The Truth Report – August 2008

Dear reader, This is August 2008 edition of the The Truth Report free monthly newsletter. If you are interested in viewing past editions of the newsletter click here to access the archive and to find interesting articles that I’ve written about government, consciousness, real estate, asset protection, etc. Thank you for all your kind donations! They are greatly appreciated and very much help to cover the cost associated to publish and host this newsletter and website. The unfolding of the economic crisis continues, however most people are in denial and their cognitive dissonance and the mainstream media contribute to their blindness. Unfortunately most people will react to it when it’s too late to react and their lives have been completely destroyed. If you are really interested in the serious economic situation the world is facing (and on how bad it will probably get), read this article and/or listen to this Conscious Media Network interview with Mr. George Green. Mr. Green is a former investment banker, Registered Financial Principal with the N.A.S.D. and a Broker/Dealer, Securities Underwriter, Real Estate Developer, Insurance Broker, Publisher, and a frequent guest on radio and TV talk shows. He is Publisher of “Handbook for the New Paradigm.” He is President of Global Insights, Inc. George Green has spoken to 1000s of people through his lectures and has appeared on numerous talk shows and TV shows. I also recommend you watch this video interview with Mr. Green. Michael Knight, Editor, Earth Change Report, wrote a great summary of the interview with Mr. Green which I post here: “George Green – a former banker himself who was once part of the ‘insider’ fraternity and who still has contacts there, recently gave a straightforward summary of what’s up. “Expect the US to go into total meltdown very very soon. MORE major banks are going to go bust – is yours one of them? Credit Unions are safer than banks (they only lend to members and have tighter controls on loans etc). Overseas countries are no longer willing to buy US bonds (which are a debt/promise to make them money sometime in the future) because inflation in the US is outstripping their yield.. The Euro is having its problems too – Germany leading the way by declining payments in Euros from some other Union members. Chinese companies are now asking for 80 per cent payment in currencies other than the US dollar. Container vessels plying the US-China trade have seen their fuel bills skyrocket. Now it costs five times more than previously to make the trip (that’s up from say $20,000 a DAY to run their engines, to close to $100,000 a DAY) Can you see a trickle-through effect – or an avalanche of price increases? US banks are going belly up faster than those in the oldest profession (which is banking, I think). It’s becoming really difficult to withdraw actual cash (like even $2500) from US banks – specially in bills bigger than 10s or 20s – and overseas countries don’t want the big bills anyway. Green expects the foreclosures on US houses to be in the MILLIONS before too long. Like many others he has been suggesting for years that gold was a good investment. Now that too is getting hard to find – and rising in price. Silver is doing well. But there are waiting lists.” Recently, Bridgewater Associates, a global investment manager that manages approximately $160 billion in assets and manages portfolios for more than 300 clients from the United States and 19 other countries, issued its estimate of the losses in the international banking system: $1.6 trillion. Bridgewater Associates, one of the top, and more credible, analytical firms in the world. IndyMac bank in California has collapsed recently, two more banks were closed on July 25th and many more will likely do so. Another bank was closed in Florida on Friday August 1st, 2008. Wachovia is currently in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) on “life support” (read here). For a complete list of imploded/failed banks, go to bankimplode.com. The current economic crisis will likely become much worse. I will quote Mr. Gerald Celente, director of the Trends Research Institute as stated in his latest “Trend Alert”: “Despite calls from the business media and politicians from both parties for government intervention to rescue the failing institutions, there are no bailouts, buyouts, quick fixes or magic remedies that will save America’s economy from going under. The formula is simple and the outcome predictable: The more money the government prints to cover the multi-trillion dollar losses, the weaker the dollar gets. The weaker the dollar gets, the higher inflation goes. The higher the rate of inflation, the more it costs to live.  With wages going down and unemployment going up, the poorer the nation becomes.  Americans will be facing the worst economic times in living history, and so too will much of the world. “There is NO WAY OUT.  While Washington may devise some tricky monetary maneuvers to temporarily stop the bleeding, as they did to keep Bear Stearns from going bankrupt this past March, there is nothing that anyone can do that will stop the economic hemorrhaging. “Some $1 billion of uninsured deposits held by 10,000 IndyMac customers are now trapped and federally seized.  Since FDIC only insures deposits of up to $100,000, holders of accounts with larger amounts under one social security number (business and/or personal) may consider dispersing funds to safer havens. “We predict a continuing spate of banks, businesses, and brokerages going bust (See “Panic of ‘08,” Top Trends 2008, Trends Journal, Winter 2008).  As events continue to spin out of control – and considering draconian measures that have abrogated constitutional rights under the guise of fighting terror – we forecast that the “little people” will be forced to pay for costly government rescue plans to save the “too big to fail.”  A dollar devaluation, a repatriation of gold coins, bullion, stocks, ETFs, etc, bank withdrawal limitations and other government restrictions will be put in place to prevent the general public from taking steps to secure their liquid assets. Forewarned is forearmed.  For those that proceed into the future unprepared, the outcome could be ruinous.” An “expert” on CNBC told the audience that the failure of IndyMac Bank was nothing to worry about – it was just one bank.  Just one bank!!  This is the second largest bank failure ever in US history. This “one bank failure” will use up 10% of the total FDIC fund, which is only $53 billion.  How safe is your money in your bank? (Read more). Los Angeles television station KTLA Channel 5 was broadcasting from an Encino IndyMac branch on July 15th, 2008 as customers lined up to try and withdraw money from the failed bank. When word got out that some customers wouldn’t be allowed in, tempers flared. Is this a sign of things to come for the U.S. banking system? As one patron who was waiting in line said: “Two or three more bank runs, I don’t think anyone’s going to have very much confidence.” Watch the video here. To make things worse, if you add to the banking domino fall the possible bankruptcy of GM and Ford, the fact that as of June, more than 30 states faced deficits totaling a projected $40 billion, or more than triple the gap of the previous year, according to AP, we have the ingredients for a great disaster awaiting to happen in the US economy. The respected economist/financial advisor, Dr. Gary Shilling, who was twice ranked as “Wall Street’s top economist by polls conducted by Institutional Investor magazine and is president of A. Gary Shilling & Co, said last summer that the United States was fast approaching a financial storm: “An unusual confluence of five forces in recent years created a virtual world of financial speculation that departed spectacularly from the real economic world, the ‘grand disconnect’ we’ve called it.” The five forces… are: Global liquidity. Investors’ misguided belief in “20% annual returns each and every year.” Risk desensitization due to recent low volatility and the belief the Fed will “bail them out.” Rampant, aggressive speculation. American consumer spending, highlighted by instant gratification and the inability to save. And what will trigger the meltdown? Shilling still sees the subprime debacle as the catalyst. A year later, Dr. Shilling is providing his latest financial storm forecast in an article on Newsmax.com. According to the Internet news site: Apparently, the U.S. is already in a recession that’s unfolding in four stages — and it’s perhaps going to get a lot worse; investment advisor Gary Shilling says, “We’re between the second and third stages right now,” Shilling told a Bloomberg interviewer. “The first phase was the collapse in housing market, led by subprime slide last year; the second phase was Wall Street, where there was a tremendous amount of over-leverage and investment in assets of questionable if not unknown value and highly illiquid.” Shilling believes the third phase — a big nosedive in consumer spending — is about to unfold. US consumers are slowing their spending and as a consequence it’s estimated that there will be 144,000 retail store closings in 2008, and restaurant chains are closing their doors as diners reduce spending. On July 16th, 2008, Bloomberg reported that prices paid by U.S. consumers jumped in June by the most since 2005 on spiraling costs for fuel and food. The cost of living soared 1.1% after a 0.6% gain the prior month, the Labor Department said. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, testifying before Congress Wednesday as part of his semi-annual report on the U.S. economy, warned that consumer spending is “likely to be restrained over coming quarters,” and businesses are “likely to be cautious with their spending in the second half of the year.” Dr. Shilling told Newsmax: “Once people work through their tax rebates, they’ve run out of borrowing power. Their home equity has disappeared. They’ve been relying on that and on income growth that isn’t happening. With high energy bills and maxed out credit cards, I think consumers are about to go off the cliff….I look for the biggest decline in consumer spending since the 1930s.” Next up? Phase four, where recession spreads throughout the world. The above is confirmed by the well respected economist H.S. Dent in his new book “The Great Crash Ahead.“On his upcoming book, Mr. Dent shows how the next Great Depression will likely unfold in the US: “Between mid to late 2009 and mid to late 2012, the U.S. will see the next Great Depression and the deflation of the “three bears,” bubbles in stocks, housing, and commodities. This occurrence will represent the de-leveraging of the greatest credit bubble in history and will have much greater effects than we have seen thus far on banking and financial systems. Americans will see the first and last “Great Depression” of most of our lifetimes. Most people simply are not prepared for this coming dramatic change in our economy. Aging Baby Boomers will see the worst of the economy in their retirement years, much as the Bob Hope generation saw the worst in their early years in the 1930s and in World War II on an 80-year generational cycle.” Most people live in a bubble; totally unaware of what’s going on in life and with a false perception that everything is OK. Unfortunately, not everything is OK at this juncture in history. It’s interesting seeing the bubbles around people. It’s like an energetic shield that repels outside information, insight and awareness and can therefore only perceive reality from within the confines of its programmed perception – that which comes in through the eyes and ears.  