18 February 2011 - How to Start A HYIP Pt I

Hi! I believe the title must have caught you off guard today because I am actually NOT writing an article on How to start an actual HYIP (sorry to disappoint those who thought I was). Instead, I'm talking about How to start your HYIP investment journey. Sorry for the misleading title -- I just thought it would attract more attention this way :)

First of all, a good way to start would be to get a payment processor. There are currently several options, but I would recommend either AlertPay or LibertyReserve. For more reading, check out How To Win In HYIP With Payment Processors.

The sign-up process is fairly easy for any of the payment processors that you choose, but I would use different passwords and email addresses for each of the payment processors that you use (different from the email addresses and passwords you use for the HYIPs that you join) for the following reason:
Security
- for one, admins have knowledge of the password and email address you use for the HYIP that you join. Therefore, if you use the same email address and password, that'll be like graciously inviting the admin to take your money away from you.

After signing up for a payment processor, start to research the HYIPs that you'd like to join on forums, blogs and monitors. Some forums that I frequent quite often myself are TalkGold, MoneyMakerGroup and DreamTeamMoney. These are good resources because you can see actual feedback from actual investors, although there are quite a few paid voters as well. It takes some time to sift through all those posts, but I'll prepare a post on how to differentiate between paid posts and real, actual posts soon.

In the event that you find out certain HYIPs only accept e-currencies that you don't currently own, it's the time to exchange funds. Don't be surprised to find that there are numerous scam exchangers in the field today -- just a basic google search on "AlertPay exchanger" will return tens, if not hundreds, of unverified exchangers. Please note that it is against AlertPay's Terms and Conditions to exchange funds without verification from AlertPay. Read more about this on Where To Exchange E-Currencies. Generally though, verified exchangers, no matter whether it's LibertyReserve or AlertPay, should have Verified seals on their page. So a rule of thumb is to always check whether the seals are present on the sites.

That's it for today's Part I of How To Start Your HYIP Journey. Tune in soon for the second part! :)

10 Jan 2011 - Payment Processors: How to Succeed in the HYIP Industry

Why do you need more than 1 payment processor to succeed in the HYIP industry?

One might argue that the secret of success is being able to go through and through with the one that you believe, be it in terms of an idea or a payment processor in this case. While that has absolutely nothing wrong, I would like to offer a different, but not opposite, view of how to succeed in the industry.

First of all, there are about 5 commonly used payment processors in the industry, namely (not in order) LibertyReserve(LR), AlertPay(AP) *Now known as Payza, PerfectMoney(PM), SolidTrustPay(STP) and GlobalDigitalPay(GDP). Of course, there are numerous alternatives as well, such as RoutePay and PexPay, but those are not as commonly used in the industry. PexPay is a relatively new player in the industry claimed to be registered in the US, but I have my reservations. Until they prove themselves, I will hesitate to send my verification documents to them.

LibertyReserve has been a favorite amongst investors and program admins alike for 2 reasons:

1) it is easy to acquire funds
2) all transactions are final.

For investors, the ease of acquiring, exchanging and selling funds remains one of the top reasons why they choose LibertyReserve. One can easily look for an exchanger or LibertyReserve certified reseller to purchase funds. A list of certified resellers and exchangers can be found here: (LibertyResreve site link) LibertyReserve funds can also be easily exchanged to other e-currencies, such as AlertPay and SolidTrustPay. (read … to find out how to exchange)

Admins, on the other hand, love LibertyReserve because once the funds are in their accounts, there’s no way anyone can force it back. The deal’s closed once the money’s transferred.

As such, that’s why most, if not all, HYIP programs offer LibertyReserve as a means of investment simply because it is easy for investors to get started, and it is similarly easy for admins to get away (in the event that they want to pack their bags).

Is it important, then, to have LibertyReserve? I believe that question is self-explanatory.
However, if you want to succeed in the industry, is having only LibertyReserve going to help?

The answer: no. Because the risk involved here is simply too huge. Admins can always shut down their programs and walk away with their fat wallets. What can an investor do in such a case?

Remember: all deals done with LibertyReserve are done deals. There are no chargebacks. Therefore, the saying that runs around the industry has quite a degree of truth in it: “once you invest, consider that you’ve already lost that money.”

However, that’s not the case if you have AlertPay. AlertPay is one of the few payment processors in the industry that offers chargebacks and identity verification. Therefore, if any program uses an Unverified account, it’s clear that the admin’s in the game for a quick profit. A clear sign to R.U.N!

As almost anything can be bought with money, so does identity. Admins often purchase fake identities to verify their accounts, and therefore, please do not fall easily if you see a Verified Account as that does not represent anything, if anything at all.

Nevertheless, in the event that a program scams, there’s a 50/50 chance that you could recover your profits. This is the beauty of using AlertPay: they have a team of experts specialized in scam prevention. You would have to file a dispute claim should you find that you have been scammed. Then, this bunch of “scam experts” would initiate an investigation into your claim. Should they find the investigation in your favor, they would reverse whatever funds they can recoup into your account. Note that it is unlikely that they will reverse the full amount of your investment, but it’s always better to have something than not to have anything at all.

Therefore, I think we can safely conclude that having a few payment processors not only reduces your risks in this industry, it also increases your chances of recuperating your funds in the event a program scams. In the case of having a LibertyReserve account, that helps you to invest in some programs that have not yet introduced AlertPay into their range of accepted e-currencies. Nonetheless, most programs usually do somewhere down the road when they're more successful. If you wish to wait it out, that would be a good idea as well.

That's all for today folks! Leave your comments and suggestions on either the suggestion box below or the ChatBox on the right hand side of this blog :)

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!

3 Jan 2010 -Time to Exchange: Where to find one?

Hi guys! So it happened inevitably that I had to find some LibertyReserve funds today to fund for my other investments, and I was scouting the site for the most reliable/trustworthy AlertPay exchangers.

Well, what do you know, there was almost none.

How was that the case, when you have thousands of investors in the industry, and there could be hundreds, if not thousands, of people wanting to exchange their funds? Where should they turn to during such an event?

By chance, I came upon this article from a friend of mine, Frank, which details the sites he often goes to to exchange his funds.

I will be quoting some parts of his article in this edition of SMI Talk today.

Here's the link to the article:

Linky

In his (Frank's) opinion, AlertPay is easily the most trustworthy e-currency in the industry for 2 reasons:
1) Cheaper (considering there's less exchanger fees involved, though this is debatable)
2) More reliable (chargebacks allow for a 50/50 chance of getting your funds back in the event of a scam)

Whereas LibertyReserve, which is probably the most commonly used payment processor in the industry, is good for several reasons:
1) Accepted for all HYIPs
2) Low transaction fees
3) Easy to set up

With that said, the following question arises: should any investor stick to just one payment processor?

