Archive for November, 2009

Bulk REO Investors 101

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

There are more foreclosures in the United States right now than we have ever experienced before. Yet well-funded investors in real estate are seizing upon this opening to profit from an profoundly profitable new opportunity.

The real estate investing strategy du jour is called ‘Bulk REO Investing‘ and is a real monster.

The basis of the Bulk REO business is foreclosures, so let’s analyze the foreclosure process now.

Understanding of the foreclosure process is central to understanding Bulk REO investing.

Mortgage lenders faced with a non-paying home owner send a large volume of threats, warnings and documentation to the borrower who is late. The lender directs the subsequent timing of the actual foreclosure proceedings. Between the formal beginning of the foreclosure process and the public auction is the ‘preforeclosure’ period.

To complete the foreclosure process, the property is auction to the public. If the property is not purchased at auction, ownership reverts to the original lender. This property is then considered to be ‘Real Estate Owned’ by the lender, also known as an ‘REO’ property.

Local real estate agents are usually used to resale REO properties at retail price to the general public. However, REO properties are now frequently sold for far less than their ‘book value’. However, the purchase of a ‘package’ (or group) or REO properties is the trade-off for receiving such great prices.

The recession in the United States has yielded huge profits to real estate investors prepared to take advantage. Bulk REO Investors are most successful when they have a well-established source of funding for their REO packages. Some sources of funding for these transactions are: personal funds, hard money lenders, commercial lenders and non-conventional sources such as private investors and hedge funds. Additionally, one man is becoming very well known in the field of bulk REO investing, and his name is Salvatore Bushemi of Dandrew Partners, a New-York based hedge fund.

Bulk REO Investing Profit Strategies 101

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

No generation in American history has ever experienced the number of foreclosures and defaulted mortgages as is happening now. But smart real estate investors are turning these ‘lemons’ into ‘lemonade’ in an incredibly profitable new way.

The real estate investing strategy du jour is called ‘Bulk REO Investing‘ and is a real monster.

Foreclosures are at the heart of the Bulk REO business, so let’s consider the foreclosure process.

Understanding the notion of Bulk REO’s requires understanding of the foreclosure process.

A home owner who misses one or more mortgage payments is faced with an ever-increasing volume of threatening correspondence from their lender. Following a period of time determined by the lender, formal foreclosure proceedings begin. Between the formal beginning of the foreclosure process and the public auction is the ‘preforeclosure’ period.

Foreclosure is completed when the defaulted property is auctioned. Ownership of the property is returned to the lender if the property is not sold at auction. The property then receives the designation of being an ‘REO’ or the more formal name, ‘Real Estate Owned’.

Lenders usually try to unload their REO properties at close to retail price by listing their REO’s with a real estate broker. However, REO properties are now frequently sold for far less than their ‘book value’. This happens because the buyer of the REO is required to purchase multiple REO’s in a single transaction.

Qualified real estate investors are increasingly finding once-in-a-lifetime opportunities in these REO packages. The most successful Bulk REO Investors will have a well-respected source of funding for their transactions. There are many sources of funding for these transasactions including: hard money and commercial financing, as well as non conventional sources such as hedge funds and private investors. Additionally, one man is becoming very well known in the field of bulk REO investing, and his name is Sal Buscemi of Dandrew Capital Partners, a New-York based hedge fund.

Amway Home Business Opportunity Review: Cash Cow Or Dark Horse

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Amway

Amway Inc was started by pals Jay Van Andel and Richard Devos in 1959 with an aim to sell FMCGs through distributors. Following the success of their product LOC, the company came out with more products and in a span of two decades extended its reach to other countries. In a matter of 20 years, Amway had an established global presence and as many as three million reps.

Amway Products

Amway Global offers products that cater to a wide range of consumer needs. Some of the most popular products are discussed below.

· Nutrition boosters and supplements under the brand name Nutrilite

· Artistry is Amway’s brand of beauty-care products.

· Satinique is Amway’s hair care solution. This brand offers shampoo and conditioner and is alleged to repair damaged hair and restore nourishment.

· The Glister toothpaste is a popular Amway creation.

