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Michael Dawson - EzineArticles.com Expert Author
Michael Dawson recently said goodbye to a 20 year career in Engineering, Marketing and Sales to focus on living his dream of financial independence as a full-time trader on his on account. He has also established a financial education company, The Time & Money Group, to encourage others to pursue financial freedom and is publisher of the company's blog "Breaking the Shackles of the 9 to 5." His mantra is "Why trade time for ... [More]
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Michael Dawson Email Alerts
- The New 'Four Horseman' of Technology - Cramer Likes My Stock Picks
[Investing] I am sure that many of you watch or have watched CNBC's Mad Money with Jim Cramer. Personally I think the screaming and boo-yaas are a little much, but I do watch it on occasion. I like Fast Money much better - it comes on a couple hours later. I am quite honored, because it looks like old Cramer has been sniffing around my blog looking for ideas.
- Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?
[Finance:Wealth-Building] I received an MBA from Babson College world renown for its entrepreneurship program. The program is always ranked #1 in US News for its excellence in entrepreneurship. However, entrepreneurship isn't a science or an art for that matter. So, can it be taught? I just stumbled upon an interesting CNN Money article that tackles this very subject. At first glance, it doesn't look very promising.
- Introducing The Big Spend Portfolio
[Investing] Since reading a report Five Key trends in Chinese economy: Merrill Lynch, about a month ago, I have been constantly thinking about creating another BBO like basket. BBO is a basket of stocks based on the industrialization of the emerging markets. It leverages the infrastructure boom as the emerging markets build railways, airports, highways, etc. This is actually #2 on the Merrill Lynch list. I have investing in this theme for the last three years. Their #1 trend has captured my attention:
- Financial Freedom Butchered
[Finance:Wealth-Building] The word "Financial Freedom" is misused more than any term that I can think of. It is often associated with a get rich schemes. In this case, financial freedom provides a college student freedom to rent an apartment. Woo Hoo...
- The "Sail-Boat" Trading Strategy
[Finance:Wealth-Building] There are two traps that I have fallen into in the past and refuse to do it again. The first is becoming seduced by a statement such as the following: if you had invested $10,000 in XYZ Company X years ago it would be worth $500,000 today. The second is XYZ Company dominates its industry. This mentality has cost me more money than I care to admit.
- Subprime Mortgage Problem Contained? Give Me a Break!
[Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] I think that some heads are going to roll when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson are forced to admit that the subprime mortgage problem is not contained.
- Debt and Financial Freedom Don't Mix
[Finance:Wealth-Building] One of my least favorite subjects in the financial freedom arena is debt reduction. People use all kinds of reasons to justify their debt and it becomes a very emotional struggle to eliminate it. I am pleased that I have adopted the "Not So Easy" approach to financial freedom. That way I don't have to come up with any psychological approaches to achieving financial independence. Why pretend that something is easy - when it's not...
- Maximizing Your Trading Years
[Investing] If the average investor gets serious about investing around 30 and retires at 65, they only have 35 years to really put their money to work. So, if you buy into Wall Street's buy and hold mantra and time it right at the end of 35 years you will have absolutely nothing to show for your efforts. All of the gains of the first 17 years will be given away in the next 17.
- We Are Not a Subprime Lender
[Investing] On March 15, IndyMac released a rather lengthy press release claiming that it had been inappropriately categorized by many media sources as a subprime lender. IndyMac stated that it is primarily a prime/Alt-A mortgage lender with minimal exposure to subprime. With the subprime lenders in melt-down mode, it is quite understandable why IndyMac would want to differentiate itself. However, in doing so it brought more attention to itself and was featured in an article by CNN Money called "Liar loans: Mortgage Woes Beyond Subprime." Sometimes it pays just to be quiet.
- The Real Estate Market - Why "Bottom" is a Dirty Word
[Real-Estate] Last week, CNBC reporter, Mari Bartiromo was quite appalled by the language Don Tomnitz, CEO DR Horton, used in describing the state of the real estate market: "I don't want to be too sophisticated here, but 2007 is going to suck, all 12 months of the calendar year". I think that Maria over reacted a little. Since, when did suck become such a bad word? I'm more offended when someone uses the word "bottom" in reference to the Real Estate Market.
