Business & Personal Finance

'Little Book' Series on Investing

A few years ago, I came across a small book entitled The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle.  The book was very easy to read and offered practical advice on investing; especially for a novice investor.  It also had the added benefit of being light enough to carry while I commuted on public transit. 

Today, this title is still very popular.  Moreover, it has inspired an entire series of 'Little Books' on various finance and investment topics.

Here are other 'Little Book' titles available at the Toronto Public Library so far: 

Check the Toronto Public Library catalogue to see if your favourite title is also available in electronic format.

Pharmaceutical industry

 

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most innovative and profitable industries in Canada.  Sales of pharmaceuticals total 3 percent of the global market making Canada the 8th largest world market.  In 2011 the manufacturing sector employed almost 27,000 people and provided 35,000 indirect jobs.  Over the last 10 years employment has increased by 12 percent. Brand-name companies account for 78 percent of Canadian sales and generics account for the rest. (Statistics Canada)

Despite these good points there has always been controversy surrounding the pharmaceutical industry and whether or not these companies have our best interests in mind.  This topic has been the subject of numerous books and documentaries.  Jeffrey Robinson, author of  Prescription Games: Money, Ego and Power inside the Global Pharmaceutical Industry , has done extensive research on the industry.  He  examines how drug companies have benefitted from politically motivated giveaways, how their claims that the costs of research and development are high are not true, and how their desire for ever higher profits come at the expense of real human suffering. He devotes chapters to corporate corruption of research, expensive sales strategies aimed at doctors, the growth of advertising directed at the consumer, industrial espionage and dubious charitable donations.

To read more about this industry, check out these fascinating books:

 

 

Have your say - Building better services to business

Toronto Public Library, like many businesses, sets goals for itself on a regular basis.  Every few years, the library seeks input from you, the people we serve, for ideas and to gauge if we are providing the types of services and resources you need.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, you are engaged with what we are trying to do. Whether you are building a new business, looking for resources to keep your business successful or trying to be a more knowledgeable investor, we want to hear from you.

 

Join the Conversation!

Toronto Public Library is developing the Strategic Plan 2012-2015 to help achieve its draft vision:

Toronto Public Library will be recognized as the world’s leading public library, helping make Torontonians smarter, successful and resilient, through excellent and responsive service.

Your feedback is important to us. Help the library develop this plan for residents of Toronto by taking the time to fill in our survey online.

Please have your say by telling us:

1. How has the library helped you start or build your own business?
2. What small business information is most important to you?
3. How else can the library help create and inspire a city of innovators, entrepreneurs, and creators of all ages?

The business of movies: some post TIFF reading

TIFF 2012 is over.  Like many other movie lovers, I attended a few screenings during the festival.  If you have never gone, I would encourage you to attend next year.  There is nothing like standing in line, listening to the buzz of the people around you, talking movies.  Or at the actual screenings, being welcomed by the director or one of the stars.  Or the wild applause at the end of a really good film. 

While TIFF is about seeing great movies, many of us forget that festivals offer opportunities for distribution deals to be made. Such deals can go a long way in assuring the success - both financial and critical - of a movie.

Check out some of the deals announced in the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail over the course of the festival.

Are you suffering from film withdrawal?  Why not give your eyes a rest from the big screen and check out a few of these recent titles available on some of the great individuals who have not only covered the artistic side of films, but also the business side as well over the years.

 

     

 

     


And don't forget, the library has a great collection of films, including classics, documentaries and recent releases, available for home viewing. 

 

 

 

Great business documentaries

Trying to find a good movie to watch can be difficult.  So, to save you some time here are a few movies, in no particular order, that I found to be informative, exciting and, at times, as thrilling as a crime novel:

   This DVD pulls back the curtain on the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry to expose the ways that illness is used, manipulated, and in some instances created, for capital gain.  Focusing on the industry's marketing practices, media scholars and health professionals help viewers understand the ways in which direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising glamorizes and normalizes the use of prescription medication, and how it works in tandem with promotion to doctors.

 

In the devastating aftermath of the economic meltdown, The Warning sifts through the ashes for clues about why it happened and examines critical moments when it might have gone much differently.  Looking back into the 1990's, Frontline discovers early warnings of the crash and uncovers an intense battle between high-ranking members of the Clinton administration vs. one woman trying to sound the alarm about the need to regulate the emerging, highly complex, and lucrative derivatives markets, which would become the ticking time-bomb within the American economy.

 

 Is access to clean drinking water a basic human right, or a commodity that should be bought and sold like any other article of commerce? This timely documentary is a behind-the-scenes  look into the unregulated and unseen world of an industry that aims to privatize and sell back the one resource that ought never to become a commodity: our water.  From the plastic production to the ocean in which so many of these bottles end up, this inspiring documentary trails the path of the bottled water industry and the communities which were the unwitting chips on the table.

