Government Grants for All

USDA Invites Applications for Grants to Bring Improved Educational and Health Care Services to Rural Communities

USDA Invites Applications for Grants to Bring Improved Educational and Health Care Services to Rural Communities
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2011 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is accepting applications for telecommunications grants to provide access to education, training and healthcare resources in rural areas.
Read more on USDA

Commission to inspect flood grants
EMERGENCY flood relief grants will be examined as a part of the Commission of Inquiry in the December and January floods.
Read more on News Mail

Tags: Applications, bring, Care, Communities, Educational, Grants, Health, Improved, Invites, Rural, Services, USDA

The Only Grant-Writing Book You’ll Ever Need: Top Grant Writers and Grant Givers Share Their Secrets

The Only Grant-Writing Book You'll Ever Need: Top Grant Writers and Grant Givers Share Their Secrets

This book is designed to help nonprofit organizations craft proposals for grants from foundations, companies, and government agencies.

Ellen Karsh, a writer and former director of the Mayor's Office of Grants Administration, in New York, and Arlen Sue Fox, associate executive director for development at Sunnyside Community Services, also in New York, significantly update this edition from 2005 by including interviews with grant makers about how the current economic crisis is affecting th

List Price: $ 19.95 Price: $ 11.32

More Grants Products

Tags: Book, Ever, Givers, Grant, GrantWriting, Need, Only, Secrets, Share, their, Writers, You'll

Home Based Business Ideas for Moms

In today’s world, balancing a family and work both has become quite easy for moms who earlier found it difficult to find time for their family. There are many work from home options for moms that would fit into their crazy schedule. These business options provide flexibility that they desire to have, and of course a source of earning as well. Here are some good home based business ideas for moms that would give them an opportunity to utilize their hidden talent and qualities that they have.

Home Based Business Ideas for Women

Internet Marketing
With the advent of internet and growing communication network, composed work is in huge demand. Pay per click has even made this job lucrative as building and sustaining a website is no more a big deal to manage. Internet marketing can be constructing websites, advertise and sell products for a specific company, etc. This can be a good idea for work at home moms.

Cooking
Setting up a catering business is perfect for the moms who love cooking. Taking orders and contracts for parties, whole meals and high-tea can be a wonderful way to pursue your interest and passion of cooking and baking. Make your kitchen into your workstation and get ready to extract maximum out of our hobbies. This is in fact a great home business ideas for stay at home moms to try.

Scrapbooking
In this fast-moving world with no time in balance to cherish and express their feelings. The hectic lifestyle has left no spare time for themselves. If you are fond of scrapbooking, then why not help others in decorating their web page and provide them with various creative ideas to do so just by sitting at home. Take assignments from people and design a record book for them.

Freelance Writing
This is one of the best home based business ideas for moms who have a passion of reading and writing. They can unleash their imagination and get indulged in freelance writing to make money. You can set your own standards of your payments according to the degree of complexity involved in it. You can even have your registered website, where the companies and contractors may contact you and interact as well when desired. It is one of the legitimate work from home jobs for moms.

Event Planning
One of the best home based business ideas is event planning. This can include arranging for parties, decorating for weddings and later on you can extend your business to formal organizing also. This requires skill like creativity, social skills, good communication skills and presence of mind and you can do your task perfectly.

Data Entry
Data entry can be a good home based business ideas for moms that requires very little effort. There are many companies that need people who can feed data in the computer software. They provide the individual with the required documents and paper and one just need to put in the data into the system. This is one of the easiest jobs for stay at home moms.

Babysitting
Stay at home moms can be the best to understand the plight of the working moms. So, why don’t you share their burden and help them by taking care of their kids. You can also open a ‘day-care’ center at your home and earn a lot. Babysitting can be quite rewarding and also enjoyable.

Arts and Craft
For the moms who are good at drawing, painting, sewing, arts and crafts, etc., can set up their own business and can even employ few others. Utilizing your creativity and imagination to make new things can be a great home business idea for moms. You can make and sell it to the local stores near by and enjoy handsome payments.

