The Healthiest Housing Markets for 2009

The Healthiest Housing Markets for 2009
Builder, in conjunction with Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, debuts its metric for determining markets with the best and least potential.
By: Boyce Thompson

With most economists and builders expecting a national market decline this year, this may not seem like the best time to be selecting the "healthiest" markets in the country. Virtually every market was down last year. But a close look at the numbers reveals that some markets have way outperformed others during the last four years and are likely to continue to do so this year.

When the housing market stages its official recovery, the markets listed on the following pages are likely to lead the parade. It may take a year or more for the weakest markets--where burgeoning foreclosure sales are still pounding new home values, making building and selling new homes an exercise in futility-- to finally stage a turnaround. We’ll present that list next week.

The healthiest markets have many things in common. Most of them are great places to live, either close to the ocean, mountains, or major universities. Most of them didn’t have a huge run-up in prices during the boom and aren’t experiencing rampant deflation during the bust.

To compile these lists, we analyzed the top 75 housing markets in the country. We ranked them based on population trends and job growth, perennial drivers of housing demand. We also examined what’s happened with home prices; many of the healthiest markets have managed to hold the line on home values. And finally, we considered the rate building permits, which may be the single best ongoing indicator of builder confidence in a market. We combined all these metrics to produce a score for each market. Here are the top 15, in reverse order.

15. Myrtle Beach, S.C.
2008 total building permits: 3,211

Though permit activity dropped sharply last year, Myrtle Beach remains one of the hottest markets in the country, especially when you analyze the number of permits pulled per resident. Only 263,287 people live in the Myrtle Beach metro area, which until recently had been growing its population by nearly 5 percent a year. That means builders pulled one permit for every 82 residents. A steady influx of people, many of them retirees, are drawn by close proximity to the ocean and 117 golf courses at last count. That has helped keep home prices steady; they fell only 10 percent last year to a very affordable $174,800. Most of the home building is split between Brunswick and New Hanover counties. Jobs are dependent on the tourist industry, though, and the metro area was rocked last year when a $400 million rock-and-roll themed amusement part, Hard Rock Park, opened and then filed for bankruptcy. Myrtle Beach added jobs last year, but as of December employment was decreasing at a 4.2 percent rate compared to a year earlier.

14. Wilmington, N.C.
2008 total building permits: 3,551

Wilmington has the second highest ratio of permits pulled per resident, behind only Myrtle Beach. The population here, 352,919 by Census estimates, has been growing at a 4 percent annual rate for the last five years, well above the national average. Primary residents are drawn by a four-season climate, close proximity to Atlantic beaches, and affordable housing. Median home prices, at $198,700, are just about the national average. The area gave back 1,000 jobs last year, after gaining 19,000 the previous three years. Wilmington has had a 60 percent decline in permit activity since 2005, around the national average, but its track record for population growth helps it make this list.

13. Charlotte, N.C.
2008 total building permits: 12,231

People and businesses must love Charlotte, because they are moving there at a high rate. The metro area of 1.74 million has grown its residents by 4 percent annually over the last five years, one of the highest rates in the country. They are drawn by relatively affordable housing for the east coast—median home prices are only $210,900, and they’ve only "corrected" downward by only 4.2 percent in the last year. A strong fourth quarter helped Charlotte record 12,231 permits last year, only a 44 percent decline since 2005. Charlotte’s strength relative to other markets led the investment banking firm UBS to predict last year that it would be one of the first markets to recover from the housing downturn. Charlotte is still a single-family market, with 62 percent of the residential activity in stand-alone homes. The job market in this banking hub contracted last year, after growing 3 to 5 percent annually the previous three years.

12. Denver, Col. 2008 total building permits: 8,800

Denver has been all over the home building news of late, with Beazer and Centex leaving town, then Village Homes of Colorado declaring bankruptcy. But the market hasn’t been hit as hard by the home building recession as other Western markets, in part because it didn’t experience rampant price appreciation during the boom. That’s partly because there’s lots of land available to develop in Denver. The median price of an existing home here was still an affordable $225,100 in the third quarter of last year, down only 11.4 percent in the last year (through 3Q 08). Denver enjoys one of the highest population growth rates in the country--2 percent annually for each of the last five years. Builders pulled 8,800 permits in Denver last year, down from 20,864 in 2005, a percentage decline that’s close to the national average. Denver is buoyed by a strong commercial real estate market.

11. Nashville, Tenn. 2008 total building permits: 8,142

Nashville, the 20th largest home building market, operated under the radar of the national housing boom. It didn’t ramp up wildly during the boom years, and it’s not contracting viciously during the bust. Median home prices remain an affordable $152,100, propped up by a growing job base. Eighty percent of the residential construction is single-family. Some of the market’s resilience stems from above-average population growth of about 2.3 percent a year. Back in the day, 2005, Nashville accounted for 16,654 permits; it now runs at about half that level. But that’s a better performance than most major markets.

10. Washington DC 2008 total building permits: 11,693

Washington D.C. showed signs last summer that it might be emerging from the downturn, then it turned south again. Even so, the area produces a ton of jobs—an estimated 35,000 in the last year—that fuel a vibrant housing market, the 11th largest in the country. Many of the jobs stem from contracts with the federal government. Washington D.C. remains a relatively unaffordable place to live, with a median home price of $332,700 in the third quarter of last year. But values have fallen only 24 percent in the last year in part because the population continues to grow—an average of 1 percent annually over the last five years. Home building patterns have changed dramatically in the nation’s capital with builders mothballing subdivisions well beyond the beltway and focusing on infill opportunities. The region remains one of the worst in the nation for commuters.

9. Fayetteville, Ark. 2008 total building permits: 2,989

Fayetteville has made some important lists in recent years. Located in the foothills of the Ozarks and within an easy drive of Wal-Mart’s corporate headquarters, it has recently been named one of the best places to live (by Kiplinger) and to do business (by Inc.). Employment, which had been strongly positive since 2005, dropped somewhat in the fourth quarter of last year. Recent layoffs at Wal-Mart’s corporate office sent tremors through the market. But several Fortune 500 companies that sell products to Wal-Mart have established offices here, and they have helped Fayetteville achieve one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, 4.1 percent in the fourth quarter. The University of Arkansas is also located in Fayetteville, and it has helped attract start-up businesses. Residents are drawn by an affordable housing stock; median prices average only $139,400, below the national average, and they’ve lost only 2.4 percent of their value in the last year. Builders pulled only 2,989 residential permits last year, down from 7, 449 in 2005.

8. Indianapolis, Ind. 2008 total building permits: 7,004

Builders are still pulling permits at a relatively healthy rate in Indianapolis, despite a virtually flat job market. Unlike other major markets that have become multifamily-oriented, single family still accounts for two-thirds of home building activity. Ultra-affordable housing accounts for some of the activity—the median price of a home here is only $117,900, making it one of the most affordable markets in the country. As a result, home prices have declined only 4.5 percent in the last year. At the top of the market in 2005, builders in Indianapolis took down 15,619 permits, so activity is down 55 percent, slightly better than the national average. Unfortunately, the relative health of the market wasn’t enough to keep Davis Homes, one of the area’s largest private builders, from going out of business last year.

7. Seattle, Wash. 2008 total building permits: 13,021

Seattle, a city of 3.4 million people, last year weighed in as the eighth largest home building market. Residential construction activity here, as measured by permits, is off only 50 percent since 2005, much better than most markets. Seattle has steadily transitioned during the last 10 years from an affordable to an upscale housing market, with the median price of an existing home reaching above $350,000. Even so, existing home prices fell only 11 percent in the last year. One of the secrets to Seattle’s success is that it has added lots of jobs in recent years; and held on to them last year. Some builders there have even stepped up their land buying in anticipation of a market recovery. As the city has become more urban, the share of single family to multifamily permits has reversed; multifamily now accounts for 58 percent of activity.

