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I have always had trouble delegating. Even as a manager in corporate America, I had a tendency to do all my work myself — everything from scheduling meetings, to reserving conference rooms, to ordering lunch for guests and sending faxes. I was convinced I was the best person to complete these tasks.

That tendency continued when I started my own marketing agency and hired a couple of interns. Rarely could they get the work done as quickly or as thoroughly as I could, so, too often, I kept it for myself.

As you might expect with only one person working at capacity — me — my firm quickly hit a revenue ceiling. Everything I was able to do myself, I did. It was only when I encountered a need for a website, which I had no idea how to design and create, that I was forced hand over a key task.

And after witnessing how much could be done by someone else, I did a complete about-face. I began looking for opportunities to delegate and outsource.

Buoyed by Tim Ferriss’ recommendation of low-cost help in his bestselling The 4-Hour Workweek, I turned to Brickwork India, in Bangalore, for some market research. I wanted to know how large a particular industry was to help me determine if it was worth targeting. But since this was a not yet a revenue-generating concern, I also wanted to keep my costs as low as possible. Hiring Bain or the Boston Consulting Group was not an option.

I have a virtual assistant in Texas (I’m in New York) who handles much of my Web work, at $50 an hour, but this project required a different skill-set. I had already spent a few hours of my time conducting my own top-line investigation and came up short. So when Ferriss indicated that Brickwork charges as little as $15 an hour, I decided to test them out.

I went to the company’s website and completed an initial Request for Information form identifying myself and the specific tasks I needed a Brickwork analyst to perform. Based on that input, I received a quote for a block of 10 hours of work in the next 30 days. The cost was $140. Total. I was more than willing to risk $14 an hour on this experiment.

The next step was setting up my Brickwork account, which took a matter of minutes, and paying the $140 via credit card. I received an introductory e-mail from my senior executive assistant the next afternoon, the start of their work day. I would have liked to have been able to request a particular worker, since a colleague had recommended a talented researcher there, but there was no opportunity to request anyone specific during the sign-up quick guaranteed personal loans.

Unsure of whether I should immediately hand off this important research project, I started with a softball task — compile a list of associations and organizations for writers in the U.S. Within a matter of hours, I had a spreadsheet listing 15 such organizations, their corresponding locations and number of members. Given that I could rattle off close to a dozen writers’ associations off the top of my head, I was a bit disappointed it took my executive assistant two hours to come up with 15. I was fairly certain there were more, but the information I received was well-organized.

So I forged ahead and with eight hours remaining on my credit I asked for help in finding the size of the ghostwriting industry. Mindful that more than eight hours could be spent with little to show for it, I set a cap of two hours. Those two hours were quickly gone and, in exchange, I received a list of four small companies that compete in that market. Not exactly what I was after. And then there were six hours left.

We spent some time going back and forth, as I tried to clarify exactly what I needed while also trying to assess whether there was any chance I would actually get it. Looking back, I should have picked up the phone and spent five minute making sure my assistant truly understood what I wanted, but e-mail was so much more convenient; I had her phone number but didn’t use it.

From the tasks I assigned and the deliverables I received, it slowly became clear that Brickwork was awesome at tracking down information with a single known value. For example, if you wanted to know how many babies were born last year worldwide, I’m sure my executive assistant could have found that fact. But ask for information that requires some primary research or deductive reasoning and you’ll burn through several hours just explaining what you’re after, information-wise. Alas, my industry research task falls into the latter category.

At such a low hourly rate and with the flexibility to hire a Brickworker on a whim, I may turn to them for administrative help in the future. But only when the data I need is well-defined and finite. 

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The parent company of First Community Bank said Monday that its stock was being delisted by NASDAQ, effective at the open of business Wednesday.

First State Bancorp (NASDAQ: FSNM ) made the announcement in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The stock closed at 36 cents per share Monday.

First Community lost $25.7 million in the first quarter, $110.5 million in 2009, and $153 million in 2008. It has been trying to raise capital to boost its reserves.

First Community President and CEO Pat Dee said the delisting was “another little bump in the road” for the bank, which has been under a regulatory order from the Federal Reserve Bank since the summer of 2009.

“The good news for our shareholders is that they can continue to trade the shares on the over-the-counter market,” Dee said. “This will not affect the day-to-day operations of the bank.”

