daily blog

From early childhood and throughout the schooling system, we learn the “3R’s”: Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic – the science of numbers. (Nowadays, you need to add a fourth “R”- gRaphing!).
Later, we reach a certain level in our education where were may feel rightly or wrongly (often complacently) that our levels of mastering reading and writing are satisfactory.

However… What about numbers? Generally, we do not fully realize the extent to which numbers control and regulate our lives. We are all identified by innumerable numbers from birth to the very last moments of our lives. Just reflect only on some of our important dates: birth, starting school, finishing primary school, finishing secondary school, the admission to university and then also with every stage of our education imprinted with our marks, marks and marks (percentages!). Then other numbers: the first love (the date, some of us remember!), dates of: marriage, birth of children, the first work, salaries, divorce, then blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar levels, the first operation, the passing away (not yet?) and so on. These numbers are unique to you and unique to me. They all identify you and identify me.

Some numbers quantify information. These are essential to understanding facts, events, processes, laws etc… The US novelist, Nathanel West, 1903-1940, stated aptly: “Numbers constitute the only universal language”.

Studies have shown that even rhesus monkeys can understand the relation between numbers 1 to 9 i.e., they are able to judge whether the specified number is smaller or bigger than the other number.

So, what is the present state of arithmetic? Unfortunately, most of the people satisfy themselves on a very low level of its cognizance. (As an anecdote, I may tell you that I was approached by a lawyer who asked me: “I have to assign a plaintiff 15% of the amount demanded by defendant; how much is it?”). Most people fear numbers if they require any further calculations: making fractions, multiplying, using proportions or inverse proportions, converting to percentages or substituting to formulas. What are the implications of this fact? It often leads to impaired judgement of the average citizen regarding handling their home economics, investment and, as the case may be, the events in their own country and on our globe. As the citizens of a “global village”, we are all affected by events not only in our place or country but even in far-away-countries. Consider these numbers: people affected by HIV, bird flu, tsunami, price of a barrel of oil, tsunami in financial markets, increasing ozone hole, decreasing shoals of fish in oceans, decreasing number of polar bears, the increase in the average yearly temperature, increasing extinction of species of animals and plants. One can present endless number of examples.

The numbers can be puzzling, depressing, shocking, fascinating, mystifying or upsetting. Well, they can be… An educated, intelligent and honest person will perceive them this way. A Polish film director Jerzy Konwicki (renown for his “Ashes and Diamonds”) used to say: “only a cow does not care”.

True, a cow does not know, for example, about the “mad cow” disease and does not understand what it means that a certain percentage of cows are affected by foot-and-mouth disease and bluetongue virus. There are however, unfortunately, also some examples among educated as well as decision making persons, institutions and governments who do not care. They have dubious motives to ignore some numbers (and related facts) they do not like. What will be the consequences of their arrogance to human beings in the future? A Japanese proverb says that more intelligent are those who see further…

Below there are several examples of numbers compiled from the Internet, Time and Trumpet. They may not be exact; however you may find them interesting and worthy of your attention:

65 000 – estimated population of Africa’s black rhinos in 1970
3 600 – estimated population of Africa’s black rhino in 2007
2 000 000 000 000 USD – US cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, so far

3 500 000 – Jews murdered in Poland by German Nazis

32 000 000 – population of Poland before II WW; 24 000 000 after the war

1500 – new HIV infections a day in South Africa

1 000 000 – Americans killed yearly by heart attacks (cardiacnetwork.net)

7:2 – ratio of average number of TV sets to children in the USA

1500 – number of hours, the average USA teenager spends watching TV

67% – percentage of Australian and USA men are overweight

1 in 12- South Africans who had access to the Internet in 2007

15-30 000 000 – men suffering from erectile dysfunction (NIH, USA government statistics)

690 000 000 – number of Asians living on $1 or less per day (Asian Dev. Bank)

142.8 – number of women raped per 100 000 in South Africa; 150 per day

66 000 000 – number of people in the USA suffering with arthritis, the most common chronic health problem in the USA

3% – rate of the green gas increasing per year

7 600 000 – number of cancer death worldwide in 2007

5 200 000 – Americans suffer from full-blown diabetes and don’t know it…yet.

