7 mistakes that small investors often commit

Here are seven mistakes that small investors often commit.

Small investors do not have the necessary knowledge and temperament required to make money out of these complex products.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                          1.Speculate with derivatives, exotic products

Legendary stock investor Warren Buffett calls the futures and options segment weapons of mass financial destruction. Derivatives are meant for hedging by institutional investors and high net worth individuals. Retail investors who use these instruments for speculation are only courting financial disaster because F&O trading is not suitable for everyone. "Investment in equity itself is risky and F&O is mathematically 5-6 times riskier," says Ankit Ojha, associate vice-president, research (equity derivatives), in the Mumbai-based financial research and advisory firm, Bonanza Portfolio. One false step and your net worth can get wiped out.

Small investors do not have the necessary knowledge and temperament required to make money out of these complex products. Anybody who is serious about building wealth from stocks should stay away from these instruments.

2. Buy momentum stocks and obscure scrips

Just as a rising tide lifts all ships, the surge in the stock market has boosted all stocks in the past 2-3 months. Some penny stocks and obscure scrips have risen by over 100-200% in the past three months. If a stock was priced at 2-3 about three months ago, there must have been a good reason for it.

The market obviously didn't see value in the stock. Don't get swayed by the momentum when you go shopping.

Study the fundamentals and if what you see isn't quite rosy, avoid the stock. A bad stock will remain a bad investment even if you had bought it when its price had hit rock-bottom.

Now, when the price has risen too high, such stocks have become twice as risky. Sooner or later the fundamentals will catch up with the price and your investment will suffer.



3. Take a short-term view of the markets

Some analysts have predicted that the sensex will touch 30,000 by the end of the year. Their prediction may well come true but don't bank on it. Despite the widespread optimism and enthusiasm about equities, there is no guarantee that the market will deliver 20% by the end of the year. There is also no guarantee that there will be no hiccups in between. "Markets will go up, but not in a straight line," says Dhirendra Kumar, CEO of mutual fund tracker Value Research. The stock market is not a gambling den where you can make big money overnight. This volatility is inherent to stocks. Enter only if you can stomach the risk. Also, don't enter the equity market if your investment horizon is less than three years. That is the minimum time that a new government will require to clear the mess left behind by the UPA government.

4. Invest more in stocks than you have

While F&O can be disastrous for small investors, margin trading is no less dangerous. It is a leveraged position that involves putting at risk more money than you can spare. Brokers encourage investors to use margin money for trading in stocks. It's understandable why brokers want you to trade more. The brokerage you pay for every trade is their bread and butter. Banks and NBFCs also encourage investments. They tell you to unlock the value of your assets by taking a loan against shares, funds, bonds and deposits. Borrowing is a great way to build assets that you can't immediately afford. A home loan is always a good idea because the value of the asset rises over time. But using borrowed funds to buy a risky asset such as stocks can be ruinous. If the markets decline, it can deal a double whammy on your finances. You have to pay interest and also suffer a loss. Borrowing should be determined by your ability to repay, not by your bet on the asset.

5. Think they can outperform mutual funds

If the average small investor does a comprehensive study of his equity portfolio he will discover that his gains from direct stock investments are nothing compared to how much the average mutual fund made during the period. Mutual funds have full fledged research team that look into every aspect of a stock before they include it in their portfolios. They are able to zero in on a multi-bagger much before that stock comes into the limelight. If you outperformed the mutual funds, you are in the wrong profession and should join a fund house as a fund manager. Otherwise, just invest through mutual funds for steady wealth creation.

6. Take exposure to a few stocks

Even if you want to invest in stocks directly, follow the diversification principle of mutual funds. You may not be able to manage a portfolio of 30-35 stocks like a mutual fund, but you should spread the risk across several stocks. Even the best of stocks and the most promising of sectors can sometimes go into a tailspin. Infosys is a recent example. It's a good company, the IT sector is doing well and the future looks bright. But the exit of top level managers sent the stock into a tailspin in March this year. The IT bellwether fell from 3,800 levels in March to below 3,000 in May. The stock price has bounced back a bit now but is still below the March peak.

Small investors should not take concentrated exposure to a couple of stocks. Contain the impact on the portfolio by diversifying your holdings across a basket of 8-10 stocks from different sectors.

7. Invest huge sums at one go

The diversification is also necessary across time. In mutual funds, the SIP arrangement helps the investor diversify his investment over time. In stocks, you will have to adopt a patient strategy of buying on dips. Say, you intend to buy 300 shares of a particular company. Split the purchase into 5-6 tranches spread over time.

Individual stocks are more volatile than mutual funds and there will be plenty of opportunities to buy at lower prices in the coming months.

Don't think that this is the last chance to buy the stock at this price.

