2011-06-30
2011-06-28
贫富阶层的差距
就是那张在网上广泛流传，引起了无数争议的照片。
我想，这张照片最大的现实意义不在于它揭示了社会巨大的贫富反差，更让人揪心的还在于－－
当这两个孩子长大之后，我们又该用什么来保证他们所代表的两个阶层的和睦相处？
Income Gap - Poor and Rich
Unfair Advantage #1: Financial Education
2011-06-26
Sir John Templeton's 10 Maxims
Invest for real returns
The true objective for any long-term investor is maximum total real return after taxes.
Keep an open mind
Never adopt permanently any type of asset or any selection method. Try to stay flexible, open minded and skeptical. Long term top results are achieved only by changing from popular to unpopular the types of securities you favour and your methods of selection.
Never follow the crowd
If you buy the same securities as other people, you will have the same results as other people. It is impossible to produce superior performance unless you do something different from the majority. Buying when others are despondently selling and selling when others are greedily buying requires the greatest fortitude and pays the greatest reward.
Everything changes
Bear markets have always been temporary. And so have bull markets.
Avoid the popular
When any method for selecting stocks becomes popular, you will need to switch to unpopular methods.
Learn from your mistakes
'This time is different' are among the most costly four words in market history.
Buy during times of pessimism
Bull markets are born on pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism and die on euphoria. The time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy, and the time of maximum optimism is the best time to sell.
Search worldwide
To avoid having all your eggs in the wrong basket at the wrong time, you should diversify. When you search worldwide, you find more better bargains than when you monitor only one nation. You also benefit from more safety thanks to diversification.
Hunt for value and bargains
Too many investors focus on outlook and trend. Therefore, more profit is made by focusing on value. In the stock market the only way to get a bargain is to buy what most investors are selling.
No-one knows everything
An investor who has all of the answers doesn't even understand the questions.
Of course, those aren't the only words of wisdom Templeton had to offer. He also once said, "It's nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice."
------------------------------------
For Sir John Marks Templeton, the road not taken really did make all the difference in the world.
Contrarian to the core, the legendary investor literally became a billionaire by "avoiding the herd". He bought low and sold high, always working against the grains of extreme bullish and bearish sentiment on Wall Street.
He pursued those strategies by buying up companies, and even nations, when the streets were the bloodiest, snapping up rock bottom bargains along the way.
It was at these moments of what he called "points of maximum pessimism" that Templeton began to stir. True to form, as the herd made the bum's rush for the exits, Templeton began to wade in.
The true objective for any long-term investor is maximum total real return after taxes.
Keep an open mind
Never adopt permanently any type of asset or any selection method. Try to stay flexible, open minded and skeptical. Long term top results are achieved only by changing from popular to unpopular the types of securities you favour and your methods of selection.
Never follow the crowd
If you buy the same securities as other people, you will have the same results as other people. It is impossible to produce superior performance unless you do something different from the majority. Buying when others are despondently selling and selling when others are greedily buying requires the greatest fortitude and pays the greatest reward.
Everything changes
Bear markets have always been temporary. And so have bull markets.
Avoid the popular
When any method for selecting stocks becomes popular, you will need to switch to unpopular methods.
Learn from your mistakes
'This time is different' are among the most costly four words in market history.
Buy during times of pessimism
Bull markets are born on pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism and die on euphoria. The time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy, and the time of maximum optimism is the best time to sell.
Search worldwide
To avoid having all your eggs in the wrong basket at the wrong time, you should diversify. When you search worldwide, you find more better bargains than when you monitor only one nation. You also benefit from more safety thanks to diversification.
Hunt for value and bargains
Too many investors focus on outlook and trend. Therefore, more profit is made by focusing on value. In the stock market the only way to get a bargain is to buy what most investors are selling.
No-one knows everything
An investor who has all of the answers doesn't even understand the questions.
Of course, those aren't the only words of wisdom Templeton had to offer. He also once said, "It's nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice."
------------------------------------
For Sir John Marks Templeton, the road not taken really did make all the difference in the world.
Contrarian to the core, the legendary investor literally became a billionaire by "avoiding the herd". He bought low and sold high, always working against the grains of extreme bullish and bearish sentiment on Wall Street.
He pursued those strategies by buying up companies, and even nations, when the streets were the bloodiest, snapping up rock bottom bargains along the way.
It was at these moments of what he called "points of maximum pessimism" that Templeton began to stir. True to form, as the herd made the bum's rush for the exits, Templeton began to wade in.
2011-06-21
The Next Crash?
This is a chart (click to enlarge) of the S&P 100 (OEX), marked off in monthly candlesticks:
On it, I've noted the parameters of the overarching bear trend that has subtly governed investor behavior for the past decade. I've also marked in the Stacked Sell Signals of 2000 and 2008 that warned of the dramatic cyclic downturns to come.
Please note we are approaching the exact same technical and economic threshold that presaged both previous crashes. So the question at hand is not "will there be another downturn," but rather "when and how deep?"
As I mentioned a moment ago, I have also laid in the Fed's two free money "QE" programs. As you can see, these efforts are pretty much the only thing that kept the markets from collapsing early in the cycle.
But now they are part of the warp and woof of our little tapestry, and as such, are creating mini-cycles of their own.
The Worst Choice
Washington is now faced with a horrid choice: it can cease and desist printing and borrowing. Without this prop, the markets will, of course, collapse. But there is a chance that this breakdown will be limited in scope.
Or they can (and to be frank, most likely will) cave in to political pressure and commence QE3. This will buy one more upside leg, but will also cause the eventual crash to double in scope.
The best hope I can offer you is that I can find a way to monetize these moves via call and put - playing with options, regardless of which dark path Washington walks down. However, you will need to be able to buy the calls and puts I recommend.
Education First.
Adam Lass
Editor, Wealth Daily
On it, I've noted the parameters of the overarching bear trend that has subtly governed investor behavior for the past decade. I've also marked in the Stacked Sell Signals of 2000 and 2008 that warned of the dramatic cyclic downturns to come.
Please note we are approaching the exact same technical and economic threshold that presaged both previous crashes. So the question at hand is not "will there be another downturn," but rather "when and how deep?"
As I mentioned a moment ago, I have also laid in the Fed's two free money "QE" programs. As you can see, these efforts are pretty much the only thing that kept the markets from collapsing early in the cycle.
But now they are part of the warp and woof of our little tapestry, and as such, are creating mini-cycles of their own.
The Worst Choice
Washington is now faced with a horrid choice: it can cease and desist printing and borrowing. Without this prop, the markets will, of course, collapse. But there is a chance that this breakdown will be limited in scope.
Or they can (and to be frank, most likely will) cave in to political pressure and commence QE3. This will buy one more upside leg, but will also cause the eventual crash to double in scope.
The best hope I can offer you is that I can find a way to monetize these moves via call and put - playing with options, regardless of which dark path Washington walks down. However, you will need to be able to buy the calls and puts I recommend.
Education First.
Adam Lass
Editor, Wealth Daily
2011-06-20
The Science of Crowd Psychology
Viral communications seems to some to be a bit of a newfangled, half-baked idea, of interest only to teenagers, tech nerds and obnoxious green-screen comedians.
But the science of crowd psychology is hardly a new idea at all. In fact, it's quite old and well documented.
Heck, I'm not even the first guy to think this stuff has strong business implications and applications. Just last week, I was browsing through an article out of the Harvard Business Review on Ernest Dichter's work back in the sixties on crowd motivation.
Dr. Evil
Dichter is the supposedly "evil genius" who brought Freudian psychology to Madison Avenue on a silver platter. He is credited with inventing focus groups and such. He coined "put a tiger in your tank" for Esso. And when he determined young girls wanted something sexy in the dollhouse he created Barbie for Mattel.
Dichter determined there are four things that motivate a body to tell other folks about something. He was thinking about brands, but the ideas are really the viral spread of ideas - that is to say, memes.
Here are his four rules:
"The first (about 33% of the cases) is because of product-involvement. The experience is so novel and pleasurable that it must be shared."
"The second (about 24%) is self-involvement. Sharing knowledge or opinions is a way to gain attention, show connoisseurship, feel like a pioneer, have inside information, seek confirmation of a person's own judgment, or assert superiority."
"The third (around 20%) is other-involvement. The speaker wants to reach out and help to express neighborliness, caring, and friendship."
"The fourth (around 20%) is message-involvement. The message is so humorous or informative that it deserves sharing."
I'd like to think I write to you each week because of Reasons #3 and #4, but my wife says it's more likely #2.
Adam Lass
Editor, Wealth Daily
100,000 Lemmings Can't Be Wrong? ... http://www.corporatejourney2u.com/investment/100000-lemmings-cant-be-wrong.html
But the science of crowd psychology is hardly a new idea at all. In fact, it's quite old and well documented.
Heck, I'm not even the first guy to think this stuff has strong business implications and applications. Just last week, I was browsing through an article out of the Harvard Business Review on Ernest Dichter's work back in the sixties on crowd motivation.
Dr. Evil
Dichter is the supposedly "evil genius" who brought Freudian psychology to Madison Avenue on a silver platter. He is credited with inventing focus groups and such. He coined "put a tiger in your tank" for Esso. And when he determined young girls wanted something sexy in the dollhouse he created Barbie for Mattel.
