The 7 Characteristics of Good Domain Names

Domain names are the real estate of the Internet. Just as a good location is vital for a bricks and mortar business, a good domain name will be the corner stone of your website’s success. But how to identify them? Below you will find the 7 characteristics of good domain names.

1. They are short

Good domain names are short. It is not a coincidence that all the three-letter and four-letter .com domains are already gone, and that the five-letter ones are going fast as well.

There is no definite number of characters that you should aim for, just remember that the shorter the better. If you really need some guidance, try to go below 10 characters, and never exceed 20.

As for the number of words, one-word domains are gold, two-word ones are good, three-word domains are average, and above that it is usually a bad idea.

Example: Quotes.com is a superb domain and probably worth millions of dollars. ProQuotes.com is a good two-word domain worth thousands of dollars. ProQuotesNow.com is an average domain and could be used for a website. YourProQuotesNow.com is plain worthless.

2. They are easy to remember

Many Internet users do not use bookmarks. They just memorize the domains of their favorite websites and type them whenever they wan to visit one. Guess what, if your domain is complex and not easy to remember you will lose these visitors along the way.

Example: Brcwr.com is a short domain name, but is not easy to remember at all, so it would be a bad idea to use it for your website (unless the initials represent the name of the website or a memorable message).

3. They are easy to spell

The last thing you want is visitors misspelling your domain and ending up somewhere else.

Avoid unusual foreign words, words that have complex pronunciation, strange combinations of letters and anything else that might cause someone to misspell your address.

Example: CappuccinoBar.com might be problematic for English speaking visitors. Cappuccino is an Italian word, and not everyone is aware where the doubles are placed.

4. They have a .com extension

Organizations might prefer to register a .org domain, and companies targeting very specific geographical regions might want to register a local domain (e.g. .it, .co.uk, .cn and so on). Apart from these cases, however, a .com domain is always the best way to go. This extension is the most popular around the around, and it is already stuck in people’s mind.

Visitors coming to your site via search engines or organic links will pay attention mostly to the name and not to the URL. The next time they want to visit your site it is very likely that they will just type its name followed by a .com. Guess what, if you are not there when they hit enter they will just go somewhere else.

Example: Darren Rowse created his popular blog on Problogger.net. Despite having a strong brand, some visitors were still going to Problogger.com. After a couple of years Darren decided to buy the .com version for $5,000 and redirect it to his site, so that no more visitors would leak.

5. They are descriptive

Many visitors will come to your site through the search engines and via direct links on other websites. That is, they will come if the domain that they will see will be appealing.

Having a descriptive domain name will give visitors an idea of what your site is about even before they enter it. If related keywords are present in the domain it might also help your search engine rankings.

Example: You would be able to guess what TelevisionGuides.com is about even before visiting it right?

Put it in another way. Suppose you are searching for a movie review. You make a quick search in Google. The first result comes from MikesLair.com. The second result comes from MoviesCentral.com. Which one would you rather click?

6. Or brandable

A brandable domain will have a nice pronunciation, an interesting combination of letters or simply an appealing visual effect. Sometimes they will not be descriptive, but they can be equally efficient.

Brandable domains will make your visitors associate the name with your website and its content. (Notice that brandable domains can be descriptive at the same time, but that is not always the case.)

Example: Kotaku.com is one of the most popular gaming blogs on the Internet. The domain is not descriptive at all, but the brand is so strong that gamers immediately recognize it across the web.

7. They don’t contain hyphens or numbers

Domain names containing hyphens and numbers are cheaper for a reason. They suffer the same problem of domains not using a .com extension or with complex spelling.

Consider Tech-World.com. The names that will stick in people’s mind are “tech” and “world.” Many visitors will just forget the hyphen along the way. Eventually they will try to access your site by typing TechWorld.com, in vain.

Numbers, on the other hand, will confuse people with the spelling. Suppose you registered Tech5.com. Visitors might mix it with TechFive.com, if they manage to remember the number in the first place!

Example: Coolest-Gadgets.com is an extremely popular gadget blog, with over 70,000 RSS subscribers. With such a huge readership you get people often typing the domain directly on the address bar. Needless to say that many of them would just forget to add the hyphen. The owner of the site bought CoolestGadgets.com afterwards to fix the problem.

Final remark

Do not get discouraged if your current domain doesn’t have all these characteristics; or if you can’t find one that does. These are just factors that you should consider when evaluating domain names.

There are plenty of examples of popular websites with domain names that lack in one or two points covered on the list. Just make sure that your domain has most of the characteristics and you should be fine.

selling older homes as historical homes

In this newsletter, you will learn how to approach selling older homes as historical homes. We hope this information is useful and look forward to sending you more information on various topics concerning homes and inspections.
The Age Of The Home
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the new homebuying paradigm, old equals problems and new equals luxury. Sprawl has become tempered by higher building costs and traffic problems, which have driven homebuyers back toward community cores and older homes, but they don't necessarily like what they see - smaller square footage, outdated floor plans, and the previous owner's imprint. This situation has real estate agents acting more as apologists than salespeople. As agents list older homes, they downplay the age of the home, which is a losing strategy, say some experts. "The age of the home is the first thing the buyer wants to know and the last thing the listing agent wants them to know," says Dave Burrell, president and CEO of Historical Insights, Inc. "To you, it's a regular old house, but look at it from the buyer's perspective. That's not how people buy homes. It's much better to create an emotional connection with the house."
Historical homes prove that a property can bring more if buyers can connect with the past. "If you found out you wanted a house where someone lived who was in politics or changed aviation," suggests Burrell, "it's more important to you, so people do care. You want to present the home so that the buyer can relate to what's it like to live in the house, and feel more important because of it."
Leather Bound Histories
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Denver, Colorado, where Burrell provides leather- bound histories for local homes, there are more than 93,000 pre-1950 homes (2000 Census,) and over 1000 are for sale in an average month, he says. "It's clear how large this potential market really is," suggests Burrell. Histories can include everything from the type of home - ranch, how that type of home served society at that time, to who lived there to what changes were made to the home over the years.
Getting histories can be a challenge, but there are ways that don't take a lot of time. "A couple of starting points would be city directories that go by street names or addresses and you can find out who lived in that house and from what dates. Second is to go to Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps which you can find at local archives like the public library. They go from the late 19th century to about 1970. This company created maps for insurance companies and they would create maps and streets and show what buildings were there, they'd show the exits, doors and windows. You can see the house change from when it had a stable to when it acquired a garage. You can see if they had an outhouse and when it was torn down. You can get them from various years. In Denver you can get them from 1893, 1903, 1905, 1925. One problem is if your house was built in 1911, you can't confirm much between 1905 and 1925."
Things That Personalize The Home
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Burrell points to his own home as an example. "In my personal house, there was a small porch in 1925, but a large porch was added by 1929," says Burrell. "It's the little things that are interesting and it personalizes the home to the seller or the buyer because they know something no one else knows." You can go to the public records, but approximately 30 to 40 percent of homes in Denver are incorrectly dated, says Burrell. "I found my house was incorrectly dated," he says. "My house was supposed to be built in 1900, but it wasn't in the 1903 or 1905 maps, but it was in the 1907 map."
Another way to assign a date to an older home is to look at the local "TAP" records - when the house was connected to the local water system for running water. Or you can commission a home history, such as Burrell provides, for as little as a report fee to as much as $400 for a leather-bound copy. Home histories can be a great listing tool, a great closing gift, and a great legacy for referrals. "When everyone is looking to find a Realtor," says Burrell, "caring about the history of homes is something that can differentiate one Realtor from another. Most Realtors aren't going to think about how to market the home. By getting a book likes this, you are going to give a physical manifestation of the house that helps them enjoy their home. When they resell, they have a collection of information with the Realtor's name and information. They won't throw this away. They will show it to all their frineds, and it has your name on it. "The underlying principle is simple," says Burrell. "Since so much of the mystery of old homes lies in their connection with the past, a home history can highlight that connection very vividly. This is especially the case today, with so many transplants seeking to grow roots within their communities. And because emotions are such a key part of the homebuying process, helping buyers make a personal leap into the living experience of the home quickens the purchasing decision." It's well worth it. Not only are older homes a tangible record of cultural changes, old homes in Denver sell for 8.9 percent more than their more modern counterparts, says Burrell.

