Yoda Rumored To Kick Off 'Star Wars' Standalone Films

Either we just slipped into a wormhole, taking us back to 1998 or Harry Knowles over at Ain't It Cool News just published a "Star Wars"-related rumor. According to the blogger, Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm are assembling their slate of upcoming movies set in the "Star Wars" universe, and a big part of the plan [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/02/05/yoda-star-wars-standalone-films/

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Letters of Note: Thine in the bonds of womanhood

In the 1820s, having grown up on her father's plantation amongst dozens of slaves ? many of whom she had befriended and educated ??Sarah Grimk??began to tour the Northern United States giving anti-slavery lectures to all who would listen. She was joined by her sister some years later, by which time the talks also covered women's rights and were being attended by thousands.

In 1837, she?wrote a pioneering series of 15 open letters on the subject of sexual equality, all addressed to?Mary S. Parker, President of the?Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. They were subsequently published in the "New England Spectator" and later as a book.

Below is just one of the letters, titled, "On the Condition of Women in the United States."

Brookline, 1837

My Dear Sister,?

I have now taken a brief survey of the condition of woman in various parts of the world. I regret that my time has been so much occupied by other things, that I have been unable to bestow that attention upon the subject which it merits, and that my constant change of place has prevented me from having access to books, which might probably have assisted me in this part of my work. I hope that the principles I have asserted will claim the attention of some of my sex, who may be able to bring into view, more thoroughly than I have done, the situation and degradation of woman. I shall now proceed to make a few remarks on the condition of women in my own country.

During the early part of my life, my lot was cast among the butterflies of the fashionable world; and of this class of women, I am constrained to say, both from experience and observation, that their education is miserably deficient; that they are taught to regard marriage as the one thing needful, the only avenue to distinction; hence to attract the notice and win the attentions of men, by their external charms, is the chief business of fashionable girls. They seldom think that men will be allured by intellectual acquirements, because they find, that where any mental superiority exists, a woman is generally shunned and regarded as stepping out of her "appropriate sphere," which, in their view, is to dress, to dance, to set out to the best possible advantage her person, to read the novels which inundate the press, and which do more to destroy her character as a rational creature, than any thing else. Fashionable women regard themselves, and are regarded by men, as pretty toys or as mere instruments of pleasure; and the vacuity of mind, the heartlessness, the frivolity, which is the necessary result of this false and debasing estimate of women, can only be fully understood by those who have mingled in the folly and wickedness of fashionable life; and who have been called from such pursuits by the voice of the lord Jesus, inviting their weary and heavy laden souls to come unto Him and learn of Him, that they may find something worthy of their immortal spirit, and their intellectual powers; that they may learn the high and holy purposes of their creation, and consecrate themselves unto the service of God; and not, as is now the case, to the pleasure of man.

There is another and much more numerous class in this country, who are withdrawn by education or circumstances from the circle of fashionable amusements, but who are brought up with the dangerous and absurd idea, that marriage is a kind of preferment; and that to be able to keep their husband's house, and render his situation comfortable, is the end of her being. Much that she does and says and thinks is done in reference to this situation; and to be married is too often held up to the view of girls as the sine qua non of human happiness and human existence. For this purpose more than for any other, I verily believe the majority of girls are trained. This is demonstrated by the imperfect education which is bestowed upon them, and the little pains taken to cultivate their minds, after they leave school, by the little time allowed them for reading, and by the idea being constantly inculcated, that although all household concerns should be attended to with scrupulous punctuality at particular seasons, the improvement of their intellectual capacities is only a secondary consideration, and may serve as an occupation to fill up the odds and ends of time. In most families, it is considered a matter of far more consequence to call a girl off from making a pie, or a pudding, than to interrupt her whilst engaged in her studies. This mode of training necessarily exalts, in their view, the animal above the intellectual and spiritual nature, and teaches women to regard themselves as a kind of machinery, necessary to keep the domestic engine in order, but of little value as the intelligent companions of men.

Let no one think, from these remarks, that I regard a knowledge of housewifery as beneath the acquisition of women. Far from it: I believe that a complete knowledge of household affairs is an indispensable requisite in a woman's education?that by the mistress of a family, whether married or single, doing her duty thoroughly and understandingly, the happiness of the family is increased to an incalculable degree, as well as a vast amount of time and money saved. All I complain of is, that our education consists so almost exclusively in culinary and other manual operations. I do long to see the time, when it will no longer be necessary for women to expend so many precious hours in furnishing "a well spread table," but that their husbands will forego some of their accustomed indulgences in this way, and encourage their wives to devote some portion of their time to mental cultivation, even at the expense of having to dine sometimes on baked potatoes, or bread and butter.