These were some ideal home based business ideas for moms, out of many. There are still many business ideas for women available, like licensed insurance agent, franchise holder of a reputed company, content writing, virtual assistance, pet care, etc. Choose the business that is of your interest, keeping aside the monetary aspect, because unless and until you don’t have interest in the particular work, you cannot run it successfully. So, follow your hobbies and interests to choose the best home based business ideas that works a long way.

Tags: Based, Business, Home, Ideas, Moms

The United States Needs China’s Auto Enterprises

While the domestic local governments scramble to boost performance of the local GDP settled when the car project, across the Atlantic from the Alabama state officials are beginning to participate in this “investment” game in the past.

The second repairer for Yang Rong, China’s auto industry in the southeastern United States the world famous “province”, it is also seen by Yang Rong of China’s auto market behind the prosperity of prosperity and the expansion of dreams.

“Any of a prosperous economy will inevitably tend to invest abroad. Already has the world’s largest automobile sales market in China, in order to become a powerful vehicle to enter the U.S. market, this is a trend, just as the Japanese and Korean car firms to enter the U.S. market with Ford, GM, Chrysler scramble as the local market share.

China is looking for investment intentions

We were attracted to China’s auto market is not just prosperity, but prosperity of the whole development of China’s market economy, so we are looking for investment targets are not limited to auto companies, but for various fields. To know that a thriving economy inevitably tends to foreign investment, the objective of China is our hope to reach more Chinese enterprises have investment intentions, and ultimately able to successfully attract capital to Alabama.

First, Alabama location advantages. Alabama is located in the center of the southeastern United States. Alabama in the middle as the center within a radius of six hundred miles radius of the resident population reached ninety-six million; and southern Alabama, the largest Gulf of Mexico has the busiest deep water port – Mobile Hong Kong. We developed logistic network, manufacturers not only shortened the distance from the destination and consumption, lowering business costs, and enable business managers to keep abreast of market dynamics, to the North American and international market development and synchronization purposes.

Second, Alabama’s natural resources. Forestry is the state’s largest industry; Birmingham area is a traditional iron and steel manufacturing center. The temperature is appropriate, and the snow covered winter months in northern states of the United States in stark contrast, very suitable for the production activities.

Third, Alabama all levels of government investment in the automotive industry, has extensive experience. Through years of efforts, including Mercedes Benz, Honda, Hyundai three major foreign car brands, the three main engine car factories, and over three hundred and fifty of the auto parts manufacturers landing in Alabama root. And I was then responsible for the project manager for Honda.

As Alabama’s auto industry now has more mature development environment, if the Chinese auto companies to enter the Alabama development, the enterprise itself can play a very good publicity. Chinese auto companies investors can actively participate in the first well-known automobile enterprises to local production and management, the establishment of production and supply of spare parts plant, the establishment of joint research and development center, and then gradually expand the production scale, and eventually through the establishment of car assembly line into the U.S. market.

China’s auto manufacturing industry from the current situation, that the Chinese auto companies in the U.S., there are two trends: on the one hand, some parts manufacturing, supporting the project first, related with the international advanced technology in exchange counterparts gradual, progressive learning and improvement; the other hand, does not rule out acquisitions as Lenovo’s PC business of IBM, the acquisition of Volvo Cars Geely so generous, directly through mergers and acquisitions among the ranks of world-class auto manufacturers.

China’s automotive products in North America and a place in the global automotive market. According to the world’s major car manufacturers development experience, to build production plant in the consumer market sales and the establishment of R & D center is to avoid trade barriers and expand product sales in the region only, but also the most effective way.

Stationed in Alabama, relies mainly on the strength of the enterprise itself. I think the field of new energy vehicles in China with some of the world’s leading car prices car prices, such as Toyota, Nissan R & D in technology to keep pace, so the new energy automotive industry, China’s car prices have time to enter the Alabama Massachusetts has.

In the traditional automotive sector, the need for car prices in the marketing department to conduct research on the market after the company’s overseas strategy and then decide. Currently stationed in Alabama car prices, just as a production base here, they produce the cars will be exported to be sold worldwide. Therefore, according to its own development company to determine whether to enter the Alabama, then whether there is sufficient access to space and market development. Alabama is just a base, and the market is global.

