Here are the facts:

• 1 in 6 owe more than their home is worth.
• Oil prices are tumbling down.
• Problems are not just in the US, but worldwide.
• We are giving 700 BILLON dollars to bail-out wall street! Do not rush this, make sure every situation goes well so the market does not explode again!

Important stocks to watch and hope they bounce back up. General Electric, Citigroup, Bank of America, General Motors and Morgan Stanley.

History can be important. In past years when the stock market went down to 8,000 points, it stopped dropping. Many investors believe the stock market will go right back up after it hits its low around 8,000 points. If you remember in the last year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 14,280.00 and that was a stock market high.

Keep your eye on a few stocks that are usually strong but are now only hanging in there. General Electric (GE) is around 20 dollars a share. After the stock market hits the low of 8,000. Buy, Buy, Buy! The government will fix this problem in a few days and everything will go back up! So make sure you know what to buy and don't buy stocks just because they are cheap. Smart investments make smart investors.

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The idea sounded safer than they have proved, with interest rates low and lots of money sloshing around in the financial system, investor sought to capitalize on higher assets returns, by increasing the risk, high demand soon squeezed prices, so very little premium was paid for the high risk which had been taken. Error on the side of caution was misjudged, and greater engagement of hazard perception was applied to systematic risk.

With the interest rates low, people took advantage of the liquidity in plentiful supply, at every opportunity that arose the tills were clocking up revenues, the lending institutions threw caution to the wind, and began lending billions for high mark up to unsuspecting people, who found out later, that they could not afford repayments when the rates began climbing again, sub-prime lending was the most visible sign of the debt binge, investors were unable to capitalize on any worthwhile ventures, and the exaggeration of indiscipline caused the liquidity bubble to burst.

Attributing to the cause of the present crisis, cheap money made the world romance with the idea of a leverage spree, individual's borrowed to further invest in property, second homes, and holiday homes in the Caribbean and on the continent, spread betting on casino, time shares, condominium ownership, boats, private jets, and material goods. Investors used cheap debt to invest in higher yielding assets, borrowing against existing investment.

Bank lending grew large and outstripped customers deposits, and the activities were kept off the balance sheet to make the figures look like everything was alright, but the fire of accountability was igniting, and the blaze catching fast with low confidence adding fuel to the situation, banks started showing up the shortage of credit, as debt became uncontrollable, the hemorrhaging threaten to bring the economy to a sever standstill.

The result was that sub-prime mortgage borrowers began to default on monthly payment, the market rediscovered the element of risk, but by then the consequences was devastating, in search for yield the liquidity bubble has exploded; we are now living in an age when vast amount of capital has been lost to bad business practices. Fuelling the cycle of bubble and burst when capital investment flooded into the economy, it was later washed away by banking crooks neglecting good business practices and discipline.

The money managers soon panic, leaving their responsibility for others to clean up the mess caused by free market system, now tax payers are expected to foot the heavy restaurant bill for the just and the unrighteous, if the state step in the risk and rewards all will belong to the state.

If banks were vigilant, accounting would have brought a greater openness to company accounts, and in fairness turn things around, forcing banks to admit to the market price of securities on their balance sheet, but with no markets for many of these assets, banks had to take a gigantic write off, creating the crisis of spiraling lost, and without enough liquidity confidence began eroding away faster than the blink of an eye.

Many financial advisors, traders, and greedy bankers lost their jobs, but in the ensuing process they will have made millions in short term pay out bonuses for market speculation. Bankers knew what was happening, they also knew what they were doing was unjust, but they let it continued because the result would favor their pockets in short term result, the finger of blame points widely to many areas of mismanagement, government bailout will only be an attempt to curb greedy bankers pay.