14 000 – dolphins killed annually in Japan

400 000 000 – number of people in the world suffering from depression and mental disorders (WHO).

Look again at the numbers. They alone are meaningless. However, together with the descriptive information, they carry powerful information, obviously to those who are intelligent enough to understand them. Unfortunately, it does not mean yet, that those who understand them and have authority to make decision/s to change some of the numbers/trends are willing to act…

Are you already feeling depressed? You should be… You are intelligent…
Till the next time… (2).

P.S.: While proofreading, my wife counsels me that I have omitted three other important R’s. During a whole life one should learn: Respect for self, Respect for others and Responsibility for your own actions. She is absolutely Right!

Wacek Kijewski is the author of stimulating and entertaining resource material on experimental science: “SI Units, Conversion and Measurement Skills” (the 2007 edition, IBN 0629340584, 186 pp, USD97. The book is recommended for students and lecturers science and engineering courses. Visit website: http://www.wacek.co.za and http://www.wacek.co.za/review.html Read seven reviews: UNESCO, UK, South Africa, Botswana, United States, Hungary. His other ezines:”The Travellers Temperature Tips”, “Is IQ a Metric Unit of Intelligence and…Stupidity”, “Al-Gebra and Illuminati Links Discovered”, “How to Measure Cultural Differences in Metric Units”, “The Traveller’s Temperature Predicaments (2). NB: The book is being sold by Amazon and other booksellers illegally.

There is currently a genuine state of confusion regarding commercial loan rates. The confusion is not just restricted to borrowers, either. Brokers, lenders and professional investors are all struggling to get a handle on what is going on with commercial loan rates.

Borrowers are under the impression that we’re at historic lows. They hear about the feds lowering rates and also hear national banks quote ridiculously low rates. What these national banks aren’t advertising is that their decline rates are at historic highs. Is difficult to be able to track a statistics like this but my friends and associates that work at intuitions like Bank of America, CITI etc tell me that there decline rate are at 95% or so.

So what that means is that they are cherry picking to an incredible degree (can you blame them?). The low commercial loan rates that they are advertising are only relevant for 5% of the borrowers that apply. Think about that for a moment, for every 100 people that fill out those 6 page applications, provide their tax return, etc, 95 of them are getting declined. As a comparison the decline rates are normally more like 50%.

The confusion is not just restricted to borrowers but to professionals in the industry as well. The spreads or margin are varying from one lender to the next more than we have seen. People in the business are struggling to understand why. Normally if you were to get 10 quotes on the same deal the commercial loan rates would be within .25 -. 35% of each other. Perhaps a few would tweak the prepayments or term, etc but their rates would be close. Now we are seeing commercial loan rates on the same deal varying between 2% -3%…

Part of the problem is that some of the lenders and banks themselves are having their cost of capital increase. Some of their credit rating are being lowered, as their balance sheets are scrutinised. So despite the Feds lower their rates, the margins that the banks charge (in order to cover their costs, risk and make a profit) go up as their cost of capital go up. So as one bank is more financial healthy than the next its costs of capital varies.

So what’s the happy ending? We currently don’t have one. If you’re thinking of buying or refinancing a commercial property in the next few months we would suggest getting it done now as in maybe a while before things re-stabilize and commercial loan rates become more universal.

Jeff Rauth is President of Commercial Finance Advisors, Inc out of Birmingham, Michigan. He has a STORE for commercial loan brokers. Contracts, spreadsheets, books, etc. Products starting at $4.95! Check it out commercial mortgage broker store or commercial loan rates

From early childhood and throughout the schooling system, we learn the “3R’s”: Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic – the science of numbers. (Nowadays, you need to add a fourth “R”- gRaphing!).
Later, we reach a certain level in our education where were may feel rightly or wrongly (often complacently) that our levels of mastering reading and writing are satisfactory.

