How to Prepare Your Business for Google+

Google+ just opened its doors to the world by enabling open signups and moving to the beta, testing phase. The nascent social network is still thin on features and ways for businesses to properly use it, but its minimalist approach has gained Google+ millions of users in a very short period.

If you've tried it out for yourself, you'll know that making your way around Google+ is a simplistic, uncluttered experience compared to that of Facebook.

Back in July, Google promised that business profiles and features would be coming later, and as we get a little closer to when they are supposed to be announced later in 2011, it's time to position your business to take advantage in advance.

What's Coming for Business in Google+?

Google is preparing Google+ for businesses, as Christian Oestlien, Product Manager for Google+, explains in the video below. Rich analytics and the ability to connect to AdWords will be among those features.

Advertising will likely happen when Google rolls out business features, as Oestlien has stated that AdWords will play a part in the new business features. The ability to extend an existing advertising campaign into Google+ where you can target your client's interests will be invaluable. This will also extend Google's ability to advertise to local users for businesses that only offer services within a specific geographic area, exactly as you can on Facebook.

Stake Your Claim on Google+

Google has asked businesses to hold off on claiming user profiles for their businesses on Google+ until it rolls out certain features. This means that companies will likely have their own pages as they currently do on Facebook. As soon as Google+ business features are announced, you'll want to claim your company's home on Google+ by tasking someone in your company to watch for the announcement and setting up your Google+ business profile as soon as it comes.

You'll also want to stick with your company's real name. While it will be tempting to grab other names, such as keywords related to your business or misspelled versions of your company name, I suspect this practice will very likely be against Google policy. In addition to being your home on Google+, your business profile will be a valuable back-link for search engine optimization purposes.

If you've logged on and noticed that someone has taken your company name, don't panic. What they have created is not a business profile, and those are likely to be a little harder to establish than a user profile. This person is likely not from Coca-Cola, for example. Google has been actively cracking down on people who aren't using accounts for personal use only, and you can expect to be shut down if you try.

Prepare a list of influential people in your industry that you can apply later to your Google+ business profile.

What Edge Will Google+ Have Over Facebook?

Google+ will have a hard slog against Facebook. It will directly compete with the social network that has consistently gotten it right, especially when it comes to business use. Facebook's recently launched business portal is a great all-in-one tool for businesses to manage their presence on Facebook.

Google+ also lacks Facebook's user base of 800 million, although the Google+ user base has blown through 20 million so far and is steadily increasing.

Google's biggest ally against Facebook is Facebook itself. Facebook users have been getting ornery about its massive makeover rolled out this week, to the point where many may look at Google+ as a viable, pared-down alternative. The new Facebook Timeline should be a big concern for all of those new hires in the marketplace who may not want their frat-party status updates resurrected for co-workers on Facebook to see.

There is also the issue of demographics. Google+ is young-adult rich. This is the golden demographic that most marketers want to reach, and being able to reach it through a campaign that can be tracked through Google Analytics is a very attractive value proposition. In addition, there are other tie-in services Google could build into its features for business, which we have covered here.

How Can I Prepare My Ad Campaigns?

You can start researching targeted ad campaigns and the keywords you'll need to use so that when Google+ for business is launched, all you'll need to do is push a button. The first businesses to get on the more competitive keywords on Google+ will likely reap some rich rewards.

Prepare Content for Your Profile

A Google+ business profile is likely to follow the model of the current Google+ user profile. Have a concise, one paragraph description of your company ready, as well as any company logos and product photos that you would want to add. Make sure that your "About" paragraph contains relevant keywords for your business, just like your website copy does.

If we follow the model of the current user profile, videos will be an option as well. If you don't already have a product or company video, consider shooting one, since this can set you apart from your competitors in Google+.

Get Comfortable With Hangouts and Huddles

Google+ Hangouts and Huddles appear extremely useful for videoconferencing and cloud collaboration, and as a webcast platform. While they aren't a replacement for services like GoToMeeting yet, they do a great basic job and may be expanded on in the future.

While we can't say exactly when the new business features will be announced, they're promised for later in 2011, which could mean anytime between now and the end of the year. Prepare your company to hop on as soon as you can.

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How to use Chrome's latest 'new tab' page

The blank Web site that stares back at you when you open a new browser tab is no longer a vast field of dead white space. Google is making Chrome's 'new tab' page a robust launch pad from which you can interact with your recently visited sites, Web apps, and bookmarks. It's currently only available in Chrome 15 beta, but it'll be handed over to the majority of people in the stable version of Chrome soon enough. Here's how you can use it, and thankfully it's intuitive.

The new page splits up your Most Visited sites, Chrome Web apps, and Bookmarks into three chunks. Arrows appear on the left and right page gutters. If you don't see them, mouse over that area and the background will light up. Use them to flip through the three default categories, and conveniently, Chrome will remember the last one you looked at and return you to it when you restart the browser.

There's a clever and intuitive organizational feature included, too. You can click and drag items from any of the three pages to the bottom bar and create custom categories for keeping them organized. Double-click where the new category label is blank to name it. You can also mix and match items in a custom category, so you can have your Google Calendar Offline Web app live next to your Gmail bookmark next to your Google.com frequently visited search. To remove an item, drag it toward the bottom right corner of the page, and a trash can will appear for you to drop it into.

Combine this with the age-old but still highly useful bookmarking method of location bar stars, which will appear on your Bookmarks page, and you've got a powerful yet simple way to ensure that you're always putting the parts of the Internet you care about most right where you want them.

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How to unclutter your email inbox

Once upon a time we had in boxes and out boxes. They sat nicely stacked on our desks and, as the week went along, more memos, copies and little yellow phone messages came in than went out. The in box filled with paper detritus and raised our general stress levels.

Then came email. It sent the paper memo to the same crumply grave as folder tabs and carbon paper. The physical in and out boxes were used less and less frequently.

It was going to make our lives simpler. Neater. More organized.

For all the ballyhooed change, the horror of the in box is really worse than ever. It's now a single word (inbox), and is no longer made of gun metal or cherry wood. But we fear not being able to find an important email and believe we should be organizing our inboxes.

You can buy a book that will give you a "system" to get all those emails to their rightful place. Or, you can download a program, an app or, heaven help us, you can take a class at the community college. All promise to help you take back your inbox.

But I'll share a little secret. You don't really need to "get organized" to take control of all that email.

Mostly, you just need to take some steps to keep most of it out of your inbox.

Here are some things you can do now to help:

•Stop trying to follow a complicated system. Email programs have plenty of room these days. When you want a specific email, search for it. The key is to use good subject lines. No color coding, file tabs or alphabetizing. Here's your system: Start using good, descriptive subject lines that will be highly searchable. Ask those who frequently communicate with you to do the same. There's your system.

•If that's not enough for you, make folders in your email program for email from family, co-workers, clients, the boss, etc. Use your email program's filtering capabilities to automatically place email from a particular person into the appropriate folder.