I believe the sentiment expressed by the author of "Live and let Live," is true:

"Other things being equal, a woman of the highest mental endowments will always be the best housekeeper, for domestic economy, is a science that brings into action the qualities of the mind, as well as the graces of the heart. A quick perception, judgment, discrimination, decision and order are high attributes of mind, and are all in daily exercise in the well ordering of a family. If a sensible woman, an intellectual woman, a woman of genius, is not a good housewife, it is not because she is either, or all of those, but because there is some deficiency in her character, or some omission of duty which should maker her very humble, instead of her indulging in any secret self-complacency on account of a certain superiority, which only aggravates her fault."

The influence of women over the minds and character of children of both sexes, is allowed to be far greater than that of men. This being the case by the very ordering of nature, women should be prepared by education for the performance of their sacred duties as mothers and as sisters. A late American writer, who speaking on this subject, says in reference to an article in the Westminster Review:

"I agree entirely with the writer in the high estimate which he places on female education, and have long since been satisfied, that the subject not only merits, but imperiously demands a through reconsideration. The great elements of usefulness and duty are too little attended to. Women ought, in my view of the subject, to approach to the best education now given to men, (I except mathematics and the classics,) far more I believe than has ever yet been attempted. Give me a host of educated, pious mothers and sisters, and I will do more to revolutionize a country, in moral and religious tastes, in manners and in social virtues and intellectual cultivation, than I can possibly do in double or treble the time, with a similar host of educated men. I cannot but think that the miserable condition of the great body of the people in all ancient communities, is to be ascribed in very great degree to the degradation of women."

There is another way in which the general opinion, that women are inferior to men, is manifested, that bears with tremendous effect on the laboring class, and indeed on almost all who are obligate to earn a subsistence, whether it be by mental or physical exertion?I allude to the disproportionate value set on the time and labor of men and of women. A man who is engaged in teaching, can always, I believe, command a higher price for tuition than a woman?even when he teaches the same branches, and is not in any respect superior to the woman. This I know is the case in boarding and other schools with which I have been acquainted, and it is so in every occupation in which the sexes engage indiscriminately. As for example, in tailoring, a man has twice, or three times as much for making a waistcoat or pantaloons as a woman, although the work done by each may be equally good. In those employments which are peculiar to women, their time is estimated at only half the value of that of men. A woman who goes out to wash, works as hard in proportion as a wood sawyer, or a coal heaver, but she is not generally able to make more than half as much by a day's work. The low remuneration which women receive for their work, has claimed the attention of a few philanthropists, and I hope it will continue to do so until some remedy is applied for this enormous evil. I have known a widow, left with four or five children, to provide for, unable to leave home because her helpless babes demand her attention, compelled to earn a scanty subsistence, by making coarse shirts at 12 1/2 cents a piece, or by taking in washing, for which she was paid by some wealthy persons 12 1/2 cents per dozen. All these things evince the low estimation in which woman is held. There is yet another and more disastrous consequence arising from this unscriptural notion?women being educated, from earliest childhood, to regard themselves as inferior creatures, have not that self-respect which conscious equality would engender, and hence when their virtue is assailed, they yield to temptation with facility, under the idea that it rather exalts than debases them, to be connected with a superior being.

There is another class of women in this country, to whom I cannot refer, without feelings of the deepest shame and sorrow. I allude to our female slaves. Our southern cities are wheeled beneath a tide of pollution; the virtue of female slaves is wholly at the mercy of irresponsible tyrants, and women are bought and sold in our slave markets, to gratify the brute lust of those who bear the name of Christian. In our slave States, if amid all her degradation and ignorance, a woman desires to preserve her virtue unsullied, she is either bribed or whipped into compliance, or if she dares resist her seducer, her life by the laws of some of the slave States may be, and has actually been sacrifice to the fury of the disappointed passion. Where such laws do not exist, the power which is necessarily vested in the master over his property, leaves the defenseless slave entirely at his mercy, and the suffering of some females on this account, both physical and mental, are intense. Mr. Gholson, in the House of Delegates of Virginia, in 1832, said, "He really had been under the impression that he owned his slaves. He had lately purchased four women and ten children, in whom he thought he had obtained a great bargain; for he supposed they were his own property, as were his brood mares." But even if any laws existed in the United States, as in Athens formerly, for the protection of female slaves, they would be null and void, because the evidence of a colored person is not admitted against a white, in any of our Courts of Justice in the slave States. "In Athens, if a female slave had cause to complain of any want of respect to the laws of modesty, she could seek the protection of the temple, and demand a change of owners; and such appeals were never discountenanced, or neglected by the magistrates." In Christian America, the slave has no refuge from unbridled cruelty and lust.

