Deere Rides the Wind to Beat Boone

May 29th

Make no mistake. We're still swooning over T. Boone Pickens and his great Texas project (see the May 15th article), the largest wind energy project in the world. But on a smaller scale John Deere & Company (DE) is working to affect more communities across the country. As a result, more U.S. citizens will be able to spot the tall but small footprint wind energy mills across the country.

Two such projects have been completed in King City, and Rock Port, Missouri and soon in Kansas, City.

And just completed outside of Missouri this month is a utility-scale 52 or 53-megawatt project in Huron County, Michigan. One of the project partners and general contractors is a division of Alliant Energy (LNT) on which 32 wind turbines were erected. This project is also owned and developed by John Deere & Company (DE). Generally, the role of John Deere Wind Energy is that of both a debt and an equity investor. John Deere enters into agreements with local developers and landowners to facilitate the development and operation of wind energy projects.

So we hope that T. Boone Pickens is able to complete his worlds largest wind energy project soon. Meanwhile companies like John Deere are working to develop and complete smaller projects which will be seen around the country. This work increases employment and spurs the economies of the towns these projects are close to.

Just yesterday, Market Club calls a BUY for (DE). Market Club is one of my worthwhile indulgences. It is a tool that we greatly rely upon to help us choose good entry and exit points on the stocks that we're interested in. Market Club helps us trade with little to no emotion which greatly adds to our profit taking. We've written about INO TV twice here this week and Market Club is its partner site. One day soon, we will write an article to tell you more about the Market Club tool that we use in our daily trading.

Future1investor’s Indulgences

May 28th from my Vox page

There are very few things out here on the internet that I am genuinely excited about. My Father taught me about the importance of value for your money or in other words "bang for the buck". With that in mind, there is quite a lot to disappoint you. You'll waste hundreds and likely thousands of dollars because giving this trading system, that trading system, an online seminar here, a hotel seminar there, books, lots of books, CDs, DVDs, a try.. is like going to a casino.

You get to put down your money for a chance to win some knowledge. A chance to beat the house, or a chance to do better than the average guy/gal. A chance, just a chance and no guarantees either. Its all just a crap shoot!

Then every once in a blue moon, you might come across a site that delivers all those things, and has value to boot! One such a site is INO TV. I wrote about it a couple days ago here when I talked about Linda Raschke. Hers was one of the totally free video seminars that you can watch on the site even before plunking down even a dollar.

Then if like me you decide to plunk down some cash, you'll find that it is a most reasonable offer. And what do you get? YOU GET A LOT !!!!

For one, you'll find that this is universal training. It isn't tied to just our market here in the good ole U.S. of A. You'll find that it works for people in the U.K., Canada, Germany, China, Australia, simply everywhere.

And if you've ever taken an online course at a college, you know how expensive that can be. And you know that you are limited on time and the course will soon end. So you better have your entire schedule clear so that you can concentrate on your studies and nothing but. Otherwise the money will be gone before you know it and so will the training. INO TV gives you an Ivy League education and you can train at your own pace w/o the fear that it will be gone if you happen to get tied up with real life for a few weeks.

Huge Library!
Thats right, you aren't limited to a small selection of seminars. One price gives you access to this whole huge library of trading seminars. When you were in college, did you ever have a teacher that you just didn't get? That no matter how hard you tried you just weren't going to benefit from attending his/her class? Well my friends, that can happen at a seminar too! But with INO TV, if you find that you just don't "get" a particular trainer, guess what? You can search for another trainer on the same topic! They have a functioning search engine that helps you find exactly what you want. And if you aren't the type to use online search tools, the seminars are laid out in a very logical index as well. So you'll be sure to find the education that you want and need!

Real Life Experience
Unlike some college professors who just learn how to teach and the subject they are teaching in college before they themselves start regurgitating it back onto you; the trainers at INO TV are professionals with real life experience. They are some of the most well known traders in the world and they're available to teach you when you are part of INO TV. There are literally experts on every topic!

Eleven Channels
If you are a beginner, this is the best channel to start with. As you wish to learn more specific topics then move onto such channels as Charts & Analysis, Day Trading, Futures/Commodities, Options Trading, and more.

