Collectible Action Figures - Is About Fun Memories And More Money
Superhero action figures first stormed the doors of department stores and toy stores nearly 35 years ago. Constructed of various kinds of plastic and clothed in uniforms, costumes and capes G.I. Joe, Superman, Spiderman, the Lone Ranger and others marched, flew and rode off store shelves and into ... more...

Home Owners In Trouble! The Real Estate Bubble, Rising Interest, and Variable Rate Loans Concern Fed
Hurricane Katrina, floods, earthquakes, rising fuel prices, shrinking pocketbooks, and now, concerns over variable interest rate loans, are discussions heard throughout the nation.With mounting concerns by the Fed over rising inflation, there is a serious push to increase the current rates of ... more...

A Bad Real Estate Market is Good for Real Estate Investors and the Country!
The real estate industry in this country is in for a rude awakening!The realtors, mortgage brokers, investors (really speculators) and Alan Greenspan are whistling past the grave yard, living on borrowed time.Few people realize how bad the real estate market can become. I remember in the late 70s ... more...

Bankers in Denial
Denial is a ubiquitous psychological defense mechanism. It involves the repression of bad news, unpleasant information, and anxiety-inducing experiences. Judging by the German press, the country is in a state of denial regarding the waning health of its economy and the dwindling fortunes of its ... more...

China's New Currency Regime
The base unit for the renminbi is the yuan, which is how the Chinese currency is most commonly referred to. The official ISO abbreviation for the yuan is CNY, but it is also commonly abbreviated in the forex industry as RMB.The yuan had been pegged at 8.28 to the dollar since 1994. While China ... more...

Housing Bubbles and You
Are we in a housing bubble? To answer that question first we need to understand what a housing bubble actually is. A housing bubble is what happens when the there is a significant rise in the market that is mostly due to the expectation that the prices will continue to rise. The bubble will not ... more...

How to Terror-Proof Your Money
"To drift is to be in hell, to be in heaven is to steer." George Bernard ShawFormer Homeland Security Director, Tom Ridge, has said it's not a matter of "if" well have another terrorist attack, but when. Like the attack of 9/11, the financial effects of another terror attack will be felt by ... more...

Behold: The Prince of Persia. . . the War in Iran has begun!
DJ VU (Where have I heard this before?)(Note: May I warn you from the outset . . . this treatise may commence with the levitas of “secular” indiscretions, comments and analysis . . . but it will culminate with relevant theological gravitas . . . bear with me; and, oddly enough, the ... more...

Real Estate Wealth Protection Through Short Sales
Is a sharp correction in store for the real estate market?Fannie Mae, the largest buyer of mortgages in the US, is worried. They recently warned that the probability of a housing bust has risen sharply in certain parts of the country.Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac financed about 43% of new home ... more...

Real Estate Investors - Red Alert
How's the real estate marketing doing? Is the huge jump in home prices that is evident in some areas symptoms of a value bubble? Good questions, yes?Two things to keep in mind when surveying the market:1. All real estate is local, 2. Real estate is cyclical.Here in Arizona some residential ... more...

A Creative RIOT
Relevant, original and impactful: thats what my friend Creative Director Jim Mountjoy says that effective creative must be. With apologies to Jim, I have my own acronym because I think ROI is only 75 percent of the way there. Effective creative is a RIOT: relevant, impactful, original and true.Lets ... more...

Cutting Edge Real Estate, Is the Bubble Ready To Burst?
Of course, this is the big question in real estate now. . .Will the so-called real estate bubble burst like the dot-com bubble did a few years back?There are some good arguments on both sides of the issue. Whatever happens in the next few years, it will affect millions of Americans, and ... more...

Property Investment - What Future For the Biggest Bubble of All Time?
The Economist magazine published a special report in this months issue entitled House Prices After The Fall. Some might call it pessimistic, alarmist, nonsense or worse but only the foolish would choose to ignore the research that comes out of a think-tank with the kind of resources that this ... more...

The Great Real Estate Bubble Quiz
You hear it asked on the radio, in the newspapers and on TV."Are we experiencing a value bubble in real estate and is itready to burst?"Do you have an answer for that question? Do you have a guess?Yes, I know the so called experts are lining up on both sides of the question. But what about you? ... more...