Copyright (c) 2010 Jack Moorehouse

There are two keys to mastering sand play. The first is setting realistic goals when practicing. Instead of trying to place it a foot or two from the pin, work on just escaping the bunker and hitting the green every time. After you've reached this goal, set a new goal of getting the ball within 10 feet of the pin. Then, set a goal of six feet. Keep setting new goals until you're able to place the ball within a foot or two of the pin every time.

The second key to mastering sand play is perfecting technique. If you're hitting bunker shots with the wrong technique, you're not going to improve. In fact, you'll probably get worse. So make sure you're technique is sound. If you're not sure, take some golf lessons or study golf tips from a magazine or a newsletter. Just makes sure your using the right technique. Good sand play can chip a stroke or two from your golf handicap.

Hitting A Typical Sand Shot The foundation for good technique, as I've explained in my golf tips newsletter, is your setup. The standard bunker shot setup is simple. But it's imperative you do it correctly. If you don't, your chances of escaping the bunker are slim. Below is the standard bunker setup:

Position the ball toward the front of your stance, near your forward heel. Open the clubface slightly to add loft, depending on the bunker's depth. And position your feet fairly wide apart using an open stance. Now, flare your front foot slightly, place most of your weight on your front foot, and dig your feet into the sand slightly, increasing stability. Choke down slightly on the club to improve club control.

But what if the ball is above or below your feet? Then, you need to adjust your set up slightly.

If the ball is above your feet, set up with the ball back in your stance and choke down on the club. Make sure you aim well right of the target (left, if your left-handed) because a shot from this type of lie tends to go more left than you expect. The higher the ball is above your feet, the further right you should aim.

If the ball is below your feet, set up with the ball forward in your stance and use the club's full length. Aim well left of the target (right, if your left-handed) because this lie forces the ball to the right. The lower the ball is below your feet, the more left you should aim. The ball has some left to right spin on it when it comes out, which helps it stop quickly.

Uphill and Downhill Lies The standard setup for the bunker shot is ideal when you have a good lie. But what happens if you have a not so good lie? Then you need to make a couple of other critical adjustments:

If you have a downhill lie, set up with the ball in the middle of your stance, with your shoulder angled evenly with the bunker's slope. Choke down a bit on the club to make up for the ball's location and the slope's steepness. Expect the ball to come out lower than normal with plenty of spin. Aim accordingly.

If you have an uphill lie, set up with the ball in the middle of your stance, with the clubface square or even a bit closed. The worse the lie, the more closed the clubface. Swing hard on this shot to make sure the ball gets out of the sand. The ball comes out with little spin and rolls quite a bit when it hits the green. Aim accordingly.

The setups for all other sand shots are based on the standard setup. Setting up correctly is critical to achieving the right technique in sand play. That's why teaching professional emphasize it so much in their golf instruction sessions. It makes no sense practicing sand shots using the wrong technique.

If you're not sure about your technique, take some golf lessons. Once you verified your technique, set realistic practice goals and work at achieving them. Also, study golf tips to pick up the little things on improving sand play. Mastering sand play will lower your average scores and chip a stroke or two off your golf handicap.

About the Author

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

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Copyright (c) 2010 Seven Days Ahead

Some analysts have alarmed bulls by pointing out the relative underperformance of the Nasdaq and the Russell indices, the failure to make new highs in key S&P leadership stocks and, yesterday, the 14day RSI registering its highest overbought level since 1971...

We think a pause is possible even a small set back but note that major patterns are still driving the market forward and don't look exhausted - yet.

The Technical Trader's view:

WEEKLY CHART The chart illustrates the period of the credit crunch - the fall to the 2002 low of 767.

There market got down there and then, eventually, having formed a Head and Shoulders Reversal, bounced.

The reward was the rally throughout 2009 and on (with a blip) into 2010.

Notice that the minimum move indicated buy the pattern is still somewhat higher that present levels.

There is life in the market yet.

Observe too, that the 1219 minimum target is very close to a horizontal resistance so that will be difficult to break up through - when the market gets there.

DAILY CHART If the medium and long-term charts still have life in them, so too has this daily chart.

But, the small, badly-formed, Head and Shoulders Reversal has almost achieved its minimum target of 1175.

That target is not a resistance level but is frequently accompanied by a pause at the very least.

The bulls will also rightly point to the way the market has superseded the Prior High at 1141 - bull trends ratchet themselves better by finding Prior Highs to be good support. Which incidentally, it already has been.

DAILY CHART

Bears of the market may not have had all their anxieties allayed.