However… What about numbers? Generally, we do not fully realize the extent to which numbers control and regulate our lives. We are all identified by innumerable numbers from birth to the very last moments of our lives. Just reflect only on some of our important dates: birth, starting school, finishing primary school, finishing secondary school, the admission to university and then also with every stage of our education imprinted with our marks, marks and marks (percentages!). Then other numbers: the first love (the date, some of us remember!), dates of: marriage, birth of children, the first work, salaries, divorce, then blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar levels, the first operation, the passing away (not yet?) and so on. These numbers are unique to you and unique to me. They all identify you and identify me.

Some numbers quantify information. These are essential to understanding facts, events, processes, laws etc… The US novelist, Nathanel West, 1903-1940, stated aptly: “Numbers constitute the only universal language”.

Studies have shown that even rhesus monkeys can understand the relation between numbers 1 to 9 i.e., they are able to judge whether the specified number is smaller or bigger than the other number.

So, what is the present state of arithmetic? Unfortunately, most of the people satisfy themselves on a very low level of its cognizance. (As an anecdote, I may tell you that I was approached by a lawyer who asked me: “I have to assign a plaintiff 15% of the amount demanded by defendant; how much is it?”). Most people fear numbers if they require any further calculations: making fractions, multiplying, using proportions or inverse proportions, converting to percentages or substituting to formulas. What are the implications of this fact? It often leads to impaired judgement of the average citizen regarding handling their home economics, investment and, as the case may be, the events in their own country and on our globe. As the citizens of a “global village”, we are all affected by events not only in our place or country but even in far-away-countries. Consider these numbers: people affected by HIV, bird flu, tsunami, price of a barrel of oil, tsunami in financial markets, increasing ozone hole, decreasing shoals of fish in oceans, decreasing number of polar bears, the increase in the average yearly temperature, increasing extinction of species of animals and plants. One can present endless number of examples.

The numbers can be puzzling, depressing, shocking, fascinating, mystifying or upsetting. Well, they can be… An educated, intelligent and honest person will perceive them this way. A Polish film director Jerzy Konwicki (renown for his “Ashes and Diamonds”) used to say: “only a cow does not care”.

True, a cow does not know, for example, about the “mad cow” disease and does not understand what it means that a certain percentage of cows are affected by foot-and-mouth disease and bluetongue virus. There are however, unfortunately, also some examples among educated as well as decision making persons, institutions and governments who do not care. They have dubious motives to ignore some numbers (and related facts) they do not like. What will be the consequences of their arrogance to human beings in the future? A Japanese proverb says that more intelligent are those who see further…

Below there are several examples of numbers compiled from the Internet, Time and Trumpet. They may not be exact; however you may find them interesting and worthy of your attention:

65 000 – estimated population of Africa’s black rhinos in 1970
3 600 – estimated population of Africa’s black rhino in 2007
2 000 000 000 000 USD – US cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, so far

3 500 000 – Jews murdered in Poland by German Nazis

32 000 000 – population of Poland before II WW; 24 000 000 after the war

1500 – new HIV infections a day in South Africa

1 000 000 – Americans killed yearly by heart attacks (cardiacnetwork.net)

7:2 – ratio of average number of TV sets to children in the USA

1500 – number of hours, the average USA teenager spends watching TV

67% – percentage of Australian and USA men are overweight

1 in 12- South Africans who had access to the Internet in 2007

15-30 000 000 – men suffering from erectile dysfunction (NIH, USA government statistics)

690 000 000 – number of Asians living on $1 or less per day (Asian Dev. Bank)

142.8 – number of women raped per 100 000 in South Africa; 150 per day

66 000 000 – number of people in the USA suffering with arthritis, the most common chronic health problem in the USA

3% – rate of the green gas increasing per year

7 600 000 – number of cancer death worldwide in 2007

5 200 000 – Americans suffer from full-blown diabetes and don’t know it…yet.

