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Why A Hard Money Loan.
The reason real estate investors choose to use hard money loans is that they are a source to purchase and rehab property to make a substantial profit that they may not have without the use of this expensive money. These short term loans are expensive and even if they were legal for a home owner to borrow from the private lenders offering these loans it would never be advisable. So how hard are these private loans you should ask? The answer is threefold. They have restrictive loan to values, they have high interest rates and high loan fees.

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Thinking of investing in the stock market? Here are 10 principles to help guide your approach to the market from a long-term point of view. Each principal embodies a fundamental concept every investor should understand:
1. Sell the losers and let the winners ride!
What is the one mistake most investors make – they hold onto a stock where they have loses waiting for the big turn around but it doesn’t happen. Be prepared to cut your losses on hopeless stocks. Of course, the idea of holding onto high-quality investments while selling the bad ones is great in theory it’s hard to put into practice. The following information might help:

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Do you know the best route to financial independent and wealth? You might drop your glasses at the insignificant things you can do to be just like them. The steps to financial freedom and wealth is successful control of your personal finance. Learning how to manage your personal finances will enable you to gain total control over where your money is going.

There are a range of topics covered under personal finance. Personal finance includes areas like insurance, retirement, savings and credit handling. Personal Finance Tips covers everything that has to do with your money, from making it to spending it.

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If you’ve ever climbed down the Grand Canyon and found it hard to get back up to the top, then perhaps like me, you felt you didn’t accomplished anything. On a similar note you may have fallen in life, and you couldn’t seem to get back up? Not only did I feel this way after my climb but I also felt like this about my life in general. I realized I had no motivation to improve my life and things were really in a downward spiral when I was recommended Peak Potentials Training, a success and wealth training company run by success guru, T. Harv Eker.

I am young and upon commemorating the journey I made with some pals and remembering their faces, we all appeared beat with not much to show for it. Why did we go on this journey? Was there a great purpose? I recall being very hyped to do the journey at first, however I returned feeling vexed, and irritated. Soon after the journey I was recommended Peak Potentials Training and set off reading about their instruction and camps – not long discovering that I was not content and was not using the right methods to better my life and my mindset, I just did not know how.

Using Peak Potentials Training as a guide, attending their ‘Enlighten Warrior Training Camp’ and ‘Extreme Health’, truly helped me discover some hard truths. I was a real slacker and needed a push and I realized my self esteem was far from where it should be. Even if it was as simple as thinking of my hiking trip as a success; I had to challenge myself because I definitely didn’t see the trip that way. A little annoyed at first that I had to attend Peak Potentials courses in order for things to change in my life; I still had hope.

Peak Potentials Training and its concept left me a bit giddy at first. I cannot do this I felt. Did I honestly want to better my life? Of course, however, how could I do it with certainty? The activities presented at Enlighten Warrior Training notably, I felt, were too complicated for me. When I looked into the seminar further, I saw that they were there to aid people who had regressed, to get up again, and I was definitely one of those people.

Remarkably, they helped me rise up first and that was the toughest action, nonetheless I felt I was starting to have a new perception on life. I was eager for help and was setting forth to attain it. While I considered my life to be a closed book, they considered my life as rewording that book!

I had initially perceived that Peak Potentials Training was most likely only going to rip me off and leave me high and dry. I discovered I was wrong because they were teaching theories and tools, far more than I dreamed of, that would make me do well. It was possible to pick myself up from a tumble or my absence of mind success from my hike; and do a new hike, a greater enterprise.

If I possessed no confidence, or felt as if my future was bleak- Peak, Potentials Training and their coaches assisted me in changing this. I was taken up to a new way of thinking. I had a new attitude, no regrets, and until now, I honestly feel unstoppable.

Some people lose their way in life and feel what’s the point- why get up and start something new? It won’t change my life; it won’t change anything. All I can say is that I felt so rejuvenated after both of the seminars I attended and I will continue to utilize Peak Potentials Training to keep me on my feet, standing up. Who knew a company could make me get up, start over and feel good about myself? I can only recommend and hope that you give Peak Potentials Training a try if you fall down at some point in your life they will without a doubt help you get back up!

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Independent consulting firm Investars found that you would make more money by following Zacks Equity Research than looking at brokerage ratings.