The answer is no. I don't think any investor, or any investor who wishes to succeed in this industry at least, should limit themselves to only 1 payment processor. The flexibility of having multiple payment processors, as well as the skillful use of that flexibility, is quite a valuable asset in this industry.

To find out more about why that is, please tune in for my next article on How Does Having Multiple Payment Processors Help You Succeed in HYIP.

Before that, however, I would like to point out where and how we can find reliable exchangers to exchange AP(AlertPay) -> LR(Liberty Reserve) or the other way around.

There are probably quite a few reliable ones that you know, or that you are using right now, hence, please do not hesitate to add the names of the exchangers you are using to the comment box below this post :)

And with that said, this list of exchangers is definitely not exhaustive, and that it's merely my opinion.

1. Xchanger.org

For AP -> LR exchanges, you can always rely on Xchanger.org for the low fees, reliable service and efficiency. Usually AP funds will take 6 days to get verified, therefore, if you wish to exchange your AP funds, please wait patiently for 6 business days before you will see your funds in LR.

The cost of exchanging from AP to LR is 9% plus $1 service charge; whereas for LR to AP, it only costs 4% with a $1 mandatory service charge.

Perhaps you'd like to remember that Xchanger requires all clients to register before they could exchange, and that LR funds are usually in limited amounts. Right now they only have $400+ to exchange from AP to LR.

If you wish to exchange AP funds, meaning from AP -> something else, you would need to identify yourself. This means you would need to send in your identification document, such as national ID card or driver's license, in order to be verified. According to Xchange, this is part of their fraud prevention measures, and all clients have to abide by this rule.

2. SwapGold

Again, this is one of the more reliable services in the industry. They accept all sorts of exchanges, including, but not limited to, AlertPay, LibertyReserve, StrictPay (which has already scammed), and GlobalDigitalPay. I believe the fees are reasonable, and, again, if you want to exchange Ap funds, you would have to wait 6 business days.

Note that only funds from verified accounts will be accepted. Non-verified accounts will not be accepted. A good thing that I like about this site is that you don't need to send in your identification documents. Heck, you don't even need to set up an account.

3. AlertExchanger

This exchanger has been around for quite sometime, and if you take a look on TalkGold, they've had some positive reviews from investors who have used their services. Seems like most of them are satisfied customers, from what I see, and I think there's no reason to doubt why they wouldn't continue such an excellent streak in the future.

In fact, they seem to be one of the few verified AlertPay exchangers too, so that lends them another added sense of credibility there.

The fees are reasonable as well, as they charge a minimum fee of $7 and 8% to exchange from AP to LR, and only 3% from LR to AP.

An important point to remember when you're searching for your own AlertPay exchangers is to look out for this logo:

AlertPay Verified Logo

This shows that a site is verified by AlertPay to conduct e-currency exchange services. Without the logo, it's not trustworthy, and there's a good chance they're conducting illegal transactions. You could lose your entire funds if AlertPay finds out about such transactions.

That concludes our article for today, so please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions!
:)

25 Dec 2010 - Merry Christmas!

Hi guys! For those who celebrate this special occasion, Merry Christmas! And for those who don't, may you have a great day ahead!

With the recent unexpected collapse, I think CherryShares needs to be closely looked at to learn from what could contribute to a program’s closure.

First of all, I think the red sign appeared when CherryShares announced their plan to adjust the weekly return rate. That was primarily a sign that there was problem with cash flow. From there onwards, it was just a downhill slide for them.

Members and bloggers who have been in this industry for a while have had similar experiences already. And they most likely signaled to others to pull out right away.
That not only created an unnecessary panic amongst members, it accelerated CherryShares’ debit account. Members started pulling out their principal, and that certainly didn’t help CherryShares.

But, and that’s a big but there, some of the bigger members, I’m saying with investments over $10,000, remained loyal to the program. That explained why for a short period of time, CherryShares did not have any problem paying out smaller amounts.

The issue CS had with LibertyReserve just before the program collapsed showed a somewhat troubling sign of cash flow problems as well with that particular department. AlertPay did not have any problems because of 2 reasons:

• AlertPay is one of the most, if not the most, popular payment processors in the market now. People invest larger sums with this payment processor as they think it’s more reliable

If, and when, the account is suspended, CherryShares could not pull out any money anyway. They probably figured it would be better to keep paying

Nonetheless, CS had been paying consistently for almost 2 years. Why did they collapse?

I think it is simply their time to go, just as any HYIP would when they have expanded beyond their industry. The industry is only as big as the investor base, which is certainly not more than 10,000 I would say. Of course, there are some occasional big investors who just jump in when there’s a big program everyone’s talking about. However, these types of investors are few and far between. For a huge program like CS to keep paying consistently, processing over thousands of dollars every single day, there needs to be a huge money pool.

Unfortunately, that was just not going to happen. I know of a handful of investors who withdraw over $2000 every week from the weekly plan, and you can probably calculate yourself how much money they have in there.

If CS wanted to sustain the growth they were having, it needed to expand outwards. And it just didn’t happen for them, which was why they collapsed.

This may appear to be a simplistic analysis, but I’m sure much of this will make much more sense somewhere down the road, when there’s another program that you think might last forever suddenly collapses. By then, if you take another look at this article, it will probably strike some “aha!” in your mind.

That’s all for today folks! Thanks for reading! :)

15 Nov 2010 - SMI Talk: Due Diligence

SMI Talk

Welcome back to another episode of SMI Talk! Many have been, and still are, debating the reliability of Alexa ranking in determining a program's longevity, which poses a glaring question: what other tools can be used besides Alexa?

Admittedly, Alexa can be a powerful tool if used wisely. Nonetheless, it's merely a tool used to gauge a site's potential; it is not a fortune-teller. I have been using this tool for a while to look for various signs, including, but not limited to, the number of visitors who visit the site a.k.a site traffic, new visitors to the site a.k.a unique visitors etc. These are useful, but I wouldn't bet my money that they're foolproof.

Before I move on, let's take a closer look at Alexa, and rediscover what it really is at its core.

Alexa is a web information company that provides, well, information about websites. You can find traffic information, visitor information, types of visitors, and a host of other information as well.

As the Alexa graph can be used to draw a somewhat conclusive image of a site's performance, many have resorted to relying solely on Alexa for a gauge of a site's daily traffic.

Here's the problem: Alexa can be misleading

Because many are unaware of how Alexa measures a site's daily traffic, they often misinterpret the statistics, and therefore, draw a different conclusion from what the numbers present.

