Filed under: Other issues, Products and services, Industry, Commodities, Headline news, Technology

At the current pace of usage, there exists a real threat of depletion of current domestic helium supplies. So state managers of our only national helium stockpile near Amarillo Texas. A report from Kim McGuire at the St Louis Dispatch makes clear that this reality concerns more than the just attendees of children’s birthday parties and a few Donald Duck impersonators.

Scientist claim that helium reserves could be depleted in as tiny as ten years, a reality which worries experts in the fields of medicine, microchip manufacture, nuclear science, and Garfield balloons. Helium, which is abundant in our universe yet relatively scarce here on earth, plays a major role in many facets of industrial production. It is reported that dwindling helium supplies have driven helium prices up by as much as 50% over the past twelve months, deeply affecting companies such as Praxair, Inc. (NYSE: PX). It is also worthy of note that NASA uses big amounts of helium annually to pressurize fuel tanks for shuttle missions.

Lee Sobotka, a chemistry and physics professor at Washington University said “…it’s incumbent upon us to have a vision, and tell it care about it is, (helium is) a resource that’s more strictly nonrenewable than either oil or gas.”

Presently, efforts are successfully under way to make helium use more efficient and to recapture helium at it’s points of use. Helium as an element can be captured as a by product of natural gas extraction but intensity in those efforts needs to be redoubled. Adding to the supply concerns currently faced are the facts that two off shore helium producers have faltered in their efforts to bring helium plants on line, and several domestic producers have shuttered domestic helium plants in recent years.

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Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Technology, Transportation

If you’re not paying your tolls on the Illinois Tollway, watch out! And if you think you’re automatically paying them, you had superior make sure that you are.

Leslie Boudreau found out the hard way what happens when you don’t pay. She thought she was paying with her I-PASS, the in-car gadget that’s supposed to automatically pay your toll as you pass by each open road tolling facility. She had her pass linked to her credit card, and the system is set to automatically bill the credit card when the pass needs to be filled again.

Leslie’s pass wasn’t being refilled, and she ended up with $179.50 in unpaid tolls for the last year. She’s now gotten a notice that’s demanding $4,619 in fines for non-payment of the tolls. If she doesn’t pay in two weeks, the amount could go up to $15,739 because of swiftly escalating fines that go along with the unpaid tolls.
Why did it take so long to catch up to her? Simply put, the tolling system was broken. A personal glitch meant that no one got notices for over a year. Now they’re getting big bills from the say.

The system is supposed to send a driver a notice after three unpaid tolls. Except the system wasn’t sending anyone a notice for 13 months! Leslie and others who received big fines say if they would have gotten timely notices, they would have resolve the problems with their I-PASS devices right away. But the law states the state has the authority to fine drivers for up to two years’ worth of unpaid tolls.

The are so many problems with its “new and improved” tolling system, that the state has no idea how much money is owed or how many others are getting away with not paying tolls. Yet apparently the tollway officials state the system is just fine and has only minor problems.

Wonder what state officials think of tort laws? Bet the class action lawsuit system ain’t broken, either.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Bookkeeping, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

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Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Technology, Fraud

If you take a look at financial history, you will notice that stock scams have always been around. What’s more, scammers have demonstrated an innate capability to adapt to new mediums, such as mail, phones and the World wide web.

Now, scammers are moving into new terrain: on the internet video.

World wide web security leader Symantec has been following this incipient trend. In fact, some of the scammers are using high-quality productions that even look like professional commercials. You can check some of them out at the Symantec security blog.

Lessons here?

• Beware of hyped up language — such as “guaranteed,” “huge returns” and so on.
• Many of these scams are on quotations services like the Bulletin Board (called the OTCBB) or the Pink Sheets.
• The scammers like to focus on hot areas (such as energy, gold, solar, and so on).
• Finally, if you get a tip via email, it’s probably a good bet that it’s spam and likely a scam.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar On the internet Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

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Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Technology, Transportation

If you’re not paying your tolls on the Illinois Tollway, watch out! And if you think you’re automatically paying them, you had better make sure that you are.

Leslie Boudreau found out the hard way what happens when you don’t pay. She thought she was paying with her I-PASS, the in-car gadget that is supposed to automatically pay your toll as you pass by each open road tolling facility. She had her pass linked to her credit card, and the system is set to automatically bill the credit card when the pass needs to be filled again.

