Green Chips:

by Natalie Pace.

Mega Stable Corporations with a Focus on Green Are Trading for a Song! Includes a Green Chip Stock Report Card™.

According to the Social Investment Forum, $2.3 trillion (out of $24.4 trillion under professional management) were traded with socially conscious screens in the United States in 2005—nearly one out of every ten dollars. Socially conscious companies embody open and transparent business practices, ethical values, respect for employees, communities and the environment, and have a vision of working for the world at large, as well as shareholders. Whew! Quantum physics might be easier than figuring out which companies are socially conscious! Who has the time? Fortunately, there are a lot of watchdog organizations that make the job easier than it sounds. And, thankfully, there are a number of socially conscious mutual funds available, which can exponentially cut down your research time.

In 2007, the best-known socially conscious funds were Domini and Calvert. I’d love to report that being socially conscious was good for your wallet, but over a ten-year period, those funds underperformed. Ouch—not what those socially conscious visionaries of the late 1990s hoped would happen.

But their vision might still come true. The happy news is that the top-performing industry in 2007 was alternative energy, after being virtually non-existent for the prior three decades. Oil hit $100 a barrel, but investors still loved the clean energy stocks more. With the explosion of interest in alternative energy and green investing, a number of additional socially conscious mutual funds and ETFs have begun to sprout and more will likely follow.

Green is Great For Your Wallet
There will be a slew of brokers and friends who are anxious to warn you that this approach was a loser in the past. Remind them that driving while looking in the rearview mirror is a good way to crash. The Internet was a colossal loser for investors from 2000-2002, before Google went on to become the most successful IPO of all time. Apple Computer single-handedly resurrected the music business, at a time when the music companies were trying to sue their customers into paying for downloads and Tower Records had to shut its doors. As Dr. Marc Miles, a global strategist, said in February 2008, "Green is hot. Not only is the private demand rising, but governments are falling over themselves to subsidize these industries." Don’t be stuck in the past, ever.

Just to illustrate how hot companies are becoming when they take the socially conscious high road, consider one of the top performing stock picks in 2007: World Water & Power. I featured the company in my April 2007 ezine. Just one month later, in late May, the company’s chairman and CEO, Quentin T. Kelly, traveled in Toronto and Vancouver with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on the California Trade Mission to Canada. Mr. Kelley was selected due to World Water & Power’s leading role in building prominent solar energy projects in California, including the Fresno airport solar complex, and an agricultural system that is the largest solar-powered agricultural system in the world, as well as the only self-sustaining water utility. World Water and Solar was also selected to provide ten solar-driven water-purification units for use in Darfur, Sudan, that will each deliver some 30,000 gallons of safe drinking water daily at sites throughout that ravaged desert region. This is the kind of company that thrills the socially conscious investor and the capitalist alike.

I bring up this company as an example in particular because World Water and Solar was trading off the boards during that time period—meaning that, if you had been pouring over technical charts or earnings reports or analyst recommendations about that time, you would almost certainly not come across this one. The company was not a holding in any mutual fund. The only way you could have stumbled on what a player World Water was becoming was by looking at the products, the customers, and the forward-thinking projects that the CEO was engaged in—by investing in the company as an individual stock.

Additionally, as the ultra high-risk investment -- a small cap stock that is trading on the Pink Sheets -- World Water would typically be the first stock dumped in a panic if there was any concern in the larger stock markets. So what happened when the subprime mortgage market stumbled so badly in the summer of 2007? Instead of plunging, World Water came through strong, while the blue chip stocks took a beating. The stock markets look like a flat line by comparison to the stellar returns that World Water posted and sustained during the period between April, when my feature article on the company appeared, and September, when Chairman Bernanke and the Federal Open Market Committee cut the Fed Funds rate by 50 basis points in an attempt to restore confidence in the capital and credit markets. World Water and Solar was trading at $1.55 per share on February 29, 2008, which is still more than twice as much as the 59 cent share price when we first featured the stock in April of 2007.

Source: MoneyCentral.msn.com

That means that investors who take positions in these green, socially conscious companies are less willing to give them up—even in uncertain times. In that case, new investors are going to have to pay a higher price—something we all love when we’ve bought our positions early.

Exit Oil: Invest in Renewable Energy
Interested in socially conscious investing, but want to try a newer fund? WisdomTree, iShares, PowerShares, and the American Stock Exchange website all list ETFs, grouped by industry, investment style and other factors of interest. Doing a search for socially conscious mutual funds or ETFs on your favorite engine should also yield results. Calvert and Domini have websites. Also, it’s your broker’s job to know what funds are out there, so s/he should be helpful in your search as well.

Even if you don’t want to become an activist investor, what you might not realize is that chances are very high that you are already invested in all kinds of corporations that you may not wish to support. If you have a retirement plan at all—whether it’s a 401(k), annuity, IRA or pension plan—you are invested in mutual funds, and each mutual fund invests in hundreds of publicly traded companies.

Every wonder how Philip Morris could make it through those decades of lawsuits by the cancer victims? With your money. Ever wonder how Exxon Mobil remains the largest corporation in the world with a market value of over $500 billion? With your money.

I meet people all the time who hate smoking, but invest in cigarette companies because the dividends are so strong. Others complain about a "war for oil" in Iraq, but drive gas guzzlers and have oil company stock (some without knowing it). In September 2007, Altria (Philip Morris) was one of the top holdings in the four most widely held mutual funds. Exxon Mobil was largest publicly traded company on Wall Street. Translation: If you own a mutual fund, chances are you own Philip Morris tobacco company, Exxon Mobil and all kinds of other companies and activities that you may not want to support—whether you are anti-oil or just sick of watching a tanned Larry Ellison (CEO of Oracle) buy Malibu real estate and race sailboats.

Is there really any reason to invest in clean energy over oil, defense and tobacco companies? Well, yes, even if the sole reason is that you want to participate in the world’s top performing industry (in 2007, and likely going forward as well). Why not invest in the products and services that are cleaning up our world? If Al Gore is right that global warming is a life-or-death concern, investing in clean energy could save our planet. If he’s wrong, we end up with cleaner air, land, water and energy. Sounds like a win-win to me.

There are a lot of naysayers out there, who pshaw the idea that you should engage your desires and emotions at all in investing, to which I reply, "Good luck." Emotions are the criminals most responsible for stealing your gains. Like it or not, when your stocks go down in value, your blood pressure boils and you want to dump them quickly, and when they rocket up in value, the shock and thrill keep you clinging for dear life, even when it’s a good idea to let go. In other words, your emotions are your own worst enemy when you are invested in things you don’t really like and have no idea how to value. Your emotions can be a great ally when you are invested in things that are enriching the world, and you are confident that those investments will continue increasing in value in the years to come.

Seeing what companies your mutual funds are invested in is as easy as two clicks on your computer. Literally. That easy. You can simply enter the symbol of the mutual fund in the Research Now box on the home page at NataliePace.com. You will be taken to the stock page of the mutual fund. Just click on "Top 25 Holdings" to see what companies you're supporting.

If you don’t like what you discover, then simply tell your broker that you want to own funds that are more socially conscious. There are index funds, exchange-traded funds, and tons of easy options for you to choose from that target companies more in your sweet spot. Or, you could create your own socially conscious nest egg with a basket of carefully diversified stocks, with the help of a professional. It’s not that hard, and a good broker will be a valuable asset in this. This month, with so many large, green corporations trading for a song, is a great time to set up that new green basket of stocks. Click to access a Green Chip Stock Report Card.

Green Chips
All of the companies listed in the Green Chip Stock Report Card have active investments and policies toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating renewable energy infrastructure world wide. Since 2004, General Electric has achieved a 500 percent increase in wind turbine production, and its wind business revenues exceeded $4.5 billion in 2007. According to the American Wind Energy Association, over the past two years, GE has supplied wind turbines representing nearly half of the new wind capacity across the United States. GE's 1.5-megawatt wind turbine is among the most widely used machines in the global wind industry, with more than 8,000 installed around the world.

Google is conducting Research & Development to build 1 gigawatt of renewable energy power, which would be sufficient to power the city of San Francisco. Johnson and Johnson is listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and won the coveted Green Partner of the Year Award in 2005. Intel and Google founded the Climate Savers Computing organization, which is commited to a 50% reduction in power consumption by computers by 2010. Microsoft is a partner of Climate Savers Computing.

Remember that the mega stocks are stabilizing forces for your long-term portfolio, not stallions you can win day-trading races with. The dividends of these large cap stocks, and the fact that they trade in a narrower range, means that you should be able to earn reliable, steady gains over time, without losing much sleep. That is no guarantee, however, that the current volatility in the markets will not force the price lower this year. So, adding these companies to your ‘Buy My Own Island’ Fund means taking a long view, with the knowledge that you are buying these companies near their 52-week lows, which will hopefully be a great price now and going forward.

The Bottom Line
I’m really glad that I don’t have to ride my horse to New York City, so I’m grateful for the role that oil and gas played (in the past) in making our lives easier. I’m just confident that if we can walk on the moon, we can invent solar-powered planes. (We already have solar-powered space stations.) If we can end slavery, we can end poverty. If we can eradicate polio, then we can find a cure for cancer that is better than chemotherapy. Collectively, our money promotes and creates the products, goods, and services in our world, so let’s be mindful about how we decorate our home.

Green Chip Additions to the Hot News on Cool Stocks List
Google was a company I featured at the IPO, as a lone ranger, before the company’s diversified revenue strategy was proven out. Of course, by 2006, when the Google share price was bumping up against $500 per share, and the revenue had been doubling year over year, our readers believed I was a genius, but then began complaining that they would never be able to own the company because they’d missed the IPO. It was great that I had picked the company in the first place, but when was I going to highlight it again as within buying range?

For two long years, in the Hot News on Cool Stocks list, I kept saying that Google was too high to buy, much to the dismay of our readers. According to the news reports that were coming in, the GDP growth rate in the US was too unreliable to warrant paying a high price to earnings multiple for a giant corporation – even one with tremendous growth, as we’ve seen with Google.

So, it is with great pleasure that I am now able to put Google on the Hot News list this month. I have also added General Electric, Johnson and Johnson and Microsoft to the Hot News list this month. Intel was not added to the Hot News on Cool Stocks list because the chip industry is highly volatile and competitive. The weak chip cycle typically occurs later in the year – over the summer. Intel remains on our Watch list.

Cash is King.

by Steve Dietrich.

How to reign supreme through the credit crunch, real estate downturn and foreclosure maelstrom.

If you read Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas you will understand that a bad scene can happen anytime, even in the desert city that never sleeps (Las  Vegas).  As real estate in the over-valued areas of Nevada, Florida, California, Arizona, et al. continues to stumble around like a drunken  gambler, here are a few tips that homeowners and potential  homeowners might consider.  

Home Equity Loans  and HELOC's
Friends don't let friends put second mortgages on  their houses.  It's bad for the family and bad for the neighborhood. You don't want to be keeping up with the Jones when they are driving off the financial cliff. Home equity loans and HELOC's are disguised second trust deed loans and, as we’ve seen with so many "teaser rates" and "liar’s loans," many of these mortgage products are simply smearing lipstick on a pig. No matter how good it sounds, if you can’t afford the terms when the new rates kick in, or if the deal requires an accelerating real estate market to make sense, it is still a pig.  The big difference over the past few years is that your lender got to sell your soul to a faceless securitization pool and was thus not bothered by the thought of your family living under a bus bench when you can not afford the terms of your loan.  

Subprime ARM’s represent about 7% of total loans, but 43% of the foreclosures initiated. Do not allow yourself to become a subprime casualty.

Dealing With Home Equity Loans and HELOC's
Here are two alternatives.  

1. Get all of the money out that you will need for the next year  (check for prepayment and termination costs).
2. Payoff the loan, and close the line of credit (check for prepayment and termination costs)

Obviously the second plan is preferable. Your highest yield investment may be the repayment of debt while your family returns to zero based budgeting. However, if you are hanging on the window ledge, it may make more sense to borrow what you can now with the thought that buying a few months of time will allow you to solve your cash-flow situation – with increased income.

The HELOCs were popular with "lenders" for one reason only.  The lenders were not putting their money at risk. Rather they were able to sell high yield loans for a profit to others who believed that your second trust deed was a safe investment.  It is very probable that defaulted HELOC's will significantly add to the forced sale of real estate by owners under duress or by lenders after foreclosure.

Rethinking your mortgage loan
In today's market the recent buyer is often thinking that what appeared to be a great  opportunity to play the market now feels like a millstone tied around his neck. When does it pay to walk away versus stretch to make payments or negotiate a workout?
 
What are the consequences of foreclosure
In many states home loans are non-recourse loans by law or by practice. If you are thinking of allowing a home to go into foreclosure you need to know the rules of your state with respect to deficiency judgment on the specific types of loans you would be defaulting on.   You also need to be aware of phantom income that might be created in the transaction, which you would have to pay taxes on. Thus, it is important that you don’t foreclose without discussing this with a real estate attorney and accountant.
 
Thinking of your mortgaged home as an option play
The next thought is to consider your home as a commodity speculation. When you bought it you probably thought of it as an investment.  However, when times get tough it pays to think of your mortgage as an option transaction.  The lender "owns " your house, but by making payments you preserve the right to repurchase the home at a declining price at some future date. At some point making further payments to preserve your "option" to buy the home may not make economic sense, especially if you are selling all of your possessions and eating cat food to make the payments.