•Control email from your social networks. Don't let Facebook send you an email every time Aunt Wilma plays "Words With Friends." Turn off all optional notifications and don't let your Facebook (or MySpace or LinkedIn) messages get forwarded to your main inbox. Leave email in its place of origin.

This week, Facebook announced on its own Facebook Page that it is testing a new feature to let you reduce notification emails even more.

"We'll provide a new summary email and turn off most individual email notifications," it said.

It's in test mode for now, but more than 33,500 people have hit the "like" button on that announcement, so it's likely to be on its way to broad adoption.

•Stop wasting time with Unsubscribe and start using Block Sender. Unsubscribing takes time, is generally too complex and often doesn't work. Not everyone plays nice. Block Sender is immediate.

You just have to convince yourself it isn't unkind to Block someone. Don't want those press releases, jokes of the day, constant mass updates or chain messages? Just make them stop.

Many proprietary email programs include a simple Block Sender button. Use yours without remorse. The widely available email systems sometimes require a couple of simple steps.

To block a sender in Gmail, follow the Create A Filter link near the search buttons. Type the desired email address under From. You can block an entire domain by entering just the domain name. When you're done, click Next Step —. Make sure Delete it is checked under Choose action.

In Outlook, you can quickly add a name to the Blocked Senders List by right-clicking on their unwanted e-mail message. Then, on the shortcut menu, point to Junk Email and click Add Sender to Blocked Senders List.

Learn how to delete email. You read it and dealt with it. If you don't need it, delete it.

Of course, the text, the tweet and other faster, briefer communication methods are lying in wait to hasten the demise of email as we know it.

But don't expect that to put an end to the clutter. There will be new problems. And when that time comes, you can count on me to be here for you with new solutions.

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How to focus in a manic market

While the market was doing another backward swan dive, one email came to me that reflected the mass anxiety: “Some are saying it may be time to panic, and I am resisting. What do you think? And what does panic mean: Jump? Sell off?”

After I offered some brief words of staid resolve, it occurred to me that the luncheon speaker at the Morningstar ETF conference I was attending at the time had the right idea, even though he didn’t utter a word about finance or markets.

Words of fortitude came from Jeffrey Zaslow, who co-authored books with Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot who safely landed a disabled jet in the Hudson River (saving all 155 aboard); and Randy Pausch, the Carnegie-Mellon Professor who offered a moving “last lecture” on life and love before he died of cancer.

Both men faced life-threatening panics and had to make tough decisions. Sullenberger had minutes to decide the best course of action when bird strikes took out his jet’s engines after he left LaGuardia airport. Pausch had a few months to deliver his key life lessons to his students, colleagues and family.

What did they both have in common? Focus and an ability to discern what was important. To distill the essentials of life and articulate them. A lifetime of training, experience and thoughtful examination had prepared them for the moment of truth. As Zaslow noted, they — along with most of us — would be remembered for what they did in critical moments. Yet another such global moment is upon us.

I’m not going to pretend that the markets will suddenly see tomorrow that all will be okay with European banking, or that the U.S. government or American megabanks will fix their tattered balance sheets anytime soon. Or that we’re not all headed for a global recession or more bank failures.

All of that is possible and that’s why the markets are so utterly spooked. Volatility will not ease soon and if you can’t afford the risk, you shouldn’t be invested in stocks.

What I do know is that this is a perfect time to concentrate on what’s essential to you and your family. It’s nearing year-end, so now’s the perfect time to start asking — and answering — these questions:

Are you protected?

This question goes beyond having the basic forms of insurance to cover your vehicles, home/apartment/valuables, life and health. Disability insurance is essential because you’re far more likely to suffer loss of income for health reasons. Portfolio protection is key to make sure all of the risks (inflation, market, credit) are fully hedged.

Is your “gross family spending” positive?

I heard this phrase from Robert Arnott of Research Affiliates and thought it was perfectly descriptive of household financial health. It’s simple: Do your assets (home, business equity, pension, savings, cash) exceed your liabilities (mortgage, credit cards, taxes owed, loans)? If not, what can you do to clean up your balance sheet?

Do you have a plan?

I’m not just talking about a comprehensive financial plan that sets down your goals, objectives and risk factors in an investment policy statement. What about your estate planning? Do you have a living will or trust? Do you want to continue your education? How can you reduce your taxes? How do you plan to invest in your human capital — what you’re good at and passionate about?

What’s your legacy?

This is the hardest question of all. Building an estate is just fine, but if you leave behind love for the people you care about, there’s nothing wrong with that. This is the most lasting legacy.

You may come to the conclusion that you need some help in answering all of these questions. It wouldn’t hurt to approach all of your trusted advisors or summon your family to discuss some of these items. Also check in with your lawyer, accountant or financial planner.

Please note: By “trusted,” I don’t mean brokers or agents. Professionals who are not on commission can give you more objective advice.

Don’t make a move until you know your long-term plan. Now is a bad time to make a decision if you’re just doing it out of panic. You’re not alone in this and there’s no need to completely jump into gold or cash without having a rational defense.

The bottom line is sustainability. If your debts are out of control, why are you worried about the markets? And if you’re not protected against loss of income, the European banking situation is incredibly irrelevant.

After you’ve consulted with your family and professional counselors, then decide if your plan makes sense. You may feel that you’re still wobbly — and need to make some course corrections. But at least you won’t be flying blind.

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How to get rid of a manipulative boyfriend

Having a boyfriend can be a wonderful and exciting experience. The feeling of companionship and closeness you can develop with your boyfriend can be matched by few other experiences. However, some boyfriends just don't quite make the grade. Manipulative people can be extremely difficult to deal with, and manipulative boyfriends can be even worse. Follow these steps to rid yourself of your manipulative boyfriend and start with a clean slate.

Instructions

* 1. Make a time to discuss your issues with your boyfriend. Pick a time that is not in the midst of an argument or disagreement so that emotions don't run too high during your talk. These feelings could cause you to feel guilty and second-guess yourself.

* 2. Start a private list of the reasons why your boyfriend is manipulative. Write down all of the ways in which he leaves you feeling manipulated, angry, upset or guilty. Correspond his behaviors with how you end up feeling to see the correlation on paper.

* 3. Talk to a friend or counselor if necessary before talking to your boyfriend. This step is especially helpful if you are especially sensitive to manipulation and worry about being assertive enough during your breakup conversation. Practice in front of a mirror or with a friend so that you will not give in to the possible manipulation.

* 4. Jot down various excuses your boyfriend is likely to come up with to counteract your feelings of manipulation. Remember that any excuses that he comes up with will most likely be an attempt to manipulate you into doing what he wants you to do.

* 5. Be strong when having the discussion with your boyfriend. Be respectful; saying something like "I hate you because you manipulate me" will not be as affective as saying "this relationship isn't working for me because I feel manipulated much of the time and am tired of feeling jerked around". Say what you mean, be firm and have the confidence to know that you deserve better in a relationship.

