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Stock prices have cascaded downward persistently since the nominal high in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (and in other Indexes) in October 2007. Many of the major Indexes have fallen below their spike lows of last August 16, which we consider significant; and this week, the Dow Industrials and the S&P 500 fell below their August 16 lows as well, and have continued to drop. Today has started with a corrective bounce, which was expected, because the markets are severely oversold.

What is a stock market Investor to do when the market turns against him? The better question is “What should he have done BEFORE the market turned against him?” “Timing is everything.”

Most Investors have a fixed belief that the only way to make a profit in the stock market is to be invested during a time of price increases. That is false. There are great vehicles available not only to protect invested capital when markets turn down (such vehicles being in the nature of “insurance”), but also to make a profit when they do so. A great many people do not know that such vehicles even exist.

There are countless mutual funds on the market which are geared to making money when the markets rise. Investors should be aware that there are also mutual funds which are geared to making money when the markets decline. Since they work in opposite fashion to, for example, the Vanguard 500 Fund, they are called “inverse” funds. The first and largest inverse Index fund is operated by the Rydex Companies of Rockville, MD. (The writer has no connection of any kind with Rydex). Rydex’s inverse S&P 500 fund is geared to INCREASE in value by a dollar when the S&P 500 DECREASES in value by a dollar. (The reverse is also true). Rydex offers an entire family of mutual funds, many of which are inverse funds which have other Indexes as their basis - the NASDAQ 100, for example. Other well-regarded companies offer inverse funds, as well.

Taking the Rydex inverse S&P 500 fund as an example, it is an excellent vehicle to use as “insurance” against a market downturn, for investors who are already “long” in the market. The amount of “insurance” is the investor’s decision. It’s even possible to calculate the amount of inverse fund “insurance” which would be needed to almost exactly, or approximately, offset the investor’s exposure in the market, so that every dollar of decline in the value of the investor’s stocks would be nearly offset by an increase in the value of the inverse fund.

Apart from the “insurance” aspect, an inverse fund can also be used for the deliberate purpose of making a profit from a downturn in the stock market, just as one might “go short” in the market itself. One advantage to using an inverse mutual fund is that the investor can never be subject to a margin call.

There are other devices, too, for protecting an existing stock investment from a downturn, such as going short on an exchange-traded fund which is geared to the Nasdaq 100, or purchasing shares outright in an inverse exchange-traded fund similarly geared, or purchasing Put options on the NASDAQ 100.

But for the investor who has an existing portfolio of stocks, and who doesn’t have the luxury of watching the progress of the stock market all day every day, an inverse mutual fund is an excellent device to consider, in order to help protect his investment while at the same time offering the opportunity to make a profit if the market declines. Intelligent timing is essential. Recognizing that profit can be made regardless of the direction of the market, it helps to have the benefit of knowledgeable analysis - a compass, a GPS if you will, not merely guesswork such as a wet finger held up to the wind, to gauge the probable next major direction of the market.

CandleWave, LLC provides exactly that technical analysis in its free investment newsletter which is published three times a week.

William G. Kurtz Jr.
http://www.candlewave.com
info@candlewave.com
January. 18, 2008

If you’re in business for yourself then sooner or later you’re going to be asking yourself the following questions:

How do I get more customers? How can I get my customers to spend more money with me? How can I get better quality of leads without breaking the bank account?

Is there a better way of targeting my advertising so that I win much more than I lose?

Below are three strategies to attracting more business and making more money:

Strategy #1 - You Must Understand The Lifetime Value Of Your Clients

Every business owner needs to fully understand the life time value of their customers.

This is the total profit that a customer will bring to your business over the lifetime of your dealings with that customer. The following example will explain why it’s important to know this number: Let’s pretend you own a book store.

If your customer spends $50 every time they walk into your store, and they visit once a month for 4 years, a customer is worth $2400.00. The math would look like this: $50 (average bill) x 12 (number of visits) x 4 (number of years).

Think of how much money you’re missing out on if you were thinking of only one transaction?

Let’s take a look at another example:

John Smith sells a cd plus manual kit on how to self-publish a book. The initial manual set is worth $500. John knows that over the lifetime of a customer, a significant number will spend somewhere between $20,000 and $40,000 with additional products!

By knowing his numbers he can afford to allocate a significant amount of money towards his advertising budget to bring in more customers. Why? Because he is equipped with information that he’ll make it up on average over the lifetime of the customer.

Strategy # 2 - Build Up Your Customer List

Always collect their names, emails, and other contact information from your customers.

How will you stay in contact with your customers if you don’t collect your information?

And if you do ask for their contact details on your sales slips and invoices, be sure you are using them!

