National Math and Science Initiative Turning the Tide in U.S. Math and Science Education

National Math and Science Initiative Turning the Tide in U.S. Math and Science Education With the release of third-year results from its Advanced Placement* Training and Incentive Program (APTIP), the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) has demonstrated continued success in substantially improving student achievement across the country in rigorous, college-level math and science coursework. The results, confirm NMSI is increasing college access for more American students, which is critical to address the skills gap in today’s workforce in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Congratulations! Sincerely, National Academy of American Scholars

Reading scores of fourth- and eighth-grade students were flat.

in 21 urban public school districts on the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) followed the national trend by remaining mostly flat, with no significant change from 2009. However, average mathematics scores rose in several districts, including some districts where scores were higher than those of large cities and the nation. Compared to the first TUDA in 2003, nine of the 10 districts that participated in both years scored higher in 2011 at both grades 4 and 8. In 2011, scores for both fourth- and eighth-grade students in six districts were higher than the scores for their peers in large cities

U.S. Department of Education (ED) finalizes the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

In December of 2011 the U.S. Department of Education (ED) finalized the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations. As explained in the Federal Register, the agency believes that the final regulations address states’ concerns and clarify the application of FERPA to state longitudinal data systems and education reform efforts. The final regulations transform the conversation from whether student data may be used for important educational purposes to how they can appropriately be used to improve student achievement.

The McGraw-Hill Research Foundation Policy Paper

A policy paper released by The McGraw-Hill Research Foundation calls for greater collaboration between the business and education communities to create a coordinated, institutionalized system that prepares the workforce of today and tomorrow for the demands of an increasingly high-tech and more competitive global economy. The paper points out that the goals and accountability systems of business and education do not align – but can. The current lack of integration is a major barrier to creating a steady supply of employees who are well suited to succeed in the changing global job market, whether they work on the factory floor or in a C-suite.

Congressional Road Block

It appears that Congress has decided to step back from the brink of ruin, and is now working toward agreeing to a set of bills that will fund the operation of the U.S. government for the rest of FY 2012. The current Continuing Resolution was set to expire at midnight the other day. Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle had been quietly working towards this agreement in a largely bi-partisan effort for the past several weeks, but as the deadline drew near, the impulse to self-immolation kicked in and arguments broke out around all sorts of issues. (For you political junkies, there's an interesting story at Politico (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70471.html) that details some of the intricacies of the potential budget agreement.) As you know, President Obama has appealed for end to partisan politics. In the end, however, political realities took over and it looks like something moderately acceptable will be worked out, possibly as soon as Saturday. It's still not clear how the Department of Education's money will be parceled out, but it appears that the overall cut to the Department's budget will be pretty minimal.

USAVIDEO.BIZ Multi-Media Directory

USAVIDEO.BIZ is a full-service Multi-Media Business Directory, based out of Los Angeles, CA. Unlike many directories, USAVIDEO.BIZ can incorporate the four essential components that contribute to enhanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Rankings. These compenents are Video, Text, and Audio, and Keywords.

If you are a webmaster or business owner seeking to improve your search-engine rankings, then you should submit your listing to the USAVIDEO.BIZ directory. USAVIDEO.BIZ has multiple Listing plans to suit your business objectives.

USAVIDEO.BIZ is a 100% SEO Friendly, searchable human-edited Business Directory that relies upon human administration, human review, and human editing. USAVIDEO.BIZ is a directory for sophisticated business owners who want to leverage their keywords, and existing web presence to enhance their business reach, and potential for new customers.

Before submitting your website to USAVIDEO.BIZ, please ensure that you first review their listing guidelines to help increase the chances of your site being accepted.

Departments of Education and Defense To Launch “Learning Registry” Tools and Community

The U.S. Departments of Education and Defense announced recently that it will launch the “Learning Registry,”an open source community and technology designed to improve the quality and availability of learning resources in education. The launch is an important milestone in the effort to more effectively share information about learning resources among a broad set of stakeholders in the education community. Rather than creating an alternative destination to existing websites, Learning Registry is a communication system that allows existing educational portals and online systems to publish, consume and share important information about learning resources with each other and the public, while respecting the privacy of individual users.

The Cashflow Quadrant

This is the cashflow quadrant that Robert Kiyosaki, author of best selling book rich dad poor dad talks about.

E – Employee

This is where most people are. They are employed by an organization or company and you are trading your time for money. If you want to make more money you have to spend more time working. Sure you can get a higher salary or find a better job, but the money does not scale. You only earn money when you work, if you get sick, go on a vacation or go into retirement your cashflow typically stop.

S – Self employed

This is where a lot of people start out. You work by yourself but also for yourself. Freelancers typically belong to this category. While you have more freedom and can typically charge more, there is still the issue that if you don’t work you don’t earn any money. It is typically the first step for people because you can continue to do what you did as as employee but at a higher salary and with a better boss

B – Business owner

Business owners own a system and typically have people working for him/her. It is no longer your hours that bring you income, but a system that you have setup. This could be selling other’s hours or selling a product. If you have built a good system, then it will run even if you get sick or decide to take a mini-retirement for six months.

I – Investor

This is where investors are. Just like the Business owner they do not get paid by the hour, but have money working for them. This can be investment in any kind of assets like real estate, stocks, businesses etc. Often you see people move to this category when they have made money as business owner.



On the E and S quadrant side, people work for money. While on the B and I side, people have their money work for them. Always remember, the rich don't work for money, they let money work hard for them. Choose your road wisely and find your passion. Only by doing what you love will you be able to succeed.

Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning Reveals Seven Key Trends in Online Learning

K-12 online and blended learning evolved in new directions in 2011, with the rise and rapid growth of new consortium and single-district programs outstripping the continued expansion of more traditional elearning programs, new research shows. This trend and other K-12 online and blended learning developments are revealed in the new report, 2011 Keeping Pace with Online K-12 Learning: An Annual Review of Policy and Practice, from the Evergreen Education Group. Now in its eighth year, Keeping Pace tracks the latest developments in K-12 online learning policy and practice.

