MyWallSt.net: Myspace for Investors

MyWallSt.net is a financial social network for those interested in investing. It's like myspace but for financial investors. Whats really cool about the site is that it creates a community where ideas can start and grow. You can literally grab some great tips from people who have been there, and you can even suggest some of your own ideas.

There is a total benefit to having an online community and network of friends to help you make that decision before you decide to buy or sell. Think about getting advice on some great stock picks before you make any rash decisions. Having the assurance of other online friends helps you make better choices for your portfolio.

One of the best features that the site to offer in my opinion, is that it allows you to trade virtual money with the live stock market. So now anyone can learn what would have happened if you had done a certain buy or sell trade. This alone is worth all the money in the world, because you can learn how the market works through virtual money without the costs of those expensive programs for expert traders.

The real advantage with the site is that a beginner can learn how the market works with just a little bit of time versus the huge learning curve associated with investing in the market the traditional way. Registering for the website is totally free, check it out and see what the site has to offer. It could change your whole financial world.

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PG&E Solar Pledge

PG&E Pacific Gas & Electric based in California, made a pledge to purchase 1000 Megawatts of solar energy over the next few years, nearly doubling its original pledge. The company said it views the solar industry as a great investment which could end up saving 36 million tons of carbon emissions over the next 20 years. Thats a lot of emissions folks.



Due to a new law enacted by governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, mandates that California has to have 20% of its electricity come from renewable sources by 2020. Experts say that contracts are already being devised that will put California up and running at 19% renewable energy by 2010. Startup companies have been looking to open up renewable solar energy plants in California's Mojave Desert as a source that will be up and running by 2010 as well. It's good to hear that a renewable energy market has been created due to the state government.

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Black Friday Thanksgiving Specials

Black Friday is the day right after Thanksgiving. It is usually the number one most shopped day out of the year. Many retail stores offer the best discounts on Black Friday to help kick off the holiday shopping season. The 2007 thanksgiving specials offered at black-friday.net offer a one stop shop for all your thanksgiving discount needs. The site features major retailers including Best Buy, KB Toys, Kohl's, Old Navy, Staples, Target, Toys R Us, and Wal-Mart.

This year I am looking out for deals on electronics, so naturally I am keeping my eyes on the Best Buy ads and the deals at Staples. I honestly can't wait to get some of those hot ticket electronics for the best prices possible.

What I like best is that the site has a feature that allows you to sign up for email updates when new Black Friday ads are posted. Honestly, the time to start looking for the best deals are right now. Then you can go to the black-friday.net on Black Friday instead of having to stand in those horrific lines at the shopping malls or retail outlets. The site offers the best deals with the ability to sit at home and avoid the inconvenience of crowds. So check out the site and save big.

Ethanol Boom Fading

The ethanol boom in the most recent years may be coming to an end or at least fading. The spending in infrastructure from investors created a boom in construction for distilleries due to rising corn prices. The boom was a sparkle of hope for rural America who already received federal subsidies for growing corn.

Rural farmers were ecstatic about ethanol thinking it was a gold rush for biofuels. However, part of the problem was that the expansion happened too quickly. Distilleries were built too fast creating a market overload in the ethanol industry, partially because the means to distribute the ethanol has not kept up.

Biofuels are a great idea to wean America off of foreign oil, but not all cars can run off of ethanol. If ethanol were as widely available as diesel, and all auto manufacturers made their cars duel use for gasoline and ethanol, then perhaps it would have a fighting chance in the states. The next elected president will most likely be asked to help the the slumping ethanol industry. With the environment and energy independence as a top priority in the race, the next president may come to the rescue with federal aid, putting the burden on tax payers.

Become a kid again - ride a beach cruiser bike

XYZbikes.com has some really great deals on single gear cruiser bicycles. Some of them of them are only $88 and they are very stylish and cool looking. These beach cruiser bicycles are can be for fun or for in town commuting. These do not necessarily have to be ridden on the beach but in any bike friendly town. The bikes come in different colors and there are different models for boys and for girls.

The bikes come mostly 85% assembled and only require a 15 minute setup once received from fed ex. Although xyzbikes recommends that you take it in to a bike shop to be assembled. The bike is a 26 inch and has extra wide fenders as well as a comfortable seat and low handle bars for easy riding. No more more leaning forward with those other bikes. The bike has a sleek design and is perfect for college towns.