And if you are wondering how you collect them it is as simple as asking them for it. This is best done during your customers’ purchasing process by asking them to fill out a form with their details. There are many successful companies who did this for years and would mail you catalogs in the mail.

Don’t you remember getting them? And when you received these catalogs you would find a comfortable place to relax with pen in hand checking off or earmarking the items you would later order. This enabled these companies to make more money from their customers.

Another way to get your customers to give you their contact information is by having a monthly drawing in which a prize will be given. It will amaze you how many names you could collect by doing this.

Let’s say you own a restaurant, you can offer a free dessert to everyone who drops their business card into a fish bowl. It’s not impossible to collect over 1000 names over the course of a month. How much will a dessert cost? $2 - $3, if that much. If all business owners were to implement this marketing strategy alone, they would be protecting their businesses in the face of stiff competition. They could send out snail mail to their customers with special offers on slow nights and watch them come flocking in.

This can also be done with emails and faxes. You want to generate more business? No problem. Send out a special promotion.

Strategy # 3 Develop A Strong Relationship With Your Prospects And Clients.

If you want to generate new business that you can keep for a lifetime then you’d better make it a number one priority to keep in touch with your customers. The reason you’d want to do this is so that you can remain at the top of mind with your clients. When they’re ready to buy - you’re the one they’ll think of first.

It’s not unusual to hear cases in which a business will send out newsletters to their customers for years before they buy. You want to position yourself in such a way that when they’re ready to buy — you’ll get the sale.

The lesson here: keep communicating and following up with your customers until they’re ready to place an order with you.

Yves Marie Danie Baptiste is an expert in implementing strategic marketing techniques to small businesses that helps to retain customers and increase profits without breaking the bank. To learn more ways to attract business more cost-efficiently, Click Here: Small Business Ideas

Over 50% of people that leave their employers find it difficult to make a decision on what to do with their old 401k plan. There are 3 basic options people can choose. Do nothing and stay in the existing 401k assuming your plan rules allow for it. Roll it over to a rollover IRA to increase investment choices. Cash it out and pay taxes and penalties.

Simple enough right? Wrong! For most individuals they make the decision to do nothing because they don’t put the time into researching the different options. This can be very detrimental to their long-term plan and can have a dramatic impact when it comes time to start planning for retirement income.

If you leave your employer during the year you turn 55 but before 59.5, it might make sense for you to stay in the 401k plan to take penalty-free distributions. It will also make sense for you to stay in your plan if there are specific institutional funds that you like that are only offered in your 401k

Rollover IRAs make the most sense for most people because it offers flexibility of investment choice, continued tax-deferred growth, and guidance from your IRA provider. Consider the fees involved if you are working with a financial planner, broker, or insurance salesman. Keeping your 401k out of annuities can be extremely beneficial as there is no reason to pay for tax-deferred growth when you already have it free.

No one cares more about your personal investment situation than you. Do yourself a favor and take the necessary steps to become educated on all the options so you can live better in retirement.

Education is the most important aspect of investing and people should seek out professionals so they can become financially independent.

To learn more about stock market education and solutions join http://www.stockmarketfunding.com

Though your business has been running for a long time, it doesn’t mean that venture is not gotten off the ground, when you start to experience business debt problem, you must consider commercial bankruptcy. Commercial Bankruptcy is one of the hardest things any person who ventured into business has to do. The decision to file it is also difficult. The question of most businessmen is; is it right to clean up your debts through bankruptcy or is there any other option to avoid it?

Everybody has their personal or professional opinion on bankruptcy, however to some; commercial bankruptcy could be an only option. What could be your last resort when your business is actually in the midst of bankruptcy? What could be your options? It is important to remember that commercial bankruptcy is actually considered by people who have already tried other means of solutions like loans, consolidations and other method of paying off debts but they failed. These business owners could not even manage to pay off their home payments, car payments and even their credit card minimum balances! Whatever reasons that have gotten them into this situation do not really matter. What gets them into the commercial bankruptcy court is the fight to totally get rid of their debts.

Before filing commercial bankruptcy, it is recommended that you seek first for a debt councilor to give you some advices or options on how to resolve your business debts without submitting a bankruptcy form. It is better to reorganize the flow of your business than to enter into filing bankruptcy because reorganization includes negotiation of business debt repaying; it is very important that your negotiation plans will transfer the organizational responsibilities from you to the consultant who will also become the primary contact for the creditors. Before filing a commercial bankruptcy, it is very important that you seek first for a bankruptcy lawyers that will assist you in selling off your business and assets.

Here are steps on how to file a commercial bankruptcy:

* Get a bankruptcy lawyer

Bankruptcy lawyers will give you advices and suggestions available options that can resolve your business situation and make sure that your lawyer has an experience in handling commercial bankruptcy situation to avoid conflict of interest between creditor and you.

