I first want to thank you for taking the time to read this free report about building business credit, we provide this report to anyone without requiring you to sign up for anything. No need to join our newsletter, no need to speak to a sales representative, no need to do anything. We feel that this information is so important that you should have it without condition. We hope this information will help you choose a company and more importantly stay away from companies that put your company and your hard earned money at risk.Before you choose a company we recommend that you do your homework. We did just that with several companies and we were shocked with the results.PANDERINGThe first issue that came up is that most of the companies in our opinion pander to their potential customer. This means that they will say anything in order to make the sale. For example; If you call some of the popular companies and tell them that you would like to build credit on your company and that your company operates from home would that be okay? A truthful answer would be that you can build credit but will be extremely limited in how much credit you will achieve. If you just take a moment to think about it, a bank will not give a home based business nearly as much credit as they would a company working out of an office or even a virtual office. These companies will pander to you and tell you “Yes, you can build business credit working from home” that’s it!! They leave out the limitations because they don’t want to scare you off.It is our opinion that our customers are seeking large credit lines and don’t want to be mislead into thinking they can have something when in fact they cannot. We feel that it is important for our customers to make educated decisions. We will never sugar coat our recommendations, we will give you our recommendations and provide you with other options that are available, we will then explain those options and what type of results you can expect from them. With us you will always have the ability to make an educated decision. We will not let you make an uneducated decision that can cause permanent harm to your companies long term goals.FRAUD, MISREPRESENTATION, and FALSE ADVERTISINGThe bigger and scarier issue that we uncovered while researching these companies is what we consider Fraud, misrepresentation, and false advertising.We found one company that charged about $20,000 to build a company with credit. We had some hope in them as they seemed to be the only company that utilized an advanced methodology when building business credit. Unfortunately, when we searched further we found that the owner of this company is a defendant in a $100,000,000 lawsuit and has had newspaper articles written in major newspapers that highlighted his companies questionable practices. These articles have caused major credit bureaus to key in on his business practices, will DnB be one of them? Do you really want to be associated with a company that can lose everything in a lawsuit who has a target on their back for questionable practices?We found another company that claimed to have a patent on building business credit. They even have a patent number on their website with a link to the US patent office. I followed the link and typed in the patent number they had touted all over their website and wouldn’t you know it the patent has been long denied. This company is actually counting on customers not checking the references they have on their website. If they are willing to blatantly lie about a patent what else are they willing to do?We also found several companies claiming to be partnered with the IRS, This seems like an endorsement but if you did a little research you will find that the IRS does have a partnership program. This “partnership” program allows the partner to link to tax educational articles on the IRS website. Yes this is a partnership but it is NOT an IRS endorsement in any way, shape or form which several of these companies seem to imply. They are betting on you being naive and not checking. To me this is misrepresentation and fraud.Good for the GooseI feel that this issue is the most amusing. There are several companies that offer to build your credit which means they should at least be able to get you set up with Dun and Bradstreet and ultimately get you credit on your company. Well, would you believe that many of these companies do not even have a DnB file in existence. That’s right they tell you how important it is to build business credit but they don’t even have a DnB file themselves. They also tell you to get your phone number listed in a national telephone directory and they are not listed, is it only important for you to look legitimate? You can go to http://www.dnb.com and search for our company and others and see who has a DnB file. You can also go to http://www.superpages.com and look up our company “TD Financial Products Inc.” Land O Lakes, Florida and see our listing as well as their’s, if they have one. This is most likely just an oversight on their part but I just find it amusing.Overview of Background informationWe ask that you do your homework on any company you are considering doing business with….including us!!To do your homework at least do the following1.Search the company name on Google and look for problems 2.Search the owner names on Google and look for problems 3.Search Dun and Bradstreet and see if they have a file 4.Search superpages and see if they have a listing 5.Look for unresolved complaints with the BBB (The BBB will keep records even if a company is not a member company) 6.Look for complains on fraud websites (eg. http://www.ripoffreport.com )Now that you have done some basic homework on a company now you can call them. When you call them have the following list of questions ready. But before you start asking them questions ask yourself some.What do I want in a business credit consultant? Do I want One on One Consultation or am I okay with just email communication and/or reading books and listening to CD’s? Do I want to pay a lot of upfront money? Do I want large “bank” credit lines or am I okay with just “trade” (store) credit Do I want someone to do all the work for me, ending up with a company that has good credit, but, not knowing exactly how it achieved good credit and how I could repeat the process and get even more credit on the next company Do