Thinking Long Term
If you are a homeowner living in a neighborhood you adore and are into the place for the long-run, this too shall pass.  Historically, real estate makes almost 7% annual gains.  Some years, it’s up higher.   Others it’s down lower.  We’re in that "down lower cycle," but you may want to continue by adopting other strategies.  If you have real equity in your home, consider getting a fixed rate at the lowest interest rates in 40 years. If your home is assessed for property tax purposes at greater than its market value on the assessment date you can appeal but there are deadlines that vary.  Look at both the real estate and tax consequences before making any decision. Anticipate that tax rates for most of us will rise next year.
 
If you must sell now
Don't follow a sinking market.  Price to sell. Sophisticated retailers understand that the first markdown is the cheapest.
 
Banking Relationships
Are a fable from a bygone era unless you have funds to deposit, so get over it. Your typical banker is now a loan broker with little or no interest in your survival, much less your prosperity.  You’ll need to get good, unbiased advice from experienced real estate buyers, who have no financial interest in the transactions you are interested in. Mortgage brokers are salespersons. They are paid to sell you mortgages, not paid to be genius investment strategists.
 
Loan Commitment
This is an absolute commitment on the part of your bank to lend you  funds, if they feel like it. Note that one of the nation's largest banks terminated a number of loan commitments claiming adverse market conditions.  Duh, if I was not worried about the market I would not have taken an early commitment. Don’t bank on this as a back-up plan.
 
Buying a Home (why waiting for the bottom of the market is not always the best strategy)
The cost of  home ownership is a function of the cost of the home and interest  rates. Waiting for the bottom of the market to buy a home you intend to hold  for a long period may be a mistake if you are planning to borrow most of the  cost. There are a lot of reasons, including Congressional meddling, that could end today's historically low residential interest rates and perhaps result in shorter term loans, larger down payments and higher interest rates.

If you are thinking of waiting for rates to decline further before refinancing STOP and take a look at mortgage rates over the past 35 years and count the years when rates have been lower. Act now.

If you’re looking to upgrade your home and keep it for a long time, even though the markets should continue to decline, now might be a good time. You are likely to get improvements to your home at a more competitive price now that contractors and suppliers are starting to worry about demand over the next few years. However, if you are buying for cash there's probably a ways to go before the market bottoms.

Note, while declining home construction is bad for the economy (and bad for homebuilder stock values)   it is good for your home's value going forward. Having too much supply on the marketplace drives the price down, while having demand exceed supply (which was the case from 2002 to 2005) increases the value.

Do keep in mind that the secret of successful real estate investing from the 800 square foot fixer-upper to a portfolio of giant office towers is to buy wisely, but only buy that which you can hold until you want to sell.

Negotiating With Your Lender
There is no lender these days in most cases, rather holders of slices of your loan who have in turn borrowed against piles of slices. The industry is still trying to figure out how to deal with the problems. However, there are a number of groups providing no cost "counseling" to borrowers, pick one who is not selling anything. It doesn’t hurt to ask your lender for information on short selling your loan before it hits foreclosure, but beware of any person or company who is promising miracles.

Natalie’s Note: The Federal Reserve Board has a page devoted to help Consumers deal with foreclosure issues. Go to FederalReserve.gov. Click on Consumer Information. Then select Foreclosure Resources. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also has resources for homeowners. Go to HUD.gov.

Leadership and Vision
The gods of consumption and leverage have fled the kingdom and cash reigns supreme once again. Bring your financial plan into consistency with this reality, and start accumulating cash in your nest egg. Having cash allows you to get through the hard times, but also provides a way to buy low when others are strapped and unable to access credit. Lenders will continue to tighten up the standards of people they will lend to.

Ten or twenty years from now you will probably have forgotten the hardships that may affect your family in these times, however, you will be forever affected by how well you maintained your family and relationships with friends. Employ both strategic and tactical planning to make good decisions, not perfect decisions. It is never too tough to have fun.

Steve Dietrich runs a commercial real estate consulting and development firm in Southern California and taught Entrepreneurial Real Estate Development at the Anderson Graduate School of Business at UCLA for a number of years.

Tips for Avoiding Foreclosure.

By the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Are you having trouble keeping up with your mortgage payments? Have you received a notice from your lender asking you to contact them?

* Don't ignore the letters from your lender
* Contact your lender immediately
* Contact a HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agency
* Toll FREE (800) 569-4287
* TTY (800) 877-8339

If you are unable to make your mortgage payment:

1. Don't ignore the problem. The further behind you become, the harder it will be to reinstate your loan and the more likely that you will lose your house.

2. Contact your lender as soon as you realize that you have a problem. Lenders do not want your house. They have options to help borrowers through difficult financial times.

3. Open and respond to all mail from your lender. The first notices you receive will offer good information about foreclosure prevention options that can help you weather financial problems. Later mail may include important notice of pending legal action. Your failure to open the mail will not be an excuse in foreclosure court.

4. Know your mortgage rights. Find your loan documents and read them so you know what your lender may do if you can't make your payments. Learn about the foreclosure laws and timeframes in your state (as every state is different) by contacting the State Government Housing Office.

5. Understand foreclosure prevention options. Valuable information about foreclosure prevention (also called loss mitigation) options can be found on the internet at www.fha.gov/foreclosure/index.cfm.

6. Contact a HUD-approved housing counselor. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds free or very low cost housing counseling nationwide. Housing counselors can help you understand the law and your options, organize your finances and represent you in negotiations with your lender if you need this assistance. Find a HUD-approved housing counselor near you or call (800) 569-4287 or TTY (800) 877-8339.

7. Prioritize your spending. After healthcare, keeping your house should be your first priority. Review your finances and see where you can cut spending in order to make your mortgage payment. Look for optional expenses-cable TV, memberships, entertainment-that you can eliminate. Delay payments on credit cards and other "unsecured" debt until you have paid your mortgage.

8. Use your assets. Do you have assets-a second car, jewelry, a whole life insurance policy-that you can sell for cash to help reinstate your loan? Can anyone in your household get an extra job to bring in additional income? Even if these efforts don't significantly increase your available cash or your income, they demonstrate to your lender that you are willing to make sacrifices to keep your home.

9. Avoid foreclosure prevention companies. You don't need to pay fees for foreclosure prevention help-use that money to pay the mortgage instead. Many for-profit companies will contact you promising to negotiate with your lender. While these may be legitimate businesses, they will charge you a hefty fee (often two or three month's mortgage payment) for information and services your lender or a HUD approved housing counselor will provide free if you contact them.

10. Don't lose your house to foreclosure recovery scams! If any firm claims they can stop your foreclosure immediately if you sign a document appointing them to act on your behalf, you may well be signing over the title to your property and becoming a renter in your own home! Never sign a legal document without reading and understanding all the terms and getting professional advice from an attorney, a trusted real estate professional, or a HUD approved housing counselor.

21 Days to a Healthier, Wealthier, More Beautiful You.

by Natalie Pace.

Coaching call series with Natalie Pace and Gary Kobat begins on March 7, 2008!

Photo by: Stacie Isabella Turk, Ribbonhead.com ©2008 Stylist: Arlene Hylton-Campbel, 818-710-0079

Join us for this impactful, three-part, 21-day morning-call series:

" 21 Days That Will Change Your Life!™"

… a 21 day morning-call teleconference series on how world-class achievers shift their thinking, shift their eating, shift their moving, and shift their financial decisions to create the most amazing energy, health, and wealth results anyone can ever imagine in a year.

-- Create laser-like direction, build personal momentum, and manufacture energy you never knew you had – fiscally and physically.

-- Develop forward-moving goals and objectives in minutes for less stress, more wealth, a recession-proof portfolio and more balance in 2008.

-- How to look and feel younger… while getting older. How to invest in companies that are creating the products of tomorrow, while trimming back on the industries that are rapidly declining.

-- How to triple your energy while losing, maintaining, or gaining weight in alignment with your goals. How to supercharge the performance of your portfolio, with less risk, while recession-proofing your nest egg.

-- The statistical truths about foods, fuels, the keys to human performance, why diets fail, and why our weight may not be the real problem. The statistical data about annual returns, making gains during recessions, how to take a long term view for your nest egg and a short term view for your trading portfolio in order to be in balance, flow and to maximize profits.

-- Design decision making tools for staying focused and committed to your top priorities and bigger picture activities, while eliminating interference that doesn’t serve you….

-- Daily calls for fine-tuning your attitude, intentions and outcomes.

And much more.

It’s time to find your own answers, uncover your own internal motivations, create a whole new vision for yourself this year: not by hope, not by chance…but by design.

The Program:
The core of the program will be energy, wisdom and working smarter – not harder.

When you have energy, you can do anything.

When you understand how to make energy, how to access your energy, how to unblock your energy, how to implement your energy, then your decisions start to be crisper, clearer, more impactful, and that energy will be transferred into better decisions, manifesting more actions that create bigger results – in your health and in your wealth.

We’ll warn you: It won’t be about about dieting, counting calories or counting crunches; but it will be about creating energy for the rest of your life: course correcting when you get off the path, getting in alignment with your highest, best self and letting this be the first year of the rest of your life.

And how are we going to do that: a series of 21-day lessons in grounding, anchoring and course correcting your thinking, eating, moving, and finances.

To learn more about the 21-day program, which begins on March 7, 2008, join us in the online chat with Natalie Pace and Gary Kobat on Wednesday, February 6^th, 2008. (Information below and on the calendar section.)

To sign up NOW, simply go to Natalie Pace.com and click on the JOIN NOW link, or call 866.476.7442 or email Heather@NataliePace.com.

If you need to update your payment information, it is as simple as registering online, or you can leave your credit card number and expiration date on the voice mail system (as it is secure). Email is not a secure format for your credit card number.

Chat one-on-one with Gary Kobat on Wednesday, March 5, 2008, at 8:45 a.m. PT (11:45 a,m. ET).

Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
8:45AM through 9:30AM PT (11:45 a.m. ET)
Chat with Life and Fitness Coach Gary Kobat

21 days to a healthier, wealthier, more beautiful you.

It's all about energy, tapping into, nourishing and maximizing what you already have to make extraordinarily easy life changes to embody your highest potential.

	Gary Kobat is a personal life and fitness coach in Los Angeles, California. His clients include Jim Carrey, Will Ferrell and more.
	Natalie Pace is the most trusted name in financial news. Since 2002, when she launched NataliePace.com, she has been a top-performing stock picker, above over 830 A-list pundits. Of the companies featured between Oct. 2006 and June 2007. 4 out of 9 companies – almost half – doubled or more, with average gains of 70.3% (as of 1.14.08). 3 out of 5 Company of the Year selections more than doubled.

Enthusiasm.

by Gary Kobat, life and fitness coach to the stars.

"Nothing great has ever been achieved without enthusiasm." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Gary Kobat pacing 7 time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong.

Suddenly, one day, we realize what our purpose is: we have vision, a goal, and from then on work toward implementing that goal. Whether it is body composition, career, home or relationship, there is something we enjoy being involved in already, but on a smaller scale. This is where another layer of "awakened doing" arises: enthusiasm.
 
Enthusiasm means there is deep enjoyment in what we do plus the added element of a goal, or vision, that we work toward. When we add a goal to the enjoyment of what we do, the energy-field or frequency changes. A certain degree of structural tension is now added to enjoyment, and so it turns into enthusiasm. At the height of this creative activity, there will be enormous intensity, energy, and results behind what we do, laser-like, like an arrow that is moving toward a target.

To an onlooker, it may appear that we are under stress but the intensity of enthusiasm has nothing to do with stress. Unlike stress, enthusiasm has a high frequency and so resonates with the creative power of the universe. The word enthusiasm comes from ancient Greek - en and theos, meaning god-like or "possessed by a god."

With enthusiasm we will find we don’t have to do it all ourselves. In fact, there is nothing of significance that we can do "all" by ourselves...
 
Enthusiasm always knows where it is going, but at the same time it is deeply at one with the present moment, the now, which is the source of it's aliveness....
 
Remember: we cannot manifest what we want, we can only manifest what we already have .

Train smart. Live, race. Recover smarter.
 
Gary Kobat.

Chat one-on-one with Gary Kobat on Wednesday, March 5, 2008, at 8:45 a.m. PT (11:45 a,m. ET).

Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
8:45AM through 9:30AM PT (11:45 a.m. ET)
Chat with Life and Fitness Coach Gary Kobat

21 days to a healthier, wealthier, more beautiful you.

It's all about energy, tapping into, nourishing and maximizing what you already have to make extraordinarily easy life changes to embody your highest potential.

Learn more about Gary and Natalie’s 21-day coaching call series in the article, "21 Days to a Healthier, Wealthier, More Beautiful You," in this ezine.

What’s Your Story – Horror Flick or Blockbuster?

by Chellie Campbell, author of Zero to Zillionaire.

Chellie Campbell, Author of Zero to Zillionaire Photo credit: Mary Ann Halpin

Have you every heard someone say, "That’s the story of my life" and they mean their life is joyful, successful, rich, and fabulous? No. It’s a euphemism for "My life sucks right now and it always has." It’s usually said in a whine.

Do you ever say it? When? Are you acting defeated when you say it? Feeling like a loser? Like a Zero? Do you think people can’t tell? They can. You speak it. You reek of it. Your desperate, flailing, losing energy pervades the air and sends up flares like blood in the water summons sharks.

Poker is my hobby and I was playing cards one afternoon, when a young fellow walked by and said hello to a man sitting at my table. He looked up and said, "Hey, Joe, how did you do in that poker tournament last week? When I saw you it looked like you had a mountain of chips in front of you."