Breast Cancer - Prognosis

A prognosis is the medical team's "best guess" in how cancer will affect a patient. There are many prognostic factors associated with breast cancer: staging, tumour size and location, grade, whether disease is systemic (has metastasized, or traveled to other parts of the body), recurrence of the disease, and age of patient.

Stage is the most important, as it takes into consideration size, local involvement, lymph node status and whether metastatic disease is present. The higher the stage at diagnosis, the worse the prognosis. Larger tumours, invasiveness of disease to lymph nodes, chest wall, skin or beyond, and aggressiveness of the cancer cells raise the stage, while smaller tumours, cancer-free zones, and close to normal cell behaviour (grading) lower it.

Grading is based on how cultured biopsied cells behave. The closer to normal cancer cells are, the slower their growth and a better prognosis. If cells are not well differentiated, they appear immature, divide more rapidly, and tend to spread. Well differentiated is given a grade of 1, moderate is grade 2, while poor or undifferentiated is given a higher grade of 3 or 4 (depending upon the scale used).

Younger women tend to have a poorer prognosis than post-menopausal women due to several factors. Their breasts are active with their cycles, they may be nursing infants, and may be unaware of changes in their breasts. Therefore, younger women are usually at a more advanced stage when diagnosed.

The presence of estrogen and progesterone receptors in the cancer cell, while not prognostic, is important in guiding treatment. Those who do not test positive for these specific receptors will not respond to hormone therapy.

Likewise, HER2/neu status directs the course of treatment. Patients whose cancer cells are positive for HER2/neu have more aggressive disease and may be treated with trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody that targets this protein.


Psychological aspects of diagnosis and treatment
The emotional impact of cancer diagnosis, symptoms, treatment, and related issues can be severe. Most larger hospitals are associated with cancer support groups which can help patients cope with the many issues that come up in a supportive environment with other people with experience with similar issues. Online cancer support groups are also very beneficial to cancer patients, especially in dealing with uncertainty and body-image problems inherent in cancer treatment.

Not all breast cancer patients experience their illness in the same manner. Factors such as age can have a significant impact on the way a patient copes with a breast cancer diagnosis. For example, a recent study conducted by researchers at the College of Public Health of the University of Georgia showed that older women may face a more difficult recovery from breast cancer than their younger counterparts. As the incidence of breast cancer in women over 50 rises and survival rates increase, breast cancer is increasingly becoming a geriatric issue that warrants both further research and the expansion of specialized cancer support services tailored for specific age groups.

Racial disparities in diagnosis and treatment
Several studies have found that black women in the U.S. are more likely to die from breast cancer even though white women are more likely to be diagnosed with the disease. Even after diagnosis, black women are less likely to get treatment compared to white women. Scholars have advanced several theories for the disparities, including inadequate access to screening, reduced availability of the most advanced surgical and medical techniques, or some biological characteristic of the disease in the African American population. Some studies suggest that the racial disparity in breast cancer outcomes may reflect cultural biases more than biological disease differences. Research is currently ongoing to define the contribution of both biological and cultural factors.

Want to Lose Weight? Do Yoga!

Yoga combines the most essential aspects of health in life. The aspects are known as obesity which includes mental, physical, and emotional. Doing Yoga will enable a person to free and relax his mind. Peace floods the mind after doing Yoga. Since Yoga is a part of exercise which requires meditation, the brain and mind will be free and refreshed. The mind will be controlled from practicing wrong eating habits. The person will be able to control himself to do the smart ways in order to lose weight. Hence, Yoga is undeniably one of the most effective ways in weight loss process. Apart from doing exercise, a person can do Yoga to lose his weight.

There are few steps or techniques of Yoga which can be practiced to lose weight. The steps are divided into four techniques and the position of body varies from each steps. Each step has its effect to every body parts. The techniques are Asanas, Sun Salutations, and Pranayama. According to Asanas technique, fat will be eliminated through forward bending, twisting, and backward bending. The excess of fat near thigh, butt, and abdomen will be eliminated by bending and twisting the parts of the body. In order to eliminate fat near legs and arms, the recommended techniques are tree pose, hero pose, and swinging lotus pose.

On the other hand, Pranayama helps in fat reduction. For those who have the problem of obesity, they can practice Kapalbhati, Bhasrika, and fast breathing. Fat will be burned and eliminated by doing this technique. The technique will also help the lung to function properly. In addition, Sun Salutations will also enable people to lose weight. At a speed of four rounds in a minute, sun salutations combine two types of exercise which are asanas and regular exercise. Sun Salutations is advantageous for the body, since it will help the lungs to function appropriately. It will also relax the mind through the mantras which are being enchanted by the person.

Something you shall know about your body structure

How much you know about our body structure? Here is an easy way, just a simple Mathematics calculation.

1. How many bones inside the body of the borned baby
Ans 1: (26+34)X 5

2. How many muscles in our body?
Ans 2: Ans 1 + 350

3. What is the number of joints in our body?
Ans 3: (Ans 2 + 50) / 7

4. How long is the blood vessels in our body( answer in km)?
Ans 4: Ans 3 X 1000

5. How many times the length of our nerves can round the Earth ?
Ans 5: Ans 4 - 99996.25

6. The energy generate by your muscle in one day actually can be used to raise up a car. Do you know what is the distance you can raise up the car and move with those energy generated by your muscle in ne day?
Ans 6: (Ans 5 + 1.25) X 3

7. Red blood cells are producing every minute in our body?
Ans: Ans 6 X 100000

8. The hairs you lose daily?
Ans 8: (Ans 7 - 200000) / 10000

9. Average number of bacteria at your armpit (in mm square)?
Ans: Ans 8 X 8

10. The length of the smallest muscle in our body (in mm)?
Ans : Ans 9 / 800

This is amazing number and i believe many people do not notice about it.

Natural Weight loss tips

Size does matter, but if you are plump and over weight, you will have your family and friends always behind you, suggesting ways to get thinner and this connotes to the work place and so forth. It has wider implications on the personality and psyche of the individual who is obese, and will keep him haunting wherever he goes. To change this you need natural weight loss tips and techniques, which are risk free and will prove effective for you in long run.

In most cases, it will get into the living habits of the obese! Now, the million dollar question is how to reduce the excessive weight? Here are some natural weight loss tips you can bank upon to check for yourself in a definite period, and how you can counter your growing weight following the natural weight loss tips provided below, by just controlling on your food intake on a daily basis.

Tip1: Eating fresh vegetables or fruits in the breakfast will start your morning and the rest of the day’s activity with a good note. Hence, it is always advisable to take your breakfast on time and in a relevant quantity. See to it that you never eat extraneous amounts of food at the time of starting your day’s activity, which is in the morning.

Tip2: While you have started your day on a good note, continue this with taking lunch only after 4 hours of your breakfast this will give your body time to complete a digestion cycle. Every meal should have at least 4 hours of gap between further intakes. All our body parts act at our brain stimuli, if whatever we do whether eating or sleeping, if it is under a schedule it will have controlling effect body and other immune systems.