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How to find out who unfriended you on Facebook

We've shown you how to try Facebook's new profile page — also known as the "Timeline" — right now, but did you know that it's more than just a pretty design? It can be used to find out exactly which of your friends quietly unfriended you at some point.

This clever trick was discovered by the folks at Buzzfeed (who we hear skipped work to spend the whole day playing around with Timelines) and it's pretty simple.

All you have to do after enabling Timeline on your Facebook account is pick a random year and scroll down until you find a "Friends" box.

Facebook

Once you've found one of those boxes, click on the "Made [some number] New Friends" text.

You'll see a little pop-up with a list of the friends you made at that particular point in time. If you're still friends with a person, the button next to his or her name will say "Friends." But if you're not? Then the button will say "Add Friend" instead.

Busted!

Facebook

Of course it's worth noting that the people who have an "Add Friend" button might not have unfriended you — instead they might've been the victims of your friend list purge.

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How to plummet 10 storeys without killing yourself

Peter Kent on some of the tricks of a stuntman's trade:

? A "high fall" is when you jump off a building that's at least 10 storeys.

"You're usually into an airbag," says Kent, who produced an award-winning series on stunts called Stunt Dawgs in 2006.

"The trick is to get your landing right and not to go in feet first or head first, because they can result in a broken neck or a torn spinal cord. I know people who have done that, unfortunately. You go in flat on your back or [do] an 'over,' where you go head down and at the last second you flip your legs over and go in on your back."

"The old school method is box catchers. You use a big square cardboard box, three foot by three foot, they stack those one on top of the other, then stretch a tarp over top of all that.

"That's old school. Sometimes if you're out somewhere where you don't have access to electricity and can't use an airbag, box catchers are your only method."

On the Schwarzenegger movie The Last Action Hero, Kent fell 18 storeys using a third method, a wire. "It's a free fall, but you have a wire on your back," he says.

"The wire slows you down, so as you come closer to the ground the speed wicks off until you just touch down. But for the first 15 or 16 floors you're in a free fall, right at the concrete.

"The luxury of that shot is you can look over the person who is falling's shoulder and see the ground, there's no airbag to give it away. They remove the wire on computer. It's a pretty good rush. Especially knowing that if the cable breaks there's nothing to stop you, it's just splat, right to the pavement."

? A "stair fall" is when you go ass over teakettle down stairs. "The trick is to try to keep your chin tucked in to your chest," he says."If the director wants you to go head first straight down the stairs, that's what you do. Otherwise, you ride the walls, like back and forth between the walls to take some of your speed off."

A solo stair fall is completely different than doing one with another stuntman.

"The thing is, you want to get on top of them and ride them all the way down the stairs," he chuckles.

"That's why when you see a couple falling down a flight of stairs, it looks hairball as hell, because each guy is struggling to get on top of the other guy to ride him down the stairs, to take the worst of the beating."

He laughs, but doing stunts can be painful.

"You've got to give credit to the stunt women," he says.

"A lot of times the guys are wearing pads and stuff under their pants. [But] then you'll get a woman in a skimpy dress doing a stair fall, and you can't hide anything under that. I give kudos to a lot of the [stunt] women out there, because many times they take way more of a beating than the men do. 'We want you to do this in a frigging negligee. Okay.' "

? Going through glass can also be tricky.

"They break [the glass] with what's called a squib," he relates. At the second of impact, a little charge goes off and smashes the glass. Back when I was in great shape, I had to do a Baywatch episode where I went out a set of plate glass patio windows onto the deck of a house in Malibu, landing in the glass, in my underwear.

"That cut me up pretty good - it's not fake glass, it's real glass. I landed in all these glass particles and sliced the hell out of my back."

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Travel advice: how to recover a hotel booking fee

On July 9 I booked two return flights to Prague with easyJet, travelling out on January 12 for a four-night stay. I also booked hotel accommodation through easyJet because I wanted to be sure that if the flight timings were changed I could amend the hotel booking.

EasyJet has now cancelled the outbound flight and can offer no alternative on the same day. It says it will refund our fares but will not cancel the hotel booking and refund the £200 we have already paid.

It says we have a separate contract with easyJet/LateRooms because we completed the flight booking before purchasing the hotel room. If we had bought both elements in one transaction, we would have been covered.

If this is the case, why is it not made clear at the time of booking?

Carol Bannister, Bristol

Gill Charlton replies

A spokesman for easyJet said it doesn’t matter whether customers book accommodation before or after paying for the flight reservation, as the contract is always direct with the hotel. Its agent was wrong to tell you otherwise.

Both easyJet and LateRooms.com act only as booking agents and not as holiday organisers. This means that customers are not protected under the European Union’s Package Travel Regulations 1992, which state that if the holiday organiser cancels an essential element of the package the customer is entitled to a refund of all money paid under the contract.

The easyJet spokesman said that in most cases accommodation is sold through LateRooms on a book-now-pay-later basis, with no payment being taken until the customer reaches the hotel. This means that when a flight is cancelled the customer is normally able to cancel without charge.

However, you booked a non-refundable room for a special advance-purchase price. EasyJet can usually work with LateRooms to resolve the problem, and apologises for failing to help you. The company has now agreed to refund the full cost of your hotel reservation.

Southern India tour

We are touring southern India for three weeks and would like to spend a few days relaxing in Goa at the end at a comfortable resort-style hotel. Which beach should we choose?

Susan Prentice, Southampton

Gill Charlton replies

Avoid the beaches of North Goa: Baga and Calangute are noisy and dirty and Anjuna is synonymous with drugs and beach parties. Candolim, at the southern end of Calangute beach, is quieter and the beach is clean.

I would stay at the long-established, low-key Taj Holiday Village, which has its own security. To get far away from tourists and beach traders, drive 90 minutes north of Panjim to Fort Tiracol (www.forttiracol.com), a small heritage hotel perched on rocks above the sea. The simple stylish rooms cost from £120 a night half board. There’s no pool but it’s a short walk and ferry ride back across the river to a beautiful deserted beach.

Most resort hotels are found south of the capital, Panjim. Colva is now busy, so I would head for Benaulim or Varca, farther south, where four- and five-star resort hotels such as the Taj Exotica, the Leela Goa and the Club Mahindra are situated.

As you are touring, you might also consider the Neeleshwar Hermitage near Bekal, a Relais & Chateaux hotel on an unspoilt beach in northern Kerala that is safe for swimming. It is represented in Britain by Mahout (01295 758150, www.mahoutuk.com).

Is the cash on travel money cards safe?

For our forthcoming trip to Australia, we are considering loading funds on a travel money card. I asked staff at my local Thomas Cook branch whether such cards are covered under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, but they did not know. Online, I came across the Cashplus prepaid MasterCard. Its website says it is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), but what does this mean? The Co-op’s money card agreement states that all deposits are placed in a special account, but how can I be sure of this?

I should be grateful if you could advise on the financial status of these prepaid cards.

