Investing: Penny Stocks

All of you who follow my blog know that I volunteer to do research for people on a wide variety of topics. I consider myself a professional in this area as this is something I have done my whole life. While my field of work is in education, I have a wide array of areas that I dabble in. The stock market is just one such area. James sent me a request to research what I would consider to be hot stock tips in the penny stock area. While playing the stock market is mutifaceted, I will just concentrate on this one area for James to honour his request. Just a word of warning...these are my ideas which have come from following stocks and doing my own research. Never invest unless you are confident in your picks and you always should back that up with your own research.

First of all, if you are new to the stock market you should know that penny stocks are by far the riskiest type out there. For all the penny stocks, very few actually succeed. It is pure speculation as you are dealing with companies who have very little time behind them and very low market caps. So why would anyone want to invest in penny stocks. Easy...with greater risk comes potentially greater reward. If you buy a stock at 0.08 cents and it goes to a dollar, you can be a very rich person very quickly. Ok James, here are a few of the penny stocks which I have been following...and own.

Opawica Explorations (OPW) This is a gold play. it is currently at 0.10 cents. It actually jumped 25% on Friday because there is pending news about drilling results. There was crazy volume with this jump...a very good sign. It is expected that the news will be good and this baby may fly. I will be adding to my position tomorrow.

Pacifica Resources (PAX) I have owned this stock for a long time. I got in at .59 cents. It has been hovering around the .66 cent mark. It has got one of the largest zinc deposits in the world. it is only a matte of time before this company soars as well. The only holdback that I can see is that they are associated with Yukon Zinc which is no favourite of the market. If you can get this under .70 cents I would jump in.

Just so everyone knows, I do own both of these stocks. I own 10 000 shares of OPW and 2000 shares of Pacifica. I expect my position in OPW to be rewarded within the next few days.

Stay tuned and I will give progress reports.

Do you have questions as well? I own a variety of stocks in all the different sectors. I have been following the markets for years. If you want some tips, advice or opinions just ask and I will post it for you. If you could visit my sponsors while you do so it would be aprreciated.

Cheers,

Hope that helps James

Join MyLot Today and Start Making Money $$$

Hi everyone,

I am not going to make a habit of posting about on-line money making sites, but I have found that MyLot is probably the best run site out there. It basically pays you to begin and post to discussions. Everytime you post, it credits your account. When you get to that magic $10 level you will receive a payment through Paypal. There are a lot of interesting discussions to particpate in and make money at the same time. I have to say, it is the site I spend the most time on. If you are interested, click on the link to MyLot on the right hand sidebar.

When you are there, message me and I will add you to my friend list and get you strted on the process.

Stop the Bullying!

