The Market Coalition

Most people have some sort of debt. Almost everyone has a credit
card balance, an outstanding student loan, or mortgage and car
payments. All these loans and their payments result in a credit
history, which most people don’t usually give too much thought
too until it’s too late. Your credit history can have a major
influence on your life, and once you credit history becomes poor
you will find yourself unable to rent cars, obtain services
without deposits, or get a credit card. This is why, if you find
yourself in this situation, it is important that you take steps
towards credit repair as soon as possible.

Many people will find their poor credit history to be
overwhelming, and will be tempted by one of the many companies
online that offer to “fix bad credit” for a fee. Although there
are some situations where these companies may of use, for most
people they are not necessary, and should be avoided.

The reason credit repair companies aren’t useful for most people
are because they rarely do anything that you can’t do yourself.
These companies will give the impression that they are doing
things you wouldn’t normally be able to do on your behalf, but
it most cases they are not.

The general strategy of many of these companies will be to have
you first request your credit report from the credit reporting
agency, and then to launch numerous challenges to the report in
writing. The idea here is not that there are necessarily many
(or any) mistakes on your credit report, rather you are trying
to take advantage of a legal obligation on the part of the
credit reporting agency: namely, that all requests for
investigations must be responded to in 30 days. If the agency
doesn’t respond to you in that time (and it’s unlikely they will
if you challenge multiple items) they must remove the item in
question from your credit report.

While this may initially seem like a clever strategy, it’s
important to understand that there is nothing to prevent the
credit reporting agency from putting the removed items back onto
your credit report once they find the proper documentation. In
other words: they may not be able to produce the documentation
in 30 days and have to remove something, but they will keep
investigating, and once they find the documentation the item
will be restored to your credit report.

Besides the somewhat dubious strategy that most credit repair
companies employ, you should also be careful to avoid any scams.
Be advised that these companies are legally bound to render all
promised services before accepting any payment from you. They
are also obligated to clearly outline all fees and services that
will be provided. If you do decide to use the services of a
credit repair company, make sure you look over all the paperwork
and fine print provided.

In most cases for most people, a credit repair company shouldn’t
be necessary. The only time you should use one is if they are
truly able to perform services you can’t do, or don’t have time
to do, on your own.

Everybody hates to lose and unfortunately no one is blessed with the ability of foresight, therefore losses are an unavoidable part of trading. When we enter a trade we will either be right, or wrong, and even if we broke-even we’d still be classed as being wrong - as nobody enters into a
trade just to break-even! When unsuccessful traders encounter a string of losses they begin to engage in self-destructive patterns that help them escape the pain they are experiencing.

In this article we bring to light these self-destructive actions that can help you realize what you are doing before it takes hold of your physical health. If you find yourself already engaged in these patterns hopefully this article can help you to get you back on track as quickly as possible.

The Destructive Patterns

If you find yourself caught in a string of losses or a bad performing week/month be sure to monitor your behavior. It is during this time that you will be at your most vulnerable. You will begin to indulge in activities that at first seem harmless, but upon excessive use (or in time), begin to cause physical damage to your health.

Ask yourself the following question: during during drawdown periods do I find myself over-indulging in these activities:

> Food (especially junk food - eg. chocolate, ice-cream, chips)?

> Sex (includes viewing pornography)?

> Alcohol?

> Drugs (includes excessive smoking)?

> Laziness (find it difficult to wake up in the morning)?

> Entertainment?

All of the above taken in excessive doses can be detrimental to your own physical health (some even in small doses!).

These activities above during your losing period are only covering up the pain of confronting the true issue, and your body tries to rid the emotional pain by trying to “fix” it with physical pleasures. Unfortunately it is going about it in the wrong way, so what should you do?

Firstly… REALIZE WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND STOP IT!

You need to realize what you’re doing and you need to STOP doing it immediately! You can either decide to stop, or you’ll be forced to stop when your body eventually
breaks down and prevents you from any form of movement. It will be much more beneficial to you in the long-term if you can decide to stop *NOW*.

Once you have stopped you now need to figure out a way to solve the pain - not by cutting out or neglecting it, but by staring it in the face. Bring your problems out into the light, be honest with yourself. There can be no growth without pain, you are experiencing the emotional pain, now it is time to find the error and therefore your growth.

Begin Your Review

The review process begins in two separate areas: You & Your System. Here are some checklists for you to go through to find out where the problem could lie:

“YOUR SYSTEM” CHECKLIST

> Was your system thoroughly tested prior to trading it (or paper traded if you do not have the capacity to programme your system into backtesting software)?

> Did you test with out-of-sample data?

> Do you even have a system???? If you do not, how do you even know if the method that you are trading is even profitable??

> Is your system’s code correct?

> Did you over-optimize your system? (what have we discussed about over-indulging?)

> Did you paper trade your system prior to placing capital on it?

> Did you trade with a small amount of capital prior to placing the rest of your funds on it?

