the Covenant

Dear All,

We at The Covenant Advisor would to take this opportunity to wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May 2009 will grant you full of luck and joyous moment. We hope that this festive mood will be with you throughout 2009. We also wish you “All the best”. Keep on invest your money AND LEAVE A LEGACY..

Thank you

THE COVENANT ADVISOR

And now, the end is near;
And so I face the final curtain.
My friend, I’ll say it clear,
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.

I’ve lived a life that’s full.
I’ve traveled each and every highway;
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Regrets, I’ve had a few;
But then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption.

I planned each charted course;
Each careful step along the byway,
But more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up and spit it out.
I faced it all and I stood tall;
And did it my way.

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried.
I’ve had my fill; my share of losing.
And now, as tears subside,
I find it all so amusing.

To think I did all that;
And may I say - not in a shy way,
No, oh no not me,
I did it my way.

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things he truly feels;
And not the words of one who kneels.
The record shows I took the blows -
And did it my way!

There was a time
I was everything and nothing all in one
When you found me
I was feeling like a cloud across the sun

With a smile
You pull the deepest secrets from my heart
In all honesty
I’m speechless and I don’t know where to start

I never thought my life would end up quite this way
Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what I should say
I tried alone to mend this broken heart
I need you that thing you do

When we’re apart I find it very hard to smile
You know that other girls have never been my style
Well there’s a feeling that I get when I’m with you
I need you that thing you do

I could search around the world only to find
The only thing I need is you right by my side

There’s a feeling that I get when I’m with you
Oh oh oh that thing you do
I could search around the world only to find
The only thing I need is you right by my side
I never thought my life would end up quite this way
Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what I should say
I tried alone to mend this broken heart
I need you that thing you do

Need you that thing you do

You,
Doin’ that thing you do,
Breaking my heart into a million pieces,
Like you always do
And you,
Don’t mean to be cruel,
You never even knew about the heartache,
I’ve been going through
Well I try and try to forget you girl,
But it’s just so hard to do,
Every time you do that thing you do

I,
Know all the games you play,
And I’m gonna find a way to let you know that,
You’ll be mine someday
‘Cause we,
Could be happy can’t you see,
If you’d only let me be the one to hold you,
And keep you here with me
‘Cause I try and try to forget you girl,
But it’s just so hard to do,
Every time you do that thing you do

I don’t ask a lot girl,
But I know one thing’s for sure,
It’s the love I haven’t got girl,
And I just can’t take it anymore

‘Cause we,
Could be happy can’t you see,
If you’d only let me be the one to hold you,
And keep you here with me
Cause it hurts me so just to see you go,
Around with someone new,
And if I know you you’re doin’ that thing,
Every day just doin’ that thing,
I can’t take you doing that thing you do

In your career you will inevitably come to say some dumb or regrettable things to your boss. At one time or another, we all do it to varying degrees. The following list of such things is by no means exhaustive, but if you can avoid saying them, you will be doing yourself, your professional persona and your boss a tremendous service.

So, keep these top 10 things to never say to your boss in mind the next time you’re chatting him up by the water cooler.

Number 10
“Impossible; that can’t be done.”
This is just the kind of short-sighted thinking no boss wants to hear about. It suggests both a lack of effort and indifference. So, unless you follow it up with a solution or an alternative, it’s not terribly proactive or even helpful to say such a thing.

Number 9
“This is the best they could do, huh?”
Whether said in response to new office phones, computers or the banquet hall at a family-style restaurant rented for a Christmas party, this is one of those smart-ass comments that indicates to your boss, and to others, that you have a deluded sense of entitlement. It also belittles the efforts someone — possibly your boss or even his boss — has made.

Number 8
“That’s not my problem.”
Be that as it may, this presupposes the existence of a problem and, more than likely, a frustrated boss or coworker in need of some assistance. At the very least, your boss is looking for someone to take responsibility of the solution to this problem — even if it wasn’t yours to begin with. That means he already knows it’s not your problem, so you can spare him the reminder.

Number 7
“That isn’t in my job description.”
In one of the many great courtroom scenes in A Few Good Men, Tom Cruise asks a witness to point out where in the U.S. Marines manual the mess hall is indicated. Naturally it isn’t in there. The point is, a lot of things aren’t detailed in your job description, including e-mailing your friends from work or surfing the web, but you probably do those things anyways, right? So when the boss asks you to do something a little out of the ordinary, don’t take offense and never say to your boss that it’s not in your job description to do it.