The term “bullying” is one that is thrown around quite often. You hear about it in the media, schools, playgrounds and basically anywhere and everywhere you go. However, what does it really mean? What actually constitutes bullying? Essentially, bullying is multi-faceted, and all these different components bring with them many unique problems. It is the contention of this article that in order to stop bullying, the many different types of this behaviour, and the various participants need to be fully understood and addressed. Knowledge brings with it great power and thus the ability to change negatives into positives. A full understanding of the complexity of bullying can go a long way in stopping, or at least greatly reducing the problem.
What actually is bullying? How is it defined? According to the article, “Shaping Safer Schools, 2005” bullying is a “dynamic of unhealthy interaction. It is a form of repeated aggression used from a position of power. It can be physical, verbal or social.” Basically, it is a deliberate act to hurt another and put them into a stressful situation. Quite often people associate bullying with mainly physical and verbal oppression. Pushing others, calling them names, tripping them, stuffing them into lockers at school. However, physical bullying does exist, but it is by no means the most prevalent type of bullying. Indeed, social bullying has turned into the “bullying of the future”. This can include factors such as gossiping, exclusion, spreading rumours, and the huge new realm of Internet bullying tactics more commonly referred to as cyber bullying. With the arrival of such sites as MySpace and Youtube, bullies are turning to the high tech world of the Internet to attack their victims. Hurtful email messages, embarrassing posted photographs, and basically setting people up to look foolish are all trademarks of this new source of bullying.
While the differing types of bullying have been outlined, the next obvious question is who are the bullies? Also, who are their victims? Essentially, bullying can occur anywhere…it does not just happen at schools, although that is the focus of this article. Workplace bullying is rampant and is just as harmful and insidious as schoolyard bullying. There can be little doubt that it is a societal problem. Basically, people who are bullied typically will withdraw from their confrontations when they are faced with conflict. The social isolation they experience makes them very easy targets. Often afraid to address the problem and seek help, the victim will withdraw and suffer in silence. The bullies on the other hand typically have one major and shared characteristic…they lack empathy. They have a huge problem identifying with others and understanding how they feel. If they were able to “stand in the victims shoes” for a minute, the odds are great that they would cease their destructive behaviour. Instead, they lack the needed empathy and desires the power that accompanies the bullying. Before we begin to look at how to address and hopefully reduce this problem, we must look at the last group who are involved in bullying…the bystander. In truth, the bystander plays a HUGE role. The bystander is basically the onlookers who witness the incidents and either overtly or implicitly encourage the behaviour. Without these individuals watching the incident, the bully has a limited audience and is not as likely to engage in the negative behaviour. By standing by and watching a victim be bullied, the bystanders are playing a huge role in the perpetuation of the problem.
With all this information in mind, we may now ask how do we stop the bullying. In truth, I am not sure if you can ever really stop it. It has been around forever and probably always will be. However, I do believe you can drastically reduce bullying, and help a lot of people in the process. Ideally, what are needed are strategies which help the victims…and also the bullies. Since we know that not all people bully for the same reasons, we must consider that point when selecting strategies to help these individuals. Sample strategies to help the bully are listed below:
1. Provide positive social role models2. Provide leadership opportunities3. Social skills programs4. Engagement in cooperative learning5. Celebration of positive success6. Development and engagement in empathy programs which focus on role playing7. Closer interaction between family units and the school8. Social learning activities
While some, all, or a variety of these factors can help the bully, we now ask how do we help the victim? Afterall, they have done nothing to deserve their lot and should be the primary concern. Listed below are some strategies which should be applied when helping the victims of bullying:
1. If a victim comes to you for help, this is a major event. They are often afraid to do this for a variety of reasons so their concerns must be addressed quickly and adequately
2. Victims may be afraid of retribution for “ratting”. Make sure that this fear is recognized and addressed. The victim should know that they can come back to report any further incidences at any time. Build that trust
3. Self-esteem and assertiveness training can be very helpful
4. Encourage the victims to always tell a person who is in a position of authority to help
5. Always keep records of the children who have been bullied, and those who have bullied, actions taken, and who was communicated with (e.g., the parents)
6. Make sure to follow up the situation and offer assistance if needed
All in all, bullying is a societal problem which has existed for some time and continues to exist today. However, the extent and nature of bullying has changed somewhat in today’s society. Technology has been recruited to help in the oppression of individuals. Cyber bullying is by far the most pervasive and intrusive form of bullying to emerge. We as a society need to do our best to erase these types of abuse. The only way to do so is to keep informed about the issue. Afterall…knowledge is power!

Should Students with Special Needs be Placed in the Regular Classroom?

There can be little doubt that for many years, students with special needs were not placed in the regular "mainstream" classrooms. Indeed, these students were often not only outside the regular classrooms, but were placed in different schools outside their own neighborhoods. The reasons for this were varied, but for the most part it was to make sure the needs of the students could be met with the greater resources supplied by the different class/school. This includes learning materials, but more importantly human resources such as educational assistants and special needs assistants. However, in today's realm of education students are rarely put into these classrooms. In fact, students are integrated into the same regular classrooms where their friends and neighbors are. The problem which arises however is the same level of support that these students need is certainly not provided. The classroom teacher has increasingly had to modify and accommodate their program for the students with very little outside support. Considering that this has been done in an age of skyrocketing classroom numbers, it has been problematic. Indubitably, there are positive and negative arguments to the question about whether students with special needs should be in the regular classroom. My contention however is that the question is not entirely clear-cut and needs to be examined on a case by case basis. Before we can adequately examine this whole idea, we need to discuss what constitutes "special needs". Indeed, once again there is no clear answer to this question. Special needs can be a variety of needs from physical (visually impaired, hearing impaired), intellectual (learning disability, mild intellectual disability, developmentally delayed) and in truth the list goes on. In fact, within these variety of identifications there are other factors which are usually present. For example, a learning disabled student may also have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and have behavior components which make it very difficult to function in the regular classroom setting. The bottom line is that there are a multitude of special needs, and they are rarely put into "simple, neat" categories.Knowing all this then, what is the argument for putting these students into the regular classroom? First of all, these students have the right to go to school and be with their friends and neighbors. Too often they have been asked to travel by bus to schools which are a great distance from their home. They will be at these schools with students who they barely know, and have little chance of forming lasting friendships outside of school hours. They are simply too far away. This is a huge disadvantage in terms of forming social relationships and social skills. Also, in this day in age of cost-cutting in education resources are tending to be pooled more at the individual school level. This is an attempt to have these students attend school in their own areas. Schools and boards are being given money for this and it needs to be taken advantage of. Lastly, classroom teachers for the most part have recognized their role in all of this. Numerous teachers have received additional qualifications in the area of special education so they can increase their ability to help their students. It would be a shame not to use this increasing base of knowledge and skill.

