- WEALTHY: Why I stay away from currency trading (Rick Pendergraft)
- HEALTHY: The link between headaches and heart disease (Jon Herring)
- WISE: Shapley R. Hunter on responsibility
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- A personal solution to a national problem (Michael Masterson)
- Feedback Friday: Mixed feelings about Word to the Wise
- Add "euphonious" to your vocabulary
Turn A Single $100 Investment Into A $2,000-A-Week Profit Machine
In the next seven days, 4,589 people will leave their jobs, never go back… and have all the money they will ever need.
I would tell you that these people are “very lucky,” but the fact of the matter is that there is no luck involved.
It’s happening everywhere. Ordinary people – including people who never finished school – starting their own businesses…and making in the neighborhood of $40,000…$60,000…even $100,000 or more a year.
Even though all these people are “ordinary” in some ways, one thing is certainly “out of the ordinary” about them:
Many used the same secret to start a business on less than $100. You can do it, too. Here’s how…
- Patrick Coffey
ETR Insider Report: Sticking to What I Know
By Rick Pendergraft
It seems everywhere I turn is an ad touting the many benefits of currency trading. These ads appear in trading magazines, at financial websites, and even as infomercials on television. The message is something like: "Open an account with as little as $250" … "The market that trades 24 hours a day" … and so forth.
But I always shy away.
I’m not saying you can’t make money in currency trading. I know people who do very well for themselves with it. But I assure you that it is not easy. No form of trading is easy. In most cases, it takes years of studying and hands-on experience to become successful.
And that’s why I stay away from currency trading. I don’t know it. I haven’t had a chance to learn its inconsistencies and foibles.
What I do know is options.
My interest in options was fueled years ago, in my 20s, when I saw how incredibly profitable it could be. I had a boss who day-traded options on the S&P 100 (OEX) and the Major Market Index (XMI), and I watched him consistently make $500 to $1,000 per day.
I have spent almost half my life trading options, and have learned that it is not as easy as I thought it was back then. But I spent years following the options market, doing research, paper trading, and honing my skills … and it’s paid off.
When I see those ads for currency trading, I admit that I’m somewhat intrigued. But I remind myself that it’s uncharted territory for me. If I ever master the intricacies of how that market operates, I may give it a try. For now, I’ll stick with what I know.
[Ed. Note: Find out how Rick Pendergraft can help you make money - no matter what the market's doing - as the editor of ETR's new investment service, the ETF Options Trader.]
"Personal responsibility is a difficult thing to ask for in a nation which has attempted to find a societal ‘root cause’ for all things."
Shapley R. Hunter
Has the Public School System Failed Us?
By Michael Masterson
In Seattle, a group of white parents are suing the local school board because their children were denied admission to a predominantly white school. The reason: The school was trying to achieve "racial integration."
But the school district was implementing the policy because it had been sued a few years ago by another group of white parents – those who wanted quotas to be used because they felt it would be beneficial. A look at the school district’s admission policies by The Wall Street Journal revealed that the school has been jumping over and back over the integration rule in reaction to threats by affluent white parents.
The same thing, apparently, is going on in Louisville, KY and elsewhere around the country.
That doesn’t surprise me. People will generally push to satisfy their personal agendas. But most people – including educated, affluent white parents – flip-flop on complicated issues, because the causes and the effects are not well known.
The Seattle case is going all the way up to the Supreme Court. Will that resolve it?
Almost certainly not. History tells us that situations change but people don’t. How school integration looks in your school district will change as demographics, policies, and practices change – even if the underlying regulations stay the same. On an individual basis, people’s perspectives on school segregation can change depending on what happens to their own children. The Seattle battle began that way.
This is the problem with trying to solve big, social problems in big, governmental ways. The solutions are almost always at least partially ineffective and temporary. That doesn’t mean one shouldn’t work for political change – but it does suggest that the practical person will look for personal ways to deal with his personal situation.
In this case, for instance: What is the personal way to deal with the problem of having your kids excluded from a presumably better, white-majority school in your local neighborhood?
How about taking personal responsibility for the quality of your kids’ education? How about seeing this as an opportunity to get more involved with their curriculum, to spend time tutoring them (or hire someone to help them), to be stricter with them about the time they spend studying? What’s wrong with that?
Is it unfair because that should be the state’s job?
Nowhere in the Constitution is there the guarantee of a good education. We have come to believe that we have such a right in America, because we believe that educated people generally make better citizens (although I’m not sure there is any evidence of that). But the history of public education in the U.S. is the history of going from good to bad, and then from bad to terrible.
How terrible is it? Well, despite the fact that spending on all elementary and secondary education nationwide was more than $500 billion during the 2003-2004 school year – one of the highest expenditures for education in the world (according to the National Center for Education Statistics) – American students are not performing at the same level as many of their peers in other countries.
In the last TIMMS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) survey completed in 2003, U.S. eighth graders ranked 15th out of 45 countries in mathematics. They did a little better in science, ranking 9th.
Closer to the home front, graduation rates indicate another problem area. According to data from the Washington, D.C.-based National Center for Education Statistics, our high school graduation rate in 2005 was 68.3 percent. That boils down to a little less than one-third of U.S. students leaving high school without a diploma.
And the cost of dropping out is high. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a high-school dropout has an annual salary of only $23,400 as a full-time worker.
There shouldn’t be any debate about it. We all want our children to be better educated, but our efforts to teach them in public schools have failed miserably.
Still, most people don’t want to give up. "If we just had more minority teachers … or better computers … or less English literature and more Spanish …" We keep tinkering with the machine, but the machine is spitting out ignoramuses.