Sylvia Bond, Derby

Gill Charlton replies

The FSA issues licences to the providers of e-money accounts after making rigorous checks on their businesses. New legislation to protect customers has been brought in since the failure of the currency specialist Crown Exchange.

Cashplus, for example, says that money credited to travel cards is ring-fenced in a tri-party trust account managed by the Royal Bank of Scotland, MasterCard and Travelplus.

“To release money from the trust account we need multiple signatures,” a spokesman for Cashplus said. “The money can be used only for the settlement of prepaid travel card obligations and even the bank isn’t allowed to re-lend or reinvest it.”

This means that there would be no problems with liquidity even if all Cashplus customers wanted to withdraw their funds at the same time.

Other providers of prepaid travel cards work with the Newcastle Building Society, which operates a similar trust account system.

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How to reduce risk but stay in the stock game

The relief rally that pushed the Standard & Poor’s 500 index back above 1,200 ended abruptly Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it would purchase $400 billion of longer-dated Treasurys to “put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates.”

Global markets sold off big time, a selloff that continued Thursday, as the Fed’s downbeat statement cited continued economic weakness. But the debt crisis in Europe and here will make it difficult for governments to take steps to stimulate their economies.

Who’s most responsible for the US debt crisis? Read Howard Gold’s view and cast your vote on the Independent Agenda.

Also, as the third quarter comes to an end, analysts and strategists are ratcheting down their earnings forecasts and their price targets for the S&P. Meanwhile, prophecies of gloom and doom are everywhere. I know — I’ve made a few of them myself.

But that shouldn’t completely stop you from investing. None of us really knows where the market is going, so drastic moves to put all our money into stocks or pull all of it out at any one time usually don’t work.

So what should you do now? Basically I think you need some exposure to equities, but the key word there is “some.” And which ones you hold matter a lot.

“’Get my risk down’ — that’s what people are asking for,” said Richard Band, whose newsletter, Profitable Investing, is aimed at conservative investors.

“People are very afraid,” he told me. “They want the maximum return possible from a low-risk standpoint.”

The reliability of dividends

They’re also shell shocked. After the dot-com bust, a housing bubble, and the biggest financial crisis and deepest recession since the 1930s, their expectations are definitely lower. No wonder investors pulled $75 billion out of stock mutual funds in the four months since the end of April, Bloomberg News reported — more than they withdrew in the four months after Lehman Brothers fell

Read Howard Gold’s take on why he’s lightening up on stocks for good on MoneyShow.com.

“Certainly it’s been a lost decade,” said Band. “Gradually folks have seen that capital gains were not certain.”

So instead of chasing the next hot stock they’re looking for the greater reliability of dividends. “In the last 10-11 years, more than 100% of your return has come from dividends,” he explained.

In fact, Band said investors should “get as much of your return up front as possible in the form of interest and dividends.” He thinks the bull market is entering its later stages and investors should move into more defensive sectors, like health care, consumer staples and utilities.

“First, shift the portfolio to defensive equities,” he told me, and then, “move more of your money into fixed income.”

His biggest concern: aging baby boomers. “I’m worried about a huge flood of people over 65 redeeming mutual funds and selling stocks out of retirement accounts,” he said.

Thousands of people turn 65 every day, and there will be a big jump in that population over the next five years, which Band called “the demographic peak of retirements.”

He’s focusing on large, dividend-paying multinational blue-chip stocks. Among his favorites: AT&T /quotes/zigman/398198/quotes/nls/t T -1.94% , Nestle /quotes/zigman/137226 NSRGY -1.45% and PepsiCo /quotes/zigman/238082/quotes/nls/pep PEP +0.21% .

Even if AT&T doesn’t get its proposed merger with T-Mobile approved, it would still be a leading telecom and wireless company that has raised dividends for 27 years in a row, “right through the recession,” Band said. He pointed out that its current yield is near 6%, double the yield on 30-year Treasuries and three times that of the S&P 500.

Swiss food giant Nestle trades actively over the counter, he said, and has raised dividends 15 years in a row, with a current yield of 3.8%. The Swiss national bank’s efforts to rein in the Swiss franc will help Nestle’s earnings, he said.

PepsiCo is racking up annual revenue growth of 24% in emerging markets, he said, as it focuses more on snacks and nutritional products. Pepsi has raised dividends 39 years in a row and its stock yields 3.4%.

For those who prefer exchange traded funds, he recommends a new one: PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility Portfolio /quotes/zigman/5035470/quotes/nls/splv SPLV -2.04% . It takes the 100 least volatile stocks in the S&P 500 over the past 12 months and rebalances every quarter, so it “automatically moves you out of things as they become more volatile.” It’s just a few months old, so it doesn’t have much of a track record.

Safety, low volatility — where’s that?

Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of Harris Private Bank in Chicago, is “pretty negative,” he told me. “We raised cash on Aug. 4.”

In fact, cash in the accounts his firm manages is “now 10% across the board. That’s really our maximum,” he said.

“I think the market is currently anticipating a 20% decline in earnings, which is kind of consistent with a normal recession,” he continued, and in that environment it’s safety first. “We’re going to the safest, lowest volatility area of the market.”

What’s that?

“Our preference at the moment is U.S. focus over international, megacap over small cap, and growth over value,” he told me. He said the risk in Europe is too high, while emerging markets are facing inflationary pressures.

“It’s still a market where you’d rather keep some powder dry, “he said. “This bouncing ball in Europe in particular could land in so many different places.”

Read Howard’ Golds commentary on how debt will haunt the markets for years on MoneyShow.com.

He also likes investment grade corporate bonds, which are “OK as long as inflation rates stay relatively low.” One ETF that covers this area is iShares iBoxx Investment Grade Corporate Bond /quotes/zigman/309117/quotes/nls/lqd LQD +0.19% .

Band, too, likes investment grade corporates, but he “wouldn’t touch Treasurys—I think they’re very, very overvalued.”

So do I, though they may have a bit longer to go as the Fed rolls out its program to buy long-dated Treasurys.

I like Ablin’s allocation of 40% equities at this point. I would concentrate my holdings at 30% large U.S. equities, through the kind of stocks Richard Band likes and a fund of dividend paying blue chips like Vanguard Dividend Growth /quotes/zigman/245144 VDIGX -2.56% or its ETF equivalent, Vanguard Dividend Appreciation /quotes/zigman/1495790/quotes/nls/vig VIG -3.48% . (I own the mutual fund.)

I’d also hold 10% in emerging-market equities while avoiding Europe or Japan, where you get little bang for the extra buck of risk. I wouldn’t buy emerging markets just yet, but would build my position as they sell off more, as I suspect they will.

I would put 40% in bonds, like the LQD ETF Ablin recommends, plus a mixture of high-yield bonds and Treasury Inflation Protected Securities. Ten percent more would go into cash, and the remaining 10% in gold and dollar hedges. I do expect the dollar’s quiet rally to continue and I wouldn’t be surprised to see gold fall into the $1,600-an-ounce territory, but that might be a good buying opportunity. (I own the SPDR Gold Shares ETF and an ETF focused on the Australian dollar.)

