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Ron Taylor asked:




Flipping in and out of stock may be a great way to scrape small profits off price dips and swells, but unless your stock portfolio account has an equity and cash position of at least $25,000, you will run afoul of the pattern day trader rule.

The pattern day trader rule limits your ability to buy and sell the same stock in the same trading day, unless your account portfolio has a cash and stock value of at least $25,000.

This is just one additional hurdle you need to jump before getting involved in penny stock day trading. This rule stipulates that you must have at least $25,000 in cash or stock value in your portfolio to move in and out of the same security on the same trading day.

Generally, an online broker will allow you to “get away” with one or two trades per week on what they call “both sides of the market,” but they could theoretically reject your order requests at any time.

When I was first starting out in this business I had about $5,000 in my account. I came across a stock that was moving up and down in intraday trading and decided to try flipping the stock a few times.

After my third buy and sell transaction that day, I received an alert from my broker. It notified me of the pattern day trader rule, and suggested I deposit $20,000 into my account to meet SEC guidelines.

Right. I had $20,000 setting around looking for a home.

My subsequent attempts to trade on both sides of the market were met with “Cannot accept this order” type messages.

What Exactly Is This Rule?

According to the SEC, a day trader is any trader who buys and sells a particular security in the same trading day and does this four or more times in any five consecutive business day period.

Here’s a more legal way of saying basically the same thing:

A pattern day trader is defined in Exchange Rule 431 as any customer who executes 4 or more round-trip day trades within any 5 successive business days. If, however, the number of trades is more than 3 but is 6% or less than the total number of trades that trader has made for that five business day period, the trader will not be considered a pattern day trader and will not be required to meet the $25,000 criteria for a pattern day trader.

More Legalese

According to http://www.patterndaytraderrule.com, this rule is, “this rule applies to anyone who buys and sells a particular security in the same trading day (day trades), and does this four or more times in any five consecutive business day period. A pattern day trader is subject to special rules. The main rule is that in order to engage in pattern day trading you must maintain an equity balance of at least $25,000 in a margin account.” Please visit the site referenced above for a complete legal description.

Now that you know more about this rule, you could technically make a few day trades each week without violating SEC rules. However, some authority has been given to online brokers to judge your trading patterns, which could lead to being labeled as a day trader, despite your efforts to trade within the non-pattern day trading rules.

You should also be aware of the “five consecutive business day” comment above. Apparently, the clock does not reset on Monday morning. If you placed several day trades on the previous Friday, these may be a part of the same five day period on Monday.

Why Is There A Pattern Day Trader Rule?

In general terms, the investment community and the Security and Exchange Commission felt the popularity of day trading was causing beginning retail traders to lose too much money in the marketplace. In an effort to curb the day trading mania, they decided a trader should have a minimum account balance before being bale to practice this trading strategy. I guess they figure if you are worth $25,000, you have the knowledge and experience to flip stocks.

I have a different opinion on this. Yes, the SEC may have had your best interests in mind, but I believe (unfounded opinion here) that the institutional investors resented the range bound trading of stocks due to flippers constantly scraping tiny profits off a stock’s movement. Imagine a stock is rallying on good news. As the stock rises in value the flippers come into the market. A flipper’s mentality (us day traders, that is) is to sell quick, thus deflating the asking price in our hurry to sell out and move along with our small profits.

Flipping can frustrate a stock’s move up, which drives the institutional guys wild. Due to their position sizes in a given stock, they cannot move in and out of the stock as quickly as retail traders. When you look at all the money invested in the stock market, keep in mind that about 80% of it is controlled by institutional investors. These are predominantly the mutual funds, pension funds, and insurance companies.

Remember the old saying, “he who has the gold, makes the rules?” Because of their sheer size, the institutional investors get to make the rules-the pattern day trader rule.

What Can I Do About This Rule?

I despise most rules, and see some of this governmental meddling as a slight on the capitalist system. But, I’ll save those comments for my college term papers.