Over a variety of periods, our long-term buy recommendations earned investors more money than those made by the major brokerage firms. Similarly, our sell recommendations helped investors identify which stocks to avoid.

Investars calculated that Zacks Equity Research’s buy-recommended stocks rose 23.9% over the past 5 years, nearly 200% better than the Russell 2000.

To put this performance in perspective, let’s look at how Investars says other firms performed. Following the buy recommendations from Goldman Sachs, Standard and Poor’s, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, Piper Jaffray, Raymond James, BMO Capital Markets and Ameriprise would have lost you money. Not a single one of those well-known brokerage firms had a positive return.

At the same time, Zacks Equity Research did a great job of telling you which stocks to avoid, or even short. According to Investars, Zacks’ sell-recommended stocks fell 50% more than the Russell 2000. In other words, not only did Zacks warn you about the bad stocks, we helped keep you out of the worst of the worst – the ones that wreck your portfolio.

The Secret Behind Our Strong Performance
What’s our secret? It is combining our powerful quantitative model with the expertise of seasoned analysts.

Zacks harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions to create two quantitative models: a short-term (1-3 month) indicator – the Zacks Rank – and a long-term (6+ months) indicator – the Zacks Recommendation. The Zacks Recommendation is an extension of the Zacks Rank and is designed specifically for long-term investors. Both models are applied to approximately 4400 stocks.

In addition, we employ a staff of 50 analysts with expertise in the specific industries they cover. Since there are often factors such as valuation, business conditions and management effectiveness that can be better spotted by a trained investment professional, we allow our analysts to override the quantitative model when they feel it is necessary.

Since our analysts cannot cover every stock, subscribers to Zacks Premium have access to 2 types of reports: analyst reports and snapshot reports.

Analyst Reports contain the analysts’ recommendations as well as their in-depth written description on the company. These reports can range from 5 to 20 pages on the individual stock. Or simply, as many pages as necessary to impart to you why to buy, hold or sell the stock. These reports are available for the 1,150 stocks covered by our analyst team.

Snapshot Reports contain the quantitative recommendations and a quick overview of the key fundamental drivers behind the recommendation. This is contained in a 1-page document for approximately 3,250 stocks not covered by analysts.

The Best of Both Worlds
There are many stocks with a long-term buy recommendation that are also on the short-term Zacks #1 Rank and Zacks #2 Rank lists. Combining both rating systems is a profitable strategy, and one I use for finding candidates for the Zacks Elite Focus List.

Here are 5 stocks that are buy-rated from both a short- and long-term perspective:

* Autozone Inc. (AZO)
* Salesforce.com (CRM)
* Hot Topic (HOTT)
* ISIS Pharmaceutical (ISIS)
* Tesoro Corporation (TSO)

Zacks Premium subscribers can view the full list of Zacks Equity Research’s buy-recommended stocks. In addition, subscribers can also screen for stocks that are buy-rated from both a short- and long-term perspective with the Custom Screener.

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It is a fact that we can use the market’s trend as an ally in the buying and selling of our stock positions. This is possible because the market signals when it is starting a new bullish trend or a new bearish trend. You can know whether or not the market will support you if you bet on a stock rising, or on a stock declining. Investors can learn to time the market profitably.

A few years ago, there were many news articles about “Market Timing” and the notion that it is illegal. In their ignorance, reporters blurred the difference between illegal and legal “timing.” The illegal form of timing was in reference to the way some portfolio managers bought mutual funds. Legal fund investing involves making purchases before the market closes (when the closing price of the fund is not yet known). You purchase with the knowledge that the price of fund shares will be determined at the close of market. It is illegal to buy mutual fund shares after 4 p.m. at 4 p.m. prices. The illegal activity that was in the headlines involved “investors” doing just that. They were being granted yesterday’s prices on securities known to have already moved up overseas. Rather than market-timing the correct term for the activity is late-trading. In describing this activity, then New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said “Late trading is unambiguously criminal.” Actually, there is no real timing going on except that shares were bought late at earlier prices. For example, they lock in a 4 p.m. price of a U.S.-based fund (after 4 p.m.) that holds foreign shares whose prices are “stale”–that is, they were current at the time of the foreign market’s prior close but were not yet marked up by the fund to reflect market gains after the foreign market re-opened. Then they sold those shares at the marked-up prices. It is illegal for funds to permit these “under-the-table” transactions. To do so is to cheat other investors.

