Astaxanthin protects against sun induced skin aging such as sagging and wrinkles.

From PubMed.gov

Astaxanthin attenuates the UVA-induced up-regulation of matrix-metalloproteinase-1 and skin fibroblast elastase in human dermal fibroblasts.
Suganuma K1, Nakajima H, Ohtsuki M, Imokawa G.

1Department of Dermatology, Jichi Medical University, 3311-1 Yakushiji, Shimotuke, Tochigi 329-0498, Japan.

Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Repetitive exposure of the skin to UVA radiation elicits sagging more frequently than wrinkling, which is mainly attributed to its biochemical mechanism to up-regulate the expression of matrix-metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 and skin fibroblast elastase (SFE)/neutral endopeptidase (NEP), respectively.
OBJECTIVE:
In this study, we examined the effects of a potent antioxidant, astaxanthin (AX), on the induction of MMP-1 and SFE by UVA treatment of cultured human dermal fibroblasts.
METHODS:
Those effects were assessed by real-time RT-PCR, Western blotting and enzymic activity assays.
RESULTS:
UVA radiation elicited a significant increase in the gene expression of MMP-1 as well as SFE/NEP (to a lesser extent) which was followed by distinct increases in their protein and enzymatic activity levels. The addition of AX at concentrations of 4-8 microM immediately after UVA exposure significantly attenuated the induction of MMP-1 and SFE/NEP expression elicited by UVA at the gene, protein and activity levels although both the UVA stimulation and the subsequent AX inhibition were greater for MMP-1 than for SFE/NEP. Analysis of the UVA-induced release of cytokines revealed that UVA significantly stimulated only the secretion of IL-6 among the cytokines tested and that AX significantly diminished only the IL-6 secretion.

CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that, based on different effective concentrations of AX, a major mode of action leading to the inhibition elicited by AX depends on inhibition of UVA effects of the reactive oxygen species-directed signaling cascade, but not on interruption of the IL-6-mediated signaling cascade. We hypothesize that AX would have a significant benefit on protecting against UVA-induced skin photo-aging such as sagging and wrinkles.

Stockman - Unprecedented Global Financial Wipeout Is Coming

From King World News Blog

Below is just another opinion of what is happening in the market today. This is how we make intelligent choices by being open and weighing in on all the facts available - ultimately to protect ourselves from being irrationally exuberant!

Stockman - Unprecedented Global Financial Wipeout Is Coming

August 30, 2014

Today David Stockman warned King World News that investors need to brace themselves for an unprecedented and historic global financial wipeout.  KWN takes Stockman’s warnings very seriously because he is the man former President Reagan called on in 1981, during that crisis, to become Director of the Office of Management and Budget and help save the United States from collapse.  Below is what Stockman, author of the website contracorner, had to say in his powerful interview.

Stockman:  “There is going to be a massive repricing in the financial markets.  As I’ve indicated, everything is overvalued, from stocks, to real estate, to big-cap companies, to speculative small-cap companies, and derivatives of every kind.  They are all correlated in the bubble expansion and they are all going to be correlated in the big repricing that’s coming....

“And what that means is the bond market is going to have a massive dislocation.  The stock market is going to have a deep plunge.  The central banks of the world are going to be left high and dry, scrambling, and suffering from a dramatic loss of credibility as the world begins to see that this house of cards they have put together is unstable and unsustainable.”

Eric King:  “Let’s talk about that loss of confidence, David -- that’s the key.  As that loss of confidence begins to engulf the world, what are we looking at?”

Stockman:  “I think we are looking at the Great Repricing that is imbedded, implicit, in the vastly inflated bubbles that we have today in all the financial markets.  The only thing that has kept this game going has been the liquidity injections by the central banks, which I think are (now) reaching their maximum extent.

... That means collateral is going to shrink in value because everything is collateralized today, everything is repledged or hypothecated (LAUGHTER), that’s how this great debt and financial bubble has been built.  So when the repricing comes and the asset values begin to deflate, then that (enormous and unprecedented leverage) is going to unwind.  As that gathers momentum, as debt is liquidated and collateral loses value, there will be more selling and you will have a downward adjustment that will be pretty traumatic and violent.”

Eric King:  “David, how is gold going to fare in that chaotic environment?”

Stockman:  “I think that will be the asset of choice when the Great Repricing comes because the Great Repricing is only the consequence of a loss of confidence in the central banks.  And so when the whole central bank regime craters, then there will be a flight to something people can trust and believe in, and that will be the traditional monetary asset of gold.”