14 000 – dolphins killed annually in Japan

400 000 000 – number of people in the world suffering from depression and mental disorders (WHO).

Look again at the numbers. They alone are meaningless. However, together with the descriptive information, they carry powerful information, obviously to those who are intelligent enough to understand them. Unfortunately, it does not mean yet, that those who understand them and have authority to make decision/s to change some of the numbers/trends are willing to act…

Are you already feeling depressed? You should be… You are intelligent…
Till the next time… (2).

P.S.: While proofreading, my wife counsels me that I have omitted three other important R’s. During a whole life one should learn: Respect for self, Respect for others and Responsibility for your own actions. She is absolutely Right!

Wacek Kijewski is the author of stimulating and entertaining resource material on experimental science: “SI Units, Conversion and Measurement Skills” (the 2007 edition, IBN 0629340584, 186 pp, USD97. The book is recommended for students and lecturers science and engineering courses. Visit website: http://www.wacek.co.za and http://www.wacek.co.za/review.html Read seven reviews: UNESCO, UK, South Africa, Botswana, United States, Hungary. His other ezines:”The Travellers Temperature Tips”, “Is IQ a Metric Unit of Intelligence and…Stupidity”, “Al-Gebra and Illuminati Links Discovered”, “How to Measure Cultural Differences in Metric Units”, “The Traveller’s Temperature Predicaments (2). NB: The book is being sold by Amazon and other booksellers illegally.

Known as equity swaps in the institutional market, they originated in the UK in the 1980s. Contracts for Difference (CFDs) are an agreement between the investor and the CFD provider to settle the difference in cash between the price at which the CFD trade position is opened and the price it’s closed.

On The Positive side

A CFD will mirror the performance of a stock without owning them, and the profit/loss is determined by the difference between the buy and the sell price. Because contracts for difference trade on margin, investors only need a small proportion of the total value of a position to trade.

A CFD will also mirror any corporate actions that take place. The owner of a share CFD will receive cash dividends and participate in stock splits. Traders use CFDs as they allow them to leverage into “stocks” for little upfront cost. Moreover, in a falling market, you can sell the CFD you don’t own and buy back when it has slipped in price value enough for you to pocket the difference and make a profit.

On The Downside

There are some significant disadvantages to trading CFDs, many of which are based around the fact that they are an OTC (over the counter) derivative. That means that the CFD provider, not a Securities Exchange, is the counterparty to your contract and it is their terms and conditions, designed to benefit them, that you agree to. The downside to CFDs include;

• The deposit is not a down payment for the balance of the CFD trade, but rather a margin held by the provider as protection against any possible losses. This means that an investor may receive a margin call demanding more money if they have bought into the stock thinking it was heading up and the share price falls.
• Given this, we suggest the use of a stop loss that is activated by the CFD Provider (broker) at a % move in the underlying share price against the trade. You would adjust this according to your individual leverage scenario. This should quash any margin call demands.
• You are liable to pay interest on the total transaction amount, regardless of the amount of margin that you have contributed.
• As an OTC (over the counter) derivative you are not offered the same protection as when you purchase shares. For example, some CFD providers are not obliged to use the stop losses you specify, they may also ‘bundle’ together orders from other traders and give you an average price.

Why Contracts for Difference

Leverage.

The leverage level offered by the CFD provider magnifies the underlying movement of the stock. Most providers set differing leverage levels and you can find the best level that suits you trading style. By using a Guaranteed stop Loss (GSL) it is possible to effectively increase leverage levels by capping the margin requirement held against you.

Control of Risk.

If you have ever traded, you know how important it is to use stop losses for capital preservation, especially when using a leveraged product.

