iPhone’s rise to popular has been helped the iphone Games

The iPhone's rise to popular has been helped in no small measure by the quality and ?availability of third party software. A substantial chunk of that third party software ?comes in the form of iPhone games that can either be downloaded or played online.?

Browser-based iPhone games are easy to use and will usually be everyone's favorite ?price: free. There are huge numbers of these games available online. The downside of ?this approach is that many of the games, constrained by the system and their method ?of delivery, are truly dire.?

On to the meatier iPhone games: downloaded straight to your handset. These games ?will be slower to setup (as you are going to have to wait for the bad boys to get on to ?your phone in the first place) and will sometimes have a non-zero price tag. Some ?membership sites may be worth looking at though as the offer unlimited downloads ?for a straight up or monthly fee. Check that you're likely to get your money's worth ?before you pay anything.?

Last on my list – and I won't devote a lot of time here because it's not an approach for ?everyone – is the shadowy world of P2P and torrents. Apple iPhone games will be ?available for free here but the safety of these downloads might be suspect. Totally up ?to you, of course!?

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Related Posts

• iPhone's rise to popular has been helped the iphone Games
• Quality iPhone downloads is simply a matter of Chance
• Apple iPhone unlocked
• iphone apps possible with the 1.1.3 release
• Best iPhone appliaction Downloads

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Copyright � 2007
Canadian Business | http://www.canadian-business.info | (digitalfingerprint: 33c5387ae785149862992a0b75bbbd4e (74.86.0.154) )

2008 BAH rates available Wednesday

At long last, we have an apparent publication date! The 2008 Basic Allowance for Housing rates will finally be posted on Wednesday, December 12, according to the pentagon site. Don't know for certain at what time they will be posted, but check often, and when the site crashes, that's a pretty good sign they're available. :-)

Did you know that most military personnel, their spouses and their dependents will not be eligible for Refund Anticipation Loans this tax season? Details to follow tomorrow.

Generating high-quality content sites in minutes!

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OR HERE

Stagflation threat overstated for stocks, bonds, report says

DAVID PARKINSON
Globe and Mail Update

Stagflation might not be the bogeyman for stock and bond markets that it's cracked up to be, a top U.S. market strategist says.

Tobias Levkovich, chief equity strategist at Citigroup Global Markets Inc. in New York, has published a report looking at periods of stagflation - stagnant economic growth coupled with high inflation - over the past 40 years and analyzing returns experienced by various investment asset classes. He found that U.S. stocks and bonds were actually top performers during those periods, outpacing gold, oil, industrial commodities and residential real estate.

The data fly in the face of conventional wisdom, which holds that stagflation is a killer for both stocks, as a result of the lack of economic growth, and bonds, because of the high interest rates that result from inflation. They also suggest high-flying commodities such as gold and oil, which some investors have sought out as a shelter from a possible stagflation storm, might not be such solid bets after all.

"The idea that stock and bond markets may be poor performers during short bursts of so-called 'stagflation' may be more myth than fact, given historical study, while alleged investing in commodity-based protection seems equally unsound," he said.

Data suggest investors who bought high-flying commodities such as oil as a hedge against stagflation might not have made such a solid bet after all.

Mr. Levkovich noted that during the five generally recognized stagflation periods in the past 40 years (1970, 1974-75, 1980, 1982 and 1991), stocks and bonds actually had positive absolute returns in four of them.

On the other hand, gold prices have, on average, actually fallen slightly during stagflation periods, while oil prices have advanced less than 2 per cent - well behind the average gains of 6.2 per cent for the S&P 500 stock index and 6.7 per cent for the U.S. 10-year government bond total return index. Industrial commodities typically slump badly under stagflation: The Commodity Research Bureau's raw-industrials commodity index posted an average decline of 7.4 per cent.

Economists have been quick to point out that the current stagflation threat bears little resemblance to the deep economic malaise of the 1970s that gave the term prominence. In fact, many have qualified their stagflation references in recent weeks with phrases such as "mild stagflation," to differentiate current risks with the rampant inflation and high interest rate environment of the 1970s.

"The running parallels with the 1970s appear to be more thematic than quantitative, both in regards to inflation and economic growth," said Scotia Capital's Gorica Djeric in a report yesterday, who termed the current threat "stagflation lite."

But Mr. Levkovich argued that if the current short-term stagflation threat follows the script of the most recent U.S. stagflation episode in 1991 - the period that represents the best comparison, as both featured relatively mild economic downturn and inflation rates, high energy prices, a slumping housing market and financial institution troubles - then the outlook may be particularly bullish for equities and bearish for oil. In the 1991 stagflation period, the S&P 500 rose 12.4 per cent while oil prices slumped 26 per cent.

That history, combined with oil's massive outperformance of the S&P 500 this year, leaves oil "very vulnerable to a sharp pullback," he said.

"While the desire to continue buying commodities seems appealing, the run to date makes that option very costly."

IPO Update: Transformers & Rectifiers India Limited

Transforming the power equation

TRIL has entered the capital markets with a public issue of 29.95 Lac shares of Rs. 10 each at a price band of Rs. 425-465 per share through book building process. Investment Guru is of the view that Power transmission and distribution is an integral part of the power sector’s growth story and Transformers play a pivotal role in this process. TRIL is one of the major players in this segment.

However, in this case too the promoters have not left much on the table for the investors as similar companies are available at same valuations in the secondary markets. One can apply for the issue with a view of moderate listing gains on listing. However, from a medium term perspective investment in peers such as Indo-tech transformers is also advisable as the company is operating on better margins.

Let’s take a look at the company

• TRIL is one of the major players in the Indian markets manufacturing a wide range of transformers ranging from power generation, transmission and distribution transformers, industrial transformers and a wide range of speciality transformers.

• TRIL manufacture transformers upto 220 kV Class, having an installed capacity of 7,200 MVA transformers per annum.

• The company currently operate through two manufacturing units, located at Changodar, near Ahmedabad and Odhav, in Ahmedabad, both in Gujarat

• Key customers include utilities and power transmission companies. The company has also exported transformers to countries such as the England, Canada, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

• Company’s business strategy is to focus on manufacturing of high capacity transformers at the proposed manufacturing facility at Moraiya since high capacity transformers command better margins.

• The company intends to leverage its relationships with the power transmission companies to take up turnkey projects for setting up sub stations.

• TRIL has a healthy order book position of Rs.319 crore as on September 1, 2007 with most of the contracts having an embedded price variation clause, shielding the company from adverse movement in prices of key raw materials like copper and steel. TRIL has strong in- house design capabilities which is a key success factor for this industry as transformers are custom built as per the requirements of the customer.

• CARE has assigned a 'CARE IPO Grade 4' to the IPO which indicates above average fundamentals.

• Power transformers constituted 77% of total sales of the company in FY07 followed by furnace transformers (13%) and others (10%). Sales to State electricity utilities constituted 51% of total sales of TRIL for FY07 with the remaining to industrial and other sectors.

• During FY07, TRIL's total income grew by 69% over FY06 on account of increase in sales volume as well as per mva realisations. The company was able to sell higher mva (80 and above) transformers in FY07 as compared to FY06, where margins are better.

• TRIL's PAT margin also improved to 7.99% in FY07 as compared to 5.8% in FY06. ROCE and RONW were high at 62% and 54% in YQ7 as compared to 42% and 43% in FY06 respectively.

• EPS for the six months ended September,2007 (annualized) is Rs. 20.4 (post issue equity) which translates into a PE multiple of 23.

• Return on Net Worth is 41.36 % for FY07.

