Defining your target market is critical if you plan on any measure of success in your business. A solid foundation for your business requires that one of the first things – if not THE first thing you need to do is to – DEFINE YOUR TARGET MARKET! In laymen’s terms, that means you need to figure out who your typical customer is, and design your marketing to reach those people. If you fail to do so, you’re marketing efforts will be like tumbleweeds – rolling around aimlessly in whatever direction the wind blows them.Defining Means Being More SpecificThere was a time when business owners would say things like “I’m marketing our products/services to people between the ages of 21 and 59.” That’s great if you think every 21 – 59 year old out there will buy from you, but that’s just not reality. These days, age doesn’t mean what it used to. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “60 is the new 40″ (or some variation of that). That’s very true today. Generational marketing, defines consumers not just by their ages, but also uses social, economic, demographic and psychological factors, that give marketers a more accurate picture of that target consumer. Generational marketing is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to defining your target market.6 Other Ways To Define Your Target Market

Look At Your Current Customers: Which one(s) bring in the most business? Why do they buy from you? It’s highly likely that others like them would also benefit from your product/service.

Choose specific demographics: Who has a need for your product/service and who would most likely purchase it. Consider; age, gender, occupation, location, income/educational level, or marital status just to name a few.

Check out your competitors: Who are they marketing to? See if there’s a niche they’ve missed, and target that group.

Check out characteristics: This is also known as “psychographics” in the marketing world. This covers things like; personality, attitudes, interests/hobbies, lifestyles, etc. How will your product/service fit in?

Analyze your product/service: Make a list of every feature of your product/service. Next to each feature, write down the benefit(s) each feature will provide. Once you’ve completed that, make a list of the people/businesses that need what your benefit will fulfill.

Assess your decision: When you’ve defined your target market, ask yourself these questions; Is there a large enough market for my product/service? Will they benefit from and/or see a need for my product/service? Can they afford it? Are they easily accessible? Will I be able to reach them with my message?

Defining your target market is the hard part, but you don’t need to go crazy doing it. Once you have your target market defined, it will be easy to determine what marketing message will resonate with them and what media to use to reach them. Defining your target market will also save you big on marketing dollars while giving you a much better return on those marketing dollars at the same time.

Congratulations! You just hired an SEO firm to climb up the SERPs and enjoy a tsunami of targeted visitors to your site. However, before finally sending in the money against the invoice, stop and think!Are you really sure that the firm you hired the SEO packages from really knows their game? Or did this question itself kicked off warning bells inside your head? For if it did, we have the right 5 pointers to help you know which is the ideal SEO company and which is not!1. Meta Tags: Check for the Meta Tags on the pages. Meta tags can be a great warning sign for any potential client to check out the authenticity and the efficacy of a SEO firm. The more potent and targeted Meta Tags for a SEO firm is, the more you can trust on the people who will be working for you.2. SEO Content: Don’t fall for tall claims from SEO agencies that they have the best copywriting hands on deck. Check their content as a sample. Shabby, grammatically incorrect, academically written blocks of texts etc that has been passed off as SEO copy can be another sign that this is not the firm you had been looking for, irrespective of how affordable the packages can be.3. 301 Re-direct: 301 Re-direct has to be executed right by any and every SEO company. The one that doesn’t do it (a re-direct to the www version of the site whenever the “www” has not been typed into the URL) is not worthy of your investment, money or time!4. Range of Services or SEO Packages: The extent of the SEO company’s acumen is also a fair indicator of the company’s ability to deliver on the promises it makes. So if you find a SEO firm that looks decent and offers almost all of the branches in an SEO package deal (viral marketing, Organic SEO, PPC, content development, Blogging etc) – you should know that you have struck gold!5. The SEO Firm’s Own Rankings: ‘People living in glass houses can mirror the world best.’ So you know, the more SEO-competitive and well-established an SEO agency is, the better it will be in handling your SEO assignments through its customized SEO packages. So the next you are on the lookout for the best SEO packages, turn the tables on the SEO firm. Ask for a targeted keyword, Google it, and let the consequent rankings influence your decision.See, it’s easy to identify the best from the rest. All you need is some basic SEO knowledge – and as a layman, understand of the way SEO packages are structured and customized. And oh yes, you need to have the aforementioned points in mind too!With these tips in your arsenal, the possibility of being fleeced by amateur SEO firms is as bleak as Steve Jobs going bankrupt! On a serious note, if you have been a hawk-eye as far as selecting SEO packages are concerned, you will have safe passage to the top of SERPs in no time!

