BETTER INVESTING REVIEWS

There are several structured settlement companies and corporates that purchase structured settlements and offer a lump sum in exchange. The simple reason for a company to purchase a structured settlement is that it represents a good investment deal. Structured settlement payments from lottery winnings, royalty payments, and insurance annuities are income-tax free and are secured by federal and state regulations.

Companies that purchase structured settlements are thus assured of a steady stream of income over a period of time which allows them to execute their growth plans in an assured manner. Alternatively the money can be invested by these companies where the principal continues to grow.

Corporates purchase structured settlements at a profit. This means that the amount which the seller receives is a discounted amount arrived at by factoring in the profit margins and bank interest rates. Also, by purchasing a structured settlement companies are able to obtain loans more easily. This is because of the secured nature of these settlements. The loan money can be used to pay off a large chunk of the lump sum. Thus, the company ends up paying very little out of its own pockets.

Structured settlements represent secured finances that help improve the market standing of a company which has a healthy effect on their businesses. They represent a safe business option for their partners because of their financial soundness. The more business they generate and prosper the less need these companies have for middle-men in their dealings with sellers of structured settlements. This allows them to offer the best rates to sellers by eliminating broker’s commissions.

The work involved in executing a structured settlement sale basically consists of marketing activity and working with the seller for acquiring court approval. Companies do not require diverting too many resources to this activity but the returns of the efforts are manifold. At any point in time, there are individuals who need cash for immediate use. By establishing a network through agents and by maintaining an online presence, structured settlement buyers can tap into a lucrative source of guaranteed and income that will last them for a long time.

The communication innovations we have around us today like the internet, financial newspapers, and special interest television channels focused on investing like CNBC are a high speed pipeline of nonsensical chatter. All these sources of information mean that there is no shortage of media people trying to answer our questions about the stock market and specific stocks. You have to remember that the news media are constantly competing to survive against other stuff you can watch. If they don’t always sound like they know exactly what is going on then you won’t watch their presentations. If you don’t tune into their show then their ratings go down. If their ratings go down they get fired and their show gets cancelled.

This means that financial journalists are in the business of finding great stories and sounding like authorities no matter what. The stock market is a great place for them to dig up news ‘scoops’ to feed to the public. They don’t really check their facts very well and sometimes not at all. This means that if some insider wants to feed you a line of bull manure then all they have to do is maintain good connections with financial journalists, sponsor an investment show, or outright buy an investing TV channel like Jack Welch the CEO of GE did when he set up CNBC. What a great way for inside executives to control the flow of news information to the public then to actually own one of the only financial news channels…but not so great for you!
These journalists also kick up the fire by bringing in so-called ‘experts’ to talk about each side of some topic that real experts would not consider important.
This just makes it all the more confusing for the public to understand what is important when buying or selling a stock. Shows on CNBC like ‘Closing Bell’, ‘Kudlow & Company’, and ‘Mad Money’ do nothing but confuse and misdirect the attention of most individual investors in the public. Even worse this means that the financial news media allows overpriced stocks to be recommended through analysts in the inside web that inside executives are dumping on the public because they are trying to get out. This actually happened at the top of the bull market in 1999. For a great historical description of what happened read Maggie Mahar’s book entitled “Bull.”

The famous Yale University Economist, Prof. Bob Shiller, Ph.D. is particularly harsh on the media in his book “Irrational Exuberance.” Dr. Shiller is one the economists that Alan Greenspan respects most and where he got the term “Irrational Exuberance.” He portrays the media as sound-bite-driven where superficial opinions are preferred over in-depth analyses. I agree whole heartedly with him and contend that it is also done just because the industry would rather have the retail investor confused and emotionally pliable to get you to buy and sell when they want with total disregard for your best interests!

People who had invested their life savings in the stock market were ripped off in the stock market because the financial news media and analysts were hyping up what a great buy stocks were at the very top of the market in 1999 and 2000. At the same time inside corporate executives were selling out everything they had. What is amazing is that our federal government in the form of the Security Exchange Commission never did a thing about it. There was never a blanket case taken or an outcry that almost all of the inside executives had somehow magically sold out of the market six months before the market crashed.