The question of how Alexa does its research, and why we shouldn't rely solely on Alexa remain to be answered another day. But I want you to take home this idea: Use numerous tools to do your research on HYIPs

Here are some of the top tools that I use personally to do my due diligence:

MMGStat

Front page

MMGStat is a forum checker, so to speak, that finds out the popularity of a specific program on various forums, such as MoneyMakerGroup, TalkGold, DreamTeamMoney etc. You can type in the name of the program you wish to look at, and then a clear, concise table lays out all the details.

Forum Checker

Another tool I'd like to use is Whois.Domaintools.com.

Essentially, whois.domaintools provides a host of information about the site's hosting details, domain name registration, and various other information pertaining to the website's registration. If a site has ddos-protection, you can check it there as well.

There's a paid subscription as well, which allows you to look into more details. The fee for a subscription ranges from $30 - thousands of dollars. Depending on which program you're looking for, the prices will change quite significantly.

Whois

While this list is certainly not exhaustive, I find them more than enough for my first round of review of a certain program. If you have any tools that you would like to add to the list, please send me an email or just drop a comment at the bottom of this post.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and I'll see you soon!

9 November 2010 - How?

1. length
2. I read everything I can on the program
3. I go by my intuition

Bonjour! Comment ca va, everyone? (That means how are you? in French :) ) Today's title might seem a little vague, but I promise it will be worth your time reading because this article mainly centers around the idea how to choose which programs to invest.

I realized there's been an influx of short- and long-term programs in the industry recently. It comes down to a matter of choosing which short-term or long-term program to invest in.

Recently I talked to one of my readers who is now comfortably in profit with CherryShares, one of the leading HYIPs in the industry at the moment with absolutely lucrative returns, OilStructure, which offers great returns and unique plans, and SWProfits. I asked her, "How are you so successful in choosing these HYIPs?" She replies, "I spend about 1-2 hours per day just reading over the various literature on the sites and looking at different programs."

She further builds on that by saying, "I choose my programs based on 3 things: 1. length
2. I read everything I can on the program. 3. I go by my intuition." A simple, concise answer that summarizes what I've prescribing for all the budding investors out there.

The length:

The length of a program, or simply put, the duration of the plan, makes up one of the most important components of a program. Whether it will last or not depends primarily on the type of plans it offers. There are 3 types of plans: short-term, mid-term, and long-term. Some programs, such as the deceased 144Cash, offers a unique plan that allows investors to invest in the program, which means the longer and the more you invest, the higher the returns. Nonetheless, as those plans are not mainstream yet, I won't dabble on on that.

Anyway, the length of a program also determines the admin's advertising strategy most of the time. Short-term programs usually invest heavily in aggressive advertising in order to get the most funds in the shortest time possible. This could mean 2 things: either the admin's really excited about the program (which is rarely the case), or the admin's preparing for a "bust 'n run", which means he/she wants investors to invest a large sum and then just run right after.

For me, I would rather choose a program that remains under the radar for a few weeks before finally advertising on bigger sites like MNO, which charges ridiculously high fees for advertisement. (Note: I'm not saying MNO's a bad site, though. Just that the fees are a little too high for the average program. Usually, this will cause some sort of cash flow problem for the site.)

Read up on other sites on what they say about the program:

I usually invest some time in reading up on the program I'm most interested in. There are tons of blogs and sites out there that are getting paid to write. How do you sift out the junk? It is hard to determine which blogs are good, but I rely on credible sites that have been providing news for a while. Sites I would recommend looking at are Money-News-Online (primarily a daily news and review blog), FlaxTalk (a mix of everything not review), HYIPNews (daily news), and hyipinvestment.com. These few sites are great resources for all news pertaining to HYIPs, and of course, you have to check out the forums as well, such as MoneyMakerGroup and TalkGold. Recently, DreamTeamMoney has caught up as well, so I would recommend reading there as well.

NB: If you think this involves too much time, then you can always just write me an email and ask my opinion on certain programs :p

Nonetheless, reading is important. Information is important. To be succesful in this business, you need to be in the frontline of information. That's your weapon against scams.

Intuition:

Intuition is not a skill that one can learn, per se. It's an experience gained through time and effort. The ability to discern a good program from a bad one is gained through tens, if not hundreds, of hours sitting in front of the computer screen sifting through different programs.

One method I'd recommend doing is keep your money in your wallet, and just choose 5 or 6 different programs to look at each day, all the while keeping track of the performance of the programs. In fact, a good idea would be sign up for the programs as well, just so that you can receive the newsletters, and then keep track of the progress of the program on forums and blogs. I've done that quite a few times in the past, and helped indefinitely in choosing the best program for me.

Nonetheless, this is not foolproof method that will train you to be able to determine which program's worth your money. You will still bear the risk of losing your money when you invest, only that you substantially lower the risk of doing so when you spend some time researching on the program of your interest.

In short, investing is a skill that you have to perfect through time and practice. If anything, I would suggest find someone who has been in the field for sometime with a similar financial background and get his/her opinion before investing. This will help a lot when you decide whether or not you want to throw in $100 or $10,000 in a program.

That's it for today folks! See you next time!

Wazzup:

SureFireSurf - 10% daily or 144% after 12 days

I joined a recently launched autosurf called SureFireSurf that I think has a great potential to go far. I've received my first payout from the 10% daily plan, and I foresee a bright future for this site, if everything goes right. The admin is fast at answering the support tickets, and the plans are highly lucrative. 2 plans are offered: 10% daily for 12 days and 144% after 12 days. AlertPay, LibertyReserve and PerfectMoney are accepted here. I'll review this site in a few days, but if you wish to get in right away, you can check it out here.

*I noticed a lot of experienced investors are getting in this program, based on a walk through different forums. Might not be a bad idea to get in early on this one, if you guys are interested.

8 November 2010 - SMI Talk

Hi guys! It's been wayyyyyy too long since my last edition of SMI Talk, and therefore, today, I'm glad to present the long-anticipated issue.

First of all, a lot has passed since my last issue, which was published in early August. Such as the collapse of big names like FinalEarn, yet some still remained strong, such as OilStructure and CherryShares.

With so many closures that happened within the past 3 months, what can we infer from the trend? Is there a golden pattern that we can discern from this seemingly big mess of sand?

Therefore, today, it will be a close analysis of the trend in the HYIP industry from my own perspective, and what we can realistically expect within the next 2 - 3 months.

Since August (or even beginning of this year, if I may), we've witnessed the rise and fall of several top-class short-term programs. The reason I call them "top-class" is simply because they've managed to stay paying for more than a month, which is usually the lifespan of a short-term program offering the plans they did, and many had managed to profit from those select programs. In my book, that's a "top-class" quality program.

While most, if not all, of those programs eventually collapsed, such as UniteTrade and FinalEarn, there's something to be learned here -- the moral of the story, if I may.