"Yeah," the young man smiled. "I did pretty well for awhile. I made it to the final table."

"That’s great!" said his friend.

But Joe sighed then and shrugged his shoulders. "But I didn’t get any good cards after that and I finished in seventh place. I hardly made any money. "That’s the story of my life."

And all the poker sharks were thinking, "Oh, baby, baby, come back and sit right down at my table and play cards with me. Because you’re going to lose and I’ll be happy to get all that money that you’re going to give away!"

Contrast that story with this one:

The Texas Hold’em poker jackpot had just been raised to $100,000 during certain hours at the Bicycle Club Casino. The very first day of the big jackpot, a poker player named George announced to each of the floormen that he was going to win it. He told the other players he was going to win it, too. "Isn’t that new jackpot great? I’m going to win it today," he repeated over and over.

You know what happened. He won it. People shook their heads muttering about how lucky George was. I overheard a floorman say that George had won six jackpots in the past year, and four the year before that. I introduced myself to him later and inquired if that was true. The truth was even more astounding: the $100,000 jackpot was the fourth jackpot he had won in three days! Yet I know many people who’ve been playing poker for years who have never won one. And they tell me that sadly, whenever somebody else wins, "I’ve never won a jackpot. I’ve never even been at the table when the jackpot’s been won. That’s the story of my life."

What is it that makes some people winners and some people losers? The clues lie in your past, and the stories you tell about your life.

Your Life—Low-Budget Horror Flick or Big, Rich Blockbuster?
What was your life like when you were growing up? Are you in the same financial circumstances now? In the same neighborhood? Did you set your sights higher than your parents or friends or did you get a similar job at a similar pay scale?

Americans hate to think that we have social classes. Rather, we’re comfortable with the term "middle class," but less happy about calling others "upper class" or "lower class." But it is plain to see in every city that we group in socio-economic milieus. Aside from a few rebellious types who won’t follow the norm, most people aspire to blend in with others around them. So there are neighborhoods defined by a high collection of Blue Collar/Apartment-renting/High School Grad/Kmart Shoppers and others that hold White Collar/Tract Home-owning/College Grad/Nordstrom Shoppers. The fewer rich neighborhoods have Tuxedo Collar/Mansion- owning/Grad School Grad/Neiman Marcus Shoppers. My family used to drive by the mansions of Beverly Hills and Pasadena on a Sunday outing. We oohed and ahhed over the gorgeous homes, but no one ever talked about how we might get one for ourselves one day. They were chimeras—unattainable dreams to be admired, but not to be had.

If you grow up in a low-rent district, your parents work in low-wage, unskilled jobs, and your friends at school scoff at their studies and have discipline problems, that’s most likely what you will do, too. If all the parents on your street are working white-collar dads and stay-at-home moms, it’s probable that the majority of the boys on your street are going to go to college and look for professional jobs and middle-class money. The girls are going to do that, too—until they settle down to have a family, if that is the norm of the neighborhood.

We are born into mind-sets of expectations that come with their own sets of values, language, and experience. We look around at the people we know, who are like us and—for the most part unconsciously—we embrace and emulate that picture of our future. It comes with its own set of preprogrammed beliefs—affirming hope or hopelessness, affirming higher education or not, affirming riches or poverty. Some good, some bad, some helpful, some harmful—these beliefs inform our actions, and our actions bind us ever more tightly to the same milieu. We grow up in a box, create more of the same boxes, and, as the song goes, "They’re all made out of ticky-tacky and they all look just the same."

Our expectations of our financial futures are laid out for us from the beginning, as we assimilate the luxuriousness or penuriousness of our surroundings. Our parents’ attitudes and beliefs about money filter down and manifest in the quality of our homes, whether we rent or own, where or if we travel, what kinds of things we buy and where we buy it. They manifest in the stories they tell about how hard or easy money is to come by, what is worth spending money on and what is not, whether or not they think they are succeeding in life. When we absorb and repeat the same convictions, without thinking or examining them, they will produce the same results for us.

Reflect about money and the role it has played in your life. Pay attention to your first memory of money. Was it received as a gift or did you earn it? Note your first job—what it was, how much you were paid, whether or not you liked it. Did you ever think of going into business for yourself? If you did, what made you willing to take the risk? If you didn’t, what stopped you from taking the risk? Who said, "That’s a great idea. Go for it!" And who said, "That’ll never work. You’ll lose everything if you do that."

This is the financial story of your life. Your choices have been informed by your experience of all that you have seen, heard, felt, recorded in memory, and repeated. We act in accordance with our beliefs, even if we have never examined them. Deep within, you hold cherished beliefs about finances, rich people, wealth, poverty, good, and evil. You were born into a milieu, and your beliefs lock you in the pattern that keeps you in it. Are they facts—or opinions? Are they beliefs—or truths?

Knowledge is power. Self-knowledge is the power to change your future. If we want our outer material life to change, we have to change our inner mental life.

Chellie Campbell is the author of Zero to Zillionaire and The Wealthy Spirit. She created and teaches the Financial Stress Reduction® Workshops, on which her book is based, in the Los Angeles area and gives programs throughout the country.

If you are stuck in a rut in your business or life and/or having too much "month at the end of your money," Chellie’s workshop might be just what you need to get things on the right track. You can sign up for Chellie's Ezine and workshop at www.chellie.com.

The Billionaire Game.

by Natalie Pace.

How would you live if you had all of the money in the world?

Photo by: Stacie Isabella Turk, Ribbonhead.com ©2008 Stylist: Arlene Hylton-Campbel, 818-710-0079

When I divorced, my settlement was that my husband got all of the 401(k)—all the money we had—and I got to keep the condo, the one that was worth less than its mortgage. So I started out with no retirement plan at all. It wasn’t that I hadn’t thought about saving before. I, like so many, always bought the diapers and the food and the toys first, and found nothing left over to invest. I never once thought that I’d be in a position to lose my home, or to have to work full-time, when I always aspired to be a loving wife who shopped at sexy lingerie stores, and an attentive soccer mom, who picked her kid up from school and baked cupcakes for the team.

The Special Need for Women to Set Up Their Own Nest Egg Now
Here’s a frightening statistic: 41 percent of single moms live at or below the poverty level. Single mothers are the largest group living in poverty; only 8 percent of married couples with kids under 18 are living in poverty. So if you’re married, a personal financial Freedom Plan, separate from your spouse’s plan, is a great idea. None of these single moms, including me, dreamed that the fairy tale ends in poverty.

In the new fairy tale, husbands and wives have their own play and dream money. No matter how much you love and trust your husband, even if he is the breadwinner and you are the stay-at-home provider (with a thousand job titles), find a way to tithe to your Buy My Own Island Plan first, before the bills get paid, and stick to the THRIVE budget that I outline in this chapter ON YOUR OWN. You might be thinking that your financial plan is that you get half of everything if you divorce, but, unfortunately, there are a lot of sad stories about husbands (and wives) who become shopaholics or alcoholics or sexaholics, etc, and all of these addictions can be expensive. Have your OWN dream blueprint and allocate the money to help launch it.

The Thrive Budget (aka Double Your Fun Budget)
The basic breakdown of what I call a "Double Your Fun" budget is 50 percent to Thrive, 50 percent to Survive:

i. 10 percent to investing
ii. 10 percent to charity
iii. 10 percent to education
iv. 20 percent spent on fun. (Half on immediate fun, like yoga and movies and dinners out, the other half on something you’ll have to save up for, like vacations, Jacuzzis, boats, etc.)
v. 50 percent for all your basic needs (including taxes, housing, food, clothing, debt pay-back, credit cards, bill collectors, etc.)

This budget places a priority on living a rich life, and investing there FIRST, BEFORE deciding on how much you’ll spend on basic needs -- just to survive.

Learning How to Thrive (Instead of Drowning in Basic Needs)
The idea of cutting out your café lattes and saving the two bucks a day is not a strategy for getting wealthy. That plan is all about deprivation and penny-pinching, is not going to get you out of debt OR build your wealth, and completely sidelines the basic principle of real wealth—which is to step into dream come true living now, by creating a better world, starting with your own home and then your neighborhood. Living rich means valuing your life here and now, not waiting for sometime in the future when you can afford to be happy. Even if you’re drinking cheap wine from a borrowed glass, even if your investment portfolio is so small you have to save up for a few months to make your first trade, even if your 10% tithe is as small as a widow’s mite, by investing in your future (through your investing and education funds), in your network of friends (through your charitable contributions) and to your health (through your fun), you are walking the path each and every day to the rich life (in every sense of the word).

Before you blow a gasket with anger screaming about how unreasonable I’m being – your bills are too big and important to cut down so much! -- let’s consider why the biggest problem in your life isn’t café lattes, it’s the amount you spend just staying alive. Do you spend more than 50% on your home, transportation, food, taxes, insurance and clothing? More than 70%? Are you trying to squeeze all of your THRIVE budget -- fun, investing, education and community -- into less than 10% or 20% of your income?

Think about this on the billionaire level for a minute. (If you want to be rich, you’re going to have to learn how to think like rich people think.) Bill Gates was worth about 56 billion in 2007, according to Forbes. 10% return on $56 billion is $5.6 billion annually. Let’s call that his annual income. Do you think that he spends $2.8 billion on his basic needs? I’d venture to say that Bill Gates has never spent anywhere close to 50% of his income on basic needs. Most entrepreneurs I know (including me) invest more in their business, education, charity and fun (also known as networking and socializing) than they spend on basic needs. Many sleep on couches and launch their dreams out of their parents’ garage. By placing a focus on education, Asians now have the highest income of any ethnic group in the United States, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

What did I do to cut my basic needs down to size? As a single mom, one of the first things I did was find another single mom to live with. Instantly, my basic needs budget was cut in half, and my disposable income and free time increased dramatically. Incidentally, another very famous and powerful single mom did that – Gloria Allred (the famous attorney and women’s advocate).

If you want to get ahead, forget about the pennies. Think about the big picture. Read on and I’ll explain why charity is important, even if you think you’re so poor you’re the one who needs charity, and why fun is important, even if you think you’ve got too many responsibilities to create playtime for yourself.

1. Tithe to your future first
Each month when you sit down to pay bills, make the first check you write a direct deposit into your tax-protected Individual Retirement Account (with a name that means something very exciting to you, like "Buy My Own Island Fund"). Set this up as an auto-payment and make sure that it is equal to 10% of your take home pay each month. You’ll use this money for investing, following the guidelines for long term investing success. Keep a percent equal to your age safe -- not invested in any type of fund at all -- but allocated to the money markets, bonds, Certificates of Deposit or Treasury bills. Diversify the remaining money into at least six different types of funds, including growth and value, large cap, mid cap and small cap, international funds and clean energy.

Do not wait until you get out of debt to start investing, any more than you’d wait until you graduate from college to start studying. Consolidate your debt and get on a payment plan (which is consistent with the 50% SURVIVE part of this budget plan, not more). The money that you put into your retirement plan should be protected from debt collectors and lawsuits, and if you set it up right, it should also be protected from having to pay taxes. (This is what saved O.J. Simpson from living on the streets, after the Goldman family won their $33.5 million wrongful death civil suit against him. Certain retirement plans cannot be levied.) Also, if you are investing right – in the markets but also in your education -- you will actually get out of debt sooner than if you apportion a larger chunk out of your paycheck to pay down debt. As your net worth and income increase, it becomes much easier to consolidate debt under more favorable terms and to make larger payments to pay it off.

2. Tithe to charity
The next 10 percent of your take-home pay should go to a charitable organization. Get creative! Tithe to the nonprofit organizations that you really want to support, not just your church. Consider getting actively involved, so that you can start networking/partnering with people who have the same interests as you do. Partnering with people who share similar passions is a great way to enrich your life, and your business prospects. Step up and volunteer for positions that will stretch your skills. Don’t just take the easiest job. In many cases this is tax deductible, so you are actually decreasing the amount you pay to taxes as well!

Everyone asks me how I went from USC graduate to Vice President in my first business job, without doing the intern, manager pathway up the corporate ladder. My answer is charity. Immediately upon graduating from the University of Southern California, I volunteered my time as the chairperson of the Silent Auction at my son’s elementary school. It was a high profile public school in Santa Monica, and the woman who mentored me in the position was a very high profile business leader in the state of California. Her business skills and her rolodex were both impeccable. The first year (before I graduated), I volunteered to solicit for silent auction donations, and then the following year, when no one stepped up to chair the event, I threw my hat in the ring. (In charity, oftentimes, the one with the most important job is simply the person who commits to doing it without being paid.)

While I was substitute teaching, I also wrote (and won) grants for an underserved public school to implement an arts program that had been proven to increase academic performance. (The kids actually loved learning!). Those skills -- as an executive managing hundreds of volunteers and processing over $50,000 in retail items in ONE day, as well as writing and winning grants -- were valuable! Even though I wasn’t getting paid, and was donating my time, I was increasing my own value, my skills, my achievements and the pay and the position that I could earn at any job in the future. So instead of spending YEARS climbing the corporate ladder, I spent one year in the nonprofit world and jumped right to the top of the game.

Through these connections that you make by tithing your time and money to charity, you will automatically begin attracting a new type of person into your life. As an unexpected benefit, the executive directors of organizations I have donated to have become a part of my circle of friends, my advisory board and have invited me to hang out with some of their VIP friends, even though I was donating on a fairly modest level. You’ll also notice that the spiritual director of the church I attend (and donate to) wrote the Foreword to my book. Supporting an organization doesn’t guarantee you that level of endorsement – you’ll need to earn that respect over time -- but it does ensure that you’ll be hanging out with the right crowd that is accomplishing great things – and those qualities rub off, just as much as if you were spending your time in a bar (and drinking in the qualities of that atmosphere).