Here is the valuable tip I want you to consider: when you are a beginner investor it is important that you DO NOT WATCH THE FINANCIAL NEWS OR READ THE FINANCIAL NEWSPAPERS! Don’t let the stock market industry lead you around by the nose like livestock to the slaughter house. Don’t listen to what they want you to listen to. You should focus on learning what is important in the stock market and the mass media will only confuse you until you have educated yourself.
Recommended reading:
1. Mahar, M. Bull! A History of the Boom, 1929-1999 (New York, HarperBusiness , 2003)
2. Shiller, R., Irrational Exhuberance, (New York, Broadway Books, 2000)

Have you ever wondered how a uranium company’s “resource calculation” can increase, sometimes even double? I did and I began making inquiries about this. In February, during a meeting, it was a topic of discussion with William Boberg, Chief Executive of UR-Energy (TSX: URE). I have also had talks with David Miller, President of Strathmore Minerals (TSX: STM; Other OTC: STHJF), and his senior geologist, Terrence Osier. The differences in resources reported by a company, in at least one of the examples found below – Strathmore Minerals’ Church Rock property, is because of the mining methods to be used. The grade-thickness applied to the resource may differ between conventional mining (underground, open pit) versus in-situ solution mining. That can increase the size of the estimated resource.

A Canadian listed mining company can not announce its uranium resource estimate unless it files a document called a National Instrument 43-101 (NI-43-101). You may read in some news releases: These are historical estimates. The NI 43-101 came about after the 1997 Bre-X Minerals debacle. Possibly the worst mining scam in Canadian history, it was preceded and followed by other, lesser mining scams. Canadian regulators instituted measures to prevent a repeat performance. A National Instrument 43-101 means that an independent, qualified person has visited the property, reviewed the historical data, and reaches a conclusion on whether or not the property has merit.

Some of the oft-repeated grumblings by uranium insiders include, “This isn’t a gold property in an Indonesian jungle.” In fact, they are correct. Many of the properties held by some of the front runners for uranium mining development in the United States have had thousands of exploration drill holes, and hundreds (if not thousands) of delineation drill holes. Using UR-Energy as an example, this company’s Lost Soldier project has had more than 3,700 drill holes within a two square mile area. Historically, New Mexico and Wyoming have been two of the world’s top uranium producing areas. It is probably impossible to correctly estimate the total number of holes that have actually been drilled in these two states. In one geological textbook, Boberg suggested that millions of feet have been drilled in Wyoming.

Insistence by the Toronto Stock Exchange that companies file a National Instrument 43-101 on their properties has worked out in favor of investors. One case in point is Strathmore Minerals. On January 4th, the company issued a news release announcing an increase in its uranium resource estimate at its Church Rock, New Mexico property. The second sentence read, “The 43-101 report provides a new resource estimate which has increased to 11.8 million pounds of U3O8 from the historically reported 6 million pounds U3O8.”

This begs the question, asked at the beginning of this article: “Have you ever wondered how a uranium company’s “resource calculation” can increase, sometimes even double?” Much of what follows is advanced geological mathematics and may be confusing. Behind all the geometrical calculations, there are a few simple explanations. When a major mining company, such as Kerr-McGee, was establishing a uranium resource estimate, it was because its exploration team needed to prove the value of the project and get approval from its board of directors before investing in capital costs.

Kerr-McGee used the “Circle Tangent” resource method (don’t fall asleep now; we’ll explain that in a moment). Uranium mining in the 1970s and 1980s was mainly underground mining. Capital costs were well above $100 million for a mine and mill complex. They wanted to ensure they had plenty of uranium to feed that mill.

It should be noted that Kerr-McGee, and other underground operators, used a 6-foot true thickness cutoff combined with a 0.1 percent grade cutoff.  This is 0.6GT.  Six feet was the height of the mining equipment and operator.  Phillips Uranium used 8ft at 0.075 percent, but still 0.6GT, because their equipment was larger.

