Pretty please with sugar on top?

And therein lies one of our country's intrinsic problems:We are rewarded for 'consumption' rather than 'saving' and/or 'investing'.As Bob Dylan also wrote: "It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall."

The other nice thing about oil is that the upside is huge as the global economy recovers and fuel consumption grows.Chris

I like when people are straight with me and don't sugar coat things, that is when you actually get the most helpful advice... so here is yours, you need to either find a mentor, go to a seminar/workshop or spend hours reading / asking questions here (or all of the above) before you go try to do deals, especially million dollar ones ;)

To check for water consumption you need to inspect each unit and look for dripping faucets and running toilets.

Uncontrolled" SEC, absurd leverage level raising decisions, rating agencies ratings for sale, bankers looking for bonuses rather than being responsible, and consumption irresponsibility at all levels of our society caused this and nearly put the world into a depression.I watch the upcoming lawsuits versus the rating agencies with interest, but why do I feel they will walk with a symbolic slap?

As a result, the US will import less from Japan, improving our trade balance, and subsequently increasing real GDP = (Consumption + Investment + (Exports - Imports).

Has anyone used or heard of "Sugar"?

We execute a "Utilities Budget Agreement" as an addendum to the lease, which works are follows:1) We identify all the utilities (hydro, gas, water/sewer, cable, etc) and services (snow removal) which are to be governed under the agreement and set an amount which will be paid, in advance, into the budget fund each month by the tenant;2) When the utility bills arrive, we pay them and forward an electronic copy to the tenant so they are aware of their resource consumption.3) Every three months (quarterly) we reconcile the amount paid into the utilities budget against the utilities bills incurred.  

Since the beginning of time, all we really are doing is converting assets from one form to another for the purpose of consumption or wealth creation (i.e. 90% vs 10%).