The pattern day trader rule may be helpful to some of you. As you build your account value to meet this requirement, learn how to trade and profit on swing trades. The experience you gain as a stock researcher and technical analyst will pay dividends later when you join the fast paced day trading community.

Nicole Nicholas asked:




Valentines Day is quickly approaching, but are you having trouble finding romantic valentines day ideas?

It seems that alot of couples are having the same problem. While we should be focusing on romance and love, we seem to be panicking, as we scramble to find the best romantic gift for our partners.

But Valentines Day is meant to be a day to spend quality time with our partners. Not worrying about buying the right gift.

For many couples, more time needs to be spent on expressing their love for each other, and making memories that will last a lifetime. Love is more complex than giving your partner flowers or chocolates.

We shouldn’t worry so much about the “perfect” gift. That is not what Valentine’s Day is about. Its the little things that make Valentine’s day special. Like cooking your partner dinner, decorating romantically with candles and dimming the lights, or running off with your partner on a romantic weekend getaway.

Being creative and making it special are the most important gifts you can give. By finding meaningful things to do for your partner, thats how you will make this Valentines day truly spectacular.

Here are some romantic valentines day ideas you can use, to set you off on the right foot.

* Recreate your first date

* Watch a romantic movie

* Cook them a candlelight dinner

* Give them a sensual massage

* Take them for a night time picnic

* Take them on a surprise weekend getaway

* Surprise them with a romantic bedroom makeover

* Go for a romantic photo shoot, and surprise them with the pictures

* Print off some romantic love coupons (see the link below for some free ones)

Just remember that the more creative you make it, the more memorable it will be. Try to make it a tribute to your love for them.

Try to make this Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate your love and your relationship with your partner. That way no matter how you do it, this Valentine’s Day you will be able to show them just how much you care.

Vitaliy Gershfeld asked:




What if you could lose a pound a day without depriving yourself of anything, without trying extreme methods such as starvation of exhausting exercising? Well you can and the way to do that is through a special dieting technique known as the “calorie cycling diet” or as most people call it “calorie shifting”.

Calorie cycling has become one of the most popular and flexible ways to lose weight fast. It naturally enhances your metabolism and fat burning causing rapid weight loss, up to a pound a day in most cases.

The theory behind calorie cycling’s (calorie shifting) effect is that the body adjusts metabolism and fat burning according to the way you eat, or if you eat in routines. Because most people eat in routines, their metabolism stays the same, burning the same amount of fat and keeping their weight stable.

However because of fast foods and lack of exercise, weight starts to increase slowly and the longer it’s allowed to accumulate, the harder it will be to get rid of it with conventional dieting and exercise.

This is where the calorie cycling diet swoops in to save the day. Instead of eating in a routine, you eat in different orders and make sure every meal has different calorie values. You can eat anything from scrambled eggs, chicken, bacon, fruits, vegetables, bacon, nuts, fish and more, just as long as you keep mixing the order in which you eat.

This is the essence of the “calorie cycling” word. This type of eating causes the body to try and adjust to the change, but it can’t because you keep eating in mixed orders constantly making it wonder how many calories to burn before every meal. This causes the body to naturally trigger a reflex. The reflex will be to increase metabolism and fat burning.

It will do this to try and take control of the mixed eating and the winner in this case is you because with the increase in metabolism and fat burning, you can lose up to a pound a day doing this. And best of all you can most of your favorite foods because it’s the way calorie cycling is done and not what you’re eating that causes this weight loss effect. So if you’re wondering how to lose a pound a day, then the calorie cycling diet (calorie shifting) is the answer.

Vitaliy Gershfeld asked:




What would you say if someone told you that it is possible to lose a pound a day by breaking nearly every dieting rule ever created and that it was even possible to lose 5 pounds in 5 days and even 10 pounds in 10 days, you’d probably think they were out of their mind. But the fact is it’s possible and it’s all thanks to 1 dieting technique called calorie shifting.