While there are some good arguments for students remaining in their home schools/classes, there are also points against this. First of all, sometimes the needs of students are simply too great for the neighborhood school to have a chance of meeting them. While resources inside the individual schools may increase to meet these needs, the sad truth is the actual resources are still sadly lacking. For instance (and this is from my own personal experience), if there is a student who has severe behavior issues, most of the teacher’s efforts will be directed at this student. There really is no choice in this matter. The needs of that student will outweigh the needs of others and must be addressed. Secondly, if resources are lacking, should the special needs student not be in an environment which is more equipped to help him/her? It would be absolutely frustrating for the student if this were not the case. Also, although other students often try to help those students with special needs, they at the same time are often targets for such things as bullying. This is especially true for less “obvious” special needs such as learning disabilities or behavior disorders. The other students do not understand the needs of the various students and will quite often tease and bully them.

Considering the pros and cons of this argument, only one conclusion can really be made. Whether a special needs student is part of the regular classroom, or needs to attend a different class/school depends entirely on THAT student. If the needs are too great to be met adequately by the school, alternative arrangements must be made. If the needs of the student can be met by the local school, they should be part of that school and welcomed as part of that community of learners. Teachers should accommodate and modify where needed, and make sure all their students understand the need to treat everyone with respect and as individuals. Fairness is not always sameness… that is a simple fact. Good teachers know that all students are different and there is no “one size fits all” secret to teaching. Nowhere is this truer than with students with special needs.

For the viewpoints of another on this issue please visit: http://ryntales.blogspot.com/2007/03/to-integrate-or-not-to-integrate.html:

Should Recess be Banned???

I have worked in the field of education for over 15 years now. I have been a teacher of various grades and am now a Vice-Principal in a school of over 1000 students. Throughout my career I have heard the recess debate take place numerous times. Truth be told, there are very good points on each side of the argument. Nevertheless, my argument contends that recess time is a vital part of the school day for elementary aged children. It gives them the opportunity to interact with others in an unstructured setting which thus helps them to develop both their knowledge base and their social skills. Are there dangers inherent in the unstructured nature of recess? Certainly there are, and the emerging trend of unionization in the field of education compounds these problems. However, in this case the benefits do outweigh the dangers and therefore recess simply has to be a continued part of the school day.
Before I explain the various factors which support the continued existence of recess, i will outline the components which do make it difficult. In her article, "Elementary School Recss: Healthy Peer Socialization or Danger Zone?" Joy Hester makes many valuable points. There are negative peer influences, bullying and physical dangers which exist at recess time. In truth...there always has been, that goes without question. In fact, in today's realm of education you can add to this the problem of the continual growth of unionization in the field of education and you can see the lack of teacher supervision as contributing to the whole problem. Students simply do not respond to volunteers the same way they do to teachers. Undoubtedly this escalates the problem. Knowing this, why would I ever recommend that recess continue as a vital part of the school day? Quite simply, I believe school administrations can address the recess problems in a positive fashion and drastically improve all aspects of recess at their school. Also, research has clearly shown that the unstructured nature of recess is crucial to the cognitive and social development of children. That is a factor we cannot ignore.
I ask you for a minute to think back to your own past and what do you remember about your schooling. Odds are you recall being outside playing with your friends and forming important social bonds, and quite often lifelong friendships. You most likely remember the academic components much less...if at all. That is not to say that the academic components are not important...of course they are. However, unstructured recess play is beginning to be reduced in favour of rigorous academics. My argument is that this actually hurts a child's social and academic development. Small children often do not have the ability to sit still in a class without a break. This break comes in the fashion of unstructured play and socialization. If we want our students to maintain their focus, this is vital. Without such a break a teacher will spend more time on classroom management then the actual academic instruction.
In terms of children being exposed to negative components such as negative self image perceptions, I do not believe this can be blamed on recess. In fact, I would argue quite the opposite. Our society has grown into a paranoid land where our children are put into organized clubs and teams, or they are at home on the computer or other electronics. Many people fear actual unstructured play as they are afraid of the unknown. I think there is little doubt that the shrinking nature of our world, and the influence of the media are huge factors here. Knowing this, when do our children get an opportunity to socialize in an unstructured environment? They will have no choice but to do this later in life, so should they not practice? What better place to practice then in an environment full of potential peers and adults who are watching to make sure that they do not get carried away. That would be the playground at recess time!
In terms of physical dangers, such as aggressive play, pushing, falls etc..., obviously these pitfalls do exist. However, children need to LEARN how to play with one another. We cannot simply assume they know how. Many of our neediest children never get an opportunity to play with others except for when they are at school. When they go home they often are home alone, while their parents work 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet. The administrators of schools have a very important role here. They need to make sure they have Proper and Adequate supervision. This is NOT an area which should be sacrificed due to budget or union demands. Also, the administration needs to make sure that there are guidelines and codes of conduct which will help guarantee student safety at recess time. Lastly, such programs as self-esteem boosters and anti-bullying initiatives, which focus on positive reinforcement need to be adopted school wide. These programs will go a long way in helping to maintain a safe and fun recess atmosphere. All in all, if I was asked whether recess time should exist for elementary children, I would say yes everytime, our children deserve nothing less.