Tip3: When in the evening if you feel like having something, prefer to take tea or coffee with snacks or biscuits, which are calorie free. You can sum up your days diet intake with a controlled dinner at least before 2 hours of going to sleep. So that it gives your digestion cycle to be completed before you get on to, hit the sack.

Within week’s you can notice a marked improvement in your health, which will continue for a long period of time.

How to prevent H1N1 Flu?

First at all, pay attention to personal hygiene and health care, washing hands frequently, and implement good hygiene practices.

Second, pay attention on respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette:
1, Any cough or other respiratory symptoms should wear a mask, mask shall be replace frequently espeically after the mask touch your mouth and nose secretions. It should be immediately replaced and thrown into the trash.
2, When sneezing, must use tissue paper or handkerchief to cover your mouth and nose. In the absence of tissue or handkerchief, the sleeve can be used in place of but this is not suggested. Always remember to bring either tissue paper or handkerchief.
3, if respiratory symptoms appear, keep a distance when talk to others, 2 meters or more is suggested.
4, Hand must be immediately clear properly after contact with respiratory secretions.
5, Do not go out if you are sick. Better stay at home and take a rest.

Finally, stay away from sources of infection, must avoid going to region that found any new type of influenza H1N1 case happen.

June housing construction rises more than expected

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Construction of new U.S. homes rose in June to the highest level in seven months as builders rushed to pour foundations for homes that must be completed by the end of November for first-time buyers to take advantage of a special tax break.

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BAC	12.94	-0.23
BZH	2.23	+0.13
CTX	8.85	+0.12
DHI	9.82	+0.18
HOV	2.57	+0.12
KBH	14.07	+0.39
LEN	9.77	+0.22
MDC	31.11	+0.16
MHO	9.79	+0.02
MTH	19.00	+0.33
NVR	555.90	+8.09
PHM	9.16	+0.14
RYL	17.34	-0.04
TOL	17.33	+0.18

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The Commerce Department said Friday that construction of new homes and apartments jumped 3.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 582,000 units, from an upwardly revised rate of 562,000 in May.

It was better than the 530,000-unit pace economists expected, and was the second straight monthly increase after April's record low of 479,000 units.

"This was the most positive housing report in ages," wrote Patrick Newport, an economist with IHS Global Insight.

Homebuyers are being attracted by lower prices, and first-time buyers can also take advantage of a tax credit worth 10 percent of the purchase price, with a cap of $8,000, which was included in the federal stimulus package.

"The largest spark...has been the looming deadline," said David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders. His trade group said Thursday that the confidence level of builders has risen to the highest level in nearly a year.

Shares of major homebuilders rose on the news with Beazer Homes and Hovnanian Enterprises up about 5 percent in midday trading. The broader stock indexes, meanwhile, were little-changed Friday after Bank of America and Citigroup became the latest banks to report big second-quarter profits but also weakness in their loan portfolios.

Over the past three years, the collapse in the housing market led to soaring loan losses, a severe banking system crisis and the longest recession since World War II. Even with the better-than-expected figures, the pace was still 46 percent below last year, and analysts don't expect a quick rebound. That's because companies are still shedding jobs and home prices are falling.

"There's still a long way to go before one wants to declare anything that begins to look like a strong recovery or success," said Rebecca Blank, undersecretary of commerce for economic affairs.

The Federal Reserve this week projected that the national unemployment rate, currently at a 26-year high of 9.5 percent, will pass 10 percent by the end of the year. Unemployment has already passed that mark in 15 states and the District of Columbia last month, according to federal data released Friday.

The rate in Michigan surpassed 15 percent, the first time any state has hit that level since 1984.

Most Fed policymakers said it could take five or six years for the economy and the labor market to get back on a path of long-term health. To get there, consumers must return to a regular spending groove and housing prices need to start rising again.

The jump in housing starts last month reflected a more than 14 percent rise in construction of single-family homes, the largest monthly increase since December 2004. Construction of multifamily units -- a particularly volatile part of the market -- fell nearly 26 percent from a month earlier.

Meanwhile, applications for building permits, seen as a good indicator of future activity, rose almost 9 percent in June.

AP Economics Writer Jeannine Aversa contributed to this report.

Home owners Loan Refinance Money Saving Advice

Is there really an effective way to save on a Homeowner’s Loan refinance loan? Take a look at the vital tips to consider so that you can maximize your savings.

If you are one of the hundreds of homeowners who are opting for a refinance loan package, then you can be assured that there are many options and benefits that you may avail of. The prime advantage of a Refinancing option is that you can save more money during the entire duration of the term of your loan. It is because the offer that you may avail of is basically a lot lower that the previous loan’s monthly dues.

You are most likely to achieve this benefit when you avail of a Homeowner’s Loan Refinancing package when the interest rate in the market has plummeted. You can opt to shorten or lengthen the term of your loan depending on your desire to save more money on the interest rates.

Many of today’s homeowners have once been overwhelmed by the so-called adjustable interest rates. The disadvantage of this term is that when the interest rates in the market are high, then one gets to pay a higher interest charge too. On the other hand, when the rates are low, the charges to be settled are also low. Generally, it works depending on the fluctuation in the financial market.

Thus, it is by Refinancing your current Homeowner’s Loan that you are given the chance to convert your adjustable interest rates into the fixed rates. Yes, you may be thinking of its downside but just keep in mind that you will not go crazy because of the rise and fall of the rates in the ever changing economic situation.

Contemplating on refinancing your present Homeowner’s Loan relieves you of being under the mercy of the financial market. You are given a sense of security that no matter what happens; your fees will never change. Hence, you can get a better hold of your budgeting process. Refinancing will likewise open doors for you to renegotiate the terms and conditions with your lender.

By talking to your Homeowner’s Loan broker, you will learn of one of the options about lowering the risk of the A.R.M. You can save more money by placing the so-called payment cap. This option actually lessens the risk in the increase of the interest rate. Another option is that of either reducing or increasing the span of the loan.

As you reduce the payment terms, you will be able to save more money on the interest rate that you have to pay for. However, as you increase the life of the loan term, you are able to give yourself some time to gather that money to cover for the payment. As always, it is best to discuss all possibilities with your broker.

Overtime, your home should have attained some equity. Thus, you may “cash out”. It signifies that the money that you may get can be used to settle some of your outstanding debts or save it for future use.

Consolidating your loan is one way of saving more money. It is wise to always shop around for the best Homeowner’s Loan brokerage firms and trustworthy brokers before you finally sign any documents. Paying off the loans can be really tedious given the uncertain economic conditions.

Homeowner’s Loan refinance is still one of the best options that a homeowner like you can resort to.