· Amway was the first to use the term “bio-degradable” when it introduced its detergent SA 8

· ESpring is Amway’s water purifier with a carbon block that helps in preventing contamination effectively. The Espring filter is said to prevent more than 140 contaminating factors from polluting water.

· The icook range of cookware has been carefully designed to promote a good cooking experience.

 

Distributing Amway Products

 

Becoming an Amway distributor is a tempting prospect when you consider the earnings you could get, perks, the guarantee given by Amway to make everyone successful in the business and the fact that the products offered are of high quality and needed for regular use. But we must also remember the fact that good quality is often combined with high prices; there’s a general opinion that Amway products are priced high.

 

A Critical Review Of The Income Prospects In Amway

Good products don’t necessarily mean good business. Amway may have its benefits with good margins, regular training sessions that motivate reps to seek business and interesting bonuses, parties and team outings where you could have a lot of fun. But there’s one major flaw in the traditional MLM setup followed by Amway. In the traditional system, reps are taught to contact people they know, offer products demos and promote the product as well as the business opportunity. This technique is operational only till your list of contacts lasts; after this, work may seem unrewarding.

 

This method leads to the MLM pyramid structure, which is even considered illegal in some countries. After a point, however hard you work, the profits seem to go to your upline and you’ll run out of contacts soon. When their initial list of contacts is over, reps get desperate and speak to just anyone they meet; cold calling and inviting strangers to meetings with offers of free gifts etc. could irritate customers who are rushing on their busy schedules.

 

Amway Conclusion

Though this may seem discouraging, the flaw is not in the products or the company. It’s only in the techniques employed by distributors. My conclusion is, if you employ the right techniques, this income opportunity could be a cash cow bringing in more money than you dreamt of.

 

How should you market your Amway products?

Sell your products to people who are interested in buying them. Market your business to reach these people and get them to contact you. Cold calling and arranging meetings are now outdated; get all work done through the internet. Online marketing is sure to bring in more profits than you’d ever expect. Establish a system that gets you leads to follow up on and get orders from. All you need to do is learn how to promote your products using various online marketing tools.

How To Stop Foreclosure - 3 Legitimate Solutions

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

A superb resource: http://realestate.bryanellis.com/1565/stop-foreclosure-in-houston-3-legitimate-solutions/

To Stop Foreclosure in nearly any city in the United States of America, there are basically only a few legitimate options. Some of these you’ll know, and some will be brand new to you.

Here are a few directions you can take:

  • Sell your house prior to the foreclosure auction. The value of this idea will vary heavily depending on the nature and quality of your local real estate market. If you’re in a market that still has very slow resale rates, selling your home could be a challenge. Ask a local real estate agent to determine the average number of days on the market for properties in your area.
  • Initiate a loan modification. A loan modification is a process through which your lender changes the payment terms of your loan to more closely match your ability to pay. While this is not a guarantee, loan modifications have become more popular in the last 12 months.
  • Refinance the property. If you are not yet fully into the foreclosure process but have reason to expect you will fall behind on your payments, it may be wise to try to refinance your mortgage to a lower rate. If your property is worth less than the balance of the mortgage, you’ll want to inquire regarding a “short refinance”, which is when a lender forgives a portion of the debt against you in order for you to refinance your property and pay off the remainder of the debt you owe.

When you’re trying to stop a foreclosure, the key is fast action.

Warning: Be very wary of people who aggressively attempt to purchase your home for investment purposes. While there are many legitimate real estate investors, there has been a significant amount of fraud with “Stop Foreclosure” scams, and it is wise to be very, very careful.

Please remember: The crisis you now face will soon be over. As a foreclosure survivor myself, I’d like to encourage you to remain hopeful, and to understand that your future does not equal your past!

Thanks for reading this information about how to stop foreclosure. I hope you’ve found value here.

PMS Color Matching

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

If you’ve never worked directly with graphic designers, corporate marketing departments, or something of the like you might not have even heard of the Pantone Matching System, also known as the PMS Color Match System. This is a very useful system that universalizes shades of color to eliminate shade variations in a myriad of different industries.

Imagine trying to order logoed letterhead for your company. You’ve chosen a particular shade of, say, orange for your logo color. Your shade of orange is a vibrant, eye-popping orange. When the letterhead gets to you the orange in it is more of a brown color, or even more of a yellow. What could have prevented this? The Pantone Matching System, that’s what.