When the price of uranium rose in the late 1970s, reports, maps, and resource calculation sheets started to show 6ft at 0.05 percent (0.3GT) on them.  The price went up, the recoverable grade went down.  However, the 6-foot height did not change, just the grade they could economically mine.

With in-situ recovery, the thickness of the intercept doesn’t matter so much.  A lower grade cutoff can be used. When Strathmore reported an initial cutoff grade of 0.03 percent (standard for ISL operations), their geologists used a 0.3GT cutoff to directly compare with the 6ft of 0.05 percent resource of 10.9 million pounds which Kerr-McGee used in 1979.

Most uranium mining in the United States is likely to be in-situ solution mining (ISL). Another method used to calculate resources in tabular deposits is called the “polygonal” method. Tabular deposits are amenable to ISL mining. Some believe these are far more accurate in estimating uranium resources. Others disagree.

It’s not that there is more uranium on the property, or over the past 20-25 years, more uranium “grew” or floated onto the property. It is that the size of the uranium mineralization has been more accurately described.  As bonus to investors, the stock prices often run higher after such announcements are made. In the case of Strathmore Minerals, the stock price rallied by about 10 percent after the company announced the increase in its resource estimate.

Guidelines

The guidelines for defining the amount of uranium mineralization have to do with geometric patterns. Kerr-McGee used blocks in 1985, according to the company’s guidelines. Kerr-McGee would define an ore body, decide if feasible to mine, and then build the mine. When underground and mining, they would proceed with longhole drilling and find more ore. Below is an excerpt from a Kerr-McGee document, which describes how to construct blocks for a “measured resource.”

“For each surface drill hole intercept of material equal to or above thickness and grade cutoffs, a circle shall be drawn using a radius equal to one-half the horizontal distance to the nearest below cutoff hole which tested the entire thickness of the same sedimentary unit, or a radius of 50 feet, whichever is less.

Although the 50-foot radius is the standard area of influence in New Mexico, this can vary depending on the area. Development in Wyoming, for example, currently uses a 25-foot radius circle for open pit “shallow” intercepts (<250’ depth) and a 35-foot radius circle for underground “deep” intercepts (>250’ depth).

Two or more above cutoff holes may be connected to construct a Measured block by lines tangent to the circles provided that:

The above cutoff intercepts TIE, that is, they are in the same lithologic portion of the same sedimentary unit and at least one foot of the intercepts can be connected with each other by a horizontal line.

There are no below cutoff holes which tested the same sedimentary unit falling within the Measured block.

By comparison, Pathfinder Mines, Ranchers Exploration, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and others used the polygonal method. It was first described in 1966 and is used as an acceptable method for calculating a uranium resource (reference appear at the end of this article). Strathmore Minerals uses the Equi-Distance Perpendicular Bi-Sector Polygonal Resource Method because both David Miller (President) and John DeJoia (vice president of technical services) previously worked for Pathfinder Mines. DeJoia is overseeing the geological and permitting work in Santa Fe for Strathmore’s properties.

This polygonal method is described below in constructing the AOI (area of influence) polygons from surface drill holes:

(1) drill holes are plotted on the map,

(2) drift direction and distance are plotted, and

(3) lines are drawn connecting neighboring drill holes (we used the bottom-hole location of the drill holes {i.e. end of drift}).

(4) perpendicular lines were drawn equi-distant between the connected drill holes,

(5) these perpendicular lines were connected with other perpendicular lines, thus

(6) creating an equi-distance AOI polygon about individual drill holes.

(7) the areas for each AOI polygon were determined.

The areas are then applied to an Excel file containing the drill hole data (intercept depths and thickness, grade, etc.) to arrive at the various mineral resources calculated at the desired GT (grade x thickness of 0.1 to 1.0) cutoffs. According to Strathmore Minerals senior geologist Terrence Osier, “For the various resources we reported we used a limited, maximum size to the polygon’s area of influence.” With the Church Rock resource estimates, Osier explained the parameters for limiting the resources were as follows:
Measured: 100 ft x 100ft (10,000ft2)
Indicated: 200ft x 200ft minus the measured resource
Measured and Indicated: maximum sized polygon of 200ft x 200ft (40,000ft2)
Inferred: 400ft x 400ft minus the measured and indicated resource.

