As we wrap up a most interesting, and volatile, week there are some things that I have discussed previously that are now brewing, interesting points to consider and risks to be aware of.  In this regard I thought I would share a few things that caught my attention as I look forward to wrapping up the week that was.

….read it all 6 items HERE

Investors often turn to real estate, looking to flip as a way to earn big money fast. Real-estate experts agree, however, that people need to do their research so their flips don’t flop.

To start, potential investors need to be clear on exactly what kind of flip they’re prepared to pursue. There’s the “quick flip”; buying a place, fixing it up, and selling it within a year; and buying a property, renting it out for a longer period, then getting rid of it.

“All three are totally different animals,” says Vancouver-based Ozzie Jurock, president of the Jurock Real Estate Insider. “People want simple answers. It’s not so straightforward as hoping some other greater fool will pay more the next day than what you paid today.”

The basics                                                                                                       Ozzie Jurock

“The number one requirement to flip has nothing to do with the market but has to do with you: it’s guts,” says Jurock, who’s currently keen on Phoenix and Las Vegas for real-estate investing. “You have to step up to the plate. In our club every month we have people talk about how they saw a deal. They’ll say ‘I saw it, I knew it was great, I did my research, but I didn’t move and someone else got it.’ They’re human beings; they act on emotions. It’s not all clear numbers.”

There are many success stories, though. He points to a senior couple he’s worked with who wanted to flip as a means to increase their annual income. They decided on flipping four properties a year, one every three months. Their first year they made $32,000; the second, $68,000.

“And this year they’re well on their way to doing it again,” Jurock notes. “To them it’s ideal because they’re clear [about their goals]. Often what we don’t have in real-estate investment is clarity. When people aren’t clear, they’re running around all over the place, ‘Joe says I should do this. Have you heard about this?’ As a flipper, know thyself. Have guts to act.

“What is the reason why this or that property is going to be worth more after you buy it?” Jurock adds. “Is it because you’re going to add value to it by painting? Or is there something happening in that town–a new sawmill opening up or a new power station–some kind of economic reason?”

Making money by flipping also involves “elbow grease”, Jurock says, who points to Edmonton, Calgary, and Surrey as other strong markets for investors. “Say you buy a place that’s a bit rundown. You paint it, clean it, cut the grass, put on new front door, put big brass numbers out front; only spend money on the main floor. Don’t spend a lot of money on stupid stuff. Don’t ever put a bidet in a washroom.”

He says the “classic” flip everybody wants is a foreclosure. He suggests people go to the courthouse and see how the process works. Money can be made on these properties, but again, people need guts. “Understand yourself,” he says.

Finally, remember there’s risk involved.

“You might go somewhere and buy the wrong thing,” Jurock says. “Or you might buy the right condo at the wrong time. Markets are cyclical.”

Click on image or HERE for more info

Top Stories
Emerging markets rally as Fed forgoes taper. Emerging market stocks (EEM) posted big gains overseas on the back of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to keep the size of its asset purchase program unchanged for the time being. Indonesian shares (IDX, EIDO) jumped as much as 7.4% early before retreating a bit to trade around 4% higher. Stocks likewise rallied sharply in India (EPI), Thailand (THD), the Philippines (EPHE), Malaysia (EWM), and Turkey (TUR).

JPMorgan faces $900M in fines, will admit wrongdoing in Whale case: NYTimes. JPMorgan (JPM) will pay in excess of $900M in fines and admit to wrongdoing in an effort to settle multiple investigations into the whale-sized blunder that took place in Q1 2012 at the firm’s London CIO office, the NY Times’ Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Ben Protess reported. The government authorities across the settlement table reportedly are the SEC, the OCC, the Fed, and the Financial Conduct Authority in London. Although it looks likely the blame will not be placed with any of the higher-ups, the bank will apparently “acknowledge that it had lax controls and should have caught the problem faster.”

