Bad Deal - Good Deal

The second half of this investing puzzle is price. Put bluntly, the quality of a stock, bond, or property investment only matters in relation to its price. This means that a ram shackled, blighted property can be a phenomenal deal at a certain price. The stock of media darling companies such as Apple, Google, and Amazon can all be terrible investments at a certain price. It is certainly true that high-quality investments can frequently justify a higher price than lower quality investments. However, it is equally true that any investment can be a spectacular deal if the price is right.

The key for investors is to determine when the price of a high-quality stock, bond, or property is over-valued, or conversely when the price of a lower quality stock, bond, or property is under-valued. Any investment is a good deal at one price, and a poor deal at a different price. Unfortunately, it is frequently very difficult to determine exactly where these two boundaries are drawn for any particular investment.

One of the ideas that has become quite pervasive within the minds of investors is the notion of a "good stock" or a "good property" to own. This notion stems from a general desire on the part of most people to own things of quality. In our personal life, this frequently manifests itself as a desire to own a comfortable home, and a reliable automobile. Quality gives us a feeling of safety and security. Thus, it seems completely natural to want our investments to be the stock of a high quality company, the bonds of a high quality corporation of government, or a property that is desirable in both its quality of construction and location. The problem with this view is that it only provides one half of the information that you need to determine whether an investment is a good deal.

When estimating the appropriate price for a particular investment, there are two relevant factors that need to be considered. The first is the expected future price, the second is expected future cash flow, and the third is taxes and inflation. When combined, they will create a holistic picture of the value for any particular investment.

Expected Future Price

• In the world of stock and real estate investing, this is referred to as appreciation. Fundamentally, it represents the expectation that the future price of an investment will be higher than the price you paid to purchase it. This is frequently referred to as the 'buy low, sell high' philosophy. For most investors, this is the primary source of value that they see. Stock market tickers report the price of securities, and the Multiple Listing Service reports the price of properties.


• However, the ubiquitous availability of price information frequently causes people to over-emphasize price appreciation as a source of value. It is most certain that price appreciation is an important source of value for investments, but it is certainly not the only value vector. The fact that so many people focus on market prices has made them become very volatile over the past few years. Values for stocks, bonds, and real estate have all fluctuated significantly. This has made future price appreciation very difficult to predict.


• In addition to all of this, there is one further characteristic of price that investors must take into consideration. In order to capture the benefit of price appreciation, you must sell the investment. This means that watching the value of your stocks or real estate skyrocket means absolutely nothing unless you sell and lock-in the gain. Thus, in order to realize the full gains from future price appreciation, it means that you must sell at the right time. In practice, this is very difficult to do and frequently results in selling while values are still going up.

Expected Future Cash Flow

• Another key characteristic of what makes a good vs. bad deal for investors is the cash flow that is produced. In the case of stocks, this comes from dividends. In the case of bonds, this comes from interest payments and the future return of the bond face amount. In the case of real estate, this comes from rents that are paid by tenants for the use of your property. The importance of cash flow to the value of an investment is that it represents a current, tangible return. Typically, investments that produce the best cash flow don't always have the best appreciation. However, they also tend to be less volatile since the price tends to be more highly correlated with the rate of cash generation than the market expectations for future price increases.


• The way that most investors articulate the future cash flow of an investment is through its yield. In simple terms, the yield of an investment represents its annual cash flow divided by the price paid for the asset. In the case of stocks, the "dividend yield" is the annual dividends divided by the current market price. In the case of rental real estate, the "capitalization rate" is calculated by dividing the annual net operating income of the property by the purchase price. In the case of bonds, the discounted future value of all payments is compressed into an internal rate of return, which is articulated as the bond yield.


• In most cases, the rate of cash generation for an investment is much less volatile than the market price of that investment. Stocks that pay dividends tend to adjust their dividend rate at a much slower rate than the market value gyrations of its price. Rents from income properties tend to shift much more slowly than the value of the property. Bonds typically feature a fixed interest and repayment price, with their market value being determined by the movement in yield rates for similar instruments. When market yields increase, the price of bonds currently on the market go down. When market yields decrease, the price of bonds currently on the market go up.

Taxes and Inflation

• The final key characteristic that differentiates good vs. bad investments is inflation and taxes. Inflation represents the erosion of you investment's purchasing power and taxes represent the amount of your gains that need to be paid to the government. One of the oldest and most important concepts in finance is that "It's not what you make, it's what you keep"... fundamentally, this means that the "real" rate of return for your investments is much more important than the "nominal" performance.


• Starting with inflation, it is important to understand that when the amount of money in circulation expands more quickly than the amount of goods and services being traded, it creates upward pressure on prices. For some asset classes, the effect of inflation is relatively benign, for others it is beneficial, and for some it is devastating. By and large, property values tend to be lifted in proportion with inflation, while cash flows from dividends and rents are also increased by inflation. Some stocks move up with inflation, but certainly not all. On the other hand, bonds with a fixed interest rate are destroyed by inflation since it de-values the interest payments. Conversely, fixed-rate debt that you owe is wiped away by inflation as the dollars you use to re-pay the loan become less valuable.


• Another key characteristic to understand is taxes. Different types of income are subject to different rates of taxation. Generally speaking, income that is earned from a job encounters the most taxes. Income that is earned passively encounters less taxes, and income earned from capital investment encounters the least taxes. Astute investors also understand the impact of legitimate business deductions, non-cash expenses such as depreciation, and deferring capital gains through a 1031 exchange to reduce their tax burden down to the legal minimum. In many cases, it is tax advantages that turn a good investment into a great investment.

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of each person to determine what constitutes a superior investment deal. Since people have different appetites for risk, there will always be a variety of investors bidding for a variety of assets. What is most important for the individual investor to do is take an honest assessment of their personal investment tolerance and make decisions that incorporate all of the major value factors. By balancing the future price, future cash flow, inflation risk, and tax characteristics, it will allow you to build a strong portfolio of optimized deals.

Safe Experience Using a Razor Scooter For How to Ensure

Before letting your child onto their scooter you need to make sure they are wearing the proper safety equipment. It doesn't matter if they are just riding around in circles in your driveway, a helmet is a must each and every time your child rides their scooter. Additional safety equipment such as wrist guards, elbow guards and knee pads are a great idea for children just getting introduced to riding on a scooter for the first time. Accidents do happen and it is quite important that your child have the necessary safety gear should they have a spill.

Each time before you let your child ride on their Razor Scooter you need to perform a visible inspection of the scooter. Take a close look and make sure there are no visible signs of damage to the handles, the bar-stem, the foot platform or the wheels. The wheels should spin freely without any friction and all adjustable parts should be securely fashioned. Since most Razor Scooters are designed for many sized people you will have to make sure that the handlebars are at the correct height. Another important thing to check is the foot break. The foot break should be able to be depressed with little effort. If you notice anything that seems like it could cause injury (loose handlebars or major cracks in the metal for example) you should definitely not let your child ride it and you should seek out a replacement. Once you decide the Razor Scooter is safe to operate you can proceed to the next step.

After your child has finished enjoying their Razor Scooter for the day you may opt to do another quick visible inspection of the scooter to ensure that no major damage that would affect the performance has occurred. Once that is complete the scooter should be stored in a safe spot. Since Razor Scooters are made primarily from metal you should store it in a place that is out of the elements and since Razor Scooters collapse this makes for easy and low impact storage. Never store the scooter outside where fog or rain can come in contact with it. Water creates rust which can make the scooter unsafe to operate

More Kids Like This One Imagine If We Had

Cogitating rather than dilly-dallying as most teenagers her age, Cheyenne thought about ways to prevent accidents on a rather busy street near her house. Looking out from her window, Cheyenne witnessed many accidents occurring because of careless lead-foot drivers putting the pedal to the medal without regard to the lives they might be risking. Her idea to create a speed bump which would detect an approaching speeding car and thus deploy itself, won her the chance to compete at the 13th annual Discovery 3M Young Scientist Challenge. At this final event, Cheyenne stands the chance to nail the coveted award of America's Top Young Scientist along with a $25,000 prize. Not bad for cogitating while looking outside her bedroom window.

As though this one invention were not enough, Cheyenne has also come up with another ingenious idea, one which could have implications for potential victims of future hurricanes and other nasty acts of nature. Prior to Hurricane Irene, which lashed out at the eastern seaboard, Cheyenne put forth a flood protection idea: a kind of waterproof sheet that would wrap around a house and essentially rise with impending flooding. The sheet would have built -in sensors that would monitor the level and water and thus rise or fall accordingly. The sheet thus would protect the house from water damage. I think insurance companies, hard-hit over the years by damages incurred from mother-nature-like storms, would welcome and even support such ideas.

Anyone who reads the news regularly or who keeps up with current events, knows that the country is in deep trouble. Unrelenting fiscal debt, staggering unemployment figures, and consumer confidence levels that have not been this low since the Great Depression. So it is heartening when I read in the newspaper something more positive, such as the story about fourteen year old Cheyenne Hua, a ninth-grader at Hunter College Junior High School in Queens, New York, who is coming up with ideas to prevent fatalities from speeding drivers and to ward off future victims of such calamities as hurricanes and flooding.