I am a modern car, for example, 20 years ago, Hyundai entered the North American market, product awareness is not high, but a detailed analysis of their consumer habits of the North American market, designing products for the market demand, so they have been successful in the North American market. I think the Chinese auto companies already have the strength to enter the North American market, and now Chinese car is, how do the characteristics of the North American market according to design environmentally friendly, durable products.

Product quality, cost and compatibility with the North American market, is to determine the success of auto companies in the North American market, the three major factors.

Tags: Auto, China's, Enterprises, Needs, States, United

Finding Legitimate Wholesale Business Provider

Having your private retail sales Business Organization can be a tremendous earning chance. However, it can also be a very unsafe proposition, especially when it comes to ensuring a wholesale business provider. There are numerous defrauds when it arrives to wholesale business directories, or provider listings. The trouble is that they assure Legitimate wholesalers, but they don’t redeem. This can cost you more than simply Business as these swindles could have a major encroachment on your life and personal identity.

The first thing you will desire to do is search. Determine the believability of the marketer. Official marketers will have an actual physical address and phone number. Never choose a wholesaler who only supplies and email address or website. In addition, the Established Business Organisation will be qualified in their country of origin. They must put up a legitimate enrollment if you request it. Otherwise, look for systems that can verify the Business Concern, such as the Better Business Bureau.

You will wish to trade immediately with the party itself. If there is individual who works as a contact, or middleman, the monetary value of the product will end up being higher than if you deal straightaway with the middleman. Why give more for the extra level.

Ask for tries. Part of your Business Concern is to offer your clients superior product. You should make trusted that you are taking that quality ware from your provider. A True middleman would consider shipping a sample as a monetary value of Business Organisation and would be happy to oblige. Scammers apparently would have a problem with this.

In general, Legitimate wholesale business Suppliers do not promote. They already have verified significant companies. Smaller businesses are not their primary customers. If you see a colorful ad for a wholesale directory or marketer, this is usually a mark of a scam.

The best rule of thumb is to bank your instincts. If an put up sounds too good to be true, it plausibly is. The best way to protect your Business Concern and your own investments is to take the time and do the explore up front. Once you have rendered your Occupation with a reliable wholesale partner, you are ready to launch your Occupation

Tags: Business, Finding, Legitimate, Provider, Wholesale

A Beginner’s Guide For Government Grants

Getting free money is always a topic of interest all over the world. Therefore, government grants which are virtually free money are a very important topic these days. You should know that there are more than 70 billion dollars offered as government grants for a wide range of activities every year. You need to meet some requirements and you can get a share of this money. There are a lot of government grants you might be interested in. Besides the first home buyers and the business government grants, there are many grants for education or for minorities. You can access different grants depending on the different criteria you need to meet.

How to Apply For Government Grants
If you want to apply for government grants, you should know that as they are different so is the set of criteria you will need to meet for them. There are no common criteria you could take into consideration so that you should inform yourself about the options you have in this domain. In some cases you will need to be part of a minority community, in other cases you need to learn in the educational system, in other cases you will need to be geographically linked to a location and more and more criteria that you should meet for different government grants.

There are a lot of agencies that will help you with government grants depending on the destination of them. First of all, you should know the domains in which government grants are offered, then you should choose the one domain that you think you could meet the requirement s and finally you should inform yourself more about the awarding process. You can either fill in forms physically or do it on the Internet and send them to the agencies that are in charge of awarding the grant. Different agencies have different government grants to deal with.

Meeting the requirements is one aspect you should keep in mind but filling in the forms completely and sending the necessary paperwork is probably the most important aspect you should take into consideration if you want to get your government grant. The vast majority of applications are not taken into consideration because they are not complete. In conclusion, if you do not exactly know what to do in terms of government grants applying, you should know that there is a large quantity of information online about this topic. Therefore, you should inform yourself about what you need to do in order to get your share from the free money offered by the government. There are many situations that can make you eligible so you should not wait anymore and apply for these grants.

Tags: Beginners, Government, Grants, Guide

Savvy Shopping for Auto Insurance in Pennsylvania – What Information to Look for?