Issue Opens : December 7, 2007
Issue closes: December 12, 2007
Registrar: Intime Spectrum

Click here to check IPO Allotment Status of TRIL

Cheating Today

Actually I've been cheating for the last couple of weeks since our son went to blow up things in the Las Vegas desert, we're building a house, I may have to sue some people in Florida, and I'm having trouble getting the electrician to show up. Not a lot of time for other things like concentrating so I'm cheating. Actually the subject is about paying attention to only certain things so take a look at this article from Marketminder.com (again) and learn to ignore thinking that only gets in the way of getting rich. Here goes---

The Myth of One

9/12/2007 |

Right now, you’re reading this column and your mind is focused on each sentence. That’s a marvelous and miraculous thing your brain is doing! The ability to focus on one thing is an incredible feat of focus allowing us to accomplish much in life. But there’s a big drawback: While you’re focusing on this column, there’s a whole world of activity your brain is ignoring!

That pain in your back, the chatty co-worker across the room, the phone that won’t stop ringing, the fly buzzing around your head…where did all those pesky thoughts go? None of them ceased to exist, you just stopped paying attention for a few seconds.

Blocking extraneous issues from our minds and directing our focus towards what’s most relevant is a nifty feature of the human brain: We’re actually designed to ignore most of what’s going on around us. Human brains—and those of many animals—are made to focus and reduce situations to actionable, understandable steps. We can’t keep a whole lot of information at the forefront of our consciousness for very long. At best, we can hold on to a few items at a time, but mostly we just focus on one thing or we’ll forget it.

That’s because evolution designed the brain as a hierarchical thing—receiving stimulus from the outside world and running the data through various neural unconscious systems (which account for the vast majority of brain activity) and deciding what, if any, information is worth bringing to your actual frontal lobes (where most of your consciousness is believed to reside). You’ll never even know about most of what your brain does or perceives!

That’s a great thing because nobody wants to be thinking about regulating their heartbeat, digesting this morning’s cinnamon raisin bagel, or focusing the lenses in their eyeballs to read the newspaper every second of the day. Our unconscious brains do all that heavy lifting so we can put our attention on other issues.

Only problem is, the brain’s tendency to block out extraneous information can be a very hazardous thing for investors.

I like to call most of today’s financial media pundits disciples of the “Myth of One.” That is, most stories we read today tend to focus on one issue alone as if that was the only thing moving stocks. “Oh, stocks were down today because housing starts fell last month!” or “Stocks went up because mortgage loan demand was higher than expected in August!” (Really? Since when are we suddenly all so focused on mortgage demand as the seminal market moving issue?)

The reality is millions upon millions of factors are acting on the market at any given time. But our brains can’t live with that idea so we write and read stories about single factors as if they were the only relevant thing. How absurd! But that’s how our brains work—we’re just not made to see the big picture. (In fact, our brains are so blind no one seems to notice corporate earnings are easily surpassing expectations this year!) Today the singular mythic issue is credit and housing, yesterday it was energy prices and carry trades, and tomorrow it will be something else. That’s your brain tricking you into the Myth of One.

It seems impossible to truly understand what’s going on in markets if we can only focus on a few measly issues at a time. What can we do?

One useful strategy is to put things into perspective. Often when investors get too focused on a single issue it gets blown far out of proportion. A great example is last week’s US employment report. Investors headed for the hills as the S&P 500 relinquished more than 1.5%–supposedly all for a job contraction of 4,000. When we consider a workforce of over 153 million, 4,000 jobs account for less than one thousandth of a percent of the employee base. How silly! There’s virtually no way such a small thing could account for such a big move. That tells you investors irrationally fell prey to the Myth of One. If you can see that, you’ve put the issue into perspective and gotten ahead of the game. Read more about the employment issue here:

Belaboring Labor, 9/7/07
http://marketminder/commentary/CommentaryPage.aspx?articleID={FCC988F3-72BA-4D67-97CE-10681D05A89C}

Ultimately, you’re just going to have to live with the brain you’ve got. But that doesn’t mean you have to buy in to the myth that just one story alone moves global markets at any given time.

Idiot Light

I work closely with airplane mechanics (often called engineers, although they

don't actually hold engineering degrees) to keep my airplane working, so this

blog entry from an aircraft maintenance engineer amused me. It's the view from

the other side, and a message for pilots who don't heed the rule about not

messing with the people who maintain your aircraft.

Mr.V, the blogger whose story this is, hasn't set up his blog so I can link to

individual posts, so I have quoted the post in question below. His language and

spelling are saltier than mine, but I'm not going to edit someone else's

post.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

In my line of work I meet a lot of pilots. For the most part they are nice

and cordial but then again there are some complete dicks....

The following is an account of a line call this morning.

6:10 am (radio goes off, Aircraft 218 requesting maintenance)

me: Good morning sir, what seems to be the problem

Mr pilot: the AP (auto pilot) indicator light is pointing in the wrong

direction

the AP indicator is a dummy light that shows which person has the auto pilot

engaged. This one happened to be pointing to the left. It is also a dummy light

it has no effect on the AP.

Me: Well it looks like avionics was working on the auto pilot last night and

and perhaps put in the wrong bulb. this is not something we carry in the

maintenance truck

Mr Pilot: well this is not going to do we have got to get this fixed.

me: well it is not flight critical and it is just a dummy light it is not

worth taking a delay over.

Mr (now rude) pilot: Just change the bulb and we will be on our way

Me: I just said we don't carry these in the maintenance van

Mr rude pilot: then get in your van and drive back to the hanger and get

one.

Me: Perhaps if you called me earlier than 5 minutes before you where to board

I could have taken care of this for you.. Like i said it is not worth taking a

delay over

Mr extremely rude dick head pilot: Don't you tell me how to do my job just

fix the dam system.

Me: Ok then I got and idea can I see the flight can? (flight can is a log

book)

I took the flight can back to the maintenance van called maintenance control

and deffered the entire auto pilot system.

The look on the pilots face when I handed him back the flight can and put the

inop placard on the auto pilot indicator and pulled and collared the Ap circuit

breakers..... Priceless

and the flight left on time

By way of explanation to non-pilot/maintenance readers, the pilot in command

does have the right to decide whether equipment is working to his satisfaction.

It isn't out of line for him to demand that a piece of equipment he is supposed

to use works perfectly, even if the broken portion isn't core to the function of

the equipment.

The thing is, for this particular company, the autopilot itself was not a

required item for flight, just a nice-to-have item. So an unnecessary light on

the autopilot was really not required. The pilot was, by being

obstreperous, arguing that the light was a safety concern. And yes, I can see

how having the wrong pilot indicated as the one who had engaged the autopilot

could cause a problem. Transport Canada or the FAA could certainly (and have

many times) asked for entire systems to be replaced because of malfunctions in

unnecessary components. In fact, had the FAA been looking over the shoulders of

the pilot and mechanic, they would probably have asked for exactly what the

mechanic eventually did.

The mechanic gave the pilot every opportunity to see that he would be better

off accepting the airplane with the faulty light, but the pilot wouldn't take

it. So the mechanic solved his problem. Safely, legally, expeditiously and

hilariously the mechanic solved it. Disabling and placarding a faulty but not

required system is absolutely by-the-book. No one can touch the mechanic for

doing that. And now the pilot isn't allowed to use that system. So as punishment

for being a jerk, the pilot now has to hand fly the airplane all day.

Brilliant.

Of course, most likely he'll just have the co-pilot hand fly it, and be a

jerk to him or her, too.

While I'm linking to other people's blogs, Julien at Making Time for Flying has posted some pictures that perfectly illustrate tow bars and the flat spot I was fearing from the unauthorized tow my airplane received a few posts ago. It's not an uncommon sight if a pilot has accidentally landed with the brakes on or locked up the brakes, but the title of Julien's blog post gives away what caused that pilot to lock the brakes. I'm always amused by the various creatures people manage to hit with their airplanes, around the world.

