It seems all of the super rich people in the world, the billionaires, have much bigger brain capacity than the rest of us. As you know, not everybody can get accepted to Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton and other Ivy League universities. These schools are for the exceptionally smart among us.

According to various publications, a great many of the world’s billionaires went to Ivy League universities. Even if they didn’t finish their studies because they got bored and chose to leave and go create their billion dollar empires, they were at one time in their lives students at one or the other of the world’s most prestigious  universities.
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Forex trading is a viable way to make money but to make money trading forex you need to have enough money to cover your inevitable losses.

If you’re looking to get into forex trading as a way to bail yourself out of your financial predicament, the experts strongly advise against this; and it has so far been my personal experience that the experts are correct in saying that forex trading is not for people with money problems.

Forex trading is for people who have the extra money they can afford to invest in such a high risk undertaking as currency trading in the foreign exchange market.
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There’s an obviously easy way to make money – get a job. Even if your job is to clean public toilets, as long as you have a job you’re guaranteed a pay check at the end of a week, or two weeks, or at the end of the month if your job pays monthly.

Jobs are guaranteed money sources provided you can get and keep a job; but for some people working for other people is not an option.

Some people aren’t looking to earn a salary based on someone else’s estimation of how much their time and skill are worth.

For some of these people who are disinclined to make their money under the label of “employee” with someone presiding over them as “boss”, finding alternative ways to make money is easy; but for others trying to make money on their own can be excruciatingly difficult.
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Zoe Cruz was once the richest woman on wall street, a Harvard graduate with a prestigious executive position at Morgan Stanley. She started out as a trader in 1982 and quickly rose in the ranks to become managing director by 1990. By 2006 Zoe Cruz was a $30 million per year earner holding the position of co-president of Morgan Stanley and regarded one of the most powerful women in the financial world and certainly the most successful woman ever on wall street; but by the end of 2007 Zoe Cruz was fired from Morgan Stanley following billions in mortgage investment losses sustained by the company.

A New York Magazine article titled Only the Men Survive – The crash of Zoe Cruz, written by Joe Hagan back in April (2008), details how Cruz rose to unprecedented heights of success at Morgan Stanley despite being a woman in an industry where women were allowed to go only so far, and how she was abruptly fired just when she thought she was going to be taking that next step to even higher heights by replacing CEO John Mack who, according to the article, “had signaled that Cruz was his first choice to replace him as the head of Morgan Stanley when he retired”.

The article is worth a read: The crash of Zoe Cruz

From Wikipedia – Zoe Cruz (born February 2, 1955 in Greece) was appointed Co-President of Morgan Stanley on February 9, 2006. The Cruz has a 24-year history with Morgan Stanley. She graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in Literature in 1977. She received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1982. She began her career at Morgan Stanley in 1982, becoming a Vice President in 1986, a Principal in 1988 and a Managing Director in 1990. From 2000 to 2005, she held the position of global Head of Fixed Income, Commodities and Foreign Exchange.

Where is Zoe Cruz Now?

At the moment it seems Zoe Cruz might be out of a job, but unless she plans on starting her own company one can ask what need she would have to go seeking another corporate position when she has already been to the mountain top and has the million dollar bank account to prove it. She’s probably scultping or painting or otherwise occupying her time with things that mean something to her.

This week I have spent more time trading in demo mode than in live mode because I have very little money in my live trading account. I find the more money you have in your account the less worried you are when entering into a trade. I suppose that’s not really a profound finding. It’s just common sense. If you have $5000 in your account you’re not going to be as worried about losing $50 as you will be with $100 in your account.

Speaking of having $100 in your account, it’s hard to believe that there are actually some brokers who allow you to open an account with $100. If you’re thinking about opening an account trading forex with a broker that allows you to open the account with $100, by all means if that’s all you can put up to open the account go ahead and do it, but wait until you build up a bigger balance to start any trading. In fact, I would suggest that you don’t open an account with $100 because in all likelihood you will not have the patience to wait until you build up a bigger balance to start trading, and you’re almost guaranteed to lose your money trying to trade with $100. Note: I caution you to take my advice as just a suggestion coming from a fellow newcomer to the world of forex trading. I’ve only been trading for a little while. As such I am not a qualified expert on the subject.

As for my trading week update, even though I said I would not open any trades after my account value dropped to $102, I still went ahead and entered a trade. It resulted in the loss of $10, so my account value is down to $90. I have decided to go ahead and deposit another $300. It’s really not enough money to trade with if you hope to make money trading, I am fully aware of that; but it’s all I can afford at this time so I will take my chances. I am not quite ready to give up yet.

Meanwhile I have recovered the $1000 lost in demo mode and added $500 more to my balance; so in demo mode I’ve made $1500 this week. Too bad it’s play money.

As for why I am doing better in demo mode than in real mode it’s really not that mysterious. With $5000 you can afford to take more risk than you can afford to take with smaller amounts like $300 for example. With $300 you’re almost setting yourself up to lose because you really don’t have room for error. $300 is probably okay for very skilled traders, but for newcomers who are learning as they go along it will be a miracle if you don’t lose your $300 in a couple of weeks.