1. Paid-to-Click We have mostly all tried it and not gotten good results! Paid-to-Click is only beneficial if you have around 500 dollars to spend on it. However a few sites offer lower payouts which can be reached by one persistent person but is really not worth the effort!
2. Blogging, some people make it big blogging, one person out of 10 thousand. Starting a blog with the intention of making 100$ a month is extreme and very unlikely to happen, although starting a blog or publishing a lot of articles on Triond it is realistic to aim for 20$ a month making Triond ideal as you don't need to reach a minimum payment of 100$ or what have you for an advertising company and you are guaranteed to get paid!
3. Online investments, these are good if you have 20-30$ you can afford to lose you can double small amounts monthly but if you donate over 100$ they will steal it! Yes, that is the normal thing these days, under 30$ they are going to pay you to gain trust to rip you off when you try 100-500$ just be cautious.
4. Affiliate marketing, do not waste your time there are 10 people in each company making millions the rest are screwed.
5. Owning your own advertising or gaming site etc. This is a good idea as you are in control and decide how much money you wish to make online. If you are not code savvy you can always just buy a pre-installed script that you only operate. Owning is better then renting which most of the other services are!

 Most of the people go with the crowd. It’s easy and there is always someone to put the blame on in case of losses. Even tough this strategy reaps in rewards when the market outlook is positive, it hardly helps in the long run. What's needed is insight coupled with an independent strategy to succeed in the long run. Also needed is risk taking ability and belief in self. If analyzed keeping the emotions aside the economy has never been better for the long term investor. Some of the aspects which the average investor is ignoring at the moment and hence very lucrative investments are:

Re-mortgage:

 If you have been a victim of the mortgage crash, now is the time to get back. Many of the mortgage companies have gone bust and the rates are being monitored by the government. Also many of the surviving financial institutions have been offering lucrative schemes and interest rates in a desperate bid to meet their year end targets.

Invest in the real estate:

 The result of the sub prime crisis has been a huge supply of premium quality houses at a discount. If you have been waiting to buy your dream house, there is no better time than now. If you are looking for an investment, and have a long term outlook, buying some prime property would never have been cheaper. Either ways it will pay to be in the real estate now.

Invest in the stock market:

 Yes, you read it right. Everyone is running away from it. But that’s the very reason you should invest in it. The crumbled financial institutions have been selling stocks in conjunction with the harried investors. Supply is more, demand is less and stock prices have hit rock bottom. Go in for value stocks, which have been around for a long time. It will be a steal. In the long run, when the economy would have stabilized, these stocks will earn you millions.

Get higher interest rates:

 Having burnt their fingers in the sub prime crisis, banks are luring stable investors by increasing deposit rates. Make the most of it and keep your money in bank deposits instead of keeping it lying idle.

The above are only some of the most obvious investment avenues. There might be infinite opportunities around, if analyzed closely. It takes guts to move against the herd, especially if you have burnt your fingers in the recent stock market crash. But believe in the simple ideology that if good times don’t last, the bad times don’t last either.

It is true that no one can predict with accuracy tops and bottoms in the securities markets. However, history has shown that the typical investor is generally wrong when he/she decides when to sell and when to buy in the stock and bond markets. Statistics show that the performance of most investors is worse than market averages. For example, statistics show that most investors in a S&P index fund over an extended time frame do significantly worse than the average performance of that index fund. Why? Because most investors are buying and selling at the wrong time.

History will show that this would be a great time not to be selling common stocks/ common stock mutual funds, but instead buying them. No one can predict tops and bottoms in the market. That is why dollar-cost-averaging is an excellent tool. In 1987, after the market tanked, and after 9/11, when the market fell significantly, investors who did not panic, but instead initiated new investments in common stocks were rewarded because the markets recovered quickly. No one can tell you how long it will take, but the market will recover, and investors who initiate or continue dollar-cost -averaging will be rewarded. Dollar- cost-averaging is investing a constant amount in a defined time frame; for example, $ 100/ month.

For most investors who are investing relatively small amounts of money is to invest in a diversified portfolio, such as an S&P index fund, or some other index fund, such as an international index fund. If you can afford it, invest in a wide variety of index funds, both small,  medium and large capitalized funds. It is also important to select  true " no-load" funds, such as Vanguard, which is a true no-load fund, and has low expenses. There is no question that investors who invest in true no-load funds, and funds with the lowest costs will do significantly better than investors who select other alternatives.   