Fund managers gloomiest on equities in 10 yrs

Many now wonder whether monetary policy has become too stimulative

Business Times - 20 Jun 2008
By LYNETTE KHOO

(SINGAPORE) Fund managers' view of global equities has nosedived to a decade low as fears of stagflation heighten, according to the latest Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers.

The June survey shows that the net balance of fund managers who 'underweight' equities rose from 5 per cent in May to 27 per cent in June - the most negative stance that the survey has recorded in 10 years.

Only one per cent of the respondents believe equities are undervalued, down from 25 per cent in March. A net 42 per cent are 'overweight' cash, up from a net 31 per cent in May.

Merrill Lynch noted that investors have reacted to the stagflation fears by reducing their exposure to both equities and bonds and moving into cash, raising their cash positions back to the levels last seen in March.

'The prospect of stagflation is beginning to create a major headwind for equities,' said Karen Olney, chief European equities strategist at Merrill Lynch.

The net balance of fund managers expecting higher core inflation a year from now rose to 33 per cent this month from 25 per cent in May.

A significant number of fund managers now wonder whether monetary policy has become too stimulative. Merrill Lynch noted that it is the first time in 10 months that it is seeing managers expecting short- term interest rates to be higher a year from now.

'The market is waking up to the idea that global interest rates are too low; in fact, they remain below inflation,' Ms Olney said. 'Merrill Lynch expects a double rate hike from the European Central Bank (ECB) by October and would expect other central banks to follow.'

The Eurozone has borne the brunt of investors' shift away from equities into cash and has moved from the most favoured to least favoured over the past 12 months. Investors continue to 'overweight' the US, Japan and the global emerging markets (GEM).

Within GEM, fund managers are most bullish on Russia and Brazil while in the Asia-Pacific ex-Japan region, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore received the most 'overweight' calls.

The Merrill Lynch global survey polled 204 fund managers managing a total of US$718 billion. Some 185 fund managers participated in the regional surveys.

While the credit crunch is losing its sting, inflation has replaced it as the greatest single threat to financial market stability, the survey shows.

The number of investors citing 'credit risk' as the No 1 threat fell from a net 95 per cent three months ago to 81 per cent in June but those who cite 'monetary risk' as the greatest threat rose from a net 23 per cent in May to net 65 per cent this month.

'The inflation shock has already happened,' said Alex Patelis, head of international economics at Merrill Lynch. 'What matters now is how persistent it is and how markets and policymakers react. At a global level, this begs for an accident that will awaken markets and policymakers to the risks.'

But worsening corporate earnings growth may tie the governments' hands in coping with inflation. A net 81 per cent of the panel believe consensus earnings estimates for the next 12 months are too high and a net 77 per cent expect corporate margins to decline.

Given the headwinds in global growth and equities, the risk appetite among fund managers has fallen in June, with the net balance of managers taking a lower-than-normal level of risk in their portfolios falling to an all-time low of 43 per cent. They are, however, increasingly positive about alternative investments.

Using Web Based Tools

I’ve notice that there has been increasing number of web based tools lately. It seems that not long in future we don’t have to carry our laptop in order to do our job. As long as we can find a computer, then we’re able to access all the application needed online. There are a lot of web based tools that gives similar function to programs like Microsoft office, Adobe, Paint, AutoCAD and programming software. As for now I still carry my laptop around for my work but when I’m away from my laptop, these web based tools become pretty handy for me. ?One of my favorite web based tools is Google Docs which allows me to create spreadsheets, documents and presentation. It’s very handy when I need to prepare some document urgently. ?Here is a site where you can find a list of 40 Excellent Web Based Tools. Make full use of it as it helps a lot when you don’t have your laptop around.

50 Ways To Promote Your Website

Although I'm unable to to give credit where credit is due and acknowledge the originator of this list, I would like to make it available to those of you who are looking for ways to increase website traffic.? Enjoy...

1. Write and submit articles to the article directories.

2. Leave comments on other people’s blogs with a backlink to your site.

3. Answer people’s questions on www.answers.yahoo.com.

4. Post in forums and have a link to your site in your signature.

5. Write a press release and submit it to www.PRWeb.com.

6. Advertise your website in the appropriate category on www.CraigsList.com.

7. Give an unbiased testimonial on a product/service that you have used in exchange for a backlink to your site.

8. Start a blog and submit it to the 100’s of free blog directories.

9. Manually submit your website to the major search engines.

10. Optimize each page of your website for a particular keyword or search phrase.

11. Add a link in your email signature to your website. It’s a free and easy way to get a little more traffic.

12. Make a custom 404 error page for your website redirecting people to your home page.

13. Use PPC search engine advertising.

14. Add a “bookmark this site” link to your webpages.

15. Have a tell-a-friend form on your site.

16. Send articles to ezine publishers that includes a link to your website.

17. Hold a crazy content and make it go viral.

18. Give away a freebie (ebook, report, e-course) to keep people coming back to your site.

19. Add an RSS feed to your blog.

20. Submit your site to any related niche directories on the net.

21. Participate in a banner or link exchange program.

22. Create a software program and give it away for free.

23. Purchase the misspellings or variations of your domain name, or those of your competitors.

24. Buy a domain name related to your niche that is already receiving traffic and forward it to your site.

25. Pass out business cards with your domain on them everywhere you go.

26. Start and affiliate program and let your affiliates send you visitors.

27. Start a page on social networking sites such as www.facebook.com.

28. Submit a viral video to www.YouTube.com

29. Conduct and publish surveys to your website.

30. Find joint venture partners that will send you traffic.

31. Start your own newsletter or ezine.

32. Use a autoresponder or email campaign to keep people coming back to your site.

33. Purchase ads on other sites.

34. Send a free copy of your product to other site owners in exchange for a product review.

35. Sell or place classified ads on www.eBay.com with a link to your site.

36. Post free classified ads on any of the sites that allow them with a link to your site.

37. Exchange reciprocal links with other related websites.

38. Network with other people at seminars or other live events.

39. Purchase advertising in popular newsletters or ezines.

40. Advertise on other product’s “thank you” pages.

41. Create a free ebook and list in on the “free ebook” sites.

42. Buy and use a memorable domain name.

43. Do something controversial.

44. Create an Amazon profile and submit reviews for books and other products that you have read.

45. Start a lens on www.Squidoo.com.

46. Use a traffic exchange (low quality traffic, but can sometimes be worthwhile).

47. Get referrals form similar but non-competing sites.

48. Create and sell a product with resell or giveaway rights and include a link to your site in it o others pass it around for you.

49. Email your list. If you don’t have one, get one.

50. Buy a pair of sandals; get your website engraved on the bottom and walk on the beach, stomp in the mud or play in the snow.

'Four legs good, two legs bad'

I'm sure all you "Animal Farm" fans immediately recognized that headline as a quote from George Orwell's satirical novel.

Today is Orwell's birthday. He was born June 25, 1903, as Eric Arthur Blair.

Being a writer and semi-successful rabble-rouser myself, I love Wikipedia's description of Orwell's writing style: "Marked by concise descriptions of social conditions and events and a contempt for all types of authority."

The "two legs bad" maxim immediately came to mind when I saw a story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram ;on how pets are the foreclosure crisis' other victims.

"When a homeowner has to leave his home because of foreclosure, often his pet is left behind," writes Andrea Jares.

Pet foreclosure rescue available: But there is a bit of good news, too. Services are cropping up nationwide to help pets and their fiscally strapped owners.