The entrepreneur who really wants to be successful with his or her small business should be ingenious to look for new and innovative ways to advertise products and services to reach a wider market share. It has been found credible by many research studies that it is worth the time of any creative entrepreneur to build his or her business online. Particularly, the Internet has today offered remarkable ways an entrepreneur can build any business online and generate revenue.Recent available statistics speak positive about the fact that, over 81 percent of small business owners are reported to have their presence known online and over 30 percent are reported to generate over 25 percent of their revenue online. The ingenious entrepreneur cannot therefore ignore the fact that the Internet has been found in many important ways to help improve the image of small enterprises in a greater scale. Company websites, for instance, have been found relevant by most businesses and does underscore the importance of online business data listing management.Essentially in this respect, the Internet has become a way of proven enterprise management for small business development and growth through which an entrepreneur can also provide information about products and services online. Online business data management listing has become a very efficient way entrepreneurs provide good customer service and support that help businesses retain customers and build the enterprise with increased customer satisfaction and profitability.Benefits of a Wider Market ShareFurther importance of online business data listing management is the possibilities it offers by growth in terms of a wider range of market share and the ability to promote products and services at any given time. Other benefits associated with online business data listing management are reflected in the effective use of low startup costs to build an enterprise online and the ability an entrepreneur has with no-cost social marketing advertising. With online business data listing management an entrepreneur can literally benefit from small business branding on a limited budget. An entrepreneur’s business name and logo are tools he or she can effectively use to project the visible face of the products and services the entrepreneur is going to provide to potential clients.Benefits of Small Business AppsAlso, there are small business apps an entrepreneur can integrate into his or her online business data listing management framework to enhance enterprise development and success. Some of these capable business applications focus on financials and accounting fundamentals an entrepreneur can use to manage business general ledger data, accounts payable and receivables.There are also business apps with the principal focus on tracking billable work processes and productivity. With productivity apps an entrepreneur can generate and organically manage documents with business data in a very efficient way and can secure sensitive and high profiled data sufficiently protected within the company’s virtual domain.Also, the utility and support in communication and collaboration among employees, customers and external contacts can be a resource within any online business data listing management framework.There is also availability of the more traditional business apps such as office suites online, payroll and small business accounting software or invoicing and expense software-all are varied enterprise applications a capable online data listing management framework can be built upon as business solutions tailored for successful business management and growth. In this case, there are leading business accounting software packages such as QuickBooks and Peachtree which can make business accounting and tax filing purposes simple for any entrepreneur. These software applications can also allow import of data into one or more tax preparation programs.There are as well free accounting applications such as GNUCash software-a free open source accounting program with a simple interface but with load-full of in-depth accounting functions and features; and BizFusion which is another accessible online small business accounting system with nine modules all on a single interface that works just like Microsoft Outlook 2007 and focuses on inventory, project and asset management with a full built-in small business accounting solution that can provide the entrepreneur with a more complete business picture (including an analysis of competitors) in a single system.Any entrepreneur can therefore be resourceful and ingenious to implement an online business data listing management for his or her business to improve business efficiency and effectiveness. Even with smaller steps an entrepreneur can take over time to build a full online business data listing management program for his or her small business will see growth benefits accrue. Auspiciously, hardware and software costs are today quite affordable and the processing capacity and performance for both servers and networks have literally opened up a variety of opportunities for small business automation entrepreneurs looking to start their own business and small business owners that have limited budget can work with to build and grow their businesses.