The one great thing about bikes is that they can be used instead of driving and can save you a little gas if you use it to run errands around town. Also the less you drive the more we are being environmentally friendly and reducing greenhouse gases that contribute that climate change.

Nuclear Energy on the Way

This past week marked the first time an application to build a new nuclear power plant in 30 years. Nuclear prospectors feel that this is the answer to global warming as nuclear energy produces virtually no greenhouse gases. In fact, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects up to 28 applications for new nuclear power plants in the next 15 months which can cost up to $90 billion.

The reasons why investors have stepped up to the plate and started with the building plans is because the government has stepped in and guaranteed against loan defaults. Otherwise these types of investments are considered financially risky. Some people are very speculative however, that even if all these projects get built in a speedy manner that it would be enough to slow global warming by 2050.

With the aid of the government, these projects can get off the ground in building new nuclear power plants that can jump start the energy market once again.

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Hotel Reservations

Hotel Reservations is a comprehensive website that helps the average traveler plan out vacations or business trips with simplicity and ease. The website is featured in several languages to reach the maximum potential customer base. Once on the main page the inquiring user can select to reserve a hotel or a motel from start to finish. HotelReservations.com also has a feature that can help you book a vacation rental or a resort if you are looking for a more relaxing and remote getaway. Additionally, the website also has allows the user to book for an auto rental and to search for flights. It really is a one stop shop for all your traveling needs.

When searching for a hotel or resort, the results that come up display several listings for your chosen city. You can easily navigate and sort through the hotel listing by price, best value, and quality. You can then select between two or more hotels or resorts and use there compare feature to help you make a decision for which hotel to stay at. I did a search on Bangkok, Thailand and found several resorts that were very competitively priced. Seriously, I have searched the same dates on other travel sites and received much higher quotes for the airfare and hotel prices.



The site also features a vacation packages section where you can plan a package to save money to select locations. It's like having your own personal travel agent only they don't talk back. It was so easy, I searched for a two week vacation package from San Francisco to London for about $2000! What a deal, going to the United Kingdom for just a couple grand. What a dream. Each description of the hotel tries to describe things to do locally in that area. So if your like me when you go on vacation and you don't plan on what your going to do once you get there you can just be spontaneous.

Booking with HotelReservations.com is easy. You can either do it by their secure credit card system online, or you can call their 24 hour customer support to assist you. Whichever you feel more comfortable with, make sure the next time you plan a vacation of any kind, go to HotelReservations.com.

US Housing Prices are Falling

The US housing market has turned into a sellers market in some parts of the country. Many people are afraid of buying homes today when they feel the price might go down in value the next day. State hardest hit are California, New York, and Detroit among others. There were however, a few cities that actually still had housing value increases which included Portland and Seattle.

I know I am looking to buy a home soon, and I surely will try to wait it out a little before I buy a home. I dont want to buy a home if its value will decrease right after I buy it. The last housing slump took about 4 years to level off and rebound. 4 years is a long time, I dont know if I can wait that long, but hopefully the market will come around.

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Pingo: Over 5 Free Hours of International Phone Calls!

Pingo is an online service that is tailored for personal or commercial use of calling cards. You can simply purchase pre-paid time through this website
at the very best rates you can find. Pingo even has a tool called RateWatcher that saves you from having to look through other offers or deals to see if you are actually getting the lowest price for your money. Right now Pingo is having a deal if you want to purchase a global phone card. You would recieve $8 in free calls by getting a $25 card for just $17!

Not only that but through this blog posting there is a special discount offer if you sign up for Pingo with this special phone card blog discount coupon: “ppp3” valid for $3 off Pingo. Now it doesn't get any better than that. These
prepaid calling cards are all you need for the busy business man or making sure you don't go over on your phone bill.

There are no hidden fees with this service, just a small monthly fee. The services that Pingo offers make for a complete and convenient way to purchase pre-paid cards. They offer features like auto-recharge which automatically refills your account if it gets below $5. Pingo is just easy to use, all you have to do is call the toll free access number and enter the pin you're assigned to start making those long distance phone calls either domestically or internationally. Literally once you sign up with Pingo, its like having an instant calling card, thats ready and available when you are. Check them out and sign up today.