S. A. Forrall, speaking of the state of morals at the South, says, "Negresses when young and likely, are often employed by the planter, or his friends, to administer to their sensual desires. This frequently is a matter of speculation, for it the offspring, a mulatto, be a handsome female, 800 or 1000 dollars may be obtained for her in the New Orleans market. It is an occurrence of no uncommon nature to see a Christian father sell his own daughter, and the brother his own sister." The following is copied by the N. Y. Evening Star from the Picayune, a paper published in New Orleans. "A very beautiful girl, belonging to the estate of John French, a deceased gambler at new Orleans, was sold a few days since for the round sum of $7,000. An ugly-looking bachelor named Gouch, a member of the Council of one of the Principalities, was the purchaser. The girl is a brunette; remarkable for her beauty and intelligence, and there was considerable contention, who should be the purchaser. She was, however, persuaded to accept Gouch, he having made her princely promises." I will add but one more from the numerous testimonies respecting the degradation of female slaves, and the licentiousness of the South. It is from the Circular of the Kentucky Union, for the moral and religious improvement of the colored race. "To the female character among our black population, we cannot allude but with feeling of the bitterest shame. A similar condition of moral pollution and utter disregard of a pure and virtuous reputation, is to be found only without the pale of Christendom. That such a state of society should exist in a Christian nation, claiming to be the most enlightened upon the earth, without calling forth any particular attention to its existence, though ever before our eyes and in our families, is a moral phenomenon at once unaccountable and disgraceful." Nor does the colored woman suffer alone: the moral purity of the white woman is deeply contaminated. In the daily habit of seeing the virtue of her enslaved sister sacrificed without hesitancy or remorse, she looks upon the crimes of seduction and illicit intercourse without horror, and although not personally involved in the guilt, she loses that value for innocence in her own, as well as the other sex, which is one of the strongest safeguards to virtue. She lives in habitual intercourse with men, whom she knows to be polluted by licentiousness, and often is she compelled to witness in her own domestic circle, those disgusting and heart-sickening jealousies and strifes which disgraced and distracted the family of Abraham. In addition to all this, the female slaves suffer every species of degradation and cruelty, which the most wanton barbarity can inflict; they are indecently divested of their clothing, sometimes tied up and severely whipped, sometimes prostrated on the earth, while their naked bodies are torn by the scorpion lash.

"The whip on WOMAN's shrinking flesh!
Our soil yet reddening with the stains
Caught from her scourging warm and fresh."

Can any American woman look at these scenes of shocking licentiousness and cruelty, and fold her hands in apathy and say, "I have nothing to do with slavery"? She cannot and be guiltless.

I cannot close this letter, without saying a few words on the benefits to be derived by men, as well as women, from the opinions I advocate relative to the equality of the sexes. Many women are now supported, in idleness and extravagance, by the industry of their husbands, fathers, or brothers, who are compelled to toil out their existence, at the counting house, or in the printing office, or some other laborious occupation, while the wife and daughters and sisters take no part in the support of the family, and appear to think that their sole business is to spend the hard bought earnings of their male friends. I deeply regret such a state of things, because I believe that if women felt their responsibility, for the support of themselves, or their families it would add strength and dignity to their characters, and teach them more true sympathy for their husbands, than is now generally manifested?a sympathy which would be exhibited by actions as well as words. Our brethren may reject my doctrine, because it runs counter to common opinions, and because it wounds their pride; but I believe they would be "partakers of the benefit" resulting from the Equality of the Sexes, and would find that woman, as their equal, was unspeakably more valuable than woman as their inferior, both as a moral and an intellectual being.

Thine in the bonds of womanhood,

Sarah M. Grimk?

Source: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2013/02/thine-in-bonds-of-womanhood.html

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Armed gang rapes 6 Spanish tourists in Mexico

Police patrol on the beach outside a home after masked armed men broke into the home in Acapulco, Mexico, Tuesday Feb. 5, 2013. According to the mayor of Acapulco, five masked men burst into the house that Spanish tourists had rented on the outskirts of Acapulco, in a low-key area near the beach, and held a group of six Spanish men and one Mexican woman at gunpoint, while they raped the six Spanish women before dawn on Monday. (AP Photo/Bernandino Hernandez)

Police patrol on the beach outside a home after masked armed men broke into the home in Acapulco, Mexico, Tuesday Feb. 5, 2013. According to the mayor of Acapulco, five masked men burst into the house that Spanish tourists had rented on the outskirts of Acapulco, in a low-key area near the beach, and held a group of six Spanish men and one Mexican woman at gunpoint, while they raped the six Spanish women before dawn on Monday. (AP Photo/Bernandino Hernandez)

State police stand at a roadblock due to stepped up security after masked armed men broke into a beach home, raping six Spanish tourists who had rented the house in Acapulco, Mexico, Tuesday Feb. 5, 2013. According to the mayor of Acapulco, five masked men burst into a house the Spaniards had rented on the outskirts of Acapulco, in a low-key area near the beach, and held a group of six Spanish men and one Mexican woman at gunpoint, while they raped the Spanish women before dawn on Monday. (AP Photo/Bernandino Hernandez)

Police investigators work to obtain fingerprints on a door at the home where masked, armed men broke in, in Acapulco, Mexico, Tuesday Feb. 5, 2013. According to the mayor of Acapulco, five masked men burst into this house that Spanish tourists had rented on the outskirts of Acapulco, in a low-key area near the beach, and held a group of six Spanish men and one Mexican woman at gunpoint, while they raped the six Spanish women before dawn on Monday. (AP Photo/Bernandino Hernandez)