Great Way To Learn About Trading Systems!
Rather than waste lots of money trying this system or that system, you can find out all about trading systems at INO TV. It will help you choose the system that is right for you and eliminate the random chance. Discard all those trading systems spam emails. Go here first, find out about them on INO TV and decide which one is right for you. You could be saving yourself a huge chunk of change in this area alone! Again, that is what my Father calls value.

Help From Real People
This is the first of five promises you get as an INO TV subscriber. It isn't just a web site that is put up there for you to take down information and then have no support system should you need it. It is run and maintained by real people who are accessible to you either by email (the very most other sites ever offer you) or by phone from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST Monday thru Friday.

He Rested On the 7th Day
As you can tell, when I believe in something, I can be pretty passionate about it in my writing. Zig Ziglar once taught me that you can not truly convince others how good a product/service is unless you yourself use it on a daily basis. I use MarketClub and INO TV six days a week (Mon-Fri, Sun). Unlike God who rested on the 7th day, I do my R&R on Saturdays. Sunday, I'm preparing for the market on Monday.

Have you ever known you can trust someone just by the way they talk? There are those who you know are not selling you something but showing you common sense. Watch this short video and you decide. You'll meet Adam Hewison one of the co-founders of INO TV. Listen closely to his voice and you'll know and hear exactly what I mean.

Take it from me, one of the normal folks out there. If you tend to have a few indulgences in life, you'll not find a more invaluable indulgence than this one!

Most Discussed S&P 500 Companies

May 27th

Sentiment on S&P 500 Companies

The embedded widget below helps traders/investors to understand who is driving opinions about the top S&P 500 companies. Quickly learn who the opinion holders are that lead conversations versus those that follow.

About Jodange Inc.

Leveraging off the significant investment in sentiment analytics to date by Cornell University, co-founders Larry Levy and Claire Cardie established Jodange in early 2007. The goal was to develop business applications that drive tangible value by allowing knowledge workers to better understand who is influencing their customers, competitors and marketplace in an environment where information continues to originate from an exploding number of information sources.

Linda Raschke Is One Smart Gal

May 27th

I have not had the pleasure of meeting as many professional traders as Adam Hewison from INO has. The good thing is that with the free version of INO TV, you can meet four of the world's top traders and have a front row seat to their seminars for free.

As a regular user of the INO TV service, I am a huge fan of professional trader, Linda Raschke. Honestly, I don't know why I put her in a class of her own among the other many amazing seminar authors.

It could be that she has had continued success in the trading arena for over two decades. It it could be that I am drawn to her superior presentation skills. It could also be that she is a great role model for young women pursuing a career in finance and/or business.

Ok, ok... I won't play the gender card. I am completely aware that over 91% of you individual traders out there are men. However, no matter what gender you may be you can recognize Linda's trading intellect and appreciate the tips and strategies in her seminar presented in the complimentary version of INO TV.

LindaRaschke

"Classic Indicators - Back to the Future"

About Ms. Raschke:
Besides lecturing to thousands of individual traders in over 18 countries, Linda is a principal trader for several hedge funds and is president of LBR Group, Inc. She was profiled in Jack Schwager's book, "The New Market Wizards," and frequently is featured trader in numerous financial publications and on national radio/television programs. Currently she is the vice president of the American Association of Professional Technical Analysts.

Self-directed traders have spent big bucks to learn from Linda, but INO TV is offering one of her lectures for absolutely no cost.

She is one of my INO TV personal favorite trading experts and I hope you will become fond of her as well.

Watch her seminar, "Classic Indicators - Back to the Future" today at no cost on INO TV.

Enjoy Linda's Seminar,

Future1investor

The Recession Question

May 26 on my Vox site

Warren Buffett says we are in a recession. The financial media will not say so as they do not want your dollars to stop flowing in to the markets. The question may be better put: Is there are recession in your area?

A drive out to Kings Island Amusement Park just north of Cincinnati, Ohio would indicate a big NO! But there could be other factors involved. We went to the park just last Saturday to find that no matter what vehicle entrance you entered, the park was wall-to-wall cars. You would have been directed to the far end of the property which is a green zone of grass just before the property ends. One reason may have been that part of the truck/bus parking lot was closed for the Robbie Knievel event (see below). But this lot is seldom seen by most park goers. Still, maybe this was the reason.