Cyber Attack Possible on US Electrical Grid

A troubling video just out that shows the potential of hacker breaking into US power grids. It demonstrates and shows all of us that our power grids are not secure enough. The video was even shown to Vice President Dick Cheney. Our entire power grid was never built from the very beginning with security in mind. Also, this is not an easy over night fix. According to the video, it will take time to go through and update all these systems with better security. These are after all advanced machines and complicated systems that route energy all over the nation.

The other qualm I have about this video and other news bits released by the media in the past, is that it feels when information like this released, like "our power grid is vulnerable to attack!" That it is shouting out to the world, "Hey! Our systems are vulnerable over here!" its just like asking for an attack from our enemies overseas or domestically. It really upsets me when information like that is leaked. This kind of stuff should not even be mentioned to the public until after they've fixed it. Just my two cents, watch the video below.

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Financing a Personal Loan

Complete Loan Source is a site that is dedicated to helping the average person with their everyday financing needs. Whether your looking for a Payday Loan or a Personal Loan, this site has it all. The service is available to everyone in the United States and they try to tailor your needs with the perfect loan. Everyone has a unique situation and their are different loans for each of them. Keep Complete Loan Source in mind, the next time you are thinking of financing your next car or if you are thinking about consolidating your debt.

Don't worry if you think you will get turned down for bad credit. They have special loans that can accommodate for that. So no matter what your situation is, financing is available for you.

Mattel Apologizes to China over Recalls of Toys

The US corporation Mattel has officially issued an extraordinary apology for its recall situation in China with its toys. Thats right folks, Mattel is groveling at the feet of China saying that the big problem in with lead paint in the Mattel toys was a design flaw rather then the fault of the Chinese. 255,000 toys were recalled after finding out that a lead based paint created a hazard for young children in the toys. Some people say that Mattel took the blame because of the Chinese creating 80% of their toy, and if the Chinese were to get upset it could just stop making all those toys and destroy Mattel. Either way, Mattelhas made an official statement saying that it was a "design-flaw". If you ask me, how do accidentally design lead paint into toys. You gotta wonder? Anyways check out the short film on the subject below.

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DialAFlight

DialAFlight is a one stop website that helps the everyday traveler find Cheap Flights to anywhere in the world. Want to find flights to New York? DialAFlight can help you get those Holiday Offers that you are looking for. Even if you looking for short breaks, weekend breaks, and the like, all you have to do is visit the site, dial the number and a helpful representative will help you find your perfect get away.

Are you a busy worker bee that travels around a lot? DialAFlight has business class flights too. Those business trips can easily be turned into city breaks that leave you coming back for more.

This new site is an independent UK travel company thats trying to shake up the travel industry by providing a unique and enjoyable service. So make sure to remember the next time your thinking of planning for those tropical holidays, make sure to remember DialAFlight.

Fox strikes deal for free shows on iTunes

With NBC and ABC television networks offering free television show downloads this week, Fox has jumped on the bandwagon by striking a deal with iTunes. iTunes will now offer free shows for particular series that the network is trying to promote. Or in another words the shows not very many people are watching. Those include: Back To You, Til' Death and K-Ville, all of which I have never even heard of.

The shows are offered commercial free unlike NBC's television shows where they force viewers to watch the commercials as part of the free download. The rivalry between tv networks is quite strange now as each network is striving to find a solution in these modern times to get more viewers. Programs like iTunes offer an avenue to watch shows at a later time if you happened to miss one, but some of these networks aren't happy with the terms set by iTunes.

Personally I would rather go to a central place like iTunes to search for shows I want to watch rather than have to go to the tv networks website and stream from there. It's just easier to use iTunes, and I am sure a lot of other people agree.

Smorty: Get Paid to Blog

Smorty is an online service that allows for bloggers to get paid to blog. The thing that is great about it is that bloggers can do what they do best and make a little extra money on the side. To sign up for this service you must have a blog that is at least 90 days old and meet some criteria that is available on the homepage of Smorty.

Whether your interested in blog advertising or whether your an advertiser and would like to advertise on blogs, Smorty can help you. The service is great because as a blogger you receive updates via email when you become eligible for an available campaign. The more popular your blog is the more you get paid for blogging, and you can add as many blogs that are eligible for sign up.