Dichter determined there are four things that motivate a body to tell other folks about something. He was thinking about brands, but the ideas are really the viral spread of ideas - that is to say, memes.
Here are his four rules:
"The first (about 33% of the cases) is because of product-involvement. The experience is so novel and pleasurable that it must be shared."
"The second (about 24%) is self-involvement. Sharing knowledge or opinions is a way to gain attention, show connoisseurship, feel like a pioneer, have inside information, seek confirmation of a person's own judgment, or assert superiority."
"The third (around 20%) is other-involvement. The speaker wants to reach out and help to express neighborliness, caring, and friendship."
"The fourth (around 20%) is message-involvement. The message is so humorous or informative that it deserves sharing."
I'd like to think I write to you each week because of Reasons #3 and #4, but my wife says it's more likely #2.
Adam Lass
Editor, Wealth Daily
100,000 Lemmings Can't Be Wrong? ... http://www.corporatejourney2u.com/investment/100000-lemmings-cant-be-wrong.html
2011-06-19
一生二，二生三，三生万象
老子讲：道法自然“。“道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物”或“太极生两仪，两仪生八卦，八卦生万象”都好，“阴阳”是宇宙万事万物最基本的构成元素。
我们讲一句现代的话：0 和 1 构成了浩瀚无穷的互联网络。这句话大家都很接受，觉得很科学，很现代化，跟国际接轨了。其实我们老祖宗七千年前就讲了：一阴一阳产生了宇宙万象。这两句话的意思是一模一样的，只是用词不一样而已。
很多人感叹世事无常，然后就开始抱怨，觉得自己好像什么都掌握不住，这么想就错了。
要知道，变只是现象而已，变的背后一定有不变的东西。宇宙再怎么变，它还是宇宙。我们在想到变的时候，一定要想到不变，想到不变的时候，一定要想到变，这才叫做”一阴一阳之谓道“。
任何事情都有一定的脉络，有一定的规则，是可以推理的。
一个人看到变的时候，要去掌握后面那个不变的常规，那就是自然规律。
举个例子：
在自动化网络业务这一块，每当设立完新的网站后，通常系统会电邮通知客户要做的一些下一步骤：
Next on TODO list:
1. 设立 .blogspot.com
2. 设立 picasaweb 图片库
3. 设立 Youtube 频道
4. 设立 .tumblr.com
5. 设立 .xanga.com
6. 设立 twitter account
7. 设立 Facebook 脸书 group
也就是说，众多的分支网页/专页各有各的功能与用处，分别支持主要业务网站的运作。
而在个人的财务管理中，纸上财富这一块，也要分配为：
1. 保险 （保障）
2. 收息股
3. 自动化外汇交易软件系统
4. 债卷
5. 信托基金
6. 金融产品交易软件系统 (Futures, Options etc)
7. 商业股份
等等。众多的纸上财富分配各有各的功能与风险，分别支持主要财务目标的达成。
不知你从以上实例中可有看出一些端儿？
Mutual Funds Are Slow
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_51b1fa0501017fzp.html
我们讲一句现代的话：0 和 1 构成了浩瀚无穷的互联网络。这句话大家都很接受，觉得很科学，很现代化，跟国际接轨了。其实我们老祖宗七千年前就讲了：一阴一阳产生了宇宙万象。这两句话的意思是一模一样的，只是用词不一样而已。
很多人感叹世事无常，然后就开始抱怨，觉得自己好像什么都掌握不住，这么想就错了。
要知道，变只是现象而已，变的背后一定有不变的东西。宇宙再怎么变，它还是宇宙。我们在想到变的时候，一定要想到不变，想到不变的时候，一定要想到变，这才叫做”一阴一阳之谓道“。
任何事情都有一定的脉络，有一定的规则，是可以推理的。
一个人看到变的时候，要去掌握后面那个不变的常规，那就是自然规律。
举个例子：
在自动化网络业务这一块，每当设立完新的网站后，通常系统会电邮通知客户要做的一些下一步骤：
Next on TODO list:
1. 设立 .blogspot.com
2. 设立 picasaweb 图片库
3. 设立 Youtube 频道
4. 设立 .tumblr.com
5. 设立 .xanga.com
6. 设立 twitter account
7. 设立 Facebook 脸书 group
也就是说，众多的分支网页/专页各有各的功能与用处，分别支持主要业务网站的运作。
而在个人的财务管理中，纸上财富这一块，也要分配为：
1. 保险 （保障）
2. 收息股
3. 自动化外汇交易软件系统
4. 债卷
5. 信托基金
6. 金融产品交易软件系统 (Futures, Options etc)
7. 商业股份
等等。众多的纸上财富分配各有各的功能与风险，分别支持主要财务目标的达成。
不知你从以上实例中可有看出一些端儿？
Mutual Funds Are Slow
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_51b1fa0501017fzp.html
2011-06-18
Top 15 Ways to Build Your Subscriber List
Email marketing can be profitable for any business, no matter what kind of product or service you offer. It is significantly cheaper than other advertising methods and, if done right, helps build loyalty and trust with customers. As a result, you generate more sales and more profits!
The foundation for successful email marketing is a targeted, permission-based email list. Marketers call contact lists their 'goldmine' because it can generate much of their sales revenue. If you've built up a list of opt-in subscribers that are qualified and interested in what you have to offer, then you've completed the first step and are on your way. Now it's time to 'mine' for gold!
Below you'll find several list-building and retention ideas that will help you get the best results from all your email marketing activities:
- Provide useful, relevant content. Your visitors will not give you their email addresses just because they can subscribe to your newsletter free of charge. You have to provide unique and valuable information that will be of interest or use to them.
- Add a subscription form to every page on your website. Make sure it stands out so it is easy to find. If it doesn't look cluttered, you may want to include more than one on some pages. For instance, if your opt-in form always appears in the top-left corner of your site, you may want to add one at the end of your most popular articles.
- Add subscription forms to your social media pages. Make sure that you don't waste this valuable source of revenue opportunities. Integrate your sign-up forms with Facebook and more!
- Make it easy for readers to sign up. The more information you request, the fewer people will opt-in. In most cases, a name and an email address should suffice. If it's not necessary, don't include it here. You can always survey them once they're customers! We do recommend that you provide a link to your Privacy Policy however.
- Publish a Privacy Policy. Let your readers know that they can be confident you will not share their information with others. The easiest way to do this is to set up a Privacy Policy web page and provide the link to it below your opt-in form. (Note: If you don't have one, put the words 'privacy policy generator' into a search engine and you should be able to find a suitable form to use.)
- Provide samples of your newsletters and Ezines. This lets potential subscribers review your materials before they sign up to determine if it's something they'd be interested in.
- Archive past newsletters and articles. An online library of past newsletters and articles is both appealing and useful to visitors and builds your credibility as an authority. In addition, if your articles are written with good SEO techniques in mind, they can increase traffic to your website through enhanced search engine positioning.
- Give gifts subscribers can actually use. Offer an opt-in bonus for joining your subscriber list! Write an ebook or provide a PDF business report, or even hire a programmer to create downloadable or web-based software. But don't limit yourself to offering gifts to opt-ins. Give them out when your readers fill out a survey, provide a testimonial, success story, or a great product idea. Let them know when they can expect the next gift offer. Everyone likes to get something for free! And if you pass out 'goodies' throughout the year, your subscribers will feel truly appreciated − and that's good for business!
- Ask your subscribers to pass it on. Word of mouth is a powerful viral technique that works great with email marketing. If your subscribers find your content interesting, amusing or informative, they'll probably share it with their friends. This can be a great source of new customers, so make sure to remind them to 'pass it on'.
- Let others reprint your newsletter as long as the content is not modified. If you're happy to share your content with the universe, then why not! Many webmasters and newsletter publishers are actively looking for high-quality content and, if they reprint your newsletter, you'll get new subscribers, and more traffic and links pointing to your site.
- Include a 'Sign Up' button in your newsletter. If you're using plain text instead of HTML, be sure to provide a text link to your subscription page. You may feel that this is not required because the subscriber is already on your list, but remember that readers will forward your newsletters to others, or reprint them online. Make it easy for them to subscribe!
- Add a squeeze page. A squeeze page has one goal − to acquire opt-ins and build your list. Think of it as a mini-sales letter to go along with your subscription or opt-in gift. It should feature a strong headline and a couple of powerful benefits that should make subscribers salivate to sign up! Once created, use a service such as WordTracker to find hundreds of targeted keywords, and promote your offer using pay-per-click advertising from Google, MSN and Yahoo. Now that should make a splash!
- Include testimonials on your squeeze page. This is crucial. Put one or two strong testimonials from satisfied customers on your squeeze page. This can be in any format, but you may find that multimedia (audio or video) is more 'believable' and inspires more people to action. To further enhance believability, get permission to use actual customer names, locations and/or urls (Don't use 'Bob K, FL'). Add a note inviting others to participate. After all, it's free publicity!
- Blog religiously. Blogging is a great way to communicate with prospects and potential customers, and creates a nice synergy with your email marketing. Be sure to include your newsletter sign-up form on each page of your blog. You can start a free blog at Blogger or WordPress.
- Post on other blogs. Post thoughtful comments and information on similar blogs with a link to your squeeze or opt-in pages. Also comment on others' blogs through trackbacks. In most cases, your comments will be posted on their blogs with a link back to your site. This is an easy way to generate new traffic and subscribers, and get your brand out there!