Cheyenne's parents are obviously very proud of her. In fact, Cheyenne gets a pass on most household chores because of the time she spends cogitating on her inventions. Then again, if more kids did what Cheyenne did, I think most parents would agree to give them a pass on other mundane chores. Certainly the insurance companies would agree. Let's give our hats off to such promising young kids.

Joe is a prolific writer of self-help and educational material and is the creator and author of over a dozen books and ebooks which have been read throughout the world. He is a former teacher of high school and college mathematics and has recently returned as a professor of mathematics at a local community college in New Jersey.

It's Not Gravy Forever Of Investment Peaks

Scientists have been searching for a source of perpetual motion for decades - the thing that you set in motion, and it just keeps running forever. Unfortunately, this sort of thing doesn't exist in nature, and that should tell you something about your investments - they are finite, and there are definitely investment peaks to be watched for.

Nothing is forever

An investment is not something you put money into once then forget about it, and simply keep reaping dividends in perpetuity. Sure, some investments may seem that way: treasury bills, bonds and other boring, low yield investments do in fact continue to generate modest returns for quite some time, but so does bank interest, which can't really be considered investment per se - those forms of money storage don't seem to have investment peaks.

What exactly are we talking about then?

Investment peaks are nothing more than the point where an investment, be it a stock or business enterprise, has reached its earning potential for your portfolio. Call it a saturation point or a stalling out of sorts. It's the point where an investment has simply ceased to become an investment anymore and it begins to be a financial drain rather than an asset.

How can I prevent against this?

Be vigilant of your holdings and portfolio. A perfect example of investment peaks is your home - not five years ago, it had fundamentally peaked in value, reaching higher and higher until it superseded all known data or metrics in the history of American homes. After that, however, it started a slow, gradual descent - not so gradual for some people - to the point where it is worth less now than it was five years ago. Not many people can say today their homes are worth more than they were in 2007. Other investments such as businesses, stocks, or ventures behave accordingly, they don't rise for ever.

Get out your crystal ball

If you could call the peak of a stock or home price, you'd be clairvoyant. The key to watching for investment peaks is not to call the very top, although it would be nice to - the key is to set a realistic goal for an investment and then remove your money when you've achieved that goal, and do something else with it. Greed keeps us locked into declining investments long after they've reached their expiration dates. We think they'll go back up, and we end up riding them all the way down instead.

Your investment strategy needs not so much to focus on predicting the future as it does to make a detailed investment plan and stick to it, exiting from the investment when the income goal is met, and no later. Will this result in leaving some money on the table? Absolutely, but money is better left on the table than it is coming out of your pocket die to errors in judgment caused by blinding greed. Do yourself a favor and get with your financial advisor, or do it yourself if you have to, but set concrete financial goals and be well out of the investment when the investment peaks, which it most certainly will.

President Dilma in Spotlight

Much of the confidence in Brazil investment opportunities comes from the perception that Brazil has a strong government led by determined leaders. President Dilma Rousseff is one such leader and this week, she captures takes the spotlight on the international stage.

Dilma's higher than usual profile this week is US-based. The Brazilian President features on the front cover of Newsweek in its American edition and Dilma will the first woman head of state to open a United Nations General Assembly. In addition, she will receive the Woodrow Wilson Public Service Award.

This stream of accolades comes as recognition of Dilma's decided leadership of Brazil, currently a leading light in times of global uncertainty. Dilma's international acknowledgment will also serve to further corroborate Brazil as a destination for some of the best investments for 2011, particularly when it comes to political and economical security.

Brazil in Control

Newsweek, under the title "Don't mess with Dilma", details the President's personal and political life. The article emphasises Brazil's economic growth and Dilma's part in this. The recent visit by Barack Obama when he referred to Brazil and the US as "equal partners" and Dilma's inauguration of the UN General Assembly confirm Brazil's presence in the world arena.

When asked what differentiates her country from the rest of the world, the Brazilian President highlights Brazil's strong political and banking controls. For Dilma, these controls mean Brazil can counteract slower economic growth or even global stagnation, unlike many other countries.

Recent statistics back this theory - Brazil barely suffered the effects of the 2008 global recession and currently has record levels of employment and middle class growth. Direct foreign investment in Brazil is also seeing the highest rates ever with private investment in equity at the top.

The latest Ernst & Young Capital Confidence Barometer Brazil recently concluded that when it comes to Brazilian investment opportunities, "the pluses far outweigh the minuses". This sentiment is echoed by foreign companies active in Brazil, many of whom have noted that 2011 has been a year with intense investor interest and activity.

Centre Stage

In addition to her front cover presence, Dilma is also receiving the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Public Service Award. For Jane Harman, CEO of the Woodrow Wilson Center, "President Rousseff's story has inspired millions of women throughout the world to reach for leadership".

Shortly after receiving the award, Dilma will open the General Assembly at the UN in New York where she will be the first female head of state to do so. After just nine months as President of Brazil, Dilma is proving to be an immensely influential leader, capable to leading her own country and others. Brazilian investment is undoubtedly in safe hands.

About Obelisk International: Obelisk International offers select investment opportunities in Brazil in a range of sectors such as social housing, residential real estate and construction. Obelisk gives investors security, profitability and diversity thanks to a combination of close attention to our clients' investment requirements and high quality in-house research and analysis.

Good Investment For Strategies

An investor should always shoot for an increased level of return than his money can earn from the prevailing market interest rate (found at your local bank), which is considered safe and guaranteed. He is taking a risk by investing his money and expects to be be justly compensated. An investor, as a result has to perform a good judgment about the prevailing situation in the market before making the investment. Depending on the asset these conditions include local and international economic conditions (including political issues), industry specific concerns, a company's leadership team, and so on. Of course there are many factors that are simply impossible to know, hence, the risk. Using technical analysis software is helpful in purchasing stock.

Smart investors will not invest their own money. They will either borrow from a bank or credit union, lend guidance in exchange for another participant using his money, or even mortgage a property and use that amount for the investment. Then he will try to earn more than the interest amount that he has pay on such loans. It has been seen that some successful investors won't even live in their own home. They will actually rent a home from someone else. The reason is that they find it is far better to invest with the money they save by not purchasing a house. (Though there are tax advantages to owning.) An investor needs to be efficient and should make wise decisions in the investment strategy, being opportunistic and not afraid of being creative.

Investing suggests spending cash to purchase fixed assets. When an investor decides to invest his or her money in bonds, he has a presumptive desire to generate profits from that purchase. Fixed assets typically involve company shares, bonds, land and buildings, gold and other metals, fabricating plants, machinery, etc. Those assets can yield either a profit or a loss relying upon the market situation at the time of purchase and sale.

A savvy investor has to account for many factors before investing his or her capital. Commonly an investor will buy the assets when its selling price is low and can make profit by selling it at the higher cost, though there are several techniques for making money during the decline of an asset's value.

An additional smart approach is to generate the most returns with the least amount of money invested. One of the most efficient ways to do this is through stock options trading. Understanding options trading will allow you to accelerate cash inflow more so than a common stock purchase is capable of.

One to thing to remember, it is better to diversify the investment portfolio. Instead of investing in only one stock or property, it is prudent to have different forms of investments. The justification is found in the unpredictable future situations in the world economic marketplace. It is uncertain whether an investment will yield income or not. If a single investment is profitable, no issues. But if it loses money than the investor has to suffer it for the whole amount he dedicated to the one asset. In the case of investments in multiple stocks, it is logical that not all of them will lose money. In a properly diversified portfolio, if some assets generate negative returns, others will produce earnings.

How To Avoid Becoming a Victim of Investment Fraud Of Investment Fraud "Secrets"

Asset Allocation and Cognitive Biases

A perfect example of how cognitive biases can negatively impact investment decisions is a common misperception involving asset allocation. When you mention asset allocation or diversification to most investors, they think in terms of quantity rather than quality. Consequently, a large percentage of investors have portfolios that are diversified in terms of types and numbers of holdings within the portfolio, but the portfolios are not "effectively" diversified due to the high correlation of returns, or overlap, between the investments.

Portfolios that are not "effectively" diversified are sometimes referred to as being "pseudo" diversified since they appear to be diversified, but they do not actually provide an investor with the benefits of a truly diversified portfolio. The high correlation between the investments results in an investor having less downside protection than they would have with a truly diversified portfolio.

As an example, most people would consider a portfolio consisting of a large cap fund (IWB - iShares Russell 100 Index), a small cap fund (IWM - i Shares Russell 2000 Index), an international equity fund (EFA - iShares MSCI EAFE Index) and a bond fund (AGG - iShares Barclay Aggregate Bond Index), to be diversified since it consists of four different types of funds. A review of a correlation of returns matrix for a portfolio of the four exchange traded funds (ETFs) representing the four categories over the time period 8/31/2003 to 8/31/2011 tells a different story.

