Business Program Reviews

Forex Autopilot System (FAPS-TURBO) Does it work?

December 5th, 2008

Over the years I’ve made many attempts at making money trading stocks and commodities. All met with failure and losses of thousands.The Forex market seemed highly lucrative to me but there were so many training courses, advisory newsletters, websites and ebooks to choose from.

Very confusing and I didn’t know where to start!

I’d read the information on the original FAPS (Forex Auto-Pilot System) website which contained the usual inflated claims. The best information I found was at the Forex User Forum where people were not only talking about their own results using FAPS but were actually making adjustments and improvements to the trading system itself. This is when I got excited and decided to look deeper into this product.

Apart from doing the trading for you, the FAP system allows you to download accurate historical data so you can run your own back-testing. This can be combined with a free real-time account to check out the trading system before going “live” with real money.

I’d been through this before. Every time I ran a demo account or paper-traded I made good profit but as soon as I pulled the trigger I’d have nothing but losses. This is what happens to most novice traders and it’s usually because of 3 things:
Fear, emotion and greed.

Well I’m glad to say that things went different for me this time. I upgraded my free demo forex trading platform and was able to fund my account with Paypal the same day. I love this option! If you fund with Paypal you can withdraw your profits through Paypal. I use my Paypal card to access funds from any ATM machine. (See more smart tips below)

I left my FAPS on the default settings (EUR/USD–M-1) with a $500 account and within 2 days I was up to $727. I was impressed but this is where I made a dreadful mistake. Instead of letting FAPS continue to do it’s thing I got cocky and decided to turn FAPS off and trade myself manually.

I added another $5000 to my account and started getting up at 5 am to use my unproven trading skills and strategies. Things started off well and then the greed set in and within one week I had a $4200 drawdown (when a position moves against you) on my account and was on the verge of a margin-call from the broker. Luckily, the market turned around and I was able to close my position out with a $1500 loss. Ouch!

A couple of days later I received an email about the new improved FAPS Turbo. I asked the sender if this was the same trading system I already had and he replied that it was a totally new system that had many improvements as well as an auto “scalper” mode (scalping is a lucrative trading strategy used to make many small profits by getting in and out of the market quickly)

I liked the idea of the automated scalping mode as a quick and safe way to add profits. The FAPS Turbo product allows you to run the scalping and long-term trading mode on your account at the same time. This is all clearly explained in the User Guide Manual.

Speaking about the manual, I have to say that it’s very well put together and very informative. Clear, concise videos are also provided but the basic setup is very easy and only takes about 5 minutes to complete. If you are interested, the manual reveals the trading indicators that are used and shows you how to fine-tune and customize them if you’re not happy with the safer default settings.

I’ve been very happy with the FAP Turbo default settings which includes hedging and a safe stop-loss that controls risk while providing for draw-downs from the FX market. The FAPS Turbo filters and stays out of volatile market conditions and doesn’t scalp on the short Friday trading day.

My results:

Even though I’m familiar with trading indicators like moving average, divergence and RSI, I still prefer to let the FAP Turbo system operate without me getting in the way. Others like to use FAPS Turbo to give them signals and then place the trades themselves. This doesn’t interest me, either a system works or it doesn’t!

I ran the new FAP Turbo system on it’s default settings and it turned a $5000 demo account into $7250 in 7 trading days. Then I turned FAPS Turbo onto my $3500 live account and got the same percentage of winning trades. My account grew to $4950 (45%) in about a week.

The scalping program made 16 trades in this same time period all for a profit with 2 small losses.

I feel the improvements to the Forex Auto Pilot System have helped to make it an excellent way to make extra money from home. The setup is easy, you can test-drive it before using real money and the cost, including support is a excellent value.

