Students Of Success

Music is the essence of the day to day life of any person. It is immaterial that you are young or aged, the love for music among people never dies. Being a music lover, I know that the thirst for good music never ends and how is it possible when it is such a sweet and soft gift for us.

In the early days, people had to buy music cassettes or records as soon as they were launched in the market. Sometimes, it also happened that any specific music was not available due to finished stock or other factors. But today, with the help of new technology such as Mp3, the distribution of music has become even faster and much wider. Now you have the options for music cassettes, compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), mp3’s and also online websites that let you hear the music of your choice.

If you wish to purchase a music CD you have to visit the store that requires your time and if the album is in huge demand then it might happen that you have to wait until the next day. Online music makes it very easier whereby you can easily find the song tracks you wish to hear. There are many online music websites whereby you can enter the name of the song or the artist you wish to listen and the track shall be played online.

To get access to online music, you need to have a computer with the compatible software such as media player, an internet connection and attached sound system. Most of the websites offer free music service whereby there are no charges involved except the download charges that you need to pay with your internet bill.

You can also make a collection of your favorite music tracks just by downloading from the website into the hard disk drive of your computer which you can later burn in a compact disc. This saves your money from purchasing different music albums if you love songs of various artists and movies that are not available in a single album.

To know more, log on to website http://www.music-future.com.

In the stock market, there is an old Wall Street adage to “Sell in May and go away.” It refers to the market’s tendency to perform much better during the six month period beginning on November 1st and ending on April 30th than during the period of the same length beginning on May 1st and ending on October 31st. It’s also known as the Halloween Indicator.

According to the 2005 edition of the Stock Trader’s Almanac, the six month period beginning in November gained 10,599.68 Dow Jones Industrial Average points in 54 years. The remaining six months, from the beginning of May through the end of October, lost 588.44 points. The S&P 500 index gained 1089.23 points in the November-April period and gained just 62.09 points during the May-October period.

A $10,000 investment in the Dow made in 1950 and ending in 2003 would have grown to $483,060 during the November-April period and lost $328 during the May-October period. That’s the origin of the saying to “Sell in May and go away.”

So, on the surface, it seems like a no-brainer. Just invest in the stock market during the best six months of the year and do something else with your money during the rest of the year. In fact, there are quite a few investment strategies based on doing just that.

However, like anything else that seems too good to be true, on closer examination it’s not quite that simple. According to Mark Hulbert, editor of Market Watch, the Halloween Indicator has done much better since 1970 than during the years before.

Since 1970, the average six-month return during the November-April period is +8.39%, which on an annualized basis is more than 17%. And the return during the May-October period is -0.03%. But, before 1970, the return during the best six months is +3.62% and the return during the worse six months is +2.71% — a statistically insignificant difference.

So what’s the deal? Did something fundamentally change in 1970? It’s hard to say and that’s the problem. There have been attempts to explain what may have changed. According to a study done by the American Economic Review, the timing of summer vacations may have something to do with it. Before 1970, the timing and length of summer vacations was significantly different than in the last three or four decades.

Hmm… I’m not so sure about that. In fact, as far as I’m concerned it’s never been adequately explained why the stock market would do better during one six month period of time than another, no matter which years you’re talking about. But I know this — an indicator that can’t be explained on its merits should probably not be the basis for investing money — no matter what the historical return.

Larry Holmes invites you to visit http://www.Money-Management-Wisdom.com/
You will learn how to become debt-free, save and invest money, cut taxes, manage risk, and achieve financial freedom in a much shorter time than you dreamed possible.

Many retirees are drawn to Florida’s West Coast, specifically
the Tampa Bay area. These folks relocate to Florida for its
temperate climate and easy living. Our nation’s baby boomers are
coming into their retirement years, and they are a part of this
group. Modern trends are shifting to accommodate the lifestyles
and needs of this largest segment of our population and the
Tampa Bay area is a perfect example.

Florida’s Tampa Bay area has miles of pristine beaches and
beautiful natural landscapes as backdrops for the finest living
available for individuals, families, and retirees. Life here can
only be described as “Treasured Living.” The sun, silky-smooth
sandy beaches, and the warm waters flowing into Tampa Bay from
the Gulf of Mexico will allow you an escape from the ordinary
stresses of daily life. The museums, restaurants, theatres,
night clubs, recreational activities, and close-knit communities
will add color, and vibrancy to your life!