I want a company to answer “Yes” to every inquiry I have even though the “Yes” really is a “Yes, but…..” Am I 100% confident that my personal credit score meets the underwriters guidelines (score is not all they look for)Now that you have answered what it is you want you can now ask the hard questions of your credit consultantAre you providing me with personal coaching or will I be reading books and listening to pre-recorded material?We used to provide you with the option of purchasing a book with audio CD’s but we have found that nearly 90% of people who purchase these items end up coming back to us for personal coaching. The figure is so high because, if you think about it, EVERY business is different and it is IMPOSSIBLE to account for every specific situation in a book. The process of establishing business credit is so specific to your company and your type of business that books and CD’s rarely answer all possible questions. Books and CD’s are very good at providing you with basic information but books get outdated as soon as they are published. Underwriting guidelines change weekly and it would be impossible to keep a book updated.Will your company ever call me to upsell me into a better business credit coaching product?Companies that are going to upsell you will not provide you with all the information you need with your first purchase. If you are comparing our pricing with a company that will ultimately upsell you make sure you compare pricing based on the highest level of coaching they provide. Our business credit coaching package is out best package available. We don’t sell any other coaching packages no less and no more, we provide all of our coaching in one package. Our belief is who wants to pay for a job halfway done. What if your doctor said he will only charge you $500 to start brain surgery and while you are on the table he says it will be another $50,000 to finish up. Do you really have a choice? Business credit consultants know that if you invested a certain amount in their basic course the chances of you leaving them for another company and “losing your investment” is very low. They take advantage of this and offer you an “option” to upgrade later.Can I build credit on a S Corp or as a Sole Proprietorship?This is a question that will let you know if the business credit consultant is being honest with you or just “pandering”. The answer to this question should be “Yes, BUT, you won’t be able to get any REAL credit or TOTAL CORPORATE SEPARATION”. Lenders look at S-Corps and Sole Proprietors as small time businesses and WILL NOT lend large amounts of money to these types of companies. Even with perfect personal credit you will rarely get credit lines in excess of $10,000 and you will never be able to waive a personal guarantee. If your “Consultant” tells you otherwise they are just trying to “SELL” you. We walk you through the process of analyzing your current profile to make sure there are no RED FLAGS that will stop you from getting the large credit lines you are seeking. If you have an S Corp or Sole Proprietorship we will show you how to convert it to the desired structure without losing the valuable age associated with it.How much credit can I get?You will have to listen to this answer very carefully. Most unscrupulous consultants will provide you with a large number like $250,000. What they “conveniently” leave out is that most, if not all, of the credit you get is TRADE credit. This means you will have $250,000 in credit but you have to buy products from specific vendors. Do you need access to $50,000 in office supplies? Trade credit does have its place but most of our customers are building credit so they can get unsecured “BANK” credit. Bank credit is a line of credit or credit card that you can use to purchase whatever you want. Don’t be fooled by high dollar promises. Our process of building credit includes trade credit so that we can quickly get you an 80 PayDex score. Once you have this score you will be ready to get unsecured bank credit.My company is not yet 2 years old, does that matter?This is another question that is usually answered unscrupulously. Most “BANK” credit requires you to be in business 2 years. You will be able to develop credit with a younger company but you won’t get the “Bank” credit you desire. Our program has 2 ways that will allow you meet the banks 2 year requirement. One is the use of optional aged shelf corporations and the other is by creating a company history.Does my personal credit score matter?The answer to this question is based on what you are trying to do. If you are trying to get unsecured bank credit you will need to have good personal credit. If you are okay with just trade credit then you can get hundreds of thousands in trade credit without a personal guarantee. Our programs will show you how to get the unsecured bank credit without your personal guarantee **Full Disclosure** You will need somebody to act as personal guarantor in the first several years of your business. We will also provide you with free personal credit coaching so you can bring your credit scores up if that is what you need.I have a 700 credit score, can you guarantee that I get $XX,XXX in cash credit lines?If a business credit consultant tell you yes to this question without further qualifying you they are lying. ALL loans rely on more than just your credit score. They rely on your debt to limit ratios on your existing credit and recent inquiries. They also rely on several other items and shouldn’t even be answered by a business credit consultant. These type of qualification questions should be only answered by a lender or a business loan brokerAre any of the trade references you help me get/provide large trade references?When most credit consultants work on your business credit they will provide you with a list of 25-50 companies and have you apply for as many as you can. The average credit line you will be approved for is $500 – $5,000. When you ultimately go to apply for a loan with a bank to get your large credit lines you will quickly find out that they will deny you because you have no history on your credit file of paying of a high credit loan. We have the availability to provide you with at least 3 unsecured trade references that will report a Trade line of up to $100,000What is your pricing?When comparing pricing you want to make sure you