Healthy, Wealthy and Wise...Today

Healthy2WealthyNetwork

2010-02-22T15:16:00.000-07:00

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Healthy2WealthyNetwork

2010-02-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

College Football News

2009-09-30T13:09:00.001-06:00

Here is this weeks College Football Poll.com predictions and rankings. Games to watch include: West Virgina - Colorado (will Colorado turn the corner?), Navy - Air Force, Arizona St. - Oregon State, Arkansas - Texas A&M, Georgia - LSU, Georgia Tech - Mississippi St., Houston - UTEP, Ohio State - Indiana (how good is Indiana?), Penn St. - Illinois, Michigan - Michigan St. (watch out Wolve's.), Notre Dame - Washington (ND is ready to fall) See more below.

First Harris Poll Released by CFP Staff September 27, 2009

Iowa Soars To 9th In CCR Top 120; Iowa's win over Penn State dropped the Nittany Lions 16 spots to No. 27 while the Hawkeyes climbed 9 positions to No. 9 in the latest CCR Top 120, released early Sunday morning.

Florida maintains the No. 1 position. Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama and Boise State round out the top 5.

Virginia Tech moved up to 10th after dispatching Miami (Fla.) 31-7. The 6th, 7th and 8th spots belong to USC, CIncinnati and Kansas, respectively.

Other upset losers which were severely punished were California (7th to 23rd), Pittsburgh (9th to 25th), Ole Miss (13th to 28th), and Texas Tech (14th to 31st).

USF, a 17-7 upset winner at Florida State, climbed to No. 20 to make its first appearance of the season in the Top 25.

The first Harris Poll of the 2009 season was also released Sunday. Its' voters, as well as those in the AP and Coaches' polls, jumped LSU, Boise State and Virginia Tech to 4th through 6th.

The Coaches' and Harris Polls are the only human polls factored into the BCS equation. The first BCS Standings of the 2009 season will be released on October 18.

The Market in a Minute

2009-09-30T12:40:00.003-06:00

Presented By Alan Favre, CFP

Authoreed By Patrick Adams, CFA
September 28, 2009

The S&P 500 was down over 2% last week. The question is, is this the start of something bigger or is the market going to follow the pattern it has for the past several months? A small correction like we just experienced, and then a push higher? Generally around quarter end markets perform well. So I would not read much into the strength that may come today thru Wednesday. There is a lot of news coming later this week that could move the markets.
Last week, both the Housing and Durable Goods reports were worse than expected. This is why in our opinion the market fell. If the economy is truly growing, these are areas that we should be seeing oversized growth at this point in the recovery. We are concerned that we are going to see a significant slow down in GDP growth, either in the fourth quarter or in the first quarter of 2010, relative to the third quarter. The fact that Durable Goods fell is disturbing. This is an area that should be strong. Housing may be headed for another dip, as there are 1.4 million more homes that are moving into foreclosure.

The market actually started to fall last week, on the realization the Fed did not say anything positive after they convened their meeting. The fact the Fed pushed out their purchases of Mortgages and Agency debt until the end of the first quarter is not a positive. We believe it is a sign the Fed is running out of ways to stimulate the economy.

The ISM Index, which measures manufacturing activity, is reported on Thursday. We expect a strong report, but then the coming months will likely be lower. The most important economic report this week will be the Employment report on Friday. The consensus is for a loss of 180,000 jobs in August, and the Unemployment Rate to rise to 9.8%.

The support levels for the S&P 500 include a minor support at 1035 and then 995 if the market does roll over.

Index Performance / Index-Price-Last Week-YTD

Dow Jones 30 9707 -0.8% 10.6%
S&P 500 1051 -1.4% 16.3%
NASDAQ 2108 -0.9% 33.6%
Russell 2000 602 -2.2% 20.5%
Russell 2000 Growth 1993 -1.7% 27.6%
Russell 2000 Value 3049 -2.7% 14.0%
Russell 1000 Growth 462 -1.1% 24.4%
Russell 1000 Value 544 -2.0% 11.6%
Source: Baseline, Returns are appreciation only.

