The Secret To Happiness According To Kids | Seven Ways to Create More Time In Your Day | Secrets to Long Life | How to Get Rid of Cold Sores

Friday, November 20th, 2009

For this weekend here are four articles you might find interesting. Enjoy and Have a Great Weekend!

Melina Bellows: The Secret To Happiness According To Kids
November-19-09, 11:29 AM

As the New York Times recently pointed out, many parents have found themselves out of work and at home–and it ain’t good. “For many families across the country, the greatest damage inflicted by this recession has not necessarily been financial, but emotional and psychological,” reports Michael Luo. “Children, especially, have become hidden casualties, often absorbing more than their parents are fully aware of.”

Seven Ways to Create More Time In Your Day
November-19-09, 11:41 AM

Do you ever feel like you have way too much time on your hands, and far too little work and life to fit into it? Unless you’re a teen on summer break, I reckon it’s unlikely! Most of us would love to have an extra couple of hours in each day. With two more hours, we could find time to exercise, to read some of the books that are gathering dust on our shelves, to spend time with the kids…

Don’t Overeat - Secrets to Long Life
November-20-099:36 AM

Ask Walter Breuning his secret for living as long as he has, and he’ll reply modestly, “There is no secret about it.” Breuning, who became the world’s oldest living man on his 113th birthday September 21, adds that kindness and common sense have played a crucial part to his longevity. Learn the six things that have allowed him to lead a long and happy life.

How to Get Rid of Cold Sores - Nutrition
November-20-0910:13 AM

Q: Are there any foods I can eat-or avoid-to help prevent cold sores?

Tags: Bellows, Common Sense, Gathering Dust, Happiness, Hidden Casualties, How To Get Rid Of Cold Sores, Kindness, Long And Happy Life, Longevity, Michael Luo, New York Times, Nutrition, Oldest Living Man, Parents, Psychological Reports, Read Books, Recession, Seven Ways, Shelves, Summer Break
Posted in DXD, Emerging Markets, Markets | No Comments »

Why the Poppy?

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

A writer first made the connection between the poppy and battlefield deaths during the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century, remarking that fields that were barren before battle exploded with the blood-red flowers after the fighting ended.

During the tremendous bombardments of the First World War the chalk soils became rich in lime from rubble, allowing ‘popaver rhoeas’ to thrive. When the war ended the lime was quickly absorbed, and the poppy began to disappear again.

After John McCrae’s poem In Flanders Fields was published in 1915 the poppy became a popular symbol for soldiers who died in battle.

Three years later an American, Moina Michael, was working in a New York City YMCA canteen when she started wearing a poppy in memory of the millions who died on the battlefield.

During a 1920 visit to the United States a French woman, Madame Guerin, learned of the custom. On her return to France she decided to use handmade poppies to raise money for the destitute children in war-torn areas of the country. In November, 1921, the first poppies were distributed in Canada.

Thanks to the millions of Canadians who wear flowers each November, the little red plant has never died. And neither have Canadian’s memories for 116,031 of their countrymen who died in battle.

Source: Canoe.ca

Tags: Canada, Canadians, Canteen, Chalk, Children In War, City Ymca, Countrymen, Destitute Children, First World War, French Woman, Guerin, John Mccrae, Lime, Moina Michael, Napoleonic Wars, oil, Poem In Flanders Fields, Poppies, Poppy, Red Flowers, Rubble, Soils
Posted in DXD, Emerging Markets, Markets | No Comments »

Jim Rogers: Gold, Market Bubbles, Equities, and Dr. Doom

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

This article is a guest contribution from Damien Hoffman, of Wall Street Cheat Sheet.

Jim Rogers is one of the most respected investors in the world. I had a chance to chat with him the other morning to get more details about some of his recent comments in the media …

Damien Hoffman: Jim, you were in the media a few times last week and I want to follow up on a few points you made. You said on Bloomberg that Nouriel Roubini did not do his homework regarding the asset bubbles about which he is now warning. Can you explain what homework he did not do?

Jim: All of it. How can you talk about a bubble when assets such as silver are 70% below their all-time high? Same for coffee, sugar, cotton, natural gas, and many more. I have a problem talking about a bubble when assets are this depressed from their all-time highs.