These bubbles operate within a bigger bubble that encompasses all of them – the Matrix or ‘Consensus Reality’. The power of the bubble comes from the inmates’ refusal to see that they are even in a bubble – to them it’s all possibility. They can exist indefinitely in such self-delusion through a simple process of never exploring what is actually possible. If you never explore possibility outside of the bubble then your perceived limits to possibility become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s like looking for something, but refusing to look in the place where it is. Your bubble reality is that it must be lost, but it’s not. You are simply refusing to find it. Yes, it might appear complicated in the way it plays out in your life when the bubble pops because suddenly you are looking at reality in a completely different way and it takes some getting used to. The act of escaping the bubble is very straightforward; it just means opening your mind to all possibility – starting with a blank page free from pre-conceived idea (belief) – and letting the evidence and your own feelings tell you what makes sense. People found it very difficult to see that the world was a sphere because the pre-conceived idea that it was flat got in the way. Once you move to a blank sheet of paper and look at the information with, yes, an open mind, what seemed ridiculous can seem patently obvious. That very act of opening your mind to all possibility – not believing everything, but opening to the possibility – opens the ‘bubble-field’ to higher levels of perception and what happens when a hole opens up in a bubble? Pop! With that, literally a whole new ‘world’, or ‘worlds’, open up to you and your life is transformed because your perception is your ‘life’. People in the ‘Double-Bubbles’ have a harder job because their energetic shield is thicker, but anyone can do it. They just need the will to escape from their pre-conceived ideas, which is what the bubbles are – rigid belief. Clear your mind of pre-conceived ideas, religious, political, cultural and scientific; start with a blank page and open your mind to all possibility; and its job done because everything will follow from that as your life and perception transforms. I stress again, anyone can do it … it’s just a choice … On another note, our friends from apparently other civilizations in the Cosmos (or friends from Earth who have super extraordinary abilities and technology to create perfect crop circles) seem to have increase their messages to us. There’s been an increase in the number of crop circles in June/July 2008; do they have an important message for all of us? ” When everyone is thinking the same, no one is thinking.“ - John Wooden “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” Mark Tawin Sources: David Icke, Greg Simmons, John Mauldin, Gerald Celente, Boom2Bust.com, NewsMax.com, Bloomberg.com, Conscious Media Network. To your success, www.JulioMartinezClark.com MILLIONAIRE MIND FREE TELESEMINAR Register Here! Extraordinary TeleSeminar Reveals… Secrets of The Millionaire Mind “There is a secret psychology to money,” says T. Harv Eker, internationally known speaker and author of 11 top-selling books and courses, “Most people don’t know about it, that’s why most people never reach their financial potential.“ Eker explains, “Your outer world is simply a reflection of your inner world! A lack of money is not a problem, it is merely a symptom of what’s going on underneath! The fastest and only way to permanently change your financial situation on the outside, is to first change it on the inside.” Eker should know, using this strategy he went from zero to millionaire in only 2 1/2 years! ———— The Truth Report New Crop Circle Points To December 21, 2012 “An interesting crop circle appeared July 15, 2008 that has the position of the planets around Dec 21, 2012. “The crop circle formation at Avebury Manor seems to depict our solar-system (not in proportional scale) on December 21, (+/-) 2012 – the highly debated end of the Mayan calendar (or at least one of the most prominent interpretations of that date).” Amazing New Wiltshire Crop Circle Avebury Manor (2), nr Avebury, Wiltshire, UK. Reported 22nd July. Two Recent Crop Formations in NW Minnesota Reported on July 29th, 2008 Apollo 14 astronaut claims aliens HAVE made contact – but it has been covered up for 60 years “Edgar Mitchell was the Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 14. Aliens have contacted humans several times but governments have hidden the truth for 60 years, the sixth man to walk on the moon has claimed. Apollo 14 astronaut Dr Edgar Mitchell, said he was aware of many UFO visits to Earth during his career with NASA but each one was covered up.” Hear the Edgar Mitchell interview here. A past Space Shuttle ScO, admits ET’s are Real “This almost unbelievable announcement has been posted by Clark McClelland, a retired NASA Space Flight Controller and good friend of John Lear, on his website in support of the recent public statements by his good friend Dr Edgar Mitchell. Clark has broken the news that while on duty at the Kennedy Space Center he observed, for over a minute on a TV monitor, an 8 or 9 foot tall alien in the Space Shuttle Loading Bay when it was on a military mission.” (by Project Camelot) The Bible is Myth?! “In November 2008, PBS will air a TV special claiming that the biblical patriarch Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were not historical persons but were “myths.” The documentary will also declare the fabulous Israelite Exodus to be mythical, rather than representing a miraculous “historical” event. “To readers of my work posted online since 1995, and encapsulated in my books, beginning with “The Christ Conspiracy,” all of this cage-rattling will be old hat. In that book, I laid out the case that Abraham and Sarah are remakes of the Indian deities Brahma and Sarasvati, while Moses is likewise a mythical character based on older gods. In “Christ Con,” I also show that the Exodus represents not a supernatural event that truly happened on Earth but for which absolutely no evidence has been found. Rather, it too falls in the realm of mythology. “As this article about the PBS documentary relates, the evidence does indeed show that the Bible was composed during and after the so-called Babylonian Captivity of the 6th century BCE.  Some parts of it are older, of course, as some of the most fantastic stories could undoubtedly be found in the libraries in Babylon and Egypt. As I also demonstrated in “The Christ Conspiracy” almost 10 years ago, the Bible was not composed by the individuals claimed to be its authors, neither the Old Testament nor the New.” New Video: DAVID ICKE 2008: BIG BROTHER – THE BIG PICTURE “These videos by David Icke will have a dramatic effect on global awareness if enough people take the time and trouble to circulate them far and wide – short of spamming. Please send them to anyone and everyone you know and ask the receivers to do the same and so on. In a short time through this method of circulation we could have tens of millions of people seeing this information worldwide and make a massive difference to human awareness of what is happening in the world that we daily experience.” IS CHERTOFF HINTING THAT THERE WILL BE CHAOS DURING THE U.S. ELECTIONS UNCERTAIN ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: There will be an election It will be a legitimate, unrigged election Barack Obama will win the election Obama’s policies will be substantially different from those of the Bush Administration Some of these assumptions could be valid; all of them could be false. Obama Doesn’t Sweat. He should: The manipulation of the US presidential election. “In swing-state Colorado, the Republican Secretary of State conducted the biggest purge of voters in history, dumping a fifth of all registrations. Guess their color. In swing-state Florida, the state is refusing to accept about 85,000 new registrations from voter drives – overwhelming Black voters. “In swing state New Mexico, HALF of the Democrats of Mora, a dirt poor and overwhelmingly Hispanic county, found their registrations disappeared this year, courtesy of a Republican voting contractor. “In swing states Ohio and Nevada, new federal law is knocking out tens of thousands of voters who lost their homes to foreclosure. “My investigations partner spoke directly to Barack Obama about it. (When your partner is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., candidates take your phone call.) The cool, cool Senator Obama told Kennedy he was “concerned” about the integrity of the vote in the Southwest in particular. “He’s concerned. I’m sweating. “It’s time SOMEBODY raised the alarm about these missing voters; not to save Obama’s candidacy – journalists should stay the heck away from partisan endorsements – but raise the alarm to save our sick democracy.” Watch this documentary. Read “The Systematic Destruction of Voting Rights in America (Part 1)“. Greg Simmons: Foreign investors must sell their U.S. dollars. “The dollar will crash, as crisis currencies — like the Swiss franc and key commodity currencies like the Canadian and Australian dollars— could go through the roof. Get out of stocks in the banking, housing, tech, and industrial sectors. Get out of mutual and hedge funds. Convert your US dollars into Swiss francs, Canadian and Australian dollars. Swiss francs should increase 20% – 30% by the end of the year. Canada and Australia have key commodity currencies and are protected by the wealth of their countries. If you have speculative money, buy ETFs – FXF is the Swiss franc currency. If you want the ultimate leverage, you can invest in the World’s Currency Options – but I would not do that without expert advice. Currencies & Metals The British Pound will decline in value The EURO will swing up and down The Swiss franc, Canadian and Australian dollars will increase in value. Gold and silver will continue to increase in value ($1200 gold / $25 silver).” STATUS REPORT ON THE COLLAPSE OF THE U.S. ECONOMY By Richard Cook: “With the economic news of the week of July 14—the continuing crisis among mortgage lenders, the onset of bank failures, the announced downsizing of General Motors, the slide of the Dow-Jones below 11,000—we are seeing the ongoing collapse of the U.S. economy. “Even the super-rich are becoming nervous as cries for an emergency suspension of short selling ring out. “What is really taking place, however, is that the producing economy of working men and women is being crushed by the overall debt burden on households, businesses, and governments that could reach $70 trillion by 2010. The financial system, including mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is bankrupt, as the debts it is based on cannot be repaid. “This is because the producing economy of people who work for a living simply can no longer generate enough purchasing power for people either to pay their debts or allow them to purchase what is being sold in the marketplace. In turn it is the debt burden and the loss of societal purchasing power that are crashing the stock market. Thus the collapse of the financial economy has started to destroy the producing economy as well. “It’s a “perfect storm,” the result of a 200-year-old financial system where money is largely created by bank lending and where since 1980 our industry and jobs have been increasingly outsourced abroad to cheap labor markets. Thus domestic incomes have stagnated while the nation’s GDP has not been able to keep up with the exponential growth of debt. “While the mainstream media are blind, deaf, and dumb as to the causes, the victims within the middle and working classes are seeing their livelihoods ruined, jobs taken away, pensions eroded, homes foreclosed on, and are being saddled with ever-increasing debt and forced to work under more and more stress due to rising burdens of taxation, gas and food price inflation, and bureaucratic rules and regulations. The only places a more-or-less normal life may still be possible will be the wealthiest imperial centers like Washington, New York, Houston, Chicago, or San Francisco.” Richard C. Cook is a former U.S. federal government analyst, whose career included service with the U.S. Civil Service Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, the Carter White House, NASA, and the U.S. Treasury Department. His articles on economics, politics, and space policy have appeared on numerous websites and in Eurasia Critic magazine. His book on monetary reform, entitled We Hold These Truths: The Hope of Monetary Reform, will be published soon by Tendril Press. He is also the author of Challenger Revealed: An Insider’s Account of How the Reagan Administration Caused the Greatest Tragedy of the Space Age, called by one reviewer, “the most important spaceflight book of the last twenty years.” His website is at www.richardccook.com. New York Governor Warns Of Economic Crisis “New York is the second state in five days to declare a fiscal emergency. See Schwarzenegger Announced Intention To Slash State Workers’ Pay Till Budget Passes for more on the crisis in California. “The most stunning thing about Paterson’s announcement is how rational it is. He is not begging Washington for handouts, asking for higher taxes, or praying for miracles. “This is pretty stunning too: In June 2007, the 16 banks that pay the most on their business profits remitted $173 million to the state treasury. “This June, just a month ago, they sent us $5 million — a 97 percent decrease.”” Growing Eccepticism