We were excited that someone else finally brought it up.

In a recent television interview, Boone Pickens told a reporter he was surprised to discover there were 9,000 buses in China running on natural gas.

In an era of worrisome global warming events, it’s hard to argue with a transportation system that has proven to reduce particulate emissions by 95 percent compared to diesel engines and which also reduces carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides by 75 percent and 49 percent, respectively.

Those are the statistics UPS provides with regards to its 800 vehicles now running on compressed natural gas (CNG). UPS has the largest private CNG fleet in the United States.

Many cities in China could use the same clean air treatment. And like anything Chinese, natural gas consumption appears to be moving forward at breakneck speed.

Air pollution in Beijing and in many other rapidly growing Chinese cities has been a nagging ache in the side of China’s leadership. The recent growth spurt of automobile usage, replacing decades of bicycling, have further aggravated the untenable air climate. Combine this factor with Beijing’s mandate to clean up the air in time for next summer’s Olympiad, and the first appropriate target are the vehicles.

Although Beijing won’t convert its transportation fleet that fast, every little bit helps in the scheme of things.

According to the International Association for Natural Gas Vehicles, the most recent (and mostly outdated) statistics show more than 6.3 million natural gas vehicles (NGV) and over 10,000 NGV refueling stations. As of January 2005, China stood just behind the United States in global rankings for such vehicles, respectively eighth and ninth.

The number of NGVs compared to traditional gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles is a drop in the bucket. But some of the more ambitious trade groups hope to reach a target of 50 million by 2020.

China offers the most immediate promise, which is probably what drove Boone Pickens to this marketplace. His California-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp provides 200 fleet customers, which have about 13,000 NGVs, with the refueling capabilities for those vehicles with the company’s 168 natural gas fueling stations.

By building distribution networks, corporate and government consumers can more readily access the natural gas to power their vehicles.

This fact is evidenced by the momentum of tiny China Natural Gas, which is servicing the city of Xi’an in China’s Shanxi province. Maybe you’ve never heard of the town, but the city now boasts a population of about 8 million. Compressed natural gas reportedly powers 20,000 taxis, 3,000 buses and 2,000 special purpose vehicles. Over the next three years, the city’s leaders hope to nearly double those numbers.

China Natural Gas now has 23 CNG filling stations in the city and hopes to expand outside Xi’an and into Henan province. Since late April, the company’s shares have more than tripled in value.

Boone Pickens envisions a big opportunity in China’s natural gas for transportation purposes. Generally, gas is used to fuel electrical power plants or for cooking. We first brought up the accelerating use of NGVs in our recent publication, “Investing in China’s Energy Crisis,” because of China’s struggle to quickly and efficiently import sufficient oil to power its economy.

Face it, China has a massive energy appetite. Pickens remarked during a recent television interview, “The activity is unbelievable.” In previous articles, we compared China’s energy-consumption and expansion to the Anglo-American-European Industrial Revolution during the eighteenth century.

China’s Coalbed Methane Activity Intensifies

China has a huge appetite for foreign investment to develop all stages of the natural gas fuel cycle. We have focused our coverage on the front end of the cycle, especially on coalbed methane gas. This makes sense for China as the country has one of the most plentiful supplies of undeveloped coalbed methane (CBM) gas on the planet. In addition, the country has a long tradition of coal mining and expertise. CBM comes from coal mines and China has the largest number of operating coal mines in the world.

Speaking with Phil Flynn of Alaron Trading in Chicago, he told us about China’s drive to power their transportation system with natural gas, “We are years behind China.” He pointed out that switching over in the United States would become a nearly impossible venture. “We don’t have the supply,” he said. “We would have to drill under the Rockies and under the Great Lakes, and then we would still become dependent upon natural gas imports.”

China has already begun the country’s campaign for an energy crossover.

About twelve months after China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced it approved the country’s coalbed methane development plan, new developments have been parading across our radar nearly every week. The commission targeted production to reach 10 billion cubic meters by 2010.