Then as we approached the park entrance we saw a continuous line of people that stretched 1,068 feet. I say

Goldpass

continuous because this line existed for no less than four hours! It could have been longer but we did not arrive before then. This line was for season ticket holders to get their picture taken. It ended inside a building that is only used for taking season pass holder pictures. Many of us were in awe. There did not seem to be a recession in the greater Cincinnati area. Adults gold passes for instance cost almost $100 each.

The park is owned by Cedar Fair (FUN) and is only one of eleven parks across the U.S. and Canada. Its chart looks like one of its famed roller coasters but if we are in a recession, then maybe this is the answer. With fuel prices going up steadily, people may be choosing to stay close to home and give the family season passes to amusement parks like those owned by Cedar Fair instead.

If you have not been to an amusement park in several years, you'll should not be surprised at the cost of games and souvenirs. Most carnie type games cost $5 a pop. Course any parent would let their children know ahead of arrival that games and souvenirs are off limits if they want to reap the value of a close to home family outing. Parks easily recoup any special discounts to draw them to the park when these same people start playing games.

If amusement parks are the answer to recession, perhaps FUN would be a stock to trade for the summer season. Not only does it operate the mass of roller coasters and stage shows but it also has six water parks.

The Goldman Sachs Manipulation

May 23rd on Vox

Just as I said, it is a great time to get into solar especially now since G.S. turned the solar sector inside out with that negative rating yesterday! What do you wanna BET! that their clients have now bought into solar????????

Did you get in yesterday or today as I suggested? You're sitting pretty about now if you have!

The news has been so good for most of the companies that they have been running hot for the past week giving traders some much appreciated action.

It just makes me say "What the FRACK!" when a company like Goldman does something like this. Even though I'm making money, it isn't right that a big company can easily get away with market manipulation but the little guy gets the big fly swatter.

In fact, when we were in Cabo, a new buddy said that the rich paid for the majority of the tax base in this country.
I laughed so hard inside that my brain almost squeezed fruit loops out my ears! Ain't that right Brian? I love ya man but what the frack are you talking about?

Goldman Sachs Manipulating Market?

May 22 on Vox

DARTS! DARTS! DARTS!
-To Goldman Sachs for downgrading Solarfun (SOLF) to a sell.

Despite few analyst reports and ratings, this company's stock has been a solar trader's playmate since middle of last year. And now that the solar sector is back in the light for all to see due to the high price of oil, Goldman downgrades the stock? This sent the entire sector down because people tend to listen to G.S., a company whose own managed funds are not all that stellar. Well some have been good but that's not good enough for bragging rights and certainly not good enough to command swaying the market with negative comments when the whole sector is kick'in ass no matter what solar stock you are looking at!!!

Goldman said "the premium valuation of (SOLF) is unwarranted given muted top-line growth and looming margin and cash flow pressure."

I agree totally with the StreetInsider.com who recently said today: "Why follow Goldman's advice on the stock now? Goldman, considered the ax in many stocks they follow, completely missed the run-up in Solarfun Power. Goldman had a Neutral rating on the stock since June 2007, meanwhile SOLF moved up over 100% since that time." And when nearly every one of the solar companies is reporting excellant earnings and/or new sales and supply agreement contracts.

That guy got arrested in Europe for making comments which hurt a stock so I think Goldman should be equally punished for this comment today given their apparent influence on the markets. Though the actual statement could be correct, it turned the whole sector inside out. Wanna bet they're going to BUY Solarfun now??? Huh? Huh? Giving them a nice entry point and as a way to settle the rift with its investors who rightfully don't know why the company was staying away from solar for so long?

If you want to make some money, get into solar and you won't be disappointed. Now the time is ripe for an infusion of cash into the sector due to this G.S. upset today. It has turned a recently too hot to handle market into a limitless buffet line of offerings at a very cheap price. Remember, the China market which is one of the largest for solar stocks, has gotten its due correction already and prices have been reset which is a plus for traders. And again with the stupid move by G.S., the stocks are value priced just for you! Just remember to do your homework first! Fundamentals then the technicals. Honestly though, it will be hard to loose in this market with proper money management stops.

DO NOT LISTEN TO Goldman except to give you a boost on your entry, exit, and re-entry points!

Failure and Success

May 20 from My Vox site

I've heard it, I've read it and I've experienced it. To be a stock trader you have to be comfortable with failure as much as you are with success. In other words, accept that there will be losses. There is no perfect system, no analyst, consultant, fund manager, or individual who is going to be right 100% of the time. You will probably loose money more times than you make it. The key is loosing less money than you make.