Top Stock News
Oracle turns in mixed quarter. Oracle (ORCL) reported FQ1 earnings that beat Street estimates Wednesday evening, but revenue growth of 2% left the top line shy of consensus. Software license and cloud subscription revenue rose 5% (GAAP), which was a “a bit of a relief,” according to an FBR Capital analyst quoted by WSJ. The growth rate is better than FQ4’s disappointing 1%, and hit a guidance range of -1% to +7%. Nevertheless, hardware product sales fell 13% Y/Y to $669M, missing a guidance range of -6% to +2%. The company’s FQ2 EPS guidance came in light at $0.64-$0.69, versus consensus of $0.69. Larry Ellison missed the conference call for an “important” America’s Cup race.

Take-Two scores record with Grand Theft Auto V. Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) said global Grand Theft Auto V retail sales likely topped $800M in the game’s first 24 hours of availability, smashing the previous record set last year by Activision Blizzard’s (ATVI) Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. A Piper Jaffray analyst quoted by Bloomberg said the game may generate more revenue (after vendors take their cut) in two weeks than the Street was expecting the company to make in three months.

Apple garners upbeat reviews for new iPhones, iOS. Reviewers found much to like about Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 5S and the 5C’s hardware, and generally gave a thumbs-up to iOS 7 along the way. TheNYT‘s David Pogue praised the performance of the 5S’ A7 CPU, the improved color balance yielded by its dual-LED flash, and the convenience of its fingerprint sensor. Pogue also lauded iOS 7’s revamped UI and plethora of new features. As for the 5C, Engadget’s Myriam Joire said the performance and battery are good and believes “most buyers will pick the phone for the price and color choices alone.”

Sony sets high bar for PS4 sales. Sony (SNE) said it plans to sell 5M PlayStation 4s globally by March. If the company can hit the ambitious target, it would mark a 41% improvement from the numbers PlayStation 3 put up from November of 2006 to March of 2007. Speaking at the Tokyo Game show, the company’s president of Worldwide Studios for Sony Computer Entertainment Shuhei Yoshida also teased an iOS and Android PlayStation app which, according to WSJ, “lets players use the camera on the smartphone to interact with the gaming environment.”

Petrobras plans big data security investment: FT. Unnerved by suggestions of U.S. spying, Petrobras (PBR) plans to invest around $9.6B in data security over the next five years, FT reported. PBR president Maria das Graças Foster said the move was “personally approved by the board of directors.” This year’s investment will total some $1.8B and will apparently include measures designed to keep the transfer of information related to seismic studies off the internet.

Top Economic & Other News
Japan exports jump in August. Japanese exports rose 14.7% in August, data showed. That’s good for a sixth consecutive gain and is the largest increase in three years. This is welcome news analysts said, as “a recovery in exports will help cushion the impact” from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s planned sales tax hike, which some fear has the potential to stifle the country’s economic momentum.

SNB says franc cap is critical, keeps rates low. The Swiss National Bank reiterated Thursday that its franc (FXF) ceiling is “essential” and kept the cap at 1.20 per euro. “There’s absolutely no reason to give [it up],” SNB President Thomas Jordan said earlier this month in an interview. With the economic situation in the eurozone still tenuous (at best), “safe haven positions have [remained] far stickier than most investors thought possible,” a UBS currency strategist told Bloomberg. As expected, the SNB also kept the band for its benchmark rate unchanged at 0-0.25%.

Home builders rise on Fed, upbeat data. Investors will likely be keeping a close eye on the homebuilders (XHB) after the sector got a big lift Wednesday from the Fed’s decision to postpone the dreaded taper and from data which showed single-family housing starts rose 7% M/M to 628K in August. It’s now a question of sustainability, as some wonder how well demand for housing will hold up in the face of tepid jobs growth once the FOMC finally takes the plunge and begins to scale back its asset purchases.

Oil prices get support from Fed, inventories data. “News of Fed refraining from tapering comes at the same time as relatively low spare capacity and relatively low crude [and product] stocks,” Barclays oil analyst Miswin Mahesh said Thursday. Mahesh believes emerging market demand is now set up for an upside surprise, as the prospect of rising import costs appears likely to “fade.” MarketWatch notes that the 4.4M barrel decline in petroleum inventories reported by the EIA on Wednesday “far exceeded [Platts’] expectations for a fall of 1.5M barrels.” The outlook: Barclays sees oil (USO, OIL) prices staying put with “an upward bias” for the balance of the year.