Number 6
“Does it really matter if I get this finished?”
A strictly educational environment might promote the idea that there is no such thing as a dumb question, but this isn’t true at the office. To know the difference a good question to ask yourself is: “Will this question waste someone’s time?” No boss wants you to spend an hour doing a project incorrectly, but asking about the relevance of a certain question is time-wasting and insulting to both of you.

Number 5
“That’s a no-brainer.”
As a tired-out cliché this statement is offensive enough; but delivered with just the right amount of patronizing tone, it becomes an insult. Your boss doesn’t hear “no-brainer” as much as he hears, “The answer is obvious; how dumb are you anyway?”

Number 4
“We should totally hook up on MySpace/Facebook.”
No, you shouldn’t. Ever. Your boss knows this and he might be a little disappointed that you don’t. Extending a request like this puts him in an uncomfortable position. He may be too nice to say no, or foolish enough to say yes. Either way, social interactions with your boss should, almost without question, be discouraged. We don’t mean you can’t mingle with him at office parties, but try not to plan weekend getaways with him and his family anytime soon.

Number 3
“I got so trashed last night…”
You might just be jawing over the prior evening, but to your boss this might be your hint that you plan to be especially unproductive that day. It might also remind him that you don’t have qualms about keeping work and private lives separate and that you don’t have much discretion at all. Therefore you can’t be trusted with additional responsibilities.

Number 2
“I don’t get paid enough for this.”
Ninety-nine percent of the time you’ll be wrong when you say this. Furthermore, such a statement packs so many ready-made responses. Most potent among them might be, “Then quit, and fulfil your great untapped potential elsewhere.” All told, this kind of statement serves no other purpose but to b*tch and complain — which you do not want to do in front of, to or around your boss. Save it for people who might actually think you’re right, like your mother.

Number 1
“Sigh!”
The passive aggression and frustrating ambiguity of a sigh are what land it at the No. 1 spot. It can be delivered in response to the full range of requests from your boss, and it seems sufficiently open to interpretation to allow you to deny even having sighed at all.

But this is as true to you as it is absurd to your boss. We all know very well what a sigh means; it’s the official theme song of being annoyed, and the national anthem of imposition.

think before you speak
The one overriding and evident motif running through all the entries is this: These top 10 things to never say to your boss damage your professional persona by creating the perception that you have an uncooperative attitude. Many of them, if not all of them, can be avoided by taking a positive attitude with you to work and really taking a moment to consider what you’re going to say before you actually say it.

The ability to create and keep efficient, effective schedules is not highly regarded; it’s not often a compliment one hears or makes about a colleague or coworker. That isn’t to say it has no value or importance. Rather, it is an ability that is associated with characteristics — like “accountable,” “responsible” and “dependable” — that will serve you well throughout your entire career.

In developing the ability for effective scheduling, the usefulness of tools like PDAs is not in dispute, but neither is the inability of these tools to execute your workday. In order to align your busy schedule as it is on paper with the inexactitude of reality, adhere to the following tips for effective scheduling.
Prepare and clarify your objectives
Carefully consider your objectives for events such as meetings beforehand, noting precisely what you want to accomplish and what questions you may need to ask. Doing so will allow you to allot the right amount of time to events in your schedule.

When you arrive or, if possible, in advance of the appointment, clarify these objectives by making them known to others.

Always be punctual
Make it a priority to be on time and seek to develop a reputation for punctuality. Few reputations will precede you more effectively or say more good things about your professional persona than an adherence and dedication to punctuality. This doesn’t mean arriving exactly on the hour or demanding that others do so as well; rather, it’s a function of your reliability. It shows you can manage a busy schedule, that you respect the time and attention of others and that you insist upon the same.

Be realistic
Time is the ultimate factor here, so making an unrealistic assessment of even one meeting or event can throw off the remainder of your schedule and, consequently, your entire day. Furthermore, while it would be nice to dispatch with certain unpleasant appointments quickly, you can’t make out your schedule this way. In other words, learn to schedule realistically, not ideally. Make an estimate on the time, then add 10% to 20% on top of that to allow for travel, drawn-out meetings, etc.