You can’t outguess the markets, especially these days, but if you’re in solid, dividend-paying stocks and have real diversification, that’s the best you can do in a volatile, uncertain world.

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Strategy: How to get ahead by being different

By the time Axle Davids started his own brand consulting firm 10 years ago, he had already worked in the industry for almost two decades. So he knew what kind of competition he would be up against.

He also knew he had to do find a way to be different.

“When I was drafting my first business plan, I wrote about how I would use innovation to stand out from other companies,” recalls Mr. Davids, founder of Toronto-based Distility Branding, whose roster of clients include AT&T Mobility and AutoShare - Car Sharing Network Inc. “So the idea of differentiating myself from my competition was really baked into my business strategy.”

Mr. Davids developed a technology-based system that allows his clients to define their brands in one day – a significant point of difference in an industry where branding projects can take weeks or even months to complete. And instead of giving his clients the usual big report at the end of their branding exercise, Mr. Davids hands out a one-page brand summary.

“It struck me that there had to be a better and different way to do branding,” says Mr. Davids. “It’s taken me almost 10 years to develop that better and different way, but now it’s done and there's nothing else like it.”

Mr. Davids isn't the first entrepreneur to discover that it pays to stand out from the competition. Whether they're running mom-and-pop shops or multi-million-dollar operations, business owners and managers understand the importance of differentiating their products and services.

But not everyone does a good job of figuring out what makes them different and conveying those differences to their customers, says Robert Fisher, professor of marketing at the University of Alberta.

“To differentiate yourself in your market, you need to have a good idea of your unique value proposition – what your company stands for and what you provide that your customers won’t easily find anywhere else,” he says. “It sounds quite simple but it’s actually a bit more complex than that.”

Companies looking to differentiate themselves should approach the task from a company and product level, says Dr. Fisher. They need to analyze how their company as a whole brings something unique to their customers, such as in how they support their products or services. They should also think about how each product or service addresses the needs of their customers.

Knowing how competitors are differentiating themselves is crucial, says Dr. Fisher.

“The last thing you want is to be claiming you're different because you're doing this particular thing, only to find out that the competition is saying the exact same thing,” he says.

Once you’ve defined and announced your points of difference, you need to stick to it, adds Dr. Fisher.

“The downside is that you’ve now constrained yourself to a very specific value proposition,” he says. “But the upside is that you can now focus your efforts on delivering this value.”

Kevin McKenzie, a Toronto-based partner and business development leader at Ernst & Young, a global professional services firm, says consistency is key for companies that want to stand apart from the competition.

But this doesn’t mean being completely predictable, he says. To continue being different, companies need to constantly think of ways to create unique experiences for their clients.

“For example, we run sessions with our clients where we bring in senior executives and spend a day or two brainstorming the client’s challenges,” says Mr. McKenzie. “One time, we locked ourselves away with a client for three days and emerged with six killer ideas to help our client be more successful.”

Tracey Riley, Toronto-based national leader of consulting and deals at PwC Canada, which provides assurance, advisory and tax services, cautions against trying to be different and better in everything, or trying to appeal to everyone. Instead, she recommends focusing on one or a few particular areas of expertise.

“We don’t try and help every company transform their organization and we’re selective in focusing on areas where we have deep expertise, such as in security issues for the technology or telco industries, or in health care,” she says.

Companies that are able to identify their areas of expertise can more easily establish themselves as thought leaders in their field, adds Ms. Riley. An effective way to do this is by publishing books and reports focusing on these particular areas.

PwC, for instance, publishes a global entertainment and media outlook report each year.

“It’s one of those really credible pieces of thought leadership in the entertainment and media industry,” says Ms. Riley. “Our clients look at it when they're putting together their business strategy and financial analysis, and a number of them will refer to this document in their annual reports.”

At Distility Branding, an ebook written by Mr. Davids called Brand Scammed! How to avoid buying the wrong branding solution gives the company a competitive edge during the procurement process. Mr. Davids, who also writes a regular blog on all matters related to branding, says he sends the book to prospective customers before meeting with them.

“I took that category differentiation against my competition and turned it into a guide for buying a branding solution,” he says. “We know that we are probably the fourth branding agency the client is meeting, and the book changes the tenor of the meeting because all of a sudden we’re no longer just an agency; we’re a thought leader who is helping them unravel the process of choosing a branding solution.”

Christie Henderson, partner at Henderson Partners LLP in Oakville, just west of Toronto, says one way she established herself and her accounting firm as leaders in personal tax accounting was by writing a series of Tax Tips for Canadians for Dummies books.

Writing the books is time-consuming, she says, but it’s worth the effort because the books increase brand recognition and position Henderson Partners as an authority in its field.

“It immediately makes us unique in the eyes of our customers,” says Ms. Henderson. “In addition to all the unique and proprietary things we’re doing service-wise, we can also say that we’re the company that writes the Taxes for Dummies books.”

Special to The Globe and Mail

****

Dare to be different

*

Be innovative. Look at what your competition is doing and do something completely different.

*

Be relevant to your customers. It pays to be different – but only if your unique product or service holds value for your customers.

*

Don’t be a jack-of-all-trades. Instead, find your areas of expertise and focus on being the best in these areas.

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Lead the discussion. Establish yourself as a thought leader by writing reports, books and blogs that address your customers’ needs and answer their questions.

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How to Take Advantage of Low Mortgage Rates

Markets around the world took a tumble today after investors took the Federal Reserve's efforts to stimulate the economy as a sign that the global recovery is slowing down. But while traders on Wall Street only see gloom and doom in the Fed's low interest rates, those on Main Street could get the breaks they've been waiting for.

The losses began on Wednesday afternoon when the Fed announced it would trade in $400 billion worth of short-term bonds for the same amount of longer-term bonds. The idea was to keep borrowing rates low for a longer period to spur growth in the housing market and other areas of the economy.

"There's widespread recognition that the Fed's best ideas were used up a long time ago," said Greg McBride of BankRate.com. "But there's a lot of skepticism, rightly so, that this is really going to move the needle in terms of overall economic growth and the jobless rate."

The problem isn't interest rates, McBride said -- it's demand.

"Too many people are out of work," he said. "Too many people that are still working are afraid they're going to be out of work. And it's holding people back. That's holding back the economy, and that's not something the Fed can fix."

While the economic outlook does seem gloomy, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Fixed mortgage rates have hovered at record lows for the third straight week and are likely to fall even further now that the Fed has made it its mission to drive long-term interest rates even lower.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage stayed at 4.09 percent this week -- the lowest it's been since 1951-- and a 15-year mortgage rate fell to 3.29 percent -- which economists say is the lowest rate ever for such a loan.

"If you're in the market to buy a home, the timing is tremendous," said McBride. "Because the affordability is so great, not just because of low mortgage rates, but also because of the sharp decline in home prices."

