The New Charles Ponzi of The 21 Century!

By William R. Wiedow Ph.D.

Bernard Madoff (Charles Ponzi 2) Madoff Type Stock Scams have impacted countless people the world over. It is a real shame considering the current state of things in the financial markets. Investors put their trust in brokers like Bernard Madoff, and this trust was betrayed.

Mr. Madoff used to be a highly respected financier and former chairman of the NASDAQ. He recently admitted to administrating a ponzi stock scam that cost innocent investors over 50 Billion Dollars!

This is the sort of corruption that has ruined Wallstreet and Mainstreet! But for all the investors in the future let this be a text book lesson! We must learn from these kinds of scams in order to avoid this same type of horrible financial lost in the years to come.

The ultimate con artist in world history is a one Mr. Charles Ponzi who invented The Ponzi Scheme in the early 20th century. Like Mr Madoff in the 21th century, Ponzi took all the profits from the top of his money pyramid and left little or nothing for the later investors at the bottom of the money pyramid. It is true that some investors did indeed make money with Ponzi and Madoff but most people did not make a penny.

Eventually Ponzi's entire edifice did collapse. This is precisely what happened when Bernard Madoff orchestrated this corrupt stock scheme. We can learn a few important lessons from this saga, and we had better do so if we want to avoid getting the wool pulled over our eyes again!

First of all, it is always important to diversify when investing. Madoff Type Stock Scams thrive on ignorant investors. Make sure to put your funds in a variety of investments. It is too risky to put every dollar of your financial assets into just one. Another tip is to avoid investments that look too good to be true.

Looking back on Madoff and his years of paper trail scaming, it seem impossible that anyone in their right mind could fall for this con artist! The stock market went up some years and Madoff made investors money and the stock market went down some years and Madoff made investors money? it's just a Fantastical Investor Fantasy! Not to say you can't make money in Bull and Bear markets, but it takes real investor savvy the kind that Madoff did not have one iota of. He just had the con artist savvy to relieve people of their money.

Madoff Type Stock Scams have taught us that we cannot rely on The SEC or regulators alone. "YOU ARE TAKING A RISK WHEN YOU INVEST" and should use your common sense and best judgment. Do not feel bad if you were taking-in by Madoff, he fooled large banks individual investors, savvy financial professionals and many others. But if you were a "Madoff Victim" here are a few places you can go to for help: bernardmadoffvictims.com & madoff-help.com

We all get taken for a ride sometimes. However, you can keep this from happening by making smarter financial decisions. Hedge Funds have a lot of risks associated with them. It is almost always better for individual investors to put their money in low-cost Mutual Funds, Bank CD's or Gold. It is less risky and easier to keep public information track of when it goes up or down. Of course in 2009 you may just want to leave your money in the bank! (c) 2009 William R. Wiedow Ph.D. - 23223

About the Author:

William R. Wiedow Ph.D. Has had 25 years of experence as a Stock Broker Day Trader and Private Stock/Futures Newsletter Writer. Dr.Wiedow has had a life long passion for uncovering business and investing rip-offs using his contacts in over 34 countries. His insightfull articles on business and investing can be found at: 50-billion-dollar-madoff-rip-off

Fund Managers can become farmers-Jim Rogers

By Jim Faber

Jim Rogers was recently interviewed by The Economic Times. Among the topics covered include the recent rally in stocks, the widening deficit and his recent comments on Sri Lanka. In this interview, Jim Rogers touches on a couple of commodities that he believes will do well in this economy. As investors push oil and gold, Jim Rogers is looking at other commodities such as Silver, Cotton and Natural Gas.

At one stage we were inundated with gloomy forecasts, which were further reinforced by the IMF and World Bank. And then suddenly stocks surged " something most were not prepared for. How risky is the market today?

I was trying to make a point that if anyone wants to invest in this particular part of the world, the best place would be Sri Lanka. Because it looks like the 30-year war is coming to an end.

The American bond market is already beginning to go down dramatically as people realise that the American government has to sell huge amount of bonds, and secondly, there is going to be inflation, serious inflation, as it was always in the past when you had governments printing huge amounts of money.

Central banks all over the world have printed huge amounts of money, and the real economy is not strong enough for all this money to be absorbed so, its going into stocks and real assets such as commodities. Its a mistake what they are doing. Its giving short-term pleasure, but theres long-term pain as we are going to have much higher inflation, much higher interest rates and a worse economy down the road.

The American bond market is already beginning to go down dramatically as people realise that the American government has to sell huge amount of bonds, and secondly, there is going to be inflation, serious inflation, as it was always in the past when you had governments printing huge amounts of money.

In the 1930s, we had a huge stock market bubble which popped. And then politicians started making many mistakes. They became protectionist. They made solvent banks take over insolvent banks and then both banks failed in the end.

At one stage we were inundated with gloomy forecasts, which were further reinforced by the IMF and World Bank. And then suddenly stocks surged " something most were not prepared for. How risky is the market today?