How Marketing Automation Can Help You Improve Efficiency, Lower Costs, and Maximize Revenue

Marketing automation tools are helping companies — large and small — improve response rates, identify well-qualified leads, and make informed decisions about when and how to act on opportunities. They are also reducing the time and cost of creating campaigns and improving overall returns on marketing investments. Educators and non-profit organizations can use these same techniques as well.

Both non-profit and for-profit organizations can start leveraging marketing automation and use these techniques to sell to schools. By using these methods, businesses can reach the right educator with the right marketing message. The end result is greater sales, and higher retention of customers.

New Grants by U.S. Department of Education

It was a busy week in Washington, as the Department of Education made a flurry of announcements, seemingly intent on pushing ahead on a number of fronts in the face of Congressional inaction. Both the Departments of Education and Defense launched the Learning Registry, a tool that facilitates sharing educational resources. Earlier, President Obama and Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services announced new rules for Head Start. The Department of Education announced the potential grantees for the second round of investing in Innovation - i3 - grants.

What does it take to become successful?

Many people aspire to become successful, wanting the nicest car, the biggest house, the most expensive clothes, going for their dream vacation etc. But how many people are able to acheive all that? Instead, many of the so called rich are in actual fact in debt. On the outside, they have all the cars, houses etc but everything is bought on credit. Once they lose their jobs, they will lose everything. Why do many people fall into this trap of constantly running in the rat race and not able to acheive financial freedom?

I believe there are a few reasons:

1) Lack of financial management skills
Where do we learn the skills to manage our money? In schools, they only teach us the academic subjects like english, maths, science. So, if schools do not teach us those skills, most likely we learn these skills from the people around us. We learn it from our parents and our friends. So ask yourself this question, are the people around you successful? If not, you may have learnt all the wrong things about managing money.

2) Lack of financial education
This is the ability to earn more money, save money, invest money and protect money. There is one saying which goes like this:" It is not how much money you can earn but also how much you can save and what you do with the money you save."
There are 3 groups of people in this world. The first group are those who live from paycheck to paycheck, not saving a single cent. These people are most of the time in debt and even if they get a raise or promotion, they will quickly spend it away. Expenses when not in control will always rise to the level of income. The second group of people are beter than the 1st group. They are able to save a portion of their income but most of the time they put it inside a bank or in low interest rates fixed deposit accounts. These people have enough to live by but they are not able to quit their job as it is their only source of income. The third group of people are the ones with the highest financial education. They save a portion of their income, they watch and read financial news regularly. They know how to pick the right stocks to invest and most of the time they have more than one source of income. They have also built a stable stream of passive income and are able to quit their jobs if they want to. Financial education is very important if you want to live a life of abundance. Learn how to invest and manage your cash flow.

Social media environment in U.S. schools.

What is the general approach to social media in U.S. school districts and classrooms today? What about the use of social media in international class rooms? Are their opportunities in social media to enhance learning? What policies are in place for the use of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media channels? What should publishers be doing to meet schools’ needs? What do technology experts say about the use or criticisms of social-media, and its role in improving student achievement and its impact on cost savings.

“Growing Opportunity” Report Cites Momentum Gained and Renews Call To “Do School Differently”

Carnegie Corporation of New York & Institute for Advanced Study —

In the two years since its release, The Opportunity Equation: Transforming Mathematics and Science Education for Citizenship and the Global Economy has served as a call to action, a unifying framework, and a mission statement for improved math and science education. The report presented a vision for excellent, equitable science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning that would reach all U.S. students and prepare them for full participation as citizens and as workers in an increasingly global economy, and it lent momentum and credibility to a growing movement

Gold as a Hedge Against Tuition Hikes

We have discussed a series of investment articles for students relating to precious metals. We have introduced the concept that aggressive-minded students may want to consider the precious metals as a source for long-term growth, and as a hedge against Tuition hikes and long-term inflation. Over the years, hardly anyone can argue that Gold has outperformed Real Estate, and certainly stocks. Gold has been used throughout history as money and has been a relative standard for currency equivalents specific to economic regions or countries, until recent times. Many European countries implemented gold standards in the latter part of the 19th century until these were temporarily suspended in the financial crises involving World War I. After World War II, the Bretton Woods system pegged the United States dollar to gold at a rate of US$35 per troy ounce. The system existed until the 1971 Nixon Shock, when the US unilaterally suspended the direct convertibility of the United States dollar to gold and made the transition to a fiat currency system. The last currency to be divorced from gold was the Swiss Franc in 2000. Students may take advantage of the Gold precious metals alternative by seeking out suitable and reputable companies that teach new investors how to invest in Gold. Please follow this blog for more advice for students.

80 Partners Join Multi-sector Movement To Tackle Nation’s Need for 100,000 Excellent Math and Science Teachers in 10 Years

More than 80 partners–from NASA and Google to the New York City Department of Education, Stanford University, and Teach for America–have joined 100Kin10, an effort to respond to the national imperative to prepare, deploy, and support 100,000 excellent STEM teachers over the coming 10 years. The partners are unified by a single, ambitious goal: to prepare all students with the high-quality science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) knowledge and skills needed to address the most pressing national and global challenges of tomorrow. The effort is led by Carnegie Corporation of New York and Opportunity Equation.

U.S. Chamber Gathers Tennessee Leaders To Discuss the State of Education and the Imperative To Take Action

U.S. Chamber of Commerce — Saturday, October 15, 2011 The Honorable Margaret Spellings, former U.S. Secretary of Education and current President of the U.S. Chamber’s Forum for Policy Innovation, gathered with business leaders from across the state to discuss the state of education in Tennessee and across the country, the imperative for business engagement in education and the actions Tennessee must take to continue the fight for reform. The event centered around findings from a report of the Chamber’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce that highlights the valuable role business can play in retooling school systems around the country and bringing about transformative improvement.

