The same thing happens when a prospective customer is run-down with a sense of guilt, for having to ask for a loan. Both cases are equally negative towards a good deal.

Make A Checklist

Things to find out BEFORE you go to the first lending agent are: Interest rates, payback terms available, administration fees or arrangement fees and pre-payment penalties. Investigate on the Internet what conditions the market has in general, take note and then start looking for a suitable lender.

Interest Rates

Sometimes they fluctuate, so if you are not desperate, wait a little and see how they tend to move. The range goes from .6% to 8%, depending on the type of loan you are looking for and the payback term. Consider that credit card rates are in the neighborhood of 18%, so it can be useful to pay off your credit card debt with a more accessible tipe of financing.

Fees

Compare fees, but bear in mind not to pay an up-front fee to a doubtful lender or one that is not well-known or trustworthy. Perhaps you could ask your acquaintances or family to recommend you a couple and then make your choice.

Small Writing

The small writing must never be left unread. You might want to ask the agent for a copy of the contract before you actually sign it, so as to avoid taking too much time from the agent and be able to look into it in detail and understanding everything before you make a no-return mistake.

Don’t Trust Your Memory

Take a paper and pen and jot down everything that is said during the interviews with agents, as well as the correct name of the interviewer, since you might have to speak to someone else in the course of the preparation and need to refer to this conversation.

Pre-payment Penalties

Sometimes, there are penalties that are applied to the borrower if he wishes to payback the outstanding balance with a lumpsum. Why is that? Because you are depriving the

What is the best way to properly store ammo for the long term?

What is the best way to properly store ammo so that it doesn’t degrade over a period of time? And how do you keep it in proper condition so that when you finally put it to use, it functions as it was designed to? Perhaps we can take some tips from the military and the way that they treat their munitions.

Military cartridges are designed to be stored at temperatures ranging from minus 65 degrees Fahrenheit to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. They were created for soldiers to use under the worst conditions imaginable. These same cartridges also have an indefinite shelf life. The term shelf life refers to how long an item can remain in storage and still be functional.

The companies that manufacture military ammo are well aware of their requirements and specifications. They are also well aware that if they do not meet the criteria, they will lose a rather large contract with the US Government. The interesting thing to note is that the same companies that create and sell ammunition to the government are the same folks that make most of the stuff we civilians use. The same guys that create the 5.56mm for the military change the label, call it a 223, and sell it to civilians! When it comes right down to it, there is little to no difference in the ammunition common to civilians and to military. Therefore, it is generally safe to use similar procedures in storage methods and practices.

Most ammo comes in a wooden outer container with metal inner packs that actually hold the ammo. The military stores theirs at least two inches off the ground and makes sure that it is inspected every five years. Standard procedure is to actually look at just ten percent of all the ammunition to see if any defects have developed. They are then placed back in storage for another five years. If any corrosion has developed on the ammo, copper or steel wool is used to scrub and scrape it off.

The number one adversary of ammunition is moisture. As long as your container is waterproof, you should not expect any problems. Another common military tactic is to include dehumidifier packages in the ammo containers to suck up any surplus moister that may have gathered.

Our basic conclusion is this: before you store your ammunition, make sure it is clean and dry. That’s all! There is no need to store at a specific temperature, there is no need to vacuum seal anything. Just keep ammunition protected and dry and then let it be.

Read more about Gun and Ammo safety and storage at our sight

If you want to be a successful fundraiser, you’ll need to learn and feel how a donor thinks and acts, on so many requests for funds. If you make an attempt to feel the pulse of a donor, you have probably taken the first big step in realizing your dream. Donors come in different forms and objectives; most of them are well to do private foundations and charitable trusts, which work as non profit entities, with a mind to help those needy causes. Did you ever know that there are almost 63,000 private and community foundations in the United States alone, and about 10,000 of them in the most advanced countries?

There are five types of foundations:

1. Individual or family foundations, which usually operate as trusts or foundations. Notable examples are Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Schultz Foundation.

2. Corporate Foundations established by corporations and industries. Examples are Sallie Mae and Sears, Roebuck and Co.

3. Operating Foundations established to establish to operate research, social welfare, or other charitable programs. Examples are Downing Foundation and Heartwood Foundation.

4. Community Foundations supported by and operated for the benefit of a specific community or region. Some of the examples are Minnesota Community Foundation and Hawaii Community Foundation.

5. Non Governmental Organizations operating across the borders and countries, for international community. Examples are Rotary International and Lions International.

However, you can also tap individuals and small donors in your own hometown and they’ll be too happy to lend a hand of support for your noble cause.

What do donors look for in a fundraiser?

