Personal Empowerment Institute

Personal Empowerment Institute offers a number of Presentations and Workshops which allow you to learn to harness the authentic power within you, and share your unique gifts and talents with your community, and with the world. Presentations are lead by Professional Speakers, who are personally committed to sharing deeply profound information with you that will enable you to experience true joy, inner peace, purpose and personal freedom, and achieve the quality of life you innatdeserve.

Participants of the Workshops have gained huge Benefits from attending. Read some of the participants Testimonials about their experiences with Personal Empowerment Institute.

YOUR STEPS TO LIFE'S SUCCESS . . .

If you would like to know more about the Personal Empowerment Institute and the Workshops that are held read our Snapshot Test, or view our Questions and Answers. You can also browse the Press and Radio listings where the Personal Empowerment Institute has been featured.

To find out when and where the next Personal Empowerment Institute Workshops are taking place, view our program Calendar.

Alternatively Contact the Personal Empowerment Institute today and ask about a Complimentary ticket to the next Authentic Power Evening Presentation.

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Personal Empowerment Institute | Personal Empowerment ...

Conscious Cultural Evolution Alexis Zeigler

Humanity is facing an environmental crisis of unprecedented proportions. We are facing a crises of social justice. Ever since the rise of civilization, we have been divided into rich and poor classes. Now the rise of food and energy prices, combined with the extreme concentration of wealth among the wealthiest of citizens can only bring increasing suffering and greater conflict.

What is the root cause of these problems? It is not "human nature" to be greedy, aggressive, or to disregard the future. The anthropological record is clear. We are capable of being altruistic or selfish, aggressive or compassionate. Many humans have lived in sustainable societies for thousands of years. We must correctly diagnose our current predicament, and have a rational, coherent plan for how to address it. This web page is dedicated to that purpose.

We have a new blog about Integrated Activism and Living Energy Farm. Check it out!

Books:

Integrated Activism: Applying the Hidden Connections Between Ecology, Economy, Politics and Social Progress, Alexis Zeigler Due to be released from North Atlantic Books in August, 2013 Available at online booksellers now!

Beyond Greenhype, Real Solutions for Global Warming, a book about by Alexis Zeigler You can download a PDF copy here

Downloads:

Donations for this work are accepted!

Culture Change Constructive Panic Slideshow (Windows Media file, microsoft is evil, but that's how this file ended up...). Download here.

If you want a much quicker download, you can just listen to the audio portion. Culture Change Constructive Panic Slideshow. (It's a little over an hour, in MP3 format.)

Articles

An article by Alexis Zeigler entitled Dancing at the Edge of the Precipice - After Peak Oil published at The Oil Drum.

Another article by Alexis Zeigler entitled Biofuel and the Rise of Nationalistic Environmentalism was published at The Oil Drum, Reality Sandwich, and The Energy Bulletin

Biofuels and the Rise of Nationalistic Environmentalism

Will Biofuels Trigger Genocide?

BioFuels in Ecological Perspective

Concious Cultural Evolution, A Primer

Where Do We Go From Here?

Drug Wars, The Burning Times

The Past and Future of Women's Rights in America

Why Are We So Stupid?

Peak Oil, Biofuel and Culture Change

Interviews

Listen to an interview of Alexis about his book Culture Change on WNRN radio from January 28, 2007. (It's a one hour interview, in MP3 format.)

And Now For Something Completely Different -- Fruit Trees!

My second obsession is growing fruit. To aid others in similar pursuits, I offer for you the following short book that tells you how to grow and propagate fruit and nuts without chemicals. Perennial Food, Easy and Reliable Methods for Growing and Propagating Fruits and Nuts.

Links:

Advanced Traffic Bicycling

Intenional Communities, Fellowship for Inentional Communities Directory of Intenional Communities http://www.oilempire.us/ An encyclopedia of information... "connecting the dots" between Peak Oil, 9/11, the War on Iraq, election fraud, media manipulation and the ecological catastrophe of climate change...

Contact: alex (email symbol) conev period org

See more here:
Conscious Evolution

Pure Hot Yogais designed for beginners!

It is common to feel nervous, scared, or even a little intimidated to try hot yoga. We have all felt that at the beginning of our practice. Just dont let that stop you from coming to class. We offer the original hot yoga class which is designed for beginners. With a little practice, youll quickly feel right at home!

Thinking about trying a class?

First-time students must arrive 15-30 minutes early regardless of previous experience.

We want you to have time to get registered and orientated, meet your instructor, and get acquainted to your new home away from home. We recommend all students arrive 15 minutes before class in order to allow their body to get acclimated to the hot room. We begin every class on time and do not permit late entry. Please come early to avoid disappointment.

