US Markets in green on Friday; Dow 30 up over 345 points, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 up nearly 1%

US Markets were trading in the green on Friday with Dow 30 trading at 30,678.80, up by 1.14%. While S&P 500 was trading at 3,701.66, up by 0.98% and Nasdaq Composite 10,690.60 was also up by 0.71 per cent

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US Markets in green on Friday; Dow 30 up over 345 points, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 up nearly 1%
Earlier today, Indian stock markets ended the week on a winning note. It was the sixth straight gains for equity markets. Source: Reuters
US Markets were trading in the green on Friday with Dow 30 trading at 30,678.80, up by 345.25 points or1.14 per cent. While S&P 500 was trading at 3,701.66, up by 35.88 points or 0.98 per cent and Nasdaq Composite 10,690.60 was also up 75.75 points or 0.71 per cent. A Reuters report said that today’s strength was on the back of a report which said the Federal Reserve will likely debate on signaling plans for a smaller interest rate hike in December, reversing declines set off by social media firms after Snap Inc’s ad warning.

Source: Comex

Nasdaq Top Gainers and Losers

Source: Nasdaq

Earlier today, Indian stock markets ended the week on a winning note. It was the sixth straight gains for equity markets. The BSE Sensex ended at 59,307.15, up by 104.25 points or 0.18 per cent from the Thursday closing level. Meanwhile, the Nifty50 index closed at 17,590.00, higher by 26.05 points or 0.15 per cent. In the 30-share Sensex, 13 stocks gained while the remaining 17 ended on the losing side. In the 50-stock Nifty50, 21 stocks advanced while 29 declined.

Alternative Financing Vs. Venture Capital: Which Option Is Best for Boosting Working Capital?

There are several potential financing options available to cash-strapped businesses that need a healthy dose of working capital. A bank loan or line of credit is often the first option that owners think of – and for businesses that qualify, this may be the best option.

In today’s uncertain business, economic and regulatory environment, qualifying for a bank loan can be difficult – especially for start-up companies and those that have experienced any type of financial difficulty. Sometimes, owners of businesses that don’t qualify for a bank loan decide that seeking venture capital or bringing on equity investors are other viable options.

But are they really? While there are some potential benefits to bringing venture capital and so-called “angel” investors into your business, there are drawbacks as well. Unfortunately, owners sometimes don’t think about these drawbacks until the ink has dried on a contract with a venture capitalist or angel investor – and it’s too late to back out of the deal.

Different Types of Financing

One problem with bringing in equity investors to help provide a working capital boost is that working capital and equity are really two different types of financing.

Working capital – or the money that is used to pay business expenses incurred during the time lag until cash from sales (or accounts receivable) is collected – is short-term in nature, so it should be financed via a short-term financing tool. Equity, however, should generally be used to finance rapid growth, business expansion, acquisitions or the purchase of long-term assets, which are defined as assets that are repaid over more than one 12-month business cycle.

But the biggest drawback to bringing equity investors into your business is a potential loss of control. When you sell equity (or shares) in your business to venture capitalists or angels, you are giving up a percentage of ownership in your business, and you may be doing so at an inopportune time. With this dilution of ownership most often comes a loss of control over some or all of the most important business decisions that must be made.

Sometimes, owners are enticed to sell equity by the fact that there is little (if any) out-of-pocket expense. Unlike debt financing, you don’t usually pay interest with equity financing. The equity investor gains its return via the ownership stake gained in your business. But the long-term “cost” of selling equity is always much higher than the short-term cost of debt, in terms of both actual cash cost as well as soft costs like the loss of control and stewardship of your company and the potential future value of the ownership shares that are sold.

Alternative Financing Solutions

But what if your business needs working capital and you don’t qualify for a bank loan or line of credit? Alternative financing solutions are often appropriate for injecting working capital into businesses in this situation. Three of the most common types of alternative financing used by such businesses are:

1. Full-Service Factoring – Businesses sell outstanding accounts receivable on an ongoing basis to a commercial finance (or factoring) company at a discount. The factoring company then manages the receivable until it is paid. Factoring is a well-established and accepted method of temporary alternative finance that is especially well-suited for rapidly growing companies and those with customer concentrations.

2. Accounts Receivable (A/R) Financing – A/R financing is an ideal solution for companies that are not yet bankable but have a stable financial condition and a more diverse customer base. Here, the business provides details on all accounts receivable and pledges those assets as collateral. The proceeds of those receivables are sent to a lockbox while the finance company calculates a borrowing base to determine the amount the company can borrow. When the borrower needs money, it makes an advance request and the finance company advances money using a percentage of the accounts receivable.

3. Asset-Based Lending (ABL) – This is a credit facility secured by all of a company’s assets, which may include A/R, equipment and inventory. Unlike with factoring, the business continues to manage and collect its own receivables and submits collateral reports on an ongoing basis to the finance company, which will review and periodically audit the reports.