• CFDs allow you to cut your losses quickly and leave your profits to run. This ability to quickly exit at the prevailing market price allows for greater risk control.
• CFDs reflect the price of the underlying equity, therefore, you will always know what the market price is of your shares and know what you can sell out for, provided you choose a CFD Provider who uses “at market” prices. Some CFD providers (market makers) may only give spreads, which have the potential to force you in at higher prices and out and lower prices.
• Placing automated Stop Loss orders can exit you out of suggestions that go against you while you are busy in your day-to-day activities.

Other things you may want to consider about CFDs

Hedging

Another application of CFDs, as an alternative to using Exchange Traded Options (ETO’s), is to use CFDs to hedge positions in your equity portfolio.

As with all hedging there is a cost. i.e. the commission you pay to open the CFD position, however, you will receive a net interest payment from the CFD provider as you are shorting the stock. Additionally, there is the indirect cost of depositing a margin payment with your provider to cover the CFD.

Duncan Hickman is an Analyst with Share Select http://www.shareselect.com.au who offer advice on Stock investment and trading, including derivatives such as CFDs

1. Use stop losses – A successful forex trader always limits their losses. No matter how good you are at timing the market, regardless of the strategy being used, every forex trader will lose from time to time. The key is to minimize the losses through properly placed stop losses and learn to maximize your gains.

2. Develop good trading strategies – I do not recommend using a demo account to test your strategy but do suggest starting with a really low amount of capital in a good forex trading platform. The reason I do not suggest testing your forex software trading strategy in a demo account is because of the difference between actual and fake trading. I have seen traders rely on what they learned form a demo account only to lose consistently through an actual account. I strongly believe that a small $50 start up account can be much more helpful and a great test of a forex software trading strategy. To find a proven set of forex trading strategies click on the link at the bottom of the page.

3. Learn how to interpret the news – This is a learned skill and to do so successfully you must take your time and become comfortable with these patterns. Once you learn to interpret the news you will be glad that you did, great profits can be made learning to interpret the news.

4. Start trading small – As mentioned previously, the successful forex traders learn from mistakes made when they trade small. Do as they do and you will learn to trade successfully.

5. Never allow a gain to turn into a loss – One of my personally big rules never to be violated. If you have entered into a trade and are on the upside make sure you have a stop in place to preserve your gain. Nothing brings down a trader faster than a gain turned into a loss.

6. Learn from your mistakes – The old saying is very true as it applies to the world of forex software trading, “If you do not learn from your mistakes you are bound to repeat them.” Enough said!

7. Learn to walk away from trading for a time if not doing well – I have personally made the mistake of falling into the “I’ll make the money back” mentality. This is a loser’s mental state not a successful trader’s psyche. If things are just not going well do not allow greed or fear to keep you in the forex market. There will always be tons of opportunities and you need to have your head on straight when trading so do not be afraid to walk away for a time.

8. Trade with knowledge not emotion – Do what you know you ned to do rather than what “feels right.” Stay with your strategy and do not deviate. If you trade with your emotions you will never succeed, period!

9. Trade with money you can only afford to lose – This really should be rule number one. If you violate this rule you will not be able to trade objectively or effectively.

10. Use a good trading platform – This is the one rule that is most easily pushed aside. Not choosing the best forex software trading platform is just like flushing money down the drain.

Get an Objective Review of the Most Popular Forex Trading Software Programs. Forex Trading System Review is the place to visit.

See What Forex Trading Software REALLY Works! forex-trading-system-review.com is the place to visit.

It’s all too easy to live from paycheck to paycheck without any money left over. However, you should never leave yourself without money for larger purchases or unexpected costs. It’s important to budget each month and allow yourself to save some money away each month regardless of how much you bring home as income. You can make your savings grow much faster over time by placing your money into a high interest savings account.

A high interest savings account generally yields an interest rate greater than 2.5%. Most of the high interest products offering the most competitive interest rates and online savings accounts such as HSBC and ING Direct.