IWB/IWM - 0.93 IWB/EFA - 0.91 IWB/AGG - 0.05

IWM/EFA - 0.81 IWM/EFA - (0.03) EFA/AGG - 0.11

Analyzing rolling periods of returns often provides a better picture of trends and the persistence of trends. An analysis of rolling five year periods of returns for the referenced ETFs provides the following information:

2010-06

IWB/IWM - 0.966 IWB/EFA - 0.970 IWB/AGG - (0.308)

IWM/EFA - 0.896 IWM/AGG - (0.325) EFA/AGG - (0.432)

2009-05

IWB/IWM - 0.985 IWB/EFA - 0.991 IWB/AGG - (0.282)

IWM/EFA - 0.977 IWM/AGG - (0.338) EFA/AGG - (0.340)

2008-04

IWB/IWM - 0.967 IWB/EFA - 0.999 IWB/AGG - (0.445)

IWM/EFA - 0.973 IWM/AGG - (0.518) EFA/AGG - (0.4650

The higher the matrix number, the higher the correlation of returns and performance. A negative matrix number indicates a negative correlation of returns, which means that the two investments behave differently during various market conditions.

The matrix clearly shows a high correlation of returns between the large cap and the small cap ETF, and a high, albeit varying, correlation of returns between the international ETF and the large and small cap ETFs. The matrix clearly shows a low correlation of returns between the bond ETF and the other three ETFs. An argument can be made that a portfolio consisting only of the large cap ETF (IWB) and the bond ETF (AGG) would produce similar results.

Since fees and expenses are relatively low for most ETFs, cost is not that much an issue with a portfolio of ETFs. Since many financial advisers do not use index funds or ETFs in making recommendations, the negative impact of "pseudo" diversification can be seen in a portfolio of load-based mutual funds, again representing the four asset categories used in the ETF portfolio. The mutual funds represented are American Funds Growth Fund of America (large cap equity), Oppenheimer Discovery (small cap equity), Fidelity Worldwide (international) and PIMCO Total Return (bond).

2010-06

Am/Opp - 0.922 Am/Fid - 0.981 Am/PIMCO - 0.705

Opp/Fid - 0.948 Opp/PIMCO - 0.688 Fid/PIMCO - 0.597

2009-05

Am/Opp - 0.922 Am/Fid - 0.981 Am/PIMCO - 0.519

Opp/Fid - 0.948 Opp/PIMCO - 0.636 Fid/PIMCO - 0.451

2008-04

Am/Opp - 0.893 Am/Fid - 0.989 Am/PIMCO - 0.052

Opp/Fid - 0.935 Opp/PIMCO - 0.482 Fid/PIMCO - 0.148

The data shows the correlation of returns over rolling five-year periods in order to show not only the correlation of returns, but also the trend in correlation of returns. Once again, we see the same high correlation of returns between the equity-based mutual funds, with a lower correlation of returns between the bond fund and the equity-based funds that we saw with the ETF portfolio. The results are consistent with studies that have shown an increase in correlation of returns between equity-based investments over the past decade, especially during periods of increased volatility in the markets.

The correlation of returns matrix exposes the false illusion of diversification created by the bias of assessing diversification on the quantity of funds or types of funds alone. This bias is sometimes difficult to remove, as diversification based on quantity and type seems to make sense. Unfortunately, that is exactly what unscrupulous financial advisers are relying on, as they try to exploit the "truth" and "authority " biases.

If you are like most people, your initial reaction to the question posed by the title to this white paper is "no." However, for many investors, the answer is "yes." With all of the investment options available today, many investors are intimidated, confused and frustrated by the investment process. Recent studies also support the suggestion that many investors are perfect targets for investment fraud or already are victims of investment fraud. For instance,

• A recent study by Schwab Institutional found that 75% of investor portfolios were unsuitable for investors given their financial situation and goals;
• A recent study by CEG Worldwide concluded that over 94% of those holding themselves out as wealth managers were more product salesman than wealth manager;
• The 2010 IPT Elder Investor Fraud Survey reported that investment fraud is the number crime against the elderly, affecting an estimated 7.3 million older Americans, or one out of every five senior citizens. Since that number only counts the instances of fraud actually reported, the number of victims is undoubtedly higher.

One of the problems with avoiding investment fraud is the difficulty in detecting some types of fraud due to the subtleness or complexity of the fraud itself. Another problem with detecting fraud is the personal biases and beliefs that each investor has regarding investing. The purpose of this article is to alert investors to some of the more common elements of investment fraud so that investors can prevent unnecessary investment risk and financial loss due to investment fraud.

Fraud and Cognitive Biases

The common response to investment fraud is to call for greater investor education programs. However, a recent law review article in The Elder Law Journal suggests that investor education programs may be largely ineffective due to cognitive issues such as cognitive biases and/or cognitive deficits of investors. Cognitive biases are personal beliefs that impact our decisions. Cognitive deficits are impairments in mental ability, including impairments due to aging.

In the article, "Deception, Decisions and Investor Education," the author, suggests a model of fraud victimization, which she refers to as the "deception/decision cycle."1 As investors are provided with investment information, they filter the information through their personal beliefs, beliefs based upon a combination of actual experience, education and first impressions. An Investor's beliefs, or biases, may or may not be accurate, but they can become so ingrained, or "anchored," within a person that the person resists any conflicting information.

These biases may be strengthened even further by what are known as "truth" and "authority" biases, a person's tendency to accept a statement as true, especially when the statement comes from someone with actual or perceived authority or expertise. The individual investor, whether because of issues such as cognitive biases/deficits, the complexity of the investment information of the sheer volume of such information, may fail to recognize the deception involved in the fraud.

Portfolio Optimization and Cognitive Biases

If you have had an asset allocation plan or portfolio optimization plan prepared by your financial adviser, look at the plan and see if there is anything in the plan that gives you the projected risk, return or correlation of return data on the actual investment portfolio the financial adviser recommended to you. Investors rarely see such an analysis using the investor's actual investments, primarily because the commercial asset allocation/ portfolio optimization programs used by most financial advisers are not designed to produce such a "real world" analysis. And yet, the calculations can be done using Microsoft Excel.

In many cases this failure to provide a "real world" portfolio analysis results in recommendation-implementation gaps, often leaving investors with portfolios significantly different from the asset allocation/portfolio optimization plan provided to them by their financial adviser, especially with regard to exposure to unnecessary investment risk.

The calculations required to calculate the projected risk, return and correlation of returns statistics for an investor's actual investment portfolio are complex. Consequently, most investors are unable to calculate the actual portfolio's statistics themselves or to otherwise detect an investment adviser's fraudulent behavior.

Too often an investor falls prey to the "trust" bias or the "authority" bias and just accepts the plan given to them without questioning the accuracy of the plan or the failure to provide a "real world" analysis of the actual investment portfolio that their financial adviser recommended. But you should question your financial adviser and ignore any "trust" or "authority" biases, especially since the portfolio optimizers often produce recommendations that are counterintuitive and/or contrary to existing legal standards.

Some examples may help to prove my point. Two of the most important factors in constructing a suitable investment portfolio are the investor's risk tolerance level and the investor's investment time horizon. With that in mind, an experiment with two popular online asset allocation calculators provides some interesting results.

The first asset allocation calculator asked about risk tolerance, but did not even ask about investment time horizon. The regulators take the basic position that anyone with an investment time horizon less than five years should generally avoid equity-based investments since they might not have enough time to recover any losses suffered in the market. With the first calculator, we ran the same set of personal investment parameters, with the only exception being that we varied the risk tolerance level in each scenario. The results are shown in Appendix A.

Two clear issues emerge regarding investor protection. First, regardless of the investor's risk tolerance level, the calculator recommends a portfolio consisting of approximately 60% equities and 40% bonds/cash. Second, the calculator completely ignores the "low" risk tolerance entry, exposing the risk averse investor to an undesired level of investment risk due to recommended equity allocations.

With the second asset allocation calculator, information was requested on both the investor's risk tolerance level and the investor's investment time horizon. Once again, the same set of personal investment parameters are used in each analysis, changing only the risk tolerance level and/or the investment time horizon. The results are shown in Appendix B.

If you accept the regulators' position regarding a minimum five-year investment time horizon for equity investments, then the second calculator's equity allocation for the 3-5 year time horizon is questionable, as it recommends a 30% allocation to equities for the low risk investor and a 45% allocation to equities for a moderate risk investor.

Expanding the time horizon out to 5-10 years, the low risk investor get the same portfolio recommendations that the 3-5 year time horizon/moderate risk investor got, which obviously raises questions. Strangely, the moderate risk investor with the 5-10 year time horizon receives a recommendation that increases the bond allocation to 65% and lowers the equity allocation to only 45%.

Increasing the investment time horizon to 10-20 years produces basically the same recommendation for both the low risk and moderate risk investor, with the recommended equity allocation only varying by 5 percentage points. The calculator appears to overweight the investment time horizon and basically ignore the low risk investor's preference to avoid investment risk.

The last example is just further evidence that most asset allocation/portfolio optimization software programs are highly unstable and susceptible to mistakes, so much so that they have been criticized as "estimation-error maximizers" by industry expert Richard Michaud. Investors who wish to protect their financial security would do well to replace any "truth" and/or "authority" biases with a healthy dose of skepticism and a willingness to question their financial advisers.