Buying auto insurance involves decisions which are tied to multiple factors. That’s the reason it’s so important that you make informed decision. You got to understand a lot of parameters and criteria that affects the rates and overall costs of your auto insurance policy. Even some seemingly unimportant factors might indirectly influence the present and future of your PA auto insurance policy.

For instance, you can get updates on driver and vehicle services in Pennsylvania. If you research a little bit on these issues, you could easily find critical info on driver license renewal or vehicle registration. Many auto insurance shoppers in Pennsylvania have managed to locate reliable and cheaper deals by getting informed about the car insurance basics of the Pennsylvania based auto insurance industry.

Whether you like it or not, the moment you start driving in Pennsylvanian streets, you’ll realizes it’s as crazy as it gets. While accidents aren’t uncommon, fenders do get bent occasionally and most of all – people get injured. Or just think of the instances when you’ve innocently parked your vehicle in the driveway a tree branch crashes right through the windshield, out of nowhere. As disasters strike, car insurance could be there for you with the coverage.

Actually, buying auto insurance in Pennsylvania makes great sense for most of the people out there. Auto insurance can shield you and your car against lots of financial risk which are associated with individual injuries along with property damages which are caused by car accidents, theft, damage, or any kind of natural disasters. Did you know that PA requires drivers to by the minimal amount of liability coverage? There are some additional kinds of car insurance coverage which are considered optional or essential – things mostly depend on the regulation of the state.

For those who have their vehicle car loan outstanding, chances are high that they’ll usually be required by their respective lenders to buy a minimal level of car insurance. Liability coverage happens to be one of the crucial things you need to deal with in PA. The laws in this state require that you’ll buy the minimum level of a few or (the entire chunk of) the following categories of liability coverage.

First comes bodily injury liability. This one safeguards your assets particularly. Such coverage comes into action when you’re somehow held legally responsible for some type of auto accident within which anyone else was wounded or killed. Then comes the issue of property damage liability. It covers the repairing and/or replacing cost the vehicle or the assets of others which were damaged in the accident.

And the most talked on is about uninsured or under-insured motorist coverage. Until or unless you’re living in any one of those “no-fault” state (which lets you to cover yourself with self-insurance), such coverage will provide you with insurance against all the losses which are caused by any other car drivers who have insufficient insurance (under-insured) or no insurance (uninsured). Read more on Affordable Pa Auto Insurance.

Tags: Auto, Information, Insurance, look, Pennsylvania, Savvy, Shopping

What you need to know about financial aid BEFORE choosing a college

With the high cost of a college education, no one wants to pay more than they must. Yet thousands of families pay too much for college every year because they don’t understand the basics of financial aid and don’t know the right questions to ask. So let’s learn what questions to ask.

Basics Part I

There are three types of financial aid for college: grants or scholarships, loans and work-study.

Grants and scholarships are free money that you do not need to pay back.

Most grants and scholarships come from the federal and state government or from the individual college.

Loans need to be paid back after college.

There are many loan programs available from the federal and state government. Most of these loans have fairly low interest rates. There are also private loans available although these generally have a higher interest rate.

Work-study is a job offered on the campus of the college.

Basics Part II

Need based aid vs Merit based aid

Need based aid is given by all colleges to students who have need. Anyone who can’t pay the full cost of the college has need.

A form called the Free Application for Federal Student Assistance (FAFSA) determines the amount of need for federal grants and scholarships. Many highly selective colleges also require a form known as the Profile form The FAFSA form is filled out after January 1 of the year the student will first attend college.

The FAFSA and Profile forms ask questions about the income of the parents and student using information that you gave on your tax returns. These forms also ask questions about the amount of money you have in savings or investments. The Profile form is more detailed than the FAFSA form. Once these forms are completed the government uses the FAFSA form to determine how much your family can pay for college. This is your expected family contribution or your EFC. Your EFC is the same regardless of the cost of the college. Similarly the individual colleges who use the Profile use that form to determine what your family can pay for college.

Your need is the cost of the college you are looking at minus your EFC. For example, if you are looking at a college that costs $20,000 a year and your EFC is $5,000, your need at that college is $15,000. If you are looking at a college that costs $40,000 a year your EFC is still $5,000. Your need at this college is $35,000.

