Many people love to showcase their love for sports through a bumper sticker or a t-shirt. The credit card companies realized that this could be a good way to attract people to their credit cards. These companies decided to create sports credit cards that have a special look to allow people to express their passion for sports. 

These cards have become one of the best selling credit cards because they showcase sports logos and themes which people are passionate about. People can now showcase their passion for sports on th
ir credit card. The images on sports credit cards are printed on the card. Card holders show support for their favorite sport or sports team every time they use their credit cards.

There is a card for almost every sport imaginable. There are general sports credit cards like ones for Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and the National Football League. There are also credit cards for individual sports teams such as the New York Yankees or Dallas Cowboys. There are also sports credit cards that are dedicated to other sports like NASCAR, hunting and even the American Quarter Horse Association. 

Of course, sports credit cards do more than show off love of a sport. The cardholder can appreciate the unique rewards that they offer. In fact, some people sign up for sports credit cards because of the rewards they can get through reward programs. Cardholders earn rewards for every purchase they make with the NFL Extra Points card.  They can get NFL merchandise and tickets to special football camps as rewards.

The NASCAR Race Points card also offers a special incentive along with rewards. A cardholder will get a free NASCAR licensed chair after their first qualifying purchase and earn point rewards that can later be redeemed for a NASCAR experience. The Bass Pro Shops Outdoor Rewards card offer big rewards on merchandise bought at Bass Pro Shops and other rewards for purchases made elsewhere. These are just some examples of the advantages of using sports credit cards.

About the Author Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning Sports Credit Cards, including assistance with Chase Bank Credit Cards. Get the information you are seeking now by visiting findqualitycreditcards.com.

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How can the stock trader capitalize on the movement of stocks to gain trading profits? Getting the right reading on the direction of the stock is obviously very important. Determining the entry point (when to buy) and the exit point (when to sell) are equally important in addition to challenging. Related to the entry/exit points, the question of how long a stock should be held is also an important decision.

As with most stock trading topics, there are numerous approaches to the decision making process in terms of when to buy (where is
the low point), when to sell (where is the high point), when to hold, or when to be out of the stock altogether.

There are various technical analysis techniques as well as charting systems that identify the up/down direction of a stock, trend lines, low/high price points and other factors important to the stock trader. I think of candlestick technical analysis as a particular expression or representation of a stock's price movement. Furthermore, candlestick charting provides a visual cue for the trader to identify low and high points, whether the stock is trending up or down, and trend reversal points.

More important than the type of technical analysis, the stock trader requires a trend following method with which to guide the buy/sell decisions. If the stock trader can ride the trend, the trade will yield a profit. A good trend following system yields the appropriate buy/sell signals for the stock trader to gain profits on a consistent basis. Such a system takes the guess work out of stock trading.

Candlestick technical analysis provides a good basis to formulate a trend following method. Candlestick charting provides a good visual for the stock trader to easily see the direction, trend and buy/sell signals.

StockTradersPlace (http://stocktradersplace.com) provides a trend following method based on the use of candlestick technical analysis, presented through candlestick charting. You may find this to be a good complement to your trading tools and resources for consistently successful trades.

About the Author:

StockTradersPlace (http://stocktradersplace.com) provides a trend following method to boost your trading success.
Use our stock trading method to execute winning trades on a consistent basis.

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If you are doing your own investing in the stock market, what would be the first question you would ask yourself before you make any trade or investment? If your answer is how fundamentally sound the stock is, or whether the stock just broke out of a trading range on a chart, or the fact that the stock has gone down 50% in the last 6 months, or whether the volatility is low now so it is a good time to buy or sell, then you are probably on the road to ruin. These strategies have nothing in common with each other and there are all kinds of dif
erent criteria that I did not mention that have nothing in common with each other. However no matter what type of strategy you use to make your investment decisions, there is only one crucial question that must be asked before you pull the trigger and make the trade. That is, what is my risk and what is my reward on this trade. Even if you are going to buy a stock and hold it for a long time, you still have to be aware of your risk and your reward. Why? Because the entire stock market may be here for the rest of your life, any one stock might not be. You think, that is okay I diversified a lot so I don't need to know risk and reward. Wrong. Diversification is great, but you should still be aware of the risk and reward because even indexes of the entire market have a risk and a reward, depending on the length of time invested. Point of entrance, exit, stops, and diversification, are all important things, but they by themselves are not risk and reward. You have to ask yourself how much am I risking, and what my potential reward is. "How much" are the important words.