U.K. retail sales disappoint. U.K. consumers pulled back on spending in August, data showed Thursday. Retail sales volumes fell 0.9% last month, defying analysts’ expectation of a 0.4% gain. One BNP Paribas economist quoted by BBC called the figure “one of the weakest prints on the economy for some time” and suggested expectations for the country’s recovery may have gotten ahead of themselves, although the outlook remains broadly positive.

Alpha-Rich Stock Movers and Great Calls
1) On September 11, Nathan Hamilton made the long case for ADT Corp. (ADT), citing the company’s steady cash flow and unique model that should keep it secure from competition. The stock is +5.5% since. Read article »
2) On July 8, Stephen Simpson argued that HudBay Minerals (HBM) had hit rock bottom, with a revised debt covenant, a new cash inflow, and increasing production offering 65% upside. The shares are +35.9% to date. Read article »

Alpha-Rich Stocks To Watch
1) Major Drilling (MJDLF.PK, TSE: MDI) has a strong balance sheet to survive this downturn and industry leadership to drive upside through the next cycle. A possible double for the patient investor. Read article »
2) Confusion over Signet’s (SIG) Q2 has offered investors this gem at a bargain price. Numerous tailwinds should drive a sparkling 100% return over the next 18 months for the jeweler’s shares. Read article » 

Alpha-Rich articles are the best long and short ideas on Seeking Alpha. SA Pro subscribers receive early access to these Alpha-Rich articles, which often move markets. For more information about SA Pro and becoming a subscriber, click here.

Today’s Markets: 
In Asia, Japan +1.8% to 14766. Hong Kong +1.7% to 23502. China, Closed. India +3.2% to 20607. 
In Europe, London +1.5%. Paris +1%. Frankfurt +1.2%. 
Futures at 6:20: Dow +0.33%. S&P +0.44%. Nasdaq +0.43%. Crude+0.7% to $108.74. Gold +4.1% to $1361.80.
Ten-year Treasury Yield +1 bps to 2.71%

Today’s economic calendar:
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
8:30 Current Account
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:00 Existing Home Sales
10:00 Philly Fed Business Outlook
10:00 Leading Indicators
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet

Notable earnings before today’s open: CAG, IHS, PIR, RAD

Notable earnings after today’s close: CTAS, TIBX

See full real-time earnings coverage »

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The Beatles of the Energy Revolution

“This is the end!” People love to make this statement about everything – from good music to energy production to the world as we know it. Lucky for us, these people are almost always wrong. Here are a few examples of why the future is actually brighter than most people think, and how you can make money because of it.

One of the greatest mysteries of human biology is music. We know that most human beings have the capacity, perhaps even the need, to enjoy music. These ordered sounds and rhythms play a major role in our lives, even if we never set out purposely to make it so.

If you watch television or movies, you are immersed in music. Even if you only listen to talk radio, you will hear music in commercials and as part of virtually every show’s production soundtrack. Our most important rituals and cultural institutions, from weddings to funerals, include music.

Untold volumes have been written by scholars attempting to explain why the phenomenon developed. It is, in fact, deeply ingrained in the human genome and brain, very much as is language. Various theories exist about the reason that music is such an enormous part of the human experience, but there is not serious consensus.

We know very little about the way that music developed and why. I’ve never encountered an explanation for the genetic basis of music that is really convincing. I don’t understand why we would have developed such massive musical capacity without a more obvious biological advantage. Music may be some sort of survival mechanism, but nobody so far has properly explained it if that’s true.

That doesn’t mean, however, that I don’t think that music isn’t important. Both of my kids, in fact, have been given musical training. I suppose you could say that my “hobby,” if that’s the right word, is music history. From Pythagoras through classical, big band, the blues and contemporary forms, I’m fascinated by the constant evolution of music.

In fact, I’ll tell you exactly how best to irritate me. All you have to do is tell me that there hasn’t been any great music made since (fill in the date.) You all know people who have this attitude, that the golden age of music, which always seems to have taken place when they were at the peak of their physical virility, has passed.

