FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES LIST OF 2008

1. Wal-Mart Stores
2. Exxon Mobil
3. Chevron
4. General Motors
5. ConocoPhillips
6. General Electric
7. Ford Motor
8. Citigroup
9. Bank of America Corp.
10. AT&T
11. Berkshire Hathaway
12. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
13. American International Group
14. Hewlett-Packard
15. International Business Machines
16. Valero Energy
17. Verizon Communications
18. McKesson
19. Cardinal Health
20. Goldman Sachs Group
21. Morgan Stanley
22. Home Depot
23. Procter & Gamble
24. CVS Caremark
25. UnitedHealth Group
26. Kroger
27. Boeing
28. AmerisourceBergen
29. Costco Wholesale
30. Merrill Lynch
31. Target
32. State Farm Insurance Cos.
33. WellPoint
34. Dell
35. Johnson & Johnson
36. Marathon Oil
37. Lehman Brothers Holdings
38. Wachovia Corp.
39. United Technologies
40. Walgreen
41. Wells Fargo
42. Dow Chemical
43. MetLife
44. Microsoft
45. Sears Holdings
46. United Parcel Service
47. Pfizer
48. Lowe's
49. Time Warner
50. Caterpillar
51. Medco Health Solutions
52. Archer Daniels Midland
53. Fannie Mae
54. Freddie Mac
55. Safeway
56. Sunoco
57. Lockheed Martin
58. Sprint Nextel
59. PepsiCo
60. Intel
61. Altria Group
62. Supervalu
63. Kraft Foods
64. Allstate
65. Motorola
66. Best Buy
67. Walt Disney
68. FedEx
69. Ingram Micro
70. Sysco
71. Cisco Systems
72. Johnson Controls
73. Honeywell International
74. Prudential Financial
75. American Express
76. Northrop Grumman
77. Hess
78. GMAC
79. Comcast
80. Alcoa
81. DuPont
82. New York Life Insurance
83. Coca-Cola
84. News Corp.
85. Aetna
86. TIAA-CREF
87. General Dynamics
88. Tyson Foods
89. HCA
90. Enterprise GP Holdings
91. Macy's
92. Delphi
93. Travelers Cos.
94. Liberty Mutual Insurance Group
95. Hartford Financial Services
96. Abbott Laboratories
97. Washington Mutual
98. Humana
99. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
100. 3M
101. Merck
102. Deere
103. Apple
104. Countrywide Financial
105. Tech Data
106. McDonald's
107. Publix Super Markets
108. Nationwide
109. AMR
110. Northwestern Mutual
111. Emerson Electric
112. Raytheon
113. Wyeth
114. International Paper
115. Electronic Data Systems
116. Tesoro
117. Constellation Energy
118. Coca-Cola Enterprises
119. Goodyear Tire & Rubber
120. Manpower
121. Plains All American Pipeline
122. U.S. Bancorp
123. Occidental Petroleum
124. UAL
125. Bristol-Myers Squibb
126. J.C. Penney
127. Whirlpool
128. Staples
129. Delta Air Lines
130. Capital One Financial
131. Exelon
132. TJX
133. Eli Lilly
134. Murphy Oil
135. Express Scripts
136. Kimberly-Clark
137. Oracle
138. AutoNation
139. Loews
140. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
141. Cigna
142. Rite Aid
143. DirecTV Group
144. Xerox
145. CHS
146. United States Steel
147. Weyerhaeuser
148. Fluor
149. Anheuser-Busch
150. Google
151. Nucor
152. Kohl's
153. Nike
154. Union Pacific
155. Illinois Tool Works
156. Bear Stearns
157. Lear
158. Arrow Electronics
159. Anadarko Petroleum
160. Burlington Northern Santa Fe
161. Dominion Resources
162. Gap
163. Avnet
164. Office Depot
165. AFLAC
166. Southern
167. Halliburton
168. FPL Group
169. Paccar
170. Computer Sciences
171. Amazon.com
172. Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
173. Amgen
174. TRW Automotive Holdings