6. Raleigh, N.C. 2008 total building permits: 11,386

Another state capital with multiple universities, Raleigh was still adding jobs at a 1.9 percent annual rate though the third quarter of last year. With a population of more than 1 million, it also has one of the highest rates of population growth of any top metro market in the country over the last five years: nearly 5 percent annually. Though the price of a median home here, $221,900, is above the national average, it is well below other cities in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. The metro area has added roughly 68,000 jobs since 2005, and employment held steady last year. With a glut of national builders in the market, locals such as Dixon Kirby have experimented with different looks and styles to keep sales alive.

5. Dallas, Texas 2008 total building permits: 26,145

In a year when permits declined 35 percent nationally, Dallas only experienced a 9 percent fall-off. With a population of 4.2 million, Dallas was the third largest home building market last year, as measured in permits pulled. Employers in Dallas, a popular place for corporate relocation and expansion, added 42,000 jobs last year, a growth rate of 2 percent. Existing home prices have held steady, falling a paltry 2.3 percent in the last year, Interestingly, the face of residential construction has changed dramatically in Dallas in recent years; 58 percent of the activity last year was in multifamily, compared to a five-year average of 23 percent. The relative stability of the market, though, wasn’t enough to prevent Wall Homes from filing for bankruptcy earlier this year. On the other hand, former Meritage co-CEO John Landon recently started a new Dallas-based home building company.

4. San Antonio, Texas 2008 total building permits: 10,261

San Antonio is another Texas market that is still adding jobs, about 15,000 last year. A city of more than 2 million people now, its population is also growing, at a 2.8 percent annual clip through the third quarter of last year. Existing home prices are barely declining in San Antonio, down only 1.8 percent in the last year, leaving the median price of an existing single-family home at an affordable $154,400, 25 percent below the national average of $200,500, according to the National Association of Realtors. The upper end of the housing market was hurt recently when AT&T announced it would be moving its corporate headquarters to Dallas.


3. Fort Worth, Texas 2008 Total Building Permits: 10,388

Fort Worth, always operating in the shadow of higher profile Dallas, nevertheless can currently claim to have a slightly healthier housing market, based on its employment growth, relatively strong permit activity, and inexpensive housing. Now the 14th largest home building market in the country, Ft. Worth’s builders pulled 10,388 permits last year, roughly two-thirds of them single-family. That may be half as many as 2005, but many other major markets showed much sharper drop-offs. The relative strength of the Fort Worth market in recent years stems from its ties to the oil and gas industries, which has fueled above-average job growth. The metro area added 17,300 jobs last year.


2. Austin, Texas 2008 Total Building Permits: 14,250

Nine years ago, during the tech bust, some builders felt that Austin was too crowded and left. The bloom is back on Austin’s yellow rose now; it moved up the leader board to become the sixth largest home building market last year. Job creation explains the move. While other markets lost employment, Austin added 17,400 jobs last year, 2.31 percent growth rate. It helps that Austin is home to both a major university, The University of Texas, and the state capital. Existing homes cost a little bit more in Austin than other Texas markets, roughly $190,900, but that’s still below the national average. Also, Austin is one of the few metro areas in the country where median prices actually rose in 2008--1.4 percent through the first three quarters of the year. Amazingly, Austin now generates more home building activity than Chicago, which has six times more people.

1. Houston, Texas 2008 Total Building Permits: 42,697
They like to do things big in Houston. Now the metro area, home to nearly 5.8 million people, can lay claim to being the largest home building market in the country, with 42,697 building permits. The market is still benefiting from an influx of population and jobs and rebuilding in the wake of Hurricane Ike. Employment rose 2.2 percent last year, representing the addition of an incredible 57,000 jobs. Home building activity in Houston has only fallen 31 percent since 2005. Also, existing home prices actually rose in Houston last year, 2.8 percent, to $160,200, still a very affordable level. Roughly one third of the home building action is in Harris County, followed by Houston proper and Fort Bend County. One of Houston’s largest builders, Royce Homes, shut down last year, and Kimball Hill, one of the biggest builders in Texas, closed its doors this year after it failed to find a buyer.

Obama throws $75 billion lifeline to homeowners

Obama throws $75 billion lifeline to homeowners

President Barack Obama threw a $75 billion lifeline to millions of Americans on the brink of foreclosure Wednesday, declaring an urgent need for drastic action — not only to save their homes but to keep the housing crisis "from wreaking even greater havoc" on the broader national economy.

The lending plan, a full $25 billion bigger than the administration had been suggesting, aims to prevent as many as 9 million homeowners from being evicted and to stabilize housing markets that are at the center of the ever-worsening U.S. recession.

Government support pledged to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is being doubled as well, to $400 billion, as part of an effort to encourage them to refinance loans that are "under water" — those in which homes' market values have sunk below the amount the owners still owe.

"All of us are paying a price for this home mortgage crisis, and all of us will pay an even steeper price if we allow this crisis to continue to deepen," Obama said.

The new president, focusing closely on the economy, in his first month in office, rolled out the housing program one day after he was in Denver to sign his $787 billion emergency stimulus plan to revive the rest of the economy. And his administration is just now going over fresh requests for multiple billions in bailout cash from ailing automakers.

Wall Street has shown little confidence in the new steps, declining sharply on Tuesday before leveling off after Wednesday's announcement. The Dow Jones industrials rose 3 points for the day.

Success of the foreclosure rescue is far from certain.

The administration is loosening refinancing restrictions for many borrowers and providing incentives for lenders in hopes that the two sides will work together to modify loans. But no one is required to participate. The biggest players in the mortgage industry temporarily had halted foreclosures in advance of Obama's plan.

Complicating matters, investors in complex mortgage-linked securities, who make money based on interest payments, could still balk, especially those who hold second mortgages or home equity loans. Their approval would be needed to prevent many foreclosures.

"The obstacles have not gone away," said Bert Ely, a banking industry consultant in Alexandria, Va.

Another cautionary note came from John Courson, chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

"It seems to offer little help to borrowers whose loan exceeds their property value by more than 5 percent," he said, noting that that requirement would limit the plan's success in some of the hardest-hit areas in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona and parts of the East Coast.

Indeed, Obama himself said, "This plan will not save every home."

The goal is to lower many endangered homeowners' payments to no more than 31 percent of their income. But that depends on a high degree of cooperation by lenders who have been increasingly wary of new lending as the crisis has deepened.

Still, the Obama administration, after talking with mortgage investors, appears confident that it is providing the right mix of incentives and penalties to make sure mortgage companies take part. Obama said he backs legislation in Congress to allow bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of primary home loans — an idea ardently opposed by the lending industry.

"Taken together, the provisions of this plan will help us end this crisis and preserve, for millions of families, their stake in the American Dream," Obama said. Yet, he also added: "We must also acknowledge the limits of this plan."

He called on lenders, borrowers and the government "to step back and take responsibility" and said: "All of us must learn to live within our means again."

There's broad economic anxiety across the nation, an Associated Press-Gfk poll indicated.

Nearly three in four people say they know someone who has lost a job in the past six months as a result of the tough economic conditions, according to the poll, released Wednesday. And more than half say they worry about being able to pay their bills and about seeing their retirement investments decline. So far, Obama's job approval rating still is high, at 67 percent, and he is scoring strong marks for his handling of the economy.

The president unveiled his housing plan at a Phoenix-area high school in a state with one of the country's biggest foreclosure rates.