I think the key to making money in forex with an account funded with as little as $300 is to get an account that allows you to trade very small lot sizes. I am trading with FXCM and the smallest they allow with a mini account is 10K. I remember at the beginning of the process while trying to figure out what kind of account to open I didn’t want to get the mini account because I was thinking about maximum profits; but after I demoed the mini account and realized it would still be possible to trade 100K lots with the mini account I decided to follow the advice of seasoned traders who advised against opening a standard account with less than $50,000. I opened a mini account, but now I’m thinking it would have been smarter to open a micro account which has even smaller lot sizes.

The thing about the smaller lot sizes is that your profits are smaller. I know for myself this was a huge consideration. I wanted to be in a position to make decent profits in the smallest amount of time possible so an account that limited me to lot sizes under 10K would not have appealed to me; but now that I have experienced trading forex and losing money trading forex, I can see how a micro account might have been better to start out with.  With a micro account your profits might be smaller but your losses are also smaller, which means you it will have more money at your disposal to try to recoup your inevitable losses. It would seem to me that with a micro account, you have a better chance of turning $300 into some kind of profit, assuming you trade smartly, than with $300 in a mini account; but again, I am no expert.

For now I will finish the week in demo while I look for $300 – $600 to deposit into my real account and decide if I want to stay with FXCM or try a different broker, like OANDA.

Described as an architectural masterpiece and hailed as one of the most acclaimed villas in the world, Casa Triton is a 3-bedroom rental in Costa Careyes, which is an exclusive region on the pacific coast of Mexico. Casa Triton, set on 6 acres, provides a 270-degree view of the ocean, coastline and bay, but this magnificent view is only a small part of what gives Casa Triton its claim to fame.

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Imagine a house without walls, where there is nothing to differentiate between indoors and outdoors? Some of Casa Triton’s rooms are open on three sides, connected by gardens and a 200-foot infiniti pool. You can actually swim from one room to another.

From casatriton.com – A 200 foot infiniti pool meanders through the property. Walkways crisscross the exotic gardens, terraces open to vast ocean views.

A spacious open palapa living room area and romantic trellised dining area overlooks the pool.

Your $3000 – $5000 per night rental of Casa Triton gives you access to a butler, chef, maids, laundress, poolman, gardeners and concierge.

Madonna is one woman who definitely earned every penny of the millions of dollars that allow her to live in the lap of luxury. The world considered her talentless when she came on the scene. She didn’t have a voice like Mariah Carey, a face like Angelina Jolie or the figure of a sexy goddess, yet she managed to use her voice, face and body to rise to the apex of success as an entertainer.

Architectutral ran a feature on Madonna’s Manhattan apartment back in 2007 where they showcased the work of her brother, interior designer Christopher G. Ciccone.

View the Architectural digest slideshow pictures of Madonna’s Upper Westside Manhattan apartment

Image: Architectural Digest

So you thought style and fashion were the same thing did you? Well, all you have to do is look up the two words in the  dictionary and you’ll see for yourself that style and fashion are not definitively synonymous.

Here’s how actress Uma Thurman explains the difference:

“Fashion is the machine that drives the business. Style, on the other hand, is an unconscious gift that money can’t buy. It’s being comfortable not only in your clothes but in your own skin. I’ve always admired how European women have such effortless style, as though they’ve been culturally raised to wear clothes gracefully and effortlessly. There’s something wrong about trying too hard to be fashionable. When people are too ‘outfitted,’ it comes across as self-conscious.”

Source: In Style

As if there aren’t already a million reasons to envy Ivanka Trump, she also has an enviably chic Park Avenue apartment.

Image: In Style

Ivanka Trump Apartment pictures

In a recent op-ed piece the New York Times Editorial board implied that Michele Obama has been made over to be more like Oprah Winfrey in order to be more widely accepted by the White public.

Starting out with “If Barack Obama is elected president, a good chunk of credit should go to Oprah Winfrey”, the board writes in  “The Oprah-fication of Michelle Obama“, that Michelle Obama pretty much read from an Oprah Winfrey script (figuratively speaking) in delivering her speech at the Democratic convention last Monday night.

Michelle had been coming off to some as an “angry black woman” who hated America and since her husband can’t make it into the White house without getting a decent share of the White vote, it was necessary to tone her down a bit and make her less threatening and militant.

The editors of the piece list as the key notes which Michelle Obama took from the Oprah Winfrey win them over script:

• Sentiment Is More Important Than Politics
• Life is About Triumphing Over Adversity
• One must focus on the things for which one is grateful (keep a gratitude journal)

Did not personally hear Michelle Obama’s speech but, whatever the New York Times might be aiming to instigate, Michelle Obama should be credited for her strength and courage. It can by no means be easy to be on the verge of possbily making history by becoming the first Black First Lady of the United States. Having to prove that she’s as worthy of the title as any other first lady must really rub a woman like Michelle Obama the wrong way. She did everything to make herself into a respectable, accomplished American citizen. Her credentials are top notch and yet, her worthiness to be the First Lady of the United States is being questioned. Why?

If you take a look at the other side of the race, you’ll notice that Cindy McCain isn’t faced with the same intense scrutiny as Michelle Obama. It has to be very difficult for her to be in this position so all due credit to Michele Obama for how gracefully she’s handling the situation.

As for the New York Times opinion piece, maybe they meant to compliment her, but it seems somehow belittling to suggest she or her husband would owe a “good chunk of credit” to Oprah Winfrey if they make it into the White House. They seem to be suggesting that Oprah somehow acted as a mediator between Barack and Michelle Obama and the voting White public who follow Oprah Winfrey.