When I was a kid, these people were claiming that Elvis or Buddy Holly were the last great musicians and that those long-haired English boys, the Beatles, were just junk. Then, people who embraced Beatles era music turned off to everything that came after it. People who came of age in the ’90s claim that there’s no good music in the 21st century.

They’re all wrong, of course. Every era has a pretty proportionate share of enduringly excellent music as well as junk. If I had the forum for it, I’d enjoy presenting the evidence.

My bigger point is simply that a large percentage of the population sees history, just as they see music, through their own biology. This is why, at any time in history, esteemed writers and thinkers have always declared the end of civilization’s best days and the inevitable descent into mediocrity — if not actual chaos. Somehow, though, civilization has managed to overcome far greater insults than anything we are experiencing today to reach new height after new height after new height.

I’m bringing this up right now because, lately, I’ve been particularly bored by the deference that is given to the contemporary pessimists. They claim, as so many did before them, that civilization has peaked. They are, in fact, the same type of people who see worth only in the music that was popular before they began growing a paunch, losing their hair or seeing wrinkles in the mirror.

Of course, I could be wrong. I don’t have a crystal ball or a time machine. However, I’ve been pretty much right so far about a whole range of issues that should have discredited the doom and gloomers. I normally don’t rub it in, but we all know today that the panicked merchants of Peak Oil got it badly wrong. I said when that Peak Oil “meme” was building that market pricing mechanisms would solve our energy supply problems, and it has happened exactly as I said it would.

We are seeing North America emerge as the greatest producer of fossil fuels on the planet, with hundreds of years of reserves. America is the new Saudi Arabia of the energy world. There’s far more fossil fuel energy than we need to take us to that point in the future when technology enables true alternative energy, especially thorium power, which will power humanity for tens of thousands of years longer. Even more radical innovation is not just possible, it’s likely.

New extraction technologies, such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as hydrofracking, have opened up the potential to tap vast reserves of oil and natural gas buried deep underground. But hydrofracking technology has not just opened up massive energy stores. It has made America the cheapest place in the world to produce commodity chemicals. Seven ethylene crackers are under construction right now. Any process, such as phosphate production, that uses natural gas is soaring.

Though the fracking revolution has already begun, this technology is a true breakthrough that will catapult hydrocarbon production at very low marginal costs. I call it the fracking breakthrough, or just the fracking break. And Lord knows, given the complete inanity of our ruling classes, we sorely needed a fracking break.

I think it’s probably normal human psychology to feel as your time is running out that the human race’s best days are over — just as it is normal to think the music of your youth was better than that new stuff the kids are listening to — the whippersnappers. History, however, refutes the notion that despite the incredible acceleration of scientific innovation, progress will end and humanity will slip backward.

A very, very good science fiction writer, William Gibson, felt compelled to address this cyclical pessimism in a work titled Distrust That Particular Flavor. It is a useful read if you’re susceptible to age-related apocalyptic thinking.

Besides the disappearance of Peak Oil and the fracking break, we also are seeing a truly remarkable biotech revolution. I wonder, in fact, if all the pessimists would be so depressed if they knew that healthy life spans have already started increasing dramatically.

On second thought, I suspect that nothing will shake the stubborn confidence of those who refuse to listen to anything they didn’t hear in high school or college. They will always be convinced that the best is behind us, just as they see their own vigor dissipating. They’re wrong, however, and those who invest in the emerging and much better future are going to be vindicated in the best possible ways, with profits and new vigor via revolutionary biotechnologies.

Yours for transformational profits,

Patrick Cox
For Tomorrow in Review

Ed. Note: The biotech revolution is upon us. Every day companies are developing life-extending technologies, treatments for deadly diseases, and an array of other astounding applications. And investors who are willing to expand their horizons are making the most of it. That’s why we write the Tomorrow in Review newsletter every day — to highlight these life-changing technologies… and to give you the chance to profit from them. It’s completely free to sign up and comes with a wide variety of investment opportunities. Check it out for FREE, right here.

This article originally appeared in The Daily Reckoning on June 13, 2013

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