Issue #2631
- WEALTHY: Are oil prices destined to rise? (Ted Peroulakis)
- HEALTHY: A strange way the recession could be affecting your health (Suzanne Richardson)
- WISE: Dostoevsky on self-respect
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- How a blockbuster movie can help you be a better person (Robert Ringer)
- An April Fool’s Day celebration of wordplay (Don Hauptman)
- It’s Good to Know… about first-class travel on the cheap
- Add “logophile” to your vocabulary
== Highly Recommended ==
Why Get Your Hands Dirty When You Don’t Have to?
Where there’s a stampede, there’s an opportunity…
Thousands of wannabe entrepreneurs have jumped on a bandwagon to find, fix-up and flip foreclosures.
They thought they were being smart. They thought they were doing the opposite to the crowd and had the license to print money.
Little do they know… they ARE the crowd!
Now, please don’t misunderstand me. It’s a fact that many properties (sadly) are becoming available at rock bottom prices due to foreclosure. It’s also a fact that a few people are making money by flipping foreclosures…
And they’re earning every penny (when it all works out)!
Flipping foreclosures may sound great in principle, but stop and think about what you have to go through to achieve that…
Not my idea of easy money.
It’s Time to Invest in Oil Again!
I told my readers to short oil when it was at $120 per barrel on April 23, 2008. I was a little early to the party, but oil did drop below $33 a barrel in December of 2008. Now, I think oil has bottomed and is about to head higher.
Here are just a few reasons why I think the time has come to consider investing in oil again:
• There are many potential geopolitical flashpoints around the world that could flare up at any moment and disrupt oil supply.
• Americans have forgotten about past high gas prices and are back to buying SUVs and forgoing the carpool.
• Crude oil prices held up in the face of the recent 12-year lows in the stock market. This is very bullish for oil.
• Most of the world’s cheap oil has already been discovered, and oil exploration companies are drilling in places that are harder to reach. This adds to their costs and results in higher oil prices.
• Soon we could see demand increase to a level that will start to exceed supply. Demand will grow in the years ahead as India and China continue to modernize.
While oil inventories are high right now, they may start to decline toward the end of the year. I suggest you start looking at investing in oil over the next few months and use big down days as buying opportunities.
If you invest in oil, keep an eye on the economy. If the current slowdown gets worse and lasts longer than expected, it could have a negative effect on oil prices. Currently, my technical indicators are pointing to higher oil prices in the near term.
[Ed. Note: Ted Peroulakis has over 14 years of experience in the financial industry and is a top options trader and financial analyst. You can read more of Ted's advice on the most profitable investments in Investor's Daily Edge. Sign up for free here.
Oil isn't the only investment you can profit from in 2009. This June, 9 investment experts will show you exactly how you can make a fortune in today's market. Find out how you can get their top recommendations for making 2009 the best year ever for your portfolio right here.]
“If you want to be respected by others the great thing is to respect yourself. Only by that, only by self-respect will you compel others to respect you.”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Valkyrie, Socrates, and You
If you haven’t yet seen Valkyrie, the Tom Cruise film about the best-known of the 15 or so plots to kill Adolf Hitler, I highly recommend that you purchase or rent the DVD.
One of the reasons filmmakers come up short when attempting to recreate true stories on celluloid is that they seem to believe subtlety is a virtue, which can make it difficult to follow the plot. I had no problem on that score with Valkyrie, but only because I had seen The History Channel’s recent documentary Valkyrie: The Plot to Kill Hitler.
What I especially liked about the documentary was the part that began where the film left off. After Col. Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) and his co-conspirators were captured and executed, The History Channel went on to discuss their posthumous evolution from traitors to heroes in thought-provoking detail.
Hitler, in his best propagandist mode, referred to the Valkyrie plotters as “a tiny clique of criminally stupid officers.” His denunciations were heard loud and clear throughout Germany. And if there’s one thing we know about human beings, most of them, sadly, tend to believe whatever those in power tell them.
Thus, for many years after their executions, the conspirators were viewed by the general public as traitors. However, as Germany settled into becoming a civilized society, it slowly came to grips with the monstrous crimes Hitler and the Nazis had committed. As a result, public sentiment about the plot shifted dramatically, and the men involved in it were increasingly viewed as heroes.
