InvestWithAlex.com 

Subscribe Today
My Account

Category: Invest with Alex

Posted on

Killing Stress

giant_buddha_lantau_island_hong_kong_photo_gove

Continuation from yesterday……..Simplicity Is The Only True Path

Simplicity is the only true path.

Follow the exercise below and make it a daily practice.

EXERCICE #4:

As before, find a quiet and preferably dark place where you will not be bothered over the next 30 minutes. Leave your cell phone and all other devices behind. Once again, it is crucial that no one interrupts you over that 30 minute period of time.

Step 1: Select a meditation posture.  You have two choices.

  1. Most commonly known as a Buddha posture. Sit down with your legs crossed and your spine straight. Interlock your fingers and let them rest on top of your crossed feet. Close your eyes. (Google “Buddha Posture” if you need a visual representation).

The posture above is an optimal position for maximum energy accumulation. When you sit in a Buddha posture a number of things happen. First, by interlocking your feet and fingers while closing your eyes you create a perfect energy circuit within your body. When the circuit is complete, no energy leakage is possible. Allowing your body/mind configuration to accumulate the maximum amount of energy possible.  Second, when you are sitting straight a higher dimensional door opens up on top of your head, allowing more universal consciousness energy to flow in with ease.

  1. If the position above is uncomfortable, your next best bet is to lie down on your back with your fingers interlocked and your heels touching. Eyes closed. If fact, this could be called a “Casket Posture”.  Yet, keep one thing in mind. As you continue with your daily practice it is advised that you slowly transition to a Buddha Posture in order to maximize the benefits of meditation.

Step 2: Clearly understand what your objective is.

If you recall, in our prior exercises the primary objectives were to observe our thoughts, feelings and emotions. In one form or another and as an outsider looking in. True meditation is a little bit different. The objective is not to observe, but to stop all of your mind functions (thoughts/feelings/emotions) while remaining completely aware.  The difference is minuscule and easy to miss, so pay very close attention.

True meditation is oftentimes called sleeping while being aware. In other words, all of your mind functionality must be stopped. Completely. And while that might sound easy enough, it is one of the most difficult things to accomplish. Try and see for yourself.  If you are new to medication, chances are, you will be able to stop your mind for 15-45 seconds before realizing that your mind had already shifted into an active thought process and without you even becoming conscious of the fact.

You might be thinking about your ex and how they have done you wrong, what you will have for dinner, whether or not you have enough time to finish one of your projects and a million other things.  Point being, and this is incredibly important to understand, you mind will actively wrestle control back and shift your entire being into an active state of thinking.  That’s how cunning the mind is.

To Be Continued Tomorrow……(Why Am I Seeing This On A Financial Website?)

Z31

Killing Stress Google

Posted on

Investment Wisdom Of The Day

marktwain“October: This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February.” ― Mark Twain

z33

Investment Wisdom Of The Day  Google

Posted on

How To Raise Money From Your Friends & Family

business_ideas2

Continuation from yesterday…..(Beggar Thy Neighbor)

Beggar Thy Neighbor:

Ask your friends and family for help.  Outline what you are trying to do and how you will compensate them once your business is up and running.  In essence, you are opening up credit lines or “favor lines” with the people who can help your business get going.

For example, do you have a relative who rents office space for his or her own business? Great, ask them for a free desk space or a cubicle.

Do you need a small size production run or products to sell? See if you can talk your local supplier or manufacturer into doing it on a 30-60-90 day credit terms in return for payment, interest and future business.

Do you have a friend who is an attorney? Super, ask him or her to help you incorporate or for free legal advice in return for future business and referrals.

You get the idea. Think about. There is no risk for either the manufacturer to manufacture (the order is too small) or for your relative to allocate one cubicle of space for your use. In fact, you would be surprised what some people would be willing to do once you explain your situation honestly.  And that would save you a ton of money and time in the process.  Something that money cannot buy when you are trying to get your business off the ground.

Revenue Financing:  If you have gotten thus far your product validation tests were a success. That means you were able to sell your products or services and generate some sort of revenue. The next best option you have, particularly if you are moving forward with the option of self financing, is reinvesting all of your revenues right back into the business.

Outside of the obvious benefits above, there a few more. Particularly, if you plan ahead and reinvest your revenue/income at the appropriate rate you can achieve maximum growth velocity for your new business venture while getting rid of your tax bill. In short, attempt to get to some sort of a revenue for your business as soon as possible, then use it to grow your business at a fast pace.