In addition to providing working capital and enabling owners to maintain business control, alternative financing may provide other benefits as well:

It’s easy to determine the exact cost of financing and obtain an increase.
Professional collateral management can be included depending on the facility type and the lender.
Real-time, online interactive reporting is often available.
It may provide the business with access to more capital.
It’s flexible – financing ebbs and flows with the business’ needs.
It’s important to note that there are some circumstances in which equity is a viable and attractive financing solution. This is especially true in cases of business expansion and acquisition and new product launches – these are capital needs that are not generally well suited to debt financing. However, equity is not usually the appropriate financing solution to solve a working capital problem or help plug a cash-flow gap.

A Precious Commodity

Remember that business equity is a precious commodity that should only be considered under the right circumstances and at the right time. When equity financing is sought, ideally this should be done at a time when the company has good growth prospects and a significant cash need for this growth. Ideally, majority ownership (and thus, absolute control) should remain with the company founder(s).

Alternative financing solutions like factoring, A/R financing and ABL can provide the working capital boost many cash-strapped businesses that don’t qualify for bank financing need – without diluting ownership and possibly giving up business control at an inopportune time for the owner. If and when these companies become bankable later, it’s often an easy transition to a traditional bank line of credit. Your banker may be able to refer you to a commercial finance company that can offer the right type of alternative financing solution for your particular situation.

Taking the time to understand all the different financing options available to your business, and the pros and cons of each, is the best way to make sure you choose the best option for your business. The use of alternative financing can help your company grow without diluting your ownership. After all, it’s your business – shouldn’t you keep as much of it as possible?

Ecommerce Web Hosting Services

Ecommerce is also known as electronic commerce, a term that is now synonymous with any business offering their products catalogs and cyber shops to the online world. These online companies are now conducting their online ecommerce business round-the-clock using the highly professional marketing tools and services provided by Ecommerce hosting solutions.As more shops are being created online every day, the need of the professional top level Ecommerce web hosting solutions is on the rise. With these Ecommerce hosting solutions, the responsibility of the Ecommerce hosting services also grows.A reputable and capable Ecommerce web hosting service ably protects these Ecommerce websites. It provides almost cent percent or even 100% uptime guarantee to give stable uptime Ecommerce hosting service to all the small and large companies hosted on its servers at all times.Ecommerce web hosting service plans offered by the quality hosting companies have made it possible for all the businesses all over the world to concentrate just on their online marketing. The Ecommerce hosting service takes care of the technical and security aspects of these Ecommerce website management.While shopping online, the major concern of the buyers and the merchants on the internet is the security of their credit card details. Ecommerce web hosting services enables secure sales transactions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year without stopping. Try that for your off-line sales efforts!The wonderful whole world market is now at your expert fingertips to do business without any stoppage. Reputable Ecommerce hosting services provides your business this worldwide reach and complete protection ably with their completely secure servers and top quality service.The greatest commercial and online marketplace websites like the Amazon and EBay are effectively using the secure E-commerce web hosting solutions for their successful day-to-day business management. This proves the success of the Ecommerce enabled websites in doing roaring online business round-the-clock.Ecommerce is a wonder of the modern web technology, and Ecommerce web hosting services are making it possible for all the merchants to trade their products on the vast internet successfully. Internet is a great marketplace and it presents enough opportunities for all small and large businesses to do their day-to-day business effectively.To help all these merchants interact with their visitors and buyers, the Ecommerce hosting services are providing them every tool that can help their business.Let’s now check the different services provided by these reputable Ecommerce hosting services:
24x7x365 service and support to all the merchants and even to all their customers
Live chat or e-mail service to resolve all issues, particularly in the early setup stages, and after that, at all times
Full automation with comprehensive web stats package – Offering you range of packages to select the best Ecommerce tools including latest detailed statistics at your fingertips that allows you to keep the flow of your business easily under your control
Shopping cart software that helps your customers to buy with ease
Regular database backups assuring you the restoration of the Ecommerce website if the need arises
Upgrading to the higher and better Ecommerce-related or web hosting package-related plans as the business grows
Security – Updated secure server, latest anti-virus, and overall website security to keep the hackers away from your personal identity and credit cards’ details.
Support for the various add-on scripts and server-side programming that you may need for your Ecommerce website
Instant I P address resolution and instant switchover to operational status with backup server during the master server failure or stoppage for website maintenance. This allows your Ecommerce website to seamlessly continue and be reachable by all your customers at all times
Help you securely integrate the best payment gateway programs and backed with complete security support.
You will still need more information ably supported with relevant graphics to understand the hosting plans, especially the Ecommerce web hosting plans for your Ecommerce website, and complete details about how these marketing tools work.With this knowledge applied to your growing business website, it will enable you to overcome your competition, reach greater financial success, become popular and reach wider horizons in the online business world. A professional and reputable Ecommerce web hosting service will easily help your customers and your online business to grow quickly on the internet.