The bank announced earlier this month that it had ended an unsuccessful effort to buy back $95 million in trust preferred securities at 15 cents on the dollar Internet Payday loans. The bank holding company announced June 9 that it was attempting to buy back the securities in an effort to rid itself of debt and recapitalize the bank.

The securities, bought by investors between 2002 and 2007, were used to capitalize the bank. The repurchase offer ended at 5 p.m. July 7.

In May, First State revised its first quarter financial statements to add $10 million to its loan loss reserves. That move dropped First Community’s ratio of total capital to risk-weighted assets to 7.53 percent, which put the bank into the undercapitalized category for federal regulatory purposes.

First Community is New Mexico’s third largest bank, with $2.7 billion in assets.

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Sales at major retailers rose for a 10th straight month in June, but mixed results reported Thursday signaled that consumers are still cautious.

According to sales tracker Thomson Reuters, which looks at monthly sales for 28 leading chains such as Macy’s (M, Fortune 500), Target (TGT, Fortune 500), Costco (COST, Fortune 500) and J.C. Penney (JCP, Fortune 500), June same-store sales rose 3.1%. That was slightly below the firm’s initial estimate for an increase of 3.2%.

Same-store sales, a key gauge of a retailer’s performance, measure sales at stores open at least a year.

While consumers may still be hesitant to open up their wallets, June’s gain was stronger than May’s 2.5% increase and a significant jump from the 4.9% drop in same-store sales reported in June of last year.

"The bottom line is that consumer spending is continuing to grow, but only modestly and not at the fast pace we saw at the beginning of the year," said Scott Hoyt, a retail economist at Moody’s Economy.com.

"Unemployment is still high, wealth is probably falling again with the declines in the stock market, and overall confidence is very low, so there are just a number of constraints on the consumer right now," he added.

Out of the 28 stores, 44% beat analysts’ expectations, while 56% missed.

Sluggish sales: Sales at discount and apparel stores were the most disappointing in June. Discount store sales rose an average of 2.9% last month, compared with an expected 3 pay day loans.6% jump, while sales at apparel stores increased 2.9%, much lower than the 3.5% rise that had been forecast.

Discounter BJ’s Wholesale (BJ, Fortune 500) said sales rose 3.8% in June, missing estimates of a 5.3% increase, while sales at Target increased only 1.7%, lower than the 2.7% jump that had been expected.

In the apparel arena, sales at Gap Inc.’s Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic stores dragged the overall apparel sector down in June. Same-store sales at Gap Inc. (GPS, Fortune 500) stores remained flat on average in June, while analysts had expected a 3.4% gain.

Excluding Gap Inc.-owned stores, apparel retailers gained 3.8% on average, slightly beating expectations of a 3.5% rise.

Biggest gainers: Department stores, boosted by promotions and steep discounts, posted the largest increase last month, gaining an average 5.8%.

JC Penney (JCP, Fortune 500), Nordstrom (JWN, Fortune 500) and Macys were among the best performers, all beating expectations in June.

Teen retailers also fared well last month, posting an overall gain of 3.7%, compared to the forecast 2.4% rise.

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), Hollister, Aeropostale and Zumiez (ZUMZ) posted some of the biggest gains, while other teen retailers like the Buckle (BKE) and Wet Seal struggled to lure in back-to-school shoppers.  

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The former Jean LaFitte Hotel in Galveston has been acquired for redevelopment into a mixed-income apartment complex.

Itex Partners, the real estate investment arm of Port Arthur-based Itex Group LLC, has acquired the historic building at 2101 Church St. that has stood vacant for a long time in downtown Galveston.

State and federal disaster recovery funds will be used to renovate the 1927 building, with half of the units earmarked for low and moderate income housing no teletrack payday loans.

Cathay Bank sold the property to Itex for an undisclosed amount.

Derek Hargrove and Christopher Dray of Moody Rambin Investment Services represented the seller.

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Altria Group Inc. earned $813 million, or 39 cents per share, compared with $589 million, or 28 cents. Revenue rose 2 percent.

AMR, parent of American Airlines lost $505 million, or $1.52 per share, compared with a loss of $375 million, or $1.35, a year ago. Revenue rose 4.7 percent.

AT&T Inc. earned $2.5 billion, or 42 cents a share, down from $3.1 billion, or 53 cents. Revenue rose.

