The Celebrity Apprentice is over and it seems that Donald Trump has named himself the winner with a new $30-50 million contract with NBC. Let’s review his winning strategy: play up the rivalry between the black women in the cast, pretend to run for president while disparaging our current leader and last but not least, play innocent when anybody takes him to task. The treacherous Trump received a windfall when Nene Leakes began to attack Star Jones. Instead of firing Nene (his employee) for a relentless tirade against Star that almost came to blows in the presence of a client, Trump kept her on the show to watch the drama unfold. Nene proved to be an embarrassment to women everywhere, especially those of color. She is the epitome of ghetto minus the fabulous. She repeatedly lost tasks when she was the leader and went on a witch hunt against Star instead of trying to win money for her charity. While I’m no fan of  Star Jones, I have to agree with her when she said the difference between her and Nene was education. Nene was unable to ever clearly explain her gripes with Star. Her only option was to sucuumb to profanity laden verbal attacks that scared half of the cast. Nene must have been yearning for her Housewives of Atlanta days but this was not that type of party. Back to Donald Trump and his pseudo presidential campaign. Suddenly he was “birther” and claimed to know other “truths” about President Obama. It was truly shameful of him to question President Obama’s American citizenship and his educational credentials. In the end I woke up and realized that Trump has no shame when there is a cash prize at stake.

Is the Florida real estate market aligning with the goals of ITS? We have a real estate fund that all members are responsible for contributing to on a monthly basis. The goal is to be ready to invest in real estate in about 1 year. We have to pursue real estate in this manner because our pockets are just not deep enough to enter into any deals now. It turns out that the Florida real estate market is expected . “>to stabilize in 2012 according to the New York Times. Could that be just in time for ITS to invest or will it be too late for us? A number of brave souls are currently investing in the excess real estate inventory in Florida, improving their buys and hoping to sell for a profit. Some have already found success but it seems that the majority will have to hold on to their properties for the long term before turning a profit. The question is will we have missed the opportunity to invest by 2012? Will we have missed the chance to get in at reasonable prices? On the other hand, the sheer volume of available real estate in Florida may mean that a real estate comeback in Florida is not on the horizon…

It started off as an attempt to help the relief efforts in Japan while helping our bottom line.  It turned into an investment in a heavy duty equipment company. We chose the stock because it does not appear to have peaked yet and has the  potential for long term growth. If we can fulfill our philanthropic goals while making a profit, I think that we’ve made one of our best investments to date.

You are not a mother_______ factor! Not the answer you expect that a spurned wife would get from the other women, but that is exactly what happened on Basketball Wives. This is what must see TV has devolved into. Entertaining, yes. Good for black women as a sisterhood, no! This show highlights supposedly affluent women living the good life. The problem is that the only reason that these women are living well is due to divorce and child support settlements. Well that’s a problem for this group of fabulous women that is earning our money the old fashioned way; working hard and pooling it into good investments. That sounds like a great reality show to us but what are the odds of that happening…

The catastrophic earthquake/tsunami that has devastated Japan has shaken that nation to it’s core. We pray for the people of Japan and their recovery from this tragedy.

On a related note, news outlets in the United States are steadily reporting about companies with ties to Japan that will profit and those that will suffer losses as a result of the crisis. As an investment group, are we vultures to consider investing in the forecasted winners or philanthropic investors that are aiding in the reconstruction?

That is a direct quote from one of our members. We only bought 10 shares because we were a young and cautious investment group at that time. However, our investment has doubled in just a year. We have additional stocks in our portfolio that are performing well. Of course, there are some lemons, but they are not overly sour. Stock investment has been our most profitable venture to date. Can we take it to the next level?

Is it possible to have it all? By that I mean a successful and meaningful career while maintaining a stable and happy family. At this point, it’s an age old question but since I am in the midst of trying to attain this goal, it’s a question that I ask myself daily. I submit that it is feasible for those with superior organizations skills and some outside help, neither of which I have. I do have a good husband, but we’re struggling with finding the balance. I find myself always running to the next task at the last minute. An example is staying at the office until the very last minute possible working on the days that I am responsible to pick up my oldest daughter. Why stay so late and then risk being late for pickup? Because I have a never ending work load at the office and am better off completing as many tasks as possible as soon as possible. I then dash to school and am often the last parent to arrive. We then rush home for dinner, homework, bath, then bedtime. I hate rushing my girls since our time together is limited because I work, but I find myself doing just that every evening. By the time they are in bed, it’s usually 9:30PM, which leaves little time for other responsibilities including school volunteer work or my investment group. I try my best but fatigue has set in at that point and I just try to wind down and get some rest to start all over again the next day. Despite my somewhat depressing words, I can say that I like my job and that my children are generally happy. My goal is to able to say that and not feel as if I just stepped off of a roller coaster.

It’s summer time and ITS is on a break from official business, but not from having fun. We had a joint picnic with BIG last Saturday and it was a blast. It was good old fashioned fun with a barbecue and pool. When the temperature is 100 degrees, that’s all you really need.   Especially when the barbecue is catered and no work is involved. Thanks to all that made it possible and I hope it becomes an annual event.

It seems that our recent success with reality TV and talk radio has given the group the motivation that we’ve been lacking. It’s been two years and we’ve been encountering apathy among many members. I’ve heard excuses such as “I’m too busy in my real life to do ITS work.” I’ve also heard the contradictory “we aren’t making progress fast enough.” But we all know that if we want things to happen in this world, we have to make them happen. This was one of our founding principals and we must remember it when the road is rough. I think we were true to our original goal by finally coming to the realization that we do not have sufficient funds for investment in real estate right now. We were stretched thin for a small down payment and would not be able to cover closing costs, maintenance or even be able to think about an emergency fund. Despite this grim report from our real estate commitee, our president still rallied for a real estate investment insisting that this was a prime time for investors to enter that market. That remains true, but we simply can’t afford it. However, I think we triumphed by establishing a separate real estate fund that members must contribute to on a monthly basis to prepare ourselves for a jump into real estate in about a year when the right opportunity presents itself. A glimpse into the glamorous life was the catalyst. We just have to make sure that we keep up the momentum.

Is this a good time to purchase stock in BP? The well cap in the Gulf to stop the gusher that has become the Deepwater Horizon has been installed but is still in the testing phase. Years of environmental cleanup remain to completely remedy the situation. However, BP is a corporate giant worth billions. Aren’t they likely to remain standing in the end? An argument in defense of the purchase is support of the cleanup which will total billions. Also, any holder of BP stock is in a position to pressure BP to become the good corporate citizen that it has not been in the past. BP stock traded at a high of $62.68, a low of $26.75 and is now trading at $38.92. Based on the numbers is this the optimal time to invest?