In the 1930s, we had a huge stock market bubble which popped. And then politicians started making many mistakes. They became protectionist. They made solvent banks take over insolvent banks and then both banks failed in the end.

America could have. America just had an election. The guy was elected in November and he could have come in the beginning of a four-year term and said the guys before me were hopeless idiots. They ruined things. We have to solve this problem. We have to take some pains now. But dont worry, we will get through this pain, and in two to three years or four years, things would be fine. And he could have been re-elected.

What do you do? No politically-elected government can afford so much pain, unemployment and hardships

Its going to snap. Later this year, next year, we are going to have currency problems, maybe even a currency crisis. I dont know with which currency " maybe with the pound sterling, maybe with the US dollar, who knows. It maybe with something none of us have at the moment. When you have a currency crisis, stocks will be affected, many things will be affected. It is not sound, whats happening out there in the world.

If the pain comes in 2010, 2011 or 2012, there will be nobody he can blame. Especially, if things go bad later, the opposition will say, wait a minute, 2009 looked good. The next guy is going to say you did it But you are right. Its very difficult for an elected government. You have a newly-elected government in India. Whenever you have a new government they can take some of the pain.

They are doing many of the same mistakes now. Whats different this time is that we are printing huge amounts of money which they did not print at that time. So, we are going to have inflation this time.

In my view, investing in Sri Lanka in May 2009 is probably a better bet than Pakistan, Bangladesh, India or some of the other countries nearby. Lets hope the new Indian government does something. I have heard wonderful things from Indian politicians for 40 years.

America could have. America just had an election. The guy was elected in November and he could have come in the beginning of a four-year term and said the guys before me were hopeless idiots. They ruined things. We have to solve this problem. We have to take some pains now. But dont worry, we will get through this pain, and in two to three years or four years, things would be fine. And he could have been re-elected.

If the pain comes in 2010, 2011 or 2012, there will be nobody he can blame. Especially, if things go bad later, the opposition will say, wait a minute, 2009 looked good. The next guy is going to say you did it But you are right. Its very difficult for an elected government. You have a newly-elected government in India. Whenever you have a new government they can take some of the pain.

And rarely do they produce. Its not the first time that the Congress party has been in the power. If they mean it, Indias going to be one of the greatest development stories in the next 20 years. But I dont know if they mean it. - 23223

About the Author:

All Things Jim Rogers is a Jim Rogers Blog dedicated to tracking the latest Jim Rogers videos and interviews for the general public to enjoy.

Wine Country in Napa County Real Estate

By Jonathon Hardcastle

Napa County is located just north of the San Francisco Bay area in California. There you will find some of the most beautiful real estate on gods green earth. Napa County Real Estate used to be comprised of mostly farmlands that produced a variety of different crops. Today Napa County Real Estate is home to some of the best vineyards in the world.

Napa County Real Estate, since the 1960's, when the wind industry in Napa County Sprung up, has at all times presented a 100% return on its investment. In the economic despairs of today's market, it's great to know this. Napa County properties are made up of about 788 square miles, 754 of this are all land.

The wine industry in Napa County has exploded over the last two centuries. At the end of the 1800's there were no less than a hundred and forty wine producing vineyards in the county. Four of the original wineries have managed to survive and prosper in this heralded Napa County Real Estate region. They would be Shramsburg, Beringer, Charles Krug Winery and Chateau Montelena.

Napa County Real Estate took a hit when prohibition was enforced in 1920. With no one to purchase their wine many wineries folded. It was not until after World War II that the wineries once again began to prosper and produce at a new level. As the vineyards prosperity rose so did the value of the counties real estate. The power of the grape swept the county. Napa County was the place to be.

Things have transformed greatly since the pre-prohibition period. The Napa Valley Real Estate areas now pride themselves on having some three hundred wineries. The wineries present there manufacture an immense mixture of wines. For instance, there is Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel and Chardonnay.

Millions of visitors from around the world visit Napa County wine country each year to taste the wine and explore the wineries. Whereas many other nearby counties have changed direction over the years and have allowed more and more land to be sold for commercial purposed; the Napa County Real Estate is has still managed to hold onto its agriculture roots.

The Williamson Act in California presents landowners in the state tax relief if they make use of their Napa County Real Estate for farming purposes. The landowners in Napa County took gain of this in order to protect land for wineries for age groups to come.

It is true that the agricultural reserve has certainly interrupted residential growth in Napa County Real Estate but new homes are still being built around the preserves. There are opportunities in Napa County Real Estate even in tough times. The $8,000 tax credit allowed by the new stimulus package has opened the gates for many buyers who were once renting. The outlook in Napa County could not be better. Many new homeowners will drink to that. - 23223

About the Author:

Napa County Real Estate is within your reach. Check out our information on homes for sale in Napa County.

Trading In The Buff - Is It A Scam

By Mike Reed

Trading In The Buff is a new course developed by John Templeton. Its main focus is to teach people how to trade using solely price action techniques. It's main goal is to teach traders how to trade without indicators by just using basic price charts, just as bar charts. The name Trading In The Buff is based on this concept, otherwise known as "trading naked".

