MarketTaiwan now among the Top 25 Most-Visited Sites!

 

Great news for MarketTaiwan! We just received news that tw.shop.com is the 25th largest website in Taiwan. This rapid and impressive growth is only the beginning; with the new and look and feel of the site, combined with the SHOP name and now over 1 million products in the search, we expect more achievements on the horizon and news like this to keep rolling in!

From marketamerica blog: Click here to read more.

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For 20 years, Market America has built success through hard work, dedication and innovation! The Market America Blog serves as a guide to financial and time freedom for Market America UnFranchise® Owners, and as a road map for the entrepreneurial spirit that leads us into the future.  To learn more click Learn More.

Power Profiles: Benjamin Ginder Jr

 Imagine a life style you can take time off to spoil all 17 of your nephews and nieces with a trip to Disney World, Orlando, Florida! How cool is it? Or, take 100 of your team leaders on a seven-day cruise, all expenses paid? "It is very rewarding to be able to give others a taste of the lifestyle I've been enjoying for the last eight years," says Ben, who honestly feels his business is like "being on a six month vacation, twice a year." Even more cool!

You are looking at the lifestyle of Benjamin Ginder Jr who is one of seven siblings who grew up on a 700 acre farm in Pennsylvania. From an early age, Ben learned the importance of  hard work and discipline. "Before we could go to school, we had a long list of chores to do. This meant we were working before the sun ever came up," explains Ben.

After the family farm, Ben's first real job was a truck driver delivering dairy and poultry products.

Here is Ben Ginder's Profile:


benjaminginder jr
Field President

No matter the business opportunity involved, everyone looks for a shortcut to success. Many do not possess the patience and nerve to methodically follow a set game plan and series of goals in order to build a business.

After a dozen years of limited success in the financial services industry and several disappointing MLM attempts, Ben Ginder decided to embrace this philosophy and focus all of his energies on the Market America opportunity. He was convinced he could make the Two- to Three-Year Plan work.

"I knew it would work if I made it work," stated Ginder. "Before Market America, I was struggling to pay bills and in debt over my head. Now, I am out of debt and financially free. It's as if I'm on a permanent vacation, living each new day with a phenomenal lifestyle of which few could dream." 

To read more, click Ben's story.

The Curse of a Diagnosis

If you were in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, would you want to know? Melinda Beck on Lunch Break explains why one 57-year-old California woman and her husband wish they had never learned.
Photo: Michal Czerwonka for The Wall Street Journal. 

U.S. Allows China to buy Treasuries Direct

In an unprecedented move, the U.S. Treasury Department has allowed the People's Bank of China to buy US treasuries directly without going through primary dealers which are the Wall Street banks. This relationship has never been accorded to any Central Bank before. See below, Reuters report on this news.

Is this a sign of appeasement on the part of the U.S. to its largest creditor?

On May 9, the Department of Justice reviewed and allowed the Federal Reserve Bank's approval of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC) to buy a U.S. lender. This is the biggest opening of the American banking market to Chinese companies.

On this same day, the Federal Reserve Board, allowed ICBC, Bank of China Ltd. and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. to open U.S. branches. See the FRB press releases on May 9, 2012: http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/all/2012all.htm

Altogether, these actions coming days after high level talks with Treasury Secretary Geithner and Secretary of State, Clinton, in China is a sign, the US is giving concessions to its biggest debt holder.

With Euro problems persisting and hints that Central Banks will coordinate easing of monetary policies (printing more fiat money), it won't be long before inflationary pressures will rear its ugly head. In the US, printing more money will only lower the value of  the dollar. In the long run, what does this means in terms of the dollar versus the yuan?

How will you protect your assets from inflation and further devaluation of the dollar?

NEW YORK | Mon May 21, 2012 3:35pm EDT

(Reuters) - China can now bypass Wall Street when buying U.S. government debt and go straight to the U.S. Treasury, in what is the Treasury's first-ever direct relationship with a foreign government, according to documents viewed by Reuters.

The relationship means the People's Bank of China buys U.S. debt using a different method than any other central bank in the world.