17 most common ways people screw up tough interviews

How many school buses are there in America? How many ping pong balls can fit in a 747?

Questions like these are notoriously used in case study interviews for top-tier management consulting companies - but they're quickly spreading into other industries, as well.

If you're trying to go into finance, strategic planning, marketing, operations, or even the non-profit world, experts highly recommend that you learn to master the case study interview - which is when you're presented with a business case and asked to find the solution.

Doing well in these interviews is highly rewarding because they can lead to big salaries and careers with a lot of room for growth and responsibility. However, case study interviews are also among the toughest to master, and you might be making career-limiting mistakes without even realizing it.

We spoke with Marc Cosentino, author of "Case In Point: Complete Case Interview Preparation," to find out the most common mistakes people make in their difficult case study interviews:

1. You tried to wing it.

To be truly prepared, people often do live practice of around 30 to 40 cases, and then read 30 additional cases before their actual interview. Cosentino says, " If you're not willing to put in the extra time, it means you really don't want the job." It takes around 100 hours of preparation to be a competitive candidate in the interview process. "It all boils down to confidence," he adds. "The more you practice, the more confident you feel going in."

2. You studied for it like a test.

Nothing beats live practice. Reading through cases is simply not enough to prepare for this type of interview. Cosentino recommends that you practice with real consultants, school alumni, or career services advisers. You could also try the site, Evisors, which offers consultants you can pay to practice with you.

Cosentino's advice is to keep a case journal as you practice, so you can write down the problem, solution, and what you forgot to think about. It will help you reflect on your strengths and weaknesses and also understand how you can improve.

3. You didn't stay up to date with economy and industry news.

In the weeks leading up to your interview, you should be reading the front page of the Wall Street Journal every day. Cosentino says he is also a big fan of CNBC, Satellite Radio, Business Insider alerts, McKinsey Quarterly, and any cutting edge stuff written by practitioners.

4. You didn't warm up the morning of the interview.

"No Major League Baseball player ever stepped up to the plate without batting practice," Cosentino points out. Just before you walk into the office for your interview, try practicing case questions or doing market sizing problems. "You don't want to warm up during the interview," he says.

5. You used technical jargon without understanding it.

Cosentino advises against using words if you don't completely understand their meaning - no matter how impressive they might sound. "If you use jargon in the wrong context, that's basically the end of the interview," he says. "The interviewer wouldn't be able to trust you if you got hired and actually did that in front of a client." Interviewers would much rather have you explain things in your own words than to use complicated terms and get them wrong.



6. You didn't ask for clarification.

Asking questions is a great way to show the interviewer you aren't shy about asking for information under high pressure circumstances. This can also turn your interview into a conversation, which shows you can interact well with clients. Being humble enough to ask questions is a sign of maturity, as long as you don't try to probe the answer out of the interviewer.

When you're facing a market case problem, make sure you understand exactly why the client wants to enter the market, what they're looking for, and what constitutes success for them. It's important to know what your client's expectations are so you can design a strategy around that.

One way to do this is to verify the objective. Even if the client's goals seem obvious, you should phrase your questions like: "One objective is to increase sales. Are there any other objectives I should know about?"

7. You forgot to summarize the case.

The first thing you should do is to re-state the case in your own words, so you can show your interviewer that you understand what's going on. It also helps you hear the information a second time and prevents you from answering the wrong question. To help you summarize well, make sure you circle or highlight the important aspects of the case when you're taking notes, so they jump off the page when you need them.

"Your summary is not a rehash of everything you discussed," Cosentino says. "It's simply a little bit of the backstory and then two to three key recommendations you want to remember."

8. You took messy notes.

You may not realize it, but your interviewer pays a lot of attention to your notes. "When these guys aren't looking you in the eye, they're watching what you're writing down," says Cosentino. Interviewers want to see how you write your notes, how you did your math, and if they can read your handwriting. Most firms will take your notes at the end of your interview and keep them in a file as one more data point they can look at.

Make it easier for them by turning your page toward them, drawing your notes, and walking them through your thought process. "If you turn your page toward them, the interviewer is also now leaning over the table going through it with you," he says. "You break through the imaginary plane and make the interviewer feel like a client." When you do this, you also turn your interview into a role-playing scenario, so the interviewer can see you really know how to deal with clients.

9. You didn't organize your thoughts before speaking.

The first thing to do after summarizing the case and verifying the objective is to lay out your structure. It will help you stay focused on the original question asked and not lose track of the objective or framework. If you have clean notes, they will help you recall facts of the case or your potential answers if you blank out.

Organizing your thoughts is most important when an employer asks about pros and cons. Cosentino says, "Most people try to answer off the top of their head and ping pong back and forth between the pros and cons. You want to give me all the pros and then all the cons, so you can come off well organized."

