Rafael Nadal Biography - Four Consecutive French Open Wins

By Larry Kidman

Rafael Nadal Parera, nicknamed "Rafa" has taken the tennis world by storm during the past five years. He has fast made his way through the professional tennis circuit and has had a phenomenal streak of wins. This Rafael Nadal biography, takes a very brief look at just what this young man has managed to accomplish in such a short space of time.

Rafa is now ranked as the second best singles tennis player world-wide. He has had sixty consecutive tennis wins on the clay-courts and as winning streaks go, this is quite remarkable.

Rafa was born in the town of Manacor on the Island of Mallorca, on the 3rd June 1986. He is no newcomer to sporting achievement as his family has another well known sporting personality in its midst. His uncle was a professional football player for FC Barcelona for many years and he was only 15 when he turned professional.

What is interesting about Rafael Nadal is that like his uncle he was only 15 years of age when he won his first ATP match. This took place in Majorca and he won against Ramon Delgado. This feat made him the 9th player of the "Open" era to win in an ATP match before he was 16. Only a year later he was the 2nd youngest ranked singles player to feature in the top 100 tennis players in the world.

Making a debut at Wimbledon aged 16 years in 2003, he managed to reach the 3rd round. No tennis player since Boris Becker had done this. His meteoric rise to fame continued and by 2005 saw him ranked the 5th best tennis singles player, making him the youngest player to make it into the top ten since Andrei Medvedev.

He is perhaps best known for being the winner of the French Open on four consecutive occasions. Pete Sampras won the US Open aged 19 and Rafa was the first teenager to achieve this again. He is also the arch opponent of Roger Federer, fourth youngest Roland Garros champion, as well as the 7th player in the history of the Grand Slam era to win one of these competitions on their first appearance.

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Dumbbells for the Win

By Josh Irv

Here we will review some great exercises that you can with dumbbells. Don't think you need to have a gym membership to get into shape, read on and you will see how dumbbells can get you into shape.

The fist body part we will work is the pectoralis major, also known as the chest. The chest is a favorite body part for most people, all you do is lay down and press the dumbbells up above your chest.

A second effective exercise is for the biceps. You simply stand with the weights at your side and curl them while not allowing your elbows to come forward.

The third muscle group we can train with dumbbells is the shoulders. You press the weights up above your head and slowly lower them until your arms are parallel to the floor.

The shoulder can also be worked in another way. We can do lateral raises to develop the side delts and front raises to work the anterior part of the shoulder.

Now on to the triceps. We will do simple kickbacks where you kneel on a bench and then extend you arm until it is straight.

To do the back we will keep kneeling on said bench. But, now we will let the weight hand straight down and then pull it up to the chest.

All these exercises can be done with dumbbells from you home. To avoid a mess of many dumbbells you might want to consider buying adjustable dumbbells. Adjustable dumbbells will allow you to save more space in your house while still providing you with all the weight needed to do a variety of exercises.

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Guidelines To Maintain Your Skateboard With Good Grip Tape.

By Todd Martin

To take care for your skateboard like you must, you will be required to change the grip tape when necessary. The more you use the skateboard the more frequently you will require doing so. The more aggressively you perform on it the more rapidly it will wear down. As soon as you have worn out grip tape your skateboard isn't going to perform like it is assumed to for you. It in addition isn't going to be as safe as it may perhaps be for you to be on it.

Keep in mind there is a precise method in which you have to use grip tape to your skateboard. It will not be good enough to do the procedure if you don't do it appropriately. Always check you have an exceptional quality grip tape to apply. This may perhaps be obtained from sport wares stores or online. You might have to try a number of different brands ahead of you come across one you are very satisfied with. You may well read reviews concerning them online in addition if you aren't definite which one to test.

You must cautiously clean your deck previous to you apply the brand new grip tape, for the best results. If you don't, it possibly will end up being uneven due to fragments below it. Utilize a clean cloth to smoothly clean the deck down. You wouldn't like to make use of something harsh that might end up abrading it. The manner in which you apply the grip tape for your design is going to have an effect on how long it will last.

Lots of skaters get into a dash at this juncture and afterward they are required to waste more time doing it again later. You should apply it slowly but surely with the intention that you don't have any air bubbles below it. To keep it looking fine, make use of a sharp blade to trim the remaining from the design. Watch out not to go very deep though or you possibly will end up scraping your deck. Ensure you apply pressure to the ends of the grip tape so it won't be slackening off in those areas. If you apply the grip tape from the center out to the ends you will realize it is much easier to appropriately apply.

Applying grip tape appropriately to your skateboard is going to keep you secured on it. You will be able to perform at your most excellent. The fact that it is reasonably priced means you have no reason not to keep up with this part of maintaining your skateboard. There are ample of amusing designs and colors of grip tape to choose too. This possibly will make repairing your skateboard enjoyable. A few people go with the same thing each time while others like to give it a new look. It is up to you how you will take care of your skateboard, but make use, the use of grip tape as required is part of the schedule.