EBay Inc. earned $398 million, or 30 cents a share, compared with $357 million, or 28 cents, a year ago. Revenue rose 9 percent.
Freeport-McMoRan earned $897 million, or $2 per share, compared with $43 million, or 11 cents. Revenue nearly doubled.

McDonald’s Corp. earned $1.09 billion, or $1 a share, up from $979.5 million, or 87 cents, a year ago. Revenue rose 10 percent.

Morgan Stanley earned $1.41 billion, or 99 cents a share, compared with a loss of $578 million, or 57 cents. Revenue rose.

Wells Fargo & Co. earned $2.37 billion, or 45 cents per share, compared with $2.38 billion, or 56 cents, a year ago. Revenue rose.

From wire reports

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Wind Mobile will announce its handsets and rates Wednesday and if online speculation is anything to go by, consumers will be pleased, though perhaps not surprised.

The company has refused to comment on rumours and leaks on blogs and online forums – some supposedly posted by insiders, others leaked by disgruntled ex-employees. But top industry analysts, who did not want to be named, said some of the information looked "dead-on," while adding some aspects were likely to change.

According to a posting on Howardforums.com, a site for cellphone junkies, Wind seems to be coming in with an expansive low-rate plan, with unlimited calling between the company’s subscribers and 100 minutes for $15 – twice the minutes of Telus Corp.’s discount Koodoo brand and Rogers Wireless Inc.’s Fido, which have similar $15 plans.

The posting, which has almost 50,000 page views, also lists a $35-per-month plan with unlimited provincial calling (but only 50 outgoing texts) and a $45 monthly plan that includes unlimited national calling and texting.

In interviews, Anthony Lacavera, chairman of Wind Mobile parent Globalive, has stressed that cheap pricing is not his strategy. Rather, he says, his goal is to provide value for money, good customer service and clear billing.

"It’s right in line with what we’ve expected, what the market has expected," one analyst said.

"That’s why you’ve seen the stock get knocked from the big three (incumbents Rogers, Telus and Bell Canada)."

Websites have also described the company’s data packages, pointing to a $10 social BlackBerry package and an unlimited mobile data plan for $35.

One analyst said he doubted whether the data would be truly unlimited, adding that "tethering" – effectively using a BlackBerry’s Internet service as a modem for a laptop – is unlikely to be included, as was suggested.

"It’s very difficult to give people unlimited data because it’s just so expensive," the analyst said.

The upstart wireless carrier’s launch was delayed by a Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ruling that said Globalive was a foreign company and ineligible to operate in Canada.

It received the green light from Industry Minister Tony Clement last Friday, after cabinet concluded that the CRTC had erred in its decision payday loan. Almost all of Globalive’s debt and 65 per cent of its equity is held by Egyptian telecom giant Orascom Telecom Holdings SAE, which has cellular services in Greece, Italy and Algeria.

The delay has been costly. After the CRTC ruling, many of Wind’s 800 or so employees sat idle, and were then sent out volunteering in the community.

And the company, which previously said it was ready to launch, is now grappling with the actual process, and the difficulties that come with erecting a complicated network.

However, it is doing so without the established resources of the giant incumbents, one analyst said.

It is also unclear if Wind will have the BlackBerry at launch, since it sucks up a lot of bandwidth on the network and may get wonky service – a disaster for a company such as Wind, which is launching with an emphasis on customer service.

Lacavera has told the Star that Wind was in discussions to begin carrying Apple Inc.’s iPhone, though analysts said not to expect it in the short term, as the company struggles with more practical tasks.

The new year will see other new entrants, as well, which will challenge Globalive for the roughly 30 per cent of Canadians who do not currently have a cellphone.

Public Mobile CEO Alek Krstajic told the Star earlier the company aims to be the cellular provider "of the working class," with lower rates and cheaper devices.

DAVE Wireless president Dave Dobbin has a target audience more similar to Globalive’s, and said in an interview on Monday his company won’t be the cheapest but will focus on value.

"What I can assure you is that Canadians will have greater choice," Dobbin said.

Wind will be selling phones out of 13 Blockbuster Video locations in Toronto and three in Calgary, the company’s first launch markets, as well as designated stores.

At the Liberty Village Blockbuster in Toronto, four cheery employees stood by a kiosk empty of phones.

"We’ve been waiting to tell people for months," said Chanel Manthorpe, 22. "We’re excited."

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Growing up in an Air Force family, Maggie Campbell moved all over the world. After earning her undergraduate degree, Campbell got a job with the Main Street revitalization program in Taylor, Texas.