Another advantage for organizing your answer is that if you get cut off mid-thought, you'll be able to easily drop your current point and move to a new one.

10. You didn't look at the big picture.

Let's say your client was an online toy store who wanted to outsource product distribution and they only had one warehouse outside of Boston. Most people would rush into the question, without thinking about the fact that their client is a toy store that does 80% of its business in the last few months of the year. They should take a step back and think about the fact that for the other nine months of the year, the warehouse sits three quarters empty, so they would need to bring in seasonal balance to make the warehouse worth holding onto.




11. You didn't bring graph paper.

"Firms like it when you use graph paper because of the big squares and light backgrounds," Cosentino explains. "They also love it when you graph things." Since you will be dealing with numbers, graph paper can help you present them in a visual way. "Saying your thoughts out loud is a minimum," he adds. "Visually drawing what you are doing is even better." Of course, you should still bring white paper to the interview, so your other notes can stay clean and linear.

12. You tried to give an exact numerical answer.

Case interviewers often like to ask estimation questions, such as, "How many smartphones were sold in the U.S. last year?" Keep in mind that you don't need to give an exact answer and that getting bogged down in the details will waste your time.

The purpose of these questions is to look for your thought process, and how you articulate under pressure, not for your ability to conjure up a magical number. "A case interview is basically a business problem," Cosentino says. "There's no right or wrong answer - just make sure your answer makes good business sense and common sense."

13. You underestimated the importance of your voice and body language.

During your interview, you need to sound enthusiastic and confident in order to show that you really thrive on the challenge of the case. Even if you aren't sure about your answer, Cosentino advises you to never convey that you might be wrong. You should also keep a positive attitude to show that you're not intimidated.

"It's not what you say, it's how you say it," Cosentino explains. "That really carries most of the weight, since your answers are going to be fairly similar to everyone else's." The interviewer is looking for your maturity, poise, communication skills, and whether they would be comfortable bringing you in front of a client.

14. You used a cookie cutter framework for your answer.

According to Cosentino, if you're using the five Cs or the four Ps or the seven S's, you're making a huge mistake, as consultants view all of those as cookie cutter frameworks or simple checklists.

Be careful of using formulas, too. "A lot of people use the 'profits = revenues - cost' formula as a framework for every single case. To me, that's just as bad as using a framework, because you're not showing me any intellectual curiosity or insight," says Cosentino.

A better way to answer the various assortment of case interview questions is by categorizing them in your mind. Before your interview, take the time to learn the most popular case questions and how you would approach them.

15. You were afraid to brainstorm.

"Students are reluctant to brainstorm, because they are afraid that if they say something ridiculous, they won't get the job," Cosentino says. "In reality, if they don't brainstorm, it shows they can't work as part of a team or generate new ideas, which makes it more likely for them not to get the job." Consultants actually have a term called "brainstorming without commitment," where they toss out uninhibited suggestions without fear of judgment. They like people who can think outside the box and offer an interesting perspective.

16. You didn't think out loud.

Interviewers are not mind readers, so it's important to explain what you are doing and why you're doing it. Walk them through your thought process, even if it seems obvious to you. However, always make sure to think before you speak, so you can appear significantly more poised and confident.

17. You didn't go beyond the expected answer.

Cosentino spent a lot of time at various schools helping students practice their interviews. Oftentimes, he gave the same case to four or five students and they would all answer exactly the same way. As a result, it was hard for him to differentiate one from the other.

If you really want to exceed your interviewer's expectations, don't just say, "I determined they shouldn't," when asked whether a hypothetical client should enter a new market. Go one step further and offer an alternative plan, Cosentino suggests. "Someone who excels would say, 'We shouldn't enter the market for these reasons, but we could look at entering this other market or try this new plan I came up with.'"

Doing well in interviews is highly rewarding because they can lead to big salaries and careers with a lot of room for growth and responsibility.

Feeling bloated? Try out this seven-day programme

Mumbai: A bloated belly? A regular exercise regime, right food intake and a healthy lifestyle can come to the rescue, according to femalefirst.co.uk.