Nationally, Moody's Economy.com says that of the nearly 52 million U.S. homeowners with mortgages, about 13.8 million, or nearly 27 percent, owe more than their homes are worth after many months of declining prices.

How soon will the new plan show results?

"You'll start to see the effects quite quickly," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told reporters in Phoenix, noting that rules governing the changes will be published March 4.

In theory, homeowners facing foreclosure or borrowers owing more on their homes than their mortgages are worth would have more opportunities to refinance their loans so that they have lower monthly payments. Lenders would voluntarily participate in the government programs.

The $75 billion Homeowner Stability Initiative would provide incentives to mortgage lenders to cut monthly payments in an effort to persuade them to help up to 4 million borrowers on the verge of foreclosure. The goal: cut monthly mortgage payments to sustainable levels, using money from the $700 billion financial industry bailout passed by Congress last fall.

Another part would specifically help people with dwellings whose market value has sunk below the principal still owed on the mortgages. Such mortgages have traditionally been almost impossible to refinance. But the White House said its program will help 4 million to 5 million families do just that — if their mortgages are owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

To boost confidence, the Treasury Department said it would double its support to the two mortgage giants that the government essentially took over last fall.

It said it would absorb up to $200 billion in losses at each company by using money Congress set aside last year and will continue purchasing mortgage-backed securities from them. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are projected to need a combined government subsidy of about $66 billion, well short of the new promise of up to $400 billion.

Obama emphasized that his plan focuses on helping families who have "played by the rules" stay in their homes.

But, he said, it will do nothing to help "the unscrupulous or irresponsible." He cited so-called speculators who took out risky loans on multiple properties to make money by selling them during the housing boom, lenders who took advantage of naive buyers by glossing over the fine print, and people who willingly bought homes that were way beyond their means.

"This plan will not save every home," Obama said.

Associated Press Writers Alan Zibel, Mark S. Smith, Jennifer Loven and Martin Crutsinger in Washington contributed to this report.

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How To Sell Your Home In Today's Market

'Realistic' approach is needed in weak market
by Ellen James Martin-Universal Press Syndicate

Those who sell real estate recall those heady days just a few years ago, when competition over the best homes on the market - known as "showcase properties" - was robust. Multiple bids were common, and eager buyers submitted contract offers stripped of all conditions, such as the right to a home inspection.

Indeed, some buyers were so anxious to beat rival bidders in the race to own an attractive home that they would snap it up without even visiting first, recalls Tom Early, a real-estate broker and former president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (www.naeba.org).

Nowadays, the tables are turned. In many neighborhoods, buyers have lots of leverage, and motivated sellers, including the corporate owners of homes taken back through foreclosure, are compelled to bargain with prospects. The sellers of showcase homes, known as "cream puffs," are no exception. "At a time when buyers are incredibly demanding, you must be absolutely realistic about the market," Early says.

Here are pointers for the sellers of homes with exceptional allure:

• Select a listing agent with a good eye.

"If your house is spectacular, you want visuals to show just how good it looks," says Dorcas Helfant, a former president of the National Association of Realtors (www.realtor.org).

Visuals include photos for print advertising and video for online listings, including the "virtual tours" that have become a popular home-marketing tool in cyberspace.

As Helfant notes, more agents are taking classes in digital photography, and more are producing the sort of professional-quality visuals that home sellers need to compete, especially in neighborhoods with many homes for sale.

• Don't expect too much of a pricing premium.

Is the property you're selling decked out with several features that excite buyer interest, such as fine wood cabinets, granite countertops, floor-to-ceiling windows and a fireplace in the master suite? Does it also have 10-foot ceilings throughout? If so, you may be tempted to ask a lot more than your neighbors are asking for similar-size properties that lack such fancy features.

But Helfant cautions against attaching too high a premium when pricing your showcase home, no matter how fancy or well-kept it is.

"Given today's competitive markets, where available properties abound, I wouldn't go more than 3 to 5 percent over other like homes in your community, even the ones that don't show nearly as well," she says.

• Consider a neighborhood open house for the public.

Real-estate experts often downplay the value of public open houses as a means of attracting the interest of serious purchasers. They say most open-house visitors are curious neighbors or "wishful buyers" who lack the means to go through with a purchase. On the other hand, well-qualified buyers are typically guided through homes by their agents.

But Helfant says there's a way to increase the impact of the public open house conducted for your showcase property: Encourage other sellers in the neighborhood to hold open houses on the same day, thereby increasing your potential draw.

"Ask your listing agent to contact the agents representing all the other sellers. The more the merrier when it comes to open houses. With more homes open, the greater the chance that serious prospects will come by, with or without their agents," Helfant says.

A neighborhood open house can be especially beneficial for the sellers of showcase homes because buyers can quickly compare all the places they see.

• Don't second-guess yourself on your plans to sell.

Many owners of showcase homes are ambivalent about letting go of their properties in a market where bargain shoppers have so much clout. Even after they've put their place up for sale, they wonder if they should pull the place off the market until they can get a better price.

Before retreating, Early urges you to take into account the personal and financial implications of postponing your sale.

"Maybe your neighborhood market could stage a huge rebound within one to two years. But you should also consider all the ways you might lose out by waiting," Early says.

"Postponing your hopes and dreams for a better housing situation means you could be missing that once-in-a-lifetime chance to buy your fantasy property at a major discount," he says.

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Truth About Bill Poulos Forex Profit Accelerator Bonus

Forex Profit Accelerator Trading Bonus
Click here for Bill Poulos Forex Profit Accelerator Bonus

Those of you who have been following the teachings of Bill Poulos know how much I LOVE TRADING! Even though Bill has a solid set of methods and techniques he uses for his own trading, he's constantly tinkering around in the “trading lab”. Besides spending time with his family, it’s whathe likes to do in his spare time. Some people like to play golf. Bill rather be trading.

Now, because of my position in the trading education community, I am approached quite frequently by other traders, systems developers, companies, you name it. Many of them send me evaluation copies of their programs and methods to get my professional feedback and opinion. Some of the material I receive is quite good, but honestly, most of it is incomplete. The reason I tell you this is to impress upon you the amount of trading material I have in my personal library – I have a TON, and I believe I’ve seen just about every type of program on the market.

In reviewing all this material and in examining all the questions I’ve been receiving from my readers and students about Forex, I made two key discoveries that were astonishing to me.

"After reading your free e-book, I practice trading at the end of the day, just according your instructions, using the two MA and ADX. Amazingly, the 8 trades were winners. I trade only the GPD/USD, and EUR/USD, because I think these are the most volatile, and I don’t need to spend all my time in front of my PC. It's great, thank you.."Jorge A Hinojosa*

Click here for BIll Poulos Forex Profit Accelerator Bonus

First, there seems to be a flaw in the perception of how money can be made in the Forex markets. And the flaw is this: it seems that 95% of all Forex traders only think they can make money day trading these markets. It actually may be higher, maybe 99%. This perception is very dangerous, in my opinion, because not all traders are psychologically equipped to handle day trading, so they get in over their heads and get eaten alive until their trading accounts are emptied within a few minutes or hours. I’ve seen it happen, and it’s not a pretty sight.

I’ve already told you my opinion on day trading – it’s just not for me. If you prefer that style of trading, then more power to you (I can even recommend some great day trading Forex courses). But the vast majority of my readers have told me time and time again that day trading is not for them, either. And that’s great news…

Why? Click here for BIll Poulos Forex Profit Accelerator Bonus

Because the other discovery I made was how to treat the 24/7 Forex market as an end-of-day market. This removes all the stress and strain associated with trading on a 24 hour basis. It’s often been said that if you can’t make money trading on an end-of-day basis, you’ll never make money day trading. I tend to agree.