Come to class well hydrated.

Proper hydration supports the healthy function of all your bodys systems and it makes the heat feel comfortable rather than overwhelming.

Come to class with your new student registration form filled out.

We are looking forward to breaking a sweat with you!

Read More Frequently Asked Questions for First-Time Students

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Pure Hot Yoga St Louis - A Bikram Method Yoga Studio

Generally, an "investment company" is a company (corporation, business trust, partnership, or limited liability company) that issues securities and is primarily engaged in the business of investing in securities.

An investment company invests the money it receives from investors on a collective basis, and each investor shares in the profits and losses in proportion to the investor's interest in the investment company. The performance of the investment company will be based on (but it won't be identical to) the performance of the securities and other assets that the investment company owns.

The federal securities laws categorize investment companies into three basic types:

Each type has its own unique features. For example, mutual fund and UIT shares are "redeemable" (meaning that when investors want to sell their shares, they sell them back to the fund or trust, or to a broker acting for the fund or trust, at their approximate net asset value). Closed-end fund shares, on the other hand, generally are not redeemable. Instead, when closed-end fund investors want to sell their shares, they generally sell them to other investors on the secondary market, at a price determined by the market. In addition, there are variations within each type of investment company, such as stock funds, bond funds, money market funds, index funds, interval funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Some types of companies that might initially appear to be investment companies may actually be excluded under the federal securities laws. For example, private investment funds with no more than 100 investors and private investment funds whose investors each have a substantial amount of investment assets are not considered to be investment companieseven though they issue securities and are primarily engaged in the business of investing in securities. This may be because of the private nature of their offerings or the financial means and sophistication of their investors. For additional information on these types of private investment funds, please refer to Hedge Funds in our Fast Answers databank.

Before purchasing shares of an investment company, you should carefully read all of a fund's available information, including its prospectus and most recent shareholder report.

Investment companies are regulated primarily under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the rules and registration forms adopted under that Act. Investment companies are also subject to the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. For the definition of "investment company," you should refer to Section 3 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the rules under that section.

Excerpt from:
SEC.gov | Investment Companies

Significance Investment is the value of machinery, plants, and buildings that are bought by firms for production purposes.

Investment plays six macroeconomic roles: 1. it contributes to current demand of capital goods, thus it increases domestic expenditure; 2. it enlarges the production base (installed capital), increasing production capacity; 3. it modernizes production processes, improving cost effectiveness; 4. it reduces the labour needs per unit of output, thus potentially producing higher productivity and lower employment; 5. it allows for the production of new and improved products, increasing value added in production; 6. it incorporates international world-class innovations and quality standards, briging the gap with more advanced countries and helping exports and an active participation to international trade.

Composition

Although capital accumulation takes place in many institutional sectors of the economy (firms, households, public sector,), a narrower definition is used in national accountancy.

Investment is just new capital accumulation in business (both private and state-owned).

Household by convention do not invest, even if it does exist a capital accumulation in cars, computers, electric appliances, etc. that we include in their "cumulative bundle".

Public expenditure is partly devoted to roads, railways, infrastructure, buildings (as for schools, hospitals,). All this is clearly capital accumulation whose utility will last over time. Still, it is quite a common practice for investment in public sector being considered zero by convention.

Investment is classified according to the degree of directness with which it is linked to current and future sales:

1. inventories stock of finished goods, semi-manufactured goods, and raw materials in commercial premises, storehouses and producers' plants; 2. equipment for direct production of services and goods; 3. transport and auxiliary machineries; 4. office and general endowment for indirect workers and management; 5. any long-lasting improvement in those items; 6. industrial plants and service buildings; 7. other buildings.

In today's world, investment in immaterial assets is getting more and more important, as with the case of expenditure in Research & Development, human capital, software and other areas.

Financial investments in shares, obligations and other financial instruments are not considered as "investment" in a macroeconomic sense nor in national accountancy. The same is true for real estate exchanges of used buildings (both residential and non-residential).

When considering the issue of the creation and diffusion of innovation through investment, a crucial distinction should be made between complementary investments and competitive investments.

Determinants

At firm level, investment is determined by expected benefits as well as funds, both in term of availability and cost (interest rate).

Benefits relate to the effects of investment in terms of increased value added, reduced costs, larger production, higher competitiveness. Hence, profits are expected to be higher, too. The value over time of these benefits (and profits in particular) are compared to the investment costs.

The temporal profile of costs and revenues will be important in the decision whether to undertake the investment or not.