Down the road in Houston, No Paws Left Behind has a shelter database that struggling homeowners can use to help find a home for their pet. And The Humane
Society of the United States is offering grants, up to $2,000 apiece, to shelters to help
them specifically handle foreclosure-displaced pets.

I am always amazed at how people deal, or rather don't deal, with their pets in times of crisis.

When we were in Florida, people left pets behind when they evacuated as hurricanes approached. In most cases, it was because emergency shelters didn't accept the furry family members. Thankfully, some storm shelters are now accommodating people and pets.

Some pet owners, however, just seem not to care. That boggles my mind.

We were petless most of the time we lived in Florida, plus we stayed in our house through every storm. But I can guarantee that if we still had our cat and had been forced to seek safer ground, we would not have left him home alone with a storm approaching.

Heck, I'm only half joking when I say that I'm glad the hubby never had to make a choice about who to save in a crisis because I pretty well know he'd have chosen our feline son Zeke instead of me!

Of course he says it's because he knows I can take care of myself. But I know the real reason, and I never begrudged his deep affection for our cat.

Plan ahead for Fido and Fluffy: According to the Star-Telegram story, foreclosures
present a peculiar problem for pet rescue programs because pets are considered
property. That means there could be legal issues with taking an animal from a property.

So pet lovers and shelter program managers are asking folks who are facing foreclosure to take a little time think about their pets, too.

"Please,
please don't abandon them," Nancy Peterson of the ; national Humane Society of the United States told the newspaper. "Take them
to the shelter. That is why we gave the shelters some extra money."

The Humane Society has these tips for pet owners facing foreclosure:

• Give yourself enough time to move. ; ;



• Call a pet shelter or apartment-locating service for a list of apartments that allow pets. ; ;



• Get an agreement from a future landlord that pets are allowed. ;



• Get reference letters to show a future landlord that you are a responsible pet owner. ; ;



• Tell your veterinarian that the cost of pet care is an issue and only get the minimum vaccinations necessary to keep your pet healthy.

One more request. If you're financially OK and are looking to add a new furry family member, please consider adopting from your local shelter or rescue operation rather than paying big bucks for a pet.

Check your local phone book for the nearest shelter, or use the search feature at Petfinder.

You'll still have to pay a small fee, but that's to make sure your new addition has his or her shots and, in most cases, is spayed or neutered. ; But it's a relatively small amount, and very much worth it.

Not only will you save money, you'll save lives.

Cat photo courtesy of karpati & morgueFile.

Fastest paying paid to click (PTC) site

This entry is posted to keep track of the fastest paying paid to click (PTC) site. In the PTC industry, more than half of the sites are scam which include sites not paying and sites closed down without paying.



Among those few PTC sites are still active such as Hits4Pay, ClixSense, AdBux, Bux.to, AdverCash, TitanClicks, WordLinx and UrOnlineBux, only two of them are fast paying, i.e Hits4Pay and UrOnlineBux.



Some of the above sites pays but the payment processing is awfully slow ranging from 60days to 120days. Imagine, receiving your commission 120days later.



Here's the FAST payment history from UrOnlineBux, so far:



1. UrOnlineBux Payment #1

Requested date: Apr 10, 2008

Fund transferred: Apr 14, 2008

Processing days: 5

Amount cashout: USD10.00



2. UrOnlineBux Payment #2

Requested date: Apr 17, 2008

Fund transferred: Apr 27, 2008

Processing days: 11

Amount cashout: USD16.84



As for HitsPay, their payment is automated so long as you have reached the minimum payout of USD25.00 and it will be cleared out on the 1st of each month. Most of the time, you will received your fund with 10 to 15 days.



About Paid to Click (PTC) site: PTC is not an employment opportunity or a get-rich-quick scheme to make money. So if any PTC offers you instant wealth or opportunity to earn thousands a day from PTC activity, it's likely a scam.



PTC is general is a way to earn some extra cash by viewing email ads or promotional page from their advertisers. Earning can be slow but if have the right approach in enrolling referrals, you earn would increase at a faster rate.









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Gonna be on the tee-vee

So about two weeks ago, I was contacted by a journalist who was looking for someone to be interviewed on camera about the new ING checking account. Apparently, I was the first person to say yes. A camera guy came to my house and filmed me talking about the account, at my computer using it, and then about 15 minutes of footage of me feeding the guinea pigs (including a couple minutes of extreme closeup, where his camera was almost touching the cage and they were eating a piece of celery right in front of the lens.) No idea how this will turn out, but I hope that gets in. :) This story is essentially going to be sold to a bunch of smaller networks, who will have their local news anchor read the copy and dub it over, so hopefully it will start appearing on the Web in late March. I'll post one if I find it.

Are You Treating Your Clients Right?

I just got back from the SendOutCards Treat ‘Em Right seminar in Toronto, Ontario.

Just as I expected, it was chock full of creative, personal ways to show clients and customers just how much?you care about them.

In true “Giver's Gain” fashion, the seminar organizers and leaders made the event truly memorable with plenty of tips and strategies to help you grow your business, no matter what product or service you sell.

It's all about relationships, making people feel appreciated and heard. You can have the best product or service in the country, but if you don't have customer loyality, you're in trouble.

A special “treat” was going through the many Avenue Treats gifts you can send with greeting cards. I've been thanking my clients and colleagues with brownies and Starbucks gift cards, but now that I've seen the cookies, candies, coffees and teas, I'm going to keep changing things up so they'll never know what kind of treat they'll get next.

If you want to get more referrals than you are now, have your clients love you more than they do already, get your prospects to choose you over and above the competition, AND dominate your market, you want to get registered with SendOutCards.

There's no other customer attraction and retention technology like it on the planet.

Go to www.soclink.com/hbbsource or call me at 1-866-566-1056 for more information.

Trade Europe Global: How to build import export business

Import Export business or Global Trade is not a new thing. It has been going on for centuries even in the absence of hi-tech technologies. It existed in the era when fast transport like air transport and super fast cargo vessels were unheard of and innovative communication technologies were undreamt of. Still the traders were not deterred and thrived on import export business. The scenario has changed. World has truly flattened out. With the adoption of Economic reforms the concept of free markets is accepted by almost all the countries. The discrimination between developed countries and developing countries no more subsists.

To Build Import Export Business commitment of time and efforts is an important virtue in addition to having the will and initiative to succeed in your import export business. The knowledge of basic parameters like supply demand imbalance, foreign currency rates, statutory licenses and government policies of a particular country are the few other things you must be aware of. Import Export business normally goes hand in hand and generally most of the people in the trade carry out both the activities instead of restricting to only import or export. It is up to you to make a choice.

To Build Import Export Business and make it successful, you must have the knowledge of low cost products and its availability and for which you must have extensive resources. Large business houses often have overseas offices and a team of consultants at other places that cater to their International Trade and global sourcing needs. Availability of limited resources for an individual trader or a small businessman as compared to a giant multi national corporation is normally perceived as a disadvantage. In order to overcome this limitation you have to either stay at home or venture outside of your home countries to carry out Global Trade. But it is not so. The blessings of technological advent in the field of data exchange and communication fields come handy to you in the form of search capabilities.

As a step one to Build Import Export Business complete your studies thoroughly about the basic parameters described in the second paragraph including the strategic study of Global Markets. Step two is to decide whether you want to be an importer or exporter or importer exporter. Step three is to look out for prospective trade opportunities and for that you need search capabilities. Internet is a giant platform full of resources which provides tremendous search capabilities for International Trade.

