Howdy Sportsfans!

With Oil prices going down, there may be a good chance that they could go a lot lower.  Perhaps even below $100 and that  is a good thing…

Which brings me to a bunch of items on the horizon for us as investors.  We have the worst rated congress in History, or in over 230 years which is really saying a lot when you think that we had slavery, scandal, deficits, wars and more to contend with and these boobs still manage to take the cake.

The Democrats got control and promised big changes and they are not doing anything, which is good for us.  By them not doing things, that usually means they won’t be raising taxes or trying to redistribute wealth or scaring businesses into leaving the country, so in actuality that is a good thing.

We have Uncle Al, aka Al Gore, who is still managing quite nicely to ignore that fact that Global Tempartures dropped a full degree last year calling for us to shut down our coal and oil industries here in the US and put several hundred thouasand people out of work and ruin millions of peoples retirement portfolio in order for us to all  go green in ten years.   Yea… sign everyone up for that one Al baby.

But on the good news front, we have Brazil and Czechloslovakia offering up some amazing investment opportunities as well as, and yes I am ringing that bell again, small businesses here right in the good old US of A.

While a lot of the country is hurting, there are many businesses that are flourishing and in desperate need of money to expand profits and grow.   The US still breeds some of the best Entrepreneurs on the planet.  Wall street ignores most, the VC’s won’t play for less than a few Million, the Banks are a joke, which leaves some big holes to fill and some great opportunities for the smart little investors like us.

I know I have promised this before, but I will unwrap the best way to get into this market here shortly.  In the meantime, just start asking around in your community to find out which businesses are doing well and need money.  Approach them, they will be estatic.  Use Virgin Money and some common sense to put together a deal and you are on your way and you will be helping the business, all of the people that work for them, your community, yourself and your portfolio!

Let me know how it goes!

Contrary to popular belief I did not fall into an abyss and I am still here working up some new goodies and content. My client list has gotten just a tad bigger to say the least in the past few months and it seems like all of the companies and people that I am working with are on a tear these days, contrary to what is going on with a lot of the economy.

It does pay to work with smart people. So, back to investing in small companies. While it may not pay for the big boys to jump in this game, because they have to swing a 10 to 20 million cat on each investment, it does pay for those of us that don’t have to swing any cats, especially one that big. I have no idea what that means exactly but I think you get the general idea…

Small businesses as I have said before are starving for capital because of how screwed up the Credit Bureaus have become and the fact that the banks are playing turtle and hiding in their shells and not lending money.

Because of this it may be easier know than at any time except perhaps right after the government kicked off the great depression with the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act to successfully find and invest in small businesses with a bright future for pennies on the dollar!

In the next few days I am going to share part of the formulae that I use to find companies that are worth investing in and have a better than average shot at give you an above average return.

Think, where would I find companies like that… or better yet, what would they be doing to make it easier for me to find them?

Chat with you soon.

Hey there, I have to apologize for not keeping up with Posting this past week or so. But I’ve been rather busy.

I’m working on a couple of different projects.   I want to share with a few of them that  involve investing in small companies. What with the market being as wishy washy as it is, and that basically you do not have any control your investments for the most part,  I still prefer to invest directly in ventures when possible.

I want to teach you how to do the same.  If you are selective, you can easily blow through our 21.5% minimum return model because a little bit of money can make a big difference to a small company’s bottom line.  Especially now with Banks not lending to small companies unless the owners agree donate both Kidneys first.

Good small profitable companies need money!  If you have been a regular reader here you are aware that I have always suggested that you look into investing in a local venture or two.

One of the things that I do when working with smaller companies is to not only invest cash, but in many cases I invest cash and my time and expertise.  I typically will help companies get their sales and marketing going and then help with their online business. Do you realize that over 75% of all small businesses still do not sell their products or services on the web?

My promise is to help them get them on their way to a 21% profit increase in 21 days.  So it has worked nearly every time.

This way I can get a larger stake in the company and further insure that my investment is going to make me a good return.  This way it truly becomes a Win-Win situation which is the only way that I do business.

It is something that you might want to think about for yourself!

Cheers,

Andrew Anderson

My goal with this story is to open your eyes to Alternative Investment Arenas. By Arena, I am talking about other countries. However, in order to do that, you need some way to measure and compare major metrics so that we are comparing Apples to Apples and not to Bananas or Cashews.

Talking about Cashews is apropos as some of what I am going to talk about is just plain nuts in more ways than one.

In researching this story, I have discovered a somewhat startling theme here in that almost every bit of the Stupidity that we need to avoid and Smartness we need to go after for your portfolio is Political in nature.