Read more from King World News Blog >>

Another Ugly Employment Data Point

From Bloomberg

Another Ugly Employment Data Point
BY MARK GIMEIN  | AUG. 28, 2014

The recession that started with the collapse of the housing market ended five years ago, yet there’s a persistent sense that if we’re out of it, it’s only through a long and ugly slog. While the headline unemployment rate is indeed falling, we keep finding that other indicators of the job market don’t look great. The New York Times‘ David Leonhardt draws attention to the decline in the number of people answering surveys, a problem because the unemployed may be particularly unwilling to tell economists that they don’t have a job.

So here’s another uncomfortable indicator to add to the mix: The number of people who identify as “self-employed.” If small business is indeed the engine of the economy, as politicians like to point out, then self-employment is the engine of small business creation. A new company starts with one person quitting a job to start something new.

Since the recession, the number of self-employed has fallen. Below you can see a chart of the unincorporated self-employed. It’s down from a peak of 10.9 million in 2005 to 9.1 million now (the drop in incorporated self-employed workers is similar). At first, you may suspect self-employment might climb in recessions, as some folks move from jobs to unsteady — and sometimes marginal — freelance work. That, however, isn’t true: The self-employment number has historically behaved like other indicators of employment, rising in times of prosperity and falling in recessions.



Read more from Bloomberg >>

9 Things Only People With Depression Can Truly Understand

From HuffingtonPost.com

9 Things Only People With Depression Can Truly Understand

Lindsay Holmeslindsay.holmes@huffingtonpost.com
Posted: 08/26/2014

There's been a lot of dialogue surrounding depression -- particularly in light of recent events -- as people struggle to understand why and how it affects people in the ways that it does. And for the 350 million people worldwide with the condition, it can be just as hard to articulate its effects as it is to understand it.

Depression can make people feel like their minds have completely rebelled against them. From a lack of will to physical pain, it can cause people to function poorly at work, in school and in social activities, according to the World Health Organization. Many people who experience depression can also experience symptoms of anxiety.

But those factors are just the start. Below, find nine things people with depression know to be true (and what others can do to help alleviate them).

The frustration that comes when someone suggests you can "snap out of it."

The hard truth is, depression is not the sort of thing you can just wake up and be over one morning -- and suggesting such may be sending an unsupportive message. According to John F. Greden, M.D., the executive director of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Depression Center, these phrases often stem from a lack of understanding of mental illness.

"When [loved ones] don't understand what's happening, their responses are 'suck it up' and 'stop feeling sorry for yourself,'" Greden tells The Huffington Post. "It's not understood that these are underlying illnesses and chemical abnormalities, so what they'll do is use these phrases. ... These comments are probably one of the worst irritations."

Read more from HuffingtonPost.com >>

Alibaba’s Mega IPO: Crowding Out Others?

From Barron's

Alibaba’s Mega IPO: Crowding Out Others?
"investors boxed out of Alibaba’s IPO could snap up Yahoo to capitalize on the Chinese company’s growth. That argument could also help buoy shares in Softbank Corp, which has a 34 percent stake in Alibaba."

By Shuli Ren  |  August 27, 2014

To pull through the largest IPO in the US history is no small task – China’s largest e-commerce Alibaba Group (BABA) is just trying to do that, reportedly hoping to raise $20 billion. Bankers are scrambling to drum up orders for as much as 4 times the size of the deal, which means they will need quite a few buyers willing to pony up $1 billion or more.


Fund managers, as a result, are looking over their portfolios to make room for Alibaba. Reuters reported that Amazon.com (AMZN), for instance, could be out. Amazon trades at 1.7 times 2014 sales on meager 5% EBITDA margin and 20% top-line growth. Alibaba, by comparison, grew over 50% for the year ended March and had an EBITDA margin of 57.5%. (To be fair, Amazon takes inventory and does direct sales, whereas Alibaba is a marketplace platform provider and relies on advertising, so it has higher margins.)

Reuters also identified possible victims such as Baidu (BIDU) and Tencent (0700.HK), but how about the other e-commerce players? When Alibaba’s largest competitor JD.com (JD) went public on May 22, flash sale discounter Vipshop (VIPS) dipped 3.5%. Cosmetics discounter Jumei (JMEI) slumped 7.5%.

Read more from Barron's >>

Lacy Hunt: The World Economy's Terminal Case Of Debt Sclerosis

"Never before has the developed world carried this much debt. Never before have the central banks of those same countries expanded their balance sheets so much. Never before has so much sovereign debt been outright monetized. Never before have major financial institutions been officially designated as “too big to fail” and thereby been granted special license to assume gigantic risks."

                                                                                  -----Chris Martenson, host of this podcast.


Dr. Lacy Hunt, economist and current executive vice president of Hoisington Investment Management Company, expects the macroeconomic situation to get worse from here.