- The Next Big Thing - Alternative Energy
[Investing] My friends and I would often wonder where did the VCs go? Well wonder no more - according to a recent edition of The Economist the money is going into 'Green' technologies. One estimate puts the total investments going into clean energy at $63 billion up from $49 billion in 2005 and $30 billion in 2004.
- Napoleon Hill & Donald Trump Meets the Trading Pits
[Finance:Wealth-Building] In the Wealth Building Process, there will be many ups and downs. The time to success is directly related to your ability to handle adversity. In the most recent stock market sell off, I relied on the words of Napoleon Hill and Donald Trump to pull me through.
- How to Survive Getting Hit by a BRIC
[Finance:Wealth-Building] Building Wealth requires thinking differently. This article describes a different approach to investing the industrialization of Brazil, Russia, India and China a.k.a BRIC.
- Forest Whitaker Reminded Me of a Key to Success: A Burning Desire
[Finance:Wealth-Building] What would possess someone to walk away from a high paying job? What about the status? What about the security? What about? What about? What about? How do the "walkers" suppress the "what abouts" and pursue the trail of "what ifs?" What if I land this deal? What if this trade takes off?
I was reminded while listening to Forest Whitaker's acceptance speech of the difference between talkers and walkers - a Burning Desire.
- Time to Buy Subprime Lenders - You Gotta be Kidding!
[Finance:Wealth-Building] One of the problems with Financial TV is that they have 24 hours to fill with programming. How can you fill that much time without including some Bozos? Every morning I wake up around 5 am or so and turn on Bloomberg. I lay in bed and catch up on what has happened in the stock markets around the world until around 6:30am. On yesterday, they had a Bozo on who said that it may be time to buy certain subprime lenders. All I could do is shake my head and turn off the TV.
- Building a Better BRIC-Trap
[Finance:Wealth-Building] Individual investors no longer have to wait on Wall Street to capitalize on new trends. Low cost brokers and basket trading have made it financially feasible and practical to create your own “pseudo-ETF.” Last year you could have designed your own basket to capitalize on the BRIC theme (industrialization of Brazil, Russia, India and China) and profited to the tune of 45%. The Wall Street product wasn't available until the fall.
- Profiting From Companies That Sell What China Wants
[Finance:Wealth-Building] The East is becoming wealthier, because it is experiencing the greatest industrialization in the history of the world. It is generating such demand for resources such as copper, aluminum and iron ore that it is outstripping supply. Buying stocks in companies that provide products and services needed by the emerging countries appears to an excellent way to outperform the market
- Tony Robbins, Some Other Guy and Me: Knowledge Always Precedes the Money
[Finance:Wealth-Building] Many have heard the saying knowledge is power. If you are an academic it's your nirvana, but if are trying to achieve your dreams it is only the beginning. I like the way an author of an article I was just reading puts it "knowledge always precedes the money." In other words, knowledge is simply the first step.
- Housing Market Stabilizing-NOT! Part II
[Finance:Wealth-Building] On December 5th, I issued a what's he smoking report as Robert Toll, CEO of Homebuilding Company - Toll Brothers, stated "Fifteen months into the current slowdown, we may be seeing a floor in some markets where deposits and traffic, although erratic from week to week, seem to be dancing on the bottom or slightly above." His out is that he said "some markets."
- Wealth Building Requires Knowing When to Fold Them
[Finance:Wealth-Building] During the housing boom, many banks devised "creative" loans allowing people to borrow money with no down payment and pay low interest rates for the first few years on adjustable mortgages. Now, as interest rates reset higher, more borrowers are missing payments stressing the lender's books. Remember this article from a month ago - Subprime Lenders Gone Too Far: A Time Bomb Waiting to Explode. Today the stock price of one subprime lender exploded. The others were wounded.
- Wealth Building Thru Commodity Investing : BHP Billiton Struts It's Stuff
[Finance:Wealth-Building] If you have read any of my Wealth Building Thru Commodity Investing articles, you are quite familiar with BHP Billiton - the world's largest commodity producer. I have been on the commodity band wagon for awhile. However, after hearing BHP's earnings call on yesterday I am more convinced that the path to riches is paved with minerals.
- A Business Without Sales is a Hobby: Sales an Essential Skill For Building Wealth
[Finance:Wealth-Building] It's simple a fact of entrepreneurship - the fastest track back to a J.O.B. is no sales. Before launching my next venture, I would go on to attain an MBA and make a career change to Marketing and then Sales. I will always be able to leverage my formal and on-the-job training, however some sales skills can be learned from everyday life.