Short-term programs are coming back.

Why? Because people are slowly, but surely, understanding the principle behind these so-called "money games". Few years prior, people assumed that some of these HYIPs are legitimate companies with real physical sites somewhere in Panama. They were investing hundreds, if not thousands, of investment funds into these programs because they had been paid regularly. In some cases, programs that paid after a week's request were considered successful.

Fast-track till today, we don't see those anymore. Investors have grown tired of investing in long-term programs that promised "stable, no risk" returns. Investors have learned from their lessons. Investors have shrunk their investment wallets, partly due to the shrinking global economy as well, and invest smaller amounts in HYIPs. And, they've learned to "hit and run". All these demonstrate an investing trend that is inclined towards shorter terms with higher profits. And the only natural answer to this demand is short-term programs.

Don't get me wrong, though. There are still a handful of high-quality long-term programs out there, or being launched as we speak, but "high-quality" is a subjective term. I see "high-quality" as a program that is well laid-out, well-planned, sustainable plans and good communication from the program. In another person's view, "high quality" may mean high returns and fast recuperation of principal. No one's wrong in this case -- both of us are just seeking an investment opportunity that best fit our tastes. If anyone's interested, here are some of the programs that I think are "high-quality" in my view: here, here and here.

Nevertheless, we can clearly see that the trend today is moving towards short-term programs. Despite the higher risks involved, most would still gladly choose a short-term program over a long-term today because they're unwilling to risk their principal for 90 - 180 days in a program.

Well, this is only true up until a certain point.

I held the same idea just few weeks ago, thinking that short-term games are somewhat safer because we can recuperate our principal faster as compared to a long-term program. I was so wrong that I placed $1000 into UniteTrade just days before it collapsed. That's not the only program I invested that collapsed within days. It appears that some admins, while claiming to pay consistently for xx number of months, act as if the program is doing fine just to lure one big investor who's willing to throw in a few thousand dollars. It's worth the wait for them, it seems.

Apparently, UniteTrade had been paying small amounts only, and the illusion that the program was performing well blinded my eyes. I admit, it was a painful experience, but one worth learning.

The moral: Never think that short-term programs will provide a quick, sweet turnover. More often than not, it's a double-sided sword that could cut you in the end.

I hope this edition has helped you in seeing the growing trend in the market, and hopefully this will also help you make a smarter decision in the future.

See you tomorrow!

7 August 2010 - SMI™ Talk: Recommendations and Analysis

SMI™ Talk: HYIP Recommendation and Analysis

NOT PAYING ANYMORE

Hi guys! Welcome to another edition of SMI™ Talk. For those still unfamiliar with this special weekly publication on my blog, a list of the past editions can be found on the right side bar of this page.

Anyway, moving on to today's highlights!

Top Recommended Program for this week, which is a recommendation done based on a detailed analysis on the programs I'm currently monitoring, is awarded to OilStructure!

Top Recommended: OilStructure

Some of you might still be on the fence on this program, which I totally understand partly because I'm an investor as well. But more than that, I've been badly burned by long-term programs in the past few months, just as any other investor out there. And because that, I was slightly disinclined to participate at first. But I'm glad I finally took the leap.

"A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step."

This saying applies to every aspect of our lives, and I think it's about time we take a leap of faith with OilStructure (reviewed here).

OilStructure is one of the better planned and prepared programs out there with a pinch of creativity -- magic formula for HYIP success. Past giants such as GeniusFunds, GoldNuggetInvest and Panamoney offered long-term, low ROI returns, and the designs, scripts, and everything else pertaining to the web site's overall presentation were unique and brilliantly done. Besides, most, if not all, of those programs had a slow growth at first, with a somewhat more aggressive advertising campaign after several months, which led to steep increases in popularity.

The same applies for OilStructure as well.

As you can see from the graph, we're looking at a steady progression on traffic, which means the site's slowly gaining popularity in the industry despite the current bleak economy. This doesn't necessarily mean that the program will emulate the success of GeniusFunds, but it's definitely on the right track.

OilStructure offers several investment plans, with principal returned at the end of investment. Nonetheless, the principal returned is based on the length of your investment; the longer you invest, the more the principal you can receive. I would highly recommend getting in now and take advantage of the site's growth.

Scam Analysis: FinalEarn

Despite FinalEarn's resilience (demonstrated by the admin's immediate reaction to the AP issue), the program has finally met its end as a result of slow growth, contrary to what the admin claims.

In the final newsletter, the admin blamed that a malicious investor threatened the program's health by causing problems on several fronts, most notably with the payment processor, AlertPay.

I beg to differ.

If you look at this Alexa graph, you can see that traffic significantly dropped on the first few days of August, which is a sure sign that funds were running dry. Couple that with the admin's decision to advertise the program through referral contest and aggressive advertisement on various monitoring sites, the funds left in FinalEarn's bank dried up faster than it should.

I blame this on inefficient monitors and unsuccessful promotion. As we're all aware by now, some monitors often slack in their duties, often times registering votes from malicious investors without even checking beforehand. Besides, some monitors (I'm not naming anyone) charge arbitrarily high prices without doing any significant work towards promoting the program. These monitors are usually big sites with high Alexa ranking, and they often use this to their advantage.

I, for one, had fun when this game was still on. FinalEarn offered a great earning opportunity for everyone, and for those who joined early, as I did, they should be well in profit already.

That's all for this week's edition of SMI™ Talk! Thanks for reading and see you tonight!

31 July 2010 - SMI™ Talk

SMI™ Talk: MNO vs HYIP.com

Greetings from the beautiful tropical country, Malaysia! I’m sorry I haven’t posted much updates the last couple of days, but now I’m back and the Internet is running as usual again.
I’ve been reading extensively (whenever my Internet works actually. Lol) on news and updates around the industry, specifically the issue encompassing the fight between the two biggest and oldest monitors/blogs in the industry: MNO vs Hyip.com.

Before I start, have you heard of the story “Clam and Crane”?

It’s an old Chinese story that depicts the fight between a clam and a crane, both of which were

reluctant to give in to each other. It was a fight of will that no one would win.

After squaring off for several hours with seemingly no resolution within reach, an angler (or fisherman) walked by and noticed the two. A bright idea came up.

He walked up to them, and grabbed both the Crane and the Clam, carrying them back home to prepare a sumptuous meal. Talk about good luck eh?

So anyway, what I’d like for you to take home from this story is that it doesn’t matter who’s in the right or wrong – none of either two will benefit from an unhealthy fight. And considering the fact that these two monitors are the biggest, and arguably the oldest, sites with perhaps the most following as well, it simply isn’t doing the industry any good when they have childish competition.

