The Religious Wrong

Being broke is a temporary situation. Being poor is a mental state. - Mike Todd

Learn from the mistakes of others. You will not live enough to learn them yourself. - Unknown Author

As we all know, this is a financial blog. However, I try to interject a little pop culture, a little sports and hopefully some laughs with each post. Today I need to talk about something entirely different. Yesterday, Haiti was hit with an enormous earthquake. Because of the timing of it, little information filtered out yesterday evening. It was dark and electricity completely cut the area off from the rest of the world. With the dawn of the new day, we all saw the massive destruction. The number of fatalities could be as high as six digits. People around the world are trying to find out if loved ones on the island are safe. This is truly devastating for anybody touched, whether directly or indirectly by this tragedy.

It is times like this that we see people and organizations around the world rally to help those in need. This has always been a source of inspiration to me. What I find utterly disgusting and completely unacceptable is for individuals to use moments like this to push their own agenda. No matter what your view on any given topic, the day after an event like this is not the time to speak ill of the victims. For those of you who are scratching your heads, I am referring to Pat Robertson saying today that Haitians had “signed a pact with the devil” and insinuated that they deserved this. He used the tragedy of 9/11 to spout similar hateful remarks. Mr. Robertson, as a man of faith, I would have thought you would know better. I do not share the same faith as you, but the God I believe in loves and cares for all creatures, regardless of religion, color, gender, sexual preference or bank account.

In the January 2010 edition of the No-Load Navigator, Mark Grimaldi gives you “the skinny in less than 30 seconds.” For those of you who do not remember, this publication is rated #1 by Hulbert Financial Digest. Grimaldi goes back over his top ten outlooks for 2009 and gives you a new list for 2010. You will also get an update from the Navigator models and rankings for mutual funds.

At the Investors Intelligence Advisors Sentiment Survey, John Gray discusses the “Nice Jump in the Bulls This Week.” As this publication gauges the feeling from all of the other financial newsletters, they have found that the “bullish” rating is the highest it has been since October ’07. The bears are at a rating last seen 23 years ago. These contrarians must think they know something the rest of us don’t.

The members of ZepInvest send their thoughts and prayers out to all of those suffering tonight. We wish Godspeed to all of the lost souls and a swift recovery to anybody injured during the quake.

For more information, please go to http://www.zepinvest.com.

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The TMZ of Wall Street

The art is not in making money, but in keeping it. – Proverb

The trick is to stop thinking of it as 'your' money. - IRS auditor

What has happened to the world these days? Why can’t a man drive his automobile into a tree in his own yard in private? This is not news and certainly doesn’t warrant the attention it is getting. Neither does that other part of this drama. What’s going on behind closed doors is none of our business. As a society, we spend too much time getting involved in other people’s lives and not enough time living our own.

Maybe the press can spend a little more time talking to one or two of the young soldiers that are going to be shipped to Afghanistan…or hear about what really goes on from somebody who has returned. Between the Tiger Woods story and the one with these socialite wannabes crashing a dinner, it’s amazing that any real news is getting covered.

Anyway, we’ve got some great stuff for you today. The markets get more interesting by the day and the publishers at ZepInvest are here to help you make sense of it all.

The Investors Intelligence Advisors Sentiment Survey by John Gray puts its finger on the pulse of the investment newsletter community. It monitors over one hundred different independent publications and lists them as bullish, bearish or correctional. In the most recent release, it states that “long-term bears are at their lowest level in six years, while the short term bears (those for a correction) are at their highest level in over twelve years.”

The US Investment Report from Stephen W. Quickel is a weekly report that uses technical analysis to give trading strategies on all the major indexes. In his December 1st edition, he discusses the recent trouble in Dubai as well as some other countries you may not know are also on the edge. Model portfolios are also offered.

The final publication of the day is Mark A. Grimaldi’s No-Load Navigator. This monthly piece uses a combination of both fundamental and technical analysis to rank the no-load funds available. His December, 2009 edition covers a lot of ground, including market commentary, model portfolios, fund rankings and even a question/answer session covering such things as buying real estate in an IRA. This newsletter has also been rated #1 by Hulbert Financial Digest.

Here are three more reasons to take control of your portfolio. ZepInvest offers over 70 different publishers. Let those professional analysts, economists and money managers guide you as you save for your tomorrow.

For more information, go to http://www.zepinvest.com.

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