Bodybuilding.com Sold for $100 million

Liberty Media has acquired a controlling stake in online retailer and fitness website Bodybuilding.com for $100 Million.

Bodybuilding.com sells a broad range of fitness supplements, clothing and supplies as well as offering general fitness articles and a social networking service where over 100,000 users swap exercise goals or post pictures.

B2C E-Commerce in Germany

The 10 Most Popular Sites for German Online Shoppers in 2006

1. eBay.de Online auction and marketplace, new and used articles
2. amazon.de Online auction and marketplace, new and used articles
3. tchibo.de Frequently changing clothing, household items, and electronics
4. otto.de Mail order company offering of general to specialized goods
5. weltbild.de Publishing house and bookstore
6. quelle.de Mail order company, owned by Germany’s Karstadt AG
7. neckermann.de Subsidiary of Karstadt AG, wide range of mail order products
8. conrad.de Mail order electronics
9. buch.de Online bookseller
10. heine.de Mail order subsidiary of Otto GmbH & Co KG

As with all highly developed countries with sophisticated legal systems, legal advice is highly recommended when entering the German market. One of the country’s most important assets, the strong legal system, can nevertheless pose numerous obstacles to businesses unfamiliar with its challenges.

In 2006, EUR 392 billion were exchanged in Germany in the B2B sector. In contrast to B2C, business-to-business trade is unaffected by seasonal cycles and is predicted to grow steadily, reaching EUR 636 billion by 2010. Germany represents 31% of the entire western European online trade among businesses – by far the largest share of any country. Within Germany’s borders, B2B accounted for an enormous 89% of online business transactions in 2005. This proportion is set to sink to 81% by 2010 due to the increasing attention paid to the B2C market.

Car loans

Your selection of a car is one of the biggest financial decisions you will make, after the choice of a house. It is very difficult to come out ahead with your car, since it constantly loses value.

Credit Cards

Americans are notoriously deep in debt—and not just for their home and car. The average adult carries a balance of thousands of dollars on any number of retail and bank credit cards. Personal loans—including home equity, debt consolidation, and student loans—also contribute to this debt load. What is
important about this, is that all of these sources of debt contribute to the draining of a family's budget.

What about Saving?

Saving money is normally a good idea. Besides "under the mattress", there are many places one can store money for a rainy day: checking, savings, and money market accounts, CDs, savings bonds, and many others.

But before you decide how much to save, you should look at your current debt load. While saving is an important habit to form, it can be done foolishly. Earning 3% on a savings account while paying 7% on a car loan or 22% on a credit card is not a smart move. It takes some thought to figure out a good balance. The important thing to keep in mind: ignore interest at your peril. It adds up, and siphons off thousands of dollars a year from your budget. Your goal should be to minimize that amount as much as possible.

The Stock market

Who says that every man and woman is entitled to free money (8% yearly return) on money they put in the stock market? The excuse "risk merits reward" does not work, because nowadays people truly believe that a rounded pick of stocks will make from 6-10% (or more) every year. When the market takes a dive, everyone feels cheated. I thought that risk was part of the game? But no, people genuinely feel that it is realistic and normal to make money while doing absolutely nothing. "It's my money making money," they say. But how can money make money? Only people can produce the goods and services which have a dollar value. A 10-dollar bill today is a 10-dollar bill next year. Money is not productive by itself.

The Stock market

Who says that every man and woman is entitled to free money (8% yearly return) on money they put in the stock market? The excuse "risk merits reward" does not work, because nowadays people truly believe that a rounded pick of stocks will make from 6-10% (or more) every year. When the market takes a dive, everyone feels cheated. I thought that risk was part of the game? But no, people genuinely feel that it is realistic and normal to make money while doing absolutely nothing. "It's my money making money," they say. But how can money make money? Only people can produce the goods and services which have a dollar value. A 10-dollar bill today is a 10-dollar bill next year. Money is not productive by itself.

Materialism

The constant advertisements thrown at us, and virtually all the peer pressure we experience try to convince us that to be "good patriotic Americans" we have to buy a bunch of "stuff". We are supposed to invest in America—have confidence in the economy—by taking out huge mortgages, buying cars, spending all our money, and even going in debt if need be. Worrying that constant growth cannot be sustained forever is un-American, according to them.

Materialism

The constant advertisements thrown at us, and virtually all the peer pressure we experience try to convince us that to be "good patriotic Americans" we have to buy a bunch of "stuff". We are supposed to invest in America—have confidence in the economy—by taking out huge mortgages, buying cars, spending all our money, and even going in debt if need be. Worrying that constant growth cannot be sustained forever is un-American, according to them.

What is Interest?

Interest is the fee you pay for borrowing money. It should be considered legal theft. Charging any rate of interest on loans used to be called usury, and was against the law in most Christian countries (as well as condemned by the Catholic Church). Usury was condemned because of the very nature of money: it is not productive—that is, it does not produce wealth by itself.

About the Money Supply

The USA does not print its own money. The "Federal" Reserve, a private bank, creates and manages our money supply! It is neither federal, nor does it have any reserves.

Information the banks try to keep from you!

Introduction

I am very unusual. I have almost no debt (I still owe $8,000 on my house, but I have only been a homeowner for 2 years). I have no car loans or credit card balances. Our expenses our low, so I can work at a job that I actually enjoy doing. My job is not high-stress, nor do we have to worry about our bills. My wife can stay home to raise our family, because no banker overlord forces us to do otherwise. And that is despite the fact that three years before this writing, I had only $300 to my name. But at least my lack of money was matched by lack of debt.

I was lucky to learn from the masters the secret of personal finance (avoid paying interest as much as possible). So I have always avoided carrying a balance on credit cards, I paid off my cars early, etc. and never got into financial trouble.

We can all live debt-free if we really try. It takes hard work, planning, ingenuity, and self-discipline, but those things, too, can become second-nature with practice.

What should I invest in?

“It’s the first million that is the hardest.”
In 1930, Joseph Kennedy pushed for the creation of the SEC or Security and Exchange Commission after the stock market crash of 1929. This government body was formed in order to protect the public from unscrupulous dealers. Ironically, this same Commission that was formed to protect the public from bad deals also keeps them from the best investment deals.