Using the polygonal method, companies are increasing their resource estimates above the historically provided data. Additionally, as the spot price of uranium continues to rise (or at least remains above $40/pound), the quantity of economic uranium mineralization increases. At some point, if spot uranium stabilizes at a much higher level, all of the uranium development companies may have to upwardly revise their resource estimates.

(Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Terrence Osier, Strathmore Minerals senior geologist, for providing StockInterview.com with this invaluable data.)

REFERENCES

Parker, H.M., 1990, Reserve estimation of uranium deposits, in Kennedy, B.A., ed., Surface Mining, 2nd Edition: Society for Mining and Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., Littleton, CO, Chapter 3.4.2, p.355-375.
Popoff, C.C., 1966, Computing reserves of mineral deposits: principles and conventional methods: U.S. Bureau of Mines Informational Circular IC 8283, 113p.
Sandefur, R.L., and Grant, D.C., 1976, Preliminary evaluation of uranium deposits. A geostatistical study of drilling density in Wyoming solution fronts, in Exploration for uranium ore deposits, Proceedings of a Symposium, 29 March to 2 April, 1976, by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, p.695-714.

Cyprus as an investment is good news these days for capital appreciation. Since joining the European Union in May 2004 the island has opened up to investors and seen prices go up by 30% with high demand for apartments in the Southern part of the island. There is a company to help people to invest in Cyprus using either a UK SIPPS with assistance from the UK government. Advice is required from a financial advisor before this route is used. Use the services of a professional organisation like Living Cyprus.com find them at http://www.living-cyprus.com for free advice and property for sale in Cyprus. Take a look and enjoy.
Andrew Walters is an acknowledged expert on pensions and in particular can provide advice on the suitability of using a Self Invested Personal Pension Plan (SIPP) to fund the purchase of a property in Cyprus.This is an area that we have had a lot of interest in, but reliable advice and information is hard to come by and so a talk with Andrew is definitely to be recommended, if this is something that you have heard about and would like to find out more.

For starters, if this is a type of transaction that you have not heard of or had not previously considered, here is a brief guide provided to us by Andrew on this topic.

We would like to stress that in providing this information, we are  not providing an opinion on this funding option nor should this guide be considered as an alternative to independent financial advice which may be sought in the UK via Andrew at EYFS Ltd or any other authorised firm in the UK.

SIPPS – another funding option for you?

As I write this in November 2005, we are in one ‘regime’ with the expectation of a new regime beginning in April 2006. This article is written from the current perspective but makes reference, where relevant, to the new ‘regime’ which will be effective from April 2006.

This article is based upon my understanding of current and proposed legislation. It is not exhaustive nor should it be assumed that any particular funding option is going to be suitable for you based only on the reading of this article. No liability is accepted for any actual or consequential loss arising from the use of this article as the basis of making a financial commitment without also seeking independent financial advice as an individual.

What is a SIPP?

A SIPP is a Personal Pension Plan with a self investment option. Which means that in addition to the usual choice of insurance company funds you may be offered via your personal pension plan you may also invest in a wide range of assets of your own choosing such as : individual shares or probably of more interest in this context – property.

Who can have one?

To some degree anyone who has pension monies in the UK, albeit if future funding is a requirement the definition changes to anyone who is eligible to take out a personal pension in the UK – which is just about everybody who is resident in the UK!

What is often overlooked is that two or more individuals can, in the right circumstances ‘team up’ to use their SIPP plans to buy a property or other asset together.

This does of course have implications, but could in the right circumstances increase your funding potential and enable you to spread the inherent investment risk across a number of people.

Why haven’t I heard about them before?