2011-06-17
Workable Internet Business Model
When we look at the importance of having a sound business model, we made some studies into websites that don't make it to survive. In this article, we will look at 3 websites that seems to be doing well in the market, at least to this moment. And a golden key in the model is that, they are PLATFORMS.
Remember the Golden equation?
Let's look at the case studies:
1. ClickBank.com
Founded in 1998, ClickBank is a secure online retail outlet for more than 50,000 digital products and 100,000 active affiliate marketers. ClickBank makes a sale somewhere in the world every three seconds, safely processing more than 35,000 digital transactions a day, serve more than 200 countries, and are consistently ranked as one of the most highly-trafficked sites on the web.
The company has paid their clients on time, every time, for over 10 years. As affiliates, you can find tens of thousands of digital products to promote online. Get your ambition rewarded; As vendors, you can attract customers and accept payment for your digital products online, and get your imagination rewarded!
2. Flippa.com
The #1 Marketplace for Buying and Selling Websites, connecting worldwide website buyers and sellers. Website buyers love Flippa due to the extensive inventory of websites and domains to suit a range of website investors. Website sellers come to Flippa due to it having the highest sales rate in the industry—largely due to the massive size and quality of the Flippa website buyer audience.
How Much Does It Cost?
Listing your website for sale on Flippa costs just $19 plus a 5% success fee when you make a successful sale. Don’t worry if your website sells for $10,000 or more as the success fee is capped at $500.
Additional listing upgrades, such as featuring your website on Flippa’s homepage are available to help your website stand out from the crowd.
At time of writing, Flippa has over $53M overall sales.
3. Fiverr.com
The place for people to share things they're willing to do for $5 - Buy. Sell. Have fun!
How to sell?
1. Create a gig for a small service you are willing to offer
2. Share your gig with the world
3. You will be notified when your gig is ordered, and be asked to accept it
4. Fiverr will credit your Fiverr balance with $4, 48 hrs after you successfully deliver your work
5. Withdraw your earnings to your PayPal (according to the terms of service)
In summary, if you could notice most of the successful websites over the internet, they are no other than "platforms" which link up 2 parties involved, and make their cut in the trading process in between. Have you got the picture for your web property now?
Remember the Golden equation?
Let's look at the case studies:
1. ClickBank.com
Founded in 1998, ClickBank is a secure online retail outlet for more than 50,000 digital products and 100,000 active affiliate marketers. ClickBank makes a sale somewhere in the world every three seconds, safely processing more than 35,000 digital transactions a day, serve more than 200 countries, and are consistently ranked as one of the most highly-trafficked sites on the web.
The company has paid their clients on time, every time, for over 10 years. As affiliates, you can find tens of thousands of digital products to promote online. Get your ambition rewarded; As vendors, you can attract customers and accept payment for your digital products online, and get your imagination rewarded!
2. Flippa.com
The #1 Marketplace for Buying and Selling Websites, connecting worldwide website buyers and sellers. Website buyers love Flippa due to the extensive inventory of websites and domains to suit a range of website investors. Website sellers come to Flippa due to it having the highest sales rate in the industry—largely due to the massive size and quality of the Flippa website buyer audience.
How Much Does It Cost?
Listing your website for sale on Flippa costs just $19 plus a 5% success fee when you make a successful sale. Don’t worry if your website sells for $10,000 or more as the success fee is capped at $500.
Additional listing upgrades, such as featuring your website on Flippa’s homepage are available to help your website stand out from the crowd.
At time of writing, Flippa has over $53M overall sales.
3. Fiverr.com
The place for people to share things they're willing to do for $5 - Buy. Sell. Have fun!
How to sell?
1. Create a gig for a small service you are willing to offer
2. Share your gig with the world
3. You will be notified when your gig is ordered, and be asked to accept it
4. Fiverr will credit your Fiverr balance with $4, 48 hrs after you successfully deliver your work
5. Withdraw your earnings to your PayPal (according to the terms of service)
Platforms - Sound Internet Business Model
In summary, if you could notice most of the successful websites over the internet, they are no other than "platforms" which link up 2 parties involved, and make their cut in the trading process in between. Have you got the picture for your web property now?
2011-06-16
Playing With Options
Smart investors know options earn much higher returns than stocks...And they do it with a much lower upfront cost. But a lack of understanding keeps most people away from these easy gains.
Today, I'd like to show you what that better way is and how you can use it — just like the wealthy — to make better gains off the same stocks you usually trade.
Take Any Energy Stock
It doesn't matter which sector of the energy market you favor. This technique works as well for solar as it does for coal.
Let's just jump right in...
Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) is up about 4% as I write this. It's tacked on $1.10 to its share price and is trading at $26.25.
That's not too bad for the first 45 minutes of trading.
But smart energy investors made over 200% in the same time on the same stock. They just did it with the option. Take a look:
And like I said, it works for any energy stock.
JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO) tacked on 4% this morning as well, adding $0.20 to trade around $5.29...
Surely better than any money market or CD you could be in. But again, there were investors who made 75% on that same 4% stock move.
They did it by buying the option.
Myths and Misconceptions
Before you run for the hills because I've mentioned options, let me say they aren't nearly as scary as you've heard.
When you buy an option, you're buying just that: an option to buy a stock.
Arch Coal is trading $0.26 above $26.00, so traders want the option to buy it cheaper, at $26.00. And they'll pay a premium for it.
As you can see in the image above, the “option” to buy Arch Coal at $26.00 is worth 205% more today than it was yesterday — all because the stock went up a few cents.
When you're dealing with billions of dollars and millions of trades like banks are, options make for a nice hedge.
Hypothetically, let's say Citi has a monstrous short position in Arch Coal. They thought the stock was going lower for sure. When they turn out to be wrong and the stock heads higher, they can buy options to hedge against their loss.
It may seem complex (do you really think the banks want everyone to be able to trade like this?), but it's far from it.
If you have an online trading account, you can trade options. You buy and sell them just like a stock. All you need is the option code.
Best of Both Worlds
You can do the same thing if you think a stock is headed lower.
Take a well-known utility like Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE: PCG). It was only down a penny this morning, trading at $41.70.
But that must've been enough for some traders to think the stock was going to fall even farther.
In this case, you'd buy an option to sell shares of PG&E — as opposed to an option to buy shares in the Arch Coal example. Because if the stock falls to $35.00, you'd come out well ahead if you had the option to sell at $40.00.
That's why even though shares only fell a penny, the option to sell the stock at $40.00 was up 300% this morning.
Now, I'm not going to drone on about options other than to say they always trade at a higher percentage than the underlying stock — no matter which way it's moving.
And you can do it with energy stocks, tech stocks, ETFs, commodities — you name it.
Since it's not my area of expertise, I'd like to point you in the right direction to learn more...
Video: http://www.angelnexus.com/o/web/27224
Text: http://www.angelnexus.com/o/web/27223
Call it like you see it,
Nick Hodge
Editor, Energy and Capital
Today, I'd like to show you what that better way is and how you can use it — just like the wealthy — to make better gains off the same stocks you usually trade.
Take Any Energy Stock
It doesn't matter which sector of the energy market you favor. This technique works as well for solar as it does for coal.
Let's just jump right in...
Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) is up about 4% as I write this. It's tacked on $1.10 to its share price and is trading at $26.25.
That's not too bad for the first 45 minutes of trading.
But smart energy investors made over 200% in the same time on the same stock. They just did it with the option. Take a look:
And like I said, it works for any energy stock.
JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO) tacked on 4% this morning as well, adding $0.20 to trade around $5.29...
Surely better than any money market or CD you could be in. But again, there were investors who made 75% on that same 4% stock move.
They did it by buying the option.
Myths and Misconceptions
Before you run for the hills because I've mentioned options, let me say they aren't nearly as scary as you've heard.
When you buy an option, you're buying just that: an option to buy a stock.
Arch Coal is trading $0.26 above $26.00, so traders want the option to buy it cheaper, at $26.00. And they'll pay a premium for it.
As you can see in the image above, the “option” to buy Arch Coal at $26.00 is worth 205% more today than it was yesterday — all because the stock went up a few cents.
When you're dealing with billions of dollars and millions of trades like banks are, options make for a nice hedge.
Hypothetically, let's say Citi has a monstrous short position in Arch Coal. They thought the stock was going lower for sure. When they turn out to be wrong and the stock heads higher, they can buy options to hedge against their loss.
It may seem complex (do you really think the banks want everyone to be able to trade like this?), but it's far from it.
If you have an online trading account, you can trade options. You buy and sell them just like a stock. All you need is the option code.
Best of Both Worlds
You can do the same thing if you think a stock is headed lower.
Take a well-known utility like Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE: PCG). It was only down a penny this morning, trading at $41.70.
But that must've been enough for some traders to think the stock was going to fall even farther.
In this case, you'd buy an option to sell shares of PG&E — as opposed to an option to buy shares in the Arch Coal example. Because if the stock falls to $35.00, you'd come out well ahead if you had the option to sell at $40.00.
That's why even though shares only fell a penny, the option to sell the stock at $40.00 was up 300% this morning.
Now, I'm not going to drone on about options other than to say they always trade at a higher percentage than the underlying stock — no matter which way it's moving.