on the official story of 9/11 A. VIDEO: Petition to Canadian Parliament: “9/11 Commission Report is a fraudulent document” “This petition signed by some 500 Canadians was presented by the Deputy Leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), which is one of Canada’s main opposition parties in the House of Commons. “This presentation is of significance because it suggests that the leadership of the NDP is sceptical of the official explanation regarding 9/11 and is willing to debate the issue in the Canadian House of Commons.” B. VIDEO: 9/11 Debated in Arizona Senate C. The JFK Assassination and 9/11: the Designated Suspects in Both Cases D. VIDEO: 911 False Flag (German produced documentary) A Growing Trend of Leaving America “By some estimates 3 million citizens become expatriates a year, but most not for political reasons “In his recent book Bad Money, political commentator Kevin Phillips warns that an unprecedented number of citizens, fed up with failed politics and a souring economy, have already departed for other countries, with even larger numbers planning to do so soon. But that may be putting too negative a reading on this little-noticed trend. In fact, most of today’s expats are not part of a new Lost Generation, moving to Paris or other European haunts to nurse their disillusionment and write their novels. Some may be artists and bohemians, but many more are entrepreneurs, teachers, or skilled knowledge workers in the globalized high-tech economy. Others are members of a retirement bulge that is stretching pensions and IRAs by living abroad. And while a high percentage of expats are unhappy with the rightward tilt of George Bush’s America, most don’t see their decision to move overseas as a political statement.” Was Betancourt’s freedom bought? “Around $20 million was paid to secure the release of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages held by FARC rebels in Colombia, according to Swiss public radio, RSR.” EARTH CHANGES HERE AND NOW “Earth Change Report seeks out and presents the latest scientific evidence, the most recent news reports, and the historical information that is essential for us to understand and prepare for earth changes – before they occur. LOSS OF ARCTIC SEA ICE MAKING NEWS  – “NO ICE AT NORTH POLE” “Polar scientists reveal dramatic new evidence of climate change. It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year. The disappearance of the Arctic sea ice, making it possible to reach the Pole sailing in a boat through open water, would be one of the most dramatic – and worrying – examples of the impact of global warming on the planet. Scientists say the ice at 90 degrees north may well have melted away by the summer,” quoting Truthout’s story from UK’s Independent. Britain urging return to wartime food frugality: Families urged to cut food waste to combat rising global prices “Evoking an era of World War II austerity, British families are being urged to cut food waste and use leftovers in a nationwide effort to fight sharply rising global food prices. It’s not back to ration books, “victory gardens” or squirrel-tail soup yet, but warning bells are being rung by experts at all levels of Britain’s government as well as from the World Food Program.” Discovery Channel – Solar Storm A mix of documentary and fiction that shows what might happen to our civilization and technology in 2012 if we are hit by a massive solar storm. “The peak of the next sunspot cycle is expected in late 2011 or mid-2012 — potentially affecting airline flights, communications satellites and electrical transmissions. But forecasters can’t agree on how intense it will be. A 12-member panel charged with forecasting the solar cycle said it is evenly split over whether the peak will be 90 sunspots or 140 sunspots.” “The government’s Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colo., tracks space weather and forecasts its changes, which can affect millions of dollars worth of activities such as oil drilling, car navigation systems and astronauts. “Half of the specialists predicted a moderately strong cycle of 140 sunspots expected to peak in October of 2011, while the rest called for a moderately weak cycle of 90 sunspots peaking in August of 2012.” Read more. Prominent Cancer Doctor Warns About Cellphones “The head of a prominent cancer research institute has warned his faculty and staff to limit cellphone use because of a possible cancer risk, The Associated Press reports. Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, the director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, notes that while the evidence about a cellphone-cancer link remains unclear, people should take precautions, particularly for children. “Really at the heart of my concern is that we shouldn’t wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later,” Dr. Herberman told The Associated Press.” Can You Trust Chemotherapy to Cure Your Cancer? “Does the mainstream media ever report about the overwhelming scientific evidence that shows chemotherapy has zero benefits in the five-year survival rate of colon cancer patients? Or how many oncologists stand up for their cancer patients and protect them against chemotherapy treatment which they very well know can cause them to die far more quickly than if they received no treatment at all? Can you trustingly place your life into their hands when you know that most of them would not even consider chemotherapy for themselves if they were diagnosed with cancer? What do they know that you don’t? The news is spreading fast that in the United States physician-caused fatalities now exceed 750,000 each year. Perhaps, many doctors no longer trust in what they practice, for good reasons. “Most cancer patients in this country die of chemotherapy… Chemotherapy does not eliminate breast, colon or lung cancers. This fact has been documented for over a decade. Yet doctors still use chemotherapy for these tumors… Women with breast cancer are likely to die faster with chemo than without it.” – Alan Levin, M.D. An investigation by the Department of Radiation Oncology, Northern Sydney Cancer Centre, Australia, into the contribution of chemotherapy to 5-year survival in 22 major adult malignancies, showed startling results: The overall contribution of curative and adjuvant cytotoxic chemotherapy to 5-year survival in adults was estimated to be 2.3% in Australia and 2.1% in the USA.” [Royal North Shore Hospital Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol) 2005 Jun;17(4):294.]” GENERATION X-RAY: CHILD VICTIMS OF TECHNOLOGICAL ABUSE “Science from the ‘40s to present has demonstrated conclusively the harmful effects of microwave radiation—the platform upon which the entire wireless universe—cell phones, text messaging, WiFi, WiMax and RFID—is built. Yet the wireless network is expanding, with the approval of government “as fast as it can.” With virtually zero regulatory oversight, the nation and all the people, plants and animals in it, are bathing in microwave radiation so we can talk, Internet surf, email, text message and play online games wherever and whenever we want. The biophysical effects of enveloping our world in harmful radiation are becoming apparent. What happened to us? How could our desire for wireless convenience so totally suspend our innate survival instincts that we would ignore well-established science plus common sense and finance conditions on this planet that portend our slow and painful deaths without dignity? More embarrassingly, what happened to us that we would so readily allow our children to suffer wireless addiction, sealing their fates to short, sickly, neurologically-impaired lives?” quoting the Idaho Observer. NEW RESEARCH ON GENES A. “CHANGING YOUR LIFESTYLE CAN CHANGE YOUR GENES” “New research shows that improved diet, meditation and other non-medical interventions can actually “turn off” the disease-promoting process in men with prostate cancer.” quoting Newsweek. link here B. “YOUR GENES ARE NOT YOUR FATE” “Dean Ornish shares new research that shows how adopting healthy lifestyle habits can affect a person at a genetic level. For instance, he says, when you live healthier, eat better, exercise, and love more, your brain cells actually increase… Dean Ornish is a clinical professor at UCSF and founder of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute. He’s a leading expert on fighting illness,” quoting this TED video. link here. Are Granite Countertops a Health Threat? If you have granite countertops in your home, you might consider testing them for the amounts of radon gas they give off, experts say, due to the potential that those amounts are above levels considered safe. Know Your Enemy (Video) “How many people assume that the drugs prescribed to them by their doctor are safe. They don’t realize that for the vast majority of doctors, they only know what their pharmaceutical reps told them last week. “And the pharmaceutical companies? They only know what will make them money. “Congress, the White House and the FDA are in on the game. It’s time we all woke up to how bad it is. Consider this short video our wake up call.” (NaturalNews) Watching the FDA trip over its own clumsy self while groping for answers on Salmonella is a sad affair. Following the FDA-encouraged destruction of tens of millions of dollars of perfectly good tomatoes, this confused, bewildered agency admits that tomatoes may not have been the problem after all, and it has now set its sights on destroying the peppers industry. Is there no vegetable safe from the destruction of the FDA? Read more Breaking the FDA blockade The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is purportedly chartered with the task of protecting US consumers from toxins in food and drugs. A quick review of their history show they exist to serve US food and drug manufacturers exclusively and are in fact one of the most corrupt agencies in government. Healthy substances, proven to be acceptable in countries with real dedication to public health like France and Germany, are routinely banned in the US when they threaten the market share of FDA client corporations. Conversely, toxins that are banned in other countries are not only permitted in the US, they are also aggressively protected by the FDA. Recently (June 8, 2008), the FDA, after many years of stonewalling, was forced to admit by a lawsuit that there are potential hazards to having mercury put is one’s mouth. Just For Fun Where the hell is Matt? (2008) “14 months in the making, 42 countries, and a cast of thousands. Thanks to everyone who danced with me. Make sure to click “watch in high quality” right underneath the video.” Roasting the Patriot Act Penn and Teller are two US comedians who’ve had their own run ins with the so-called Patriot Act. This informative – and very funny – video is their revenge. Help Spread The Word! – Forward-to-a-Friend If you enjoy this e-mail newsletter, then please pass it along to a friend. Simply click on the link below to have them sign up for their own free subscription. If you’re reading a forwarded copy, sign up for your own, so you get this wealth of information every month, from The Truth Report. Just click on the link below. THANKS! Forward-to-a-Friend I love putting together this newsletter every month. I have chosen to help and awaken people in their search for the truth of who we were, who we are, and who we’ll be. I have no political agenda to push. The Truth Report is totally independent. I will continue creating the newsletter as an information outlet for people who have decided to see what’s really happening in this changing world and have decided to learn how to get through it. The amount of subscribers is increasing exponentially, and this is increasing the cost of sending, hosting, and maintaining the newsletter’s website. If you feel that this newsletter is very informative and educational, I kindly ask you to make a donation to help support it. Please Make a Loving Donation to Help Support this Newsletter ———— Closing Notes Thank you for reading this month’s issue of The Truth Report. I’ll see you again next month. Editor: Julio Martinez-Clark Blog: http://community.icontact.com/p/juliomartinezclark Website:  http://www.JulioMartinezClark.com http://www.Beat-Debt-Collectors.com Newsletter Archive: http://community.icontact.com/p/juliomartinezclark/newsletters/december2007 Published monthly by: Julio Martinez-Clark P.O. Box 150126 Altamonte Springs, FL 32715 Questions: email@juliomartinezclark.com Feedback & Comments: Click here Subscribe at: http://community.icontact.com/p/juliomartinezclark Unsubscribe: via bottom of this email