Investment Fees and Expenses and Cognitive Biases

Investors look to their financial advisers for advice and generally defer to any recommendations provided by their adviser. Again, this is often the results of both the "truth" and the "authority" biases. Many financial advisers limit their investment recommendations to actively managed, commission-based products, which may not be in an investor's best interests.

The negative impact of biases grows even deeper once the impact of fees and expenses is considered. Fees and expenses on index funds and ETFs are usually low since there is little or no active management of such investments. Fees and expenses on actively managed mutual funds can vary, with some even assessing annual fees and expenses in excess of 1.0% per year. Fees and expenses are important to investors since they reduce an investor's return.

Assume that we have two funds, Fund A and Fund B, both with relatively similar performance returns. Fund A is an index fund/ETF. Fund B is an actively managed fund that has an R-squared rating of 93, which means that approximately 93% of Fund B's return can be attributed to the performance of a benchmark index, in this case the index represented by Fund A. However, Fund B's annual fees and expenses are 1.0% per year, while those of Fund A are 0.25% per year.

Since most of the return of Fund B can be attributed to an index rather than the contributions of active management, why would an investor pay three times more in annual fees and expenses for Fund B? Before investing in Fund B, it is useful to see just how beneficial the active management has been and exactly what the active management is effectively costing the investor.

One commonly used method for making such assessments is known as the active expense ratio. The active expense ratio was introduced by Professor Ross Miller, a finance professor at the State University of New York at Albany. Professor Miller basically compares a fund's R-squared rating with the excess annual fees charged by the fund to determine a fund's "effective" annual fees and expenses.

In our example, the active expense ratio calculates to an effective annual active expense ratio fee of 3.02% for the active management of the fund, a little over 200% higher than the stated fees and expenses. For the four mutual funds in our sample portfolio, the active expense ratios were as follows.

American Funds Growth

R-Squared - 98.34

Stated Expense Ratio - 0.69%

Active Expense Ratio - 4.44%

Oppenheimer Discovery

R-Squared - 93.43

Stated Expense Ratio - 1.34%

Active Expense Ratio - 4.63%

Fidelity Worldwide

R-Squared - 97.58

Stated Expense Ratio - 0.71%

Active Expense Ratio - 3.06%

PIMCO Total Return

R-Squared - 68.43

Stated Expense Ratio - 0.56%

Active Expense Ratio - 0.53%

There are those who may argue that the active expense ratio is misleading. However, when an actively managed fund derives most of its performance from an index and an investor can obtain that same index's performance at a much lower cost, one has to question the wisdom of reducing one's investment returns by paying "money for nothing" and reducing one's investment returns. Why pay three times more for essentially the same results?

And yet investors do it every day, impacted by "truth" and "authority" biases they may not even be aware of. Some investors have no choice, as their company's retirement plan may only offer actively managed, commissioned-based investment options as a result of their plan's fiduciary being influenced by their own "truth" and "authority" biases. Armed with the knowledge of both these biases and active expense ratios, it would not be surprising to see both plan participants and plan fiduciaries act to provide more meaningful investment options within retirement plans.

Wealth Management and Cognitive Biases

"Anchoring" is one of the strongest cognitive biases and, with regard to investing and wealth management, one of the most potentially destructive influences on wealth preservation. Anchoring can be defined as a reluctance to retreat from existing beliefs and decisions and a resistance to even consider new or opposing information.

The difficulty with addressing anchoring bias can summed up with the observation from noted economist John Maynard Keynes that "the difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from the old ones" and that "worldly wisdom teaches us that it is better for reputation to fail conventionally than to succeed unconventionally." Beliefs often become truths, regardless of whether such beliefs are valid, often resulting in unnecessary risk and financial loss.

A perfect example of the potential negative impact of anchoring can be seen in investors that adopt a buy-and-hold approach to wealth management, or, as buy-and-hold critics often refer to the strategy, the "buy, forget and regret" approach. It is interesting to note that the buy-and hold approach to wealth management is apparently derived from an ongoing misinterpretation of a famous financial study.

A 1986 study, commonly known as the Brinson-Hood-Beebower (BHB) study, concluded that approximately 94% of the variability of a portfolio's returns was attributable to the portfolio's asset allocation mix. The study made no representations whatsoever regarding the impact of asset allocation on a portfolio's actual returns, only on the variability of a portfolio's returns.

Nevertheless, financial advisers and investment companies misrepresent the study's findings to support their buy-and-hold argument, claiming that all an investor has to do for investment success is to set up an appropriate initial asset allocation and maintain that allocation since the BHB study proved that asset allocation determines 94% of an investor's returns. The problem is that many investors have read or heard this mantra so often that they have fallen prey to the "truth" and "authority" biases and the misrepresentations are now firmly anchored into their personal beliefs.

It is interesting to note that the buy-and-hold approach is not derived from the works of the early pioneers of wealth management, Nobel laureates Dr. Harry Markowitz, the father of Modern Portfolio Theory, and Dr. William Sharpe. In fact, Dr, Sharpe has recently stated that investors should change their asset allocation in response to changes in market values. A recent study by asset allocation expert Roger Ibbotson has rebuffed the buy-and-hold strategy, stating that active management and asset allocation have about the same impact on a portfolio's performance.

There are many investment professionals who would argue that the buy-and-hold approach is fundamentally sound and does not constitute investment fraud. These professionals usually claim that anything other than a buy-and-hold approach, with an occasional rebalancing to restore the original asset allocation parameters, constitutes market timing, which is both costly and ineffective.

From a legal perspective, what buy-and-hold advocates fail to realize is that the buy-and-hold approach completely ignores the proven cyclical nature of the market and t the Prudent Investor Act, whose guidelines which are often used by regulatory bodies and the courts in determining questions of fraud and prudent fiduciary conduct. The Prudent Investor Act clearly states that a fiduciary should make changes in an investment portfolio when changes in the market or economy dictate such changes are necessary in order to protect the portfolio against unnecessary risk and losses.

The classic definition of market timing involves having all of one's assets either in the market or out of the market. The potential tax implications and the difficulty in perfectly timing the stock make such a strategy practically impossible. Reallocating some of one's resources to reduce risk exposure is not market timing, but smart, defensive investing.

Smart investors would do well to heed the advice of noted investor Ben Graham, who warned that "the essence of investment management is the management of risks, not the management of returns. Well managed portfolios start with this precept." Various studies support Graham's postion, with such studies documenting the fact that avoiding losses has a much greater impact than missing potential returns.

Many investors suffered unnecessary investment losses during the recent 2000-2002 and 2008 bear markets due to their cognitive biases regarding the buy-and-hold approach to investing and their refusal to objectively consider other investment approaches. Unfortunately, these same investors will likely continue to suffer unnecessary investment losses unless and until they recognize their cognitive biases and objectively examine their investment strategy. As George Santayana pointed out, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Conclusion

Investment fraud is a pervasive problem. While various statistics are often cited as evidence of the problem, the truth is that such numbers are only a small percentage of the actual cases of investment fraud, as many cases go unreported and many victims of investment fraud are unaware that they are victims due to the subtlety or complexity of the fraud itself.

An emerging theory of investment fraud is that investors are susceptible to investment fraud due to cognitive biases and/or cognitive deficits that impair their ability to properly analyze investment situations and the recommendations of their financial advisers. It is imperative that investors become aware of and overcome potentially harmful personal biases, such as "truth" bias, "authority" bias and anchoring, in order to properly analyze investment options and better protect their financial security.

© Copyright 2011, InvestSense, LLC. All rights reserved.

This article is for informational purposes only, and is not designed or intended to provide legal, investment, or other professional advice since such advice always requires consideration of individual circumstances. If legal, investment, or other professional assistance is needed, the services of an attorney or other professional adviser should be sought.