Navy marines stand at a roadblock due to stepped up security after masked armed men broke into a beach home, raping six Spanish tourists who had rented the house in Acapulco, Mexico, Tuesday Feb. 5, 2013. According to the Mayor of Acapulco, five masked men burst into a house the Spaniards had rented on the outskirts of Acapulco, in a low-key area near the beach, and held a group of six Spanish men and one Mexican woman at gunpoint, while they raped the Spanish women before dawn on Monday. (AP Photo/Bernandino Hernandez)

Police investigators work at a home after masked, armed men broke into the home in Acapulco, Mexico, Tuesday Feb. 5, 2013. According to the mayor of Acapulco, five masked men burst into this house that Spanish tourists had rented on the outskirts of Acapulco, in a low-key area near the beach, and held a group of six Spanish men and one Mexican woman at gunpoint, while they raped the six Spanish women before dawn on Monday. (AP Photo/Bernandino Hernandez)

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) ? Six Spanish tourists were raped by a gang of armed, masked men in the Mexican resort of Acapulco, the latest chapter of violence that has tarnished the once-glamorous Pacific coast resort.

The vicious, hours-long attack occurred before dawn Monday at a house that six Spanish men, six Spanish women and a Mexican woman had rented on a quiet, idyllic stretch of beach on the outskirts of Acapulco.

The attackers gained access to the house because two of the Spaniards were in the yard and apparently were forced to open the door, said Acapulco Mayor Luis Walton at a press conference late Monday.

The five attackers burst into the house and held the group at gunpoint, he said. They tied up the six men with phone cords and bathing suit straps and then raped the six Spanish women. The Mexican woman was not raped.

The attack began about two hours after midnight Monday and the victims were only able to report the crime five hours later, at nearly seven in the morning.

"This is a regrettable situation, and of course it is going to damage Acapulco," Walton said.

The once-glittering resort that attracted movie stars and celebrities in the 1950s and 60s has already been battered by years of drug gang killings and extortions, but except for very few incidents, the violence has not touched tourists.

Walton said he believed, but wasn't sure, that the assailants in Monday's attack didn't belong to a drug gang. Guerrero state Attorney General Martha Garzon Guzman said witness descriptions of the attackers were more difficult to obtain because they wore masks.

"From what the attorney general has told me, I don't think this was organized crime," Walton said. "But that will have to be investigated, we don't know."

Mexico's Foreign Relations Department issued a statement saying it regretted the attack, and suggesting it was not drug-cartel related.

"Up to now, the investigations are being carried out by local authorities and they will be the ones to provide information," the statement said.

In Mexico, federal authorities investigate drug-related crimes.

Security and drug analyst Jorge Chabat said that, after years of drug gang activity in Acapulco, the distinction may be merely semantic.

"At this point, the line between common and organized crime is very tenuous, there are a lot of these gangs that take advantage of the unsafe situation that currently exists, they know the government can't keep up," Chabat said. "Everything points to this being organized crime, because several gangs have operated there for years ... it's probably not the big cartels, but there are smaller groups that carry out crimes on a permanent basis."

The Spanish Embassy in Mexico City said the victims were receiving consular assistance.

The victims were "psychologically affected" by the attack and received treatment, the mayor said.

Spain's Foreign Ministry had already issued a travelers advisory on its website for Acapulco before the Monday attack, listing the resort as one of Mexico's "risk zone," though not the worst.

"In Acapulco, organized crime gangs have carried out violence, though up to now that has not affected tourists or the areas they visit," the advisory states. "At any rate, heightened caution is advised."

The attack came just three days after a pair of Mexican tourists returning from a beach east of Acapulco were shot at and slightly wounded by members of a masked rural self-defense squad that has set up roadblocks in areas north of Acapulco, to defend their communities against drug gang violence.

The vigilantes say the Mexican tourists failed to stop at their improvised roadblock.

Walton said the city was already contemplating ways to revive the city's image.

"We have to look at an advertising campaign to say that not everything in Acapulco is like that," Walton said. "This happens everywhere in the world, not just in Acapulco or in Mexico."

The attack was particularly embarrassing for Mexico, because it came just four days after Tourism Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu visited the International Tourism Fair held in Madrid to launch a "promotional offensive" depicting Mexico as a safe and attractive destination.

"This is Mexico's moment," Massieu said, describing it as "a safe country."

The granddaddy of Mexican resorts, Acapulco was glorified in Frank Sinatra songs and Elvis movies. Elizabeth Taylor was married there, John F. and Jackie Kennedy came on their honeymoon, and Howard Hughes spent his later years hiding out in a suite at the Princess Hotel, a pyramid-shaped icon in the exclusive Punta Diamante, or Diamond Point, zone.

Beheadings and drug gang shootouts, some on the city's main seaside boulevard, became more frequent after 2006, as gangs fought for control of the city's drug and extortion business.