The Internet provides a platform for a B2B Market Place (Business to Business). It is a tool to carry out International Trade in an easy way. You can carry out various activities related to Global Trade efficiently and economically. One such B2B Market Place is tradeeuropeglobal.com, which is well accepted by traders all over the world for their requirements related to International Trade. This website acts like a global market place, where you can search buyers, sellers, suppliers and products and also reach the Traders. By making use of the services of tradeeuropeglobal.com you can save your cost by 50%. Faster decision making process is necessary especially when fluctuating commodity prices and foreign exchange rates can play havoc to your profits. This B2B Market Place provides you an upper hand by helping you to take a timely decision. Register yourself on the website with a valid email address so that you can reach hundreds of buyers, sellers, suppliers anywhere in the world.

Building a successful export and import business involves many complicated issues which are to be focused in the right way for which you require the services of an expert or consultant. The website www.tradeeuropeglobal.com offers you the best expertise and serves you as your consultant on various export and import related matters.

For more information on trade and business visit our website.

Summer Spending

Do you find yourself spending more in the summer months? Not just because of vacations, but in general?

After reading a recent post by English Major, it hit me.

This morning I was pouring over my actual budget (what I've spent as opposed to what I planned to spend) at Mint, and I couldn't believe how much I've spent already in June.

I have spent over $600 on food (including alcohol) this month. For just me! I know, it's embarassing, but that's $200 more than I usually spend - and there's still one weekend to go! I have also spent over $300 on entertainment - I usually spend less than $50! I was racking my brain trying to figure out what's going on, and then I read EM's post (linked above).

The culprit is Summer!

Days are long and the weather is great. The sun is still shining at 8:45pm here in Texas, and I'm loathe to head home from work at 5:30pm, cook dinner at home, and flip on the TV - a common wintertime ritual. Plus the nicer weather just puts you in a good mood - perhaps a recipe for unchecked spending?

Instead every day feels like a bit like the weekend. I have been hitting up patios right and left for weeknight dinners, going out to more lunches, and frequenting some local outdoor concerts (free ones, but somehow after paying for parking, a bottle of wine, and some cheese and crackers to eat on the lawn, those free concerts sure do cost me a lot!).

Now that I know this I'll be sure to adjust my budget for July and August. Except there's no where from which to cut expenses. Utilities cost more, gas costs more, and I don't really shop much no matter what season it is. Then there's the vacation I'm planning next month. Plus with all the sandals I'm wearing in this heat, I'm really craving a manicure and pedicure - a splurge I can easily do without in other seasons.

So what about the readers? Do you spend more in during the summer?

More from Meg at The World of Wealth

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Demand Of Scrap Metal In The Asian Markets

SCRAP METAL DEFINED: Let’s first know what is meant by a scrap metal. As we all know scrap is something that is worthless. But scrap metal is the discarded metal suitable for reprocessing. E.g. Scrap iron is the one to be melted again and reworked.



DEMAND OF SCRAP METAL IN ASIAN MARKETS: Before going into the Asian market alone, let’s see what the demand of steel in the overall market is. In a survey by Tom Stundza a purchase manager, it was noted that World steel consumption will increase by 6.8% by 2008. Alright let’s see what’s with Asian markets now. In a special report by Tom Stundza it was said that, there is demand for steel in the Asian market and will remain quite strong in China, North Korea, India, Italy and Japan.



DEMAND OF METAL SCRAP IN CHINA: Let’s go deeper into the Asian market. And starting with China, in case of development, China is the prime suspect. Obviously the demand for metal commodities is especially intense. According to a presentation by Daniel Gris world of CATO institute, Mexico, China’s metal consumption as a share of World metal consumption has jumped in the past decade from 10% to 25%.



Exports to the west from China are likely to decline in volume and the excess will be channeled into domestic market. If the Chinese government is successful in curbing exports of such energy-intensive products as steel, a sharper upturn in regional prices could be seen.



And in a report from The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries it’s stated that Scrap has been the important export commodity from U.S. $15.7 worth where exported in 2006 itself. And the main fact is that, it was the second largest export to China in dollar value (Besides electronic components). And mainly the price for 316 stainless steel in China is 33750-units in RMB/MT.



DEMAND OF SCRAP METAL IN INDIA: In case of India, we can find that people inevitably want to compare India to Asia’s foremost scrap powerhouse, China. In an article by Mr. Goodman of ISRI, he states that, "You can’t say that India is next to China", he also adds that, " That’s unfair to both countries ". Why was he actually saying this? Here the reasons are:



• China has been a communist government which can focus enormous state resources on a particular industry or problem. While India in contrast is the world’s largest multiparty democracy with all messiness that entails.



• The second thing is population. The population of India is much less homogenous than that of China’s.



Oh! We forgot one thing! That’s the current price of scrap steel in India. As if today the scrap steel price in India is 9.63 INR & 12.04 INR for LTL and TL respectively (LTL- Less than Truck Load quantity refers to weights of less than 40,000 lbs unless otherwise stated, TL- TL prices refer to sorted and prepared materials, packaged and ready for shipment in typical Truck Load quantity weights of 40,000 lbs. unless otherwise stipulated.)



CONCLUSION: Hence to conclude, we can see that there has been a huge demand of metal scrap in past decades and also it’s been continued. For every development in the country, the demand eventually rises. In the view of ISRI members, India is far away from competing with some of the emerging markets. But according to me India is definitely growing fast and will be on the track soon. And this is the beginning of something. Let’s conclude with Goodman’s saying, " My goal wasn’t to come back with orders in my pocket . It was to find out how things worked".



Ref:



*ISRI’s pages to India



*Prices from metal prices .com



*Resources from Google scholar



*Article by Mr. Tom Stundza



* Presentation by Daniel Gris world of CATO institute, Mexico



*Articles of Mr. Goodman of ISRI.



*www.chinascrapmetal.com

Find more recycle news and 100's of offers to buy and sell for metal scrap, electronic scrap, precious metal scrap at recycleinme.com.

Top 10 Buyer Searches for Fine Jewelry on eBay!

Are you looking for “Hot Items” to sell on your eBay Auction? Are you having trouble deciding on a category? Being an active eBayer, I am often asked about what products to sell. As explained in the book “eBay Marketing Wholesale SourcePak” finding the right product in the right category is crucial.

Many people ask me whether jewelry is a good item to sell on their eBay auction. My opinion is yes, it can be. For the most part jewelry is easy to package and easy to ship. And provided you have done your research first, you should be able to make a good profit selling it. One of the points you will need to research before adding any jewelry to your eBay auction is, what are eBay shoppers looking for in the jewelry niche? Knowing this will help you to decide just what type of jewelry you could include in your auctions. Below you will find Top Ten Buyer Searches for Fine Jewelry (at the time of this writing) as per eBay

10. Earrings

09. Turquoise

08. Sterling Silver

07. Cameo

06. Italian Charms

05. Vintage

04. Gold

03. Diamond Rings

02. Designer Jewelry

And the number 1 jewelry search at the time of this writing is... Italian Charm Watches.

By knowing what people are searching for you will have a better insight of what items are popular, and what items should sell well on your auctions. If you decide to sell jewelry on eBay, finding items that fit into one or more of the above categories will see your number of bids increase substantially. Always remember to do your research before listing any item for auction. Know what categories are “Hot!” Do a price analysis of your product. Know what the item costs you and what you can potentially sell it for. Then sit back and watch the bidding heat up!

What’s Missing From This Formula?

Quiz time.

Last week while on vacation, I read Brian Tracy's Flight Plan*, a short little book about success. On page 14 of the book, Brian has this to say about financial independence:

Here's a simple exercise: Determine how much it would cost you per month to live comfortably even if you had no income at all. Include all your costs of housing, food, travel, medical expenses, vacations, and entertainment. Mulitply that number by 12 (the number of months in a year), and then mulitply that result by 20 (the number of years you will probably live after you retire). The total represents your retirement goal. This is how much you will have to accumulate to be financially independent.