Losses are a hard hard pill to swallow but as long as you've done your homework on the sector, the stock, the trend, etc. if you have a loss you just have to learn to wash it down and move on. You need to find out if possible why it failed, or if it was you that failed to enter and exit properly or that you didn't do enough homework before jumping on a the leaking ship in the first place. We must learn from our failures so that they help us make better moves in the near future.

The government will only allow you to take a $3,000 investment loss. The rest is on you to learn from bad trades so that you don't make it a recurring action. Failure goes hand in hand with success. Lady luck is great but she is spread too thin as it is. Be accountable for every action both in your private life and in your career. The ultimate opportunity is to learn from your failures so as to continually improve the process so that we can reap the benefit of experience.

When DJ Slips, Sale Signs Pop!

May 20th from Vox

DOW JONES INDU AVERAGE NDX

When the Dow slips like this, many people stick their head in the sand. But for the predator traders out there, this may be the best time to pick favorite stocks with strong fundamentals and technicals up for a nice discount from previous days action trading.

Thursday and Friday were great trading days and up until Monday afternoon, the trading action was fantastic. Then things started slipping and today (Tuesday) the Dow was down firmly between 60 and 199 points. Which translates to stock prices dropping. This was a perfect day to sit back and diversify your holdings with a number of stocks at a better buy point.

Stock Sale

Discount Stock Price

This is why some advise that you do not take part in pre-hours trading in order to see where the market is heading. This can prevent a trader from buying only to see their stock price drop after the opening. However, if the Dow will be moving up that day; pre-hour trading can get you into a stock before the heavy volume buying begins. Its considered a crap shoot by many, so the best you can do is to go with your gut. Jump in early for high risk/reward or patiently wait to see were the market is heading before buying and catch a better deal.

Still others will rely on their systems to tell them when to buy. Systems can provide better educated guesses, still however systems will have bad signals and you'll loose some percentage of the time, so be prepared to take a bath now and then. The market has history and history has spawned systems which are plentiful and come with a nice price tag. The market holds experiences along with history and those who have time to watch, study, and gain experience of their own will use this and their gut to make buy/sell decisions. The rest is up to lady luck!

Willing to Risk Failure and Learning All the Way

May 16 from Vox

Much of our every day lives has to do with the failures and successes of the little person. People like you and I who make our opinions known, others who see a business opportunity and are willing to stick out their neck and give it a go. Tonight I was watching The BIG IDEA and was reminded we desperately need to promote and encourage peoples ideas and business attempts so that we as a nation can get back to what made our country a power house.

So much of our former glory has been lost and I feel it is because many have lost the vision, the drive, and desire to create, innovate, improve, and celebrate the uniqueness of our minds. This is what we once called the American Dream.

Cw1

It can be as little as a bit of underwear err excuse me, lingerie' . Take for instance the story of a girl who shared a living space with Christina Applegate (Kelly Bundy). The girl Robin Antin was a choreography of music videos, who wanted to do something different. She invited over some friends (music video dancers) to play around with various types of music and choreography. Applegate suggested they do their thing in public at the Viper Room on the Sunset Strip. That was the birth of the Pussycat Dolls.

Then over the years they had celebrities guest sing/dance in the group and it became ever more famous. Now on the CW network we see Antin riding the coat tails of Coyote Ugly with her own version called Girlicious.

Cw2

It seems like now there is no end in sight to the increasing success that Antin could achieve.

She recently came out with her own line of lingerie' to play up the strength of women, the girl next door, and sexual attractiveness
that almost any woman can have if they don't already have it in their lives.

Pcd1

Almost every person has the potential to create and those who don't can give their opinion to help shape an idea or existing product. Some people create by experiencing failure and discovering a side benefit. Others create through food and offering comfort. More others bring excitement to our lives with a huge variety of products and services.

Still others have perhaps a bit more stuffy services but are nonetheless very important to someone like me who for example is trying to make a living in the stock market.

Whatever the case, these people take an interest, a passion, a need and make it happen by giving it a go despite the high risk of failure.

Pcd3

Pcd2

Whatever your passion, please let it be known to others or step out of your comfort zone and try to make it a business. You never know what you could have done unless you try! Above all, learn from your experiences and accept critique of your work to learn from others then continually improve! Even if you aren't the creative or business type, you can still do this in your job and make that job better, easier on you, and more productive.