Here are some metrics that are commonly used to look at different countries for investment potential. A good source to help you with them is The Heritage Foundation which has compiled a top 10 List, as well as a list of 160 countries for Economic Freedom.

Click Here to take a look. (more…)

Catchy title is it not? The kicker is that it is true, so read on and find out why.

This is yet another interview with one of Sir Richard Branson’s latest Adventures in Capitalism, which is Virgin Money.

OK, here it is!

This is an interview with Helen Payne Watt from Virgin Money USA. Virgin Money also operates in the UK, South Africa, and Australia. So, all of you readers there listen up too!

If you have ever thought about looking for Private Money or becoming a Private Lender yourself, you NEED to listen to this interview.

It is full of my normal “umms”, “aaaa’s ” and “Wow’s” and “Holy Smoke’s” of course, as well as my scintillating interviewing techniques, but really beyond that it also full of things that I bet you probably have not heard of before that you can use right away.

• How about a Reverse Mortgage Alternative for those of you with Aging Parents?

• How about Private Student Loans?

• Real Estate Loans Of All Types?
  

And of course as you know, I think that…… no let me take that back. I know that Private Lending should be your first choice if you are looking to fund your business if at all possible. This can be true regardless if it is an established company, or a brand new baby. Listen to the interview and you will hear why.

We also discuss how to do a Private Loan with family members. Contrary to what you may have heard, I highly suggest doing so if you have the means. This is the best way to keep wealth in the family. Plus if done right, it can be done without a single headache or a hassle and actually bring the family together.

Keeping further in-line with the Private Lending theme, I am announcing one of my new pet projects that has been in the works for about four years now.

Where Can I Find Good Borrowers and Lenders For Private Lending?

One of the questions that I keep being asked repeatedly by people interested in Private Lending both from Borrowers and Lenders is this. “Where can I find a good Borrower or Lender?”

Well, I have been nosing around the Internet for quite some time and I have not found “the place” for Private Lending. In everyplace I looked, I found what was offered did not live up to my expectations or was what I thought really expensive for the services offered once you looked closely. They looked nice but they were all Hat and No Cattle.

Well, I am happy to announce my solution to bring together Private Money Lenders and Borrowers is www.FundingDesk.com. Can you believe I got the domain name for $6 bucks? (Domain names are a whole other investment success story for a later date!)

We are in Pr-Launch mode at the moment but what I can tell you is this.

It is going to be the best place available anywhere for Private Lenders and Borrowers to meet, learn, and to transact business.

Think of it as a dating and information site for Private Lending, with a lot of other information on loans, business, and money.

You will be able to find Private Lenders and Borrowers, take a look at what other people have to say about them, exchange information in a professional and private manner, as well as have access to some really great tools that I will let you in on very soon.

Of course we will also have some other innovative Commercial sources for money as well, but the site is going to focus on the Private Lending side of things.

Go click on the logo above and sign up for the Pre-Launch as I am going to shower you with a bunch of free goodies.

In addition, we are digging everywhere to find the best resources and information to help make your next Private Lending transaction profitable and a true Win-Win situation.

If not done right, they can blow up in your face and I will share my good and bad experiences with you so that you can avoid the bad situations and I have had some Doozies. They still hurt just thinking about them. But, the good news it that they are avoidable and I can make sure you have the information so they will not happen to you.

Here is just some of what will be on Funding Desk. I want to give you a few pointers that you can use right now, so here goes.

Setting Expectations

The biggest way to ensure good results in a Private Lending transaction is to find out and document the expectations and perceived obligations of both the Borrow and Lender.

Are You Reading The Same Book?

Do not assume you are on the same page even with supposedly obvious things. Discuss and write down everything, otherwise you might not only find out your are not on the same page, but you are reading different books!

Using someone like Virgin Money will help with the documentation but, what I am talking about is laying things out before you get there.

You need to sit down and write out on paper the what ifs. This may be a bit uncomfortable to do now, but it is a whole lot less so than getting into a misunderstanding later.

First off, what options are there for payments? Guess what? Things do not always go as planned. Do you have an interest only option? Do you have a skip one payment and add it to the back of the loan option?

If you are the Borrower, are you sharing your accounting information with your Lender? This may help establish trust and there are several ways to do this that I will share with you on Funding Desk.

If you are the Lender, do you have the option of stepping in and helping if things do not go as planned? If this mechanism is put in place upfront, it can save you some very big headaches and often times rescue the loan. Many times, just having open communications with the other party can help. In fact, it is essential in my book.