On June 27, Shanghai CIMIC Life invested $196 million to develop a coalbed methane project in Jiangxi province. Construction is already underway.

On July 4, China National Petroleum Corp began exploring a new coalbed methane discovery in the Xinjiang Autonomous region.

On July 6, Shanxi Ganghua Coalbed Methane Corp began construction of China’s first large scale CBM project – a coalbed methane liquefaction project.

On July 8, a PetroChina (NYSE: PTR) subsidiary signed an agreement with Shanxi Energy Industries to develop a CBM site in northern China’s Shanxi province. The World Bank will finance US$80 million of the US$190 million project.

On July 20, the city of Shenyang, and capital of Liaoning province, announced it would begin increasing its coalbed methane consumption in the region’s heavy industries to help reduce the level of pollution in the area.

On July 24, China’s NDRC approved a proposal from the first foreign company to develop a coalbed methane mine in China’s Shanxi province. Asian American Gas is the first foreign company to obtain NDRC approval in 20 years, and the first to do so in partnership with state-owned China United Coalbed Methane (CUCBM) since this corporation was formed. The plan’s initial capacity was reported at 500 million cubic meters annually. We reported in late January that U.S. coal baron, E. Morgan Massey, had backed this company.

China is optimistic about the country’s coalbed methane reserves. Two years ago, Xu Dingming, a director of the NDRC’s energy bureau estimated that China’s CBM reserves were roughly equivalent to the country’s natural gas reserves.

In December 2006, China’s Ministers of Finance, Customs and Taxation agreed to introduce tax breaks to companies which imported equipment for the development of coalbed methane resources.

This notice came after it was reported that China’s CBM-utilization had failed to meet the targeted 36 percent – falling short by nearly one-third. Since then, state-owned companies and the government have been intensifying their efforts to accelerate CBM exploration and development in China’s coal fields.

Over the next twelve months, we expect these efforts to escalate CBM development to a more highly visible international level.

More Players Entering China’s CBM Sector

One of the problems in the United States, according to Phil Flynn, is complacency with storage numbers. “Natural gas storage is a buffer against supply,” he said. “But if we have extreme weather this summer or a long, cold winter, production can’t keep up with demand.” He pointed to the spike following Hurricane Katrina in the summer of 2005.

The Chinese don’t have this buffer. Instead, they are faced with either further straining the world’s energy sources by importing natural gas (and crude) or by developing their domestic energy fields.

The significant news from Asian American Gas, a privately held company which we previously covered, is encouraging for others now developing their projects.

Companies we’ve featured in the past – such as Far East Energy, Green Dragon Gas and Pacific Asia China Energy – have moved their projects forward against a very bearish tide. We believe they are well-positioned to follow in the footsteps of Asian American Gas. Current output is modest at the company’s six test wells at 300 thousand cubic meters, but again, this is a nice start.

Many North American investors haven’t yet looked beyond their borders in developments for natural and coalbed methane gas projects. The price of natural gas in North America is relatively meaningless in Beijing or Xi’an.

These companies should benefit from China’s recent acceleration to obtain more methane gas, natural or CBM, to power their vehicles. The average bus consumes about 70 cubic meters of compressed natural gas per day (CNG). A typical taxicab uses an average of 30 cubic meters CNG every day.

A strong selling point for the increased use of natural gas vehicles: the price of fuel. A hybrid vehicle, which also utilizes compressed methane gas, cuts the fueling cost by 60 percent. How would the U.S. consumer feel about paying $1.20 per gallon instead of $3/gallon at the gas pump? Probably the same way – one cubic meter of compressed CBM gas is the equivalent of 1.13 liters of gasoline and retails for less than half.

As we pointed out in late June, institutions have begun investing in this sector. With the next round of conferences in North America, during the fourth quarter and early next year, we suspect more institutions should take China’s coalbed methane projects more seriously. ‘Celebrity’ names such as Boone Pickens, Morgan Massey and others provide a comfort level for many cautious investors. But then again, it is the pioneers who make the biggest money, if the projects materialize.