While these are your best options for self financing, it is quite likely that not many people will have the access to their own capital or a network of people that can help them.  If such is the case, your next best option is to ask your friends and family.

Friends & Family:

If you do not have access to your own capital the next logical option is to ask your friends and family. If you do everything right, it shouldn’t take you more than 1 week to cover this phase of the capital raising process.

In the industry, family money is oftentimes called “Dumb Money”.  It is dumb because the people who are making the investment or lending decisions are making them based on various emotional factors as opposed to an in depth analysis of your business idea and/or your business deal.

And in most of the cases the conversation goes something like this.  “Hi…. Mom, Dad, Uncle Bob or my best mate Jimmy, I have this wonderful business idea that will make me filthy rich, but I need money to make it happen. Can you give me $10,000 for 5% of my brand new company and when it succeeds over the next 6 months I will be worth billions and you will be worth millions. How about it?”

To Be Continued Tomorrow…….(Why Am I Seeing This On  A Financial Website?)

z32

How To Raise Money From Your Friends & Family  Google

Posted on

Which Investment Strategy Is The Best

z46

Continuation from yesterday…...(Costs Associated With Short Selling)

Finally, before we can answer which of the investment strategies above is the best one, we have to consider an important issue.  We must first define what goals most investors have. Unfortunately, the investment industry has done quite a job cutting and dicing what should be a simple classification into a million different pieces. Anything from divorced housewives on fixed alimony income to 95 year olds with advanced derivative strategies.

Luckily for us, human nature and greed never go out of style. If given a chance, 99% of all investors, no matter the age or risk profile would want the exact same thing.

  • A massive capital gain.
  • In the shortest possible period of time.
  • While taking on very little, if any, risk.

The real question becomes, which of the strategies above can get us to the above mentioned points the closest?

As you can probably imagine, none of them. Every one of the strategies above has their own shortcomings that would jeopardize the objectives above. For instance, most value investments take a few years to play out.  Blowing our “short time frame” requirement completely out of the water. Investing in growth companies is inherently more risky and trading or overtrading rarely leads to large capital gains.

So, what is the ultimate solution?

As always, the answer lies somewhere in between. If we are to bring the strategies above together, we might just be able to achieve our ultimate objective. By taking the best parts and disregarding the worst, we might be able to stitch together a strategy will satisfy all of our high return and low risk profile requirements.  Let’s see if we can get it done.

Value Investing:  (Minimizing Risk)

  • Let’s Take: Undervalued and out of favor companies. Cheap stocks that for one reason or another selling well below their intrinsic value. Stocks that have collapsed over the last few months or years to the tune of 50-90%.  Stocks of companies that are turning around, but their positive change haven’t been realized by the market.
  • Let’s Disregard: Uncertain holding periods and buying stocks with weak technical indicators.

Growth Investing: (Maximizing Returns)

  • Let’s Take: Fast growing companies. Stocks that are appreciating at a fast pace. Stocks with strong technical indicators.
  • Let’s Disregard: Highly speculative companies. High risks associated with extremely volatile industries and overvalued companies.

Trading: (Perfecting Timing)

  • Let’s Take: Clearly defined rules and market timing techniques. The ability to take both sides of the trade….long and short.  The willingness to study trading and make necessary adjustments.  Strict risk management rules.
  • Let’s Disregard: Overtrading. Trading without rules or a clearly outlined strategy. Trading on hunches and gut feelings. Laziness.

The next step is to put all of the above selections together.

Won’t we end up with some sort of a Frankenstein monster?

Not at all. A clearly defined investment strategy below is the ultimate outcome.

To Be Continued Tomorrow…..

Z30

Which Investment Strategy Is The Best Google

Posted on

Simplicity Is The Only True Path

z45

Continuation from yesterday…....(How Meditation Really Works)

It is identical to a boiling water analogy. As the water heats up it stores energy. The instant it hits 100 C, water turns into vapor. Transforming itself from one state or dimension into another. Not at 99.9 C or 100.1 C. At exactly 100 C. Once your internal energy level reaches a certain point, your consciousness will make the jump.  And only meditation can help you with the entire process.