Why Interest Matters

Larger capital growth occurs with a high interest savings account because you will receive interest on the principle amount of money that you put away into a savings account. The principle, combined with the interest that you earn on that principle, continues to build on itself – with little-to-no maintenance on your part.

For example, if you put away $10,000 into a high interest savings account, such as an online savings account, with an annual interest rate of 4.0%, you will have accrued $400 by the end of the year without having to lift a finger. At the end of year two you would have earned over $800 just by keeping your money in the high interest account.

The passive income that you receive from your high interest account can help you achieve financial security and build your nest egg … without requiring you to work overtime or take a second job.

Rate of Inflation While earning passive income from your savings seems like a strategic way to, basically, earn money for doing nothing, keep in mind that there is a national rate of inflation, which is usually about 3% per year.

The rate of inflation is based upon the average increase in prices which therefore causes the real value of the dollar to fall. Therefore, if your money is tied into a high interest account that returns 4% interest a year, you have to subtract this rate of inflation in order to understand exactly how much your money is actually growing.

Types of High Interest Accounts

There are two popular types of high interest accounts that you may want to consider: money market accounts and CDs.

A money market account is directly linked to the Stock Market and is not guaranteed. As the market falls, so can your interest rate. However, because it is tied to the Stock Market, you can also lose your principle when you invest it into a money market. Currently PayPal is offering one of the highest interest and easy access money market accounts online. A certificate of deposit (or CD for short) is a very stable high interest account with a fixed term and return. It is often available through online savings banks such as ING. When you put your money into a CDD you have to decide an initial period of time for the investment such as twelve months. During the agreed period your funds will grow according to the interest rate agreed. However, there may be penalties if you wish to remove your money before the period of time has expired.

Before investing in a high interest account, be sure to do your own research into the legitimacy of the account by reviewing claims filed with the Better Business Bureau and performing a simple online review search. Once you’re comfortable with your selection of accounts, start putting that money away to watch it grow!

Find out how much you could make using this savings calculator.

Richard Greenwood writes on a range of finance and banking topics as well as being the Director of the Click 4 Group of finance websites which compare banking products including the Bankwest Telenet Saver.

Probate is the legal process that settles the property of the deceased person and tells how it should be equally distributed among the heirs and beneficiaries in case there is no will. The rules and regulations of probate vary form state to state and each state can have a different procedure and hearing process for probate. Some general guidance might be similar in most states but it is always advised to take help of a legal advisor in case you need to understand the probate process in your locality. Moreover you should understand that every probate case is different depending on the amount of money involved in it. The different property, debts and people involved in it make the whole case different from one other. There is no way that the rules and results of one probate case can apply to other case. Normally people have a view point that probate can be an ugly scene but the fact is that it can be easy if all parties involved in it work together for a positive outcome and preserve the memory of the deceased person.

In most cases, the property of the deceased person is transferred to his spouse if the person has not made any will before his expiry but in some conditions due to the parties’ involved the property cannot be transferred to the spouse directly. The probate court which hears the matter of probate cases will get involved if there any issues relating to the property of the deceased person. The case has to go through a legal framework and the final order of the court has to be addressed by each person involved in the case. Now, since every state has different law regarding the probate so the hearings of the case in the court can be different in each state.

If the deceased person has a will and has named a representative,all the assets will be handled by this person unless the judge deems this person unfit, etc.If there is no representative named in the will then the court appoints a representative who handles the property unless the decision is made. The appointed representative is called the administrator and has sole responsibility of handling the property.
The Probate Process

In the initial phase the administrator opens the case in the court. During this period he evaluates the property and collects all the property of the deceased person. Few items which come under contract of the deceased person are not held in probate and they pass automatically to the beneficiary. Any bank accounts or other things which has the clause of “payable on death” are transferred to the person named in the contract. Only those limited property that have no clear beneficiaries are accountable for probate process. After accumulating all the property, the administrator sends a legal notice to all parties involved in the case and pays all the debts and claims which remain outstanding on the deceased name. Then the administrator distributes the remaining property to the beneficiaries of the decedent as instructed in the court’s verdict.