In early July, W.R. Hambrecht rated Clean Energy Fuels a “buy” with an $18 price target. During his recent television appearance, Pickens noted another two analysts picked up on the company. And we couldn’t agree more with Pickens, judging from emails readers have sent us. Pickens thought people didn’t really understand the story, at first. Now as more have digested what is taking place, Pickens said, ‘they like the story.’

And we completely agree with Pickens’ comments to reporters, saying, “We think that (natural gas refueling stations) will be very big business in China.” This development is not unlike the growth of cellular phones in China. The country skipped the enormous infrastructure implementation for traditional landlines and zoomed to mobile telecommunications. Judging from our communications, and from what others have told us, the clarity of reception and reliability surpasses the standards in North America.

Building more NGV refueling stations will help drive the demand to bring more natural and CBM gas into China’s distribution network. It is probably a major trigger to capture both international media and investor attention for this sector.

While we take natural gas for granted in the United States, the Chinese have taken this fuel source very seriously and embraced it. By devoting their energies in developing their transportation systems with increased natural gas consumption, the country’s atrocious pollution history might be reversed.

COPYRIGHT © 2007 by StockInterview.com

James Finch contributes to StockInterview.com and other publications. He has contributed to the widely popular “Investing in the Great Uranium Bull Market,” and “Uranium Outlook 2007 – 2008.” His recent work, “Investing in China’s Energy Crisis,” is now available at bookstore.stockinterview.com/ bookstore.stockinterview.com/

You may be one of those fortunate folk who know precisely want they want when it comes to replacing your car. Or maybe you’re the type who treks from garage to garage trying to find perfection. After a while all these cars merge into one and you can’t remember which extra was standard with which car. Your wife and children threaten to leave home and the cat and dog are less than impressed too. Maybe at this stage you turn your only friend, the computer, for inspiration and surf the net for bargains. They’re certainly there to be had, and as with most things nowadays, it’s an easy way to go, with lots of help and advice available at the click of a mouse.

If the latter category is the one that describes you best you have our deepest sympathy.

When it comes to financing your choice of car, be it new or second hand, the means to finance it can be just as bewildering, but making the right choice can save you a great deal of money.

Interest free finance is worth considering. This is normally offered through dealers and tends to be restricted to new car buyers. If the car of your choice is covered by one of these deals then this will probably make your decision a lot easier. Often these deals ask for a fairly substantial deposit. Not all models are offered at nil or preferential rates and the one you want may in fact be at a higher interest rate than normal. It’s all a matter of swings and roundabouts. If you’re a “haggler” then it’s unlikely you’ll get both a discount and a good finance deal. The better option may be to get the very best discount you can on the car and then arrange your own hire purchase or personal loan.

Dealers will be happier if you opt for hire purchase. It’s easy to arrange and offered on both new and used vehicles. As far as the dealer is concerned, they will earn a very nice commission from the finance company. Sometimes you’ll be able to get an improved deal when they take this commission into account, which is why the question of how you’ll be paying for the car crops up when you’re seated in the chair, offered a coffee and the serious talking starts. Ownership of the car is not yours until the final payment, so you’ll need a settlement figure if you decide to part exchange it for your next car.

You may decide to take a personal loan. This effectively makes you a cash purchaser. Remember that the dealer will prefer you to take the hire purchase route and make sure you do your sums, it’s the final sum paid that matters at the end of the day.

Personal Contract Purchase is a fast growing area of car finance. An agreed deposit is made; usually equal to about three months repayments. You then pay on a monthly basis for an agreed period, often two or three years. At the end of this period you have a choice of returning the car or making a final payment and keeping it. You will be aware at the beginning of the agreement just what this figure will be and this is guaranteed provided you haven’t exceeded the annual mileage allowance. Again this is per the agreement but usually estimated at around 12,000 miles per year.

Obviously with this arrangement the monthly payment will be lower than it would be with hire purchase, but the car is only yours after the final lump sum is paid. Many people stick with the same make of car and use this type of finance, returning the car and replacing it with their choice of a new model at the end of the term.