Smart Tips:
1. Scalp on your account first
2. Forum Site address is: www.forexautopilotforum.com
3. Get your account directly from FXDD for the lowest spreads. (www.fxdd.com)
4. Pay close attention to the GMT time setting instructions in the manual.
More information at: http://www.investfaxx.com

Posted in Reviews, home business | No Comments »

Selling Covered Calls on Dividend Bank Stocks

October 3rd, 2008

 Part One

I stumbled upon this strategy by accident while I looked into different ways to make money on the stock market. I know, what a time to be getting involved, when the markets have just seen their worst declines in a long, long time.  Well it’s not my fault!

I’ve had many run ins with Wall Street from commodoties to shorting the market. All ended in substancial losses, a bruised ego and writeoffs on my tax returns.

After reading a book about a young Canadian who was able to retire by age 35 using dividend stocks to fuel his income I decided to checkout the area of investment. To my surprise a whole doorway to low risk profits was opened and the ability to make 20 to 40 percent annual returns became very real.

This is not a way to make money from nothing, one does need a minimum of $5000 to get started but you are totally in control of your money. In fact this whole strategy works because we take personal hold of our investment and tend it through the process which isn’t very hard once you learn it.

More to come in Part 2…

Posted in investments | No Comments »

$700B financial bailout on eve of make-or-break vote

October 3rd, 2008

A wave of House converts jumped aboard the $700 billion financial industry bailout Thursday on the eve of a make-or-break second vote, as lawmakers responded to an awakening among voters to the pain ahead of them if stability isn’t restored to the tottering economy.

Black lawmakers said personal calls from Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama helped switch them from “no” to “yes.” Republicans and Democrats alike said appeals from credit-starved small businessmen and the Senate’s addition of $110 billion in tax breaks had persuaded them to drop their opposition.

Still, the outcome was far from assured. Vote-counters in both parties planned to huddle first thing Friday morning to compare notes on coming up with the dozen or so supporters needed to reverse the stunning defeat.

Posted in investments | No Comments »

Leverage $25 into $75,000 in 5 Weeks!

September 17th, 2008

A new and very powerful turn-key system for making money & building a huge cash income has just arrived on the net.

The Cash Leverage System was just introduced in mid August 2008 and is taking the internet by storm.

It is extremely inexpensive to join at $25 and has the potential to return over $75,000 or more back to you within 5 weeks.

 Any system will fail if it requires you to constantly find new customers and be involved in the running of a business. The Cash Leverage System has no products and no customers and will continue to work and send an increasing amount of money automatically, week after week - even after you stop using it.

This system has been designed for ordinary people, from anywhere in the world, with ZERO computer skills & absolutely NO previous online money making experience.

If you can turn on a computer, browse the internet and use emails……you already have enough computer skills to use our system.

All you need to do is accept our free invitation to come in & review the Cash Leveraging System in complete detail.

http://www.investfax.com

Posted in Reviews | No Comments »

A Winning Roulette System!

July 18th, 2008

I have a friend who didn’t like playing online roulette because he believed that all the online casinos cheat. Even though I agree that some online casinos may cheat I do not agree that all of them are cheaters. For example, once he told me that 20 red colors landed in a row at a casino and he was playing the Martingale System (even though I told him it’s a losing system).

Well, I proposed that he make a quick test with a program I made. The program would give random numbers. I programmed it to give 1,000,000,000 numbers and search through each row of 20 red (black) colors. The result shocked him. He saw not just one row of 20 of the same color, but we also found rows of 25 of the same color. So that’s the advantage of the Online Roulette, their numbers are really random. This means that the numbers are proportionally distributed and each combination of numbers is equally possible.

For example, the number 25 landed for 5 times in a row in one session of playing online roulette. Each time I was thinking it was the last one that it won’t land number 25 and I didn’t bet on number 25. And this is not a bug. So you can’t blame the online casinos for cheating, because what really beat the players is the accuracy of the distribution of random numbers.