175. Progressive
176. United Services Automobile Assn.
177. Centex
178. Continental Airlines
179. Health Net
180. Chubb
181. CBS
182. L-3 Communications
183. AES
184. Sun Microsystems
185. Texas Instruments
186. Colgate-Palmolive
187. Qwest Communications
188. World Fuel Services
189. Toys 'R' Us
190. Pepsi Bottling
191. Viacom
192. Oneok
193. SunTrust Banks
194. Penske Automotive Group
195. Consolidated Edison
196. American Electric Power
197. Marriott International
198. Public Service Enterprise Group
199. Waste Management
200. PG&E Corp.
201. EMC
202. Textron
203. Sara Lee
204. Duke Energy
205. Edison International
206. Cummins
207. Eaton
208. Williams
209. FirstEnergy
210. ConAgra Foods
211. Omnicom Group
212. Schering-Plough
213. Northwest Airlines
214. General Mills
215. Circuit City Stores
216. Aramark
217. Medtronic
218. PPG Industries
219. Jabil Circuit
220. Marsh & McLennan
221. Devon Energy
222. Smithfield Foods
223. Masco
224. Dean Foods
225. State Street Corp.
226. National City Corp.
227. Kellogg
228. US Airways Group
229. R.R. Donnelley & Sons
230. Knight
231. Entergy
232. Sempra Energy
233. Genworth Financial
234. Visteon
235. D.R. Horton
236. Baxter International
237. Reliant Energy
238. Eastman Kodak
239. Danaher
240. DISH Network
241. Trane
242. Principal Financial
243. Genuine Parts
244. Harrah's Entertainment
245. Regions Financial
246. Lincoln National
247. Parker Hannifin
248. Progress Energy
249. Huntsman
250. BB&T Corp.
251. Unum Group
252. Baker Hughes
253. Yum Brands
254. Integrys Energy Group
255. Sanmina-SCI
256. Lennar
257. Limited Brands
258. Air Products & Chemicals
259. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of America
260. Xcel Energy
261. CSX
262. Apache
263. Aon
264. PNC Financial Services Group
265. Avon Products
266. Coventry Health Care
267. Southwest Airlines
268. National Oilwell Varco
269. Thermo Fisher Scientific
270. Applied Materials
271. CenterPoint Energy
272. YRC Worldwide
273. DTE Energy
274. Dollar General
275. Liberty Media
276. Norfolk Southern
277. Starbucks
278. Praxair
279. Pepco Holdings
280. Tenet Healthcare
281. Automatic Data Processing
282. Pulte Homes
283. Dana Holding
284. KBR
285. ITT
286. SLM
287. Terex
288. OfficeMax
289. SAIC
290. Reynolds American
291. BJ's Wholesale Club
292. Liberty Global
293. H.J. Heinz
294. Land O'Lakes
295. Rohm & Haas
296. Ameriprise Financial
297. Qualcomm
298. Sonic Automotive
299. Nordstrom
300. Alltel
301. ArvinMeritor
302. Smith International
303. Commercial Metals
304. Hertz Global Holdings
305. Monsanto
306. CIT Group
307. Fifth Third Bancorp
308. Jacobs Engineering Group
309. Assurant
310. Boston Scientific
311. Fortune Brands
312. First American Corp.
313. Virgin Media
314. Owens-Illinois
315. First Data
316. Sherwin-Williams
317. Energy Future Holdings
318. Calpine
319. NiSource
320. Campbell Soup
321. KeyCorp
322. Ashland
323. MGM Mirage
324. Chesapeake Energy
325. Crown Holdings
326. eBay
327. Pilgrim's Pride
328. Mohawk Industries
329. Ameren
330. Community Health Systems
331. Dover
332. Gannett
333. CarMax
334. Smurfit-Stone Container
335. VF
336. Ball
337. Eastman Chemical
338. Dillard's
339. Clear Channel Communications
340. KB Home
341. C.H. Robinson Worldwide
342. Western Refining
343. Enbridge Energy Partners