And you can do it with energy stocks, tech stocks, ETFs, commodities — you name it.
Since it's not my area of expertise, I'd like to point you in the right direction to learn more...
Video: http://www.angelnexus.com/o/web/27224
Text: http://www.angelnexus.com/o/web/27223
Call it like you see it,
Nick Hodge
Editor, Energy and Capital
2011-06-15
Invest In Land
Land, is the one single thing all 6.9 billion of us need. We'll hit seven billion later this month. Within the framework of common law, you need land to secure water, food, shelter, and energy. What does produce (true) wealth? Food, Health, Energy, Shelter, Education & Entertainment....
Property ownership is the one thing that's separated economic classes for thousands of years. Remember the kid who dared to kill the king's deer in Robin Hood?
And it's still the ultimate sign of true wealth...
Ted Turner's land holdings are bigger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined – over 2 million acres.
When you own land you are 100% secure. You can't eat or drink stocks and gold coins.
Thing is, most of us aren't financially equipped to buy two acres of land, let alone 2 million.
So what are you supposed to do?
Buy What's on the Land
Outside of conservation, the ultra-rich are using their land for three main things: Agriculture, Timber, Energy.
All three of those sectors have outperformed the market over the past year:
There's a reason the rich get richer.
That's exactly why I tell you this...
Because unless you can afford to buy a decently-sized chunk of land in the next few years, you need to develop some sort of plan to increase and guard your money.
Over the past twelve months, land prices have recorded their biggest one-year rise in the last 32 years.
It's no secret we think the world is running out of cheap oil. And as energy prices skyrocket, so will the price of all goods.
Cheap oil is what has allowed for cheap food, water, and goods in the post-industrial era.
But access to land is what will provide food, water, and goods in the post-oil era.
If you can't own acres yourself, you at least need to be buying funds and assets that are related to land and what can be grown, harvested, or generated on it.
The agriculture, timber, and energy funds mentioned above are a good place to start.
And keeping up-to-date with Energy & Capital will make sure you don't miss out on any information that can impact your financial and personal security as the balance between energy, food, water, and population grows evermore tenuous.
Call it like you see it.
Nick Hodge
Editor, Energy and Capital
Property ownership is the one thing that's separated economic classes for thousands of years. Remember the kid who dared to kill the king's deer in Robin Hood?
And it's still the ultimate sign of true wealth...
Ted Turner's land holdings are bigger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined – over 2 million acres.
When you own land you are 100% secure. You can't eat or drink stocks and gold coins.
Thing is, most of us aren't financially equipped to buy two acres of land, let alone 2 million.
So what are you supposed to do?
Buy What's on the Land
Outside of conservation, the ultra-rich are using their land for three main things: Agriculture, Timber, Energy.
All three of those sectors have outperformed the market over the past year:
There's a reason the rich get richer.
That's exactly why I tell you this...
Because unless you can afford to buy a decently-sized chunk of land in the next few years, you need to develop some sort of plan to increase and guard your money.
Over the past twelve months, land prices have recorded their biggest one-year rise in the last 32 years.
It's no secret we think the world is running out of cheap oil. And as energy prices skyrocket, so will the price of all goods.
Cheap oil is what has allowed for cheap food, water, and goods in the post-industrial era.
But access to land is what will provide food, water, and goods in the post-oil era.
If you can't own acres yourself, you at least need to be buying funds and assets that are related to land and what can be grown, harvested, or generated on it.
The agriculture, timber, and energy funds mentioned above are a good place to start.
And keeping up-to-date with Energy & Capital will make sure you don't miss out on any information that can impact your financial and personal security as the balance between energy, food, water, and population grows evermore tenuous.
Call it like you see it.
Nick Hodge
Editor, Energy and Capital
2011-06-14
Retire Rich
Take Control and Win – You don’t have to be a genius to retire in style. Just don’t outsmart
yourself. A retirement image that got my attention when windows shopping at Jusco Tebrau City last Wednesday. Compared to those financial products that portrayed a "golden age" image of 55 years old+, this image makes more sense as who said retirement should be 55+?
The other importance of this definition of independence is TIME. Instead of working for a lifetime, and saving for a lifetime, my financial independence is NOW.
Read more about financial freedom ... http://howtze.blogspot.com/2010/01/financial-freedom.html
2011-06-13
广告失误
一个小失误足以让你生意的广告预算付诸流水。如图所示，我知道欢乐夜光城有歌舞表演，还有幸运抽奖，但是在哪里呢？广告里甚至连一个联络电话都没有！
广告与行销策略里，小疏忽让投入的工作与资本得不到应有的回报！
广告与行销策略里，小疏忽让投入的工作与资本得不到应有的回报！
2011-06-12
鼓你唔赌
很多人以为，自由就是我想干嘛就干嘛，然而当你的双手离不开烟酒、赌桌及毒品时，你才知道，你其实一点也不自由。赌博是一个配套，刺激兴奋得同时，还附送破碎的家庭、残缺的婚姻、失学的儿女，以及无数个破碎的心灵，然而，很多人都假装看不见。
穷人的钱是富人事业的基石，而富人所要做的，只是拿出一部分小钱做做广告，吸引更多送钱的人；拿出一部分甜头给购买彩票的很少很少的一部分人尝尝，刺激他们再次购买的激情；最后除去一些人工费用、个人利益的分配（公司、政府、既得利益集团），剩下的大笔钱财，就作为他们投资其他赚钱的事业的资金，为他们赚更多钱。
真要与赌沾上边的话，一定要在这个金钱分配游戏中做庄，因为只有做庄家，才能在赌的世界里长赢！
http://www.corporatejourney2u.com/howtze/gaming-gambling-poor-and-rich.html
2011-06-11
钱不等于财富 钞票不等于资产
一般人都被洗脑，总以为有钱就拥有“财富”，但事实上，钱只是一个抽象的概念，甚至从资本主义的角度来说，钱只是一种流动资产，不等于全部的财富。
我们常常会听到：“物价目前面临上涨的压力。”但却从没有听过：“物价面临下跌的趋势。” 而且日常生活也很少听到有人说：“最近的东西变便宜了！”只会说：“东西变贵了！”
拥有钱的人，不等于他拥有很多财富，只能说他拥有很多交换的能力。
耐久财指的是不容易耗损，而且是可以长期使用的商品，还是至少可以用三年以上的商品，但是钱没有这些特性，钱的价值往往波动无常。
所以要脱离资本主义的洗脑和诡计操控，就要先了解，你拥有的到底是钱还是财富？
有钱人最聪明的一点就是他不会持有很多钞票，有钱人甚至担心手上握有太多的现金、钞票，所以他们会时时刻刻守住把钞票变成资产的法则，而这种法则其实就是能成为富翁的真正观念。
钞票不等于资产，钞票只是一种在资本主义下，大富翁所拥有的工具，因为钞票只是一种符号表现，它可以让拥有者知道当前可以用钞票来兑换哪些具对等性的服务或商品，但是钞票却不能让持有者增值，或带来更多的资源，所以钞票根本不能算得上是资产。
如果再把这理论扩大到一万倍或一百万倍，那么钞票和资产间的差距就会愈来愈大。
----------------------
如果你要知道什么是钱，你一定要学习一些关于钱，你不能不懂的基本知识，知道钱的流通在经济中扮演的角色，看过、了解并实习诸如管道的故事所能够带给你的财务与时间自由！
相关链接：
什么是钱
关于钱，你不能不懂的基本知识
钱的流通
管道的故事
摘编自 《亚当．史密斯没说透的致富秘密：让你在资本主义游戏中脱贫致富的25堂课》
转载自：http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/11/4/27/n3240983.htm
我们常常会听到：“物价目前面临上涨的压力。”但却从没有听过：“物价面临下跌的趋势。” 而且日常生活也很少听到有人说：“最近的东西变便宜了！”只会说：“东西变贵了！”
拥有钱的人，不等于他拥有很多财富，只能说他拥有很多交换的能力。
耐久财指的是不容易耗损，而且是可以长期使用的商品，还是至少可以用三年以上的商品，但是钱没有这些特性，钱的价值往往波动无常。
所以要脱离资本主义的洗脑和诡计操控，就要先了解，你拥有的到底是钱还是财富？
拥有资产高增值力，才是真的大富翁
有钱人最聪明的一点就是他不会持有很多钞票，有钱人甚至担心手上握有太多的现金、钞票，所以他们会时时刻刻守住把钞票变成资产的法则，而这种法则其实就是能成为富翁的真正观念。
钞票不等于资产，钞票只是一种在资本主义下，大富翁所拥有的工具，因为钞票只是一种符号表现，它可以让拥有者知道当前可以用钞票来兑换哪些具对等性的服务或商品，但是钞票却不能让持有者增值，或带来更多的资源，所以钞票根本不能算得上是资产。
如果再把这理论扩大到一万倍或一百万倍，那么钞票和资产间的差距就会愈来愈大。
钞票和资产间的差距
| 举例来说，当我身上有一百块钱，以及用一百块钱的钞票所买下的一百元股票，股票是资产，当这两个金额都是一百块时，感觉不出其中的杀伤力或差距。 但如果把价值放大到一万倍，也就是拥有一百万元钞票和一百万元的股票，那差别可就大了。 因为钞票每天都在贬值，这个月的价值绝对会比下个月的价值来得高，但这个月一百万元的股票，可能下个月股价涨了，或是配息了，这一捆的股票平均以百分之五的力道在成长，就会让钞票和股票间的差距扩大。 但如果到一百万倍的话，就会有一亿的钞票和一亿的股票，钞票还是持续不断地在贬值，但股票若以百分之五的速度做增值，这样一来，差距就差到了五百万，只要金额一放大，两者之间的差距就愈来愈扩大。 |
----------------------
如果你要知道什么是钱，你一定要学习一些关于钱，你不能不懂的基本知识，知道钱的流通在经济中扮演的角色，看过、了解并实习诸如管道的故事所能够带给你的财务与时间自由！
相关链接：
什么是钱
关于钱，你不能不懂的基本知识
钱的流通
管道的故事
摘编自 《亚当．史密斯没说透的致富秘密：让你在资本主义游戏中脱贫致富的25堂课》
转载自：http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/11/4/27/n3240983.htm
2011-06-10
Balik Kampung, Tanam Jagung
選民不再支持，馬華就應該懂得自己鞠躬下台。... 馬華並沒有威脅說如果不再獲得支持，就將停止一切民生服務，也沒有說不再協助增建華小，馬華仍然會留在國陣，輸了不入閣是向選民交待和負責，馬華回歸政治和高調問政，也要有勇氣承擔後果。
摘自：http://opinions.sinchew-i.com/node/19680
老百姓要的，不外乎三餐温饱，日子过得无忧无虑，逍遥自在。不管朝野，代义士应以民为本，以民生民需为服务重点，为提升人们生活素质，保障人民基本所需而工作。
摘自：http://opinions.sinchew-i.com/node/19680
以人为本
老百姓要的，不外乎三餐温饱，日子过得无忧无虑，逍遥自在。不管朝野，代义士应以民为本，以民生民需为服务重点，为提升人们生活素质，保障人民基本所需而工作。
2011-06-09
The Illusion of Wealth
Our entire system's been based on the illusion of wealth.