Then I gave him another challenge. I told him that if the casinos were cheating him, then why doesn’t he try to play with free spins and beat the online roulette. In this way the online casino can’t cheat as the player doesn’t place any chips on the table. So he accepted my challenge. It was very simple. He was writing his bet on a paper and the result too. He was making JUST free spins at the online casino. After few days he came back and told me that the online casino still beats his system.

The online casinos use Random Number Generator to create random numbers and fair game play. The disadvantage for us is that RNG proportionally distribute every possible combination of numbers. Well, so it has occurred to me to transform this disadvantage into a profitable advantage.

Having some knowledge about Artificial Neural Network I thought that it would be a good idea to implement it in my own Random Number Generator and see if it can be beaten. After many weeks of work the result was astonishing. The casino’s house edge is 2.7% and I reduced it to 0.7%, which still loses in the long run. So I had to find a strategy that could be implemented here.

One of the goals was to find a bet on the table that would give the biggest winning rate per spin and would bring profit (even a small one). I found the bet. You need to bet on 35 numbers on the table, by placing $1 chips. Each winning spin brings a profit of $1. It is not so much, but I got the highest winning rate per spin - 94.59%.

So, let’s do some math here. First, I reduced the house edge from 2.7% to 0.7%. This means I reduced it by 74% (2.7-0.7)/2.7=74%. Secondly, the house edge per 35/37 bet is (37-35)/37=5.41%. If we implement these two advantages together we get the following result 5.41-(5.41*74%) =1.4%.

What does this mean? If I play 100 spins, then I will win 100-1.4=98.6% of the spins and lose 1.4% of the spins.
Now let’s calculate the profit after you play 100 spins: 98.6% * $1 - 1.4% * $35=$49>0 WOW!! I am in profit.

After many improvements and tests on the numbers received from the users I reduced the house edge to 0.1%, meaning to lose once in 1,000 spins.

More Info at: http://www.investfax.com

Posted in Reviews | 1 Comment »

Is SMC a Good Way to Make Money from Home?

June 29th, 2008

Specialty Merchandise Corporation, also known as SMC, is a business located out of California. The company is well-known for their late night infomercials which detail how they can help you start your own home based business. The procedure is supposed to be simple. All you have to do is sign up for an account, purchase a number of catalogs, and then begin selling the products in the catalogs you have purchased. The percentage of commission you earn is very high, making it easy for you to sell to both businesses and individual customers. SMC also encourages you to sign up additional salespersons to form your own team.The folks at Specialty Merchandise Corporation conveniently forget to tell you that the retail prices they charge for their products are out of this world. Even if you earn a 60% commission on each sale you make, there is absolutely no way you can sell the products at wholesale prices to other businesses. The businesses you approach won’t be able to mark up the prices enough to actually make a profit.

Recruiting new salespersons will not be easy at all. Many of those you approach will be hesitant to attempt selling the products you are selling because they will fear the program is nothing more than another pyramid scheme. SMC is not actually a pyramid scam, but it is always difficult to convince people that a network marketing business is NOT one. I’ve always been told that you should never pay to work, but paying for essential items such as catalogs and order forms is essential if you’re ever going to make an actual sale. A business that does not charge its distributors for supplies will do nothing but lose money.

In order to become successful with SMC you will have to find direct customers who will purchase items at retail. What’s the easiest way to do this?

Start with your friends and family members, then move on to their friends. What comes next, though? Specialty Merchandise Corporation suggests purchasing tables at flea markets and fairs. The problem is that people who go to swap meets and craft fairs are looking for good bargains. It will be impossible to sell your products at full retail cost.

SMC will also sell you a website you can use to sell your products. The problem is that everyone who purchases a website from the company gets the exact same site. A cookie-cutter site is guaranteed to make you look unprofessional.

If you prefer, you might want to purchase your own website. In order to do so you will need to have a decent amount of web design experience. You’ll have to design the site, add a shopping cart, create a merchant account for payment processing, and open a business checking account.