6 Healthy Reasons to Drink Tea

From Cleveland Clinic Wellness

6 Healthy Reasons to Drink Tea  
by Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, LD

If you are trying to improve your health or drop a few pounds, think beyond superfoods and supplements, because tea, in its many varieties, deserves your attention too! You may be surprised to learn that what you drink can also affect weight management, disease prevention, and energy and stress levels. Consumed for thousands of years, tea has been used for medicinal purposes by many cultures around the globe. Studies show that the components found in tea can do wonders for your health. So drink up, and enjoy better health!

Here are six health benefits of tea:

1. Tea can help you maintain a healthy weight. A 2011 study in the journal Obesity found that mice fed a high fat diet and given compounds found in green tea gained weight at a slower rate than mice that were not fed the same compounds. The findings from this study suggest that green tea extracts may actually interfere with fat formation in the body. Take note, however, that green tea extracts should not be confused with bottled green tea drinks that may be full of added sugar. To get green tea extracts, opt for the real deal — a good old-fashioned teabag or loose tea and boiling water!

2. Green tea may help you see better. The eye, like any part of the body, can suffer oxidative stress, making it more prone to disease. But here’s a hopeful finding that might help combat this problem: A 2010 study found that components in green tea positively affected the tissues of the eyes, especially tissue related to the retina. Drink on green tea lovers, and protect your precious eyeballs!

3. White tea can help you look younger! White tea is high in polyphenols, which deliver fabulously gorgeous benefits! A recent study demonstrated that tea drinkers may have already found their fountain of youth — in their mugs! In the study, extracts in white tea inhibited wrinkle production by strengthening elastin and collagen — two important factors in the development of fine lines and wrinkles. White tea can keep your joints younger too!

Read more from Cleveland Clinic Wellness >>

The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship

From Inc.

The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship
No one said building a company is easy. But it's time to be honest about how brutal it really is--and the price so many founders secretly pay.

 BY JESSICA BRUDER  @JESSBRUDER

By all counts and measures, Bradley Smith is an unequivocal business success. He's CEO of Rescue One Financial, an Irvine, California-based financial services company that had sales of nearly $32 million last year. Smith's company has grown some 1,400 percent in the last three years, landing it at No. 310 on this year's Inc. 500. So you might never guess that just five years ago, Smith was on the brink of financial ruin--and mental collapse.

Back in 2008, Smith was working long hours counseling nervous clients about getting out of debt. But his calm demeanor masked a secret: He shared their fears. Like them, Smith was sinking deeper and deeper into debt. He had driven himself far into the red starting--of all things--a debt-settlement company. "I was hearing how depressed and strung out my clients were, but in the back of my mind I was thinking to myself, I've got twice as much debt as you do," Smith recalls.

He had cashed in his 401(k) and maxed out a $60,000 line of credit. He had sold the Rolex he bought with his first-ever paycheck during an earlier career as a stockbroker. And he had humbled himself before his father--the man who raised him on maxims such as "money doesn't grow on trees" and "never do business with family"--by asking for $10,000, which he received at 5 percent interest after signing a promissory note.

Smith projected optimism to his co-founders and 10 employees, but his nerves were shot. "My wife and I would share a bottle of $5 wine for dinner and just kind of look at each other," Smith says. "We knew we were close to the edge." Then the pressure got worse: The couple learned they were expecting their first child. "There were sleepless nights, staring at the ceiling," Smith recalls. "I'd wake up at 4 in the morning with my mind racing, thinking about this and that, not being able to shut it off, wondering, When is this thing going to turn?" After eight months of constant anxiety, Smith's company finally began making money.

Successful entrepreneurs achieve hero status in our culture. We idolize the Mark Zuckerbergs and the Elon Musks. And we celebrate the blazingly fast growth of the Inc. 500 companies. But many of those entrepreneurs, like Smith, harbor secret demons: Before they made it big, they struggled through moments of near-debilitating anxiety and despair--times when it seemed everything might crumble.

Read more from Inc. >>

Still awash with cash, world economies take turn for the worse

From Yahoo Financial

Still awash with cash, world economies take turn for the worse

August 20, 2014

By Jeremy Gaunt

LONDON (Reuters) - China's economy is slowing. The euro zone's is a flat line. Japan's sank in the second quarter. Britain has wage deflation. The U.S. economy is ticking over at best.

In a world preoccupied by geopolitical crises - from Ukraine, Iraq and Gaza to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa - the global economy has taken something of a back seat. But there are increasing signs it is in trouble despite being awash with cash from record low interest rates.

Many policymakers across the world would like to move away from this ultra-loose monetary policy, which they introduced to drag their countries out of the financial crisis. But the economies are not playing ball.

Essentially, the economic doldrums have pushed back the time when central banks can start the process of normalising monetary policy. Indeed, in many places it is more likely that central banks will loosen more than pull in.

Take China. Data in July showed cash flowing into the economy plunging to a near six-year low. The housing sector, around 15 percent of the world's second largest economy, is also faltering.