Here is a seven-day programme to fight the problem:
Day 1: Consuming multi-strain probiotic: According to studies, probiotics rebalance the gut flora, support the efficient digestion of food and regular healthy bowel movements. Bloating is often due to an imbalance of gut microflora. Bacteria and yeasts ferment undigested food, producing gases, which can lead to excessive bloating and flatulence.
Day 2: Food to support digestive function – Always try to consume fresh food. Undigested food leads to bloating hence consider having some apple cider vinegar before each meal, chew your food well and start eating in a quite relaxed environment. The thought and smell of food can elicit the secretion of 30 percent more stomach acid and 25 percent of digestive enzymes.
Day 3: Reduce intake of simple sugars and refined carbohydrates - Avoid processed products such as white pasta, breads and baked goods (cakes, biscuits and pastries) as these can cause more gas.
Day 4: Begin eating more fibre - By trying to consume seven different portions of vegetables and salad each day to keep bowel movements regular. 
Day 5: Homemade bone stock, soups and stews - These are rich in the amino acid glutamine, essential to feed the cells lining our gut where final food digestion and absorption takes place. 
Day 6: Soak legumes - Leaving legumes to soak well overnight will ease their digestion if they cause you bloating.
Day 7: Relax - Including some form of relaxation in the daily routine such as reading a book, yoga, meditation or taking a bath with lavender oil can only be of benefit.

Some people do feel more than others, and it’s all in their genes

A new study has found that some people have a greater emotional sensitivity and are programmed to better recognize and understand what others are going through.
      
If you can’t help but cry every time you go to a wedding, or if you think that handling so many emotions all the time is really hard work, you may belong to the 20 percent of the population that has high sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), an innate trait associated with greater empathy.
Dr Elaine Aron from Stony Brook University in the US has created the highly sensitive people (HSP) concept to describe those who are emotionally reactive, pay very close attention to little things and process information more thoroughly. Along with social psychologist Dr Arthur Aron and a team of researchers, she developed a test to see if indeed HSP have a more intense reaction to others’ emotions.
The researchers recruited 18 married persons with either high or low SPS, and scanned their brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while the volunteers saw pictures of sad or smiling strangers and/or family members.
When the HSP subjects viewed these images, their brain activity increased, particularly in areas associated with awareness, action planning and processing sensory information. The mirror neuron system, which is strongly associated with empathetic response, showed increased activity as well. The brains of non-HSP didn’t show increased activity in these areas.
"We found that areas of the brain involved with awareness and emotion, particularly those areas connected with empathetic feelings, in the highly sensitive people showed substantially greater blood flow to relevant brain areas than was seen in individuals with low sensitivity during the 12-second period when they viewed the photos," said Dr Arthur Aron in a news release. "This is physical evidence within the brain that highly sensitive individuals respond especially strongly to social situations that trigger emotions, in this case of faces being happy or sad."

Turning an old 2 liter bottle into a broom

With a sharp scissors and knife you can take three 2 liter bottles and turn them into a glitzy witch broom. First remove the label and cut the bottom of the first bottle. Cut the body of the bottle into thin strips. Now take the second bottle and cut off the neck and the bottom. Make strips of this bottle too. Then fit in the first bottle which has a neck through hole near the neck of the second bottle. Take a third bottle and cut it one third from its top and fit this on to the first bottle’s neck. Drive a wire or a nail through the three layers of bottle so that they stay together. Finally take a stick and fit it tightly into the neck of the bottle broom. Your witch broomstick is ready!

World Cup sculpted!

Art work ranged from abstract to realistic styles. While some might make you emotional, others will make you chuckle. Seen here: Sculptor Pavel Mylnikov's completed work.

Aleksei Diakov, of Russia, details his sculpture. The organizers added a new element called Cheecoting for the attendees. The racing game which was developed in Italy after World War II uses plastic marble-like balls on a sand course.

Sculptor Jooneng Tan, of Singapore, details his sculpture. People of all nationalities collaborated to create these dynamic pieces of sand art.Twenty competitors from around the world took part in the sand sculpting competition that took place on the beach at Pennsylvia Avenue in Atlantic City. Seen here: Sculptor Sudarsan Patnaik, of India, works on his sculpture during the final day of the competition. 

Mark Anderson, of the United Kingdom, works on his unique creation. The sand bought in has small amount of silt and it holds up to rain better.

Competitors from around the world line up for a group photo to mark the opening day of the Sand Sculpting World Cup competition.

Five hundred tons of sand from Tuckahoe Sand and Gravel Company was bought in for the competition. Seen here: Jooheng Tan, of Singapore, works on his sand creation during the singles event.

Make money writing for Hubpages

Over the last month or so I have been running a little bit of an experiment.

                                                                                                   
 Basically, after hearing from some others that there is money to be made with Hubpages, I decided to give it a go.

What is Hubpages?

Before I start getting into detail, I should explain the basics. Hubpages is a website that basically allows you to publish an article on their site. I use the term “article” loosely because it can be as short as an article or more like a single page website. It is completely up to the user. A hub (their lingo for article) can be about any topic you could possibly want to write about. You could create a hub explaining 10 things you wished people knew about you, how to play guitar with your toes, or facts about albino grizzly bears.
You do not need to be a great writer and honestly, I have seen some people who are terrible writers do quite well. All you need is the ability to say a little bit about something. And who knows maybe hubpages will be the first step to helping you make money from a blog?