A less expensive option is to buy a website and then search for free codes and services. You can find free shopping cart codes and use a free payment account with PayPal or another similar service. You might have your customers make checks out to your personal name so that you can cash them with your personal account, but just know that customers are hesitant to purchase from a website where they have to make checks out to an individual instead of a business.

The most important question is whether or not all of this design work is worth the effort? Personally, I’ve had a SMC section on my website for almost 10 years. I’ve never made one sale with their products.

Specialty Merchandise Corporation: Rip-Off or Genuine Opportunity?

SMC is a great opportunity for some people - you know, the ones in the testimonials and on television. Those people are probably paid to talk about SMC, but I do know that a few people have had legitimate success with the company.

Many people who join SMC end up using their membership to purchase products for themselves at wholesale. Of course, the point was to have a home based business, which you do NOT really have if you’re only making purchases for yourself or your family.

Are there alternatives to SMC?

Don’t bother with SMC if you can help it. It’s just as easy to get a federal tax ID number and then make partnerships with whatever wholesale company you choose. Some of these companies will handle drop-shipping on your behalf and you’ll likely avoid large membership fees. SMC charges $300 to join!

I don’t think that SMC is really a rip-off, but it’s not exactly what they want you to believe it is, either. If the company was a little more honest about their pricing scale, or changed it completely, members might be more successful.

After examining and testing hundreds of money-making opportunities and work at home programs, ONLY ONE brought in a paycheck that covered all my monthly expenses.
Click here to go to this website.

Posted in Reviews | No Comments »

Stuffing Envelopes: Is it a Scam or a Legitimate Home Business?

June 13th, 2008

Let’s start out by defining the term “job” and the term “opportunity.”We’re probably more familiar with jobs than we are with opportunities. Most of us have had at least one job. You are hired permanently, have daily requirements to meet, and you get paid.

An employer reviews your resume, has you complete an application, offers benefits and a salary, and takes taxes from your paycheck. If they’re paying you a salary and giving you a job, they are going to ask you for your social security number or your employer identification number. They do this because they are required by law to report your annual earnings to the IRS.

Suffice to say, if you are not asked for your social security number you are likely participating in an opportunity. Most envelope stuffing companies would like you to believe they are giving you a real job, but they are not. This is your first red flag.

How to Spot an Illegitimate Opportunity

All illegitimate opportunities will have at least one of the following red flags. Watch for them carefully:

* The company has no real contact information: email address, phone number, address. You can not contact them to ask questions.

* You have to pay them a fee before they’ll answer your questions.

* You have to send payments to a PO Box.

* The company promises you’ll make a lot of money very quickly.

* The company advertisements focus on the money you’ll make and don’t talk about the opportunity itself.

Those who promote envelope stuffing scams are very persuasive. They’d love it if you would believe you can make money easily by stuffing envelopes and they count on people sending in their money to get more information. They want their potential customers to be excited about making money. Those customers are so excited, in fact, that they never think to ask about HOW they’re going to make that money.

Making money takes time and a considerable amount of real effort. It is easy to make money, but only if you’re willing to make that initial effort.

The REAL DEAL on Stuffing Envelopes

There are thirteen important points you should consider before taking part in an envelope stuffing opportunity. I am positive that after you read these points you’ll have a true understanding of why these systems do not work.

1) Envelopes Can Be Stuffed Cheaply

Why on earth would a company pay you to stuff envelopes when they could have it done at a local print shop. Even better, companies with large envelope stuffing needs can purchase a machine to do it for them.

2) What’s a Starter Kit?

The offer you read promised you’d receive a starter kit in the mail after paying your fee. What is in the starter kit, you ask? No one knows anything except that it contains “everything you need” to start stuffing envelopes. That’s not very helpful.

3) Never Pay for Disclosure

Many companies ask you to send a payment before they’ll give you the real details about a job opportunity. The claim they want to know you’re serious about the opportunity. A real company will tell you everything you want to know and won’t charge you a single penny for it. If you’re being charged for information, run the other way.