What are stocks?

When you buy stocks, or shares, you're buying part of a company. A company will offer a number of shares for sale. You can buy some, hold them as long as you like, buy more, or re-sell them.

Buying and selling is also known as trading. Once trading begins, the price of the stock can rise or fall.

Most stock is bought and sold at a stock exchange. Examples of stock exchanges are Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange, and the London Stock Exchange. You can also buy over-the-counter (OTC) stocks, which are not listed on stock exchanges.

You don't buy and sell stocks yourself, but act through a stock broker or brokerage firm. Usually you make the decisions, and the broker represents you on the market. You can also choose to let the broker invest your money for you.

You might buy stock at a low price, and sell at a higher price to make a profit. Or, you might invest in companies that will pay regular dividends over several years, for a more stable flow of income. The stock you buy depends on your financial goals, and your personal investment style.

There are two types of stocks: common, and preferred.

• Common stocks give you voting rights in the company. If you want to stage a hostile takeover, you would buy up as many voting shares in the company as possible. In general, common stocks give you a say in the way the company is run. Dividends fluctuate, depending on the fortunes of the company.

• Preferred stocks return a fixed amount, with regular payments, but you have no voting rights. If the company has financial problems, the dividends on preferred stocks are paid before those of common stocks.

A company pays dividends in cash, or in shares. Taxes may apply to cash dividends.

Price of Stock

What determines the price of stock?

Broadly speaking, the price of stock depends on supply and demand. The more people buying the stock, the more its price rises.

The market price of a stock is not the same as its intrinsic (real) value. A stock price can rise, simply because other people are buying. People may buy in hopes of quick wealth, or because they have emotional ties to the product or service - or, just because everyone else is doing it.

Scams, such as Pump and Dump, take advantage of this. Worthless stocks become inflated in price by increased buyer activity, based on hype and high-pressure sales.

Avoid stock market scams and bad investments, with five simple rules.

1. Research, research, research.
   
   Research is your best friend on the stock market. Usually, companies offering stock for sale must disclose financial statements and other company information. Know the company history, the key players and company structure. Look at past performance, and strategies for the future. Know the industry as well as the company. Examine the economic factors affecting its success or failure.
   
   Never invest in a company or industry you don't understand. If you do, it's not an investment. It's a blind gamble.

2. Put personal feelings aside

   Emotional factors can affect the price of stocks. Often, stock prices are driven by greed, emotion, or pure ignorance.
   
   Keep a cool head. Don't buy out of impulse or passion.
   
   Don't buy into wind power, for example, because you believe in saving the environment. Buy because the company has a solid performance record, a strong demand for its product or service, and good potential for growth and profit.
3. Diversify your stock portfolio
   
   Buy stock in more than one company. If you're just starting out, choose at least three or four different companies. Even the most reliable stocks can take a sudden dip.
   
   For instance, Maple Leaf Foods (MFI) stock was $16 a year ago. Recently, several people died of listeria found in Maple Leaf meats. In August of this year, stock hit an all-time low of $7.60.
   
   MFI stock is now rising again, largely due to investor interest in the low prices. The company has a solid history and will probably bounce back. However, this illustrates the potential for a sudden price dive even in established companies.
   
   If your portfolio includes several investments, you have a backup if one or two do poorly. Even seasoned investors make mistakes, or are subject to factors beyond their control.
4. Know when to hold 'em
   
   If a company's revenues go down, so do the stock prices. Is it temporary, and will the company recover? Wise investors know when to hold their stock, and when to cut losses, and sell.
   
   Don't listen to gossip or rumors. People will offer stock market tips, or claim to know stock market secrets, wink wink nudge nudge. Inform yourself, do your research, and make your own decisions.
5. The greater the risk, the greater the reward
   
   In general, the more risk you're willing to take, the more potential for high return. Also, the more chance the investment will fail, and you lose your money.
   
   Reliable companies command higher stock prices. Returns are less, but so is the risk.
   
   If a stock offers high return with low risk, be wary.