When you treat the Forex markets as end-of-day markets, I’ve found they can offer far more profit potential than the minor swings many day traders kill themselves to capture. And when you learn the right way to trade Forex as an end-of-day market, you can quickly jump from one big swing to another as they’re driven by the Forex market giants – the big banks and other financial institutions, including governments...

...but while these behemoths react slowly to market changes due to their sheer size, as soon as you learn to spot a big swing, you can get on and “ride their coat tails”. And by the time they’ve turned to look over their shoulder, you’ll have already gone on to the next big swing.

For example, suppose several major financial institutions think that the Japanese Yen is undervalued versus the dollar and that the Japanese government will soon act to stop artificially suppressing the value of the Yen. Collectively they might begin slowly building what will become very large positions in the market by selling short the USD/JPY pair. I am talking about hundreds of thousands of standard lots.

Whether the Japanese government acts or not, the market might drop as expected, in part, due to the ever increasing short positions of these financial institutions. If they are right, we small traders can apply trading methods that will spot these moves and jump on board at a moment’s notice. We can protect our positions with initial stops and ride the wave to good profits if the market follows through on the downside. And we can jump out just as quickly as we jumped in. The big institutions simply can’t move that fast without damaging their positions.

"Course pays for itself in first two days of trading. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! My first two trades were: Long 2 EUR/USD, Instant Pips for a 45 pip profit on 10/9/07, Short 2 USD/CAD, Pip Maximizer 2 for a 46 pip profit on 10/4/07. Thanks for a great course. I was really unsure about how useful the information would be compared to its cost, but I'm a true believer now."
David Vaughn, Sugar Land, TX*

"So far, about 55% net gain with just the Instant Pips method! Very satisfied. I like your time-saving and conservative approach very much. Course is very easy to understand and I love the colored quick reference cards."
Ted Richardson, Tokyo, Japan*

"I'm very glad my father and I decided to buy FPA in September. On October 9th we did our first trade. Until now we made 12 trades only with 1/4 lot and the profit is amazing, more then $4,000! And that in 5 weeks. Now we are confident with the system we are ready to trade with more money. The system was easy to learn, after one week we could make our first trade. I appreciate the updates, and the extra tactics. We are going to use them too."
Frans & Ingrid H., The Netherlands*

"Just wanted to let you know that I woke up this morning (12/5) to a profit of $2,228.00 on the gbp/usd pair, Instant Pips downtrend, a trade I entered only yesterday. Needless to say, this method works. I appreciate all the work you do and for letting all of us know what you're up to. You're that rare guy who truly cares about his students. This is an incredible method!"
Lee Meddin, Davis, CA*

"I must say how much I am impressed with your level of integrity. You have done everything that you said you would do. Especially the tight number of teaching materials that were sold. You set down a deadline, and you kept the deadline. If it were not for duplicated orders that paved the way for 44 or so unsold packages, I would not have been able to obtain the CDs. You credibility was further enhanced when I listened to the interview that I downloaded from the web today. By the way, I must say that the quality of the CDs is really very good - the presentation itself and the content."
Syling Lee, Murrieta, CA*

"Admittedly I had my doubts about the course, but since I started using the program I found that I can consistently make profits. I have one goal and that is to make a minimum of 2% of my portfolio a week. I have been able to do just that and a lot more with this program. I love the four step program (set-up, entry, stop loss, exit). These four steps help me stay focused and keep my emotions out of the trade. This is my third time starting over in the Forex market. I have come to realize that the two previous times I did not have a complete trading method. With your program, I have the confidence that I finally have a complete trading method, the knowledge to use that method, and the knowledge to recognize other complete trading methods."
Eric Norman, Nottingham, MD*

"In my demo account I started trading using the FPA on Oct 12th. In that time I have closed a total of 24 trades with a net profit of 1,140 pips and I currently have three open positions with profits of 409 pips on the Euro, 534 pips on the Swiss Franc and 350 pips on the Yen. Not too shabby! I'm impressed."
Doug MacQuarrie, Maple Falls, WA*

"I have been paper trading since I received it, and have made about a $12,000 profit. It is a very easy to understand and complete method. Much better than I have had from other systems. Thank you very much for this system, I will be using it from now on."
Yvonne Flowers, Mohave Valley, AZ*

"I have implemented 3 of the methods on Metatrader and have made over $7,000 on 5 winning trades - no losers yet... it could have been a lot more if I had taken all the trades triggered. It has been very useful to have your Pip Feeder to verify my signals. Thank you for the high quality of the presentation and explanations. It does a lot for confidence levels to know one is using a quality product that has been thoroughly researched as well as the knowledge that you are continuing to support us."
Peter Alport, South Africa*

The bottom line here is that we are prepared to ride the trend on the coat tails of the mega traders, but with a level of agility they don’t have. And by doing this, we minimize risk and maximize profit while they’re still trying to “unwind” their positions.

This is a BIG DEAL! If those last few paragraphs didn’t make sense, please go back and read them again. What this means is that I found a way to show you exactly, step-by-step, how to identify when a Forex pair is likely to make a move UP or DOWN. And no matter which way it goes, I created specific trading rules that let you take advantage of those moves and ride them for a huge potential profit. And here’s the kicker – I don’t just show you how to do this one way…

…I developed four complete methods, all based on my time-tested principles, that allow anyone to identify as many profitable trading opportunities as possible.

And that’s why I decided to name my course the Forex Profit Accelerator – because I show you how to truly accelerate your Forex profits with my four methods. And you can use them individually or together - synergistically - to maximize your profit-taking.

So the bottom line is this – no matter what happens in the Forex markets, with the Forex Profit Accelerator, you will always know exactly what to do every time you place a trade. No exceptions. No matter the outcome. It’s that simple.

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If you decide on ordering the Forex Profit Accelerator:

For a limited time only, I can get started for only $5.33 a day. I can choose 3 easy monthly payments of $682 each (or, I can choose to pay everything upfront in one easy payment and save $99 instantly).

This price may increase in the future and I am only guaranteed this charter price if I place my order today.

I am a serious trader and will put forth my best effort to learn and study the Forex Profit Accelerator.

The Forex Profit Accelerator is copyrighted intellectual capital and I am prohibited by law from copying, distributing or sharing this information with others.

I have 90 days to review the Forex Profit Accelerator from my purchase date and I may return it for any reason within those 90 days for a complete refund of my purchase price (not including shipping & handling) as long as I contact you to obtain a return merchandise authorization number first and then return the course in like-new, unmarked condition.

If I select the 3-payment option, I agree to make all three payments in full and to keep my billing information current.

If my order is being shipped outside the United States, I am responsible for any customs or duty fees.

Get Started with Forex Profit Accelerator Today at only $5.33 per day cost. Click here NOW

Click here for BIll Poulos Forex Profit Accelerator Bonus

Changing Mortgage Loan Requirements

The Ever-Changing Mortgage Loan Requirements

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Are you ready to buy a house in this crazy market? Better bring a boatload of money to the closing.

In a brutal real estate market where all the players want to hedge against the tremendous risks, down payment requirements and up-front fees have soared, shutting many potential home buyers out of the market.

"I have as many people calling me for financing as ever," said George Hanzimanolis, a Pennsylvania mortgage broker, "but I'm putting less than half of them into loans."

That's happening all over the country, and may slow the housing market's recovery. Indeed, in a Realtor.com survey released today, potential home buyers said high down payments were the second biggest obstacle, after high home prices, to buying a home.