However, true “market timing” is not illegal. In fact, it is highly regarded among some professional investors as an effective way of improving risk-adjusted returns in portfolios of mutual funds and stocks. I have used these techniques and have found them to be quite effective. Legitimate “market timing” involves the use of probability models and various algorithms to make investments when risk is low (or when the probability of continuance of a new up-move is high), and sell them when risk is high (or the probability of continuance of a new down-move is high). That is, market timing is a legitimate tool used for “timing” purchases and sales with a goal of optimizing risk-adjusted returns for a portfolio. Its roots are in models of momentum, probability, and statistical analysis. It is not the same thing as the procedures known as “fast-trading” or “rapid trading.” Theoretically, positions could be held for many months or even years. This form of “timing” can be very profitable and of lower risk than buying and holding through a market’s gyrations…and it is legal.

Most professionals warn investors against market timing. That’s because most investors haven’t got a clue about how to do it correctly. They feel the market is going up so they invest. They are afraid the market is going to fall so they sell everything. Most of the time, they sell when they should be buying or buy when they should be selling. For the vast majority of investors, market timing is a roadmap to disaster. This tendency to market time is also manifested even among some investors who hire professional advisors. They call their advisor and say “take me out of the market…I don’t feel good about it.” In doing this, they are overriding the advisor’s disciplines and models and imposing on the investment process the rule of emotion (trading disciplines can be designed to make a profit whether the market is trending up or down). Stockdisciplines.com received calls like this when it was in the investment advisory business. Emotions are almost always out of sync with what should be done in the market. Those who act this way are attempting to time the market without the tools necessary to do the job right. Even though the advisor may have the tools and discipline to do the job right, the client says, “don’t use them…we’ll use my feelings instead.” This kind of investor is like the pilot who finds himself flying in the fog. Rather than using his instruments (the best way to get to a destination under the circumstances), he decides to ignore his instruments and fly by the “seat of his pants.” The outcome is almost certain to be disastrous. A pilot in the fog can feel that the airplane is rising when it is actually flying level. To compensate, he is likely to put the plane into a shallow dive, and end up smashed on the side of a hill. He may feel the plane is veering to the left when it is actually veering slightly to the right. To compensate, he may head out over the ocean rather than toward his destination. By the time he realizes he is over water, he may be too low on fuel to make it back. In the same way, people who invest by how they feel are not using the proper guidance instruments. They underestimate what it takes to move in and out of the market advantageously. Professionals use instruments (indicators) to guide their timing of purchases and sales. Advisors, traders, and investors with the most consistently profitable transaction record rarely base any market decision on their feeling about the market.

An example of a single indicator that might be used in concert with others involves two simple moving averages. More specifically it involves the 10-day and 20-day simple moving averages of a market index. A person would simply watch for the 20-day moving average to rise after the 10-day moving average has crossed it to the upside. The fact that the 10-day average is above the 20-day average tells you that the shorter-term trend is supporting that of the longer-term trend. That is, there is not currently a significant trend developing that is counter to that of the 20-day average and that might cause the direction of the 20-day average to reverse. A person could use the opposite configuration of these moving averages to signal that a bearish stance is appropriate. Of course, this moving average crossover system is an example of only one of the tools that might be employed. To determine whether the market will support a bullish or bearish stance on investments, a variety of tools could be used.

Once it is determined that the market’s internal stability is sufficient to support individual stock trends, there remains the problem of knowing which stocks to select and when. Many of the same indicators (but not all of them) can be used for individual stocks that were used for monitoring the market in general. It is important to recognize that no single market-measuring or stock-measuring tool known to man is perfect. There is a certain amount of fuzziness in the meaning of all of them. That is why the expert market timer uses a variety of indicators. Each one paints a part of the picture. That is also why we track a variety of indicators. The indicators are the science part of market timing. However, in the final analysis, the human side of the equation is just as important. Individuals and their own particular interpretive acumen must meld with the instruments they use in order to make profitable trading decisions. The way individuals and their instruments “dance together” is what determines the success of the market-timing enterprise. The same thing is true with regard to the timing of purchases and sales of individual stocks. The more individuals use their instruments and study the relationship between their readings and what happens in the market, the better the two will “dance” together.