When it comes to retirement, everyone has their own idea of what
they want their retired living to look like. Some will want to
live in larger, more metropolitan areas filled with lots of
constant activity, while others want to get away and slow things
down a bit. The type of housing desired, will also vary among
individuals from condominium living, to manufactured home parks
to large waterfront homes. Another consideration for folks
coming into their well-earned retirement years is the
opportunity to engage in the activities that they enjoy most
such as golfing, fishing, boating, shopping, hobbies, and
entertainment. The Tampa Bay area can offer a wide-range of
options to ensure that your retirement years are truly “Golden,”
as you rightfully deserve.

Consulting with a Tampa Bay Realtor is an excellent way to begin
the search for your retirement real estate. These
representatives are quite knowledgeable about all of the housing
and amenities available throughout the area, and thus, they can
be a great help as you decide where you would like to live, and
what your retirement will mean to you.

If you enjoy an active lifestyle, you might consider relocating
to one of the Tampa Bay’s many vibrant 55+, adult communities.
These are tight-knit, mini-cities, made up of other retired
people who share in the same desires for maintaining an active
lifestyle as you.

Some of the best adult living communities are located within
Tampa, Clearwater and surrounding areas. Highland Lakes, On Top
of the World, and Imperial Cove, just to name a few, located in
beautiful Clearwater Florida, are just minutes from the area’s
beaches, and offer its residents a community center to gather
together for some fun, as well as plenty of outdoor recreational
activities to keep you busy. These senior communities are also
conveniently situated to nearby shopping, dining, and
entertainment resources. Pool and spas are located on the
grounds of most of these properties.

Nearby Pasco County, another Tampa Bay area, offers many 55+
communities which are affordable and sought after. Some of the
most popular ones are Chateau Village, Eagles Point, Wedgwood
Village, Summertree, Heritage Lakes, Timber Greens, and Linkside
Village. These communities boast fitness centers to help you get
into shape, plenty of recreational activities to help you stay
fit, a pool and spa for residents to enjoy, community centers,
gated-entries for added security, and spectacular landscaping.

If a 55+ community isn’t for you, and you would rather be among
families or professional singles, there are plenty of
alternative solutions for your perfect retirement destination.
Your local Tampa Bay Florida real estate agent is ready to help
you find that solution.

Why Read?

It’s been said that there are three kinds of knowledge:

• What you know
• What you know that you don’t know, and
• What you don’t know that you don’t know.

What you know is an asset.

What you know that you don’t know isn’t too difficult to handle.
You can go out and find out!

But what you don’t know that you don’t know could be dangerous — to your life/health/career/business etc. It’s information that you don’t know exists. It could cost you your job, promotion, business, or something worse.

What you don’t know can, and often does, harm you. In fact, unknown to you it could be holding you back this very minute.

However, if you develop the habit of reading for self improvement, you set yourself up to be “found” by such knowledge. It comes to you each time you open a book, even though you never knew it was there.

Imagine this: you’re walking along innocently, “in the line of fire” of some great information, and all of a sudden you are “hit” by a new discovery! If you will just stay in the line of fire (by reading, reading and reading some more), you will keep on getting “hit”. And there’s something about this habit that causes you to attract just the information you need!

I am an avid, voracious reader. I read anything that’s written in English, online or offline! A while ago, I needed some info about marketing one’s services. I set a weekly goal to read up on the subject, though I had no idea where I would find the material, or the time to read it either! Lo and behold! Being a habitual reader, all week long I was “found out and followed” by books, articles, pop-up boxes and spam mail on marketing your services. Every where I turned, it was there!

If you develop the habit of reading, you will never be at a loss for information. You will either know what you need to know, know where to find it, know some one who knows it, or it will come looking for you!

Over time you will become a resource person and a magnet for information. Now how beneficial could that be to your career or business?

I once worked with colleagues who often came to me when they were looking for information. If a problem defied solution they made sure to ask me. I didn’t always have the answers, but if I didn’t, I knew where to find them! My boss wrote in my appraisal that I was “an asset to this establishment.”
To get ahead in today’s world you must develop a reading habit; stay in the line of fire of good, wholesome information, and get “hit” each time there’s an update!