Yet, the quantum jump above does not come with ease.  Mystics, spiritual leaders and some religious folks dedicate their entire lifetimes to the pursuit of this higher state of human consciousness.  It took Buddha 12 years of full time effort, struggle and many near death experiences to get there. Jesus had disappeared for 18 years before reappearing as an enlightened man.   Now, we won’t go any further down the rabbit hole in this book, but you are need to be aware of the following.  While the process itself is not that difficult, it is easy to miss the final destination due to a number pitfalls along the way. Pitfalls that your mind, environment and ego will generate out of thin air.

Do you need proof?

Again, this cannot be learned or proven. The phenomenon above is not a mathematical equation. Just as any feeling or emotion, it can only be experienced.  And the only way to experience it is to start meditating.

When it comes to STRESS, meditation becomes the only solution.  It is only through meditation that you will be able to erase all STRESS and STRESS associated energies out of your life. Completely and forever. If you are to make meditation your daily practice, no other outcome becomes possible.  Guaranteed.

What should my next step be?

Here is what you need to do next.

  1. Make meditation your daily practice. Make a commitment and do not skip it.
  2. Allocate at least 30 minutes per day to your daily meditation practice. Typically, the formula states that the older you are the more you should meditate. Where one year of life equals to one minute of meditation. For example, according to some practices a 45 year old person should meditate for 45 minutes a day and a 65 year old should meditate for 65. If you are new to the entire experience, your 30 minute daily practice should be a good enough start.

How do I meditate?

Whether or not you are familiar with meditation, it would be best if you immediately dismiss all of your preconceived notions and concepts associated with meditation. Particularly, if you live in the West. In Western cultures all spiritual practices become circuses of sorts, they become big businesses. Where the latest and the greatest meditation music or posture or technique is the only way to go. All of that is absolute nonsense. It is all garbage that should be thrown out where it belongs. At the heap of cow manures.

Do you think Buddha ever joined a group meditation session?  Do you believe Jesus listened to tapes of high frequency meditation music? Can you imagine Chuang Tzu reading the bestselling book about the new techniques of sleepwalking mediation? Absurd. Garbage. All of it.

Simplicity is the only true path.

To Be Continued Tomorrow…...(Why Am I Seeing This On  A Financial Website?)

Z31

Simplicity Is The Only True Path Google

Posted on

Why You Should Be Embarrassed Of Being Smart

daily chart Sept 9 2014

9/9/2014 – A down day with the Dow Jones down 98 points (-0.57%) and the Nasdaq down 40 points (-0.87%). 

The notion of bulls Vs. bears is an idiotic one. A smart money manager should be able to make money in both bull and bear markets. Yet, it is just as important to understand the psychological mindset of most market participants. When approached in the proper fashion, this reading will give an indication of what the future holds.

Further, over the last couple of weeks I have destroyed the notion propagated by the mainstream financial media that this is the most hated rally every. What’s more, I have shows that the number of bulls/bears is the lowers it has been in close to 30 years. Market Bears Hit The Lowest Levels Since Just Before The 1987 Crash

Despite the fact, the mainstream financial media continues to go after non existing bears with the vengeance. First they were simply stupid, then they were “Market Unbelievers” and now…….get this…..‘Embarrassed’ bears will be forced into stocks: Pro That right, ladies and gentlemen, the best researched market participants will be so EMBARRASSED that they will be forced into buying stocks.

Who cares? No one, but this is an important psychological factor that clearly points to where this market is heading. When bulls have to shame bears into buying stocks, only one thing is certain, the end is near.  

This conclusion is further supported by my mathematical and timing work. It clearly shows a severe bear market between 2014-2017. In fact, when it starts it will very quickly retrace most of the gains accrued over the last few years.  If you would be interested in learning when the bear market of 2014-2017 will start (to the day) and its internal composition, please CLICK HERE

(***Please Note: Due to my obligations to my Subscribers I am unable to provide you with more exact forecasts. In fact, I am being “Wishy Washy” at best with my FREE daily updates here. If you would be interested in exact forecasts, dates, times and precise daily coverage, please Click Here). Daily Stock Market Update. September 8th, 2014 InvestWithAlex.com

Did you enjoy this article? If so, please share our blog with your friends as we try to get traction. Gratitude!!!

Why You Should Be Embarrassed Of Being Smart Google

Posted on

Beggar Thy Neighbor

beggar

Continuation from yesterday…...(Why Russian Billionaires Beg On The Streets Of Moscow)

Finally and before we look at all of the above, it goes without saying that you need to be at the top of your game when it comes to raising capital. That means that your pitch and your documentation should be polished to perfection before approaching a single investor. Well, assuming that you would like to be successful in your capital raising attempt.  For instance, as an investor I require as much information as possible to make an informed decision about an underlying deal. I am interested in seeing if the overall business makes sense, what kind of a traction is there, the numbers, if the business fits my investment profile/style, etc….  If someone cannot offer me at least that much information, they don’t deserve my time nor my money.