Calorie shifting is a dieting technique that involves mixing up your eating routines day after day and eating meals with different calorie values about 4 times a day. What this does is it fools your body’s ability to adapt to your eating routines (because you keep changing tem) and wondering how many calories to burn. But because you don’t allow it to adapt, it will unleash a fail-safe reaction and that will be to increase metabolism to it’s peak to try and keep control.

Now we all know what fast metabolism means. Weight loss, better fat burning and a more energetic you! The high level of metabolism can cause up to a pound a day or weight loss so being able to lose 5 pounds in 5 days or even 10 pounds in 10 days is more than possible. In fact some people have been able to lose even more.

You don’t have to worry about side effects or danger. Sometimes people can feel a bit tired because calorie shifting causes the body to keep metabolism high so it will be working a lot so it’ll feel as though you’re actually exercising when in fact you aren’t, but you’ll still be losing weight quickly!

Regardless of whether or not you’re a man or woman, have bad genes, have never had a diet work for you or if you just need fast results and don’t have time to devote to conventional dieting tactics, this diet is ideal for those purposes because it’s effects are all natural and long term. So if you’re wondering how to lose 10 pounds in 10 days or just 5 pounds in 5 days, calorie shifting is the answer!

Ivan Kelly asked:




The Hospital 3 Day Diet, which is also known as the Birmingham Hospital Diet, has become popular due to claims that the diet was created as a means of enabling patients intended for surgery to lose up to 10 lbs in weight over a period of three days. Other sources attribute the origin of this diet plan to the University of Alabama.

It should be noted that these institutions do not make that claim and do not accept any responsibility towards those who follow the diet.

Notwithstanding the uncertainty of its origins, there is little doubt that this simple diet plan has become widespread and that many people have used it, often coming across the weight loss strategy under one of its many names. Apart from the Hospital 3 Day Diet, it is also known as Alabama 3 Day Diet, 3 day Tuna Diet, Tuna Fish Diet, 3 Day Cardiac Diet, and others.

The content of these weight loss diet plans is very similar and will here be treated as essentially the same.

A key element of the Hospital 3 Day Diet is that it contains a low daily calorie level of about 1,000 calories with specified ingredients to provide the protein, carbohydrates, fat (very little) and other nutrients that we need to survive. For a full description of the menu plan, do a quick search for my article “3 Day Tuna Fish Diet - Menu and Diet Plan”.

In brief, the plan outlines the foods to be included for breakfast, lunch and dinner over a three day period.

There are many reports of weight reduction from those who have followed the diet. The amount of claimed weight lost during that time varies, as might be expected with so many differing metabolisms and food requirements being involved. However, a minimum weight reduction of at least 2.5 lbs does seem attainable and likely.

Much of the weight loss from a diet of such a short duration probably comes from water loss. As well, with a calorie count of about 1,000 this would be well below normal requirements for most adults, so energy expended would also account for some of the loss.

However, whilst not a ’starvation diet’, the Birmingham Hospital Diet is likely to generate user problems if continued beyond the recommended 3 days. For instance, it is normal for our bodies to make adjustments when a food shortage is detected. This is a survival mechanism which protects us when little food is available, as in times of famine. The body slows metabolism and conserves fat stores to enable us to survive longer with less food. This actually makes it harder to lose weight, we have less energy and tire more easily. Not a satisfactory long term condition!

Although there may be some short-term loss advantage, the feelings of hunger experienced by the end of the diet encourage extra food intake after the diet has been completed. A better alternative is a program that does not produce a craving for food, does not cause the body to slow its activities, and takes into account nutritional requirements so that changes in eating habits would allow fat loss to happen over a longer period and be lasting.

Rather than following a simple, low calorie diet plan, losing weight over an extended period allows other tactics to be employed in the plan, such as ‘calorie shifting’, placing greater emphasis on fat loss and adequate nutrition. This is more likely in the long run to provide health benefits and sustainable weight loss.