• File a formal request in court for bankruptcy

This step will require you to present a complete documentation of your creditors and the amounts due is listed together with your business net income of your business. All these documents are necessary. Failure to include just one creditor will mean that you have not totally gotten rid of all your debts.

For those who see commercial bankruptcy as the last option, this may be too hard. However, you must remember that you can always make a fresh new start. Something wrong must have occurred in your business but you ca always avoid them on your next try. To those who know that you can still do something which is worth a try, go and try them. Who knows? Your business might still be saved from the pitfall by different helps available for you and your business.

Venturing into any business online is such an overwhelming idea especially when all you can hear about is how profitable and effective it is to do business here. While this is true, the biggest part still falls on you. Included in this ‘big’ part are advertisement, promotion and of course, SEO. Let “Words in Action” takes its share from that part. “Words in Action” is a team of writers trained to write high quality and original articles only. We value timeliness, confidentiality and most of all quality. Deliver your message to your potential customers through words in action delivered to you by “Words in Action”. For more information, email us at mitapire@yahoo.com

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Harassment is an unfortunate by product of the society that we live in and is frequently encountered by us in the course of every day life. This may typically be found in work situations, but it need not be confined to this, and many of us are, unfortunately, deliberately harassed in our social and domestic lives.

Notably, it is possible to recover damages for harassment that is received in all of these situations without the need to have suffered any injury as a result.

The usual requirements for an action for harassment to succeed are that the victim must have been the recipient of conduct which;-

1. Is targeted at the person who receives that conduct;
2. Occurs on at least two occasions;
3. Is objectively calculated to cause the victim distress; and,
4. Is objectively considered to be oppressive and unreasonable.

It is enough simply to have suffered anxiety as a result of this behaviour for this to constitute harassment and for damages to be awarded or agreed to compensate for any distress and financial losses incurred.

Typically, awards can be made in a range from £500 up to £25,000, although these are by no means the only sums that can be awarded.

It is not necessary, as with most personal injury claims, for your claim to be commenced within three years of sustaining the injury. Claims under the Protection From Harassment Act 1997 must usually be commenced within six years of the harassment being received. This is particularly important in circumstances where the victim has not been confident enough to bring the claim in the immediate period after the harassment has been received.

The Protection From Harassment Act 1997 was recently applied to civil claims for harassment in the workplace. It is not just employees who are protected, but anyone, such as a customer or supplier, even a client.

Closer interpretation has led to the law being applied to situations outside the workplace, with a recent decision awarding a Claimant an overall sum of £35,000 as a result of the utter misery that she incurred through being bullied by her mother in law over a period of four months.

Bullying and harassment are not situations which must be endured silently, or only stopped through criminal proceedings or when injury has been sustained. The law is changing and protection exists through your right to compensation in the civil courts.

Andrew Bowen is the Managing Director of CityView Media which operate a number of online businesses including National Injury Claims and Claim King Accident Compensation.

This is the fourth article in a series about the history of advertising. The previous article outlined how marketing greats, John E.Kennedy and Claude Hopkins made their impact in the world of advertising. They both left a legacy for us all, and their work went on to inspire other up-and-coming copywriters. So…continuing our “tour”

Ask any top marketer today and they may tell you that the secret to their success is attributable to two things:

1. the ability to write, and recognise, good copy

2. knowing what makes people buy

If you understand these two points, and understand them well, you will make your fortune. No doubt about it!

And it doesn’t matter if you sell your product or service online, or offline, the two principles above are still valid.

Think about it. What’s the point of having sexy-looking websites or graphically designed sales letters if they don’t convert prospects into customers? Who are you trying to impress? You need sales. You need conversions.

You don’t need to be a genius writer to succeed. William Shakespeare was a writer. Charles Dickens was a writer. Stephen King is a writer. But you don’t have to be in that league. You need to write as if you are sat next to your prospect and all you need to use are the right words.

It’s using the right words that will get you those sales.

Winston Churchill said: “Short words are best, and the old words when short are best of all.”

John Caples wrote: “On average, 5 times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. Therefore, unless your headlines sell your product, you’ve wasted 90% of your money. The best headlines are those which promise the reader a benefit - a whiter wash; more miles per gallon.”

Now here’s a small sample from a book about writing copy:

“Good advertising copy consists of a combination of words that convince the reader that he should do as the advertising directs.

Therefore, to become a successful advertiser, you must study words and learn to combine them in a way that will express thought with force and conviction.

Don’t use too many adjectives, as they are likely to spoil an otherwise good advertisement. The buying public will be more easily convinced by the use of decisive words of praise in description of wares, than by what are known as “gushing” adjectives, which, however appropriate, will mean but little if they are too freely used.