Experiment without Spending

Before investing your hard-earned money, set up a mock portfolio with several stocks. Follow your investments online, and chart their progress. Amend your choices, "buy and sell", and watch them perform in real time, without risking a penny.

What is the Capital Gains Tax?

As usual, the tax man is after a piece of your pie. If you sell your stock at a profit, a capital gains tax applies. Taxes may also apply to stock dividends.

You have a capital gain if you sell your stock for a higher price than you paid. If you sell your stock for less than you paid, it's known as a capital loss.

If you hold your stock for longer than a year, it's a long-term capital gain. Under a year, you have a short-term capital gain. Short term capital gains are taxed as regular income.

Long-term capital gains holders pay a tax of up to 15%. However, in 2008, investors in the 10 - 15% tax bracket paid a long-term rate of 0%. This won't change until the year 2010, when the rate will go back to 15%.

Be aware of the tax advantages or disadvantages of any stock you purchase.

What's Your Investment Style?

Are you a hard-nosed rogue or an armchair softie? Does losing money fill you with stress and worry, or do you hunger for challenge? Are you looking for a quick profit, or a long-term retirement strategy?

Understand yourself and your goals before you invest. Read up on the investment styles and strategies of top investors like Warren Buffett, his mentor Benjamin Graham, and people like Kirk Kerkorian or Jesse Livermore. You'll find that their styles are different, but they all believe in the five simple rules listed above.

Stock Brokers

When you're ready to invest, choose a stockbroker or brokerage firm that you trust. Licensed brokers are either full-service or discount brokers.

• Full-service brokers charge a higher fee. They provide information, details and guidance to the investor.

• Discount brokers charge a lower fee, provide minimal information, and usually don't give any guidance.

Decide on the type of service that's best for you. Again, research is your friend.

With a basic understanding of the stock market, you can make confident, informed decisions, and increase your chances of investment success.

Ben Graham is the father of two basic stock market disciplines: security analysis, and value investing.

Graham believed that stock market prices were often wrong, because of the emotional factors involved. He developed the concept of "Mr. Market", an emotional and unstable character, to explain fluctuations in the market.

Mr. Market appears every day in your office, and offers to sell you some stock. One day, he might be hysterical with glee, and the next he's morose and hopeless. The intrinsic value of the stock doesn't change, but the price varies with the moods of Mr. Market.

Graham acquired his wealth by targeting undervalued companies. He looked for companies whose stock prices were temporarily down, but whose fundamentals were sound for the long run.

Ben Graham is the mentor of investment guru Warren Buffett, and has influenced several generations of stock market investors.

Warren Buffett b.1930

Also known as the "Oracle of Omaha", Warren Buffett is the world's richest man in 2008. He uses a value investing strategy influenced by Ben Graham.

Buffett buys companies as long-term investments, at a discount to their intrinsic value. He stresses the importance of research, and looks for companies with strong management, good potential for long-term return, and an attractive price.

His investment strategy involves discipline, patience and value. While he claims no investment favorites, Buffett is currently interested in family-owned businesses in Europe, and predicts hard times for newspapers.

Buffett owns Berkshire Hathaway, whose first-quarter profit plunged 64% this year, with $991 million in investment losses. In July, Berkshire Hathaway offset the loss by announcing the sale of Anheuser-Busch to a Belgian company for $2.49 billion, earning a profit from the purchase price of 1.9 billion in 2005.

The world's richest man pays himself a salary of $100,000 a year. It's a figure that hasn't changed in twenty-seven years.

Peter Lynch b.1944

Peter Lynch bought into Automatic Data Processing (ADP) and Yum! Brands' (YUM) Taco Bell, before Wall Street noticed their existence.

Peter Lynch uses a bottom-up approach and concentrates on a company's fundamentals, instead of listening to market chatter. He invests for the long run, and pays little attention to short-term market fluctuations.

His chameleon investment style adapts with the times, but he relies on core principles. He believes that no one can predict economic fluctuations. Lynch advocates research, and warns against long shots for building wealth.