So although overall growth projections for the year remain roughly on track, the latest data has brought the potential for looser Chinese monetary policy.

"The shrinking amount of cash flowing into the economy will harm economic growth," Chen Dongqi, deputy chief at the government think-tank Academy of Macroeconomics Research, told Reuters. "The window has been opened for cutting interest rates and the reserve requirement ratio."

Read more Yahoo Financial >>

Retirement crisis: Over one-third of Americans haven’t saved a penny

From Yahoo Finance

Retirement crisis: Over one-third of Americans haven’t saved a penny

By Bernice Napach
August 18, 2014 1:22 PM
Yahoo Finance

More than a third of Americans haven't saved any money for retirement. That's the dramatic finding of a new survey from Bankrate.com, which also found that among those nearing retirement -- aged 50-64 --  26% had no retirement savings, along with 14% of those 65 and older.

The big reasons people aren’t saving enough, according to the survey: lack of access to retirement savings plans at work, especially those that automatically enroll workers, and failure to make retirement saving a priority. "Inertia is a powerful thing," says Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com

But it needs to be overcome, according to McBride. "'I'll just work forever’ is not a viable strategy simply because you don't control your destiny on that," McBride tells Yahoo Finance in the video above. "When we look at long-term unemployment figures, it's most concentrated among adults over 50."

And Social Security -- even if the fund is stabilized and there are no cut to benefits, which is a big if -- only pays so much. Current retirees who have reached the full retirement age of 66 receive a maximum  $2,642 per month; if they're 70 or older and just started collecting, the maximum monthly benefit is $3,425.

So what should those nearing retirement do?

Save more and save it now, says McBride. "It's not about ramping up the risk in your investments as much as it's ramping up the contributions that you're making. You either give it up today or you give up a whole lot more later on."

Read more from Yahoo Finance >>

E-Commerce Is Not Eating Retail

From Harvard Business Review Blog

E-Commerce Is Not Eating Retail
by Darrell Rigby  |   8:00 AM August 14, 2014

The recent headlines about retailing are nothing if not provocative. “Shoppers Are Fleeing Physical Stores.” “The Great Mall Exodus.” “Macy’s Confronts the Crisis of the American Mall.” They seem to bolster Marc Andreessen’s prediction that by the end of this decade “retail guys are going to go out of business and e-commerce will become the place everyone buys.”

Regrettably, the scary articles completely miss the real story. And panicked retailers who get confused about what’s really happening will head off in dangerous directions.

There’s no doubt that digital technology is transforming the retail industry. Digital devices are changing how customers discover, evaluate, purchase, receive, use, and return products. And, yes, more and more customer interactions take place entirely online. Over the past 20 years, e-commerce sales have grown to about 6% of total retail sales (excluding gasoline and food services) and about 11% of Forrester’s top 30 product categories.

But though the e-commerce growth rate is attractive, it has slowed from about 30% per year in the early 2000s to less than half that rate today. If the trend continues, e-commerce sales will increase from 11% of Forrester’s top 30 categories to about 18% by 2030—higher in some (such as music) and lower in others (such as food). While 18% is a significant number, it does not exactly spell the end of physical stores.

The current hyperbole also misses the mark in other important ways:

• About half of those e-commerce sales are actually going to retailers with physical stores. Brick and mortar retailers still control between 94% and 97% of total retail sales. Several large store-based retailers (including Apple and Macy’s are growing their e-commerce sales even faster than Amazon.

• It’s more and more difficult to distinguish e-commerce sales from others. Imagine that a customer goes to a Macy’s store, learns that the product is out of stock, and uses her smartphone to order the product from another Macy’s outlet, which ships it to her home the same day. Is that an e-commerce sale or a physical one?

• Pure-play online retailers don’t have the economic advantages that many observers ascribe to them. Analyzing the profitability of public e-commerce retailers, including the mighty Amazon, Bain finds that e-commerce’s pricing advantages mostly stem from unsustainably lower profit margins rather than from lower costs. The information technology, distribution centers, shipping, and returns processing required by e-commerce companies can actually cost as much as running physical stores.

All of these issues point to one conclusion: Omnichannel retailers—those that seamlessly integrate the best of both digital and physical worlds at each step of the customer experience...........

Read more from Harvard Business Review Blog >>

Market America and SHOP.COM Host Affiliate Marketing Yacht Party in NYC

From Market America Blog

Market America and SHOP.COM Host Affiliate Marketing Yacht Party in NYC

on August 12, 2014
Affiliate Summit East 2014 is a huge event in NYC with merchants, vendors, and marketing experts coming together to network and learn about the latest trends in affiliate marketing. This has been a huge event for SHOP.COM and Market America to leverage, and a great opportunity for us to strengthen corporate bonds and build new relationships which will ultimately lead to new business opportunities for us all.