I know it is not my place to comment on the legitimacy of this argument, but I do consider it my civic duty (to this industry as an investor) to strike and to invoke the awareness of other investors of the crippling effects of such a fight.

Impact on HYIP industry

Investors are always the ones who bear the brunt when fights between monitors occur. Note, however, that a competition and a fight are two similar, but totally different things. A healthy competition between monitors usually serves the purpose of inducing competitiveness and, subsequently, higher quality monitoring services. This is the norm in our society.

On the contrary, an ugly fight, such as the one we’re discussing, simply helps no one. It doesn’t concern me regarding the validity of all those rumors about MNO being the bad guy and HYIP.com is the actual victim – I’m just concerned about the investors’ welfare.

How do such fights affect the investors, you say?

Well, for one, miscommunication is a huge, HUGE issue. We’re looking at monitors, who are supposed to monitor the real status of a program, reporting misleading information due to personal interests! If even a monitor couldn’t uphold their value, why should we even seek their services?

The basic working layout for this industry is based upon trust and faith. We need reliable and trustworthy people for the industry to operate. Why should we condone such unhealthy practice amongst monitors if it could potentially pose adverse effects on the investors’ interests?

For example, CherryShares, one of my top recommended programs, was previously caught offguard by malicious threats from one of the monitors. While I can’t distinctly recall much of the exact words used, the content goes something along the lines of if CherryShares wishes to be monitored by either MNO or HYIP.com, it has to choose one and one only.

This is just junk dirt pulled out of a monkey’s butt. (pardon me for the use of language), but I really do not see any point of employing such dirty tactics. Both of these monitors are reputable sites with long standing record of commendable work. Yet to see them fighting over who deserves to monitor one particular HYIP is simply outrageous!

The core message here is please do not be misled by such petty arguments. I have noticed that both MNO and HYIP.com have allocated a lot of time towards condemning each other. Right now, perhaps most investors would see it as an interesting story, a court jester’s play to entertain the industry, but in the long run, there will be some adverse effects on the industry, if we haven’t witness the aftermath already.

Thanks for reading and that’s all for this week’s SMI™ Talk!

See you tonight with more industry news!

20 July 2010 - SMI™ Talk

Without a slither of doubt, HYIP industry is at a record low. Right now, I’m sure many old-timers are already feeling disappointed, if not heart-broken, to see that the HYIP industry has plummeted to such a low; an unprecedented event actually.

I read a very interesting article by David from his blog that discussed, in length, about the possible factors that led to the current climate. He also included some examples of well-managed programs, such as TheVault, as countermeasures to hit-n-runners. I think it was very well written, and every investor, be it a neophyte or old-timer, should take a look. The article can be found here: Link

In response to his article, I want to post my own opinion on this matter. He mentioned that most long-term programs from 2009, such as GNI, Infinitiva, SazaInvestments, and most notably, GeniusFunds, collapsed because it was their time to go. I do agree with his statement, but I would like to add something to that.

I think GeniusFunds, for example, had enough funds in there to keep themselves afloat for at least several months, but it was simply greed that took over the admin(s). Of course, having a hearing with the Canadian government didn’t help matters as well. And there were some investors and bloggers who tried to make a name for themselves by being “prophets”; they predicted that GeniusFunds was going to collapse in X weeks. Was it helping the situation? No. But did they have fun doing it? Boy did they!

Some might ask why I think GeniusFunds had sufficient funds? It was as clear as water that no other programs out there were even close to being a real competition to GeniusFunds. Some investors that I am personally close to had invested close to $50,000 each. And they were reinvesting almost all the time, keeping the cash flow as fluid as possible because they, too, were aware of the risks when cash flow comes to a halt.
To make matters worse,the Canadian hearing prompted a hysterical response from investors who thought this was a 12DailyPro re-enactment show. And many bloggers/monitors took advantage of the situation to make a name for themselves.

And, with Genius’s collapse, comes the real “domino” effect, as mentioned by David. Suddenly, investors found themselves short of cash to effectively pull out of trouble. Add to that the terrifying surge of unemployment globally around mid to end of 2009, cash, for one, was scarce. People had to pay for piling bills, kids’ education, car loans, house loans, education loans, and the list goes on. They had to pull themselves away from these HYIPs, especially when all the programs collapsed one after another. By doing some simple calculations, if one had invested $3000, divided equally among programs such as GNI, GeniusFunds, and SazaInvestments, one would receive close to $800 per month. Some may think that’s a small amount, but for a family with 2 kids and an annual income of slightly over $30,000 (an average income in US), that’s a much-needed financial boost. When all those programs closed, that means the family lost one of their most crucial income streams. To add salt to wound, let’s assume the father – the breadwinner in the family – received the dreaded news from the company at this particular moment, how are they going to survive? How are they going to pay for all the bills? The only way out would be to stop investing in HYIPs, and save, save, save!

I won’t deny the fact that many high-quality programs launched after the collapse of those big programs, but most didn’t even make it past the 6-month mark. David mentioned that some new programs compromised themselves with a huge launch, and I have to agree to that. Programs such as Euronanoinvest targeted investors who made profits from those big, deceased programs, and launched an intensive advertising campaign at the get-go to ring in as many investors as possible. Many bit the lure, and I have to admit, EuroNanoInvest looked very promising at that moment. Nonetheless, the good fortune, or rather the lack of it, didn’t last long. The bad thing about fast growth is that fresh deposits end faster too. There is a limited investor base in HYIP, so when most, if not all, players have already made their first step, the growth just stops there. In other words, a program can only grow as far as there are as many players in the industry to support it.

Besides, greed plays a major factor here as well. Imagine when you log into your account and you see $20,000 in there. The money’s all yours to take, and there will be virtually no consequences if you decide to pull the plug and take off. For experienced admins, they know better than to scam at an early stage as they could possibly get more money if they could keep the program up for another 3 or 4 months. That’s why I suspect EuroNanoInvest, and a list of other new programs that shared the same pace of growth, was managed by young, inexperienced admins. They succumbed to greed and decided it’s better to walk away with all that cash.

When you put all these factors in play, the outcome is our current investment climate. Fear and Greed, these 2 are the main driving force that pushed our industry towards this free fall. Is it the investor’s fault, or are the admins at blame? I think this is a chicken-or-egg question, but what we could focus on is how to solve this problem.

David mentioned that an innovative idea is a good solution. Yes, that’s a good start, but I think it wouldn’t suffice. No matter how honest an admin is, or how creative, innovative or sustainable a program is, all that matters is whether there are enough investors depositing. Look at ProfitStars, which introduced some reinvestment incentives to encourage investors to redeposit, but failed to even make it past the 2nd cycle. The novel idea to encourage reinvestment already set the path for the program to take off, but I guess, eventually, the admin decided to scam just because he’s satisfied with a mere few thousand in his pocket. He failed to realize there could be more potential to his program. If the admin doesn’t believe in the product that he’s selling, how should we expect the product to succeed?

