UND-Pilsa Blog

It was not long ago when in 2001 when we had 2 million lay offs. Two million Americans lost their jobs. That is not very bad considering the enormity of the employment base in this country, but it is still too high for my blood. It is a travesty when the greatest nation in the world cannot control its regulatory bureaucracy, which caused those job loses. Sure we can blame it on the guy who lives in a cave in Afghanistan and the international terrorist attacks on the problem of the job issues, but the downward trend was there long before Osama Bin Laden finally downed those buildings he had his heart set on.

Where did all these people find jobs? What will happen in the next business cycle? Well, some of these people will be starting businesses and they will need to get an SBA loan or go to a bank, buy a franchise and of course make a business plan. A couple of good sites for business plan making are;

http://www.bizavings.com

http://www.businessplanfunding.com

check them out next time you find yourself in the same boat with the other 2 million laid off workers and those who maybe still looking for work, currently stuck in under employed circles. For instance possessing a PhD but working part time retail. Unemployment is now the lowest in three decades, but due to the regulatory bureaucracy causing the next downturn in the business cycle, we are not out of the woods yet and really no kudos can be given just yet. Sure we have some tort reform and some positive signs, but Elliot Spitzer is still on the lose and even the latest polls of business owners in California are predicting a slow down in 2006 and the hiring freezes have already started.

Everyone knows that the stock market leads the economy recovery by 6-9 months, and it did in this last go around and then tested it self went up again. Today there is no clear direction although the economic numbers look good, but mind you that the EURO slipped on the dollar, which means our manufacturers may not be so rosy as we thought for 2006-2008. Our stock market is doing some bouncing around also. Remember that the stock markets are no longer really reality based and are more like a gambling casino than anything. Some day it will no longer have any resemblance of the actual reason for it’s creation, but for now it is a good pre-indicator of things to come and we also know that high fuel prices take their toll on the over all economy. Interest rates are still going up albeit slow and the housing bubble is getting weird too. Anyway we must pay attention, please be thinking here.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

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As a nation, we annually waste billions of dollars on uneaten food,
over priced clothes, unused, unnecessary items, uncompetitive savings
account rates and excessive credit cards interest. American consumers
throw away money as never before and the credit card bills roll in
with their record of excessive Christmas spending. This makes January
a perfect time to start putting your personal savings finances in
order.

I know that I find something freeing, almost liberating about
spending money away on treats for myself. It can be something as
cheap as a pad of notepaper with some fancy design on it that costs
$5, or as expensive as staying at a hotel room instead of driving two
hours home after a conference. However, there is no reason why people
who save their money should accept miniscule interest rates or sky-
high credit card interest charges.

Spending a few minutes now to find a better deal will leave you
better off by December 31. Leaving things the way you have left them
in the past is like setting fire to your own money. By making a few
changes to improve your accumulation versus your spending will make
it so that the odd taxi home, the takeout chicken or spontaneous
clothing purchase will not have a dramatically negative effect on
your bank balance or credit card debt.”

Here are 10 easy ways to save money in 2005 and every year beyond.

1 SAVE ON FOOD

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be expensive. Making your sandwiches
at home and taking them to work might cost you $3 a day if you really
go all out on the fixings and drink. Buying a sandwich, drink, and
chips at Subway or McDonalds and you’ve dropped $5 - $9 plus ingested
more calories, fat, and preservatives than is healthy for you. If you
cut $2 a day out of your spending, and weekly or monthly put that
money into a special account at your bank or freezer, you will have
$10 a week, $40 a month, $500 a year. Maybe that is your Christmas
present fund?

Slash supermarket bills by making a shopping list and sticking to
it. Avoid picking up the over priced “bargain” extras placed at the
end of the aliases where they can tempt you. (Tip: Leave the kids at
home when you grocery shop.) Give the store’s own brand a try, their
value ranges can cost a third the price for name-brand items and
contain the same nutrition. Buy fruit and vegetables in local farmers
markets in season - prices are competitive, you know the people who
grow the food and you get to be outside for a bit of fresh air.
Make your meals at home and freeze portions for future meals. Often
times the home cooking is lower in fat, sugar and salt than ready-to-
eat meals and having the food in the freezer, ready to thaw will
reduce the temptation to by over-priced takeout.

