prudential artisan market

The extremely talented group Weather Report have released their most recent CD on the Legacy Recordings recording label, entitled Black Market.

It’s a rare day indeed that I get a CD from an artist that I can truthfully say does not have a bad track in the bunch. I’m more than happy to announce that’s exactly what I must say about this one. There simply isn’t a bad one in the bunch. No fillers here at all.

Black Market is a pleasantly varied, mix of 7 tracks that are very well written and brilliantly performed songs by these clearly talented musicians. Most of the songs display a lot of the kind emotion that makes for a really great listen. Clearly drawing from what I can only imagine are their own real life experiences. At different points touching on the most real emotions of love, and the pain of failed relationships can certainly be heard.

Listen to Black Market and I believe you’ll find there’s not much to dis-like about it. The songs are inspired, the production is simply outstanding, and this is clearly the work of a group of musicians in top form. So much so that if you’re even mildly into Jazz music you’ll enjoy this album.

While the entire album is outstanding some of my favorites are track 2 – Cannon Ball, track 4 – Elegant People, and track 7 – Herandnu

My Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 1 – Black Market. Great track!

Black Market Release Notes:

Weather Report originally released Black Market on June 4, 2002 on the Legacy Recordings label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. Black Market 2. Cannon Ball 3. Gibraltar 4. Elegant People 5. Three Clowns 6. Barbary Coast 7. Herandnu

Weather Report: Wayne Shorter (soprano & tenor saxophones); Joe Zawinul (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, synthesizer); Alphonso Johnson (electric bass, Chapman Stick); Jaco Pastorious (fretless bass); Chester Thompson (drums); Alex Acuna (percussion). Producer: Josef Zawinul.

Reissue producer: Bob Belden.

Recorded at Devonshire Studios, North Hollywood, California between 1975 & 1976. Includes liner notes by Hal Miller.

After learning to make more money and finding out ways to protect your money, you next need to learn how to budget your money for maximum utilization.

According to the book, a budget is a plan to coordinate your most important resources (such as money and time) and expenditures.  There are 2 kinds of budgets:

Budget deficit excess of spending over income you spend more than you earn Budget surplus excess of income over spending you earn more than you spend

The reason most people are poor is because all their lives, all they’ve known is not having enough money, hence, they only have a plan for “budget deficit”.   They have never experienced having more money than they could ever expect to spend.  They think only lottery winners, corrupt politicians, or greedy businessmen can have a “budget surplus”.   The key to having a budget surplus is realizing that it is possible for you to have it.

There are 2 ways to generate a budget surplus:

You can apply Financial IQ # 1 to make more money, thereby increasing your income, or You can cut expenses, and reduce your spending.

Both strategies will tip the equation to your favor such that your income will be greater than your expenses and you create that extra cash a.k.a. “budget surplus”.

Most people and businesses only know how to cut expenses, especially in these times of financial uncertainty.  But you can only do so much in terms of cutting expenses without sacrificing your mental, emotional and physical health.  You don’t need to starve yourself to create a budget surplus. If you apply Financial IQ # 1 – make more money, you can stretch the other side of the equation and achieve the same thing.  The same applies to business. A business without sales is NOT a business. So aside from minimizing the costs of your business, you also need to learn to sell more and boost your income!

Robert Kiyosaki offers 4 tips to plan for a budget surplus:

Budget tip #1 – A budget surplus is an expense Make spending for budget surplus a priority Pay yourself first, even when income is less than your expenses Use the pressure of not having enough money to think of ways on how to generate that extra cash Budget tip #2 – The expense column is the crystal ball Discover what you’re spending on, and you will know if your plan is working to give you a budget surplus or a budget deficit Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad says, “you can tell a person’s future by looking at what they spend their time and money on.” Budget tip #3 – My assets pay for my liabilities Instead of using your hard-earned money to pay for your liabilities like a car or a flat screen TV, make that money work for you by using it to build assets and use the income from those assets to pay for your car or your flat screen TV. Budget tip #4 – Spend to get rich Know when to spend and when to cut back.  Most people only know how to cut back.  Spending wisely to grow your money is a harder skill to master. Learn to do more with less and use the pressure to become smarter in making more money