344. Targa Resources
345. Reliance Steel & Aluminum
346. PPL
347. Winn-Dixie Stores
348. GameStop
349. Estee Lauder
350. Synnex
351. AK Steel Holding
352. American Family Insurance Group
353. Yahoo
354. Dole Food
355. Federal-Mogul
356. MeadWestvaco
357. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea
358. Family Dollar Stores
359. AGCO
360. Owens & Minor
361. Energy Transfer Equity
362. McGraw-Hill
363. Autoliv
364. Global Partners
365. Quest Diagnostics
366. CMS Energy
367. Celanese
368. Bed Bath & Beyond
369. Whole Foods Market
370. IAC/InterActiveCorp
371. Ryder System
372. Black & Decker
373. Interpublic Group
374. Cablevision Systems
375. Goodrich
376. Aleris International
377. W.W. Grainger
378. Newell Rubbermaid
379. Group 1 Automotive
380. Becton Dickinson
381. Embarq
382. Avery Dennison
383. Oshkosh
384. Performance Food Group
385. Peter Kiewit Sons'
386. Omnicare
387. ProLogis
388. Safeco
389. Franklin Resources
390. Hormel Foods
391. NCR
392. Molson Coors Brewing
393. Tenneco
394. AutoZone
395. TravelCenters of America
396. Starwood Hotels & Resorts
397. Harley-Davidson
398. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
399. Pitney Bowes
400. Allied Waste Industries
401. Stryker
402. Charles Schwab
403. NRG Energy
404. CB Richard Ellis Group
405. Pantry
406. Advanced Micro Devices
407. Emcor Group
408. Wesco International
409. Charter Communications
410. Henry Schein
411. Avis Budget Group
412. Ross Stores
413. Mattel
414. Realogy
415. Darden Restaurants
416. Atmos Energy
417. Corning
418. Anixter International
419. Northeast Utilities
420. Hexion Specialty Chemicals
421. Asbury Automotive Group
422. Mosaic
423. Affiliated Computer Services
424. Brunswick
425. Marshall & Ilsley Corp.
426. Shaw Group
427. Micron Technology
428. Kelly Services
429. Unisys
430. Newmont Mining
431. Owens Corning
432. Peabody Energy
433. W.R. Berkley
434. Blockbuster
435. Fidelity National Financial
436. XTO Energy
437. UGI
438. Ecolab
439. Western Digital
440. Host Hotels & Resorts
441. Allegheny Technologies
442. Foot Locker
443. Agilent Technologies
444. Precision Castparts
445. Boise Cascade Holdings
446. Barnes & Noble
447. Northern Trust Corp.
448. Wm. Wrigley Jr.
449. URS
450. Rockwell Automation
451. BorgWarner
452. Pacific Life
453. Longs Drug Stores
454. DaVita
455. Graybar Electric
456. Leggett & Platt
457. Timken
458. Expeditors International of Washington
459. Constellation Brands
460. USG
461. Symantec
462. Frontier Oil
463. Energy East
464. NVR
465. Auto-Owners Insurance
466. SPX
467. Tribune
468. Fiserv
469. Sovereign Bancorp
470. Lexmark International
471. Hershey
472. SunGard Data Systems
473. Western Union
474. Clorox
475. BlackRock
476. Advance Auto Parts
477. Insight Enterprises
478. Telephone & Data Systems
479. Liz Claiborne
480. Western & Southern Financial Group
481. Fidelity National Information Services
482. BJ Services
483. Hovnanian Enterprises
484. Holly
485. Universal Health Services
486. El Paso
487. Spectra Energy
488. Erie Insurance Group
489. PetSmart
490. Cameron International
491. Chiquita Brands International
492. Jarden
493. Big Lots
494. Sealed Air
495. Toll Brothers
496. United Stationers
497. Robert Half International
498. FMC Technologies
499. Perini
500. Scana