Silver as a Hedge Against Tuition Hikes

A small percentage of U.S. College students are buying Silver as a hedge against future tuition hikes. It is true that investments in Silver and Gold are quite risky. With youth, however, this risk is mitigated. Statistically, wwning silver, gold and precious metals has beem one of the safest ways to protect and grow a family's private wealth. Today, however, some savvy students are investing in Silver and other metals as a hedge against rising tuition. Students can follow the NAAS NEWS Blog for free advice, opinions, and strategy as to how students may go about buying and owning Silver.

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Public Charter Schools Now Enrolling At Least 30 Percent of Students in a Record Six School Districts Nationwide

A record number of school districts—six—have at least 30 percent of their public school students enrolled in public charter schools, according to an annual report released Monday by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) entitled A Growing Movement: American's Largest Charter School Communities – Sixth Annual Edition. In addition, an all-time high of 18 school districts have more than 20 percent of their public school students enrolled in charter schools.

Dramatic Shift in the K-12 education market

The K-12 education market has been undergoing an unprecedented, multi-dimensional shift in the past couple of years. A combination of powerful political, economic, and technological forces is in play, creating a significant and non-reversible change in the culture and overall way of conducting business in the market.

Despite a relatively small award pool ($500 million), 35 states, D.C, and Puerto Rico submitted applications for the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge, a joint program of the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. The interest reflects the states' high interest in moving their early childhood programs forward. The applicants were required to create comprehensive plans to improve early learning and development programs around five key areas of reform: establishing successful state systems, defining high-quality, accountable programs, promoting early learning and development outcomes for children, supporting the early childhood education workforce, and measuring outcomes and progress. Applications will undergo peer review by early childhood experts from across the country with winners announced in mid-December. Awards will range from around $50 million up to $100 million, depending on a state's population of children from low-income families and proposed plan

New national standards released today provide states, districts, online programs and other organizations with a set of guidelines for ensuring quality online courses in K-12 education. The guidelines, which were issued in the report National Standards for Quality Online Courses, Version 2, were released by a committee of experts established by the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL).

Are you still trying to decide if you want to pursue social media marketing plunge? Sandy Fivecoat, Founder of the WeAreTeachers online community for educators, suggests that companies that target teachers and educators should pursue this option. The bottom line of her findings: more marketers are investing in social media and using it for lead generation. For example, National Academy of American Scholars has invested in a Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and even MySpace presense.

We encourage all students to follow important senatorial sessions that affect education or student financing. Senator Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, has released a draft of the Senate ESEA reauthorization proposal. The bill is scheduled for markup in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on October 18. As might be expected, the proposal does not suit everyone. The civil rights community is worried about an apparent backing off from accountability targets; a number of Republicans believe the federal role is still much too large, despite added flexibility provisions; and teacher advocates have concerns about the teacher evaluation process. State and local education agencies and state governors seem pleased to be relieved of some of the more onerous aspects of NCLB, but have their own concerns about other aspects of the proposal. It's also not at all clear how this comprehensive legislation will (or could) be reconciled with the more piecemeal approach the House of Representatives is taking, though that concern may be premature, as first the bill has to make its way out of the Senate

NAAS Financial-Aid, Scholarships. Loans

A summary of NAAS Financial-Aid products, and services.

If you are looking for information that covers, Grants, Loans, Financial-Aid, and Scholarships then the NAAS.ORG website is the channel for you. We have the latest and best sources of new, upcoming, and exciting financial-aid product releases RIGHT HERE!!

For up-to-date information, please bookmark this website. We encourage parents, educators, counselors, and students to explore the NAAS.ORG financial-aid website, and take advantage of the enormous opportunities. Don't let this wealth of financial-aid go wasted!! Apply! Apply! Apply!

Even if you have little or no interest in NAAS-sponsored awards, at the very least consider the many alternatives of our sponsors. There is no legitimate reason for any student to go without some source of financial-aid in the U.S.A. The money is right here!! Yes, the money is looking directly in your face. Really. Can you see it? I can! Explore the NAAS.ORG website to your heart's content and help yourself to the many opportunities that you see.

Whether it is loans, grants, financial-aid, or scholarships, the National Academy of American Scholars has the resources and connections to help you. Many of those resources and connections are displayed in fron of your eyes on this channel.

Parents, educators, counselors, and students may be happy to know that the latest versions of NAAS application forms are available. We have uploaded the latest NAAS Platinum, NAAS Gold, NAAS Silver, NAAS Bronze, NAAS-II, and NAAS eMicro loan applications. These forms are availableas either individual purchases, or to NAAS subscribers. If submitted online, or by fax, NAAS Award applications carry no processing or administrative fees.

Financial Aid News and Grants

If you're exploring options for paying for college, see our website at http://www.naas.org We have multiple options for students seeking financial-aid, grants,loans, and other sources of aid. National Academy of American Scholars offers multiple sources of information that contain various kinds of financial aid (loans, grants, and work-study), how to apply, common myths, and more.

Make sure you also visit our NAAS Student Forum. Financial aid professionals at banks, colleges, guaranty agencies, and other postsecondary or lending institutions will want to see our online reports and publications, regulations, and policy guidance on the administration of the student financial assistance programs.

If you're looking for grant information not related to student aid, we also have content and sources related to that subject also.

The millionaire mindset

The 7 steps to financial success

Why the rich are getting richer?

A little introduction of my coach in Wealth Academy trader course

I have just finished my first lesson in WAT on Tuesday. My coach is Conrad Alvin lim. Click on the link below to read his story and journey as a trader.
From Bankrupt to Bankroll

I Have Achieved So Much…But I Am Still Not Happy!

Read this blog post by Adam Khoo. Success will not bring you happiness. Happiness is what you defined it as. You can choose to be happy and grateful for what you have now!

Click on the link below to read:
I Have Achieved So Much…But I Am Still Not Happy!