4) What’s a Processing Fee?

The company you are researching might call that start-up fee a “processing fee.” It doesn’t matter what they call it if they’re not telling you exactly what you’re going to get. You’re going to get information. What kind of information? The information you need to start your business. Of course!

5) Someone Else Must Stuff an Envelope Before You Get Paid

You don’t really get paid for stuffing envelopes. You get paid for convincing other people to stuff envelopes. When that person stuffs an envelope and convinces someone else to do the same, you might get a check. That is, if they’re dumb enough to pay someone to give them information that doesn’t exist.

6) Free Stamps and Envelopes Cost a Bundle

Lots of envelope stuffing companies claim you’ll get free stamps and envelopes if you participate. What they don’t tell you is that the stamp and envelope will come in the form of a SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope) from people who read your advertisement. The advertisement, of course, will cost you money to place. That’s not FREE.

By the way, why would anyone send a SASE when they can easily go online for almost any information they want?

7) The Revolving Door: The Advertisement is the Product

The letter you are sending to people turns out to be the product you are selling; you’re teaching your customers to send the letter to people as well. That’s a revolving door scam - making people believe there is a product when there is not.

The Back Door Ploy

You might be told that a report or circular is the product, but more often than not that claim is not true. That special report might claim to have the truth about real home based job opportunities. It’ll make your scammer look legitimate as the circular introduces the envelope stuffing opportunity.

9) Testimonials Are Just Words Unless Verified

If you can’t contact the person who has written a testimonial, you should assume it is not real. Anyone can write a testimonial. Only a few people can give you the information needed to back those testimonials up.

10) Beware of Unattended Toll-Free Numbers and No Email Addresses

We talked about this earlier. Be concerned if you only receive a pre-recorded message when calling an 800 number. The recording will tell you to leave a message. They have the number to make them look legitimate and because they know that 99% of people aren’t actually going to call it.

If you can’t identify a phone number or email address that will put you in touch with a real person, consider this a red flag. How will you contact them with questions or when you need real help?

11) Is That Guarantee For Real?

The company will only give you a refund after you’ve made a certain number of sales. They want you to prove that you tried their system and then decided you were not satisfied. That makes no sense. If you made 50 or even 250 sales, you probably wouldn’t be dissatisfied. If the system isn’t working, you’ll have to spend more than you paid to get a refund. It’s not worth the effort and they know it.

12) What They Don’t Tell You

The company would like you to believe you will be paid for simply stuffing envelopes. You will not be paid. You’ll be paid if you sell one of their products after stuffing an envelope. You may find that the envelopes you stuff are promoting products or services that are unethical or even illegal.

They also don’t tell you that the cost of advertising will quickly add up and that you are likely to spend more on advertising than you actually make. They won’t teach you anything about advertising, either - if you don’t know anything about it, you’ll lose even more as you waste time and money on ineffective techniques.

13) Envelope Stuffing Operations Have Been Targeted by Federal Authorities

This is true. The FTC actively pursues envelope stuffing scams. HINT: The FTC pursues things they find illegal. The FTC watches home-based business opportunities very closely and regularly presses charges against illegitimate companies. Many of the companies they have pressed charges against are envelope stuffing companies.

If you haven’t figured it out already, envelope stuffing schemes are both unethical and illegal. Anyone who participates is probably hoping for a quick income. They don’t care about you or your success

Envelope stuffing isn’t legitimate. If it were, you could get all of the information you want or need right up front. Instead, the company knows that you would never be interested if you knew the details up front. If it were a legitimate opportunity, you’d have a real product to sell!

Can I find a Legitimate Envelope Stuffing Opportunity?

Sure - you can stuff envelopes for a mailing house or print shop. They aren’t going to pay you well at all, though.

You might consider founding your own Direct Mail company. Direct Mail companies stuff envelopes for a living - they get paid to promote other people’s products. Direct mail is LEGAL.