If you've watched, listened to, or even simply read highlights from presidential press conferences lately, you'll notice they've stricken a word from their vocabulary... Recession.
Not once in the past several weeks has the administration used the term to describe our current economy. Instead, they've replaced it with recovery.
And with the first accusation that things aren't better yet, they'll instantly point out the strength of the Dow and other indexes across the financial spectrum as proof that what they're doing is working.
Sure. The Fed's made up “Quantitative Easing” and QE2 “worked”. Just take a look at what happened to the Dow:
It looks good... until you take a look at how our money supply's skyrocketed over the same period:
This isn't a coincidence.
The entire past two years of gains... the rise of the market from March 2009 until now... has been a result of little more than the Federal Reserve injecting $3.7 trillion into the system — out of thin air.
What you are witnessing isn't a recovery. For proof, all you need to do is look at the deteriorating situation happening to state and city governments since the first round of Quantitative Easing started.
Not a day goes by in this “recovery” in which another announcement hits the waves of cities and states in more and more financial trouble.
You get the point.
What you're witnessing isn't a recovery; it's downright theft from an out-of-control government.
The truth is, aside from major banks like Goldman Sachs, the only people profiting from this mess are a handful of very wealthy investors who knew it would happen and the major hell storm that lies ahead.
If you've watched, listened to, or even simply read highlights from presidential press conferences lately, you'll notice they've stricken a word from their vocabulary... Recession.
Not once in the past several weeks has the administration used the term to describe our current economy. Instead, they've replaced it with recovery.
And with the first accusation that things aren't better yet, they'll instantly point out the strength of the Dow and other indexes across the financial spectrum as proof that what they're doing is working.
Sure. The Fed's made up “Quantitative Easing” and QE2 “worked”. Just take a look at what happened to the Dow:
It looks good... until you take a look at how our money supply's skyrocketed over the same period:
This isn't a coincidence.
The entire past two years of gains... the rise of the market from March 2009 until now... has been a result of little more than the Federal Reserve injecting $3.7 trillion into the system — out of thin air.
What you are witnessing isn't a recovery. For proof, all you need to do is look at the deteriorating situation happening to state and city governments since the first round of Quantitative Easing started.
Not a day goes by in this “recovery” in which another announcement hits the waves of cities and states in more and more financial trouble.
You get the point.
What you're witnessing isn't a recovery; it's downright theft from an out-of-control government.
The truth is, aside from major banks like Goldman Sachs, the only people profiting from this mess are a handful of very wealthy investors who knew it would happen and the major hell storm that lies ahead.
2011-06-08
The Titanic's Cognitive Dissonance
On April 10th, 1912, the largest, most robust ocean liner of its time, the RMS Titanic, set out on its maiden voyage.
Thanks to White Star Line's advertisements of the ship claiming to have scores of fail safes and water-tight compartments, it was dubbed unsinkable. Required lifeboats on board were stripped to carry only about half of the passengers, and were there more for show than anything else...
Four days later, on the night of April 14th, 1,517 passengers would learn a hard lesson.
A little after 11:30pm, the ship hit the infamous iceberg, poking several holes into the ship's hull, far beneath the surface...
The next two hours defined three types of people:
The few who sprung into action and either jumped on lifeboats, or took whatever buoyant material they could find and made their own.
Those who knew they had to do something; but instead of working on anything productive, they panicked.
The majority that, after hearing the loud screeches and feeling the trembles, continued on with their evening plans, keeping full faith in the boat's ability to stay afloat.
Today, many people — on faith alone in the dollar and the U.S. economy — don't think it could fail.
They don't believe that, with 45 million Americans and on food stamps, city and state governments in more debt than they can pay off, and a federal government that's more than 14.5 trillion dollars in debt, the Fed's cycle of printing money is leading us on the path to a complete dollar collapse...
They think we're unsinkable.
Just like the holes ripping into the Titanic's hull, the writing is already on the wall.
And as our currency nears collapse and prices continue to skyrocket, you're going to see runs on grocery stores, gas stations, and retail outlets.
As it escalates, gangs of rioters will storm neighborhoods on a violent stealing spree like they did during Hurricane Katrina... only this it will be on a nation-wide scale.
Only a few people — those who saw it coming and took the right action — won't be left penniless.
The good news is that the entire process, while escalating by the day, won't happen overnight...
So while there's still time for you to act, let me show you a few simple steps that I — along with some of the country's richest investors — are taking.
Similar to the dollar today, it was pure faith in the shipbuilders' claims that convinced passengers and the Titanic's crew that it was the safest ship in history. One such passenger, Thomas Beattie, wrote:
“We are changing ships and are coming home in a new, unsinkable boat!”
Sadly, it seems 99.9% of citizens don't realize this crash has already started. Either that, or they're in complete denial... living as though we can keep adding to our debts and printing money to no end without consequence.
As it escalates, they'll be struck in disbelief, unprepared and unable to act quickly enough.
It's a defense mechanism our brains activate when reality becomes too overwhelming.
Thanks to White Star Line's advertisements of the ship claiming to have scores of fail safes and water-tight compartments, it was dubbed unsinkable. Required lifeboats on board were stripped to carry only about half of the passengers, and were there more for show than anything else...
Four days later, on the night of April 14th, 1,517 passengers would learn a hard lesson.
A little after 11:30pm, the ship hit the infamous iceberg, poking several holes into the ship's hull, far beneath the surface...
The next two hours defined three types of people:
The few who sprung into action and either jumped on lifeboats, or took whatever buoyant material they could find and made their own.
Those who knew they had to do something; but instead of working on anything productive, they panicked.
The majority that, after hearing the loud screeches and feeling the trembles, continued on with their evening plans, keeping full faith in the boat's ability to stay afloat.
Titanic And The US Dollar
Today, many people — on faith alone in the dollar and the U.S. economy — don't think it could fail.
They don't believe that, with 45 million Americans and on food stamps, city and state governments in more debt than they can pay off, and a federal government that's more than 14.5 trillion dollars in debt, the Fed's cycle of printing money is leading us on the path to a complete dollar collapse...
They think we're unsinkable.
Just like the holes ripping into the Titanic's hull, the writing is already on the wall.
And as our currency nears collapse and prices continue to skyrocket, you're going to see runs on grocery stores, gas stations, and retail outlets.
As it escalates, gangs of rioters will storm neighborhoods on a violent stealing spree like they did during Hurricane Katrina... only this it will be on a nation-wide scale.
Only a few people — those who saw it coming and took the right action — won't be left penniless.
The good news is that the entire process, while escalating by the day, won't happen overnight...
So while there's still time for you to act, let me show you a few simple steps that I — along with some of the country's richest investors — are taking.
Similar to the dollar today, it was pure faith in the shipbuilders' claims that convinced passengers and the Titanic's crew that it was the safest ship in history. One such passenger, Thomas Beattie, wrote:
“We are changing ships and are coming home in a new, unsinkable boat!”
Sadly, it seems 99.9% of citizens don't realize this crash has already started. Either that, or they're in complete denial... living as though we can keep adding to our debts and printing money to no end without consequence.
As it escalates, they'll be struck in disbelief, unprepared and unable to act quickly enough.
It's a defense mechanism our brains activate when reality becomes too overwhelming.