Subsequent Main Street jobs in Oklahoma and Mississippi led to downtown development jobs in Pasadena, Calif., Dallas and Fort Worth. Before beginning work in St. Louis on Nov. 2, Campbell spent three years as president of the Arlington (Texas) Downtown Management Corp. In St. Louis, she succeeded Jim Cloar, who retired.

Campbell’s first visit to St. Louis was last year when she attended a meeting of the International Downtown Association.

What was your first impression of downtown St. Louis?

I loved the old buildings. There’s a very rich architectural history here. I had the impression a lot had been accomplished but that there was a lot left to be done. There were more gaps in the teeth than what I expected to find.

Why do few national retailers have stores downtown?

Maybe downtown isn’t ready for them. But if you create attractions and add jobs and residents, the retailing will follow. For retailers, it’s all about numbers. What I found in Pasadena is perhaps closest to what I’m seeing in St. Louis. I’m feeling a very similar kind of promise of activity from people who have a stake in downtown. Old Pasadena is very urban, very cool. Thousands of people are on the sidewalks at night. We’ve got to sustain this coolness factor.

Which of your previous jobs prepared you most for your new position?

It’s been a cumulative process. To go to Arlington was quite a contrast from Pasadena but it was a tremendous opportunity to learn economic development, the piece I was missing in my career. Until then, I didn’t have the responsibility for making deals happen.

Arlington was a small town between Dallas and Fort Worth, but in the 1950s it had this tremendous suburban growth. My work in Pasadena was all about managing success because it was such a proven district.

It’s a combination of those most recent jobs that prepared me best for this new position.

What are you learning so far?

The No. 1 concern I hear from people when they talk about downtown St. Louis is the empty, dilapidated buildings. They want them returned to active use. I’ve not heard from a single resident who wants to tear down historic buildings.

I’d love to have more Class A buildings downtown and getting more corporate citizens to realize that downtown is important. But we already have a lot of underused buildings. In this current economic climate and without some very creative financing, we’re not going to get new construction right away.

What’s your main job goal here?

My job is to connect the vision for downtown with developers and investors. A lot of thoughtful listening goes a long way.

We still need to attract more residents. That will happen. We need to fill in the gaps and connect the dots. If you see vacant buildings, the impression is that nobody cares. But not every delay or setback indicates the absence of progress. A degree of dissatisfaction drives the desire to show that downtown can be better.

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Kraft Foods Inc faces a tougher task winning over Cadbury Plc shareholders after disappointing results reinforced the view that it will formalize its existing offer for the British chocolatier next week rather than present a higher bid.

An announcement formalizing Kraft’s current offer is expected on Monday, under a deadline set by the UK Takeover Panel, one source familiar with the situation told Reuters. The source could not be identified by name because he was not authorized to speak with the media.

Kraft is unlikely to raise its offer or change the cash-and-stock mix of the bid at this time because it faces no rival suitors for Cadbury, said the source familiar with the situation, who cautioned that plans could still be altered, before or after Monday.

“Formalizing the bid is just a starting point,” said the source. “Anything could change after that.”

If Kraft failed to formalize its bid by 1700 GMT on Monday November 9, it would have to walk away from Cadbury for six months under UK takeover rules.

Kraft made a cash-and-shares offer in early September that was rejected by Cadbury. Formalizing the offer without a recommendation from Cadbury would turn the bid hostile.

The initial approach was priced at 745p a Cadbury share, or 10.2 billion pounds ($16.8 billion), but the fall in Kraft shares makes it presently worth around 733p, against a current Cadbury share price of around 767p.

Kraft released its quarterly results after the U.S. market close on Tuesday, reporting revenue that fell short of Wall Street expectations and cutting its sales forecast.

The world’s No. 2 foodmaker has insisted it would not overpay for Cadbury. But it has also secured a $9 billion bridge loan and could use it to sweeten the cash element of its offer at a later date.

Kraft shares were down nearly 3 percent on Wednesday afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange, while Cadbury closed down 1.4 percent in London.

HOW MUCH SWEETER?

Pablo Zuanic at broker JPMorgan said Kraft’s results were likely to cap any eventual improvement in its offer.

“Re: the Kraft bid, we now assume a lower price on lack of competing bids, lower synergy assumptions and our growing belief Kraft could walk away … We doubt Kraft will go over 780 pence,” he added.