Merit-based aid includes scholarships typically for students who have good grades or have some other special talent such as athletic or musical talent. Most highly selective colleges offer little or no merit-based aid.

Finally, in looking at colleges you should ignore the cost of the college. Yes, you read that right. Ignore the stated cost of the college when you are first deciding which colleges to investigate further. You will see why later in this article.

So now you know the basics. Now comes the fun part: How to save money by asking the right questions.

Questions to ask the colleges

Question 1- What percent of my need do you meet?

Remember that EFC, or expected family contribution that the FAFSA determined? Some colleges will meet 100% of your need. Need again is defined as the cost of the college minus your EFC. So what does it mean if a college says they will meet 100% of your need? It means that once the FAFSA or Profile form has determined how much you can pay for college, the college will pay 100% of the rest of the bill.

Colleges will typically meet the need you have using a combination of grants, loans and work study. Most colleges will award work study and loans first and if there is a need after that, the remaining need will be supplied by grants. The colleges will typically have a standard loan and work study amount that they award and you should ask about what these numbers are when investigating the college.

Let’s see an example of a financial aid award from a college that provides 100% of need with a student who has an EFC of $5,000.

Total cost of college $40,000
Expected family contribution $ 5,000
Need $35,000

Financial aid award
Work study $ 2,000
Loans $ 4,000
Grants $29,000

At a college that meets 100% of your need you pay $5,000.

But what happens if the college doesn’t meet 100% of need?

Many less selective colleges don’t pay the total amount of need that their students have. Let’s use the example of our imaginary college from above only this time assume that the school only provides 90% of need.

Total cost of college $40,000
Families expected contribution $ 5,000
Need $35,000

This college only provides 90% of the $35,000 need or $31,500. Thus, your out of pocket expenses are the $5,000 EFC plus an additional $3,500 for a total cost of $8,500.

This example makes it easy to see why a school that meets 100% of need is often a better financial aid “deal” than a school who doesn’t meet all of the families need.

Many of the most expensive private colleges meet 100% of the students need while cheaper public colleges usually meet less than 100% of the need. This means that for many students it can be cheaper to go to an expensive private college than to attend a cheaper state school. Until you know what percent of need the college meets, don’t eliminate a college from consideration just because it is expensive.

Question 2- Do you have merit based aid?

Many colleges that don’t meet 100% of a students need do offer scholarships for some students. If your student is near the top of the application pool for a less selective college they may get some money if they qualify for merit based aid. Thus, in some cases, if the student is willing to look at a less selective college, they may get a better financial aid package. Here are some questions you should ask if the college provides merit aid.

How many merit awards are available?

What is the value of the merit awards available?

What are the qualifications to receive one of these merit awards?

This works even for families that don’t qualify for need based aid at all. If your student can qualify for a merit based award you won’t need to pay the full stated cost of the college.

Question 3- How is financial aid determined after the first year?

Some colleges have a policy of providing good financial aid for the first year and then substantially reducing the grant aid in the following years while increasing the loans. You should ask the college in which you are interested how they determine financial aid after the first year and what the average loan is after the first year. While it is typical that the amount of loans will increase each year if the increase is substantial you will want to take that into consideration.

Question 4- What is the average loan amount at graduation of those students who have loans?

This question will give you the best indication of the amount of loans that this college requires compared to other colleges in which you may be interested. Although most students will have some loans when they graduate, you don’t want this amount to be any more than necessary.

Question 5- What is your policy regarding outside scholarships?

Most colleges will subtract money earned in outside scholarships from your financial aid package. Some colleges will reduce the loan burden by the amount of the scholarship, but other colleges will reduce your grant money. If the college reduces the amount of loans you have to take out that is a benefit to you. There is no benefit to you if the college reduces the grant aid.

Question 6- What is your packaging policy?

Most colleges give a financial aid package that includes grant money, loans and work study. But each college combines this money differently. Specifically you want to know:

What percentage of an aid package from your college is grant vs. self-help (loans, work study)?

The greater amount of grants versus loans and work study the better for the student.

Do you have a preferential packaging policy?