2011-06-07
You've Fallen for the Most Destructive Sleight of Hand of All Time
Neo, sooner or later you're going to realize, just as I did, that there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. ~ Morpheus, The Matrix
It's no secret that the U.S. dollar — or Federal Reserve Note — is the world's reserve currency. It's been that way since 1944, when the dollar was backed by gold...
A time when the United States held more than 50% of the world's gold reserves.
A time when the U.S. produced more than 55% of the entire world's manufactured goods.
Of course, times have changed...
Since 1971, our dollar hasn't been backed by anything other than the fact that it is the world's reserve currency.
Today (2011), we only produce 27% of the world's manufactured goods. America also holds less than 25% of the world's gold reserves.
And on September 30th, 2011, our national debt will exceed more than 102% of our GDP.
An auto manufacturer in Korea importing steel from Japan must first convert Korean won into U.S. dollars, pay for the transaction in dollars, and the Japanese exporter — upon receiving the payment — must then convert the dollars into Japanese yen.
The need for dollars to buy international goods is the only thing that gives the dollar any strength at all.
And with an additional $80 billion flooding the money supply every month, the price of everything inevitably skyrockets...
It's a Mad Hatter monetary system that's literally crippling our very livelihoods.
And it's rapidly driving the middle class' and retiring baby boomers' purchasing power to poverty level.
Of course, the Fed — the guys who invented this Ponzi scheme — will never admit it.
In fact, recently Chairman Bernanke was asked on Capitol Hill if the Fed's policies were responsible for the skyrocketing costs of goods across the world...
He was quick to reply that higher prices have nothing to do with the Fed's pumping of more than $3.7 trillion into the global economy.
He states, “Clearly, what's happening [to food prices] is not a dollar effect. It's a growth effect.”
In other words, that's too bad that they can't eat... but it's not my problem. And to an extent, he's right...
So long as you don't drive a car, use electricity, heat your house, or need food to survive.
What Bernanke danced over, however, is that — thanks to the Fed's out-of-control policies — it's not just food prices that are surging.
It's commodity prices across the board — everything. In fact, over the past year...
Coal is up 33%
Gold is up 30%
Silver is up 118%
Oil is up 45%
Cotton is up 148%
Corn is up 76%
Wheat is up 44%
Rubber is up 86%
I could list these skyrocketing price increases for 20 minutes.
The point is, these drastic price increases aren't due to a sudden surge in consumption.
Rather, it's the Fed's constant devaluation of your dollar — killing your purchasing power with each passing day. For supporting info, check out the graphs in Illusion of Wealth, and you get the big picture.
You might not see it reflected in your grocery store right away. Marketers have been very clever at passing on these soaring costs to you in smaller packaging and fewer goods inside...
Again, I could go on all day. But the next time you're in the store, take a look at the weight and cost of virtually any item. Chances are, within a month or two, it's either going to be much more expensive, or the amount of goods in each package will get smaller... or both.
So, who do you trust? Our government leaders or S&P?
Maybe you trust PIMCO, the leader in bonds who no longer invests in US bonds? Instead, PIMCO is now investing in distressed real estate projects, just as I am doing.
Do I think the worst is over? “Absolutely not.”
Do I believe the New Depression has begun? “Yes.”
Will I do anything different? “Absolutely not.”
Will I continue to buy real estate at distressed prices and rent them to people who cannot buy homes? “Absolutely.”
Will I use debt to get rich? “Absolutely. At interest rates so low, I’d be a fool not to borrow to make money.”
Will I continue to buy gold and silver rather than save counterfeit dollars? “Absolutely. Especially after the state of Utah challenged the US government and allowed people of Utah to pay their bills in gold and silver. I wrote about that in the last COR update, stating that Utah’s actions were the first step in challenging the Conspiracy of the Rich.
If gold and silver is recognized as real money, which it always has been, this will mean the 28 percent capital gains tax on gold and silver may be removed. That will send gold and silver through the roof.
What if gold and silver prices crash? That would be good news too. Why? I’d buy more. Traditionally, gold and silver don’t do well during the summer months; nor does the stock market. If you pay attention, and prices fall even further, there may be some great buying opportunities in August.
So what should you do?
My answer is always the same, “Get educated.” Investigate further for yourself. Don’t just take my opinion or someone else’s opinion. Your future is at stake.
I believe the middle class is being crushed and the economy will worsen again. We are on the edge of the New Depression. If our leaders screw up, it will be here sooner than later. If they keep the world believing in their competence, it may be delayed a few years.
Your choice will be to get richer or become poorer during the next depression.
I keep studying, continue to take classes, choose my advisors wisely, and listen carefully to what our leaders are saying. Then, I make up my own mind and do my own thing. You should too.
Compiled from:
Luke Burgess, Investment Director, Underground Profits
Robert Kiyosaki, Conspiracy of The Rich
It's no secret that the U.S. dollar — or Federal Reserve Note — is the world's reserve currency. It's been that way since 1944, when the dollar was backed by gold...
A time when the United States held more than 50% of the world's gold reserves.
A time when the U.S. produced more than 55% of the entire world's manufactured goods.
Of course, times have changed...
Since 1971, our dollar hasn't been backed by anything other than the fact that it is the world's reserve currency.
Today (2011), we only produce 27% of the world's manufactured goods. America also holds less than 25% of the world's gold reserves.
And on September 30th, 2011, our national debt will exceed more than 102% of our GDP.
USD As World Reserve Currency And Inflation
An auto manufacturer in Korea importing steel from Japan must first convert Korean won into U.S. dollars, pay for the transaction in dollars, and the Japanese exporter — upon receiving the payment — must then convert the dollars into Japanese yen.
The need for dollars to buy international goods is the only thing that gives the dollar any strength at all.
And with an additional $80 billion flooding the money supply every month, the price of everything inevitably skyrockets...
It's a Mad Hatter monetary system that's literally crippling our very livelihoods.
And it's rapidly driving the middle class' and retiring baby boomers' purchasing power to poverty level.
Of course, the Fed — the guys who invented this Ponzi scheme — will never admit it.
In fact, recently Chairman Bernanke was asked on Capitol Hill if the Fed's policies were responsible for the skyrocketing costs of goods across the world...
He was quick to reply that higher prices have nothing to do with the Fed's pumping of more than $3.7 trillion into the global economy.
He states, “Clearly, what's happening [to food prices] is not a dollar effect. It's a growth effect.”
In other words, that's too bad that they can't eat... but it's not my problem. And to an extent, he's right...
So long as you don't drive a car, use electricity, heat your house, or need food to survive.
What Bernanke danced over, however, is that — thanks to the Fed's out-of-control policies — it's not just food prices that are surging.
It's commodity prices across the board — everything. In fact, over the past year...
Coal is up 33%
Gold is up 30%
Silver is up 118%
Oil is up 45%
Cotton is up 148%
Corn is up 76%
Wheat is up 44%
Rubber is up 86%
I could list these skyrocketing price increases for 20 minutes.
The point is, these drastic price increases aren't due to a sudden surge in consumption.
Rather, it's the Fed's constant devaluation of your dollar — killing your purchasing power with each passing day. For supporting info, check out the graphs in Illusion of Wealth, and you get the big picture.
You might not see it reflected in your grocery store right away. Marketers have been very clever at passing on these soaring costs to you in smaller packaging and fewer goods inside...
Again, I could go on all day. But the next time you're in the store, take a look at the weight and cost of virtually any item. Chances are, within a month or two, it's either going to be much more expensive, or the amount of goods in each package will get smaller... or both.
Great Leaders?
"There's no housing bubble"... "Fannie and Freddie are financially sound"... "The fundamentals for banks couldn't be stronger"... "We're experiencing amazing job growth"... I'm sure you heard at least some (or variations) of these filthy lies from our representatives in the past couple of years. We all have. And have you noticed that they always build up just before a major market let down? One that sets the everyday investor's portfolio back months — if not years. You could almost set your watch to it... |
| A few weeks back, a Fox Business television reporter asked Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, “Is there a risk that the United States could lose its AAA credit rating?” The Treasury Secretary responded, “No risk of that.” A few days later, credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) warned the world about the credit rating of the US, saying there is at least a one-in-three likelihood that they could lower the long-term rating of the US within two years, reducing the government’s debt from “stable” to “negative.” |
So, who do you trust? Our government leaders or S&P?
Maybe you trust PIMCO, the leader in bonds who no longer invests in US bonds? Instead, PIMCO is now investing in distressed real estate projects, just as I am doing.
Do I think the worst is over? “Absolutely not.”
Do I believe the New Depression has begun? “Yes.”
Will I do anything different? “Absolutely not.”
Will I continue to buy real estate at distressed prices and rent them to people who cannot buy homes? “Absolutely.”
Will I use debt to get rich? “Absolutely. At interest rates so low, I’d be a fool not to borrow to make money.”
Will I continue to buy gold and silver rather than save counterfeit dollars? “Absolutely. Especially after the state of Utah challenged the US government and allowed people of Utah to pay their bills in gold and silver. I wrote about that in the last COR update, stating that Utah’s actions were the first step in challenging the Conspiracy of the Rich.
If gold and silver is recognized as real money, which it always has been, this will mean the 28 percent capital gains tax on gold and silver may be removed. That will send gold and silver through the roof.
What if gold and silver prices crash? That would be good news too. Why? I’d buy more. Traditionally, gold and silver don’t do well during the summer months; nor does the stock market. If you pay attention, and prices fall even further, there may be some great buying opportunities in August.