S&P Sector Performance / Index-Price-Last Week-YTD

Information Technology 334 -0.4% 44.1%
Consumer Disc. 214 -1.8% 26.3%
Consumer Staples 261 0.5% 5.8%
Health Care 331 -1.2% 7.1%
Financials 199 -2.6% 17.7%
Industrials 233 -2.0% 12.5%
Energy 407 -2.8% 5.4%
Telecommunications 108 2.3% -3.3%
Utilities 149 -0.8% 0.8%
Materials 186 -3.7% 35.3%
Source: Baseline, Returns are appreciation only.

Interest Rates

Fed Fund 0.25 5-Year 2.34
3-Month 0.09 10-Year 3.29
6-Month 0.18 30-Year 4.04
2-Year 0.98
Source: Bloomberg.com

Economic Events This Week / Date-Event-Forecast-Previous

29-Sep Consumer Confidence 57.0 54.1
30-Sep GDP-Final -1.2% -1.0%
30-Sep Chicago PMI 52.0 50.0
1-Oct Personal Income 0.1% 0.0%
1-Oct Personal Spending 1.1% 0.2%
1-Oct Initial Claims 535K 530K
1-Oct Construction Spending -0.2% -0.2%
1-Oct ISM Index 54.0 52.9
2-Oct Nonfarm Payrolls -180K -216K
2-Oct Unemployment Rate 9.8% 9.7%
2-Oct Factory Orders 0.5% 1.3%
Source: Briefing.com

Economic Events Last Week / Date-Event

21-Sep The Leading Indicators for Aug. came in at 0.6% vs. forecasts of 0.7%
23-Sep The FOMC decided to leave the short-term interest rates unchanged at 0.25%
24-Sep Initial Claims for the week of 9/19 came in at 530K, slightly better than estimates of 55K
24-Sep Existing home sales came in at 5.1M homes vs. expectations of 5.35M
25-Sep Durable Orders for Aug. dropped -2.4% vs. forecasts of 0.3%
25-Sep The Michigan Sentiment for Sept. was 73.5 vs. consensus estimates of 70.5
25-Sep New Home Sales for Aug came in at 429K, slightly lower the forecasts of 440K
Source: Briefing.com

Man Rules: Humor That Women Can Relate To

2009-09-29T13:19:00.006-06:00

Guys think they have to abide by a host rules our spouses or girlfriends place on us. Now here are the 25 rules of the road from the male point of view!

1.Men are NOT mind readers.

2. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down...We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear US complaining about YOU leaving it down.

3. Sunday sports: It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

4. Crying is blackmail.

5. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work!
Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

6. "Yes" and "No" are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

7. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

8. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, ALL comments become null and void after 7 Days.

9. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.

10. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

11. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both...If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

12. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

13. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.

14. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

15. If it itches, it will be scratched...We do that.

16. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing', We will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

17. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear.

18. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine... Really.

19. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball or motor sports.

20. You have enough clothes.

21. You have too many shoes.

22. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

23. Dear, thank you for reading this. Yes, I know I have to sleep on the couch tonight. (did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.)

24. What do you mean it is just a game. IT's LIFE ITSELF!

25. Hey, these skinny limbs as you call them are "Guns Under Construction".

Health Expectations

2009-09-27T20:12:00.010-06:00

"What are your goals, hopes and expectations for me as your chiropractor?"

This is a question I always ask to determine exactly how a new practice member wants to be cared for. This is where I get to just sit and listen to how a person is made up.

What drives him or her?
How much they want to be active in the health partnership?
Do they want a quick patch job?
How important their body is to them.

I even get to hear about what they believe their potential for life is.
It is a pretty cool time to put aside my paradigm for health and hear what someone else’s is.

Make no bones about it though, regardless of what the answer is, my job is to find out what has caused the lose the health and how to help get it back completely. At the very minimum my job is to Inform him or her exactly how to get it back and let he or she decide.

If your doctor asked you this question, what would you say?

Your Health Mentor,
Dr. Rob Anderson

College Football Today: This Weeks Picks

2009-09-24T13:57:00.003-06:00

Here is College Football Poll.com picks for the week. Most teams are entering conference play and there are no huge games that should tip the polls in any major way; however there should be some pretty entertaining games such as Notre Dame vs. Purdue, Colorado State vs. BYU, Arizona vs. Oregon State, Michigan State vs. Wisconsin, Clemson vs. TCU, and California vs. Oregon. Happy Valley is a rocking place so Penn State vs. Iowa should be a good game for the visual effect if nothing else.