Rich Money Habits Review Notes:

Budgeting is boring.  That’s what most people say.  However, it is one the most important rich money habits that you will have to learn.  A budget is like a map.  The only way to get to your destination is to know where you are right now, and use your plan to discover how to get to where you want to be. Consciously working on your money habits is a life-long process, and it starts with taking care of the resources that you have – that is budgeting your money and time.  What others don’t realize is that we all have 24 hours in a day.  Some people multiply their impact by providing livelihood to thousands of people and generating more money not only for themselves but for the whole community.  Others just sit around all day never doing anything to make their lives easier.  To me, it is not a question of do we need to budget or not.  It is a matter of realizing that to live your life to the fullest, you need to make the most of what you have. Be patient.  The problem of TV shows is that everything is fast.  Yesterday a child was born. The next day he’s already a teenager.  The next week he himself is already having his own kid.  Life is not a TV show.  It is a series of small steps earned each day.  So have a plan and learn to adjust that plan along the way.  As Robert Kiyosaki says “take it one day at a time.”

Financial instruments found in the debt market include:

1. Term Deposits

2. Government bonds

3. Treasury Bills (T-Bills)

4. Money Market Funds

5. Corporate Bonds and Debentures

6. Domestic Bond Funds.

In this article, we will only discuss the term deposits, government bonds, treasury bills and money market fund.

1. Term DepositsTerm Deposits are qualifying instruments for tax shelter and will share the following characteristics.

a) Short-Term Deposit: less than 1 year

b) Long-Term Deposit: to 5 years.

Interest Rate: depends on length of deposit and competitive interest rates available in the marketplace.Long-term investments are called Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs) and can be purchased for a lesser amount such as $500. They are also called a Certificate of Deposit (CD). Rates may vary as little as 0.10% amongst the deposit takers.Term Deposits may be cashed prior to maturity, but this may incur a penalty. GICs generally cannot be cashed before they mature, although some deposit takers are now more flexible.

2. Government saving bonds

Country residency is required and guaranteed by the country of issuer.

a) Are registered bonds that provide protection against loss, theft or destruction.

b) Are not transferable.

c) Can be purchased for a minimum of $100 to a maximum of $500,000.

d) The interest is taxable and is competitive with GICs.

e)  Mature in 10 to 12 years.

In Canada, Canadian saving bonds are issued as either R bonds or C bonds.

In US, US saving bonds are issued as series EE bonds, Series I BondsThe investment risk for government savings bonds Issued by Canadian government or US government is nil, since the bond is guaranteed by the federal government.

3) Treasury bills (T bill)Treasury bills are a short term money market instrument and issued by the federal government in terms of 30, 60, 91, 182 and 364 days. They are sold by auction.Banks and investment houses buy at wholesale in multiples of $5 million denominations. They then sell these T-Bills to brokers and investment dealers who break down their purchases into $1,000 lots.

T bills are sold discount to their face values and also sold on the secondary market and their value fluctuates depending on competitive interest rates at the times of resell.The short-term nature of T-Bills does not cause a large exposure to interest rate risk, but to some extent there is an inflation risk.If a T-Bill is sold before maturity, any gain is taxed as interest.

4. Money market fundsMoney market fund holds T bills and other short term money market contracts. Investors pool the investments through the mutual fund. Units in this fund can be bought and sold daily. Money market funds produce capital gains although their primary function is to generate interest income. Interest is generally paid monthly, while capital gains are paid annually.The benefits of money market funds include

a) Security of principal

b) Liquidity.

c) Eligible for plan registration

I hope this information will help. If you need more information, you can read the complete series of the above subject at my home page:

Kyle J. Norton

http://lifeanddisabitityinsuranceunderwriter.blogspot.com

/http://financialinvesting12.blogspot.com/

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