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Investing In Residential Real Estate: What the media or the gurus won’t tell you

I’ve been repeatedly asked by people how to invest in residential real estate now; they all want to take advantage of the historical foreclosure casualties of the current real estate crisis. People often asks me how to get a list of foreclosure homes in the area where they live. Unfortunately these people are not throughly researching their plans and, if not properly advised, they will be just another victim of the real estate crisis; thus losing their hard-earned savings.

I still haven’t figured out why is that many people believe that investing is a common sense type of activity. People believe that in order to make money in real estate, the stock market, and other type of investments, all they have to do is buy low and sell high and no further formal education is needed. So you see college educated individuals and professionals with great academic credentials discussing the latest fashionable investment of the week, and some of them go beyond talking and actually invest money in trendy investment vehicles that are poised to boom and bust. A large number of these educated individuals fail to recognize that money is not made only by buying low and selling high. In my view, any professional and sophisticated investor, beyond knowing that he/she needs to buy low and sell high, must know when to buy, how to buy and when to sell and how to sell.

I’ve been a residential real estate investor full time since 2003, and I have been involved indirectly in a few commercial transactions; I will concentrate this discussion in residential real estate investing. I’ve read many books, I have listened to tapes/CDs, I have read many online forums/posts, and I have attended several investing seminars. My advice to you: Be very,very, very careful about the creative real estate “gurus” and specially their get-rich-quick seminars. There are dozens of artful salesmen who preach fancy financing, “no money down,” flipping properties quickly and numerous other strategies to get rich buying and selling real estate. My conclusion: Most of the information sold in seminars, home study courses, etc is absolutely usefulness! Unfortunately it costed me about $15,000 to come to this conclusion because nobody told me about it, and I didn’t to a comprehensive research on the topic. Please don’t let this happen to you.

There’s an excellent article about this topic titled “Nothing quick about getting rich with real estate” Read also the informative report titled “Dreams Foreclosed: The Rampant Theft of American’s Homes Through Equity-Stripping Foreclosure “Rescue” Scams” by the Consumer Law Center and learn how some of these “gurus” and their students despicably operate. The only professional and truly educational courses that I highly recommend are the ones provided by the CCIM Institute and the Urban Land Institute; both highly respected institutions in the professional real estate investment community/industry. I’m sure there are other reputable institutions in the investment real estate education industry, however my research indicates that the two mentioned above are probably the best in the US. I have attended two courses from the CCIM Institute and they were superb.

The worst about the mass media, the get- rich-quick seminar industry, and best seller books from extraordinary salesmen like Robert Kiyosaki, is that they give people who desperately want an easy solution to their financial troubles the illusion that such easy solutions exist, and in the process they suggests what most financial and investment experts would consider bad advice. Financial education is not taught in most US schools; it’s not taught in college or in universities either. Any financial education you may have usually comes from your family and friends, and unfortunately these individuals are not necessarily the best, most skillful and professional financial advisors. Based on the general population’s lack of solid investment education, I can see how the get-rich-quick seminars and books have so much appeal to the general public and there’s immense amount of money in the self-help personal financial industry. But what most of these seminars and books such as Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad will not teach you is the critical thinking skills that you need in order to become financially successful.