Jason Spry asked:




There are five key things you need to know before heading off to the Tattoo Parlor
on tattoo appointment day. This article will cover those five key points to help ensure
that when you finally put ink to skin, you are completely ready and do not have any
last minute snags in your tattoo plan.

I have to admit, the first time I went to get a tattoo, I was pretty nervous, I
absolutely had no idea what to expect at all and I was really wondering just “How
painful is this going to be?”

Looking back on my tattoos now, and since I have undergone numerous tattoos,
I know what to expect, and what to prepare for when it comes to Tattoo Appointment
day.

Here five Tattooing Tips - Preparing for Tattoo Appointment Day

1) Tip 1: No Booze! I know you are nervous and you would not mind ‘numbing’ the pain with a few shots of liquor before you go. But doing this or any kind of drugs is a big no-no.

Alcohol thins the blood and thinner blood bleeds easier and takes longer to heal. Sure it
might make it a little less painful, but bleeding like a stuck pig will make it more difficult
for the tattoo artist to do his thing. You want the artist to have a ‘clean’ slate to work with
and do not want him to have to battle with you bleeding all over the place every time he puts
ink to skin. A tattoo that bleeds a lot is also messier to heal, which can result in a flawed
“end result” tattoo.

2) Tip 2: Go in super clean! Take your your daily shower just before your tattoo appointment. If you are like me and have to have a shower every morning regardless, then either schedule your tattoo appointment shortly after you wake up or just take another one right before you
visit the tattoo parlor. The Tattoo artist is going to be right up on you, and you want them to be extremely comfortable there. If you smell, at all, it is going to be a major distraction to the tattoo artist and they probably will not do as good of a job. Do not wear heavy perfume or cologne either, just nice clean skin.

Also keep in mind that post tattoo, you do not want to get your tattoo wet, especially right after having it done. Get clean first.

3) Tip 3: Wear comfortable clothes to your appointment! If your clothing is going to cover the tattoo, don’t wear white. A little blood could get on your clothes from the bandage and, well, we all know what blood does to white . I also recommend wearing loose fitting clothes so they won’t be too tight on the sore tattoo . If you are a woman and you are getting a tattoo on your arm, you might consider wearing a tank top so you don’t have to remove your shirt, although you probably won’t hear any complaints form the tattoo artist.

4 ) Tip 4: Take a DISTRACTION for yourself. Bring something with you to take your mind off having the tattoo done. A MP3 player is of course a good idea, as well as a book or magazine. Most tattoo artists ( like mine ) will talk to you during the process, but sometimes it is hard to hear over
the buzzing of the tattoo gun, and the shooting pain.

5 ) Tip 5: Eat something before you go. Some people can get light headed and even faint while having a tattoo put on, and having food on your stomach will help. Also, it takes a while, typically a couple hours, for even small tattoos to be put on. You do not want to be hungry on top of enduring the tattoo application.

Alright, those are my five tips to preparing for tattoo appointment day. I hope this article has been informative and will help make your first tattoo experience more pleasurable . For more tips on tattoo’s, including how to pick the perfect tattoo for you, visit http://www.mytattoosucks.com and you can get a FREE report on what NOT to do when selecting you tattoo!

Andrew Cho asked:




It always seem women have a hard time shopping for Valentine’s Day gifts for men. It’s true that you can’t just get them flowers and chocolate, but it’s really not that hard to please a man on Valentine’s Day. Here’s a great list of gifts that will make your man happy with February 14th.

1) Gourmet Chocolate Gift Baskets

Everybody loves chocolate and so does your man. Buying some quality chocolates from chocolatiers like Godiva or Ghiradelli will make him happy and he can even share the quality treats with you after you give them to him!

