Young Black Professional Guide

(video below)

More info on Father Pfleger

[hat tip to jnjpolitics]

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April 22 is Earth Day, a time to celebrate gains we have made and create new visions to accelerate environmental progress. The push, especially for Americans, to reduce pollution and help save the environment is based on evidence that the decisions we have made, and continue to make, are damaging the air we breathe and the land we live on. What have you been doing to be more “eco-friendly”? If you’re not sure exactly what to do, here are some tips courtesy of kaboose to help you get started living a green lifestyle.

• Save water by decreasing your shower time — or rather take a bath, which uses less water than a shower.
• Get in the habit of brushing your teeth with the water off.
• Recycle – junk mail, cell phones, paper products, plastic bags, and more.
• Switch from paper and plastic bags to reusable bags and totes.
• Forget the electric or gas dryer, and hang dry your clothing.
• Opt for direct deposit, online banking, and paperless statements to reduce your paper usage.
• Try your hand at composting (planting scraps from fruits, veggies, and coffee grounds outside), which will help create better soil and less landfill waste.
• Don’t purchase disposable water bottles, but rather use recyclable (and refillable) beverage containers that you can fill with filtered water.
• Unplug all of your appliances when you leave the house to save energy (and prevent a fire hazard).
• If possible, take public transportation or walk.
• Don’t use plastic storage containers, and definitely do not heat food within a plastic container in the microwave.
• Save stained or ill-fitting clothing to use for dusting and cleaning.
• Use rechargeable batteries.
• Rent movies and borrow books, instead of purchasing.
• Select products made of recyclable materials.
• If possible, buy items that use less packaging.
• Buy groceries in bulk, as it reduces packaging and the number of trips you take to the grocer. Purchase a membership to a wholesale club, such as Costco or BJ’s.
• Purchase locally produced food at farmer’s markets and even road-side stands.
• Use healthy and environmentally friendly cosmetics, such as mineral-based cosmetics and natural bath products.
• Purchase organic foods, as they don’t contain pesticides and harmful chemicals, in addition to organic cotton.

Also check out our daily “Eco-Living Tip” from idealbite.com on the right sidebar.

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You may (or may not) know this about the editors here at ybpguide, but we’re expecting our first child at the end of July. As you can imagine, our lives have changed for the better and it’s caused me to personally look at things in a whole new way.

From movies like Look Who’s Talking to TLC’s Bringing Home Baby, the astute learner I am craves as much knowledge as I possibly can so I can be a good father. Kimberly can even attest to that, as I’m always nagging her about eating her vegetables to make sure our baby is getting enough vitamins.

Whether children are in your present or future, or if you feel like your contributions to making this world a better place will be through mentorship, helping young people is the only way we can effectively saturate our culture with successful future Black professionals. However, the health in their infant years is crucial.

You can help babies now by supporting me in my March for Babies, a walk going around all around the country by the March of Dimes. You can see the little badge on the left side of the blog of our future, and I’m asking for you guys to donate. Any amount will do, but I’m looking to raise $250 by Sunday, April 27th.

Check out the ybpguide page, donate, spread the word, and Help Babies Grow!

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Big, fat, juicy yields can look sexy, but they’ll break your heart in the end like a super fast club chick if they can’t be maintained. There are some winners among the financials, but you’ll be sorry if you take home the wrong one for the wrong reason.

Dividend yield is one common value trap that can entice inexperienced and experienced investors alike. Right now, the financial sector is full of some the juiciest dividend yields around. The dividend yield is calculated by dividing the cash distributed to shareholders by the price per share. Citigroup Inc. [C], for example, currently pays stockholders $1.28 per share and is trading around $25, yielding a little over 5%.

Dividends can be extremely enticing…

It’s hard to say no…especially to cash. After all, Economics 101 tells us that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow. A high dividend yield can make for a decent investment even if the stock price does nothing. With Citigroup’s 5% yield, an investor can get a 100% return on the initial investment in just over 14 years if the dividends are reinvested…and that’s if the stock price doesn’t go up a penny. American Capital Strategies, Ltd. [ACAS] is sporting a cool 12.5% dividend which would double an investor’s investment in just over 5 1/2 years. What’s sexier than that?

Why dividends can be dangerous:

[Investing] only for the yield is like getting married only for the sex. If the thing that attracted you in the first place dries up, you’ll find yourself asking, “What else is there?”

Jason Zweig, p.146, The Intelligent Investor — Revised Addition

As you would in selecting a life partner, make sure you can identify value-adding characteristics that can stand the test of time.

Like you blowing your money on that super fast club chick, a company with a liberal dividend policy may not be reinvesting for the future. Even worse, a company may not have the earnings available, and may have to cut or discontinue dividends indefinitely. In which case, your sexy stock’s appearance could fade fast, if that’s all you’re in it for.

Analysts watched very closely today as Citigroup reported its $5.1 Billion loss. They will continue to look for any indication that may cause Citigroup to reduce its $1.28 dividend. Citigroup only made 72 cents per share in ‘07. If Citigroup has another year like that, management may want to cut the dividend to let the company breathe a little while it gets back on its feet. If the dividend is cut, all those in it for the yield will most likely sell out causing the stock price to plunge. But for the prudent, true love may manifest itself in an excellent buying opportunity.

Disclaimer: The statements above do not represent the opinions of YBPGuide. Investors should be cautious about any and all investment related recommendations and should consider the source and objective before investing. Various factors, including personal or corporate ownership may influence opinion. Greg does not own shares of Citigroup Inc. or American Capital Strategies, LTD. All investors are advised to conduct their own independent research before making a purchase decision. Investors are also advised that past performance is never a guarantee of the future.

More on dividends:

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0520-09.htm

http://www.fool.com/investing/dividends-income/2008/04/18/a-dividend-stock-that-will-set-you-for-life.aspx

http://www.fool.com/investing/dividends-income/2008/02/28/my-dividends-are-bigger-than-yours.aspx

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