If there are any disputes during the process then the court hearing decided upon the matter and the final verdict has to be agreed upon by every parties involved in the probate process. Anyone can file the claim on the property and if the court declines the claim then the opponent can file lawsuit to claim the property. If the lawsuit is made then court has to take the case more formally and this is when major problems occur during the probate process.

Normally, probate process take a longer time and if the amount involved is huge then the process can be more problematic. But if all the parties involved work together to make a positive solution then probate process can be competed easily and the property is distributed equally among the heirs or beneficiaries.

Luis Pezzini
lpezzini@pezzini.info
http://probate.SunsetStripRealty.com
http://www.SunsetStripRealty.com

Have you heard of tax write off? Actually, it is same thing as tax deduction. You need to know the expenses that are subjected to legitimate deductions on your tax return in order for you to know what you can legitimately write off.

You need to be aware that even a home-based business or small business are allowed to take the write offs that corporations out there can get. Having a child care business, you can get deductions. If you are having a home child care business, you do not have to pay for rent or business space to run your business, and you can get the write offs that big businesses can get. Having a home-based business, you can work as an independent, so you can manage your own hours, time, and you can take time off if you wish and need it, and you can do what you love – taking care of children.

Home businesses such as home child care business have tax benefits and advantage. This article will provide you with the deductions you can get in running your own business, read on.

Of course, you will allot a room in your home as your office. With this, you can take home office deduction. But make sure that this room is dedicated for office work only, in order to be qualified to this deduction. For you to be qualified, you need to allocate a room in your home as an office and do not use it for anything else.

If you made any upgrades in your home office, you can ask to deduct the expenses that you made with your taxes. You can write off the expenses you made in your office, like if you repainted it, fix things up or made any renovations.

Since you are using one of your rooms as an office for your business, you can write off a portion of your rent or mortgage payments. In order to do this, you need to know the square footage of your home office in regard to your entire home and calculate how much you can deduct.

Having your own home child care business, you need to be alert and aware. You need to know the write offs that you can take advantage into. It is best to do a little research in order to gain ideas and knowledge on the entire write offs that you can take advantage of.

For more info see: How to start a daycare

Dolson McArt – Author of: Tax Write Offs for Your Child Care Business
Contributing to EzineArticles.com since March 2007.

I want to share with you the best online currency trading questions that I’ve been asked on a daily basis. You should know these answers because they can help you look at this differently and probably a more profitable way.

Where do I find the bargain trades?

I don’t want to be the one to break your bubble, but there are no bargains in this business, or at least in the way you think about bargains. You can’t look at from a buying point of view because you’re trading. Eventually you’re going to have to sell, and that’s where the profits are made. You should be looking at the selling price. If a currency is expected to go up 10%, than it doesn’t matter how much you pay for it because you’re going to make 10% regardless. There is no point in buying a cheap currency if it’s not expected to go up. Focus on finding good exit prices, than compare that to the buying price and you should be able to find bargains that way.

How should I run my business?

The best piece of advice I can give is to keep it simple and develop routines. Think about the health of your teeth. To have healthy and clean teeth, doesn’t really require much work or complex ideas to do. You brush your teeth as routine. Same thing applies here. You want to keep it simple because if you don’t, you will make mistakes, get frustrated and quit. Routines make things a lot easier because you’re not forced to keep thinking about new strategies ideas, you just keep applying the daily routine.

These are the best online currency trading questions I get from people. Use the information wisely.

I hope this advice will help you learn foreign exchange market trading. I’m currently giving a 7 day free forex training course. Newbies and experienced are all welcome. If you’re interested in participating, check out the Casual Forex Trader.

“Dad. I think I just flushed my underwear down the toilet.”