Social Networking Power Seeps Into Applications

May 16

I have been letting my views and opinions out onto the vast WorldWideWeb now since before most of you readers were even born! I organized the largest number of System Operators (Sysops) ever to meet in one place. Now that says quite a lot as my learned scholarly and entrepreneurial business friends would say.

It would be nice to know that some of my rants and raves such as the one which took out every point of

Bill

Microsoft's first online published ROI white paper was read and understood. That an intelligent person or team of individuals would find great value in my quality assurance background and position as a consumer advocate.

Facebook

Well years later, it seems that Microsoft is now attempting to be a little more consumer caring. And it looks like possibly my rant on the uselessness of FaceBook but promotion of social networking sites is being heard.

There are many who are against the internet and use of the web as a way to meet others and collaborate without being able to physically touch or sit in the same office. Some of those concerns are quite valid BUT there are too many positives as well as practical needs for it not to be pursued and developed. No matter how much we wish to prevent Pervs, stalkers, and other negative people in our physical and online life we will never be rid of them no matter what is done. In fact trying to do so online may prevent great productivities from being achieved.

Today we have help (sometimes questionable) from telecenters in India, we have distant learning of which I participated in one of the few way back in the '80s. Do you remember the early online virtual worlds?

Sony's Virtual World

I was also part of those early renditions which were exciting but clunky attempts to bring people together online. Well today, Sony and a couple handfuls of other companies have gotten behind the dream to develop this further. And we will eventually see truly productive applications linking people together in both a purely social as well as purely business, educational, and entertaining ways. One of my Canadian friends turned me onto BlogTV. This is a social networking site that has been around awhile and allows anyone to use their web cam to host a show and even have a co-host on with you from anywhere else in the world! Granted some of the blogTV hosts are quite lame but it gives them an outlet for social interaction which can be for pure fun or for other things. I plan on using blogTV as a way for my online neighbors and friends to chime in on my interest for trading/investing and all things technology. Of course there are other ways but this is simple and fun!

BlogTV

You can have audio, draw on the screen, kick people out for inappropriate behavior and build a network of followers. Unlike Facebook you don't have a zillion widgets wanting your attention. It is purely an audio/visual world where the host creates whatever kind of show he/she chooses.

Since technology is constantly improving and people wish to further push the limits of possibility; social networking will become a key feature in more and more applications to come. I for one look forward to the next pipe dream becoming reality. Perhaps you'll play an integral part and have your fifteen minutes of fame!

Obama on blogTV

Swooning Over Boone!

May 15, 2008

Boone

My new favorite person is former oil man Boone Pickens!

My man is going to spend some $10 billion dollars on a wind farm the world's largest.

Today the news reported that he has just ordered some 667 wind turbines from GE for his wind farm in Texas. This order alone is worth $2 billion dollars.

Rather than wait on the incredibly stubborn, selfish, and morally corrupt top U.S. leaders to lead us on the right path, this successful businessman has stepped up to the challenge.

The scale of this project is the equivalent to building one to two nuclear power plants!

One way I'm looking to play the green market is with a company called Woodward Governor (WGOV) they not only provide products and services for electrical power generation but also for diesel, gas, steam engine systems; aircraft and gas turbine systems as well. This company has just the right volatility for trading the way we do.

China Quake May Shake Stocks

May 14, 2008

With the exception of solar stocks, we are tip toeing around China stocks until we can see what the affects of the quake are on investing.

Below is a video showing some of the disaster from a June 2007 quake. Watch and observe how we in the U.S.A. with all our government's power and money takes a back seat to China when it comes to disaster relief. When I saw this, I felt again for the victims of Katrina and those who are still awaiting government assistance as promised.

Here is something of this week's quake that just occurred.
A powerful earthquake struck southwestern China on Monday, toppling thousands of homes, factories and offices, trapping students in schools, and killing a feared 50,000 people, the country's worst natural disaster in three decades.

The quake, which was estimated preliminarily to have had a magnitude of 7.9, ravaged a mountainous region outside Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, just after lunchtime Monday, destroying 80 percent of structures in some of the towns and small cities near its epicenter, Chinese officials said. Its tremors were felt as far away as Vietnam and set off another, smaller quake in the outskirts of Beijing, 900 miles away.