He left out two very important details in his exercise. Do you know what they are?

I know what it is but I can't say it here because it would defeat the purpose of the quiz. The first person to answer the question correctly (I'm the judge of what is or is not the correct answer) will win a copy of Flight Plan*. Just remember this little contest is only open to U.S. residents.

Good luck.

[Now begin playing "Zeopardy" music...]

*Affiliate Link

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Consider consequences of Iran attack by Israel

First, even before Iran may try to retaliate to this action by trying to block the flow of oil from the Gulf, oil prices would spike above $200 dollar a barrel.

Second, Iran could react militarily to such Israeli action (that would be taken with the tacit support and the military logistic support of the US) by unleashing its supporters in Iraq against the US military forces there. That would trigger a military reaction by the US that would start a sustained air-led bombing campaign against Iran’s military capabilities (air force, anti-aircraft defenses, radar and other military installations, etc.)

Third, Iran would unleash its supporters in Lebanon and Gaza (Hezbollah and Hamas) in a military confrontation with Israel. A broader war will follow in the Middle East.

Fourth, Iran would use both the threat of blocking the flow of oil out of the Gulf and an actual sharp reduction of its exports of oil (an embargo) to spike the price of oil. Oil prices would rapidly rise above $200 per barrel and the US and global economy would spin into a severe stagflationary recession (like those triggered by the sharp spikes in the prices of oil following the staflationary shocks of the Yom Kippur war in 1973, the Iranian revolution in 1979 and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990).

Fifth, while Sunni regimes may – in private – sigh relief following the destruction of the nuclear capabilities of the Shiite Iranian regime – the Sunni Arab street (the masses of poor Sunnis) from Algeria to Egypt and all the way to Pakistan, India and Indonesia may become even more anti-Western and anti-American leading to the risk over time of rise of anti-Western fundamentalist regimes in many Arab countries.

Sixth, the Bush administration whose hands have been tied by the new National Intelligence Estimate (that argued that Iran had suspended its program of development of nuclear weapons) would thus be able to strike Iran – via Israel - before the end of its term. Such October surprise by Israel would also certainly lead to the election of McCain and defeat of Obama as a national security crisis of such an extent would doom the chances of Democrats to win the White House. So both Israel – that prefers McCain to Obama and is hurried to act as it is wary of the constraints that an Obama presidency may put on its ability to act against Iran – and the Bush administration would guarantee the election of McCain.

Now, it is not certain – as argued by Fischer – that Israel will strike that early; this is just a guess and a prediction by one observer even if many others think likewise. But if such action were to be taken by Israel the consequences outlined above would be the clear outcome: a major global recession, wars throughout the Middle East (Iran, Iraq, Gaza, Lebanon, Israel, etc.) and a major increase in geopolitical instability.”

What To Wear At The Job Interview

The day has come... You have an job interview that is very important. You really want this job, but, in the last minute, you starting to think about what to wear... Panic, you don't have any clue about what to were! Happily, the answerer is here. This article is meant to tell you what to were (man or women) and hopefully, you will find the best solution just for you.

To dress correctly is very important when going to an job interview. Chance are that the employer who is interviewing you, does not see the qualification you have, because of the outfit you are wearing. It can be everything as a bad bar of shoes or just cloth that is dirty. Generally speaking, please choose a simple but formal attire and make sure that the outfit you are wearing is clean and you shoes are polish.

A few words about Hygiene: To look clean and fresh is also very important! But don´t put on too much make-up or perfume before going to the interview. Use this kind of products lightly. It is mush safer that way, because if you have put on allot of perfume on yourself, and the interviewer has asthma or are allergic to perfume, you will have some serious trouble of getting the job. So, please avoid it. Another thing to consider is your hair. You should fix your hair so that you will look professional. For woman, it is best if the hair is properly combed

So what should you wear if you are a women? To be more specific, you should follow this advice:

1. Skirted suits. A two piece matched light colored suit is the safest choice for women 2. Limited jewellery such as one wedding ring 3. Briefcase 4. Ideal footwear to wear is the shoes 5. Conservative watch

Things you should not ware as a woman:

1. Gaudy jewelry 2. Tongue or nose jewelry 3. Pantsuits (considered to be unprofessional and outdated)

Now, let talk about what men should wear:

1. Decent suit 2. Tie and a long sleeve shirt 3. Dark shoes which you have polished 4. Matching socks.

Things you should avoid to wear as a man:

1. Bow ties 2. Earrings or tongue/nose jewelry.

Most of this thing is quite obviously for most of us and If you follow this advice, your chance of getting the job will increase. But, there are a couple of things that I have not mention yet. And that is that you should check the dress code of the company that you are going to have an interview with, before actually going to the interview. Let´s say your are having an interview. The job is about being a carpenter. Then, wearing a black Armani suit, want do you any favor. To avoid this kind of mistake, it is much easier to call the company and ask them about the dress code. Still, the hygiene is important, no matter what kind of job you are searching for.

If you want more information about how to prepare for a job interview, please visit my website. You will find the links at the resource box.

Take care Patrik Karlsson

For more information about how to prepare for a job interview, writing a thank you letter and much more, please visit http://Hotjoblive.com/jobinterview Thank you for your time! Patrik Karlsson http://Hotjoblive.com/jobinterview

Which Affiliate Program is Best to Start Your Online Business

Research indicates that over 8,000 start new businesses every day. Many of them will choose affiliate programs to start their online business. Affiliate programs provide an easy method to begin making money online. They allow you to sell someone else’s product without bothering with any of the details. You do not need to set up any type of payment processing system, nor do you need to worry about delivering the product of customer sales. Your only job is to refer people to the merchant’s site. Each time one of your referrals makes a purchase; you collect a commission that varies between 30% and 75% of the sales price.

But which affiliate program is best if you are just starting out. Although ClickBank is among the largest and most well known, there may be better alternatives for you if you want to make money quickly. Before ClickBank will send out your first check, they require that you generate sales from 5 separate credit cards. PayPal purchases do not count toward this total. In many cases, you may have to generate 10 to 12 sales before qualifying to get your first check. This could take you 5 to 6 months if you are just starting out.

If you have a PayPal account, a better alternative may be to use PayDotCom’s affiliate program. They have no minimum requirements. They will credit the money you earn directly into your PayPal account in the month following your first sale, regardless of the amount. If you need o earn money quickly, this is a much better alternative for you.

Although PayDotCom does not offer quite as many products as ClickBank, they offer a fairly large selection of diversified products. Their marketplace works very much like ClickBank’s. They give a numerical rating to each product so you can determine which products sell well.

Before jumping into the first affiliate program you see, investigate their terms of service. What appears to be the best program may not be the ideal program if you are just starting out.

2008 NMFA Fellowship Program available

Hey everyone, I'm writing to let you know that the Military Spouse Fellowship for the Accredited Financial Counselor Program for 2008 is now accepting applications. From now through the end of April, the application will be available online through the National Military Family Association website. It's a great program and at the end of it, the selected applicants will have attained the certification of Accredited Financial Counselor under the guidance of AFCPE and FINRA. Please see the linked website if you're interested in learning more or applying to this program. It is definitely worth the effort.

And on a more personal note, tax season will be over in less than two weeks, and I look forward to blogging again!

Going once..

I posted before that I am looking to see if someone else would like to take over running the Under 30 Honor Roll and Festival of Under 30 finances as I don't have the time to develop it into something better - if anyone's interested, please let me know!

U.S. Slowdown,Price Increase Isn't Your Father's Stagflation

By Carlos Torres and Rich Miller

June 19 (Bloomberg) -- Stagflation just ain't what it used to be.