Notes

1. Jayne W. Barnard, "Deceptions, Decisions and Investor Education," Elder Law Journal, Vol. 17, No. 2 (2010), 201.

APPENDIX A

Low Risk Portfolio

Investment Parameters > Age: 50 > Assets: $250,000 > Risk Tolerance: Low > Tax Bracket: 25% > Economic Outlook: Moderate > Income Needs: 4%

Recommended Allocation > Large Cap Equity - 23%, Midcap Equity - 13%, Small Cap Equity - 9%, Foreign Equity - 14%, Bonds - 23%, Municipal Bonds - 18%, Cash - 13%

Moderate Risk Portfolio

Investment Parameters > Age: 50 > Assets: $250,000 > Risk Tolerance: Moderate > Tax Bracket: 25% > Economic Outlook: Moderate > Income Needs: 4%

Recommended Allocation > Large Cap Equity - 21%, Midcap Equity - 14%, Small Cap Equity - 10%, Foreign Equity - 16%, Bonds - 26%, Municipal Bonds - 18%, Cash - 0%

High Risk Portfolio

Investment Parameters > Age: 50 > Assets: $250,000 > Risk Tolerance: High > Tax Bracket: 25% > Economic Outlook: Moderate > Income Needs: 4%

Recommended Allocation>Large Cap Equity - 20%, Midcap Equity - 16%, Small Cap Equity - 13%, Foreign Equity - 17%, Bonds - 24%, Municipal Bonds - 0%, Cash - 10%

APPENDIX B

3-5 Year Investment Time Horizon

Low Risk Tolerance: Bonds - 70%, Large Cap Equity - 15%, Small Cap Equity - 5%, Foreign Equity - 10%

Moderate Risk Tolerance: Bonds - 50%, Large Cap Equity - 25%, Small Cap Equity - 10%, Foreign Equity - 15%

High Risk Tolerance: Bonds - 60%, Large Cap Equity - 20%, Small Cap Equity - 10%, Foreign Equity - 10%

5-10 Year Investment Time Horizon

Low Risk Tolerance: Bonds - 50%, Large Cap Equity - 25%, Small Cap Equity - 10%, Foreign Equity - 15%

Moderate Risk Tolerance: Bonds - 65%, Large Cap Equity - 20%, Small Cap Equity - 5%, Foreign Equity - 10%

High Risk Tolerance: Bonds - 40%, Large Cap Equity - 30%, Small Cap Equity - ]15%, Foreign Equity - 15%

10-20 Year Investment Time Horizon

Low Risk Tolerance: Bonds - 30%, Large Cap Equity - 30%, Small Cap Equity - 20%, Foreign Equity - 20%

Moderate Risk Tolerance:Bonds - 25%, Large Cap Equity - 35%, Small Cap Equity - 20%, Foreign Equity - 20%

High Risk Tolerance: Bonds - 20%, Large Cap Equity - 40%, Small Cap Equity -20%, Foreign Equity - 20%

Recommended to Get a Tutor For a Child

Parents who are thinking about getting a tutor for their child should make sure that they have concrete evidence that their child needs assistance. Four ways to see when a tutor is needed to help one's child include the following:

1. History of Learning Difficulties: If one's child has a history of learning difficulties in a certain subject, then it is very important to have a tutor available for him or her. A tutor can help one's child with building confidence, reviewing content, and making connections with new content so that the child can apply the content to their studies.

In addition, parents may want to have a tutor on-call when they discover that their child need assistance on a certain unit. While this strategy is recommended for homework help, this can also be effective when working with instructional or strategic tutors who specializes in a certain area and are available to help one's child with his or her learning needs.

2. Difficulties on Homework: Parents should not wait until the last week of the current grading term to find a tutor. Parents should monitor on a daily basis on whether their child is doing well on their homework. This will give parents an informal assessment that their child need assistance with a specific concept and a tutor should be called in to help their child.

Homework is critical in helping students learn and parents should make sure that they pay close attention to whether their child is completing their homework with little difficulty.

3. Lack of Interest In Work: Some parents often seek tutors when they discover their child's lack of interest in their work. It does not necessary mean that he or she is having issues with the content, but it may be that another issue is at hand. When children are not interested in their work, this could mean that they do not see a value in completing the homework assignment or the work may not be academically challenging for them.

Therefore, a tutor can help by bringing in an accelerated curriculum that can either be designed to work with what the child is learning in class or designed to work on advanced topics. In either case, the child would benefit because it will give them the challenge and confidence that they are seeking.

4. Teacher Recommendations: Teachers work with one's child on a daily basis and have the best advice about one's child in the classroom. In the event that a teacher recommends tutoring for one's child, then it would be a great idea to search around for a qualified tutor who can help him or her. Also, individuals should ask their child's teacher for recommendations as they will have a network of tutors who will be able to assist parents with their child's learning needs.

These are four ways in which parents may begin to see that their child is in need of a tutor. Tutors are change agents who inspire to learn and serve others. Therefore, every child should have a tutor available to him or her when a learning need arises.

Stock Market Success Of Rosenberg's Eight Commandments

So with that introduction, let me give you Mr. Rosenberg's eight commandments on how to successfully invest.

#1 Do not be concerned with where a stock has already been - instead, be concerned with where it is going. The important thing is what lies ahead, not what has already transpired...

Focus on a company's future - its earning, growth potential. Then make a well-researched judgment on whether you're paying the right price today for its future earnings stream. If a stock is pricier than its future growth potential, do not buy it.

#2 Do not concern yourself as much with the market in general as with the outlook for your individual stocks---and this is key for today's market.

Most investors base their buying and selling on overall market sentiment. Mr. Rosenberg believes this is a fallacy. He believed in buying good value as it appears and do not let the general market sentiment alter your decision.

#3 Remember... the public is generally wrong. He said: The masses are not well informed about investments and the stock market. They have not disciplined themselves correctly to make the right choices in the right industries at the right prices. They are moved mainly by their emotions, and history has proved them to be wrong consistently.

#4 Do not make hasty, emotional decisions about buying and selling stocks.

In fact, if you've heard my commentaries on this show, you'll know that I keep insisting that you have peace of mind through all sorts of market gyrations, and always sleep well at night. It is very easy to get caught in the trap of emotions amidst media noise and peer pressure... build your discipline so you are emotionally detached from the market, and stay focused and attached to your long-term investment strategy, and you will do well.

#5 Stocks always look worst at the bottom of a bear market when everything is the most gloomy and always look best at the top of a bull market (when everybody is optimistic).

Again, as many of my listeners know, I recently said Bad Markets Make Good Friends, and this is exactly Mr. Rosenberg's point - the best time to buy is when markets are beaten up and no one else is buying. In the man's own words: Have strength and buy when things do look bleak and sell when they look too good to be true.

#6 Remember too, that you'll seldom-if ever-buy stocks right at the bottom or sell them right at the top.
Not words you want to hear, for sure, but there is a lot of experience, truth and wisdom in them. As I've said in the past, never try and overly finesse the market's every turn. Buy when stocks generally appear underpriced without looking for new bottoms, and sell when stocks reach or exceed your expectation of fair value.

#7 Beware of following stock market "fads." (biotech, internet, emerging markets)

As he says..."the stock market occasionally develops fads for certain industries. In almost all cases a sudden rush to buy the fad stocks pushes them to price levels which are totally unwarranted. When you buy at the height of popularity you almost always pay prices which have little relationship to value..." Most recently, Real Estate fit this description. Is it Gold the new fad of the day?

#8 Concentrate on quality.

Three simple words with a lot of depth. You've heard me say this too, many times; so this time, let's hear it from the master himself:

"While big profits are often made through buying and selling poor quality common stocks, your success in the stock market is far, far more assured if you emphasize quality in your stock selections. Too many investors shy away from the top-notch companies in search of rags-to-riches performers. These low-grade issues are certainly no foundation for a good portfolio; instead, the fine, well-managed companies should form the backbone.... fabulous fortunes have been made over the years in such high quality, non-speculative stocks as Carnation, Procter and Gamble, and others. "

Most of you have likely never heard of Claude Rosenberg but he certainly left his philosophical imprint on the investing world. Rosenberg founded money management firm Rosenberg Capital Management, grew assets under management to $40 billion, and made a fortune. Now, Mr. Rosenberg made a lot of money because he was a very disciplined investor and closely adhered to his investing philosophy through thick and thin.

In fact, as many of you know, I have a similar philosophy and, notwithstanding the risk of getting repetitive and boring - I will keep telling you to stay on the road through highs and lows, to ignore the noise, to not abandon stocks when they are down, and so on. I wanted to share Mr. Rosenberg's investing guidelines with you today, partly as a reminder on sound investing principals in confusing times such as these, and partly as a validation of everything we have been discussing over the years on my show and now my blog.

Penny Auctions Sites Of Principles

Items are placed on a site and then bidders pay a small fee to be able to bid against one another and also against a clock that has started to count down. The person who places the last bid before the time runs out wins the item. Typically this is well below any price you will find in a High Street Retail Store. The actual website generates its profits as it keeps all of the money that the group of bidders had placed. So you can see there will be a few losers in this process, but because the amount lost is so small, combined with the excitement of the auction, the loss is not really that important. If you are particularly keen to win something then a clever bid at the right moment will get you what you want. There are many of these sites so you really need to use the best penny auction sites to avoid being ripped off and to get the better range of products.

The other reasons why you need to find the penny auction sites is that these types of business are volatile and not generally subject to any type of regulation. That process is now being addressed slowly, so you need to search out those ethical businesses that are managing this type of venture. Here are my recommendations for the best penny auction sites.

There appears to be a proliferation of what are termed penny auction websites evolving quickly across the Internet. The quality is mixed so I thought it would be of value to create a review of what I believe to be the best penny auction sites. Before I do that, it is worth spending just a little time to get a proper and definitive understanding of the purpose of these websites and why they are becoming a very popular attraction for the online bargain hunter. For information purposes you may also see this website genre referred to as "pay to bid" auctions, or bidding fee auctions. Irrespective of the name, the characteristics remain the same and I will explain the core principle below.

One that is recommended and they have reverse auctions, auctions for beginners and free auctions. The free auction option is good but if you bid at the last minute the site extends the time making it at times an annoying and prolonged event. Bidcactus.com is also good and probably one of the easiest to navigate and follow. They seem to keep things simple and there are good customer support and advice and are one of the best penny auction sites. They do however seem to focus a lot on gift cards for the leading brand stores.