If you have a product of your own to sell you can stuff envelopes with advertisements in order to solicit sales. Direct mail should not be the only marketing technique you use if you have your own products.

I have not found any legitimate envelope stuffing opportunities. Those who promote these schemes only want to steal your money and they do so by making fraudulent statements.

You can’t make money without putting any effort into it. If envelope stuffing were that lucrative, everyone would be doing it already. I don’t know anyone who makes money stuffing envelopes. Do you?

After examining and testing hundreds of money-making opportunities and work at home programs, ONLY ONE brought in a paycheck that covered all my monthly expenses.
Click here to go to this website.

Posted in Reviews | 1 Comment »

Kevin Trudeau Exposed!

May 26th, 2008

“Research shows that three characteristics are related to persuasiveness: perceived authority, honesty, and likability.” - Robert Levine”It’s all about money. The drug industry does not want people to get healthy.” - Kevin Trudeau

“Natural Cures They Don’t Want You to Know About,” is a book written by Kevin Trudeau. I’m sure you’ve seen him on television, as his popular infomercial is shown quite often. He claims to have information that will make you healthy but that the drug companies would prefer you not know about. One of his outlandish claims is that cancel cells are acidic and that if you have cancer it can be cured by changing the pH of the cells from acidic to alkaline. One of his infomercials promotes Robert Barefoot. Barefoot claims that coral calcium has also played a contributing factor in the curing of a number of diseases (Barrett 2004). The two together believe that combining coral calcium with alkaline water will change the acidity of the blood.

Gabe Mirkin, M.D. counters the claims made by Trudeau and Barefoot:

“Anyone who tells you that certain foods or supplements make your stomach or blood acidic does not understand nutrition.

You should not believe that it matters whether foods are acidic or alkaline, because no foods change the acidity of anything in your body except your urine. Your stomach is so acidic that no food can change its acidity. Citrus fruits, vinegar, and vitamins such as ascorbic acid or folic acid to not change the acidity of your stomach or your bloodstream. An entire bottle of calcium pills or antacids would not change the acidity of your stomach for more than a few minutes.

All foods that leave your stomach are acidic. Then they enter your intestines where secretions from your pancreas neutralize the stomach acids. So no matter what you eat, the food in the stomach is acidic and the food in the intestines in alkaline.

You cannot change the acidity of any part of your body except your urine. Your bloodstream and organs control acidity in a very narrow range. Anything that changed acidity in your body would make you very sick and could even kill you. (Mirkin 2003)

Kevin Trudeau has a list of credentials proving that he is an amazing marketer, but he has nothing to back him as a credible nutritionist.

“During the early 1990s, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Trudeau served nearly two years in prison. In 1990, he pled guilty to larceny in a Cambridge, Massachusetts state court in connection with $80,000 in worthless checks he had deposited at a bank. The sentencing memorandum said that he had posed as a doctor to increase his credibility with bank officials. In 1991, he pled guilty to credit-card fraud in a Boston federal district court. Among his misdeeds in the federal case, he misappropriated for his own use the credit-card numbers of customers of the memory-improvement courses that he offered at the time.” (Barrett 2004)

Trudeau’s credit card scam was significant. He stole over $122,700 from American Express. He also managed to steal an additional $5,000 from major banks such as Citibank and Chemical Bank. A website known as The Smoking Gun has a copy of his indictment posted for public review.

Nutrition for Life International, also known as NFLI, supposedly knew that Kevin Trudeau had a criminal record when they made him a business partner. NFLI is an MLM that specialized in nutritional supplements such as shark cartilage capsules. The company went bankrupt in 2003. Before declaring bankruptcy, the company made all of its partners, including Trudeau, into very wealthy individuals.

“In less than 10 months, Kevin Trudeau and his marketing organization have persuaded some 15,000 people to plunk down more than $1,000 apiece for a highly touted opportunity to sell products.