But the path of the VIX over the whole credit crunch period (nearly a mirror of the long-term S&P) has led to levels close to pre-crisis levels.

(Indeed, the March 10 contract fell steeply yesterday to 17.45.)

So downside protection is cheap and may get cheaper still.....

The Macro Trader's view:

Last week was mainly dominated by two events: - The strong US retail sales report out last Friday, and - The FOMC rate decision and policy statement released on Tuesday this week.

The retail sales report was important because it showed strength despite some of the worst snow storms to hit the US for a very long time and bodes well for Q1 GDP due to be released next month.

The FOMC rate decision and policy statement re-assured markets that the Fed still intends holding policy at current low levels for an extended period, even though policy makers see clear signs of improvement in the economy.

So what does all this mean for the markets and especially US equities which are our focus for this week?

We judge the correction that hit the S&P in the early part of this year is now over. The sell off was driven mainly by fears arising from the Greek government debt crisis. That crisis began to be tackled by the Greek government implementing a tough austerity package backed by pledges of financial support from other EU/Euro zone leaders. And although that assistance still looks vague, traders have relaxed and turned once more to riskier assets, namely equities.

But the S&P also benefited from two further developments: - The run of US data has turned stronger after a period of ambiguity, and - Concerns have abated that a Greek debt default could have led to a domino effect on other highly indebted developed economies, including the US and UK.

So now we have an US environment in which consumer spending is holding up well, business spending is improving and the labour market could be on the brink of turning.

Add to this a benign inflation environment as evidenced by Wednesday's PPI report which showed that the Fed does have the luxury of time. Time to wait before monetary policy needs to be tightened.

Although we currently think that tightening could begin later this year, low interest rates and strengthening growth should provide the back drop for the S&P to rally further.

About the Author

Mark Sturdy writes exclusively for Seven Days Ahead.com a regulated financial advisor selling professional-level technical and macro analysis and high-performing trade recommendations with detailed risk control for banks, hedge funds, and expert private investors around the world. Check out our products and subscriptions at http://www.sevendaysahead.com

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Buying and selling bulk REO's is one of the hottest real estate strategies in the country today. The great thing about this business is that it's so new, not many people know about it and if they do, they don't know how the strategy works to be successful.

The Bulk REO business has very little competition compared to buying single REO homes from REO agents. Here's why.

When you buy a portfolio of bulk REO assets, you are basically buying them "sight unseen" and "as is". This could be a recipe for disaster for the average investor. When you buy Bulk REO homes from banks, inspecting these houses is next to impossible to do when you have 50-500 houses scattered across the nation. However, what I will do is share with you a way to take the risk out of buying Bulk REO's. Before I do, lets examine the business.

WHY ARE BANKS SELLING OFF BULK REO'S?

The current foreclosure crisis is causing banks to enter into a dangerous financial situation. This has created the unique opportunity to buy properties directly from banks. Today, banks all across US have huge portfolios of REO houses and defaulted loans.

When a borrower is in default of their mortgage, the bank will starts the foreclosure process on their house. That mortgage note is now considered non-performing and becomes a liability on the banks balance sheets. They have to hold reserves to cover their loss and hence now their lending power is decreased because they cannot lend the money out to make money.

In addition the loss of income to the bank, the bank also must pay attorney's fees; keep up the hazardous insurance policy, the property taxes and many times they have to maintain the property. At this point the bank wants nothing more but to get rid of this money pit!

The timeline to foreclose on a property will also depend where the property is located, ie..in a judiciary or non-judiciary State. In a non-judiciary State, the process to foreclose is faster and can be done in 2-3 months, while in a judiciary State the process normally takes about 6-12 months.

Once the court has issued a "Notice of Judgment" in a judiciary State or a "Notice of Trustee Sale" in a non-judiciary State, the bank will move to sell the property at the foreclosure auction.

At the auction, the opening bid for the property is usually equal to the outstanding loan balance, interest accrued, and any additional fees and attorney fees associated with the sale. If there are no bids higher than the opening bid, the property will be purchased by the attorney working on behalf of the bank. If this occurs, and the opening bid is not met, the property is deemed a REO or Real Estate Owned.

Federal Regulators are coming down on the banks to do something about the defaulted loans on their books. Banks are desperately look for ways to get rid of these toxic assets such as selling their non-performing notes and portfolios of Bulk REO properties.

WHAT ARE BULK REO's?