___

Associated Press writer Bertha Ramos reported from Acapulco, and Mark Stevenson reported from Mexico City.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-05-Mexico-Spain%20Tourists%20Attacked/id-d2ebf7e49ba24d248ebb2f739ac0459d

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McPhee: 'Lots of drama' to come on 'Smash'

By Ree Hines, TODAY contributor

Get ready! The blonde-bombshell-based musical series "Smash" is coming back with an all-new season, and according to leading lady Katharine McPhee, her character won't disappoint.

"This season, season two, it's really exciting to see (Karen) take some initiative," McPhee explained during a Tuesday morning visit to TODAY. "She's now Marilyn (Monroe in the production,) she's going to -- hopefully -- go to Broadway, and she's finding another opportunity to start another show on the side."

So, with everything coming up Karen, where does that leave the usual cutthroat drama that keeps fans tuned in?

"No more drama!" McPhee joked before adding, "And when I say no more drama, I mean lots of drama!"

Watch the clip above to see what else the actress had to say about what's to come, including her work with extended guest star and fellow "American Idol" alum Jennifer Hudson.

"Smash" kicks off with a two-hour season premiere Tuesday at 9 p.m. on NBC.

What are you looking forward to most in the new season? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

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Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2013/02/05/16852952-katharine-mcphee-lots-of-drama-in-new-season-of-smash?lite

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John Templeton Prot?g? Beats S&P 500 by 57 to 1 ... - Swing Trading

This week, I had the most amazing conference call in my 42-year-long career.

It was with Doug Davenport, a prot?g? of legendary mutual fund pioneer Sir John Templeton ? a man who has used a strategy Templeton created to beat the S&P 500 by 57 to 1 since 2007.

Below is an abridged transcript of the call. If you?re serious about growing your wealth in every conceivable investing environment, be sure to read it word for word.

Martin Weiss: Hi, Doug! It?s Martin Weiss. How you doing?

Doug Davenport: I?m well, Martin! Great hearing from you this morning.

Martin: It?s kind of hot here in Florida, but my wife and I have an empty nest. Our only son is off and about in Asia. What about your family?

Doug: My wife Claudia and I have been married 30 years this summer. She worked in the securities business and that is where we met. We have two children; my son is 26 and works for Equifax here in Atlanta and my daughter is 22 years old and her name is Caroline.? She is majoring in finance and marketing at the University of Alabama and graduates this May. So we are all very excited about her getting out of college and starting her career.

Martin: Congratulations! I understand there was also another person in your life, Sir John Templeton.

Doug: Yes, we were great friends. In 1997, I received a phone call asking me to come to Nassau to meet Sir John. I thought it was a crank call from one of my friends. So it took about 15 minutes for me to realize that it actually was his assistant asking me to come to the Bahamas to meet with him.

Sir John had started a mutual fund called The Wisdom Fund. His idea was that it would emulate Warren Buffett?s Berkshire-Hathaway portfolio.

Martin: This is not the portfolio you are managing currently. But it kind of brings us up through the history, right?

Doug: That?s correct. I met with Sir John and found out he?s from middle Tennessee, just as I am. Our ancestors actually traded mules together back in the late 1800s, when that part of Tennessee was known as the mule trading capital of the world.

Sir John asked me to serve as the portfolio manager of the Wisdom Fund and also be the president of the advisory firm. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn from one of the greatest investors of all time.

Martin: So how did the Wisdom Fund do?

Doug: Very, very well. We outperformed the S&P by a long shot. Some years we beat Buffett in the portfolio and some years he outperformed what we did. And for the 10 years, I was awarded a 5-star rating from Morningstar for the performance of that fund.

Martin: Every one of those 10 years, 10 years in a row?

Doug: Yes. But even better, Sir John became my mentor. He was a wonderful person to know, almost like a second father ? because I learned so much from him.

Martin: Why did you leave the Templeton Wisdom Fund?

Doug: Unfortunately, Sir John passed away in July of 2008, and his family decided they did not want to keep the investment firm. They asked me to sell the mutual fund for them ? and I did.

I didn?t want to go with a new investment firm. I decided instead to keep Sir John?s legacy alive.?

You see, after I began managing the Wisdom Fund, Sir John had also asked me to set up a different model portfolio, using a trading strategy he had created. I decided I would keep that going and have done so from 2007 until this very moment.

This trading strategy was a totally different concept from the Wisdom Fund: The Wisdom Fund was a portfolio of about 60 individual stocks. But Sir John also designed this second strategy that generated "buy" and "sell" signals for exchange traded funds.

And the results ended up being far better than those we achieved in the Wisdom Fund.

Martin: Is this something that Sir John also developed?

Doug: Yes. Sir John believed that, since we entered a secular bear market in 2000, we ought to have a portfolio that could take advantage of the market when it?s going up and ALSO take advantage of the market when it declines.