So how do you make money with Hubpages?

There are actually a variety of ways, but the simplest and most effective way I have found so far has been by using Google Adsense. After you finish your first hub you can install your Adsense ID and you will begin sharing the revenue with Hubpages for your hubs.
If you pick good keywords (which I will get to in a minute) you will likely begin getting traffic from the search engines within 24 hours of publishing it. If these visitors click on the ads you will get a cut of that revenue (I think it is 60%).

My results during July

I spent most of July trying to create a hub every day or so and I am now up to 23 hubs. I didn’t do the best job with keyword research and did very little if any work after creating the hubs and yet adsense still made $47.14 in July.

Scientists discover a hidden ‘guest’ in Picasso’s The Blue Room

Using state-of-the-art infrared technology, researchers have solved one of art’s mysteries.

For years, art experts suspected the existence of a hidden painting underneath Pablo Picasso’s The Blue Room. The painting is one of the earliest examples of the Spanish master’sBlue Period, when he was experimenting with indigo hues to convey sadness and melancholia.

In the 1990s an X-ray revealed a fuzzy figure of something beneath the painting, reports theSydney Morning Herald. But it wasn't until 2008 that researchers managed to use infrared lightning to scan the image. That was a crucial step towards solving the puzzle. When researchers used infrared scanning and multi-spectral imaging technology, the image of a bearded man resting his face on his ringed fingers appeared. 

Technical analyses were then used to date the hidden painting. The result: 1901, the same yearThe Blue Room was painted. At the time Picasso was 19 years old and still struggling to find his revolutionary style. The ringed man can shed some light on the stylistic experimentation that led to the Blue Period.

Researchers continue to work hard to identify the colours of the original painting. The aim is to recreate a digital image that can help art experts better understand Picasso’s transition between the Blue (1901-1904) and Rose Periods (1904-1906). Figuring out who the bearded man is, is part of the project as well.

This isn’t the first time science has revealed a secret painting in Picasso’s artwork. There’s a moustached man hidden beneath Woman Ironing (1904). 

Reusing canvases has been common practice for centuries, especially among young or penniless artists. Over the past few years scientists have discovered many other unknown drawings hidden beneath famous paintings. Vincent van Gogh’s Patch of Grass, for example, hides the portrait of a peasant woman, and a beached whale was found ‘hiding’ in a painting by Hendrick van Anthonissen.

Fish-eating spiders are real, and they cover most of the planet

Scientists have discovered spiders that eat fish twice their size exist on every continent except Antarctica.

Image: Clockwise from left - Alfredo Dosantos Santillan; Ed Germain; Loren Jarvis

After reviewing more than 80 reports of fish predation, researchers from Australia and Switzerland have found that fish-eating is far more widespread in spiders than previously imagined. 

Of course, spiders are already known to eat reptiles, mice and even birds and bats. But prior to this, tales of spiders hunting fish in the wild had been anecdotal and isolated to a few different locations.

But after studying all the available literature on the topic, alongside unpublished information from biologists and naturalists, the researchers found the phenomenon occurs pretty much all around the world, and in spider species belonging to eight different taxonomic families. These semi-aquatic spiders, they found, can all walk on water and swim and dive. Their research is published in PLoS ONE.

"It's important to gather as much information as you can into one place so that you can put this phenomenon into some context," Bradley Pusey, from the University of Western Australia told Marc Llewellyn over at ABC Science.

Only one of the fish-eating spiders, the diving bell spider, lives under the water. The rest inhabit the edge of water bodies, where they spend most of their time eating insects that are smaller than them, the researchers believe. But occasionally they’ll score one of these fish, which are around 2-6 cm in length, on average 2.2 times the size of the spider.

"The spiders that live there are probably hunting for insects most of the time and occasionally, or quite frequently in the case of some families, they are hunting fish," Pusey explained. "You would think that there was a much higher risk of a spider being damaged in that ensuing conflict, but there's a really significant payoff … it's a big-ticket food item with lots of protein and flesh to consume, whereas an invertebrate has lots of hard material that the spider discards.”

Their hunting strategy is actually very sophisticated, and for most of the fish-eating spiders involves waiting on a rock with its three front pairs of legs on the water surface, where they appear to receive information from vibrations on the surface - almost like they’re fishing and waiting for a tug.

Once a fish touches one of their legs, they throw themselves into the water, where they kill their prey with a bite to the base of the neck. The spiders then drag the fish back to dry land and inject them with digestive enzymes before eating them, the researchers found.

So we guess if fish are capable of nightmares, this is what they’re having them about. Join the club.