Our Vice President of Strategic Partnerships Eddie Alberty hosted a tremendous networking event on Utopia II in Manhattan last night along with Marley Coffee founder Rohan Marley, Rap Legend and UnFranchise Owner Fat Joe, Chief Marketing Officer Peter Gold, and other members of our all-star marketing team. As you can see in the photos from the event, everyone had a great time networking with representatives from amazing companies like: Sears, Petcare RX, Linkshare (part of Rakuten), Macy’s, Priceline, Swiss Watch, Worldwide Stereo, EBay, Enterprise, Home Depot, Jewels.com, VISA, Lenovo, Pearls.com, and Overstock.com.

Building relationships is a crucial part of being a successful UnFranchise Owner, and it’s also important on the corporate level as well. Events like Affiliate Summit East 2014 can have a huge impact on our business, by expanding our reach and strengthening our relationships with the movers and shakers of online marketing. The connections we make here will open new doors and help us connect with new affiliate partners – which means great new partner stores and new deals for you and your customers!

Affiliate Summit East 2014 was a great corporate event for us, and really helped build on all the tremendous momentum from last week’s International Convention. Build some momentum of your own by sharing this through your blogs, email campaigns, and social media to leverage our presence at Affiliate Summit East 2014!

Keep Growing!

-JR Ridinger

See all the photos from Market America Blog >>

A Day in the Life: Andrew Chee

From Market America Blog


A Day in the Life: Andrew Chee

"My mom is a breast cancer survivor, and she’s the main reason why I started the business. I’ve always wanted to be able to spend more time with her because the cancer made us realize how fragile life is. Not only that, but I want to make her proud and be able to give back.

My Market America business has granted me the ability to buy my parents a brand new BMW X6 so that they can drive around when they visit (they absolutely Love Canada!). And to top it all off, I get to spend everyday with them when they are here while other people have to clock in to their 9-5 or traditional businesses."

on June 4, 2014
No two UnFranchise® Owners are alike, and neither are their daily lives! If you’ve ever wondered how other UnFranchise Owners spend their time, when they build their business, or which activities they choose to enjoy in their free time, you’re in luck! Today, we’re sharing what a day in the life of Gen-Y UnFranchise Owner Andrew Chee is like. Read on to find out how Andrew spends his days building his business in the Toronto area and enjoying life as an entrepreneur.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself to see if I’m dreaming, or maybe I’m just fortunate enough to be able to wake up to my dreams. Every morning I get up around 8:30am (usually without an alarm clock) and have my Isotonix® cocktail. I then head out for a jog or for basketball to get the day started. I’m glad I don’t have to clock in for a job because sometimes my partners (those who don’t have to work anymore) don’t hit the courts until 10 am or so. This is a big deal to me because I really hated playing pickup basketball during the hours the courts were the most crowded. After we play, we usually grab brunch around 11:30am before the 9-5 lunch crowd gets in. We all enjoy good food and like looking for good eats around town. Sometimes after a filling meal, an afternoon nap is in order! :) We are truly blessed to be able to take naps when we want.

I’ve been building my business with the support of my girlfriend, Shiang Yee Yap, and she truly is the backbone of what I do. She is such an important supporter to me and my team, and without her, I wouldn’t be where I am today!

We do a lot of business-building and result-producing activities together, and we’re always expanding our network and looking for new ways to get to know more people. Every day we make sure to post to Instagram and Facebook 2-3 times a day (not all of it business related) to engage our online community and network with friends. One thing I do differently, that I didn’t realize in the beginning of building my UnFranchise, is I actually try to build a genuine relationship with people without the intention of retailing or recruiting them. Turns out, the right people are attracted to you when you become the person who you want to attract! Everyday is an adventure. We don’t have a set schedule to follow and are just building the business while living life. In the beginning however, our lives revolved around the business – it’s a part time program but I believe it requires a full time, 24/7 attitude!

Read more from Market America Blog >>

A New Record Is Set... And It Is Foreboding

From The Daily Wealth

A New Record Is Set... And It Is Foreboding
By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud
Friday, August 15, 2014

A new record was set in Germany yesterday...

The interest rate on a 10-year government bond in Germany fell below 1%.

This number is shocking... Interest rates have never been this low in German history.

What does it mean?

Why would people agree to lend money to a government for 10 years with almost no return on that money?

What is the message that we should take from this?

Aren't things supposed to be getting back to "normal"? And doesn't "normal" mean something like this: By 2020, the Federal Reserve has short-term interest rates at 4%, and 10-year government bonds pay 5%-6% interest?

This type of "return to normal" is the script on Wall Street and on Main Street.

But that script is just plain wrong if 10-year interest rates in Germany are below 1%...

What we're experiencing is the financial storm that nobody is expecting.