- Wealth Building - From One BRIC at a Time to One Rail at a Time: Investing in China Railways
[Finance:Wealth-Building] If you have read any of my past articles you know that I believe that wealth building and investing go hand in hand. My preference is investing in themes using the stock market. I have written several articles on capitalizing on the industrialization of Brazil, Russia, India and China collectively known as BRIC. Now, the goal is to increase our returns by finding a couple of China Railway plays.
- Free Credit Report
[Finance:Personal-Finance] I remember when I graduated from college, nearly 20 years ago, I wanted to buy a car before I started my new job. I really don't know what I was thinking. If I did buy the car how was I going to pay for it? That wasn't important. I just wanted a new car. So, I went down to the dealer - test drove a brand new Nissan and told the salesman I wanted it.
- Starting a Business is Similar to Running
[Business:Entrepreneurialism] Let's just skip to the chase - running is like a start-up sometimes it just sucks.
- Subprime Lenders Gone Too Far - A Time Bomb Waiting to Explode
[Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] Remember when a 20% down payment was expected when purchasing a house. Sometimes with stellar credit and maybe a special situation, like a first-time home buyer, you could get in with a 10% down payment. I recall a few weeks after my wife and I purchased our first home - both cars broke down. Everything had to take a back seat to saving for that down payment - shoe shopping, night out with the boys, maintaining the cars, everything. Subprime loans put an end to that nonsense.
- John T. Reed’s Views of Various Real Estate Investment Gurus
[Real-Estate:Investing] You wake up in the middle of the night - unable to fall back to sleep, so you start flipping through the channels. Undoubtedly, you will come across a station - where a nicely dressed person in an exotic location is telling how rich he or she became selling real estate. Then you hear testimony after testimony from people stating how they too became rich by following the gurus advice. Depending on how your day was at work - you start contemplating calling and giving it a shot.
- 2007 Year of the Golden Piggy Bank
[Finance:Wealth-Building] In my article, "Wealth Building Thru Gold Investing - It is All About Supply and Demand" I stated that Asians have a strong affinity for gold and as Asian investors become wealthier their ownership of gold will increase. The sheer number of potential Asian investors buying small amounts of gold will create an unprecedented demand driving the price of gold higher. The following provides additional support for my position.
- Financial Freedom - The Pursuit of Happyness
[Finance:Wealth-Building] Over the holidays, I saw the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness." The movie is based on the true life story of Chris Gardner's rise from homelessness to owning a multi-million dollar brokerage firm. The movie has countless lessons for all Financial Freedom seekers.
- Building Wealth One BRIC at a Time: 2006 Results & Plans for 2007
[Finance:Wealth-Building] Using a Goldman Sacks 2003 research paper "Dreaming with BRICs: the Path to 2050" as a primary source, on July 3, I penned an article "Investing: How to Make Money on the Industrialization of Brazil, Russia, India and China." It espoused why Brazil, Russia, India and China (aka BRIC) will rank among the world's most dominant economies by mid-Century. As these countries industrialize, a tremendous demand for necessities of industrial life such as housing with indoor plumbing, electricity, basic appliances and cars will be created. This article discusses two of my portfolios based on this theme; both which returned more than 40% in 2006 and my modifications for 2007.
- Wealth Building Thru Gold Investing - It is All About Supply and Demand
[Finance:Wealth-Building] I took me a good year and a half to get back into the groove after the pounding I took during the internet implosion of 2000. That was an extremely painful year and I was in no hurry to donate more money to Wall Street. I tried a few of the same old things from 2000 in early 2002 with little success. By late 2002, I discovered Adam Hamilton and the world of commodity stock investing. As I learned more about commodities, I understood why most of Main Street avoided investing in this area. Ahhh, but once you cut through inflation expectations, interest rate differentials, current account deficits - it all comes down to the simple concept of supply and demand.
- Mr. Government Will You Keep Your Cotton-Picking Hands Out of Market: I'm Trying to Make a Buck
[Finance:Wealth-Building] This is the second time in the past 2 months that governments’ interference with the market has cost me money. There are many other covert operations, but that’s for a different article. The two times that I am discussing were in plain view for all to see.