In other words, if you cannot put a pitch together highlighting your business idea while asking for capital, how can you run a company?  You cannot.  As such, if you are to remember anything out of this capital raising section, remember this. If you are to approach your capital raising process in an unprofessional or unprepared matter, you are about as good as dead in the water.  I guarantee you one thing, your efforts will fail and you will not be able to raise any money.  As a result, you should spend a considerable amount of time on getting your “ASK” ready before approaching a single potential investor.

Now and without further delay, let’s jump in and explore some of the ways of raising capital for your new venture.

Self Financing:

This is by far one of my favorite options. And it should be yours as well for the following reasons…

  1. You don’t have to beg anyone for money. This is self explanatory. If you put your own money in, you avoid the pain, suffering and embarrassment associated with asking people for money.
  2. Most importantly, you retain the most valuable thing you have going for you. The only thing that will make you obscenely rich if you are to succeed. EQUITY. The formula is very simple. The longer you can stay away from raising outside capital the richer you will be.
  3. You retain full control of the decision making process and the direction of your enterprise.
  4. It shows future investors that you have skin in the game.
  5. It makes you work harder and smarter.

Overall, this is the best option you have available and I highly recommend it if you have access to your own capital or savings. Not to mention, it will allow you to get going much faster as a typical money raising process can take quite a while to materialize. Three to six months, sometimes even longer. So, if you do have a great idea, an infusion of your own capital might be all you need to get things moving in the right direction.

There are also two subsets to Self Financing that you should be aware of.  Do not discount them. They can be extremely powerful tools in helping you get your business off the ground.  And while there are many names, I tend to call them “Beggar Thy Neighbor” and “Revenue Financing”.

To Be Continued Tomorrow…...(Why Am I Seeing This On A Financial Website?)

z32

Beggar Thy Neighbor Google

Posted on

Costs Associated With Short Selling

Continuation from yesterday…..(Why Short Selling Is Important)

  1. Additional costs associated with taking a short position.

Typically and depending on your broker the transactional costs associated with taking a short position are equal to you taking a long position.  However, you do tend to pay more though margin interest and dividend payments.  For instance, if the short position begins to move against you, money will be removed from your cash balance and into your margin account. If you do not have enough cash to cover the losses you begin to borrow on margin, thereby accruing margin interest charges. Otherwise, if you do have enough cash in your account to cover your short losses (if any), no margin interest costs will be inquired.

When it comes to dividend payments you are responsible for paying underlying stock’s dividend if you are holding the stock short ex-dividend date.  Without getting into the details of the entire process, you must pay the dividend on the underlying security if 1. The underlying security has a dividend associated with it and 2. You are holding this security short on ex-dividend date. At times such costs can be significant.

Yet, for the most part, both costs can be mitigated or largely eliminated when short selling is approached in a correct way. When it comes to margin interest, simply maintain a cash balance big enough to cover your short positions and any losses that you might inquire if the positions move against you.  That way your margin account is never triggered and no interest charges occur. In terms of dividends, either avoid shorting stocks that pay dividends or get out of your position before the ex-dividend date is triggered.  Plus, unless you are shorting a specific stock for company specific reasons, you shouldn’t be shorting stocks that pay dividends. Simply choose another non dividend paying stock in the same industry and short that one. And if you are to do both, the costs of going short become equal to the costs of going long.

In summary and as the points above show, when short selling is approached in an appropriate way, the risks associated with the practice are reduced to a bare minimum. And while the overall risk profile might be slightly higher than going long, when executed properly, going short is not nearly as risky as the investment industry makes it out to be.  If anything, the practice plays a crucial part in a powerful investment approach discussed bellow.

That brings us a full circle and back to the question of which investment approach is the best?

To Be Continued Tomorrow…..

Z30

Costs Associated With Short Selling  Google

Posted on

Market Bears Hit The Lowest Levels Since Just Before The 1987 Crash

daily chart Sept 8 2014

9/8/2014 – A mixed day with the Dow Jones down 26 points (-0.15%) and the Nasdaq up 9 points (+0.20%).