These days, home buyers almost always have to make a substantial down payment, at least 5%, according to Rich Wordman, president of the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers. The days of no-down loans are over.

In deeply declining markets, lenders are reluctant to issue loans unless borrowers put at least 10% down, he said.

JP Morgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), for instance, now asks for a minimum of 10% down in most markets, according to a spokesman, and for 20% in hard-hit areas. In Reno, Nevada, which has been devastated by the housing crisis, the bank requires 25%.

Even bigger jumbos

For expensive homes, the down payments are disproportionately more. Lenders issuing jumbo loans, which are too pricey to be sold to Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) or Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500) in the secondary market, are asking for at least 20% down, according to Ed Craine, a San Francisco mortgage broker. In the most expensive markets, where jumbo loans are over $729,000, that means a minimum down payment of $148,500.

Higher interest rates on jumbo loans are also making them more expensive than they normally would be - with interest rates a full point to a point and a half higher than non-jumbo loans, said Mike Tacconi, a mortgage advisor with lender CMG Mortgage Services based in San Ramone, Calif.

And buyers purchasing homes for investment purposes are getting clobbered. Lenders are telling them to come up with at least 25% of the purchase price, according to Tacconi - and sometimes as much as 35%, depending on the kind of loan.

"Rents are high where I am," said Pennsylvania mortgage broker Hanzimanolis, "so people are having trouble saving enough for down payments."

Those high down payments are are being driven in part by the privatemortgage insurance companies, according to Jay Brinkman, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, which have themselves hiked their down payment requirements. These firms insure loans when borrowers put less than 20% down, making lenders whole when homeowners default.

In the past, these companies, such as MGIC Investment Corp (MTG). and PMI Group (PMI), often guaranteed mortgages when borrowers put no money down. Today they require 5%, 10% in steeply declining markets, according to Jeff Lubar, spokesman for the trade association Mortgage Insurance Companies of America.

In addition, private mortgage insurers are also charging higher insurance rates. Historically, PMI cost about 0.5% of a home's purchase price. Now, a borrower putting 5% down can pay about 0.75% for the first year.

Higher rates

And although interest rates are relatively low, industry experts say that they're higher than they should be, thanks to concerns about the solvency of Freddie and Fannie, which buy about half of all outstanding mortgages in the U.S.

The average 30-year, fixed-rate loan carried a 6.37% interest rate last week, according to Freddie Mac, up nearly a point from the year's low of 5.48% set last January and up from under 6% in late May. At the same time, yields on 10-year treasuries, which mortgage rates usually track, have trended down.

From June 12 to July 10, 10-year treasurys fell from 4.20% to 3.81%, while mortgage rates actually increased, inching up from 6.32% to 6.37%. Borrowers are probably paying at least a half point more than they ordinarily would, according to Keith Gumbinger of HSH Associates, a publisher of loan information.

That's because the questions surrounding the future of Fannie and Freddie have made the investors who buy their loans - hedge funds, pension funds, and banks - wary. They're demanding higher interest rates to take on the added risk they perceive.

Freddie and Fannie have also imposing higher up-front fees for riskier borrowers, based on credit scores.

As of June 1, buyers with scores of less than 620 with less than a 30% downpayment must pay a fee of 2.75% of mortgage principal, up from 2%. Between a 620 and 640 credit score, borrowers pay 2.5% (up from 1.75%); 640 to 660, 1.75% (1.25%); 660 to 680, 1.25% (0.75%); and 680 to 720, 0.5% (0).

"The fees are costing consumers a considerable amount of money," said Mark Savitt, a mortgage broker there and current president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.

All these added expenses are slowing an already moribund real estate market. That means it's going to take even longer to get rid of the tremendous inventory of unsold homes, according to the MBA's Brinkman, especially in areas that were overbuilt during the boom.

Cities hard hit by the housing bust, like North Las Vegas, Stockton, Calif. and Tucson, Ariz, may have to suffer through many more months of stagnant prices and increased foreclosures before they return to better times.

And these higher costs are going to stick around long after housing recovers, according to Brinkman. From now on, they'll just be the price of doing business.

Celebrity foreclosures show extent of housing woes

Celebrity foreclosures show extent of housing woes

LOS ANGELES - Tabloid magazines like to reassure us that celebrities are just like us - they go grocery shopping, take their dogs for a stroll around the neighborhood, even pump their own gas.

These days, that can also hold true when it comes to the plummeting real estate market. Several celebrities have dealt with foreclosure issues on their luxurious estates and many more have had to drop their asking prices, putting some high-profile faces on a growing problem: the real-estate meltdown is now hitting every socio-economic class.

The case of Ed McMahon has shown that you can make millions over a lengthy show business career and still find yourself in foreclosure. Johnny Carson's former "Tonight Show" sidekick owes more than $644,000 in mortgage payments on his Mediterranean estate in Beverly Hills, a house he and his wife have been trying to sell for the past two years. The six-bedroom, five-bathroom home - in the same exclusive, gated community where Britney Spears lives - is now on the market for $6.5 million, down from an original price of $7.6 million.
The 85-year-old television personality, who has been unable to work since breaking his neck in a fall 18 months ago, described his economic problems as "a perfect storm."

"If you spend more money than you make, you know what happens. And it can happen. You know, a couple of divorces thrown in, a few things like that. And, you know, things happen," McMahon said on "Larry King Live" recently. "You want everything to be perfect, but that combination of the economy, I have a little injury, I have a situation. And it all came together."

McMahon certainly is not the only celebrity to find himself in such financial trouble. Former NBA player Vin Baker saw his home in Durham, Conn., go up for auction last weekend. The seven-bed, six-and-a-half-bath mansion, on about 11 acres with a basketball court and a bowling alley, had been on the market for $2,950,000. Earlier this year, former baseball star and "Juiced" author Jose Canseco stopped making payments on his $2.5 million home in the upscale Encino section of LA's San Fernando Valley.

Rick Sharga, vice president of marketing for RealtyTrac, which monitors foreclosures, says that people of any income level can get in trouble by buying overvalued homes at the peak of the market that they ultimately can't afford.

"Ed McMahon's a sympathetic character in this scenario in that he got into a house that possibly he could have afforded if he had been able to keep working, then he had an injury that upset his financial apple cart pretty badly," Sharga said. "What you don't know is, in a normal real estate market, if the same lender would have taken a look at an 82-year-old man at the tail end of his career and written him a $4.6 million mortgage he had to keeping working to be able to afford."

It's not all doom and gloom, of course. Avril Lavigne listed her nearly 6,900-square-foot Mulholland Estates mansion for $5.8 million and, after just 36 days on the market, recently accepted a cash offer of $5.2 million.

But as celebrity real estate columns like "Hot Property" in the Los Angeles Times and "Gimme Shelter" in the New York Post show, other stars can't command the same prices for their homes that they might have been able to a few years ago.

The price of Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance's house has dropped more than $2 million in the past year. The French Colonial in a gated section of Los Angeles' old-money Hancock Park neighborhood has five bedrooms, seven and a half bathrooms, a gym, a hair salon and a two-story guest house. An agent listed it last year for $5,999,000, then a month later took it off the market for seven months. Then June Ahn of Coldwell Banker got the house and listed it for $4,999,000; she reduced it soon afterward to $4.6 million, and now has reduced it again to $3.9 million.

"It was overpriced," Ahn said. "The price difference from $5,999,000 to $3.9 (million), obviously we'll have a bigger number of buyers that can afford to get into it and even take a look at it."

It helps that the husband and wife, who bought the house 17 years ago for about $1.8 million, own it outright. "They're very flexible, they just go with the flow of the market," Ahn said. "Unfortunately, this happens. Last year was better than this year. Now they realize they didn't reduce in time. They were hoping to get the best (price) last year but it didn't happen so they learned the lesson."