Charity can also be quite fun. As just one example, the American Airlines Ambassador Program (www.airlineamb.org) allows you to get on board with other humanitarians to bring care and compassion around the world. While doing good, you’ll bond to others and add power and weight to your network of people. How’s that for a different type of vacation. (Combining budget funds from fun and charity is allowed for an excursion like this.)

3. Tithe to your education fund
The next 10 percent of your take-home pay should go to an education fund. You probably already know that the single most important factor for a better job and higher pay is education. The more education you have, the greater your earning power for your entire working life. Doctors start out making more than gardeners; architects earn more than dishwashers. Car mechanics who work on today’s computerized engines make more than mechanics who repair the old gas guzzlers. As your education level goes up, so does your intellectual capital and your salary.

Getting educated and getting a better job are the two easiest ways to improve your living condition—to rush you from the world of hand-to-mouth and into the world of "Hmmm …. what should I do with all this left-over money?" Whether you’re a teacher who's taking credits to get her master’s (and a raise), a manager taking classes on weekends toward an MBA (and a raise), or a pediatrician who's learning more about investing (to earn money while you sleep), your bottom line will improve as you learn, master, and employ your newfound skills.

As Oprah said when she developed her Leadership Academy in South Africa, "Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom." Never stop learning.

4. The Fun Funds
Health is wealth. Fun is an investment in wellness, which is one of the best investments you can make. Studies show enjoying life reduces stress, which is very healthy, and means less money spent on doctors. Exercise (something I call fun and invest in) lowers your blood pressure. Your health increases your earning potential. Lack of health is one of the surest ways to encounter the most serious money challenges anyone will ever face – lack of income, combined with strangling medical costs.

Spend 10 percent on things you can buy right now. I actually take cash out for my immediate fun, and spend it until it’s gone. Some of my favorite fun things are yoga, spinning, movies, dinner, massages and facials, as well as slightly bigger splurges like a beautiful silk blouse, shoes (on sale!) or maybe an iPod.

The other 10 percent goes for bigger adventures -- a trip to Bali, original artwork, that huge flat screen television or a Jacuzzi. When you think that 20% of your workday is spent just for great fun like this, imagine how much more you’ll enjoy your work! And when you enjoy your work more, imagine how much more you’ll put into your work. And that kind of investment in doing a better job could easily mean more income or a raise and a promotion. When you get excited about living, that energy infuses potential and positive results into everything that you come into contact with – including your investments.

Now, some people say, "I enjoy my house. That is my adventure." To which I reply, "Great! So stop complaining that you never go on vacation." You can also think of this portion of the budget as "no whiners allowed." I’m not telling you how to define your fun. I’m simply telling you to appreciate it, to get creative, and to really delight and bask in the experiences you choose for your free time.

5. Basic Needs
Only half of your take-home should go to basic needs. All of them—from taxes to food, housing, clothing and debt repayments. When you’re a billionaire, you’ll have more going to taxes, security, staff, etc. than your home, and when you’re a thousandaire, you’ll have more going to the home and less to taxes, so this allocation works on both sides of the scale.

My friends and subscribers almost stop liking me when I get to this part of the plan. Their faces scrunch up and they want to scream in protest!

Yes, it’s going to require sacrificing your keeping up with the Joneses fix, and redefining your idea of success – for now. But it doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice style. Your kids might see you and enjoy you more, if you downsize to a new solar-powered, sustainable Living Home with modest square footage, than the energy hog McMansion where everyone hides in their own dorm room.

If you’re working at a job you hate in order to afford mortgage payments that leave you so squeezed each month that you and your spouse scream at one another on date nights, no amount of therapy is really going to get your life back into balance. You can try to be nicer and love one another more, but every waking moment is still a crisis waiting to erupt. Loving and being lovable is key to great companionship, but you also need an action plan to remove the major stress factors as well. Money is one of the things that breaks up marriages. Get it in balance and watch your relationship improve.

Are you living in a huge home that sucks up more energy than the state of Rhode Island? Do you really need to live in a home that big? Are you paying thousands of dollars for your mother or father to live in their own home, when they could live in the guesthouse out back for free or in a less expensive senior community, where they would be enjoying life even more? Are you a single mother who could cut her expenses in half and have her paycheck go twice as far if you moved in with another single mother, sharing expenses, childcare, and household duties?

This is why the house-sharing premise behind CoAbode.org—one of the most effective springboards for struggling single mothers—is also useful for elderly parents, college students, and aspiring rock stars. When people share basic chores as well as expenses, there's more time and money for the fun … instead of work, work, work, chores, chores, chores, homework, bills, crying, hair pulling, arguments, sadness, resentment.... Remember The Odd Couple, the vintage film and TV series about two divorced men who share an apartment? They were as ill-matched as two people could be, but they still made it work. Get creative.

I drive a nine-year-old car. It’s a beautiful German car that runs very well, gets great gas mileage and the fact that I’m still driving it means that it’s not polluting a landfill somewhere. I love driving my beautiful car, and very few people know that it is as old as it is. It feels almost like a member of the family.

Driving a car that’s too expensive for your budget or living in a house or apartment you can’t really afford is not "living the rich life" if it makes you into an unhappy, overburdened person who screams at your loved ones every time they spill milk on the hardwood floor or leave the door open, running up the heating or air conditioning bill. Having a budget that allows you fun, investing, philanthropy, and education will put you on the path to financial freedom, successful investing, a better tomorrow, and a career that pays you more—both in dollars and in smiles. Freedom is not a Zip code or a car model. It’s simply living each moment in a way that makes your soul shine and sing.

You will be amazed at how quickly balancing your lifestyle and budget, and contributing regularly to your investment portfolio, translates into measurable gains. And you’ll also be amazed at how your relationships improve when you’re happy with the choices you make and are actively creating a life that’s valuable and enjoyable every single day.

The Thrive Budget is not just for the middle class and the working class. I have two girlfriends who are both multi-millionaires. I have often found myself in their kitchens listening to their worries and concerns about money—even when I was in danger of losing my home (and, yes, I put aside my own concerns long enough to have a cup of tea and listen to theirs). One was concerned that her husband was sucking the equity out of their multi-million dollar real estate holdings to keep a Dead On Arrival business on life support. The other had an independent film she was producing, which was turning out to be more of a tax write-off than a viable blockbuster.

Of course, odds are good that the film producer will still be in her home fifty years from now (trust fund) and the income property owner will never be out on the street. But, in the short term, those money pressures felt life shattering and caused severe health problems in both families. The Thrive budget doesn’t fix everything, but it provides a structure upon which every financial decision is a balanced part of a larger vision and game plan – which you design throughout the playing of the Billionaire Game.

This Billionaire Game is an exercise that allows you to discover exactly how you would live your life if you had all the money in the world. When you get to the essence of your nature – the core of your being – and discover exactly what you would invest your time and money in if you had no limitations, that’s when you discover exactly where you should be investing your time and money (on a smaller scale) today.

For instance, if the film producer thought of her film as charity– and it could have been because it was a film with a strong social message—she would have rested more easily at night, regardless of the profit potential. (She could benefit from the tax write-off, which was what it ended up being any way, and she was bringing an important message to light in an entertaining way.)

If the Thrive budget were in place in the income property owner’s household, her husband wouldn’t have permission to tap the home’s equity for a losing business proposition. (The Buy My Own Island plan is not a bank!) He’d have to find viable capital solutions elsewhere.

Young or old, rich or poor, have a vision, healthy money habits and your own personal freedom plan. You can start now on your own, regardless of how healthy or unhealthy your partner’s money habits are.

Wonder how I could listen to the money woes of my multi-millionaire friends, when my own situation was dire? Sometimes, I was literally scraping change out of the bottom of the couch for dinner. Why didn’t I ask for money? Because part of my game plan was to live with friendship, beauty and grace no matter how bleak my own personal situation was. That meant smiling through the rough spots and focusing on the fundamental qualities of being an interesting, optimistic person.

Besides, I was grateful to both of these women, who, in their own important way, helped my son and I survive the tough times, sharing things we needed at key moments, whether it was a ride home from school or a Sunday night dinner. They were an integral part of the "Mom Network," which any single mother needs to survive. And they were my friends and had been, through thick and thin, for a long time.

When things are tough, you must hold hard and fast to grace and dignity. It’s not always easy, of course. But begging, whining and complaining do not add any beauty to that picture. And, I had enormous faith that the Thrive budget was going to kick in and work, and didn’t want to ruin the experience by annoying everyone around me.

I had confidence that I could transform my life by adhering religiously to the flow of money. That meant that even if I had $10 coming in that week, $1 went to my investment plan, $1 to charity, $2 for fun, $1 for education and only $5 for basic needs. Sure, I had to get creative with making that work. I have 35 shareholders in my company, most of who have received a percentage of the company for providing services essential to the business. My attorney provided legal counsel and set up the LLC for units in the LLC. My home office was paid for with shares of the company instead of cash. I am completely blown away that my part-time (independent contractor) graphic designer continued to do amazing work – taking units in the LLC instead of cash – during periods when we simply did not have the income to pay him!

So, there was one night when I slept in my car (and my son slept with his father), so that we could continue operating. There were many days when beans were the main food being consumed, and many nights when we were elated to be invited to dinner at someone’s home! (You’ll recall that most DOT COMs went bankrupt between 2000 and 2002. I launched in 2002, when there was literally no money being invested in online businesses!)

And yet, my son and I always managed to have fun – continuing our tradition of weekly family nights, of singing "I love you," in the mornings to each other, and of listening to loud music on the way to school. (Neither one of us are morning people, so the music was more fun than trying to grunt at each other.)

I’m not saying there were never times that I cursed my son in the quiet sanctuary of my room! My own son was as wild and untamed as I ever was! And I know that I spat out some words that are not supposed to be said in front of kids when I accidentally drove over the spikes on a road that clearly said, "DANGER! Do not enter! Tire damage!" and another time when my son accidentally rolled up the car window on my fingers. However, all in all, my son and I did not let lack of liquidity get us down or rain on our home life, and we both were extremely supportive of one another’s dreams and confident that they would indeed come true.

One year, in fact, there weren’t any gifts at all at Christmas. I wrapped a few things that were really lame, and, even though my son was hoping for a video game console, he hugged me and said he loved me. I laughed (with a few tears in my eyes) and said that we’d probably look back at that Christmas as one of our favorites because we were still hugging and smiling without any gifts. Those are moments when you feel rich in that priceless commodity known as love.

My book, which is scheduled for release at the end of the year, is proof that what I believed in and adhered to work. Using the strategies outlined in the Thrive budget, which I employed to escape the poverty of being a single mother, work. (Imagine a Nobel Laureate and a superstar spiritual leader writing the foreword to my book. Does a dream come true get any better than that?) While I would have wanted only the best for my son, including pots of money and a family that didn’t break up, he learned that our home was built on love, even when there weren’t elaborate gifts exchanged on holidays.

The Billionaire Game
Below is a game that will help you get started dreaming of your Billionaire lifestyle right now and discover how you would live if you had all the money in the world.

In order to really shake out the old and invite in the new way of thinking and life, I want you to fantasize about what the Thrive Budget could mean for you where you are now, and then if you were a multi-millionaire and then as a billionaire. You’ll be following the Thrive budget, but you will be spending more and more money in each category, until you are spending just like a billionaire.

It’s just a game. Watch what issues come up for you.

Starting with the income you are earning right now, add details to each of the categories of the Thrive budget, beginning with investing and ending with basic needs. Which specific organizations are your charitable donations going to go? What kinds of companies are you buying in your investment portfolio? What kind of housing are you building and moving into—A green, solar energy, efficient house? Something way out of town that fits your new budget better? A small apartment near work, for less commuting time and less gasoline cost? Will you manage your own stocks and bonds, or hire a money manager?

The first column is for your initial year, starting now, but the second column is what you’d be spending if you earned $1.2 million annually (not your spouse – your money). For some of you, this is Fantasyland – something to aspire to – so throw out your walls and fences and go for it. This is time for outrageous, vivid, detailed ‘dream come true’ planning. It is the same you -- but with a much bigger monthly salary!

The other columns are designed to get you thinking wayyyyy beyond your current income and lifestyle. Imagine then that you are earning a take-home salary of $100 million per month. How will you invest that? Where will you donate ten million dollars this month? What kind of immediate pleasure can you have with that kind of money? What kind of "long-term fun" splurge will you buy with $120 million (12 months times $10 million per month)?

When you get to the basic needs in the final billionaire category, remember that you’re spending 10% on charity and 10% on education, both of which could be tax deductible. So, you can allocate only 20% of the 50%—or $10 million – toward taxes each month, with $40 million left for all other basic needs.

Play The Billionaire Game.

• SPEND YOUR SALARY IN THE FIRST COLUMN (USING THE THRIVE BUDGET ALLOCATIONS).
• SPEND LIKE A MILLIONAIRE IN THE NEXT COLUMN.
• SPEND LIKE A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE IN COLUMN 3 AND,
• A BILLIONAIRE IN COLUMN 4.

This Thrive budget exercise is one that allows you to step into the shoes of a billionaire, and spend like one. What came up for you? Did you have difficulty spending $10 million on charity? Or on pleasure? Did you actually curse me when it came to some of these categories, as if it were ridiculous to imagine spending such an outlandish amount of money?