It?s important because if you buy and hold through the down periods in a long-term bear market, your performance is going to suffer.

Martin: Did Sir John pick out the exchange traded funds you?d be trading??

Doug: He picked out the asset classes that we wanted to use: Oil, gold, currencies, and U.S. stocks. It was my job to determine which exchange traded fund would best fit each asset class.

Martin: I?ve just been going over your performance figures, and they are nothing short of spectacular. Could you explain that?

Doug: It does look spectacular ? and it is. But when you understand the reasons why those numbers are so good, it?s actually quite simple.

Since inception in 2007, the S&P 500 Total Return Index (including dividends) is up only 14.5 percent.

But during that same exact period, the return for my model portfolios is +830.4 percent.

So my model portfolio beat the S&P 500 by 57 to one.

Martin: Most professional money managers don?t even try to beat the S&P by two or three to one. They are content to get a few extra percentage points on it.

But you?re saying that your model portfolio ? the one that you built with Mr. Templeton ? beat the S&P by 57 to one.

Doug: Think about it this way: For every one dollar the average S&P 500 stock generated, my model would have handed you over $57.

If you invested, say, $25,000 in the average S&P stock on January 1, 2007, you would have $28,600-plus dollars today. That?s not a great return.

But if you had invested the same $25,000 and followed my signals for my Model Portfolio, you?d have over $232,000 today.? I think most people would be far happier with that.

Martin: No kidding! When I first saw your results, I naturally assumed that you used a lot of leverage.

Doug: No. Leverage is not used. I think leverage can be detrimental to a portfolio. I just use every-day exchange traded funds that anybody can buy and sell in any brokerage account.

Martin: I also assumed that you must be day-trading or doing something very aggressive in the account.

Doug: No. Day-trading is more like a short-term guessing game.? I trade on average no more than 12 to 16 times per year.

That way, you don?t have to stay in front of your computer all day. Plus, fewer trades also means lower transaction costs for your portfolio.

Martin: These kinds of results are enough to make any market pro green with envy. What?s your secret?

Doug: Sir John personally gave me the proprietary trading strategy that identifies the beginning and end of major pricing trends. That?s simply trend-following.

He also instructed me to use the strategy with just five exchanged traded funds that give us broad exposure to oil, gold, currencies, and the stock market.

Martin: Which ETFs do you work with?

Doug: For gold, the best exchange traded fund is GLD.

Martin: Right, everyone knows that one.

Doug: For oil, I use two different oil markets. I look at the USO, which is for West Texas crude, the U.S. oil market. And I look at BNO, which covers the oil that Europeans trade, Brent North Sea Oil.

For the euro, the best ETF is FXE.

For the S&P 500, it?s the granddaddy of all the stock index funds ? SPY.

And of course, we also use the inverse versions of each of these funds.

Martin: That?s great diversification. But tell me: How do your trading signals work? They seem to be a key to the whole success of this.

Doug: The approach is very good at keeping you in the majority of a trending market ? then getting you out before the trend changes. My approach is designed to catch about 80-85 percent of a market move.

When my system generates a buy signal for one of these exchanged traded funds, you would simply buy that particular exchange traded fund.

When it generates a sell signal, you would either go to cash or go short using an inverse ETF, depending on how strong the signal might be.

The best part is this approach is totally objective. The market tells us what to do ? not vice-versa. Thus, it eliminates the emotional component that costs so many investors money.

The beauty is that it will let me make money no matter what the market conditions are. When stocks are rising and when they?re falling, we can make money. And it doesn?t depend on my personal opinion of what I think the market will do.

Martin: The key here is to achieve good performance even in bad times. And looking at your track record, it seems that the performance in bad times is especially impressive.

Doug: I would like to give you some examples of that.

Martin: Please do.

Doug: Let?s look at how the portfolio performed during the five worst quarters since inception in 2007:

In the first three months of 2008, the S&P 500 fell 9.4 percent. I was up 10.5 percent.

In the final three months of 2008 ? and we all remember what happened in 2008 when Lehman went under ? the S&P fell 22 percent. I was UP over 55 percent.

In the first 3 months of 2009, the S&P 500 fell 11 percent. My model portfolio was UP 11.9 percent.

Martin: I can see why you?re beating the S&P by such a wide margin. Because it?s in those kinds of quarters that the S&P gives it all back!

Doug: Correct. Now go to the second quarter of 2010. The S&P fell 11.4 percent. I was UP 10.7 percent in that same time period.

Finally, consider the third quarter of 2011. The S&P fell 13.9 percent. Once again I had positive performance. I was UP 18.8 percent in that same period of time.

Martin: That?s great! Earlier, we talked about your overall performance over the six-year period. And we said your model beat the S&P by 57 to 1. That?s a total return of 830.4 percent versus the S&P?s total return of only 14 percent and a fraction. Is that right?

Doug: That is correct, Martin.

Martin: So what I want to do now is look at your cumulative performance period by period ? to make sure that it was consistent over time. Can you do that for me?