Guide to Purchasing a newly built house

The National house building Council BuildMark scheme (NHBC), Premier guarantee, Zurich municipal guarantee or another warranty provider will provide cover for newly constructed home that are less than 10 years old. These warranties will protect the owner from structural defects for a period of 10 years, it also in meant as a guarantee for the homes build quality. All contractors involved in the construction of these properties should be registered with one of the warranty providers spoke of earlier, during construction warranty provider should carried out scheduled inspections of the build quality during construction. The warranty provided belongs to the home and not the owner in the situation where ownership is transferred the warranty would still be valid as long as it remains within the ten year period. Although a home will still be under warranty and there is a transfer of ownership it is always a good decision especially within a few years of that warranty to obtain a structural survey, its best to know of any defectss that are current in a home before parting with any monies. Snagging Snagging is a term used to identify all the faults, the build quality and the finishing within the building process, usually the identifying of these problems would be the domain of the building inspector, for it is easier for the building inspector to liaise with the contractors and obtaining a positive outcome. Some buyers do try to take on this role themselves, which is not a bad idea if you know how to converse with a building contractor without upsetting or disrupting the build progress. if you take on this process yourself you must make sure you know how to recognize all the problems that may occur during the life time of the construction of the home and have the ability to communicate this to the contractor in a way that brings about a positive outcome.
You must remember that some problems will not come to light until some time after the completion of the build; it will then be the responsibility of the contractor. Newbuild warranty A NewBuild warranty is essentially an insurance policy against a new build home, the insurance policy would have been taken out by the contractors who built the home, this policy will help to protect the builder and any owner (within the ten year period of the policy) against any problems that may occur, the builder would cover the cost of any problems that occur within the first two years of the home’s life, from then on and before the end of the insurance policy (eight years) the insurer usually the NHBC will cover any structural defects that may occur, this in effect would mean that the owner would have to identify any other major defectss that may occur within the first two years of the property’s life. And report it to the contractor. Before you buy Always check to make sure your builder is a certified by either the NHBC or the LABC or one of the other major providers, the builder should be included in at least one of the major warranty providers website register which you should have the ability to check. UploadAproperty Homebuyers Help Center This is just a quick look into a few of the of the issue you should be aware of if your thinking of Purchasing a newly built property. You can find more indepth advice on the topic covered in this article and other like the Shared ownership initiatives, first time buyers etc at the UploadAproperty Homebuyers/Homesellers Help Center, UploadAproperty is a for sale by owner site that has a comprehensive library of informatiom for the seller and buyer of property in the UK and abroad, we cater for the buyers of property and for those who sell property online.

Making a Profit on Real Estate Investments

Real estate investing is among the most interesting and lucrative business practices out there. Investing in real estate is exciting, and if you make the right choices you are almost guaranteed to make a profit. After all, the price of houses keeps going up and up, as does commercial real estate. Don’t get me wrong real estate investments are not a sure thing. There is no such thing as a sure investment, and anyone who tells you different is not giving you the whole story. Nonetheless, it is one of the surest things out there.

I first got involved in real estate investing accidentally. I was renting a warehouse with some friends when the landlord suddenly decided he wanted to sell it. It wasn’t making enough from rent, and he had some bad debts that he wanted to settle. He gave us the option of buying it from him, and we decided that that was just the thing to do.

It was hard to get together money for a down payment, but once we did, we never regretted it. Although the area was depressed at the time, there was an urban renewal program that was bringing more money into the city. Soon, our warehouse artists space was worth a fortune.

I moved out after some time and decided to just sell my share and invest more more somewhere else. I pursued more of real estate investing. I put my money in a huge commercial lot which costs me a lot but sooner though, I was just collecting money on a monthly basis. Everything paid off well again.

Real estate investing does not mean that you have to purchase immense properties. You can just start with small shares in a few properties and earn in small amounts on a regular basis. Expand your portfolio through purchasing small shares in various areas.

The Twenty Best Financial Blogs

Technorati.com, the big blog tracking service, now covers 53 million blogs. Although the site does not break out numbers for business and financial blogs, the number must be in the hundreds of thousands. Putting the term “financial blog” into Google Blog Search brings back 332,135 results.

24/7 Wall St. has spent the last four weeks looking at financial blogs. Top blog lists from BusinessWeek, Barron’s, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and the Financial Times were analyzed. We also looked at blog aggregators like seekingalpha.com and pfblog.org. We looked over “favorite sites” at some of the older and more well-known financial blogs like gannononinvesting.com. We looked at the blogs picked up most frequently at mainline sites like the Daily Blog Watch at TheStreet.com.

We reviewed hundreds of sites, and narrowed the list down to 60 financial blogs based primarily on strength of content. We picked our 20 finalists from those By looking at these sites it is obvious that financial blogs can go toe-to-toe with mainstream online business media. The best blogs are that good.

Original content counted for a great deal. We had a bias against sites that were nothing other than “feeds” of financial blogs. We also discounted sites where the author or authors posted less than once a month. It was too difficult to check back every few days to look for new posts. We also did not list any site that did not have the name of the real author or authors and a full disclosure policy about investments that the writers might hold.

We have also listed the Alexa rankings for each site’s traffic so readers can see how each site ranks among all websites measured. If a site has an average traffic rank of 50,000, it is the 50,000th most visited site in the world. For example, MarketWatch.com is site number 466.

The sites are not in any particular order. Where they fall in this article bears no relationship to their rank compared to one another. It’s the Top 20, not the Top 1 through 20.

Footnoted.org (http://www.footnoted.org/). This site, run by business journalist Michelle Leder, does a lot of digging into public filings. Ms. Leder’s work shows a passion for detail, and an excellent working knowledge of SEC filings. She posts about once a day. Alexa Three Month Ranking:151,421.

Frank Barnako’s Media Blog (http://blogs.marketwatch.com/barnako) The author primarily covers media and the internet. Barnako picks up good blogs on these subjects from a number of other sites, and his blog usually puts up three or four new posts a day.
Alexa Three Month Ranking for Marketwatch.com which hosts Barnako: 466.

GannonOnInvesting (http://www.gannononinvesting.com/) Geoff Gannon writes as well as any senior editor at Forbes or Forture. We just wish he wrote more often. His recent series on large banks is a classic and shows that financial blogs can match analysis and writing style with anything mainstream media has to offer. Alexa Three Month Ranking: 350,569

The microcap speculator (http://www.microcapspeculator.blogspot.com/) This is the best sites for analysis of stock with very small market capitalizations. Many of the stocks written about here trade on the Bulletin Board and Pink Sheets. The site covers individual companies, insider buying at microcaps and the short interest in small companies, which is probably where most naked shorting goes on. Alexa Three Month Ranking: 1,213,359.

Stock Market Beat (http://www.stockmarketbeat.com/) William Trent, the author of StockMarketBeat is a certified financial analyst. It shows. Trent is especially good at covering the semiconductor market, but he takes on everything from retail companies to personnel firms. The research is extraordinary and often links to very interesting studies. The site usually has two new posts a day. We are begging Trent to put his site onto something like blogger. Navigating StockMarketBeat is almost as interesting as the articles, which is too bad. Alexa Three Month Ranking: 836,228 (24/7 Wall St runs some of StockMarketBeat’s articles.)

Berkshire Ruminations (http://berkshireruminations.blogspot.com/) Andy Kern, who writes this blog, is a devotee of Warren Buffett. But, a lot of the posts he writes have nothing to do with Buffett. The coverage of economic trends and specific companies shows a keen eye for the market. Kern does not post often, and due to that almost didn’t make this list, but what is posted is good enough to make up for low volume. Alexa Three Month Ranking: Not Ranked

The Kirk Report (http://www.thekirkreport.com/). This site is a combination of solid writing on companies and the markets by Charles Kirk and includes a large number of references to other financial blogs and websites that cover a spectrum of stock market and economic subjects. A trip to the site is like going to a current events library on the markets. Alexa Three Month Traffic Ranking: 51,041.

TraderFeed (http://www.traderfeed.blogspot.com/) Brett Steenbarger’s site was chosen because it is not only clearly very good, but takes a completely different perspective on the market than we do. The site primarily posts about the market based on trends that may go back years and includes psychological insights regarding the skills and personalities of traders. The author posts very regularly. Alexa Three Month Traffic Ranking: 170,591.

SeekingAlpha (http://www.seekingalpha.com/) This large website runs 40 or 50 articles a day by both in-house staff and contributors. Subjects range from individual companies in both the US and overseas markets to exchange traded funds and includes personal financial advice. SeekingAlpha runs transcripts of large company conference calls and summaries of Jim Cramer’s comments and the Wall Street Journal. Alexa Three Month Traffic Ranking: 8,668.