Bulk REO's are simply foreclosed properties that the bank now owns and are called "Real Estate Owned". Usually the bank will list these properties with an agent, however there are exceptions to every rule.

When a bank is interested in selling a portfolio of toxic asset, they assemble them in an package ( a excel spreadsheet )referred to as a tape. These tapes contain tens or hundreds of REO properties.

HOW DO I GET STARTED?

There are several ways to make money buying and selling bulk REO's. Your options are either...

1. Buying For Your Own Account
2. Brokering Bulk REO Deals
3. Recompiling or Carve Out

Brokering Bulk REO Deals is the Easiest and Fastest Way to Cash. A Bulk REO Broker acts as a middleman between the seller of a Bulk REO tape and a buyer. (No license is required to broker Bulk REO deals).

One of the reasons many new people are getting into the business is that you also don't have to use any of your own "Cash or Credit" to get started. You can do this business part-time from home, with a computer and a phone.

HOW DO YOU GET STARTED BROKERING BULK REO'S?

There are two types sides to the Bulk REO Trader. The first is a Seller's Representative and the other is a Buyers Representative

A Buyer's Rep works with buyers who are looking for tapes to evaluate and purchase. They charge a fee for finding product for their buyer to purchase.

A Seller's Rep works will work with sellers looking to sell Bulk REO tapes. The seller may be a bank, private equity fund, hedge fund or a private investor. They get paid a fee for finding a buyer.

You can work both sides!

Lets examine a sample deal.

Last month one of my students closed on a small Bulk REO package and made $55,000 working as the seller's rep. Total time in the deal, 6 hours!

Let me explain how this deal worked:

Step 1 - Find The Product A Bulk REO private seller called me about a small 50 homes in the South West he had found at a smaller regional bank. The bank wanted $1,100,000 for the tape.

Step 2 - Find A Buyer My student had built his buyers list as I taught him and he knew quite a few interested parties would be interested in this tape.

Step 3 - Arranged A Conference Call He arranged for the buyers and the seller to talk about the particulars of the deal. The one buyer provided his Letter or intent and a Proof of Funds (POF) to the seller and the tape was sent to him via email.

Step 4 - Due Diligence The buyer conducted his due diligence in 7 days and moved forward

Step 5 - Master Fee Agreement The seller and the my student signed the Master Fee Agreement to get paid the difference between the seller's price of $1,100,000 and my sale price or fee to my buyer for $1,150,000.

Step 6 - Contract & Closing The buyer executed a contract and made arrangements to close the next day. Once the funds were sent to my seller's Title Agent, he was wired a check for $50,000.

Anyone can do this business, but there are some potential struggles along the way. There are many jokers and brokers. Finding real product if you are not sourcing your own product can be very time consuming wading through people who say "I know some one who knows a guy inside a bank" These people will waste your time and your energy and you will not do deals.

In this business a Broker has to learn how to acquire REAL product direct from banks, and also learn how to distinguish between the real buyers from the fake ones.

This is not a business that you need to be a rocket scientist. Follow the rules, set strict guidelines for interaction, create good relationships, and learn the business terminology and you can be very successful in this new niche market of Bulk REO Investing.

About the Author

Duncan Wierman is a founding member of Bank REO Property Deals. He has written a complete guide to the BULK REO industry to assist investors to be more proficient and to produce quality product. You can find out more about this concise guide at www.bulkreopropertyinvesting.com

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For years, concerned consumers and watchdog organizations have been screaming that the U.S. labeling laws are full of loopholes and in need of serious revision. After years of talk, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says they're planning to so something about it. But will it be enough?

There are many food labeling issues we could complain about, but one of the biggest problems (due to its direct relationship to the obesity crisis) is serving sizes.

I'm not just talking about supersizing. What's worse is that the actual calories are being disguised with serving size sleight of hand. et me show you some examples:

Tostitos touch of lime. Calories per serving: 150. Not too bad for tortilla chips, eh? Not so fast. Check that serving size: 1 ounce. That's a whopping 6 chips. There are 10 servings per container. That's 1500 calories in the bag.

Most guys could knock off half that bag for a cool 750 calories. Ok, suppose you have some restraint and you only eat a third of the bag (20 chips). You still get 500 calories. But who stops at 6 chips?

Vitamin Water. While I could rant about how sugar water is being marketed as health food, I'll stick with the serving size sleight for now.

The label says there are 50 calories per serving. Wow, only 50 calories! Plus they add all those vitamins. Must be good for you and perfect for dieters, right? Think again. Look at the serving size and servings per container: 8 oz per serving and 2.5 servings per container.