- Impact of the Dollar Decline
[Finance:Wealth-Building] It is hard for most Americans to get a grasp on what has been happening with the dollar. It's not like the stock market where its price is quoted on the nightly news. Now if you frequently travel abroad - you have a better understanding. Your dollar buys less stuff every time step off the plane, but that's a relatively small number of people. Regardless to what Bernanke says about inflation - people are quite aware that prices are going up more than 2-3%. However, most have not connected the dots.
- Dennis Gartman's Not-So-Simple Rules of Trading
[Investing] On November 20, shareholders of Phelps Dodge received an early Christmas present. Freeport McMoran placed a bid to buy the company at a 27% premium. Instantly all shareholders were 27% richer, simultaneously all shorts were 27% poorer. This was a big news story, so CNBC reporters went to work. Later on that day, Dennis Gartman was interviewed on CNBC. Gartman had been betting that cooper’s run was over extended. Instead of shorting the commodity itself, he choose to short a major cooper producer (Phelps Dodge). Ouch.
- Main Stream Thinking Will Not Lead to Financial Freedom
[Finance:Wealth-Building] If main stream thinking would lead to financial freedom - wouldn’t there be many more financially free people? Most of us are taught to go to school - get a good job and climb up the corporate ladder. How many that have followed that path are financially free? It is hard to tell, because there are many different definitions of financial freedom. If I were to make a guess - I would guess that fewer than 5% of the people in the U.S are financially free. I would also guess that very few of those became financially free by climbing the corporate ladder.
- Would Steve Jobs Have Kick-Started Your Quest for Financial Freedom?
[Finance:Wealth-Building] I have a bachelor degree and two master degrees. I can’t remember one word from the Commencement addresses. Actually I skipped two of the ceremonies, but from the one that I did attend - I can’t remember a word. I wonder if someone like Steve Jobs had spoken - would it have had an impact on my pursuit for financial freedom. His commencement address to Stanford’s class of 2005 was quite moving, but would it have moved you.
- Navigating Thru a Trading Fiasco
[Investing:Stocks] Two weeks ago the Canadian government announced that it was imposing a new tax on income trusts. This announcement shocked the market and sent the Toronto Stock Exchange S&P/TSX composite index spiraling down 2.4% for the day. To put that in US terms that was the equivalent to a 300 point drop in the DOW. Billions of dollars were lost by this announcement. Unfortunately I had recently taken a position in Enerplus Resources (ERF) the granddaddy of income trust. Mutual fund managers were saying to stay the course. So, why did I bail? I have been caught in downdrafts such as this before.
- Trading Without a Mentor is Like Flying Blind
[Investing] Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, often talks about his mentor Warren Buffet, who just happens to be the world's most successful investor. It is well documented that Buffet was mentored by famed investor Benjamin Graham who is known as the father of value investing. Many businesses have formal mentor programs as its benefits have been proven over and over. Successful people often mention that a prime reason of their achievement was having a mentor. So, if the Gates and the Buffets of world have mentors, so shouldn't you have one? I would like to suggest that trading without a mentor is like flying blind.
- Trump and Rich Dad Reveal the Secret to Riches
[Finance:Wealth-Building] Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki have written a new book, "Why We Want You to be Rich: If you believe that working hard, saving money, investing for the long-term in mutual funds and diversifying is good advice then this book may not be for you." I have read several of Kiyosaki’s books and one or two of the Donalds, but I haven’t read this one yet. I stumbled on a review of the book which didn’t say much about the book - other than it is their best one yet. However, in the review the writer discusses an email that he received from a money manager that floored me.
- The Commodities Bull Market is Back
[Investing:Futures-and-Commodities] It was just a few short months ago many were saying the bubble had burst in commodities. First of all, I never bought into the bubble talk. How can there be a bubble in commodities - when not one of your friends can name 5 gold stocks? Back in the internet bubble days, taxi cab drivers could rattle off the names internet companies without skipping a beat. Before there can be a bubble the masses must participate.
- There Is a Certain "Something" Needed Before You Can Find Financial Freedom
[Finance:Wealth-Building] If you have read some of my past articles, you are familiar with my definition of financial freedom. It is freedom to focus on what is truly important to you and your family without trading time for a wage. It is enabled by a portfolio of income producing assets managed by you. In other words, your rental properties or eBay business pays the bills. It is not retirement or jet-setting around the world without any concerns. Although it is not those fantasies, I believe it is the next best thing. It definitely beats punching a clock. What do you think? Don't answer to quickly.
