Just as your pulse is checked during a routine physical, free cash flow is used as an indicator of a company's health. It equals the cash brought in from operations minus the money needed to pay the bills. Think about leftover money in your checking account after you pay this month's bills.

Investors and analysts see this leftover money as a gauge of a company's ability to perform. It is available for transactions such as handing out dividends and working on new products.

Some argue free cash flow is wrongly overshadowed by the emphasis often placed on earnings. Earnings numbers can be manipulated and don't always tell the whole story -- and earnings don't mean much if there's nothing left over after a company pays its expenses. Even if you bring in a six-figure salary, but no money left after paying the bills, are you in great financial shape?

You don't have to be Einstein to figure out free cash flow. To calculate the number, subtract the company's expenditures and dividends from its operating cash flow.

If the free cash flow is written in red ink, it doesn't necessarily signal curtains. This is common for young companies looking to grow. It also could be a result of heavy investments, which in the long run could be worth a standing ovation.

Home / Markets / Innovation

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Innovation: New Software Monitors Kids' Cell Phone Use

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Donna Fuscaldo

FOXBusiness

New York --Monitoring Internet usage may not be enough to protect your child from a predator.

With text messaging the preferred means of communications for young people and parents getting smarter about monitoring the Internet, children are facing an increased risk from their mobile phone. To combat that, a handful of companies are rolling out software that they say lets parents monitor communications their kids are having on the phone and hopefully protect them from unwanted advances.

“All the problems of the Internet are on the cell phone,’’ said Bob Lotter, founder of Newport Beach, Calif.-based eAgency Mobile Solutions, which offers a cell phone monitoring service on mymobilewatchdog.com. “Cyber-bullying, unsolicited sexual advances and child pornography” are all happening on the mobile phone, he said.

Click here to read Cops: High School Students Traded Nude Pics of Themselves Over Cell Phones

While much of the attention is centered on predators using the Internet to stalk children, Lotter and other experts say cell phones are an ideal means for predators because parents often don’t check what’s going on with a child’s cell phone. It’s also a device that is commonly used by children out of their parent’s watchful eye.

According to market research firm NPD, the age at which children begin using consumer electronic devices has declined to 6.7 in 2007 from 8.1 in 2005. Among the most purchased devices for children in 2007 were cell phones.

“The thing about the cell phone that’s particularly problematic is its easily hidden most of the time,’’ said Lotter. “With text messages even the language they (children) are using is different.”

For example, Lotter pointed to a recent case in Colorado where an 11 year old girl befriended an adult male at a water park while on vacation and the male started sending pornographic pictures to her cell phone, enticing her to do the same. “It's one method being used to procure child pornography,’’ said Lotter.

According to Teri Schroeder, chief executive of iSafe.org, parents need to be aware of any two-way communications whether it’s via the Internet or a cell phone. “They have to understand it's high-tech high-touch,’’ she said, noting that text messaging is a “huge” means of communications and with things like global positioning systems built into the phone its increasingly dangerous for children. “We now have a medium that’s intimidating to the parent and challenging parenting skills,’’ she said.

With eAgency Mobile's software, which the company calls Radar, parents are able to monitor incoming and outgoing text messages, emails and photos. Parents log into a secured Web site to view all of the communications to and from the phone. While the software, which has to be installed on the cell phone, does monitor incoming and outgoing phone calls, it doesn’t record the actual conversation taking place. Parents can also set up a parent approved phonebook. When a call comes in that’s not in the phonebook, the parent will have the chance to approve the caller, delete the caller or mark it as suspicious.

“Anytime a communication to the phone is sent from someone not on the approved list, mom will receive a text message in real time on her phone,’’ said Lotter. The parent will get the actual text message or photo on their phone.

The service costs $9.95 a month. The company is working with the major cell-phone carriers to make it something they can offer in their stores. Currently the service is only available through mymobilewatchdog.com. Lotter said the company is working with law enforcement and is in a pilot program with three schools in Colorado to build awareness among parents.

“Parents are really the best cop and the best person to protect their child,’’ said Lauder.

Radar isn’t the only tool available to parents to help them monitor their child and cell phone. Cell Phone Secure is a service that lets parents control incoming and outgoing calls for $19.90 a month. That service only works with Nokia series 60 phones.

There’s also Guardian Angel Technology, which lets parents track the movements of their child’s cell phone on a secure Web site as long as the phone has a built in GPS chip. Mobile Spy software from Cell-Phone-Spy.com is stealth spy software for Windows mobile based smartphones that records every text message and logs every call and duration with the data available to be viewed online.