In many decision processes and routines, the value over time of benefits will be discounted through a subjective interest rate to keep into account time distance and uncertainty. In others, the decision will be based on more strategic and vital arguments. A new vision of the competitive environment and of the global trends can bring to invest in surprising directions.

Funds for investment can be obtained thanks to the following items:

1. self-financing, in turn due to: 1.1. cumulated past profits; 1.2. injection of new financial capital from the owners; 1.3. amortization, i.e. accountancy allowance for past investment, considered now as current costs but not corresponding to any current expenditure; 1.4. extension of equity by new shareholders, as it happens with relatives sending remittances to home business;

2. loans from banks and other financial institutions: 2.1. long-term credit at fixed or variable interest rate in domestic or foreing currency; 2.2. short-term credit; 2.3. micro-credit in the case of very small business;

3. capital market finance, through the emission of obligations as well as through the issue of shares in the stock market (primary market). The following price fluctuation do not directly have any impact on financing the firm. But it is true that further new emissions of shares often require positively-oriented capital markets.

4. seed money and expansion capital for new firms provided by venture capitalists and private equity funds;

5. public funds and incentives for investment from international, national, regional, local institutions.

However, the empirical evidence of microdata shows that investment - at micro level - is infrequent and lumpy. There are periods in which firms decide not to invest and periods of large investment episodes. For better understand the issues at stake see this paper.

Investment expenditure is a bet on future. If the bet is lost, the product does not find a remunerative market and much of the investment expenditure turns out to be a sunk cost that cannot be recovered. In the extreme case, investment is irreversible. Coupled with true uncertainty, irreversibility becomes a fairly important determinant of investment levels across industries, as this paper points out.

In the IS-LM model, interest rates are considered the unique determinant of investment. In fact, interest rates play three distinct functions:

1. they influence the discounted value of net benefits over time; 2. they determine the cost of loans from banks and the required rate of return for the owners and financing institutions; 3. they set the economic climate both for financial and real markets.

In all three function, a higher interest should trigger a lower investment, since the present value of benefits will be lower, finance costs higher and economic perspectives worse.

Still, there exists investments that are not based on interest rates considerations. For instance, firms have usually a very restricted number of investment projects, carrying them out when profitability is well above zero. A small change in interest rate would have simply no impact on each investment decision, thus on aggregate level as well.

By contrast, the effect of large interest rate changes may be highly asymmetric: a strong increase of interest rate can indeed provoke a fall in investment dynamics whereas a similar decrease may fail to induce investment, if real perspective benefits are lacking.

Other determinants of investment should be considered as, for instance, present and expected consumption and export.

Saturation of productive capacity represent a key references for firms' decisions to invest. Expectations about future sales will affect investment if the current capacity is not enough to match the forecasted increase in demaned quantities and the firm is committed to fulfill all orders. Given a ratio of fixed capital to sales, the investment required would be (in a very simplified method of estimation) this ratio times the new additional expected sales.

Furthermore, new technology innovation and the need of imitating competitors' adoption of innovation can also force firms to invest, in a process of diffusion that can be boosted by a conducive tax environment, both in terms of tax breaks and pro-diffusion-of-innovation tax.

Investment in real estate new developments and rejuvenation of existing areas are better understood in operations like urban regeneration.

Impact on other variables

Cumulated investments over time give rise to capital, opening the path to improvements in production conditions.

Production capacity, potential productivity, cost effectiveness, production and process quality will be all increased by properly-oriented investment. Export competitiveness should also rise.

Employment can fall if a labour substitution investment prevails with real output growing less than physical productivity. By contrast, other kinds of investment and economic situations give rise to an increasing employment. The quality and composition of employment also depend on the investment directions. For instance, green jobs significantly depend on wide investment in green sectors and technologies.

As a GDP component from the current domestic expenditure side, investment has an immediate impact on GDP. An increase of consumption rises GDP by the same amount, other things equal. Moreover, since income (GDP) is an important determinant of consumption, the increase of income will be followed by a rise in consumption: a positive feedback loop has been triggered (between consumption and income) by investment.

Because of this mechanism, imports will grow as well. More directly, investment is often directed to foreign machineries and goods, with an immediate increase of imports.

Long-term trends

Countries differ a lot in respect to investment levels and dynamics. Some countries have heavily invested, sacrificing current consumption and triggering an export-led growth, often based on manufacturing. Others keep investment at much lower levels with an unsecure growth path.

A large-scale investment effort in clean technologies and processes is seen as a conditions for coping with climate change. The our book on "Innovative Economic Policies for Climate Change Mitigation" puts forth the proposal of a closed long-term fund to influence investment decisions of private and public bodies.

Business cycle behaviour

With its short and violent fluctuations, investment is a clear source of the business cycle.