SIPPs have been around for more than ten years but have traditionally been the province of ‘serious’ investors or advisers managing large funds on a discretionary basis.

They have previously had limited appeal to smaller investors as the additional charges can tend to dilute any potential gains for smaller investors provided by the increased investment horizon. This is not to conclude that they are terribly expensive – just that the charging structure is more complex. It’s a horse with a course!

The reason that most people will not have come across them is that whilst previously, property purchase has always been possible via a SIPP, it has always been limited to commercial property within strict guidelines (and in the UK) – a property with any aspect of residentiality was specifically excluded.

Another tricky limitation was the exclusion of any purchases from yourself, anyone in your family or a ‘connected 3rd party’ – this was always a bind because most of the best investment opportunities that arose in my experience fell into this category!

The Government intends, according to its indications, to lift these significant barriers from April 2006 and from then on residential properties for occupation or let in the UK or abroad will be potential investments for a SIPP and the rules on purchases from connected persons is to be relaxed – hence the considerable interest!

How do they work?

Usually a SIPP is established on a deferred basis as an ‘add on’ to a personal pension plan – that is the personal pension plan is established with a view to self investment in the near or more distant future – and as such starts out like any other personal pension plan.

[Stakeholder pensions have not embraced SIPP functions and so if your pension fund is currently in one of these plans and you wish to self invest, a transfer may be necessary. This should not be contemplated without taking independent financial advice.]

Self investment via a SIPP is made through a trustee (usually an employee of the insurance company or a scheme administrator).

In brief, you complete a form detailing the proposed investment and the trustee has to approve it. Normally, when buying authorised unit trusts, investment trusts or securities this just amounts to a rubber stamping procedure.

However, when something more ‘individual’ is proposed – like a property – the trustee needs to satisfy himself that the proposed investment is allowable (within Inland Revenue rules) is permissible (within the scheme rules) and is suitable (satisfies the basic needs of an investment). In practice, this is usually quite straightforward since it only makes sense to propose investments that work at all of these levels.

Once the trustee is satisfied then the investment/purchase may proceed subject to all of the usual hurdles such as a valuation, conveyance of legal title, stamp duty etc.

If a scheme is already established, then a property transaction through a SIPP should not take significantly longer to complete. Where there is no SIPP established or the transaction is reliant on funds being transferred in from other schemes it is likely that the transaction may be significantly protracted and you would be well advised not to promise your vendor any completion dates that are too optimistic.

If the purchase is being made completely from existing funds the trustee will ensure that payment is made under your guidance. If the scheme needs to borrow money to fund part of the purchase – which it may do – then the trustee will need to apply for funds, this can usually be from a lender of your choosing. The point to note is that it is the SIPP that is borrowing the money and not you – so the transaction must satisfy the lenders criteria in its own right.

SIPPs can currently borrow up to 3 times the scheme assets. For example, if the scheme has £100 000 in assets it may borrow (subject to approval) potentially another £300 000, which means that you could go shopping with £400 000!

Unfortunately, under current rules you cannot buy residential property and by April 2006 (when you can) the scheme borrowing facility is to be capped at a more realistic 50% of scheme assets. In the same scenario as above this would reduce your shopping capacity to £150 000.

Once completed the property becomes a scheme asset administered by the trustee. It is very important that you understand the implication of this. The property is not yours – it belongs to the scheme. It can be sold but the proceeds return to the scheme for re-investment. You cannot sell the property and personally pocket any of the proceeds.

With all significant financial commitments you are well advised to take independent financial advice prior to commitment funds and this is definitely the case with this type of transaction.

Advantages…

In the UK, these schemes are fantastically tax efficient.

Tax relief on new contributions to eligible investors at at least the basic rate and at their highest UK rate of tax if this 40%.

Virtually tax free growth on investments whilst within the scheme.

No capital gains tax upon disposal of assets and rents on leases / lets are paid into the plan tax free.

Any interest on scheme borrowings will usually be relieved too.