2 SAVE ON DAILY SPENDING

Take a good look at what you really use. Do you have a gym
membership that you only visit occasionally but seem to renew every
year? Do you take the bus or taxi to work? Save a few dollars and get
in some free exercise by getting out a couple blocks early.
Leave the ATM machine card at home, and when you do use it, take
less money out than you normally do. It’s harder to waste the money
if you don’t have it in your pocket. Join the local library - you’ll
spend less time in bookshops. Shopping for purchases can also save
money - many major stores offer a price promise matching any
advertised price.

3 MORTGAGE SAVINGS

Penny watching will save a small fortune over the years, but taking
the trouble to find the lowest over-all cost mortgage available can
also save a small fortune. If you can recoup your costs through a
lower interest rate in less than 2 years, go ahead and refinance,
over the long haul that lower interest rate can save you some real
change.

2003 provided the lowest interest rates in 50 years, yet many
homeowners failed to switch to a cheaper mortgage rate. 2004 was also
a year of decent interest rates, yet many homeowners are still paying
too much interest. Instead of simply writing a check next month looks
into the possibility of refinancing.

4 CUT HOME INSURANCE COSTS

Cutting home insurance is also easy. Identify the level of coverage
you need and then shop around to find the lowest premiums based on
that coverage. If you are willing to self insure more than the
standard $500 deductible - that is pay the first $1,000 or $2000 of a
loss - you will find a significant savings in the annual rate. Just
beware, that many of the small things like broken windows, a few
shingles off your roof will not be paid by the insurer because they
cost below that $1,000 deductible.

Lower premiums are also offered by some companies to members of a
neighborhood watch or to the people with extra security. Good quality
locks, alarms, and security systems deter break-ins and some insurers
discount for that. Don’t forget your outbuildings when looking for
insurance coverage. Many of the items in your garden shed are
expensive to replace if they disappear.

5 CUT CAR COSTS

Your car can be expensive to operate. Fuel, maintenance, and
insurance can cost per mile more than the current 37.5 cents the IRS
says a vehicle costs to operate. Depreciation can total nearly 60% of
a new cars cost in the first 2 years. Keeping your tires properly
inflated, the filters clean and the starting and stopping to a
minimum will increase your mileage and decrease expenses.

Using the Internet will help you cut your insurance costs
dramatically if you go online to shop for a better insurance rate.
Another thing that will help with your insurance fee is keeping your
driving record clear of moving vehicle tickets - don’t speed.

6 SAVE ON UTILITY BILLS

Depending on where you live the deregulation of gas and electricity
means suppliers have competition now and deals are available if you
go looking. Consumers stand to save nearly a third of their gas bill
if they live in areas with competition and are willing to shop around
and ask for the savings.

You can save even more with energy-saving measures like drawing the
curtains at dusk, turning the TV off rather than using standby,
buying energy-efficient light bulbs and turning the thermostat down
just one degree, at night or while you are away during the day.
When you go to renew your cell phone - shop around. The act of
Congress mandating the option to take your phone number with you has
proved many cheaper rates and more incentives to get you to switch
from one carrier to the other.

7. LIFE INSURANCE

Life insurance rates have fallen the last few years, especially for
the term rates. At a minimum buy enough insurance for your spouse to
be able to live without employment until the kids are old enough to
go to school. Get on the internet and search for the best rate you
can find. You won’t even have to deal with an insurance salesman.

8 SAVE ON CREDIT AND BANKING

Credit is a way of life today, and many of us are paying through the
nose for trillions in unsecured personal borrowing on credit cards.
APRs can reach almost 25 per cent for in-store credit, and many
struggle to pay the interest, adding punitive years to the borrowing
term.

Instead look at low-cost loan to consolidate debts, or a new credit
card with an introductory rate of zero per cent on purchases and
balance transfers. You can even switch your borrowing from one card
to another as the free introductory rate expires. The key is to hold
your payments level, even as the minimum required drops. Doing this
will cut 20 years off most repayment times.

Competition means better banking deals, though you might need to
find a small bank to get the best rates of interest or lowest cost
for services. Always pay attention to what your level of service is
going to cost you, what does a box of duplicate checks cost, and if
you accidentally bounce a check what is the overdraft charge and how
much you’ll be charged to receive a copy of your paper checks.

9 INVESTMENTS

Always make sure you are getting the interest rate you deserve for
whatever savings you’ve got. The rate will depend on your level of
comfort dealing with the internet, telephone banking or if you need a
live person to deal with. Online banks offer a higher interest rate
because they have less overhead costs than a brick-and-mortar bank
staffed with live humans.