While economic growth has almost stalled, and surging oil prices have doubled the rate of inflation since the start of last year, structural changes in the economy since the 1970s mean the U.S. is unlikely to witness anything like the conditions that ravaged it then.

``It's a mini-stagflation,'' said Allen Sinai, chief economist at Decision Economics Inc. in New York.

Compared to the 1970s, the economy these days is more flexible, thanks to deregulation and advances in information technology. And it's less inflation-prone, because fewer workers are able to win big wage increases, and policy makers including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke are more aware of the risks of letting prices spiral.

``We learned a lot of lessons in the 1970s,'' said Stephen Cecchetti, economics professor at the Brandeis University International Business School. ``I don't see the same sort of things happening again -- partly because of policy and partly because our economy is a little different.''

The seeds of the 1970s stagflation were sown the previous decade when government spending on social programs and the Vietnam War grew and credit became more readily available. A more rigid economy, including a system of fixed exchange rates, couldn't respond to the challenge of a jump in fuel prices.

Greater Competition

Today's economy is more flexible, fuel efficient and competitive. While the nation produced 10 times more last year than in 1973, energy use rose by only a third during that time, according to figures from Departments of Energy and Commerce.

Companies are also carrying smaller stockpiles, making it less likely they'd need to slash production when faced with an oil shock. The ratio of inventories to sales has been declining since 1982, when it reached a record 1.7 months, according to figures from Commerce. The ratio stood at 1.25 months in April.

``We live in a world where the automakers have their inventory on trucks on the way to the plants,'' said Cecchetti.

Airlines, one of the industries hardest hit by the jump in fuel costs, provide one example of how deregulation has spurred competition and helped hold down prices. Fares rose 1.8 percent last year, compared with a record 38 percent jump in 1980, during another episode of stagflation.

Chinese, European Pressure

``Companies have to price to markets,'' said Torsten Slok, an economist at Deutsche Bank AG in New York. ``Competition today is much more pronounced than in the 1970s. If a manufacturer doesn't price something sufficiently low, then someone from China or Europe will price it lower.''

Gains in worker efficiency and low labor costs also indicate prices won't skyrocket. Since 1996, productivity is up 2.5 percent per year on average. From 1970 to 1995, the gain averaged 1.7 percent.

The shift away from manufacturing and toward services has also contributed to a drop in labor-union membership that's reduced the ability of workers to get larger wage concessions. Union members accounted for 12 percent of the workforce in 2007, down from 20 percent in 1983 when the Labor Department started keeping records.

Average hourly earnings for non-managers and production workers were up 3.5 percent in the 12 months through the end of May, compared with a record gain of 9.5 percent in January 1981. The percentage of union workers with automatic cost-of-living adjustment clauses in their contracts fell from 61 percent in 1976 to 22 percent in 1995, when Labor stopped collecting data.

Volcker Legacy

Finally, Fed officials will be loath to surrender the low- inflation legacy bequeathed to them by former Chairman Paul Volcker, who raised the benchmark interest rate as high as 20 percent to bring prices under control. The cost was one of the worst recessions since World War II.

Sinai worries inflation expectations are already becoming ``unhinged'' and says much depends on how policy makers including those at the Fed react.

Households surveyed in June expected inflation of 3.4 percent over the next five years, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan survey published last week. While that would match the highest level in 13 years, it would still be well below the 9.7 percent reached in February 1980.

Under Chairman Arthur Burns, the central bank lowered interest rates in 1974 and 1975 to combat a slowdown, even as prices began to accelerate. Volcker and Alan Greenspan, who served as chairman from 1987 to 2006, spent most of the next two decades trying to get ahead of inflation.

Bernanke, Vice Chairman Donald Kohn and at least four Fed bank presidents warned over the past weeks that they must keep inflation expectations in check. Investors project the Fed will raise rates as soon as September, futures prices show.

``Monetary policy makers around the world certainly understand what they are doing much better than they did in the early 1970s,'' said Brandeis' Cecchetti. ``I'm sure that policy makers will not allow inflation to rise any more and they'll bring it back down.''

House Flipping In The Real World-Part 5-Doing Time In Texas

Note: This has turned into another mini-series, this time on the risks and rewards of real estate investing. To start at the beginning scroll down.

Pretty soon I was out of the picture. Cynthia took over and Alice receded into the background with Hepatitis C problems and liver ailments I really didn't want to know about. I did learn that Alice had a pretty rough life with incest, alcoholism, and some drug abuse that undoubtedly contributed to the Hepatitis C and liver issues.

One doesn't meet ex-cons every day and my curiousity got the better of me, again. "Pretty tough in prison, I bet." "Oh, you kinda get used to it." "Which prison?" "Waco." (My son went to Baylor University in Waco and I didn't know Waco even had a prison. Guess the Chamber of Commerce doesn't go out of its way to spotlight the prison.) How long? Nine years. (Wow) Finally I couldn't stand it any longer, "What did you do?" "Forgery."

Forgery? Nine years for forgery? I think the takeaway here is don't do crimes in Texas unless you want to spend a lot of time indoors.

Plunging ahead. "And Alice?" "Attempted murder...but she got framed." That's what they all say, I thought. "Who did she attempt to murder?" I asked like an idiot, I really don't know when to just shut up. "Her sister's boyfriend. The guy was beating up Alice's sister and well you know..." At that point I did decide to drop it but thought about sending Alice over to see Freddy and then dropped that thought as well.

Cynthia didn't go into a lot more detail except to offer that she was a college graduate and that forgery is one of those kind of 'classy' crimes so she got to be a trustee in prison and did a lot of repair and agricultural stuff where she discovered her love of fixing things other than signatures. And boy, could she fix things. The patched holes fit right in, she put up three light fixtures, found a new(er) backdoor, and filled, sanded and replaced the woodwork where necessary. New paint was next.

In the garage I found the realtor's "For Sale" sign, spray painted it and scrawled my phone number on it with a Sharpie. Sue saw it and wondered if I had had a stroke. Placed it in the front yard and got a call from Marion.

Oil Prices: Reason Trumped By Transparent Pandering

The recent rise in oil prices and the corresponding rise in gasoline prices has brought out many complaints from the masses.  The rise in prices makes sense given the limited ability to increase the supply of barrels.  As wells have become depressurized and the rate of new discoveries has slowed it has become much harder to get achieve increases in the supply of oil.  Furthermore, in order to keep supply steady oil companies have been forced to move further offshore and pay for more expensive deep water drilling and expensive oil well re-pressurization ideas like pumping natural gas into oil wells.  So supply has remained constant recently and may actually begin to decline in the coming years.  Meanwhile, the demand for oil, driven primarily by China's growth, has been steadily increasing.  Any middle school economist can tell you that prices are bound to rise.  Combine this rise in oil prices with the lack of excess capacity in refining and we have a recipe for high gasoline prices. 

The demand increases may slow soon if the U.S. economy continues to slow and drags the rest of the world down with it.  Furthermore, the high price of oil and gasoline may lead some businesses and consumers to switch to substitutes like natural gas or electricity for their energy needs that were previously met by oil.  Higher prices may also lead to less demand from consumers as they make decisions about energy use which conserve energy such as driving less.  So the rise in oil/gasoline prices may ultimately serve to decreases in demand if it induces conservation or substitution.

Given this rudimentary analysis, the Prince looked on with disgust as Hilary Clinton and John McCain lined up to endorse a plan to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline for the summer travel season.  How do they plan to make-up for the tax shortfall that will be created by cutting the 18.4 cent per gallon tax?  You guessed it, by introducing legislation to impose a "windfall profits "tax on oil companies.  The Prince puts "windfall profits" in quotes, unlike the New York Times, because The Prince thinks that framing oil company profits as "windfall profits" is misleading.  What does "windfall profits" even mean?  Does it mean undeserved, unexpected, higher than normal and/or ill-gotten?  The Prince really has no idea what this phrase means.  As far as The Prince is concerned it is nothing more than a label trotted out by politicians to vilify the oil industry to appease ignorant voters.