> Do you know the system’s limitations?

> Did you properly drill your system? (see our blog article on why I am the system designer from hell)

“YOU” CHECKLIST

> Is the current drawdown you are exhibiting with your system normal?

> Are you comfortable with your system’s historical drawdown performance?

> Are you fully aware of the risks involved with your system and the instrument(s) you are trading?

> Are you trading with funds that you are comfortable risking?

> Are you relying too heavily on your performance?

> Have you set realistic goals?

As you can see there are generally two areas that you need to explore: the mechanical aspect - your system - and the emotional aspect - you. Both can be responsible for making the way you feel the way you do. It will either be an error on the system’s side with how the system was tested and/or programmed, or it can be your own psychological profile not being comfortable with the system’s performance.

Your Answers = Change = Your Growth

What steps should we now take? Now that we have begun a corrective process where we have stopped the evil nature of our over-indulging ways to take control we should continue our “corrective nature” by invoking our findings and taking ACTION in correcting our errors.

If the problem was mechanical - fix it, if the problem was emotional either go about setting up new thought patterns, or change your current system. The answers lie in whether you need to expand your knowledge in system development, or whether you need to grow emotionally as a person.

Unfortunately there is no easy road, and even if there was everybody would be doing it. Hopefully this article has made you ponder over some of your behaviors during drawdown periods, be sure to keep an eye on yourself and as always take care of your body, because there’s no use in making all the money in the world when you don’t have the physical capacity to enjoy it.

Ryan Sheehy is the author of http://www.currencysecrets.com where you will find more free articles and resources on forex trading. You can also subscribe for free to their monthly newsletter.

There is a myth perpetuated by the press and the IRS that people only go offshore for illegal purposes or to hide something through complex offshore formations. This is completely false as there are many large legitimate companies and business people who use offshore jurisdictions on a daily basis.

To identify and list all of the reasons why one would go offshore would be impossible. However, one can identify some of the major factors:

1. A need for increased privacy and confidentiality. With faster, more powerful computers integrating more databases together, and the dramatic increase in government power since 911, there could ultimately be no financial or personal privacy left in the US.

2. Rampant litigation in the US. You now have a 1 in 4 chance of being sued in the US if you earn over US 100,000 a year and the US has more law suits than any country in the word.

3. Protection from divorce or an aggrieved significant other, or as an alternative to a prenuptial agreement.

4. Provisions for your retirement and concern for the financial security of your family and loved ones.

5. Protection of a lump-sum payment with an IBC company, such as a personal injury, workers compensation, or a no fault settlement.

6. A solution for high-risk business owners, such as online casinos, poker, pharmacy (RX companies) and tobacco merchants who wish to accept payments in privacy offshore, and who can not secure merchant accounts at domestic onshore US banks.

7. Private and confidential trading for online brokerage and Forex traders through an offshore account.

8. Shipping companies that require free port zones for tax-free operations (Panama being one of the best areas for formation).

The list really is endless. With the advent of the Internet the world has indeed gotten smaller and offshore banking has never been more relevant.

Richard Price is the publisher of http://www.confidentialbanking.com, a resource and service for those seeking offshore banking services, and http://www.confidentialbanking.co.uk, offshore banking services for UK citizens.

Moving home involves a lot of work. There are also a lot of
financial considerations that people generally are not used to.
Engaging a solicitor, arranging the mortgage, paying for
bridging finance if it is necessary, seeking the best selling
price for your home, and the best buying price for the home you
are moving into, all of these are very large and important
transactions that cost a lot of money and may also cause you a
lot of stress.

Add to this the stress of actually moving house. There may be
some emotional attachment to the home you are leaving and you
may find this very difficult. Then you have all the
practicalities of dealing with utility companies, having mail
redirected, cancelling your services and informing friends and
business of the move.

Traumatic

And this has not even begun to consider the hassle of packing up
your belongings, arranging for a removal company, and transit
insurance if you think you need it, and unpacking everything at
the other end. It is really no wonder that so many people
consider moving house such a major and traumatic experience.

However, if you take a step back, the situation is really not
that bleak. Most people end up moving home for very positive
reasons. These will include getting a new job, or moving to a
bigger property. Therefore, as well as all the stress there is
also a lot of joy and excitement involved.

Get Sorted

You can also use the move as a chance to clear out your
possessions. Look through everything before you start packing
and decide what things you do not want to take with you to your
new address. If there are a lot of clothes you can pack them up
and give them to a charity shop. You should think about getting
boxes and old newspapers gathered up. Boxes will be available
from local shops and you can save your newspapers for wrapping
breakables.

If you are moving everything yourself, you can rent a van to
help you out. Make sure it is a suitable size. If the van is too
small you’ll find yourself doing multiple trips, and if it is
too large you may not be able to park, or even drive it. You
should be comfortable with driving the van so give it a try
before loading it up to make sure. The alternative is always to
hire a professional removal company.