During economic expansion, investment grow at a much faster pace than consumption or GDP, usually irrespective of interest rate movements.

On the contrary, the influence of interest rates on investment can be important at turning points. At peaks, consistent increase of the interest rate would drastically worsen the costs of existing loans for past investment. Disappointment from demand grow may combine with this effect to reduce investment dynamics.

Investment often peaks earlier than GDP, triggering a negative income-consumption multiplier, thus prompting a new recessionary direction.

At trough, low interest rates may be one of the very few good news for firms. Thus, combined with positive expectations, investment may start growing from the very low level at which they were.

Positive expectations toward the economy may also bring leading firms to invest earlier than the trough. In so doing they may even invert the business cycle.

On the other hand, investment in machinery may instead follow the lower trough, since the first recovery may simple use the existing, not-fully exploited capital.

Changes in government, with opposition going to the power, can exert an important effect on raising or abating the expectation of business in terms of the overall economic environment and for specific actions.

Needless to say, business cycles have many sources and paths, thus wide discrepancies with the previously presented scenario can arise.

Data

Investments, Consumption and the other GDP components (1946-2007) for 171 countries

Investment data from 136 countries: a long term time series Capital stock time-series for 22 countries Data for all the variables in IS-LM model EU data for all the variables in IS-LM model (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK, Switzerland and other 13 European countries)

Formal models

An interactive map of how the economy works according to a basic macroeconomic scheme: the IS-LM model

A new approach to business fluctuations: heterogeneous interacting agents, scaling laws and financial fragility

Recognizing Investment Opportunities at the Onset of Recoveries - a neural net to model investments in novel fields of economic activity, when firms recognize the emergence of a new technological pattern

Investment in electricity generation and its determinants

Related essays

An empirical investigation of reasons and determinants for investment in Turkish manifacturing firms

Estimation of a dynamic discrete choice model of irreversible investment

High-Tech Start-Ups and Industry Dynamics in Silicon Valley

The economics of ex ante coordination

Do R&D investments affect export performance?

The Role of Financial Market Imperfections and Uncertainty in Investment of Rice Mills in Vietnam

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Investment: a key concept in Economics

Annual Rate of Return Calculator Use this calculator to determine the annual return of a known initial amount, a stream of deposits, plus a known final future value. Annual Stock Option Grants Use this calculator to project how much a series of annual stock option grants could be worth to you. Asset Allocation Calculator Your age, ability to tolerate risk and several other factors are used to calculate a desirable mix of stocks, bonds and cash. Compare Investment Fees Even a small difference in the fees you pay on your investments can add up over time. Use this calculator to see how different fees impact your investment strategy! Future Contracts Calculator Use this calculator to determine the number of futures contracts you may wish to purchase based on your account equity and trading plan. Future Value Calculator Use this calculator to determine the future value of an investment which can include an initial deposit and a stream of periodic deposits. Inflation - Historic Impact on Investments Inflation reduces your the purchasing power of your money. Use this calculator to see the historic impact of inflation on an investment or savings balance. Inflation and Consumer Prices Calculator Inflation makes everything you purchase, whether is is a physical good or service, cost more. Use this calculator to see the historic impact of inflation on an prices. Inflationary Millionaires Inflation has greatly reduced the real wealth required to be a millionaire. Use this calculator to see what it takes to be an true old-time millionaire. Internal Rate of Return (IRR) Calculator Use this calculator to determine an Internal Rate of Return (IRR). It calculates the IRR on an annual basis of an irregular stream of up to 20 payments and withdrawals. Investment Distributions This calculator helps you determine either how long or how much periodic distributions can be taken out of an investment before it runs out. Investment Goal Use this calculator to see if your investment plan is on track to meet your investment goals - and receive suggestions on how to change it if you are falling short. Investment Loan This calculator helps illustrate the effect of using a loan to purchase an investment or appreciable asset. Using debt as leverage to purchase investments can magnify your return. The downside is that you also increase your risk. Investment Property Calculator An investment property can be an excellent investment. This calculator is designed to examine the potential return you might receive from an investment property. Investment Questionnaire - Broad Portfolio The Investment Questionnaire is designed to help you create a balanced portfolio from a broad range of investment classes. Investment Questionnaire - Cash, Fixed Income and Equities This questionnaire is designed to help you create a balanced portfolio of the three basic investment classes: Cash, Fixed Income and Equities. Investment Returns There is more to investing than knowing your annual rate of return. Use this calculator to help you see how inflation, taxes and your time horizon can impact your bottom line. Investment Savings and Distributions Use this calculator to see how long your investment savings can last once you begin taking distributions. Lump Sum Annual Return Calculator Use this calculator to determine the annual rate of return of known lump sum starting and ending amount. Lump Sum Future Value Calculator Use this calculator to determine the future value of a lump sum. Lump Sum Present Value Calculator Use this calculator to determine the present value of a future lump sum. Municipal Bond Tax Equivalent Yield Income generated from municipal bond coupon payments are not subject to federal income tax and often are exempt from state taxes. Use this calculator to estimate the tax-equivalent yield (TEY) for a municipal bond. Mutual Fund Expense Calculator This calculator can help you analyze the costs associated with buying shares in a mutual fund. By entering a few pieces of information, found in your fund's prospectus, you can see the impact of fees and operating expenses on your investment. Personal Economic Recovery Calculator This calculator can help you determine exactly what it might take to return your to your original investment balance. Present Value Calculator Use this calculator to determine the present value of a known final future value plus a stream of deposits. Present Value Goal Calculator Use this calculator to determine the how much needs to be invested now to achieve a future goal. The total amount required immediately is reduced by the present value of a stream of additional deposits. REIT Tax-Equivalent Distribution This calculator shows a REIT's hypothetical yield and how ROC impacts tax equivalent yield. Stock Option Calculator Use this calculator to determine the value of your stock options for the next one to twenty five years. Taxable vs. Tax Deferred Investments This calculator is designed to help compare a normal taxable investment vs. a tax deferred investment. Taxable vs. Tax Deferred vs. Tax Free Investment This calculator is designed to help compare a normal taxable investment, a tax deferred investment and tax-free investment.