35 Ways For Teens To Make Money (Adults Too!)

I can remember my teenage days well. I didn’t want to work, but I needed to make money to support my social life. So I umpired, cut grass, and bagged groceries. I didn’t particularly love any of the jobs, but in order to offset my spending, I needed to work.
The good news for teens today is there are a wide range of ways to make money- that weren’t around when I was a teenager. Most of them require a good work ethic, but there are a lot of new opportunities available.

Luckily for many teens, they may already be very skilled in certain areas that could easily translate into a nice side income for them. For example, I remember hearing about a teenage girl who designed Myspace backgrounds and was making more money than her parents. So potentially, a teenager who is willing to work hard could make considerably more than working traditional “jobs” like at McDonalds, cutting grass, bussing tables, etc. For even more, check out these 5 legit work-from-home job opportunities.

What type of teen are we talking about?

The 7-year period defined as the “teenage years” sees a wide range of maturity levels. I remember moments where I showed high levels of maturity and moments that are better left unspoken. Interestingly, my immaturity didn’t necessarily decrease as I grew closer to 20 years old. My point is that some of these jobs are going to require a teenager who is “on the ball” in terms of maturity. But if you have (or are) one, these could be much better alternatives to “would you like to supersize that?”

The 35 Ways To Earn Money

1. Make Money Online with Swagbucks

Basically this is a free site that offers you a bunch of ways to earn cash, gift cards, or other rewards.
You can earn by answering polls, taking surveys, doing simple tasks (like giving feedback about a website), trading in old video games or books, and even playing games on their site.
I have tried it out and have received multiple payments from them, so I can attest that it is legit. While you won’t get rich doing this, to me it seems like a great way for internet-loving teens to make some money.  Find out more here.

2. Sell stuff on eBay for Mom and Dad

I am sure mom and dad wouldn’t mind sharing some of the profits, if you sell some of their clutter for them. I say ask them for 50% of what you make from it!

3. Freebie Trading

A couple years ago I did an interview with a guy who made $28,000 in one year doing this part time. It is work and requires organization skills to do it well, but it is legit.
I tried my hand at it using Project Payday and their training materials to see that it was legit.
Basically companies are willing to pay you to do trial offers for their products. They know that many people who do the trial offer will like their product and continue to be customers, so they are willing to pay people to sign up for trial offers.
So one of the main ways of making money freebie trading is signing up for offers like a Free Netflix trial, emusic.com, applying for a Discover Card, etc. The key to success seems to be having a calendar where you can keep track of when the trial periods end and make sure to cancel before they end.
If you are interested in learning more I definitely recommend Project Payday as they have a ton of training guides (free if you complete a couple offers) that will greatly simplify the process. Oh and they have a A+ rating with the BBB as well.

4. Take online surveys

I am not particularly fond of the whole online survey thing since I had a bad experience using CashCrate. But there are lots of online survey sites and people who do it successfully. Here are a few if you want to investigate it further:

• Swagbucks
• Global Test Market
• MySurvey
• Vindale Research
• Survey Downline

I recommend proceeding with caution and definitely not paying anything to join.

5. Raise Money Online

If you are raising money for a community service project or missions, you might want to check out a site like GoFundMe.com. They make it easy for teens to raise money for any type of project. People have used it to raise the money for everything from mission trips to medical bills, weddings and honeymoons, business ventures, and even college tuition.

6. Build Websites For Others

I can’t tell you how many people have asked me to build them a website since I started this one a couple years ago. I am not seeking the work and people are requesting it, so if you do a little legwork and pursue small business owners, there is a lot of work available. Teens might be great for this, because they would be able to work for less than some higher end website developers, which would put them in the price range that it seems many small businesses are looking to spend. Here is a great course to help you get started.

7. Cleaning out Foreclosed Homes

With there being as many foreclosed homes out there as there are, the bankers (who now own the houses) don’t want to clean them up and they are willing to pay hefty sums for those who will.  So it is fairly easy to start a Foreclosure cleanup business and get paid pretty well in the process. If you are interested here is a course you can take to learn more.

8. Freelance Write

As they say on the web “content is king” and everyone wants it. Places like Elance or Odesk have thousands of different job openings available for freelance writers. If you are not in a rush for receiving compensation and know how to do keyword research, there is money to be made writing at Hubpages and Squidoo. For more on this method, check out How to make money with Hubpages.

9. Start a Christmas Light Hanging business

If you aren’t afraid of heights and can handle being out in the cold, this is a pretty great business opp.  Some people earn a full-year’s salary just hanging lights for 2 months each year.  Here is a course that provides some more info.

10. Sell Plasma

Not sure how old you have to be, nor how painful it is, but if you are into that sort of thing, it can be a way to make some quick money.