Therefore, in conclusion, I think for a program to be successful, or even just to be sustainable, there are 3 things that are needed:

1) A creative idea
2) An honest admin
3) A ready investor base

At the moment, the investor base is still at an all-time low because many left the industry to pursue better, and arguably more stable, investment opportunities. Plus, there are many still seeking a job. But I do believe that some day, maybe next month, maybe next year, but some day, these people will come back. When this recession is over, and people are getting their jobs back, we will see our industry back to its prime. Until then, I would suggest coming back to my blog often to keep yourself abreast with what’s happening in the industry, and to know more about what other “ground-breaking” articles I have for you! :D

13 July 2010 - SMI™ Talk and Wazzup™

Hi guys! Welcome to another edition of SMI™ Talk. If you're unfamiliar with this episode of my blog, you can read previous SMI™ Talk posts on the right hand column of my blog. In short, I discuss about my weekly strategies, upcoming HYIPs, experiences and other HYIP-related issues. Today will be a somewhat short post compared to previous editions, but it's still full of information nonetheless. Read on to find out more!

Upcoming Sizzling Hot Program(s):

OilStructure

With the publication of my recent review of this program, many readers have gained a deeper understanding of the fundamental operations, which they have enthusiastically conveyed to me. As such, I am confident, along with my readers who have decided to jump on this bandwagon, that this program could possibly be one of the hottest programs in the industry in a few more months to come.

If you haven't read the review yet, you can check it here: Link

OilStructure is now only a month old, yet the Alexa ranking has broke through the high 60,000, with a really solid following on various major forums. On MoneyMakerGroup, for example, the number of pages for OilStructure's thread is already over 120! While this does not directly translate to a guaranteed success, I do believe having a strong supporting base will contribute immensely towards building a solid empire. Hopefully this will be the case for OilStructure, provided that the administration intends to do his/her/their best to run this program.

Strategies: To Invest or Not To Invest

Been waiting desperately to find a quality HYIP to invest for the summer but still sitting on the fence? Well, that's not necessarily a bad thing, because still, I think the industry hasn't recovered from the recession -- a direct correlation with the global economy (unemployment means no extra money to play).

I still want to say this: Save up a little for now. Whether for rainy days or just to raise enough funds to buy that new iPhone 4 that was just released a month ago, it's always nice to have some backup funds for flexibility. I honestly don't see any good programs worth throwing thousands of money in (yet), so don't waste time looking for it -- it's not there.

Why? Because admins are having their summer holidays too! I know, some of you might think this is a joke, but technically that's a logical explanation isn't it?I found out not too long ago that a handful of these admins are middle aged adults and a couple of them are youngsters -- 2 of the most spendthrift demographics. Kids' education, family vacation, PSPs, PS3s, iPods, holiday gifts -- all these need money. And what better way to spend the summer than taking a trip to Hawaii and sip a nice glass of cocktail?

So, in conclusion: DON'T THROW YOUR MONEY AROUND. Save up, and you'll appreciate it 2 months from now.

Prediction

Here's another sensitive part of SMI™ Talk, and I have been approached by members prior to this who questioned the validity of my predictions. I'm obviously not the magical Paul The Oracle (a miraculous octopus), so I could err at times. But most of the time, I feel responsible to warn my readers early on if I see any red signs. Today, I have yet another program to warn. Last week, I predicted that SevenStarProfit would not make it through the week after doing some research and close monitoring -- I was right. It's all up to you whether to believe me or not, but I hope my research could help you make a more informed decision before you reinvest.

This week's prediction: LRXFunds will collapse soon, likely within the next 2 weeks or even earlier.

After some rather odd and seemingly desperate newsletters from the admin, it seems like the time's ticking quickly for this program. I recall that I posted a glowing review of LRXFunds, however, I noted promptly as well that this is a tricky situation for this program as the admin has to manage 2 programs at the same time, and from my previous experience, good things didn't emerge for such programs. I do have to credit the admin for his commendable effort in running 2 successful shows at the same time, but member support is still the one and only crucial factor in keeping the shows up on stage. I think the supporting base is thinning rather too quickly as many members have opted out of this industry, and this could very possibly catalyze the program's collapse.

I sure hope my prediction is wrong, so let's hope for the best.

That's all I have for this week's edition of SMI™ Talk! Next week I'll be posting an interesting post in collaboration with one of the more popular bloggers in the industry, David from dvdhyip.blogspot.com!

See you guys then!

Wazzup™ Daily News:

Today I received an interesting email from a reader who wanted to post a warning to all the HYIP enthusiasts out there. Recently, a group of sketchy people tried to take advantage of the current HYIP climate, offering services to trace down HYIP admins who scammed. This isn't new to me; in fact, a few of them approached me in the past and gave me their word that if I would advertise their service on my blog, they'll pay me a handsome sum for my effort. Of course, I rejected on the spot because, for one, there's no way such a service existed (they claimed they've been in operation for a few months) and no one heard of them, or even recommended them. Obviously the testimonials page is all bull-crap as well. Nonetheless, this nice member sent me the email, with the link to the website, to ask me to warn everyone. So here's the link to the website, and PLEASE DO NOT HIRE THEIR SERVICES! It's a scam!

HYIPRECOVER - SCAM SITE

Today ProfitStars' website suddenly disappeared without a trace, and many members complained of pending payouts to their AlertPay accounts. I mentioned in my review that this program offered a very interesting concept and could possibly outlast any short-term programs in the industry if the admin would show some integrity. Well, as I've noted in my earlier posts, the admin started to show his greedy nature as he organized contests and bonuses to attract members even though the program was just launched a day earlier. I think this spells the end of the program already, so please do not invest there any longer!

That's all for today folks! I'll see you tomorrow with more news from the industry!

5 July 2010 - SMI™ Talk

Welcome to another edition of SMI™ Talk, where I discuss my latest strategies, my predictions for the week and various other money-making related issues. Today I won't indulge myself in the usual, so I will only focus on 2 very important topics:

1. Top programs for the week

2. My predictions

3. Promotions

Top Programs for July 1st week:

Right off the bat, I would like to mention 2 new programs on the block that I think are primed to take centre stage in this upcoming week. The first program is a new program that's been online for 6 days now, which means the 2nd cycle has just completed. This is none other than FreshReturn (reviewed here) that offers 35% daily for 3 days, 17% daily for 7 days and 11% for 14 days. The design's very attractive, the script's relatively safe, and most importantly, the rates are considered, in view of the outrageous returns other scams are offering, relatively stable and manageable given that the administration puts a serious into running the program, coupled with strong support from investors.

