If you read my post a couple of days ago and watched the attached video you’ll have heard me mention the problems currently facing ColonEndParenthesis. They are subject to an informal investigation by the SEC in the US. This means that all fund transfers in and out have been stopped until the investigation is complete and current indications are that this won’t be a quick process.

The reason I mention this is that whilst a lot of attention is being focused on this issue the other businesses in the group are being somewhat ignored. It occurred to me today as I was surfing at CEP Coast that the daily returns have recovered well from the short period that they dipped following the initial news of the investigation. Yesterday’s return was 2.21% which I find very encouraging. I’m not a member of Coastin 88 but I believe there has been a good recovery there as well. So, whilst not everything is rosy in the garden there is no immediate need to panic about things and whilst the results of the investigation are awaited you could do worse than invest some funds in the surfing sites.

As a alight aside I have been amused by one of the sites that regularly shows up on CEP Coast. It is recommending a FOREX trading course and like many similar offers it warns readers that the total number of places on the course is limited to 1000. As a way of ‘encouraging’ people to sign up it shows just how many places are available. For at least the last week this number has been 512 and I was beginning to wonder whether anyone else would ever join. Well today I’m glad to say that all the marketing has showed a result as the number remaining has now dropped to…511. Ah well, I guess they’ll keep plugging away.

It’s really encouraging when readers get in contact to discuss a programme I recommend or to suggest something that they would like to see in a post. So, yesterday as I was pondering what to write about I was more than pleased to receive a skype call (my skype name is murfee88) from Don Mills.

Don asked a question about Life Holdings which I mentioned a while ago. During our conversation he mentioned a new programme that he had been advised about called Imperia Invest and asked me to have a look to see what I thought.

The programme is based on something called a Traded Endowment Policy (TEP). This was a new term to me so I was keen to learn more. Many people have heard of Reverse Pension Plans (RPP’s) which on first viewing seem to have some relevance to TEP’s. Both limit the number of policies they wish to issue and both ‘promise’ a sizeable sum of money for a very small investment. In the case of Imperia Invest the sum to invest is $50 which can be paid by e-gold or e-bullion.

So, whilst there are similarities between RPP’s and TEP’s there are also differences. The most significant is that for the TEP once you have paid your fee they will deposit $80,000 in your account on which the company then provides a return of 1.2% a day for six months. After this time, and following a six month gap they expect to provide a return in the region of $134,000 to each investor for each contract they own.

There are 10,000 individual positions available and each individual can have up to 50 contracts (each costs $50). Once you join you have 90 days to fund your account or you will be removed from the database.

As Don Mills introduced Imperia Invest to me I am including his referral on the link so please be aware that if you sign up that Don would be your referrer.

When you go to the site you will see that the information appears to be translated from German so some of the meaning can be difficult to grasp. The site admin does explain that TEP’s are a well accepted financial instrument and that the organisations involved are of the highest calibre.

So, there will be many detractors as they will not believe that a return of $134,000 can be achieved with an investment of just $50. And, it’s hard to argue against them when not that many people have an in-depth knowledge of TEP’s and how they work. At the end of day it often comes down to a subjective assessment of whether an investment of $50 is worth risking for a return of $134,000. If you think about it it’s just as crazy as buying 50 lottery tickets at a £1 each in the hope of winning millions in return. On that basis I’d suggest that if you have a spare $50 then there are much worse ways in which you can invest it.

Once again thanks to Don Mills for letting me know about this. Don’t forget if you have a recommendation to make then let me know.

Something a little different today. Rather than me typing away on my keyboard I’ve seized the mantle of new technology and would encourage you to click on the following link:

What happens when online investments stall

It’s been some time since I’ve mentioned how things are going with the various advisory services I’ve been using with my BetonMarkets account and I’m afraid the news is not that encouraging although I’m hoping for things to improve.

The first advisory service I started to use was from Matt Shaw and the performance has been very patchy. I reported at the end of last year that his recommendations were continually failing and whilst he acknowledged this he hoped that things would improve in 2007. And, for a time things did seem to get better but lately the successes have been few and far between. This is doubly frustrating as I’d decided to be more conservative on each of his recommendations anyway so where he might recommend a trade giving a potential 30% profit say I would actually use a more conservative level of 15% perhaps and even this strategy has not been that successful. So, for the time being I’ve decided not to trade any more of Matt’s recommendations.