Ahhhh… But this is the life of a billionaire. It’s not just about having a beautiful family, expensive cars and jewelry and a huge home that magically cleans itself. There is a tremendous amount of responsibility involved. In fact, security may be a part of your basic needs. There will be a professional money manager handling your investments. You’ll have a staff to maintain. When you become a billionaire, it is more like being royalty. You have to imagine yourself at the center of a large estate, with people on your payroll to provide for and farm a large parcel of land, investments and orchards to fertilize, harvest and maintain.

Some people find it very easy to spend $120 million on long-term fun (your own island or a theme park, ala Walt Disney’s Disneyland). Others wouldn’t dream of that kind of "narcissism" and could only imagine a long-term fun budget of $120 million each year that benefited the rest of humanity (launching a Shakespeare in the Park series all across the Southwest, sponsoring summer camps for under-privileged youth, putting playgrounds into underfunded urban elementary schools.).

What many people come to realize through this exercise is that money is not happiness. Money becomes a responsibility. Most people can’t come close to spending $100 million a month on pleasure … until they include other people. And then, magically, it becomes easy.

A side benefit of this exercise is that it shatters old (and largely untrue) myths about being a wealthy business owner. When you see money as abundance – like a farmer sharing more fruit than s/he can eat with her neighbors – you can love the idea of making money in investing and becoming rich. You have a plan that is well-balanced, which keeps you honest and humble, without being self-sacrificing.

But the truly most important aspect of this exercise in my mind is that you uncover the true you – who you would be and how you would act if you had all of the money in the world. There is no reason why you can’t start activating that vision now. If you hate war, then refuse to invest in mutual funds that invest in defense companies. If you hate cigarettes and cancer, stop investing in Altria (which is Philip Morris tobacco company).

J.K. Rowling was able to dream up an entire universe around Hogwarts, complete with Quiddich and He Who Must Not Be Named. She is now richer than the Queen of England. We live in a time when an immigrant can be one of the richest people in America (like Sergey Brin, founder of Google) and single mums can be richer than queens. Your dream life should be as rich in details.

Cyber Theft: Tips for Protecting Your Financial Information.

Investor Alert from FINRA.org

January 28, 2008
Your brokerage firm has an obligation to safeguard your personal financial information. But even the best procedures cannot prevent all instances of identity theft—especially if the vulnerability lies with you, the customer.

This brochure, brought to you by FINRA and the Securities Industry Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), describes the critical steps you can take to safeguard your financial accounts and help prevent identity theft.

How Does Identity Theft Occur?
A host of ways. Some identity thieves use keystroke-logging software to capture usernames and passwords, disseminating these programs through instant messages, emails, or freeware. Others "phish" for sensitive information by sending phony emails that purport to come from a legitimate financial institution but which ask for information your firm would never request through email—such as confirmation of an account number, password, credit card number, or Social Security number. Still others use the old-fashioned method of "dumpster-diving" to recover your discarded account statements or other records that haven't been properly shredded.

How Can I Protect Myself?
Take the following steps to secure your brokerage accounts and your personal financial information:

* Protect Your Passwords and PINs. Do not share your passwords or PINs with others. You also should not store your passwords or PINs on your computer. If you need to write down your passwords or PINs, store them in a secure, private place. You should change your passwords and PINs regularly and use a different password and PIN for each of your accounts. Use passwords and PINs that contain numbers and letters or symbols.

* Maintain Your Computer Security. Personal firewalls and security software packages (with anti-virus, anti-spam, and spyware detection features) are a must for those who engage in online financial transactions. Make sure that your computer has up-to-date security software, including security patches, that the software is configured for automatic updates, and that the software is always turned on. For laptops, be sure to use encryption software. Computer hardware and software providers also maintain security pages on their Web sites with tips for checking and improving the security of your system.

* Use Your Own Computer. It is generally safer to access your brokerage account from your own computer. Avoid using public computers to access your brokerage account. Public computers may contain software that captures passwords and PINs, providing that information to others at your expense. If you do use another computer, be sure to delete your "Temporary Internet Files" or "Cache" and clear all of your "History" after you log off your account. You should occasionally check to make sure that no one else has attached any device or added programs to your computer without your knowledge or consent. Consult the Help function on your browser and operating system to learn how to delete this information.

* Log Out Completely. Always click the "log out" button to terminate your access to your brokerage firm's Web site. Access may not be terminated if you simply close or minimize your browser or type in a new web address when you're done using your online account. Other users of the computer might be able to re-enter the site and have access to your account online if you do not properly log out. You also potentially expose yourself to "session stealing" if you have multiple Web pages open while logged on to your brokerage account. Avoid multi-tasking on multiple Web pages when checking your financial accounts online—or, if you must visit another site, use a different type of browser rather than opening another window.

* Be Prudent When Using Wireless Connections. Wireless networks may not provide as much security as wired Internet connections. In fact, many "hotspots" — wireless networks in public areas like airports, hotels, internet cafes and restaurants — reduce their security settings so it is easier for individuals to access and use these wireless networks. This increases the possibility that someone may intercept your information. You may decide that accessing your online brokerage account through a wireless connection is not worth the security risk. If you use your own wireless network, make certain you secure the network with wireless encryption.

* Check for Secure Web Sites. When you access your brokerage account online, check to ensure that the log in page indicates that it is a secure site. The address of a secure Web site connection starts with "https" instead of just "http" and has a key or closed padlock in the status bar (which typically appears in the lower right-hand corner of your screen). When you click on the padlock, the security certificate should confirm the identity of the site you are visiting. In Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, look for the address bar to turn green.

* Be Careful Downloading. When you download a program or file from an unknown source, you risk loading malicious software programs on your computer. Download software only from sites you know. Be wary of free software because it can be accompanied by other software such as spyware. Do not install software unless you know what it is and what it does and do not click on links in pop-up windows. Using anti-spyware software helps protect you from such programs.

* Don't Respond to Emails Requesting Personal Information. Legitimate companies will not ask you to provide or verify sensitive information through email. If your financial institution actually needs personal information from you or your statement, call the company yourself — using the number in your files or on your statement, not the one the email provides! Do not respond to emails, such as "phishing" emails, seeking your password, PIN, or other personal information.

* Read Your Statements. Read all your monthly account statements (bank, brokerage, credit card, etc.) thoroughly as soon as they arrive to make sure that all transactions shown are ones that you actually made or authorized. Check to see whether all of the transactions that you thought you made appear as well. Be sure that your brokerage firm has current contact information for you, including your mailing address and email address. If you see a mistake on your statement or do not receive a statement, contact your financial institution or credit card issuer immediately and follow-up in writing, where necessary.

* Secure Your Confidential Documents. Keep all your financial documents in a secure place, and be careful how you dispose of any documents with financial or other confidential information. Shred documents that have confidential financial or identification information before throwing them away.

* Safeguard Your Social Security Number. Do not use your Social Security number as a username, password or PIN, and make sure that it does not appear on your printed checks. If your Social Security number appears on your driver's license, be sure to ask your state's Department of Motor Vehicles whether it can use an alternative number. Keep your Social Security card in a safe place and avoid carrying it with you. You should also be sure to safeguard the social security numbers of any dependents.

* Do a Periodic "Identity Theft" Check. Reviewing your credit report may alert you to inaccuracies and unauthorized activity. You can obtain a free credit report every 12 months from three different credit bureaus by contacting the Annual Credit Report Request Service at AnnualCreditReport.com. This is the only authorized online source for you to get a free credit report under federal law. Be aware that you will have to disclose your Social Security number to obtain this report.

What Should I Do If My Identity Has Been Compromised?
If you think that your personal information has been stolen, immediately contact your brokerage firm and other financial institutions, including credit card issuers, to notify them of the problem. You should also notify the credit bureaus to put a fraud alert on your file.

If you detect unauthorized transactions in or withdrawals from your brokerage account, ask the firm to investigate. Be aware that your firm will need time to determine what happened and may need your help in identifying family members or others who might have access to your account. In the meantime, be sure to change your username, password and PIN for the account.

Additional Resources
To obtain your free annual credit report:
* http://www.annualcreditreport.com

For more information on identify theft, including how to file a complaint:
* http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft

For more information on phishing, spyware, and other online threats:
* http://onguardonline.gov
* http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/phishing.htm

For more information on smart investing:
* http://www.finra.org/investor
* http://www.pathtoinvesting.org
* http://www.sec.gov/investor.shtml

To receive the latest Investor Alerts and other important investor information sign up for Investor News at FINRA.org.
* http://www.finra.org/investor

FINRA.org is the largest non-governmental regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States.

 

Beautifying Your Bottom Line.

by Natalie Pace.

Tips to keep your ‘Buy My Own Island’ Fund calm during the market storms.

Photo by: Stacie Isabella Turk, Ribbonhead.com ©2008 Stylist: Arlene Hylton-Campbel, 818-710-0079

Is your bottom line in the red? In physical beauty, losing can be healthy, but in fiscal beauty, losses are downright ugly! And even if you like to file your 401 (k) statements without looking at them, it’s been pretty hard to avoid the news over the past few months. Surely you’ve noticed that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is off almost 2000 points from its high of 14,164 on October 9, 2007. The DJIA closed at 12,348 on February 15, 2008. Yes, that means that your assets are likely losing weight, and that is one area where you want to carry around more than you can handle!

So, how do you keep your future from wrinkling, aging and sagging before your eyes? It’s not as hard as you might imagine. Below are 8 easy tips for weathering the stormy marketplace.

1. Keep a Percent Equal to Your Age + 10-20% Safe: Safe allocations can be Treasury Bills, bonds and money markets. Check your plan to see how much you’ve got allocated in these assets. Whatever your age is, consider overweighting into safe assets -- keeping an additional 10-20% safe – in case of continued weakening in the stock market prices. If you’re 60, the amount safe could be as high as 80%. A recent examination of a friend’s 401 (k) showed that the only two allocations that were making money were the money markets (at less than ½%) and the short-term municipal bonds (at almost 2%). While the money markets were considered very safe in the past, there have been some very high profile money market funds that were invested in the subprime markets, so these are not perceived to be as safe as they were in the past. If you wish to be ultra-cautious about your safe investments, make sure that your money market investment is insured. Treasury bills and Government bonds, while hovering near 2%, were still some the safest, and top performing, asset classes to be in during the first quarter of 2008.

2. Schedule another fiscal checkup with your broker in late August: The new bargain interest rates should kickstart the economy again later in the year by providing cheap capital to prospective home owners, business owners and entrepreneurs, according to Dr. Marc Miles, a respected economist and global strategist, and the former senior economist for the Heritage Foundation. That should help to ease defaults and foreclosures, which would put financials in a better position as well. (Read Dr. Miles’ excellent online chat in this March ezine.) If the stock prices continue to fall, and the kickstart occurs later this year, September may be a great time to reinvest in more stocks. The summer doldrums, during June, July and August, tend to be weak performing months, while September is historically the worst performing month of the year. Over half of the stock market gains are typically made during the last quarter. That’s why I call September the month of the Back to School Stock Sales – because you can buy low in anticipation of having a strong holiday season on Wall Street!

3. Diversify the rest of the portfolio: There are four sizes of stocks (small, mid, large and mega-large stocks) and two major classes (growth and value) of stocks. I like to think of small caps as hares. They win the dash. In the short term, the hares provide the best return on investment, but they are also riskier than larger companies. Bad news can wipe them out.

Large caps are like Jabba the Hutt. They rule the universe, gobble up hares (buy them), sideline hares (stop the race with lawsuits and other growth-stopping techniques), etc. When Jabba loses weight, it’s hard to notice. The share prices of mega-cap companies don’t go up or down as much as small caps, but having them in your portfolio provides stability, especially in tough times.

For additional diversification, consider adding international investments, clean energy investments, biotechnology and other regions, sectors and industries which are expected to outperform the marketplace going forward.

4. Put another 2% in a tax-free IRA: Let’s say you’re allocating 4% into your 401 (k) and your employer is matching 4%. You are still 2% shy of the 10% you should be tithing to your "Buy My Own Island" fund. Open up your own IRA (SEP IRA if you’re self-employed) or any other tax-protected account at a local brokerage. Allocate the assets according to steps 1-3 and 5 below. Be sure to keep a percent equal to your age safe, and to interview to find the best broker and brokerage available. Tips for "How To Find a Broker" are available under the Investor Edu link on the home page at NataliePace.com.

The habit of tithing to your own future is VERY important, even during bear markets. The amount of people who are great at market-timing throughout the world could fit on the top of a fingernail, so the odds that you miss out on great gains or sell low are greater than the odds that you’ll get it right. Most of us can rely upon the steady, historical market gains of 12.4% EVERY YEAR for the last 25 years (source: Hulbert’s Financial Digest). Steady, habitual stock market investing performs at almost double the rate of real estate and gold, and doesn’t require a crystal ball!

5. Hot Industries: Last year, the top-performing industry on Wall Street was clean energy, earning almost 60 cents on the dollar! (See the performance chart, which is located at the end of this article.) But chances are that your 401 (k) doesn’t have an option to invest in this! What to do? Allocate some of the money you have in your own IRA toward these industries! Some hot industries to consider getting into include: clean energy, technology, health care and biotechnology. You could also consider having a small portion dedicated to investing in companies featured on the Hot News on Cool Stocks list. The great news about trading in your IRA is that you can do so tax-free!

Check out PowerShares.com and AMEX.com to select from a large list of Exchange Traded Funds in these industries and more.

