Archive for December, 2009
Full Steam Ahead to 2010…
Rather than copy everyone else and look back at 2009 I thought I’d take a look at what 2010 will be like for those who invest online.
I’m not necessarily going to make predictions, more a view of what I feel will prove profitable through the year. My recommendations are a purely personal view and you may well think differently. Why not add a comment so that we can spread knowledge wider.
Firstly I’d like to mention the Prosperity Game as this is due to go live with a website early in 2010. Until it officially launches the investment needed is just $150 and you only need 1 other person to come along with you for you to make a return. The philosophy behind the Prosperity game is one of Pay it Forward and I think this will propel this opportunity forward throughout the year. I’m hoping to benefactor some people in throughout the year so stay tuned for more details.
Next, one of my favourites, Sports Arbitrage Trading. Both Gold Nugget Invest and SportArbs look strong contenders for 2010. As I write SportArbs is very close to its 1,000th member and don’t forget that Gold Nugget Invest is looking to go private in early 2010 so well worth checking out in the very near future.
Another strong contender for 2010 in my opinion will be PTV Partner. They continue to deliver on their investment plans and I’m expecting good things in the coming year.
Now, how about an opportunity I’m still pondering over, TVI Express. My worry is that all the publicity is about how to refer others and earn money rather than showcasing the products and services you get as part of your subscription. Having been burnt on a similar opportunity a few years ago I’m still not that convinced and I’d welcome any constructive comments from readers.
Finally, I believe QCOOPERS is an opportunity that shows promise. It might take a little while to come together but likening it to a horse race it is definitely an outsider with potential.
Enough from me, now all it needs is for me to wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous 2010.
SportArbs account winners…
Yes, the day finally dawned, Tuesday 29 December meant another birthday and to help me celebrate I asked readers to make a prediction about the daily return at SportArbs.
As it turned out three lucky readers got the daily return for the 29th spot-on, 2.07%. I’d originally announced that there would be two prizes, one for $50 and one for $25. But since three people got the right answer I decided to add a further $25 prize.
So, many congratulations to Jenny who was the first person to predict the correct return. Runners up were Ken and Tim so they should be congratulated as well.
All three have been notified and funds sent to them so they will soon be enjoying daily rewards at SportArbs. They won’t become millionaires overnight but given that returns are made 7 days a week it will soon create a reasonable income, especially if they use 100% compounding.
Thanks also to everyone else who entered and hopefully you’ll have better luck next year.
Why Bank Wires may prove to be a good option…
With any Online Investment the ability to deposit or withdraw funds quickly is crucial. Historically bank wires were expensive and took a long time to complete. Has technology changed all that?
When I first started online investing I was adamant that I wouldn’t use Bank Wires as I felt they were too expensive and too slow. So, for most of my programmes I have used the various payment processors that have been set up to facilitate these types of transaction.
However, even this option has not been that trouble free as some services have failed at crucial times. Also, more of them are introducing charges to receive funds which means you have to think carefully about the sum to deposit to ensure you cover the cost.
Of course it is easy to generalise and say that none of them provide an efficient and economical service which would be the wrong thing to do. Some provide excellent customer service and are very efficient but you still have to weigh that against the extra steps needed to get funds from and to your personal account.
Recently I’ve had cause to step back and think about whether I should reconsider bank wires as my main vehicle for deposits and withdrawals. Two online programmes that I’ve had investments with have reported problems with specific payment processors which clearly creates concern when moving funds.
So, when I wanted to make a deposit to another programme I went back to my bank and initiated a bank wire. Doing this directly with a customer service representative made the whole operation very easy. Yes, it did cost me to do this but at the end of the day I know I will recoup these costs pretty quickly with the returns I get. So, for this transaction it was a good choice.
Clearly this wouldn’t work with small amounts and I’d suggest that $500 would be the minimum you’d want to contemplate when considering a bank wire but at least you know that it will get to where it’s going and given the new electronic banking systems it can be there pretty quickly as well.
It’s always worth keeping an open mind on any decision you make. Time and Technology may well create an environment where your original decision needs to be modified.
HoldingInt is Holding out to VanFund members…
At the end of November Vanfunds notified their members that they had made the decision to sell to HoldingInt based in Hong Kong. The message was that this would ensure members continued to receive a premier service and be part of a major financial institution.
To say this came as something of a shock to existing VanFund members would be understating things hugely. There was no prior indication and we were not given any option in the matter, our funds were transferred immediately.
