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By Scott James

Without wishing to stretch the imagination Turkey for those who don’t know it is a huge country located in south Eastern Europe. Of course this is a moot point because technically the Bosporus is where Europe meets Asia

Turkey borders the Black Sea between Bulgaria and Georgia. Turkey also borders the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Syria

This makes Turkey slightly larger than the state of Texas (this last point is added for the sake of our American friends). With a landmass extending to some 780,580 km² in total area, 9,820 km² of which is water. Turkey has 7,200 km of coastline and what can be described as a temperate climate with hot dry summers and mild wet winters.

Turkey occupies a strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits, (the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara and Dardanelles) which link the black and Aegean seas; Mount Ararat, a location extremely well known to most biblical scholars or Sunday school pupils is of course the legendary landing place of Noah’s Ark and is in the far eastern part of the country.

Turkey’s dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce, which along with the traditional agricultural sector still accounts for more than 35% of all unemployment in the country. Turkey has a strong and rapidly growing private sector yet it is the state that still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport and communications sectors.

Within the Turkish economy the largest industrial sector is textiles and clothing and this sector accounts for more than one third of industrial employment in Turkey but it faces stiff competition in international markets with what is called the end of the global quota system.

One of the key reasons for taking a look at Turkey at the moment is primarily to examine its full potential for property investment. According to experts the future prospects for Turkey are very positive indeed and this has had a knock on effect directly through to the Turkish property market, where investor interest has apparently surged throughout 2005/6 and where property prices are apparently beginning to creep up fast.

Though property prices in Turkey may lag about 10 years behind those in Spain this trend is starting to change and the gap is starting to close. Turkish properties have surged in both interest and value particularly along the Riviera region in southern Turkey.

What has acted of course as a catalyst to the Turkish property market was the announcement that Turkey is now in line for full EU membership and since this announcement, investor confidence in Turkey has reached record proportions.

One of the most crucial foreign currency earners for Turkey is its revenue from tourism. This rose 14% in 2005 to 18.15 billion US dollars just beating the government official target.

Because the Turkish tourism Board is spending a lot of money promoting the resorts along Turkeys Riviera coast the result is that second home, holiday home and retirement home interest in these parts of Turkey has surged. For those looking to invest in the economy this is highly encouraging.

If you know where to look, there are bargains to be had with the Turkish Property Market

Scott James writes about a number of Internet based issues such as Real Estate Investment and Real Estate Marketing. A keen proponent of all aspects of free and independent services available, he advises clients to look at the whole mix of online services available.

It is said that addiction can be defined in a great many ways and examples. Perhaps the most obvious one being the view that addiction is an unhealthy dependency on any substance or form of activity, behaviour that has a potentially negative or destructive consequence that could cause considerable distress for the person or persons involved.

Phew what a mouthful eh?

I bet everyone has their own picture or image in their mind of what a drug addict is? Possibly it is the classic image of the junkie scratching around to get his or her latest fix of heroin. The really sad thing about this is that although this does actually happen, as an image of the typical drug addict, it is way of the mark as far as the majority of drug users are concerned. The vast majority of addicts do not conform to this generalisation in any way shape or form.

The bottom line is that addiction can strike and affect anyone out there and let’s be honest there has never been a better time possibly to be an addict with such a range of mind altering substances available.

Though not freely available to the general public it is certainly the case that if you know what you are doing then these substances can certainly be procured.

As I mentioned, addiction can affect anyone and can be as a result of the use or over use of many a legitimate product such as tranquilisers and sleeping tablets as well as the misuse of illegal substances such as cocaine and cannabis.

What causes an addiction? Well the classic causes are usually if you have a person who is having problems with a relationship or even finding a relationship, work/career problems or some forms of extreme emotional instability for whatever reason.

Let me make one point quite clear at the outset, addictions don’t just happen, they have to have an underlying cause that stimulates the body into seeking some form of artificial stimulation to cater for some inner craving.

The other really sad aspect and bizarre element to the whole problem with addiction is that by and large, depending on why the person is reacting in this manner, the chances are that one of the reasons for addiction was that at the outset the activity that caused the addiction was probably pleasurable in some form or another.