Check rates regularly - banks tend to be slower to raise their
payment rate than when raising the cost of borrowing. Don’t forget to
max out your IRA, 401k, or whatever savings vehicle you have that is
tax deferred or tax free.

10 CUT TRAVEL COSTS

Using a website like www.travelocity.com can mean you save a lot of
money when buying a package deal. The savings can be really huge if
you are willing to shop online at the last minute. Shop around for
reasonable priced travel insurance - an annual insurance policy may
be cheap if you take several trips a year. Try to fly an airline that
is not in bankruptcy trouble so you can be confident they will
probably still be in business when you need to travel

Roger Sorensen

America’s Financial Guide can be found at ==>http://www.Slave2Work.com Subscribe to Money Basics via http://www.slave2work.com/ezine.html

Slave2Work.com - Are you ready for financial freedom?

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The term Forex is the short form of Foreign Exchange. Any type of financial instrument that is used to make payments between countries is taken to be foreign exchange. Electronic transactions, paper currency, checks and signed, written orders called bills of exchange are all instruments of foreign exchange.

Forex indicates increased or decreased value of an investment caused solely by currency movements. For instance finding US dollar weak or going down, an investor might purchase German money markets.

There are quite a few forex indicators. For instance

1. Average Directional Movement Index (ADX)- ADX is used when we need to know the direction in which the market trend is going i.e. either downward or upward and how strong the trend is. When ADX readings over 25 indicate a trend with higher values indicating stronger trends.

2. Moving Average Convergence or Divergence (MACD)- MACD presents the momentum of the market and the liaison between two moving averages. When MACD crosses the signal line it shows a strong market.

3. Stochastic Oscillator- Stochastic Oscillator indicates the strength and weakness of a market by comparing a closing price range over a period of time. Stochastic reading above 80 depicts the currency is overbought while its reading below 20 indicates that the currency is oversold.

4. Relative Strength Indicator (RSI)- RSI or the Relative Strength Indicator is a scale of 100 that indicates the maximum and the minimum prices over a specified period. The price rising above 70 implies overbought while the price falling below 30 means oversold.

5. Moving Average- Moving average Forex indicator is the average price for a given time interval in relation to other prices during the similar time periods. For instance the closing prices over a 5-day period would have a moving average of the total of the five closing prices divided by five.

6. Bollinger Bands- Bollinger bands comprise of a majority of a currency’s price. There are three lines in the bands out of which the upper and the lower lines stand for the price movement while the middle one represents the average price. When high volatility prevails in the market, greater distance is witnessed between the upper and the lower bands. The time when a band touches one, overbought and oversold conditions are depicted.

Highest liquidity is observed in the forex market. The forex market absorbs trading volumes and per trade size higher than any other market. This liquidity and the freedom to enter and leave the market anytime attract investors to forex.

Forex market is known for its round the clock trading. When Asian market sleeps the European and American markets are awake and vice-versa. This enables the forex traders to take stands despite of time and place.

Another wonderful feature of forex is that in this trading a small margin deposit can control a much larger total contract value. 200:1 leverage makes forex traders buy or sell $100,000 worth of currencies with $500 margin deposit. Thus the traders often end up making hefty profits. Following the principle of ‘buy low and sell high’ forex trading allows traders to generate outstanding profits.

Forex trading is quite cost-effective in the sense that there are much lower transaction costs than other investment products.

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You work hard to make money so this is your responsibility to take care of it, to save it and at the same time to make it grow. As far as growth of money is concerned, there are various options with different benefits. But the question is which is the most suitable investment option and what is the right way of investing so that we can save tax also. You also would have so many questions regarding investment which should be answered and for that you can choose an investment solutions company.

As far as investment is concerned, many questions can be raised and before investing anywhere you need good answers of all those questions. These questions may be like how much you should invest, where you should invest, for how long you should invest and why should you invest. You can get answers of all these questions by opting for a good investments solutions company.

The company would show smart ways of investing and it will suggest where and for how long you should invest. You can give them a budget and now this is the company’s responsibility to provide to tailor made investment solutions.You can choose some best investment solutions for you among numerous options. It may depend on your budget and preferences and many times on the time span of the investment. As some people want short term investment and some long term. Generally, investment products are made up of four variables of cash, (deposits), corporate bonds and gilts, equities (shares) and property.

Now, these four variables produce various investment products like ISAs, regular bank savings, PEPS, REITs, hedge funds, offset accounts, investment bonds, guaranteed income scheme, wrap accounts, national savings certificates, distribution bonds etc. You can choose a product and ask the company to provide knowledge regarding that.