Ticker Sense (http://www.tickersense.typepad.com/). Ticker Sense is put out by Birinyi Associates, a firm that provides research to institutional investors. It shows. The authors put up one or two posts a day, usually with charts. Recent post have included global exchange traded funds that are overbought or oversold, an historical look at monthly employment trends, and a look at Pepsi’s trading range. The articles are well-written and the analysis is outstanding. Alexa Three Month Traffic Ranking: 251,409.

ModernGraham.com (http://www.moderngraham.com/) The people who started this blog are followers of the investment philosophies of Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett. The authors post technical screens of stocks based on financial characteristics like defensive shares that trade at high return on investment capital. Companies are also analyzed based on Buffet’s Business and Management Review. All of it is thought provoking even if you don’t agree with Graham or Buffett. Alexa Three Month Traffic Ranking:3,103,703.

TheStockMasters (http://www.thestockmasters.com/) This site is written by a group of investors including financial advisors and day traders. Posts are usually done a few times a week and cover stocks and options. Recent stories on Sprint and Ford were particularly well-done. Alexa Three Month Traffic Ranking: 5,180,713.

BloggingStocks (http://www.bloggingstocks.com/) This site is part of the weblogsinc division of AOL. One of the site’s writers, Brian White, writes almost half of the 400 posts per month. His work is consistent and well-researched. His output is amazing. Most of the posts at BloggingStocks cover eight companies: Apple, GE, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, eBay, Google, Time Warner, and Yahoo!. The site has about 15 regular contributors, so the coverage of each of the companies is very complete and well-edited. (24/7 Wall St. contributes articles on Time Warner under contract with Bloggingstocks.) Alexa Three Month Traffic Ranking: 27,484.

Hilary On Stocks (www.journals.aol.com/hilaryonstocks/hilaryonstocks). Hilary Kramer writes about stocks for AOL Finance. Most of her posts cover individual public companies. The analysis reads like a string of high-end research reports. Companies cover a range of small caps to Fortune 500 companies. Alexa Three Month Traffic Rank: based on AOL which hosts this blog, but not the blog itself: 36)

Value Discipline (http://www.valuediscipline.blogspot.com/) The author is a former portfolio manager who ran institutional money. The majority of the posts, about one a day, cover companies and mutual funds. Recent posts on Tesco and corporate governance were particularly good. (24/7 Wall St. sometimes runs posts from Value Discipline.) Alexa Three Month Traffic Ranking: 580,006.

Random Roger’s Big Picture (http://www.randomroger.blogspot.com/) Random Roger writes about anything and everything in the financial world, and most of it he does very well. Recent posts cover the ING Russia Fund, the number of months the market has been down each year since 1982, and the market’s 200 day moving average. The guy has interests, and expertise, that are that broad. Alexa Three Month Traffic Ranking: 241,389.
Equity Investment Ideas (http://www.equityinvestmentideas.blogspot.com/) This site is written by Yaser Anwar. He writes a great deal about energy and metals, but also covers individual stocks. Anwar does a lot of technical analysis, well illustrated by charts. Some posts rely too much on text from other media, but, in general, the content is intelligent and unique. (24/7 Wall St. sometimes runs posts from Equity Investment Ideas.) Alexa Three Month Traffic Ranking: 1,537,147.

Absolutely No DooDahs (http://www.billakanodoodahs.com/) The posts at this site cover almost everything in the equity investing world. Recent articles include the hurdles for the Chinese car companies that want to sell cars in the US and a long, in-depth piece on WD-40. Almost every article has a thoughtful angle. Alexa Three Month Traffic Ranking: 796,797.

Street Insider.com 13D Tracker (http://www.13dtracker.blogspot.com/) SEC filings are a goldmine of information for investors. Very few people have the time or background to work through all of the documents filed by public companies to figure out those that are important. Virtually everyday this site posts data on which investors are increasing or decreasing holdings in public companies. This kind of content is hard to find, especially when someone smart has already evaluated it. Alexa Three Month Traffic Rank: Not Ranked.

The Average Joe Investor (www.theaveragejoeinvestor.blogspot.com) Joe does not write much anymore, but we are going to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope he takes up the pen more often. Some of the posts here analyzing companies are as good as any on the web. Joe shares this ability with Geoff Gannon. Recent posts on Amphenol and “Dealing With A Down Market” are outstanding. Alexa Three Month Traffic Rank: 2,091,290.

Health records on internet

Privacy groups are sounding alarms as the nation's largest insurance companies finalize plans to allow millions more customers to post their health records on the Internet.

Insurers like Aetna Inc. say Web-based tools help patients and physicians keep track of medical information while potentially holding down spiraling medical costs.

About 100 million insurance customers in the U.S. have access to Web-based tools, but companies don't have an estimate of how widely they are used. Insurers hope to at least double the technology's reach by the end of next year.

Aetna chief executive Ronald Williams says the change is as revolutionary to health care as the introduction of the ATM card was to banking in the 1980s.

But privacy advocates say there's no guarantee the records will be safe from hackers. Some worry patients may refuse to disclose some illnesses to their doctors to keep documents out of databases.

"As a former nurse, I know that back in the 1980s, patients who were alcoholics did not want to have paper records," said Sue Blevins, president of the Institute for Health Freedom "They just didn't want people to know & That could affect the quality of their care."

Aetna, which offers personal health records to its customers, says security procedures include a member login and an online registration Web site with secure sign-ons. In addition, customers can restrict elements of their records from being shared among health practitioners.
Aetna said personal health records are protected by the same security technology that is used for online banking.

Personal health records, which are available through insurers Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield and others, are intended to help doctors and patients track medications and treatments.

The technology allows doctors to record test results, immunizations, prescriptions and other medical information into an online database that can be accessed by patients, the insurer and other physicians if needed. Patients can also add details about over-the-counter medications, plans of care, family health histories and other information.

Health Insurance Companies Easing Burden of High COBRA Costs

Senate Health Committee Chairman, Senator Kemp Hannon, announced a part of the recently adopted a new budget, which enables health insurance companies to carry individuals under their parent's policy to age 25, instead of age 19 for those who do not go to college and 23 for those who do.

The part of the bill, announced at a University Student Center during a June 1 press conference, will be a relief to many parents and young people facing extremely high COBRA costs when their child reaches the age of ineligibility under their plan, but is either still in school or searching for employment. The legislation also assists those young 20-somethings who are bearing the brunt of their own health insurance costs by enabling them to obtain health insurance coverage through their parents.

"We have to be realistic," Senator Hannon said. "With double and triple majors and five-year master's programs, many of our young people are not graduating college when they are 21 anymore. Burdening them and their families with COBRA costs is unfair."

What to do before You Have Breast Cancer Symptoms

Breast cancer is a major health concern and you need to know if you have breast cancer symptoms or signs. Women including men have breast cancer as I wrote in my last newsletter. According to the recent survey worldwide, breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer after lung cancer and the fifth most common cause of cancer death in the world.
Breast cancer is by far the most common cancer among women. The number of cases worldwide has significantly increased since the 1970s, a phenomenon partly blamed on the way that we eat and the pollution that exists in the water, air, and food.

The other big factor in cancer is the thoughts that we have. Toxins and chemical pollution cause acid and free radicals in our body and so do negative thoughts. It is these acids and free radicals that change your body’s pH and that depletes the oxygen in your cells allowing cancer to form freely and to multiple.

