I ran across this very interesting article at Bloomberg.com (read it here).  Yesterday, Dendreon Corp, a biotechnology company more than doubled in market value after erasing a 45% drop (the same day) when trading was halted before the company said its lead drug worked against prostate cancer.

The reported stated, “The drug, Provenge, extended the lives of men with advanced prostate cancer by four months in a study that Seattle-based Dendreon presented yesterday to a meeting of the American Urological Association in Chicago. Provenge, if approved, would be the first drug designed to train the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells like a virus. The medicine stands to generate $2 billion a year in revenue, said Joel Sendek, an analyst for Lazard Capital Markets Ltd. in New York. “

There are 2 things that struck me about the report.  The first is the drug only prolongs life by 4 months for people with advanced prostate cancer.  Am I missing something here?  What the hell is four months?  That’s it?  A measly four months?  And the drug is expected to do $2 billion in revenues.  I don’t get it. 

If I had an advance stage fatal disease and was told a drug would prolong my life by 4 months, it would be meaningless to me.   It’s not as if I will get 4 months of quality life.  The drug is designed to prolong my misery for an additional 4 months.  It’s not a cure, it’s just a very temporary, more than likely, expensive band aide.

The second thing that struck me about the article is that some investors quickly made a nice return on their money while others quickly lost money due to the wild swing in the share price.  The stock market can be brutal!

The report highlighted how Dennis Thorfeldt, a retired computer systems analyst, who purchased shares during the past week at about $17.70 after learning about Provenge from members of his cancer patients support group. Mr. Thorfeldt had placed a stop-loss to protect his investment.  However, because of the wild swing with the stock price, all of his stocks sold at $9.31. Mr. Thorfeldt then watched the stock jump to $23.76.  That has got to hurt.  Mr. Thorfeldt tried to protect his money and it backfired on him.

A similar situation happened to me several years ago during the Internet stock market frenzy.  There was an Internet stock that announced some good news (can’t recall company or news) at the market close. I then made the mistake of placing a market order to purchase shares at next day opening.  The stock opened at about double its previous days closing price only to then immediately drop a good 30% after.  In a matter of seconds I lost a few thousand dollars.  It ruined my day!

Related Article:  Stock Buy / Sell Order Types Defined

Do you want to improve something in your life?  Whether it’s getting in shape, eating right or improving your finances, but you just can’t seem to do it.  You can’t find the time with having a job, school or family.  By the time you get home from work you are too tired.  You created a plan, got started, but after a few days, you went right back to your old habits.

Well I’m here to tell you, you are not alone.  You are the typical person.  So what’s the solution?  The solution to success is that you must first have the 3 rules of success!
 
The first rule to success is “DESIRE”. If you want to be a lawyer, an athlete, an entrepreneur, an actor/actress, a good mate, a good employee, a good parent, lose weight, improve your finances, or whatever, you first have to want it.  

If you don’t want to be a doctor, you will not become a doctor.  If you tell yourself, it would be nice to be a doctor, but you don’t pursue it, then you never wanted to be a doctor.  But if you have the “strong” desire to be a doctor, guess what, you will become a doctor.  You will do whatever it takes to become a doctor.

The initial reason why so many people fail at accomplishing their goals is because they don’t have a strong desire.  If the desire isn’t there, they will never become successful.  

The second rule of success is “DISCIPLINE”.  To be successful at anything takes discipline.  You have to do “it” day-in and day-out usually with a lot of effort and work.  You can’t do it for a few days and then stop.  Back to our doctor example. If you want to be a doctor, you can’t take a few courses and stop.  You can’t study for one exam and stop.  You can’t go to a few classes and stop. You have to hit the books, day-in and day-out for years to be a successful doctor.  

Discipline is needed to accomplish any goal you set.  Most goals require a long-term or permanent lifestyle change. As an example, you can’t diet and exercise for a few weeks or months then stop and go back to your old ways.  This is why diets don’t work.  Diets are temporary.  Many people, diet, lose weight, and then return to their old habits. Most of the times they gain back the weight they lost and more!

The third rule of success is “DETERMINATION”.  You have to be determined to never give up.  No matter what it takes, you will be successful.  Even when things look bleak, you never give up.  You realize that life is a series of events that have hills and valleys.  When you are going up the hill, appreciate it and enjoy it.  However, when you are going down the hill, you have the determination to ride until you hit bottom because you know that the upside will be coming.