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In today’s world, making the most of our money is not just a catchy phrase; it is the difference between keeping homes or foreclosure; getting much needed prescriptions or buying groceries; bankruptcy or survival. Growing our money, saving time and being smart about our finances is the only way to make it in our economy.

We hear so much about the importance of saving on the nightly news, and yet very few Americans are able to put any money away for the proverbial ‘rainy day’. The consequences for not having any savings can be dire; if there is no money stashed away to cover those unexpected emergencies, like a larger than expected utility bill or a car breakdown, the money for that has to come from somewhere. All too often Americans find themselves putting these purchases on a credit card with a maxed out limit or a too high interest rate, or taking out a payday advance with complicated fine print. Both of these are risky moves, avoidable with some proper planning and money management.

When it comes to savings, a little bit can grow a long way. If you are able to stash a small amount of a paycheck each month in a savings account that draws interest, you are already ahead of the game. Depending on how much you have in your account, you could be currently gaining upwards of 4% on top of that money. That means for every $100 you deposit in your savings account, add $4.00 on top. That doesn’t seem like much, but in a year of monthly deposits, you could earn almost $50.00 for just having your money sitting in the bank.

Banks even sometimes offer higher introductory savings rates or other perks such as higher rates to those who use online banking, to get new business. Contact your local banker or search the internet to find out what the best rates and terms are. While you are at it, does your checking account draw interest? Many banks now offer checking accounts that accumulate interest on the money you have sitting in the account. Again, rates vary, and banks do run promotional offers for these kinds of accounts, but who doesn’t like earning free money for doing nothing?

While we are on the topic of checking accounts, is yours working hard for you? Does it have luxuries such as online bill pay or free checking? If it doesn’t, it should. Online banking is taking the country by storm. Gone are the days of envelope licking and stamp sticking; a new dawn of mouse clicks and instantaneous withdrawals has come. Many banks provide this service as an added convenience to their customers, but beware. Safety first when doing anything with money online. Many utility bills and house payments can be made online through legitimate banking procedures; auto payments, school loan payments, and credit card payments all can be done quickly, easily, and safely. The first rule of thumb when banking or bill paying online is to make sure you have a complex username and password combination. Many sites require a standard mixture of numbers and letters; use different combinations and unusual patterns to ensure no one can guess your security information. Also, use the security questions, as that is what they are designed for. Many of these sites require you to enter not only your username and password, but also to answer a series of pre-answered (by you when you set up the account) questions to confirm your identity. Store your usernames, passwords, and answers to security questions in a secure place where they will not be compromised.

These small steps can help you toward the path of financial fitness. Dig up the paperwork on your banking accounts; make sure they are working hard for you, not the other way around. Trim the fat in your monthly budget and find a way to stash some dough in an interest bearing savings account; it is free money just for letting yours sit around. Guard your identity when using handy online banking; make sure nobody is you except you. Making these small changes can make a large difference in your overall financial health.

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Life as an Identity Theft Victim could be stressful and intimidating. Stressful as you need to ensure that all financial and credit accounts are in order or closed and opened new again. Negotiation with bankers and lenders could lead to less favorable terms and conditions should you not be in a financially stable situation.

Here we outline the fundamental reactions if you should find yourself becoming the victim of Identity Theft:

Immediately call the related bankers or lenders whose bills contain the bad charges. Essentially, in most situations, you are given a grace period of about a month to notify the credit company or lender should your find the transaction suspect. You will then be legally protected.

Inform them that you suspect the transactions are fraudulent, that you have become a victim of identity theft and request that the fraudulent charges be removed from your accounts. You will be required to provide documented proof to support your claims. If many of your accounts are involved, the is a high probability that your may be required to close all the affected accounts and open new ones. Report the crime to the police should your checks have been stolen and used, and obtain a copy of their report to forward to your bank and the merchant who cashed the fraudulent check.

Staying focused and organized with a cool head at this juncture is very critical. Keep a clear log of all the phone conversations, with whom you spoke to and what are the resolutions proposed or agreed upon. Collate all related correspondence in folders for easy reference. And the most critical aspect is to ensure that all correspondence must be certified return receipt requested so as to ensure that the relevant parties truly received your mail. Remember that at this juncture, how ever you react to the situation will reflect your maturity or inability to cope with the difficult situation ahead.