Then again, property values can be a matter of perspective, says Ed Kaminsky, a Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based real estate agent who helps professional athletes relocate.

"You've got the new guys with the big contracts that are excited about the $8 million check they just got and they want to spend some, and I'd say rightfully so. Sometimes it's not a smart investment and sometimes it is," he said. "But if you make $8 million a year and you blow $5 million on a house and you sell it for $3 million a few years later, is it really wrong?

"What I try to do is identify what is it that they want, and let them know that it is possible that they could buy a home for a lot of money and sell it for less than they paid for it, and are you OK with it?" he added. "If I handed you $25 million right now, would you think differently about the $2 million house that's down the street? You may not really care that it's 50 grand overpriced cause you like the swing set in the backyard for your kids."

The primary element driving where a celebrity chooses to live is privacy, said Jordan Cohen of Re/Max, who has represented more than 50 stars and athletes in real estate transactions, including Shaquille O'Neal and Marilyn Manson. He's now selling actress Joely Fisher's house - a four-bed, seven-bath, mid-century craftsman at the end of a secluded drive with a pool and a screening room - for $3,295,000, about $1 million less than the asking price when another agent first listed it last summer.

He believes a star's property can bring in more money than a regular house.

"I know it adds value," said Cohen, sitting on a limestone countertop in the kitchen of the suburban Encino home. "A good analogy would be, shoe companies pay athletes millions of dollars to wear a specific shoe so you'll have young America buy that shoe because a celebrity endorses it. It's the same thing with a house."

"Why does anyone read Hot Tracks in People magazine or any other publication?" he continued. "I've never understood that, because they're just, like, people - just like you and me. From the celebrities I've gotten to know, they're just normal people. . .. I don't know why America is fascinated by that, but they are."

But Mark David, who follows celebrity real estate on his cheeky blog "The Real Estalker," doesn't think prospective buyers are willing to pay top dollar for houses simply because someone famous has lived in them.

"It's not common. Property values are property values," said David, a 38-year-old graphic designer who writes under the pseudonym "Your Mama." "You've really got to be somebody for it to add cachet. Maybe if it's a major A-list celebrity who's going to go down in Hollywood history, like Jack Nicholson. But does anybody really care about most of these people's houses? Would you pay more for Danny Bonaduce's house? And I'm not trying to bag on him. I can't imagine that people would do it - then again, there's a lid for every pot."

Bonaduce's house, by the way, is still on the market. It was listed last July for $4.5 million - now it's down only slightly to $4.2 million. The ornate Spanish-style mansion, with four bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms and a theater on just over 7,000 square feet, sits in the hills of LA's Los Feliz section.

So why not drop the price further and finally sell the property?

"He can afford to wait it out for 20 years," said Alfonso Milanese of Show4you Realty, who co-listed the home with another agent when Bonaduce and his wife, Gretchen, filed for divorce. "It's such a minuscule mortgage on there. He's one of the few the people who are not in dire straits in selling their house."

As for McMahon's home, "we've actually gotten a bunch of offers," his real estate agent, Alex Davis of Hilton & Hyland, said recently. "I think we're going to sell it very soon and that it's going to be onward and upward for the McMahons."

AZ Home Buyers Turning to Non-profits For Cash

Down-payment aid debated
Home buyers turning to non-profits for cash

Arizonans treading in the housing market's choppy waters have found an unusual lifeline - a group of non-profit organizations that siphon down payments from home sellers to buyers.

Use of the decade-old practice known as down-payment assistance has dramatically increased since the demise of subprime lending because it offers another opportunity for buyers without substantial savings to obtain mortgage loans.

Advocates of down-payment assistance contend it has kept Arizona's failing real-estate market on life support by opening doors for responsible borrowers who simply lack the cash for a down payment.
Critics of the practice say it allows home sellers to kick back a percentage of bank-loaned money to buyers, which would be illegal if not done through a non-profit intermediary.

Housing statistics also indicate that charity-assisted loans default at higher rates compared with loans where the down payment comes from the buyer.

The Federal Housing Administration, which insures all loans involving down-payment assistance, has argued that such loans carry a higher default rate and could ultimately bankrupt the FHA.

A housing-reform bill up for vote in the U.S. Senate this week calls for eliminating the practice, while a competing resolution in the House would allow it to continue with some restrictions.

Phoenix loan originator Dean Wegner said nearly half of the home loans being issued involve seller contributions to special non-profit organizations that gift the money - usually 3 to 6 percent of the home's sale price - to buyers after charging a transaction fee of $400 to $600. Unlike other charitable contributions, the seller's donations are not tax-deductible.

"It's a loophole in the FHA guidelines that says the down payment can come from a 501(c)(3) charity," Wegner said.

Now that subprime loans and their creative financing schemes are gone from the market, lenders have returned in droves to FHA loans and the primary reason is down-payment assistance, he said.

"This is what everyone is talking about now," Wegner said, adding that sellers are generally willing to put up the money because it greatly increases their chances of finding a buyer.

The two leading providers of down-payment assistance are AmeriDream, based in Gaithersburg, Md., and Sacramento-based Nehemiah Corp.

Nehemiah was involved in 676 Arizona home-sales transactions in 2007 and is on pace to quintuple that amount this year, passing down payments from buyer to seller on 1,692 sales as of early July.

AmeriDream President Ann Ashburn said the two non-profits provide a vital service to low-income, minority and first-time home buyers while giving the economy a needed boost.

Ashburn opposes eliminating down-payment assistance programs that benefit "good, qualified people."

"The real tragedy will be that 100,000 to 200,000 home buyers annually will be locked out of homeownership," she said.

AmeriDream data indicates that roughly a million U.S. residents have used down-payment assistance in the past 10 years, including nearly 43,000 Arizonans.

Nationwide, $130 billion in loans have been generated by the practice, the non-profit says, with about $5.5 billion in Arizona.

Since its advent, down-payment assistance has faced several attempts by the federal government to ban its practice, but so far the courts have protected it.

In recent months, FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery has launched a full-scale verbal attack on down-payment assistance, calling it a "shell game" that threatens to bankrupt his administration.

"We had to book an additional $4.6 billion in unanticipated long-term losses, mostly due to the increased number of certain types of seller-funded loans in the FHA portfolio," Montgomery said in June.

"Unless we take action to mitigate these losses, FHA will soon either have to shut down or rely on appropriations to operate."

Montgomery also said the federally insured value of those loans is often inflated, because many sellers simply tack on the amount of their charitable contribution to the home's sale price.

About 30 percent of all FHA loans now involve down-payment assistance, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FHA's parent agency.

HUD data indicates that charity-assisted loans were more than twice as likely to go into default or foreclosure in recent years than loans with the down payment coming from buyers' pockets.

However, Wegner said all FHA loans have credit-score and income requirements, which make them far less risky than subprime loans.

"These people are still getting scrutinized heavily," he said.

One such buyer is Lawrence Smith, who recently purchased a vacant Phoenix home from an out-of-state investor. Although he had never heard of down-payment assistance, his real-estate agent recommended he look into it.

"I had gone through a divorce, so most of my assets were gone," Smith said.

He got an FHA loan with down-payment assistance through AmeriDream. Smith said the entire process was transparent and spared him the six to 12 months it would have taken to save up a down payment.

"I think if you have people that have decent credit and decent incomes, but for whatever reason can't come up with the down payment, it makes a difference," he said.