What happened to detroit?

Detroit was once a city with skyscrapers and one of the fastest growing states in America. It was the envy of america but now, the city is in ruins.

-120 square kilometers of the city are vacant, an area larger than than city of Vancouver.
-22% unemployment.
-Homes selling for $1.
-Median home price is $6000 and falling.
-Wild animals are moving back into the city... pheasants, coyotes, even beavers.

It is scary to think that a city can just become a ghost town. Watch the following video to see it for yourself:

US economy created no jobs in august. The worst since world war 2.

WASHINGTON - The struggling US economy added no jobs in August, a far worse reading than expected, official data showed Friday.



The Labor Department said the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.1 percent for a second month amid the zero job growth.



After a series of weak economic data, analysts had lowered their expectations for job growth, with the average estimate at net 70,000 in August.



That would be well below the 100,000 seen as necessary to support a steady unemployment rate, according to Briefing.com economists.



Employment in the private sector, which has been the main engine for jobs growth as revenue-strapped governments shed workers, "changed little" in most major industries, the Labor Department said.



The unchanged jobless rate was expected.



Europe's main stock markets slumped sharply in Friday afternoon trade on news of the US jobs report.



At around 1230 GMT, Frankfurt, Paris and Madrid were all down more than 3.0 percent, with other European markets also deeply in the red.



London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares lost some 2.2 percent in reaction to the US lead and as investors followed fresh problems in Greece and Italy which pushed the eurozone debt crisis back into sharp focus.



Meanwhile gold extended gains, as investors sought refuge in safe haven assets.



Spot gold rose to a session high of US$1,873.10 an ounce in London, before easing back to US$1,870.14 by 1235 GMT, compared to US$1,824.55 late in New York on Thursday.

NAAS Forum Hero Awards

To be a HERO member of the NAAS Student Forum board, you must have 500 posts. The posts must not be SPAM, but must add to the over-all quality of the board content.

We are no longer offering any sort of prizes, however.
The eligibility requirements are as follows:
1. You need not be a U.S. Citizen, but your posts need to be in English;
2. Your posts must be relevant to the category you post, and must not include outside links to to any other third-party or company;

NAAS Student Forum Subscriptions

Businesses may increase their commercial visibility by purchasing an NAAS Student Forum subscription. Here is what a subscription in the NAAS Student Forum can do for your business. A subscriotion to the NAAS Student Forum will allow you to place commercial advertisements, event announcements in our Calendar, prices, and active commercial links in any part of the NAAS Student Forum. All NAAS Student Forum subscribers will belong to a privileged forum membership group that allows for additional access rights, and privileges. Without a subscription, you do not have access to special features, and if your posts contain prices and/or commercial links to businesses then your posts will be removed.



The CURRENT costs of a monthly NAAS Student Board subscription that allows you to post non-repetitive commericial advertising links on the NAAS Student board is only $10.00 per month. Your advertisements may be flash, mp3, video, or images. When The board reaches 1,000 members, the cost will go up to $15.00 per month. Presently, we allow new advertisers the ability to lock in the low rate of just $10.00 per month for a lifetime now if they act within 30 days of becoming a new member. As the NAAS Student Forum grows in membership, and impression views, your business visibility will also grow.

How do you acheive financial freedom?

Everyone dreams about being financially free and having the choice to not work for money. But how exactly do you strive towards that? I'll try to give a few examples and explain on what and how should you go towards the goal of financial freedom.

First, you have to understand financial freedom is a result of the choices you make. Your financial intelligence will influence your choices such as your spending habits, how you create multiple sources of income and how you invest your money. Your financial education will determine the level of your financial intelligence.

Financial Education -> Financial Intelligence -> Choices

Financial Freedom = Passive Income > Expenses

The only way to reach financial freedom is to create passive income. Passive income is money that you don't have to work for.

Examples of passive income:

1. Rental from properties
2. Royalties from intellectual property (books, music albums etc)
3. Dividends from stocks
4. Businesses that generate cashflow for you

To create passive income, you will need high levels of financial intelligence. You need to know how to run a business and how to invest. This is the passive side of the cashflow quadrant which is discussed in my previous blog post video by robert kiyosaki. We will need to shift from the active side of the cashflow quadrant of the E and S (Employed/Self-employed) to the B and I(Business/Investor) which is the passive side.

By now, you should see that working hard all your life in a corporation will not make you financial free if you're not able to shift your life from one quadrant to another. It is not how much money you can make but how much money you can keep and what you do with the money you keep. Do you spend more than you earn? Do you invest your money or you just leave it in the bank? Do you invest more than you spend?

Start today by determining where are you now. Are you in debt? If you are, then start setting goals to get out of debt. Reduce your spending and pay off your debts slowly. Start saving up your money. Are you able to save at least 10% of your income every month? If you have been saving up but do not know what to do with the money you have, then start reading up and find ways to make your money grow. Lastly, use the money you have to buy assets that generate passive income for you. You will be financially free very very soon.

Imagine not having to work for money any more and you're able to do the things you like. You do not have to worry about money any more and able to retire without worries. I do not believe in retiring with your savings. Money will devalue over the years due to inflation. Many people find that after they retire, their money becomes lesser and lesser and in the end they have to go out and work again.

In my subsequent blog post, i'll do my best to discuss on subjects related on financial education. I hope to increase your knowledge on finance and help you achieve the dreams you have. Feel free to comment and feedback to me what you want me to discuss about. Drop me an email at sgyounginvestment@gmail.com and i'll answer your queries. All the best to everyone and hope you achieve success in life.

Robert Kiyosaki explains the cash flow quadrant

Robert Discusses Inflation

Robert Discusses Inflation: Robert talks about inflation and his predictions for the future.

Bernanke Stays Course, Says Fed Will Consider Move in Sept.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Federal Reserve stands ready to use additional tools to help the US economy in its nascent recovery, but he stopped short of explicit talk that another round of monetary easing is forthcoming.



