The Colloid Base

I am hearing predictions by brokers, financial planners, talk show hosts and the talking heads on TV that the market is going back to its old highs - DOW 11,700 and NASDAQ 5000 here we come.

It seems to me that in 2000 I heard these same people saying there was no top to the market and were looking into their crystal balls for DOW 30,000 or some other fantastic number. Suddenly the market turned over with the DOW dropping 3,000 points and the NASDAQ losing 80% of its value. Can it happen again? I don’t predict and all I can say is the market can do anything.

BUT what if it does turn down? Are you going to sit as you did before and watch your money disappear? Right now everything looks rosy and the momentum is carrying the indexes higher almost every day. Buy and hold is the right strategy.

Hind sight is always 20/20 and you will want to own stocks and mutual funds now, but not get caught in the next down draft. There will be one! There always has and you can see it clearly if you are a student of market history. Since 1900 there have been 16 to 18-year cycles of bull and bear markets and within those there have been other shorter cycles of ups and downs.

Many brokers and investors try to predict when those turns will occur and they are mostly wrong. It is definitely not a good idea to try to outguess the market. You must learn to read the rather obvious signs of the major turns. I say obvious, but it is clear they are not obvious to most brokers or financial planners. Having been a professional trader, exchange member and floor trader for many years I will tell you the obvious ’secret’.

Using a 200-day moving average of any one of the major indexes (I prefer the S&P500) you can plot these every day and when the index penetrates the 200-day line in an upward direction it is a signal to buy. That is where we are now. Inversely when it penetrates that line going down it is time to sell and put your money in cash or bonds. If you don’t want to do the math computations there is an excellent chart in the Investor’s Business Daily newspaper called their Mutual Fund Index that will do all the work for you.

It is nothing more complicated than that and you can go back into history as far as you wish and you will see it proven time after time. You are holding stocks or funds while the market is going up and you are in cash while it is going down. Don’t be fooled by “research” or by any other complicated method. This works.

There is no need to predict the market. It will tell you in simple language what it is doing and whether you should be a buyer or seller.

Al Thomas’ book, “If It Doesn’t Go Up, Don’t Buy
It!” has helped thousands of people make money
and keep their profits with his simple 2-step
method. Read the first chapter at
http://www.mutualfundmagic.com
and discover why he’s the man that Wall Street
does not want you to know.

Copyright 2005

It may not bring in the millions, but making money with AdSense sure does make a lot of sense overall. Using Google AdSense is simiple, and if you have a website, even if it is just for information, you should consider making money with AdSense. If you are considering starting your own website or you already have an existing website, you should consider getting your own Google AdSense account.

Google does have a purpose in allowing you to start making money with AdSense. Google earns money by getting people to advertise on their search result pages. In order to expand their profit, Google allows you to begin making money with AdSense through putting text ads on your website, which serves the interest of both Google and the website owner.

So why is making money with AdSense so good for you? Well, if you are slightly annoyed at having to pay for your website each month, when you are making money with AdSense, you can use it to pay for your site. You do not have to earn a lot with AdSense for it to pay off even in small ways. Still, it is a simple way to make some extra money.

Making money with AdSense begins very simply. You have seen the advertisements on just about every website you have ever visited, so you know that these Google Ads exist. Google is paid by these website owners to display the ads on the sties. Every time the ad is clicked, Google gets paid. Making money with AdSense means you get a percentage of that payment if someone visits your site and clicks on any one of those ads.

Hopefully you will already have your own website and that is why you are considering making money with AdSense. If not, you can obtain a domain name from a variety of web hosting companies for very little money each month. Many of these companies have very simple templates to use or you can purchase a software that allows you to simply create your website so you can begin making money with AdSense.

Once you have your website, you are ready to begin making money with AdSense. You can visit Google AdSense at www.google.com/adsense to sign up. At first you will have to submit your website, and then you will receive confirmation within 24 to 48 hours if your site is approved. With acceptance from Google, you will be given HTML code to paste into your website. When you are considering making money with AdSense, you can also choose the look and placement of your ads, which will also be relevant to your website.

Read the rest of the article here: Making Money with AdSense.

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Copyright © Charles Fuchs is an established online marketer who specializes in helping people start their very own Home Based Business. He specializes in showing people the best way to Make Money at Home.

A home gym can help you build muscle, produce an attractive body, rev up a sluggish metabolism and shave years off your age.

If you choose wisely, you’ll have all the tools you need to accomplish these goals (and more). But not everyone knows where to start or how to get the most from a home gym.

When clients ask me about buying home gym equipment, here are 5 things I tell them to get the most from their purchase:

1) Buy a well rounded piece of equipment:

Unless you have hundreds of square feet in your home to dedicate to multiple pieces of equipment, you should look for a home gym that covers all the major exercises (including the ones you don’t like), such as chest, back, legs (hamstrings & quadriceps), shoulders, biceps and triceps.

2) Make sure your home gym is stable:

There’s a saying, ‘You get what you pay for.’ Most of the inexpensive home gyms you buy from a local department store have very narrow bases, so they tend to rock a bit. Stay away from home gyms that do not have a good stable base.