Doug: Sure. In our most recent year, 2012, the S&P 500 total return index was up 16 percent. I was up 28.5 percent.

Now, go back two years. The S&P was up 18.4 percent. I was up 90.7 percent.

For the last three years, the S&P was up 36.3 percent. I was up 142.9 percent.

For the most recent four-year period, the S&P was up 72.3 percent. I was up over 248 percent.

Then, going back five years, the performance includes 2008, the big down year for the S&P. So that reduces its gains to just 8.6 percent. We were up over 630.9 percent.

And in the full six years since we created this model portfolio, the S&P is up about 14.6 percent. I am up 830.4 percent.

If you had invested $25,000 in the average S&P stock when I began this model portfolio, you would have had about $28,637 today.

Your total gain would be $3,637.

But if you had invested that same $25,000 in this model and followed every trading signal in a timely manner, your total gain would be $207,600.

That?s $203,963 MORE than the average S&P 500 stock could have given you during that same period.

Martin: Typically, people who are good at bear markets are not very good at bull markets. But you also beat the S&P by a wide margin when it was going up.

Doug: Yes, that?s correct. Think about 2009 when the S&P 500 rose 26.5 percent for the year. Our positions jumped 43.2 percent in that up market.

Martin: And for all of the years since you have been beating the S&P?

Doug: That?s correct.

Martin: Doug, you know how I feel about the dangers that are still on the horizon. So for me, this is absolutely a must in any track record.

I don?t care how good someone is in a bear market, they also have to be good in a bull market.? And the reverse is especially true: Unless you can handle a bear market, you can lose it all.

I want someone who can make money both in bull markets AND in bear markets. But in all our years of searching, you?re the first professional money manager who has achieved that.

You have demonstrated excellent performance when the market was plunging and then did it again when the market was rallying.

Another important factor I see here is consistency. So can we go down to a quarter-by-quarter review of the model portfolio to make sure that there was no missing pieces there?

Doug: Yes. Our model portfolio shows a gain in 23 of the 24 full quarters since inception. The only quarterly loss was in the second quarter of 2007, when we were down about 1/100th of 1 percent. That?s a loss of about $2.50 on a $25,000 position.

And the next quarter, we came roaring back with an 8.3 percent gain, beating the S&P 500 by more than four to one.

Martin: Is it OK if someone from our staff ? myself or someone else ? calls you periodically to have a conversation like this one for our readers?

Doug: I?m more than glad to do that.

Martin: Thank you very much Doug! I will talk to you soon.

Doug: Thank you, Martin.

Martin: Goodbye for now.

Tagged as: Issues

Source: http://www.swingtradingdaily.com/2013/02/04/john-templeton-protege-beats-sp-500-by-57-to-1-since-2007/

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Can insurance stop gun violence? ? Bankrate, Inc.

As long as we're engaged in a heated national debate on ways to curb gun violence, let's ask the obvious question: What role might insurance play in making our neighborhoods safer?

Legislators in Massachusetts invited insurance into the discussion last month when they proposed a state law that would require gun owners to purchase liability insurance in the event one of their firearms should cause injury or death.

The proposal, believed to be the first of its kind, comes in the wake of the December slayings of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Such mandatory insurance coverage could include incentive discounts for gun owners who take firearms safety courses and store their weapons properly.

In addition, the bill would enable insurance companies to do what law enforcement agents cannot under current Massachusetts law: enter a person's home to verify that guns are secured. That's a step that could be taken before a liability policy is issued.

The proposed gun insurance law does not address how much liability insurance would be required or whether coverage under a homeowners insurance policy would be sufficient. But it does state that those found to be in possession of an uninsured gun would face a fine of between $500 and $5,000 or up to a year in jail.

Rep. David Linsky, the bill's sponsor, says there are ample precedents that insurance used for the public good can save countless lives.

"Insurance companies were able to discourage smoking through the marketplace and make cars safer through the marketplace," he observed.

Gun rights activists have been quick to denounce the bill as what they call another misguided attempt to saddle law-abiding gun owners with unnecessary regulation. They maintain that such a law would penalize those who buy and own guns legally while having little impact on those who acquire weapons illegally.

"Now we're going to have insurance companies telling us how we are supposed to be trained and where we are going to store our guns?" asked Jim Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners Action League in Massachusetts.

But in the wake of the Sandy Hook slayings, the idea of inviting insurance into the discussion was welcomed Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, who co-chairs Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and new Massachusetts senior Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

"It's time that we think about alternative ways that we can effectively deal with gun violence," Warren said. "We need better research. We need better understanding. We need to try different approaches to protect our children."

What are your thoughts? Would a gun liability insurance law stem gun violence in America?

Follow me on Twitter: @omnisaurus

Subscribe to Bankrate newsletters today!