What is a Husband's Role on Mother's Day?

Hi everyone,

Being a married father of 2 girls, aged 11 and 13, I have always wondered what my role is on Mother's Day with respect to my wife. When the children were young I always planned all the activites for the day, bought the presents, helped them make the cards etc... However, now they are older and I have found for the most part I am still doing that. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind planning the day as I think my wife is a great mother to the girls. However, is my involvement basically interference now? Am I taking away from the day by doing too much for the girls and not having them actually think hard about what there mother does and means to them?
On the flip side I do have my own mother who is alive and well and I always honour her on Mother's Day. Should this be where I put my efforts, and then allow my daughters to handle the Mother's Day at home. My wife seems to have figured all this out for herself as on Father's Day her famous line is "he is not my father". Maybe she has the whole idea right.
Any thoughts?
cheers

HELP!!! How do I get out of Debt???

Hi everyone,

I think for the most part I have had a pretty good life. I have 2 great kids, a good job and perfect health. However, throughout my life I have always struggled to stay out of debt. I would let my debt balloon for a while, refinance or consolidate, and then let my debt balloon all over again. The only difference the refinancing and consolidation made was to put me in a worse position then when I started.

I am happy to say that I am now coming close to being debt free. How have I done this you may ask? Follow my steps outlined below and you too will see incredible results. You must remember however that the key to this is discipline. Strictly follow this plan for 3 months and I guarantee you will reap the rewards. Ultimately, the way you need to reduce your debt is to drastically cut back on your variable expenses (those that are not fixed, like a mortgage).

You are probably thinking...what is he talking about? I don't waste any money. Yes, I thought the same thing, but I was dead wrong. This takes us to step 1.

1. For a 3 month period keep a record of ALL expenditures. Yes that means every penny. You will find you spend a LOT more than you think.

2. At the end of each month total up what was needed and what was not.

3. Get rid of uneeded expenses!!!

Here are some simple ideas to cut back on your variable expenses:

a) Bring your lunch to work
b) Cancel credit cards and/or transfer high credit card balance to low interest cards
c) Reduce your long idstance phone calls
d) Get a better cell plan
e) Cancel cable
f) Comparison shopping (never buy the first thing you see...compare!)
g) Prepare and follow grocery lists (oh this is soooooo important)
h) Stop eating out (this is the biggest money waster for most people)
i) Do your own household repairs
j) Shop for cheaper banking/ATM accounts
k) Shop around for less expensive insurances
l) Drink more water instead of pop
m) Stop buying coffee out
n) Less expensive car
0) Reduce newspaper and magazine subscriptions (or view on-line)

Let me know what you think everyone. It has worked for me!!! A little short term pain for long term gain.

Please follow the following link to join Agloco and get the chance to join a community with huge earning potential who are paid to surf the Internet!!!

www.agloco.com/r/BBDQ2921