A simple lease deal may suit you even better. This is arranged through a leasing company. You negotiate the price for the car from whichever source you choose, and then agree the period of the lease, normally two to three years. Make a payment equal to three months of the agreed monthly repayment, set up your monthly payment source and at the end of the time you simply return the car and that’s it. No hassle, no used car to sell. Choose, lease, pay and hand back.

So, the choice is yours. Careful comparison will pay dividends, make those comparisons and make your money work for you.

Enjoy your choice!

Personal Loans Professor great articles based around personal-loans-professor.co.uk Personal Loans

Did you know that some credit card companies purposely send their customer bills out so late in the billing cycle that you would literally have to submit payment the day the bill arrives in order to have any chance at getting the payment in on time? It’s a tactic that many of the companies use to increase the amount of money they earn off their customers on the late fees.

You can avoid paying unnecessary late fees in a variety of ways. Don’t credit card companies make enough on you off the interest rates? Check your statement carefully each month to ensure that you’re not being charged late fees, even if you’re confident you’re mailing your payments out on time.

Make Your Payments Online

Almost every credit card company gives you the ability to make payments online. This will save you extensive time. Considering the fact that an envelope sent through regular postal mail can take two to three days in transport, and then another five to seven days to be processed (and have the payment applied to your account) by your credit card company- it’s a wonder any payment makes it to your account on time! Making a payment online is typically processed within 1 business day of hitting “Submit”, sometimes sooner.

Schedule Automatic Payments With Automatic Bank Withdrawals

Additionally, you can often set your account up to automatically get paid through your checking account on a specified date each month. If your credit card company doesn’t offer it, your banking institution might have a bill pay feature you can use. Just select a date a few days before the bill is due, and let the credit card company draft your checking account for the payment. You will never have your payment applied after the due date and therefore eliminate all potential late fees.

Have it Ready to Go!

If you aren’t comfortable with making payments online, and you don’t like the idea of giving your credit card company access to your checking account to “pay themselves”; you can still beat the system and play the credit card game in order to avoid late fees. You know how much your minimum payment is each month and that it’s typically do the same day each month. Have your check or money order ready to mail out, or get in the habit of writing it out the moment you receive your statement. Make sure the payment is mailed out the very next day and you should never receive a late payment.

How to Handle the Dreaded Late Fees

If you do happen to get a late fee, often if you call and request them to waive it for you, they will (provided you don’t make a habit of it). They will probably remind you to mail your payment out at least 10 days before it is due because of the postal time and then the company’s own processing time- so be sure to tell them you mailed it out well in advance of the due date.

If you honestly feel that you are giving your payments enough time to get to the company and you are still receiving late fees on your account, you might consider mailing your statement with a return receipt or certified mail. This way, you’ll have a record of when it was mailed and when it was received and that can serve as your “alibi” and save you from having to pay a late fee (or give you leverage to having a late fee removed if one should be added!)

This article is courtesy of

Spring breakup came early for Forum Development (TSX: FDC), and today’s news release showed a continuation of the decline which began a few trading days ago. Cutting short the drill campaign was weather-related, not result-related. In talking with Rick Mazur about his joint venture’s recent drill campaign at Costigan Lake in Canada’s Athabasca Basin, there was a sort of sadness in his voice. “Unfortunately due to spring breakup coming a little more quickly upon us, we were unable to continue our planned program and to drill two further holes we wanted to test,” Mazur told us.

What Forum did find will be interpreted by Dr. Boen Tan, when assays come back from the lab. Mazur expects them by the end of this month. Dr. Tan’s interpretation may very well turn around the stock’s recent and steep sell-off. This is the typical “buy on the mystery, sell on the history” found in nearly all Canadian exploration plays. The news release announces 824 meters of drilling. Five holes were drilled at shallow depths, between 125 and 160 meters. Three of the holes encountered radioactivity in the C3 conductor. Five holes spaced out over a 2.4 kilometer strike length was a pretty speculative exploration plan, but the plan was to find a “sniff” of uranium mineralization and not a uranium mine. We believe there may be reason for optimism with the exploration project.