Dealdash.com is a well accredited site and they have good product choice. They have shipped over 70,000 products and the site is clean and easy to use. Pennypurses.com is another site that has stood the test of time and is aimed at the female shopper. Once again very good customer support and easy to contact and do business with. These are four of the best penny auction sites and they have been around for a long time unlike many others who simply come and go.

Diatomaceous Earth: How Ancient Fossils Can Protect Your Pet From Fleas and Ticks

Can a prehistoric creature that lived thousands of years ago help protect your pet from fleas today?

Actually, yes.

Fossilized single-celled creatures called diatoms compose diatomaceous earth (also called diatomite or fossil shell flour), which KILLS fleas and other insects naturally and very effectively.

In addition to pest control for your pets, diatomite has many other uses, including natural household pest control, pest control in the garden and farming. In its natural form it is organic, non-toxic and safe to use. There are other forms that are not safe to use (see below).

Diatomaceous earth can help kill fleas, ticks, lice and other pests on dogs, cats and other animals. Unlike other chemical or synthetic forms of pest control which may actually be nerve agents or toxic pesticides, diatomaceous earth is natural... it kills mechanically or by physical action, not chemical, by puncturing the insect's exoskeleton and absorbing the moisture in their bodies. All that has to happen is that the powder comes into contact with the flea or other insect.

Diatomite is also used in gardens to help control aphids, loopers, leaf hoppers, white flies, beetles, mites and other pests. In these types of uses the powder is best applied with a duster or flour sifter when the leaves are moist. After a rain the powder may need to re-applied.

In your home, diatomite can also help kill other pests such as roaches, silverfish, ants, flies, box elder bugs, scorpions, crickets, and many other insects without potentially harmful pesticides. It can also be an effective and natural way to kill bed bugs without putting toxic chemicals in your bed.

Diatomaceous earth can help eliminate the need to use controversial nerve agents such as those used in once-monthly flea and tick treatments, or potentially harmful pesticides and other chemicals used in flea powders, sprays and soaps that warn humans on the label to avoid contact with it. If the product is warning you to stay away from it, why would you put it on your pet?

IMPORTANT: Not all forms of diatomaceous earth or diatomite are safe to use around people or pets! Some forms, such as those used for pool filters, are heated and treated with chemical flux and contain large amounts of crystalline silica which is very sharp and hazardous to breathe. The more natural form of diatomite contains amorphous silica, which can cause dusty lungs, but does not carry the same degree of risk as crystalline silica. Always be sure you are using FOOD GRADE diatomaceous earth around people and pets.

For use around people and pets you should use only food grade diatomaceous earth, available from natural pet supply stores.

Natural diatomite is a white to off-white powder. It can be used as directed on pet's coat and around the home. I have also sprinkled it outside my home to keep a flea-free barrier for my pets to run in and out of the house.

Thank you, little natural fossils, for keeping our homes and pets free from annoying insects without drugs and harmful synthetic chemicals.

Copyright: You may freely republish this article, provided that the text, author credit, the active links and this copyright notice remain intact.

Three Things Women Don't Know About Men

When dealing with relationships, women are very thoughtful. By thoughtful, meaning full of thoughts and ideas. In other words, women use their brains to "think through" their intimate encounters. Studies show that a greater percentage of women will leave a relationship if they feel that their significant other does not love them anymore. However, a greater percentage of men will leave a relationship if they fall in love with someone else.

This is a big difference in the way each gender thinks about relationships. Women are more considerate and thoughtful--using their minds, while men are more impulsive and raw--using their hearts (also referred to as genitals). Not to say that either way is more correct than the other, just to say that the first step to increased harmony is the realization of this fact.

Here are three facts about men that may come as a surprise to most women.

1 - Men Only Need Minimal Details

Many women like to explain every fact, figure, and manipulation for every subject, no matter how relevant/irrelevant. In addition to this, women prefer to listen to dialogue in this manner. This presents a problem because men rarely converse in this manner, barring excitement. But women usually speak this way, regardless of mood. This leads to frustration on both sides. As a general rule, when speaking to men, listen for their questions, then expound (minimally) on that topic. If they want to know more, they will ask another question. If the man does not ask any questions, he may not be interested in what you are talking about, and it may be a better idea to ask him a question instead. This gives him a chance to introduce what's on his mind. Be aware that the way in which women ask questions can also irritate a man.

TIP: Do not ask a man "What if...?" instead ask "Do you think...?" It may be subtle, but what if? questions can be interpreted as pointless questions that may never occur, whereas do you think? questions force you to consider the question as though it would happen in the future. Men respond better to questions of this sort. However, women prefer to entertain what if? thoughts over do you think? questions. This is a slight, but pivotal difference between men and women.

2 - The More A Woman Trusts A Man, The More She Will Be On His Mind

This mostly applies to when men spend alone time with "the fellas" or even in solitude. Men like women who are caring, but can also bear inattention. If you get upset over too much inattention, it shows the man that you care about him, and this is a good argument to have. But if you get upset over one or two nights out with the guys, he will interpret that as jealousy and/or neediness, which are two unattractive qualities to men. Instead, encourage the man to spend time with his friends, an indication of the trust you have for him. On top of this, spend some alone time with your friends while waiting for his return. If the man gets upset at you spending time with your friends, it would show his lack of trust for you, something that should be addressed and worked on over time.

TIP: After his night out, do not ask "What did you guys do...?" or any other form of the question, instead ask "How was it...?" and allow the man to respond from impulse. Be cautious of trying to probe beyond the answer he gives, especially if he gives a short and simple response. If you can show him that you weren't up all night worrying about what he was doing (even if you were), it further demonstrates the trust you have for him. In turn, he may surprise you by going into more detail in the future, even during the same conversation.

3 - Men Slowly Change Their Minds Over Time

Many men will not admit this last one, even when it occurs. The reason is because we are very impulsive. We do not assess our feelings on a daily basis. We may feel a certain way one week/month/year, but may feel completely different later on. The change could be faster or slower, depending on the person/issue. However, most of this change will be internal. Meaning that it will be nearly impossible to notice on the surface. If you want to change a man's mind on an issue, you cannot constantly remind him of the issue because it gives inadequate time for the internal results to take place. Instead, bring up the issue once, and if there is no resolve, simply agree that you guys are having a disagreement. Then let it rest for awhile (6-12 months suggested), then present the issue again as if it never came up. Surprisingly, he may hold a softer position than he did previously. However, I would strongly advise not trying this for every disagreement that arises.

TIP: Men are quicker to forgive and forget an argument than women. Women tend to hold on longer. While the perception of arguing may seem negative, remember that some arguments are necessary for healthy relationships. Yet, many women cause arguments to increase in intensity when they consistently remind the man of the issue, rather than allowing him to forgive and forget.

The best advice: Do not try and "win" a man's heart. Men will slowly open up over time. But the more you try to impress, convince, or change him (using your thoughtfulness and consideration), the more his impulses (and genitals) will be compromised. Try just one of the tips above, and see if you notice a difference.

Matthew 18 Community - A Primer on Relationships

Introduction

Aahhhhh, relationships...you can't live with 'em and you can't live without 'em!

We are relational beings and every role that we fulfill, whether at home, work, school, church or society is vitally connected to other people. (Isn't that the pits?) But seriously, doesn't the quality of your life depend completely on the quality of the relationships that you cultivate every day? If we are off in even one of the above spheres (let alone a few of them), then we are left to trudge through our daily existence without much joy, depth or satisfaction.

A neglected investment

It is interesting to note that we can spend time and money to improve virtually every aspect of our life. Whether it is a gym membership, a pair of new glasses, a nicer car, our kids' piano lessons, a new wardrobe, dinner and a movie, or what have you. We are often even willing to sacrifice to procure these things.

And yet, in this area of relationships, the part of our being that is so crucial and so central to our existence, we find it easy to skimp, and we don't invest the time (or the money) that these personal connections deserve. A lot of times, we let them run on auto-pilot, and little grievances with our spouse, partner, parent or co-worker seem to grow into these walls of indifference, or bitterness, or resentment that simply rob us of so much valuable energy and fulfillment.

Matthew 18 Community

I coined the phrase Matthew 18 Community as a way to describe a core set of relational principles found in the 18th chapter of Matthew's gospel. It is my desire that these ideals would be embodied in every one of the critical spheres of our lives that touch other people. Thus, if you put these principles into practice, you automatically become part of the Matthew 18 Community.

If you want, you can go and read the chapter now to get a sense for the ideas. Over the next several weeks we'll be diving into many great topics including:

- How humility can transform your relationships

- Are you a relational stumbling block?

- The nature of conflict

- Confronting conflict head-on

- Reconciliation in relationships

- The power of forgiveness to heal you

And much more! I do hope you can make a commitment to become an integral part of the Matthew 18 Community. Look for more updates in the coming weeks!

Til next week...

Our next post will be on a very misunderstood topic, "Humility" and on how it can absolutely transform all of your relationships.