Source:AZ Republic

Feds Protect Homeowners From Scam Lending Practices

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve will issue new rules next week aimed at protecting future homebuyers from dubious lending practices, its most sweeping response to a housing crisis that has propelled foreclosures to record highs.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke of the much-awaited rules in a broader speech Tuesday about the challenges confronting policymakers in trying to stabilize a shaky U.S. financial system. To that end, Bernanke said the Fed may give squeezed Wall Street firms more time to tap the central bank's emergency loan program.

To prevent a repeat of the current mortgage mess, Bernanke said the Fed will adopt rules cracking down on a range of shady lending practices that has burned many of the nation's riskiest "subprime" borrowers - those with spotty credit or low incomes - who were hardest hit by the housing and credit debacles.

The plan, which will be voted on at a Fed board meeting on Monday, would apply to new loans made by thousands of lenders of all types, including banks and brokers.

Under the proposal unveiled last December, the rules would restrict lenders from penalizing risky borrowers who pay loans off early, require lenders to make sure these borrowers set aside money to pay for taxes and insurance and bar lenders from making loans without proof of a borrower's income. It also would prohibit lenders from engaging in a pattern or practice of lending without considering a borrower's ability to repay a home loan from sources other than the home's value.

"These new rules ... will address some of the problems that have surfaced in recent years in mortgage lending, especially high-cost mortgage lending," Bernanke said.

Consumer groups have complained that the proposed rules aren't strong enough, while mortgage lenders worry that they are too tough and could crimp customers' choices.

In an extraordinary action aimed at averting a financial catastrophe, the Fed in March agreed to let investment houses go to the Fed - on a temporary basis - for a quick, overnight source of cash. Those loan privileges, which are supposed to last through mid-September, are similar to those permanently afforded to commercial banks for years.

"We are currently monitoring developments in financial markets closely and considering several options, including extending the duration of our facilities for primary dealers beyond year-end should the current unusual and exigent circumstances continue to prevail in dealer funding markets," Bernanke said in prepared remarks to a mortgage-lending forum in Arlington, Va.

The Fed's decision to act - temporarily at least - as a lender of last resort for Wall Street firms was made after a run on Bear Stearns pushed the investment bank to the brink of bankruptcy and raised fears that others might be in jeopardy. It was the broadest use of the Fed's lending powers since the 1930s.

Bear Stearns was eventually taken over by JPMorgan Chase & Co., with the Fed providing $28.82 billion in financial backing.

Those controversial decisions have drawn criticism from Democrats in Congress and elsewhere that the Fed is bailing out Wall Street and putting billions of taxpayer dollars at risk.

Bernanke, in appearances on Capitol Hill has said he doesn't believe taxpayers will suffer any losses.

In his speech Tuesday, the Fed chief defended those actions anew. If the Fed didn't intervene, he said, problems in financial markets would have snowballed, imperiling the country.

"Allowing Bear Stearns to fail so abruptly at a time when the financial markets were already under considerable stress would likely have had extremely adverse implications for the financial system and for the broader economy," Bernanke said to the mortgage forum, organized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The Fed's consideration of giving Wall Street firms more time to tap the Fed's emergency loan program is part of an ongoing effort by the central bank to bring back stability to fragile financial markets and help to bolster shaky confidence on the part of investors.

Policymakers - in the White House, in Congress and other federal agencies - will need to work together to come up with ways to make the U.S. financial system more resilient and stable and to prevent a repeat of the types of problems that brought about the end of Bear Stearns, an 85-year-old institution, Bernanke said.

Although those efforts are already under way and will be the focus of a House Financial Services Committee hearing Thursday, it will fall to the next president and next Congress to settle them. Both Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson are scheduled to testify at Thursday's hearing.

The Bush administration has proposed revamping the nation's financial regulatory structure. That plan would make the Fed an ubercop in charge of financial market stability. But the Fed would lose daily supervision of big banks. Bernanke said the Fed must maintain this power if it is to be an effective overseer of financial stability.

The Fed, which regulates banks, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees investment firms, announced an information-sharing agreement on Monday aimed at better detecting potential risks to the financial system.

Over the longer term, though, Congress may need to adopt legislation to bolster supervision of investment banks and other large securities dealers, Bernanke said.

Bernanke recommended that Congress give a regulator the authority to set standards for capital, liquidity holdings and risk management practices for the holding companies of the major investment banks. Currently, the SEC's oversight of these holding companies is based on a voluntary agreement between the SEC and those firms.

Brand New Free Forex 4-Pack' Just Released

Forex Profit Accelerator from Bill Poulos. Brand New Free Forex 4-Pack' Just Released

(Don't place another Forex trade until you READ ALL THIS)

You're About To Learn How Select Groups Of Traders Discovered Forex FREEDOM With The 'Underground' Techniques Revealed In My FREE 'Forex 4-Pack'...

HINT: They spend 20 minutes a night, and they're NOT day trading...

The bar for Forex training is about to be raised again...

...because one of the top Forex mentors has just released his BRAND NEW multimedia training "kit" that challenges 90% of what most Forex traders hold to be true.

It might "ruffle your feathers", but if you have ANY interest in discovering how select groups of traders have been quietly riding the coat tails of the big banks to maximize their "pip potential" in the Forex markets...

-I think you're in for a big SURPRISE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YOUR FREE 'FOREX 4-PACK'
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If a 30+ year seasoned trader grilled you on your top Forex challenges and then delivered a custom-made, step-by-step, multimedia "blueprint" that addressed each and every one...

-do you think you'd be interested?

Well, that's pretty much what you're about to get your hands on.

Over the past year, thousands of Forex traders were invited to take part in a landmark survey about their top challenges trading the Forex markets.

And the result?

* A four-part multimedia POWERHOUSE that ignores what's popular, and instead tells you the TRUTH about what's working NOW in the Forex markets...

It's called the 'Forex 4-Pack', and honestly, you shouldn't even consider placing another trade until you see what it reveals...

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Find out how the author spends just 20 minutes a day with TOTAL confidence in the Forex markets, identifying more pip potential in that time than most traders dare to dream about...

You'll also learn:

** How to "shake out" the good Forex brokers from the unscrupulous ones. Many brokers won't be prepared when you ask them these 5 questions (part 1, page 16, & part 4).

** The "core essentials" of Forex trading that will let you "leapfrog" over other traders, giving you a "fast track" that would otherwise take months, or years to achieve (part 2).

** The 4 "golden rules" your Forex trading method MUST follow if you want to have an edge over all other traders (part 1, page 58).

** The "insiders formula" on how to determine the best mix of technical indicators to use when trading Forex pairs (part 1, page 27).

** Step-by-step tactics for applying the "Optimal Profit Exit Strategy". This is a deadly accurate way of enjoying profit-taking as quickly as possible (part 1, page 37).

** The 4 market conditions that you should avoid at all costs and that practically eradicate risk (part 3).

** How to drastically reduce your "time in the trenches" trading Forex by spending only 20 minutes a day. These 2 discoveries make it all possible (part 1, page 70).

** ...plus, there's a TON more you'll get to sink your teeth into when you get the '4-Pack'...

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SORRY, IT'S NOT FOR SALE
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When I snuck a look at the 'Forex 4-Pack', I was certain I'd be asked to cough up 150 bucks or more for it. After all, it's not one of those flimsy 10-page "ebooks" many so-called "gurus" try to pass of as "value" these days...

-Instead, it's a collection of lengthy reports, "screen capture" video tutorials, and more... there's even a "Broker Scorecard" that your broker might have a hard time with. Bottom line - it's all designed to PROTECT YOU and to HELP YOU FIND MORE PIPS, with more FREQUENCY.

That's why I was surprised to find out that...

-it's not for sale (at least not right now).