Contain all your correspondence within your bank or lender’s fraud investigation officers and never discuss with the customer service or bank managers. Limiting discussion to the fraud investigation department would ensure security and lessen confusion on the progress of investigation.

Access Security is critical. Whether you use ATM or Online Banking to access your accounts, there is need to add a new layer of security to your existing or new accounts. Contact you r banker or lender and request that they create an additional layer of security in the form of password for your account access purposes.

Understand that if you ID or SSN has been accessed and used, nearly all facets of your identity would be infringed. Imagine someone living your life, spending your money and credit. Hence, it is critical that you comb all your financial accounts and statements until you have fully cleared all outstanding fraudulent cases. Even at the aftermath, you should keep up the good habit of frequently reviewing your credit reports from the big 3 and ensure that your credit scores are maintain at a high level.

The pain, agony and stress associated with Identity Theft far outweigh the financial devastation at times extending over a period stretching from months. Hence, you need great patience and time to ensure all your Identity Theft problems are eventually weeded out.

ou may have heard the idiom “green with envy”. It refers to a strong feeling of desire to experience the same good fortune experienced by someone else.
I must admit: that’s exactly how I feel with respect to what I call the “Green Stock Boom”. And what better time to examine green energy investments, than today, Blog Action Day?

It’s starting to feel a lot like 1999 in this industry, and it would pay to have some insight into who might be the next Amazon.com (AMZN), rather than a glitzy second-tier competitor who ultimately fails to grow its profits. At its very roots, I think, the Green Stock Boom is about human survival: we must avoid the fate of the Easter Island civilization, and many others like it, whose population collapsed amid resource wars spurred in the wake of exponentially expanding consumption in the presence of limited resources. But a growing segment of the population has been “thinking green” for decades. So why has the Green Stock Boom materialized, in earnest, in only the last few years?

I think the key is oil prices, and to a lesser extent, the backlash against CO2 emissions. Oil prices started to escalate in earnest early in 2003, as the invasion of Iraq migrated from rhetoric to reality. At the time, oil was around $32 a barrel. Now it floats around $85 a barrel — a 166% increase in just under 5 years, which amounts to a compound annual return of roughly 22%! Almost in lockstep, Exxon (XOM) has followed with approximately the same return (or a bit more, if you account for dividends):

But what’s the red line? That’s Winslow Green Growth Fund (WGGFX). Winslow invests in green companies generally, not limited to the energy sector; it’s the best proxy I can find for a green index with several years of history. As with XOM, Winslow’s returns are artificially low due to the exclusion of dividends from the chart. But the implication is unchanged: the Green Stock Boom has tracked oil prices. And more recently, investors have made it clear that they see much more upside in its few profitable heroes, such as SunPower (SPWR), than Big Oil:

No doubt this relates to the concept of “Peak Oil”: while it’s true that “oil will never run out”, oil production (that is, the rate at which it is extracted from the ground, in barrels per year) will inevitably reach a maximum. When this occurs, the world’s economies will need to have some other way to sustain the usual few-percent-per-year growth in gross domestic product (GDP). At the same time, computer models of oil production in the years after Peak Oil suggest an annual decline rate on the order of 2% — that is, only 98% as much oil will be produced in the year following the Peak Oil year, and so on in subsequent years. Without a viable alternative energy source, this could quickly become a catastrophic economic problem: how can we expect to sustain even modest GDP growth, while consuming a few percent less oil per year?

In this scenario, the gap between normal GDP growth and shrinking oil supply is around 5%: we want to continue to grow GDP at a comfortable 3%, while using 2% less oil. For the first few years following Peak Oil, this may not amount to much of a challenge. But the catch is that the problem compounds exponentially: the second year, we need to grow GDP by another 3%, while reducing oil consumption by another 2%, and so on. It doesn’t take a math genius to understand that, at some point, without a sufficient alternative energy source, we’ll be saving our pennies for the next grocery trip (in an electric car, by the way). Granted, oil supply and demand vary greatly over the course of a year, so these are only rough projections which pertain to multiyear time periods; the important part is that our traditional energy supply will grow with a negative exponent, relative to demand in the absence of an alternative, following Peak Oil.