Market in a Minute, September 21, 2009

2009-09-21T21:45:00.001-06:00

Presented by Alan Favre, CFP

Authored by Partick Adams, CFA

Our position on the market is, sentiment is very much tilted to too many bulls, valuation is not excessive but is full, the market is overbought, and GDP growth will slow after the 3rd quarter. We could avoid a correction but the odds are against it.

Retail Sales reported last week were a lot stronger than consensus expectation. We believe this trend will begin to slow. The reason we believe this to be the trend going forward because the Baltic Exchange Dry Index is down 42% since June, kind of funny China is relying on the U.S. for growth and we are relying on China…there is not much of a recovery.

The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) is a number issued daily by the London-based Baltic Exchange. Not restricted to Baltic Sea countries, the Index tracks worldwide international shipping prices of various dry bulk cargoes.

The index provides "an assessment of the price of moving the major raw materials by sea.

Every working day, the Baltic canvasses brokers around the world and asks how much it would cost to book various cargoes of raw materials on various routes (e.g. 100,000 tons of iron ore from San Francisco to Hong Kong, or 1,000,000 metric tons of rice from Bangkok to Tokyo).

The index measures the demand for shipping capacity versus the supply of dry bulk carriers. The demand for shipping varies with the amount of cargo that is being traded or moved in various markets (supply and demand).

The supply of cargo ships is generally both tight and inelastic - it takes two years to build a new ship, and ships are too expensive to take out of circulation the way airlines park unneeded jets in the Arizona desert. So marginal increases in demand can push the index higher quickly, and marginal demand decreases can cause the index to fall rapidly. e.g. "if you have 100 ships competing for 99 cargoes, rates go down, whereas if you've 99 ships competing for 100 cargoes, rates go up. In other words, small fleet changes and logistical matters can crash rates..." The index indirectly measures global supply and demand for the commodities shipped aboard dry bulk carriers, such as building materials, coal, crude oil, metallic ores, and grains.

Because dry bulk primarily consists of materials that function as raw material inputs to the production of intermediate or finished goods, such as concrete, electricity, steel, and food, the index is also seen as an efficient economic indicator of future economic growth and production. The BDI is termed a leading economic indicator because it predicts future economic activity.

Because it provides "an assessment of the price of moving the major raw materials by sea," according to The Baltic, "... it provides both a rare window into the highly opaque and diffuse shipping market and an accurate barometer of the volume of global trade -- devoid of political and other agenda concerns." Source: Wikipedia

Index Performance
Index                            Price     Last Week     Year-to-Date
Dow Jones 30                9820         2.2%                11.9%
SP 500                          1068        2.5%                18.3%
NASDAQ                      2133        2.5%                 35.2%
Russell 2000                   618          4.1%                 23.7%
Russell 2000 Growth      2038         3.7%                 30.5%
Russell 2000 Value         3143         4.5%                 17.5%
Russell 1000 Growth      468           1.9%                 26.1%
Russell 1000 Value         556           3.1%                 14.1%
Source: Baseline, Returns are appreciation only.

S&P Sector Performance
Index                            Price      Last Week     Year-to-Date
Information Technology  336              1.6%                44.9%
Consumer Disc.             219               3.2%                29.5%
Consumer Staples          263               1.1%                  6.5%
Health Care                   335               0.3%                  8.2%
Financials                      204                4.5%                20.8%
Industrials                      238                3.9%                14.8%
Energy                          419                 2.8%                  8.4%
Telecommunications      108                 0.1%                 -3.5%
Utilities                          151                 3.6%                  2.0%
Materials                       193                 4.7%                40.4%
Source: Baseline, Returns are appreciation only.

Interest Rates
Fed Fund          0.25     5-Year      2.45
3-Month           0.08   10-Year      3.48
6-Month           0.19   30-Year      4.23
2-Year             0.98
Source: Bloomberg.com

Economic Events This Week
Date       Event                         Forecast     Previous
21-Sep    Leading Indicator           0.7%           0.9%
23-Sep    FOMC Rate Decision       -                 -
24-Sep    Initial Claims                  550K          545K
24-Sep    Existing Home Sales      5.35M         5.24M
25-Sep    Durable Orders             0.3%            5.1%
25-Sep    Michigan Sentiment      70.5             70.2
25-Sep    New Home Sales         440K           433K
Source: Briefing.com