I am also going to show you what happens when you have a Borrower or a Lender that goes crazy and becomes irrational with you. I have had both happen. I will show you ways to avoid this and show you the Top 3 Warning signs that you are dealing with a squirrel that has a few nuts missing or worse, you have a kleptomaniac squirrel. It will help you avoid the Loons and the Crooks.

What else? I also want to show you how to deal with family members both as Borrowers and Lenders. I had to learn this the hard way and believe me, the price for those lessons was way too high. I will show you how to drastically reduce the tuition for that class.

Do you see why doing the Private Lending transaction correctly is one of the main reasons why I brought you this interview with Virgin Money?

As I hope you have gathered by now, I truly want to see you succeed in using Private Lending as a vehicle to create wealth. It can be done easily and profitably.

Private Lending is one of the most valuable yet misunderstood tools out there to achieve success and wealth. But once you know how to use it properly, you really can write your own ticket. I know I have had some awesome Private Lending experiences and that is how they should be and will be once you know how to put them together correctly.

But, in order to help make sure you have a good Private Lending experience, you need to have the proper documentation and servicing for both parties. Ding, ding, ding…. Virgin Money is the bell that you hear ringing.

Using Virgin Money separates you from the herd out there.

Just think about it. When you approach your Private Lender or Borrower, whichever the case may be, and you let them know that Virgin Money will be handling the paperwork and payment transactions, do you think that will lend a huge amount of credibility to you? Absolutely!

So, do yourself a big favor right now and listen to the interview below and see how Virgin Money is going to help you with your Private Lending transaction and then go sign-up for the Pre-Launch of Funding Desk. You will be glad that you did!

I can assure you that these are are two things that you will be thanking me for in the near future.

Enjoy, Learn, Do!
Andrew Anderson

You have no doubt heard of MySpace, but did you know that it and other sites like it such as Facebook, Orkut, and YouTube can be used as great research tools that can put you way ahead of the market?

Let me show you exactly how this works: Companies that are using these sites as a regular part of their business and media models have a huge edge over their competition who just don’t get it.

These sites represent many of the top 10 most visited sites in the world.

For instance just MySpace and Facebook alone get around 2.5 Billion with a B hits a day… A DAY!

The kicker is that the vast majority of the business clients that I consult with don’t have a clue about how to capitalize on these numbers. But those that do it right can see phenomenal growth no matter what business they are in.

This is part of the reason why I can base 95% of my consulting fee on guaranteeing to improve revenue and profit by 10% to 20% within just a few months for my clients no matter the size or type of business they are in or I don’t get paid.

How many other consultants will do that?

I am currently working on two books based on using these effectively. The one you see is for Investors and I will be giving you some of the best and most relevant concepts from it over the coming weeks.

The other one is a “How To” for businesses to show them how to capitalize on this.

The largest problem for many companies is that their IT people usually don’t have a clue about marketing, and their PR and Ad people don’t have a clue about IT. It is a double whammy. But for those companies that do get it, they have a huge advantage.

In the book I will teach you how to use these alternative methods and tools to find hidden and not so hidden gems.

First off, find out if the company has a MySpace or Facebook page and see how they are using it.

As far as I know, I have not seen a concise book on using these sites as a research tool. But then again, if someone is using them the way I am going to show you, more than likely they are not going to broadcast how they do it.

But there’s a rub – and it’s really ironic. The more people that find out about these tools and use them the better it is for everyone.

Want to see how it works right now? (more…)

Bear with me, because I’m going to show you how…
****
Guess what? You are the market! The market is “you” and several hundred million other people. You made it go up today.

But with this in mind, in order to beat it you have to do what everyone else is not. You have to be doing the opposite of what “you” normally would do or to do it a bit quicker or a bit later.

As it turns out this is not normally as easy as it sounds but there are some rather simple solutions to testing this theory while getting better at it.

Here is an exercise for you just to get your brain moving in the right direction. Set up a dummy trading portfolio somewhere. There are thousands of places you can do this. Your own brokerage firm should allow you to do this in fact. (more…)

Do wealthy people do things differently than those that are not wealthy? What one thing do nearly all of them have in common?

Is it something that can be learned? If so, would you like to learn how to do it if you could?

Well, I will give you a hint on the first question, heck, I will just plain give it to you.

If you look at Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Richard Branson, Gene Simmons, Donald Trump, and Andrew Anderson, they all own their own business and point in fact, they all own several of them.

With owning their own businesses being the common denominator with the vast majority of the wealthiest people in the world, why is it when we talk about investing that we don’t immediately talk about the one vehicle more people use to become wealthy than any other first?