Normally no inheritance tax is payable on scheme assets either

But, perhaps the biggest advantage is that it introduces a source of funds – your existing pension plans – to potentially enable you to buy your property (from April 2006) which have not previously been available to you.

What’s more, new substantially increased contribution limits mean that money can be accumulated faster in schemes than at present.

…and Disadvantages?

The property is not your asset – it cannot therefore be considered as collateral for any other borrowings, nor can you sell it and ‘pocket’ the proceeds.

Future capital gains and rental income will be potentially taxable in Cyprus (but not the UK) exposure will vary depending on how you choose to hold the property and the figures involved. IHT doesn’t exist in Cyprus though fortunately. It is not therefore likely to be the most tax efficient investment that you could hold in a UK pension – but still could be worthwhile.

Your choice of property may prove to be a poor investment as a result of any of the following: low capital growth or even a slump in property values, Poor rental income

If you stay in the property or reside in the property you will be expected to pay the going rate – but at least you are paying it back to your own pension!

At some point, unless any property subsequently becomes a relatively insignificant part of your pension fund, you will have to sell the property to derive an income – as this is, it should be remembered, the primary purpose of any pension plan! It may not, therefore, be advisable that you purchase a property late in life that you intend to live in until your death via a SIPP.

How do I find out More?
Any IFA in the UK should know what a SIPP is, but few will know the intricacies of the plan and in particular how it can be suitably harnessed for the potential purchase of a property abroad. Using my links in Cyprus, I am making it my business to put together robust and reliable means to make this possible via developers and lawyers and so I believe that I may be well worthy of consideration for assisting you with this type of transaction back in the UK.

Why are you in Internet? Most likely, you want to earn money with easy way. It is almost reality with HYIPs, if you know how they work, of course. I know it and have more than $4000-5000 a month without work. How I do it?

In this article I will explain some steps how I find good HYIPs for investing. Before you begin your investment career with certain HYIP, you should do a Due Diligence (DD) check on the program. Listed below is a guide:

Step One

You should use whois sites to find out more about the program. For instance, you can use whois.ws or whois.net. Compare the whois information you have found from the above with the information provided by the program owner on his website. If you find any major discrepancies, you should be extra cautious about the program. The program owner may be trying to hide something from you.

Step Two

Before joining any HYIP, make sure you are comfortable with the program. Study HYIPs. Sign up on HYIP forums. Also do not forget to check theHYIPs.net and status of  your favorite program on this hyip monitor. Forums usually are the best source of reliable information directly from other investors, like you. Pay more attention to posts made by more experienced members – they know what they are talking about. Never spam forums – do not post any referral links in your posts unless the forum rules allow that. You will only be banned for spamming. Read HYIP articles and reviews. Pay more attention to HYIP articles, they are written by senior investors and reflect their experience. Search in google for ” scam” – look for negative posts, because people usually post if they get scammed.

Step Three

Take note of the Internet Service Provider (ISP) for the program and to which organization its IP Address belongs to. Record their contact information (such as email address) so that in the event of default by the program, you can file a complaint to the ISP against them for internet fraud. If proven to be true, the ISP will most likely cease providing its services to the program. This prevents the program from cheating any more money from innocent members.

Step Four

Should you be the victim of a scam, submit details of the website found from Step One with your electronic payment confirmation number and send a complaint email to the following authorities to alert them of the internet fraud:

1. Internet Fraud Coordinator: ifcc.tp@fbi.gov
2. International Web Police: Director@Web-Police.org
3. ISP Provider (Refer to Step One. Look for the email contact for website abuse of the ISP Provider or the organization that the program IP Address belongs to and file a complaint).
4. Local authority (refer to the web registrant station address, search on the Internet to locate its country authority; such as the state police or any other relevant authorities)
5. E-gold Service (C.C. the email to the program owner)

Use smart investing strategy. Best strategy is to split your investments as much as possible. Invest most of your money in Real HYIPs with low interest and high credibility.

You can obtain more information about fraud reporting at theHYIPs.net . I believe in your success, now it is your time to belive in yourself and stop losing money on scams. Learn and Earn!