The Pantone Color Matching System allows you to communicate the exact color you require through a special numbering system. Each color is assigned a unique number. You tell your printer which orange you want and your letterhead shows up with your orange on it. Pretty smart, huh? Who thought of such a thing? How is it done?

Lawrence Herbert thought of the idea back in 1963 when he bought the Pantone company, which used to manufacture cosmetics companies color cards. Herbert had this fantastic idea, which remains intellectual property of Pantone even today. Today Pantone is owned by X-Rite, Inc., who bought the company in 2007 for 0 million dollars. That’s a pretty good bargain for such a revolutionary system. Seriously, in today’s world where consistency in product is valued so highly, this system is obviously integral to maintaining color consistency.

So how do they do it? Sure, it’s easy to find a bunch of colors and slap a number on them, tell people that you have to use certain numbers for certain colors, but how do they actually make it work? What is the system behind the system that makes this color matching system work?

To understand, first you have to start with the basics. The CMYK process is a good place to start. Open up a big network color printer and you’ll see four cartridges – a black one, a cyan one (it looks blue), a yellow one and a magenta one. Most printing happens through the CMYK process, meaning that lots of colors can be produced in one of these machines. That’s not how Pantone Color Matching works, because that is too inexact. One printer might be low on Cyan, or need to be serviced because it’s putting out too much Magenta. The combination of these four shades can’t make every color under the sun, so what do you do with colors that can’t be printed on these standard color printers?

You use the Pantone Color Matching System. The colors within the system are created through a mixture of 15 total base pigments, and the creation of a given spot color is specified through the system. If you use the Pantone Color Matching System you are given the tools you need to make any of their colors. Now, Pantone is a company that is with the times, so in a pinch you could pick one of their colors that is compatible with the CMYK process. That way you can print it out yourself, or go to Kinko’s or something, but it won’t be perfect all the time. The only way to be sure that you’re using true Pantone colors is to go through an authorized distributor or to become one yourself.

Fortunately, many companies use this practical system and you can find PMC color-matched labels, plastic goods, and even T-Shirts. Lots of organizations are using the system too, including the US Army, many different countries (for their flags), and pretty much every design company you can ever hope to come into contact with.

Now you know about the Pantone Color matching system, so if you were about to pick your company’s logo, order some clever bumper stickers, or even color shipping labels you know a little something that everyone might not know.

 

5 Essential Rules of Effective Article Marketing

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

Are you interested in improving your Article Marketing ? If you are interested, keep on reading because we’re about to discuss the 5 essential rules of effective Article Marketing some of which you may know, but others you most certainly won’t.

Bear in mind that these rules are subject to change though, but they should definitely help form a basis for you to increase the results that you’re able to obtain. You’ll find your articles and results are benefitial if you use the advantage of yourself.

1. Keep it short and simple

Article Marketing is not the place for long-winded speeches that drone on for ages and ages without getting anywhere. Most of the readers of article directories want facts and information presented to them in as simple and concise a manner possible,so you should cater to them as much as possible.

In normal,articles range from about 350 to 750 words are more than sufficient for this purpose.

2. Entertain and inform, always

Don’t get so caught up trying to be informative that you end up writing dull and boring articles. And on the flipside, don’t try to entertain so much that you forget to put in any good information.

The balance between informing and entertaining should be struck!

3. Check your spelling and grammar again and again!

It’s no worse than an article that contains bad spelling or lousy grammar. While most article directories have their own vetting process, inevitably some mistakes end up slipping through.

Due to this, it is up to you to try your best to make sure that each and every article you submit is in tip top condition as far as spelling and grammar are concerned.

Due to this, it is up to you to try your best to make sure that each and every article you submit is in tip top condition as far as spelling and grammar are concerned.

Due to this, it is up to you to try your best to make sure that each and every article you submit is in tip top condition as far as spelling and grammar are concerned.

Master Some Article Marketing Techniques to Generate more Traffic

Friday, November 20th, 2009

Article Marketing is the best way in which traffic can be generated to your website. The more articles you write,the more benefit your website promotion will have.Moreover,before you submit the articles in the article directory submission you should have full knowledge from writing. Every article submission directory has its own set of instructions which should be kept in mind while writing an article if you want your website to be promoted in best wand effective way.