Nowadays, an outdoor entertainment area such as a deck, gazebo, terrace or patio has become one of the things that many homeowners make sure that they have because of the countless benefits that it offers. An outdoor entertainment area is generally described as an outdoor space or an outdoor extension of the floor area of a house which is intended to be used as an additional living space. Here are some of the benefits that outdoor entertainment spaces offer.1. They provide an area where you can hang out with your family and friends on both sunny days and not-so-sunny days, as they allow you to enjoy the feeling of being outdoors without being subjected to any of the harsh weather elements such as extreme heat and rain.2. Outdoor entertainment areas can also be used for a wide variety of purposes. They can be used as a place where you can: relax after a stressful day at work; entertain friends and family; and have formal and informal dinners. You can also use them for parties and other special events as they outdoor entertainment spaces can usually easily be decorated.3. If you have young children, you can also set up their swing or slide sets in your patio or gazebo. Your kids would surely enjoy playing with their toys outdoors without you having to worry about them getting burnt by the harmful rays of the sun or being drenched in the rain.4. You can also use your outdoor entertainment area as a place where you can do your yoga and meditation. You can have it decorated with candles, mats and other yoga equipment and you would have a yoga studio right in your own backyard.5. They also serve as a wonderful accent to your outdoor area. For instance, if you have a large garden or backyard, having a gazebo or deck could automatically enhance its appearance and ambiance, especially if you would be choosing furniture that would complement or accentuate the existing style of your home.These are just some of the advantages of having an outdoor entertainment space can offer. It is important, however, that if you are planning to set up one in your home, you would be making sure that you have done your research and shopping around. The reason for this is because of the wide array of choices you have for building an outdoor entertainment space, you might be choosing some which might not be the best for you and your needs. Here are a couple of tips that may be able to help you out.1. Make sure to conduct your research on which materials would be best for your outdoor living space. There are a lot of material options which are available in the market today and you need to be careful in choosing which ones you would be using. Some of the most advisable pieces to use would be rust-resistant tables and chairs, mildew-resistant cushions and other durable furniture pieces that are not only stylish but are also able to withstand sun, rain and other harsh outdoor elements. Although such pieces would be on the more expensive side, they are good investments that would allow you to enjoy your outdoor entertainment space for many years.2. You could also consider having your patio or deck screened-in, especially if you have a bug problem to make sure that hanging out in your outdoor living space would be comfortable.3. If you intend to use your outdoor entertainment area for entertaining people during parties and other gatherings, it would be advisable to set it up near the part of your house where you keep food and beverages. You could also set up a small kitchen or pantry on your deck or patio to make it even easier and more convenient to serve food and drinks during special events when you have guests over. Aside from this, you can also have a restroom built so that your guests would not have to go inside your house anymore to go to the restroom if they need to.4. Aside from decorating the outdoor entertainment space you have with furnishings that complement your style, you can also consider making your garden or yard more aesthetically pleasing. By planting some fruit trees and flowering plants, you would be able to create shade and a beautiful view for you, your family and your guests to enjoy.