The 32-year-old recruiter’s delighted business partner has already granted Mr. Trudeau so many stock options that he has a paper profit of more than $11 million.” (Emshwiller 1996)

At one point, NFLI traded on NASDAW for over $35 per share. In 1995 the company boasted over $32 million in sales. Trouble started shortly thereafter:

“On Aug. 23, 1996, a class action lawsuit was filed in the District Court of Harris County, Texas on behalf of purchasers of the common stock and common stock purchase warrants of Nutrition for Life International, Inc. (NFLI) during the period July 11, 1995 through July 16, 1996, inclusive (the Class Period). The complaint charges NLFI, certain of its officers and directors, the lead underwriters of its July 11, 1995 offering of stock and warrants, and a major marketer/distributor Kevin Trudeau and the Trudeau Marketing Group Inc. (collectively Trudeau) with violations of Texas statutory and common law, by, among other things, misrepresenting and/or omitting material information concerning NFLI’s business, marketing efforts, sales and earnings during the Class Period (07/11/1995 through 07/11/1996). In August 1997, the case settled. The company agreed to pay $2,000,000 in cash to individuals who purchased common stock and warrants during the class period. The company also agreed to pay the plaintiffs attorney fees up to $600,000.”

Despite these negatives experiences, a number of individuals are still recruiting new NFLI members. Trudeau is still marketing products as well. In 1998 he signed an agreement with the FTC claiming he would:

“(a) pay $500,000 in consumer redress, (b) be barred from making false claims for products in the future, and (c) establish a $500,000 escrow account or performance bond to assure compliance.” (Barrett 2004)

Trudeau obviously ignored the terms of his contract with the FTC. In 2003, they filed a preliminary injunction stating that Trudeau

“disseminated direct mail pieces and an infomercial that made claims that coral calcium is an effective treatment or cure for cancer and other diseases. The preliminary injunction prohibited Trudeau from making these claims. The Court ordered that Trudeau cease all marketing of coral calcium and expressly reserved the right to impose additional remedial measures.”

It wasn’t long before Trudeau violated the temporary injunction and in 2004 he was found to be in contempt of court. He was then forced to sign a new contract with the FTC, stipulating that

“broadly bans him from appearing in, producing, or disseminating future infomercials that advertise any type of product, service, or program to the public, except for truthful infomercials for informational publications. In addition, Trudeau cannot make disease or health benefits claims for any type of product, service, or program in any advertising, including print, radio, Internet, television, and direct mail solicitations, regardless of the format and duration. Trudeau agreed to these prohibitions and to pay the FTC $2 million to settle charges that he falsely claimed that a coral calcium product can cure cancer and other serious diseases and that a purported analgesic called Biotape can permanently cure or relieve severe pain. (FTC press release)

Trudeau is definitely unrepentant and has gone on to appear in several infomercials. These were aired after the FTC agreement was finalized. In July of 2005 he went as far as to run an advertisement for his Natural Cures book in Newsweek magazine!
* The New York State Consumer Protection Board has issued a warning regarding Kevin Trudeau. They claim that anyone following his advice should call a toll free number for additional information. Supposedly, Trudeau is selling his customer database to telemarketers and direct mail companies.

* In October of 2005, several customers began complaining that Trudeau surprised them with additional charges for his newsletter and that they received unexpected charges associated with his discount programs.

* Trudeau currently battles the FTC. The FTC believes Trudeau “deceptively claimed” that the weight loss plan in his new book is “easy to do, can be done at home, and ultimately allows readers to eat whatever they want.” The diet is not that simple and “requires severe dieting,” as well as regular injections of a drug that is not approved by the FDA. The program also calls for “lifelong dietary restrictions. You can read the FTC press release dated 9/14/07 for more information.

After examining and testing hundreds of money-making opportunities and work at home programs, ONLY ONE brought in a paycheck that covered all my monthly expenses.
Click here to go to this website.