I'm talking about DEFLATION – every central banker's biggest fear.

The guy with the right script here is Jim Rickards...

In his excellent book The Death of Money, Jim says, "The world is witnessing a climactic battle between deflation and inflation."

"It is just a matter of time" before this battle comes to a head, he says. At some point, the U.S. economy will experience "an earthquake in the form of either a deeper depression [from deflation] or higher inflation, as one force rapidly and unexpectedly overwhelms the other."

I have always assumed that inflation would be the eventual winner, as governments can print money. But in his book, Jim makes the case that either one could win. With long-term interest rates now below 1% in Europe, it's looking like Europe is already in an epic battle with deflation.

Could it happen here in the States too?

It could.

Read more from The Daily Wealth >>

The Greatest Investment Theme of This Decade

From The Daily Wealth

The Greatest Investment Theme of This Decade
By Matt Badiali, editor, S&A Resource Report
Thursday, August 14, 2014

It's not too late to grab a stake in the U.S. oil boom…

Yesterday, I shared my experience at the U.S. EIA 2014 Energy Conference last month in Washington D.C. In short, some of the smartest people in the industry, like Daniel Yergin, are projecting U.S. oil production could nearly double from today's levels within the next 20 years.

And that projection may end up being conservative…

As you know, new technology has unlocked vast supplies of oil in the U.S. And these technologies are still in their infancy. The oil industry is 150 years old and we've been fracking for gas for years… but cracking shale for oil is just five years old.

In conventional oil fields, oil production declines about 5% per year, and we recover about 50% of the oil in place. In shale (or "tight") oil fields, production declines 50% per year, and we recover about 5%.

In other words, we're leaving 95% of tight oil in the ground.

There are trillions of barrels of oil in U.S. shale. And as we improve our extraction methods, production estimates will continue to climb.

Our supply will soon overwhelm our existing infrastructure. And we'll need new pipelines, new ports, new refineries, and new laws to accommodate the growth.

Companies are going to spend tens of billions of dollars developing U.S. oil assets. And they are going to turn those billions into hundreds of billions, if not trillions of dollars in value.

Here are a few projects in the works…

• 2,000 new hires in the Marcellus Shale – an increase of about 1% of the total workforce.

• Global Partners (GLP) plans to build an oil-rail terminal in Port Arthur, Texas.

• ONEOK (OKE) plans to invest $785 million in gas processing in the Bakken Shale.

• Summit Midstream Partners (SMLP) will develop a new Bakken Shale oil pipeline and storage facilities.

• Newfield Exploration (NFX) will spend $1.7 billion in 2014 drilling wells.

• Whiting Petroleum (WLL) spent $3.8 billion to acquire rival Bakken oil producer Kodiak Oil and Gas (KOG).


Read more from The Daily Wealth >>

Biotech is the Best Buy in This Market

From InvestorPlace

Biotech is the Best Buy in This Market
Bargain hunters should focus on biotechs since momentum is clearly on their side

By Sam Collins, InvestorPlace Chief Technical Analyst  |  Aug 14, 2014

On Wednesday, stocks closed higher, led by the small- and mid-cap sectors. The Nasdaq led all other indices, up 1%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.7% with 7 of 10 sectors advancing, and the Dow industrials gained 0.6%.

Retail sales for July were flat, but rather than this being interpreted as a negative, it was seen as a positive. With the economy posting mild growth and interest rates low, the Federal Reserve isn’t likely to jump ahead of the slow economy with an increase in interest rates.

Stocks have recently been impacted by conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East, but this week has been relatively calm.

Retail stocks were hard hit following poor results from Macy’s (M), which was off 5.5%.

Most of Wednesday’s gains were made in technology, with Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOG) leading the group, and health care, which was led by biotech stocks.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 91 points to 16,651, the S&P 500 gained 13 points at 1,947, the Nasdaq jumped 45 points to 4,434, and the Russell 2000 gained 9 points at 1,142. Volume was very light on the NYSE’s primary market with just 550 million shares trading. The NYSE traded total volume of 2.7 billion shares, and the Nasdaq crossed 1.6 billion shares. Advancers outpaced decliners on both exchanges at 2.9-to-1 on the NYSE and 2-to-1 on the Nasdaq.




Read more from InvestorPlace >>

Invisible Train | Joseph "Fat Joe" Cartagena

Fat Joe's invisible train to success.

JR Ridinger - On the 2014 Market America International Convention

From MarketAmericaBlog

The 2014 Market America International Convention has been one of the most pivotal events of my life. Being here to experience the passion and excitement of the UnFranchise Business with over 20,000 fellow entrepreneurs is an experience I will never forget, and I hope you all feel the same. This is not your typical business event, but then again we’re not your typical business.