The central bank chief's hotly anticipated remarks at Jackson Hole, Wyo., did not entail promises of more quantitative easing —QE3 in market parlance—nor did he discuss specific measures on whether the Fed will make any other attempts at intervention.



Citing "a range of tools that could be used to provide additional monetary stimulus," he said the Fed "will continue to consider those and other pertinent issues, including of course economic and financial developments, at our meeting in September, which has been scheduled for two days instead of one to allow a fuller discussion," Bernanke said in the speech.



As the economy languishes in low growth and stock market endures a summer correction, Bernanke's speech was considered a bellwether for what will lie ahead.



Instead, he mostly reiterated language already used by the Federal Reserve , in which it has expressed concern about the pace of economic recovery.



"It is clear that the recovery from the crisis has been much less robust than we had hoped," he said.



But the chairman seemed to put an end to talk that the Fed was willing to react simply because the stock market was in correction mode and worries have intensified that the economy could be heading for another recession.



"We heard from Gentle Ben rather than Hurricane Ben," Robert McTeer, former Dallas Fed president and distinguished fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, told CNBC. "The choice in monetary policy isn't between QE3 and doing nothing...No QE3 does not mean the Fed is just backing away and not doing anything."



Bernanke also said he expects growth to pick up in the second half. Should signs fail to materialize soon, the Fed's Open Market Committee will consider additional policy tools at its Sept. 20-21 meeting, which has been extended to two days.





He said inflation is likely to stay below 2 percent, which would meet Fed expectations and its mandate for price controls. However, that only pertains to so-called core inflation, which excludes food and transportation costs and is around 1.8 percent on an annualized basis. Headline inflation, which includes the more volatile measures, is at 3.6 percent.



Dissenters on the Fed in part fear that the Fed's policies, which have driven down the US dollar against the world's currencies, are in turn pushing inflation higher.



Markets sold off sharply but briefly following word that the Fed would not deliver on QE3 expectations, with the Dow industrials sinking more than 150 points.







However, the selloff was short and orderly and quickly calmed, with the market eventually turning positive on indications that investors were far from unanimous in their quest for QE3.



"Bernanke didn’t play the panic card and throw another QE program at the economy," said Keith Springer, president of Springer Financial Advisory in Sacramento, Calif. "This will ultimately instill confidence in investors as they will be pleased by his non-action because if more stimulus was needed he would have applied it."



Bernanke used his Jackson Hole speech last year to tip his hand about QE2, sparking a sharp move higher in the stock market. The Fed did not actually begin the round of easing until November with a series of purchases amounting to $600 billion in Treasurys.



On the jobs front, Bernanke said economic growth is not sufficient to bring down the 9.1 percent unemployment rate. He called on Washington to develop "good proactive housing policies" to address a real estate market at depression levels.



"Even as tight credit for some borrowers has been one of the factors restraining housing recovery, the weakness of the housing sector has in turn had adverse effects on financial markets and on the flow of credit," he said.



But when it came to specific language regarding Fed action, he remained vague.



"The Committee will continue to assess the economic outlook in light of incoming information and is prepared to employ its tools as appropriate to promote a stronger economic recovery in a context of price stability," he said.



- 2011 CNBC.com

Market update 25 August 2011

Dow jones index rallied 143 points to close at 11,320. If you've read my previous post on Singapore companies were late in commercial payments, then you should have realized that we're really standing at the edge of the cliff now. Companies late in payments will result in lawsuits, which will in turn become court case then many companies will declare bankrupt. The problem will always start with companies. Tomorrow will be the Fed meeting everyone Is waiting for. Let's see what will happen.

More than half of Singapore commercial payments late

SINGAPORE, Aug 23 (Reuters) - More than half of the commercial payments made by Singapore companies were late in the second quarter of this year, adding to concerns that the economy may be falling back into recession, the Straits Times newspaper reported on Tuesday.



The paper cited a report by the Singapore Commercial Credit Bureau that 53.1 percent of all payments were late in the three months to June 30, up from 42.5 percent in the previous quarter.



Less than 40 percent of transactions were paid for promptly, the lowest level since the agency introduced the report in 2007. The report describes prompt payment as when at least 90 percent of all bills are paid within the payment period.



The construction sector has the worst record with 65 percent of transactions being classified as late, followed by the retail sector with a 62 percent late payment rate.



The city state's economy contracted 6.5 percent in the second quarter on a seasonally adjusted and annualised basis, while the government has narrowed the growth forecast for 2011 to 5-6 percent compared to an earlier estimates of 5-7 percent.

Market update 24 August 2011

US market rallied 300+ points yesterday. If you read the news, there are many analyst who comment on why the markets are rallying. In channel news Asia, it says: US market rally on hopes of economic growth. On CNBC, ex Fed reserve chairmen alex Greenspan says EURO is in big trouble and is slowing down US growth. As reported, New home sales fall to five month low in July. If the report is bad, then what is causing the rally. In Asia, most stocks are up yesterday. With so many news and comments, how will you analyse the situation?



In my view, I think the economic situation is still very unstable. People are hopping that the Fed meeting on Friday will produce new stimulus to boost the economy. I do not believe that they will cone out with any and thus may cause the markets globally to tank again. People are buying on hopes and if that hope is dashed, then there will be another round of panic selling. In Singapore, CPI rose 5.4% which indicates the rise in inflation. We're in a ballooning situation which may burst anytime. Prices are rising rapidly but salaries have nit been rising as much. Worst still, many young people are living in debt and credit. If the global situation worsen and Singapore is affected, then those who are caught unprepared will suffer the consequence.



We're now in a very similar situation as what happened in 1930s, the great depression cycle. What caused the great depression was also the austerity measures which is the cutting of spending. Before the great depression, the government was also trying to stimulate the economy by injecting huge funds which send the markets up. After that, they thought that the markets is quite stable so they stopped the stimulus which send markets going sideways for a period of time. Just before the depression, the government introduced various measure to cut spending and then it happened.