Donors usually operate strictly on the basis of their objectives and goals; they will first ascertain that the purpose of an organization or project matches their interests. They’ll also ascertain that a fundraiser is well known in his/her community and that it relates to an existing or pressing need. This literally means that before you attempt to raise funds, you’ll need to project yourself a responsible entity, with a mind to serve a noble cause.

How do donors give funds?

Donors usually give donations, gifts, estates, cash support, in-kind support, research grants, matching grants, donations-in-kind, medical supplies, relief materials and logistic support. However, donors have their mode of disbursing help, depending on legal and accounting norms.

What are the basic approaches which must be followed?

1. Subject approach, which identifies donors, who have expressed a keen interest in funding programs.

2. Geographic approach, which identifies funding opportunities in a particular geographical area.

3. Type of support approach, which identifies funding chances based on a specific support program.

4. Random approach, which identifies random donors, who just want to donate something for a noble cause. These donations are smaller in nature and amount.

However, remember that there is fierce competition for different types of funding, which are dished out by so many different foundation and trusts. With careful planning and a bit of dedication, it shouldn’t be too difficult to lay your hands on a good non profit fund.

Daniel J Lesser is the creator of FundraisingInfoSite.com
A whole world awaits people if they can gain greater funding. Find out how you can expand their
horizons at fundraisinginfosite.com fundraisinginfosite.com.

The time to pay up for last years holiday has come around again, but you may have came back from holiday only to find that there a few items on your credit statement that you don’t remember paying for.

Here are some tips on the direction you should take if this occurs.

The first thing you should do is to contact your credit card company. If someone has illegally cloned your credit card details, you could find more of the same type of credit card transactions on your next bill.

The next thing you should consider is contacting all the providers of the other credit cards that you took with you on holiday. You should let them know that you think that one or more of your cards has been jeopardized and that you will need to have your accounts checked for abnormal transactions. The simplest way is to let them know when you returned back home from holiday and that any purchases from abroad should be thought of as suspicious.

Tell the credit company to cancel any cards that are thought to have had any suspect transactions performed, and instruct them to send you out new replacement cards. It will usually take a couple of days to receive your new plastic, so in that time you will have to use other arrangements to pay using cheques, cash etc.

The credit card company that you use will investigate any suspicious transactions in part to make sure that you didn’t make any of the purchases and just forgot about it, and they might be capable of plotting out a pattern of transactions from somebody that is traveling from region to region while using your card.

You should ask that your credit company send you out an amended account of your transactions and that they don’t ask you to pay on you disputed credit card bills.

One last thing, you might receive some calls from someone who claims to be from your credit card company, and they want to check you’re newly issued credit cards for security reasons. If they ask for any secure information, don’t let them have it, it could be the criminals calling you, and they know that you have probably been issued with new cards. They do this in an attempt to obtain entry to your new accounts.

Remember; just make sure that you can account for everything on your next bill.

Dedicated to the travel industry, he is always looking for the best holiday deals to pass to his clients. See an example of the type of travel web sites he is working on now at: barrheadtravel.co.uk barrheadtravel.co.uk

You will find that the “looser “ a trading method or system is, the longer it will last before the market tears it up. The ups and downs will be milder. For example, let’s start with a simple 30 bar moving average. Most commodity futures traders would laugh at it, but this is one way to keep you on the right side of the market. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a poor indicator for buy and sell signals over time, giving close to break-even results. But if used with a shorter-term indicator that only takes trades in one direction as the moving average, it can be a good start to a larger method.

So what’s this have to do with being different from the crowd? The commodity futures market is a paradox. Simple is complex and complex is simple. A simple moving average is available to everyone. It’s as common as a bar chart. But when a futures trader uses his own unique combination to set himself apart from the crowd, magical things begin to happen.

For example, how many people are trading with a simple moving average? Probably many. You can tell by running a simple computer back test to see the mediocre results. This is also because it is not optimized and curve fitted, so the performance is generic. But now add in another indicator and you have selectively reduced the number of futures contract traders using the method. There are some interesting methods that can be put together with simple indicators.

The point I’m making is to think outside the box. The stuff you see for sale everywhere can give you good ideas sometimes. These can be good seeds for thought. But you need to develop your own custom method that becomes your own. And be ready and flexible to change it or toss it out if the futures contract markets change enough to make it a constant loser. Be ready to bring it back when the market favors it again. The commodity futures market is always changing. Remember that and reduce your pain.