So, what’s happened since then? Well as far as I can tell nothing of any importance to VanFund members. No communication whatsoever and no timeline for when we will be able to access our funds.
In an effort to find out what the plans are I contacted HoldingInt by email on 22 December. As yet I’ve not had a reply but given the holidays I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt until early next week before making any further enquiry.
In my email I made the point that online investors are very sensitive to the level and frequency of communication they receive and wanted HoldingInt to provide some indication of what news we would get and when.
To me the fact that nothing has been communicated for nearly a month is not very professional and at the time made the statement that the VanFunds website should have been retained until the transition is complete.
Hopefully 2010 will bring greater clarity and openness from HoldingInt but we need to see some positive move in this direction very soon.
SportArbs account up for grabs but time is running out…
My wife and daughters have headed off to the town to bag some bargains in the Sales so I’m able to grab a little time to make this post.
I just wanted to remind everyone that my birthday is fast approaching on December 29th and I wanted to give everyone a chance to help me celebrate.
I’ve decided to run a little competition with two prizes. The first is worth $50 and the second $25. As I’m a follower of Sports Arbitrage as way to make additional money online I’m offering the two lucky winners the chance to have accounts at SportArbs. This is a managed Sports Arbitrage opportunity where you can earn on a daily basis.
To win all you have to do is predict what the daily return at SportArbs will be for December 29th. To make this as easy as possible for you I’ve added a link to a new page (see where it says Click to Win SportArbs account at the top of the page) where you can select what you think the return will be, enter your name and email so I know how to contact you if you win.
You can have a maximum of 3 submissions from any single email address (as the webpage only allows you to enter one prediction at a time you’d need to submit three times). Alternatively you can send email entries with your prediction to birthdayboy_at_onlineinvestingguru.com (replace _at_ with @).
As this is just a bit of fun to help me celebrate I can guarantee that I won’t bombard you with emails with all sorts of offers so don’t let the thought of that put you off.
You will need an account at Global Digital Pay so if you haven’t already got one please do this ahead of time.
Closing date is 4pm PST 28 December so make sure your entry is received before then or else it will be disqualified. Judge’s decision i.e. mine is final.
Shortcut Bulletin celebrates the 12 days of Christmas…
As things start to wind down for celebrations tomorrow I wanted to give you a heads up about a special promotion that is being run by Shortcut Bulletin.
Edited by Glenn Fisher this service comprises of daily emails that provide opportunity seekers with ideas and recommendations for making additional money. If you subscribe to the full service you will receive a monthly printed newsletter that goes into more detail about specific offers and also includes contributions from other authors such as Michael Masterson, Harrison Moran and Brian Tracy amongst others.
In celebration of the holiday season Glenn is intending to publish over the next 12 days of Christmas a special offer for many of the services that Shortcut Bulletin are associated with.
So, if you want to start 2010 with a range of ideas to make additional money then I’d recommend you sign up for the Shortcut Bulletin email today. This is a free service so you won’t have to worry about parting with any money to learn about these great offers.
If you find nothing of interest then all you’ll have to do is unsubscribe after the 12 days. However, as a taster let me just say that Glenn has persuaded one service to reduce their fee from £1,000 to just £99 for eight days. If you want to learn more make sure you sign up.
PS: Don’t forget to enter my competition to win a SportsArb account, see my post of December 19 and please hurry as the closing date is approaching fast.
New website for PTV Partner goes live…
After what seems a long protracted process the new PTV Partner website is now uploaded. This has been quite a while in the making and in fact the upload has been postponed several times to make sure that everything is working fine.
Now, I am a big fan of PTV Partner but to be honest I’m not sure that the new design is to my taste. The background is black which I always find a little uninspiring. There are some good images on both the homepage and inside the site itself. In my limited testing there are still a few things that don’t work fully but I’m sure that these will be smoothed out soon.
Luckily, the investment plans are still in place and this is really the most important thing. You have the option to invest in up to 4 plans:
1. 110% for 10 days
2. 125% for 20 days
3. 145% for 30 days
4. 190% for 40 days
All above are business days.
There is a very lively chat room facility where you can take part in the more social side of the venture (although questions about PTV Partners are always welcome).
One good thing about PTV Partners is that you can join without necessarily making a deposit straight away. This will allow you to access the chat room and participate.
If you are something of a party animal (especially at Xmas) then you should know PTV Partner will be holding an online party on 22 December.
If you decide to make an investment the choice of processors is good with Liberty Reserve, Global Digital Pay and StrictPay available.