Manna From the Heavens

May 14th, 2008

This week so far has been like receiving manna from the heavens. Everyone made money in our stock pics. It was trader's nirvana. Especially fruitful were the solar stocks. Even the dogs came out to play and we watched harvesting at its finest as percentages went up like plants on some really good fertilizer enriched water. The charts were oozing green and this was a sure sign that spring was here. The only thing dampening the spirit of the day was the rain outside and that made me wish that I was back in Cabo.

By the way, more pictures are on the way but I've been fighting a long lingering cold and I just don't feel like doing much beyond cultivating my stock garden and sipping on a nice glass of Sangria which makes a great hot tottie. I know, hot totties aren't made with wine but mine are! There are several recipes for the drink that cures all that ails ya but it depends if you like wine, whiskey, or something non-alcoholic.

Something else that has had my interest this week is social networking. Most of you know that I think that Facebook is useless, but there are other sites that seem to have done the social part very well. One of them is HouseValues, Inc (SOLD). HouseValues, Inc. provides real estate professionals with the tools and services they need to manage and grow their real estate businesses. HouseValues's subscription software products include RealtyGenerator, a turnkey lead generation and lead management system for real estate brokerage companies, and MarketLeader, a customer relationship management and lead management solution for real estate agents. The Company also provides real estate

ActiveRain

professionals with access to media buying and lead generation services to help them attract clients and promote themselves throughout their community. Additionally, HouseValues provides consumers with free access to the information and tools they need throughout the home buying and selling process.

HouseValues tools include Coaching & Community - Through a wide range of networking, professional training and personalized coaching opportunities subscribers refine their sales skills, learn new productivity techniques, define business goals and strategies, and share best practices. The company has invested nearly $3 million dollars to help further a product called ActiveRain.

Rather than focus on home builders as an investment, I'd would prefer a company such as HouseValues which focuses on the broker agents who sell the homes out there. (SOLD) is one such investment that may pay off nicely and it has a price that is too irresistible to pass up. At under $3 you can build up a nice position in this stock. And because the price is so low, so low in fact the market doesn't think its worth anything, but Cantor Fitzgerald is rating this stock as a buy right now according to Barron's. And at under $3 most of us can afford to gamble a few grand to see where it can go from here.

I think that any company that is trying to help agents and buyers alike is on the right track. I told my buddies a few years ago that despite the low interest rates the cost of housing was too high and that they were foolish to buy. Well many have lost their homes and others are struggling to hang on. I hate moving too! Still others are setting fire to their homes thinking that the insurance will pay. Now that is what I call desperate and foolish!

Everything has its true value. No one should ever talk you into what you can't afford and couples shouldn't have to struggle just to have a decent home.

Cabo Pics

Here are some of the pics from our recent conference in Cabo. I've been sick since returning and haven't had a lot of energy of late to get it all together.

Music Sees the Light

People in the U.S. are ever so slowing beginning to see solar power as a viable source of power. Over the course of the year, we'll feature many people making use of the sun for their power needs. BTW: thars money in dem solar stocks!

Media Mis-information

I say in my book which is currently being written; not to believe most analysts. Now I'm also saying that we need to be careful about believing what the media tells us. Why you say? I think that much of the media is controlled by powers we are unwilling to admit does such things.

I've profited from what they did not talk about

I warned you about being taken in by a lot of internet based promotional marketing hype that is designed to get you to buy after the promoters have their money in place. Then after enough subscriptions come in, they dump their stock, and take the profits leaving you to thank for you being a big sucker!

Now I've gone with nearly a week before the Cabo Future1investors Conference and till now by not watching CNBC. This is one of the main financial/stock market news channels and also the very one that Jim Cramer, king of his own Cramerica show is on as well. That one program alone has cost me profits by persuading me to buy things that I should have avoided. While I won't say that they are made up of folks that can profit from persuading us to buy something and dumping it a day or two later before we have a clue, I will say that I've profited from what they did not talk about on the show.

Analysts thrive on selling you on something that needs cash infusion, or a bit longer rally. Media is sponsored by companies and government individuals that need much of the same. It is bad enough that they plot behind your back to take advantage of us as consumers. Its worse when they do it to our face! You are being given a check (tax money that will have to be recollected from you in the future) and told by our country leader to go out and spend it as a consumer. Should people correctly be told rather, to use it to pay down their credit cards? Mortgage? College loan?