Kirk Kerkorian b.1917

Kirk Kerkorian turned 91 this year, and has a net worth of $16 billion. Known as the father of the mega-resort in Las Vegas, Kerkorian is a self-made man, who started earning money for his family at age nine. As a young man he learned to box. Under his brother's tutelage, Rifle-Right Kerkorian fought his way to the Pacific amateur welterweight championship.

In World War II, Kerkorian learned to fly with the Royal Air Force. After the war, he bought a Cessna and began flying wealthy passengers into the small railway town of Las Vegas.

He quickly saw the potential of Vegas. In 1947, Kerkorian gave up gambling, bought a local airline for $60,000, and renamed it Trans International. He operated the airline for twenty-one years, then sold to Transamerica for $104 million.

His most famous success was a piece of Vegas land, purchased for just over $960,000, in 1962. He leased the land to Caesar's Palace for four million, and sold it to them six years later, for five million more.

His fortune comes from shares in DaimlerChrysler, MGM Mirage (MGG) and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He has a talent for identifying opportunities early. Kerkorian will buy, sell and then return to a company. He twice sold MGM, then took it over for a third time in 1996.

Kerkorian's recent investment in Ford Motor Co. kept stock trading at its highest levels in almost six months.

Jesse Livermore 1870-1940

Jesse Livermore made and lost millions, and once declared bankruptcy. He was notorious for short selling during the stock market crashes in 1907 and 1929, to the point that JP Morgan asked him to stop.

Livermore focused on markets as a whole, instead of on individual stocks. He would adopt a buy-and-hold strategy in a bull market, and sell when it lost momentum.

His fluctuating fortunes came from breaking two of his own rules: never listen to stock tips; and, always cut losses short.

Livermore always had an exit strategy. He committed suicide in 1940, owing more than a million dollars.

Edward Lampert b.1962

Lampert is Chairman of Sears Holdings Corporation (SHLD) and the founder of ESL Investments, Inc. Lampert created ESL at the age of twenty-five, in 1988. The company's returns average 29% a year, and Lampert is number sixty-eight on the Forbes list of 2008.

He looks for a mature business that is easy to understand, and has a strong cash flow. He targets companies with the potential to generate a large cash flow over the long run. Lampert is less focused on the management team, and willing to bring about changes in the company structure to realize a profit.

His numerous investments in the retail sector include Home Depot (HD). Other investments include CIT Group (CIT) and AutoNation, Inc. (AN).

George Soros b.1930

George Soros is a Hungarian-born American investor, speculator, philanthropist and political activist.

He's infamously known for breaking the bank of England on Black Wednesday, 1992, by selling short more than $10 billion worth of pounds.

His investment strategy revolves around the knowledge that financial markets are chaotic, and prices depend on the human beings who buy and sell. Often, buyers and sellers act out of emotion, rather than cool logic.

Soros looks for opportunities by studying value and market price of assets. He follows a theory of reflexivity, based on the idea that investor bias affects market transactions.

These days, Soros prefers philanthropy over speculation. By 2003 he had given away more than four billion dollars to help the underprivileged, in nations such as South Africa, Central Europe and Russia. In 2007 he gave $100 million to fund internet access in Russian universities.

George Soros holds shares in BUCY - Bucyrus International Inc.; ANR - Alpha Natural Resources Inc. and WIND - Wind River Systems Inc.

Carl Icahn b.1936

Icahn made headlines in 1985 with his hostile takeover of TWA. He's known as a tough negotiator and clever market strategist.

Icahn takes minority stakes in public companies and pushes for change. He does not believe in following trends. Icahn says, "... consensus thinking is generally wrong. If you go with a trend, the momentum always falls apart on you. So I buy companies that are not glamorous and usually out of favor. It's even better if the whole industry is out of favor."

In May, Carl Icahn took on internet giant Yahoo (YHOO). Icahn bought as many as 50 million shares, preparing for a proxy fight to remove Yahoo's Board of Directors. On July 21, 2008, he agreed to join the Board of Directors and end the hostilities ... at least for now.

Philip Fisher 1907-2004

Fisher was a formative thinker in the growth stock school of investing. His book, "Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits", is a standard for investors. Fisher believed in investing for the long haul, and wrote that the best time to sell a stock was "almost never".