We talked about the C3 conductor. “This one conductive trend occurs over the full extent of the property,” Mazur explained. “It hosts the uranium mineralization from previously drilling from 1978-79 appears to be the conductive horizon of interest to us. There is anomalous radioactivity in the footwall of the graphitic horizon, which is highly encouraging to us. It is typical of the mineralization which occurs in the basement rocks at Key Lake (Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan province in Canada).” Mazur talked a bit more about the geology, “The drilling has confirmed that it is due to a very thick graphitic horizon. That’s promising.”

So where does Forum Development stand on this property? “We have to go back in and drill some more holes,” said Mazur. “This drilling campaign has verified that it does have potential. At this stage, we would most certainly like to go back in and continue drilling.” But he laughed and added, “Of course, I have to go over that with my joint venture partner.” He was referring to Breakwater Resources, which is the minority joint venture partner on the Costigan Lake project. Mazur will be mobilizing the company’s wholly owned Maurice Point project for a summer program. Maurice Point is where Forum’s geologists found uranium mineralization over a 100 meter strike extent, grading up to 7.3 percent U3O8 during the last field season.

Forum Development shares may be down for now, and may bottom around these levels, depending upon the momentum of the spot uranium price. But, don’t rule them out so fast. They have planned a series of exploration projects over the coming twelve months, which should again create some upward momentum. For the speculatively minded, the quiet period between exploration programs may offer an opportunity to acquire shares at bargain prices, before the next momentum rally. If spot uranium prices continue to rise, or sustain at the current price level above $40/pound, then optimism in the sector will continue. And Forum Development should hold its own, stock-wise.

COPYRIGHT © 2007 by StockInterview, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

James Finch contributes to StockInterview.com and other publications. StockInterview’s “Investing in the Great Uranium Bull Market” has become the most popular book ever published for uranium mining stock investors. Visit stockinterview.com stockinterview.com

Bam Margera is definitely one of the most interesting people out there today! Bam Margera was born on September 28, 1979. Throughout his life, one of his main priorities has been skateboarding. Since 1988, you could find him skateboarding around his hometown of West Chester, Pa, which definitely paid off when he was given the chance to turn pro. This pro skateboarder is now sponsored by Element, Adio, Volcom, Diakka, Electric, Fairman´s, Spitfire, Destroyer, Jone´s Soda, and of course, Cky. You can even skate as him in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 & 4, as well as Tony Hawk’s Underground.

Bam Margera’s career as a professional really started to take off when he became part of MTV’s JACKASS crew. On JACKASS, you could see him do unimaginable yet hilarious and sometimes nasty stunts, with stars such as Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, as well as his friends and often, his family. After JACKASS’s huge success, MTV gave Bam Margera the once in a lifetime opportunity to have his own show on MTV, called Viva La Bam.

Bam Margera has come one hell of a long way this past decade, and by the way he draws fans to him through his one of a kind personality and his amazing skating ability. It’s guaranteed that this pro skateboarder will be around for a very long time!

Full name: Brandon Cole Margera.
Hobbies: skateboarding, filming and acting.
Favourite food: toasted everything, bagel with mayo, lettuce, and tomato.

Favourite movies: Mallrats, Good will hunting, Lost boys, and Robin Hood “Men in tights”.
Favourite music: HIM, Cky, Depeche mode, Anethema, and Atrocity.

Favourite skaters: Boulala, Penny, Maldonado, Getz, Sarri, and Hoof.
Likes: S4 and A4, Hoof’s gear, and fdr park.

Hates: the airport scenario and tod swank.

His fashion tip: Rock tight black gear, but spray paint a mist of white so it looks dirty.

The funniest thing he ever heard: “in a hotel room while brushing my teeth, Ryan gee told me ‘brushing your teeth is played out’”.

Copyright – skateboard4fun.com/ B. Knudsen

B. Knudsen is a webmaster of the ultimate skateboarding site, which gives you access to over 20 links to different skateboarding sites.