It is a chemical reaction within the brain that associates pleasure (certainly in the first instance) with the consumption of drugs at the outset and only when these feelings begin to wane does the need for replacement begin to cause problems. The sad and dangerous aspect to all of this certainly with regards to drug abuse is that by and large to start with it was probably a social event that caused the whole problem to start in the first place.

One last point to consider in this brief introduction to substance abuse and addiction is the effect it has on the families and friends of the dependent person.

Those families and friends who watch their loved ones sink ever more into some form of dependency or another suffer terribly both mentally and

Scott James writes about a number of internet based social issues such as Substance Abuse and Drug Rehabilitation. A keen proponent of all aspects of free and independent services available, he advises clients to look at the whole mix of online services available at http://www.addictionsearch.com

By Scott James

There’s nothing quite as safe as houses – or so they say, but in this climate of the various stock exchanges going up and down is this totally true? Sure, the news about surging housing prices and rising interest rates is never out of the news.

Loads of Home and Property programmes swamp our daytime (and our night time) viewing on the TV schedules and where does this all lead us?

Well it’s a well known fact that most of us have thought that we can all climb onto the property ladder at some time or improve our bricks and mortar assets to realise those ridiculous price levels that seem to be occurring time and time again.

Now they say it’s official. Property is now more reliable than our pension provision (though with the performance of a certain Mr G Brown at 11 Downing street this does not say much) and apparently it is also more reliable than Gold and yes we all knew this last fact that it can be more profitable than working for a living if you are lucky.

The trouble with all of this massive growth in the domestic market for refurbishment and spiralling prices of reselling homes etc is it any wonder that the intelligent and smart property investor is starting to look elsewhere other than good old Britain to make smart gains and returns. But where?

Well there are a whole plethora of reports that say that house prices and property in places like Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia and even Hungary are returning vast sums of profits for property developers so it would appear that the smart investor is indeed spoilt for choice.

Well if we take a look at how the global property market performed in 2006 we can see where it would appear to be safe making an investment and where it might be unwise.

In 2006 the country that lead the way in the growth of domestic property prices was Denmark with an average appreciation of 23.61% throughout the year. The worst performer was Japan where property prices stagnated and overall the market shrank by 3.88%.

In between the leading contenders for growth prices in Europe were Ireland and France on 15.54% and 14.31% respectively. Elsewhere, in the southern hemisphere, South Africa has lost part of its shine as the growth in the property market slowed slightly to 13.54% (down from 20.62% the year before) whilst Australia and New Zealand had a growth rate of 7.18% and 12.28% respectively.

In Asia, Singapore lead the way with 6.08% growth whilst Hong Kong saw its property surge crash from a growth rate of 23.9% in 2005 to a decline of 3.73% in 2006.

As far as the western economies are concerned the “sleeping elephant in the room that no one wishes to acknowledge” so to speak is the USA. In the USA, where the housing market has been on a “bull run” since 1995 the market is starting to soften and how this affects the rest of us remains to be seen.

So to sum up it would appear that yes there are bargains and profits to be made still in property but you need to know where to look and when to move.

Scott James writes about a number of Internet based issues such as Real Estate Investment and Real Estate Marketing. A keen proponent of all aspects of free and independent services available, he advises clients to look at the whole mix of online services available.

Concerns about the pace of US inflation eased slightly after official figures showed that a key gauge of price growth declined in March from previous months.

Core inflation, which excludes energy and food costs, rose by 0.1% in March, down from 0.2% in February and 0.3 in January, the Labor Department said.

However, analysts said that high fuel costs meant consumer prices overall were still too high for a rate cut.

Consumer prices rose by 0.4% from February, and 2.8% from a year earlier.

Richard Dekaser, an analyst at National City said that the core inflation figure was “unambiguously good news”.

“There’s a lot of good news there,” he added.

Brian Gendreau of ING Investment Management said that the report would not prompt a rate cut rate, “but a few more reports like these, and it means the Fed is near achieving its goal” of slowing inflation from dangerous levels.

The big concern in March was a jump in petrol prices, which increased by 10.6% from the same month a year earlier.