Excuse me, but is there ANY reason for making it 2.5 servings other than to disguise the actual calorie content?

When you see that the entire bottle is 20 ounces, you realize that it contains 125 calories, not 50. Although 20 ounces is a large bottle, I don't know many guys who wouldn't chug that whole thing.

Sobe Lifewater? Same trick in their 20 oz bottles.

Healthy Choice soup, country vegetable. They make these in convenient little microwavable containers with a plastic lid. Just heat and eat.

It says 90 calories and 480 mg of sodium per serving. Wow, less than a hundred calories. Wait a minute though. Turn the container around and you see the serving size is 1 cup and the servings per container says "about 2."

Huh? It looks pretty obvious to me that this microwave-ready container was designed for one person to eat in one sitting, so why not just put 180 calories per container on the label (and 960 mg of sodium). I guess 90 calories and 480 mg sodium sounds... well... like a healthier choice!

Ben and Jerrys chocolate fudge brownie ice cream.

This infamously delicious ice cream with its own facebook fan page has 270 calories per serving.

We all know ice cream is loaded with calories and should only be an occasional treat, but 270 calories per serving, that's not too terrible is it?

Look a little closer at the label. The serving size is ½ a cup. Who eats a half a cup of ice cream? In fact, who hasn't polished off a whole pint by themselves?

According to Ben and Jerry, there are 4 servings in that one pint container. 270 calories times 4 servings = 1080 calories! That's about half a days worth of calories for an average female.

I could go on and on - crackers, chocolate chip cookies, muffins, pasta, boxed cereals (who eats ¾ cup of cereal), etc. But I think you get the point.

What's the solution to this mess? News reports in the last week say that the FDA may be cracking down. Count me among those who are pleased to hear this news. One of their ideas is to post nutritional information, including the calories, on the FRONT of the food labels.

The problem is, this move by itself could actually make matters worse. Suppose Tostitos started posting "150 calories per serving" right on the front of the bag. Most people would assume the chips were low in calories. Putting calorie info on the front of the label would help only if it clearly stated the amount of calories in the entire package or in a normal human-sized serving!

Ah, but the FDA says they're on top of that too. They also want to standardize or re-define serving sizes. Sounds great, but there are critics who say that consumers would take it as approval to eat larger servings so the strategy would backfire.

Suppose for example, the government decides that no one eats ½ a cup of Ben and Jerry's so they make the new serving size 1 cup, or half the pint-sized container. Now by law the label says 540 calories per serving instead of 270. Is that like getting official permission to eat twice as much?

I'm not against the FDA's latest initiative, but what we really need is some honesty in labeling.

Food manufacturers should not be allowed to manipulate serving sizes in a way that would trick you into thinking there are fewer calories than there really are in a quantity that you're likely to eat.

It would be nice to have calories for the entire package listed on the label at a glance. A new rating scale for caloric density would be cool too, if it could be easily interpreted. It would also be nice to have serving sizes chosen for quantities that are most likely to be commonly eaten. But standardization of serving sizes for all types of foods is difficult.

My friends from Europe tell me that food labels over there are listed in 100g portions, making comparisons easy. But when you consider how much each individual's daily calorie needs can vary (easily 3-fold or more when you run the gamut from totally sedentary to elite athlete, not to mention male and female differences), standardization that applies to everyone may not be possible.

I think the recent laws such as requiring calories on restaurant menus are a positive move that will influence some people's behavior. But no label changes by themselves will solve the obesity crisis. A real solution is going to have to include personal responsibility, nutrition education, self-discipline, hard work and lifestyle change.

Changes in the labeling laws won't influence everybody because the people most likely to care about what labels say are those who have already made a commitment to change their lifestyles (and they're least likely to eat processed and packaged foods - that have labels - in the first place). Actually, for those who care, all the info you need is already on the labels, you just have to do a little math and watch out for sneaky label tricks.

There's one true solution to this portion distortion and label lies problem: Become CALORIE AWARE. Of course that includes educated label reading, but it goes much further. Here is how I define "calorie counting:"

1. Get a good calorie counter book, chart or electronic device/software and get to know the calorie counts of all the staple foods you eat on a daily basis. Look up the calorie values for foods you eat occasionally.

2. Always have a daily meal plan - on paper - with calories printed for each food, each meal and the day. Use that menu as a daily goal and target.

3. Educate yourself about average caloric needs for men and women and learn how to estimate your own calorie needs as closely as you can based on your activity, weight, body composition, height, gender and age.