If you're looking to take advantage of those mortgage rates, Yahoo finance contributor Farnoosh Torabi said there are ways to qualify right now.

What's the number one thing you need? A high credit score.

"If that's what it takes for you to get that mortgage, make sure you're paying your credit card bills on time and not just the minimum," she said. "Maybe three, four times that minimum, 'cause you want to get your debt level to a place where the banks can feel confident and comfortable to lend to you."

If you know your credit score is low, Torabi said, it's possible to bring it up in a matter of months, "as long as you are vigilant and you are dedicated to bringing down your debt levels and you are always paying on time.

"The easiest way to pay on time is to automate your payments so that you never fall behind," said Torabi.

Always look at ways to lower the little bank fees that add up, Torabi said. She suggested going to places like BankRate.com to find community banks, credit unions or even big banks that still offer fee-free checking. Other options, like always using your bank's ATM instead of another ATM, will also keep money in your pocket.

"Put your budget under the microscope and trim the fat," she said. "You've really got to look at the little things."

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How to Be a Chief Information Officer

 

For a lot of chief information officers, the best-case scenario is not to be noticed. Why? No. 1, these people are typically responsible for the largest cost center in your organization. No. 2 is that most of the technology budget is for things that were bought in previous years. So the CIO comes from a place of caution and conservatism and ends up moving slowly, while being the face of technology—one of the fastest-moving industries in the world. There are these cosmic pressures like cloud computing services and the rise of consumer technology—smartphones, tablets, and all the rest—that are forcing change in the landscape.

CIOs have to figure out how to harness all that change, as opposed to fighting it. It’s hard to understand that you have to give up a certain amount of control. You used to write the checks and determine what people would use. Not anymore. At a lot of companies, employees are already using their own personal smartphones. They bring their phones to the office and they want them to work. CIOs tend to see that as, “Oh my god, they are imposing on me.” On the other hand, it’s one less thing you have to buy and one less carrier contract you have to maintain. It is one problem off your organization’s back.

At Google we go to great lengths to make people productive by allowing them to have choices with the technology they choose for doing their work. I had thought that would be very, very costly. To my surprise I’ve discovered, and third-party benchmarks have verified, that when you give people the choice of their toolset, they end up supporting themselves much more.

This was counterintuitive to me. I mean, we don’t let people buy a computer at Best Buy and support it—we buy the computer and give you the choice of which operating system and productivity software you want. As a result of that, our users are more self-supporting. The reason they choose a particular technology is probably because they knew it or liked it or wanted to know it. All of those things will lead to a better situation than if you just told them what they had to do.

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How to Speak ‘IRS’ Language During an Audit

If you are called in for an IRS audit, you will be asked to bring documentation to support the deductions being audited, which requires a little pre-audit preparation.

The letter will detail a list of the deductions they wish to examine. The first thing you should do is get out your copy of the tax return, if you cannot locate your copy, contact the tax pro who prepared your return and request a copy.

Next, total your receipts for the deductions in question and compare the results to the figures on your tax return-- hopefully everything matches. If they don’t, determine the difference then review your bank statements, credit card statements, and check registers to locate additional expenditures. If you cannot find the difference then that amount will likely be disallowed as a deduction.

If you can get a copy of a missing receipt before the audit, that’s the best option, if not, a picture of the item may suffice. A picture may come in handy when you are writing off major assets like refrigerators and stoves for a rental property or furniture, equipment, and fixtures for your business. Of course, proving that you made the purchase during the year in question may be difficult.

Now that you’ve rounded up all of your receipts, the auditor will confirm the amount of the deduction and if it is valid. For example, you have a copy of your cancelled check made out to the American Cancer Society. IRS regulations dictate that you must have a letter from the nonprofit confirming that the amount donated was in fact a donation. It could be that the $500 you donated to PBS included the fair market value - $100 for Tina Turner’s concert in Barcelona DVD. If that is the case, then you should have written off only $400 as a charitable contribution. Here comes an adjustment to your tax return. Keep those thank you letters in your tax file; if you don’t have one, the auditor may disallow the entire amount.

Many deductions are straight forward and normally don’t get a second glance once a cancelled check or paid receipt is produced: property taxes, vehicle registration fees, medical expenses (although reimbursement from insurance companies is examined), state income taxes withheld and paid are good examples. The receipts most often questioned have to do with expenses that involve fun activities or where personal, non-deductible involvement might be a factor: travel, meals, entertainment, vehicle expense, home office and certain other business expenses.

If you have expenses to defend that fall into the above categories, read up on the rules or discuss these expenditures with your tax pro before going into an audit. You may discover things that surprise you. For example, you cannot write off your vacation just because you dropped off a couple of resumes at a few businesses near the hotel. Or, that the big client Christmas party you threw is also not deductible.

If you use your vehicle for business, and you took actual expenses rather than mileage, having a batch of receipts for fuel and repairs will not suffice. The auditor will want a log of your business miles and total miles driven during the year. This may be something you will have to create. Although the IRS code requires that you keep a contemporaneous log, I have yet to meet an auditor who did not accept a reconstruction. This is why I urge taxpayers to record their beginning odometer and ending odometer readings for the year. This will provide the total mileage figures required on your tax return. MapQuest is a great help in reconstruction. For more information on this topic click here

Audit-speak is important: Auditors understand when you speak their language. Comprehending the meanings and using key phrases will help you unravel the code and better defend yourself in audit. Here are the most important:

1. Intent. Intent is a factor for determining the validity of deductions. For example, if you are defending a trip to Maui, which was primarily a vacation with a bit of business mixed in the form of having lunch with a business contact, the lunch will likely be allowed but the accompanying travel expense will be disallowed because the primary intent was vacation. But if the purpose of the trip was to buy Hawaiian artifacts to sell in your store and you have correspondence between yourself and various vendors as well as receipts for items purchased then you will likely be allowed the full deduction. It boils down to intent--the primary purpose of the trip. This maxim can be applied to all business deductions. So if this is the case, merely say: “The intent of the trip was business.”

2. Not lavish or extravagant. This phrase is often used to describe the acceptability of meals, entertainment and travel deductions. It can also be weighed against your finances in general. If you are Donald Trump there is likely nothing that would be considered too lavish or extravagant. But if you maxed out your credit cards to fly your best clients (who also happen to be your best friends) to Scotland to see a U2 concert and then had the costs discharged in your bankruptcy, you were being both lavish and extravagant. The deduction will be disallowed. Telling an auditor who questions an expensive meal “I had to land this client. It was a really big deal; considering the circumstances and the competition I was up against, this was not at all lavish or extravagant.”

3. Ordinary and necessary. This term describes the acceptability of business expenses in general. The IRS doesn’t have a set of expenses that are allowed for business purposes simply because every industry has different requirements. If you are in the food preparation business, you may need a $5,000 espresso maker. An insurance broker, however, would not need such a device, So if you own a limousine service, you can say: “Yes, that’s right, Mr. Auditor, stocking champagne in the limos is an ordinary and necessary business expense.”