The article writing niche is one of the most reliable methods which also help in getting good ranking in the search engine because you promote your website at the end of the article. Fully follow the strategy of writing a wonderful and attractive article then distribute it to various article directories. Besides one simple article writing and then submitting,you must write masses of articles and submit it each day so that targeted audiences view it on top of the article directory to get good rank. It’s essential to Article Marketing As soon as you publish your articles you will notice good amount of traffic generated to your website. You should make your article most informative to ensure your consistency in good amount of traffic generated to the site.

Try to write article in a very proper condition in which the first paragraph includes the introduction, and the last paragraph must be a concluding one which should also carry a link to your website. In between these two main paragraphs you must write the content which is informative and must contain facts with good suggestions and tips provided to you. Follow these simple tips and soon you will see yourself on top and your website on top rankings with this consistent hard work. All the articles you are writing are like an investment in your article submission directory. If you follow all these tips,you’ll earn much from Article Marketing

The Knack Of Promotional Gifting In Business

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Promotional products, as the name suggests, are products circulated among people with the aim of propping up a product, service of company name in all-purpose. They make powerful marketing tools in business increase. From a token bequest of everyday use to clients, to an advertising item that becomes a star benefit at the local fair, or a contribution to employees as part of an enticement program, promotional products live up to their name, and do their job best- which is promotion.

Advantages of sending out promotional products

The most direct purpose of spreading promotional souvenirs

•    Is of course the advertisement value- All promotional products will carry the company’s name, logo, and website address that interested people will log on to. Even unconsciously, the brand name gets registered in the target audience’s minds and is the first step in influencing their choices. By definition, bequests

•     Symbolize appreciation and love- Sending out promotional products to prospective and regular client, makes them feel valued and creates a positive bond between the company and its clients.

What forms corporate gifts?

There is a large variety of corporate gifts which can be chosen according to the occasion time. These can be anything from bits and pieces of everyday use like key chains, t-shirts, caps, wristwatches; to desk stuff like pens, mugs, calendars or folders; to domestic stuff like bottle-openers or umbrellas etc.

Latest trend in corporate gift giving is the eco-friendly range of substance- recycled pen, eco note pads etc. Eco-friendly stuff strike the right note with the recipient, as it transmits company’s sympathy to larger issues facing the community, and helps the company to fashion a bond with the intention audience.

Thus, going up business ties has never been undemanding. With skilled gifting companies available with their gifting products and giving solutions, one can continue focal point on the core issues of that impending client meeting, or local fair, and worry less on whether the watch you theory of as the souvenir to you esteemed clients would work its charm. Business was never so award-savvy!

How To Get Started With Bulk REO Investing

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

With more foreclosures now than ever before, America’s weak real estate market seems to set new dismal records each month. However, opportunistic real estate investment professionals are turning the recession into great profits with a bit of creativity.

Bulk REO Investing’ is the name of the new strategy, and it’s captured the attention of many well-heeled investors.

Consider with me, if you will, the fundamentals of the Bulk REO business.

You can’t understand Bulk REO Investments without understanding the process of foreclosure.

As a borrower becomes increasingly behind in his mortgage, the lender regularly calls and writes the borrower with default warnings and threats. After a certain period, the lender will then formally begin foreclosure proceedings. Between the formal beginning of the foreclosure process and the public auction is the ‘preforeclosure’ period.

The defaulted property is ultimately auctioned, thus completing the foreclosure process. If there are no buyers for the property at auction, the property is returned to the lender. The property then receives the designation of being an ‘REO’ or the more formal name, ‘Real Estate Owned’.

Typically, lenders list their REO properties with local real estate agents in hopes of selling the property to a retail buyer who will pay full price. However, lenders are increasingly willing to take much less than their REO asset is actually worth. The trade-off is that the buyer must purchase multiple REO properties in each transaction.