It has been awhile since the Prince has seen such a transparent attempt to pander to voters by proposing legislation that is stupid and inequitable.  Let's go to wonderland for a second.  "Look at me! I am on the side of the working man who weeps when he has to fill up his truck with $4,00 gas.  I am going to take ill-gotten gains from the big bad oil companies and give them to the working man by dropping the excise tax."  Let's just throw the shareholders of these terrible oil companies under the bus.  Doing that will definitely lead to the kind of investment in extraction and refining that we need to increase supply.  Right.  Does this sound as crazy to you as it does to the Prince? 

Let's go back to the real world for a real statement from the McCain campaign as quoted by the New York Times.  “It's clear Barack Obama's not strong enough to provide immediate relief at the pump, and it shows he doesn't understand our economy or have the ability to deliver for hard-working Americans,” said Tucker Bounds, a McCain aide. “Senator Obama's arguments against John McCain's gas tax holiday are complete fiction, and the reality is that he used to support a gas tax holiday before he was running for president.”  Really, he doesn't understand the economy?  Any middle school economist could tell you that this plan is stupid and does nothing to lower the long-term demand for oil or encourage more investment to bring on more supply.  Statements like the one made by Mssr. Bounds absolutely disgust The Prince and give him no confidence in his representatives ability to make decisions based on reason.

"Gas tax holiday" there is another phrase that does not make sense.  It makes this legislation sound like a sweet deal for everyone like a free trip to the Hawaii or something.  Anyone who sat down and took a look at the history of boom followed by over investment then bust in the energy sector would never argue for a "Gas Tax Holiday" financed by a "windfall profit" tax.  The truth is profit desert has nothing to do with this question.  Oil companies have to have incentives to make investments in bringing more supply online.  They will only make the investments if they think they will get the returns on this investment.  The government changing the game by taking profits from the oil companies when times are good and not giving the companies any help when the industry is over-invested should give oil company investors fits.  The oil companies' shareholders deserve the return on the investments their companies made.  Politicians should not have the authority to take from these shareholders who took the risk and give this to consumers who want cheaper gas.

This proposed legislation is so obviously political and it does nothing to solve the problem of high oil and gas problems.  In fact, in choosing to impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies the legislation makes it less likely that supply will be increased in the future and offers decreases incentives to conserve energy.  Removing this excise tax may make sense as a way to stimulate spending on non-energy purchases.  Yet, it's purpose clearly is just to appeal politically to consumers who want short term savings on gas and are not looking at the long-term implications of this savings.  Politicians should be looking at the long-term costs of this legislation.  While the Prince is an independent and does not support Obama, Mssr. Obama does get it right by opposing this legislation.  It takes courage to take this stand considering how damaging it may be politically.  Mssr. Obama makes the decision for the right reasons too.  While he doesn't argue that the industry should be protected from a "windfall profit" tax, he does firmly argue that the plan would save consumers little and do nothing to curtail oil consumption and imports.  Let's get back to reasonable energy policy and not these politicized concessions that offer short-term political gains but no real long-term solution to the problems we face in the energy sector.

The Prince’s Weekend Audience

1) Want to see some data and charts about the housing and credit bubble that will make you queasy?  Take a look at this very detailed presentation from T2 Capital Partners.  Yes, things are much worse than any of us realize or admit.

 

2) Epicurean Dealmaker - "Not Safe for Work"

Ed: "Like: did Al Gore really invent the internet? Does the "Prince of Wall Street" still have a job offer in Financial Sponsors at a "bulge bracket" bank? And, is it true that Equity Private and Dan Loeb plan to use a mixture of shredded 10-Qs and portfolio company business plans as confetti at their upcoming wedding scheduled for a secret location off the Dalmatian Coast? We may never know the answers, Dear Readers, but certain questions are worth asking anyway, no?"

Answer: ED, You better f**ckin believe that The Prince still has a job.

The Prince would also love to see more banter between EP and ED, but he's not sure if this is going to get that going.

 

3) Information Arbitrage - "The KKR/SUNW Deal Telegraphed Today's PE Environment"

Much better argument and analysis than the Prince put forward about private equity's style drift.  Here Ehrenberg mainly focuses on the perverse decision making that comes about, like PE shops taking public equity stakes, PIPE stakes, or convertible stakes in public companies, when funds are too large and financing for LBOs is absent.

 

4) Naked Capitalism - "Hubris, Denial, and the Financial Services Culture"

Takeaways with a smile from the Milken Conference.

 

5) Dollar may have fallen too far relative to the Euro, according to the futures market.

$6,400 iDiamond Headphones by Heyerdahl

This iDiamond earpiece was designed by Heyerdahl jewelry. It has 204 diamonds on 18 karat gold Heyerdahl is located in Oslo, Norway.

In addition to a wide selection of gold and silver jewelry, Heyerdahl offers pewter Viking vessels, drinking horns, and cheese slicers, as well as woodcarvings. The price of iDiamond headphones are $6,400.via

Opening Bell: 6.25.08

Illinois Plans to Sue Countrywide, CEO (WSJ)

This is just the beginning of the legal fun we'll have... Illinois (where we might have gone to school K-8th grade) is suing Countrywide and its CEO, citing deceptive marketing practices in the sale of mortgages, ultimately wreaking havoc on the state. Just cause we're board of making the same argument on this stuff over and over, we're going to skip making a point altogether. That being said, this seems a little crazy: "Ms. Madigan says she is asking that all Countrywide loans originated using "unfair and deceptive" practices be rescinded or modified in some way, even if Countrywide has to repurchase the loans." If that's successful, it pretty much compels every other state to follow suit.

Barclays to Raise $8.9 Billion to Shore Up Capital (Bloomberg)

Add it to your spreadsheet. You'll never guess that investors included Temasek (Singapore), Qatar, China and Japan.

Monet fetches record $80.5m (Reuters)

We'll try to save the art market analysis for Felix Salmon, but it doesn't look like he's commented on this one yet. Anyway, some painting of water lilies took in over $80 million, almost double what had been expected. Altogether, Christies' "meet the impressionists" night took in $284 million, over a quarter of a billion dollars. We don't really know what any of this means, but just in general hard not to see it as a continued healthy sign. Tomorrow morning, we can find some more hard analysis other than what's going on in our mind: "that's, um, a lot of money."

Approval Is Near for Bill to Help U.S. Homeowners (NYT)

Just in case Illinois can't single-handedly turn the housing crisis around, have no fear. Congress is on it. Here's the key chunk of what the bill looks like: "The centerpiece of the Senate package is a rescue-refinancing plan aimed at stemming the tide of more than 8,000 new foreclosures a day that lenders are filing across the country. The plan would allow distressed borrowers and their lenders to stem losses by allowing qualified owners to refinance into more affordable, 30-year fixed-rate loans with a federal guarantee. The legislation would also provide benefits for first-time buyers, who would receive a refundable tax credit of up to $8,000, or 10 percent of the value of a home, on purchases of unoccupied housing. "

Stock Screen for Tuesday 6-17-08

Today's screens give us an interesting mix of stocks that were higher on above average volume. I was specifically looking for stocks that were up at least 1% and had volume of at least 50% larger than the average. Several names, such as AAP, ABFS, ACM, EEP, ERES, FDS, GDI, IPHS, NDSN, OMI, PQ, TEVA, TITN, TOT and VIT, showed up on multiple screens. I will admit that not every one of these stocks look appealing after viewing the charts.