high in both the English- and the French-speaking countries and many French-speaking businesspeople see learning English as their next step to more profitable business. American firms interested in doing business in Central and West Africa need to understand that the development of Central and West African markets will take significantly more personalized transactions than entry into a more mature market. Nevertheless, there is more money to be made in Central and West Africa and, as important, an economy to be developed. With a few exceptions (owing primarily to political unrest), business activity is increasing throughout the region and is expected to continue over the next few years.
Best Prospects
The Central and West Africa sectors that hold the most promise for U.S. exporters are:
Oil and gas extraction and refining equipment industries
Mining
Agro-industrial machinery and chemical
Food processing equipment and technology
Telecommunications
Generic pharmaceutical products
Reconditioned industrial equipment
Cosmetics
Used clothing
The Central and West African region holds some of the world's best prospects for the remaining areas of unlicensed oil and mineral exploration. New seismic data and changing technology that reduce costs in deep water make deep water offshore oil prospects in West Africa viable and have generated serious interest by major oil companies.
Regional Cooperation Makes It Easier To Do Business
As a result of regional cooperation, entry into one Central and West African country often grants easy access to numerous other countries in the region. Harmonization of regulations, customs, banking laws and currencies is already in place or in the works.
For most of the Francophone countries (Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Mali, Togo, Benin, Niger, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon), monetary union already takes place under French Franc zone arrangements. They have common central banks, the BCEAO1 (Central Bank of West African States) located in Dakar, Senegal, and the BEAC2 (Bank of Central African States) located in Yaounde, Cameroon. To ensure convertibility of the CFA franc, the Banque de France guarantees the money issued by the BCEAO and BEAC, in exchange for reserve requirements at the French Treasury and strict controls on the creation of new money. Accordingly, the CFA franc is widely regarded as a "hard currency" and businesses can quote prices in CFA franc throughout much of region.
Since 1995, owing to the stable value of the currency, inflation rates have been in the single digits for all of the CFA franc countries. There are almost no restrictions on the repatriation of profits or investments in the CFA franc zone.
The UEMOA3 (Union Economique et Monetaire Ouest Africain) covering 60 million inhabitants, which is composed of in the following member countries: Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Mali, Togo, Benin, Niger, Guinea-Bissau, and Burkina Faso. Under this treaty, the member countries have undertaken to coordinate their economic, financial, and structural policies.
The CEMAC4 (Communauté Economique et Monétaire de l'Afrique Centrale) comprises more than 30 million consumers in Central Africa, incorporating Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Republic of Congo. The long-term goals of CEMAC are to promote a convergence of macroeconomic policies, stabilize the common currency, create a single market, and harmonize sectoral policies. CEMAC's goals are similar to UEMOA's; tariff and non-tariff barriers have been removed and competition regulations are being put into place.
The agreement known as OHADA5 (Organisation pour l'HArmonization du Droits des Affaires en Afrique) harmonizes a broad range of legal systems which previously covered a wide disparity in business law, codes, rules, regulations, and local conventions affecting businesses. The agreement creates a number of uniform acts and sets up organizations when necessary to implement the acts. These acts cover commercial law, law of commercial companies and economic interest groups, organization of securities, bankruptcy proceedings, discharge of liabilities, law of debt collection, accounting, and arbitration.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which groups both Anglophone and Francophone states of the region, also has as its goal (as does UEMOA) a customs union which will eventually lead to a full common market and the free movement of labor. Original ECOWAS arrangements called for full tariff exemptions for companies that are at least 25 percent owned by citizens of member states, and exemptions for goods which are at least 40 percent manufactured within the ECOWAS region. Member countries were allowed to "phase-out" their intra-community tariffs over the coming decade; however, progress to date has been slow.
The Lomé Convention6 is a trade and aid agreement between the European Union and 46 of Europe's former colonies and dependencies in Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean. Lomé arrangements guarantee duty-free entry into EU member states for a number of commodities and products produced in these countries.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) is a regional, multilateral development bank whose shareholders include 53 countries in Africa and 24 non-African countries from the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The United States is the second largest non-regional shareholder, with approximately 6.62 of the Bank's total share holdings. The Bank was created in 1964, and began operations in 1967 to promote economic development and social progress of its regional member countries (RMCs)—individually and jointly. The main goals of Bank activities are to promote sustainable economic growth and to reduce poverty in Africa. The Bank provides financing for a broad range of development projects and programs. For more details on the Bank click on AfDB7
U.S. Government Assistance for doing business in the Central and West African Region
When doing business in Central and West Africa, American businesses can turn to the U.S. government for assistance. The United States Commercial Service, which is part of the Department of Commerce, is represented in Abidjan, which covers eighteen Central and West African countries unless Nigeria. Additionally, most embassies, consulates, and U.S. Government offices overseas have commercial sections that can provide market research, counseling services, and assistance in making contacts with U.S. businesses. The commercial section is equipped with valuable resources to help businesses learn more about the market and to help locate potential customers, distributors or agents. The latest tool created by the U.S. Commercial Service top help businesses in finding buyers and sellers, qualify new markets, target new markets and close trade deals is BuyUSA8
Another tool available to exporters is the Export-Import Bank EXIM Bank9 of the United States, an independent agency of the federal government. The Ex-Im Bank has one mission: helping the private sector create and maintain jobs by helping finance exports. In over 60 years of operation, the Ex-Im Bank has used loan, guarantee, and insurance programs to support over US$ 300 billion in exports of U.S. goods and services. The Ex-Im Bank is committed to making credit available for sellers of U.S. merchandise to qualified buyers in Africa, and recently created a separate division focused on development of increased lending in Africa.
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation OPIC10 offers U.S. investors political risk insurance against certain adverse action by foreign governments and against political violence. OPIC's political risk insurance also protects against expropriation and against inconvertibility of foreign currency to U.S. dollars that affects the repatriation of profits and other payments. In addition, OPIC offers long-term financing, directly or through guarantees, for commercially viable overseas projects that support U.S. foreign policy objectives.
I agree... Jack Chang was a major reason I have decided to give this company a chance. As you know reading his resume and biography, he has a lot to contribute to the success of Esprit. The connections he has in the ATM, electronic money management and financial world are probably something that we will learn about as the year progresses. I think we will continue to see a lot of development in his division.
LOL... a nap...now that sounds like a great plan!! Have a great day!
Hey Rig... good to see you on here. I thought I saw you had the flu or something? I just got over the flu a week ago. Hope all is well overseas. Can't wait to see what happens this week with Esprit.
Good morning.. Wow... tons of posts the last two days. I got home late last night after being gone two days and just finished getting caught up a while ago.
MNM... go for the paintball battle! Sounds like fun. I'm 47 and I'd go for it! Just finished towing in my 17 yr. old sons Subaru. CV joint went out. Nice Saturday morning activity.
Well... heading to a wrestling match.
Looking forward to seeing what develops this week with Esprit!! Was hoping it would have closed higher, but we sure have a nice base at the current level.
Great post MNM... keep pointing out the important information. I have to head to meetings now... anxious to see what transpires today and tomorrow when I get back.
Take care everyone!
Hey garde54, since you live in Florida, when you get a chance, stop by a financial institution that has market makers (MMs) and ask to take a picture of one of them for me!!
I would very much appreciate it... lol...