Congratulations, you have finally found one source of information that is both invaluable and easily applicable for your future investment decisions.We have read many books, reports and various articles on investments, property investment in particular. The majority of them contain great information, some of them even give you instructions on how to implement that information. However, none of them seem to provide the missing ingredient to convert the intent of the article into the actual result. Their “how to” information is never complete, too complicated or overly simplified.Finally, out of all our research, we have found a major deficiency in the information provided by other authors -They do not explain properly why you would invest in the first place!They do not explain how to measure your investments!What is the point of investment if you do not have a very specific goal in mind? And if you do have an outcome in mind, how do you know that a particular investment will achieve your desired goal?We hear many times that people wanting to purchase an investment property, without necessarily knowing why they are buying an investment property in the first place. We have probed for the answer only to receive blank looks, vague statements and complete incomprehension of the questions.Ask yourself, why would you purchase an investment property?Is it to create more wealth sometime in the future?Is it to help you financially on a daily basis?Is it to generate a specific return on your investment?Is it because investment property is a better investment than shares?Do you have answers to the above questions? If you do, how specific are those answers?We have found that people will generally answer yes to all the above without having any specific outcome in mind.In this report we will give you the primary tool that you will need to start answering the above questions.That tool is the ability to measure the return on your invested funds.If you cannot measure your return, you will never be able to achieve any of your objectives, or you will achieve them through luck and not objective, measured approach. Luck will not let you repeat your investment strategies. Luck is only good in casinos!So how do you measure returns?Let’s step back and discuss what is a return on your investment. When people talk about percentage returns or dollar returns on investment, they usually define these returns by time and the baseline investment.So for example if you purchased a property for $200,000, after 1 year that property might be worth $210,000. Therefore your return on investment is $10,000 in one year or 5% in one year. This example has a specific period of time within which a return is measured.However, when you measure a return on investment, do you need to measure the return on the whole price of the investment? When you purchase an investment property, do you purchase the property with CASH? Granted, some people in very exceptional and sometimes suspicious circumstances do buy property with cash! You would agree with us when we say that this is extremely rare. In most cases the investment property is purchased with a combination of your money and the bank’s money.In fact, in most cases, the bank lends the majority of the purchase price – 70% to 90% of the purchase price. This means that generally you only put up your own cash as a fraction of the property price. Given that you have only invested 10% to 20% of the total purchase price, when working out the return on YOUR investment, why would you work out the return on investment based on the whole price of the property? You did not buy the property entirely with cash, therefore you don’t need to work out the return on investment on the entire price of the property.We can provide an example of this in another field. Say you wanted to purchase an antique chest of drawers. You know that antiques go up in price with time, especially if they are properly looked after.This particular chest of drawers cost $1,000. You did not have $1,000 so you borrowed $800 from a friend and put up the balance of $200. You made a deal with a friend that at the end of the year once you sell the piece, you will pay him $40 for the loan. At the end of the year you managed to sell the piece for $1,100, or for an extra $100. So you might think that you have made 10% return.Or $100 profit divided by the $1,000 purchase price. You would be wrong. What you really made was $100 profit less $40 that you have to give to your friend for the loan. That makes $60 profit to you. To calculate your return you need to divide YOUR $60 profit by YOUR $200 investment. This means you made 30%. You only calculate the return on YOUR money and not your friend’s and not on the total purchase price of the antique piece.Here is an example of how your property investment will look. The numbers are purposely simplified and do not take into account various expenses:Example 1 – Return on investment based on $200,000 property purchased with an injection of 20% of your own money.Purchase Price $200,000
Increase in price in 1 year $10,000
Return on Investment in 1 year 5% (this is calculated by dividing the Increase by the Purchase Price)Example 2 – Return on investment based on $200,000 property purchased with an injection of 20% of your own money.Purchase Price $200,000
Your investment of 20% $40,000
Increase in price in 1 year $10,000
Return on YOUR Investment in 1 year 25% (this is calculated by dividing the Increase in price by Your Investment)In both cases the property cost the same and increased in price the same and over the same period of time. However, in Example 2 the return on investment was calculated on YOUR initial cash that you invested into the property. The difference is massive – 500%.You see, in this example, the bank that lent you 80% of the value of the property is already receiving a return on their investment. It is called interest. They do not require you to give them a part of the property appreciation as well. Given this, you can not count the entire value of the property in your investment return calculations.Of course it is not as simple as that. There are other considerations that need to be included in the calculations to be precise but the basic idea is correct. If you started applying this method to calculating your return on investment, you will discover that investment property is an extremely high yielding investment returning anything from 20% to 100% per year on your investment. Investment property rivals shares for returns and surpasses shares through removing volatility and risk from your investment.You have heard from so called experts that investment property will always underperform shares and other investments. You have heard that the only way to receive a high return on investing in property is through appreciation (price growth). You have heard that rent does not give you a high return. You have heard that you have to use Negative Gearing when investing in property to squeeze out any return. Unfortunately, none of these statements are true.Let us show you why….Let’s take an example property with the following variables:Purchasing and Investment details:Purchase Price (new 2 bedroom unit) $185,000
Bank Loan – 80% $148,000
Interest on Loan (Interest rate 5%) $7,400
Your Contribution – 20% (your cash) $37,000Cashflow details:Rent per year (Gross) $10,140
Total Expenses (property management, insurance etc..) $3,100
Rent per year (Nett – rental income after all expenses) $7,040
Total income from tax deductions $1,960
Total NETT rental income plus tax deductions $9,000From this example we see that your final position by owning this property is that you will have a $7,400 interest bill and about $9,000 in income. Therefore, you will MAKE A SURPLUS OF $1,400 PER YEAR. What does that mean if you work out return on your investment?Well, you have earned $1,400 on your initial cash investment of $37,000 (your contribution to purchase the property). This represents a return on your initial cash investment of 3.8%. That is low you might say and we would agree with you. You forgot about one thing… this property is paying you money to own it. You have just bought an asset that pays you from day one.What happens to property over long term? Generally properties go up in price. In fact, the average increase in price recorded over the last 100 years or so is compound 7% per year. If we apply this thinking to the above example, 7% increase on the original purchase price of $185,000 is $12,950.Therefore to calculate the TOTAL return on your original CASH investment, you need to do the following…..1. Add the income from rent and tax deductions to the price appreciation.* $1,400 + $12,950 = $14,3502. Work out the total return on your initial investment by dividing the above by your investment* $14,350 / $37,000 = 39%Amazing, your initial investment of $37,000 used to purchase this property earned you 39% return on YOUR MONEY in the first year. Of course, unlike shares you are not able to cash out and take this profit immediately. With property, you have to wait for some time before you can cash out fully.To put a 39% annual return on your money in perspective, it is 10 times greater then the bank will pay you. It is 4 times greater then professional fund managers strive to obtain – the same ones that get paid millions in bonuses. It is nearly 2 times greater then the richest man on the planet, Warren Buffet, consistently makes.How does that compare to all your share investments or any other investment for that matter? Where else can you buy an asset and have it pay YOU from day one and increase in price? Remember property appreciates in cycles, but it ALWAYS appreciates.This is what property professionals know and do not seem to want to explain to everyone else. Now you know how to calculate real return on your money, not the bank’s money. You do not have to work out the return on the bank’s money, the banks can do it themselves. You need to care only about your funds. So when you do the calculations right, you will find that overall by purchasing the right investment property, you will make up to 100% returns on your money. In the worst case scenario you will only make 30%. Either way, the returns are phenomenally high by normal standards.All this can be done without any risk and in some cases, with absolutely guaranteed rent!Now what do I do?Hopefully we have shown you that property is a remarkable investment that is hard to substitute. Not all properties are the same and you need to watch out for those that may stand empty for long periods or give you tiny tax deductions.Viva Properties has an education department that teaches people for FREE aspects of property investment – various pitfalls, risk minimization techniques, early mortgage repayments, ways of accessing properties for a discount etc… We teach by running small workshops of 10 to 20 people. During the workshops you are given incredible insights into how property investment works and this new knowledge is applied to specific property examples including those that you want to examine.So if you want to learn from the experts how property investment should be done and pay nothing for the knowledge, please go to www.vivaproperties.com.au

