Buy My IOU – Sell Your Government IOU For CASH

So you’re out of college. You completed the required classes and now have a degree, but don’t know what the next step is. You’re not alone! Personal goal setting often sounds easier than it looks, but that  doesn’t mean it’s impossible, because it’s not. All you need is some guidance and self-motivation and you’ll be well on your way to doing what you love in no time at all. It’s one thing to think about what you want to pursue in life, but it only comes to reality once you begin to take action. Yes, that means you have to get up off of the couch and actually do something about it- that grace period between college and the real world is officially over. Let’s take a look at a few ways to set some personal goals that may  not only inspire you, but can get you to take immediate action.

1. Set Lifetime Goals: What do you ultimately want to do with your life? This can be categorized by a specific age in your life or in your whole lifetime. By setting lifetime goals, it can  help you determine the overall perspective of what you’re aiming for. Actually spend some time brainstorming these goals. It shouldn’t be a messy scrawl; this is your life- you may want to spend more than 5 minutes thinking about it! Set some goals for yourself in some of the following categories in order to get a broad coverage of the things important to you:
   • Career: What do you want to do day in and day out, and what level do you want to reach? List your desired achievements within your career as well.
   • Financial: How much money do you want to earn? Monthly? Yearly?
   • Family: Is marriage something you want? How about kids? Pets?
   • Physical: Is staying healthy important to you? Are there any athletic goals you want to achieve before a certain age?
   • Education: Is there anything you’re interested in learning more about? Maybe taking some online accounting courses or literature studies?
   • Pleasure: What extracurricular activities do you plan on doing for fun? (Life does have room for enjoyment, after all.)
2. Set Smaller Goals: Once you’ve looked at the big picture, step back and consider the smaller goals you want to achieve in life. This means setting up and organizing a five year plan of smaller things you would like to  accomplish first in order to reach your lifetime goals. Creating a daily to-do list can assist in this step as well. In this stage, your research might include reading books or looking online for tips on how to achieve what you’re ultimately working towards; gathering and organizing information could be the most important thing you can do in this step.
3. Stay on Course: Now that you’ve written down your goals- both short term and long term- it’s time to actually apply them, which can be the most difficult part. In order to stay true to your objectives, review and update your daily to-do list- daily. Your long term plans may eventually change over time, which is okay, but  keep up on them and update them as needed. An excellent way to monitor this is to schedule regular, repetitive reviews by using a computer calendar or diary. Set the reminder to activate every time you turn your computer on.

Kristy Kravitsky is a Pennsylvania State University graduate with a degree in English. Her future plans include traveling the country and continuing to pursue her passion for writing.

For months, the investment banking world has been abuzz with speculation and sound bites on the biggest IPO of the year, if not the decade: Facebook. Here’s how things went wrong.

How IPOs Work

Companies that wish to expand need cash. The initial public offering, or IPO, lets investors purchase a stake in a company that may needs funds for buying equipment, opening a new plant or hiring workers. Investors purchase stock shares that they can buy and sell at (almost) any time. The stock price rises and falls as demand dictates. When an investor sells stock the difference between where he originally bought it and where he sold it is his profit (or loss).

All kinds of companies “go public.” Wall Street treats companies that produce goods (such as auto makers like Ford or display solutions companies like Vispronet flag) and services (Facebook) equally. If your company makes money, or it has a great business model or idea, chances are you can find an investor.

The Facebook Debacle

Every company that wants to issue stock hires an investment banking underwriter to put the deal together, a rigorous, difficult and lengthy process. Facebook hired Morgan Stanley to run the deal, a premier Wall Street firm with decades of profitable history and experience. Morgan Stanley announced an initial price of $38 and set the first day of trading for Friday, May 18. Investors lucky enough to participate in the initial offering – the deal was oversubscribed, meaning that there were more interested investors than available shares – expected a quick and steep return. Many IPOs return as much as 30 percent on their first day of trading.

Except…the price went down. And now Facebook and Morgan Stanley are the subject of at least one investigation and one lawsuit. The good news – for retail investors anyway (that’s Wall Street speak for the average Joe on Main Street who’s beefing up his IRA) – is that Facebook at below-offering prices may turn out to be the deal of the century.

Now What?

Usually, the lead investment banking underwriter – Morgan Stanley in Facebook’s case – “supports” the stock following the offering by providing a steady stream of buyers who push the price up. Google, for example, opened in 2004 at $85 per share and closed its first day at roughly $100 per share. Apple and Microsoft performed well on their first days, too.

However, allegations surfaced that Morgan Stanley alerted certain key personnel and clients before the deal opened that the company’s financial future may not be as rosy as originally thought. The stock sank, and just a few days after the deal opened the stock (FB on the NASDAQ) trades at or near $32 per share.

Can Facebook Make Money?