The Labor Department said that during the first three months of 2007 consumer prices increased overall by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.7%, almost double the rate in the same period a year earlier.

Higher energy costs accounted for 41% of the total gain in first-quarter consumer prices, it said.

The effect of higher interest rates and energy costs, both of which take money out of a consumer’s pocket, has been evident in the US housing market.

On Tuesday, the Commerce Department said that housing starts increased 1.518 million in March from 1.506 million in February.

Analysts said that while there was an increase last month, the general trend for housing starts was one of decline as demand slows and the US housing market cools.

Hugh Bromma from Entrust Group in San Francisco said that while the latest report was optimistic in the near term, “in the longer-term we’re going to see the correction continue”.

Adjustable Mortgage Rates / Best Home Finance / Equity Home Loan Rate

The pound has hit a 14-year high of $1.9938 against the dollar, with many experts believing it will rise above $2 in the next few days.

Sterling has been rising against the dollar as the UK’s economic performance contrasts with fears of a US slowdown.redeemed a Mortgage.

The trend has been good news for British visitors to the US but has made life more difficult for exporters.

Solicitor and LawyerThe pound was last equal to $2 in 1992, after the UK was forced to leave the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.

Inflation monitor a Mortgage

The pound fell back slightly to $1.9900 in later trading, while the euro neared its all-time high against the dollar.

Inflation data being published in the UK and US on Tuesday could put further upward pressure on the pound, potentially pushing it above $2.

With the UK housing market showing little sign of slowing down and inflation well above the government’s 2% target, experts predict a further rise in interest rates before too long.

range of fees For casual tourists I think it has had an effect Mark Henderson, Gieves and Hawkes

In contrast, the US housing bubble has burst in recent months and weakness in the manufacturing sector means that further rate rises there are seen as unlikely.

Higher interest rates tend to support a currency by making certain types of investment more attractive to traders.

Tourist concern

The current situation gives British visitors to the US much more buying power.

Leading airlines have reported strong demand for US flights in recent months as people seek to exploit the favourable exchange rate to go on holidays and shopping trips.

But the situation is worrying the UK tourist industry which is heavily reliant on free-spending US visitors over the summer.

British firms with a large number of US customers are also beginning to feel the pinch.

“For casual tourists I think it has had an effect and we are beginning to see a bit of a dip,” said Mark Henderson, chief executive of bespoke tailors Gieves and Hawkes.

“If it goes beyond $2, it could become quite tough.”

One City analyst said the strong momentum behind the pound was set to continue.

“There is every chance that the higher volatility we are likely to see this week will take us above $2,” said Martin Slaney, currency expert at GFT Global Markets.

The Bank of England has voted to leave rates on hold at 5.25% for a second month in a row.

While the decision is likely to please borrowers, experts widely predict that rates will rise to 5.5% in May.

Recent economic data has shown UK inflation edging up and retail sales still growing strongly.

The EEF employers’ organisation welcomed the decision to leave rates on hold but added that inflation pressures would to trigger another rise soon.

Rise in store?

“Today’s decision to hold rates will be welcomed by manufacturers as it gives the Bank more time to assess whether pay pressures are building up,” said chief economist Steve Radley.

“However, business also recognises that another rise may be needed to keep inflation in check.”

Ray Boulger of mortgage adviser John Charcol added that the latest decision from the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) probably resulted from another split vote.

But while the market is widely predicting a rise to 5.5% next month, Mr Boulger said such a move was not a forgone conclusion, particularly after last month’s meeting.

In March, MPC members voted by 8 to1 to keep rates on hold, with David Blanchflower voting in favour of a rate cut.

Uncertainty

However, the last vote came against a backdrop of wildly fluctuating stockmarkets worldwide, which raised concerns over the possibility of wider economic contraction.

While the markets now appear far less volatile, Mervyn King, the Bank of England’s governor, has suggested such instability could occur again, as worries over the US economy remain.

The drop in CPI inflation in January - to 2.7% from 3% - was seen as a key factor in keeping rates unchanged in March.

However, the following month saw inflation edge up to 2.8%, a figure well above the government’s 2% target.