The recession in the United States has yielded huge profits to real estate investors prepared to take advantage. Bulk REO Investors are most successful when they have a well-established source of funding for their REO packages. Some sources of funding for these transactions are: personal funds, hard money lenders, commercial lenders and non-conventional sources such as private investors and hedge funds. Additionally, one man is becoming very well known in the field of bulk REO investing, and his name is Sal Buscemi of Dandrew Capital Partners, a New-York based hedge fund.

Stock Market Education for your Business

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

The stock market is trying to rebound from Thursday’s bottom we should have one with a slow and rocky move up.  The futures are down, the Asia markets are down and volume should be light with the $150 million inauguration tomorrow.

 

 Earnings are coming out heavy the next two weeks and more bad news is likely to be issued on earnings forecasts that will likely be lowered by companies.

 

The ag-chemical stocks MOS, MON, AGU and POT did continue to move up Friday as expected and should continue up higher.

 

The usual big move in small cap stocks hasn’t taken hold yet.  Continue to watch for this group to start moving, especially with biotech stocks.  When speculation starts, small caps will benefit.

 

It is too early to tell if oil prices are going to bounce from here on short term horizon but should move up on an intermediate term. 

 

Intermediate Trade Positions:  

RIMM, Research in Motion continues to move up as AAPL moves down on the Steve Jobs’ health issue.  This is likely to continue trend for some weeks.  Now that the public is distrustful about Jobs health statements and change in status, AAPL is likely to drift lower while RIMM benefits as their competitor’s hold is dwindling. 

Note PALM is moving up sharply on negative AAPL news and positive PALM news on analysts upgrade on product announcement.  This is not a stock idea, only an observation.

Swing Trades:   New ideas:  WFC, BAC, C, JPM are money center banks that are excellent stocks to with at least a swing trade if not an intermediate trade (longer than 7 days to 6 months).  If you can get a better price with more drop would be nice but not necessary to make money from here.

Day Traders/Intraday stock ideas: RIMM and FSLR were excellent scalps long using a 5 minute chart.  Continue monitoring AMZN and AAPL.

NOTES:  This is not a good time to do much shorting, not even during intraday trades.  When the market presents a good time to short don’t be intimidating selling short when a good sell signal arises.  Start with extra small positions until you learn how to read the charts and build your confidence.

When I list several stocks from the same sector, like the housing industry for example, don’t short all of them unless you are well diversified and it represents a small percentage of your total stock account (in that same account).

REPEAT:  Keep an eye out for biotechs; they are building momentum and often do well in January.

 

Ticker Symbol

Type

 

Notes

Purchase Date

Open Price

Target Price

HWAY,  Healthways

LONG- INT

Sold $11.50, 1-7-09; Still hold

12-29-08

11.04

14-15

VRX, Valeant Pharm

LONG-INT

Stopped 1-15-09 $21.6; DELETE

12-29-08

22

?

K, Kellog

LONG-INT

Sold 45.09, 1-6-09; big move Friday,

1-14-09

43.33

47

IBM, Int’l Bus. Mach

LONG-INT

Sold 87.70, 1-6-09; hold

1-8-09

86.14

92

LLL, Level 3

LONG-INT

Starting new leg up

1-13-09

77.92

 

USO, US Oil Fund ETF

LONG-INT

Sold 38.36, 1-6-09; No worries

1-8-09

32.00

50-55

COP, Conoco Phillip

LONG-INT

Sold 56.53, 1-6-09; moving up.

1-8-09

53

58-59

BP, British Petrol.

LONG-INT

Sold 48.89, 1-6-09; moving up

1-8-09

48.33

51

FXI, Xinhua 25 ETF

LONG-SWI

Bottomed 1-14-09

1-15-09

25.25

29

PTR, PetroChina

LONG-INT

Weak but still hold.