To protect yourself against cancer, you need to know the signs of breast cancer so you can take action against it right away and to learn good nutritional habits.
Due to the high incidence of breast cancer among older women, screening is now recommended in many countries. Recommended screening methods include breast self-examination and mammogram. This test has been estimated to reduce breast cancer-related mortality by 20-30%. Routine and annual mammography of women older than age 40 or 50 is recommended.
Mammograms do not detect all possible cancer tissue. They can detect micro calcification of calcium, which might indicate the presents of cancer. Calcium can deposit in tissue and this is caused by an acid body. To stay in solution, calcium must have enough sodium in the surrounding liquid. In an alkaline body, there is plenty of sodium to keep calcium in solution, but in an acid body, calcium will precipate out and form crystals.

Early signs and symptoms of breast cancer are usually not painful. This may be the reason why most women don’t know they have breast cancer until after several breast cancer signs and symptoms start to appear. You should see your health care provider, if you notice the following:

· Lump in the armpit or above the collarbone that does not go away in two weeks or so. Although most breast lumps are not cancerous, it always best to check them out

· Breast discharge is a common problem and is rarely a symptom of cancer, but if it is from only one breast or if it is bloody, then check with your doctor

· Nipple inversion is a common in normal nipples, but nipple inversion that has developed recently can be of concern

· Changes in the breast skin including redness, changes in texture, and puckering. These changes are usually caused by skin diseases but occasionally can be associated with breast cancer.

Breast cancer is a condition where you lack oxygen in your cells and when you have an acid body. To prevent cancer from forming, you need to learn how to make your body more alkaline. In my new nutrition course, I concentrate on how you can make your body more alkaline. An alkaline body not only stops cancer but also stops and prevents most diseases from forming in your body.
Don’t wait until you have symptoms of breast cancer or any other disease before you start improving your health habits. Start now learning what good nutrition is and how you can be free from illness.

About the Author: Rudy Silva is a natural nutritionist that has a nutrition course that will help you prevent, stop, or eliminate illness. To find out more about how you can do this, go to: Using Nutrition to Stop Illness

More articles by rss41

http://www.easyarticles.com/pdf/article-144053

1200 Calorie Diet Samples

1200 calorie diet sample Day 1

Breakfast:

• Small Bowl breakfast cereal with skimmed milk - 200 calories

• Fruit Juice unsweetened - 60 cals

Lunch:

• 1 Banana - 107 cals

• 1 Orange - 23 calories

Snack:

• Non fat yogurt small pot - 50 cals

• Fruit - 40 calories

Dinner:

• Vegetable Curry with Fried Rice "Take away meal" - 700 calories

Total calories = 1180 Calorie Diet

1200 calorie diet sample Day 2

Breakfast:

• 1 large hard boiled egg - 90 calories

• 2 slices wholemeal toast with thin smear butter - 200 cals

• Large slice melon - 47 calories

Lunch:

• Baked potato with 100g "Heinz" baked beans - 300 cals

• Cottage Cheese with chives reduced fat 100g - 80 calories

Snack:

• Muesli meal replacement bar "Boots" - 200 calories

Dinner:

• Pasta Salad made with a little olive oil & a little sauce to flavour - 200 - 300 calories ( 250 average )

• 50g Tinned Tuna in brine - 50 cals

Total calories = 1217 Calorie Diet

1200 calorie diet sample Day 3

Breakfast:

• 2 rashers leanest bacon grilled - 200 cals

• Tinned Tomatoes 100g - 16 calories

• 2 slices wholemeal bread/toast with little butter & jam - 220 calories

• Piece of fruit or fruit juice 50 cals

Lunch:

• Cream of Mushroom soup - 96 calories

• Slice of bread with butter- 108 calories

Snack:

• Packet of low fat chips (crisps UK) - 110 calories

• Fruit - 80 calories

Dinner:

• Chicken Chow Mein "St Michael" 280g - 240 calories

• vegetables - 100 calories

Total calories = 1220 Calorie Diet

1200 calorie diet sample Day 4

Breakfast:

• Small Bowl breakfast cereal with skimmed milk - 200 calories

• Fruit Juice unsweetened - 60 cals

Lunch:

• "Ross" Cod bake frozen meal 300g - 320 calories

• Fresh Vegetables - 150 cals

Dinner:

• Caribbean Rice & Peas recipe - 434 cals

Snack:

• low fat Yogurt - 60 calories

• piece of fruit - 50 cals

Total calories = 1274 Calorie Diet

1200 calorie diet sample Day 5

Breakfast:

• Muesli with skimmed milk small Bowl - 350 calories

• Fruit juice unsweetened - 60 calories

Lunch:

• "Ross" French bread Pizza 150 grams - 300 cals

• Mixed Salad Large portion - 80 calories

• Apple - 49 cals

Dinner:

• Lasagne "Birds Eye" Menu Master frozen 250g - 317 calories

• Mixed Vegetables fresh or frozen 200g - 100 cals

Total calories = 1256 Calorie Diet

Apple Inc (AAPL): Examining the Prospects of a Low-Cost iPhone

Apple Inc (nasd:AAPL) For some time, many have speculated about an arrival of a $99 iPhone. Some analysts expect a low-cost model with scaled back features, such as 2.5G instead of 3G, no GPS, and possibly a smaller form factor. While I believe a lower iPhone price point is possible, I don’t expect Apple to go backwards by removing features that reduce device functionality to achieve a lower-cost offering. The price of the handset is much less significant than the lifetime cost of the required $30/month data plan. Therefore, crippling device functionality to lower handset price makes no sense when the primary cost component is the data plan.

I believe if Apple were to pursue reducing the price of the iPhone to the consumer, it should first explore offering alternative pricing that doesn’t necessarily lower selling price and margins. Offering cheaper data plans that coincide with less usage would allow consumers to be able to pay according to usage, rather than being required to pay for unlimited when their usage is actually quite limited. Carriers would apply less subsidy and charge more for the handset, yet consumers would still save over the life of the contract. Carriers would still benefit from increased demand even though ARPU may not be quite as high. Carriers could capture the iPod touch demand that arrises from those who wish to avoid the required data plan.

Low-Cost Model With Less Features- Unlikely:
While unit demand increased dramatically from previous price reductions, ($599 - $399, $399 - $199), I don’t expect unit demand to be nearly as responsive to a $100 price reduction, from $199 to $99. At this price level, demand elasticity begins to evaporate, as consumers are less responsive to further price cuts. At $199, the iPhone is competitively priced, opposed to when it was priced out of the market at $599. The bulk of the pick-up in demand from cutting handset price has already been realized.

Reducing hardware cost is another challenge. Eliminating or scaling back certain features through cheaper or fewer components won’t significantly impact build costs. The obvious modifications that many have cited are removing GPS, 3G baseband, and installing less flash memory for media storage. These actions would likely only lower component cost by $15-$20. Additional cost reductions could be brought about with a smaller form factor, however the savings wouldn’t be great enough to offset the burdens it would create on the software development side.

Perhaps the most crucial aspect is it’s the cost of the service plan, not handset, that is the most costly. The iPhone requires signing a 2-year contract for the $30/month smartphone data plan. Over the life of the agreement, this amounts to $720. For those who currently have a $15/month data plan for a non-smartphone device, the incremental difference over 24 months is $360. However, AT&T offers a bundled unlimited text & data plan for non-smartphone devices for $30/month, instead of $35/month ($15 data + $20 text), which raises the monthly price difference to $20, or $480 over 2 year contract for those affected customers. AT&T subscribers who use a smartphone other than the iPhone wouldn’t pay more since the price of the data plan is the same as the iPhone.



