It is true that we live in a caveat emptor world.  That means, "Buyer - beware!"  I always advise my clients to understand thoroughly my process and recommendations.  At any point along the way, your questions are relevant and of great importance; always ask your question.  In addition to that, I strive to raise your level of confidence in me to a point where you can sleep at night after following my process and advice.

As part of that I am required to complete 24 hours of Continuing Education (minimum) bi-annually.  (In fact, I am working on that this month; which is what prompted me to write this.)  Above and beyond that I participate in weekly training, review and education; plus I attend conferences for multi-day training and education at least 4 times per year, every year.

It does not make me perfect.  It does, hopefully, lend credibility and trustworthiness to my processes and services in your eyes -- the only ones, in the final analysis, that matter.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/10965052/Bank-for-International-Settlements-fears-fresh-Lehman-crisis-from-worldwide-debt-surge.html

We have been talking for some time with our clients about balance with low-risk positions that, nevertheless, offer credible growth and leverage potential.  Is this a good time to consider our counsel? Read the linked article and get in touch with us.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/10965052/Bank-for-International-Settlements-fears-fresh-Lehman-crisis-from-worldwide-debt-surge.html

We advocate balance.  Discuss equities and risk with your investment advisor.  Discuss with us alternative positions.  Achieve balance, while still experiencing growth and the potential to leverage a cash position.

What drives our passion? 

It breaks our hearts to see kids dreams crushed; and fills us with joy and a sense of true accomplishment to help see those dreams become reality.

Sunday I met Paige, age 20, who told me why her dream was impossible.  "Who," I asked, "told you that?"  Her answer was "lots of people."  She described a few -- friends, school counselors, teachers; but named no one in particular.

As I drew her out in conversation she expressed a well-defined vision of the future she wants.  She apparently has the personal and academic credentials to merit a chance to succeed.  I told her so.  I asked her, "If you could have your dream for about the same cost as what you are told you must settle for, which would you choose?"

Well the answer was obvious -- and the answer is possible!  I pray that young Paige will reach out to me and let me help her. 

Celebrating 238 years as an independent, free nation, and at least 500 years of God's providence and grace over this piece of planet Earth, I awoke this morning with my mind in turmoil about where we, as a nation, are headed.  Then I stopped to pray.

My moments alone with God changed my entire outlook.  Here are my thoughts:

• In 2008 President Obama declared his intention to "fundamentally transform" USA.  Since 2008 he has successfully made America's public life
  • more socialist
  • more culturally disparate
  • more racially fragmented
  • more a nation of political brute-force
  • less guided by the rule of law
  • less affluent
  • less industrious
  • less of a superpower
  • less secure at the borders . . .

 And that is where the Lord broke through to show me something.  I was reading about my sister-in-Christ Nicole Rim.  She is of Cambodian extraction and serves Christ among the third largest population of Cambodians in the world in Lynn, MA.
 
Nicole wrote, "Because Buddhism is so deeply ingrained in the Cambodian culture . . . it's not just rituals.  It's actually their worldview.  . . . To be Cambodian is to be Buddhist."
 
The Lord took my thoughts to the hundreds of thousands of people the Obama administration is pulling across the border.  Who are they, and what is their worldview?
 
They are predominantly native Americans, steeped in 500 years of Roman Catholicism.  To be Latin American is to be Roman Catholic.
 
What does that mean for President Obama's ultimate goal to fundamentally transform the USA? 

• They consider the Pope's authority greater than his authority
• They are Pro-Life/anti-abortion
• They know of only one type of marriage: one man to one woman
• They believe in traditional family life more than in a political nation-state
• They believe in individual property rights
• They believe that "might is right"
• They believe in orthodox Christian morality.

 
In short, their worldview is fundamentally different from that of the current administration and more compatible with my own, Anglo-Saxon Protestant worldview.
 
So, Happy 4^th of July to us all who believe in the vision of our nation's founders inalienable rights endowed by our Creator, sustained by those enumerated in the Bill of Rights as amended to the Constitution of the United States of America.  God in Christ Jesus is fundamentally the transforming person.