As author T. Harv Eker, in my opinion, author of one of the best material in financial education says, “If you’re going to work hard anyway, you might as well get rich…and the quicker the better!” I highly advise you to educate yourself well and read T. Harv Eker’s book titled “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind” and attend one of T. Harv Eker’s introductory educational FREE tele-seminars; his teachings can easily change your financial life for the better. T. Harv Eker is one of the few little known educators who teaches personal finances and business building from an emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical approach.

Investing in Pre-Foreclosures:

One of the most common questions that I see is in regards to how to find a list of homes in pre-foreclosure stage so that one can buy them from the homeowners and get a great deal. If you’d like to obtain a list of homeowners facing a foreclosure lawsuit in your area (pre-foreclosures or also called Lis Pendens), all you have to do is go to your local county court house (Clerk of Courts – Circuit Civil division usually) and as a matter of public records accessible to everyone, you can ask for all the mortgage foreclosure cases filed within a certain time period. Be aware that there won’t be a list of foreclosures readily available that you can just pick up and leave; you will have to go manually through all foreclosure cases filed within an specified time period and get the information that you need from each individual case. There are local companies that do this work for you and sell you a subscription service that provide you with foreclosure lists; the small local ones have employees who go on a regular basis to local county court houses across a region or throughout a specific state or states and compile these foreclosure lists for you. One of these local companies is IRSFL in Florida. You should be able to find these local companies by asking someone at your local real estate investment club (http://www.reiclub.com/).

There are nationwide companies such as Foreclosure.com that buy data from local, regional, and nationwide list providers and provide a very user friendly online interface to the foreclosure list user most of the time providing MS Excel export capabilities so that you can conveniently create your direct mailing pieces. According to http://www.all-foreclosure.com/scams.htm, there’s a huge variety in the types of list services offered, so let’s look at common threads. A company charging a large up-front or sign-up fee with low monthly payments is going to have a greater interest in signing you up than keeping you as a customer. If all they charge is a one-time fee, it’s fairly obvious they make more money the sooner you go away. Companies charging a reasonable monthly fee with a low or no sign-up fee will have a greater interest in keeping you as a satisfied customer. Current monthly rates for compiled lists of bank REOs (Real Estate Owned – homes that banks have gotten back at foreclosure auction and are now in their books to sell) seem to average right around $40.00. This will provide you with older information than many of the pre-foreclosure information companies, but it is significantly cheaper. Companies providing information at a cost lower than this are most likely pulling information from the free REO websites. When you’re thinking about subscribing to a company, ask for some samples of complete property information first. Note when the company entered the property into their system, then go to your County Recorders office or your Property Appraiser’s office and look up the date when the bank took the property back. You’ll get an idea as to the freshness of the data and if you request samples from different companies, you’ll get an idea about completeness of the information from each. If a company is unwilling to provide 5-10 samples, you be the judge as to whether you want to be a customer of theirs. Pre-foreclosure data providers are usually pretty reliable. You can obtain very current REO properties from many of them, but the monthly fees start around $80.00 per county and can be significantly higher. The biggest concern here is completeness and timeliness of data. Again, ask for samples, compare the data from different companies and against the data at your local court house; and balance price vs speed and accuracy. Most of these companies want you as an ongoing customer and provide service accordingly.

Once you have created your own list or have obtained the list from a subscription service, you then have to contact the homeowners/defendants in every mortgage foreclosure case by direct mail, telephone, etc and see if you can buy their homes at a discount. Be aware that getting the list of foreclosures in your county is the easy and inexpensive part of the whole process. Once you have this list, you have to invest a considerable amount of time and money sending letters to the homeowners facing foreclosure lawsuits and/or call them and/or knock on their doors to make them sell their homes to you at a favorable price to you. Do you have the time, money and disposition to do all this? Do you know that real estate investing is just like any other business in which you have to invest capital, time, etc? You could also engage a Realtor to help you locate pre-foreclosure properties in MLS (Multiple Listing Service). In most listings, the selling agent will specify that the home is a “pre-foreclosure.” In my experience, MLS is not the source to find great residential real estate deals. Sending letters, calling and/or knocking on doors don’t guarantee a good deal either; it requires persistent effort, money, dedication, and great negotiating skills to find a decent property to buy. You will probably have to analyze 20-30 properties before you find a decent candidate home to purchase. Keep in mind also that what is a good deal to me, doesn’t necesarily mean that it’s a good deal to you; we all have different criteria to judge deals based on our risk profile, personality, financial position and financial goals.

Building a business purchasing residential real estate is where the journey begins…not where it ends. The overwhelming majority of businesses fail and a real estate investing business is no exception – and of those that endure, the overwhelming majority of those are nothing better than a glorified job for the owner. Almost all small businesses don’t reach the potential that they could. It doesn’t matter whose statistics you look at. Some statisticians say that 80% of business go out of business in the next five years. Some statistics leave only 4% of all businesses surviving, meaning 96% will go out of business. Let’s also not forget that out of the “lucky” one that stay in business, most of them will be nothing more than glorified jobs for the owners. When you look at statistics like that, it becomes increasingly clear that the choice is between being a slave to your business (if you’re lucky enough to survive) or actually growing your business, which certainly requires uncommon sense. I highly recommend the teachings of Mr. Rich Schefren at Strategic Profits, and I highly advise you to read his material on the Internet Business Manifesto, available for free. Also watch this free video of Rich Schefren speaking brilliantly about building a business.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration two-thirds of new business survive at least two years, and 44 percent survive at least four years. Dun & Bradstreet also released a study that revealed that of the small business that fail, 90% do so because of lack of skills and knowledge on the part of the owner.

Buying Short Sales:

What about buying a home facing foreclosure through a short sale? From BusinessWeek in an article titled “The New Exit Strategy: A short sale:” “For all the homeowners who are upside down and can no longer make their mortgage payment (because of either a job loss, divorce, or an option ARM that’s resetting higher), up to now the only option was, well, letting the bank foreclose. That’s not a good option since a foreclosure sticks on your credit record for at least 10 years. But some experts are now advocating a “short sale.” This is a case of a distinction with a difference: If your bank agrees to a short sale, you then hire an agent to find a buyer for the house, you sell the house for a loss, and with the bank’s blessing, they agree to eat the loss (although they could still demand the homeowner make some kind of payment or share the loss).”

I don’t really see how a short sale will guarantee you a super great deal. I’ve done about a large number of short sales in my investing career and in my experience it’s extremely unlikely that you get a super deal; most of the lenders discount at around 95% or so of the fair market value of a home. I have had some great super deals with short sales, but they are the exception to the rule, and in order to get those super deals, the property must be in need of extreme repairs, I had to make friends with the real estate agent doing the BPO (Broker Price Opinion) and had to do play the lender’s game to a great extend.

If you find someone who claims to be a specialist who deals with short sales, that doesn’t guarantee that you will get a great deal because if it’s a great deal, he/she would probably keep it for him/herself. If you go to your local real estate investment club (http://www.reiclub.com/), you should be able to find a wholesaler; these so called investor “wholesalers” target beginner investors to sell their properties to. Be very careful! There are some very sneaky and deceptive “wholesalers” out there. Most of them will perhaps make you believe you’re getting a super great deal. Do comprehensive research before buying. Be an educated buyer; compile all the facts and seek expert advice before making a decision.

Buying REO (Real Estate Owned by banks):

This includes government agency foreclosed homes, including property owned by HUD, VA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; asset managers, who will usually have foreclosed homes listed from different lenders; and listings provided directly by the banks or institutions owning the property. In my experience, it’s very unlikely that you will find a super great deal buying this type of homes. The above mentioned institutions make the process very user unfriendly with complex and you-lose-I-win contracts; furthermore, they price their homes at fair market value or close to it. Most of these homes are listed with a real estate agent and you can find them in MLS or at Realtor.com. These institutions have gotten these properties back after foreclosing on them and it makes business sense for them to sell them at the highest price the market can bear so that they can recoup their investments (loans to homeowners) plus legal fees, carrying costs, etc. Most of the time, the employees at these institutions handling the sale of these homes are compensated with bonuses based on how high they sell them. There is a sub-industry in this category; some of the above mentioned institutions package their most undesirable homes (usually in very bad areas) and sell them to bulk/wholesale buyers who most of the time are individuals or companies with access to large amounts of capital, who in turn with little investment on the homes, sell them to minority buyers with easy and sometimes deceptive terms involving seller financing.

