The most important thing to do is to raise your head up high and tackle your creditors head on.  Showing responsibility for your actions will prove favourable with them and show them that you are financially responsible for your actions.  Face up to your debt and find the best option – Bankruptcy, Individual Voluntary Arrangement, Debt Consolidation are just three options.

It is important to realise that there is nothing to feel shameful about as millions of people everyday experience financial difficulties.  Debt in the 21^st century is a way of life for many people.

Most people see debt as failure but looking at is as a learning curve will help you to tackle the situation and avoid the pitfalls that led to your financial demise in the first place.

A positive mental attitude towards debt!

Scientific research has shown that people who deal with their debt problems with a positive attitude are more likely to become debt free quicker and maintain a debt free life in the future.

Life is short, so do not let debt stop you from getting on with your life.  As the saying goes ‘pick yourself up, dust yourself down and start all over again’ but with a clean slate and a more responsible attitude to money.

If you are wallowing in self-pity, take the first step now to a more positive and debt free life by seeking immediate debt advice.

By using a new loan to repay your existing unsecured debts, you’ll combine all your debts into just one – meaning you’ll have just one payment to make each month, to one creditor.

What type of loan can I actually use to consolidate my debts?
On the surface, a ‘debt consolidation loan’ is just like any other loan – whether it’s secured or unsecured – even if the lender does ask you to state what you want to borrow the money for.

However, the type of debt consolidation loan you take out will have an effect on other things – so it’s important you are aware of and understand each type of loan before making your final choice. (If you don’t own property, though, you won’t have the choice of securing a debt against the property you’re living in.)

Secured debt consolidation loan (homeowners only)
Basically, if a loan is secured, it means you have a valuable asset (usually your home) placed as security against the loan. This means the lender is taking fewer risks when lending you their money, and as such, you may be offered a lower interest rate and a longer repayment term than you might be offered if you opted for an unsecured debt consolidation loan.

Of course, the drawback to this is that it is secured against your home. If you miss payments, your home may need to be sold so you can repay your debt. This is something you’d need to think about very carefully before you went ahead.

Unsecured debt consolidation loan
Unlike a secured debt consolidation loan, an unsecured consolidation loan doesn’t have anything placed against it as security.

This may seem like the ’safer’ option, but the consequences of missing your payments would still be serious:

• Your credit rating will be damaged – which will affect your ability to obtain the best deals if you try to borrow money in the next six years.
• You may face legal action from your creditors if you continue to miss payments.

Note: arranging to repay your debt at a slower rate can lead to you paying more overall as you’ll be paying interest for longer. On the other hand, though, if the interest rate on your debt consolidation loan is lower than the rates on your original debts, your debt would grow more slowly.

This prompted Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO to counter with his prediction that “the era of the personal computer is far from over.” This was said to counter Steve Jobs’ prediction that the rising popularity of the iPad and other devices heralds the decline of traditional PCs. However, as The Wall Street Journal reported, Mr. Ballmer’s argument was more semantics than substance. Microsoft regards tablets as just another version of a PC, like laptops are, and Windows plans to offer a competing product.

The battle of what was once David versus Goliath has now become a war of “Tech Titans.” It’s going to be interesting to see how it all unfolds. On that note, we thought it might be of interest to readers to see how Apple caught up to Microsoft through the lens of the EDMP, Inc. F.A.S.T. Graphs™.

Figure 1 below plots the earnings growth of Microsoft since 1996. In this example, the orange line with white triangles represents earnings multiplied by the growth rate of those earnings (19.2%), and the white triangles connotes fiscal year end. As the EDMP, Inc. F.A.S.T. Graphs™ illustrate, Microsoft experienced impressive growth with modest cyclicality since 1996.

(click to enlarge)

Figure 1 MSFT 15yr EPS Growth 

In Figure 2 below, we overlay the monthly closing stock prices of Microsoft since 1996. Since the orange line with white triangles represents the PEG Ratio (Price Equals Growth Rate) value for Microsoft, the irrationally exuberant overvaluation from 1996-2000 is clearly evident, by our definition of value. Nevertheless, the correlation between price and earnings cannot be denied as the overvaluation inevitably moved to earnings justified levels.

(click to enlarge)

Figure 2 MSFT 15yr EPS Growth Correlated to Price

Figure 3 below looks at Apple’s earnings growth over the same period (1996-current). Although the end result of 20.4% earnings growth correlates closely to the 19.2% earnings growth for Microsoft, how it got there is a much different story. From 1996 to 2001 Apple’s earnings were actually quite poor. Apple reported losses in 1996, 1997, and again in 2001.