It’s too bad the movie left all this out, because there are several major messages here. First and foremost, whether one is a traitor (or “terrorist”) or a patriot (or hero) is very much determined by time and circumstances. Hitler had nearly a year to ingrain in the minds of his subjects the belief that von Stauffenberg and his cohorts were traitors of the worst kind.
So, to me, the most inspiring part of the Valkyrie story is that, in the end, truth prevailed. Hitler was reviled by the masses, and those who tried to overthrow him were (and are) looked upon as patriots and heroes.
Perhaps the Valkyrie conspirators were well versed in the life of Socrates. To the bitter end, Socrates never retracted his unpopular statements. And to the bitter end, the Valkyrie heroes never wavered in their determination to put an end to Hitler’s madness.
On a personal level, the Valkyrie story is yet another reminder that it’s much more important to be loyal to your principles than to be popular. Truth and popularity, in fact, are all too often at odds with one another.
In comparing his own life to that of Socrates, in his book The Consolations of Philosophy, Alain de Botton wrote:
“In conversations, my priority was to be liked, rather than to speak the truth. A desire to please led me to laugh at modest jokes like a parent on the opening night of a school play. With strangers, I adopted the servile manner of a concierge greeting wealthy clients in a hotel – salival enthusiasm born of a morbid, indiscriminate desire for affection. I did not publicly doubt ideas to which the majority was committed. I sought the approval of figures of authority and after encounters with them, worried at length whether they had thought me acceptable. When passing through customs or driving alongside police cars, I harboured a confused wish for the uniformed officials to think well of me.”
Sound familiar? It should. Because, to some extent, every one of us is guilty of not having the courage to reveal our true thoughts. In fact, none of us will ever totally rid ourselves of the sometimes overpowering need to be accepted. It is a psychic disability that is part of being human.
This is so even though we know, in our heart of hearts, that some of the biggest fools on the planet are popular. If we need reinforcement on this point, we need only turn on our television sets and listen to the babble of the many high-profile fools who grace our screens.
But what about compromise? Doesn’t a civilized society require compromise? For the most part, compromising on “details and strategy” can be beneficial if it helps equals to get past trivial issues. But when it comes to principles, Ayn Rand had it right: How do you compromise between good and evil? Between moral and immoral? Between freedom and slavery?
Which brings me back, once again, to the Valkyrie story. It reminded me just how important it is not to compromise one’s principles. Like everyone, I’ve had my share of people getting mad at me for something I’ve said (You should read some of my subscriber e-mails!), something I’ve done, or for refusing to do something they wanted me to do.
If this, too, sounds familiar, I’d like to pass along some advice from a centimillionaire friend who died about 25 years ago, one of the wisest men I’ve ever known. About a year before he passed away, he told me that when people become angry with you for your words or actions, and you know you’ve done nothing wrong, the solution is to look in the mirror and say to yourself: “If my hands are clean and my cause is just and my demands are reasonable, I have nothing to worry about.” Then simply go about your business.
Finally, I would remind you to keep things in perspective. Unless it involves the government, sticking to your principles with Socratic stubbornness is unlikely to result in your execution. Of course, in certain instances, it could cost you financially. But even then, the tradeoff is that your self-respect and self-esteem will skyrocket.
And those are things you can’t put a price tag on.
[Ed. Note: For a treasure chest of proven ideas, strategies, and techniques for increasing your income many times over, check out Robert Ringer's bestselling dealmaking audio series.
And be sure to sign up for his Voice of Sanity e-letter.]
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They Don’t Call It a “Killer Recession” for Nothing
It’s not surprising that the economy is wreaking havoc on Americans’ health. Nearly 30 percent of Americans are losing sleep because of it. And – according to the findings of a landmark Gallup poll – Americans’ stress levels soared in 2008 and continue to rise in 2009.
But one recession-related health risk isn’t so obvious…
More and more Americans are turning to a tried-and-true stress reliever for comfort: Candy.
Auto manufacturers and insurance companies may be struggling. But candy companies are thriving. Cadbury’s profits rose 30 percent in 2008. Nestle’s increased by nearly 11 percent. And Hershey’s profits surged by 8.5 percent in the last quarter of 2008.
Sure, indulging in sugary foods may make you feel better temporarily. But in the long run, it’s going to ruin your health.
According to organic chemist and nutrition expert Shane Ellison, “If left unchecked, an addiction to sweets spikes blood sugar and the fat-storing hormone insulin, disrupts satiety (causing you to overeat), and gives rise to age-accelerating molecules known as AGEs (advanced glycation end products). AGEs are responsible for causing wrinkles and age-related blindness, as well as premature heart attacks and stroke.”