6. Avoid REITs. REALTOR.org, the National Association of Realtors, is forecasting that home sales and prices will continue to fall in 2008, which would continue to adversely affect the homebuilders. Additionally, if the consumer wallet is stretched to the point of snapping, which it could be given the high prices of gas, food and the mortgage snap, then retail REITs might be affected as well. Don’t be fooled by a Summer 2008 mini-rally. Home sales may see a slight uptick on seasonal strength (everyone likes to buy and move in the summer) and low interest rates. However, a summer of love for housing may well be a house of straw – something that blows down faster than you can say inauguration.

7. International Exposure: There are some interesting ways to participate in the international markets, through Exchange Traded Funds and mutual funds. WisdomTree.com has a large selection of international ETFs to choose from, and should be offering international currency funds in the near future as well. You can find more international ETFs at PowerShares.com and AMEX.com as well.

8. Socially Conscious Investing: The problem with 401 (k)s is that the fund names give you absolutely no indication of what you’re invested in! As you’ll see below, however, chances are: you are invested in oil, cigarettes, defense companies and others that you may not wish to support.

What choice do you have, especially if your employer is matching your contribution? Of course, you want to take the employer’s money! That’s like winning the lottery every month – free money that you lose if you do not invest in the 401 (k) (as most employees match their employees’ contribution).

Choosing to just say no to investing in companies you do not wish to support requires only about five extra minutes of your time, and is worth it if you care about putting your money where your mouth is. If you really want to see the world invested in alternative energy, then you need to point your money toward clean energy instead of fossil fuels. If your father died of lung cancer, then you might want to reconsider investing in Philip Morris Tobacco Company.

If you wish to find out exactly what the top holdings in your mutual fund are, it’s VERY easy! Just enter the symbol of the fund in the Company Research box, which is located on the home page at NataliePace.com (in the middle column, near the bottom). When you click on Research Now, you will be directed to a mutual fund page. From there, just click on Top 25 Holdings! It’s that easy!

Once you discover what you own and decide to own different companies and industries, it is not all that difficult to make another choice. First, ask your employer to find a firm that offers investment choices that are more aligned with the ethos of the company and the employees you work with (assuming they would rather invest in clean energy and health, instead of oil, death, war and cigarettes). Weight your investment dollars in Government bonds, money markets and small and mid cap companies until they do. (The largest companies are the ones that are the oldest, most popular and likely involved in old-school products, goods and services.) Younger, innovative companies, for the most part, tend to have a smaller capitalization on Wall Street, so investing in smaller companies is one simple way of just saying no, until you have more choices. Smaller companies produce high returns than larger companies any way. Though there is more risk attached to smaller companies, your risk is reduced by investing in funds because the funds hold many companies at the same time.

See below for the top holdings in some of the most popular mutual funds.

Top Holdings of the 4 Most Popular Funds

Source: MoneyCentral.msn.com

2007 Stock Market Performance, By Industry

Source: Thomson One Financial, Thomson Baseline

Please note: NataliePace.com does not act or operate like a broker. We are a publishing, media and information center. This article is intended to educate and inform individual investors, and, thus, to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. The publicly traded companies mentioned in this article are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations. ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable however NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.

Enlightened Investors, Not Market Timers, Crystal Ball Readers and Chart Junkies, Earn Great Gains.

by Kelley Wright, Managing Editor, Investment Quality Trends.

Select Blue Chips – Summary

80% Undervalued stocks coincides with historic market bottoms.
17% Undervalued stocks coincides with historic market tops.

Footnote Legend
U - Undervalued buying area: Dividend yield is historically high and price is attractively low. Bargain buys.
O - Overvalued selling area: Dividend yield is historically low and price is unattractively high. A sale should be considered in this area.
R - Rising Trends: Stocks have moved at least 10% from Undervalue and should be held until price is at or near Overvalue.
D - Declining Trends: Stocks have moved down at least 10% from Overvalue and should be avoided

Investment Outlook

Kelley Wright, Managing Editor, IQTrends.com stock newsletter

Mid-February 2008

As usual, I learned a great deal from the questions I received at my three presentations and the two panels I participated in at The World Money Show Orlando. The three primary areas of concern were: 1) are we in recession and if not will we be in recession; 2) Is this a bear market and if not will we be in a bear market; and 3) Have the financials and home building stocks bottomed and if not when will they?

What we can glean from these three areas of concern is that the majority of investors are fixated on events that are simply out of their control. The rhetorical question I posed in response to these queries was: "Let’s suppose we know the answers to these questions. Now, what do you do with that information?" By a wide margin the typical response was "We will know when and what to invest in." Aha, therein lays the rub.

Market timing (entering and exiting trades for maximum profit and minimum risk) is difficult. It requires almost 100% accuracy. There are a few people that possess this skill set, but they are very few and very far between. Also, in my experience, those that do possess this capability have an extremely difficult time teaching it to others. The fact is that successful market timing is as much a gift as it is a method and is hugely dependent on the subjectivity of the practitioner.

That the word recession strikes such fear in the minds of investors is due in large part to the financial media. A recession in simple terms is two consecutive quarters (six months) of negative growth in GDP (gross domestic product). Stated more simply, a recession is a period of economic contraction. The simple fact is that economies expand and contract; one begets the other. The same principle can be seen in the seasons; growth emerges in the spring, accelerates in the summer, is realized (harvested) in the fall and goes dormant to rest in the winter. This natural order also applies to markets on a macro level and to stocks on a micro level. The seeds for every bear market are sown in the preceding bull market as are the seeds of every stock decline are sown in the preceding advance. Excesses, whether to the upside or the downside, are unnatural, unsustainable and therefore must be eliminated.

Preoccupation with stocks and/or sectors that were the previous leaders is, unfortunately, a tendency for most investors to pursue. On some level, perhaps, it seems logical that what once traded at X price must certainly return. Generally though, new leadership emerges at the onset of every new bull phase. Equally unfortunate is that when the majority of investors finally accept the change in leadership these securities typically no longer offer good value. Bad habits being difficult to break, however, the persistency of chasing performance after the fact inevitably leads to negative returns, frustration and often, resignation.

The remedy for these situations, in our experience, is easily attainable. Rather than fixating on events out of our control, attempting investment methodologies that are outside of our skill set, or being preoccupied with previous leaders, we suggest that investors focus on what has proven to work over the long-term; quality and value. High-quality stocks with proven track records of increasing dividends offer the greatest potential for capital appreciation, income from dividends and a growing income stream from increasing dividends. Purchased at historically repetitive areas of undervalue, these stocks will be the new leaders when the next bull phase gets underway.

Can these stocks be buffeted by the winds of sentiment that accompany a recession or a bull market? Of course; even high-quality stocks are not impervious to the short-term gyrations of Mr. Market. Generally though, these stocks will stay within a 10% range of their undervalue areas with the dividends providing a floor of safety. With diversification as an ally, a portfolio of Select Blue Chips will withstand most periods of high volatility and will reward the patient, enlightened investor, for years to come.

Since we put the mid-month issue to bed late Wednesday night, sentiment, for the short-term anyway, has shifted again.

I have never put too much stock in using formulas to measure the stage of the market; i.e. 20% off the highs equals a bear market. While that might make commentary easy, ribbons, bows and nice little boxes are for gifts, not for investment capital.

I would suggest you can tell where the market is by simply observing its behavior, and in that vein this market is exhibiting bearish characteristics.

This is to say that sharp rallies, on seemingly "good" news, stop abruptly and turn tail. What this tells us is that primary sentiment is negative. As long as the primary sentiment remains negative we will continue to see this type of market action. As long as we stay in a range however, and don't break to new lows, we should be encouraged that the market has probably discounted the worse case scenarios and is just working off the remaining excesses.

The Dow Jones Utility Average is an interesting case study at this juncture.

After making a new high the Average has settled down and is meandering right around its historical area of Overvalue. With the Fed finally engaged and apparently ready to cut more if necessary, one would think the Utilities would be moving steadily higher. The fact that the Utilities appear stagnant leads me to believe that "the smart money" is anticipating that the Fed's cutting campaign is actually closer to the end than the beginning. If true this would explain the lack of movement in this predictive sector.

If rates remain flat for a time and then begin to move higher, I would suggest that we will see new sectors of the market start to emerge. Those will be the new leaders and will tell us a lot about what kind of market environment we will be dealing with.

With the large number of financials aside, the Undervalued category is as eclectic a collection of companies that we have seen in some time. My thought is that more than a few will be in this new leadership group.

The Timely Ten
Investment Quality Trends primary purpose is to assist subscribers in growing their capital and income base from which to derive cash for their current and future needs. To that end we believe that high-quality stocks purchased at historically low-price-to-high-yield offers the best potential for downside protection and upside appreciation.

For subscribers to effectively mirror our Model Portfolio for performance tracking purposes (every stock in the Undervalued and Rising Trend categories), would require holding one hundred thirty stocks as of the First-February issue; clearly too many positions to be practical. The Timely Ten, therefore, is not just another "best of, right now" list. It is our reasoned expectation based on our methodology and experience for what we believe will perform best over the next five years. Do we believe that all 10 will go up simultaneously or immediately? Of course not. Our four decades of research and experience, however, leads us to believe that these stocks, purchased at current Undervalued levels, are well positioned for appreciation.

Whether you are looking to build a portfolio from scratch, are partially invested and looking to add new positions, or fully invested and in need of some affirmation and hand holding, The Timely Ten represents our top ten recommendations as of each issue. Short of utilizing the personal investment management services of our sister company, this is as close to hands on advic you can get.

The Timely Ten consists of Undervalued stocks that generally have a S&P Dividend & Earnings Quality rating of A- or better, a "G" designation for exemplary long-term dividend growth, a P/E ratio of 15 or less, a payout ratio of 50% or less (75% for Utilities), debt of 50% or less (75% for Utilities), and technical characteristics on the daily and weekly charts that suggests the potential for imminent capital appreciation. This issue’s selections are:

Kelley Wright is currently performing at the top all of his peers on Wall Street for the past 20 years, in the top 10 of all-star performance, and #4 in risk-adjusted performance. Kelley’s stock newsletter, IQTrends.com, is earning 12.5% in annualized gains over the past 20 years, according to Hulbert’s Financial Digest, compared to general stock market performance of 11.8% (as of January 2008). IQTrends.com also has lower risk and volatility than the market average. To subscribe, go to IQTrends.com.

DON’T MISS: Online Chat with Kelley Wright, #1 Blue Chip Stock Picker

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
8:45AM through 9:30AM PT

Natalie Pace hosts an online chat for subscribers with the #1 blue chip stock picker Kelley Wright, managing editor, Investment Quality Trends stock newsletter. Learn tricks to recession-proof your portfolio and add superior Blue Chip value stocks to your holdings now!

REGULATORY REMINDER Please keep in mind that as an investment newsletter, the staff at Investment Quality Trends are legally bound to only answer questions of a general nature and are unable to provide specific buy/sell recommendations or specific advice on an individual basis. For those interested in obtaining more information on individual management services in accordance with our approach, our sister company, I.Q. Trends Private Client Asset Management, is a Registered Investment Adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Among the platforms available through I.Q. Trends Private Client are individual portfolio consultations and active account management. For more information, please contact Mr. Michael Minney at (858) 427-1071. Disclosure documents are located at: http://www.iqtrendsprivateclient.com.

Are We Headed Into a Recession?

Subscribers Chat with Global Strategist Dr. Marc Miles.

Dr. Marc Miles is a respected economist and global strategist. He is the former senior economist for the Heritage Foundation, the editor of the 2006 Index of Economic Freedom and one of NataliePace.com’s most trusted sources of economic wisdom. On February 20, 2008, NataliePace.com subscribers chatted with Dr. Miles online.

Are we headed into a recession?

We are going through a period of slow growth. Will we have a recession? Probably not. However, the first and second quarters of 2008 will have slow growth. How slow? Probably .5-1.5 percent.

What’s going to happen in the second quarter of 2008? Have we hit the bottom? Is it time to start buying stocks again?

The thing to watch out for at this point is the turnaround in the economy. That turnaround will probably coincide with the view of people in the market that the Fed is close to the bottom of where it will allow the Fed funds rate to go. I suspect that will occur in the May-June period, but it might not be until July. The important thing for investors is that the worst case scenario is already priced into the market. What is likely to have the greatest effect on the market is an upward surprise. That will start coming in industrial production and some other indication around mid-year.

Has the U.S. dollar hit rock bottom yet?

The dollar seems to have turned the corner. Notice for example that the rate relative to the British pound has risen from around $2.04 to the pound to only $1.94 to the pound. The rate against the Euro is also improving. The implication is that the dollar price of commodities is near the peak. Remember that the low prices of both oil and gold were in periods of a strong dollar. The dollar will strengthen over the next three years (assuming that there is no major outside event).

The U.S. consumer is getting hit with higher mortgage costs, higher gasoline prices. Real estate values may be dropping, but they are still above affordability in many areas. Do you see inflation as being a factor?

Inflation typically rises as the dollar falls and the dollar price of commodities rises. So, yes we are likely to have higher inflation this year. But as the dollar strengthens, that inflation will lessen.

What industries would you be looking at? When I see blue chips like Coca-Cola trading for a PE of 22.60 when we’ve got anemic growth, I start to worry that the correction hasn’t gotten deep enough yet. Your thoughts?