So what should you do?
My answer is always the same, “Get educated.” Investigate further for yourself. Don’t just take my opinion or someone else’s opinion. Your future is at stake.
I believe the middle class is being crushed and the economy will worsen again. We are on the edge of the New Depression. If our leaders screw up, it will be here sooner than later. If they keep the world believing in their competence, it may be delayed a few years.
Your choice will be to get richer or become poorer during the next depression.
I keep studying, continue to take classes, choose my advisors wisely, and listen carefully to what our leaders are saying. Then, I make up my own mind and do my own thing. You should too.
Compiled from:
Luke Burgess, Investment Director, Underground Profits
Robert Kiyosaki, Conspiracy of The Rich
2011-06-06
不一样的槟城
One of the recent picking up web property, Best Penang Guide shows that as long as commitment are made, most people tend to put more effort into making their project a success. The commitment not only refer to monetary investment, but also time, talent, and network resources. Stay tuned for more updates on this project!
Somehow related to the above mentioned project:
一个好政府需要视人才如命，要让人才从失望变盼望，从绝望找到希望。如果连年轻人都对政府失望，要如何掌握世界？
当每一个人感受到他们是受尊重的、是被珍惜的，那股力量凝聚起来之后，就成为了世界眼中那个再也不一样的槟城了。
2011-06-05
一个协议击溃一个国家的经济
当我讲国际金融炒家很可怕，这个话没人信的，你知道为什么没人信吗？无知者无畏，大家根本不晓得这有多可怕。
在150年前，帝国主义是以东印度公司为前导，炮舰为后盾的。今天的帝国主义是以国际化为前导，金融为后盾的，但是帝国主义的本质是不会变的。
日本的教训
1985 年 9 月 22 日，美、日、英、德、法五国财政部长和央行行长在美国纽约的广场饭店举行会议。会后五国发表联合声明，即所谓“广场协议”。
按照“广场协议”的相关条款，五国将联手实现主要货币对美元的有序升值，以矫正美元估值过高的局面。按照当时的普遍认识，发表“广场协议”主要是为了减缓日本对外收支盈余的急剧上升。1982、1983和1984年，日本的贸易盈余已经迅速从69亿美元猛增到205.3亿美元，之后又飙升至336.1亿美元，这其中绝大部分来自美国。
在“广场协议”发表几小时后，美元开始了疯狂的贬值进程，进而持续两年未见止跌迹象，其中美元兑日元更是贬值达50%。日本经济从此一蹶不振，“广场协议”成为日本经济由盛而衰的转折点。
你知道日本经过那次打击后，经过多少年的萧条吗？20年后的今天日本还未能走出萧条。
这个协议本身就是一场阴谋。
因为当时这个协议要求日元升值，而日本政府一旦签字确认后，就等于送了一个非常清楚的信号给国际金融炒家，那就是日元要升值了，就这么简单。所以大量的国际热钱涌入日本，炒日元，越炒日元就越升值。
国际金融炒家炒汇率，然后美国政府通过财政部施加政策压力，压迫日本降利率，放宽信贷。
这么多热钱流入市场的结果就是炒什么什么就变成泡沫，炒楼，楼市泡沫；炒股，股市泡沫；买产品，通货膨胀。
在国际金融炒家和美国政府的合谋之下，日本发生了什么？第一，汇率上升；第二，股市泡沫；第三，楼市泡沫；第四，通货膨胀。
高负债的结果，就是使得这个企业的财务风险过大，轻轻用针一刺就破。结果被美国用针一刺，虚假繁荣就爆破了，从而使得日本经济到现在都难以恢复元气，永远成为美国的附庸国。
In many ways, history is only repeating itself.
Note: Japan currently (2011) has more debt per GDP than any other country at 225%.
日本之后，到了1997年之前，亚洲又出了“四小龙”和“四小虎”，它们又通过出口和日本一样，给美国造成极大的压力。结果所罗斯1997年阻击泰铢开始，产生了一场可怕的亚洲金融危机。危机过后，“四小虎”死了，“四小龙”死了两只半，后果惨不忍睹。
在此之后，又有一个社会主义的新兴国家越南，由于外资大量流入炒股炒楼买产品，形成泡沫导致通过膨胀，汇率不断上升，出现了和日本同样的现象。结果在2008年4月，外资非常有秩序、有纪律地一起撤出。楼市跌、股市垮、泡沫破裂，但是通货膨胀没走，使得越南的金融危机摧毁了越南经济。
以此类推，中国这几年来也通过出口给美国造成极大压力，那么，2008年金融危机给我们带来了什么压力呢？
摘自：朗咸平：金融超限战 (pg013-017)
-------
Admittedly, China could replicate Japan’s recent roller-coaster economic history. Once touted as a rival to the US for the mantle of the world’s biggest economy, Japan is today economically stagnant.
After the Plaza Accord on Sept 22, 1985, Japan agreed to allow the yen to appreciate. From ¥239 (RM9) in 1985, the yen strengthened phenomenally to less than ¥80 (RM3) in 1995. Coupled with low interest rates, a stronger yen caused the Nikkei 225 to skyrocket from 13,000 in 1986 to an intraday high of 38,975 by end-1989 – leading to an unprecedented asset bubble that burst only in 1992.
However, China’s refusal to allow its currency to appreciate too sharply too quickly suggests Beijing is a keen student of economic history.
China differs from Japan and the US in one singular aspect. Because Beijing doesn’t hold elections, this gives its policy planners the freedom to adopt policies that are beneficial in the long term even if it causes short-term pain for voters. With the US and Japan providing excellent case studies on what not to do, China can avoid their missteps.
Will China surpass the US in 2016?
Making Sens - By Tan Siok Choo
http://sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=61179
相关：
粮食危机：人为的价格操纵
本来都吃饱了，听他们一忽悠，肚子马上就饿了，就是很奇怪的感觉。
糧食危機的隱憂
隨著全球糧價預料將會進一步狂飆，新一輪糧食危機儼然已經成形。全球糧價不斷創新高，真的只是因為惡劣天氣嗎？
The Value of Nothing
If economics is about choices, it isn’t often said who gets to make them.
在150年前，帝国主义是以东印度公司为前导，炮舰为后盾的。今天的帝国主义是以国际化为前导，金融为后盾的，但是帝国主义的本质是不会变的。
日本的教训
1985 年 9 月 22 日，美、日、英、德、法五国财政部长和央行行长在美国纽约的广场饭店举行会议。会后五国发表联合声明，即所谓“广场协议”。
按照“广场协议”的相关条款，五国将联手实现主要货币对美元的有序升值，以矫正美元估值过高的局面。按照当时的普遍认识，发表“广场协议”主要是为了减缓日本对外收支盈余的急剧上升。1982、1983和1984年，日本的贸易盈余已经迅速从69亿美元猛增到205.3亿美元，之后又飙升至336.1亿美元，这其中绝大部分来自美国。
在“广场协议”发表几小时后，美元开始了疯狂的贬值进程，进而持续两年未见止跌迹象，其中美元兑日元更是贬值达50%。日本经济从此一蹶不振，“广场协议”成为日本经济由盛而衰的转折点。
你知道日本经过那次打击后，经过多少年的萧条吗？20年后的今天日本还未能走出萧条。
这个协议本身就是一场阴谋。
因为当时这个协议要求日元升值，而日本政府一旦签字确认后，就等于送了一个非常清楚的信号给国际金融炒家，那就是日元要升值了，就这么简单。所以大量的国际热钱涌入日本，炒日元，越炒日元就越升值。
国际金融炒家炒汇率，然后美国政府通过财政部施加政策压力，压迫日本降利率，放宽信贷。
这么多热钱流入市场的结果就是炒什么什么就变成泡沫，炒楼，楼市泡沫；炒股，股市泡沫；买产品，通货膨胀。
在国际金融炒家和美国政府的合谋之下，日本发生了什么？第一，汇率上升；第二，股市泡沫；第三，楼市泡沫；第四，通货膨胀。
高负债的结果，就是使得这个企业的财务风险过大，轻轻用针一刺就破。结果被美国用针一刺，虚假繁荣就爆破了，从而使得日本经济到现在都难以恢复元气，永远成为美国的附庸国。
In many ways, history is only repeating itself.
Note: Japan currently (2011) has more debt per GDP than any other country at 225%.
日本之后，到了1997年之前，亚洲又出了“四小龙”和“四小虎”，它们又通过出口和日本一样，给美国造成极大的压力。结果所罗斯1997年阻击泰铢开始，产生了一场可怕的亚洲金融危机。危机过后，“四小虎”死了，“四小龙”死了两只半，后果惨不忍睹。
在此之后，又有一个社会主义的新兴国家越南，由于外资大量流入炒股炒楼买产品，形成泡沫导致通过膨胀，汇率不断上升，出现了和日本同样的现象。结果在2008年4月，外资非常有秩序、有纪律地一起撤出。楼市跌、股市垮、泡沫破裂，但是通货膨胀没走，使得越南的金融危机摧毁了越南经济。
以此类推，中国这几年来也通过出口给美国造成极大压力，那么，2008年金融危机给我们带来了什么压力呢？
摘自：朗咸平：金融超限战 (pg013-017)
-------
Admittedly, China could replicate Japan’s recent roller-coaster economic history. Once touted as a rival to the US for the mantle of the world’s biggest economy, Japan is today economically stagnant.