I look forward to speaking with you again soon!

Six Secret Ways to Protect Pets From Fleas And Ticks Without Chemicals

It's all so gross! Fleas, ticks, mosquitoes and bed bugs prey on us and our pets, feasting on our blood, injecting us with germs and potentially deadly pathogens, excreting poop in our hair, on our skin and in our homes.

This is completely unacceptable!

But to many of us, the toxic chemicals in many flea and tick treatments are also unacceptable. Have you read the warnings on those labels lately?

The good news is that there are plenty of safe, natural treatments for fleas and ticks so we don't have to rely on chemicals.

If you're like me and you'd prefer a much safer, natural way to protect our pets and our families from fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, flies and other pests, here are my six secret natural weapons in the war against these pests. Most or all of them are completely safe, drug and chemical free, pleasant, natural and affordable:

1. Secret treatment Number One: Garlic. In addition to its many other valuable health benefits as an anti-fungal and antibiotic, garlic makes your pet's blood completely unattractive to pests like fleas, ticks and mosquitoes that would otherwise make a meal of your pet's blood. Easy-to-give garlic supplements are available and with a pet's advice you can also give your pet raw garlic. (Don't try raw garlic without instructions from your veterinarian.)

2. Secret treatment Number Two: Neem Spray. Neem spray is made of natural neem and citronella. It can be sprayed directly on your pet (follow instructions) to repel and kill fleas, ticks and larvae.

3. Secret treatment Number Three: Neem Shampoo. Again, made of valuable Neem from the near east, this shampoo works synergistically with Neem spray to kill and repel fleas and ticks effectively and naturally without side effects.

4. Secret treatmentt Number Four: Herbal sprays. Certain compounds such as cedar oil, geranium oil, rosemary and clove oils repel fleas, ticks and flies. Natural, herbal sprays contain these helpful ingredients and smell great to humans but repel fleas, ticks and flies. They can be sprayed directly on pet (watch out for eyes) and on their bedding.

5. Secret treatment Number Five: Diatomaceous Earth. A powerful secret weapon in your fight against fleas, ticks, bed bugs and other insects, diatomaceous earth, which is a white powder made of fossils, cuts into insects and kills them. Around people and pets, be sure you only use food grade diatomaceous earth which does not contain more than 1% crystalline silica and can be used as directed on pets skin and coat, bedding, rugs and other places where fleas and ticks can come into contact with it and die.

6. Secret treatment Number Six: Homeopathic remedies. Homeopathic remedies treat many conditions ranging from pet anxiety to skin problems. Specific remedies can help protect pets from fleas and ticks and their affects on skin, without side effects or chemicals. Just squirt in your pet's mouth as directed.

If you're afraid of the labels on some flea and tick products and reluctant to bring those controversial chemicals into your home and on your pets, join me in using all natural treatments to protect our beloved pets from fleas and ticks naturally.

Grooming For Your Pet

Our pets are special to us. They're part of the family! Keeping them well-groomed is an essential part of their care. Having the right tools to work with helps make their care easy for you and your pet. Beginning to groom a pet early in life is ideal, as they will become accustomed to the process and enjoy the special time with their parent.

Selecting a good trimmer is easier than ever if you know what to look for. Select one that fits your pet. Some models come with multiple attachments. You have the option of selecting a battery operated model if you do not have access to an outlet where you trim your pet. With the convenience of cordless operation you are not limited to where you do the trimming. Choose a slim, lightweight model to keep you from getting tired on larger animals.

If you need to trim delicate areas, such as around the eyes or ears, choose a trimmer that is small, compact and made for trimming that area.

A professional trimmer gives you options. Select one that is maintenance free where it will not need oiling or greasing of internal parts. These clippers are quiet to help ease your pet's anxieties. Motors are usually powerful in the professional models and are designed for heavy-duty use and long life. Features can include detachable blades for easy changing and cleaning, cool running motors, break-resistant housing, contoured to fit your hand and reduce fatigue, multiple blade attachments and multiple speeds.

Trimmers are now available with a duel LED light positioned to cast ultra bright white light that allows expert grooming, even in dark, shadowed areas.

Don't forget their nails! All pets get jagged nails from time to time. Keep them well manicured and avoid scratches on floors and furniture. Your pet will look great too! You can choose from a two-speed nail grinder to the more traditional nail clippers.

Brushes and comb are essential to your pets health. Stiff, nylon bristles smooth coat for shiny appearance and helps distribute healthy coat oils. A flea comb removes fleas/eggs and grooms around face and eyes.

When purchasing a shampoo for your pet, consider if your pet has any skin problems. Shampooing your pet regularly promotes a healthy and shiny coat.

Keeping your pets teeth clean has never been easier! Your pet can now have his/her own toothbrush! They are also available in a mini finger toothbrush where you can slide the tip onto your finger and gently brush your pets teeth.

Having a healthy pet is what everyone wants. Give your pet the best care you can and the rewards you receive will be worth it.

Time And Space Continuum

Space...the final frontier..." Not!!!

There is something much larger, much deeper and much darker. Try marriage. Time rifts, black holes, even alien beings...have nothing on being married. You talk about a final frontier...yeah buddy...marriage is definitely a voyage that can turn out to be the ride of your life, with or without a spaceship!

When you're on the launch pad of life and the countdown to your future with your mate is ticking away as you're about to be lifted into the great unknown and you're strapped in for dear life...the imagination has a tendency to run a little rampant. There's nothing spacey about marriage, in fact, it's as vast as space itself. Like the rings placed on the fingers of those to be wed, the symbolism that binds the two is indeed an infinite and wonderful prospect.

Being married for these 30 plus years has led to some very interesting "trips" into the realm of the space of a different kind. No, I have not come across any little green beings in these many years of travels, but I must say that there have been times when I've been awakened to be staring at the face of something very alien looking in various shades of lime green, pastel peach, very berry or passionate purple staring back at me! Cold creams to make that face look more appealing and tempting...errr...ok.

Man...there was this one time I woke up and there was a shade of blue on her face that nearly stopped me cold in my tracks. Marriage is neither alien nor foreign, if fact, it is considered by most to be a great voyage to be taken well into the stars of far off places like love, compassion, peace, harmony, trust and security. Some pretty far flung planets to navigate indeed.

There are many, many bright things to encounter along the way and yes, I know...it's not at all bright and shiny all the time. But that is one of the beauties of being married. Getting to the bright and shiny things in life together. Traveling to and through the many voids of life and space and time to seek out and define a new life together. To go where many men have gone before you. Nothing alien about it. Yours is to be a lasting journey, blazing the trails of those who have gone before you and at the same time, making your own path to Mars (her family) and beyond. Never mind the theory of men, women,mars and venus...you have your own planets to explore, your own galaxies to discover.

Courage and Compassion

It was a dark night in Memphis. I was heading to the hotel. Friendly people on the corner greeted me. As I turned to respond, I missed the curb and BAM! In an instant I was on the ground. My glasses flew off my face and my bag went flying. Yowee. Kazowee!

All is well, just a scrape here and bruise there. No big deal. The big deal came later as I sat down to reflect on what happened. I have fallen in the past, on ski slopes, in the back yard, on stage (during rehearsal, thank goodness) and countless other places. In fact, I remember my father saying that I could trip over a rose in the carpet. It seems I was way over due for a little self reflection about this pattern.

A practice of self reflection can help us unearth old tendencies and release patterns of feeling and being. Moreover, self reflection goes a long way towards cultivating greater self awareness. Engaging in rigorous and honest self reflection demands both courage and compassion. For in order to cultivate a life long discipline of self reflection, you need to know that you are not going to beat yourself up every time you find yourself "less than" some ideal image you hold of who and how you should be...so you need self compassion. And, courage, hooboy do you need courage to be honest with yourself as you reflect!

Can you see how this works? Because if you are going to be rigorously honest with yourself, you need the courage to face what you find. And if you are going to willingly address what you find, you need to be compassionate with yourself so that you can face whatever you've found with a kind heart.

What I found is an old pattern rooted in a fall I took as a child and the guilt I felt about that fall. I also found a feeling of fear about my body. Armed with this knowledge, I was able to dismantle the intrapsychic structures supporting this old tendency using spiritual technology.

Spiritual technology processes are fabulous tools that aid in releasing the tensions that accumulate in life and beyond that, they provide a means of releasing the pain caused by being caught between pairs of opposites. In this case, it was the duality of confidence and fear along with guilt and freedom that were influencing my behavior and my state.

What might change for you if you approached your self reflection with greater courage and compassion? Are there pairs of opposites showing up in your life that are contributing to patterns that don't support your well-being?

Orange Tips - How To Use The Colour Orange To Improve Your Life

The Colour Orange - An Overview

It is said that the colour orange is a colour that you either love or hate. Orange is a very sociable colour that stimulates our urge to socialise, be active but also stimulates our appetite. In Christianity orange is associated with gluttony whereas in the Native American tradition it is associated with kinship.

Imagine that in England in the Elizabethan era the colour orange could only be worn by some people and this was dictated by law. Orange symbolised courage.