Okay how do I do that? Well first you must define your investment strategy. If you want to buy and hold what exactly does that mean. Hold for 5 years, 10 years, or forever? What is forever? If you are 20 years old forever is different than if you are 55. Also if you are buy and holding, is forever when you stop investing or is it when you start withdrawing money? These are important questions that must be answered specifically. You might say it doesn't matter because I will be diversified with index funds for the next 15 years. Okay let me ask these questions. Are you 100% invested at all times? Do you know the maximum drawdown (the largest loss from the index high and low in any 15 year period) for the index you invested in? Are you able to financially withstand that kind of drawdown? Alright, I know these are a lot of questions and all you want to do is invest in an index mutual fund for the next 15 years and forget about it. Well I am going to say right now that if you think you are taking very little risk on 15 years you are wrong. If you bought the S&P 500 in a 100% position in 1965 and needed the money in 1980 you would have made no return on investment and had a 40% drawdown from 1969 to 1975. If you look at the period of 1930 to 1955, a 25 year period it is even worse. I know it's the great depression and things are different today. Don't assume anything. I am not saying that you should not invest. I am just saying that there is a risk and a reward. Every time you trade whether it is once a week or once every 15 years, that trade has a chance of winning and a chance of losing. Also, when you buy a managed mutual fund for 15 years you are not buying and holding. You are buying and selling but you are paying a professional to do it for you. He or she will have draw downs in the fund and hopefully he or she will be looking at risk and reward for you. Even an index fund held for 15 years is not truly buy and hold because the indexes change on a yearly basis. Some stocks come in the index and some stocks go out of the index. The longer the time span, say 40-55 years, the bigger the risk but the bigger the reward. Also the longer the time span, the longer you can withstand a large drawdown if it comes.

Now what if you are trading stocks with an entry and an exit point already predefined; that is where do I get in and where do I get out. That strategy might be good but that is not risk and reward. The most important question is how much am I invested and how much do I get out. What is the % of risk on each stock position in the portfolio and what is the risk to the total portfolio. Let's take an example. You bought 100 shares IBM @50 for $5000 in a total portfolio of $200.000. You put a sell stop loss to sell all 100 shares if IBM goes to $40 / share. That means your risk on IBM is $10 / share or $1000. But your real risk to your portfolio is .5% or $1000 divided by $200,000. If you have a sell exit point of $100 then your reward on the stock would be 100% and the reward to your total portfolio was 2.5%. So your total risk to reward was 5 to 1. You could crunch numbers all day to make up formulas to fit your strategy, but the most important part is how much are you risking. Here are some general rules when it comes to risk:
Don't risk more than 2% on any given trade or idea. That doesn't matter if your strategy is technical or fundamental or discretionary. Risking 1% would be safer. Most large fund managers risk much less.

Diversify. Buying 1% risk on IBM and 1% on Dell and 1% on Hewlard Packard is a 3% risk because they all sell the same products
Don't risk more than 20% of your portfolio at any one time, 10% would be better. You have to have a way to quantify the greed factor or it might consume you and all your money at the same time.

In my own portfolios I try not to risk more than 7% on an initial portfolio position.

Initial risk and on going risk can be two different risks. As a trade becomes profitable the amount of at risk at any moment in time can be a variable not a constant. That would allow for letting profits run while cutting losses short. However, making your initial risk a variable in most cases would be a disaster. Once initial risk is conceived it should never be increased. Greed may become the primary factor in increasing initial risk and that is always a fast track to increasing losses.

I hope that risk and reward become the primary strategy concern in your future investing and trading.
About the Author private placement fund manager, and owner of http://ww.buypanic.com, an investment newsletter. I ahve over 24 years trading experience, specializing in stock index trend following. I alos have experience in volatility based money management principles. Buypanic.com offers valuable insight on both stock strategies and money management.


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When you finish a modification for a client and collect your paycheck, you are far from done with that client. Ditto if you were unable to modify their loan for any reason. Either way, they are now ready to exit the modification workflow system and enter the follow-up marketing system. First, you will hand-write them a note congratulating them on the modification (assuming they got approved) and thanking them for choosing to do business with you. Maybe even include a little thank you gift like a gift certificate to Starbucks or Home Depot or
something. Don't put your business card in this letter. They probably already have your card, and you'll have plenty more opportunities to give them more. The best way to use this as a marketing opportunity is to not turn it into a marketing opportunity. If you show that you sincerely care about them, like them, and are grateful for their business, then they'll appreciate you all the more and be more likely to refer you to friends. If you come across as insincerely writing them solely for the opportunity to pitch them again, they'll resent it.