11. Take part in medical studies

I have a couple friends who have almost done this exclusively as a job. They were basically human guinea pigs, but they made some decent cash at it. Sometimes they would have be at the medical facility for up to 48 hours, so your schedule may need to be flexible. Just google “medical studies” + your city to find some options.

12. Fiverr

Fiverr is a website that allows you to sell your service for $5. There are all kinds of crazy things people are offering and getting paid for on there – like taking a picture holding a sign, recording 2 sentences in an irish accent, recording a video singing a certain song, and even prank calling a friend all for $5. So if you have a little creativity, there are some fun ways to make some money on the side.

13. Gigwalk

Gigwalk is a fairly new iPhone app that offers payment for completing simple tasks based on your location. For example users earn by taking pictures of a restaurant’s menu, verifying roadblocks and signage, and other simple tasks. If you are in a big city (which typically has more opportunities) there is some decent potential with this one.

14. Get paid to Tweet

Did you know that advertisers will pay you to send out tweets about their products? As you could imagine the bigger your audience the more you will get paid, but you can find out more here – SponsoredTweets.com.

15. Have a Garage Sale

If it is something too large or that won’t sell on eBay for some reason, you can always have an old-fashioned garage sale!

16. Tutor or give lessons

Are you great at math, science, or kicking a field goal? Why not advertise your skills to those a few years younger than you? Many parents are willing to pay a teenager to tutor their child in an area that needs development.

17. Create Myspace Facebook Graphics or Pages

or Twitter backgrounds for that matter. Just set up a simple site to sell your work, get a paypal “buy it now link” and you are off and running.

18. Write product reviews

There are places like Ciao, Epinions.com, ReviewStream.com that pay for product reviews – if you have an opinion and can type quickly this might be a good option. Another one that just popped up is called Ukritic and they allow you to write reviews of products and then you can earn affiliate commissions from the sales of those products. It might not be quick cash, but for those who like to write it may be a decent option.

Jobs requiring a uniquely mature teenager

19. Buy and Sell cars for profit

If you love cars and aren’t afraid to haggle, you could start a car flipping biz.  We have a friend of the family who has done this for years.  He scours the classified listings for deals, lands a good deal and then drives the car while trying to sell it for a couple grand more. Sometimes he sells them quickly, sometimes it takes a little longer, but he gets to drives lots of cars (which he loves) and makes a nice side income as well.  Here is an online course to help you get started.

20. Rent out your car for $10+ an hour

I just heard about RelayRides.com which allows you to either rent or lend your car to others – and get paid in the process. If you live in a big city, this could be pretty profitable!

21. Blogging

Two years ago I wasn’t sure if there was money to be made blogging, but I have since found it to work out nicely. It isn’t something that will provide much income quickly, but if you stick at it, it can. I wrote extensively about how to make money from a blog a few months ago.

22. Design Web Logos

If you have a flair for design, it may be worth trying to make some money designing logos for small business or blogs.

23. Social Marketing Consultant

Many companies are looking for qualified candidates who know the ins and outs of Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter to help them with their social marketing efforts. Head over to a job site and search for “social media marketing”.

24. Sell articles

Following in that same vein, you can sell articles you write at places like Constant-Content.com, ArticleSale.com, Helium.com.

25. Start an eBay business

Last year I experimented with starting an eBay business to see if there was money to be made. While profit margins can be thin selling on eBay, there are over a million eBay businesses, so it is a viable option.

26. Sell Digital Photos

Making money as a photographer has become easier over the last decade. There are now lots of sites looking to buy digital photos: Shutterstock.com, 123RF.com, Dreamstime.com, CreStock.com, Fotolia.com. As with most things, the better you are the more money you will make, but it can be nice passive income if you work at it.

27. Find odd-jobs on Craigslist

Some of these might be landscaping work, or similar odd-jobs, but it might be great summer time work for teens!

28. Sell widgets on Etsy.com

If you create any kind of arts or crafts or widgets of any sort, you should check out Etsy.com.

29. Join a Focus Group

There are likely to be focus groups in your area that may be willing to hire teens. Organizations are always looking for participants because there are business advantages for focus groups. Just Google “focus group” and your city to get started.

30. Sell Your Video Game Accounts

Are you a gamer? Try selling your accounts, virtual gold, or virtual weapons. You can often sell items like these on gamer forums or even on Ebay.com.

31. Be a Mystery Shopper

This is the dream job isn’t it? You get to shop and get paid! The added bonus is that you secretly have recourse when you are treated poorly in the store.

32. Offer to do jobs on Zaarly.com

Zaarly is a website that connects those offering random services (like walking a dog, being a personal assistant for a day, giving guitar lessons, etc) with buyers who are looking for those services.  I would suggest checking out some of the ideas listed on the site and sign up and offer those services.