Send confirmations
A schedule that includes meetings and appointments with other people takes a bit of control out of your hands and puts its efficiency in jeopardy. One step to take back some of that control is to send e-mail reminders the day before or the morning of in order to confirm your meetings with all those involved. It will also help you reschedule in the event of cancellations.

More tips for effective scheduling at work…

Consider in-between times
On paper, in a PDA or on the computer a schedule can look nice and efficient. Color-coded blocks of time tightly cut off at the hour would be inspirational for anyone intent on taking on the day. Reality, however, is far different. You may need to account for travel time for out-of-office meetings, or you might run into the right person on the wrong day and try to take care of certain matters then and there instead of worrying about rescheduling a meeting.

While actually adding to your schedule “Walk across the courtyard — three minutes” would be both ridiculous and potentially indicative of a psychological disorder, you should nonetheless make mental notes of these in-between times while creating your schedule so they can’t trip you up later.

Keep track
In his book How to Organize (Just About) Everything, author Peter Walsh offers the following advice: “Keep track of how much of your workweek you devote to appointments. If the amount exceeds 50%, evaluate whether other people’s agendas are overpowering yours.”

It can certainly happen, which is why Walsh also suggests that you make sure to include in your schedule time to work alone without intrusion.

Take the lead
Regardless of whom your appointments are with, do your part in maintaining an effective schedule by upholding a professional persona. In other words, don’t be the one to initiate the kind of chit-chat that can throw off your day. You may have to endure some from your superiors — this may prove unavoidable — just don’t make it any worse. Cut off or reroute a pointless conversation with courtesy to save you both valuable time during the day.
timetable tricks and tips
There are, of course, only so many hours in a day, yet bungled or poorly designed schedules can make some days seem longer and more trying than others. Should you find your workdays running later and later into the evening, this might be a sign that it’s time to take effective scheduling a bit more seriously.

The proper manly handshake fits somewhere between the guy whose hand meets yours like soggy bread and the guy who sets out to bully you with his kung-fu grip. It is a lost art, and if you think you already know how to give a handshake that scores points on every level, we urge you to read on anyway.

How important is it to give a handshake? Etiquette considers the handshake an enormous moment because we live in such a hands-off culture; thus, the handshake is often the first time two strangers make actual physical contact. The first derived impressions after you give a handshake run the gamut from professional to friendly to arrogant to milquetoast in a variety of situations. The following four steps to give a handshake are basic, but of great value — and they apply to meeting both men and women.

step 1
Make eye contact
Start a proper manly handshake by doing three things at once: first, look the person in the eye. If you’re sitting, stand up, and as you stand, quickly and discreetly make certain your hand is dry by pressing it against your pant leg. A smile isn’t necessary and may not always be totally appropriate when you give a handshake, but it generally will work in your favor. Giving the person you’re meeting the evil eye almost never will.

This step, initiated by eye contact, is etiquette 101. Evading eye contact is a way to stir distrust. Making eye contact, however brief, is a proper and formal means of greeting anyone, and says as much about you as anything else you do from this point forward.

Now, some time ago, standing up may have been reserved for greeting women, but today you should stand for both men and women to give a handshake. It is a basic sign of respect.
step 2
Extend your hand
If you are being introduced to someone or introducing yourself, extend your right hand with your palm facing due left to give a handshake. Do us all a favor and neither lock your elbow so your arm is part of a joust nor tuck your elbow so far in that you’re making a right angle. Somewhere in the middle works just fine. Remember, you are opening yourself up to a greeting; it can be a position of vulnerability, but neglecting to accept a handshake is an even greater foul.

Yes, there are people who cannot, for whatever reason, shake hands with their right hand. Former Senator Bob Dole is a notable example, which is why he often carries a pen in his right hand. By and large, however, if someone can’t use their right hand, the onus is on them and they will make the correction. If you extend your right hand to someone who can’t use theirs, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about and nothing for which you need to apologize — just make the adjustment.

We have two more tips on how to give a handshake…

step 3
Grip firmly
I think we all know what it means to grip firmly. No need to prove your strength — this isn’t the gym and it’s not a scene from Over The Top. When you give a handshake, grip as tightly as you would a baseball bat or a golf club prior to your swing. From there, according to famed etiquette guru Peter Post, “two or three pumps are all that’s needed.”