The multiple on stocks is very sensitive to interest rates. The lower the interest rates, the higher the multiple. Remember that interest rates are coming down, so a higher multiple is to be expected. I don’t know which earnings you are looking at to compute your multiple. Typically the market is most interested in forward earnings, not those in the rear view mirror. Notice that Wal-Mart had good results as the economy softened. Consumer staples are likely to perform relatively well during this period also.

What countries do you think are poised for the most growth in the coming years?

Look for countries that can adjust most easily to the changing global environment. Western European countries have problems changing when the economy turns down because of more rigid labor and other laws. The exception tends to be the United Kingdom. Also, look for countries like Hong Kong and Singapore to do well. The emerging financial markets in the Middle East like Dubai and Qatar will also do very well.

How does the average investor get in on these investments?

Chances are that most investors do not know the details of these markets. Rely on someone who does. There may be Middle East mutual funds that are particularly heavily invested in these areas. A better bet would be an Exchange Traded Fund. There are so many out there today, surely you can find one that suits your needs.

Natalie’s Note on ETFs:
Wisdom Tree India Earnings Index (Symbol: EPI) is an ETF invested in India.
PowerShares Dynamic Asia Pacific (Symbol: PUA) is an ETF with top holdings in Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore.
Powershares International Real Estate Portfolio (Symbol: PRY) is an ETF with top real estate holdings in Hong Kong, Japan, Australia and United Kingdom
Citigroup (Symbol: C) has branches in the United Arab Emirates (Dubai) and China.
Good luck finding ETFs focused on Dubai and Qatar. If you find one, be sure to contact us!

I have positions in World Water and Solar (Symbol: WWAT), Hoku Scientific (Symbol: HOKU), Suntech Power Holdings (Symbol: STP) and MEMC Electronics (Symbol: WFR). They are continuing to drop. Do you still have high hopes for them?

Natalie Pace: Dr. Miles, as you know, clean energy was the top performing industry in 2007. What do you see going forward?

Dr. Miles: Green is hot. Not only is the private demand rising, but governments are falling over themselves to subsidize these industries. I expect some great innovations from this sector in the next few years. Instead of just Macworld, people will be looking at annual conventions of green companies to see what goodies are on the horizon.

Natalie Pace: Green conventions are happening every week in every country of the world right now!

Dr. Miles: Consider the growth of hybrid cars. A few years ago, only Toyota and Honda offered cars in this area. Now look at what General Motors is offering. Solar panels will be in high demand, especially with the rising energy costs. People have insulated. Now what? How can they save on energy costs?

Won’t the housing bubble and construction slow down hammer the green movement for a bit?

The lead in green technology is occurring not in the housing sector, but in the industrial sector. Companies have been looking for ways to cut their costs for years. Also, wind turbines and other generators are not directly related to the housing market.

Have gold, metals, lumber and other commodities seen their day?

I would be skeptical of the commodity sectors at this time. Trees don’t grow to the sky forever, and commodities have had a quite a run. With the dollar turning the corner, commodities should flatten soon.

What about financials? Is it time to buy back in?

Financials have been battered and people think the worst. Yet the falling interest rates promises to improve the market. Also the increase in the ceiling on mortgages that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy promises to improve the balance sheets of banks. Think about it. Where people had to buy jumbo mortgages before, they can now buy conventional mortgages. Combine that with lower rates, and a lot of people who are in the subprime mess will now qualify for conventional mortgages. As their subprimes are paid off, more cash flows through the SIVs (Structured Investment Vehicles) making them worth more, increasing the capital on bank’s balance sheets, and permitting additional lending. There is upside potential in financials.

Do you think that fears of a global, worldwide recession are overblown? Do you see the current US recession as likely to be deep and protracted or relatively short and minor?

Look at how negative your questions are. Remember, if you think the world is headed for the dumps, chances are this view is already priced into the market. The surprise will be in the upward direction. The world is not headed for another 1933! The pessimism that pervades today is very similar to that in the fall of 1990 when oil started to rise and the U.S. was fighting Iraq for the first time. Investors were blind-sided by the sudden turnaround in equity and bond markets in October that year. Don’t be one who is blind-sided. Look at where the surprise will be, not at what the nightly news is touting.

What other industries do you see as up and coming? What sectors would you avoid?

I think the Chinese market is overblown right now. Just as people are too negative about the U.S. market, investors are too hopeful about the Chinese market, so be careful! Yes, China is growing very fast. Yes, it has tremendous potential. Yes, it is the low cost producer in electronics and related areas. But don’t you think that is priced into stock prices already? The Chinese market is risky at this point.

What about Canadians who wish to invest in the United States stock market? Last year, Canadians saw their dollar increase in value. How does this affect the gains they can make on U.S. stock investments?

They may have taken a Canadian dollar hit on their U.S. investment, but since the Canadian dollar’s purchasing power is up, that is offset. Don’t look at just the number of Canadian dollars you have. Think about what they will buy on global markets. I am personally concerned that as the U.S. dollar has dived, the value of my investments in my IRAS and 401 (k)s has fallen in terms of purchasing power. That is much more important!

Should we be buying bank and insurance stocks right now?

Insurance companies are part of my general comment on financials. They have taken some of the biggest hits on SIVs and other vehicles. Again, lower rates bode well for them. A turnaround in the economy bodes well for their balance sheets. There are opportunities for upside potential.

What are SIVs?

SIVs represent a bundle of little pieces of many different mortgages. In part, they were backed by subprime mortgages, so as people defaulted the expected cash flow to SIV holders fell and these assets were worth less. But now there is hope of more cash flow and upside potential.

Don’t miss upcoming chats and teleconferences with Natalie Pace, Kelley Wright, Gary Kobat and much more! Check the calendar section of the NataliePace.com website frequently for opportunities to have your questions answered by respected, experienced professionals in the field. Chats and teleconferences are completely anonymous, so you can ask even the most basic of questions without having to feel embarrassed.

Disclaimers:
NataliePace.com is providing you with news and important information, but you need to consult your certified financial planner to determine your best strategy for using the information. NataliePace.com is NOT a brokerage and doesn’t operate or act like one. We are an online news service with a mission of providing the news and information you need to succeed. Always consult a trusted financial professional before buying or selling any security.

The opinions of Dr. Marc Miles do not represent the opinions of NataliePace.com.

Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable however NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.

Green Rocks While Wall Street Rolls Over.

by Natalie Pace.

Includes my Hot News on Cool Stocks List.

Track Record of our Reporting
The Hot News and Cooling Off lists below have a winning track record – in bear and bull market years. 40 companies listed below performed well, versus just 17 that went in the opposite direction of the reporting. Even during the flat year of 2007, our featured companies had outstanding performance between Oct. 2006 and June 2007! 4 out of 9 companies – almost half – doubled or more. 48% of the companies featured in my stock newsletter between 2002 and 2005 – 25 out of 52 companies -- DOUBLED from the time we listed them in our feature article to the time when I took the company off of the Hot News on Cool Stocks list, and the majority of the remaining 52% well outperformed the marketplace. (See the chart in the article, "25 of Our Companies Have Doubled," from volume 4, issue 4, the April 2007 ezine, for a listing of companies.)

3 out of 5 Company of the Year selections more than doubled.  My 2003, 2004 and 2007 Companies of the Year have posted up to 9000% gains (Taser), up to 690% gains (Opsware) and up to 215% gains (Suntech Power Holdings), respectively.  MySpace, my 2006 Company of the Year, has been a large part of News Corp’s success with shareholders.  Only OSI Pharmaceuticals, my 2005 Company of the Year, has lost money.  So three out of five are superperformers, one is performing well above the market and one is down. That’s the kind of record that puts you on top on Wall Street.  (I launched my first publication on 11.15.02, and featured the first Company of the Year on 1.1.03.)

Additionally, the market performance of the companies that are featured in my Hot News on Cool Stocks list has kept me at the top of over 830 A-list pundits on TipsTraders.com. I’ve repeatedly occupied the #1 position. TipsTraders.com listed me as a Highly Recommended Stock Picker, in 2006 and 2007.

General Stock Market Performance

Commentary: Trading Tips for Turbulent Time
We issued a 911 UPDATE ON THE HOT NEWS ON COOL STOCKS LIST

January 30, 2008 at 5:15 p.m.

This update is still available online at the Sharing Wisdom bulletin board in the topic of the same name.

You will notice that in the January 30, 2008 special report, we removed most of the companies from the Hot News list, moving everything except for U.S. Gold and Yahoo over to the Watch List. U.S. Gold remained on the Hot News list (and was highlighted as being in good buying range), and Yahoo was deleted from the list (but not added to the Watch list).

When I say "moved from the Hot List to the Watch List" that means that we were locking in the gains (or losses) of the share price performance of the companies reported on during the time that they were on the Hot News list. Please note that I am not allowed to trade all of the companies that I report on, so you cannot "cheat" and just invest in the companies that you see me invested in. If I report on a company and then you buy it, that is not fair (or legal) because the value of my investments are all but guaranteed to go up. Thus, I do not own most of the companies I feature. (It is much easier for me to invest in different companies for my own portfolio that I do not report on).

The reason I mention this is that everyone is trying to look for a quick, easy way to millions, and that is counter to what our website advocates. The money managers, economists and advisors who contribute to NataliePace.com all agree on one thing. Getting wealthy is a matter of discipline, regular investing, taking a long term approach, proper asset allocation and having a great financial partner to assist you in the process. Before you try your hand at picking individual stocks, you need to understand the difference between your ‘Buy My Own Island’ fund (retirement plan) and your trading portfolio. It is never recommended that you trade your nest egg. Whether you are a novice investor or a veteran, you should not have too much of your liquid assets invested in the stock market, and you should never be investing more in individual companies and positions than you are willing to lose money on.

For more "Trading Tips for Turbulent Times" and how to "Recession-Proof Your Portfolio," read the articles in the February 1, 2008 ezine, which is archived at NataliePace.com in the online magazines section.

Current Economic Conditions:
According to Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, speaking on February 27, 2008 in his Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives:

1. The recently enacted fiscal stimulus package should encourage Americans to spend during the second half of 2008 and the first part of 2009.

2. Business, outside of the financial sector, is in good financial condition, with strong profits, liquid balance sheets, and corporate leverage near historical lows.

3. Real GDP is forecasted to grow a dismal 1.3 percent to 2.0 percent in 2008. If this works out as planned, the United States will avoid a recession in 2008. As you can see from the aggressive rate cutting that the Feds have been doing since September of 2007, the Feds are bending over backwards to ensure that candidates have a reasonably decent economy for the 2008 election cycle.

4. The housing and financial markets are not expected to recover until 2010. These sectors will likely continue to experience weakness in 2008 and 2009.

5. Consumer price inflation has spiked, largely on the price of oil. Food prices are also significantly higher, and the dollar has declined. Ouch for the average American’s wallet! Expect to see this play out as reduced consumer spending on discretionary items.

You can read this report firsthand at Federalreserve.gov.

Market Movers:
According to preliminary estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis on February 28, 2008, real gross domestic product (the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States) increased at an annual rate of 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007. This is a grinding halt compared to the reasonably robust 4.9 percent GDP growth in the third quarter of 2007, and was MUCH bigger news than the 50 point Federal Reserve rate cut of January 30, 2008. This may not have made headlines yet because these are preliminary numbers, not the final report. The finalized GDP growth numbers are scheduled to be released on March 27, 2008 at 8:30 a.m.

On the mid-month update of February 11^th, I reported that I wouldn’t expect anything but bad news on February 28^th or March 27^th. Investors historically do not respond favorably to stalled growth.

True to our forecasts, the markets were down last week.

Source: MoneyCentral.msn.com

For more BEA release dates, go to the BEA.gov website and be sure to visit the NataliePace.com calendar section often.

The Federal Open Market Committee and Monetary Policy
The Federal Open Market Committee has dropped the Fed Fund Rate each of the last four sessions. The Fed funds rate currently stands at three percent. While the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee will continue to try to ease investor worries, and perhaps even drop the rate again at the March 18^th meeting, the prevailing sentiment is still weak growth, a continued housing slump, more subprime foreclosures, a weak dollar, moderate consumer spending and rising unemployment. As such, any rally near the 18^th might be met with another downturn at the end of the month, when the Bureau of Economic Analysis reminds us that real GDP growth in the 4^th quarter of 2007 was almost flat, just a hair’s breath in the positive.

Volatility prevails. In your nest egg, take a long term view and make sure that your assets are properly allocated. Keep a percentage equal to your age + 10-20% safe, i.e. not invested in the stock market (which means NOT invested in mutual funds, ETFs or bond funds). Safer investments include bonds, Treasury Bills, money markets, certificates of deposits, etc. FYI: Modern portfolio theory recommends that you always keep a percent equal to your age safe. Adding 10-20% is called overweighting into the safe categories, which is a good idea in turbulent, down-trending markets.

If Dr. Marc Miles, global strategist, is correct in his forecasts, the bottom of the market should occur between May and July of 2008. For more of Dr. Miles’ observations, be sure to read the transcript of his online chat in the March 2008 NataliePace.com ezine.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITES AND INFORMATION:

1. FOMC Information: Interested in reading the minutes of the January 30, 2008 FOMC meeting for yourself? You can. The official Federal Reserve document is available online. Click on FOMC, or go to FederalReserve.gov, to read! According to the minutes, "With housing activity and house prices still declining and with financial conditions for businesses and households tightening further, significant uncertainties surrounded this outlook and the risks to economic growth in the near term appeared to be weighted to the downside. Indeed, several participants noted that the risks of a downturn in the economy were significant."