It seems that each year, this event only gets bigger and better, and this year’s event was no different. From Jamie Foxx’s unforgettable musical performance, to Fat Joe’s incredible presentation about the power of the Invisible Train – every aspect of this event represents the tremendous momentum our UnFranchise Owners have cultivated around the world. Together we are changing the world, and helping people build residual income with the UnFranchise. We are forging a new economy by helping people convert spending into earning!

This is the time to work smarter, not harder. Now is the time to apply what you’ve learned here and duplicate it with your teams to create your own economy!  When the business becomes a part of your DNA and the Shopping Annuity becomes ingrained in your daily life, you’ll convert spending into earning like never before and turn your UnFranchise Business into a residual income powerhouse!

This incredible event wouldn’t even have been possible were it not for the hard work and dedication of our UnFranchise Owners, Corporate Team and Staff – and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for making the 2014 Market America International Convention so special. Loren and I love meeting with you at these events and we truly appreciate your passion and dedication to the business. Our company is built on product, but powered by people – and this week in Greensboro that incredible people power was on full display.

Thank you for attending MAIC 2014. Make the most of your DASH for the next 6 months by committing to being at the 2015 Market America World Conference with your team! Safe travels home!

Keep Growing!
-JR Ridinger

Market America International Convention - MAIC 2014 Videos

From August 7 to August 10, Market America International Convention held its annual convention in Greensboro, NC. More than 20 thousand MA Distributors converged at the Coliseum to celebrate as well as learn new products and technology introduced at this convention.

You can view some of the videos about this convention below and more from BeingJRRidinger.com website:








View more videos from BeingJRRidinger.com >>

CardioBuzz: 'Lifestyle Medicine'

From MedPageToday


CardioBuzz: 'Lifestyle Medicine'

Published: Jul 31, 2014 | Updated: Jul 31, 2014

By Dean Ornish MD
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner

In this guest blog, Dean Ornish, MD, founder of the University of California San Francisco's Preventive Medicine Research Institute and the eponymous diet, argues that lifestyle change -- including but not limited to diet -- is good medicine.

Recently, Kim A. Williams, MD, incoming president of the American College of Cardiology, posted a blog describing why he's now consuming a plant-based diet. After a week, it's still the no. 1 most-read cardiovascular article on MedPage Today. I admire Williams for his courage and leadership.

In response to the many comments that followed, the editors of MedPage Today asked me to provide a perspective.

The most influential trend in medicine today, growing exponentially, is the emerging field of what is known as "lifestyle medicine" -- lifestyle as treatment, not just prevention.

We tend to think of advances in medicine as a new drug, laser, or surgical device, something high-tech and expensive. Yet, the simple choices we make in what we eat and how we live have a powerful influence on our health and well-being.

For the past 37 years, my colleagues and I at the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute and the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, in collaboration with leading academic centers, have conducted a series of randomized, controlled trials and demonstration projects showing that comprehensive lifestyle changes alone often can reverse the progression of coronary heart disease and several other chronic diseases.

These lifestyle changes include:

• A whole foods, plant-based diet (naturally low in fat and sugar)
• stress management techniques (including yoga and meditation)
• Moderate exercise (such as walking)
• Social support and community (love and intimacy)

Read more from MedPageToday >>

To your health and wealth!

India central bank chief warns of another market crash

This is India's central bank chief, Raghuram Rajan's opinion...

"Rajan left his post as professor at the prestigious University of Chicago's Booth School of Business and returned to India in 2012 to serve as government financial advisor and last September took over the Reserve Bank."

From Yahoo Finance

India central bank chief warns of another market crash

New Delhi (AFP) - India's central bank governor, renowned for forecasting the 2008 financial meltdown, has warned that the world economy faces risk of another market crash as asset prices surge.

Increasing global financial instability stems from investors chasing ever higher yields, Raghuram Rajan, a former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist, told the Central Banking Journal.

"True, it (another financial sector crisis) may not happen if we can find a way to unwind everything steadily," Rajan, who is famed for predicting the 2008 markets crash years in advance, said in the interview posted late Wednesday on the journal's website.

"But it is a big hope and prayer," said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor, adding there is a risk of sudden price reversals and sharp spikes in financial volatility.

Rajan, author of the acclaimed 2011 book Fault Lines on how hidden financial fractures threaten the world economy, added he feared central banks globally "may be exhausting room" in their monetary-easing arsenal to cope with any economic crisis.

Rajan compared today's state of affairs as similar to the 1930s which was the era of the Great Depression.

Read more from Yahoo Finance >>

Why RISING Rates Are a Screaming "Buy" for Gold...

From DailyWealth

Why RISING Rates Are a Screaming "Buy" for Gold...
By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud
Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Simple logic would tell you to sell gold when the Federal Reserve raises rates... not to buy it.

But the truth is, based on history, the price of gold actually soars in the 12 months before the Federal Reserve raises interest rates.