Have a care for the proper use of words and you will find that far fewer words are required to express your exact meaning.

Do not deviate from “plain everyday speech” - simple, clean cut, incisive language.

Express yourself as simply as possible, for simplicity makes for efficiency at all times.

Unusual words, words of many syllables, long, involved sentences, complex phraseology, should be avoided.

Advertising should always be written for the one purpose of attracting and convincing the largest possible number of its readers and never for the purpose of exhibiting either your education or your cleverness.”

And those words were written approximately 100 years ago. Is the same not true today? I think so. And so too do all the top marketers of today.

Ted Nicholas, “The Guru of Direct Mail Marketing,” had this to say: “Certain words produce amazing results, as if by magic. All you desire in life , including everlasting wealth, can be yours depending on the words with which you express yourself. It doesn’t matter whether the words are written or spoken, either. As with all the great truths, once known, they seem so simple.”

In conclusion, you MUST learn how to write sizzling copy of your own. It’s a very learnable skill.

You can get a good grounding by studying the works of the great marketers of the past - guys like John E. Kennedy, Claude Hopkins and others.

In the next article I will cover the very necessary topic of psychology. Human psychology - understand why people buy and it will be a lot easier to sell to them.

Peter Woodhead is the author of a package of Public Domain works on advertising and marketing that reveal secrets that only the top gurus have had access to - until now. These materials and details of how to sign up for his mini-ecourse can be found at http://www.LongLostMarketingSecrets.com

Well, folks, we’ve made it to the end of the year and what a ride it has been. 2005 was a great year for me personally and professionally. I saw my business grow almost as fast as my kids. Both gave me great joy and just enough trouble to keep me on my toes.

I heard from people this year who were making tremendous progress building their eBay and online businesses and I heard from others who were just getting started.

I heard from people who were thriving and I heard from others who were struggling.

I heard from some who were making thousands of dollars a month and others who were fighting to pay the bills.

Some people asked for my advice.

Some people asked for my money.

Some damned me because I am successful and they are not.

My message to them all was the same:

It’s not up to ME. It’s all up to YOU.

YOU Have To Keep Moving Forward

In business as in life, you must keep moving forward to be a success. You must have goals and you must have a plan. There is no such thing as an “idle success.” Successful people are not satisfied to just stay in one place. They are not satisfied with what they have. They know that when you become satisfied with what you have, you will always have just that. Successful people are always looking toward the future and moving forward.

YOU Must Never Give Up

When life knocks you down it’s easy to wallow in your own sorrow. Life becomes a pity party and you are the star. Finding a successful wallower is like trying to find Bigfoot: there is no such thing. When you fall off the horse, get back on. When life knocks you down, you have to get back up. In the words of my friend, comedian Ron White, “When life gives you lemons find someone life has given tequila and have a party.” Never, ever give up.

YOU Can’t Let Your Circumstances Dictate Your Outcome

At one time I was dead broke and working 3 jobs just to survive. I was living on coffee and cigarettes and sleeping 3 hours a night. It would have been very easy for me to let my circumstances get the best of me, but I refused to give up. I set goals for myself. I created a plan. I took action that would get me out of those circumstances, not keep me there.

Only YOU Can Truly Motivate YOU

The only person who can motivate YOU to take the action necessary to be a success is YOU. Too many people are looking to others for motivation when only self-motivation really works in the long term. When you were a kid your mother motivated you to get out of bed and go to school and make good grades and come home on time. Well, you’re a grown up now and you have to be your own motivator. You have to make yourself take action. You must have the drive and determination to do things on your own. Without motivation and action, you will fail and it will be your own fault.

No One Can Do It For YOU

The only person who can make YOU a success is YOU. Others can provide you with advice and tools to help make your journey more fruitful, but in the end it is up to YOU to make YOU a success. It is up to YOU to start your business and learn to market your product. It is up to YOU to make sales and carry the money to the bank. If YOU won’t do it for yourself, no one can do it for you.

YOU Make Your Own Luck

Finally, remember this: there is no such thing as luck. YOU make your own luck. Luck occurs when opportunity and action collide. So if you’re waiting for Ed McMahon to show up on your doorstep and proclaim, “This is your lucky day!” you are going to have a long, miserable wait.

Ed can’t make you a success.

I can’t make you a success.

It is all up to YOU.

Now get off the couch and make 2006 a Great Year!

Tim Knox, Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker, Radio Host Founder, The Insiders Club, Giving You The Power To Start Your Business Today http://www.theinsidersclub.com Bestselling Author of: “Everything I Know About Business I Learned From My Mama” http://www.timknox.com