You see, the author released an early version of just one of the pieces to this '4 Pack' last year and he was overwhelmed by the response he received from the trading community.

So that's why he decided to give it away. In his own words, "I want to de-mystify the Forex markets once and for all. So I sat down to produce this material as if I was under oath, being grilled by an attorney. That's how direct and forthcoming it is."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HOW TO GET YOUR FREE FOREX 4 PACK COPY
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To get your free forex profit 4 pack copy, just click here right now

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Good Trading,
Bonnie Burns

P.S. This is a TON of material. Take your time and read it all, but hurry and download it. Why? Because it's so large, it could be taken offline at any moment if the author's web server "bandwidth" gets eaten up with all the requests for the '4-Pack'. You can get it here

Home Seller Adds Offer of Marriage

Home Seller Adds Offer of Marriage
Associated Press
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - She has tried nightclubs and online dating sites, but now a 42-year-old single mother is looking for love where everyone else's heart is breaking: the real- estate market.

After a year of trying to sell her four-bedroom home and eight years of singledom, Deven Trabosh is offering her Florida home and a shot at marrying her on the Internet.

"Marry a Princess Lost in America," Trabosh wrote in the ads she posted on eBay and Craigslist last week. She describes a life of romance and travel and a home that features vaulted ceilings, upgraded tile and a soaking tub in a gated community with a pool and tennis courts.

"I'm struggling . . . I don't want to lose my house, and I want to find somebody," said Trabosh, who changed her name in the ad to Traboscia to keep people from finding her in the phone book. "So I came up with this dream plan because I've always dreamt about being a fairy-tale princess."

She listed the home for $340,000 on a sell-it-yourself Web site, but upped the price on eBay, adding a $500,000 shipping fee to include her companionship.

Trabosh says eBay removed her ad. eBay does not allow the sale of human beings, body parts or relationships, spokeswoman Catherine England said Friday.

Trabosh hasn't received any serious offers but says she's had nearly 500 responses, mostly positive.

She's gotten criticism, too. Her 21-year-old daughter, Haley, says she just wants her mom to find love, but her 14-year-old daughter says her mother is embarrassing her.

American Idol Auditions in Glendale AZ July 25

American Idol Auditions in Glendale AZ July 25 at Jobing Arena

A little more than a year after the Valley's Jordin Sparks took home the 2007 American Idol crown, the talent show will return to Sparks' hometown of Glendale when it holds auditions July 25 at Jobing.com Arena, 9400 W. Maryland Ave.

It will be the show's first time hosting auditions in Arizona.

Show producers report that they've seen great talent emerge from the Valley - including Valley native Brooke White, who cracked the show's top five this year - prompting their decision to hold auditions here.

Men and women 16 to 28 years old as of July 15 who can legally work in the U.S. are eligible to try out. Some restrictions apply. Auditions start July 17 in San Francisco and will continue on to six other cities. Auditioners typically must show up a day in advance to get a required wristband.
'American Idol' Audition Do's and Don'ts:

Ditch The Costumes, Dude-Sung Celine CoversUnless you're just looking for screen time, leave the face paint, original songs and sack of nail clippings at home.

C'mon people! After six seasons, we get that the first few weeks of "American Idol" auditions are supposed to be a parade of freaks mixed in with a few potential gems just to keep it interesting. We know it's too late for this season's group of musical circus geeks, but if the first two audition episodes are any indication, some of you are in dire need of a refresher course on the do's and don'ts of "Idol" tryouts before we even start thinking about season eight.

Do: Tell the producers a great backstory that might land you one of those "down on the farm" segments where we see you frolicking with your son/daughter/pets/tractor. The sadder, the better.

Don't: Have your backstory be tied to a bag of nail clippings, your "Star Wars" fetish, a stalker routine, an ability to make funny noises or a "wacky" original song about abstinence. Speaking of chastity, though never-been-kissed virgin Bruce Dickson and his lock-and-key necklace told a tale so bizarrely endearing the striking Writers Guild of America should investigate whether he had some help with it, we recommend a little less sharing next time.

Do: Try to stand out in front of the judges by wearing something interesting, (slightly) provocative, flattering or, failing that, bland enough that it doesn't distract them from your singing.

Don't: Shop at the costume shop, paint your face, wear a Cowell-esque top that exposes enough of your chest that Simon and Randy lose their focus, attach anything resembling tin foil to your body or have your shirt signed by your "supporters." And, for the love of God, if you can't see your feet, don't wear a Princess Leia costume, even if you are manscaped. Nobody needs to see that.

Do: Pick a song that fits your voice and doesn't make it seem like you're trying out for "Best Celebrity Impersonators." (Hey, if the strike goes on long enough, it might show up on your TiVo queue!)

Don't: And we can't stress this enough, don't sing a song by a woman if you're a dude. We don't care how great you think Celine or Kelly are, the minute you start that tune you will automatically lose Simon and come off looking like a gender-confused contestant on a Logo reality show, whether you're gay, straight or floating somewhere in the guyliner-assisted middle. There are plenty of great songs sung by men for male contestants to choose from — just ask William Hung. OK, maybe not.

Do: Stand out and be humble. Believe it or not, you can do this by just being yourself — especially, it seems, if you are a cute, bubbly blonde with a growly voice or a cute, bubbly black girl with just the right amount of sass.

Don't: Talk back to the judges and come off like someone who might be lurking behind a garbage can waiting for Simon to get into his limo later that night. Yes, you'll get screen time, but nobody will take you seriously for the rest of your life (especially if your heart is set on "actressing"), and you will undoubtedly be dragged out a few more times over the season in clip shows that will portray you as the lunatic that you are.

Do: Wow the judges with your awesome range and strong vocals.

Don't: Tell them people have said you sound like Whitney/Mariah/Celine/Kelly, because 10 times out of 10, they're wrong and you're wrong and Simon's just gonna rip you a new one. And one more thing: Even if your cute-as-a-button model husband says you sound like a superstar, don't make him say it again in front of the judges if it's clearly not true because, once again, Simon's going to make the drive home more awkward than a Paula Abdul QVC appearance.

Do: Be comfortable in your own skin, even if it means snapping your fingers, bopping your head or making a hand gesture or two. The easier it is for you to move around and look the three judges in the eyes, the easier it will be to do it in front of an audience that's larger than the populations of Chile and Cambodia combined.

Don't: Breakdance, practice shadowboxing, flap your wings, stare at the floor, wriggle like you're giving birth to a 15-pound bag of sand, or, as we learned last season, pretend to be a large, caged cat.

Do: Prepare more than one song, preferably in a different genre. Occasionally, the judges want to hear an extra ditty before they dole out a Golden Ticket. If you only rehearsed "Another One Bites the Dust" and Paula asks for some Sinatra, don't be shocked when you end up another one gone, another one gone ...

Don't: Sing an unrequested second song. If the Idol Trinity agrees that you stink, bursting into a new tune isn't going to change any minds. You're just prolonging the pain. Plus, "Idol" producers love having fun in the editing room, so even if you didn't cut off Simon's critique with a second song-and-dance routine, that's exactly how it will be portrayed by the time it hits airwaves, and you'll ultimately look insolent, desperate and/or unstable.

And, if you're going to ignore all these suggestions and just be your freak-flag-flying self — which, after all, is what really makes us all tune in this early anyway — take a page from the book of 44-year-old Renaldo "You Are My Brother" Lapuz. The strange little man in the silver-and-white cape chewed up 11 minutes with his space-case anthem of brotherhood, which slowly evolved from typical Hung-esque time killer to a strangely great piece of TV that allowed the judges to let their hair down and indulge in some of the same goofball antics they are used to rolling their eyes at.