It possibly will take time to turn into professional at applying grip tape like GRIP GUM 4inch STICK to your skateboard. Be patient and take all the time you have to, to conclude the procedure. You will realize that the more you do it the quicker you happen to be at it. You will in addition notice that the appearance of it turn out to be more skilled with time. If you require help request a friend with experience or look at a number of online videos to get a better idea of the method.

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For all your skateboard needs, do visit Todd Martins site for affordable line of skateboards and Skateboard Decks.

Major Stock Indexes (Part I)

By Ahmad Hassam

There are hundreds of ETFs and HOLDRS covering key industry benchmarks such as the various Standard & Poor Indexes, Russell Indexes and the Dow Jones Averages or other less well known narrow based sectors.

For example SPY tracks the Standard & Poors 500 Composite Index and is the largest of the ETFs. You should know the major indexes that are either key benchmarks or have ETFs tied to them.

Standard & Poor: Standard & Poor (S&P) has been providing independent and objective financial information, analysis and research for nearly 140 years. It is the financial services segment of the McGraw Hill companies.

It is also the provider of equity indexes and these S&P indexes are also used as the basis for wide variety of financial instruments such as Index Funds, Futures, Options and ETFs. Investors around the globe use S&P Indexes for investment performance measurement.

S&P 500 Composite is one of the most popular indexes in the global financial markets. It is also used as a key benchmark for money manager performance. Hundreds of companies around the world have licenses with the Standards & Poors for their index products. The influence and name recognition of S&P 500 is unparalleled.

The S&P 500 is a capitalization weighted index that tracks the performance of 500 large capitalization issues and each year thousands of money managers have the single minded goal of outperforming the S&P 500. S&P 500 represents more than 75% of the capitalization of the entire US Stock Market.

30 years back most of the stocks in S&P 500 were from the Industrial Sector. By 1970s, six of the top companies were from the Oil Sector. Over the years, the complexion of S&P 500 has changed. In 2000s, technology composed about one third of the capitalization of the index. The stocks in the S&P 500 are determined by a nine member committee in accordance with the general guidelines.

The other Standard & Poors indexes are the S&P Midcap 400 Index. It is based on 400 chosen domestic stocks and is also capitalization based. It measures the performance of the midsize companies of the US economy.

The S&P SmallCap 600 Index consists of 600 domestic stocks chosen for market size and liquidity. It is also capitalization weighted and is of interest to institutional and retail investors. There are also sub-indexes based on these S&P Indexes.

NASDAQ: NASDAQ Composite Index contains more than 4500+ companies. It represents a market capitalization of trillions of dollars in the US economy. You will often hear in the media that the Nasdaq market being up or down on a given day.

There is another Nasdaq Index called the Nasdaq-100. NASDAQ-100 is composed of the top 100 nonfinancial companies in the Nasdaq Stock Market like Microsoft etc. It is a modified capitalization weighted index. The QQQ is based on the Nasdaq-100 Index.

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. He is interested in day trading stocks and forex. Know Candlestick Charting. Learn Forex Trading!

The Legacy Of Bobby Hull

By Ross Everett

Nicknamed The Golden Jet for his blond hair and his jet-like slap shot, Bobby Hull was the most feared goal scorer of the 60s and 70s He and teammate Stan Mikita were the first NHL players to use curved stick blades, which made his already wicked slapshot even more difficult to stop.

Hull was born and raised on a dairy farm near Belleville, Ontario. As a teenager it was obvious that he was on a fast track to NHL stardom, and he joined the Chicago Blackhawks not long after his 18th birthday. He would finish second in the leagues rookie of the year balloting in his first season and within a couple of years would become one of the NHLs marquee superstars. In 1961, he played an important role in the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup championship victory.

In 1966, Hull broke a hallowed NHL scoring mark by becoming the first player to net more than 50 goals in a season. His 51st goal broke the record of 50 goals held by Montreal Canadien greats Bernie Boom Boom Geoffrion and Maurice Rocket Richard. Hull would go on to score 54 goals in the 1966 and would surpass that mark by scoring 58 in 1968.

Hulls tenure with the Chicago Blackhawks ended in 1972, when he jumped to the upstart World Hockey Association (WHA). Hull signed for an at the time unprecedented $1,000,000 signing bonus. Initially, Hulls response that he would jump ship for a million bucks was an offhanded joke but when the WHA ownership agreed to contribute to that sum thinking that it would provide instant credibility for the league it became a reality.

The NHL attempted to prevent Hulls jump to the WHA via litigation, but eventually he would join the Winnipeg Jets and resume his offensive dominance. On a line with Swedish superstars Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg called The Hot Line, he led the Jets to two league championship AVCO Cup victories. In 1977, he set a new professional hockey record with 77 goals in a season which surpassed Phil Espositos 1970-71 mark of 76 by a single goal.

Hull suffered from knee trouble throughout his career, and it eventually forced his retirement from hockey in 1979. He would play in a few games for the Whalers before calling it a career. With the exception of an abortive comeback attempt with the New York Rangers in 1981 that was the end of his professional hockey career.