(click to enlarge)

Figure 3 AAPL 15yr EPS Growth

Figure 4 below overlays monthly closing prices for Apple since 1996. As the graph shows, price correlates to earnings with occasional bouts of overvaluation and even some undervaluation. Remember, the orange line with white triangles represents PEG ratio, or fair value. Therefore, when the black line touches the orange line the stock is in value, when above the orange line it’s overvalued, and when below the orange line it’s undervalued.

(click to enlarge)

Figure 4 AAPL 15yr EPS Growth Correlated to Price

For an interesting perspective we have marked Figure 4 with arrows that represent Apple milestones. As most people know, Windows PCs vastly outnumber MAC PCs by a factor greater than 10:1.

This explains Apple’s poor earnings record through 2001. However, things began to change on October 23, 2001 when Apple launched the iPod (red arrow). Then on January 9, 2007 the iPhone was launched (blue arrow), and this is when Apple’s fortunes really kicked in to high gear.

The purple arrow in Figure 4 marks January 27, 2010, when Apple announced the launching of the iPad. As an interesting aside, Apple announced a secret at the D8 Conference. The iPhone was born while Apple was working on the iPad. Allegedly, Steve Jobs said that it would make a great phone, and the iPad was put on the back burner in favor of the iPhone.

Apple Dedicated to Excellence

A great deal of Apple’s recent success can be attributed to the attitude of its founder, Steve Jobs. While many tech companies strive to protect their legacy products, Apple has never been afraid of creative destruction. In other words, they are willing to abandon out-of-date common products and services in favor of new and improved versions. Apple is only interested in providing its customers the best, and most up-to-date products and services possible. Therefore, innovation is part and parcel of the company’s corporate DNA. Instead of trying to protect the past, it is more concerned with building a better tomorrow.

Although many of its competitors are developing products and operating systems to compete with Apple, we believe they will surely fail unless they adopt Apple’s mindset. However, a major characteristic of technological advancement is the leapfrogging of one company’s developments over existing technology. Therefore, the prudent and diligent technology investor needs to be in constant vigilance regarding new technologies that could threaten their existing portfolios. It would be naive to believe that any company or person, including Apple or Steve Jobs, to be impervious to this possibility. On the other hand, so far so good, regarding Apple’s most recent momentum.

Conclusion

Although Apple currently seems to have the lead in technological advancements, let’s not forget that Microsoft has formidable resources and has dominated for many decades. It’s true that Apple has now overtaken Microsoft, in terms of market cap. However, much of this can be attributed to valuation. Microsoft currently trades at only 13.3 times earnings, while Apple trades at 21.8 times earnings. Based on recent growth, this is justified. However, it would be irresponsible to ignore this valuation discrepancy. Current estimates expect Apple’s five year growth to exceed 18%. If this happens, then arguably Apple is fairly priced to only modestly overpriced today, in our opinion.

(DQD)

Even though I’m not quite sure why someone would want to spend so much money on one, it is a fact that millions of people want to get their hands on an iPad, if only just to test it out. And that appears to be the problem, with a new NY Daily News investigation turning up some icky results from swab tests on the handheld devices.

Reporters covertly used medical swabs to collect samples from demo iPads at the flagship Apple store in Midtown Manhattan and the recently opened one in the always sanitary-sounding Meatpacking District. They then sent those swabs on to a lab to test for bacteria.

I agree that Microsoft isn’t going to disappear, but I think it will begin losing PC market share faster as the tide that’s seen Apple’s (AAPL) growing share among individuals moves to companies. The corporate preference for PCs has long been the argument in favor of Microsoft’s continued dominance.

As the owner of a small company myself, I can tell you that the cost argument doesn’t hold up anymore when viewed in terms of return on investment (ROI). Now more than one year into our wholesale change from PCs to Macs, we’ve gone from wasting 15% of our time chasing down missing drivers and other daily Windows hassles to a year without one single problem. Not one! I didn’t know that was possible in the world of computing prior to switching to Macs.

I can count on one hand the times we’ve restarted the machines, and all of those were shutting them down for travel. The machines are no slower today than when we bought them, unlike our PCs which began establishing their obsolescence almost the day we took them out of their boxes. I’ve heard from people who’ve used Macs much longer than I that the machines are fine five and even 10 years after buying them. I’m one year into my own testing of that. So far, so good.

Now that the Internet has erased the compatibility issue, I think more companies will look into ROI on their capital equipment purchases and conclude that switching to Macs is a smarter way to go. It not only makes for a better work environment, which in itself is worth a lot, but it might also cost less in hard dollar terms. Apple could help that trend by providing more aggressive pricing for bulk corporate purchases, but I don’t know if they’re planning to do that.

Anyway, the hard-dollar difference isn’t that great anymore, judging by my experience. The last notebook PC I bought cost me $2,200. My MacBook Pro cost me $2,800 a year ago, and it sports far better hardware behind far more elegant software. The PC notebook’s self-destruction was mostly finished after two years, a record fast degradation in my experience and the straw that broke the PC camel’s back for me and sent me to the Mac racehorse. One year into my Mac experience, Apple has me for life.