Smorty also pays out really fast via PayPal. They pay out once a week, which is faster than other paid blog websites that I know of. This service is a great benefit to either the blogger or the advertiser and is very easy and simple to use.

Google Presentation freeware

On Monday Google released its free Google Presentation freeware to battle the well known Microsoft's Power Point presentation. The software comes as part of Google's free online software thats bundled as Google Docs.

Not that Google is giving Microsoft a run for it's money yet, but it is my humble opinion that soon enough that may be the case. For Google to offer new free software that has some of the same basic functionality, translates to perhaps Microsoft will no longer have it's dominating Monopoly of these basic office applications.

From a simple economic standpoint the fact that there is a decent competitor in the race against Microsoft is a good sign for consumers. This is true because the two rivaling companies will now compete in terms of features and functionality. Microsoft may end up lowering their prices to compete with Google's freeware, and Google may beef up its software to compete with Microsoft's features.

All in all, this is just a battle that will take some time to play out. And the end result will ultimately benefit the consumer.

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Ashop Commerce: Ecommerce Software

Hey folks, I just wanted to post about this really great solution for online businesses utilizing ecommerce software. The company called Ashop Commerce, and they have developed this very useful shopping cart software to assist online businesses. The website listed above has some available demos to preview how the shopping cart software really works.

The software is very easy to use and has great support for tracking products and product themes. On the left hand side, their are quick links that allow you access to add/edit products, add/edit themes, change product layouts, add your own custom pages , and promote your products. In the center of the page it has a great looking graph that plots the amount of sales you have attained over time.

Once logged into your admin homepage, you can join the forum of other users who have setup merchant accounts as well. Also you can even utilize the multitude of features including gift certificates, discount coupons, and paypal express.

This ecommerce software really has so much to offer that checking it out for yourself and playing around with the demo is really the best way to see everything this has to offer.

Big banks join BofA in boosting non-customer ATM fee to $3

Other Big Banks are already following Bank of America's lead in hiking up their non-customer ATM fees to $3. As if I didn't tell you so. US Bank and Wachovia banks have now transitioned some of their ATM's to the new fee. Other major banks such as Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo still haven't followed suit, but just give them some time and see what happens.

This update comes as no surprise. Quite frankly, I think people should be writing the CEO's of these banks and complaining. People don't usually get a good raise every year and the cost of everything just continues to go up. Housing has gone up so high no one can truly afford them anymore, food prices, gas prices, fees left and right, when does it all end. The cost of living seems to be making it harder and harder for the average American to get by. Just my two cents on this issue.

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Bank of America Raises ATM fee

For whatever reason it may be, but the most likely one being greed, the Bank of America Corporation has decided to raise the cost of its non-customer ATM fees from $2 to $3. This move is likely to spark other Banking corporations to follow suit, which will most likely just piss a lot of people off, including myself.

Lets face it, no one likes ATM fees, and they just suck. If you look at your bank statements at the end of each month to discover that you've spent $10-$30 on ATM fees, it becomes quite upsetting. People need money and sometimes there is no choice except to pull from the nearest bank ATM.

Bank of America started the fee hike on July 31st, but did not apply the extra charge to high traffic ATM's such as at malls. Apparently Bank of America is trying to make up for money lost due to some interest rate fiasco. Although I happen to be a Bank of America customer, if other Banks follow suit by making the surcharge of $3 the norm, then I will get upset.

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Washington Mutual sees Housing "Near Perfect Storm"

Washington Mutual, the largest U.S. thrift, said that conditions in the housing market are creating a perfect storm and will most likely force the company to borrow more money to cover bad loans.

The company may have to borrow an additional $500 million to cover those bad loans. Previously the company forcasted to borrow $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion for the full year.

The combination of rising delinquencies, higher foreclosures, more housing inventories, increasing interest rates on many mortgages and greatly reduced availability of mortgages due to limited liquidity is creating a near-perfect storm for housing, according to Chief Executive Officer Kerry Killinger.

"It now appears that housing and capital market corrections will be worse and longer lasting than even we expected," Killinger said.

All this adding up with the Countrywide Inc. layoff announcement and it all adds up to bad news. A possible recession could occur in no time.