We need several trading methods to handle different types of markets. This is assuming we want to trade more than one type of futures market action. We have chopping, bear and bull markets; so that makes at least three. Personally, I find the characteristics of a bull differ greatly from a bear. That’s why all my models are separate for bull or bear markets. I also have a chop market model. The words, “model” or “system” really mean the same thing. “Model” is cooler sounding and used by fund managers. “Systems” are the stuff you see for sale in the magazines ads… (smile) More coming…

Part Three of Three, Next!

There is substantial risk of loss trading futures and options and may not be suitable for all types of investors. Only risk capital should be used.

Thomas Cathey directs the managed futures division of Thomas Capital Management, LLC. Get FREE, the complete 44 lesson, “Thomas Commodity Trading Course” by visiting: thomascapitalmanagement.com/commodity/welcome.htm thomascapitalmanagement.com/commodity/welcome.htm It’s brand new… a “street-wise” trading e-course. Get an edge trading futures, day trading e-mini’s and selling options. Also learn how “TimeLine Trading” and rare “Ninja trades” can improve your trading results. For more helpful trading info, visit the main Thomas Capital Management trading website at: ThomasCapitalManagement.com ThomasCapitalManagement.com

Contactless payments create a whole new field of payment options for merchants. Contactless payments are quick, simple and pave the way for greater profits. A smart computer chip, with data and an antenna is embedded into a credit card, debit card or fob. When the card or fob is tapped on a radio frequency reader, the reader sends out a radio signal that activates the card, the information on the card is read and the payment is processed without a signature for purchases less than $25.00 with no chargebacks to the merchant.

“Merchants don’t need to worry about compatibility with their present systems or security” said, Mohamed Khan, President and Founder of ViVOtech, Santa Clara, Calif.-based developer of contactless software, transaction management systems and readers.

“We have been working closely with processors, card issuers and terminal providers to create an open system using the IS0 14443 standard. It uses secure encryption technology. The contactless card doesn’t leave the customers’ hands therefore it is more secure and there’s no skimming of data,” assured Kahn who sees contactless as a great opportunity for merchants to increase revenue. He envisions contactless payments as a replacement for cash because they are faster, more convenient and cost less due to less shrinkage and less labor involved.

There are two types of contactless readers available: Peripheral Contactless Readers (PCRs) that plug in to existing POS terminals, and Integrated Contactless Readers (ICRs) that replace traditional readers and offer both magnetic-stripe- and contactless-reading capabilities. Merchants can purchase either type of reader. The PCRs usually cost around $150. Some merchant service providers such as Acies, however, are offering deals competitive plans and free readers with terminals.

David Robertson, Publisher of The Nilson Report (Carpinteria, Calif.) estimates that there are 12 million contactless cards currently in circulation in the U.S. He predicts that first contactless successes will be at the brand name retailers and then merchants in the areas where cards are deployed will follow suit when their customers ask to use their contactless cards.

Customers are asking for contactless in the New York Metro area where many cards have been “dropped,” says Oleg Frier CEO and President Acies, Inc, a New York City-headquartered national payment processing and financial services provider. Other areas where there are substantial contactless readers and cards include Atlanta, Philadelphia, Denver, Dallas and Orlando, says Khan.

Studies show the speed and added value of contactless payments because typically when someone does not pay with cash the amount of the transaction increases. Visa trials showed their contactless card transactions were 25% faster than cash. MasterCard PayPass trials showed an increase in transaction amounts and 12 to 18 second reductions in payment times for drive-thru transactions. Aite Group reports that CVS, the drug store chain, has found the average contactless transaction takes 12.5 seconds, versus 26.7 seconds for magnetic-stripe card payments and 33.7 seconds for a cash transaction.

Merchants who have a small time frame to service customers, such as fast food restaurants, coffee houses, movie theatres, drug stores, convenience stores and drive-thrus can benefit greatly from contactless payment methods. McDonald’s, AMC Theatres, CVS, Meijer, Duane Reade, Regal Entertainment, Ritz Camera, Arby’s, Cold Stone Creamery, Eckerd, Carl’s Jr., Good Times Burger, KFC, RaceTrac, Subway, Sonic (Drive-In Restaurants) and Walgreens have installed contactless readers. Convenience stores are gearing up to accept contactless payments. Contactless readers are being installed in 5,300 7-Eleven stores and 350 Sheetz stores. WaWa markets is installing over 2000 readers in its 540 stores co-branded with a credit card and loyalty program.

Card associations are also gung-ho for contactless payments.

“It takes a village to launch a new technology, at Visa, we have an absolute commitment to assure success of contactless payments,” said Elvira Swanson, Visa spokeswoman. Visa, with four million Visa Contactless cards in circulation, offers collateral materials, online demos, and merchant support teams to help educate merchants.