P.S. Don’t forget to check out my post of 19 December to have a chance to win one of 2 SportArbs accounts
Your chance to win a SportsArb account for 2010…
On December 29th it’s my birthday and to help me celebrate I’ve decided to run a competition for my readers.
There will be two prizes, the first worth $50 and the second $25. As regular readers will know I’m a big fan of Sports Arbitrage as a way to profit from online investing. One programme that has performed well for me is SportsArb. This is a managed investment that provides members with daily returns of around 2%.
As returns are earned seven days a week it doesn’t take that long for a small investment to grow. And that’s where my prizes come in. I’m going to award two lucky readers with a SportsArb account, one funded with $50 and the other $25.
So, what do you have to do to win? You’ll need to get your crystal ball out for this one. What I’d like you to do is predict what the daily return will be for December 29th. Please make sure you provide a prediction to two decimal places, for example, 2.09.
If you take a look at the SportsArb website you’ll see that they post the daily return at the top of the page. That’s the figure I will use to identify who has predicted correctly. When I’ve found who has the right figure I’ll choose a first and second winner.
Why not take a look at SportsArb now and see what performance has been like for the last few days as this may give you some help (although it probably won’t).
To enter please send your prediction by email to birthdayboy_at_onlineinvestingguru.com (replace _at_ with @). Entries must be received by 4pm PST on Monday 28th December.
You are allowed a maximum of 3 entries from any single email address. Judges’ decision i.e. mine is final. You will need an account with Global Digital Pay so if you haven’t opened one yet please click on the link.
Winners will be contacted by 01 January 2010. Please ensure that you understand the terms and conditions of opening and using a SportsArb account as no liability will be accepted if your account is rejected for any reason.
It should go without saying that I have no control over the workings of SportsArb so the competition is subject to the service being available on a continuing basis.
Good luck to everyone who enters! Why not encourage others to take part as well by sending them a link to this blog.
SportArbs no longer use Liberty Reserve…
When I checked my account at SportArbs today there was a special notice to say that they no longer use Liberty Reserve. They say that the payment processor has had difficulties over the last few days culminating in SportArbs losing a sizeable sum of money.
However, this has not caused any disruption at SportArbs as they have what they call a Stabilisation fund for just such problems.
What it does mean though is that all members who had funded their SportArbs account via Liberty Reserve will now have to use Global Digital Pay. So, if you are a member affected by this you should make sure that you open a Global Digital Pay account as soon as possible. It is a very straightforward process and verification can be quickly achieved.
I did read of other programmes having difficulties with Liberty Reserve over the last few days and this seems to have been caused by a problem with the API interface which now seems to be solved. I’m not sure whether SportArbs had the same or other issues but the result is that Liberty Reserve will no longer be used at SportArbs.
STOP PRESS: It will soon be my birthday and to celebrate the occasion I am running a competition for readers of my blog. There will be two prizes, the first a $50 account at SportArbs and the second a $25 account at SportArbs. For your chance to enter make sure you read my post tomorrow, Saturday 19 December. Why not sign up at my Feedblitz subscription above to ensure you won’t miss the post.
Free gift for new subscribers…
As we’re getting near Xmas I thought I’d encourage readers to subscribe to my blog so that you will always receive the latest post I write.
As an incentive I’d like to send you a free pdf report that highlights 10 key things you need to know about Offshore Banking.
All too often people are exposed to hearsay or speculation about a subject that could lead them to be wrongly informed of what they can do. Offshore Banking is a classic example and it’s about time you knew the facts.
Governments are increasingly trying to discourage individuals from having an offshore bank account as they try to portray them as somehow illegal or at best dishonest. This is not true. There are perfectly legal and valid reasons why we as individuals should be entitled to have an offshore account.
In Offshore Banking Alert you’ll learn:
- The most important benefits of an offshore account
- Why it’s important to choose your jurisdiction carefully
- The need to think twice before choosing a small bank
- The truth about privacy and anonymity
- How to avoid the ‘Open a Swiss Bank Account’ Trap
- The importance of KYC and FATF
- What you need to open an offshore account
- The truth about Offshore Credit Cards
- The Advantages of accounts in various currencies
- Why Hiding in Plain Sight is better than just Hiding
To get a copy of this free report in pdf form all you have to do is sign up to the Feedblitz subscription at the top of the page. It’s simple and quick and you can unsubscribe at any time, but hopefully you’ll stick with us as we explore the world of online investing.