When it comes to money, morality gets tossed out the window. Morality becomes the new conspiracy word. We have war to put others into turmoil, increase immorality, use our own american men and women as test beds and pawns on the battle field, and make more money and give favors to certain others (see special facts below). The media is used to console us into believing non-truths, to raise more money, get your vote and backing for things their puppeteers will do behind your back. Television is one of the greatest inventions ever and also one of the best tools used by our leaders and others to heard us the way they need in order to make more money despite how it can negatively affect you. I've said before that we are sheep and they are the sheep herders.

Instead of blindly following, instead of believing everything that you hear on the TV, wake up and find out the truth before you leap at their request/suggestion. You may well find that you'll be a bit richer rather than poorer for doing so. But be warned that if you look for other perspectives, find truths, find data that is contrary to what we are told, you may be labeled or called something negative. If you are however, know that it probably means that you are onto something that is more truthful than what you are being told. Know that it could mean that you'll be saving money, making more profits, being happier with the decision that you will make.

Special War Facts:

• A contractor working in Iraq as a security guard gets about $400,000 a year, for example, as opposed to a soldier, who might get about $40,000.
• Military sign-up bonuses come with conditions: a soldier injured in the first month, for example, has to pay it back.
• Some families have had to buy their children body armor, saving the government costs in the short term; those too poor to afford it sustain injuries that the government then has to pay.
• It was not until 2006, when Robert Gates replaced Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense, that the DOD agreed to replace Humvees with mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) armored vehicles, which are much more able to repel roadside bombs; until that time, IEDs killed 1,500 Americans.
• Many reconstruction jobs, in alignment with US procurement law, went to expensive American firms rather than cheaper Iraqi ones - a further waste of resources (one painting job, for example, cost $25m instead of $5m); these American firms, looking to keep their own costs down and profit margins high, imported cheap labor from such countries as Nepal - even though, at this point, one in two Iraqi men was out of work.
• When US military commanders wanted to re-employ Iraq's military to help secure the country, they were denied. This put 40-50% of the country's dependence on the military (families and solders) out of work and without any money, leaving them to go hungry and create an insurgency against the U.S. military that would have rather had their support and expert assistance. As a result, many more solders in the U.S. military died, tens of thousands more Iraqis were killed in response.

• $16bn
  The amount the US spends on the monthly running costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - on top of regular defense spending

  $138
  The amount paid by every US household every month towards the current operating costs of the war

  $19.3bn
  The amount Halliburton has received in single-source contracts for work in Iraq

  $25bn
  The annual cost to the US of the rising price of oil, itself a consequence of the war

  $3 trillion
  A conservative estimate of the true cost - to America alone - of Bush's Iraq adventure. The rest of the world, including Britain, will shoulder about the same amount again

  $5bn
  Cost of 10 days' fighting in Iraq

  $1 trillion
  The interest America will have paid by 2017 on the money borrowed to finance the war

  3%
  The average drop in income of 13 African countries - a direct result of the rise in oil prices. This drop has more than offset the recent increase in foreign aid to Africa

• For all this, companies prosper as do certain individuals while many suffer needlessly as a result. All because money, power, and political agenda are in control.

Source: The Three Trillion Dollar War, by Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes
-Stiglitz, a Nobel prize-winner in economics, four years on Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers and another three as chief economist at the World Bank.
-Bilmes, an economic adviser under the Clinton administration.

Iraq War De-escalation Act

Illegal War

Hillary - Roadmap Out of Iraq

Iraq War Veterans Take a Stand - (by Brad Paisley)

Visa and Mastercard Relentless Climb

An investment that so far hasn't stopped climbing is MasterCard (MA). Since May 2006 when the IPO began at about $40 the

Money In da Bank!

stock has continued its upward movement to what we see today at $293 a 547.7% growth! In the span of its first calendar year, MasterCard achieved 119% growth. In the second year, 108% growth, and in 2008 so far nearly 36%.

So now lets look at the new IPO baby, Visa (V). YTD has achieved an impressive 56.6% so far! When I spoke with TDAmeritrade folks and mentioned that I was interested in Visa. I got what amounted to a trouncing both in stares and in muffled comments. So what is wrong with 56.6% I wonder? Thats money in da bank boys!

Though Visa is still a baby, this baby is on track to smash MasterCard's record performance. Even with more talk of a U.S. recession (Warren Buffet considers us already in recession) and the possible talk of a global recession (there will still be countries that are not as affected as the U.S. and the U.K.) people will still use credit cards for their transactions.

But why should they? Well, when I was in my old corporate job, I went out to lunch every day. Sometimes I brought others from my office. And inevitably time and time again, these folks would say the same thing: "Does this place take credit cards?" and then I'd say: 'I don't know...why?' and they'd respond: "I don't carry cash". So in this new age beyond the Baby Boomers, our kids don't carry cash. Perhaps they don't like bulking up their wallets with the greenbacks. Or perhaps it is some kind of statement of sorts that they are the new future?

I was on my way back from the Future1investors Conference in Cabo San Lucas and a young Cox Communications employee who had just finished getting a house built for he, his wife, and baby on-the-way said the same thing. "I only carry credit cards".

MONEY In da Bank!

Cabo Insights

I've just returned from the Future1investor Conference in Cabo. It was an insightful (sentiments from those participating) and mixed bag of thoughts from around the U.S. and Canada. One thing that ate at me personally was the food or rather waste of food by some people. While it is somewhat the norm to see a few people waste half a plate

Food Waste

of food and then return to the buffet for even more; it irked me to see it happening in today's situation.

I wish that the hotel would put nice but directed signage asking people to only take what they will eat or sample a small amount first rather rejecting large portion of food that could have gone to feeding the needy adults and children in town. Kudos because they did have like signage in the bathrooms of the guest rooms. It asked you to save the environment by reusing your linens more than once.

I felt obligated by morality to carefully choose my food and then eat everything on the plate. Also at the bar I was careful to choose a drink that I could fully finish before ordering another. And I was also aware that I could become sick if I consumed too much alcohol while in the hot sun. Too bad some of the hotel's other guests weren't adult enough to do the same. This was an all inclusive property however and I guess some folks just have some stupid idea that wasting is fashionable?? We just wondered/hoped if the left over, untouched food was somehow directed towards those who would benefit.

Anyway, back to the food issue. Before I left we had the rice situation and the over-all rise in food costs. Lets look at this a bit. Data that follows is approximate based on various sources:

Gone Up Gone Down

• Eggs 30% ?
  
• Milk 10%+
• Cereal 8%
• Bananas 10%+
• Rice 13%+

These may be much higher than my figures but the point is, while other foods are rising as expected at about 3-5% per year, others are rocketing higher and really putting the pinch on the pocketbook. I intentionally don't buy snacks when going to the grocery as a way to maintain some modicum of my health and hold down costs. It was evident at my last corporate job that they don't try to maintain at least cost of living wage increases. It is unfortunate for many that it actually costs them more money each year to stay at that job! And companies wonder why they loose some of their better people. Does your company help you stay above the cost of living increases each year?

So what is the way to invest when things are like this? Agricultural stocks obviously and companies that distribute the food to the consumer. When I was taking the shuttle to the hotel, I was happy to see that Walmart (WMT), Sams Club, and Costco (COST) where in Cabo. These are all companies that do well during hard times as they are able to price items into the range that people can afford.

I am working on a movie of the pictures that so many are looking for on here. Some Canadians made the suggestion that I name the movie Cabo Slut just as a way to easily find it. I thought this was both funny and searchably appropriate. Not appropriate as in content; there will be NO sexual scenes or any inappropriate content. It will just make it easy to find (fingers crossed) when I post it on YouTube later this week.

Future1investor's Conference

We're here and a few folks arrived yesterday as we did.
The Riu Sante' Fe is so incredible. Pictures to come next week.
Anyway we did already start some of our discussions yesterday while in the infinity pool overlooking the beach!

We have some great people from Boston, Mass. and from various places around British Columbia, Canada and of course Cincinnati, Ohio USA!

Just wanted to let you all know that you surely must join us next year for this conference!

We also are looking forward to having our first Bloggers Meetup also here at the Riu Sante Fe in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Today we're planning on lounging around the infinity pool then this afternoon we will be walking down the beach to the marina and into town for a little walkabout. Then we'll be taking the water taxi back to the hotel and going through the Cabo Arc.

Till next time!

Future1investor