Click here to read more.

Gold - Who is Buying?

In the midst of the current market correction in the price of gold bullion, a Japanese pension fund, Okayama Metal & Machinery, is going to place 1.5% of its total assets ($500 million) in gold bullion-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) (source: Financial Times, May 16, 2012).

This is the first time ever this pension fund is buying gold.

China trumps India to lead oriental gold rush
ASIA BRIEFING: There are strong cultural and religious reasons why India has traditionally been the world’s biggest buyer of gold, but China is poised to overtake the subcontinent this year as its biggest source of demand.
Between them, China and India account for more than half of all the gold bought globally.
Inflation fears and a dearth of useful investment outlets means China looks set to be the biggest buyer of gold in 2012. (Source: IrishTimes.com)

With Europe undergoing stress due to sovereign debts and the US dollar's long term outlook grim, China is making its moves to become the world's biggest buyer of gold.

It is now known that last year, China had bought and imported large amounts of gold through Hong Kong, dramatically increasing its gold reserves. With recent dips in gold prices, China again stepped up its purchase of the gold bullion adding more to its reserves.

It is no longer a secret that China intends to back its currency, the yuan, with gold much like what the Swiss once did with their franc. With gold backing, China is one step closer to making its yuan an international currency. At the same time, China is also encouraging its citizens to buy gold. While concomitantly, the US seems bent on devaluing the dollar. When the dollar devalues there is the risk of inflation.

What will happen to our savings with continuing low interest rate and increasing inflation? Should we also buy gold?

Wonder Plant - Aloe Vera

"Four vegetables are indispensable for the well-being of man:
Wheat, the grape, the olive and aloe.
The first nourishes him,
the second raises his spirit,
the third brings him harmony,
and the fourth cures him."
 - Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)

A perfunctory search of pubmed.org (US National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health) website, reveals that there are thousands of research conducted using aloe vera.

The benefits of aloe vera are numerous but it seems that general practitioners know little of the alleged benefits of aloe vera than their patients. Studies have shown that aloe vera, a species of succulent plants originally from the southern half of the Arabian peninsula and North Africa, are effective cures for:
1. Ulcers, IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), Crohn's disease and other digestive disorders.
2. Reduces high blood pressure.
3. Nourishes the body with minerals, vitamins, enzymes and glyconutrrients.
4. Accelerates healing from physical burns and radiation burns. (The plant survived the nuclear blast in Japan.)
5. Replaces dozens of first aid products.
6. Halts colon cancer, heals the intestines and lubricates the digestive tract.
7. Ends constipation.

Below you can follow some of the studies at PMC:
(PMC is a free full-text archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM).

Cited by other articles in PMC

• Aloe vera: Nature's soothing healer to periodontal disease [Journal of Indian Society of Periodontology...]
• Identification of Novel Anti-inflammatory Agents from Ayurvedic Medicine for Prevention of Chronic Diseases: “Reverse Pharmacology” and “Bedside to Bench” Approach [Current drug targets. 2011]
• A Randomised, Cross-Over, Placebo-Controlled Study of Aloe vera in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Effects on Patient Quality of Life [ISRN Gastroenterology. 2011]
• Enhancement of the efficacy of cancer chemotherapy by the pineal hormone melatonin and its relation with the psychospiritual status of cancer patients [Journal of Research in Medical Sciences : T...]
• Aloe-induced Toxic Hepatitis [Journal of Korean Medical Science. 2010]

Pre-launch of Mexico scheduled for June 6!

This is exciting, another country, Mexico, opening up for Market America.

From ma Newsline, Issue 45.12
Exciting times are here for the Market America Global Community and all Global UnFranchise^® Owners. Market America is officially opening Mexico as part of the Market America Business in North America. Like our Canadian business, Mexico will now become part of the United States Marketing Plan, having one universal BV and IBV for all three countries, and supporting one Management Performance Compensation Plan (MPCP). This poses an amazing opportunity to leverage the many Mexican families that have immigrated into the United States and Canada, as those families will now have the ability to capitalize on their relationships in Mexico. The more than 44 million Latinos in the United States and Canada make it a great opportunity to expand your businesses into Mexico. We invite you to take advantage of our upcoming pre-launch Events on Friday, June 8 and Saturday, June 9 at the beautiful Marquis Reforma Hotel in Mexico City. Now's the time to network with all of your contacts within the Mexican community and get prospects to these events to learn of the tremendous opportunity now available to them. See detailed event information below.