Lowering the iPhone handset price by $100 accomplishes little in the sense of affordability due to the $720 24-month cost of the required data plan. I frequently track online discussion forums (such as AT&T iPhone support) as an informal survey tool. The amount of discussion regarding the iPhone handset price pales in comparison to the required data plan. People tend not to have any problem with the $199 price, but are very vocal about the recurring $30/month for the data plan. In fact, there have been a couple individuals who weren’t adverse to pay $399 since they weren’t eligible for an upgrade, but were inquiring if there were a way to circumvent the data plan requirement. There is little evidence suggesting a $100 price drop will have a profound impact due to the large number of consumers who find the data plan requirement inhibitory.

Reducing the data plan fee, or eliminating the requirement altogether, would have the most substantial impact on demand. The problem with this alternative is that Apple receives a ~$400 subsidy based the higher ARPU generated by the data plan. Therefore, if the iPhone ARPU were to decrease from reducing the price of the data plan, then the iPhone subsidy would decrease as well.

Assuming that hardware costs can be reduced by $50, and the subsidy falls to $200 from $400, gross margin would decline to 33% from 58%. In order for earnings to increase, unit volume would have to rise by a factor of 3.5x.

Assuming a more generous subsidy of $250, perhaps with required $10/month plan, gross margin would only fall to $43%, but volume would have to increase more than 2.3x.

A scenario where a $20/month data plan produces a $300 subsidy, gross margin would only drop 800 bps to 50%, and volume would only have to rise 75% to be cash flow neutral. However, consumers still face an incremental $480 increase from the data plan, which will limit the impact on demand.

Even if the economics of reducing hardware and service costs were to make sense, there are other issues. Crippling device functionality takes away from the user experience, which is the primary focus of Apple products. Substituting 2.5G would significantly worsen web browsing and video streaming.

The tests I have been conducting show iPhone 3G data speeds are currently 7-8x faster than 2.5G. In the months following the 3G iPhone release, speeds were only 2-3x faster than EDGE. Obviously, AT&T has made substantial progress in improving its network, which significantly enhances the iPhone user experience. With many competing devices beginning to offer 3G, a slower iPhone might damage consumer perception and lessen its appeal. The iPhone is designed for heavy internet usage, thus a much slower connection would dramatically lessen the iPhone experience. This move would probably only save $5-$10 in hardware costs.

Removing GPS would only save ~$5 in component costs as iSuppli lists the price of the GPS radio at $3.60, and the impact on user experience would be considerable. Many apps are designed around the user’s current location, which requires GPS to obtain an accurate position. The integration of location services with other iPhone features is a major factor that differentiates the iPhone from other devices. Therefore, without any real cost benefit, offering a model without GPS makes no sense.

Altering the form-factor is another alternative for reducing costs. A smaller device could reduce hardware costs to a degree, yet it would require a relatively large size reduction to meaningfully affect hardware cost. This would pose several challenges. Apps are developed for a specific display size, thus duplicate versions may be required to accommodate different displays. The challenge may be further exacerbated due to input commands being handled by the multi-touch display. Therefore, modification may be needed not just for output, but input as well. In addition, a smaller viewing area would reduce the user experience, and a smaller area for input commands may cause navigation to suffer. To achieve meaningful savings, the handset size would have to be reduced to a point at which the user experience would highly suffer.

I don’t believe there should be any change to the iPhone hardware since potential cost savings are rather insignificant. The only exception would be offering 2.5G models in markets where 3G is unavailable as long as it were accompanied by a cheaper data plan. This might help spur demand in non-3G markets where consumers must pay $30 for 3G service and aren’t even able to take advantage of the faster speed.

Possible Alternatives:
The best course of action would be to offer multiple data plan choices, and adjust the handset price accordingly by applying less subsidy. The consumer would have to pay more on the front-end, yet would save money over the 24 month agreement. A cheaper data plan results in less handset subsidy which would be absorbed by the consumer. Thus, it wouldn’t affect the economics of the iPhone with respect to Apple, yet it would provide flexibility for consumers. If a particular individual plans to use very little data, then he/she could select a cheaper plan with less data usage included. They would pay more for the handset, but would still save money over 2 years from the cheaper monthly cost of the data plan. The savings will come at the expense of AT&T, yet it’s not a real expense, rather the opportunity cost of not receiving $30/month for the unlimited data plan. However, this could be offset (or overcome) with sufficient increase in demand.

A scenario with a $10/month data plan would raise the handset price to $349, a $150 increase, but reduce lifetime service fees by $480. Including the price increase of the device, net savings over 24 months is $330. A second scenario with a $20/month plan for heavier data usage would increase the iPhone price $100, to $299, but lower service fees $240 over 2 years, resulting in net decrease of $140. If an individual pays the extra $100 for the cheaper $20/month plan, and later decides he/she needs the unlimited data plan, the carrier could offer a $25/month instead of $30/month since $100 was collected on the front-end. If one wanted to switch to a smaller data plan, then the handset discount could be recovered from lowering the monthly fee by less than the full amount.

There is one scenario of a low-cost model that I do think is a possibility. Bernstein Research’s Toni Sacconaghi has broached the idea of an “iPod phone” which makes a lot of sense. The premise is that music is moving onto many basic mobile phones which may pose a threat to iPod sales. The concept of a converged device means that users won’t prefer to carry both a phone and an iPod. For those who don’t want an advanced phone with internet capability, such as the iPhone, but want a media player combined with a basic mobile handset, an “iPod phone” would be a suitable match. Essentially, a iPod classic or nano could be married with a basic mobile device that wouldn’t require a data plan. Possibly, it may offer some “widgets” such as stocks and weather, but not email or internet browsing. The sole purpose would to counter iPod defection from those using their mobile phones more and more as a music player. I don’t foresee such a device anytime soon, however it remains a viable possibility down the road.

I do believe a $99 iPhone is inevitable. However, it wouldn’t be a “low cost” model, rather Apple could offer the current iPhone model for $99 in light of an introduction of new advanced models. I expect new iPhone models to arrive this summer, which will have faster processors, and advanced graphics chips that will allow multiple apps to run simultaneously and video capability. There has been an un substantiated rumor that AT&T might buy back iPhones since current 3G owners would be ineligible for a subsidy on a new iPhone model if one were to come this summer. These phones could be sold for $99 or less. AT&T has been running deals for $99 on refurbished iPhones.

Apple’s iPhone Vision:
Management has stated it doesn’t intend making an iPhone for everybody. Apple says it isn’t interested in selling the most units, but rather committed to being the leader in the market segment it prefers to serve. Comments from Apple contradict many pundits and analysts that claim the firm is limiting the iPhone’s potential by addressing such a small portion of the overall mobile handset market. However, Apple is a company that demonstrates patience. Steve Jobs once said rather than crossing a river to get to someplace else, Apple waits for the other side of the river to come to it. The smartphone market is growing considerably, thus there isn’t much reason to stoop down into the basic handset market that will be contracting.

lease option to buy

How a lease option could benefit both buyers and sellers.
Ken Go (888) 822-5363

It would appear the market is changing, these changes will require both seller and buyer to adapt. The seller must realize that there will be more competition in the marketplace as more homes hit gets listed “For Sale”. Price will start to play a bigger role than the condition and location. Expect to see more listing prices being reduced and expired. Buyers have to realize they are not going to “steal” any homes as far as pricing goes. At least not yet, because now the buyers are still out there looking but taking their time and they have more choices.