The next service I went for was from Market Excellence and I chose the advisories by Martin Cornish. Now Martin plays a very conservative strategy with the vast majority of recommendations providing in the region of a 3% profit if successful. Whilst this can provide some comfort it does mean that if the trade fails you are likely to use quite a big chunk of money as you have to risk a relatively high amount as your stake, so for example if you were looking to achieve £100 then with a 3% profit margin you would be risking around £97 so if this fails it can be significant.

Unfortunately for Martin he has had trades move against him and this seems to have triggered an even more conservative approach (not that I’m saying that’s wrong) to the extent that recommendations are now few and far between. As the markets settle down (if they ever do) then I’m sure Martin will feel more confident about trading more actively but for the moment this is a fairly quiet area.

As well as Martin’s advisories I’ve also subscribed to those from Steve Hoven at Market Excellence although I don’t trade personally as I use the pool trading that is available. Steve trades specific currency pairs on the FOREX market and advises his recommendations on Monday through Wednesday. As luck would have it immediately after I joined there were a string of poor results that meant my account took something of a nosedive (is it me?). Since then there has been something of a revival although June is proving quite a challenge. I’m happy to stick with this for the time being as it may well turn out okay in the longer term.

Finally I should mention CityBeaters as they recently re-started their FOREX advisory service and I’ve just started the 28 day free trial. So far there have been two recommendations which are for 7 days each and which seem to be behaving as expected for the moment. Hopefully this service will be the light at the end of my Fixed Odds tunnel, we shall just have to wait and see.

I hadn’t intended to make another referral post quite so quickly but there is a lot of excitement being generated about a new online opportunity called EVO Play and I didn’t want any of my readers to miss out. This new concept will be massive as it is combining some very strong online entities, namely social networking (think mySpace or Facebook) and online gaming (where you can pit your wit or skills against others across the world).

This opportunity will be formally launched in the middle of July 2007 (see the countdown timer on this page to see exactly how long is left) so people who register now will be in a very strong position to make some serious profits.

EVO Play is designed to attract a wide range of users from the young to the less young, everyone will find something of interest. Those that take action now will be in a really strong position when everything finally launches as by introducing just a few people yourself you could find in a few months that the social networking aspect of this site will have exploded your community to perhaps hundreds or thousands of people.

The great thing is that you can register at EVO Play now for no cost and find out more about what the whole thing is about. I’ve been told that the main site was viewed more times in the first 6 days that YouTube was in the first 3 months so that must indicate just how influential this could be.

Even if you are not an online gaming participant yourself I’m sure it won’t have escaped your notice that this market is expanding rapidly given the increase in broadband access and the potential to take part with people all over the world.

Personally I’m not a great fan of how the site looks but don’t let that put you off, this is definitely one not to be missed.

In a previous post I mentioned that I had sent off for details of Business Opportunities (What Really Makes Money) from Nick Laight. The package arrived just before I left for my week’s break in Spain so I took the opportunity to review all the material whilst lying by the pool.

The package consisted of a manual that contains 8 business ideas that Nick suggests can be started with little capital but have the potential for good earnings. Also included was a CD with a further 11 business ideas. Finally there were copies of the last three newsletter editions, so all in all quite a comprehensive package.

There were several ideas that caught my eye and two specifically that I’d like to cover in this post.  The first was a report on the CD that provided some information about one of my favoured money making methods, namely sports arbitrage trading. I have written about this on several occasions and whilst I don’t trade heavily in this area I am always keen to learn new ways of exploiting this business. The report provided information about the Odds Exchange website which is a portal that provides a whole raft of information about sports betting. This is a very useful site as it provides access to many online betting sites and associated services. In relation to sports arbitrage trading there is one section of the site that is dedicated to identifying arbitrage opportunities.

At the time of writing the arbitrages identified related to soccer and tennis. Assuming you could place the requisite trades returns were between 1.5% and 3.2%. There weren’t a large number identified and one that I looked at in detail used an Hungarian bookmaker for part of one trade. As I couldn’t find an English translation for the site it’s clear that not all opportunities would be available (unless you can work out the Hungarian equivalents of course). Also, as with any arbitrage opportunity you need to be quick to place the trade as they don’t always last that long.