Hull's legacy lived on in flesh and blood with his third son, Brett Hull. The Hulls are the only father/son combination to ever score 50 goals in an NHL season and Brett will follow his father into the Hall of Fame this year.

Now 70 years old, Hull is still in good health and splits his time between Ontario and Chicago. He currently serves as a PR ambassador for the Blackhawks organization. He is expected to formally induct his son into the Hall of Fame at the ceremonies later this summer.

About the Author:

Ross Everett is a freelance writer specialing in hockey, sports betting and mixed martial arts. He is a well known expert on how to successfully bet on UFC fights, as well as a staff handicapper for a number of casinos, sports books and other clients. He will be hosting a hockey themed streaming audio podcast starting in late 2009.

Your CV As A Sales Brochure

By Glenn Hughes

If your view of the CV is around the level of necessary evil, you are selling yourself massively short. It is the document for you to show the world (specifically people who might want to pay you money) exactly what you can do. Why then do people treat their CV like the yellow pages and produce boring, sterile documents that get binned as soon as they are looked at

I have no idea why, but people in the UK (and other English speaking countries as well) tend to hide their light under a bushel. The CV is not the place for shrinking violets, it is a place to sell, to brag and boast and most of all to show a potential employer just how valuable an asset that you will be to their business

Over the top boasts about how all businesses that you have worked for in the past would never have survived without you have no place on a CV. Live in the real world, be factual about the achievements that you genuinely succeeded in delivering and you will have people knocking down your door to interview you. Make sure that if those achievements were as a part of a wider team effort that you highlight your particular achievements

An old story says that to be a good liar, you need a good memory. Far simpler I believe then to tell the truth, particularly on your CV. As well as making you bulletproof in an interview, just focusing on real, truthful achievements removes all the stress that comes with having to guard against a lie. Be honest, it's easier in the long run

A CV is amongst other things a detailed document. It is meant to show the reader a potted life story of the subject of the CV. Including significant levels of detail starts to colour what can be a very bland document. Make it easy for an employer to find the information that they need to know. If they can't find the information that they want quickly and easily, your CV will be binned and you won't know why

You worked hard for your qualifications so please make sure that they are included on your CV. Work back wards from the highest level of qualification through to the lowest, separating out the professional qualifications and the educational ones

Passing a driving test of any sort shows people that you have a degree of persistence, independence and stickability that many people simply don't have. It is a common assumption that everyone drives. They don't. Make sure that anyone reading your CV knows that you can drive (if you can), and specifically, which classes of vehicle that you are licensed to take out on the road

Recruiters don't really need to know your age. Of course, for some professions it is important, for example professional sports people. Otherwise, leave your age off your CV. Make absolutely certain though never to include your date of birth. This is highly sensitive information which could be used with other information (like your address) to steal your identity

About the Author:

About this writer: Glenn Hughes is the Managing Consultant and director of CV That Works, a cv writing service that has provided cv services for over 1200 customers

Placing Stop Loss Order

By Ahmad Hassam

You should understand how to select stop orders to limit your potential losses and how to let profits ride. Managing risk and using systems that helps evaluate price changes is critical for a trader if he/she is to maintain a degree of profitability over time.

The descriptions of the types of stops and the pros and cons of each should help you make the right decisions for the different market conditions. Capturing as much profit as possible from winning trades should be your utmost goal. Managing risk should be your number one job.

Predetermined stop loss orders help you conquer your emotions. Stops should be part of the trading system. They should be included in your trading rules. You should also know where and when to place these stops. You should know the various types of stop loss orders.

Set a stop objective. Weigh the risk/reward ratio before entering each trade. Stop orders can be placed close to the entry level when volatility is low. However, when the volatility is high, stop orders should be placed further from the entry level.

When entering a trade make sure you know where and why to put the stop order. Initially you will form an opinion based on your gut feelings that is substantiated by a trade signal.

News releases create price spikes that may make an adverse move against your position. However, you will undoubtedly get caught in the news driven price shock events. It makes the markets highly unpredictable in the short run.

Stop orders can also be placed to enter positions. Stop orders that you place online if the market trades at a certain price, then the order is triggered and become a market order to be filled in by the next best price available. Stop orders are placed to protect against losses.

Buy stops are placed above the current market price and sell stops are placed below the current market price. Protective stops are used to offset a position and to protect against losses and against accrued profits.

Stops can be placed on a dollar amount per position. If you want to risk only $250 per $100,000 standard lot position then your stop loss will be placed 25 pips from your entry point. You can set a daily dollar amount on the loss limit.

Traders use 2-5% of the overall account size as their stop loss. Suppose your trading account size is $10,000. You can also use a certain percent of your overall account size as your stop loss. This comes out to be $200-$500.

Swing traders can use the automatic trailing stop. Many traders tend to turn winners into losers as they get in the let it ride mindset. The trailing stop reduces the chance to let trades ride. This makes the decision making process fully automated.

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in day trading stocks and forex. Develop your own Forex Trading System. Learn Forex Trading .