Protecting Your Investment Portfolio

When people fall victim to a scam and lose their investments, 20/20 hindsight often has the rest of us scratching our heads and wondering, "How the heck did they fall for that?"

We all have our circles, and when one person in that circle trusts someone, it becomes easier for the rest of us to trust that person. We assume that someone we know did the due diligence and now we don't have to.



Let's hope that after being inundated with news about Bernie Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme -- perhaps the scam of the our lifetimes -- we're a little less smug about who falls for a scam and who doesn't.

1. Keep your eyes wide open
Each person who hands money to an adviser or a firm to invest must do so with his eyes wide open. Check out the adviser's credentials, get references and use a search engine or news service to see if anything's been reported or blogged about the adviser. Make sure the adviser understands your goals and financial needs. And know how your money will be invested, and get it in writing. For more click the link.

Investors Should Limit Exposure to US Equities: Gross

Middle-aged investors looking to retire in about 20 years should position their portfolios to have a 25 to 30 percent stake in equities outside of the United States, Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer at PIMCO told CNBC Monday.

"Stocks or equity investments are better made in strong growth economies—that's not the US," Gross said. "You go where the growth is, and today, that would be in developing markets such as Brazil or Asia."

The US stock market is likely the most overvalued global market, Gross said, pointing out that it has a higher P/E ratio than the United Kingdom or Brazilian markets, but a lower yield. Ten-year bonds in those two countries also far outyield those in the United States, he said.

"The US is attracting foreign investments from China and from Japan for alternative reasons," he said. "In both of those cases, on the bond side and the stock side, they seem to be overpriced." Click to see the rest.

[NFL] Adalius Thomas Shoots Down Report Of Players Strike - GridironFans.com

New England linebacker and NFL Players Association player representative Adalius Thomas vehemently denied that there has been any discussion of a strike by players, particularly during the playoffs. "To be blunt, it's a flat-out, bald-faced, capital-letters lie," Thomas said when asked about a report Tuesday by Profootballtalk.com that there has been discussion of a strike. "We're not the ones who are interested in not playing. We want to play. We're not going on strike. We signed this [collective bargaining] agreement and we're fine with it. We're happy. We don't want to stop playing football. I've never heard that [idea of a strike]. Not one time." More important, the players want it to be clear that they aren't the ones unhappy with the CBA. Rather, as Thomas repeatedly pointed out, the players weren't the ones who opted out of the agreement – it was the owners. "Reporters act like we're the ones who opted out of the agreement and that's not true. We're not the ones who wanted to opt out. We're happy with the agreement. We want to continue the agreement the way it is. We're fine," Thomas said. "We're not interested in a strike. There might be a lockout, not a strike. A lockout by the owners."

Will teams copy the Yankees in 2010? | National Football Post

We all watched the New York Yankees win the World Series last week with what was commonly referred to as “the best team money can buy.” The Yankees’ $208-million payroll greatly exceeded the player costs of its opponent, the Phillies ($113 million), and, for that matter, every other MLB team. Their dramatic spending has been the source of much debate in light of the results, but we have to remember that one year ago, the Yankees were also the highest-spending team in baseball by a good margin and watched the postseason with the rest of us.

My strong feeling has always been that spending in professional sports does not strongly correlate to winning. Having said that, I do think in a system without a salary cap, greater financial resources give teams an advantage that a cap system does not. In other words, the margin for error is much greater for a club spending significantly more than other teams competing in the same league. For more click the link.

NFL Presents Economic Proposal For New CBA To NFLPA

The NFL has rolled out its economic proposal for a new CBA, which includes a rookie wage scale and credits against NFL club owners' expenses which will be deducted from revenues that determine a salary cap, a source confirmed. The NFL and the NFLPA have agreed to keep the talks secret, but industry Web Site profootballtalk.com was the first to report that the league had begun to discuss financial terms for a new labor deal at its last formal bargaining session in N.Y. last Wednesday. The Web site also reported that the two sides had agreed to a "media blackout," which is common in labor negotiations when the two sides are trying to make progress in bargaining. Asked if the league had unveiled its economic proposal, including a rookie wage scale and expense credits against the salary cap, NFL Senior VP/PR Greg Aiello said in an email, "We are not commenting on the negotiations." NFLPA Assistant Exec Dir of External Affairs George Atallah said in an email, "The NFLPA is not discussing the CBA negotiations in an effort to maintain the integrity of the talks." for more click the link.

Nolah Harrison's Max Story

Yankees World Series Champions

Congratulations to the Yankees! Are they ever not in the hunt for the WS? Great ownership, players, managers... not a fan but must respect them and the organization.

MaxGXL effects, tiredness

I have to tell you that this is incredable! I am going to share with you my workload everyday.

1. Workout 50min cardio and core.
2. Walk the dog,
3. Head to office. Vice President of First Midwest Bank
4. Client, centers of influence, and prospect meeting and calls. Board membership duties. NFLPA duties.
5. Home and family time.
6. MBA work.
7. Max business development
8. Sleep

I take my three packets of MaxGXL, and one packet of Max N Fuze per day. The pumped natural energy that I have during the day is phenomenal! I have not felt like this since college. This is the best chance on a supplement I have taken ever! The absolute best results. One of my Max Team Members Jeff Lambert, the owner of Body Sculpting is now feeling the incredible results on his knee and energy levels. Check it out at www.nolanharrisoniii.max4u.com. Great product and great company.