Preferential packaging occurs when a college gives a better financial aid package to a student with a stronger academic background than to another student with the same financial need but with a weaker academic background..

Question 7- What is your four year graduation rate?

What difference does a college’s four year graduation rate make? This is an important question that many people never consider. Another way to phrase this is, How many years of college am I going to have to pay for? If the college has a high four year graduation rate, you will most likely only have to pay for four years of college. However, if the college graduates most students in six years then you can plan on paying for six years of college, not four.

Conclusion

Now that you know something about financial aid, including the questions to ask each college you are considering, you can make an informed decision in paying for a college education and hopefully also save some money.

Tags: About, Before, Choosing, College, Financial, Know, Need

Menopause and Estrogen

Menopause and Estrogen

As we age, is the loss of estrogens what causes the onset of peri-menopause and finally, menopause? For women, menopause is a direct result of the loss of estrogens in the female anatomy. The ¨E¨, as it is called in medical circles, is a group of female hormones produced in the ovaries. These female hormones are responsible for regulating the function of reproduction in the female body. Estrogens determine a woman’s body shape by distributing fat to different areas of the body, aid in the development of the uterus, and construct tissues in the brain and bones. Safe levels of estrogens in the body help maintain proper blood flow, control cholesterol levels, and act as an antioxidant filtering harmful chemicals from the body.

Menopause is known as the final phase of menstruation. As a result of aging, fewer eggs are produced. When menopause arrives, the ovaries stop producing estrogen altogether. Instead they produce minute amounts of testosterone (a male hormone) which is stored in body fat. A loss of estrogen contributes to stopping the female anatomy’s daily routine of maintaining homeostasis (holistic balance in the body) and has effects on the brain as well. Studies have shown that estrogen helps improve blood flow to the brain and prevents Alzheimer disease by blocking the production of chemicals contributing to it. It also increases the level of serotonin – a chemical in the brain known to improve mood. As you can see, losing estrogen can have a profound effect to a woman’s mental and, as a result, emotional balance.

Estrogen is not the name of one hormone, but the name of three special female hormones that unite to form one. They are known as E1, E2 and E3. E1, the first set of estrogen hormones in the series, is also known as estrone and is the primary source of estrogen in the body. E2 (or estradiol) is the most important estrogen developed by the ovaries and E3 (estriol) are special estrogens that are produced during pregnancy when high levels are present. During menopause, E1, E2, and E3 are all affected, and after its aftermath, low levels of estrone is the only source of estrogen remaining in the female body. It is important to note that this female hormone serves a helping function as well, transporting vital enzymes throughout the system, maintaining positive levels of cholesterol, and sparking calcium activity.

Post menopause brings even lower levels of estrogen in the body. This officially marks the end of monthly periods, the malfunctioning of ovaries, and the ability to reproduce. Since the ovaries stop producing estrogen and progesterone at the same levels it used to, having a child is nearly impossible. During this full transition, periods can also be affected. This loss of estrogen can cause irregular periods for some women, often with a lighter flow. It can also causes emotional problems like depression and aggression toward people for no ‘apparent’ reason. As stated before, a lack of this hormone means you lose ¨balance¨.

In retrospect, estrogen loss is directly responsible for the on-set of menopause. When the woman has her last menstrual cycle, it is a marker for a new chapter in her life. She learns to accept that child bearing is no longer an option, although possible in extreme cases as some women continue to ovulate during this transition In time

Tags: Estrogen, menopause

D

During every correction, I encourage investors to avoid the destructive inertia that results from trying to determine: “How low can we go?” and/or “How long will this last?” Investors who add to their portfolios during downturns invariably experience higher values during the next advance. Yes, Virginia, just as certainly as there is a Santa Claus, there is another market advance in our future.

Corrections are part of the normal “shock market” menu, and can be brought about by either bad news or good news. (Yes, that’s what I meant to say.) Investors always over-analyze when prices are weak and lose their common sense when prices are high, thus perpetuating the “buy high, sell low” Wall Street line dance. Waiting for the perfect moment to jump into a falling market is as foolish a strategy as taking losses on investment grade companies and holding cash.