In fact, interest in FreshReturn is starting to hit it's peak as I've received no fewer than 10 emails from my readers after the review asking my personal view on the program. I'm personally $400 into this program, if you are interested, and if anything, there's a good chance that you can make a good profit if you join early. While I can't guarantee you anything, I do have to restate here that whatever you do, always treat HYIP as a game and nothing more. I've had my share of hard falls due to these games, and I hope you won't have to walk the path I've passed.

The other program is a newly launched (just today as a matter of fact, July 5th) called ProfitStars. I haven't reviewed this program yet, but on first glance, there's no doubt the admin has put quite a lot of effort into developing the site. The script is licensed from GoldCoders, equipped with SSL-encryption, and I'm really impressed with the design and concept. There's this Star system which awards a star for every reinvestment you make, essentially rewarding those who keep supporting the site. I like this system, and it's one that I never encountered prior to this. Apparently, desperate times call for desperate measures, and I like that the admin's taking a different approach towards running a site. We'll see how this one progresses, but I think there's a good chance to make a profit from this as it's only a day old.

Predictions:

I'm sure many will feel this is a controversial part of the SMI™ Talk as a program's sustainability is fundamentally built upon investor support (new funds flowing in), and if a blogger like myself keeps chirping about when or how a program will collapse, won't that just precipitate, or even cause the program to close prematurely? Well, this might be true, however, I think it's only fair that I share my most sincere and honest opinion with you because that's my responsibility and moral obligation as a blogger. I take that to heart as my pride, and I hope you guys will appreciate and understand my point of view.

Anyway, of the few programs that I'm actually monitoring at the moment, I think one of the first to collapse would be SevenStarProfit. With regards to the recent performance, especially the AlertPay incident, I think it's a red flag already. Even the admin specifically mentioned in the newsletter that "there's not much funds left in there already", and noted that the damage wouldn't be too big on the program. Well what does this tell you? The program is already over 10 days old, and if there's "not much funds" left in the AlertPay account, which is usually the payment processor with the most funds, does this mean cash flow problem? I think that's a resounding yes. So please take note and progress carefully with SevenStarProfit.

*Note that this is only a prediction; and the site is still on Paying status*

Promotion:

Starting next week, there will be a series of promotions that will be held here to (lol) boost my site's popularity, give an incentive for investors to come back and provide a platform for honest admins to publicize their sites. There will be further notice on the specific details on the promotions, but do take note that there will be free money and advertising to be given out! Let your favorite program or fellow investors know because there will be freebies for everyone!

That's all for this edition of SMI™ Talk! Next episode will feature more exciting news, so remember to come back!

Wazzup™ Daily News:

Unfortunately, I have to move LoyaltyOppulence to Not Paying status today. Behind that shiny mask of professionally designed web site, unique concept and relatively sustainable plans, LoyaltyOppulence is nothing more than a cheap scam that didn't even last over a week. The admin conceived a unique concept of awarding investors for their reinvestments, and while I wanted to write a review of this HYIP, it seems like the program didn't even last long enough for me to take a good look. Please do not invest there any longer guys!

ProfitStar, a highly promising site that was just launched today, made some clarifications regarding its post-and-get-paid policy. Apparently, many members inquired about this policy, and the admin notes that the a $0.10 bonus will be manually credited to your cash balance at the end of each day for each payment proof that you post. Each payment proof has to include your username, sum and batch number/reference number. The thread on TalkGold, previously started by eBusiness, had been removed and replaced with another thread. The admin has made adjustments for the banners (the banners now redirect to the correct thread). Here are the details:

Dear Members,
To answer your questions regarding the way I will be rewarding you for posting and voting on forums and monitors, I’d like to clarify some of the moments to you in this very first-day news letter:
1. Only the true payment proofs will be paid.
2. A post/vote will be only paid if your username, sum and batch/reference number is shown in it.
3. If you don’t want to make all your information public, you may replace some numbers and letters with X or _.
4. Every post/vote will be paid if only relevant forum or monitor is presented on our 'rate us' page.
5. $0.10 will be paid for every single post or vote.
6. Summarized bonus will be credited on your account at the end of each day between 6.00-7.00 pm GMT.
And one more thing I'd like to share with you today. Some of you have already posted today at TalkGold’s thread http://www.talkgold.com/forum/r298164-.html, opened by Ebusiness. For some reasons this thread was deleted by the TalkGolds’ Administrators and replaced by http://www.talkgold.com/forum/r298167-.html, which is opened 30 min later by the another user. I ‘ve really got no idea how it happens that the earlier thread is being replaced by a later one, but I was, however, to redirect the site banners to a new url.
Today’s posting bonuses will be added to your accounts by 7.00 pm GMT.
Best Regards,
Mike

LRXFunds continues to pay on a regular basis, and the admin hopes that the members show their support by posting on forums and monitors. LRXFunds is managed by the same admin who's running SNSAdsClub, which is over 60 days online and still going strong (you can check out the autosurf section of any forum). Here's the latest newsletter from the admin urging members to show their support:

Dear Cody, ALL requested payments have been paid up to this point. If you have been paid I ask that you please make a little noise on the forums and monitors. Let's keep LRXFunds strong and growing.
20% First deposit bonus still offered to all FIRST deposits any one makes.
Have a great day!
Tony

Another site that has officially announced their "official forum" is SevenStarProfit, following in the footsteps of many other short-term scams before they turned scams :p As expected, MNO is the official forum again, and the admin makes it a point to "explain" his justifications for choosing MNO as the official forum. I guess I'm not the only one voicing out my suspicion, as I've heard from many other bloggers of this latest "trend". Nonetheless, here are the details and I will let you decide for yourself the real truth behind all these HYIPs.

Dear members,
I ‘m happy to announce you that the MNO Forum has become the official forum for SevenStarProfit program since new week. The MNO Forum is related to the well-known Money-News-Online blog. Not a secret that MNO is the most respectable, highly regarded and long-lived blog in the HYIP industry. The MNO owner Paul provides his news, reviews, commentaries and comments on HYIP programs attracting attention of both potential and active investors all over the world even in this crisis period. We consider that our official thread in the MNO forum can certainly give a good exposure for our program evoking a warm response of our active investors that might give potential investors an incentive and assurance to join our program. Therefore from now on I invite all you post your payment proofs and discuss our program in our official thread at the Money-News-Online forum. Here’s the link
http://money-news-online.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=261
That’s all that I wanted you to be informed in this hour.
Your admin,
John Smith

That's all for today folks! I'll see you tomorrow with more news from the industry!