FOREX: LC’s as a BUSINESS tool of EXPORTS

INTRODUCTION

L/C is the most used payment term in International Trade and I'll be fairly specific on this topic. L/C is a perfect procedure to equally protect your interests and your buyer's interests. Using L/C as a term of payment, you risk almost nothing and at the same time it
ensures the buyer that goods are shipped before the payment has occurred. However, you only will be paid if all terms stipulated in the L/C are met and all documents specified in the L/C strictly comply with agreed conditions and are presented in time.
Before choosing L/C as a term of trade, you must understand what it is, how it works and what you can do to minimise risks involved in the L/C payment process.


OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

The objective behind our study is to learn about the LC’s As a business tool of exports and also to learn different types of Letter of Credit. After this study, we can understand this export tool and Its Importance


EXPLANATION:

Letters of Credit are regulated by International Chamber of Commerce under the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP 500). L/C is a conditional bank guarantee of payment for supplied goods. "Conditional" means that to get paid you have to present the bank-guarantor with documents, which strictly comply with the terms and conditions specified in the L/C.

There are different forms and types of L/C, which you may (or should not) use in your operations, viz

Revocable and Irrevocable L/C
"A revocable L/C may be amended or cancelled by the Issuing Bank at any moment and without prior notice to the Beneficiary. This is as simple, as that. Agree that the L/C is irrevocable before you go any further in your L/C negotiations.

Confirmed L/C
When you export to a country with economical or political instability or if you are unfamiliar with the Issuing Bank, you should require that the L/C be confirmed by a first-class bank. If L/C is confirmed, the confirming bank is liable for the payment.

Transferable L/C
Transferable L/C is a perfect financial tool for middlemen to secure their margin without involving any funds. It allows dealing with more than one beneficiary. When a transferable L/C is issued in your favour, you can transfer it to your seller and use it as a payment.

L/C "can be transferred only if it is expressly designated as "transferable" . Transferable L/C must correspond with the original L/C, "with the exception of:
- the amount of the L/C,
- any unit price,
- the expiry date,
- the last date for presentation of documents,
- the period for shipment.

L/C payable at sight
"Payable at sight" means that you'll be paid "immediately" (in fact, it may take up to 7 days) after presentation of the documents stipulated in the L/C to the Issuing Bank or to the Confirming Bank if it was confirmed.

L/C payable on the maturity date
If deferred payment was agreed, you'll be paid on the maturity date indicated in the L/C after presentation of the documents stipulated in the L/C to the Issuing Bank. One should not forget to specify the date from which the deferring period starts (e.g. 90 days after date of transport document).

HOW LC WORKS?

There are at least four participants, when dealing with L/C:
- The buyer – the Applicant
- You - the Beneficiary
- Bank, the payment will come from – the Issuing Bank
- Bank, the payment will go to – the Advising Bank.
The diagram below shows how participants are involved in the process of payment under L/C:

1. The Applicant and the Beneficiary negotiate terms and conditions of the L/C
2. The Applicant applies to the Issuing Bank to issue the L/C
3. The Issuing Bank issues the L/C and forwards it to the Advising Bank
4. The Advising Bank checks the apparent authenticity of the L/C and advises the L/C to the Beneficiary

5. The Beneficiary checks if the L/C complies with the commercial agreements and if all terms and conditions specified in the L/C can be satisfied and ships the goods

 6. The Beneficiary assembles the documents specified in the L/C, checks the documents for discrepancies with the L/C, draws the draft and presents the draft and the documents to the Advising Bank

 7. The Advising Bank bears the draft and the documents against terms and conditions of the L/C and forwards them to the Issuing Bank

 8. The Issuing Bank checks if the documents comply with the L/C and makes a payment immediately (if the L/C is available by sight) or on a certain date (if L/C is available by deferred payment)

Another party, which may be involved in the L/C procedure, is the Nominated Bank.
There are additional charges for the confirmation of the L/C, which depend on the risk involved in dealing with the particular country. The responsibility to pay for the confirmation is negotiable and usually is paid by the buyer. However, if it wasn't agreed prior to the issuance of the L/C, you are the one who will pay for this service.