4. Reasonable Cause. This is a phrase normally used at the end of the audit. If you pretty much blew it when preparing your tax return, and the entire audit turned out to be a “great learning experience,” which means you owe beaucoup bucks, you may be assessed penalties. You may have these penalties removed if you have “reasonable cause.” Think of the reasons why you goofed on preparing your tax return. Perhaps you relied on an incompetent bookkeeper, or had another very good reason for goofing up, then you may persuade the auditor to abate penalties. This can save you a lot of money.

Speaking of abating penalties, next week I will discuss potential penalties, how to have them removed and what to do next if you are not satisfied with the audit results.

Bonnie Lee is an Enrolled Agent admitted to practice and representing taxpayers in all fifty states at all levels within the Internal Revenue Service. She is the owner of Taxpertise in Sonoma, CA and the author of Entrepreneur Press book, “Taxpertise, The Complete Book of Dirty Little Secrets and Hidden Deductions for Small Business that the IRS Doesn't Want You to Know,” available at all major booksellers. Follow Bonnie Lee on Twitter at BLTaxpertise and at Facebook.

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How to Handle a Crisis

As a leader, you have to balance the desire to say something right away with the need to get the facts. People typically err on the side of saying something too soon and then have to eat most of what they said.

There are two phases: the hurricane and the cleanup. During the hurricane, you’re trying to keep the house standing and keep your organization functioning. Whether you win, lose, or draw, unless all the employees are on board and focused, you’ve lost. When the immediacy of the crisis is over, then you figure out what changes to make and how you rebuild your image. It can be a two-year process, but most companies recover.

President Clinton is the best crisis responder I’ve ever worked with. He’s a strong leader, and he’s goal-oriented to solve the problem, whether it’s the nation’s deficit or impeachment. He won by going against the conventional wisdom of crisis management. People think you should get out there and apologize and everything will be fine. That’s not always true.

In some industries you can anticipate what the likely crisis will be. You need a plan and the right person out there as the central voice. Don’t throw your CEO in the middle of every story. In the BP crisis, Tony Hayward underplayed the gravity initially, and then he arguably overplayed it because he was on the defensive. Was there a workaround? Sure. He could have hired Colin Powell. If there’s a massive incident in the Gulf, the person you’d have the most confidence in is someone from the American military.

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How to Fire a CEO

Let's face it, CEOs get fired all the time.

CEOs with less than 5 years of experience are more likely than long-standing ones to be fired, so it's going to happen all the time but there are ways to do it, and ways not to.

Yahoo's firing of Carol Bartz is a great example of how not to. Don't fire a CEO over the phone, don't underestimate their grit, don't fire them without an agreed on communication plan.

Carol is known for her courage and her balls of steel. She had put a strategy in place where she told the board there would not be revenue growth until 2012 and -- whether you think she was right or wrong in her strategy -- the board should have predicted she'd be mad to be fired over the phone with no warning, with lawyers waiting for her.

And her response -- to send an email to all 13,000 Yahoo employees -- was classic Carol. And much more fiery than one of the last very few tech female CEOs, VMWare's Dianne Greene who went away quietly after a difference of opinion on her experience.

How to #1: If you are firing a powerful personality manage the communication by meeting with them in person! Or get someone you trust to do it for you, in person.

Mark Hurd's departure from HP provides more to chew on. In Mark we had another strong CEO with a strained relationship with the board. Facing allegations of expense fraud, a sexual harassment suit, broken trust and the specter of bad PR, the HP board fired their CEO and entered months of he-said, she-said. In this case the ousted CEO promptly went across to another Silicon Valley giant, Oracle, and one known to have a tougher, less PC culture. HP sued and then promptly settled 2 weeks later once they realized how important the Oracle business relationship is to them both.

How to #2: Make sure you have a strong separation agreement when you fire the CEO so if they take another job you can live with it and don't have to sue, and then settle. List the companies you really don't want them to go to, especially if you are in California, and put some financial teeth into it.

This week's hyped up HP rumors also highlight How to #3: Don't let leaks come out of the board room. Ever. Especially if you are thinking of firing your CEO. The level of detail coming out of the HP board room is astonishing for such a large public company.

On to #4. You can tell a company has not been doing a good job of succession planning when a board member needs to step into the breach. Usually there is someone who can take over in the interim, even if it is only the CFO. But in Axciom's case, parting ways with the CEO after a bad quarter, even the CFO didn't want to "keep commuting from Florida to Little Rock". It's probably a tough challenge for the new CEO Scott Howe.

It's never pretty when a CEO is fired but it can be done smoothly, take for example the abrupt resignation of BNY CEO Robert Kelly -- a deliberate, confidential process followed by the promotion of an internal leader, Gerald Hassell, into the top spot. Pfizer, when CEO Kindler also abruptly left was able to replace him with an internal candidate Ian Read.

How to #4: Do a good job of succession planning on a continuous basis so if you do need to remove the CEO you have internal candidates to seriously consider.

Which leads to the question what does the board do when they have to fire the entire senior team as the Cadence board did in October 2008? They were lucky to have a strong board member ready to step in and turn the company around, because there was no one senior enough internally left standing, although indications are the CEO, Lip-Bu Tan is now investing in How to #4.

Of course there are many more ways to fire a CEO but in the end the hiring and firing of the CEO is the single most important thing boards do. They are accountable to the shareholders and the CEO has more impact on the strategy, execution and leadership team than anyone else, so the decision of who to put in that position vastly outweighs any other decision a board makes.

It sounds easy. Be clear about what the company needs, have a clear and transparent process within the board for nomination and evaluation, have a strong succession planning process so you are developing internal candidates, keep confidentiality.

But it's not easy. It is incredibly difficult because companies, and human beings, are complex. Of course boards make hiring mistakes, or the needs of the company change, or the market changes and a CEO may no longer be a good fit.

So if you do have the misfortune to need to fire a CEO, at least make that a well-managed, dignified, confidential process.

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How to fall 10 storeys without killing yourself

A “high fall” is when you jump off a building that’s at least 10 storeys.

“You’re usually into an airbag,” says Kent, who produced an award-winning series on stunts called Stunt Dawgs in 2006.

“The trick is to get your landing right and not to go in feet first or head first, because they can result in a broken neck or a torn spinal cord. I know people who have done that, unfortunately. You go in flat on your back or [do] an ‘over’, where you go head down and at the last second you flip your legs over and go in on your back.”

“The old school method is box catchers. You use a big square cardboard box, three foot by three foot, they stack those one on top of the other, then stretch a tarp over top of all that.

“That’s old school. Sometimes if you’re out somewhere where you don’t have access to electricity and can’t use an airbag, box catchers are your only method.”

On the Schwarzenegger movie The Last Action Hero, Kent fell 18 storeys using a third method, a wire.

“It’s a free fall, but you have a wire on your back,” he says.