When to Buy and When to Sell:

You also have to take into consideration the timing of your real estate purchase. Here’s where the knowing when to buy and when to sell come into play. It’s not advisable to purchase any asset that is deteriorating in value as (residential and commercial) real estate is at this moment. As stated by the prominent economic research H.S. Dent Foundation in its Special Update dated October 30, 2006: …“deflation is the worst environment for most assets, especially stocks and real estate! From 2010 onward, stocks and real estate will enter a major, long-term decline into around 2022 or so”… “Real estate is likely to lag the stock market by a year or so; hence home prices are likely to start weakening seriously from late 2010 onward, specially from late 2012 into early 2015 when unemployment levels and bank failures are likely to be the highest (like early 1932 to 1934 in the Great Depression)…”The crash that follows will be similar to the long-term bear market in Japan from 1990 to 2003, and the American Great Depression of the 1930s. So, as bullish as we have been in recent decades, our fundamental indicators suggest an extended slowdown in the US and most Western economies that will last from around late 2009 into 2022 or so.”

H.S. Dent is not the only prominent economist predicting an upcoming Great American Depression; there is even a documentary that touches on this topic (http://www.whatawaytogomovie.com/). You can also check a sample of Amazon.com’s selection of recent books by respectable economist and researchers that talk about the upcoming Greater American Depression and its depressing repercussion on real estate.

Please don’t believe a word of what I say in this article. I don’t know everything that needs to be known in real estate or investing. Do your own research and make an educated decision. I sincerely hope this article inspired you to think twice about taking residential real estate investing as a hobby. Real estate investing is most of the time a business in which you have to throughly research information, dedicate large amounts of time and effort, and require capital investment in marketing, operations, inventory, etc.

To your success,

Julio Martinez-Clark

www.JulioMartinezClark.com

www.Beat-Debt-Collectors.com 

Many Homeowners in Foreclosure Believe in Magic

Foreclosure is a financial and legal issue. If you attack the issue from a financial standpoint, you must to have cash to pay your mortgage. If you attack it from a legal standpoint, you must be able to find a flaw in the foreclosure lawsuit to dismiss it. I don’t see any other way of stopping foreclosure.

If you are facing foreclosure at this moment, you are inundated by letters from foreclosure assistance companies that charge outrageous amounts of money to negotiate with your lender; the majority of these companies are a scam.

You also get creative letters from so-called “investors” offering free advice and with the intention to make you sell your home to them at a deep discount using deceptive kitchen table closings in which they make you sign mysterious paperwork (land trusts, etc) that basically transfer the title/deed of your home to them sometime taking over your mortgage payments and leaving the loan liability on your name. Some of this “investors” also offer very deceptive “lease-back” arrangements in which they let you stay in your home as a tenant, and they pray that you stop paying rent so that they can evict you so that they can take possession of your house. You also get letters from Realtors® who are trying to make you list your home for sale and paint a rosy picture of the real estate market and the value of your home (Read National Consumer Law Center’s report “Dreams Foreclosed;” one of the best studies recently written about the rampant theft of American’s homes through equity-stripping foreclosure rescue scams).

Last but not least dangerous, you get letters from nice attorneys offering free consultations to make you file Chapter 13 bankruptcy; what these attorneys don’t tell you is that based on research (see studies: The Realities of U.S. Personal Bankruptcy under Chapter 13, and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy: Successful Versus Unsuccessful Debtors) the overwhelming majority of Chapter 13 filers do not complete their payment plans and are not discharged.

You will also find on the internet a proliferation of eBooks that promise to stop foreclosure magically with names such as “Foreclosure Free Zone,” “The Fight Of Your Life: How To Beat The Foreclosure Demons Smart Solutions For Saving Your Home,” “Avoid Foreclosure And Fix Credit Problems,” ”Foreclosure Help – Don’t Let The Bank Take Your Home!“ In my research, I’ve even bought some of these type of eBooks just to see what’s so magical about them, and found that they don’t have any information that isn’t common sense and readily available for free online. All the advice in these books fall into these categories: 1) Talk to your lender, 2) Sell your home, 3) File for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection, and 4) Refinance/Get a loan. None of these books, nor the Chapter 13 attorney, nor the Realtors®, nor the “investors” in their white horses tell you about your legal rights and how you can defend yourself from the abuse of the debt collector attorneys.

Foreclosure is a financial and legal issue. If you attack the issue from a financial standpoint, you must to have cash to pay your mortgage regardless of negotiating a payment plan with your lender yourself or through a foreclosure assistance/consulting company. Bear in mind that when negotiating a payment plan with your lender (sometimes called Forbearance Agreement) , you may be required to come up with a lump sum (usually half of your past-due payments) and proof of income. It’s very simple; if you have sufficient cash and/or income to pay your monthly mortgage obligation, it’s very likely you can negotiate something with your lender to stop foreclosure. If you don’t have the cash and/or the income, you will have to attack the issue from a legal standpoint.

If you attack the issue from a legal standpoint, you must learn about your legal rights and, preferably with the help of a consumer protection attorney (www.naca.net), find a technical or legal flaw in the lawsuit to have it dismissed. These flaws could be hidden in the lender’s debt collection attorney not following your state’s rules of civil procedures (for instance: You were served improperly) or by digging into the foreclosure complaint and court docket to see if there is an actual plaintiff’s proof of ownership of the promissory note, or if the original promissory note has been filed in the court records, or any of the other twenty-something reasons that that could render a judgment void or invalid.

There is no magic in foreclosure. If a homeowner doesn’t pay his or her mortgage, the lender will foreclose on their homes. There is no magical negotiation with a lender that can be done without cash at hand and/or ability to pay supported by proof of income. There is a lot of literature on the internet and in bookstores about the debt collection industry, on how to stop foreclosure negotiating with the mortgage lenders, about how debt collections works, about what to expect from debt collectors, etc, etc. However there is little information about how to navigate the legal system, on how to file pleadings and motions and on how to execute the steps necessary to win the debt collection/foreclosure battle in court. Almost nobody explains to homeowners in simple terms how the legal system works and how they can use it to your advantage to win debt collection lawsuits.

Homeowners’ Dilemma: To be or not to be in Foreclosure

According to several experts, the residential real estate market is poisoned to deflate at around 40%-50% in many areas of the country, specially in high speculative areas such as in California, Florida, Arizona, etc. Furthermore, foreclosures will greatly increase in the country according to several statistics and projections. It doesn’t take more than to look at the work of the prominent economist H.S. Dent (http://www.hsdent.com) or doing a quick search in a bookstore for a myriad of recent economic books that talk about the upcoming Greater American Depression.

Many homeowners have a very difficult decision to make in these historical economic times. Their properties are in a position now that it’ll be extremely difficult to make them cash flow positive as rentals, and/or to sell them for more than what their underlining mortgages are. It’s overwhelming to see the amount of new investors created during the 2001-2005 residential real estate boom. These investors where speculators with little investment education who wanted to jump on the train of quick real estate appreciation; in many occasions renting their properties out and getting negative cash flow in exchange for hopes of future appreciation. They ignored well known facts in the professional investment world: In order to get positive cash flow, most of the time you need to buy in the rare market where high cap rates are the norm (annual net operating income divided by property price. For example, a $1,000,000 property with $60,000 of net operating income per year has a cap rate of $60,000 ÷ $1,000,000 = 6%.). Such markets are usually severely depressed like Anchorage or Oklahoma City in the late 80’s. The reason tenants are willing to pay more to rent than they would have to pay to own in such markets is that they believe property values are falling or level, in which case not owning is a good idea in spite of the high rent.

Even then, the positive-cash-flow situation is typically a brief window that lasts only six months to a year. Positive cash flow is so rare and so desirable that it attracts out-of-area investors. Their coming into Anchorage or Oklahoma City or wherever drives the prices up so that high cap rates are no longer available.

The other way to achieve positive cash flow is to make a bargain purchase like at a foreclosure auction or out of probate. In that case, you have a low loan-to-value ratio, even though your loan-to-purchase-price ratio may not be low. When you achieve a positive cash flow through a bargain purchase, you generally should sell out soon because your extraordinary amount of equity will result in your return on equity being low.

Return on your investment is interesting to look at initially, but after purchase, you should switch to looking at your return on current equity. Dividing current net operating income by past purchase price is a misleading apples-and-oranges comparison. Return on investment (down payment and closing costs) will be high initially and climb higher if you bought right; but return on current equity (current market value of property less current mortgage balances), which is the correct denominator, will show a low and falling rate of return. That tells you to redeploy your money to where it can earn a higher return.

Basic financial education suggests that It doesn’t make sense to continue investing in an asset that is rapidly deteriorating in value to the point where a property will perhaps be worth about 40%-50% less than what it was bought for. What perhaps started as an asset with some equity when the homeowners purchased the property, is now a draining financial liability.