A bubble is when assets are screaming to new highs everyday, everyone is talking about them, and everyone owns them. Right now, virtually no one owns commodities. So for Mr. Roubini to talk about a bubble in commodities defies comprehension. It proves he does not understand markets.

I am flabbergasted at Mr. Roubini’s comment about bubbles because there is not a single market in the world making all-time highs except Gold, US Government Bonds, Cocoa, and the Sri Lankan stock market. That’s hardly reason to call for a bubble. So, I am most perplexed about this alleged bubble which is out there.

If an asset rises 100% in one year, that’s a great year, but not necessarily a bubble. Look at oil. It’s up huge off the bottom but nowhere near it’s old highs. Look at Citigroup. The stock is up 3 or so times off the bottom …

Damien: … and I doubt long term shareholders feel like they are in a bubble.

Jim: Exactly. And since Mr. Roubini thought oil would stay below $40 a barrel for all of 2009, I would love for him to tell me and the rest of the world exactly where are all the oil supplies because the International Energy Agency (IEA) — which has the best global data set on energy supplies — has no idea where is the oil. Mr. Roubini should tell us where this price suppressing oil supply is hidden. All the oil possessing countries in the world have declining reserves. All the oil companies have declining reserves. So Mr. Roubini must know something the rest of us don’t.

Damien: On another note, Gold has been reaching new all-time highs, although not inflation adjusted. You said Gold may reach $2,000 an ounce over the next decade. Can you explain what variables will push Gold to $2,000?

Jim: First, I hope you will keep Mr. Roubini’s statement where he said Gold going to $2,000 an ounce by 2019 is “utter nonsense.” I think you’re going to get a chance to call him before 2019 to ask him what he thinks of Gold at $2,000 and why he thought it was “utter nonsense.”

Regarding variables, it’s very clear there is huge suspicion about paper money around the world. This suspicion is gathering steam. Governments are printing huge amounts of money. This has always led to higher prices. Maybe I am wrong and it’s different this time. But I doubt it.

Additionally, no new large gold mines have been opened in decades. Some of those mines are over 100-years old. They are all depleting. On the other hand, central banks have huge Gold reserves above ground — and they are less interested in selling than in the past.

If you adjust Gold for inflation and go back to it’s former all-time high in 1980, Gold should be over $2,000 an ounce right now if you want to say it’s reaching new inflation adjusted all-time highs. That does not mean Gold has to get back to a true all-time high. Nothing has to. However, I suspect that given all the money printing in the world, we will see much higher prices for hard assets.

Despite Gold’s potential, I think I will make more money in other commodities such as silver, cotton, or coffee — all of which are terribly depressed.

Damien: Speaking of other assets, as an outsider living abroad, what is your opinion on US Equities?

Jim: This is one of the few times in my life I have not had shorts anywhere in the world. I have also not had a lot of longs in the stock market because I’ve chosen longs in commodities and currencies. I have kept away from shorts because there is a gigantic amount of money being printed and it has to go somewhere. I thought some of it would end up in the stock market, and it has.

How much higher can the equity markets go? I don’t know. There are a lot of problems in the economy, but I don’t know when those problems will cause a downdraft in the stock market. All we’ve done is paper over the problem, so I expect we’ll have to deal with those issues in the future. Printing and spending money we don’t have simply prolongs the problems and makes them worse in the long run.

If the world economy improves, commodities will lead the way due to demand and shortages. If the world economy does not get better, commodities are still a great place to be because governments are printing so much money. And, if the world economy doesn’t get better, they will print even more money!

Damien: Jim, thank you for taking the time to share your outlook and opinions. I greatly appreciate it.

Jim: You are very welcome. Your site is very impressive. I look forward to staying in touch.

Tags: All Time Highs, Bloomberg, Bubbles, Cheat Sheet, Citigroup, Cocoa, Coffee Sugar, Commodities, Comprehension, Dr Doom, Ener, Gold, Gold Market, Government Bonds, Hoffman, Jim Rogers, New Highs, oil, Oil Supplies, Roubini, Single Market, Sri Lankan, Stock Market
Posted in Commodities, DXD, Emerging Markets, Gold, HFD, MYY, Markets | No Comments »