When L/C is to be confirmed the payment process is different and is shown in the following diagram:

1. The Applicant and the Beneficiary negotiate terms and conditions of the L/C
2. The Applicant applies to the Issuing Bank to issue the L/C
3. The Issuing Bank issues the L/C and forwards it to the Advising Bank
4. The Confirming Bank confirms the L/C to the Advising Bank
5. The Advising Bank checks the apparent authenticity of the L/C and advises the L/C to the Beneficiary

6. The Beneficiary checks if the L/C complies with the commercial agreements and if all terms and conditions specified in the L/C can be satisfied and ships the goods

7. The Beneficiary assembles the documents specified the Issuing Bank in the L/C checks the documents for discrepancies with the L/C and presents them to the Advising Bank

8. The Advising Bank bears the documents against terms and conditions of the L/C and forwards them to the Confirming Bank

9. The Confirming Bank checks if the documents comply with the L/C and makes payment immediately (if the L/C is available by sight) or on a certain date (if L/C is available by deferred payment)

10. The Issuing Bank reimburses the funds to the Confirming Bank immediately after the payment
There is another advantage in using confirmed L/C. Assume that after long negotiations your potential buyer is ready to strike a deal, which is very profitable for you. The only condition you are not comfortable with is the deferred payment of 90 days after the shipping date. You feel that you may have some problems with cash flow, because you have to pay for the freight, packaging and so on. Well, with the confirmed L/C you won't.

A confirmed L/C may be used not only for securing the payment under the L/C but also as a security to obtain additional funds from the Advising Bank. Generally, the Advising Bank can discount the L/C in your favour as soon as the documents stipulated in the L/C are presented to the bank and checked. The funds will be considered as a loan, which will be automatically reimbursed by the Confirming Bank on the maturity date indicated in the L/C.


LC MUST CONTAINS FOLLOWING:

Although the buyer applies for L/C, it is essential for you to be absolutely sure that the L/C was prepared correctly and there is no legitimate ground for refusal of payment under the L/C.
L/C must enclose:
- Full Applicant's name and address
- Full Beneficiary's name and address
- Issuing Bank details
- Advising Bank details
- Form and type of credit (e.g. irrevocable, transferable)
- Issue date
- Expiry date
- The latest date of shipment (usually "no later than")
- Expiry date for presentation of documents
- Amount payable under L/C
- Currency of payment
- Port of loading
- Port of discharge
- Terms of delivery
- Indication of the payment of the freight (Freight Prepaid/Freight Collect)
- Allowances for partial shipment or transshipment if needed
- Type of payment availability (e.g. at sight, on the maturity date)
- Description of goods (must correspond with the description given in the invoice)
- List of documents required for the payment
- Accountability for bank charges



CONCLUSION:

Letters of credit are still an important tool used in international trade. They provide security for both buyer and seller where conditions may be uncertain or there is little or no previous trading relationship between the parties. However, letters of credit only provide this security when they are used in a prudent manner – it is essential that exporters remember that documents must be in strict compliance with the credit to secure payment. Treating letters of credit in a casual manner will remove the very level of security the exporter is seeking when selecting them as a method of payment. To ensure that letters of credit are dealt with in a competent and professional manner it is important for companies to have an action plan or checklist when dealing with letter of credit trade. Those companies who are dealing with letters of credit on an infrequent basis (and in some instances perhaps others who deal more often with letters of credit) may feel that it is not appropriate to have the expertise to deal with letters of credit in-house. In this case use may be made of outside expertise and experience for example their freight forwarder. This should be seen as a positive step taken to help ensure that the letter of credit process runs smoothly. However, using outside expertise does not preclude taking steps during contract negotiations to ensure that the credit is set up appropriately.


GLOSSARY OF COMMONLY USED TERMS

The Advising Bank
The bank, usually but not necessarily in the beneficiary's country, through which advice of the letter of credit is sent by the issuing bank.

The Issuing Bank
The bank which issues the letter of credit on the instructions of the importer (usually, but not necessarily, the importer's own bank)..

The Nominated Bank
The Nominated Bank is the bank, which is authorized by the Issuing Bank "to pay, to incur a deferred payment undertaking, to accept Draft(s) or to negotiate. The Issuing Bank may authorize the Nominated Bank to negotiate the drafts and/or documents. Negotiation means that the nominated Bank – in this case the Negotiating Bank - gives value to such drafts.