Most Peak Oil proponents assume that it will occur in the 2008-2018 timeframe. Based on the numbers I’ve seen, I would have to agree. It is, in any event, inevitable. The question is, will we have sufficient affordable alternative energy in time?

But the financial urgency to find alternatives may explode much sooner than Peak Oil arrives: oil traders are well aware of the phenomenon, and have bid up the price of a barrel year over year at a superinflationary rate, occasional price drops notwithstanding. Oil wars, plant shutdowns, and rig-crippling ocean storms emboldened by a warming atmosphere don’t provide price relief, either. The traders may become increasingly willing to hold their positions through downturns, realizing that until a viable alternative is found (or we all become backyard farmers who telecommute to work), the price will inevitably surpass its previous high.

If all this sounds like crazy talk, it’s worth noting that it already happened. And I’m not talking about the American gas station lines of the 1970s, which were a modest inconvenience by comparison: when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Cuba lost its main oil supplier. Fossil fuel input to the country was cut to about half of previous levels. A GDP collapse followed, dropping by about a third from 1989 through 1993. Even for a socialist state, the economic repercussions were staggering — comparable to the travails of America’s Great Depression. Today, it’s little wonder that the country is a leader in local organic farming.

Today, ethanol is probably a key component of our escape from Peak Oil. At the moment, it’s produced largely from corn, which is problematic because corn feeds humans and livestock. Other proposals for production include switchgrass, sugar beets, yard waste, and even sewage. But before you buy stock in an ethanol producer, consider that most of them appear to be stuck in the research phase, not unlike most Internet startups of the late 1990s. Established producers are generally dependent on commodities such as corn and sugar; as traders accumulate positions in those crops in anticipation of Peak Oil, they actually undermine the viability of ethanol producers by increasing the cost of their raw materials. Normally, the reduced demand would force traders to sell their positions and give way to lower prices. But unlike lumber, oil is not a renewable commodity subject to normal business cycles. Traders know this, and are therefore more willing to hold onto their positions (whether in oil, or obvious alternatives) until the energy crisis is firmly under control, perhaps decades from now.

So if the business case for corn-based ethanol is unclear, the case for solar is more compelling. With tremendous innovation occurring in the field, it seems inevitable that costs will soon become competitive with electricity generated from other sources, especially after accounting for the tax incentives. The problem is, among public solar companies, you find stratospheric P/Es, if earnings exist at all. And this early in the game, it’s entirely possible that a no-name startup will invent a dirt cheap alternative to photovoltaic cells and capture the marketplace. Without a triple PhD in chemistry, electrical engineering, and economics, it’s a very hard field to navigate.

So what to do? Buy oil? At around $85 a barrel, it seems to have moved too far from OPEC’s apparent $60-something comfort zone to sustain this level. But ultimately, oil prices are not under OPEC’s control; it’s the consumer vs. geology. Guess who wins.

The real winner is set to be alternative energy. If I’m wrong, we’ll go extinct, and you won’t need to worry about your investments. But I must confess: I’m stumped. How can I possibly find a winner among the thousands of unprofitable startups, plus a few established companies selling for enormous earnings multiples? For the meantime, I think there are better green investments closer to home.

If you’re looking for a new house (which, in America, it’s clearly a great time to do anyway), take time to learn about the energy efficiency and solar power options available, including any tax breaks that you might receive. Likewise, next time you purchase a car, think hard about how much it will cost you to operate it if gas prices continue to spiral out of control. If you have a job, see if you can arrange to telecommute a few times a month, like I am right now. (It helps to check out Google Docs, where you can edit the same document with several other people at the same time over the Web, for free. That’s how we produce these blog entries.) Eat healthy and smart: buy locally grown organic veggies, which are free of the oil inputs required for pesticides, excessive packaging, and global distribution. Start a ride sharing program at your company, for which there are tax benefits in many states. Run a Google search for Peak Oil, and learn about ways to save serious money and reduce your dependence on external energy inputs. Even if Peak Oil doesn’t arrive for another century, remember that the sooner you save money, the longer it can compound through investment.

As always, to keep things unbiased, I have no positions in any of the securities discussed. Like many investors, I do have oil positions which have enjoyed a good run. But I’d be much richer, had I invested in the heroes of the Green Stock Boom instead. So at this point, I would do well to heed my own advice