Obese Nation -Now Obesity Drug

This report regarding obesity drug approval by the FDA just came in this morning:

7:51 (Dow Jones) Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA) doubles after an FDA advisory committee recommends agency approve its lorcaserine weight loss drug. Jefferies reverses its call on the company's shares to buy from underperform. Firm says the major turn from the panel was its endorsement of ARNA's data on major adverse CV events. Jefferies pushes its price target to $9 from $1, putting the probability of the drug's approval in June to 95%. Oppenheimer remains more cautious sticking with a perform rating and saying it continues "to see some risks with FDA approval of lorcaserin without additional clinical data." ARNA jumps 100% premarket to $7.31. (patrick.sullivan@dowjones.com)
Call us at (212) 416-3100 or email patrick.sullivan@dowjones.com

  (END) Dow Jones Newswires
  05-11-12 0752ET
  Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Your Wealth, Your Bank

Wherever you choose to "park" your money is your business. In view of the $2 billion blow up at JP Morgan Chase, JPM, you have to wonder how that will affect your bank.

Remember what Jamie Dimon, CEO of  JPM, said a year ago:
"We maintained our fortress balance sheet, ending the second quarter with a Basel I Tier 1 Common ratio of 10.1%.  Our strong and growing capital base enabled us to buy back $3.5 billion of stock during the second quarter, and we will continue to buy back stock opportunistically."

About a month ago, when Bloomberg TV broke the news that a whale trader at JP Morgan Chase was building up huge positions in credit derivatives, Jamie Dimon brushed off Bloomberg reporting as "tempest in a teapot".

Well, last night, May 10, Jamie apparently regretted what he said. The tempest is no longer in the teapot. In early morning pre-market trade, JPM is down -3.42. In reporting the huge $2 billion losses in their synthetic credit portfolio, he said, "There were many errors, sloppiness and bad judgement made." Who knows by the time the position is unwound, how much the actual loss will be.

Fortress balance sheet, Jamie?

Obese Nation

It is alarming, according a CDC funded report released May 7th that by 2030, 42 percent of American adults will be obese, compared to 34 percent now, and 11 percent will be severely obese, compared to the current 6 percent.

This will severely cripple health care in the US as we already know that obesity leads to diabetes, heart diseases, cancer and early death. The estimated cost of obesity is a staggering $190 billion a year in the US. This not only has enormous economic implications but also threatens national security according to the Institute of Medicine.

 On Tuesday, May 8, Reuters reported:

(Reuters) - America's obesity epidemic is so deeply rooted that it will take dramatic and systemic measures - from overhauling farm policies and zoning laws to, possibly, introducing a soda tax - to fix it, the influential Institute of Medicine said on Tuesday, May 8.


In an ambitious 478-page report, the IOM refutes the idea that obesity is largely the result of a lack of willpower on the part of individuals. Instead, it embraces policy proposals that have met with stiff resistance from the food industry and lawmakers, arguing that multiple strategies will be needed to make the U.S. environment less "obesogenic."   


Read the rest of Reuters news article here.

Power Profiles: Ernie & Jeannette Heikes

They were skeptics....but they gave it a no-risk trial. Now look where they are!

ernie & jeannette heikes

Executive Director

"When Stacy, our youngest daughter, and her husband, David, called us about Market America, we were skeptical, but we decided to at least give it a try. In fewer than 18 months, we were able to replace Ernie's income as a teacher, and in two years we were making significant income. What we really liked about the UnFranchise business was that you could own your own business without giving up your current job, there was almost no financial risk to getting started and the company had a training system to help you start your business. "

Read their HAPPY story here.