After the Plaza Accord on Sept 22, 1985, Japan agreed to allow the yen to appreciate. From ¥239 (RM9) in 1985, the yen strengthened phenomenally to less than ¥80 (RM3) in 1995. Coupled with low interest rates, a stronger yen caused the Nikkei 225 to skyrocket from 13,000 in 1986 to an intraday high of 38,975 by end-1989 – leading to an unprecedented asset bubble that burst only in 1992.
However, China’s refusal to allow its currency to appreciate too sharply too quickly suggests Beijing is a keen student of economic history.
China differs from Japan and the US in one singular aspect. Because Beijing doesn’t hold elections, this gives its policy planners the freedom to adopt policies that are beneficial in the long term even if it causes short-term pain for voters. With the US and Japan providing excellent case studies on what not to do, China can avoid their missteps.
Will China surpass the US in 2016?
Making Sens - By Tan Siok Choo
http://sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=61179
粮食危机：人为的价格操纵
本来都吃饱了，听他们一忽悠，肚子马上就饿了，就是很奇怪的感觉。
糧食危機的隱憂
隨著全球糧價預料將會進一步狂飆，新一輪糧食危機儼然已經成形。全球糧價不斷創新高，真的只是因為惡劣天氣嗎？
The Value of Nothing
If economics is about choices, it isn’t often said who gets to make them.
2011-06-04
如果孩子上网时不小心链接到成人内容
如果有一天你的孩子上网寻找作业资料，比如模拟作文，而网页的某个广告却是链接至成人产品销售网站，你会怎么办？这里有一个很好的案例，供研究研究与参考。
话说有一天，我在上网作一些企划相关研究时，发现了一个现象。在游览小学作文范例时，发现网页的大部分几乎都由广告给填满了，而真正所需要的资料也被广告所“包围"。更甚的是，右下角有一个突出的广告，居然是链接到一个贩卖成人性福用品的广告。（见图）
看官，你怎么说？
话说有一天，我在上网作一些企划相关研究时，发现了一个现象。在游览小学作文范例时，发现网页的大部分几乎都由广告给填满了，而真正所需要的资料也被广告所“包围"。更甚的是，右下角有一个突出的广告，居然是链接到一个贩卖成人性福用品的广告。（见图）
看官，你怎么说？
2011-06-03
Only The Super Rich Can Save Us
We know of the portentous and manifold risks we face, both now and in the future. The global environment is fragile, under severe assault, and it's vulnerable to genetic engineering for short-term profit. Viruses and bacteria are subjected to increasing stress that yields deadly mutations, and weapons of all kinds are more widely and easily available than ever. As a species, we are learning more and more but are less and less able to keep up with what's happening to us as human beings, and to our world, its land, water, and air, Many solutions have been proposed, yet even at the basic level of abolishing massive poverty and advancing public health, they are applied too slowly and haphazardly to achieve any real human betterment. And this at a time when we have more powerful global tools than ever before. Never in history has there been a greater opportunity to effect change.
---------------------------
To the Meliorists, their advocates, beneficiaries and all those who follow to broaden and deepen their pioneering footsteps in reality.
He knew exactly what he had to do- now, fast, fundamentally, and unyieldingly!
I had planned to go on increasing the value of my estate and use it to establish a huge posthumous charitable foundation, but now I realize that's just a rationalization for continuing to do what I do best while escaping responsibility for what's done by others. Besides, why rely on the smug foundation world, which has brought forth so few innovations while spending trillions of dollars? Why bequeth to unimaginative people? I want to go out having advanced and implemented a grand design, and I want to do it now with the best talent available. I suspect that similar feelings are stirring in your minds and souls as well, and that's why I put out the call to you.
... but only in the thousands. It doesn't cross the charity-to-justice line - the old palliative versus the systematic divide.
Quotes from Only The Super-Rich Can Save Us
Think global, revolutionize local. ~Bill Cosby
History has taught us that well-meaning impositions grafted onto the body politic or the political culture do not take readily and sometimes backfire ferociously. Believe me, as someone who's contributed nearly three billion dollars to further a global vision of open societies, I know what I'm talking about. ~ George Soros
Whatever we put forward must have a multiplier mechanism attached. We'll have to multiply ourselves, as we'll have to multiply what George called the assets, approaches, and structures we intend to advance. Otherwise, it will just be more of the same. ~ Peter Lewis, Progressive Insurance
"Deja vu all over again," Warren said.
We must challenge bigness wherever we find it. Bigness is a curse. It is too bureaucratic, too autocratic, too top-heavy in making decisions, too remote from the ground, and too ubiquitous in our present state of corporate socialism or state capitalism. ~ Seymour Melman
Bigness is too addicted to concentrating power, and too inimical to competition and democratic processes. Our economy is being crippled by all these companies that are "too big to fail". ~ Bernard Rapoport, or B
People tend to care more about their children than themselves, and will often sacrifice anything for them. Children draw out our better instincts and make us take a longer view of matters. Our country is mortgaging its future in many ways, not just with huge debts and deficits on the economic front. ~ Ross Perot
I suggest that we assume a one-year life expectancy for all of us - that is, we need to do what we're going to do as if there were only one year left on Earth. ~ Max Palevsky
yet corporations control what the people own against the people's interests. If we're looking for Redirections, this is one giant Redirection of existing assets toward the common good. It's a matter of what is fundamentally right and fair. ~ Barry Diller
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This book is not a novel. Nor is it nonfiction. In the literary world, it might be described as "a practical utopia." I call it a fictional vision that could become a new reality. Some known and not-well-known people appear in fictional roles. I invite your imaginative engagement. ~Ralph Nader, Washington, DC
2011-06-02
Similar Ideas, Different Approach
While logging into the internet via my Maxis 3G Broadband, an ads caught my attention. It is about YourStory project just launched few days ago. It got my attention simply because we had came out with similar ideas few months back. Indeed, the overall business concept of My Sweet Sweet Memories was formulated almost a year ago. As things happened for a reason, there is definitely something worth learning from this coincidence.
Lessons From 2 Similar Projects
First, it is about timing and perfectionism (make things happen!), and secondly, it is about self-confident.
- Timing and perfectionism. This is one of the ability that separates dreamers from achievers. While we were planning on a systematic approach to enable user to submit their story through web forms (initially we even thought of developing a system just to fulfill the task!), to our surprise is that Maxis did it with only a click to download a template (word document file) and ask user to email them the content accordingly. So the whole thing is like:
MySweetSweetMemories.com Love Story project:
Step 1: Click to join
Step 2: Fill in online form
Step 3: Click Submit
Maxis YourStory project:
Step 1: Click to download template
Step 2: Fill in document
Step 3: Email to organizer
Of course, I would give better credits to my team as the submission process is somehow more automated and professional. :)
The point I want to make here is: You don't need to wait until everything is perfect in order to do something, as long as it works and won't cause casualties should anything go wrong, just do it! (well, we ain't talking about building a nuke power plant, aren't we?)
- Self confident. You are never too small to change the world. There may be some differences in the presentation and approach between the 2 projects (My Sweet Sweet Memories Love Story, and Maxis' YourStory project), but it shows that a team of 2-3 can do something as big a corporation as Maxis could be doing, and sometimes even better. Sometimes you may think that you don't have the resources as what the big corporations or your stronger competition may have, but my point of view is: As long as there is a will, there will be ways!
Hope that this little review gives you better confident and energy to kick start your Automated Internet Business venture. For those Best Business Challenge participants, I had a compiled message in the blog section - About Strategy, Timing, and Confident.
All the best to your web properties investment!
With Love, Respect, and Much Abundant Blessings Always,
How Tze
2011-06-01
Perfect Competition
In economic theory, perfect competition describes markets such that no participants are large enough to have the market power to set the price of a homogeneous product. Similarly, when it comes to business ideas, or marketing strategy, there may have no businesses big enough to have the market power to block the idea of a great sales campaign. One of the best example is the Consumption Device, Digital Contents, and Online Campaign run by many businesses, where giving away these gadgets to get more sales seems to be a trend. In this case study, the point we are looking at is TIMING.
While the ideas of Beauty Slimming Guide (http://www.beautyslimmingguide.com)to run online campaign to give away free iPad2 (slim, sleek, chicky device that suits the beauty slimming industry) is still under progress and construction:
Another industry player had come out with this promotion:
claiming to be the first in the slimming industry giving away free iPad2!
Get the message behind this post?
You may have the best advisor working along, yet, it is the length of a single great idea and the ability to turn ideas into reality that counts!
Additional notes:
The online medium as additional or complementing channel to beauty slimming industry may show how fierce the competition is among industry players.
While the ideas of Beauty Slimming Guide (http://www.beautyslimmingguide.com)to run online campaign to give away free iPad2 (slim, sleek, chicky device that suits the beauty slimming industry) is still under progress and construction:
Another industry player had come out with this promotion:
claiming to be the first in the slimming industry giving away free iPad2!
Get the message behind this post?
You may have the best advisor working along, yet, it is the length of a single great idea and the ability to turn ideas into reality that counts!
Additional notes:
The online medium as additional or complementing channel to beauty slimming industry may show how fierce the competition is among industry players.
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