Confirmation of L/C
The confirmation of the L/C by another bank - the Confirming Bank - means that if the Issuing Bank refuses to make the payment, the Confirming Bank is responsible for this payment.
The best-case scenario is when the Advising Bank confirms the L/C. If the Advising Bank does not agree to confirm the L/C, ask the bank to recommend you another bank to be the Confirming Bank.


WEBLIOGY:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_credit
http://www.unzco.com/basicguide/c13.html
http://www.scribd.com/doc/90191/Methods-of-Payment-Terms-Conditions-and-Alternative-Financing-Sources-For-Export-Sales
http://www.answers.com/topic/letter-of-credit
http://www.sail.co.in/lc.pdf

FOREIGN TRADE: CONTRAST BETWEEN INDIAN AND CHINESE SEZ

“Why China is already an economic power and Asia’s other giant, India, is still struggling to catch up?”

Answer is Special Economic Zones, SEZ’s are industrial areas designed to attract outside investment by offering liberal foreign ownership policies and generous tax incentives. The Chinese started their liberalization and industrialization with the formation of SEZs in late 70s and early 80s. with an eye on luring dollars back to the motherland from compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

Unlike India, where SEZ is being incorporated 15 years after the start of Asia's first EPZ set up in Kandla in 1965. The SEZs were vital to the development of China’s export machine. Twenty five years later, India’s politicians have woken up and suddenly discovered the concept of SEZs. And realized the importance of SEZ’s. The Indians were late to the game.

Now question is -
“ Can we do better than China? “

Although ,currently as many as 267 SEZ’s have already been cleared by the government; out of these, 150 proposals have won final approval”. But on the other side : Critics are angry, saying that Indian peasants are getting robbed, losing their farmland to the industrial zones. Farmer activists have gone to the Supreme Court to stop things.
India is democratic, unlike china thus Indian leaders leader’s can’t just railroad through policies the way China’s communists do. But it does seem to be a shame that India, with a desperate need to generate more jobs for people from poor rural areas left out of the IT services boom, can’t figure out a way to get SEZs right.

To Choose from Contrary choices following points should be considered:

1. SCHEME POLICY :

INDIA
1 - 5 Years “ NO TAX” .
6 - 10 Years “ 50 % of profit is taxable.
11 - 15 Years “ 50 % of Ploughing back profit is Taxable.

CHINA
NO TAX during stand-up years before making PROFITS.
The 1st Year company makes the profits, the tax clock starts:
1st Year : NO TAX.
2nd Year: NO TAX.
3rd Year : 50% of Profits are Taxable.
4th Year : 50% of Profits are Taxable.
5th Year onwards 100% Profits are Taxable.


2. All the Chinese SEZs are located along the coast line while the Indian SEZs are mostly concentrated near major cities and more than half are being developed by real estate companies attracted by the cheap land prices.

3. China started its liberalization and industrialization with the formation of SEZs in late 70s and early 80s, while in India it’s the 2000’s policy that started SEZ’s .

4. China had a Master Plan and an economic framework on how to build and proceed with SEZs, most probably inspired by the success of Asian Trading Hub, Hong Kong. The Dragons started building massive cities for manufacturing and industrialization under their SEZ framework. Dragons also rolled out red carpet for foreign companies to build and operate from these SEZs.

5. Dragon SEZ blueprint says, Size Matters for SEZ. Shenzhen is the largest SEZ in China and is spread over 493 Sq Kms.(49,300 hectares). While the largest SEZ in India, Reliance - Navi Mumbai and Maha Mumbai SEZ, is mere 14,000 hectares.

6. Chinese SEZ initiative is government driven, Indian SEZs are driven by private sector.

7. China has only five SEZs, while India has approved 200 and still counting.

In order to conclude following is apt-

"We should look at entire districts, with a port and a hinterland for SEZ. We should make large-scale investments in that so there is synergy, and we should ensure that manufacturing has priority, followed by services, but the vision has to be much larger. The way it is today, the vision is too myopic, and too small, and I am afraid we will not get the benefit that China did.
As said by Mr. Mohandas Pai (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR INFOSYS).