“The wire slows you down, so as you come closer to the ground the speed wicks off until you just touch down. But for the first 15 or 16 floors you’re in a free fall, right at the concrete.

“The luxury of that shot is you can look over the person who is falling’s shoulder and see the ground, there’s no airbag to give it away. They remove the wire on computer. It’s a pretty good rush. Especially knowing that if the cable breaks there’s nothing to stop you, it’s just splat, right to the pavement.”

A “stair fall” is when you go ass over tea kettle down some stairs.

“The trick is to try and keep your chin tucked in to your chest,” he says.

“If the director wants you to go head first straight down the stairs, that’s what you do. Otherwise, you ride the walls, like back and forth between the walls to take some of your speed off.”

A solo stair fall is completely different than doing one with another stuntman.

“The thing is, you want to get on top of them and ride them all the way down the stairs,” he chuckles.

“That’s why when you see a couple falling down a flight of stairs, it looks hairball as hell, because each guy is struggling to get on top of the other guy to ride him down the stairs, to take the worst of the beating.”

He laughs, but doing stunts can be painful.

“You’ve got to give credit to the stunt women,” he says.

“A lot of times the guys are wearing pads and stuff under their pants. [But] then you’ll get a woman in a skimpy dress doing a stair fall, and you can’t hide anything under that. I give kudos to a lot of the [stunt] women out there, because many times they take way more of a beating than the men do. ‘We want you to do this in a frigging negligee.’ ‘Okay.’”

Going through glass can also be tricky.

“They break [the glass] with what’s called a squib,” he relates.

“At the second of impact, a little charge goes off and smashes the glass. Back when I was in great shape, I had to do a Baywatch episode where I went out a set of plate glass patio windows onto the deck of a house in Malibu, landing in the glass, in my underwear.

“That cut me up pretty good – it’s not fake glass, it’s real glass. I landed in all these glass particles and sliced the hell out of my back.”

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How To Trade This Market Meltdown

Investors are far from convinced that the Fed’s latest maneuver, Operation Twist, will be effective in propping up the slumping economy. Or maybe they just think the headwinds are too strong.

More downbeat economic data out of China and Europe added to the pessimism this morning, with the German DAX 30 index down 4.9%. Gold and oil futures also dropped overnight as the dollar surged, all likely due to the lack of straightforward stimulus from the Fed. Amid all of the problems in Europe, the dollar is once again becoming a safe haven by default.

The 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) continues to explode, putting further pressure on equity markets.

As far as trading these markets, you certainly need to have a short attention span. Taking a contrarian approach at the extreme ends of this range has been the only thing that is working. These markets move fast, and there is a fine line between winning and losing. Tuesday’s push through failure in the S&P and many leading stocks was the first clue that the oversold bounce had run its course. Most experienced traders choose not to make bets in front of big economic announcements like the Fed, so you would have had to be quick on the trigger if you wanted to get short. Like we have seen over the last two months, the first big down day usually leads to a gap and further continuation the next.

Three of the sectors that we have highlighted for relative weakness in the Off the Charts newsletter over the past few weeks–Oil Service (OIH), Materials (XLB), and Financials (XLF)–all led the markets lower yesterday. These sectors were showing extreme relative weakness well before the Fed spoke, and sold off more aggressively in the last hour of Wednesday trading.

Although last week’s action put the bear flag pattern on hold, we still held within the range and the thesis is intact. It now appears likely that we will break down from the channel, and many of these relatively weak ETFs are already doing so. During the head and shoulders formation that led to the breakdown around the time of the S&P-U.S. debt downgrade, these same sectors broke below their necklines first, also.

S&P 500 important technical support levels are 1135-1140 (below which we opened this morning), then 1118-1122. A close below that second level would put the low of the year, 1101, firmly into play. If we close below that level at some point over the next few weeks, it would likely lead to the full measured move down to the 1010-1040 zone.

While we are still long-term bullish on our list of relatively strong stocks–especially Apple (AAPL) and Amazon.com (AMZN)–when momentum technical areas don’t hold, we sell and look for lower levels to buy them back. There will be another golden opportunity to buy stocks at some point likely later this year, but right now we are in a bearish leaning wait and see mode.

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How to turn on your Facebook Timeline right now

If you are impatient and want to experience the new Timeline Facebook announced earlier today, you can turn it through the developer section of Facebook. The process is simple, takes a few minutes, and will require some patience as Facebook tidies up any lingering issues and bugs. You game? Read on.

As reported on TechCrunch just a bit ago, users can quickly enable the Facebook Timeline on their account in a matter of minutes. Here's how you do it.

1. Visit the Facebook Developer page, and enable it for your account. If you aren't currently logged in, you will be required to do so.

2. The button to create a new app can be found in the top right corner of the Apps page. Make sure to give your app a display name and name space when requested (it doesn't matter what you enter here, no one will see this app, just make something up and continue). Accept the Platform Privacy agreement by checking the box. You will have to have a verified Facebook account, meaning you have either a credit card or phone number on file.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Cipriani)

3. After the app has been named and terms accepted, you will then be taken to your shiny new apps' settings screen. You will see an Open Graph option on the left-hand side. Click on it.

4. You will need to define an action for your new app. You can enter whatever you like; no one is going to see this app when all is said and done, so don't fret too much over the details. (We entered "People can 'high five' a 'video'" as our action). Click on Get Started once you have entered your action.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Cipriani)

5. Once you are presented with the screen above, you don't actually have to do anything, just scroll to the bottom and select Save Changes. You may have to do this on a couple different screens; just remember to scroll to the bottom and select Save Changes.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Cipriani)

6. After you are taken back to the Dashboard for Open Graph, you have completed the setup process. Give it a few minutes, then go back to your Facebook home page. You should then see a big invite to enable Timeline. If you don't see it right away, give it a few minutes

That's it. Once you click on Get It Now, you will then be redirected to your new Timeline. Your Timeline is private, by default, for the time being. You can either edit it until you are ready to publish it, or you can ride it out and let Facebook publish it for you on September 29.

One more note: if you access your Facebook account from another computer, your Timeline is turned off. To get it back, enter the follow URL into your browser: http:www.facebook.com/[yourusername]?sk=timeline. Make sure to replace [yourusername] with your actual Facebook username.

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How to make Apple halwa

Apple halwa is made with just two basic ingredients: apple and oats. I learnt this recipe from my grandmother and it can be made in a jiffy.

What you need

Oats: 1/2 cup

Freshly grated apple: 1 cup

Sugar: 1 cup

Ghee: 2 tbsp

Orange food colour (optional): a pinch

Cardamom powder (optional): 2 pods

Cooking instructions

Heat a kadai and add ghee.

Roast the oats first for a few minutes and then add the grated apple.

Fry for a few more minutes and then add 1/2 cup water.

When the oats are cooked add the sugar.

Boil first and then let simmer. Add the food colour.

Cook till the mass leaves the sides of the pan.

Garnish with ghee-fried cashews and cardamom.

Janani Parthasarathy is a student of engineering who loves cooking.

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