Market update 23 August 2011

Asian markets were mostly lower yesterday with the STI closing flat. Investors seem to be waiting and staying on the sideline. US market was marginally higher indicating that the confidence level in investors is still low. Most are anticipating the FED reserve meeting this Friday to see if there's any good news. Analyst comment that even if there's another round of QE, it will not last. QE1 worked, QE2 was not lasting and did not contribute to any growth in the economy. I doubt QE3 will be of any help also. If globally, countries are still reporting week economic data and contracting GDP, we may be heading into recession. Most countries previous GDP report shows contraction including Singapore and Germany. If one more quarter of contraction, we'll technically be in recession.

Sales Excellence - Effects Of Beliefs On Sales Performance

Watch this video. Although it talks about sales, it gives us the most important ingredient to success in anything.

Increasing your financial education

In life, most people will say go to school, get a safe secure job, save money, invest for the long term, buy and house and plan for retirement. However, all these do not really work now in our society. One main reason is because of inflation. Inflation is getting higher and higher these few years, hitting as high as 7% per annum. This means that for every $1000 you save, $70 is being eaten up by inflation. Imagine 10 years ago you could still find food in hawker centres at $2. Now, it's at least $2.50-$3. That's a 25%-30% increase.

How can you make sure you can beat inflation so that your money does not depreciate yearly?

1) You need to invest and have returns more than the inflation rate.

- If we calculate inflation over the last 10 years, it'll be an average of 3% year on year. This means you need to have a return of investment of more than 3% yearly.

There are many ways to do that and to be able to know how to do it, you need financial education. If you're thinking right now about how you can do it, then you really need to start learning.

Our school system teaches us 2 types of education.

1) Academic Education

2) Professional Education

They do a good job training us on language, mathematics, science in academic education. Schools also train us to become lawyers, doctors, engineer and equip us with the necessary skills.

But they do not teach us one thing which is very important. That is financial education. That is why so many people cannot manage their finances and are constantly living in debt. There are also people who work so hard and then still do not have enough money to retire.

So, start increasing your financial education now. You can really achieve financial freedom and retire early. Money is not everything but everything is money. If you have money, then it will give you the choice to do the things that you love, give your family the best and make a difference in this world.

Current Economic Situation

The top 6 economy in the world:

1) USA

2) China

3) Japan

4) Germany

5) France

6) Italy

If you've realised, all the top 6 economies in the world are facing problems now. US has got debt problems, china is fighting super inflation, Japan is in recession, Germany just reported a contraction in their GDP last week, France and italy both have financing problems.

It's a major problem now we're seeing. Let's see which country will collapse first and send the global economy crashing down. It's only a matter of time.

Invest Fair 2011 and Wealth Academy Expo 2011

It has been an interesting journey learning investing so far. The market has been really volatile and in fact dropped sharply these few months. Lucky i manage to get out of the market before the 100 plus point drop in the STI and the 600 plus point drop in Dow Jones. Although i lost money cutting my losses, but at least i saved myself from the panic and maybe sleepless nights if i didn't get out. Losses are still manageable for now.

Went for the invest fair last weekend. Attended Adam Khoo's seminar and conrad alvin lim was there at the AKLTG booth. He was there talking to people and me and my cousins manage to ask him some questions and also attended his so called preview on the market and his WAT program. In the end, i signed up for the WAT program since there was a special price. Wanted to sign up for it in july but i delayed and was thinking whether it was worth it to go for it. The volunteers there really inspired me to sign up as they attended the course and benefited from it. Now they say they volunteer themselves to help conrad because they wanted to give back something to him. So looking forward to the course. Even though it will be tiring since its 7pm to midnight every tuesday and i still have to go to work the next morning but i believe it will be the start of my exciting journey as a trader and investor. So excited and trust that i'll really learn alot from conrad.

Next up will be Wealth Academy Expo this weekend at Singapore Expo Hall 3 organised by adam khoo. Manage to get the gold ticket for free. Looking forward to the weekend of learning and inspiration from all the successful businessman, traders and investors.

NAAS eForms Now Active

The NAAS eForms have been updated for the 2011-12 term, and are now all active. All buttons are live with the exception of Scholarship Watch.



The new NAAS Student Forum is also active. We will be uploading and adding new content. Be sure to leave a message on the board if you have any questions, suggestions, or inquiries.

Message to Stephanie Saul/N.Y. Times

STEPHANIE SAUL
620 8TH AVENUE
Unit/Apartment number:
NEW YORK NY 10018
E-mail address: sauls@nytimes.com
(212)556 5931
9174537047

OFFICIAL NAAS RESPONSE TO INQUIRY REQUEST BY N.Y. TIMES REPORTER STEPHANIE SAUL

Thank you for your inquiry. However, we have noticed that your completed NAAS EAS/N2 Form GEC 001 form indicated that you have not read our NAAS FAQ section, and that have apparently not even attempted to do so. Please ensure that you have read our NAAS FAQ section prior to submitting additional inquiries, and that you have thoroughly reviewed all applicable NAAS EAS/N2 Rules.

Media inquiries must be requested by completing NAAS EAS/N2 Form GEC 002.

In addition, our records indicate that the N.Y. Times does not meet our standards of ethics, integrity, credibility, or respectability. This evaluation is based upon stories we have read that have originated from the N.Y. Times, as well as the low employment standards used by the N.Y. Times in employing reporters.

Therefore, we respectfully decline your requests for any contacts with this organization. However, we will continue to review your personal credentials periodically, from time to time, as well as the credentials and qualifications
of your employer.

Sincerely,
NAAS Staff.
P.S. Please ensure that any reporting involving National Academy of American Scholars, or any affiliated related thereto, includes the complete, accurate, and full statement above.