Next, call them a couple weeks after the loan mod is all done to make sure they don't have any unanswered questions. Then call them again another month or so down the road to make sure they made their payment without any problems or questions. Then, call them six months down the road again to make sure they're still doing OK. Maybe call again after a year to see how they're getting along. Don't forget, besides referrals, they might need another modification, refinance, purchase loan, or real estate sale down the road! In the meanwhile, you're including them in your regular email newsletters (which is just an email version of your blog posts, which is also a must), periodic handwritten letters, coffee appointments, and other ways that you contact them. This will continue as long as you are in business.

Even if the mod is unsuccessful or they eventually lose their house, stay in contact with them just the same, as you will likely get extra referrals from them at this time, since they will possibly know and talk to lots of other people about losing their homes, which will get those other people to talking about how they're behind too, and they know this great person who does loan mods, and here's her number, and so on.

If you were, in fact, unsuccessful with the modification, you still put them in the follow-up marketing system, exactly as you would a successful client, but you will also refer them to a trusted real estate broker who focuses on short sales. More on this crucial and lucrative step in the next article: Loan Modification Marketing Series Part 8 - Referring Your Clients to Other Professionals.

About the Author:

If you'd like to learn more about starting a loan modification business, or if you want to access all the necessary forms, spreadsheets, and templates, click here:

http://StartALoanModBiz.com

Matt Sparks is a successful entrepreneur, both offline and on. He is also a licensed mortgage broker, employing real estate broker, and Realtor. He has written books, articles, and blogs about small business, real estate, finance, New Urbanism, and sustainable cities.

(c) Copyright - Matthew R. Sparks. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

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With the credit card biting hard it's important that you make your money go as far as possible. Find out some simple tips to save money and leave more money to live without debt or finance worries.

As the USA and much of the world struggles to fight off a looming recession many families are looking for ways to save money. Here are a bunch of ideas that could help you save money.

Make a Budget: Start out by creating a simple household budget. Add up all the incomings such as your wages and regular interest, share in
ome or government benefits. Once you've found out how much money you have coming in you need to know what money is going out and where it is going. Make a list of how much you spend on items such as rent / mortgage, going out to restaurants or concerts, food, clothing, electronics etc. Hopefully you will find your incomings are greater than outgoings but it's often not the case. Having a look through where your money is being spent is the first step to spotting areas where you can save money each month.

Shop Around: You can save a lot of money by shopping around. For the type of items that are available online then take advantage of shopping comparison websites that compare the price of products from hundreds of online stores.

Buy in Bulk: When it comes to your grocery shopping then you can save money on non-perishable items such as canned foods, toilet roll and laundry detergents by purchasing them in bulk.

Savings Accounts: As part of the household budget you create make sure you allow some money each month to add to a savings account. High interest savings account rates are currently very competitive as banks try and boost their deposits during the credit crunch. Because you earn interest on your money before you use it to make a purchase then your lowering the real cost of future purchases.

Use Debit not Credit: It's good to minimise the interest payments on your credit card bill each month. An easy way to stay in control is to use a debit card such as a Visa Debit card for most of your purchases. This takes the money directly from your bank account forcing you to spend within your limits.

Cut Price Movies: If you love going to the movies then why not consider making some changes. Some movies offer discounts during off-peak periods or on certain nights of the week. Cinemas also make much of their profits from the candy bar. Why not bring along your own refreshments.

Eating Out: Consider cutting back on how often you dine out or purchase takeaway food. It is almost always far cheaper to eat at home. For those meals you do eat out then check the papers for discount coupons. Eating at home is normally better for your health as well as your wallet.

Take Your Own Lunch: Cutting out that morning coffee at Starbucks or bringing your own food for lunch can save a small fortune. It's easy to spend over $10 on coffee and food at work. Just cutting out the morning Starbucks or bringing your own lunch could easily save you over $2,500 per year.

Pay TV: Do you get much out of your pay TV. Why not consider scrapping it and getting a digital set top box so you can enjoy free to air TV channels in the best quality without any monthly fees. If that is too much then why not cut back to a package with just the channels you value and enjoy the most.

There are of course many other ways of saving money but these are just some ideas to get you started. Why not make it a challenge at home to all come up with ten ways you can each cut back on your spending. Use a spending diary for a couple of weeks to see where your money is going and where you can make further cuts. By using a number of these suggestions combined with ideas you brainstorm at your house you may find you can quickly cut hundreds of dollars per month from from your budget without any drastic lifestyle changes.