Think about it. Ask most people about investing and the first thing that comes to mind is stocks, mutual funds, or perhaps real estate. The later falls into the owning your own business category but the others definitely do not. (more…)

= $5

Welcome to prices in the not too distant future here in the US. Get used to it because commodity prices have shot up dramatically recently and that is where prices are heading. I am going to show you why this is a good thing. Well, OK, not for everyone, but at least for you and I. Yes, we are going to make money from this!

All of these items have something to do with coming out of the ground and going up. Wheat has seen prices around $15.75 per bushel when only last year it was around $4 per bushel. Corn in 2006 was around $2.25 a bushel and now it is around $5.80.

Can you see why your prices for the items mentioned are going to go up?

There are actually two major factors at play.

Here are very, very simplistic answers for this and there are more factors, but here is basically what is going on.

Only about five years ago if we say the US Dollar was actually worth a Dollar, it is now worth only 50 cents. (more…)

I had the chance to interview the founder and CEO of Richard Branson’s latest venture, Virgin Charter, Scott Duffy yesterday afternoon.

We spoke about Virgin Charter, the how and why of the opportunity they have, why it makes sense for people to use their services, and advice on how to invest in what is perhaps your own best investment, investing in yourself.

What Virgin Chart does in a nutshell is that it works with operators of private jets and and helps keep them filled with paying passengers. Quite often, a jet will take a people to their destination, and end up flying back to home base empty. So, rather than flying empty with no paying passengers, Virgin Charter lets people bid on these otherwise empty trips.

You can book jets like a Citation, Lear, Gulfstream and everything else in the modern jet fleet.

The jet operator receives basically found money and the new Virgin Charter customers get a great deal on travel. How is that for a win-win situation?

In a truly free capitalistic society, inefficiency usually gets solved by someone making a profit for solving it! –Andrew Anderson

This is a much more efficient use of resources don’t you think? You can also book a regular charter flight there as well. So if you have an aircraft or use charters, you should definitely look into what they have to offer.

Also, if you have never flown by private jet, there is nothing like it. It can literally save you a whole day when traveling. You are normally able to fly directly into smaller airports which are usually closer to your actual destination. There is no delay or hassle with running the security gauntlet while they pat down old ladies in wheelchairs and you don’t have to jostle for a cramped seat next to someone that has not discovered that new invention called deodorant.

You can actually get work done while flying. It is nice to arrive fresh and ready to go close that deal. If you ever want to make an impression with a potential client, have them pick you up at the airport as you step off your charter. They don’t have to know that it did not cost an arm and a leg, or better yet let them know that it didn’t. They will probably appreciate the tip the next time they travel and be impressed by your thrift and efficiency.

If you are traveling with a group of 8 to 10 people with your company, this can really be an economical way to travel, especially with last minute trips.

Here is the interview. (more…)

I am revisiting this subject as for many, buying or starting business is not something that is thrown into the investing arena as often as it should be.

Why?

Well because for the most part there is no middleman to push it unlike most other investments so we don’t see it.

And lets face it, if your education was anything like mine, I was not taught anything about investing in high school or college. So, you have to pick it up on your own and most of us are taught that investing is about stocks and bonds and whatnot.

However investing in small or medium sized businesses is probably one of the most lucrative things that you can do. Whether you start one, buy one, or invest in one, they could easily end up being your best investments.

In the recent book “Get Rich, Stay Rich, Pass It On” by McReen and Walper, they suggest that you invest 25% of your portfolio in entrepreneurial opportunities. (more…)

The Investor’s Dilemma
If you are like me, perhaps you have had some of these same dilemmas.

• Not sure where to start
• Not sure what “Experts” I should listen too
• Not sure if it is a good time to invest
• Not sure “what” to invest in. Do I invest in Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Real Estate etc?
• It seems like “everyone” has an angle to pry my money from me
• I know that I need to do something but not sure where to start
• Or I have been doing OK, but I want to do better, there has to be a better way

Any of this sound familiar? Well, how about if I walk you through some of the steps and missteps that I have gone through and save you some of the cuts, bruises, and downright thumpings that I have gotten?

How about if we do it live, right here? Does that sound at all interesting to you? (more…)

Craigslist is getting a run for its money.

Well, it was bound to happen; Craigslist the world’s largest online classifieds is getting a run for its money with the likes of Listpic , Kijiji , Backpage, and a host of others.

If you have never used Craigslist before, if you have anything in your house that you want to sell, say that old spare bed or stuff in the garage, you can put it on Craigslist and if it is priced right, it can be sold in a matter of hours and the best part is that it is all free.