To reiterate: The grip is where a lot of guys spy a moment to flex, to show who’s boss. If you meet one of these guys, play your poker face and do your best not to react, in either direction, to this sad little display. Just keep up your end of the bargain and grip like a man.
step 4

Release
Finally, the last step in giving a proper handshake involves the release. Etiquette says to go with the flow, since some people prefer a longer handshake, but you should be prepared to let go after those “two or three pumps” and try to signal as much by relaxing the muscles in your hand. Hanging on any longer can make some women uncomfortable and some guys as well.

A handshake is a social convention that communicates a lot about us. The key is to toe the line: Clinging to another’s hand too long creates an awkward situation, while releasing too soon exudes its own level of discomfort.

A couple of weeks back, the news was flooded with reports of Warren Buffet’s investments in General Electric and Goldman Sachs. Mr. Buffet is undoubtedly one of the greatest investors to walk the face of the planet, so how wrong can you go by just blindly following his lead? Well, if you do not share Warren’s investment strategy or have his time horizon, you can find yourself in a chaotic world where you are feeling out of control of your investments, and potentially falling into a bad decision that can cost you a lot of money.

For example, if you are looking to save for retirement over the next 30 years (long-term, value investing), you will need a totally different investing style than if you are looking to put some extra money in your pocket each week by trading (momentum or short-term day trader).

To be a successful (read: profitable) investor, you first must go in with a game plan that fits the mold of your life goals, personality, risk tolerance, and financial situation. Here are some items to ponder when developing your own personal investing style.
Set your goals
A sound investment strategy first begins with setting a goal to attain via investing. A goal is a tangible item, such as saving a fixed amount for a home or car purchase or perhaps boosting your income by a certain amount each month. If you go in saying you want to buy a home or have extra cash to party on the weekends, your investments will likely be fruitless unless you have actual numbers to tie them to.

More importantly, if you need $50,000 for a down payment on a home in five years, you will need to employ a different approach to investing than if you were looking for an extra $500 each month to supplement your income. Setting your goal will determine the tone of your investing future. For instance, if you have a 30-year time horizon for your retirement account, it may make sense to stick to larger cap companies that have strong histories of paying and raising their dividends. If you have a one-year time horizon, you may have to find high-growth companies that choose to retain their cash to fund future expansion (rather than paying dividends). Although sticking to one approach is more effective, if you choose to have different goals, you should have different accounts and strategies for each so you can keep them separate.

There are a few more tips to consider when developing your own investing style…

Work within your limits
When developing your own investing style, your personality plays a tremendous role in how you can most successfully invest. For example, you may be adverse to strong intestinal fortitude to take big bets on speculative investments or to go against the investing grain. If that is the case, you are likely better suited for investing in mutual funds and automatically adding funds each month to your investments. You would not want the high intensity of trading or taking risky bets to cloud your judgment. Especially if you are a novice investor, stepping outside the box puts you more in fight-or-flight mode rather than objective, decision-making mode.

When you are in control and work within your personality boundaries, you can make excellent decisions and feel confident in your strategy. Eventually, you can learn to step outside your comfort zone, but that takes practice. In the mean time, stick to your guns and you will avoid emotionally charged decisions such as selling to early — or even worse, never.
Stick to what you know
Some may argue that investing is not gambling. Sports betting or poker is not gambling either — but only to those that have such extensive knowledge of the situation that they can make the best decisions. When developing your investing style, take stock of your business skills and the industry that you work in. It may seem like the day-to-day grind to you, but that first-hand experience provides you with an edge over everyone else who does not have a clue about the business you work in. If you venture outside your sphere of knowledge, you can be hit by events that you do not fully understand.

A simple rule to follow is: If you do not understand what a company does, it is probably not wise to throw money at it. Additionally, from an investing style standpoint, if you are a value investor (where you look for undervalued companies based on earnings and financials), investing in momentum or technical analysis trades is probably not the way to go.

money styles
You are your own person, and your investing style should be as unique and custom-tailored to you as possible. Certainly, there are buckets of investment types out there, but odds are not many have exactly the same job, income, personality type, financial goals, and ambitions as you. Formulate a plan that you feel 100% comfortable with — the better the suit fits, the better you look and the more confident you feel, and such is the case with your finances and investing.