1-15-09

78

92-93

DHI, D.R. Horton

SHORT-SWI

Watch

1-7-09

7.84

 

TOL, Toll Brothers

SHORT-INT

Watch

1-7-09

21.86

 

KBH, KB Homes

SHORT-INT

Watch

1-7-09

14.90

 

PHM, Pulte Homes

SHORT-INT

Watch

1-7-09

12.42

 

LEN, Lennar   

SHORT-INT

Watch

1-7-09

10.86

 

HOTT, Hot Apparel

LONG-INT

Good recovery; strong move up

1-8-09

8.71

 

AGU, Agrium

LONG-SWI

Sold 38.42, 1-6-09; Looking good

1-5-09

36.91

 

FRPT, Force Protect

LONG-INT

Strong so far; DELETE

1-5-09

6.40

 

AFFX, Affymetrix

LONG-INT

Still hold;

1-6-09

3.18

4.50

MDR, McDermott,

LONG-INT

hold

1-15-09

 

 

FCX, Freeport Mc

LONG-SWI

Looking better

1-14-09

24

 

MOS, Mosaic

LONG-INT

Acting better

1-9-09

40.37

 

DE, John Deere

LONG-INT

Hold; don’t buy more.

1-12-09

45.19

 

XME, Metal/MngETF

LONG-INT

Hold

1-13-09

26.14

 

BNI, Burlington

LONG-SWI

Rough ride up, $60 stop

1-16-09

64

 

XTO, XTO Energy

LONG-INT

Danger;  consider selling

1-13-09

35.79

43-44

APC, Anadarko Petr

LONG-INT

Danger; consider selling

1-13-09

39.55

47-48

MO, Altria Group

LONG-INT

Strong move up. 8.3% dividend

1-13-09

16.02

 

SRS, Short Real Est

LONG-INT

Sold at $74 on rebound early; watch

1-14-09

65.32

80-85

GS, Goldman Sachs

LONG-SWI

Still looks anemic; hold.

1-14-09

75.88

 

PXJ, Oil Services ETF

LONG-INT

Hold

1-15-09

10.50

 

C, Citibank

LONG-SWI

Low priced, high reward, high risk

1-16-09

3.60

6

RMBS, Rambus

LONG-SWI

$7.75 low Thurs, $9.91 Fri; higher risk

1-16-09

9.00

11+

BNI, Burlington Nrth

LONG-SWI

Rough ride up, $60 stop

1-16-09

64

71-74

WFC, Wells Fargo

LONG-INT

Oversold; hold for weeks?

1-16-09

17.50

23+

RIMM, Research Mot

LONG-INT

Should move up as AAPL goes down

1-16-09

50.38

56

SWI (SWING): 2-7 days            INT: Intermediate term position 8 days to several months.  Open Price:  price paid on opening long position or price sold on short position.  Bold notes on table above represent changes from previous day.

Thoughts:  Best odds only, be decisive, aggressive, mentally flexible, stay in position size, don’t overtrade and wait a little longer to buy and wait a little longer to sell.  You will find that will make you more money on your trades.  Trade what you see, not what you hope for.  Intermediate trades are really important to have trailing stop losses set.

Don’t trade unless the setup is there for you, then use the charts to tell you when the odds are heavily in your favor.  Don’t force anything to work for you, let the setups develop and then take advantage of that.  Be patient.  Stay in position sizes without letting any intraday trade represent no more than 10-15% of your total account value.  As you build your account, your position size percentage should get smaller and smaller to lower your risk.

Have a great day and I’ll talk to you tomorrow. 

Mitch King

www.tradestocksamerica.com

Contents:  stock trading, trading strategies, stock picks, stock market education, stock market investing course and educational stock trading videos.

Mitch King is the founder of TradeStocksAmerica.com.  All material presented herein is believed to be reliable but we cannot attest to its accuracy. All material represents the opinions of Mitch King. Investment recommendations may change without notice and readers are urged to check with their investment counselors before making any investment decisions. Opinions expressed in these reports may change without prior notice. Mitch King and/or the staff at TradeStocksAmerica.com may or may not have investments in any stocks cited above before or after this newsletter is prepared. Opinions expressed in these reports may change without prior notice.  Disclaimer - Stock investing or stock trading has large potential rewards, but also large potential risk. There is risk of loss as well as the opportunity for gain when buying or selling stocks, bonds, option contracts or engaging in any strategy listed in the Daily Stock Report, The Wizard Training Course, The Trading Room and our seminar or workshops.  You must be aware of the risks and be willing to accept the risks when investing or trading in any financial markets. Don’t trade with money you can’t afford to lose. This website is neither a solicitation nor an offer to Buy/Sell stocks. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those discussed on this website. The past performance of any trading system or methodology is not necessarily indicative of future results.