Are you investing in Gold? - DINKS Finance

Good Morning DINKS. We recently published a post about the fluctuations in the price of gold and how commodities affect our economy (or vice versa).? I want to follow up on this post and discuss a little bit in more details about the risks of investing in gold and other commodities. Investing in gold, silver, and oil seems to be a hot investment topic right now, and as a financial professional I continuously see investors making the same mistakes when it comes to investing in gold. I would love to know what you think about gold ? do you invest in gold bullion, do you own gold bars, or do you invest in gold mining companies?

As a financial professional I personally can?t stand it when clients come into our bank branch and want to invest in gold because their neighbour, their cousin, or their dentist told them that it was a good investment.? Do you remember my client who wanted to sell his life savings and invest in gold based on the advice of his classmate? The first rule about investing is that it is a personal choice.? Just because your neighbour made money by investing in gold doesn?t necessarily mean that you will too.

Not everyone makes money in gold

By the time you hear about a ?must buy? investment the odds are that it?s probably too late for you to make a huge profit. People who invest in gold, or other commodities such as oil, are hoping to make a capital gain on their investment. This means that they want to sell it at a much higher price than they paid for it. If people are telling you that ?you must buy? gold then the secret is already out and the price of the commodity is already high.? This is not to say that you won?t make money if you purchase gold or gold related investments (aka gold mining companies), but you definitely won?t make as much money as someone who bought gold before the boom.

In a very general nutshell investors can make money in one of three ways: they can earn interest on low risk fixed income investments, they can earn dividends on stock and mutual fund investments, or they can earn capital gains on higher risk investment such as commodities and investing in individual sectors.? If you purchase gold at a high price per ounce you may make some profit, but you won?t make a lot of profit.? The key to making money on capital gains is to buy low and sell high, but if everyone is talking about a particular type of investment the odds are that the price is already high.

Don?t kid yourself, gold is a high risk investment

Some investors may be looking for growth oriented investments in their investment or retirement portfolios.? Some investors chose to purchase foreign or domestic stocks, some investors choose to invest in equity mutual funds, and some investors chose to invest in commodities, some chose to invest in individual sectors of the economy such as health care or technology, and some investors chose to purchase precious metals.

Regardless of which type of high risk investment you choose you should make an informed decision.? Research the past performance of the investment and decide if you are comfortable with the highs and lows over the past year.? High risk investments can offer a high potential profit, but they can also have a big potential loss. You have to be willing to take the risk for the possibility at the reward when purchasing in high risk investments.

Do you invest in gold?

Photo by santanartist

Source: http://www.dinksfinance.com/2012/10/are-you-investing-in-gold/

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Real Estate Investing - What Program is Best? - Joyfully Home

Real Estate Investing. Do you want to buy houses? Do you want to flip houses? Chase foreclosures or short sales? Do you know about "subject to" investing? Or how about lease option, wholesale, rehab and retail, buy and hold, mobile homes, apartments, commercial properties, probates, etc.? There are so many gurus teaching how to become rich with real estate investing that it is confusing. Who is the most reputable, experienced, and trustworthy teacher for what you want to do? What niche in real estate investing do you think you want to specialize in?

All of these questions are valid. How do you know who is the best teacher for you before you spend your money on their program? How do you know if the program will work for you?

The answer to the above questions are: It Depends.

It depends on the market. For example, when the market is 90% foreclosures, "subject to" investing (taking over someone's existing loan) isn't usually profitable because most houses are over encumbered. You could find a free and clear property, but then you wouldn't be taking the property subject to the loan because there is no loan. You may want to use a seller financing technique.

It depends on who you ask. For example, it probably isn't best to ask a person who has never bought a property. Or a person who has bought everyone's product and never put it to use. It is a good idea to attend your local real estate investment group or club. You should be able to find seasoned investors to talk to and ask who trained them. Go on to real estate investing forums and ask your question. Attend some seminars and listen to the speaker and ask other attendees what they think.

It depends on where you live. For example, if you decide that you wanted to pursue lease options and you lived in Texas, you'd be breaking the law. If you wanted to take a property subject to the existing loan that was days away from the foreclosure sale you'd be breaking the law if you lived in Florida. How do you find out what is outlawed in your state? Attend a local investment club.