If you register at Odds Exchange you can request the arbitrage trades be emailed to you so this could be a very useful service. In the report on the CD they highlighted examples of trades where profits would be above 30%. Whilst a very tempting profit it is always worth double-checking everything when profits like this are presented, however a good spot by Nick Laight and the WRMM team.

The second scheme that caught my eye was in the May edition of the newsletter and was an investment recommendation for woodland. A few years ago I did some basic research in investments in timber, primarily in Panama but never followed it up fully. The report in the newsletter focused on investing in woodland in the UK. As Nick explained the green movement has made this a very tempting area to get involved with as the European Union provide a whole host of subsidies and grants to encourage woodland development. The newsletter report gave some clear guidance on how to proceed, useful websites that gave even more information and a theoretical example of what profits could be achieved.

All in all this was highly attractive and I am considering following this up further when I return from holiday with a few ideas that I think could make this even more profitable.

Whilst I’ve only identified two business ideas from the wealth of information I received I am sure that many of the others provided have real potential so if you were considering a subscription to What Really Makes Money from Nick Laight at Canonbury Publishing then all I can say is go ahead as I don’t think you will be disappointed.

We often hear talk of diversification as a way of reducing risk and creating a sustainable investment portfolio. I’m keen on this strategy and think there is much to be gained by following it. Clearly there are many ways to diversify, one which I like is to have something precious. In the past I’ve mentioned that I invest in gold and silver as they both represent good hedges against the devaluation of currency that is continually happening.

One of the great attractions for me about gold and silver is that there is a finite supply (to all intents and purposes) so as demand increases and supply diminishes the values of these metals should rise. Increasingly there are reports that miners are having to go deeper and increase capital expenditure to find more precious metals and as investors this can only be good news.

Somewhat in a similar vein I’m now looking at investments in precious gems such as rubies, sapphires, opals and more specifically diamonds. Again, the law of supply and demand should figure highly in ensuring that values increase over time. Now whilst it’s fairly easy to buy gems set in rings, brooches or pendants this does mean that much of the intrinsic value is lost as they are already ‘worked’. It would be better to own the raw gems themselves as this then provides a way to trade them in the future.

One investment that I’ve recently joined is Diamond Cash Club as they provide a way to own gems and diamonds. The principle of this offer is based on a matrix structure where you only need two people in your downline to be successful. To help new members recruit it’s advisable to join an organised team as they help to recruit the downline you need. I’ve joined theDCCTeam as they are very active and have created a very supportive environment for building membership.

So, how does it work. Well the cost to join Diamond Cash Club is $220 which splits $200 for a gemstone voucher and $20 for administration fees. The good thing is that the gemstone voucher which costs you $200 is actually worth $300 retail which you can redeem online at the approved gemstore linked to the site.

When you purchase a gemstone voucher you join a matrix where you should be looking to sponsor just 2 other people. When you achieve this you will be able to progress through the matrix. As I mentioned it’s advisable to join a team such as DCCTeam as they will help you to obtain the two sign-ups if you need them to.

As you go through the various matrix levels you will cycle out until you reach the diamond level where you will receive $8000 and a $6000 diamond. So, for an initial investment of just $220 there is great scope to achieve both a great financial return and own a diamond as well. It’s worth saying that once you cycle out of the Diamond level you will be re-entered to begin the cycle again.

Many of us take for granted the facilities and services that make our day to day lives easy. Running water, plentiful food, transport, computers and many other things have pretty much always been around and we’ve come to think very little of them.

However, for millions of people in this world this is not the case. Each day presents huge challenges with respect to education, hygiene, health and a whole range of other things. Should this really be of any concern to us? Are we all totally independent or is there a deeper connection that ties each and every person on this earth together? Hopefully you tend towards the latter and see humanity as something that all of us have some part to play in.

Nobody chooses where to be born so therefore no-one can determine directly what direction that life might take. It’s true that once we grow up our destiny is more in our own hands but even then there are situations that can prevent us from reaching our full potential.