For a basic rule of thumb, look at home gyms that are more ’square’ or ‘as high as they are wide’. As an example, you won’t want a home gym that 10ft high x 2 ft wide x 2 ft deep, unless you are going to anchor it to a concrete floor.

3) Put your home gym in a place you will use it:

If you leave your home gym in a room you normally don’t go into to, odds are high that you aren’t going to use it. The more inviting the room where you place your equipment, the more likely you will use it (how many of us really want to work out in a dungeon?).

If there’s only one place you can place your home gym, then work on the room. Maybe add a coat of paint or put up pictures that inspire you. Add a stereo system or a wall mounted television. By making the room inviting and inspiring, you’ll ensure that workouts will be enjoyable.

4) Make a simple & short workout routine:

Don’t go making or using ‘Mr. Or Ms. Olympia’ home gym workouts. That’s the first big mistake that people make when they first get their equipment. Instead, start by making a workout that is only 30 to 45 minutes long. That’s less than a 1 hour TV show.

Do this workout 3 to 5 days a week. Remember to work all your muscles (not just the ones you like) for optimum results. It helps to keep a record of your workouts on paper so you can see just how far you’ve come.

If you’re stuck on what to do, don’t worry. Many home gyms come with beginner workouts. But again, don’t go all out and kill yourself the first few workouts - start from where you are and build on it. Consistency is key for a killer body.

5) Write your workout days on the calendar:

Like any important appointment, make an appointment with your home gym. You need to make the effort to put yourself, your body and your health first - especially at the beginning stages. Experts tell us it takes 3 to 6 weeks before actions become habit. Once you’ve built the habit of working out, it will get easier.

To help you stick to your exercise appointment, get loved ones to encourage you and make you accountable. Once you get past the 8-week mark, you’ll feel (and look) so great you’ll wonder why you didn’t get a home gym sooner.

So those are 5 ways to get the most out of your home gym equipment. If you want to know which home gyms are my picks for ‘Best Buy’ check out:

http://www.freetobethin.com/article_Home_Gym_Reviews.html

Enjoy and good luck!

Charles O’Neill is a certified personal trainer and contributing writer to Diet and Exercise Reviews.

For more home gym ‘Best Buys’ for 2005 visit: http://www.freetobethin.com/article_Home_Gym_Reviews.html.

We use them to enter and exit a room on a continual basis. If you want to brighten them a little more, add some extra design to door knobs and doors with this project. Make several and give as gifts.

MATERIALS

* 1 Piece cardboard 7″ x 12-14″ (or smaller, depending on the size and shape you want it to be)

* Craft felt or fabric (plain or holiday print, but not too flimsy)

* Decoupage or craft glue

* Cord trim 14″ long (or the size of the shape outline and 1/4″ - 1/8″ overlap)

* Various decorative items: flat and/or 3-D plastic or wooden shapes, or holiday items and decorations

* Scissors

* Compass or large glass (for drawing a circle)

INSTRUCTIONS

*Note: Measure how large you want the Door Hang to be, based on each door you’re decorating. Be careful to not make it so wide that opening and closing the door becomes awkward because of it. Do not have the edge of it meet the edge of the door; make it at least an inch more narrow than that.

1) Cut and round the top and bottom corner edges of the cardboard piece that you’re using so they’re not pointed but curved.

2) Using a compass or a large glass, etc., draw a circle on the center top area of the cardboard. Be sure to leave at least a 1 inch rim of cardboard framing the cut out portion of the cardboard in order to be able to hang the item on the door knob. Make sure that the circle you’re cutting out will leave a hole large enough to fit over the door knob so it can be slipped on and off easily.

3) Cut out the circle. It won’t be used, but you can save it for a smaller recycling craft project.

4) Place the finished cardboard shape “pattern” on top of the back of the piece of felt or fabric that you’re using. Trace around the edges of the cardboard, making sure to include drawing around the hole that was just cut out.

5) Cut the fabric to fit the exact shape of the cardboard.

6) If using decoupage, work very quickly to paint the decoupage onto the cardboard and place the fabric or felt on top. Press quickly as you smooth the fabric to remove any air bubbles. (THIS DRIES VERY QUICKLY SO TRY AND GET THE FABRIC IN POSITION BEFORE IT DOES!) You can use a mixture of half craft glue and half water instead of the decoupage. Test a small, extra piece of the fabric first though to see if the glue/water mixture seeps through. It takes longer for this to dry, but it also gives you a little more time to get the fabric or felt placed just right on the shape.

7) When it is dry, glue a piece of the cording around the entire edge of the Door Hang to cover the edge of the cardboard. A hot glue gun works best for this, but craft glue can be used. It just takes the craft glue longer to dry. You can also cover the back of the shape in the same way in which you covered the front. If you do this, wait until it is dry as well before gluing on the cording around the edge rim.

Finish decorating the front by gluing on the embellishments you’ve chosen.

9) When dry, hang on the door knob and enjoy or wrap as a gift.

Regenia G. Butcher is an author on a site for Creative Writers ( http://www.Writing.Com ). She is also a crafter and is currently working on a “quirky” word reference book. She usually not only sees the glass half full, but rejoices that there IS a glass. You can visit her portfolio at: http://www.sensity.writing.com