Finally Steven Hunter got his first start of the season against Miami Heat. The Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks decided to start with Hunter instead of power forward Joe Smith. Smith did not play in the second half of the recently concluded match at Memphis. Smith had shot 3 for 16 in the last four games.

Cheeks said that he really like the way Hunter and Samuel Dalembert played together in the second half of the game. Cheeks was in favor of having two shot blockers. According to Cheeks, Sixers should now be able to have a more defensive presence in games. Two shot blockers means, that one can block the shot while the other can go for the rebound.

When asked about starting, Hunter said that he really enjoyed it. Hunter scored Sixers’ first basket against the Heat.

Hunter said that starting means having a completely different mindset. One has to set the pace from the very beginning. Hunter is in his sixth NBA season and he made a career high 35 starts last season when he averaged 6.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 19.0 minutes per game.

This season Hunter is averaging 4.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.34 blocks and 15.9 minutes. Hunter said that he was looking forward to see what Sixers could achieve this season with him starting. He is hoping that along with Dalembert, they could be a force to reckon with.

Smith started all the previous nine games for the Sixers and he is averaging 6.6 points and 5.5 rebounds in the 13 games that he has played for Sixers since he was trade for Allen Inverson on December 19, 2006.

About the writer: Nigel Kerry is an American free lance writer born in
Los Angeles, California. Kerry writes sportus.com
Sportsbook reviews, sportus.com sport book articles
and articles with respect to sportus.com Sports Betting.

“Be humble, be big in mind and soul, be kindly; you will like yourself that way and so will other people.”
- Norman Vincent Peale

Establishing an emergency fund
This is the first phase of step 8 and it requires you to establish a fund equal to six months your monthly cash flow requirements. If your income was to suddenly stop, what would it take to sustain your standard of living for six months.

There are a few things you should know about building wealth before we actually begin.

1. Start early
More than any one stock or mutual fund pick, the age you start investing will determine how much wealth you build. To illustrate: Employee A starts putting away $100 a month when she’s 22. Her money grows at 8 percent a year, and after ten years she stops contributing – and lets her stake grow. Employee B waits until he’s 32 to set aside $100 a month, also growing at 8 percent a year, and he keeps it up until he hits 64. When they both retire at 64, she will have $234,600, and he’ll have only $177,400.

2. Use your 401(k)
If you are working for a company that offers a 401(k) sign up and watch you dollars grow. Since you’re putting in pretax dollars, a 401(k) is an unrivaled savings vehicle, and passing up an employer match is – literally – giving up free money. Confused about how to manage all the choices in your 401(k) plan? New pension legislation is encouraging companies to offer third-party investment advisory services, so call HR to find out if yours offers any on-the-house guidance.

3. Keep it simple
If you have a full-time job and it’s not picking stocks, acknowledge that. Choosing three or four index funds – say, an S&P 500 fund, an EAFE fund, and a small-cap stock fund – will give you broad exposure. ETFs (low-cost mutual funds that trade like stocks) are also an easy way to invest in more exotic asset classes, like commodities. If you’re close to retirement, consider life-cycle funds from Vanguard or T. Rowe Price, which will automatically rebalance your account according to your goals.

4. Don’t try to beat the market
Even the best fund managers have trouble beating the S&P 500, so give up the chase. The most straightforward way to avoid this trap is to diversify your assets and then rebalance your portfolio at least once a year. Check your asset breakdown with Morningstar’s free Instant X-Ray tool (www.morningstar.com). Essentially, rebalancing means selling some winners that are taking up too big a share of your portfolio and redeploying that cash to bulk up in areas that have lagged. (Buy low, sell high – get it?)

5. Don’t chase trends
You want to grow your money for the long haul, so you can’t switch your strategy every time you read the headlines. If you see an asset class that’s catching fire – like real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the late ’90s or commodities this year – ask yourself some basic questions: Can I describe how it works in plain English? If not, start your research at Investopedia.com. Why is it so popular right now? If the answer is “Paris Hilton bought some,” best to stay away.