Economic Events Last Week
Date           Event
15-Sep        The Core PPI for Aug. was 0.2% vs. forecasts of 0.1%
15-Sep        PPI came in at 1.7%, much higher than estimates of 0.8%
15-Sep        Retail sales rose 2.7% vs. expectations of 2.0%
15-Sep        Retail sales excluding auto was 1.1% vs. forecasts of 0.4%
15-Sep        Core CPI was up 0.1% which was in-line with expectations
15-Sep        CPI was 0.4% vs. estimates of 0.3%
16-Sep        Capacity utilization was 69.6% which was slightly better than forecasts of 69.1%
17-Sep        Building permits for Aug came in at 579K vs. estimates of 583K
17-Sep        Housing starts came in at 598K which was in line with expecations
17-Sep        Initial claims for the week of 9/12 were 545K, a little lower than forecasts of 555K
17-Sep        Philadelphia Fed number came in at 14.1 vs. consensus estimates of 8.0
Source: Briefing.com

J. Alan Favre, CFP

Managing Member
PEAK Wealth Management LLC
4600 S. Syracuse Suite 250
Denver, CO. 80237
Office: (303) 331-0123 ext. 100
Cell: (303) 907-3110
Fax: (303) 221-0950
Email: alanf@peakglobal.com
WebSite: http://www.peakglobal.com/

Have You Seen the New E-Cigarette?

2009-09-19T15:43:00.007-06:00

A new "healthier" electronic cigarette looks like a cigarette, feels like a cigarette, taste like a cigarette, provides the apparent satisfaction of a cigarette but there's something very different about it! Find out what it is besides the fact it costs $150.00. I wonder if it is dangerous in the rain? :o)

Book Review: The Success Principles by Jack Canfield

2009-09-17T10:04:00.024-06:00

The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be may be familiar to some of you as it has been out awhile, but if not and your looking for a good self-development tool I highly recommend this one. Although it is rather lengthy, it is a very practical and straight forward book that walks you through his process step by step. The book on tape is very good also to reinforce the message. So why is this book unique?

Jack Canfield is also the co-creator of the bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul® series. Jack's 30 years of coaching and development experience is effectively condensed into this remarkable book. The book begins by teaching you how to increase your confidence, tackle daily challenges, live with passion and purpose, and realize all your ambitions. It spells out the 64 key principles used by successful men and women throughout history that applies to everyone's profession or circumstances. That is allot of principles, but they are all applicable and not meant to be pursued all at once.

You’ll learn to tackle the important inner work needed to transform yourself followed by building a “success team” and expand your most important relationships. Finally, you’ll learn to develop a positive money consciousness along with habits that can ensure you’ll be able to live the lifestyle you want—while keeping the importance of tithing and service central to your financial life.

If you have high school age children Jack has a similar book that specifically address success factors for that age group which I also highly recommend called The Success Principles for Teens. To learn more visit Jack's website The Success Principles.

Give it some consideration and let us know what you think.

Market in a Minute; September 14, 2009

2009-09-15T15:16:00.006-06:00

Presented by Alan Favre, CFP

Authored by Partick Adams, CFA

Index Price Last Week YTD The Investor Intelligence Sentiment Index is now above 50% bulls and below 20% bears. This index is a good intermediate-term indicator for the market. When there are too many bulls, it is time to sell, and when there too many bears it is time to buy. The indicator is clearly at a sell reading. Our valuation work indicates the market is fully valued as well. The market is up over 54% from the low, there has only been one other period in time when we had a better six month advance, and that was in 1933. Could the market still go higher…sure, but it really cannot go up much more, in a reasonable time period, without a major shift in fundamentals. The near term fundamentals all look fine, but when you go out a quarter or two you have greater uncertainty.

High unemployment and too much consumer debt do not correlate with a new bull market. The market is now at another overbought condition and we are in a seasonally very weak period for the market historically. It all seems too obvious that the market is going to correct…

Last week National Semiconductor announced very strong earnings and Texas Instruments preannounced a positive earnings surprise, but both stocks traded down. This is an indication that the near term good news may be priced into the market.

There is a lot of economic data out this week. We are watching closely the Retail Sales excluding autos. Last month it was stronger than we expected.