The umbrella to DESIRE, DISCIPLINE and DETERMINATION is ATTITUDE.  You have to believe in yourself.  Research studies have shown that one trait that successful people have, after analyzing hundreds of people (success being whatever they wanted to be successful in) is that they all had a positive attitude, which meant they all had the DESIRE, DISCIPLINE and DETERMINATION to be successful.

So ask yourself, do I have the desire, discipline and determination to accomplish my goal?  If the answer is no, then your shouldn’t pursue the goal, until you truly acquire the 3 rules of success.  If the answer is yes, then go full steam ahead.

Are you currently looking for a job? 

According to a recent CNNMoney.com article several Fortune 100 companies have at least 150 openings as of mid-April; even as the U.S. market struggles with 5.1 million job losses since 2008 with a 25 year high 8.5% unemployment rate.

The following companies are hiring:

Company – Number of Job Openings

1. Wal-Mart Stores – Thousands
2. Hewlett Packard – 150
3. Bank of America – 1,860
4. State Farm Insurance – 800+
5. WellPoint – 1,225
6. Boeing – 2,400
7. MetLife – 1,000+
8. United Parcel Service – 3,070
9. Medco Health Solutions – 300+
10. Lowe’s – 7,900

The jobs available are in a variety of positions.  Visit the company website to see if any jobs fit your background.

The U.S. middle class is getting hit hard with the downturn in the economy. Below is a video from CBS MoneyWatch.com highlighting a middle-class family struggling to pay bills and finding a job.

Video: Middle Class Taps Public Aid System

With today’s litigious society where Americans love to sue each other, you may want to consider buying umbrella insurance that will give you additional liability protection above and beyond your current auto, homeowner and watercraft insurance.  

Every day we hear of lawyers being awarded large amounts of money and not to mention the numerous TV commercials by lawyers pitching their services to people injured in accidents .  Auto, homeowner and watercraft insurance policies have a limited liability (normally $100,000, $300,000, or $500,000).  What most people don’t know is if you have an accident and it’s your fault, the lawyers will come after your personal assets if your insurance don’t cover all the expenses.

For example, you have a car accident where it’s your fault and as a result a family of 4 is seriously injured.  If your auto insurance have a limited liability of $300,000 but the medical bills, lost wages, rehabilitative therapy, car repairs, legal defense, etc. end up being $500,000, you will be personally liable for $200,000.  The lawyers will seek to get this money from you.  If you have umbrella insurance then it will cover the $200,000.  Umbrella insurance is designed to kick-in when the liability on your other policies has been exhausted.

Almost every state in the U.S. hold drivers responsible for bodily injury and property damage resulting from auto accidents and the at fault driver can be sued for the damage. Personal assets from the at fault driver can be seized resulting from a lawsuit. Similar laws are also exists for home and watercraft owners.

Depending on the insurance company you can add an additional one to five million in liability protection for just a few hundred dollars per year.  The additional liability insurance is inexpensive when compared to the added coverage you will receive.

Related: Compare Insurance Quotes

According to Index Credit Cards, below are the average interest rates for credit cards:

• Consumer credit cards:  14.17%
• Non-reward consumer credit cards: 12.80%
• Reward credit cards: 14.76%
• Student credit cards: 14.15%
• Business credit cards (non-reward): 11.77%
• Business reward credit cards: 12.84%

Many of us aren’t happy with what banks are currently paying us in our savings account.  However, if you carry a credit card balance you will get a nice return on your money if you simply pay off the credit card balance 100%.  Think about it; your bank is paying you 0.05% interest on your savings account, but you pay your credit card company 14% interest.  What’s wrong with that picture?

If you have investments in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc. and still have a credit card balance, unless your investments are paying you more than the interest charged by your credit card, you need to liquidate your investments and pay off the credit card balance ASAP, thus getting you 14% return on your money!

I’m a customer of Bank of America and didn’t know that they offered cashback when using a Bank of America check (debit) card or credit card.  The service is called the “Add It Up” program. Cashback ranges from 1% to more than 10%.  Bank of America also offers a ton of coupons and discounts to many major retailers which can save you some significant money.

To get the discount, you must be a Bank of America customer and then apply for the program.  You then use your Bank of America check card or credit card when you shop through their website which is linked to participating retailers.

The cashback is credited into your checking or credit card account of your choice.  The service is simple and free to Bank of America customers.

Below is a screen shot of some of the better cashback deals.  There are a ton of them.

Bank of America Cashback Discounts

For more information visit BankofAmerica.com/shop.