Prescribed only by a physician, home health care is skilled nursing care that aids in the recovery from illness, injury, or surgery in the patient’s home. And fortunately for many seniors who are now opting for care at home, Medicare insurance covers most costs related to home health care.The government, however, has set some limitations on payouts – you are only eligible if you need intermittent care (usually defined as seven days a week or less than eight hours a day over 21 days or less) (1), physical/occupational therapy or speech language pathology; you are homebound; and the home health care agency providing care is approved by your Medicare insurance program.In addition to medication administration, general supervision, and therapy services, the Medicare home health benefit covers a number of other necessities, including medical aids and supplies to aid in recuperation. On the occasion, though, you may be required to cover some of the costs associated with home health care. But what can you expect to pay out-of-pocket that’s not covered by Medicare dollars?Medicare Insurance: Part A and Part BHospital Insurance (Medicare Part A) helps cover the costs of your inpatient care at hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, or religious non-medical health care establishments. Part A can also help cover hospice and home health care services. Individuals aged 65 and older are usually automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A and do not have to pay a monthly premium if Medicare taxes were paid while working. If you did not pay taxes, you are still eligible, but you will be required to pay a monthly premium.Medical Insurance (Medicare Part B) helps cover services such as those offered by your physician and outpatient care. Many seniors maintain their enrollment in Part A, but elect not to use Part B, which requires a monthly premium that is dependent upon income, the requirements of which change yearly. Unfortunately, if you didn’t sign up for Part B when you were first eligible for insurance, your premium may be slightly higher (2).For questions on your Medicare insurance benefits, you should contact 1-800-MEDICARE or read the handbook mailed to you each year entitled “Medicare and You.”What’s Covered and What’s NotMedicare insurance pays for physical and occupational therapy and speech language pathology services, counseling, some medical supplies, durable medical equipment (which must meet coverage criteria), as well as general assistance with daily activities which include dressing, bathing, eating, and toileting. For most other medical equipment, Medicare insurance will cover 80% of its cost (3).However, Medicare will not cover twenty-four hour care at home, meals delivered to your home, and services unrelated to your care such as housekeeping. Of course, as mentioned above, you will be required to pay 20% for medical equipment not fully covered by Medicare insurance such as wheelchairs, walkers, and oxygen tanks (4).In some cases, your home health care agency may present you with a Home Health Advance Beneficiary Notice (HHABN), which, simply put, means if your agency is ceasing your care services, you will be presented with a written statement outlining the supplies and services the agency believes your Medicare insurance benefits will not cover as well as a detailed explanation of why. Should this situation arise, you do have recourse – the HHABN lists directions on acquiring the final decision on payment issues or filing an appeal if Medicare refuses to cover costs for home health care. In the meantime, you should continue receiving home health care services, but keep in mind that you will be paying for these services out-of-pocket until Medicare accepts your claims and remits past expenses.Medigap and Other Out-of-Pocket ExpensesMedigap, a supplemental insurance policy, is sold privately and covers the services and supplies not paid for by Medicare insurance. When used in conjunction, Medigap and Medicare can often cover a large majority of the costs of your home health care. Insurance companies offer a variety of different Medigap policies (A through L), but since each one comes with specific benefits, you’ll need to compare the highlights closely. Medigap policies vary by cost, and many insurance companies require you to have both Medicare Parts A and B in order to purchase a supplemental plan (5).For seniors with both Part A and Part B Medicare, your home health care situation is usually covered, save for the 20% out-of-pocket expenses for medical equipment. Just remember to keep track of your Medicare insurance benefits (and Medigap if applicable) by verifying with your physician, home health care agency, and insurance representative. Paying for home health care does not have to cost you an arm and a leg, but do be prepared for the occasional (but necessary) out-of-pocket medical expenses.Sources1. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Medicare and Home Health Care, page 6
2. Medicare website: “Your Medicare Benefits.”
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Medicare website: “Medigap (Supplemental Insurance) Policies.”