Fisher did extensive research to help build his wealth, and preferred the technique he called "scuttlebutt" or the business grapevine, to seek out information.

Fisher bought Motorola in 1955, when it was a radio manufacturer. He held onto it until his death in 2004.

William J. O'Neil

At the age of 30, O'Neil was the youngest ever to have a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. He's the founder of Investor's Business Daily, and author of two successful books.

O'Neil uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative strategies in his investing approach.

His investment style is to seek out the growth stocks that have the highest profit potential and will show a swift price rise. He coined the acronym CANSLIM to identify such stocks.

Bill O'Neil's motto is "buy the strong, sell the weak." He seeks out companies that perform as leaders, with something new to offer, and a proven rise in current and annual earnings.

Every great investment guru has an individual approach, but all follow the same basic rules: know the company and the market; never listen to market gossip; and always keep a cool head.

Forex, Bonds, Stocks

Forex is simply trading currencies to obtain a profit.

Stocks are trading shares of companies to make money.

Bonds are trading bonds to make money just how you would the other two.

Real Estate

There are many ways to make money in real estate. You can own a place to rent out, flip a house, condo, foreclosures, tax liens, and real estate finder's fee.

Bank Accounts

Savings accounts, cds, 401k's, IRA, and money market accounts are all bank accounts. Savings accounts are safe with low returns however they are liquid. CD's are not liquid but you can get a much higher returns than a savings account. 401k's and IRA's are retirement accounts with tax benefits that have high penalties if you take them out before retirement. Money markets are a cross between a savings account and a cd. Money markets have the interest of a cd with the terms of a savings account.

On the other hand, even though there is for all time a quantity of scale hazard concerned when putting together a venture, trust deeds ensues to be one of the safest investments obtainable at the moment, for the reason that nothing like other investments, a trust deed is protected by definite assets – homes, buildings and property.

The person who wished to invest his hard earned money in a deed of trust is called as trust deed investor. There are a lot many ways in which a trust deed investor can function and try to find the best placed to invest their money in. You can look out for better deals and companies or firms dealing in trust deed investments in your area by searching through the internet for the best available options.

In reserve from the safety of an actual property, with a trust deed investment, the additional benefit is the trust deed investor is given elevated than regular charge of earnings. This is due to the reality that borrowers are ready to shell out a superior interest fee for the reason that private trust deed investors are adaptable with their credits, as they are not partial by conventional regulations of bank finance. Without the restriction of such regulations, private trust deed investors can afford faster credits that do not go behind the matching set of laws as is compulsory for time-honored lending.

In addition, deeds of trust are investments out of harm's way for the reason that borrowers are in general at a superior danger to take the credit. The subsequent are two exceptional explanations why:

1. The borrower possibly will loose their assets (home, land, building) if they are unsuccessful to reimburse the credit.
2. If the suitable investigation has been done, the venture will have a more than enough loan to value (LTV) proportion. In added words, the credit total goes over by the real property cost.

So are you ready to become a trust deed investor?

For example, when the stock market goes up, most stocks go up in price, including those with less-thanspectacular sales, growth, and earnings. Similarly, if a sell-off occurs in the stock market, stocks with better than average sales, growth, and earnings will be included in the downslide. External events that move security prices (stocks, bonds, and other assets such as real estate) are unpredictable. Such an event could be a terrorist incident or news of a war, death of a prominent leader of a foreign nation, changes in inflation rate, labor strikes, or floods in the Midwest. Investors cannot do much to avoid these volatile short-term fluctuations in stock, bond, and real estate prices. Over long periods of time, however, stock prices tend to appreciate in relation to their intrinsic value (their growth and earnings).

In other words, a stock's long-term returns are determined by a company's investment fundamentals. Market risk highlights the dangers for investors who invest short-term money in the stock market. If you need cash when the market has declined, you will need to sell your stocks, which may have produced losses. For stock investments, you should have a long time horizon so that you are not forced to sell in down markets. The same long time horizon applies to investments in real estate.