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Investment Calculators

Leaders and laggards in 2015

As the year winds down, it's natural to take stock of which investments were leaders and which were laggards in 2014.

It's also timely to look ahead at 2015 and try to discern what will be the best and worst investment ideas then.

This year, U.S. stocks have thrived, despite a correction in September and October, boosted by strong earnings growth and continued monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve. The Standard & Poor's 500 index generated a total return of 10.35 percent year to date through Nov. 14.

Bonds have been a surprise winner, with the Barclays Aggregate U.S. bond index generating a return of 5.19 percent during that period.

Meanwhile, gold and oil have slumped, with the former dropping 1.8 percent, according to Bloomberg, and the latter (U.S. WTI prices) falling 18.2 percent.

As for next year, all eyes will be on the Fed to see if and when it will begin to raise interest rates. Investment experts are bullish on international stocks, U.S. small-cap stocks, master limited partnerships and liquid alternative strategies and bearish on Treasury bonds, gold and high-yield, fixed-income investments.

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Best Investments Good Investments in 2015 and Beyond

Apple defeats U.S. class action lawsuit over bag searches

By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc (O:AAPL) defeated a U.S. class action lawsuit brought by Apple retail workers over bag search practices at the company's California brick and mortar outlets, according to a court ruling on Saturday. The decision, from U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco, came in a case where employees ...

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Investing.comNov 05, 2015 09:44AM ET

Investing.com - Initial jobless claims rose by the most in eight months last week, but were still consistent with a strengthening labor market The Department of Labor said the ...

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Nov 06, 2015 09:24PM GMT

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Investing.com - Stock Market Quotes & Financial News

Guiding Principles

Get on the path to saving and investing with these simple guidelines.

Go

Knowing how to secure your financial well-being is one of the most important things youll ever need in life. You dont have to be a genius to do it. You just need to know a few basics, form a plan, and be ready to stick to it. There is no guarantee that youll make money from investments you make. But if you get the facts about saving and investing and follow through with an intelligent plan, you should be able to gain financial security over the years and enjoy the benefits of managing your money. For more information, see the SECs publication Saving and Investing: A Roadmap To Your Financial Security Through Saving and Investing.

Part of our job at the SEC is to protect ordinary investors like you from fraud. Here's what we want all investors to know to avoid getting scammed.

If you have a question or concern about an investment, or you think you have encountered fraud, contact the organizations below or your state securities regulator.

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Investing Basics | Investor.gov

In finance and business, an investment is an asset purchased for profit, whether via income, or capital appreciation, or some combination. The entity making the investment is an investor. The opposite of making an investment, or selling the asset, is divestment. Investment has a connotation of a long-term holding period, in contrast to speculation, which is the purchase of assets seeking profit from short-term price movements. In practice, no precise definition distinguishes between investment and speculation. The expected return on investment, or expected ROI, is a measure of the attractiveness of an investment, whether anticipated or realized. In economics, investment represents capital expenditure by companies in an economy or economic model. In this context, investment is distinct from consumer expenditure, government expenditure, and net exports.

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Investment Definition - What is Investment?