The tentative FOMC meeting schedule for the 2008 calendar is: March 18, 2008 (Tuesday), April 29-30, 2008 (Tuesday-Wednesday), June 24-25, 2008 (Tuesday-Wednesday), August 5, 2008 (Tuesday), September 16, 2008 (Tuesday), October 28-29, 2008 (Tuesday-Wednesday), December 16, 2008 (Tuesday). The fact that the Federal Open Market Committee decided to increase the number of 2-day sessions from two to four in 2008 is an indicator of the concern in the economy at this juncture.

2. Calendar Section: Conferences, Online Chats and more: Check out the Calendar section of NataliePace.com regularly. There are many wonderful opportunities to chat one-on-one with millionaire money managers, life coaches, economists, respected money gurus, real estate veterans and CEOs! Be sure to check out the dates of the mid-month Hot News on Cool Stocks Update and the publication date of our next ezine. Get more information on how to best use our articles in the FAQs article, located under the Investor Edu link on the home page of NataliePace.com.
   
   
3. Survey Results: Who is your favorite Presidential candidate? What will be the top performing asset class in 2008? Make your opinion count with our online surveys.

Hot Stocks List
Investors who "never pay retail," note that highlighted stocks are trading at their 52-week lows or near the price featured in NataliePace.com’s article. This may be a good buying opportunity. The companies that are listed below which are not highlighted may not be in a good buying range, but they appear to be poised to continue performing well (if you have already purchased them). There are never any guarantees in life, and all stocks are risk-based investments. Consult your certified financial planner before making any changes to your investment strategy.

Full disclosure: Natalie Pace sold AU Optronics, Conergy, eBay, Echelon, UQM Technologies on February 1, 2008 (two days after the 911 bulletin was published).

Hot News List (highlighted)
Conergy (CEYHF)
Echelon (ELON)
Emcore (EMKR)
General Electric (GE)
Google (GOOG)
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Microsoft (MSFT)
OSI Pharmaceuticals (OSIP)
U.S. Gold (UXG)
Wisdom Tree (WSDT)
Zoltec (ZOLT)

Deletions from Hot List and moved to Watch List on January 30, 2008
All of the following companies are fantastic companies. They were removed from the Hot List on January 30, 2008 in order to take advantage of gains or to sit on the sidelines while market turbulence continues. The gains and losses listed below are based upon the closing price on 1.30.08. Please note that some of these companies have been re-added to the Hot News list this month, at a lower buy-in price point.

Altair Nanotechnology (ALTI), gains of 23% (as of 1.30.08)
American Superconductor Corp (AMSC), losses of 21%
Apple Computer (AAPL), gains of 55% and 57%
AU Optronics (AUO), gains of 2%
Citigroup (C), losses of 45%
Conergy (CEYHF), losses of 45%
Eastern Europe -- U.S. Global Investors (EUROX), gains of 29%
eBay (EBAY), losses of 12%
Echelon (ELON), losses of 37.5%
Energy Conversion Devices (ENER), losses of 15%
Genentech (DNA), gains of 415%
Google (GOOG), gains of 545%
Hoku Scientific (HOKU), losses of 6%
Intel (INTC), gains of 8%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), gains of 1%
Krispy Kreme (KKD), losses of 92%
MEMC Electronics (WFR), gains of 103%
Netgear (NTGR), gains of 114%
OSI Pharmaceuticals (OSIP), losses of 46% and gains of 17%
Satcon (SATC), gains of +43% and +71%
Smith & Nephew (SNN), +8% and +15%
SOHU (SOHU), gains of 150%
SunTech Holdings Co. Ltd (STP), gains of 107% and 57%
T. Rowe Price Em Eur & Mediterranean (TREMX), gains of 62%
Trina Solar Limited (TSL), losses of 15%
UQM Technologies (UQM), losses of 36%
World Water & Solar, (WWAT), gains of 181%
Wilderhill Clean Energy Portfolio, a Green ETF (PBW), gains of 28%
Wisdom Tree (WSDT), losses of 63% and gains of 12%
Zoltec (ZOLT), losses of 15%

Removed from the Hot News List altogether
Yahoo (YHOO), losses of 31%

HOT NEWS ON COOL STOCKS LIST

Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) both had great runs for the list! LifeCell (NASDAQ: LIFC) posted over 180% gains before being moved to the Cooling Off list. Bioteq Environmental (TSE: BQE) had 144% gains. Rio Tinto was removed on 11.15.2006 with 145% gains. Las Vegas Sands was removed on January 5, 2007 with 139% gains, Agilent on 2.1.07 with flat performance, and RELM Wireless was taken off with 3% gains on 2.1.07. Blockbuster ran up 82.5% in gains, which we cashed in on February 12, 2007. Intuit, deleted in June 2007, was a wash for us – up and down. Macerich posted 150% gains between May 2003 (when it was first featured) and September 2007 (when it was removed from the list). Jet Blue was removed on December 5, 2007 with losses of 24-45%. Still love the airline as a consumer, but oil prices are killing the industry. Disney (+31%), National Health Investors (flat), News Corp. (+33%), Opsware (+690%), Sirius (mixed) and Time Warner (flat performance) were all deleted on December 26, 2007. Gap Stores was deleted on 1.14.08 with negative performance (-14%).

Stocks to Watch
Some of these are great companies that we’re thinking of adding to the Hot List and some are stinkers we’re thinking of adding to the Cooling Off List.  Read carefully to identify which is which!  

Note that right now most of our favorite companies are on the Watch List, anticipating continued weakening of the stock market, and share prices.

Recent Additions:
The majority of the Hot News List (on 1.30.08).

Recent Deletions:
AU Optronics was removed on 3.1.08

General Motors was deleted on 3.1.08

Cooling Off Stocks List (may be Poised for a Decline in Share Price).
Note: The companies listed in bold have recently been added to this cooling off list and/or may be currently poised for a decline in value. Investors who have them in their portfolio should read the recent news and consider whether it is time to sell and take profits, dump losses, short the position and/or simply weather the storms, while keeping the company in their long-term portfolio. At any rate, always consult your certified financial partner before making adjustments to your portfolio. (Again, note that the stocks on this chart are expected to go DOWN in price.)

Highlighted Companies (Cooling Off List):
Boston Properties (BXP)
Macerich (MAC)

Recently Deleted:
Fannie Mae on 2.11.08

The following companies were taken off of the Cooling Off list effective 10.16.06: Verisign (+15%). IMClone (-11%). Yahoo (-28%). LifeCell was removed on 7.2.07 with -4.5% overall performance. (The cooling off list anticipates that a company will lose share price value.) Google was added on 7.16.07 and then removed on 8.1.07 with losses of -6.7%. General Motors was removed on 10.01.07 with mixed performance. Fannie Mae was removed on 2.11.08 with -50% and -56% performance.

Please note: NataliePace.com does not act or operate like a broker. We are a publishing, media and information center. This article is intended to educate and inform individual investors, and, thus, to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. The publicly traded companies mentioned in this article are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations. ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies.

Investors should NOT be using the Hot News on Cool Stocks list or the Cooling Off list to trade their nest eggs. Your retirement plan should reflect a long, safe strategy, which has been designed with the assistance of a financial professional who is familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge and patience.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable however NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.

NataliePace.com Calendar:

Don’t Miss Chats with Life and Fitness Coach Gary Kobat and Kelley Wright, the #1 Blue Chip Stock Picker, on how to beautify your fiscal and physical fab self! Also, Premium Subscribers enjoy a private Q&A/teleconference with Natalie Pace.

The NataliePace.com Calendar section features conferences, retreats, educational opportunities, cultural events, galas, market events and online chats with executives and VIPs. Stay plugged in! Visit our calendar section often.

See below for just a few of the amazing educational and networking opportunities that world-class organizations are offering for you. To access links to the event website and registration, go to the Calendar section at NataliePace.com.

U.S. Gold Investors: 3rd Annual McEwen Capital Reception, Toronto, ONT
Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
4:30PM through 8:00PM
U.S. Gold investors are invited to join U.S. Gold Chairman and CEO Rob McEwen at a reception in downtown Toronto, celebrating our collective good fortune (whatever that means). You could win a Porsche for the weekend. Report back to NataliePace.com if you do attend!

Chat with Life and Fitness Coach Gary Kobat
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
8:45AM through 9:30AM PT.
21 days to a healthier, wealthier, more beautiful you. It's all about energy, tapping into, nourishing and maximizing what you already have to make extraordinarily easy life changes to embody your highest potential. THIS 21-DAY COACHING CALL SERIES WITH NATALIE PACE AND GARY KOBAT BEGINS ON MARCH 7^TH, 2008. SIGN UP NOW AT THE JOIN NOW LINK AT NATALIEPACE.COM. Don’t wait to become the best YOU ever, and watch how everything in your life – your health, your wealth and your relationships – become more beautiful as a result.

Women's Festivals. Santa Barbara, CA
Friday, March 7th, 2008
3-day women's gala, festival, seminars, presentations, networking opportunities centered on personal, professional, political, philantrophic and planet.

Cristina Gallardo-Domâs is Desdemona in Los Angeles Opera’s commanding performance of Otello.

Verdi's Otello at the LA Opera Sunday, March 9th, 2008 7:00PM through 11:00PM Ian Storey and Cristina Gallardo-Domâs delight as doomed soul mates in Verdi's most electrifying tragic opera. Storey is THE new heart throb tenor, sure to send chills through your love nodes and Domas is tragic and moving as Desdemona. Opera at its best! $20 for Students with valid ID and Seniors over the age of 65! Students and Seniors can attend for as little as $20 per ticket! Whenever a performance looks like it's not going to sell out, the Company releases a limited number of seats throughout the house for sale at a flat $20 per ticket 90 minutes before curtain. The number of tickets released varies based on availability for that Performance. The decision whether to sell Rush Tickets or not is made the morning of the performance or, in the case of weekend performances, on the Friday prior. Students and Seniors interested in Rush Tickets can call the Audience Services Department at (213) 972-8001 in advance to find out whether or not Rush Tickets will be on sale. Be sure to tell them that NataliePace.com sent you! !

Working Mother Webinar: Online
Monday, March 10th, 2008
9:00AM through 11:00AM
Learn about challenges U.S. Nationals face as they strive to recruit, retain and promote women in this webinar sponsored by IBM and Shell.

Eco-Nomics: Wall Street Journal Conference, Santa Barbara, CA
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
A conference from the editors of The Wall Street Journal, ECO:nomics takes a CEO-level view of the rapidly developing relationship between the environment and the bottom line. By invitation only! Bacara Resort. A conference from the editors of The Wall Street Journal.

Women's Festivals. Sedona, AZ
Friday, March 14th, 2008
3-day women's gala, festival, seminars, presentations, networking opportunities centered on personal, professional, political, philantrophic and planet.

Federal Open Market Committee Meeting
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
8:00AM through 5:00PM
The Federal Reserve Board governors meet to determine whether inflation is more of a factor than the housing pullback and subprime defaults. Will the Feds keep the rate where it is, raise it or lower it?

Chat online with number 1 Blue Chip money manager, Kelley Wright
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
8:45AM through 9:30AM PT.
Kelley Wright is the Managing Editor of Investment Quality Trends, the number 1 risk-adjusted newsletter, and CIO of IQ Trends Private Client Asset Management for trusts, foundations and high-net-worth individuals. He answers your questions one-on-one!

Fridays Off the 405, The Getty Center, LA, CA
Friday, March 21st, 2008
6:00PM through 9:00PM PT
A once-a-month, after-work event mixing art and entertainment where you can socialize, tour the galleries, and revel in the end of the workweek in a casual, spontaneous atmosphere. All Fridays Off the 405 feature live music and a cash bar.

Arianna Huffington, Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson, LA, CA
Monday, March 24th, 2008
7:30PM through 9:30PM
2008 Public Lecture Series, brought to you by American Jewish University and Whizin Center for Continuing Education. Call 310.440.1246.

Premium Subscriber Teleconference with Natalie Pace
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
5:00PM through 6:00PM PT
Want to get in on stocks like Suntech, Sohu, Opsware, Google and World Water and Power BEFORE they make 300 to 600 percent gains? Have questions about where the stock market is headed? Get the news, information and education you need to succeed!

GDP 4Q 2007 report (final)
Thursday, March 27th, 2008
8:30AM through 8:45AM ET.
The U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA.gov) releases its final report on GDP growth in the 4th quarter of 2007. Advance estimates had GDP growth at .6%.

Film Financing Seminar, LA, CA
Sunday, March 30th, 2008
Who gets funding for films and why? Learn tips from industry experts on how to get your film funded. Cost is just $250 if you register before March 5 and mention NataliePace.com.

Mexican Riviera Cruise for Moms
Saturday, April 5th, 2008
Pursue your passion without sacrifice on this Mexican Riviera Cruise with MomsTown Moms Mary Goulet and Heather Reider from April 5-12, 2008. Being a mother is amazing, but it isn't always easy. Let go and rejuvenate!

Revelation 2008: Quantum Quickening, LA, CA
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
Agape's 15th Annual Transformational Conference, featuring Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith, star of The Secret, Dr. Rickie, the Agape International Choir and more to transform your life.

The Milken Global Conference, Beverly Hills
Monday, April 28th, 2008
This 3-day conference, from April 28-30, brings together some of the most extraordinary people in the world – business executives, institutional investors, asset managers, government leaders, academics and Nobel laureates. Network, share & learn.

NOTICE: NataliePace.com is NOT a stock brokerage service, and does not operate or act as one.