These allegations and complaints will all become moot if Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s co-founder and leader, figures out how to make money from the site, which currently reports declining revenue. Will he keep his pledge to keep Facebook free for all users? Will businesses reap the advantage of the friendly user interface? Can he accomplish these tasks before a competitor comes along with an even better social network? How soon can he get Facebook profitable, and how much will that affect the stock price?

If Facebook successfully addresses these issues, $32 per share will be the deal of the century. If it can’t, then it may go the way of Netscape—into the world of technology oblivion.

Guest blogger Michelle does not own stock in Facebook, but she does enjoy blogging about everything from Wall Street IPOS to how a Vispronet flag will help increase your business’s visibility.

When it comes to dealing in stocks and shares on a part-time basis there are two different types of trader.  There are those traders that like to take a risk and teach themselves all the different methods that are available, and then there are those that like to take advice from the professionals and glean as much information as possible from different investment newsletters and resources.  If you want to get ahead in stocks and shares, and are looking to increase your wealth this year with minimum risk, then the latter option is definitely the best one – however, there are many investment newsletters on the market which quite frankly offer poor and un-qualified advice. 

Hulbert Interactive Review – What Is It?

Because of this, Mark Hulbert who is one of the MarketWatch editors from the Wall Street Journal, has developed a system called Hulbert Interactive.  The Hulbert Interactive tool will help you to choose the best investment newsletter to follow, reduce your losses, and help to weed out the best from the worst advice on trading.  Here’s a review of Hulbert Interactive to help you learn more. 

Hulbert Interactive is simply just an online tool which was developed by Mark Hulbert many years ago.  It is intended to let you research every single investment and stock newsletter that is on the stocks and shares market.  Investment and stock newsletters tend to come via email and get delivered on a weekly basis.  But the world of investment newsletters can be a tricky one to navigate and there are many examples where people new to trading in stocks and shares have ended up wasting lots of money on the bad stock trading advice that is published by people calling themselves experts in the field.

Hulbert Interactive Lets You Choose the Performing Newsletters

This is the main reason why Hulbert Interactive is such a helpful tool. Mark Hulbert, the editor, has anonymously signed up to every single investment newsletter so he can track their performance using the Hulbert Interactive tool.  This means that if you do want to take a risk and follow the advice in one of the newsletters then you can see how the editor’s advice panned out on the stock market over any given period of time, tracking as far back as twenty years. 

Hulbert Interactive Subscription – What’s Included in the Package?

If you are a part-time investor and interested in the Hulbert Interactive tool from Mark Hulbert then this is what you will get from the tool should you subscribe::

• You can analyze and track all stocks and shares recommendations 24/7 online over a period dating back to 20 years.
• You can easily search Hulbert Interactive using title, industry, or the stock market symbol you are interested in. 
• Helps you to avoid bad investment scams and poorly performing investment newsletters that have never worked and probably never will.
• Additional and free access to Mark Hulbert’s library of personally edited and written finance articles – include stock guides, shares advice, and lengthy case study documents.

Conclusion on the Hulbert Interactive Review

To conclude on the Hulbert Interactive Review it’s fair to say that this could be money well spent should you be looking for a safer approach to dealing in stocks and shares with quality advice and guidance.  If you have decided that playing the financial markets is a good route for you, but you don’t know where to start or who to believe when it comes to investment advice, then the Hulbert Interactive subscription could be just what you are looking for in 2012.

Never a Guarantee for Financial Portfolio Success

Admittedly this is not a guarantee for success… nobody can ever truly offer you that.  However, at the very least it will protect you against losing money on poor advice given by un-professional investment newsletters – which could lead you to having far greater potential returns than you would have done without this advice. 

Article Credit: This Hulbert Interactive Review was kindly written and supplied for exclusive use on this website by Rob Martins.  Rob is a part-time bedroom investor who has managed to build up an impressive portfolio in little under 12 months using some of the methods and advice given in the Hulbert Interactive tool.  Should you want more detailed information then please visit the Wall Street Subscriptions website which goes into greater detail on the Mark Hulbert tool on the link below:

www.wallstreetsubscriptions.com/hulbert-interactive-review-discount-free-trial

Have you ever wondered what the Roth IRA contribution limits are for 2012.

In this short article, we’ll show you what the contribution limits are, and some really great ways to mitigate any and all of your extra income through the year. There’s no need for a major broker or any other expensive tricks. Just some work and dedication can help you get the most out of your Roth IRA.

The Roth IRA Contribution limits for 2012 are $5,000 , however if you are over 60 this increases to $6,000 per year.

By utilizing these figures, you can accurately plan your future and your retirement. Utilizing a Roth IRA is a extremely effective way to save money for the future in a tax-free vehicle. Roth IRAs are great because you can pay on today’s taxes, yet reap benefits should taxes ever increase in the future. Since taxes typically rise greatly over the course of years, you can really get some great traction with your retirement. Don’t take our words at face value though, be sure to check into your local investment professional for even more tips on getting the most out of your money!

BBC News – Business

BBC News – Business

BBC News – Business

BBC News – Business