Is time a problem for you? Here are

10 tips for finding the time to read:

1. Take a book with you wherever you go, make use of time in the traffic, waiting in receptions, even time in the loo!

2. Cut back on TV viewing. What does it profit a man (or woman) to watch TV all day and suffer from a dearth of information?

3. To find time for new things you must throw out some old ones. What pastimes are no longer profitable? Or less profitable than reading? Ditch them!

4. Make friends with people who read. Their good reading habits will rub off on you.

5. Join a reading group. You’ll be kept busy with reading assignments, and will somehow have to make the time. No reading groups near you? Create one!

6. Delegate as much work as you possibly can, whether it’s office work or house work. Use the free time to “get in the line of fire” of some good information!
7. Set goals for self-improvement. Make reading part of your strategy. Then you will read to reach your goals.

8. Set up a corner of your home to be the perfect reading corner - rocking chair/reading desk and chair, good lighting, peaceful and quiet, soft colours, gentle on the eyes, out-of-bounds to kids - you know what I mean! Just looking at the place will draw you to sit there and read!

9. Block out 30 minutes to one hour of your day (or whatever suits you) for reading. Tell everyone you cannot be disturbed. Switch off all phones. Go where no one can find you. Do whatever it takes to have that time uninterrupted and just read.

10. Get organized; be a better time manager. It’s amazing how much time we throw away chatting on the phone, hanging out with friends, lingering after a meeting or waiting around for one thing or the other. You could kill two birds with one stone by reading while you’re at the hairdresser’s or the mechanic’s. Examine the way you spend your time. You’ll find plenty of it not properly utilized.

I hope you are inspired to begin reading, whether for pleasure or self-improvement. There is no such thing as spare time. If you need time you’ve got to create it. And now you have no excuse! So go on out and get some books, and get “hit” with some new information!

Copyright 2005 Oma Edoja

Oma Edoja is a writer, motivational speaker and infopreneur. She writes on a variety of topics, but mainly motivational/inspirational/self-help. She is looking to work with editors and publishers who need writers. Oma may be contacted via her motivational ezine at http://up-mobile.blogspot.com

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill that protects fast-food chains from being sued by people who claim the food made them fat. If the bill, the “Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act” - better known in Congress as the “cheeseburger bill” — is made into law, obesity-related lawsuits against both restaurants and food manufacturers would be banned. (Legal action could still be taken if contaminated food makes a person sick.)

To date, a handful of lawsuits have been filed that blame restaurant food and advertising for obesity. Only one such case — filed in 2002 and alleging that McDonald’s misleading advertising caused teens in New York to eat too much of the food and become obese — remains open.

Yes, We Need The Cheeseburger Bill …

The bill passed 306 to 120 in the House - -the second time they’ve passed the bill. The same bill was passed back in March 2004 but not acted upon in the Senate. About 20 states have already passed similar legislation.

Bill proponents say it’s a person’s own responsibility to choose what they do and do not eat, and such matters don’t belong in court.

“As one judge put it, if a person knows or should know that eating copious orders of super-sized McDonald’s products is unhealthy and could result in weight gain, it is not the place of the law to protect them from their own excesses,” said Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

“We should not encourage lawsuits that blame others for our own choices and could bankrupt an entire industry,” Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas noted.

The Whitehouse also backs the bill and said in a statement, “Food manufacturers, marketers, distributors, advertisers and sellers should not be held liable for injury because a person’s consumption of legal, unadulterated food is associated with the person’s weight gain or obesity.”

No, The Cheeseburger Bill is Unnecessary

Those who are against the bill say fast-food companies should be held accountable for selling harmful products, and passing the bill would unfairly give restaurants and food manufacturers special rights.

“Congress has allowed the need of big corporations before the need of our children,” said Rep. Bob Filner, D-California.

Further, they say courts are functioning fine without the bill and dismissing cases that sound frivolous. Passing the bill could give food manufacturers free reign to produce any type of product.

Bill opponents point out that obesity is a major problem facing the nation, with close to two-thirds of U.S. adults and 15 percent of children now overweight. Some 30 percent of adults are considered obese.

“Congress is headed in the wrong direction with this bill, which removes any and all incentives for the food industry to improve the healthiness of their products,” says Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif.

Meanwhile, McDonald’s isn’t waiting for the bill to become law before they take some responsibility of their own. The fast-food giant announced that beginning in 2006 they will be including nutrition facts information on most of their fast-food packages. l”> Please Let Us Know What YOU Think!

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