Dow Jones 30 9605 2.8% 9.4%
S&P 500 1043 3.9% 15.4%
NASDAQ 2081 4.9% 32.0%
Russell 2000 594 4.0% 18.8%
Russell 2000 Growth 1965 5.4% 25.9%
Russell 2000 Value 3009 5.7% 12.5%
Russell 1000 Growth 459 2.4% 23.7%
Russell 1000 Value 539 3.1% 10.6%

Source: Baseline, Returns are appreciation only.

S&P Sector Performance
Index Price Last Week YTD

Information Technology 331 4.5% 42.7%
Consumer Disc. 213 4.6% 25.6%
Consumer Staples 260 2.4% 5.3%
Health Care 334 2.5% 8.0%
Financials 195 3.0% 15.6%
Industrials 229 6.3% 10.6%
Energy 407 5.9% 5.4%
Telecommunications 108 5.3% -3.6%
Utilities 146 0.0% -1.6%
Materials 185 4.0% 34.1%

Source: Baseline, Returns are appreciation only.

Interest Rates
Fed Fund 0.25 5-Year 2.36
3-Month 0.13 10-Year 3.42
6-Month 0.20 30-Year 4.23
2-Year 0.92

Source: Bloomberg.com

Economic Events This Week
Date Event Forecast Previous

15-Sep Core PPI 0.1% -0.1%
15-Sep PPI 0.8% -0.9%
15-Sep Retail Sales 2.0 -0.1%
15-Sep Retail Sales ex-auto 0.4% -0.6%
15-Sep Core CPI 0.1% 0.1%
15-Sep CPI 0.3% 0.0%
16-Sep Capacity Utilization 69.1% 68.5%
17-Sep Building Permits 596K 564K
17-Sep Housing Starts 580K 581K
17-Sep Initial Claims 555K 550K
17-Sep Philadelphia Fed 8.0 4.2

Source: Briefing.com

Economic Events Last Week
Date Event

10-Sep Initial claims for the week of 9/5 were 550K vs. estimates of 560K
11-Sep The Michigan Sentiment for Sep was 70.2 vs. forecasts of 67.5
11-Sep Wholesale inventories were -1.4% vs. expectations of -1.0%

Source: Briefing.com

J. Alan Favre, CFP
Managing Member
PEAK Wealth Management LLC
4600 S. Syracuse Suite 250
Denver, CO. 80237
Office: (303) 331-0123 ext. 100
Cell: (303) 907-3110
Fax: (303) 221-0950
Email: alanf@peakglobal.com
WebSite: http://www.peakglobal.com/

Identity Theft: A Growing Consumer Crisis

2009-09-14T22:50:00.029-06:00

Identity theft is clearly the fastest growing crime in America affecting almost 10 million Americans annually. This places a hugh risk on the backs of consumers. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) is a consumer rights protection bill that became effective June 1st, 2005. All companies in the United States are affected by this legislation. Consumers are affected as well and are as a result somewhat more protected; but still are often left vulnerable to identity thieves.

FACTA was established to lower the risk of identity theft and consumer fraud. It enforces the proper distruction of consumer information such as name, address, SSN, credit information, and data compiled from this information. What more should businesses and consumer know and do?

FACTA basically requires that all businesses - regardless of size and industry - properly protect and dispose of the personal information they collect about their customers and employees. The law declairs "Any person who maintains or otherwise possesses consumer information, or any compilation of consumer information, derived from consumer reports for a business purpose" in electronic or paper form must "take reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access or use of the information in connection with its disposal." - or to "properly dispose of such information or compilation". The FTC is wasting no time in making the point that they are enforcing this bill. Businesses are required to implement effective policies related to all information security, or suffer the consequences.

In 2003 and 2004, the Identity Theft Resource Center surveyed victims of identity theft and reported the
findings in a paper called The Aftermath Study. The problem has certainly gotten worse since then, but these comprehensive results are a good estimate of the effects of identity theft on its victims and the types of identity theft crimes that are committed.