If you are interested in asset management please contact Nigel Walter of Connaught Asset Management.

So, learn properly regarding different investment products before investing and always choose a genuine and professional investments solutions company for any advice. You shall always find yourself in profit.

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Try to find a trading method that will reflect your psychological bias towards trading. Not all traders have the patience to trade a computer system and watch the trades give back large amounts of open equity. Quite frankly, the heyday of $3,000 magical black box systems seems to have run its course. Very few mechanical trading systems are around and they are sold for the most part only to suckers who don’t know any better. The problem is that there are still plenty of those poor saps around.

Other traders want methods with as little involvement as possible due to job related responsibilities. Not all traders have the psychological traits suited to trade certain types of methods. Your broker cannot perform brain surgery on your behalf, when thoughts of a trailing stop are performing brain surgery on you.

Giving your broker discretion to trade your account as he/she sees fit, is like paying for someone else’s education. You will learn nothing from it other than how much money you have lost once your account is wiped out. Allowing anyone other than yourself to trade your account is the same as making an investment. If your broker was a good trader, he wouldn’t have become a broker. This is also true for using a mechanical trading system - you are making an investment. The investment is made in the ability of the person trading your account, or in the soundness of the logic behind the mechanical system.

Investing in a mechanical system or allowing your broker to trade your account at his/her own discretion is not different from investing in a commodity pool operator, a CTA, or a hedge fund. You are no longer in control of the trading. You have become an investor with whomever or whatever is in control of the trading. In that case, you had better be darn sure you know the real trading results of what it is you are investing in. Real trading results are a far cry from simulated results.

Joe Ross

Trading Educators Inc

Joe Ross has been trading for more than 47 years, and is a well known Master Trader. He has survived all the up and downs of the markets because of his adaptable trading style, using a low-risk approach that produces consistent profits.

Joe is the creator of the Ross hook, and has set new standards for low-risk trading with his concept of “The Law of Charts.” Joe was a private trader for most of his life. In the mid 80’s he shift his focus and decided to share his knowledge. After his recovery, he founded Trading Educators in 1988 to teach aspiring traders how to make profits using his trading approach. He has written 12 major books on trading. All of them have become classics and have been translated into many different languages.

Joe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of California at Los Angeles. He did his Masters work in Computer Sciences at the George Washington University extension in Norfolk, VA. Joe still tutors, teaches, writes, and trades regularly. Joe is still an active and integral part of Trading Educators.

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No one person has been praised or criticized for the economic progress of the United States over the last 20 years than Alan Greenspan. Here’s his story.

Alan Greenspan

Alan Greenspan has led a prolific life in the financial industry. Many people consider him the single most powerful person in the country. With his February retirement approaching, let’s take a look at this very interesting man.

Born in 1926 in New York City, Alan Greenspan was a strong student as shown by graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor of science in economics from New York University. He followed this up with a Masters and Ph.D. in economics from the same university.

From 1954 to 1974, Dr. Greenspan was CEO and a board member of Townsend-Greenspan, Inc., an economic consulting firm in New York. He served as an economic advisor in the administration of President Ford, but then returned to his previous position. He spent the next 10 years serving on various boards related to such subjects as foreign investment, social security reform and sustained economic growth. Alas, his life took a major change a few years after that.

In the summer of 1987, Greenspan took office as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for a member that had left the board. In 1992, he was appointed to a full fourteen year term by the first President Bush and has served every since. Unique in the back stabbing world of the federal government, Greenspan was considered to have a good relationship with President Bush (Republican) and President Clinton (Democrat). His relationship with the current President Bush has been strained at times as he is not one to be bullied by a politician. Still, this peaceful co-existence is rather remarkable.

When Alan Greenspan retires next month, one can expect to see a bit of nervousness in the financial markets. While Greenspan certainly had controversial moments, he is generally credited for steering the country through a stock market crash with as little pain as possible. He has also been credited with reacting aggressively to combat recessions by dropping interest rates to historic lows, rates that have resulted in the housing boom of the last five years.

All and all, we should hope his successor follows the approach of Dr. Alan Greenspan.

Dan Lewis is with www.gwhomeloans.com - a San Diego mortgage brokers providing San Diego home loans. Visit www.gwhomeloans.com/services.html to learn more about options on San Diego mortgages from a San Diego mortgage broker company.

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