are comparing apples to apples – I can easily sell you books and materials for a few hundred dollars and compare it to full blown one on one coaching. Obviously the books and materials will seem cheaper. They, however, won’t get you the same results. We recommend deciding on the method of service you would like.Do you want books and materials only, personal one on one coaching, or a completed product handed to you? Once you decide on the general product then you can compare costs. Just make sure you add in the extras if they are applicable like aged corporations, large credit lines, personal credit coaching etc.Can I pay the bulk of your fees with the credit lines you will help me get?Most companies will not offer this option. Is it because they fail to provide actual “cash” credit lines? Will they not take your $10,000 Staples card as payment? We are so confident in our product that we let you pay the bulk of it only after you achieve success. We even finance the initial deposit for you. Is there another company that will do any one on one personal coaching (even using outdated basic methodology) with you and allow you to pay just $299.00 upfront? The short answer is NOAre there any other third party expenses?This is also another tricky one that most companies will try to avoid. We feel that some of these third party expenses can add up quickly and must be disclosed so you can make an informed decision. The types of expenses you will incur in the building credit process are as followsCompliance Costs – Sometimes you will have to pay state fees to get compliant (eg. Licenses, permits, corporation fees etc) Legitimacy Costs – Banks want you to be a legitimate business, you can’t be a legitimate business if you work out of the back of your truck. You will have expenses related to becoming “legitimate” Credit Building Costs – To build credit you typically have to buy stuff, buying stuff costs money. You also may have to pay third party fees to the credit bureaus so they can build your credit fileThe actual costs for these items range greatly based on your specific situation, type of business, state you are operating in, types of credit lines you want and items you buy. With every step we will offer you options that range from low cost and free to high cost. With each option we explain the positives and negatives and allow you to make an educated decision based on your needs and budget.Will you be my coach?Are you talking to a professional salesman or to the person who will be coaching you? Remember every company and situation is going to be different. How will someone who is not a coach be able to tell you that their coaching will work for you. These salesman do NOT know how to build credit, they are working on commission and their only goal is to “SELL” you. We talk to everyone before they decide to use our services. If we relied on salespeople that might “conveniently” leave things out we would be dealing with customer service issues all the time. Since our coaches are the ones that speak to you right from the start there will never be any broken promises and/or finger pointing.Shelf Corporations – If you are using another service to provide you with a shelf corporation make sure you ask this questionWill you guarantee that Dun and Bradstreet will not re-age this company when I try to build business credit on it and basically turn my aged shelf corporation into a brand new company?Dun and Bradstreet will re-age your aged shelf corporation if they see a transfer in ownership in the public records. We create our aged shelf corporations in a way that avoids re-aging. If you purchase an aged shelf corporation from us and let us help you build business credit on it we will warrant that if your company is re-aged by Dun and Bradstreet we will create a new company for you.Trade lines – If you are using another service to provide you with Trade lines make sure you ask these questionsWhat type of Trade line are you selling me?Authorized User – Authorized user accounts are temporary in nature, they usually last on your credit report for about 6 months and that is IF it ever makes it to your credit report to begin with. You must also be aware that many authorized user Trade line companies have gone out of business and there are several still out there selling a dream. You also want to keep in mind that lenders know about the authorized user loophole and have effectively closed it. If you are using the authorized user account to get credit you may be surprised to know that the lender will most likely rescore your credit file to remove the benefit you received from the authorized user trade line.Primary Account – A primary account is okay only if it is a NEW account and you are making payments, If you are added to an old “seasoned” account you are committing fraud if and when you apply for a loan. Worse yet the lenders have fraud departments that are looking for companies who provide “fake” credentials. One company in particular was opened by a ex-mortgage broker and is on the radar of the credit bureaus and underwriting departments. Imagine if you actually get a loan and have one of these “fraudulent” accounts on your credit and several years go by and you find yourself in financial distress and wind up defaulting on the loan. Do not think for a second that the lender you defaulted one will not come after you for fraud it happens everyday with people who provide fake paystubs, fake bank statements, and yes it can happen if you provide a fake trade reference. The company that is being sued for $100,000,000 issued and are still issuing seasoned primary trade lines.Our primary trade accounts are legit accounts. You are provided a NEW account, it is serviced my a fortune 100 servicing company, and you make monthly payments, if you are late you are reported late, if you are on time you are reported on time.Who do they report to?On personal credit you want your Trade line to report to at least 2 credit bureaus. In business credit you want it to report to at least Dun and Bradstreet. Our primary Trade lines report to 2 personal credit bureaus or 2 business credit bureausWe hope this information was found to be valuable to you and we hope you ultimately choose to do business with us. If you ultimately choose someone else and they fail you we will give you $100 off our service if you share your story with us.