I just sat there … looking at my nine-year old son, searching for words that seemed stuck in a mental quagmire of wonder and disbelief.

Finally, as nonchalantly as I could, I asked, “So … how did that happen?”

“Well, when I sat on my pen it broke and got ink on my underwear. So I thought if I put some soap in the toilet and flushed it … the turbo action would be just like the washing machine and get the ink out. I forgot the toilet like, eats everything you put in it.”

Wouldn’t it be great to be nine again? We could just test out … no wait, implement any idea that came to our mind knowing we were backed by the full faith and credit of mom and dad. But, in the world you and I live in, a creative or logistical faux pas costs real money and carries real consequences.

I used to believe Extreme Sampling involved two steps.
1) Product Testing.
2) Instruction Scrutiny.

I was wrong.

My son’s exercise in creative thinking caused me to re-think my position and now I believe there are three steps to Extreme Sampling. Step 3 is, “Process Testing”. Process Testing is where you focus on logistics, distribution and final outcomes. In short, you conduct a trial run to the best of your ability to prevent, “Flushing your underwear down the toilet.”

Case in point. I recently sent a client some waterless tattoo samples. The client tested them and found that they worked perfectly. They ordered 50k. Unfortunately, they did not test them through the bindery equipment on which the tattoos would be affixed to a card. Turns out the tattoos were too thin for the machinery to pick up and place properly. This could have been remedied by using a thicker stock … had we known. Instead, they’re affixing them by hand, which costs more. (Insert flush sound here).

Forcing yourself to test the process will help you think it through and avoid problems. For instance, that umbrella you want to give everyone at the conference. You’ve tested the product and scrutinized the instructions. Now let’s test the process. The conference is in a city to which most people will fly. Grab your suitcase. Will that 4 foot umbrella fit?

Daily, marketers fail to test the process and find out too late that the product, premium or incentive … won’t fit in the bag, the box, the envelope or the suitcase. Or they find out at the worst possible moment, that leaving the chocolate parting-gift in the van, in the sun, all day … was a no-no.

Here’s a few things to think about regarding step #3 of Extreme Sampling:

Carton Weight: Having UPS deliver five 40 pound cartons to your office is one thing. But can the person in your office who is in charge of getting those cartons to the event – lift 40 pound boxes? We often under-pack cartons for our clients based on how much weight THEY want to lift.

Effects of Heat/Cold: Can it melt or freeze? Do you need to keep something cool or warm at the event prior to distribution? And for how long? Our chocolate vendor ships with ice packs to prevent melting in transit. But if the chocolate is not stored correctly once you get it, well, you’re flushing your underwear down the toilet. Will those snow globes freeze and break? Will the deodorant in the personal care packs liquefy in the heat?

Time/Timing: Your logo glowing at a night event on a t-shirt, tattoo or hat will look really cool. But, if you’re placing your bets on a solar-powered, glow-in-the-dark item, make sure your event has daylight hours built in so the product has a time to charge up.

Fulfillment: If you are going to have a fulfillment center do anything with a product …make sure you give them samples to test before you place an order.

Rules & Regulations: If you’re distributing your item at a conference, will the item be accepted by the airlines in checked or carry on luggage? If you’re mailing your item, does it conform to postal or other delivery rules and regs? Some stadiums have rules banning noise makers. Some fairgrounds have rules banning balloons. Contrary to the creative thought process, when you stand to loose money or worse, your job – it’s better to ask for permission than to beg for forgiveness.

I’d share more but I just spotted Junior headed out back with a lawn chair, balloons and my helium tank. I’m sure the word ‘”tether” isn’t something he’s thought of … yet.

Michael Crooks owns Crooks Advertising Alliance a creative strike-force specializing in creative problem-solving. For more insight into Extreme Sampling please read, “Extreme Sampling: Oversights That Can Doom Your Promotion” at http://www.crooksadvertising.com