Templeton uses price action as a way to identify the trend of the market, so you can be sure that you are trading with the trend, and not against it. He also teaches you how to spot the countertrend so you know when the market is making a u-turn. He also talks about how to enter the market at its safest place, and how you can use this information to predict future price movement. There was a fountain of original information in the course, which makes it a great departure from a lot of the stuff that is being sold online. Most of those courses just give you the same generic information you are used to.

Thankfully this is not the case with the Trading In The Buff Course. Quite frankly, everything that I was taught was completely new to me. You can really tell that John Templeton really took the time to create something all of his own, instead of just stealing some generic trading system. He really took his time to provide an in-depth analysis of price action, as he goes through the course with incredible detail. He wants to make sure that his customers really understand every point that he is trying to teach.

The material is presented in a step by step manner. After every chapter, there is a video to confirm what you have you just read in the book. It's also unique because you get the ability to understand the fundamentals. The problem I feel with many price action methods is that many people can't really explain why it works. For example, with candlestick patterns, you are just memorizing, but there is no fundamental reason why shooting stars (for example) work. All you are really doing is waiting for that particular pattern and trading it.

However, you don't have to worry about that with Trading In The Buff. The course does an excellent job explaining the fundamental reasons why these price action patterns work, and most importantly why they work. It's explained in such a way that anybody can follow along. It doesn't matter if you are a newbie or a veteran trader.

One more trait that I really enjoy from the course is that it's also simple. I think you'll find many trading methods that are extremely complicated (i.e. Eliot Waves). On the other end of the spectrum, there are methods that are so simple that they provide absolutely no depth (i.e. moving average crossovers). Trading In The Buff has the perfect blend of simplicity along with depth.

They also have excellent customer service. I had a problem grasping one of the concepts of the course and I emailed support about it, and as a surprise to me, I got a reply within the hour with a very well detailed answer to my question. What was even more impressive was that it came from John Templeton, himself. He actually answers his own emails. It's nice to see that, nowadays.

Finally, the course just works, and after all, isn't that all that matters? As a person who has traded indicators for most of his trading career, I never really delved that deep into technical analysis, but it's amazing what you can find by just looking at the price movement. All I really knew were the generic patterns that everybody else does, like head and shoulders, double tops, etc... But there is so much more to price action than that. It's really easy once you open your eyes to the possibilities. - 23223

About the Author:

To get a forex trading education, make sure to check out Trading In The Buff.

Is Forex for Me?

By Thomas H. Rivera

The forex market has emerged as one of the biggest opportunities for savvy investors in the world. Many people have turned to the market as an alternative to the stock market. While it obviously has some clout behind it, how can you know if it's right for you? What is in it for you and how can you profit from it?

In a nutshell, forex trading is about taking a pair of currencies and their exchange rate; and playing off how that exchange rate varies on a day by day (or month to month) basis. You're not betting on the performance of a company, you're betting on the fiscal reputations of countries. There's less research involved, and you have the advantage that it's very difficult for currency values to plummet as rapidly as stocks can and do (and have, recently).

That said, the opportunities in forex don't allow quite as much growth potential as a stock program can, and forex trading is more vulnerable to inflation and currency devaluation moves by governments. Unlike a stockholder, you don't get a vote (or proxy vote) in the operations of the nation whose currency you buy. Forex trading is a 24 hour a day opportunity to make trades, with a span running from the London open to the Hong Kong close, meaning it spans more than five working days if you let it.

The ability to use leverage means there's a lot of opportunity to make money off of even tiny swings in currency prices. This can pay off handsomely on well executed manual trades, and a lot of the more common types can even be automated.

A lot of traders try to automate the grind it out aspects of forex trading; these are automated trades that are programmed with ranges of acceptable values and buy and sell orders queued up if a condition is met. This is no experience for doing accurate research on your own, but can let you have the freedom of mind to, say, get out of your chair and use the bathroom without panicking that a market shift will wipe you out. There are some who take the (decidedly unwise) view of not even learning much about forex markets and letting the computer software do this for them.

Forex is a great way to make a lot of money from home; doing it on a day trading strategy requires constant attention. Don't think that this is something that will rake in the bucks while you practice your golf swing. This is a job, and if you don't treat it as such, it's going to bite you in the ass, and hard. That said, it lets you work from home without anyone lurking over your shoulder. You are at the mercy of the trading desks schedules, so keep that in mind. Day trading forex is sometimes called a lifestyle choice.

You can make more than some doctors and lawyers without having to go to college for eight years. You can really make as much or as little as you want. If you just need enough to get by, there are a number of safe, conservative strategies that are available. If you want to ride the trends and rake in huge profits, there are also a lot of methods for that.

The forex market is for you if you enjoy taking a risk and making a big profit. It's like a roller coaster of excitement. You will experience some losses, but the trick is to learn from them and not make the same mistake again. - 23223

About the Author:

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