Leslie’s pass wasn’t being refilled, and she ended up with $179.50 in unpaid tolls for the last year. She’s now gotten a notice that’s demanding $4,619 in fines for non-payment of the tolls. If she doesn’t pay in two weeks, the amount could go up to $15,739 because of swiftly escalating fines that go along with the unpaid tolls.
Why did it take so long to catch up to her? Simply put, the tolling system was broken. A computer glitch meant that no one got notices for over a year. Now they’re getting huge bills from the say.

The system is supposed to send a driver a notice after three unpaid tolls. Except the system wasn’t sending anyone a notice for 13 months! Leslie and others who received large fines state if they would have gotten timely notices, they would have resolve the problems with their I-PASS devices right away. But the law states the state has the authority to fine drivers for up to two years’ worth of unpaid tolls.

The are so many problems with its “new and improved” tolling system, that the state has no idea how much money is owed or how many others are getting away with not paying tolls. Yet apparently the tollway officials state the system is just fine and has only minor problems.

Wonder what state officials think of tort laws? Bet the class action lawsuit system ain’t broken, either.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Bookkeeping, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

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Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Technology, Fraud

If you take a look at financial history, you’ll notice that stock scams have always been around. What’s more, scammers have demonstrated an innate capability to adapt to new mediums, such as mail, phones and the World wide web.

Now, scammers are moving into new terrain: on the web video.

World wide web security leader Symantec has been following this incipient trend. In fact, some of the scammers are using high-quality productions that even look like professional commercials. You can check some of them out at the Symantec security blog.

Lessons here?

• Beware of hyped up language — such as “guaranteed,” “huge returns” and so on.
• Many of these scams are on quotations services like the Bulletin Board (called the OTCBB) or the Pink Sheets.
• The scammers like to focus on hot areas (such as energy, gold, solar, and so on).
• Finally, if you get a tip via email, it’s probably a good bet that it’s spam and likely a scam.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

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Filed under: Retire, Ripoffs and Scams, Wealth

According (subscription required) to the Wall Street Journal, “Ignorance might indeed be bliss, as investors typically don’t grasp the difference between brokers and financial advisers but are satisfied with the services they receive, a new study has found.”

A large part of the problem is that nearly no one calls himself a broker anymore — Everyone is a financial planner, financial advisor, retirement planner, whatever other euphemism they happen to select.

So what’s an investor to do? The key phrase to look for is “Fee only”. When hiring financial help, don’t even think about hiring anyone unless you see that phrase? Why? You want to hire someone to give you advice — not someone who is being paid on commission to sell you certain products, regardless of whether they’re appropriate.

To find a fee-only advisor, visit the website for the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors.

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Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Food, Ripoffs and Scams

For me, Girl Scout Cookies are an old favorite, and though most people don’t know it, they’re also intended to be a learning opportunity for the Girl Scouts. No, they’re not a clever scam, even though some people would have you believe that they’re. It’s a shame that the misinformation promoted by those people might cause some to not buy Girl Scout Cookies.

The boxes of cookies are meant to be sold by the Girl Scouts themselves, and not by their parents or troop leaders, and they’re not to be sold on the web. The cookie drive isn’t just a fundraiser for the non-profit organization. It’s also meant to be a chance for the girls to try their hand at creating goals, making a plan to sell, handling money, using math skills, and a number of other educational goals.

Some criticize the organization, however, because of the perception that the Girl Scout troops receive very little money from the sales of the cookies. That’s just not true. Geographic areas work together to set the prices of their boxes of cookies (usually between $3.50 and $4.00) and to decide how to divide the money.
In one area, a box sells for $3.50, and troops receive at least 55 cents per box; more if they meet certain sales targets. In another area, a box sells for $4.00 and the troops receive at least 60 cents per box. These troops are getting 15% to 16% of the sales price. What business do you know that has a 15% or 16% bottom line profit? Many small business owners who sell products will tell you that’s not a bad profit by any stretch.

Think about the costs that go into each box of cookies: ingredients, labor, equipment, packaging, marketing, and the cost of running the cookie program. Yes, there are two bakeries that make all of the Girl Scout cookies, and they likely profit from this venture. Why shouldn’t they? They are in business to turn a profit.

According to the Girl Scouts website, all of the profits from the cookie sales stay in the geographic areas in which the cookies were sold. So the sales definitely have local impact and all in all, are a worthwhile investment in the young ladies selling them.

It there’s anything scammy about Girl Scout cookies, it might be how good they taste and how few are in a box. If you’re going to make a yummy cookie, at least give me a huge box of them!

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Record-keeping, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

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