I have already touched on the subject matter that mainstream financial media is misrepresenting today’s stock market rally as the “Most Hated Rally” ever. In fact, according to them, most are of the Market Unbelievers (aka…bears) are about to be vaporized as the Dow surges to 20,000 and beyond.

Yet, the reality is quite different as the chart below illustrates.

bear market2

Here’s the key paragraph:

None of the group, whom we survey each September and December, is bearish these days, although some strategists have toned down their optimism because of the market’s gains. Still, the most bullish see the benchmark barreling toward 2500 in the next 18 to 24 months. That would be an increase of nearly 25% from last week’s close. The Barron’s survey echoes another data point from earlier this week. A survey of newsletter market pundits from Investors Intelligence found that bears are “evaporating.”  This chart shows that among pundits, the percentage of bears is at a 27-year low.

 In other words, it might be time to turn bearish. 

This conclusion is further supported by my mathematical and timing work. It clearly shows a severe bear market between 2014-2017. In fact, when it starts it will very quickly retrace most of the gains accrued over the last few years.  If you would be interested in learning when the bear market of 2014-2017 will start (to the day) and its internal composition, please CLICK HERE

(***Please Note: Due to my obligations to my Subscribers I am unable to provide you with more exact forecasts. In fact, I am being “Wishy Washy” at best with my FREE daily updates here. If you would be interested in exact forecasts, dates, times and precise daily coverage, please Click Here). Daily Stock Market Update. September 8th, 2014 InvestWithAlex.com

Did you enjoy this article? If so, please share our blog with your friends as we try to get traction. Gratitude!!!

Market Bears Hit The Lowest Levels Since Just Before The 1987 Crash  Google

Posted on

How Meditation Really Works

 holographic universe
Continuation From Friday…...(Meditation)
 What is the true purpose of meditation? 

The true purpose of meditation is to help you make a quantum jump in human consciousness. That is what enlightenment really means.  Most people believe that the next level of human evolution will come from longer life spans, bigger brains, stronger muscles, etc…. Yet, such vanities are a nothing but a scratch on the surface of what is available to you right now.  Unfortunately, the only way to reach this higher level of human consciousness is though meditation.

In short, when we meditate, we begin accumulate energy. And once enough energy is accumulated, a human being makes an automatic jump onto the next level of consciousness.  And if you are familiar with quantum physics, electrons act in exactly the same fashion. They don’t move between quantum states within an atom, they jump from one energy level to the next. Instantaneously.  That is the true purpose of meditation, to make that quantum jump to the next dimension of evolution.

Why has the practice of meditation survived for tens of thousands of years?

Once again, meditation is the only tool available that allows human beings to reach that higher state of consciousness.  To take it one step further, this higher state of consciousness or enlightenment is the highest possible potential available to all human beings.  Nothing can supersede it. As such, those who understand the phenomena, spend a considerable amount of their lives detached from the “Earthly Pleasures” only to concentrate most of their energies on attaining such a state.  A state of being that is possible only through meditation.

How does it really work?

While the process is intricate, it is fairly straight forward. As was suggested earlier in the book, the primary purpose behind meditation is to stop thoughts, feelings and emotions. To become an observer. When you stop your thoughts, a number of things happen behind of scenes on both physiological and spiritual levels.

When your mind comes to a complete stop, a point where no thoughts are being generated, a door of sorts opens up within you. When that happens energy begins to flow into your body/mind/consciousness configuration.  This is the same energy that your body gets when you sleep. Yet, the difference is quite significant.

When you sleep you receive the energy in question subconsciously and only enough of it to sustain you over the next 24-72 hours.  When you meditate you begin to accumulate this same energy consciously.  And the more you meditate the more energy you will accumulate over time as there is no 100% full limit on your internal battery. In fact, your battery remains forever infinite.

As you continue to meditate on the consistent basis, something interesting happens inside of you.  As you begin to accumulate more and more conscious energy, you will eventually store enough of it to have the ability to make that quantum jump to the next level of consciousness. Just like an electron would jump from one level to the next.  In fact, this process will transform your entire being in a matter of a split second.  It is identical to a boiling water analogy. As water heats up it stores energy. The instant it hits 100 C, water turns into vapor. Transforming itself from one dimension into another. Not at 99.9 C or 100.1 C. At exactly 100 C. Once your internal energy level reaches a certain point, your consciousness will make that jump.  And only meditation can help you with the entire process.

To Be Continued Tomorrow …...(Why Am I Seeing This On A Financial Website?)

Z31

How Meditation Really Works  Google