Deleted Emails By Hosting Company

Over 2,000 emails were deleted by one of our hosting companies on one of our accounts. The name of the hosting company is BlueHost. We have no control over these lost emails. If you are affected by this notice, please re-submit your email to staff@naas.org.

NAAS Student Forum

Hello. We have now opened the gates to the new NAAS Student Forum. In this forum, we discuss new and exciting issues related to Financial-aid, SAT/ACT test preparation, accreditation, and many other topics that students, parents, and administrators will find resourceful.

Lending rate hike by ING Vysya Bank

After YES Bank it is ING Vysya Bank that has reacted to the hike in the policy rates of Reserve Bank of India. The Central Bank has raised both repo and reverse-repo rate by 50 basis points in order to bring soaring inflation rates under control.

After the revision the base rates of the lender now stands at 10.20% and it shall be applicable from 1^st August. More banks are expected to raise their lending rates and join the league very soon.

NAAS Forms are Current

Happy Fourth of July 2011. As stated earlier, students are encouraged to get a head start on popular NAAS forms for the upcoming 2011-12 term. All NAAS digital forms are current and up-to-date.

New NAAS Multi-Media Forms Available

Get ready for the upcoming school year. Plan now. We have uploaded new 2011-2012 NAAS Multi-Media Application eForms. The forms include Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, NAAS-II, NAAS eMicro Loan forms, and NAAS Multi-Media Application Packets. The forms are available for immediate download
and purchase on our NAAS.ORG website.

Banks not lending only to selected few, anymore

In order to spread their risk amongst more borrowers, the public sector lender has started to reduce the proportion of the loan lent to their top borrowers. As an attempt the risk, during the last fiscal the lenders reduced the concentration of deposits by their top depositors.

Concentration of funds with a few customers increases the risk for lenders; however it is beneficial for a bank to cater to a few customers and to make maximum profits out of them.

Along with State Bank of India, the largest lender in the country few other public sector bank like Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce have also brought down the proportion that they have lent to the their top customers.

Corporation Bank to lend directly to the farmers

According to the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India, it is mandatory for all the banks that out of the total lent amount by a bank, 40% must be lent under priority sector lending and out of that 40 percent at least 18 percent must be lent to agricultural activities.

All the banks are required to maintain the lending accounts as prescribed by the Central Bank otherwise banks have to deposit the difference in the amount with NABARD that pays interest as low as 4 percent. Corporation Bank is way short of the target and so it has planned to lend to the farmers directly for the current financial year to meet the targets.

The Chairman and managing Director of Corporation Bank Mr. Ramnath Prdeep said “We had reached a compliance level of 14 per cent (against a target of 18 per cent). But because of disqualification it has come down to 8 per cent.”

About depositing with NABARD, he said “I am incurring a loss of Rs 500 crore on account of this. We are paying depositors an interest rate of 9.5 per cent while the amount deposited with Nabard will earn only 4 per cent.”

We have uploaded new 2011-2012 NAAS Multi-Media Application eForms. The forms include Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, NAAS-II, NAAS eMicro Loan forms, and NAAS Multi-Media Application Packets. The forms are available for immediate download
and purchase on our NAAS.ORG website.

Journey in Trading in the SG Stock Market

Hi all,

I started out trading in the SG Market around December last year. Made quite a good progress at first but after that losses accumulate but my profits are still more than my losses currently. Have been reading and researching alot on the different methods of trading such as fundamental and technical analysis.

For a start i would like to recommend a book for those out there who wants to start trading or have been already actively trading in the stock market. This book is written by Conrad Alvin Lim. He is a singaporean and was a bankrupt before. Currently, he's a self made millionaire investing in the stock market and is working with Adam Khoo, singapore's youngest millionaire.

Here is the book:

For more information on the book, click HERE

NEW NAAS Multi-Media Forms Available

We have uploaded new 2011-2012 NAAS Multi-Media Application eForms. The forms include Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, NAAS-II, NAAS eMicro Loan forms, and NAAS Multi-Media Application Packets. The forms are available for immediate download
and purchase on our NAAS.ORG website.

Greetings. Updates are Coming!

We are now back from our Spring break. We will be updating our website very vigorously within the next few days. We would like to thank those customers who have purchased NAAS forms. We will be updated those forms and preparing for the Fall.

March 15th Deadline Passed

The extended deadline to submit NAAS eforms was March 15th, 2011. The deadline has expired. We are no longer accepting new forms submissions for the XXI term. However, we are still NAAS eDonor, and NAAS eMicro loan forms.

NAAS NEWS Media Reports

New and exciting NAAS Media reports will be posted on the NAAS-NEWS.INFO website. New stories will discuss events and affairs affecting school districts associated with The Northwest Accreditation Commission (a/k/a/ Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc.)

Consumers, businesses, and parents, including incarcerated U.S. citizens deprived of their civil liberties or due process rights, in the states of Nevada, Washington,Montana,Oregon, Alaska,Utah, and Idaho who have complaints against any school, employee, company, agency, or institution connected with, sponsored by, and/or in any way affiliated with The Northwest Accreditation Commission (a/k/a/ Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc.) should submit complaints online to NAAS-NEWS.INFO.

NAAS-NEWS.INFO is an independent, fair, and impartial news reporting organization. We only accept verified electronic submissions.

HSBC all set to re-enter the unsecured loan segment

HSBC India is all set to re-enter the unsecured retail loan segment. For past two years the bank slowed down its operations in this section.

The CEO of HSBC India, Mr. Stuart Davis said, “We will offer unsecured personal loans selectively to our customers and not in the open market as we did earlier.”

He also said “Winding down of the unsecured loan book and recoveries in corporate loans helped improve the asset quality.”

The bank will acquire the retail and commercial businesses of Royal Bank of Scotland by the end of this year. “We are expecting a robust loan growth and will continue to build our wealth management platform for increasing our customers,'' Davis said.

IOB plans for agri-jewel loan scheme in urban areas

Indian Overseas Bank is going to introduce the agri-jewel loan scheme to the urban areas. The scheme has received a very good response in the rural parts and this has prompted the bank to introduce the scheme in the urban areas also.