Chances are the Fed will raise interest rates in 2015... so we are in that 12-month period right now. (I explained why rates will likely rise next year in this recent DailyWealth.)

I know today's message will surprise you... But we have a fantastic opportunity to buy gold today, before the Fed hikes rates.

Let me explain...

Logically, gold should do well when interest rates are near zero – not when the Fed is raising interest rates. But history shows that's not actually the case...

You see, when rates are near zero, there's no penalty for owning gold (which pays you no interest). When interest rates rise, on the other hand, you're giving up a potential yield on your money in order to hold gold. That yield should discourage gold demand and hurt gold prices.

The problem is, markets don't always work based on simple logic. And in the case of gold, rising rates actually gives us a fantastic opportunity...

We sized up over 40 years' worth of data. We looked at all the times when the U.S. moved from periods of low or falling rates into periods of rising rates.

History shows that the biggest gains in gold come roughly one year BEFORE the Fed raises rates.

The numbers get a little crazy. But they're absolutely true. The table below has the full details...

Gold Returns Starting 1-Year Before Rates Rise
	6-Month	1-Year
Gains	18.7%	20.0%
All Periods	4.2%	8.7%

Read more from  DailyWealth

The Near-Term Forecast Calls for Continued Selling

From InvestorPlace

The Near-Term Forecast Calls for Continued Selling
Stay out of the way of this looming pain

Aug 4, 2014  |  By Sam Collins, InvestorPlace Chief Technical Analyst

On the back of a tepid jobs report on Friday, stocks traded higher for just a short time before plunging for the second consecutive day. Both the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 recorded their worst weekly losses in over two years.

Stocks seem to drop into a vacuum with few buyers available to stop the landslide of selling. Investors, cautious over the timing of a Fed hike in interest rates and rattled by the Israel-Gaza conflict and the default of Argentine sovereign debt, as well as a potential revival of the Cold War with Russia, seemed in no mood to go bargain-hunting. This disinterest is a change from prior periods of foreign crisis, when opportunistic traders would jump at the chance to buy on weakness.

The jobs report, which showed a rise of 209,000 in nonfarm payrolls, missed expectations. This relative softness gives the Fed breathing room to wait longer before raising rates.

Utility stocks and consumer staples, widely considered defensive sectors, were the only broad groups to show gains on Friday.

At the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 69.93 points to 16,493.37, the S&P 500 lost 5.52 points, closing at 1925.15, and Nasdaq fell 17.13 to 4352.64. The Russell 2000 lost 5.21 points and closed at 1114.86. The NYSE’s primary market traded 791 million shares with total volume of 3.8 billion shares. Nasdaq crossed a total of 2 billion shares. Decliners outpaced advancers by about 1.8-to-1 on both exchanges.

For the week: The DJIA fell 2.8%, the S&P 500 lost 2.7%, Nasdaq was down 2.2%, and the Russell 2000 fell 2.6%.

Read more from InvestoPlace >>

India's Time For Growth

From Forbes

India's Time For Growth
This story appears in the August 18, 2014 issue of Forbes Asia.

Rich Karlgaard
Forbes Staff

I was filled with dread as the giant Airbus 380, which looks like a flying baby Beluga whale, dropped me and 524  other  passengers at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. Welcome to India, the land of dreams and utter dysfunction. Get ready for a one-hour shuffle through customs, I thought, followed by car confusion and a two-hour drive to the Taj Mahal Palace hotel.

Except that didn’t happen. Passing through customs was a breeze. Getting into the car, I looked over my shoulder at the stunning Terminal 2, possibly the most advanced and certainly the most beautiful airport building in the world. The ride to the Taj took 40 minutes.

These are surface impressions, of course. But if the India of five years ago made one worry that a country so gifted in software could never do hardware—or infrastructure—well, it’s time to rethink that image. The ducks are lining up for India. The world’s largest democracy could blow its advantages yet again, but I don’t think it will.

One reason is Narendra Modi. A Hindu nationalist and leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Modi became India’s 15th prime minister in May. He had previously been chief minister of Gujarat, a small northwestern state of 60 million people. During his 12 years at the Gujarat wheel Modi cut red tape and taxes and made Gujarat investor-friendly. The state now leads India in economic growth and employment.

The question is whether Modi’s methods can scale to a country of 1.2 billion. He is, by temperament, strong-willed and not adverse to bulldozing his political opposition. A supply-sider, Modi believes economic growth and investment create the conditions for shared prosperity, not the other way around. In this he diverges from India’s recent leaders and anyone named Gandhi. If you cheer for Modi, you hope he’ll be like Lee Kuan Yew, the father of modern Singapore. Mr. Lee was often criticized for using a strong hand that stretched Western notions of democracy.

Read more from Forbes >>