Also, if you are looking for something from furniture, to tools, to a lawnmower, you can probably find it at a great price there. It is amazing if you have never used it before. It is like a garage sale on steroids. (more…)

It takes a lot to impress me these days, which I guess is a good thing. But, this has to be one of the best uses of the Internet from a practical standpoint to demonstrate a product that I have yet seen.

On this site, you can actually start and control a diesel engine from you computer. It just goes to show you what can be done using remote technology.

First, it is a great demo for their product, secondly, it shows how one person can monitor and control situations remotely rather than have someone monitoring on site.

Why this is not done more often I have yet to figure out. The technology has been around for years. I can think of dozens of applications where this could be used to help bond customers to your product or actually reduce employee costs and or add to safety and efficiency of an operation.

The Product is the Dems-1000 engine management system. You can even control it via your cell phone!

Click Here to take a look and play with the engine. It will probably scare Chuck their computer programmer too. He said he is often alone in the warehouse there. He says you never know when the darn thing is going to start up. LOL

Here are some specs:

• 
  

  Oil Level	Vibration
  Oil Pressure	Engine Overspeed
  Oil Temperature	Battery Voltage
  Water Temperature	Alternator
  Fuel Pressure	Air Filter Monitor
  Fuel Flow	Water in fuel
  Fuel Tank Level	Auxillary Inputs
  Manifold Pressure

• Remote and Local Keypad Control
• Access from Internet, cellphone, RS485, or twisted phone pair.

This is the type of thing, that could end up being a fairly large product in my estimation. Who knows, they might just be looking for investors or new distribution channels. In any case, it could be worth keeping an eye on.

Anyway, go ahead and start the engine and give Chuck a start too.

Getting Good At “It”

So maybe you have dabbled with different kinds of investments, say stocks, bonds, options, even Real Estate. But the big questions is, have you gotten good at any of them?

I know we are often taught to work at making our weaknesses better but, what if instead you concentrated on making what you are really good at even better? You know, if you are really good at stock picking, just concentrate of getting even better at it, become great at it. The same goes with any of the investment mediums.

If you are wondering at the wisdom of this, take a look at Tiger Woods. Does he put most of his effort into learning how to play tennis or does he put the vast majority of his time into Golf?  What do you think of his results?

I think of this every time I hear about balanced portfolio funds. Why would you have a good chunk of funds in Bonds and Stocks at the same time when 90% of the time when one is doing well, the other is going to be doing the opposite?

This is a recipe for mediocre returns before you even put the investments in the oven. Moreover, to even further mix metaphors, that is just what I want in a meal. I want to start with a recipe for a meal that I know is never going to be better then OK. No, thank you, no!

That is not to say that you cannot have more than one type of investment or spread risk. However, how about if you get really good at one type of investment on a consistent basis and then move on to another type?

This does not mean that you have your broker do this for you. You need to get involved as well.

In addition, the next time you speak with your broker, ask him or her if she is worth over a million dollar and did she make it trading whatever she might be recommending you do? If not, why are you listening to her?

Anyway, just some food for thought. I think that I am going to go back to my recipes for comfort food this week.

The Play Of The Day

With Coal as high as it is, might be a good time to play it short. It has shot up around 40% recently and the winter will not last forever.

Ok, I have to admit that my Art Investing experience is somewhat limited. I have a few originals, and I am drawn to the likes of Elvgren (the pin-up artist) and a few other eclectic artists.

I was almost a proud owner of a Rube Goldberg original once until that lady that had it decided to crop it for me before I came back to pick it up and cut an inch all around the piece, cutting away his signature and ruining the piece. I looked at her dumbfounded as she could not understand why I did not want it after her handiwork. I think Rube would have laughed.

I have been a photographer (pro I guess in that I make money from it upon occasion) and also like to sculpt. Here is one of my sculptures the likes of which I would guess you may not have seen before.

(more…)

While we all know about stocks and bonds and such, have you ever thought about doing what the big boys do? You know, where you buy out whole companies or enough of one to make a difference?

I want to go over a type of investing that many investors overlook and that is investing in small, privately owned companies or even startups. These can be anything from Websites, to your local niche retailer that is doing well who wants to open another location, to the guy down the street with the next latest and greatest invention.

In the new book, ” Get Rich, Stay Rich, Pass it On: The Wealth -Accumulation Secrets of Amercia’s Richest Families ” by Catherine McBreen and George Walper jr. they suggest that you invest up to 25% of your portfolio in enterprises that that develop products and services or invent break through technologies. (more…)