Investec Securities, meanwhile, said it expects Kraft would not be willing to pay more than 800 pence a share for Cadbury.

“We now think Kraft will be willing to pay only 800p, and the probability of a successful bid falls accordingly,” said analyst Martin Deboo at Investec Securities, one of the few big brokers not involved in advising or financing in the bid battle. 

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Loblaw Cos. Ltd. is taking direct aim at Wal-Mart’s price claims in the Ontario market, saying the food prices in its Real Canadian Superstores are now on par with the world’s biggest discounter.

To drive home the point with consumers, starting Friday, the flyers for the Ontario Superstores will be advertising new prices on some 2,000 items, roughly 10 per cent of the food in Superstores.

The program, called "rounding down," takes those prices down to the nearest dollar, or in some cases down several dollars, Loblaw’s chief operating officer Dalton Philips said in an interview yesterday.

"It’s a very aggressive price campaign," Philips said.

"We’re going head-to-head with Wal-Mart."

Wal-Mart countered later in the day, saying it stands by its commitment to provide "unbeatable prices" on a basket of goods.

"Anybody can at any given point in time lower the price on a specific product, but our commitment is unbeatable prices on a whole basket," Wal-Mart spokesperson Andrew Pelletier explained.

Wal-Mart Canada has been running its own price promotion campaign since early September, Pelletier noted, discounting both food and general merchandise items across the store to celebrate its 15th anniversary.

The move comes as glum economic news has more consumers shopping around for bargains, trading down to cheaper products and checking flyers for the best deals.

"The consumer has become very promiscuous," Philips said, referring to the lack of customer loyalty to a particular store or brand.

The question is whether its Real Canadian Superstores in Ontario have been reaping any of those benefits.

Built to compete with Wal-Mart as the global giant entered Canada’s supermarket business three years ago, Loblaw’s Superstores contain food and general merchandise.

The Ontario stores are modelled on a format that had been highly successful for the company in western Canada for more than 25 years online payday loans.

But the concept hasn’t translated well. Indeed, one of Galen Weston’s first decisions after taking the helm at Loblaw in September 2006 was to stop building more Superstores in Ontario until the company got the format right.

(It has since opened one in Milton and one in Peterborough, but they were both already in the pipeline.)

There’s a total of 37 now in Ontario.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart has opened 42 combined food and general merchandise "supercentres" in Ontario and has plans to open or expand another 25 to 30 existing stores across the country this year.

Weston also acknowledged one of the company’s problems was that consumers perceived its stores to be more expensive than rivals, whether it was a Loblaw store competing with Sobeys, or a No Frills up against Food Basics.

The company has since invested millions in lowering prices, first in discount stores and then in its conventional stores.

Now, it’s tackling the Superstores in Ontario.

The big behemoths present a particularly difficult challenge in this market, analysts said. Unlike western Canada, where Loblaw didn’t operate any No Frills stores until recently, the Real Canadian Superstores were already the price leaders long before Wal-Mart entered the food business.

But in Ontario, the perception is No Frills is the price leader in food while Wal-Mart is ahead of the pack in general merchandise, leaving the Superstores without a strong image.

Pricing is just one of the areas Loblaw is addressing in the Superstores, Philips said.

The company is also adding more ethnic food and club packs to those stores in a bid to appeal to a wider customer base and help families shop on a budget, he said.

It’s also launching bulk bins, where customers can scoop up basic ingredients cheaply, as more consumers resort to cooking from scratch to cut costs, Philips explained.

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The International Monetary Fund will raise its 2010 growth forecast for the world economy to 3.1 percent from 2.5 percent to reflect improving economic conditions, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Citing unidentified sources at the IMF and the German government, German business daily Handelsblatt said the IMF had revised its global forecast for this year to a 1.1 percent contraction from a negative 1.4 percent before.

“The data is pointing upwards on a weekly basis,” it quoted one of the sources as saying. The IMF is due to update its forecasts in its World Economic Outlook to be released in Istanbul on Thursday.

The Handelsblatt also said the IMF had raised its forecasts for Germany’s gross domestic product to grow by 0.3 percent next year after previously predicting a 0.6 percent contraction.

Output in Europe’s biggest economy would shrink by 5.3 percent this year, less severely than the IMF’s previous forecast of a 6.2 percent decline, the newspaper said.

(Reporting by Jan Dahinten; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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