21 June 2010 - SMI™ Talk

Hi guys! It has been a long while since my last episode of SMI™ Talk, which I honestly apologize as I've been on the road for the most part of the last 2 months. I'm sure some of you have noticed my irregularity in posting times already, and again, you have my most sincere apologies. Nonetheless, I've now more or less settled down in Malaysia for the summer, and I'll be moving back to the States after that.

Anyway, moving on to my strategy for this week, and quite possibly the same strategy for the whole summer as a matter of fact. If you've missed out on my last few posts, here's the >link<>

1) Cash out your investment - Stack away your principal and prepare for a market rebounce after the summer

2) Study the industry - Watch and learn how the industry operates and the signs of impending collapse -- you'll learn much from just reading the newsletters from different HYIPs.

As far as I'm concerned, there is simply no one program in the industry that's worth my investment at the moment. I'm just playing around with short-term programs such as MoneyTree and ProfitChill, both of which have paid me without fail so far. Nonetheless, I'm not committing myself to any serious investments as I did in the past with TopFinancial, GNI and GeniusFunds. A simple rationale to that is most of these programs, despite what the admins claim as long-term investment programs, are in reality just short-lived games with no definite earning opportunity. In the past, programs such as GeniusFunds offered me a chance to make a stable, long-term income. Nowadays, I'm happy to make a few bucks. While many are still denying the reality, cold, hard facts remain -- the industry is suffering and the way we play these games needs to change.

With regards to "how" we change the game, I'm thinking perhaps we should first forfeit the idea of having a "balanced" portfolio. What does this mean? Well, I've always been a strong and firm advocate of diversifying your funds, but these days I simply do not see any reason why you should do so. For example, instead of splitting $100 among 10 different programs, with 8 to 9 of them possibly collapsing within the next few weeks, I would suggest keeping $50 in your pocket and investing just $50 in 2 or 3 really solid and reliable programs. Yes, I know there's not really a so-called "solid and reliable" program in the industry at the moment, but I'll explain more on how to identify the ones that are truly worth your time and investment later in this post. Anyway, as you invest half of your initial funds, the other $50 can be stored away until after this Summer. I'm sure, judging from the current investment climate, you are better off keeping the $50 than simply investing it for the sake of investing.

For the other $50, you have to identify which program's worth your money. First off, choose the programs based on the payment processors offered. Many investors choose the programs based on the interest rates offered, but I counteroffer you a different method of investing. Choose the programs based on the payment processors. For example, right now I only invest in programs that offer AlertPay and SolidTrustPay. Of course, as I'm a blogger and entrepreneur, sometimes I take a risk and invest in other programs that do not comply with my this one condition. However, for you guys, I would recommend joining only programs that offer AlertPay as a means of deposit because in the unfortunate, but highly likely, event that the program scams, at least you have a chance of recuperating your principal.

Secondly, avoid any program that offers a return after 10 to 15 days (assuming that you're only investing in short-term programs as I do). Whenever I see a program that offers plans like 135% after 10 days or 150% after 15 days, I know that's a program I have to avoid. Regardless of the admin's intention (whether or not he intends on running an honest program), no program will survive if the funds dry out. And in our current climate, the chances that a program runs out of funds after the 1st cycle (say, a 3-day plan) is higher than ever before. Reason? Hit-n-runners often leech off these programs and move on to other ones without reinvesting a single cent back. These are the worst type of investors.

Finally, stay away from long-term programs for now. Yes, I do admit that I've always encouraged you guys to invest in long-term programs as the lower ROI offers, in exchange, a more sustainable program which in turn translates to safer investment. But right now, most programs scam just before you recuperate your profit. There's no point in receiving daily earnings that eventually total up less than your principal right? As that would mean you're not earning -- you're losing money.

While there are several more things that you might want to consider prior to investing, I think these 3 "how-to"s are more than sufficient to help you make a wiser decision during this summer.

Scam of the Week: InvestiHeaven

If we subject InvestiHeaven under close scrutiny, this program has demonstrated that how sly and foul an admin can be in trying to steal money from investors. Prior to scamming, the admin sent out a newsletter pretending to have big plans for the program in the future, such as heavy advertising on major forums and monitors. If he really did intend to advertise, I would assume that he would jump on any opportunity to promote his program, and that means he would naturally accept my invitation for him to be interviewed. Nevertheless, he bluntly declined the opportunity and didn't mention of any interest to promote his program on my blog as well. This comes as a surprise after I read his last newsletter (prior to closure) because he openly noted that he was intending to promote his program across all major forums and monitors, which contradicted his actual actions. Drawing from experience, when an admin starts lying to his members, that's a sure sign that the cash flow's having a serious problem. Well, either that, or the admin's preparing to run.

If there's anything to be learned from this case, it is that always ask for more information from forum owners or monitors, because most of the time, they know the insider information, especially with regards to promotion and advertising offers. If the admin of a program purchases a week-long advertising, that could very likely mean the program's not going to last longer than that period of time. However, there are some monitors and bloggers who would cooperate with admins to cheat you of your hard-earned money. Therefore, I would recommend coming back to my blog often, and don't hesitate to send me an email because I'll do my best to provide the most accurate and reliable information for you!

Well, that's it from me for this edition of SMI™ Talk! I'll keep you posted on more industry news!

24 April 2010 - SMI Talk™

Hi guys! Once again it's SMI's weekly edition of SMI Talk™, where I chat about my review of the past week, my strategy for the upcoming week, tips and tricks and various other HYIP-, and money-making, related topics.

This week has been a turbulent one for some investors, and I think in one way or another, this will carry on to have a ripple effect on several other programs as well. Nonetheless, things are looking positive with the launch of a couple programs, namely Hydro-Funds and MoneyMakers-Group, that I think will particularly make an impact in the industry.

Hydro-Funds is launched by a renowned admin of a monitoring site called Investment-Tracker.com. His name is Kevan, while most members know him by Alzander. If you've been a seasoned investor, I think perhaps you've heard of his name before. He's a good friend and a wise investor. I've sought for his advice when I first started out in the industry, and we've kept in contact ever since. In relation to other programs out there where the admins remain anonymous, Hydro-Funds seems like a breath of fresh air to our stalled industry. The payout is relatively low, and sustainable, paying a mere 7% per day for 18 days. That comes up to about 26% net profit in 18 days. Not bad actually, considering the fact that you're gaining sustainability at the expense of higher interests. And right now, sustainability is a big, if not the biggest, deal in the industry.

Another program that's launched by a renowned member of MoneyMakerGroup is StaunchFinances. The admin is Brent, whom some of you might know from 247Shack. The admin employs an interesting concept in running his program, one that you might not have heard of before. Here's the rundown of the idea:

Your deposit is split into 2 parts automatically when you invest, which are: 1) Daily payouts 2) