*
Highly Recommended *
You
Deserve Answers...And Now You're Going to Get Them
If
you haven't gained the wealth you crave, you need to do something
differently.
Why? Because all change, all progress begins with a single decision,
a single action.
Are you ready to seize the final piece of the puzzle? The missing
ingredient to coast you all the way to financial freedom? You
deserve answers and now you're going to get them.
In just 30 days from today your life could be in an entirely
different place. Don't
delay.
- Charlie Byrne
Pardon
Our Mistake
Yesterday,
we featured an intriguing article by Attorney William Bronchick, "Why
Buy When You Can Rent?" He introduced
the idea of using a "Lease/Purchase" (also known
as "Lease/Option") the next time your considering
a real estate purchase.
Using
a Lease Option, you can rent a house, take none of the risks
of home ownership, and still benefit from any appreciation
in all types of markets (from bubble markets to bargain markets
and anything in between).
Unfortunately,
the links we provided readers who wanted more information did
not work properly. If you would like to find out how you can
use Lease Options to live in your dream home or invest in real
estate with little to no money down, click
on this properly working link now.
The
Secret to Timely Investing
By
Andrew Gordon
To
generate big gains through timely investing, you have to run
in the opposite direction of the herd. If that sounds hard,
it is. It requires you to invest in the sinking sectors of
the market and stay away from the hot sectors. But if you're
tempted to try, this is what you need to know:
1. By
the time the herd is off and running, the biggest gains have
already been made. You're left with the crumbs. Sometimes
- in the really hot sectors - those crumbs can add
up. But a dogged determination to stick around in a sector
after getting in late usually leads to losses.
2. Sectors
that are flat or falling have many more bargains than fast-rising
sectors. But before investing in one of those bargains, make
sure you have reason to believe the sector could rebound.
If you're thinking of investing in the coal sector, for example,
that reason might be the emergence of a new technology that
allows for the clean burning of high-sulfur coal.
3. Most
sectors run in cycles. For example, did you know that the
gaming sector is on a 5- to 6-year cycle? Become familiar
with these cycles and you will have a good idea as to which
of this year's flat sectors will become next year's hot sectors.
Certainly
not everything the market does is predictable. But a surprisingly
large part of it does follow a certain logic and/or patterns.
Your portfolio will be much more profitable once you learn
to recognize what they are.
[Ed.
Note: How can you profit from the fast-changing fortunes of
coal? That's just one of the subjects Andrew Gordon covers
in detail in ETR's Wealth
Advantage investment service. Join now
and you'll get a free special report on Andrew's specific "finds" -
companies that have the very real potential of giving you up
to a 1,000 percent return.]
"The
French complain of everything, and always."
-
Napoleon Bonaparte
Notes
From Paris: The Good and Bad of France
By
Michael Masterson
My
first trip to France was a stopover en route to my two-year
stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa. Although that
visit lasted less than 24 hours, it made an impression on me.
I was thoroughly taken with the big, gothic churches, the wide,
tree-lined boulevards, the museums, parks, and brasseries.
K
and I got married in Chad, and then traveled through Europe
using French travelers' checks as a precautionary measure against
having them stolen. When my wallet disappeared in Athens, I
promptly reported the missing checks to the French bank and
asked to have my lost money replaced.
"We
will be happy to do that," the bank officer told me, "as
soon as you find them and replace them."
"Find
them and replace them? How am I going to do that?"
"I'm afraid we can't help you with that," she said.
"But
I don't get it," I protested. "The reason I bought
travelers' checks was in case I lost them. You have my serial
numbers. I've reported that they were stolen. Why can't you
give me my money back?"
"As
I have already explained to you quite clearly," she said,
fatigued by my denseness, "when you find them and return
them we can reimburse you."
That
was my first experience with French bureaucracy. In the years
since then, I've had many more. France continued to lure me
with its good wine and cultural amenities, but almost every
time I ran into a problem that needed some sort of "official" intervention
(dealing with a misprinted ticket at the airport, trying to
get a refund for a broken tote bag, returning a bad car to
the rental agency, trying to get a better room at a hotel),
I was disappointed.
Still,
I loved France and kept coming back. And when BB, my friend
and colleague, had the opportunity to start a new business
in France about 10 years ago, I encouraged him to do so. But
I was worried about the hassles.
And
I was right to be worried. Almost immediately, his new business
began to run into regulatory problems:
But
that didn't stop my friend. He moved his family to France.
He bought a big, sprawling mansion in the country and got an
apartment in Paris. His wife set up house and his children
entered local schools.
France
agreed with him and, despite continuing problems with the new
business, he persisted. In fact, a few years after starting
that business (a direct-marketing-based publishing company),
he bought a book publishing company there. Then, more recently,
he relocated the headquarters of another company he owned from
Ireland to Paris.
I
had a nice visit with him this morning. He still likes France,
he told me, but admitted that the many hassles of running a
business here are wearing on him.
Back
home in Florida, I have a French friend, AW, who used to own
several nightclubs in Marseilles. "They were very successful
in terms of sales," he told me. "But it just wasn't
worth it. After working 80 hours a week for five years, my
clubs were the most successful in the entire city. Still, after
I got through paying all the regulatory fees, employee benefits
programs, and taxes, there was nothing left for me. I was making
less money than my managers, who were working only 40 hours
a week."
Disgusted
and despairing, AW left Marseilles and started over again in
the U.S. "It's not easy making a business work in America," he
told me. "There are plenty of regulations. But when you
do make a profit, you can keep most of it.
"I
am going to have to work very hard to be successful in the
U.S.," he said, "but one day I'm sure I will become
rich."
France
is home to many very profitable big businesses. But its laws,
its regulations, its bureaucracy, and even its culture make
it very difficult for new companies to succeed. Besides the
overwhelming number of legal and financial hurdles an entrepreneur
must initially get over, he faces lots of additional challenges
when he finally opens up the doors.
If
you are considering the possibility of setting up a business
in France, you at least need to be aware of the two biggest
problems.
Your
obligations in terms of the French Social Security system,
medical coverage, unemployment compensation (Number Two Son
tells me it can range between 50 and 80 percent of pay, tax
free), and other benefits are onerous. In many cases you
have to pay for your employees' transportation and lunch.
And forget about firing the bad ones. It's cheaper to keep
them.
Although
it is surely not true, one sometimes gets the impression
that the French don't like to work. According to The
New York Times, full-time employees average seven weeks
of paid vacation each year. Maternity leave (for women and
their spouses) is among the most generous in the world. The
official work week is 35 hours. Holidays are frequent. And
when all else fails, French workers go on strike.
According
to the International Herald Tribune, a French sociologist
named Jean Viard who studied French working habits came to
the conclusion that they spend less than 10 percent of their
lives doing their jobs.
This
wasn't always so. In the beginning of the last century, the
French had a reputation for being very hard workers. In fact,
the concept of the paid vacation did not exist in France before
1936. When it became law, it seemed outlandish to many. It
was called "a law favoring sloth."
But
today, the conges payes (paid-leaves) are as much
a part of French culture as the Academie Francaise. And who
can blame them? If you were given the opportunity to take four
to six weeks of paid vacation every year, wouldn't you? And
if you lost your job and could collect 50 to 80 percent of
your salary, tax-free, while you sat at home eating Snickers
bars, why would you go back to work?
This
is not meant to be an anti-France essay. I have loved France
for 30 years, and so I feel entitled to worry about her future.
Although there are undeniably tens of millions of Frenchmen
who still put in a good day's work for a day's pay, there are
also undeniably millions of slackers and malcontents who expect
to be taken care of by the state.
France
is not alone in this regard. Many modern democracies - including
the United States - face the same problems. But when you mix
an aversion to work with a love for bureaucracy, you have a
potent poison for entrepreneurs. And because small businesses
are responsible for most new growth and employment ... that's
not a good thing for a country's economy.
* Highly
Recommended *
Over
$123,000 Profit
"We
walked away from the closing table with a check for over
$123,000 profit!"
Valerie
Ellsworth,
Bridgewater, MA and
Jack Fresina,
Brockton, MA
You
can see five and six figure paydays on a consistent basis with
real estate investing. But you'll end up frustrated and tired
if you don't learn to put systems into place that do the hard
work for you.
Give
yourself a fighting chance - learn
the short-cuts that will free up your time and make you the
most money.
The
Workout That Keeps on Working
By
Al Sears, MD
Yesterday,
I told you how my PACE® exercise program prevents heart attacks.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg. It's also the most
effective way to burn fat.
Check
out these results ...
When
Mike first came to my clinic, he weighed 324 pounds. When I
measured his body composition, he was 44 percent fat! I put
him in the PACE® program - and in six weeks, he lost 37 pounds.
In 18 months, he lost 107 pounds. His body fat went down to
an amazing 6 percent ... and he still looks fantastic. The
fat never returned.
So
how can a 10-12-minute workout burn so much fat? Because the
most important changes don't occur during exercise,
they occur afterward.
As
reported in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition
and Exercise Metabolism, a group of men and women in a
Colorado State University study exercised for two minutes and
then rested for one minute. They continued these intervals
for a total of 20 minutes - and continued to burn fat at an
increased rate for 16 hours.
I
recommend that your exercise sessions never last more than
20 minutes. Keeping it brief programs your body to burn fat
after the session. Long-duration "cardio" routines
burn fat during the session - but when you finish, your body
starts to make more fat to prepare itself for your next workout.
This locks you into an endless cycle of burning fat, only to
make and store more.
Here's
an easy PACE® program to get you started:
|
INT
|
Rest
|
INT
|
Rest
|
INT
|
Rest
|
INT
|
Rest
|
INT
|
Rest
|
|
1
min.
|
1
min.
|
1
min.
|
1
min.
|
1
min.
|
1
min.
|
1
min.
|
1
min.
|
1
min.
|
1
min.
|
If
you're in the gym, choose any machine you like: elliptical
machine, stationary bike, recumbent bike, stair-stepper, etc.
During your first interval, find a comfortable level of exertion
- something that gives your heart and lungs a gentle challenge.
After one minute, rest. (But when I say "rest," I
don't mean "stop." It's better to stay on the machine
and go at a slow, easy pace, equivalent to walking.) Then repeat.
This
whole workout only takes 10 minutes. When you're done, you
should feel like you've given yourself a challenge. But don't
overdo it. Take it slow at first.
[Ed.
Note: Dr. Sears, a practicing physician and the author of The
Doctor's Heart Cure and 12 Secrets to Virility,
is a leading authority on longevity, physical fitness, and
heart health. To help you stay active and mobile - far into
old age - sign up for your free
copy of his "Youth Secrets."]
It's
Good to Know: Learn a Language ... One Word at a Time
By
Charlie Byrne
Did
you know that "health" is "sante" in French, "gesundheit" in
German, and "salute/ sanita" in Italian?
And
that "money" is "dinero" in Spanish, but "denaro" or "soldi" in
Italian?
I
didn't ... until I installed Google Toolbar on my computer.
It has a new feature called "WordTranslator," which
allows you to learn a new language just by scrolling over the
words on a Web page.
Move
your cursor over any word, and WordTranslator will display
a small box which shows the word you're hovering over, along
with possible versions of that word in a language of your choice.
You can choose to display French, German, Italian, Spanish,
Japanese, Korean, or Chinese, depending on your computer's
language pack.
Whether
you want to brush up on a language you already know, learn
a brand-new language, or just impress your coworkers, this
tool is a must. You can download it from the Google website.
* Highly
Recommended *
Start
Making Money Today
Interested
in getting a nice little side-business going on the Internet?
Or maybe even from your living-room table?
But
you don't have too much money, you don't have too much time,
and you're not exactly Bill Gates when it comes to technology.
Sound familiar?
A
lot of people are in the same boat. The good news is that ETR
has heard you. And now we've done something about it...
We've
asked our colleague Marc Charles to be on the lookout for profit
opportunities that can be run from a kitchen table, your desktop
or out on the road.
Criteria?
They've got to be inexpensive, easy to start, and still have
great income potential, but without a lot of red tape.
They
say when you're first getting your feet wet with a side-business,
the most important dollar to make is the first one. Well, Marc
is an expert at taking beginning entrepreneurs and showing
you how to make that first buck. He knows, because he's done
it dozens of times for himself, his family and his friends.
If
you've been dreaming about starting your own business...now
you can get started for about the price of 2 lattes.
And
get this - you could be making money literally just hours from
now. Imagine the feeling of finally getting a side business
launched -TODAY!
Why
not go for it?
Let
me introduce you to "The
King of Business Opportunities".
-
Charlie Byrne
Word
to the Wise: Daedal
Something
that is "daedal" (DEE-dul) is ingenious
in design or function. The word is derived from the Greek for "cunningly
created."
Example
(as used by Percy Bysshe Shelley in "Hymn of Pan"):
I
sang of the dancing stars,
I sang of the daedal earth,
And of heaven, and the giant wars,
And love, and death, and birth.
