Friday, April 24, 2009

Are Alzheimer's Caregivers the Forgotten?

Forty percent of Alzheimer's caregivers end up suffering from depression. Do you want to see this happen to a loved one or friend?
Like it or not, if you are a family member or friend of an Alzheimer's caregiver and you are not helping them--you have abandoned them. I am sure this sounds harsh. But, it's not even close to the harshness of your own behavior.
Alzheimer's is a sinister disease--it kills the brain of the person suffering from Alzheimer's.
And, it will try to kill the brain of the Alzheimer's caregiver.
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The Alzheimer's Project DVD -- Free Copy

Subscribers to the Alzheimer's Reading Room can now obtain a free copy of The Alzheimer's Project.

Go to the Alzheimer's Reading Room to get your free copy of the DVD -- The Alzheimer's Project.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Google Downside Reversal? (Chart)

Action today could be signaling  a downside reversal in Google. So far the low is in the critical 380 area. If 380 is breached it would signal additional downside in Google.
Google Chart 420
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The Alzheimer's Project How to Get it on DVD -- HBO

I am getting bombarded with emails asking me how to get HBO's The Alzheimer's Project if you don't have HBO.
There is good news. HBO is offering the Alzheimer's Project on DVD and in book form. You can order it now, but it won't ship until June 2.
To order a copy of the DVD -- The Alzheimer's Project -- go here.
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Sunday, April 19, 2009

Cold Fusion and Palladium (Chart)

Every decade or so the topic of cold fusion comes up. When it does you sometimes see Palladium, the commodity, soar. Will 60 Minutes trigger a new bull market in Palladium?
Cold Fusion and Palladium Chart
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60 Minutes Cold Fusion (Video and Text)

Twenty years ago it appeared, for a moment, that all our energy problems could be solved. It was the announcement of cold fusion - nuclear energy like that which powers the sun - but at room temperature on a table top. It promised to be cheap, limitless and clean. Cold fusion would end our dependence on the Middle East and stop those greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. It would change everything.
"We can yield the power of nuclear physics on a tabletop. The potential is unlimited. That is the most powerful energy source known to man," researcher Michael McKubre told 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley.
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Thursday, April 16, 2009

How We Saved $624.72 on Prescription Drugs

Ask the next baby boomer you see if they understand how the Medicare prescription drug program works. Unless they have a relative in the donut hole, I'll bet you a doughnut they can't tell you how it works.
Ok, here is the recap. We are saving $624.72 on the switch from Felodipine to generic Norvasc. We will likely save $310 on Benicar. Total savings so far $934.72 (estimate).
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Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Penn State Solar Decathlon team ready to make Natural Fusion a reality

"Natural Fusion was born out of the idea of building an integrated house and using things that have been used for years but in a new way," said ThomasRauch, team member and media liaison. "Its redefining the engineering processand what is considered the cross-disciplinary educational process."
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Industrial Production--A Picture Worth a Thousand Words

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Thursday, April 9, 2009

30 Year Mortgage Interest Rate Chart (Update)

30 Year Conventional Mortgage Interest Rate
30 Year Conventional Mortgage 409
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Stocks the Nervous Norvis Market (Chart and View)

When the market moves down for a couple of days your typical Nervous Norvis bull gets sweaty palms and heart palpitations. A couple of days down and the bears are pounding their chest. The only thing the bears can think about is bad news. Left to wonder of course, why is the market going up with all this bad news--the world is coming to an end.
Stocks the Nervous Norvis Market
The Stock market is in a classic uptrend from the capitulation low.
  • During the capitulation phase the slope of the market became too severe to maintain and the market hooked off the lows as should have been expected. See: S and P Monthly Chart indicates a sharp rally is coming soon. S and P 500 in the 676 area. See: S and P 500 Rally Comes as Predicted
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    Wednesday, April 8, 2009

    Tuesday, April 7, 2009

    80 Percent of Medical Bills Contain Errors -- Fighting Mistakes

    Problems with medical billing errors drive me crazy. Not our bills, but the medical bills of relatives and friends. They complain to me all the time. I start by telling them--you are complaining to the wrong person. Then I explain to them what to do about it--pick up the phone and call whoever is billing you.
    I learned a long time ago, you can negotiate down the price of any medical bill.
    Don't be afraid to pick up the phone and say--I refuse to pay that amount. Experience tells me that you can get a 20 percent reduction just by opening your mouth--by being proactive. By the way, being proactive does not mean being mean. Start by remembering this, the person on the other end of the phone is just like you or me--they are doing a job. So treat them with respect.  You can get more with sugar then you can with vinegar.
    If you run into a brick wall, try the above then use my favorite word--Supervisor.
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    Saturday, April 4, 2009

    The Fed Balance Sheet -- Reserve Balances Outstanding (Graph)

    Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke discusses the impact of the Fed Balance sheet and the task of unwinding when the economy begins to recover, or if inflation begins to rise.

    It should be obvious from the chart that this will be a daunting task. I guess you could believe in miracles. My guess is that the best strategy is to get a healthy investment in stocks that will benefit from rising inflation .

    Reserve Balances 403


    The large volume of reserve balances outstanding must be monitored carefully, as--if not carefully managed--they could complicate the Fed's task of raising short-term interest rates when the economy begins to recover or if inflation expectations were to begin to move higher. We have a number of tools we can use to reduce bank reserves or increase short-term interest rates when that becomes necessary.
    • First, many of our lending programs extend credit primarily on a short-term basis and thus could be wound down relatively quickly. In addition, since the lending rates in these programs are typically set above the rates that prevail in normal market conditions, borrower demand for these facilities should wane as conditions improve.
    • Second, the Federal Reserve can conduct reverse repurchase agreements against its long-term securities holdings to drain bank reserves or, if necessary, it could choose to sell some of its securities. Of course, for any given level of the federal funds rate, an unwinding of lending facilities or a sale of securities would constitute a de facto tightening of policy, and so would have to be carefully considered in that light by the FOMC.
    • Third, some reserves can be soaked up by the Treasury's Supplementary Financing Program. Fourth, in October of last year, the Federal Reserve received long-sought authority to pay interest on the reserve balances of depository institutions. Raising the interest rate paid on reserves will encourage depository institutions to hold reserves with the Fed, rather than lending them into the federal funds market at a rate below the rate paid on reserves. Thus, the interest rate paid on reserves will tend to set a floor on the federal funds rate.

    Read the entire speech: The Federal Reserve's Balance Sheet
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    Bob DeMarco is a citizen journalist and twenty year Wall Street veteran. Bob has written more than 500 articles with more than 11,000 links to his work on the Internet. Content from All American Investor has been syndicated on Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Pluck, Blog Critics, and a growing list of newspaper websites. Bob is actively seeking syndication and writing assignments.

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