My thoughts above were stirred when I came across the site Kiva which has been developed to provide a gateway for those of us who have much to help those who are trying to improve their own lives as well as their families. The site was set up by staff who previously worked for companies such as Paypal, Google and TiVo. Their idea is for supporters to provide loans to unique small businesses in the developing world.

Funds are collected through Kiva and then distributed to the local recipient by Field Partners who have a lot of experience in the field known as Microfinance.

When you signup you are able to review all of the businesses that are currently looking for funding and decide whether you’d like to donate. Typical donations range from $10 upwards and loan requests vary from $200 to $1500. As these are loans the intent is that you will be paid back your amount although there are no interest payments made.

When I saw this I was keen to take part and have made a couple of donations so far. As there is a connection with Paypal the site has been able to negotiate a fee free arrangement so all the funds you place will go to the small business you elect. There is a lot more information on the Kiva site and I would encourage you to take a look.

In just one days time I will be heading off for a Spanish Siesta Selebration (I know the spelling’s wrong but the alliteration works!) or in other words a week’s holiday in Spain.

Thinking about this made me realise that not everyone is as fortunate as myself in being able to afford good holidays so I wanted to do something to try and help others.

So, I’m going to offer readers of my blog an opportunity to win a fully paid membership at Global Pension Plan that offers a very rewarding €55,000 (or €110,000 if under 27 years of age) payout once the membership target has been reached (see site for full terms and conditions). Now, to ensure fairness the following rules will apply:

1. Entrants must not be a member of Global Pension Plan already

2. Entrants must confirm that they will comply with all the disclosures related to identification as required by the programme. For many detractors this aspect is a red flag but when you look at what is needed it is no more onerous than any financial institution nowadays under the ‘Know your Customer’ edicts

3. Entrants must be responsible for payment of all taxes where applicable

4. Entrants should familiarise themselves with the terms and conditions on the Global Pension Plan website

5. Only one entry per person is allowed. Each entrant must have a valid email address.

6. Entrants must be aged 66 or under

If you are already a member then why not submit an entry for others (must have a separate email address). It could be family, friends, work colleagues or someone who you think deserves a helping hand.

The prize will be in the form of a gift voucher from Global Pension Plan and must be claimed by the date shown on the voucher.

To enter all you need to do is send an email to 4mywealth@safe-mail.net that shows the entrants full name, birthday, confirmation that they will comply with all disclosure requirements and a valid email address (If all of this information is not provided at the original submission the entry will not be valid for entry). Closing date for the competition is Sunday 17th June 2007 at Noon GMT.

Once all the entries are received I will draw out the names of the winners and notify them by email and list them on my blog (my decision is final). Also, note that I will donate the referral fee from each sign-up (less any tax payments) to a recognised UK charity so that even more people can benefit.

If you are not successful in the competition then why not purchase a policy directly by going to Global Pension Plan and submitting your details. At the time of writing there are nearly 63,000 members and growth is rising at above 2,000 new sign-ups each week. The target of 100,000 members is fast approaching, don’t miss out on this great opportunity.

Disclaimer: There is no guarantee of any future payout and all entrants agree to indemnify the blog owner from any liabilities arising from taking part in the draw.

One of the things you learn when investing online is to seek out people who demonstrate integrity and honesty in their dealings. You will see many opportunities that promise a lot but turn out to be totally dishonest. To reduce this risk I look for people who understand how online investing works and what to look out for when putting forward any recommendations for investment.

A great example of this was highlighted in my post on April 18th and the admin has continued to provide very valuable data to all the members. The latest programme that is recommended is again a private venture which means I won’t be providing a direct link here.

As this is a new online venture you should be cautious about any spend you make and as with most plans it is advisable to redeem your original investment as quickly as possible. The programme admin is known to a direct contact of the Secure Your Future forum and is considered to be honest and trustworthy.

There are 4 plans available with varying rates of return and timescales. The returns are earned by investments in non-USA companies and in FOREX trading. There is a maximum weekly spend of $5000 (minimums depend on the plan taken and range from $1 to $100).

All payments use ebullion, deposits can be eCurrency or Gold and payments will all be eCurrency. For further details please send an email to this email address