Is $600 too much more to pay for that much more computer? I don’t think so. A few years more and it won’t be more expensive at all when broken into dollars per year. That last self-immolating PC notebook of mine cost me $1,100 per year. If my Mac gives me at least three years it will have cost me just $933 per year. If it gives me five years, it will have cost me just $560 per year. Meanwhile, as the dollar difference fades, the improvement in user experience has been like upgrading from a bicycle to a Benz.

The ROI argument in favor of Apple seems compelling to companies. As they migrate more of their custom applications online, it seems that more companies will join individuals in realizing that there’s no longer a need to suffer through PC headaches, no longer a cost barrier, and lots of productivity waiting to be unlocked. That should boost Apple’s market share inside corporations.

 

We all love to travel and stay in hotels. From having our bed made for us and getting the newspaper delivered to our door, very few things in life compare to staying at a nice hotel. But nice hotels aren’t cheap — unless you know how to find them.

I recently traveled to Boston and paid a dirt-cheap rate for a fancy hotel a five-minute walk from Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. How did I do it? I booked it through Hotwire.

My Story

I actually had booked a room with Hotels.com but then got an email two days before our trip that there was a “problem” with the reservation. So I called them up and found out that, sure enough, I did not have a room.

Frustrated, I decided to try one of the other hotel aggregators out there to find another hotel that wasn’t too expensive.

I was in a bit of a panic — this was not the kind of surprise I had in mind for our anniversary weekend!

What is Hotwire?

It’s a hotel aggregator with a twist. Kayak, Orbitz, and Hotels.com all do the same thing, but Hotwire sets itself apart by throwing a curveball into the process.

Hotwire won’t show you the name of the hotel until you’ve booked it, but it will show you the price and the approximate location.

I told Hotwire I wanted to be in the financial district and that I wanted to see the lowest possible rates. What I saw was a 4 1/2 star hotel available for just $149/night before taxes.

So I booked it and only after I got my confirmation email did I find out I would be staying at the Langham Hotel, which is rated as a four-star hotel and is ranked number 26 in Boston by TripAdvisor.

Was It Weird?

A little, but I got over it real quick after seeing the price and reading their ratings guide. And I found out that I was staying at the Langham, I did more sleuthing and it became real obvious what a great deal I got.

How Do They Do It?

They hide the names of the hotels because hotels don’t want to advertise that they have such low prices for their rooms. It makes perfect sense.

So we get the benefit of a cheap room at a nice hotel, the hotel gets to sell their inventory without telling the world about the discount, and the people that paid $265 for the very same room can enjoy the fact that they can afford nice hotels more often than the rest of us.

Everyone’s a winner!

(auxesis)

Last month, InformationWeek filed a Freedom of Information request with the FCC and the FTC for complaints made about the iPhone in the past year. Although the breakdown of complaints is interesting, what I found most striking was that in a nation of over 11 million iPhone owners, less than 600 complaints were filed in the past 14 months^*, and some of those were for other Apple products. If you have a legitimate grievance with a company, you might have a much better chance of being heard by the FCC or FTC than you think.

Of course, if you’re an entitled idiot who just wants to complain, you can do that too. InformationWeek said “quite a few” of the complaints to both agencies were “poorly reasoned,” “misdirected at Apple” or reflected “a poor choice by the complainant rather than corporate misconduct.”

As to the rest, well, the majority of the 72 complaints made to the FCC were about AT&T as much as if not more than Apple.

There were about 450 complaints filed with the FTC, although not just about the iPhone:

(mskierki)

The same weekend that eager European, Aussie and Canadian customers were finally able to get their hands on Apple’s iPad tablet thingy, the company announced that it had sold 2 million of the portable devices since its launch in early April.

If true, this rate of sale would surpass Apple’s 2007 debut of the iPhone. Of course the iPad does have the advantage of not requiring users to be AT&T subscribers.

After being delayed weeks because of high domestic demand, iPad went on sale this past Friday in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

In July, nine more countries — including Mexico and Ireland — will get their iPads.

Meanwhile, netbook notables Asus announced today that they are getting in on the tablet and e-reader markets with the upcoming releases of two different devices.

Asus’ Eee Pad, which they’re touting as a a multimedia player, e-reader, and compact PC, will use the Windows 7 operating system. The company plans to have two models — a 10″ and 12″ — available for the retail market in the first quarter of 2011 with pricing between $399 and $449. The least expensive iPad sells for $499.

Beginning in September, Asus will also do combat with e-readers like the Kindle and Nook with its Eee Tablet, which will include a 2 megapixel camera and retail for between $199 and $299