I’ll be blunt and get right to the three points of this article.
Point 1. Health care and health insurance should be separated.
Point 2. If it weren’t for the fact that health insurance has come to mean health care for most Americans there would be no health care reform.
Point 3. The only way to fix America’s health care once and for all is to bifurcate health care and health insurance as they should be.I’ll also give you three reasons why I say this so if you choose you can go to other articles and not bother with reading this further.
Reason 1. Because health care is now paid for by a third party health insurance premiums have increased over 100% since 2004.
Reason 2. On average over 60% of every health care dollar is wasted in the health insurance claims process.
Reason 3. Because of the health insurance/health care connection Americans are being robbed of their most precious birthright – their health.By means of government and health insurance company propaganda health care has been synonymous with health insurance since most of us can remember. At some point who among us hasn’t thought we needed a job with “benefits,” or maybe better benefits, so we could go to the doctor. We have been brainwashed by a system that profits monstrously from our lack of knowledge or apathy – whichever the individual case may be. We have been taught from our first paycheck that health insurance is the be-all-end-all when it’s time to take the kids to the doctor for a runny nose.That is confirmed within days when we get bill from the doctor’s office that says that the cost for that visit was $225.00.The system is rigged and it’s rigged so that each and every American thinks that someone else should pay for their health care. More on that later.Health care should be separated from health insurance like car care is separated from car insurance. When it’s time for an oils change do you reach in your pocket for your car insurance card to pay for it? “Of course not.” you say, “That would be ridiculous.”I ask you now to stop for a second and think why that would be a bad idea.In case you don’t know, let me give you a little primer on insurance. Insurance premiums are based on, among other things, claims – both the number and the amount of the claims. The individual states Department of Insurance ride herd over insurance companies to see that the amount paid out in claims is in proportion to the amount collected in premiums. So an insurance company doesn’t get a rate increase unless they have the claims to substantiate the increase. (That, by the way, is the one good service that the departments of insurance serve, since as individuals we don’t have the time nor the inclination nor the resources to look all of that information up.)So let’s now go back to the oil change scenario and look at it again. Instead of the one, two or three claims that you may file in a lifetime on your car insurance, you now find yourself filing a claim every three months or 10,000 miles. What would you expect your premiums to be like? How much would they increase? Also take this into consideration; your local mechanic or oil change service would have to wait 90 to 120 days to get paid for their money for the oil change. Plus there would be layer upon layer of paperwork to file the claim. The fact is, that if car insurance was like health insurance, your local oil jockey would have to hire an entire billing department just to file the correct forms with the correct codes – not once – but maybe as many three or four times.Do you think the oil change would still be $35.00 at your local Spiffy Lube would still be $35.00 or with the added payers of paperwork and personnel would the cost go up?The average face time with a medical doctor in the United States in now less than 10 minutes. The average amount of office labor involved in collecting the money for that 10 minute visit is upwards of three hours. How much is that costing you? Since there are no statistics kept on this let me do the simple math for you here. Billing and coding personnel make an average of $15.00 an hour. That could mean as much as $45.00 of your health care dollar goes toward processing your claim… and that is just at the doctor’s office. To be fair it is probably close to $30.00 on average but that is still a mighty large chunk of money.It is even larger when you look at what the doctor gets paid. (I told you earlier we would get back to this.) Don’t look at what the doctor bills, Look instead at your EOB, Explanation of Benefits that comes in a few months down the road. Don’t get caught up in the coding and insurance gibberish but instead look good and hard at the amount that was paid to the doctor. In many cases it will be something around $50.00, up to very rarely, $100.00.So the doctor paid out $30.00 to $45.00 to collect $50.00. Does that sound right or even smart?Then there are the processing costs added on at claims departments at the insurance companies. Most companies have at least two tiers of bureaucracy to look at every claim. The highest cost of any division at the large health insurance companies – right after management – is the claims department.The new health care reform law (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act )has added no less than 159 new programs, agencies and departments in between your visits and your doctor getting paid. Anyone out there really think all of those programs will save your health care dollars for health?