Eventually, too much sugar can result in horrifying health problems, including insulin resistance, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
If you’re turning to sweets to feel better, Shane recommends that you try confections made with safe sweeteners like erythritol, stevia, agave, xylitol, and luo han guo. They are all healthy and practically indistinguishable from sugar. Or stick to dark chocolate, which is high in antioxidants and has a host of other health benefits.
Shane Ellison (www.thepeopleschemist.com) is an author, organic chemist, an internationally recognized authority on therapeutic nutrition, and the founder of The AM-PM Fat Loss Discovery package. Click here to learn more.
You can find dozens of healthy eating strategies plus delicious recipes for meals that can help you feel better and live longer. And that’s not all… (read on here)]
The Language Perfectionist: Silver Spoonerisms
By Don Hauptman
In honor of April Fool’s Day, let’s look once again at the lighter side of language.
You’ve surely heard, or perhaps even committed, a spoonerism – the exchange, often accidental, of the initial letters or sounds of two words, which results in a surprising and funny new meaning. For instance, one might intend to say “It’s time to leave the house” but inadvertently say “It’s time to heave the louse.”
Since childhood, I’ve been fascinated by spoonerisms. In 1991, Dell published Cruel and Unusual Puns, my book on the subject. I still occasionally write articles about the genre for fellow logophiles.
The word spoonerism derives from William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), a clergyman and a scholar and official at Oxford University. He supposedly uttered these blunders constantly. Scolding a student: “You have hissed all my mystery lectures. You have tasted two worms.”
Only a handful of genuine spoonerisms are attributed to Dr. Spooner, and even those have been disputed. Mischievous students invented most of his alleged bloopers, yet the myth that Spooner said them persists to this day.
Spoonerisms continue to be crafted deliberately for humorous purposes. Consider the following specimens. If any stump you, remember the principle of reversing the initial letters of two of the words.
• Unadoptable section of the animal shelter: Nixed mutts.
• First lesson for Starbucks’ baristas: Heed the foamless!
• Why celebrities usually tolerate autograph seekers: A good fan is hard to mind.
• Alert for Australian soldiers: But mate – there’s war!
• What it’s called nowadays when teenage girls know so much that their beleaguered dads can’t keep up: The well-aware daughter gap.
• That bittersweet feeling on returning from summer vacation: One sighs; it’s fall.
• Homer Simpson’s reaction when he belatedly heard about Chamberlain’s 1938 appeasement of Hitler: Better the Neville you… d’oh!
Is all this just silly fun, without practical value? No! The study of spoonerisms and other speech errors gives us a “window into the mind,” say neurologists, psychologists, and linguists who do research in human behavior. It yields important clues about how the mind works; how language is acquired, structured, and retrieved; and how language disabilities such as dyslexia might be treated or cured.
My hunch is that you’ll now be on the alert whenever you encounter tips of the slung. Er, I mean, “slips of the tongue”!
[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant. He is author of The Versatile Freelancer, an e-book recently published by AWAI that shows writers and other creative professionals how to diversify their careers into speaking, consulting, training, and critiquing.]
It’s Good to Know: First-Class Travel on the Cheap?
According to the International Air Transport Association, the number of first-class passengers fell by 16.7 percent in January. This contributed to a 25 percent loss in revenue for the airlines.
But if you’re flying anytime soon, that’s good news – because carriers are slashing first-class ticket prices to lure back customers. Discounts of up to 84 percent on premium fares are not uncommon. And the price of at-the-airport upgrades, which used to run $500 to $1,000, have dropped by up to 90 percent.
But you’d better hurry. Some airlines are replacing the premium seats on their planes with economy class, which hasn’t seen as much of a drop in business.
(Source: The Wall Street Journal and Associated Press)
== Highly Recommended ==
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Word to the Wise: Logophile
A “logophile” (LAW-guh-file) – from the Greek for “speech” + “friend” – is a lover of words.
Example (as used by Don Hauptman today): “Since childhood, I’ve been fascinated by spoonerisms. In 1991, Dell published Cruel and Unusual Puns, my book on the subject. I still occasionally write articles about the genre for fellow logophiles.”
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... increase your attractiveness to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR's new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2009
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A priceless spoonerism from Adlai Stevenson…known for his wit…
“Dr. Spooner would have called him a shining wit…”