“This is the real thing. Contactless is beyond the ‘chicken and egg’ concept stage now, when you look at how many financial institutions have made the decision to offer contactless and the number of national merchants accepting it,” said T.J. Sharkey, Vice President, Business Development, U.S. Acceptance, MasterCard International. MasterCard is supporting contactless in many ways. Merchants who accept contactless payments are listed at the MasterCard Web site where there are demonstrations on how their Tap N Go, PayPass cards work. Television commercials illustrating their PayPass cards are airing nationally.

Banks issuing contactless cards include Citibank, MBNA, HSBC (debit cards), JP Morgan Chase, Key Bank (debit cards) and Citizen.

There have been several pilot contactless programs in sports stadiums including San Francisco, Seattle, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Recently, another form factor of contactless has been added into the mix, with the trial of NFC (Near Field Communications) contactless payments from cell phones at the Philips Arena in Atlanta. Season ticket holders with Chase-issued Visa credit accounts and Cingular Wireless accounts can make contactless payments by simply holding their Nokia mobile phones equipped with Philips’ NFC semiconductor chips and ViVOtech software near one of the 150 terminals. NFC is compatible with ISO 1443 readers has other features such as the ability to transmit a coupon to a reader.

“Contactless payments are the wave of the future and will change the way the world pays for purchases,” Khan said enthusiastically.
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Lynn Walford (mailto:lw@freelancewriternow.com lw@freelancewriternow.com) is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles who writes about technology and financial services. Her credits include Investor’s Business Daily, The Los Angeles Times, HomePC, Compute, Success and New Age Journal. She admits to using her ATM card to pay for single items on the dollar value menu at McDonald’s. For more information go to freelancewriternow.com freelancewriternow.com.

STOCK TRADING: non-judgment essential for profitable path

Through non-judgment, one switch focuses from the negative to the positive. If you’re viewing the world of stocks as bad, problematic and loss making system, then your focus is subconsciously negative. Often, many of us even don’t realize this. Being judgmental, prior to the real experience is often harmful. You should keep in mind that “no risks; no gain, only pain”. And that is what works with the stocks worlds too.

Traditionally, stock trading was considered to be a tedious and risky job when there was a need to spend whole day in those clumsy stock markets. However, the scene has change with the intriguing technology. It almost captured the way trading was usually done. Moreover, marketing techniques allows you to have many options to choose from various stock brokers.

Gone those days, when trading was done depending on your stockbroker only. There is whole lot of information and guidelines available on net which gets you the base of strong knowledge to trade in stocks. No more fear bugs that might have bitten you previously with a mere though to trade in stocks. Being non-judgmental however, may pay you better returns.

I know the procedure to get into stock trading must be the next anxious bug. Though the procedure of entering into stock trading has been revised, then also, there are some formalities to be completed. Seeking for an apt brokerage firm is the first step to move on. There are tones of brokerage firms market is flooded with. You will get across various offers come through your way each seducing to get trapped. However, a proper knowledge and analysis is pretty fair prior choosing any particular investment solution.

As such, this research work and analysis tends to help you improve your understanding of share market. Yes, share market posses its own book and understanding it is a great experience that pays rich dividends. Bulls and bears, stocks, commodities, day trading are few examples of its different knowledge. While selecting a share brokerage firm, keep in mind the rate of brokerage offered. However, it is always not the least brokerage that wins the quality of assistance and tips does matter.

After you pick up a stock brokerage, you should get a trading account opened there. Opening account may require some of the formalities including bit of easy paperwork. Completing the paperwork and submitting the initial amount will let the broker to get your access to the world of stocks. Stock broker is a person or firm that works for brokerage amounts providing you the necessary assistance to trade in stocks. The brokerage may differentiate according to firms. However, they are as low as 2-3$ per trade. Moreover, deep discount brokerages sometimes offer you as low as 1$ per trade. Opening an account gets software uploaded on your PC’s to have direct access to stock exchange. You can see the listed companies stocks and can get into buying and selling of them.

The purchase and sale may be guided by stockbroker initially; however, it takes few hours to get into this dealing. Even a beginner can learn it too easily. Though the understanding of the fluctuations in stocks gathers with the experience, one can trade better following the tips of experts. To enhance the comfort levels, there are many T.V. channels providing information about stocks forecasting the bulls and bears.

The trading in stock sometimes demands instincts but not all time you make profits by fluke. Moreover, just getting an account opened are not only you needed. Calculations and analysis definitely help for better trading. The more you trade, more you get experienced and better you posses the understanding of risks involved. All it can be said is, stock trading may be a risky but nothing gets tough when you have apt tools, intellect broker and knowledge to be tougher.