The idea came to me when I have a caller who asks for my advice to see if I could lower his payments by refinancing his property. Here is their situation, they purchase a property less than a year ago with no money down, and got a two (2) years fixed rate mortgage that they could not afford from the start. Their loan agent promised them that they could refinance and get their payments down within a year. Two things happened here when that loan agent said that statements, one is either that person is so smart that he or she could predict what will happen to interest rates and home values within a year or that person is flat out just saying that to close this loan. You figure it out, on top of all this the loan carries a prepayment penalty for both loan.

Anyways, I calculated his options and checked the property value. I am hitting a brick wall, cant do any better on his payments due to interest rate now are higher. The property value has not risen enough to make a 90% combined loan to value due to the prepayment penalty to be added to the loan balance.

I then remembered that I have a client who is currently working on getting their credit cleaned up and in the process of saving up money for closing cost. T hey makes over $9000.00 a month and can afford$3000.00 payments. I heard a light bulb lit up in my mind and thought that maybe somehow I could put both of them together and make it work for both.

I am suggesting to the owner of the property to sell because even if I can help him with refinancing, in six months time he would be back in my office asking me to do the same for him and now he would live mortgage to mortgage sacrificing just to be above water. I then called the callers who are currently trying to save money and work on improving their credit and see if they might be interested in a lease option to buy. How this works is, they would take over the existing payments of the seller without going thru an escrow; a lease contract is signed thru an agent for a minimal fee paid by either the buyers or sellers. Without having to apply for a new loan, once agreed the buyers can move in and continue making payments for the sellers until a given time on the contract. Then should the buyers apply for a new loan to release the sellers from the mortgage responsibility.


Facts about lease options for sellers:
1. The seller might be able to avoid paying a prepayment penalty if the contract due to be exercised after the prepayment period.
2. The seller depending on the contract might walk away with some money.
3. The seller needs to monitor the payment of the buyers because the loan is still under the sellers name until the buyer refinances the loan.
4. The seller minimizes commission and closing cost paid to agents and escrow companies.

Facts about lease options for buyers:
1. The buyers will be able to avoid having to qualify for a loan regardless of credit situation, because they might just need to take over the existing loan of the seller.
2. The buyers will be able to avoid paying high fees for closing cost.
3. The buyers must be able to afford the payments of the mortgage, tax and insurance to be proven to the seller to avoid delayed payment on the mortgage loan.
4. If the buyers have poor credit but can afford the mortgage payments, they would have the time to re-establish their credit prior to applying for a loan in the future to fully own the house outright.


As easy as it sounds, this might be a harder task than meets the eye. The match has to be perfectly beneficial for both parties. A lot of communication would have to be going on even after the contract has been exercised.

Warning: Be careful with applicants just wanting to take over your payments and move in. They could move in sign a contract with you, but never pay the lender and you will be responsible as far as the lender is concerned because they never took out a loan under their name. If they did, it would not be called a lease but a regular conventional transaction.

Advise: Employ a professional to handle and negotiate the transactions and ask for some kind of good faith deposit to show interest from the buyers. Remember, they should be releasing the sellers from the payments only but not the responsibility.

Please contact me for your inquiries, I will be more than happy to assist you in anyway I can. Call me at (888) 822-5363 or write to Kennethgo@verizon.net. Sincerely.

Scotia Capital's Analyst Meeting with Manulife CEO

• Following yesterday's MFC lunch, we met with CEO Don Guloien.

• In our opinion, the lunch did a good job of clearing the air. Guloien mentioned to us in our subsequent meeting he was amazed that a sell-side only meeting held June 25 "produced" everything from a dividend cut to an equity raise when nothing suggesting anything of the sort was ever mentioned (in our opinion, broad market dissemination of a message is a much better way to go).

• What he did say in our meeting yesterday is that nothing has essentially changed over the last couple of months in terms of the company's capital plan, even though the market has rebounded. Priorities remain to build capital through, in order of preference, preferreds, innovative tier 1, medium term notes, reinsurance, and lastly dividend cuts/common equity. In effect, everything is on the table, just as it was a couple of months ago. They're looking at more debt/prefs/innovatives, and with a debt+prefs+innovatives/total capital ratio of 27%, vs. SLF at 29% and GWO at 41%, they still have ample room, possibly another $1.5B to reach 30%. Housing the recent $1B in innovative Tier 1 at the holdco provides lots of flexibility as well.

• With respect to all this dividend talk, Guloien said essentially said nothing has changed. It's a Board decision, it remains the last item in the pecking order in the capital plan, he's very cognisant of investor sentiment (acknowledging though that lifecos are different than banks), and it's not his job to say it will never happen. The payout ratio is a function of "core earnings" (which will be elaborated on when the company reports Q2/09 Aug 6) over the long run and he has suggested growing into the target payout ratio could be a more likely scenario. The target payout ratio is 25%-35%, our 2010 estimate puts them at 38%, and consensus puts them at 41%, which is lower than consensus for SLF of 44% (above their 30%-40% target) and consensus for GWO of 50% (above their 30%-40% target).

• Unlike other CEOs Guloien is very open. He's blatantly honest and will explain both sides of any idea freely and openly with the Street. His style will likely take a bit of getting used to.

• MFC sees plenty of acquisition opportunities down the road and believes that these volatile markets will separate the strong from the weak.

• At 7x 2010E EPS, we believe MFC is good value for an excellent franchise.

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Financial Post, David Pett, 3 July 2009

Manulife Financial Corp. was one of the biggest gainers on markets over the past three months, but thanks to a late June slump, the life insurance giant still remains one of the better buying opportunities heading into the third quarter, says Desjardins Securities analyst Michael Goldberg.

"We believe that the recent decline in Manulife's stock price has been an overreaction by investors, Mr. Goldberg said in a note to clients.

For the second quarter, Manulife shares were up 42%, compared to 19% for the broader TSX benchmark. However, since June 19, the stock has dropped 14%.

The sell off followed news that the OSC is investigating the company's disclosure to investors regarding its segregated funds and annuity business, but Mr. Goldberg believes the real culprit behind the drop was a Manulife statement saying it may need to strengthen its reserves .

"As we have said in the past, we expect any reserve strengthening next quarter to be minimal on a net basis and any expectation of a net reserve release following the buildup of those reserves at a cost of $7-billlion over the past few quarters, would be naive," he said.

He said Manulife is now trading at 7.6x his projected 2010 EPS forecast of $2.80, which compares favourably to his $26.50 price target based on 9.5x 2010 EPS.

"It is time to lessen exposure to Canadian bank positions and start accumulating Canadian lifecos," Mr. Goldberg added

A plea for proper cites to archival records

While sifting through a few different collections of records this week, I wanted to be sure to track down a couple of sources mentioned in secondary works, and also to see what else might have been alongside those documents in the same files. One citation had the author and recipient of a letter, and its date. That's all. The bibliography disclosed the collections consulted, so I could narrow it down to a couple of possible collections. But the citations contained no box or file numbers. It should have been easy to find the letter, but it was not in any of the files I examined.

Citations sometimes get truncated in a different way. Readers of law review articles will be familiar with a citation practice unknown elsewhere: "on file with the xyz law review," or "on file with author." Twice I have tried to consult such sources, and contacted an author and a law review about them. Both times the sources could not be located.

I suspect that both sorts of citation practices are often used to save space. A press might ask an author to cut down the length of endnotes. Fewer pages mean lower publishing costs, of course. Sometimes law review editors try to streamline cites, without realizing that those pesky record group numbers and unwieldy file names are a precise road map to the author's source material.

So what's an author to do when faced with an editor's effort to trim your citations? For starters: just say no. And to back yourself up: most archives have guidelines for how to cite to their materials, like the guidelines from the National Archives of the U.S., and the Canadian Library and Archives.

Please. Your colleagues will love you for it.

Images 1 and 2.