The pleasure of being on top!

This is the way my investment tournament win was reported on BigSmarty.com:

EZ Money Wins First-Ever Shootout Tournament

After 5 exciting weeks of trading EZ Money pulled off an EZ victory against Top Leader who went down in a final flurry of trading today. EZ's portfolio ended in a modest 6% gain for the week compared with other porfolios he has shown in earlier weeks. EZ made steady gains throughout the final week ending at $106,493. Top Leader ended the tournament at $100,806 (down $222 for the day).

Each of EZ's 5 matches were strkingly different. The first week EZ ended with a portfolio of $102,701, which was less than $1k over donnyboy. In the 2nd week EZ finished at $104,756, a $6k difference with jujubee's ending portfolio of $98,663. Gidget was EZ's 3rd heads-up match, and finished the week at $89,833 against EZ's $115,820, a 26k difference.

The fourth week was an exciting contest with two apparently equally-matched players. They even traded some of the same stocks. OvertheRainbow$$$ shot ahead in the first day to $163k against EZ's $157k. Rainbow was ahead by over $6k on Tuesday, but lost her edge by a mere thousand dollars on Wednesday and never recovered her lead. By Friday EZ was at $181, and Rainbow was at $162, lower than any portfolio since Monday.

Week 5 started with Top Leader just under EZ. Both were in the red at the end of the first day. They seemed to swap trading days throughout the week, but both ended with some serious last-minute trading. Top Leader could never quite catch up.

The next Shootout starts the second week in October with impressive cash prizes.
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I'm inviting everyone to come join us for the next round of tournaments. Why would you want to? Well, one great reason is because they pay cash prizes. $1,000 for first place in most of the tournaments. And at least up to $50 for placing in the top ten of a weekly contest. Another reason is because they are great fun. It's like combining Fantasy Football with investing. One more reason is you can learn a lot about how to manage your investments without any expense.. the tournaments are FREE and you don't use any real money (you just get real money back when you win)

Join us, please.

eBay Tips and Tricks

One of the most effective and least used tools to generate traffic to your eBay listings is the About Me page. I can't stress this enough.. If you're on eBay, you need an About Me page.

I can hear you all asking "why?" eBay is a community and all eBay users are members of that community. Checking out the About Me page of people you conduct business with gives you an opportunity to get to know them. Because eBay is cyberspace market, you have no other way to get to let prospective bidders know that you're a real person.

Think about it.. you shop at some stores because you like the people who work there. An About Me page takes the first step towards establishing a professional and trusted identity on eBay. So, if you don't have an About Me page I want you to go create one as soon as you finish reading this post. It doesn't have to be a work of art; just get something up there to tell people who you are. You can always go back later to edit or redesign it.

When you plan your About Me page consider adding the following:
-Who you are and what part of the world you live in. (it's not necessary to give your home address or phone numbers)
-Your hobbies. If you collect things, this is the place to let the world know.
-Tell whether you run your eBay business full-time or part-time and if you have another career, share that information too.
-The type of merchandise you sell (or buy) should be mentioned. Promote youself here. Tell the reader why your products and service are highly valued.
-Include your most recent feedback and a list of your current auctions.
-If you have an off-eBay business with a website, your About Me page is the only place where eBay will allow you to include a link to your website. Be sure to take advantage of that and include a link.

To create your About Me page, click on the Me icon next to any user's name, scroll to the bottom of their About Me page and find the line that reads "To Ccreate your own About Me page click here." or type in the following: http://members.ebay.com/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll?AboutMeLogin then follow the simple preformatted template for your first page and work from there.

Good luck!

Believe...

"Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.

And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them." ---Mosiah 4:9-10

Top Dog

Well I did it! After 5 weeks of difficult trading I walked away the winner of the first ever BigSmarty Wallstreet Head to Head Shootout Tournament.

I struggled this week but managed to keep a modest lead on my competitor until Friday when I was able to widen my lead. I finished with a $6,466 gain. My competitor finished with a $2,817 gain.

The amazing thing is that even though he lost to me, his gain was almost 3% for the week. Why do most people settle for a 2 to 5% gain a year when it's possible to make that in a week? If I averaged 2.8% each week I could grow my money 140% each year (and yes that includes taking a couple weeks off).

Does doubling your money every year sound good to you? Let me show you how.

Fridays Finds

It's time for another issue of Fridays Finds. The one day each week when I share with you some of the many unique places I find on the web. The sites listed could vary in content from funny to educational, or bizarre to just plain enjoyable. Some might be commercial sites selling unusual items and others might be freely sharing whatever information they have. I'll include a description with the link to give you an idea of what to expect if I have the time. Otherwise you'll be on your own. But, in most cases you should be able to figure out what to expect by the name of the site although some may surprise you.
So climb aboard, fasten your seatbelts, keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times but please have fun!

1. eBay sniping tool

2. 3D textmaker

3. Online Jigsaw Puzzles

4. Americans for Mitt

5. Blogger Play

BigSmarty.com Launches Web's First Stock Trading Social Network

GREAT NEWS!!!!!

Earlier this month BigSmarty.com officially launched their new stock trading tournament site, where participants can create customizable portfolios, find friends with similar interests, and win cash and prizes playing FREE in the ultimate fantasy stock market community.

Available now on the site are cash tournaments, including BigSmarty Challenges - Join monthly and weekly tournaments where you start with $100,000 of virtual cash in your tournament portfolio. Buy and sell stocks in real-time. The top 3 largest portfolios at the end of the tournament win REAL CASH! Place in the top 10 and win player points to compete in even higher cash prize tournaments. Additional new games are also available at BigSmarty.com, such as Wallstreet BINGO, where players find 25 stock symbols they think will go up. You can create your own BINGO card and watch it grow, winning you Cash and Player Points whenever you score a BINGO.

BigSmarty offers more than stock trading tournaments and games. With our Community features, you can create a profile about yourself and meet people online. You can maintain a buddy list, chat live, or email through BigSmarty's internal mail. Upload a photo of yourself for other members to see. People can click on your image and add you to their buddy list or send you messages.

Practice Portfolio: Want to convince yourself that you're ready to invest a chunk of your hard-earned money in the stock market? Here's how. Set up a practice portfolio in BigSmarty Wallstreet, our online virtual stock exchange, where you'll trade real-time with virtual cash and have a lot of fun in stock trading tournaments.

Join and play for FREE. Big Smarty.com is Your ultimate, free stock-trading community - it's Fun, Free, and For cash.

Thursday Thinkers

I'm making this a regular feature. Every Thursday I'll post at least one, but probably more, questions to get you thinking. Leave your thoughts or comment on others responses. Let's have a dialog! Here's todays questions:

1. If you could organize a family reunion with all of your dead relatives, where would you hold it and who would be there?

2. Name the grossest thing you have ever put in your mouth.

3. What do you think is the most soothing sound?

4. If your life was a sitcom, what would the title be?

Now it's up to you.. go to the commentssection and leave your answer for one, or two, or all of todays questions. Then check back later to read what others have said. Have a great Thursday!