Who is Patrick Holford?He is a popular nutrition expert. He is British and is best known for his numerous nutrition books, with The Optimum Nutrition Bible being his most well-known book.He is also well-known for creating the Insitute of Optimum Nutrition, from which he retired in 1998.Is he a nutrition expert?Patrick Holford originally obtained a degree in experimental psychology. He was particularly interested in the development of mental health issues. He became aware of Dr Pfeiffer and Dr Hoffer, both of whom claimed to successfully treat various mental health issues using nutritional therapy.This sparked an interest in nutritional therapy within him, and a few years after his graduation, he founded the Institute of Optimum Nutrition. Here, he researched nutritional approaches to assisting depression, schizophrenia, ADHD and eating disorders.The Institute of Optimum Nutrition grew and began offering training events and even qualifications for other people to study there and qualify as nutritional therapists. The ION is now one of the most well-respected membership organisations for nutritional therapists and produces regular magazines for practitioners and the public.Food For The Brain FoundationPatrick Holford has maintained his strong interest in mental health issues and the combination of these issues with nutritional therapy.He is the Chief Executive Officer of the Food For The Brain Foundation, which promotes the use of nutritional therapy to support mental health.British Association for Nutritional Therapy (BANT)He is a Fellow of the British Association for Nutritional Therapy (BANT). This organisation is a membership and regulatory body for nutritional therapists.CriticismLike any practitioner at the edge of developing new and often controversial ideas, he has share of critics.His philosophy can be boiled down to the idea that, through optimum nutrition, we are more able to deal with the problems and challenges our body may face.While this may be a philosophy that is criticised by some people, it is neither an unusual nor new idea. Indeed, if we glance through a history book from any world civilization, we will quickly stumble across an old belief that a particular herb or plant was beneficial for health.Books by Patrick HolfordHe is the author or co-author of over 30 books, including the very popular titles below:The Optimum Nutrition Bible
Optimum Nutrition for the Mind
Optimum Nutrition for Your Child
100% Health
Say No To Diabetes
500 Health and Nutrition Questions AnsweredHere is a full list of all books by Patrick Holford.
Is Patrick Holford Really A Nutrition Expert?
A 100% Financing Message to First Time Home Buyers – Seller Concessions, FHA & CalHFA
A couple of years ago you could get declined for a Discover card but you could qualify for a home loan. Think for a moment about the logic because I am not exaggerating. There were hundreds of thousands of people that got into loans that they were not qualified to handle, thus developing the onslaught of foreclosures and Short Sales that have come to pass. The rules of the game have changed and the difference now is that people will have to qualify and in some cases over qualify for financing. Lenders and consumers both have taken massive losses and new policy and laws have been set into motion to make sure that we never end up in a similar situation.There are numerous reasons to learn more about 100% financing besides that fact that about 90% of it completely disappeared. For instance, you could be a first time home buyer or know someone who is looking, that could benefit from this knowledge. You could be a realtor who needs to be kept up to date with the few remaining 100% programs so you can let your clientele know about them or, you could be a mortgage lender who wants to learn more about available products so you can serve your clients in a more effective manner.What ever your situation, I want to share some extremely valuable information that could keep you and the people you know, from wasting a ton of time and losing a large amount of money.100% financing in California is available through government sponsored programs. The two most common programs are called CalHFA and FHA. This article will dominantly focus on the CalHFA and FHA because they apply to the largest demographic. There are also other programs for educators and employees who work for a school district and receive salaries and if you are a U.S. Vet then the VA is a great option as well.For First Time Home Buyers, CalHFA offers down payment assistance programs which provide a helping hand of 3% of the sales price. This has to be paid back when you sell or refinance your home and is extremely beneficial because if there is a lack of funds to close, the 3% helps to absorb the closing costs and you don’t have to pay those “absorbed” out of pocket expenses. There are different down payment assistance programs and the parameters differ upon which of them you qualify for.Seller concessions are also important because they will absorb other closing costs as well. Seller concessions are common (especially in a buyers market) and CalHFA allows seller concessions designed as follows:o 3% of you are borrowing 90% of the property value or more.o 6% if you are borrowing 90% of the property value or lessAdd the Seller Concession to the Down Payment Assistance and you are looking at some major help to get into your home.FHA allows 6% Seller Concession and there are similar down payment assistance programs available (similar to that of CalHFA).Neither CalHFA nor FHA loans are subject to the California declining market decrease of 5% because CalHFA is its own entity (separate from mainstream housing lending) and FHA loans are federally insured.I highly suggest that if you are a First Time Home Buyer then you look at these opportunities and get a professional to pre-approve you, NOT pre-qualify you. The difference is a pre-qualification is a verbal go ahead and means nothing to a lender. A pre-Approval is a green light to go and get a house because under the approved information that you have submitted, you will be able to proceed into negotiations. A pre-approval is also a green light for an appraiser, a realtor, as well as buyers and sellers.Experienced real estate agents who know that they are doing will have you get pre-approved before they take you out to look at homes. This gives you a clear picture of how much money you can spend and it gives your realtor a chance to do some research on the available inventory of homes so they can show you exactly what fits your needs.For future information, there are many discussion boards, blogs, news sites, magazines and other sources of information that are available for you to review. It is always a good. My intent is to educate you so that you know that there are still opportunities out there and they are available to those who are willing to qualify for them.
S&P 500 Rallies As U.S. Dollar Pulls Back Towards Weekly Lows
Key Insights
The strong pullback in the U.S. dollar provided significant support to stocks.
Treasury yields have pulled back after touching new highs, which served as an additional positive catalyst for S&P 500.
A move above 3730 will push S&P 500 towards the resistance level at 3760.
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Pfizer Rallies After Announcing A Huge Price Hike For Its COVID-19 Vaccines
S&P 500 is currently trying to settle above 3730 as traders’ appetite for risk is growing. The U.S. dollar has recently gained strong downside momentum as the BoJ intervened to stop the rally in USD/JPY. Weaker U.S. dollar is bullish for stocks as it increases profits of multinational companies and makes U.S. equities cheaper for foreign investors.
The leading oil services company Schlumberger is up by 9% after beating analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue. Schlumberger’s peers Baker Hughes and Halliburton have also enjoyed strong support today.
Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna gained strong upside momentum after Pfizer announced that it will raise the price of its coronavirus vaccine to $110 – $130 per shot.
Biggest losers today include Verizon and Twitter. Verizon is down by 5% despite beating analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue. Subscriber numbers missed estimates, and traders pushed the stock to multi-year lows.
Twitter stock moved towards the $50 level as the U.S. may conduct a security review of Musk’s purchase of the company.
From a big picture point of view, today’s rebound is broad, and most market segments are moving higher. Treasury yields have started to move lower after testing new highs, providing additional support to S&P 500. It looks that some traders are ready to bet that Fed will be less hawkish than previously expected.
S&P 500 Tests Resistance At 3730
S&P 500 has recently managed to get above the 20 EMA and is trying to settle above the resistance at 3730. RSI is in the moderate territory, and there is plenty of room to gain additional upside momentum in case the right catalysts emerge.
If S&P 500 manages to settle above 3730, it will head towards the next resistance level at 3760. A successful test of this level will push S&P 500 towards the next resistance at October highs at 3805. The 50 EMA is located in the nearby, so S&P 500 will likely face strong resistance above the 3800 level.
On the support side, the previous resistance at 3700 will likely serve as the first support level for S&P 500. In case S&P 500 declines below this level, it will move towards the next support level at 3675. A move below 3675 will push S&P 500 towards the support at 3640.