SPDN: An Inexpensive Way To Profit When The S&P 500 Falls
Summary
SPDN is not the largest or oldest way to short the S&P 500, but it’s a solid choice.
This ETF uses a variety of financial instruments to target a return opposite that of the S&P 500 Index.
SPDN’s 0.49% Expense Ratio is nearly half that of the larger, longer-tenured -1x Inverse S&P 500 ETF.
Details aside, the potential continuation of the equity bear market makes single-inverse ETFs an investment segment investor should be familiar with.
We rate SPDN a Strong Buy because we believe the risks of a continued bear market greatly outweigh the possibility of a quick return to a bull market.
Put a gear stick into R position, (Reverse).
Birdlkportfolio
By Rob Isbitts
Summary
The S&P 500 is in a bear market, and we don’t see a quick-fix. Many investors assume the only way to navigate a potentially long-term bear market is to hide in cash, day-trade or “just hang in there” while the bear takes their retirement nest egg.
The Direxion Daily S&P 500® Bear 1X ETF (NYSEARCA:SPDN) is one of a class of single-inverse ETFs that allow investors to profit from down moves in the stock market.
SPDN is an unleveraged, liquid, low-cost way to either try to hedge an equity portfolio, profit from a decline in the S&P 500, or both. We rate it a Strong Buy, given our concern about the intermediate-term outlook for the global equity market.
Strategy
SPDN keeps it simple. If the S&P 500 goes up by X%, it should go down by X%. The opposite is also expected.
Proprietary ETF Grades
Offense/Defense: Defense
Segment: Inverse Equity
Sub-Segment: Inverse S&P 500
Correlation (vs. S&P 500): Very High (inverse)
Expected Volatility (vs. S&P 500): Similar (but opposite)
Holding Analysis
SPDN does not rely on shorting individual stocks in the S&P 500. Instead, the managers typically use a combination of futures, swaps and other derivative instruments to create a portfolio that consistently aims to deliver the opposite of what the S&P 500 does.
Strengths
SPDN is a fairly “no-frills” way to do what many investors probably wished they could do during the first 9 months of 2022 and in past bear markets: find something that goes up when the “market” goes down. After all, bonds are not the answer they used to be, commodities like gold have, shall we say, lost their luster. And moving to cash creates the issue of making two correct timing decisions, when to get in and when to get out. SPDN and its single-inverse ETF brethren offer a liquid tool to use in a variety of ways, depending on what a particular investor wants to achieve.
Weaknesses
The weakness of any inverse ETF is that it does the opposite of what the market does, when the market goes up. So, even in bear markets when the broader market trend is down, sharp bear market rallies (or any rallies for that matter) in the S&P 500 will cause SPDN to drop as much as the market goes up.
Opportunities
While inverse ETFs have a reputation in some circles as nothing more than day-trading vehicles, our own experience with them is, pardon the pun, exactly the opposite! We encourage investors to try to better-understand single inverse ETFs like SPDN. While traders tend to gravitate to leveraged inverse ETFs (which actually are day-trading tools), we believe that in an extended bear market, SPDN and its ilk could be a game-saver for many portfolios.