It also depends on how much money you have to spend. For example, the price of programs range from several hundred dollars to tens of thousands. After you do your due diligence on a speaker, you find out that his/her products are out of your price range. You want to get started, but don't have the money. You could become a partner with someone else and split the cost, but partnerships have a whole array of their own difficulties. You can seek out a joint venture partner who is more experienced if you find a good opportunity.

It depends on your job. For example, if you work full time, how are you going to answer calls when the homeowner calls you back? Do you have the time to be driving all over your county looking at houses? Would you need to have a system that is automated and didn't require much input from you?

It depends on your support system (spouse, family, friends). For example, if you are married and your spouse doesn't want you spending the money or they think that real estate investing is a pipe dream and keep telling you to get a real job, then you must be very motivated to overcome the negative comments. I'm not suggesting you get a new spouse, but this attitude could suggest other problems in the relationship.

It depends on You. For example, are you a self motivated person or do you need someone to tell you what to do? You can read all about the programs available, but if you just can't get going with writing letters, putting ads in the paper or some type of marketing, then you probably aren't going to get any leads. Without leads, there's nothing to buy. It could be a good idea to get coaching if you aren't having success. But to be successful, you need to do what needs to be done.

So, there you have it. One suggestion that I can make it that you can listen for free to Prosperity Through Real Estate internet radio program and hear what the most successful investors and real estate trainers in the country have to say. This is a great place to start your research without being sold anything or encountering any annoying sales pitches. You can then better evaluate what niche resonates with you in your market and in your own present situation. Perhaps you'll hear something that will get you to say "I can do that!".

Source: http://joyfullyathome.blogspot.com/2012/10/real-estate-investing-what-program-is.html

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BYOD Case Study: Finborough School - Articles - Educational ...

Here is an interesting case study of how a small school has successfully introduced BYOD with a particular group of pupils.

Student iPad School, by Brad Flickinger http://www.flickr.com/photos/56155476@N08/Finborough School is an independent, ie private, all-through school, ie age range 2-18, in a rural English setting. It has 274 pupils.

Although the school places itself firmly in the ?paper-based? category, it has implemented a partial BYOD scheme. Students with special learning needs have been asked to bring in their own laptops, and for a number of ICT lessons they have been asked to bring camera phones / iPods & cameras to shoot videos.

The two reasons for adopting a BYOD approach are firstly that students tend to take more care over equipment if it belongs to them, and secondly for the usual budgetary reason.

The main benefits of this approach so far have been that students generally don't have to share devices, and it has facilitated better writing by students with special educational needs.

Since the policy was implemented, nearly all teachers have taken advantage of it when they have wanted their class to make videos or take photographs.

The biggest challenges have been forgetfulness, ie students forgetting to bring their device in, and the practicalities of transferring files from students? devices to a PC.

James Abela, Head of ICT & Economics, advises schools going down a similar route to invest in good virus protection.

One thing James points out is that being a small school it is easy to talk to staff and tell them when students will be bringing in their own devices, and what they will be using them for. Another example, perhaps of the observation that small is beautiful!

Fuller details on the school can be found at: http://www.finboroughschool.co.uk

Source: http://www.ictineducation.org/home-page/2012/10/11/byod-case-study-finborough-school.html

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Facebook Drives Traffic To Retail Sites - Business Insider

Learn the latest strategy in e-commerce and social media at Social Commerce Summit on February 6, 2013, in New York. Speakers include hot startups and major brands. Reserve your ticket now.

Facebook beats out Pinterest and Twitter for driving the most traffic to retail sites.?

Facebook makes up for a staggering 86 percent of retail traffic, while Pinterest drives 12 percent and Twitter 3 percent, according to an infographic by commerce consultants Rich Relevance.?

To be fair, Facebook has the most users of the three.?

Still, it's interesting to see Facebook driving so much social traffic, given recent doubts about whether its useful for retailers.?

