Do you feel sick?

It all begins with taking care of your self. No matter how much you want to, you can not take care of others without taking care of you first.

Have you ever taken a plane trip? The flight attendant always explains that if the oxygen masks come down, you should place the mask on yourself before placing it on a young child. Most parents, especially mothers, are appalled at this thought.

Let’s think about it. What happens if you get the mask on your child but not on you? The child survives but you do not. Who will take care of your child then, what will his life be to him?

On the other hand, you can look at it this way. You are panicked. The oxygen masks have been released. Something is wrong with the plane. If you put your mask on first, the oxygen will allow you to think more clearly at a time when you need to most and most likely save a life.

So take care of yourself first. Eat balanced meals, exercise on a regular basis, get enough sleep, take time out for just you and listen to your mind and body. They will tell you what you need to do in order to live life!

Think positive as usual

So many people look at life negatively. They worry about things yet to come and about things that have already passed. They are unable to see the silver lining around the cloud in any situation.

Negative thinking leads to an unhealthy life, both physically and mentally. Our thoughts are controlled by us. Our emotions are caused by our thoughts. In order to change the way you feel about life, you must change the way you think about life.

It is easier to think your way into a different way of feeling than it is to feel your way into a different way of thinking. Let me put it this way. Who loves to clean the kitchen? Go ahead, raise your hand, nobody will laugh. I didn’t think so. Nobody loves to clean the kitchen! So, if you are sitting on your couch, thinking I really need to clean the kitchen, but I don’t feel like it, are you going to get up to clean the kitchen? Of course not, why would you do something you don’t feel like doing? To make your self feel better, that’s why.

Life is made up of things we don’t really feel like doing, but we do them anyway. By doing so, we make our selves feel better.  Wise old Shakespeare once said: “Nothing in life is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so!”

Controlling your thoughts is not easy. It will take time and practice. Most of us learned to think negatively while growing up, but now, as adults, it is time for us to break the cycle. When a negative thought comes to mind, stop it, challenge it and replace it. Yell aloud if you must. Tell yourself positive thoughts. Just do not let that thought continue.

You can not change your past life and you do not know what your future life holds so, stay in the present. It is the only thing that you can change. Life is short. Do not waste time living life negatively.

We can expect to experience stock markets to depreciate to a frightening extend in May and during September or October 2009 with the worst happening late September.

What lies before us?

1. Another large bulge of failure on residential mortgages
2. The commencement of large mortgage catastrophes on commercial property foreclosures such as shopping malls, mortgage failures on office buildings and other commercial properties.
3. The start of monstrous failures on vehicle loans and seizures.
4. A more than $40 billion hit on the nose for bank lenders due to credit card defaults.
5. The last part of the play; just before the final curtain drops – Credit defaults with no down payments in the vicinity of $500 trillion.These five factors tied together in one time frame at once could turn the 10800 flue cough of the Dow Jones into a more serious bronchitis situation of about 7250 down to even 5600.

In late September, early October, the effects could turn to other markets such as London, Asian and Tokyo including the New York markets to take a plunge second to none.

Currently the unemployment rate in the whole of the USA is close to 16%. Late in 2009, the real unemployment rate will touch the 25% mark as it was in the 1930’s Depression.

The good news however is that recovery is possible, but not before 2015.

The Great Depression(1928) - History repeating?

The United States’ current economic situation has many citizens of all walks of life, looking back at the country’s history of recessions experienced, for some answers. Recessions are determined by the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), which is tracked by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

A recession occurs when the GDP declines along with employment, investment or corporate profits. Since the Great Depression of 1929, the US has survived more than ten recessions. These recessions were of varying length and intensity. The most intense of these past recessions, beginning with the Great Depression, are:

The Great Depression – The Great Depression is the longest recession the United States has had to date. Beginning in 1929 with the stock market crash, it lasted for 43 months. The banking collapse in the US at the beginning of the Great Depression caused a global recession. Unfortunately, before the economy was fully recovered, the US was hit with another small recession in 1937.

1973 Oil Crisis – Although the 1973 Oil Crisis recession only lasted 16 months, it had a huge impact on the US economy. The world was taught a lesson when the Middle East closed their oil tap to the world. As oil prices quadrupled, US government spending was higher than normal to support the Vietnam War. Rising prices and increasing unemployment led to staggering inflation in the United States.

1979 Energy Crisis – This recession was due to the Iranian revolution. Once again, the price of oil increased from $15.85 over the following 12 months period to a shocking $39.50, the highest price for oil until the beginning of March 2008.

Great Commodities Depression – The Great Commodities Depression marks a twenty-year period in our economic history (1980-2000) when the price of commodities (raw materials) had an extended decline.

Do you feel like this guy - don't be under pressure

Surviving the recession is on the top of every investors mind during this financial crisis. Prices keep rising. Salaries are staying the same. Companies are downsizing. And the market is ever-changing. So how do you survive? Use the following tips to ensure your financial security during this time.

Know where your money is
If you are making investments, then you should know where your money is going. Do not allow investment bankers to use your money without knowing exactly for what it is being used. As an investor, you should receive monthly statements listing your investments and their balances. To survive the recession, you should understand and track your investments.

You may be taking a risk
The current financial crisis has caused all investment ventures to be risky. Surviving the recession means that you need to re-evaluate your stock portfolio and make adjustments as necessary.

Fund managers are not successful
Even the most successful fund managers have been faltering in today’s economic crisis. If your current plan to survive the recession is to involve a fund manager, you should consider switching to index funds to minimize losses during this recession.

Large cash savings more important than ever
If your portfolio consists of a large number of money-market accounts and certificate of deposits, you are ahead of the game. You may not get rich off these investments, but when trying to survive a recession, they will provide you with cash flow.

The new market
Surviving the recession definitely means that you need to understand the current market. The financial crisis has changed the market forever. The market makes tremendous changes daily. Stocks will be on a downward trend for a while and suddenly have a major increase in a single day. Watch the market closely to learn its new trends and you should survive the recession without a hitch.