Repetition is good for the brain’s CPU, so forgive me for reinforcing what I’ve said in the face of every correction since 1979… if you don’t love corrections (and deal with them like visiting relatives) you really don’t understand the financial markets. Don’t be insulted, it seems as though very few financial professionals want you to see it this way and, in fact, Institutional Wall Street loves it when individual investors panic in the face of uncertainty. Psstt… uncertainty is the regulation playing field for investors, and hindsight isn’t welcome in the stadium.

A closer examination of the news that’s fit to print (but isn’t printed often enough) should make you more confident about the years ahead, whatever your politics.

The good news is very, very good: 1. Employment, jobs, and unemployment numbers are as good or better than they have been in years. 2. Manufacturing numbers are stronger and trending upward. 3. The “core” inflation rate is historically low. 4. Interest rates are also historically low. 5. Durable goods orders are trending upward. 6. Corporate earnings reports have been strong. 7. Corporate dividend payouts have been increasing. 8. Equities, as an Asset Class, are considered the most fairly valued, when compared with Real Estate, Fixed Income, and Commodities. 9. Income Tax Rates are at low historical levels, particularly with regard to investment income. 10. Gross domestic product is growing.

The bad news isn’t all that bad, pretty much the same ole stuff: 1. Hurricane Damage. We’ve actually had fewer major storms than anticipated. The ones we’ve had were devastating, but the rebuilding/preparation task ahead will be good for the economy. 2. War in Iraq. There’s always been a war of some kind, somewhere. It’s bad, but only the battlefield has changed… and war has also always been good for the economy. 3. Politics. We have an unpopular President who can’t seem to get out of his own way. Who were the last ones that were loved? Didn’t they have wars? 4. Wall Street/Corporate scandals. Hardly new and never economy busters. 5. Energy prices. I still don’t see gas lines, and maybe somebody will push for added refining capacity. 6. Trade deficits. News would be giving foreigners more money so that they could buy more of our products. 7. High consumer debt. New? Not. 8. The terrorism threat. A major serious problem for the past how many years? The federal regulatory agencies probably do more damage to the economy. 9. The Avian Flu pandemic? Maybe, but not yet, and we’ll really need those bad boy drug companies then, won’t we? 10. The Anniston/Pitt break up, and neither the Yankees nor the Bosox in the World Series. Now we’re talking!

Clearly, there are no new (economic) problems to be overly concerned about. And for now, we simply (and I mean simply) have to deal with the opportunities at hand. Low, but increasing, interest rates force fixed income prices down and yields up… Opportunity One! Economic good news encourages higher rates to reduce inflationary pressures causing equity prices to trend downward… Opportunity Two! These forces of good are intersecting with the dark side of calendar year mentality Wall Street, causing premature tax loss selling and portfolio Window Dressing… Opportunities One and Two squared!

There is an Investment Mindset Solution for the problems that most people have dealing with corrections, and rallies too, for that matter. I’ve never understood why “yard sale prices” here are so scary. What if you cut off a finger each time you get a splinter? Wounds heal, and so do the prices of high quality securities.

In recent years, Wall Street and the media have turned the process of investing into a competitive event of Olympic proportions and stature. What was once a long term (a year is not long term), goal directed activity, has become a series of monthly and quarterly sprints. The direction of the market isn’t nearly as important as the actions we take in anticipation of the next change in direction. Performance evaluation needs to be rethunk (sic) in terms of cycles!

The problems, and the solutions, boil down to focus, understanding, and retraining. It would be impossible to cover each of these issues here, but here are a few teasers. You need to focus on the purposes of the securities in the portfolio. You need to understand and accept the normal behavior of your securities in the face of different environmental conditions. You need to overcome your obsession with calendar period Market Value analysis, and switch to a more manageable asset allocation approach that centers on your portfolio’s Working Capital.

But for now, relax and enjoy this correction. It’s your invitation to the fun and games of the next rally.

Steve Selengut
sanserve@aol.com
800-245-0494
http://www.sancoservices.com
Professional Portfolio Management since 1979
Author of: “The Brainwashing of the American Investor: The Book that Wall Street Does Not Want YOU to Read”, and “A Millionaire’s Secret Investment Strategy”

Tags: Again, D, Over