2) Wine

Wine is always good to have on Valentine’s Day. To help to situation out, why not go ahead and buy a nice bottle of wine to make planning the day easier. Make sure to note what kind of wine he likes. If you don’t know much about wine, any wine specialty store will be more than happy to help you find the perfect bottle.

3) Tickets

Getting tickets to your Valentine’s favorite sports team or band will definitely get him excited. He can even take you and you guys can plan a great date together. Make sure to plan ahead and get good seats to a good game. The better the game + seats, the happier your guy will be.

4) GPS

Let’s face it, guys **** to ask for directions. To solve the problem, why not buy him a GPS system so he doesn’t have to. Now you don’t have to fight anymore during road trips.

Leah Lee asked:




Secretary’s Day and Administrative Professional Appreciation Week are fast approaching, and it can seem that finding appropriate gifts for these purposes is so difficult-especially for male bosses with female employees. It’s hard enough for many people to shop for their own spouses let alone the people one works with, yet the time cannot go by without being acknowledged. Secretary’s gifts are not meant to be one of the great wonders of the world, but most employees expect to at least be recognized during this time, and passing it by without so much as a mention yet alone a token of appreciation can be detrimental to employee morale.

Of course, that doesn’t do an employer any good at all, so to help we have cracked the code for safe gift giving for your employees this year. Read on for a few suggestions as to what Secretary’s Day gifts you could pick up for the employees that help keep your business running from day to day.

Business Card Holders

Business card holders are great Secretary’s Day gifts for employees that work for you that may find it necessary to carry business cards. Engraving the name and position of your employee on the card holder or something else of that nature adds a personalized touch and shows that you put thought into the gift, especially when they didn’t expect you to.

Paperweights-An Old Classic

Another great idea for such an occasion is a paperweight. A paperweight is probably one of the most often gifts exchanged in a professional environment. Many see them as overrated, while many more think they are underrated. They always prove useful to hold papers down and out of the way or mark important materials, and they make a lovely little decoration for the desk as well. A paperweight is something that your employees will always be able to use, not just for a short while. Crystal paperweights and ones with interesting items in them or made of interesting items are always a good idea.

Personalized Totes

Personalized totes are another interesting idea for this occasion. People always have things that they take into work, whether it be files and papers or personal items. If there are a lot of things going into the office in the morning, it is very easy to leave at the end of the day with twice the amount of items in tow that you brought in, a difficult situation for any person-especially if they parked far. Personalized totes are perfect for such employees and are useful for occasions outside of work as well, like days at the park, beach, or library.

Watches and Clocks

Stop watches and clocks are also great gifts for employee appreciation. Not only do they increase productivity, but everyone can always use another time piece at home or at the office. These are more useful gifts that prove great for the dedicated worker, especially if they have the company name or logo emblazoned on it somewhere.

Picture Frames

Last but certainly not least, picture frames always make great appreciation gifts for employees. They are simple and always useful for any employee of any age, interest, background, or position in the company.

Secretary’s Day gifts don’t’ have to be a brain melter. These are just a few of many suggestions that you could come up with for way to treat your most special employees.

Paul J Green asked:




Here is 7 days rice diet plan which will help you to lose pounds quickly. This diet should be used minimum for 3 days and maximum for 2 weeks. Beginning from day 3 you will lose 1,5 pounds a day.

In this diet it is recommended to use unclean brown rice for all dishes.

1 day:

Breakfast: an apple, rice (80 g of dry grains) mixed with one tablespoon of lemon juice. Green herbal tea without sugar.
Lunch: vegetable soup, vegetable 150 g of salad made of different vegetables except tomatoes , 80 g of boiled rice mixed with one teaspoon of vegetable or olive oil.
Dinner: vegetable broth, 80 g of boiled rice with 2 big carrots.

2 day:

Breakfast: an orange, 80 g o frice mixed with one teaspoon of low-fat sour cream .
Lunch: vegetable broth with boiled vegetables and 80 g of rice.
Dinner: repeat lunch of day 2.