Source: http://www.bankrate.com/financing/insurance/can-insurance-stop-gun-violence/

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Iraq War vet accused in shooting on suicide watch

In this April 6, 2012, photo, former Navy SEAL and author of the book ?American Sniper?, Chris Kyle poses in Midlothian, Texas. A Texas sheriff has told local newspapers that Kyle has been fatally shot along with another man on a gun range, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paul Moseley)

In this April 6, 2012, photo, former Navy SEAL and author of the book ?American Sniper?, Chris Kyle poses in Midlothian, Texas. A Texas sheriff has told local newspapers that Kyle has been fatally shot along with another man on a gun range, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paul Moseley)

This photo provided by the Erath County Sheriff?s Office shows Eddie Ray Routh. He was charged with murder in connection with a shooting at a central Texas gun range that killed former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield, the Texas Department of Public Safety said Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. (AP Photo/ Erath County Sheriff's Office)

View of buildings on the property of Rough Creek Lodge photographed Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield were found murdered at the gun range on the property. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Richard W. Rodriguez)

In this April 6, 2012, photo, former Navy SEAL and author of the book ?American Sniper? poses in Midlothian, Texas. A Texas sheriff has told local newspapers that Chris Kyle has been fatally shot along with another man on a gun range, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paul Moseley)

Map showns path of texas gunman following a double shooting

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) ? The Iraq War veteran charged with killing a former Navy SEAL sniper and his friend on a Texas shooting range had to be shocked with a stun gun and restrained in his jail cell overnight after becoming aggressive, a sheriff said Monday.

Eddie Ray Routh, 25, is on suicide watch in the Erath County Jail, where he's being held on $3 million bond, Sheriff Tommy Bryant said. Routh is charged with one count of capital murder and two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of Chris Kyle, author of the best-selling book "American Sniper," and his friend Chad Littlefield at a shooting range Saturday in Glen Rose.

Routh, a member of the Marines Corps Reserve, appeared ready to assault jailers Sunday night when they entered his solitary confinement cell because he refused to return his food tray, Bryant said. After warnings, jailers used a stun gun once and then put Routh in a chair that restrains his arms and legs, Bryant said.

Bryant said Routh has an attorney but hasn't met with him at the jail in Stephenville, about 75 miles southwest of Fort Worth, and he has not said anything to investigators.

Authorities say the three men arrived at the sprawling Rough Creek Lodge on Saturday afternoon, and a hunting guide discovered the bodies of Kyle and Littlefield about two hours later and called 911. Bryant said Sunday that the men were shot more than once.

Routh then drove Kyle's pickup to his sister's house in Midlothian and told her that he killed two people, and she called police, Erath County Sheriff's Capt. Jason Upshaw said Monday. Routh was arrested after a short police pursuit in Lancaster, near his home.

Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Routh's mother and sister were unsuccessful Monday.

Sundae Hughes, an aunt of Routh's, said she has known him since he was born and watched him grow up. But she said she has not seen him since his high school graduation in 2006.

Hughes was in disbelief that her nephew could be involved in such an incident.

"He has a kind heart (and was) someone willing to jump in and help, no matter what it was," she said.

Routh joined the Marines in 2006 and rose to the rank of corporal in 2010. His military specialty was small-arms technician, commonly known as an armorer. He had been stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and served in Iraq from 2007-08 and in the Haiti disaster relief mission in 2010.

He is now in the individual ready reserve, which basically means he's a civilian. He could be called to duty, but it's uncommon unless he volunteers, said 1st Lt. Dominic Pitrone of the Marine Forces Services public affairs office.

Travis Cox, director of FITCO Cares ? the nonprofit that Kyle set up to give in-home fitness equipment to physically and emotionally wounded veterans ? said he believes that Kyle and Littlefield were helping Routh work through PTSD.

Cox said Routh's mother may have asked Kyle to help her son, but Cox didn't know how Routh and Kyle knew each other. He said the shooting range event was not a FITCO session.

Lt. Cmdr. Rorke Denver, who served with Kyle in Iraq in 2006, wasn't surprised that Kyle apparently used a shooting range to help someone with PTSD.

"For us, for warriors, that's a skill set that has become very familiar, very comfortable for us," said Denver, a lieutenant commander in a reserve SEAL team. "So I actually see it as kind of a perfect use of Chris' unique skill set and expertise of which he has very few peers."

Kyle, 38, left the Navy in 2009 after four tours of duty in Iraq, where he earned a reputation as one of the military's most lethal snipers. "American Sniper" was No. 3 seller of paperbacks and hardcovers on Amazon as of Monday, and the hardcover was out of stock. Littlefield, 35, was Kyle's friend, neighbor and "workout buddy," and also volunteered his time to work with veterans, Cox said.

__

Stengle reported from Midlothian, Texas. Associated Press writers Juan Carlos Llorca in El Paso, Texas; Christopher Sherman in McAllen, Texas; Martha Waggoner in Raleigh, N.C.; and AP researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-04-Sniper%20Author-Shooting/id-a4a115a915694dc5a9e6e16edfc7fa7b

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