As well as strong retail figures in March, other data for the month showed annual house price inflation across the UK hit nearly 10%, according to the Nationwide Building Society.

Meanwhile, further figures from the Halifax suggested property price inflation was 11.1% in March.

While many experts predict that rates will reach 5.5% later this year, they do not expect them to rise any further.

“We believe that 5.5% should mark the peak in interest rates as growth loses a little momentum over the coming months and inflation heads markedly lower helped by favourable base effects and the trimming of utility prices,” said Howard Archer of Global Economics.

Credit Cards, Friend or Foe?

OK as has been said before, the Festive Season approaches, the time of year when we all end up being slightly silly at the Office Xmas Party and then wake up the following morning wishing the night before had never happened.

It is also the time of year when the majority of the “Open Wallet” Surgery in our lives takes place and we end up funding next years Skiing trip for the majority of Credit Card Company executives the world over.

So the question still remains, how do you get the best out of your little pieces of plastic without resorting to cutting them in two?

Friend of Foe? We are not too sure about Credit Cards and their exact benefit / damage to our Society. Sure we all like the convenience of not having to haul large bundles of cash around the place and yes it does make buying “that last little special item” at Christmas a damn site easier. However, unless you want to try and hide your head totally in the sand and pretend that everything is rosy it would be slightly naïve not to try and think that the rising levels of bankruptcies and out of control credit / debt management situation around nowadays would also have something to do with the abundance of these little pieces of plastic and the ease of getting credit nowadays.

There is a story doing the rounds that is widely credited to Dr Gregg Dimkoff of the Seldman Scholl of Business Studies at Grand Valley University and it is about a TV Interview held by the TV Host Larry King where he “allegedly” interviews Satan on his TV/Radio Show. I stress the point here that this is a joke and that no one should be under any illusions of the great Beelzebub himself ever making a live appearance of prime time TV or Radio!

Anyway, King asks Satan to describe the foulest deed that he had either ever committed himself or had arranged to have carried out by one of his minions? Satan thinks about this and then points out that with so much chaos, death and destruction carried out in his name over the eons, it would be hard to try and single out one single item since there had been so much. King is however persistent stating that yes with so much evil around it must be hard but there must be one dastardly thing that he was proud of. Satan thinks for a moment and then said “well if you must push me there is one evil thing I am proud of……..the day I invented Credit Cards!”

Credit Cards, Friend or Foe?

OK as has been said before, the Festive Season approaches, the time of year when we all end up being slightly silly at the Office Xmas Party and then wake up the following morning wishing the night before had never happened.

It is also the time of year when the majority of the “Open Wallet” Surgery in our lives takes place and we end up funding next years Skiing trip for the majority of Credit Card Company executives the world over.

So the question still remains, how do you get the best out of your little pieces of plastic without resorting to cutting them in two?

Friend of Foe? We are not too sure about Credit Cards and their exact benefit / damage to our Society. Sure we all like the convenience of not having to haul large bundles of cash around the place and yes it does make buying “that last little special item” at Christmas a damn site easier. However, unless you want to try and hide your head totally in the sand and pretend that everything is rosy it would be slightly naïve not to try and think that the rising levels of bankruptcies and out of control credit / debt management situation around nowadays would also have something to do with the abundance of these little pieces of plastic and the ease of getting credit nowadays.

There is a story doing the rounds that is widely credited to Dr Gregg Dimkoff of the Seldman Scholl of Business Studies at Grand Valley University and it is about a TV Interview held by the TV Host Larry King where he “allegedly” interviews Satan on his TV/Radio Show. I stress the point here that this is a joke and that no one should be under any illusions of the great Beelzebub himself ever making a live appearance of prime time TV or Radio!

Anyway, King asks Satan to describe the foulest deed that he had either ever committed himself or had arranged to have carried out by one of his minions? Satan thinks about this and then points out that with so much chaos, death and destruction carried out in his name over the eons, it would be hard to try and single out one single item since there had been so much. King is however persistent stating that yes with so much evil around it must be hard but there must be one dastardly thing that he was proud of. Satan thinks for a moment and then said “well if you must push me there is one evil thing I am proud of……..the day I invented Credit Cards!”

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