Posted in Reviews | No Comments »

The Truth About John Commuta

May 21st, 2008

One weekend, during one of my many used book store trips, I came across an entire box of self-help and wealth building books. Someone had brought the box to the store and left it for sale. I paid the owner $75 for the entire box and was surprised at how many interesting courses and books I walked away with. One of the courses in the box was Turning Debt into Wealth by John Commuta.Previous to reading through his course I had the privilege of hearing John Commuta’s radio show where he talks about reducing debt and building wealth. He advertised that his course would help individuals to do both in an effective method very quickly. I remember thinking that the commercial sounded like a customer service announcement designed by someone who truly wanted to help the community.

I had no idea how popular the business of debt consolidation really is.

I read through the course and truly believe that the information contained within it would be great for either a beginner or an individual who managed to get themselves into some sort of serious debt. Most of the information was similar to what has been published by Charles Givens or Robert Kiyosaki, both popular gurus. The book basically says to stop using credit cards, to make double payments on cars and mortgages, to find a way to reduce excess spending, and to eliminate one debt at a time. Commuta recommends paying off the highest debt first and by doing so by making quarterly payments. The advice is great, but it’s definitely not new.

As far as wealth building is concerned, the course introduces four techniques recycled from other sources. The techniques include affiliate marketing, real estate, online product marketing, and online auctions. John Commuta doesn’t give detailed information on how to apply any of these techniques, so you’ll probably end up needing to purchase additional resources on your own.

Overall, I found the course to be relatively disappointing. It reads as though John Commuta started out with a great idea but then ran out of inspiration. Maybe he was just holding back so that he can write another book later on…

After examining and testing hundreds of money-making opportunities and work at home programs, ONLY ONE brought in a paycheck that covered all my monthly expenses.
Click here to go to this website.

Posted in Reviews | No Comments »

The Truth about Carleton Sheets…

May 20th, 2008

Carleton Sheets has been a presence on the television for years. His infomercials have run longer than any others I have seen so far. This in itself is a sign of success. He consistently sells his course to individuals on a daily basis. An old marketing adage states that if you see an advertisement over and over again it must be successful. Otherwise, the company would have pulled it in an attempt to stop wasting money. Carleton Sheets must be doing pretty well. His infomercial has been on television for over 25 years.The “No Money Down” course was originally created back in 1985. I purchased it then and then repurchased it two years ago. I wanted to see how the course has changed in response to real estate changes over the past 20 years. I was dissapointed to see that the course itself had not changed at all. The only change was that the format - the cassette tapes are now CDs and the video tapes are now DVDs.

The course itself might be ok for beginners as it gives a general overview of how the real estate industry really works. He talks about foreclosures, fix-up properties, and landlord vs. tenant issues. The course doesn’t add much depth to your level of knowledge. I think it has actually contributed to competition in the market, making the identification of new real estate deals very difficult.

I find the course to be misleading as well. He leads his students to believe that it’s easy to purchase a home by putting no money down. This is simply not the case. You’ll have to pour countless hours into looking for new properties and then contacting owners and agents before you can finalize a transaction.

Having a healthy income and investment plan should certainly include real estate ownership. I personally own both commercial and residential real estate, but I remain realistic about my goals. I don’t think that no money down transactions are good for beginners. There are dozens of effective ways to make money both online and off. Building up a cash flow will make future transactions easier to conduct. Later on you will be able to consider becoming a landlord or making additional investments.

UPDATED - May 2008

The sub-prime mortgage crunch has had a significant negative impact on the real estate market in the United States. If you’re motivated, you’ll have no problem finding a real estate transaction amongst the thousands that are currently pending. Carleton Sheets methods might be helpful in the current market.

After examining and testing hundreds of money-making opportunities and work at home programs, ONLY ONE brought in a paycheck that covered all my monthly expenses.
Click here to go to this website.

Posted in Reviews | 1 Comment »