Cockroaches & Casinos Love Cap-And-Trade

Cockroaches and Casinos. When you see one, you know there are more.

The cockroaches are at it again. Buried inside of the, "Cap-and-Trade" legislation is yet another way for Wall Street to turn a nice normal market into a wild west casino.

Just when you thought that we were done with, "Too Big To Fail" Wall Street has found another market to speculate on. The poster child of big: our planet.

Excessive speculation has lethal consequences.

Let me explain.

Over the years, the supply and demand dynamics of fossil fuels hasn't changed that much. However, rampant speculation has. In 1991 a little piece of legislation know as, "Bona fide Hedging Exemptions" enabled Wall Street to begin speculation in the commodities markets. These exemptions, eradicated rules that prevented rampant speculation. These were the very rules that had been in put in place to prevent another great depression. In 2008, according to the Chicago Board of Trade, 75% of all trading on the CBT was speculative.

This explains how gasoline goes from $1.65 a gallon to $4.11 a gallon in 9 months without a substantial change in supply and demand. Bona Fide Hedging Exemptions open the door for rampant speculation. If Cap-And-Trade passes, your utility bills will be vulnerable to the same type of wild and unpredictable swings. Can anything good come from that?

Cap-And-Trade looks like it's trying to get rid of the cockroaches and clean up the environment, but in reality it is building the Tashmahal of casinos for these little critters to speculate on the fate of our planet.

Let's keep the cockroaches out of the casinos.

Greg Heiple
218 E. Eufaula
Norman, OK 73069

7000 Years of 100% Proof--

The first scale was invented in 5000 BC.

The scale enabled abstract concepts and situations to be quantified and visualized. It turned invisible problems, into visible solutions.

The result: Business Boomed.

With the invention of money (coins), the scale increased in importance. This simple, handy and tactile tool helped sustain all money based economies. You don't have to know math to balance a scale.

Then, in the 1960's things changed. Complexity cannibalized simplicity.

The simple, and visible two-part scale gave way to the more precise and invisible electronic scale (complicated financial models). Wall Street jumped on this change like a scorpion hopping on a frog.

This change allowed Wall Street to invisibly calculate, predict and project in a whole new way. Intoxicated by this new ability, few people questioned the assumptions that were built into these new invisible scales. Only financial experts know how to write out an efficient frontier calculation that will optimize an investment portfolio.

Ask any modern day financial engineer to explain how he manages investment risk in less than five words, and he'll tell you that it can't be done.

Ask a Roman or an Egyptian from 5000 BC how they manage risk, and they will say, "Balance a scale".

7000 years of proof that a two-part scale works 100% of the time.

49 years of proof that complicated financial models work 50% of the time.

Makes you think that we need to bring back the scale doesn't it?

Greg Heiple
218 E. Eufaula
Norman, OK 73069

How Long Would You Stay Seated?

Suppose I had a magic eye dropper and I placed a single drop of water in the middle of your left hand. The magic part is that this drop of water is going to double in size every minute.

At first nothing seems to be happening, but by the end of a minute, that tiny drop is now the size of two tiny drops. After another minute, you now have a little pool of water that is slightly smaller in diameter than a dime sitting in your hand.

After six minutes, you have a blob of water that would fill a thimble.

Now suppose we take our magic eye dropper to Fenway Park, and, right at 12:00 p.m. in the afternoon, we place a magic drop way down there on the pitcher’s mound. To make this really interesting, suppose that the park is watertight and that you are handcuffed to one of the very highest bleacher seats.

My question to you is, “How long do you have to escape from the handcuffs?” When would it be completely filled? In days? Weeks? Months? Years? How long would that take?

The answer is, you have until 12:49 on that same day to figure out how you are going to get out of those handcuffs. In less than 50 minutes, our modest little drop of water has managed to completely fill Fenway Park.

Now let me ask you this – at what time of the day would Fenway Park still be 93% empty space, and how many of you would realize the severity of your predicament?

The answer is 12:45.

If you were squirming in your bleacher seat waiting for help to arrive, by the time the field is covered with less than 5 feet of water, you would now have less than 4 minutes left to get free.

And that, right there, illustrates one of the key features of our economy and the financial markets.

The action really only heats up in the last few moments and unless we are prepared with a strategy to deal with exponential growth, we are sure to drown. BalanceZone Investing is a potential strategy to defend against this type of turbulence.

We sat in our seats for 45 minutes and nothing much seemed to be happening, and then in four minutes – bang! – the whole place was full.

Dr. Albert Bartlette created this story. I found it on Chris Martenson's web site.

Greg Heiple
218 E. Eufaula
Norman, OK 73069

Listening Leads Our Economy Out of Recession

When you wake up in the morning, who do you listen to?

Given the recent chaos and confusion of our financial markets, many people are now turning to the financial media like never before. The problem with this, is that the media can only transmit, they cannot listen.

I think, from an investors perspective, we've temporarily decided not to trust individuals. We'd rather have, objective information from unbiased sources. It seems safer and more prudent, but is it good for our economy?

Studies have proven that the feeling of , "Not being heard" is one of the most destructive thoughts a person can have. It hurts. From an economic perspective, when lots of people feel this way, we call this a recession. One of the best ways to get rid of this hurt/recession, is to communicate with another human being.

So, you want to help reboot the economy? Why not turn the TV off and try a little listening?

Good listeners become popular, and after a while, they learn something.

Greg Heiple
218 E. Eufaula
Norman, OK 73069

Organ Donors & Investors

Why are there such a huge discrepancies in organ donor programs? The answer will surprise you.

Denmark 4%, Netherlands 28%, England 17%, Germany 12%.

100% for Austria , France, Hungary, Poland, and Portugal.

You might think that it has to do with culture and or religion. It's not. It's the form. In the low participating countries, the form at the Department of Motor Vehicles reads,

"Opt In, ---check the box below if you'd like to participate in the organ donor program". With this form, people don't check the box, so they don't join.


In the high participating countries, the form reads,

"Opt out, check the box below if you do not want to participate in the donor program. With this form, people don't check the box, but THEY JOIN!

We like to think that we make our own decisions. But maybe not. Maybe the people who are designing our forms have more control over our decisions that we know? I think this is especially true for the investment houses that produce monthly investment statements and financial literature.

Don't let a form decide for you.

Click on the picture, there is a solution.

Greg Heiple
218 E. Eufaula
Norman, OK 73069

Layaway Plans Save The Economy?

Remember the old fashioned, "Layaway Plans"? I began wondering, how much would Americans save if they stopped paying interest on their credit cards and started using, "Layaway Plans"?

People would save one billion dollars annually.

Retailers would save 23 billion dollars annually.

Maybe we should, "Laytobed"the credit cards, and start dancing with the, "Layaway Plans"?

The interest people are paying to credit cards as a percentage of net family income has skyrocketed from .7% in 1970 to ----- 15.2% currently.

Sure, using, "Layaway Plans" will probably slow the growth of our economy, but it will fatten your wallet.

The question is, ----- Who's economy are you carrying in your wallet?

Greg Heiple
218 E. Eufaula
Norman, OK 73069

Invisible Risks

If cars were invisible, the risk of driving would be huge.

Cars are not invisible. As long as drivers can see other drivers, even without speaking to one another, drivers can manage traffic risks.

Unfortunately, investment risk is invisible to most people.

Now, that's changed with the new release of the BZ Statement Tool. Investment risk is no longer invisible.

If you can SEE the problem or risk, you can deal with it.

Click on the picture and SEE how BZ Investors are shinning a light on this formerly, invisible problem.

Greg Heiple
218 E. Eufaula
Norman, OK 73069