The most recommended approach now for property owners trapped with negative cash flow rental properties or trapped in a personal residence they can’t sell with or without equity, would be to speak with the mortgage lenders about possible options; banks should be nowadays more willing to negotiate financial loan terms in order to avoid foreclosure (be aware that most banks don’t offer much assistance unless a homeowner is already behind in his/her payments and has been sued with a foreclosure complaint).

If the homeowner decides to stop paying the monthly mortgage obligation, after 3-4 months of no mortgage payments, the lenders will start legal foreclosure proceedings, and in about 6 months or so (depending on the state laws where the property is and how busy is for a trustee or the county court house to schedule a sale due to the present high volume of homes in foreclosure), his/her property(ies) will be sold at public auction. At the public auction, is very common nowadays that no private/individual buyer bids and purchases the property(ies), thus forcing the lender to take the property(ies) back and try to sell them in the open market with a real estate agent (which doesn’t guarantee that the properties will be sold anytime soon). After the homeowner is sued and before the property(ies) are sold at the foreclosure auction, the homeowner can have a local real estate agent list them for sale in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), and if the agent is lucky enough to find a buyer before the foreclosure auction takes place, the lender could accept what is called a “short-sale” in which the lender accept a lesser payoff amount than what the homeowner owes as a payoff in his/her mortgage, so that the lender can avoid more loses in the future. Homeowners must contact their lenders directly to request a short-sale package to be sent by fax and/or mail. Roughly, the steps for a short-sale are the following:

- Request a short-sale package from both lien holders.
- Get a buyer for the property; preferably at a price close to the fair market value of the home
- Submit to lien holders short-sale packages with requested information (preliminary HUD-1, hardship letter, W2’s, bank statements, income tax returns, purchase and sale agreement with a new buyer, etc)
- Obtain approval by both lien holders individually in the form of a payoff letter. Make sure that in the payoff letter the lenders waive their rights to a mortgage deficiency judgment
- Submit payoff letter(s) to closing agent.
- Close on the purchase.

Many homeowners across the country are faced with this dilemma: They either keep their high credit scores and get stressed and financially drained with a depreciating asset that will probably be worth 40%-50% less than when purchased, or get rid of the assets in foreclosure, get rid of the stress, and keep their hard-earned cash to buy more properties in 2012-2014 or so when the market is perhaps expected to hit bottom and they will be able to create massive wealth in the upturn of the new real estate cycle that will probably peak in 2022-2023 or so.

Bankruptcy is another option, however, an attorney should be sought for it. If you are considering filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection, be aware of something that your attorney will perhaps not tell you: Based on research papers, the overwhelming majority of Chapter 13 filers do not complete their payment plans and are not discharged (see The Realities of U.S. Personal Bankruptcy under Chapter 13, Hülya Eraslan Wenli Li and Pierre-Daniel Sarte, February 14, 2007 and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy: Successful Versus Unsuccessful Debtors, David A. Evans, Utah State University and Jean M. Lown, Utah State University, 2003)

Since, I’m neither a financial advisor, nor a legal advisor, I’m not legally suitable to recommend a course of action and this is a very intimate and personal decision based on the homeowner’s personal priorities in life. They have to arrive at their own conclusions based on the facts that I’m providing and other facts that they accumulate in their research.

The Truth Report – December 2007

Hello, This is the first edition of my highly anticipated FREE monthly newsletter. I’ve called it “The Truth Report.” I’m sure you will find it informative and educational. I’ve compiled a myriad of articles reflecting some of what I consider are the most important topics today. We’re at the verge of historical times for the world since everything seems to suggest that the the United States is entering a decade of what many call the “Greater American Depression” with grave repercussions throughout the Western economies and perhaps the world. We have a world banking crisis; there is an unprecedented aging population in the United States and Europe that has started to slow down their spending as they approach retirement (spending contributes about 70% of the US economy); we have disruptive technology penetration of about 90%; we have a commodity, stock, and an oil markets that will probably peak by the end of this decade, and to make matters worse, geopolitical tensions keep increasing in the middle east and Venezuela. What’s happening in the middle east, specially in Iran, and what’s happening in Venezuela will determine our future and the future of our children since the world super powers (China, Russia, USA) are engaged in a greedy war for oil that will require the US to try to overthrow the current Iranian and/or Venezuelan government. This geopolitical tensions will very likely make the US, Canada, and Mexico a single political entity called the “North American Union” with a new currency called the “Amero.” All of this is could be necessary for the US to reposition itself as the world’s most powerful super power and to secure control of the world’s oil. We’re talking about events that will very likely happen sometime in 2008 and that will dramatically affect our lives regardless of where we live in the world. I completely understand if you don’t care about any of this; most of us are primarily consumers today, and so long as we continue to wrap ourselves in the cocoon of comfort, and the system keeps us walking down a road to the perceived path of prosperity, we don’t want to rock the boat, and we don’t want to listen to what’s happening around us. If it doesn’t have a direct impact on our day-to-day existence, we simply don’t care. Regardless of your level of interest, I highly recommend you carefully read the article below called “The Method to Bush’s Madness in Overthrowing Venezuela;” this is, in my opinion, the best investigative journalism article that I’ve read about the current geopolitical events that are ocurring and will occur that will certainly have a direct impact in our day-to-day existence. Please spread the word and Forward-to-a-Friend; this way we all can spread the word towards more prosperity, better health, and a better society. I encourage you to give me honest feedback on my newsletter. You can access the newsletter here: http://community.icontact.com/p/juliomartinezclark/newsletters/december2007/posts/the-truth-report-december-20072 Thank you! Julio Martinez-Clark www.juliomartinezclark.com

Debt Collection Attorneys Beware: Debtors Are Learning The Law To Fight For Their Rights

As record numbers of homeowners default on their mortgages, questionable practices among lenders are coming to light in courts, leading some legal specialists to contend that companies instigating foreclosures may be taking advantage of imperiled borrowers. In the last past weeks there have been important events unknown by many homeowners and individuals facing debt collection lawsuits. In a study of foreclosures, Katherine Porter of the University of Iowa found questionable fees on almost half of the loans and discovered that though bankruptcy laws require documentation that a creditor has a claim on the property, 4 out of 10 claims in Ms. Porter’s study did not attach such a promissory note. The second event is a court ruling on October 31, 2007 in which a federal judge in Ohio has ruled against a longstanding foreclosure practice, potentially creating an obstacle for lenders trying to reclaim properties from troubled borrowers and raising questions about the legal standing of investors in mortgage securities pools. The third event is another ruling on November 15, 2007 by a federal judge in Ohio who has given lenders 30 days to prove that they own the promissory notes on the properties they intend to seize from troubled homeowners in 27 other cases. In a fourth event according to the New York Times article dated November 28, 2007 and titled “Foreclosures by Lender Investigated,” the federal agency monitoring the bankruptcy courts has subpoenaed Countrywide Financial, the nation’s largest mortgage lender and loan servicer, to determine whether the company’s conduct in two foreclosures in southern Florida represented abuses of the bankruptcy system.

The sighting of a robin does not make a spring, nor do the actions of four judges constitute a trend. Nevertheless, the fact that some courts are taking a harder look at foreclosure practices may foretell a shift in attitudes. In the fourth event involving Countrywide, there is every indication that Countrywide was not alone in the practices at issue. So what makes this story interesting is that it is another example of a subtle shift in power in the judicial system. The plaintiffs have considerably more resources than the mortgage holders (the homeowners), most of whom cannot mount a fight; but judges may be starting to recognize that that power imbalance has led many banks to be sloppy, presumptuous, and at times extortionate, and at least a few jurists are holding their feet to the fire. In this case, the issue was charges Countrywide added to mortgage balance in two bankruptcy filings. When the borrowers objected, Countrywide did not appear at the hearing, leading the judge to remove those costs. Countrywide’s failure to respond piqued the interest of the bankruptcy trustee, leading to the investigation. Note the judge ruled against Countrywide’s objections to trustee’s subpoenas.

The media needs to bring to the public eye that It has long been a common practice for lenders to bring foreclosure proceedings without attaching proof of ownership of the underlying note. Tracking down such documentation may be more challenging because of securitization, the pooling of mortgages into trusts that are subsequently sold to investors. The proliferation of legal education books and events such as the ones named above are a waking call for the lending and legal industries; thus making the job of a debt collector attorney more difficult after enjoying decades of easy judgments against individuals who don’t know their rights. As Ms Porter’s study suggests, if one were to carefully analyze debt collection cases, one would probably discover that many of them lack legal standing due to insufficient proof of claims. The amount of debt collection void judgments in our courthouses is perhaps so vast, that it’s almost impossible to estimate how many there are. If every void judgment were vacated with damages, the whole financial and legal system would crumble perhaps representing an unprecedented shift in wealth.