 

 

       This documentary dives into the bustling world of late nights, long hours and hard partying to chronicle the rise of a new force in Indian society--the telemarketers. Fast-paced, gritty and fun, this film is a compelling insider's look at youth culture in India. "Here you'll learn accent coaching to sound less ethnic, enjoy culture lessons that feature a viewing of "Crocodile Dundee" and discover that if you can keep the customer on the phone to say no six times, you've almost got your sale.  Watching the highs and lows of the business is compelling, as is the look at Western consumer  values corrupting Indian youth." (NOW magazine)

 

 Our civilization's addiction to oil puts it on a collision course with disaster.  Compelling, intelligent, and highly disturbing, this film visits with the world's top experts and comes to a startling but logical conclusion--our industrial society, built on cheap and readily available oil , must be completely re-imagined and overhauled.  The world's oil supplies are peaking and the crisis of global shortage looms; we are running out of oil and we don't have a plan.

 

 Available in nearly 200 countries, Coca-Cola sells an average of one billion bottles, cans and glasses of their product daily, with archrival Pepsi close on its heels. This documentary looks at the development of these two industry giants and the story of their legendary rivalry. Discover the changes the Coca-Cola formula has undergone over the years--including the controversy over its once high cocaine content--and find out how a massive business blunder by Coca-Cola allowed Pepsi to step into the spotlight.

 

This documentary brings to life the story of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian immigrant anarchists who were accused of a murder in 1920 and executed in Boston in 1927 after a notoriously prejudiced trial.  Their ordeal came to symbolixe the bigotry and intolerance directed at immigrants and dissenters in America.  Millions of people around the world protested on their behalf, and now 80 years later, their story continues to have great resonance, as civil liberties and the rights of immigrants are again under attack.

 

One of the greatest scandals in American corporate history, this DVD draws upon the wealth of insider interviews and archival material to show how Enron, once the nation's seventh largest corporate entity, essentially faked its bookkeeping to report profits that never existed. Using various techniques Enron executives tried to hide massive losses that eventually toppled the company and left 20,000 employees jobless.

 

 

 

Calling future entrepreneurs - Business Inc. orientation sessions are coming

Do you have a dream about starting your own business?  Then Business Inc, a program jointly sponsored by the Toronto Public Library, the Toronto Business Development Centre and the City of Toronto may be for you.  Orientation sessions are coming up.  Come and hear about the program and have your questions answered by Business Inc. instructors who will be offering the course at three locations.  Orientation sessions will be held at the following hosting TPL locations. 

• North York Central Library - Thursday, September 20, 2012 from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
• York Woods Library - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
• Cedarbrae Library - Tuesday, September 18, 2012 from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

If you are planning on attending, you can register by e-mailing TBDC at BusInc@tbdc.com.  Questions? Phone TDBC at 416-345-9437.  Check out this recent blog post on the program as well.

To inspire you further, check out some of the books that Inc. magazine has chosen as the best books of 2011 for entrepreneurs:

        


Want to check out the full list?  Go to Inc Magazine's Best 2011 Books for Entrepreneurs.

 

 

 

 

 

Learning About Retail

Are you interesting in starting a retail store, or growing an already existing retail establishment? One way of learning how is by delving into the experiences of those who have been there before you. Here are three books that look at the experiences, and lessons learned, of successful retailers. Check them out!

By Invitation Only	The Zappos Experience	Competing In Tough Times

By the way, Enterprise Toronto will be hosting a seminar on September 17th, 2012 from 10:00 AM to 11:30 entitled Building A Winning Retail Plan. The session takes place at the North York Civic Centre, Committee Room 3, 5100 Yonge Street, Toronto. Join them, and learn the steps in starting your own retail business!

 

Learn About Finance - Visually

A lot of people find that, when trying to grasp unfamiliar concepts, visual aids such as charts, graphs, maps and drawings make the task easier. If that sounds like you, and you are interested in learning more about finance and investment, here are a couple of resources you'll be glad to know about.

Investopedia has a great video section which includes information on many different investment terms and products

Here's one that explains initial public offerings:

  

Another that explains fundamental analysis:

 

 And one that looks at book value:

 

You can find these and many more on Investopedia's YouTube Channel, or on the video section of their website.

Bloomberg Publishing has recently put out three visual guides to financial topics. These can be found at the Toronto Public Library (some only at the Research and Reference Libraries).  Click on the titles to find their exact locations: 

Bloomberg Visual Guide To Candlestick Charting	Bloomberg Visual Guide To Financial Markets	Bloomberg Visual Guide to Municipal Bonds

Happy learning!

This Month's Business Quote is...

 ...  "Unemployed money leads to unemployed men. ... The answer is bank money, fuel to start industry's wheels turning again.  Hoarding money in vaults makes as much sense as pouring oil back into oil wells." 

 

This business quote is from a movie. 

Populist Walter Huston appears in one of the few movies in which a banker is a hero - a misunderstood and put-upon hero at that.  American Madness (1932, Columbia)

Source:
Nowlan, Robert A., and Gwendolyn W. Nowlan.  Film Quotations:  11,000 Lines Spoken on Screen, Arranged by Subject, and Indexed.  Jefferson, North Carolina:  McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1994.  Page 398.

 

Although a copy of the movie is unavailable at  the Toronto Public Library, the screenplay is available as a reference title at the Toronto Reference Library.

Happy Labour Day to All!