#EANF#

Key Insights
The strong pullback in the U.S. dollar provided significant support to stocks.
Treasury yields have pulled back after touching new highs, which served as an additional positive catalyst for S&P 500.
A move above 3730 will push S&P 500 towards the resistance level at 3760.
Advertisement

Pfizer Rallies After Announcing A Huge Price Hike For Its COVID-19 Vaccines
S&P 500 is currently trying to settle above 3730 as traders’ appetite for risk is growing. The U.S. dollar has recently gained strong downside momentum as the BoJ intervened to stop the rally in USD/JPY. Weaker U.S. dollar is bullish for stocks as it increases profits of multinational companies and makes U.S. equities cheaper for foreign investors.

The leading oil services company Schlumberger is up by 9% after beating analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue. Schlumberger’s peers Baker Hughes and Halliburton have also enjoyed strong support today.

Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna gained strong upside momentum after Pfizer announced that it will raise the price of its coronavirus vaccine to $110 – $130 per shot.

Biggest losers today include Verizon and Twitter. Verizon is down by 5% despite beating analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue. Subscriber numbers missed estimates, and traders pushed the stock to multi-year lows.

Twitter stock moved towards the $50 level as the U.S. may conduct a security review of Musk’s purchase of the company.

From a big picture point of view, today’s rebound is broad, and most market segments are moving higher. Treasury yields have started to move lower after testing new highs, providing additional support to S&P 500. It looks that some traders are ready to bet that Fed will be less hawkish than previously expected.

S&P 500 Tests Resistance At 3730

S&P 500 has recently managed to get above the 20 EMA and is trying to settle above the resistance at 3730. RSI is in the moderate territory, and there is plenty of room to gain additional upside momentum in case the right catalysts emerge.

If S&P 500 manages to settle above 3730, it will head towards the next resistance level at 3760. A successful test of this level will push S&P 500 towards the next resistance at October highs at 3805. The 50 EMA is located in the nearby, so S&P 500 will likely face strong resistance above the 3800 level.

On the support side, the previous resistance at 3700 will likely serve as the first support level for S&P 500. In case S&P 500 declines below this level, it will move towards the next support level at 3675. A move below 3675 will push S&P 500 towards the support at 3640.