Insights About My Father And Insulin

By the time you receive this message, my 86-year old father would had undergone two heart surgical procedures in Barranquilla, Colombia, South America, on the night of yesterday November 28th, 2007: 1) arterial bypass surgery, and 2) a pacemaker insertion. According to the cardiologist in charge of his case, one of his arteries looked like a “chorizo;” I dare you to imagine the analogy. Imagine what 86 years of smoking, not exercising, eating white rice, potatoes, yuca, plantains, chorizos, chicharron (fried pork), occasional pizza on Sundays, fruits loaded with sugar, sugar in just about any drink, arepas and empanadas (deep fried corn dough), alcohol, and a myriad of other sweet treats, and delicious local fried and white-flour and grain specialties would do to your body. I think he’s very fortunate to have made it this far in his life. He also suffers from a kidney condition and high blood pressure. By the way my father is very slim, has no belly and weighs about 160 pounds. He is a practicing medical doctor with specialities in pneumology and radiology.

My father’s heart surgeries got me thinking about what I think is the most terrible disease of modern society: Misinformation. Misinformation is actually a disease and is very contagious; we all suffer from it. We suffer from it due to various causes; a) the media has told us either the wrong information or hasn’t told us the full story on a topic, b) because we associate with people who also carry the disease and further make us sick, c) because we seek the wrong specialist to cure us from the disease, and d) because we simply don’t care about being a victim of the misinformation disease.

Art Heinze, a dear friend and mentor once told me…”there are three type of people in the world: the ones who make things happen; the ones who see things happen; and the ones who simple don’t know what happens.” This is a brilliant thought and fits perfectly in my comments today. I’d add to Art’s thought a fourth category – the ones who don’t really care about what happens. Unfortunately most of the world’s population is in the second, third, and fourth category. Somebody once said…”we are robots programmed to be born, and then to obey, eat, study, work, consume, become old, and die.” We shouldn’t live our lives like robots.

We are surrounded by “misinformation” messages. The media, restaurants, our friends, our family; they all contribute to our information or to our “misinformation” about food and health. We’re bombarded by TV shows, newspaper and magazine ads, lunch and dinner invitations, family gatherings and other social events that linger our ability to think for ourselves. From the moment we are born we see people drinking sodas and sugar-full fruit juices, eating pizzas, grains, processed white flour, high quantities of red meat, processed foods, candies, sugars, and many other foods that I’m sure you know are bad for you. Our brain processes this information simply by telling us that if everybody is eating A, then A must be something we must eat and it’s OK to eat; we believe this (because we are in auto pilot and not thinking for ourselves), and we feel bad if we don’t act and eat like everyone else does. 

Just to give you an idea of the multi billion dollar restaurant food industry, the US pizza industry reports the following on its website “…Not only did the pizza industry increase its volume of units between July of 2006 and July of 2007, sales saw one of the most significant rises in a few years. During this period the pizza segment saw a 3% increase in sales in both the QSR** and the CD** segments, which equates to an overall increase of $936,433,802 and brings the total U.S. pizza sales for these segments to $32,150,893,862 according to NPD Crest. This $32.2 billion in pizza sales represents 6.29% of the total ‘eating place’ restaurant sales in the U.S., which according to the NRA was $511 billion in 2006.” I don’t know about you, but I find this numbers very shocking. Pizzas are one of the worst foods we can consume and the industry is proud of reporting $32.2 billion in annual sales and a 3% annual growth. This tells you how “misinformed” our society is in regards to food consumption. Obviously is all about money; the food industry needs to make a profit and sell anything that people would eat regardless of the damaging health effects. If you study Alan Watt, David Icke and Alex Jones’ work, you’d know that their research suggest something really shocking and scary could be happening behind the scenes – population control. We are trading years of healthy life for the convenience of buying a $1 menu meal or a slice of pizza. I invite you to think that for every pizza slice, any fast food meal you eat, or any grain or sugar based meal you eat, you are diminishing your lifespan by a few hours.   

The reason I think we all have been victims of the “misinformation” disease is that very likely nobody has told us in school, in the mass media, or in our encounters with “misinformed” family and friends, nor we see in restaurant menus, that “insulin” is perhaps one of the most important topics we have to learn about if we want to be considered part of the first category that I spoke about before – the ones who make things happen.  

There are four time-tested, clinically proven gauges of health that you can use to determine your own level of health. They are:

    • Insulin levels

    • Weight

    • Blood pressure

    • Cholesterol levels

 

I will dedicate a few lines to insulin since it’s a very important and misunderstood substance, and you can read about the rest in just about any health publication.

What’s the deal with insulin levels? Sugar and grains cause your body to produce insulin and high insulin levels are the single largest physical cause of accelerated aging. If you want to slow down aging and stay healthy then you need to change your grains for greens. I will quote what Dr. Joseph Mercola says about it: “Well, you need insulin to live, but you probably have far too much insulin floating around in your body. Most adults have about one gallon of blood in their bodies and are quite surprised to learn that in that gallon, there is only one teaspoon of sugar! You only need one teaspoon of sugar at all times — if that. If your blood sugar level were to rise to one tablespoon of sugar you would quickly go into a hyperglycemic coma and die. You body works very hard to prevent this by producing insulin to keep your blood sugar at the appropriate level. This reaction keeps you from dying when you eat sugar. Unfortunately, it turns out that high levels of insulin are quite toxic for your body. Anytime you eat grains and sugars, you are increasing your insulin levels. If you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, or are overweight, it is highly likely that you are eating far too many grains. When I reference diabetes I am referring to the most common type, type 2 diabetes, which typically occurs in adulthood and is associated with increased weight. Type 1 diabetes is actually a problem with not enough insulin, as the pancreas loses the ability to manufacture it.” If you’d like to read about the importance of insulin and how it relates to many diseases, go here. 

It’s really sad that in our society it’s a lot cheaper to buy a slice of pizza or a cheeseburger than to buy a healthy meal. First of all, it’s extremely difficult to find a true healthy meal on the streets. In my experience, the best option is to cook and eat at home. Despite all the literature available about healthy eating habits, and despite someone’s educational level, it’s very likely that changing someone’s eating habits could become a daunting task. The reason for this is that change is an emotional action, rather than a rational one. This is the reason that all diets are effective, but none of them work. A great quote that I found about change is by John Kotter: “Behavior change happens mostly by speaking to people’s feelings. This is true even for organizations that are focused on analysis and measurement, even among people who think of themselves as smart in a MBA sense. In highly successful change efforts, people find ways to help others see problems or solutions in ways that influence emotions, not just thought.”

Research seems to indicate that It’s very hard to change someone’s habits just by throwing rational information to that person; if emotions are not involved in the reason for changing someone’s behavior, all efforts could be fruitless. This explains why is common to see medical doctors and highly educated individuals making really bad food choices. Even more astonishing is the fact that in my experience, it’s almost impossible to find a healthy meal at the cafeteria or restaurant inside a hospital. That tells you a lot about the system and how widespread the “misinformation” disease is – not even hospitals can cure it.

The cure for the “misinformation” disease is in all of us. The fact that you’ve been eating sugar and grains all your life doesn’t mean you have to continue doing it. Control your insulin levels. Be curious, question absolutely everything you eat, find an emotional reason to change – wake up! I love my father very much, and I’m in emotional pain from seeing him suffer from the “misinformation” disease. Perhaps my father could have lived to be 120 years old if he would have cured himself from the “misinformation” disease.

 

Note: The first edition of my free “The Truth Report” newsletter will be delivered by December 1st, 2007. I’m very excited about this accomplishment and look forward to your feedback.  

 

To Your Success,

 

Julio Martinez-Clark

www.juliomartinezclark.com

 

My first blog – An urge to share.

Hello All, I had an urgency to tell the world what’s in my heart and mind.  I see that we are living in a constant changing and evolving world and we get caught up in the daily activities of life in a modern society; we have little time to think about who we are and where we’re going. I decided to create a blog to share some of my ideas and discoveries in my search for the truth. Why search for the truth? Because I think we live in an illusory world; what you see is not what you get. I am sure you will find my blog very informative and inspirational in your own search for the truth.  I believe there’s more happiness in giving and sharing than in receiving.  Cordially, Julio Martinez-Clark