33. Get paid from your iPhone (smartphone)

There seem to be some apps popping up that pay you to do simple stuff like take a picture of a menu, or of yourself drinking a starbucks, or verifying that a road is closed – you get the picture. Here are a couple that I found:

• Juno Wallet
• WeReward
• Gigwalk
• CheckPoints

34. Teach English (or other Language) Classes Online

Did you know that English speakers are in high demand in Asia? As a result many are turning to freelance English teachers using websites like Italki.com. The site is basically a virtual online classroom for freelance teachers and students. Anyone can offer lessons (and set their own price) and anyone can take lessons.
From a quick scan, it looks like making $15-20/hour is a fair expectation.

35. Make Money by Viewing Ads On Your Android Lock Screen

I’ve been trying out this android app called Locket that puts ads on your lock screen and pays you for each time you unlock your phone.
I’ve been trying it out for a few days and have made about 3 bucks thus far, so it isn’t huge, but at the same time, I didn’t really have to do any work to earn the money.
Anyway, if you are interested in checking it out, I have a quick video review that you can watch here…

Homi Bhabha's iconic bungalow goes under the hammer for Rs 372 crore

The sprawling Mumbai bungalow of the late scientist Homi Jehangir Bhabha which was sold at an auction in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Mumbai: 'Mehrangir', the iconic bungalow of Homi J Bhabha, father of India's atomic energy programme, here was on Wednesday sold at an auction for Rs 372 crore, despite demands to turn it into a museum.

The highest bidder, whose identity was not disclosed at his request, landed the sprawling property at plush Malabar Hill which went under the hammer at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), its custodian.

The property fetched Rs 115 crore more than the reserve price of Rs 257 crore.

"As per the request of the winning bidder, the identity will not be disclosed at this stage," NCPA said in a release.

The three-storey bungalow with a built-up area of over 15,000 sq ft on a plot measuring 1,593 sq m, offers a beautiful view of the sea.

After Bhabha's death in a plane crash 1966, his brother Jamshed, a patron of art and culture, became the custodian of the estate.

On Jamshed's death in 2007, the property was transferred to NCPA, an institution he had nurtured. Some employees of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) had recently petitioned the Centre and moved the Bombay High Court against the sale and sought the bungalow to be converted into an atomic energy museum.

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37 missing, 2 dead after boat sinks off Malaysia

Banting, Malaysia: Thirty-seven people remained missing on Wednesday after an apparently overloaded boat carrying Indonesian illegal migrants heading home for Ramadan sank overnight in rough seas off western Malaysia, killing at least two.

Officials said 58 people had been rescued or made it to land by themselves after the accident around midnight near Port Klang, Malaysia's largest port.

"But 37 people are still missing and we have found two bodies," said Mohamad Hambali Yaakup, head of the Port Klang office of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.

"We plucked some of the survivors from the sea and others were found on land."

The boat sank not far from shore, raising hopes that many of the missing had already made it to safety on their own, he added.

Officials believe 97 passengers were aboard the wooden boat, including some children.

Authorities said rescued passengers told them they were seeking to return home to Indonesia across the Malacca Strait -- the busy shipping lane between Malaysia and Indonesia's Sumatra island -- for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Officials had initially said the passengers were believed to be seeking to enter Malaysia.

"From interviews with those rescued, they said they were returning to Aceh (in northern Sumatra). They did not have any travel documents," said Mohamad Hambali.

"As in previous years, many Indonesian migrants will be leaving Malaysia ahead of Ramadan."

Around two million illegal immigrants -- the vast majority of them from Indonesia -- are estimated to be working in Malaysia.

Large numbers of them annually return home to Indonesia ahead of Ramadan, which begins around the end of June and will culminate in late July with Eid al-Fitr, Islam's biggest festival.

Both countries are Muslim-majority.

"We believe the boat was overcrowded and the sea was rough during the incident," Mohamad Hambali said.

Access to survivors was not immediately available as they had been taken into custody by police.

Authorities said five vessels and a helicopter were searching for survivors.

Relatively affluent Malaysia is a magnet for migrant workers from poorer neighbours such as Indonesia, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Accidents, however, are frequent as thousands annually risk the sea journey in rickety boats to seek low-paying work -- typically shunned by Malaysians -- on plantations, construction sites and in factories.

Indonesians often add to the risk by choosing to cross the Malacca Strait in darkness to avoid detection.

Last August a boat carrying more than 40 Indonesians heading home for Eid-al-Fitr sank off southern Malaysia.

Malaysian authorities called off a search several days later, with seven confirmed dead and 33 still missing.

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