DON'T MISS: Three Big Obstacles For Facebook's Gift Shop >

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-drives-traffic-to-retail-sites-2012-10

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How immune cells defend themselves against HIV

ScienceDaily (Sep. 26, 2012) ? A team of scientists led by virologists Prof. Oliver T. Fackler and Prof. Oliver T. Keppler from Heidelberg University Hospital have decoded a mechanism used by the human immune system to protect itself from HIV viruses. A protein stops the replication of the virus in resting immune cells, referred to as T helper cells, by preventing the transcription of the viral genome into one that can be read by the cell. The ground-breaking results provide new insights into the molecular background of the immunodeficiency syndrome AIDS and could open up starting points for new treatments.

The study has now been published -- ahead of print online -- in the international journal Nature Medicine.

Human immunodeficiency viruses attack different cells of the human immune system, most frequently, "T helper cells." These lymphocytes play a key role in immune defense, since they activate other immune cells upon contact with pathogens and set off subsequent immune responses. In the course of the HIV infection, they are continuously depleted until the immune system ultimately fails, culminating in AIDS with various infections.

In healthy people, the vast majority of T helper cells in the blood are in a resting state. They are not activated until they contact the pathogens against which they are specialized in defending. In the activated state, the cells are susceptible to HIV infection. "In contrast, resting T helper cells are immune to HIV: While the virus docks, and delivers its genetic information to the cell, the infection does not progress further. We have investigated why this is the case," explained Prof. Fackler, head of the working group at the Department of Infectious Diseases, Virology. Even if the T helper cells are activated later on, the virus does not replicate, because the genetic information of the virus is degraded during this period.

HIV genome cannot be transcribed into cell-compatible version

The team is headed by Prof. Fackler and Prof. Keppler, who moved from Heidelberg to the University Hospital in Frankfurt in April 2012 and now heads the Institute of Medical Virology there. The researchers discovered that the cellular protein SAMHD1 significantly contributes to protecting the resting immune cells. The protein is present in both resting and activated T helper cells and depletes nucleotides, the building blocks of genetic information. In the active phase the cells double their genetic information and divide, a process that depends on the continoues production of nucleotides. In the resting state, the cell does not require any nucleotides and stops their production, and SAMHD1 degrades the remaining nucleotides. "As a result, the HIV viruses most likely also lack the material they need to transcribe their genetic information into a version that can be used for the cell and to allow it to replicate," Fackler explained.

In the experiment, if SAMHD1 expression was silenced, resting T helper cells became susceptible to HIV infection. The same was true for immune cells of a patient who is unable to produce SAMHD1 due to a hereditary condition. "This shows that HIV can only replicate in lymphocytes if the effect of the protective protein SAMHD1 is eliminated," Keppler said. In addition, the researchers discovered that this early protective measure must be followed by other barriers to HIV replication. Even without SAMHD1, no new viruses were released from resting T helper cells. Now that they have described the protective function of SAMHD1 and are able block it, the scientists can for the first time also investigate the downstream mechanisms. "We hope that we will be able to use these findings to develop new strategies in the fight against HIV," the virologist said.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Heidelberg University Hospital.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Hanna-Mari Baldauf, Xiaoyu Pan, Elina Erikson, Sarah Schmidt, Waaqo Daddacha, Manja Burggraf, Kristina Schenkova, Ina Ambiel, Guido Wabnitz, Thomas Gramberg, Sylvia Panitz, Egbert Flory, Nathaniel R Landau, Serkan Sertel, Frank Rutsch, Felix Lasitschka, Baek Kim, Renate K?nig, Oliver T Fackler, Oliver T Keppler. SAMHD1 restricts HIV-1 infection in resting CD4 T cells. Nature Medicine, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nm.2964

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/-9yz-ZgvbM4/121001095905.htm

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Video: Motor sports journalist Chris Economaki has died

>>> one of the great choices in sports is gone, millions of us grew up listening to chris economaki . the best-known name in auto racing off the track. he wrote about the sport for 74 years, on tv for just about as long. you could hear his fascination with fast cars and those who drove them.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/49248998/

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How Technology Is Empowering Teachers, Minting Millionaires, And Improving Education

Thanks to the rise of in-classroom technology, the focus in education tends to be on student engagement and how to improve learning. It becomes easy to forget the importance of great teachers. Startups, entrepreneurs, businesses (and the rest) need to remember that technology doesn't have to put teachers in jeopardy; it can help them lead the education evolution, even if their traditional role in the classroom becomes obsolete.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/f8xWiXbiCmM/

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