Today most of us associate orange with flamboyance, sociability, enthusiasm, vibrant people, energy and warmth. It is a fun, warm colour and is sometimes worn by people who wish to attract attention. This can be due to the fact that they feel sociable or want to stand out from the crowd.

Orange is also associated with creativity and it can increase the supply of oxygen to the brain, stimulating mental activity and appetite. Young people are more accepting of orange and it has been very successful in the advertising industry for promoting food items and toys.

The Colour Orange-In Your Environment
As orange is such an energising colour that can encourage creativity, appetite and mental activity, it is the perfect choice for rooms which are chosen for some creative purpose or a social purpose.

In a bedroom it can be used in smaller does and it is best to choose a gold tone or a peach tone, or otherwise make sure it is a very small dose of orange.

"There is no blue without yellow and without orange." is a quote from Vincent Van Gogh. This is excellent advice in making orange work for you in your environment, as indigo is the complementary colour for orange.

So you could benefit from using orange in:

1. An office

2. A playroom

3. A studio (art, music etc.)

4. A restaurant

5. The dining room

6. The sitting room

7. The hallway

The Colour Orange-In The Chakra System

The word chakra is a Sanskrit word which means wheel. According to some traditions, we have a number of chakras in our bodies. These chakras move in a spiral distributing energy and consciousness. If our chakras are balanced your health should be very good, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

Orange is the colour of the second chakra which can be found just below the naval. When this chakra is blocked you may have sexual guilt or emotional problems. The second chakra, also called the Spleen Chakra or Sacral Chakra, relates to reproductive and sexual capacity.

If you feel you may not be as happy emotionally as you would like to be, introduce some orange into the environment, clothes or gemstones that you wear. Check out the shades below to be sure that you are getting the optimum result.

The Colour Orange-Different Shades Mean Different Things
If the shade of orange is dark it can relate to or encourage feelings of deceit and distrust.

For the peak in sexual passion and enjoyment it is the red-orange shade of orange which you need to involve in either your clothing or environment. This shade also encourages feelings of dominance and a desire to act.

A shade of orange that has element of gold encourages feelings of prestige. These golden orange hues help attract wealth, wisdom and quality.

If you want to inject some orange into your own environment or as a present into someone else's life, then own great option is the range of Bombay Duck door knobs. These colourful glass door knobs come in a range of designs and colours, which include different shades of orange.

One last thought, which is that orange in a kitchen or a family eating area should be used according to the eating habits of the family. What does this mean? As orange can stimulate our appetites it may not be wise to have too much of it around if you wish to diet or not feel mysteriously encouraged to eat more than you may need!

A New Legend In RC Airplanes: The Parkzone Corsair

An unbelievably life-like copy of the F4U Corsair fighter plane is now available to the delight of hobbyist who love the joy of flying RC aircraft. Most demanding pilots are not disappointed with the Parkzone Corsair RC controlled airplane.

The Great Story Of The F4U Corsair

It completed its inaugural flight from an airfield in Guadulcanal. Ships patrolling the Pacific Ocean later on deployed this uniquely designed fighter.They carried more payload than jets and could stay on station longer, based on military historians. During the first 10 months of the Korean War, Corsairs were used for 90 % of all ground-support objectives by Navy and Marine pilots.

Easy RC Plane Assembly

An inverted gull wing design is incorporated with the style of the Parkzone Corsair. This unique configuration helped the original planes to lift off from the decks of air craft carriers and quickly reach a maximum speed of 400 mph. With the rc plane, the wing design enables the hobbyist to easily throw the plane up and see a great take off. Within a few minutes of unpacking the plane, it is ready to fly. Assembling the parts in their correct locations is about the only requirement for the hobbyist.

Every kit has the following:

• Wing with aileron servos installed and connected to ailerons
• Receiver in molded fuselage with engine, ESC, & elevator & rudder servos installed
• 3 blade as well as 2 blade propellers
• 3 cell Lipoly 1800mAh battery
• Charger with automobile accessory connector
• Full range transmitter Spektrum DX5e 2.4GHz
• Full range receiver Spektrum AR500 5-channel
• Four double A batteries - Wing skids and Landing gear
• Instruction guides

Great Flying Fun With The Corsair

The final test with this type of plane involves its in-flight maneuverability, for anyone who is seriously interested in RC airplanes. Based on many of the toughest critics in the hobby, the Parkzone Corsair is really a delight to fly.It efficiently completes smooth turns and the figure "8". The radio control unit makes for outstanding acrobatics, not unlike the original which used this capability to avoid enemy bullets.

There is the choice of a 2 blade or a 3 blade propeller. The plane performed better in climbs and had better speed with the 2 blade propeller, as observed by some pilots. More stability during flight is achieved using the 3 blade prop. Test flyers noted that aerobatic maneuvers can be done with either type of prop, however the 2 blade prop comes out more defined in terms of rolls, loops, inverted flights and other moves."

The Parkzone Corsair rc controlled plane could become a legend in its own time, if history is any indicator. This plane will serve as a reminder of the fighter planes that helped win the war, for the hobbyist who loves nothing more than seeing one of these beautifully crafted aircraft rise into the sky.

Manufacturing and Personal Customization of Poker Chips

When it comes to poker chips there are a variety of different types to decide between. Your decision typically depends mostly on the quality of the chips you would like and how much you are looking to spend. In greater detail, some other considerations you may keep in mind are sturdiness over time, quality of manufacturing and design of graphics.

Kinds of Poker Chips

There are mainly three styles of poker chips that are accessible in the marketplace - plastic, composite and ceramic/clay. Plastic chips are the lowest-cost and the kind you may find in lots of mahjong sets. They do not belong to the highest quality and experienced poker players may not like plastic chips as they do not give the best texture or sound for the chips. The composite type is designed from a combination of plastic and mixing clay with a little bit of metal. As well, they have the appropriate weight and touch and are extremely long-lasting. The clay type is the chip of preference and though a little high-priced it is the highest favored chip by most professionals and casinos. The most noticeable contrast between ceramic and clay poker chips is that ceramic chips do not contain an inlay to the chips like clay chips do.

Color

Poker chips are available either in one color or possibly two or three various colors. In general the preferred choice is two color chips. They typically come printed either with the card suits on them or the faces of a dice.

Custom Personalized Chips

It has become a regular practice among casinos to get their poker chips personally customized primarily as an opportunity for characterizing themselves as well as to prevent stealing. They have been highly successful in their intentions. Individual players nonetheless have very different intentions to have their chips custom personalized. A personalized chip increases fascination to the game. Sophisticated designs that appeal to the taste of the player leaves the game more exciting and engaging.

A very good way to customize personally your chips is by hotstamping. You are able to personally customize your chips with your initials, on just one side or both sides, or you can get different letters on each side. Also, you can get the chips to meet your needs by custom stamping denominations of your liking beginning at 25 cents, up $10,000.

Keeping these variety of styles of chips in mind, you can make the most favorable decision for you and the poker playing experience you are looking for.

Select Adequate Play Equipment To Entertain Your Kids

Playground equipment are meant to provide the kids with hours of fun and entertainment. Modern play equipment are made of good quality materials, and available in various sizes and designs. While sourcing them, you should consider a reputed supplier, that will ensure you good quality equipment at reasonable prices.

Playgrounds assist in overall growth of kids. Playing in the ground, children forget all their school work pressure, and enjoy the moment. This gives rise to their physical, mental and social development. Apart from that, playing outside develops the vivid imagination of children. However, these structures are incomplete without suitable equipment installed. Playground equipment are the great source of fun for children, and help them to shape their emotional and social skills.

Today, market is full of different playground equipment available in several sizes, designs and colors. Equipment like slides, climbers, swings and spinning equipment are highly popular, and usually found in schools, parks and other play-areas. Slides or sliding equipment are one of the most popular play-equipment, and are an essential feature of any playground. Among modern sliding equipment, Bumpy. Curvy and Twisty slides are very popular. When talking about spinning equipment, they have dramatically changed in style over the years. Now, they come with a standing platform and a central pole which can be used both individually and by a group. Spinning equipment teach the kids on how to control weight distribution along with providing them hours of fun.

Similarly, balancing equipment are also very entertaining, and can easily be found in school playgrounds and local parks etc. They are available in a variety of options ranging from traditional balance beam and rope bridge to modern apparatus spring discs and swinging logs. Apart from them, equipment like climbers and hanging equipment are also very interesting, and help children in learning various skills. All these modern equipment come with safe and sturdy designs, and are made of high quality materials.

You should consider some important things, while purchasing playground equipment. First of all, determine the size and design of equipment that will match your requirements. You should consider the space available in the ground, and the age and height of children who are likely to play with these equipment. Besides this, make sure the equipment you are buying are designed to be safe and sturdy. You need to check the quality of material used to make them, and for any sharp or cutting edge with the equipment. It's always recommended to buy those equipment which have been tested for load bearing feature and other safety standards. Your budget is another important consideration while buying these equipment. So, make sure the equipment you're sourcing lie within your financial frame. As the equipment will remain outside and will face varied weather conditions, you need to consider the one which can withstand all weather conditions.