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Iphone price cut by $200

Apple has recently announce a price cut of $200 on their popular Iphone that use to cost $599. Now loyal Apple customers are outrages that they purchased the Iphone early to have it before anyone else. They have written complaints to Steve Jobs, and demanded some form of payback.

I am personally happy that I did not buy the Iphone right away. It generally is smart to wait a while for the product to improve and for prices to come down. There are that bunch of people who enjoy having the latest products before anyone else.

Even the blogging community has started a campaign against the Apple corporation as being unfair to its most loyal customers. Apple has issued an apology for its price slashing, but can people really complain? Everyone knows that prices on electronics comes down eventually. So just because it happened sooner than expected, people get all upset about it. I can understand and sympathize, but I do believe Apple should compensate there most loyal customers somehow as Steve Jobs did promise to make it up. So I really think there is no need to worry if you were one of those early Iphone buyers.

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Possible Recession Ahead

With the U.S. job market announcement of a 4,000 person job decline for the month of August, many economist don't just see this as a one month spike. There is much talk about a gradual weakening across several service sector jobs, the majority of American jobs. Some of these industries that have shown decline include factories, home builders, and public schools.

As an added bonus, consumer spending has been slowing down as well, amid triggering fears the economy is dwindling down. If another two months of steady job declines continue, then a recession is most certain. The heightened threat of a recession will surely prompt the Federal Reserve to cut short term interest rates by 25 to 50 basis points.

Countrywide Financial, based in California, said last Friday that it would probably cut 20 percent of its 60,000 workforce over the next three months. That works out to 12,000 job lay offs in the near term future. This is not going to be good for the economy at all. As well as many of other sub prime loan lenders, the lay offs could add up to well over 30,000 job cuts. As the mortgage industry corrects itself for its foolish lending practices, the economy will simply have to adjust. Many writers on the Internet are screaming Recession! As I am, only because the thought scares me as I am sure it scares many others as well.

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Data Shows Surprise U.S. Job Loss

This news came as a surprise. The month of August reported the first time jobs have been cut in four years. U.S. employers cut 4,000 jobs for the month of August amid growing problems with the credit market turmoil. Many financial firms hit hard by the sub prime mortage problems have already started announcing layoffs.

The last time jobs had been cut was back in August of 2003 when 42,000 non-farm jobs were lost.

Stock futures prices plunged after the weak jobs data was issued, and the dollar's value dropped against other major currencies on the evidence that a US housing slump and credit problems might be damaging the broader economy. This is overall bad news for out economy and raises the question of whether or not a recession will form out of this entire debacle.

The Federal Reserve is set to have a meeting on September 18th to discuss policy making on the open market. However, many believe that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by up 50 basis points much sooner.

This economy shake up really scares me because I don't want to see it start affecting other industries as well. If the economy does bad overall, then it means people might have to plan for a backup solution should more jobs start get thrown out the window. I suppose the only ting we can do in this situation is sit back and hope that everything turns out okay.

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Intel works on $2.5 billion chip factory in China

Intel has begun building its new fab in China called Fab 68. It costs a whopping $2.5 billion and is anticipated to attract more IT related business to the port city of Dalian in north east China. The new factory is one of the largest foreign investments in China and will feature some of the latest technology.

The fab is expected to use 90 nanometer technology which is the most advanced technology that the US will allow to export.

Currently, Intel makes most of its advanced microprocessors with 65-nanometer technology and plans to begin production on next-generation 45-nanometer technology in the second half of this year.

Intel has set up two assembly and test plants in Shanghai and Chengdu, along with research and development centers and labs in Beijing, Shanghai and other Chinese cities.

With Chinese economy going strong, there may be no end to foreign investment there. The only concern that people may have with such a high expansion rate of industrial complexes would be the output pollution which should be addressed instead of being let run rampant.

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New High Tech Restaurants

Is this what our new high tech restaurants will look like in the future? This is one invention that would take away a certain human element by eliminating the need for waiters and waitresses. As technology does advance more and more robotic and computerized devices will start to replace many of the things humans would traditionally do by hand. There is one thing thing that a robot cannot do right noe anyways, and that is great customer service.

Watch the video to see just how this contraption works, it seems simple and yet makes you wonder why restaurants in the US have not started to use this method of serving. The short video clip does mention that the restaurant that was using this serving method managed to cut operating costs in half!

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