- The Trump Way to Building Wealth
[Finance:Wealth-Building] My wife and I attended the Donald Trump Wealth Building Seminar a couple of weeks ago. Actually it wasn’t a seminar, but a 2 1/2 hour promotion for his upcoming weekend seminar. I have attended sales pitches for seminars before, but I must admit that this was one of the better ones. I did walk away with a few tidbits that I will be able to use on my Financial Freedom journey.
- Debt Reduction: The Weed-Out Course on the Road to Financial Freedom
[Finance:Wealth-Building] A few weeks ago I posted an article on my website on debt reduction that generated an interesting conversation ....... Ramsey's approach may help some people get out of debt, but personally I am more interested in financial freedom. That requires taking the most financially prudent paths and leaving the psychological approaches to others.
- Will A Bigger Paycheck Solve Your Financial Problems?
[Finance:Personal-Finance] Do any of the following thoughts ever cross your mind as you are preparing the monthly bills? How did your friend get a new job with a 20% pay raise? Wasn’t she almost fired last year? When is your manager going to move on? You are certainly more qualified. Whatever happened to the move up or out policy? Your debt has gotten out of control. You need more income. Why should you struggle each month living pay check to paycheck? It’s time for a change?
- A Simple Relationship to Put Money in Your Pocket
[Finance:Wealth-Building] Every US based worker that has attended a 401K planning seminar has heard the same lecture. Diversify your money between US based Large, Mid and Small Cap stocks then mix in some International Stocks and Bonds. Your percent allocation to each sector will vary depending on your age. It must be sound advice if some many professionals agree on this approach. Most will follow this advice tweaking it every now and then. However, with a little more understanding you can outperform those advisors.
- Wealth Building - Through Commodity Investing
[Finance:Wealth-Building] In my recent article, The No-brainer Investment Strategy to Double Digit Returns, I opined that there is a 34 year cycle in the stock market. A 17 year bull market is followed by a 17 year bear market and that equities and commodities are inversely correlated. Based on this premise, a strategy could be devised in which equities and commodities are alternately invested during its appropriate time during the cycle. So, how is this theory performing over the first six months of 2006?
- Financial Freedom: Saying Goodbye to the Time for Money Swap
[Finance:Wealth-Building] We have prepared our entire lives for the time for money swap. It is simply what responsible people do. You commit 40, 50 or 60 hours per week and the company commits to pay you for your efforts and in some cases extremely well. The concept of not exchanging your time for a wage is so foreign for most that financial freedom will never be seriously considered. Many will dream about it, but life will slap them back into reality. The few who choose to ignore life’s slap – must be willing to make the following three commitments.
- Investing: How to Make Money on the Industrialization of Brazil, Russia, India and China
[Investing] In October 2003, Goldman Sacks published a research paper titled, "Dreaming with BRICs: the Path to 2050." The paper states that Brazil, Russia, India and China, commonly referred to as BRIC, may rank among the world's most dominant economies by mid century. In this article, I would like to propose two approaches on how we as investors can benefit from the industrialization of BRIC.
- Why Invest in Gold?
[Investing] I am often asked - why do I invest in gold and gold stocks? There are many reasons why gold prices are increasing and will continue to increase, but the simplest answer is the basic principles of supply and demand. In the early 80s, Cabbage Patch dolls were selling 100 times retail price due to lack of supply. This priced many people out of the market and angered parents around Christmas time. I don’t believe the company intended to drive prices up with a limited supply strategy - especially since it didn’t benefit from the higher prices as a secondary market evolved. Thus, to profit from the demand the company had to increase production. I believe that a similar scenario is evolving in the gold patch.
- Dollar Cost Averaging – Automatically
[Investing] Dollar cost averaging (DCA) is a technique designed to reduce market risk through systematic purchase of securities at predetermined intervals and set amounts. If you participate in your company’s 401K plan, knowingly or unknowingly, you are practicing dollar cost averaging. Each pay period your company deducts a specified dollar amount from your paycheck; then plan administrator then purchases stocks or bonds, on your behalf, in your chosen funds. This process happens every pay period, regardless of the market’s trading level, until you change the instructions.
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