6. Make saving automatic
No one wants to think about saving – so don’t. Already more companies are making 401(k) enrollment automatic (34 percent of big companies, vs. virtually none ten years ago). If you’re already maxing out your 401(k), see whether your company can transfer money directly from your paycheck into your Roth IRA or a taxable account. Or ask if your bank can transfer a set amount (even $100 a month) from your checking account into a high-interest-bearing online savings account (check out HSBC’s and ING’s offerings).

7. Go heavy on stocks
The more time you have, the more risk you should take. If you’re just starting out, 80 percent to 100 percent of your assets ought to be in stocks. The simplest trick? Subtract your age from 120: That’s the percentage you should have in stocks; the rest should be in bonds. “If you have, say, 30 or 40 years, what happens over the next three months or even three years doesn’t matter. If you need the money in two years and it drops 40 percent in one year, that’s a problem,” says Stuart Ritter, a certified financial planner with T. Rowe Price.

8. Hold down fees
Be wary of any mutual fund charging a management fee higher than 1 percent (a few stellar managers may be worth it; most are not). A manager with a high buying and selling rate (called “turnover”) should also set off warning bells. If you aren’t interested in watching your fund manager like a hawk, stick with an index fund, like one from Vanguard, where expenses are typically around 0.2 percent. And if you’re trading stocks, don’t be fooled by low commissions: They add up.

9. Ditch credit card debt
All debt is not created equal, so rank yours by interest rate and pay off the bad stuff first. That usually means credit cards, which can carry interest rates as high as 30 percent. (Compare your card’s APR with others at Bankrate.com.) On the other end of the scale are student loans. Those rates are generally between 3 and 6 percent, so consider making the minimum payment and investing in your 401(k) instead. Hey, even Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was still paying off his school loans when he joined the bench.

10. Defer taxes
Eager to lock in your gains on a hot investment? Before you click on sell, consider the tax implications. In a taxable account, you’ll pay 15 percent in capital gains taxes every time you sell a winner you’ve owned for more than a year (the longer you can defer paying taxes, the more time you’re giving your money to grow). Come tax time, however, it can be a good move to sell losers in your portfolio to take advantage of the annual $3,000 capital-loss deduction limit and offset any capital gains on your winning picks.

Dave Capra “The Debtonator” is author of “Your Guide To Perfect Credit”, a radio show host, columnist and certified debt consultant. For information contact The Debtonator at 1-877-274-1260 or email mailto:thedebtonator@yourguidetoperfectcredit.com thedebtonator@yourguidetoperfectcredit.com

yourguidetoperfectcredit.com yourguidetoperfectcredit.com

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Jason Richardson from Golden State Warriors was fined $35,000 by the NBA for having improper interaction with a fan during a playoff game in Dallas recently.

Richardson was seen having a heated argument with the fan after he missed a shot and fell out of bounds with just 21.9 seconds left in Game 5 in the first round series. The Warriors lost the game 118-112.

The fan ended up filing a complaint with the NBA security and said that he tried to help Richardson get up after he fell out of bounds. It was then that Richardson, according to the fan, swore at him and hit him.

The fan, Crockett Gambrel, said that he was star struck after an NBA player fell on him but he thought Richardson was out of line for his behavior towards him.

Before the NBA could fine Richardson, he spoke to the media about the incident. Richardson said that he does not remember what had happened because it was a tense moment in the game. He further added that he was not worried about the incident when it happened because he was trying to get back into the court. Richardson felt that neither other spectators or the fan in question also knew what had happened exactly.

Richardson did not comment on whether the fine imposed on him just before the start of Game 6 was fair. Coach Don Nelson said that he would not question the NBA’s decision to fine Richardson.

In this series, Richardson is the second Warriors player to be fined. Earlier in Game 2 Stephen Jackson was fined $50,000 for his outburst which led to his ejection from the game. Jackson was ejected again from Game 5 but he was not punished by the league. Instead, coach Nelson imposed a fine on him.