About the Author Richard Greenwood's company Click 4 Group runs banking comparison websites to help consumers compare interest rates and fees to get the best savings account. The sights feature high interest savings products from leading Australian banks.

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Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB) Shell Prices
By William Cate
Published July 1999
[http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/] [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/globalvillageinvestmentclubwelcome/]

You can't buy a clean public shell in North America. I doubt you
can buy a clean shell anywhere in the World. I offer a startup spinoff
service because your spunoff public company is clean. Also, the spinoff
format allows me to arrange a European Million-Dollar Private Placement for
your newl
spunoff public company. My startup spinoff fee is equal to the
retail price for an OTCBB shell. I offer a better deal. However, since most
entrepreneurs think OTCBB shell and not spinoff, I'm not overwhelmed with clients. As noted above, [Spinoff Interest] I can't handle more than four
startup spinoff clients a quarter. To date, I've never had four new clients
in any quarter.

In 1998, the OTCBB shell price was US$125,000. In January 1999, the
OTCBB shell price moved to US$150,000. The increase was explained by shell
sellers "as expectation that the 3,400 non-reporting companies, being
delisted from the OTCBB, would rush to buy OTCBB shells." The rush didn't
happen. Most non-reporting companies are being delisted from the OTCBB,
without a whimper. However, I moved my startup-spinoff fee to US$150,000.
The attorney receives US$75,000, the auditor earns about US$15,000.
Incidental expenses are about US$10,000. I'm paid US$50,000.

In the past two weeks, an experience OTCBB shell buyer appears to
be offering US$350,000 for OTCBB shells. He's a stock broker, who has
worked with shell buyers for over a decade as an agent. He should know the
value of an OTCBB shell.

I'll contact several more professional shell sellers. I intend to
confirm the doubling of the shell price before I adjust my startup-spinoff
fee. Assuming the OTCBB shell price has gone to US$350,000, I'll seek an
explanation for the more than doubling of the OTCBB shell price, in the
past six weeks. If the OTCBB shell price is now US$350,000, you can expect
that I'll double my startup Spinoff/Private November 1, 1999. The reason
that I added this article was to give you advance warning of the probable
increase in costs of doing a startup spinoff with me. If you have any
interest in doing a startup spinoff with me, I strongly advise you to
arrange a fee consultation with me this month. Otherwise expect to pay more
if you wait until November.

After confirming the higher retail shell price, I'll advise EFHC
(EFHLF) to adjust their fees upward to reflect the higher retail OTCBB
shell price. If you are thinking about raising US$10 million for your
operating company, you should meet with EFHC and its attorney this month.
Clients don't always take my advice. However, delay risks higher costs for
operating companies seeking the US$10 million from EFHC.

If you know OTCBB shell sellers, please contact them. If you can
check on OTCBB shell prices, I'd appreciate an email on the results of your
query. Ask your shell sellers about the price of a clean OTCBB shell with
over 80% insider control. You want to know the retail price and selling
terms. As I understand the US$350,000 offer, it's a cash payment, without
terms payment.

To contact the author: Visit the Beowulf Investments website: [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/] Or, visit the Global Village Investment Club Website:
[http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/globalvillageinvestmentclubwelcome/]
About the Author He has been the Managing Director of Beowulf Investments [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/] since 1981 and is the Executive Director of the Global Village Investment Club [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/globalvillageinvestmentclubwelcome/]


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Have you ever taken out a credit card only to find a better deal later. Credit card deals can confuse as when considering a new credit card there are a number of options to be taken into account. In this article I've outlined seven options to be considered when you take out your next credit card.

How many times have you taken out a credit card based purely on its current interest rate or balance transfer option?

You may be surprised to note there are at least 7 elements worthy of consideration when you tak
out a new credit card. To judge a new credit card on just one or two options could easily result in a bad deal for you. You need to consider the following 7 options when you take out a credit card:

1. The Initial Concessionary Interest Rate And Period

Many credit cards offer a 0% interest rate on purchases for a limited period, usually six to nine months. This option can be very attractive particularly when you do not repay the balance in full each month.

After the initial period the rate reverts to the standard rate, usually in the 10 to 16% range although this can be considerably higher.

Some cards however have no interest free offer but have a much lower permanent rate, from about 6.9% (although it will vary in line with general interest rate charges).

If you are likely to have a long term balance (if you are unable to pay off the debt within the first 6 to 9 months) this option could save you money in the medium to long term. You will not be able to switch to this rate if you have taken the 0% initial rate offer.

2. A Monthly Interest Free Period On New Purchases

This relates to the period between your purchase of an item and when you will be charged interest on that purchase amount. Many cards have a policy of only charging from the payment date after the item appears on your card statement.