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We talked previously about establishing a good rental history. You must have two (2) years of on time payments. No exceptions. Some of you reading this may think this is the simplest part of the “repair effort”, but many times there’s a situation where the apartment manager has a bone to pick with a tenant and causes a lot of grief. We’ve seen everything from illegal eviction notices to bogus damage claims. What can you do to make sure you are protected? You can go to any library and obtain a copy of your states statutes regarding tenant rights. I suggest you become familiar with them in order to protect your rights.

The best way to avoid any drama is to establish a good realtionship with your apartment manager now. One suggestion is ask if there’s anything you can do around the complex to help out. Something as simple as picking up loose trash can make a huge impression. If there is an issue the key to resolving it is to address it immediately.

Most apartment owners or managers want to know your future plans. If you tell them you are renting for a year or two with the intention of buying a home, they will probably work with you. After all, you are letting them know that your apartment will be coming available for rental in the future without them having to go through any hassles such as evictions.

You are going to have to put forth the effort if you are serious about getting a broker to eventually find you a mortgage loan. Good rental practices work in any state, so no matter if you live in Florida or South Dakota it important to get off on the right foot.

Chuck Lunsford is the owner and developer of

Value Investing is an investment strategy used by some of the country’s more prominent investors, most notably Warren Buffett. The American Heritage Dictionary defines value as a fair price or return. For value investors, this definition is a key concept in choosing which investments are right for purchase at a given time. They are not just looking for stocks that are solid- but are undervalued.

Value investing is an approach to investing that singles out specific investments; stocks or bonds that are undervalued in relation to similar companies. That is not the same as cheap, however. An undervalued investment may still have a high share price in relation to other stocks in the same category. What is important is the relative value of the stock using tools such as the P/E ratio, price to book ratios, and other tools of fundamental analysis.

Fundamental analysis, as opposed to technical analysis, is not about timing the market, or following charts and graphs that attempt to predict what the price of a stock will do next. Fundamental analysis is about using the basics. How a company’s financials stand, its credit ratings, and industry outlook are keys to this type of analysis. A stock’s revenue and expenses, and its debt and assets all come into play.

One important point to remember when comparing quantitative items such as P/E ratios, is that companies of different sizes or in different industry categories will often have differing scales of what is a good value. What is cheap for a technology stock may not be cheap for a company that produces consumer goods.

For many investors who practice value investing, blue chip stocks are often a key ingredient in their portfolios. Blue chip stocks often epitomize what value investing is all about- companies that have a solid earnings history, strong financials, a history of dividends, and a sizeable market share. These companies become attractive to investors when the market price of the stocks falls enough to make it a bargain, or a value.

Value investing is not only based on purchasing good companies at low prices, but holding for the long term. These investments will generally pay solid dividends that allow investors to reap the benefits of not only market gain, but compound their growth with dividends. Because most brokerages have some sort of reinvestment program allowing investors the option of reinvesting dividends automatically, this compounding effect over time can create impressive returns.

Value investing is all about looking for stocks that are priced at a bargain for the overall value. The market price of a stock will often drop for a company based on recent news reports, economic reports, a CEO change, or other outside forces. However, if the company is stable with a long-term history of success, it may be a prime target for value investors to hold on to for the long term. Value investing offers the benefits of not only compounding through dividends, but the ability to purchase good companies for the long term, with a positive outlook, at a great price.

In Value-Investing-Center: we believe in sharing responsible investing education to people who wants to learn.

Value-Investing-Center.com Value-Investing-Center.com

If you’re looking for a loan you maybe deciding whether to get a personal loan or a secured loan, it may be useful to know the differences between the two.

A personal loan, generally known as an unsecured loan and can take the form of a credit card debt, a bank overdraft, or a ‘personal loan’ that is obtained through a lender who has verified that you can re-pay the loan. Interest rates will vary depending on the lender and the circumstances of the borrower.

A secured loan involves the borrower putting up collateral against the loan; typically property or savings.

If you take out a secured loan and you have put your home up as collateral your home could be re-possessed if you fail to make the payments on the loan. But, in return, the lender with offer you a lower interest rate as they know they can get their money back should they need to.

Unsecured loans, or personal loans, will have a higher rate of interest because of the risk involved to the lender; if a borrower defaults on payments the lender will be forced to use other methods such as debt collection agencies to recover the loan, and they may risk losing their money entirely if the borrower goes bankrupt. Typically unsecured loans are used for emergencies, and providing the borrower has a good credit rating, an instant source of quick cash.

The borrower may feel that an