The bank is planning to open a separate desk for such loans in 25 branches across the country. The bank has also ensured that the interest rates will be considerably lower than those offered by the private banks.

The Chairman and Managing Director of the bank Mr. M Narendra said “Enthused by the agri-jewel loan in rural areas, we thought of capitalising [on] it in urban areas also. We are opening [a] separate desk for gold loans in 25 branches. With this, we will be able to provide very fast gold loan to urban customers also.”

Extended deadline to March 15th

We have extended the application deadline for NAAS Award submissions to March 15th.

Failed Trademark Application Exposes David Steadman schemes

Subject: Failed U.S. Trademark Application of Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc., and Idaho State Dept. of Education, exposes Accreditation Schemes linkd to Association of Washington School Princials, The American Academy LLC, and various state departments of education;
Ref: U.S. Patent & Trademark Reference File: S/N# 77810214                            ­­— http://tarr.uspto.gov. [Evidence of  SUCCESSFUL OPPOSITION; ]                           
The recent failed U.S. Trademark application filed by Northwest Association of Accreditation Schools,Inc., (a/k/a/ The Northwest Accreditation Commission) exposes the depth and degree of accreditation fraud that the state education departments of Idaho,Utah,Oregon,Washington,Montana, Nevada, and Alaska are willing to tolerate simply to help their business partner Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc.

It is fitting that despite their best efforts to corrupt and influence the U.S. Department of Commerce, and intimidate said agency into issuing a trademark for David Steadman's outfit, the efforts were bound to fail.

Tom Luna sought to intervene and use his influence to obtain a trademark application for Northwest, and to lessen the sting of a succesful OPPOSITION proceeding launched by NAAS DEIA Agents but his best and most corrupt efforts still failed.

Federal documents allege that Mr. Tom Luna and various persons employed by him, personally, individually, and collectively sponsored, approved,  conspired with   Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc., to participate in the ill-advised  rape, molestation,  and trademark infringement of the famous NAAS label.

Despite his best acts of deceit and influence, and regardless of what spin he wishes to rely upon, the fact remains:
NAAS DEIA Agents DENIED AND PREVENTED Northwest Association of Accredited Schools,Inc. from obtaining trademark rights to their own corporate name! How about that? Wonderful!

According to U.S. Postal mail-fraud laws (we admit that these laws are not enforced against persons like David Steadman), persons who use fictitious/fake names and who impersonate other corporate entities are engaging in mail fraud. Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc., and the Idaho/Utah State Dept. of Education are responsible for facilitating the accreditation fraud of Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc. (a/k/a The Northwest Accreditation Commission)

Federal documents claim that David Steadman and his organization deceived consumers into believing that the accreditation services sold and packaged by Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc. were somehow endorsed, approved, and were originated by National Academy of American Scholars (NAAS).

While the Attorney General's office of Utah was prostituting their services with con -artist Jeremy Johnson, and allowing Utah education entities to rape and molest the NAAS label, NAAS Agents were dismantling the phony 'NAAS' accreditation schemes linked to the Utah State Department of Education and the Utah Education Network.

In March of 2010,  the United States Patent & Trademark Office issued a FINAL REJECTION to the illegitimate, illegal,  and outrageous efforts of  Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc.  to further its rape and molestation of the NAAS label. Legal pleadings filed in the case by NAAS agents  assert, et alli, a violation of numerous federal laws, ethics, including, but not limited to, consumer deception,fraud, trademark infringement, etc. 

A desperate California attorney filed a legal motion that sought a Request for Reconsideration on behalf of Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc  in an attempt to convince the Trademark office to re-consider the Refusal decision.   The legal motion was countered by NAAS DEIA Agents, who filed superior legal pleadings.  Six months thereafter,  Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc.  abandoned its trademark application; and,  David Steadman  was forced to accept his legal defeat, and abandon his psychotic and  perverted lust for the ‘NAAS’ label.

In July  of 2010, NAAS Agents had commenced an OPPOSITION proceeding against Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc.  The company  sought to obtain trademark rights to Northwest Association of Accredited Schools 1917.  In October of 2010, the Trademark Office ruled that the OPPOSITION was SUSTAINED, and a Default Notice was obtained against Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc.  Shortly thereafter, the company announced it had changed its name to The Northwest Accreditation Commission. Before that, the State Education Dept. of Idaho attempted to intervene on behalf of its partner, Northwest, and a NOTICE of ALLOWANCE was issued. 

NAAS agents thus filed additional legal proceedings which required the trademark office to cancel the NOTICE of Allowance.  Ultimately,  said application  was rejected and eventually abandoned.  It was alleged that the  trademark  application filed by Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc  was deceptive and unfit for registration, was designed to deceive consumers, and that said application sought to possibly legitimize accreditation schemes; all allegations went unanswered, and none were contested by applicant. 

In January of 2011, NAAS agents finalized OPPOSITION legal proceedings towards Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc. Each and every trademark/copyright application similarly  filed by  The Northwest Accreditation Commission, or any company  associated with the same, may be similarly opposed and challenged. 
All schools and institutions previously “accredited” by Northwest Association of Accredited Scams while using the NAAS label have been publicly re-labeled as mere Diploma Mills per NAAS EAS/N2 Rules; and, based upon federal rules of evidence that uncontested allegations are deemed admissions. NAAS allegationa were not timely refuted, and were not contested in the proper legal manner, and thus said allegations will be published as facts. 

Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc. was engaging in a scheme that purported to offer legitimate 'NAAS' accreditation services while in reality this woefully corrupt organization was conspiring with the education departments of Idaho,Utah,Oregon,Washington,Montana, Nevada, and Alaska to deceive U.S. consumers, parents, and students that Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Inc. was sponsored and endorsed and approved by National Academy of American Scholars (NAAS), and that David Steadman had secured legal rights in advance to use the NAAS label. In fact, these claims were never true.