Summary
SPDN is not the largest or oldest way to short the S&P 500, but it’s a solid choice.
This ETF uses a variety of financial instruments to target a return opposite that of the S&P 500 Index.
SPDN’s 0.49% Expense Ratio is nearly half that of the larger, longer-tenured -1x Inverse S&P 500 ETF.
Details aside, the potential continuation of the equity bear market makes single-inverse ETFs an investment segment investor should be familiar with.
We rate SPDN a Strong Buy because we believe the risks of a continued bear market greatly outweigh the possibility of a quick return to a bull market.
Put a gear stick into R position, (Reverse).
Birdlkportfolio

By Rob Isbitts

Summary
The S&P 500 is in a bear market, and we don’t see a quick-fix. Many investors assume the only way to navigate a potentially long-term bear market is to hide in cash, day-trade or “just hang in there” while the bear takes their retirement nest egg.

The Direxion Daily S&P 500® Bear 1X ETF (NYSEARCA:SPDN) is one of a class of single-inverse ETFs that allow investors to profit from down moves in the stock market.

SPDN is an unleveraged, liquid, low-cost way to either try to hedge an equity portfolio, profit from a decline in the S&P 500, or both. We rate it a Strong Buy, given our concern about the intermediate-term outlook for the global equity market.

Strategy
SPDN keeps it simple. If the S&P 500 goes up by X%, it should go down by X%. The opposite is also expected.

Proprietary ETF Grades
Offense/Defense: Defense

Segment: Inverse Equity

Sub-Segment: Inverse S&P 500

Correlation (vs. S&P 500): Very High (inverse)

Expected Volatility (vs. S&P 500): Similar (but opposite)

Holding Analysis
SPDN does not rely on shorting individual stocks in the S&P 500. Instead, the managers typically use a combination of futures, swaps and other derivative instruments to create a portfolio that consistently aims to deliver the opposite of what the S&P 500 does.

Strengths
SPDN is a fairly “no-frills” way to do what many investors probably wished they could do during the first 9 months of 2022 and in past bear markets: find something that goes up when the “market” goes down. After all, bonds are not the answer they used to be, commodities like gold have, shall we say, lost their luster. And moving to cash creates the issue of making two correct timing decisions, when to get in and when to get out. SPDN and its single-inverse ETF brethren offer a liquid tool to use in a variety of ways, depending on what a particular investor wants to achieve.

Weaknesses
The weakness of any inverse ETF is that it does the opposite of what the market does, when the market goes up. So, even in bear markets when the broader market trend is down, sharp bear market rallies (or any rallies for that matter) in the S&P 500 will cause SPDN to drop as much as the market goes up.

Opportunities
While inverse ETFs have a reputation in some circles as nothing more than day-trading vehicles, our own experience with them is, pardon the pun, exactly the opposite! We encourage investors to try to better-understand single inverse ETFs like SPDN. While traders tend to gravitate to leveraged inverse ETFs (which actually are day-trading tools), we believe that in an extended bear market, SPDN and its ilk could be a game-saver for many portfolios.

Threats
SPDN and most other single inverse ETFs are vulnerable to a sustained rise in the price of the index it aims to deliver the inverse of. But that threat of loss in a rising market means that when an investor considers SPDN, they should also have a game plan for how and when they will deploy this unique portfolio weapon.

Proprietary Technical Ratings
Short-Term Rating (next 3 months): Strong Buy

Long-Term Rating (next 12 months): Buy

Conclusions
ETF Quality Opinion
SPDN does what it aims to do, and has done so for over 6 years now. For a while, it was largely-ignored, given the existence of a similar ETF that has been around much longer. But the more tenured SPDN has become, the more attractive it looks as an alternative.

ETF Investment Opinion

SPDN is rated Strong Buy because the S&P 500 continues to look as vulnerable to further decline. And, while the market bottomed in mid-June, rallied, then waffled since that time, our proprietary macro market indicators all point to much greater risk of a major decline from this level than a fast return to bull market glory. Thus, SPDN is at best a way to exploit and attack the bear, and at worst a hedge on an otherwise equity-laden portfolio.