Threats
SPDN and most other single inverse ETFs are vulnerable to a sustained rise in the price of the index it aims to deliver the inverse of. But that threat of loss in a rising market means that when an investor considers SPDN, they should also have a game plan for how and when they will deploy this unique portfolio weapon.
Proprietary Technical Ratings
Short-Term Rating (next 3 months): Strong Buy
Long-Term Rating (next 12 months): Buy
Conclusions
ETF Quality Opinion
SPDN does what it aims to do, and has done so for over 6 years now. For a while, it was largely-ignored, given the existence of a similar ETF that has been around much longer. But the more tenured SPDN has become, the more attractive it looks as an alternative.
ETF Investment Opinion
SPDN is rated Strong Buy because the S&P 500 continues to look as vulnerable to further decline. And, while the market bottomed in mid-June, rallied, then waffled since that time, our proprietary macro market indicators all point to much greater risk of a major decline from this level than a fast return to bull market glory. Thus, SPDN is at best a way to exploit and attack the bear, and at worst a hedge on an otherwise equity-laden portfolio.
The Best Free Online Personal Finance Tools
Proper financial management – most coveted by millions and millions of consumers all over the globe. Faced with this tough economy, it is harder than ever to handle your finances well. But the great news is that establishing a solid financial plan for your future has become more affordable and attainable. There are a lot of online personal finance tools that are offered to individuals for free to help them manage their finances better. These are effective instruments to become financially stable while saving yourself from getting into debt trouble.In today’s modern time, tracking every single detail is quite hard and even more difficult when money is the issue. Thus, getting help from online personal finance tools sounds very beneficial. In addition, these tools come free and very handy. Calculating your cash inflow and outflow can be easily done in the comfort of your home facing the computer.Personal finance is a method of following your finances in a more streamlined manner. Since listing down on a paper every detail of your expenditures does not function well any longer, a personal finance device found online gives a far bigger and better assistance.The following are some of the best online personal finance tools from budgeting to checking one’s credit score that are offered to individuals for free:For Money Budgeting1.) Mint.com·Mint.com is one of the most popular and well-loved free online personal finance tools by the people. With over 8,000 financial company connections worldwide, this online means offers a wide variety of understandable and easy to use tools.·Once you have registered an account, you get 100% access of your whole finances such as your credit cards, grocery bills, loans and other personal expenses.·It offers a very detailed tracking program about everything that goes on with your finances from – the things you spend your money on, how much monthly savings you have as well as your investment’s performance.·Automatic alerts are also given to you through a text message or an e-mail especially when you are on the brink of reaching your card’s credit limit or if you have too little money deposited in your bank account.·In addition to these services, this online tool can also show you budgeting charts and spread sheets that teaches you how to budget in every expense category.2.) Wesabe·Wesabe.com is a website that provides strong financial management instruments while at the same time having that social networking appeal since it offers an active forum for clients who seek support and give encouragement to each other in order to reach their respective monetary goals.·Since it is more hands-on website as compared to Mint, you have the choice of putting your bank or credit card statements on your own. Since this is not done automatically, you safeguard your identity as well as important details such as your account numbers and passwords better.For Financial Planning3.) Buxfer·A more basic and less updated free online personal finance tool found in the web, it is best for people who are looking for fuss-free financial planning instruments.·However, what makes it stand out among other online financial planning device is its user-friendly interface. Buxfer is equipped with a step-by-step how to guide, easy to understand instructions as well as fast account set up.For Investment Tracking4.) Social Picks·SocialPicks.com is a business based online company that focuses more on tracking a person’s investments. It provides an independent service wherein you can easily gain access of your asset’s performance while at the same time allowing you to make comparisons with other investors. Financial advice is also provided to help you market your investment better.For Credit Score Checking5.) CreditKarma.com·Functions just like your credit score bureau company, this website offers you an updated status of your credit score. Also, advice is given on how you can improve your rating as well as tips on how you can repair a rating with glitches.·The only main difference is that you need not give out your credit card details. All you have to type in is your name, address and SSS (Social Security Number).Online personal finance tools are great devices in keeping yourself up to date with your finances current status while at the same time giving you help to make financial planning more effective without the scare of getting scammed.