The effect of this is to give you between approximately 25 days and 56 days interest free credit on all purchases. Clearing your balance within this period will result in no interest being charged.

Some cards will charge interest immediately from the date of purchase and are therefore not suitable if you clear your balance each month.

3. The Annual Fee

Many cards have now implemented an annual fee. This fee is chargeable whether you clear the debt each month or if you roll over your debt.

4. 0% Balance Transfers

When taking out a new credit card you will normally have the option of transferring any outstanding balance to your new card with no interest charged for a specified period.

Although marketed as a "0% balance transfer" many are not totally free of charge. An increasing number now charge a one off charge of 2-3% of the amount transferred as an "administration chearge" for handling the transfer.

This is legally not an interest charge but it amounts to the same thing - you are charged a fee by your credit card company based on the amount transferred.

The availability of true 0% balance transfers is disappearing and in all likely hood will completely disappear sometime soon. If a 0% balance transfer is important to you take advantage soon, however be aware that many of these cards have higher subsequent interest rates.

5. The Availability Of Cashback

Many cards now offer cashback on purchases. This is usually is between 1/2 and 1% of new purchases (excluding balance transfers and cash withdrawal). If you do not repay your account in full each month take this into account when considering the interest rate chargeable.

It is only where you repay the card in full each month that this is a true cashback on purchases and if you do repay in full each month you may choose to make this a priority.

6. The Rewards And Discounts Offered With Your Credit Card

Rewards are where you can purchase goods or services at a discount by using your credit card, or you have free insurance on purchases made using your credit card.

In the credit card business nothing is free. If there are rewards offered the cost will be built in somewhere (usually a higher interest charge) so compare with other cards not offering the same rewards.

7. Credit Card Payment Insurance

Whether you take this option or not most cards now offer some sort of payment protection insurance in the event of sickness and disability. In the past this cover was limited to paying the minimum monthly payment however many cards now pay 10% of the balance on the card at the time your claim commences and may be worth considering.

Be very careful with this insurance as it will exclude any condition you suffer from when the cover commences and similarly any redundancy announced before the cover commences.

Taking out a new credit card is more complex than it seems at first. As you can see when considering a new credit card there are a number of aspects which must be taken into account and t can be very difficult choosing a new card.

There are many comparison services available that can help you cut through the confusion and I suggest you consult one or more before making your decision.

In all cases prioritise your requirements and only apply for the credit card which best matches your circumstances. Don't just pick the card with the longest balance transfer period or lowest interest rate as it may cost more in the longer term.

About the Author John worked for many years in insurance and finance and now writes on credit cards and debt management. For advice on credit cards go to http://www.card-debt.net or http://www.consolidation-loan-advice.info for information on Debt Management.


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One great irony of life is that people find it so easy to spend money and yet, they find it doubly hard to save money.

Almost 80% of the consumers, according to some surveys, tend to spend their money easily and find it hard to save even just 10% of their income or any amount of their earnings. They always insist that they have more expenses than they can handle; that is why it is so hard for them to really create a hefty amount for savings.

What people do not know is that they can easily save more money even on their
daily expenses if they just know how to do it.

The point is that if they were really wise consumers, they would definitely take advantage of freebies and discount items that can absolutely cut their expenses almost in half.

One of the best examples is the utilization of money saving coupons.

The problem is that many people are still not aware of the benefits that money saving coupons can give. They contend that these freebies just offer such a little amount of money and that they can be better off without it.

Therefore, for those who are not yet fully aware of the benefits they can derive from these money saving coupons and what they can do in order to save more money, here is a list of some of tips on how to use these coupons for a cause:

1. Look for the right places

If you are not yet aware of the right places where you can get excellent money saving coupons, try to look in your local newspaper, especially the Sunday editions. It's one of the best places where you can get discount coupons.

Usually, different establishments provide discount coupons to entice consumers to buy their products. That's why they use the paper to distribute their freebies.

2. Shop online

Online businesses also provide money saving coupons. What people do not know is that online discount coupons provide more money saving percentage than what the newspapers can give.

Best of all, it is so easy to accumulate discount coupons. All you have to do is to sign up for the online business and you can easily get some of their freebies.

3. Coupons are great money savers

The very advantage of money saving coupons is that they can cut your bill to almost 50%.

Indeed, using money saving coupons can definitely save you more money than what you have expected. So, for those who do not know this yet, try to cut more coupons and start saving.

About the Author We provide free articles and information. Check us out at Free Articles

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