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Too Many business owners are using their personal credit to
finance the launch, expansion or growth of their business. A
majority of business owners have no idea what business is or
how to establish it. By following a few simple steps any
business owner can establishing business credit, therefore,
separating their personal credit from their business credit.

When business owners use personal credit card to pay for
business expenses, the debt of the business reports back to
their personal credit reports which lowers their scores because
their business debts hurt their personal debt to income ratio.

To help prevent business owners from damaging their personal
credit, every business owner should follow the simple steps of
establishing business credit. By establishing business credit
the debt of the business will report to the business credit
file and not the personal credit file. Establishing business
credit will also help the business build a strong business
credit file so loans, lines of credit wont require the business
owner to sign a personal guarantee.

Here are just a few reasons why every business owner should
establish business credit.

1. Establish creditability. You cant expect to walk into a bank
and ask for a business loan with no business credit or business
history. By establishing a good business credit profile you
will be able to secure the financing your business needs.

2. If your business should fail, you would still be legally
responsible if you used your personal credit to finance your
business

3. Saving money. Thats right, business credit rates are
typically lower than personal credit rates. A few percentage
points in interest mean thousands of dollars in the long run

4. Float your business through tough times. Even though
everything make be going great currently, you never know when
your company will take a turn for the worse or when economic
times might change. By establishing business credit you will be
prepared for the down time.

5. Get the money you need. Lets face it, without the money you
need to finance the launch or expansion of your business you
really wont be in business at all. Dont make the mistake of
using your personal finances to finance you business.

The are many, many more reasons why you should establish
business credit. We have all heard the saying, “keep business
expenses separate from personal expenses,” right? The only way
to do that is to set up your business properly in the first
place by establishing business credit.

If you are interested in learning…

-What rights does a business owner have if there is incorrect
information on a credit report?
-How do I obtain a business
credit score?
-What do business lenders look at in order to
extend business credit?
-Where do you find companies that grant
credit?
-Which companies report to the business credit bureaus?
-What credit cards companies do not require personal
guarantees?

Then I suggest you start the education process of learing how
to establish business credit!

Corporate Credit Concepts makes it easy to establish business credit. To obtain your free report on how to build business credit and obtain Unlimited Financing click here.
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History:

Shaolin Mok-gar kuen is one of the original family disciplines of Kung fu, from Southern China, and is well known for its kicking techniques. Practitioners are not restricted just to kicking, however, since the use of a full range of weapons is also part of the system. The resulting flexibility of attack and defence epitomises the original concept of Chinese martial arts: to express oneself fully in the attempt to triumph in combat. When engaging in combat, the objective is to win, so practitioners believe that to place any restrictions on one particular movement would be to put themselves at a disadvantage.

Training:

One of the unique training drills found in Mok-gar kuen is that of the darn gee kicking technique. In Kung fu, each school has its own method of teaching the kicks using various mechanical facilities. Irrespective the method, the aim is the same: to increase the freedom of leg movements, enhance speed, improve accuracy, and to develop and harden the soles of the feet.

During the course of training, the darn gee helps practitioners to improve their stamina, hardness, speed, accuracy and strength techniques. This unique training drill is a stage that all Mok-gar practitioners must experience if they wish to develop a high standard within this style. The 108 movements that are the basis of the Mok-gar style can be used in many ways, from just a single punch, which may be all that is needed to win a fight, to multiple jumping kicks.

When experienced students progress to learning a soft form of Kung fu, called Tai chi. Sifu Chan, who came to England to develop the system which incorporated the use of weapons, teaches the wu style Tai chi, based on the Taoist symbol of yin and yang. Tai chi teaches us to be aware of, and to react to, any form of attack, and to be ever-changing and formless. To learn and combine these 2 systems of Kung fu is not an easy task, but once acquired, the knowledge and experience can prove invaluable.

- Thanaseelan, click on worthofwordplay.blogspot.com worthofwordplay.blogspot.com to view his main blog. Don’t forget to check out the categories on his blog.