38-48% of victims find out about the identity theft within 3 months of it starting
9-18% of victims take 4 years or longer to discover that they are victims of identity theft
Victims spend from 3 to 5,840 hours repairing damage done by identity theft. This difference is due to the severity of the crime.
The average number of hours victims spend repairing the damage caused by identity theft is 330 hours.
26-32% of victims spend a period of 4 to 6 months dealing with their case and 11-23% report dealing with their case for 7 months to a year.
40% of business costs for individual cases of identity theft exceed $15,000.
The Aberdeen Group has estimated that $221 billion a year is lost by businesses worldwide due to identity theft
Victims lose an average of $1,820 to $14, 340 in wages dealing with their cases
Victims spend an average of $851 to $1378 in expenses related to their case
47% of victims have trouble getting credit or a loan as a result of identity theft
19% of victims have higher credit rates and 16% have higher insurance rates because of identity theft
11% of victims say identity theft has a negative impact on their abilities to get jobs
70% of victims have trouble getting rid of (or never get rid of) negative information in their records
40% of victims experience stress in their family lives as a result of displaced anger and frustration over the identity theft
45% of victims feel denial or disbelief
85% of victims anger and rage
45% of victims feel defiled by the identity thief
42% of victims feel an inability to trust people because of the identity theft
60% of victims feel unprotected by the police
More than one third of victims report that identity thieves committed cheque account fraud.
66% of victims' personal information is used to open a new credit account in their name
28% of victims' personal information is used to purchase cell phone service
12% of victims end up having warrants issued in their name for financial crimes committed by the identity thief
43% of victims believe they know the person who stole their identity
14-25% of victims believe the imposter is someone who is in a business that holds their personally identifying information
The most common reported perpetrator in cases where a child's identity is stolen is the child's parent
16% of identity theft victims are also victims of domestic harassment/abuse by the same perpetrator which uses identity theft as another way to demonstrate his harassment and control
Overall, police departments seem to be the most responsive to victims of identity theft, with 58% taking down a report on the victim's first request
1/3 of victims have to send dispute information repeatedly to credit reporting agencies
Only 1/5 of victims find it easy to reach someone in a credit reporting agency after receiving their credit report
20% of victims will have the misinformation and errors removed from their credit report after their first request for the credit reporting agency to do so

From 2007 to 2008 there was a 50% increase in reported fraud and ID crimes. In 2008, the most common form of identity theft was credit card fraud. This type of crime accounted for 20% of all complaints reported. Current 2009 data is not available yet, but the prediction is another dramatic increase in identity theft statistics, spurred on the failing economy.

What do experts say consumers should do?

Monitor all the balances and transactions of your financial accounts. Unexplained withdrawals and/or charges could indicate an identity thief at work.
Watch your mail. Ensure you receive all your bank and credit statements monthly and make note of what part of the month they normally arrive. Failure to receive these could indicate an address change was made on your behalf from an identity thief.
Check to see if you are receiving credit cards that you did not apply for. If you didn’t apply for them, who did? Contact the credit card company immediately.
Look for credit denial for loans, mortgages, credit cards, etc., for no apparent reason.
Know if you are receiving notices or calls from creditors or debt collectors for goods and services you did not purchase nor receive.
Monitor your credit report regularly. Although some suggest monitoring your report at least annually, too much damage can be done in one year. Try to check your credit report at least two or three times a year. If you are already a victim of identity theft or have had your wallet/purse lost or stolen, monitor your credit report more frequently.
Utilize credit and identity theft monitoring services that also help with identitiy theft restoration.
Talk to qualified advisors and lawyers should your identify be compromised.

There are various inexpensive and valueable protection services benefiting businesses and consumers. One that I highly recommend and represent is called SecureNet can be viewed at Affordable and Trusted Benefits.

The FTC has a good consumer website dedicated to the issues surrounding identity theft at FTC Identity Theft Website.

Businesses can view the FACTA Law at FACTA Law Legislation.

Keep vigilent and be protected!

College Football Today: Ohio State vs. USC Review

2009-09-14T12:15:00.005-06:00

I'll be right up front...I am a huge Ohio State Fan! As a former Buckeye player what else would you expect? To all of my USC friends (and I have been hearing from many of you; ughh), USC should feel very lucky, because for nearly the entire game they were totally out played. Coach Tressel did a great job getting the Buckeyes ready and coached a fine game. The Bucks played above par with the Trojans athletically and physically; including matching overall team speed.