As a parent who loves your children, you don’t have to fix the public school system in order to give them a good education. All you need to do is invest more of your own time and money in achieving this very worthwhile goal.
Repeat after me: "My children are my responsibility. If I want them to have a good education, I must be in charge of that education. I must do what I must – which always means caring, but also devoting time or money or both – to give them the education that I want for them. I will not expect my school district to do this job for me. I won’t wait for my school district to find a solution. I will handle the job myself. Starting immediately."
Good news for people who worry: Just about every political problem has a personal solution. If you are willing to accept the responsibility to feed and clothe and educate yourself and your family, 90 percent of the world’s problems will become secondary issues for you.
Virtually Un-tapped! Limitless Supply of “Investor Friendly” Cash
All too often, real estate investors struggle to find deals, only to be frustrated with financing them. That’s especially true for investors looking at larger deals such as commercial property or apartment complexes. But it doesn’t have to be that way!
Alan Cowgill has perfected 16 methods for attracting wealthy individuals anxious to loan him all the money he needs and more to do every residential and commercial deal he finds. Learn his secret for raising unlimited cash, with no qualifying and investor-friendly terms.
Justin Ford
Editor, Main Street Millionaire
Preventing Migraines – a New Approach
By Jon Herring
It has been well documented that those who suffer frequent migraine headaches have an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. While some doctors wondered if there might be a causal relationship, it appears that is not the case.
New research is pointing to insulin resistance as a possible cause of both migraines and vascular disease. Resistance to insulin and the resulting high concentrations of blood sugar are known risk factors for vascular disease. We also know that insulin resistance is common in those who suffer migraines.
In a study performed at the University of Turin’s Headache Centre, researchers compared insulin sensitivity in 30 migraine patients and 15 healthy subjects. At the outset, both groups had similar levels of sugar and insulin in their bloodstreams. However, when the subjects were given a high-sugar drink, the blood sugar levels of the migraine patients remained much higher and for much longer than those of the control group. Other tests revealed that those in the migraine group did, indeed, show resistance to insulin.
This would suggest that if you suffer from migraines, improving your sensitivity to insulin could not only reduce their incidence, it could also reduce your risk of heart disease.
To improve insulin sensitivity, eliminate sweets and high-glycemic carbohydrates from your diet and exercise consistently. Resistance exercise (bodyweight calisthenics or weight lifting) and high-intensity cardio are the most effective ways to reduce insulin resistance. In addition, consider supplements (such as magnesium, chromium, and cinnamon) that are known to improve insulin sensitivity and benefit blood sugar levels.
Feedback Friday: "Is ETR Teaching You the Wrong Words?"
In ETR #1916, Michael Masterson explained why we include a "Word to the Wise" in every issue: Expanding your vocabulary will help you read and speak better, can help you be more successful, and it’s just plain enjoyable. Here’s what some of our readers said in response…
"Love ETR and read it every day. However, I find your vocabulary lessons somewhat off-putting. Most of the words you suggest have little ability to be used in even the highest, most sophisticated communication forums without sounding stilted, affected, and phony, in my opinion.
"I know many but not all of the words. I can recognize them in writing or conversation – but I don’t believe I’d ever use them without feeling a twinge of guilt. As Sir Winston said, ‘Broadly speaking, the short words are the best and the old words are best of all.’ No one ever doubted Churchill’s vocabulary, and no one ever thought him pompous or misunderstood him.
"Your commentary on the vocabulary words was interesting. I was heartened when I saw that I’m not the only one thinking that. Your rejoinder was interesting; however, when your editor says ‘Statistics prove that people with bigger vocabularies earn more money,’ that’s false logic, I believe. It occurs to me that the income and the vocabulary are both a function of a higher intelligence and both are effects, not causes."
Jim Edholm
Andover, MA
"A further benefit of having a good vocabulary, courtesy of my college Greek Mythology professor (25 years ago): You will be recognized as witty, charming, and the life of every party – assuming of course that you have the right friends!
"You are absolutely right about vocabulary. We all need to reach for something better and hang around others who do the same."
John Porter
Charlotte, NC
"The problem with using dumbed-down words is that the simple word may not mean exactly what needs to be conveyed. ‘Fortuitous’ means happening by chance, not lucky. A tornado wiping out your house is a fortuitous event. The ‘optimal’ solution may not be ideal because it is also impractical. ‘Peruse’ carries a different connotation than ‘read.’ Perhaps you might expand suggestion 3 to include learning the nuances of the words to be able to convey accurately the exact idea you’re trying to get across to the reader."
Dennis McNeese
Bloomington, IL
[Ed. Note: What are your thoughts on ETR's Word to the Wise column? Let us know at ReaderFeedback@gmail.com. Include your full name and hometown, and we may print your e-mail in an upcoming issue of Early to Rise.]
What is having the Secrets to a Lifetime of Automatic Income Worth to You?
Think about taking just one simple step today… and finding that in a few weeks, you have a chance for $3,000, $6,000, $12,000 or more (maybe MUCH more) to be dropped into your bank account each and every month… with almost zero effort on your part… and practically no costs. Read on…
- Patrick Coffey
Word to the Wise: Euphonious
Something that’s "euphonious" (yoo-FOH-nee-us) – from the Greek for "sweet-voiced" – is pleasing to the ear.
Example (as used by James Trefil in The New York Times): "Einstein originally proposed the more appropriate (but less euphonious) title of ‘theory of invariants’ for his work, but gave up pushing for it when ‘relativity’ caught the public’s imagination."
[Ed. Note: Increase your income potential ... become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... become more attractive to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR’s new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2007
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