3 day:

Breakfast: a pear and 80 g of boiled rice.
Lunch: vegetable broth, salad made of cucumbers mixed with one teaspoon of vegetable oil, 80 g of rice with mushrooms fried on olive oil.
Dinner: broth, 80 g of rice with white cabbage.

4 day:

Breakfast: fruit salad with 2 tablespoons of rice flakes, 80 g of rice mixed with low-fat milk or cream.
Lunch: vegetable broth, 80 g of boiled rice with radish and carrots.
Dinner: broth, 80 g of rice mixed with 2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds.

5 day:

Breakfast: 80 g of boiled rice with grapes.
Lunch: vegetable soup, 150 g of vegetable salad made of different vegetables except tomatoes , 80 g of boiled rice mixed with one teaspoon of vegetable or olive oil.
Dinner: vegetable broth, 80 g of rice with 2 oranges.

6 day:

Breakfast: 80 g of rice with 2 dates, 4 walnuts and 1 pear.
Lunch: a vegetable broth, salad made of cucumbers mixed with one teaspoon of vegetable oil, 80 g of rice with mushrooms fried on olive oil.
Dinner: broth, 80 g of boiled rice with 1-2 apples, a cup of tea with one teaspoon of honey.

7 day:

Breakfast: 80 g of boiled rice with an apple and a pear,1 glass of fat-free organic yogurt, a cup of tea without sugar.
Lunch: vegetable broth, a portion of green salad, 80 g of boiled rice with 1 tomato and green string beans.
Dinner: broth, 80 g of boiled rice with 2 big carrots.

The dinner should be not later than 7 p.m. and it is also recommended to drink a big glass of water before each meal. Try not to consume any liquids during 1,5 - 2 hours after each meal.

Wendy Pan asked:




When trying to find a good gift for the mom(s) in your life for Mother’s Day, it can be difficult to find something that is both meaningful and inexpensive, yet will actually be appreciated. This is where easy mothers day crafts can come in handy. By finding inexpensive easy crafts to make as gifts, you can make something that will have meaning and be special to the wonderful mom in your life!

A really simple and inexpensive craft idea is to buy a solid color plain t-shirt and some inexpensive fabric paints- after the shirt has been washed and dried (to prevent shrinking afterward!), using the paints either put the children’s hand-prints on the shirt along with names, or have a design that matches a hobby or interest that Mom may have. This is something Mom can wear and be proud of, and is probably one of the top easy mothers day crafts!

Another really simple and inexpensive idea is to take a plant pot, paint the outside (or let the children paint the outside, then put some flower seeds of some sort in it, or a small plant. This is great when given with a simple card that expresses how a mother’s love plants seeds for life in a child’s heart. The idea is to express the love that a child and mother feel toward each other, and to express how special they are to one another.

If neither of these ideas appeal to you, then there are lots of other easy mothers day crafts out there! All you have to do is look for them, pick one you like, and do it or help the child(ren) make the craft! Search engines can point you in the right direction if you do a keyword search, they will help you find links to both major crafting sites and even obscure ones, that may help you find just the right project to do for the mom in your life.

Depending on the websites, you can find really simple craft projects and ideas out there, all specifically for Mother’s Day. Doing a simple search engine search for crafts specifically for Mother’s Day will help you find them. There are major websites out there and there are smaller ones. Don’t forget to make use of the forums and message boards on the sites as well, you can ask for specific projects or ask for links- and others will be able to point you in the right direction.

Easy mothers day crafts can also be found in books. You can buy these books at major retail bookstores, at online auctions, used book stores, used book sellers online, and you can also find craft magazines this way as well. If you’re looking for something and can’t find a copy of the book or magazine, try your local library and it’s arts and crafts subject area. You can always check out a book, or photocopy specific projects from magazines and books IN the library.

The sky’s the limit when it comes to craft projects, and anything heartfelt is always good.