I, along with many Buckeye fans was obviously bummed with the 18-15 USC win. I am however, totally proud of their effort. Except for one dumb first quarter interception, we should have achieved a well deserved win. Terrelle Pryor's less-than-prime-time performance and not rushing as a team for over 120 yards on the ground (rushed 88) were important factors as well. Cudda, Wooda and Shudda are favorite hindsight pals but never more than the OSU/USC game. The bottom line is though, the score matters the most and USC won and Ohio State lost. The Trojans put together a great drive when they needed it.

The one area that OSU did come out on top was in the area of displaying team class. One friend who attended the contest shared that after the game while the Buckeyes were engaged in their 50 yard line team prayer, several Trojan's were skipping along the side of the field taunting Buckeye fans. Values matter and hats off to the Buckeyes. Don't be surprised if the Buckeyes are someone to reckon with down the stretch.

Establish Your Value Propostion When Interviewing

2009-09-03T11:27:00.015-06:00

During my 23 years of helping people with career management and transition issues, I consistently see candidates interviewing for jobs go into the "sell and tell" mode far too quickly before they have established their value proposition to the potential employer. Like one would do going into a transactional sale, job seekers all too often want to represent the features and advantages of their experience versus their actual benefits to the employer. They almost literally tell everything about themselves chapter and verse when the interviewer wants only to identify the applicable details that relate to why the job is available; in other words "their pain". So what is the correct approach to demonstrate your value proposition?

First, let's clarify the differences between a feature, advantage and benefit. A Feature is an attribute that is nice to have but are not necessarily critical to the problem, challenge or opportunity a company faces. Just like the many features on a DVD camera, some are critical, some are nice to have, and some are of no use at all. An Advantage is a feature that on occasion may prove to be helpful. A Benefit however, is an attribute that meets an explicit need expressed by the buyer; in this case the hiring manager. So the question becomes "how do I identify the explicit needs a manager may have"; and "how do I then communicate my value proposition as I begin to uncover them"?

I'll suggest a simple four step process that some of you in sales may already be familiar with called S.P.I.N Selling. The S.P.I.N. selling technique was the brainchild of Neil Rackham who authored a book of the same name in 1988 after surveying 35,000 sales calls and analyzing what techniques were most effective. Basically S.P.I.N. is a line of solution based questions that uncovers explicit pain and the solutions required to address the pain. The questions are comprised of:

Situation Questions: deal with the facts about the buyers existing situation.

Problem Questions: ask about the buyer's pain and focus the buyer on this pain while clarifying the problem, before asking implication questions. These give Implied Needs. Problem questions should also include exploring challenges and opportunities facing your buyer.

Implication Questions: discuss the effects of the problem, before talking about solutions, and develop the seriousness of the problem to increase the buyer's motivation to change.

Need-Payoff Questions: get the buyer to tell you about their Explicit Needs and the benefits your solutions offer, rather than forcing you to explain the benefits to the buyer. Getting the buyer to state the benefits has greater impact while sounding a lot less pushy. What these questions do is probe for explicit needs. These are often called "what if" questions.

Basically the fours stages during an interview or sales call are The Opening Stage, The Investigating Stage, The Demonstrating Capability Stage and The Obtaining Commitment Stage. The Opening sets it all up and is very critical. During The Opening Stage one should build relationship by building credibility as well as likability. Smiling and engaging in peasantries is fine, but soon transition the conversation by asking for permission to ask questions throughout the interview so you can be free to ask your S.P.I.N. questions. You often times can demonstrate your value proposition by asking good intellectual questions than by offering pithy stories or statements about yourself that do not relate to the pain being experienced by the buyer or hiring manager.

As an exercise create a Problem scenario that a company may have where you, and your experience and skills are the solution. Develop a line of S.P.I.N questions that flow on top of one another down to the point where you ask Need/Payoff questions followed by discussing possible solutions that emanate from your knowledge and experiences. Try this out on someone else that is willing to help you.

Successfully mastering this simple technique will help you build your value proposition and insure you are right for the job and the job is right for you. I can address structuring these questions in a future posting if readers would find it helpful. Happy Hunting!

Healthcare Advances

2009-08-24T21:52:00.012-06:00

Cell>Point offers new hope in more accurately diagnosing and treating cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes. The first release of this new technology may be available by year-end. Check it out.

http://www.cellpointweb.com/

Beating The Recession

2009-07-27T14:02:00.016-06:00

What are you doing that is new, novel or just good common sense to leverage or beat the recession?

Earn Residual Income and Obtain Affordable Benefits