4. Get a good kitchen food scale and use it.

Keep counting calories and doing nutrition by the numbers until you are unconsciously competent and eating the right quantities to easily maintain your ideal weight becomes second nature.

Obviously, saying that calories are all there is to nutrition is like saying that putting s all there is to golf. Calorie quality and quantity are both important. However, it's a mistake to ignore the calorie quantity side of the game. Serving sizes matter and even healthy foods get stored as fat if you eat too much..

You can play "blindfolded archery" by guessing your calories and food portions if you want to. Hey, you might get lucky and guess right. Personally, I wouldn't recommend depending on luck - or the government - for something as important as your body and your health.

About the Author

Tom Venuto is a natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, fat loss expert and author of the best seller, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat Burning Secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Get a FREE fat loss mini-course and learn how to get rid of stubborn fat naturally by visiting http://www.BurnTheFat.com

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*** BRAZIL'S MODERN DAY EDUCATION SYSTEM ***

Long criticised as being comparatively inferior (particularly for the lower demographic of society) to other developing countries, Brazil has a long way to go before its compulsory education system is where it needs to be in terms of both improving the competitive intelligence of future generations and reducing poverty. The Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada indicated that the average 25-year-old in modern day Brazil has only nine years of education; 10 percent of the population is illiterate and one-in-five students are in the wrong grade for their age because they have had to repeat a year of studies.

Nevertheless, Brazil does has positive educational results for the last thirty years and quantitative studies at the elementary level have demonstrated that standards are improving (albeit slowly). Research by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geographia e Estatística (IBGE) indicated that the issue of poor educational levels is mainly symptomatic in rural areas: statistics published in late 2007 stated that the rural population over 15 years has a mean 4.3 years of schooling while the urban mean is 7.7 years. The illiteracy rate in the rural sector is 30 percent for those over the age of 15 and only 27 percent of the 15-17 rural age group are choosing to remain in secondary education.

Conversely, World Bank data in late 2008 demonstrated that the most progress in elementary schooling between 1992 and 2001 was within the poorer part of the population (enrolment in primary education increased from 97 to 99 for the richest 20 per cent of Brazil and from 75 to 94 percent for the poorest 20 percent). The same research pointed to the fact that; because illiteracy ranges from 2.7 percent for the population aged 15-19 to 30 percent for those between 65-69; the educational dynamics of the population look set to change over time.

The number young Brazilians opting for higher education has also increased (enrolments were 1.7 million in 1994 rising to 4.9 million 2008) - however, this statistic remains lower than its South American counterparts such as Argentina and Chile.

*** THE FUTURE OF BRAZIL'S EDUCATION SYSTEM ***

Whilst Goldman Sachs was the one of the first international investment banks to promote Brazil as a future economic superpower, it has been keen to stress that improvements in education are fundamental for the country to be able to maximise its future potential. It is widely thought that the average standards are not meeting the increasingly important relevance the country is having on a global scale. In the medium to long term, it is imperative that Brazil's welfare state decreases and the knowledge and skills base of the country moves the other direction.

One positive step has been to encourage more teachers to enter the profession - many have been put off due to long hours, bad working conditions and low pay. The setting of the salary floor at $BRL 950 per month received criticism for being too broad based and not taking into account regional differences (although was generally seen as a step in the right direction). Other progressive measures include funds such as FUNDEF (a sub-national grant scheme aimed at assisting primary and lower secondary education) and FUNDEB (which, by 2007, had granted more than BRL$ 30 billion for basic public education benefiting nearly 50 million students). Furthermore, in order to be eligible for the Bolsa Família grant, children aged between seven and fifteen must be enrolled in school and not miss more than 15 per cent of classes (due to the early stages of the programmes development, statistics on its effectiveness are too hard to predict, but it is claimed to have had a positive impact on school attendance levels).

At the two year anniversary of the vast oil findings off the south coast of Brazil, President Lula was seen issuing congressional bills with the intention of diverting a significant portion of the country's oil wealth towards improving education systems (amongst other welfare provisions). The ever popular national lottery in Brazil continues to donate over 5 percent of its profits to the Ministry of Education. There have also been a number of the country's leading companies (including Embraer, Petrobras, Randon and Vale) developing their own educational establishments to improve skills shortage gaps.

About the Author

The Brazil Real Estate and Land Investment Guide are providers of holistic information of relevance to our members. For FREE access to e-books, facts, figures, area guides, news, interviews and much more please click on the link below: http://www.brazilinvestmentguide.com/n

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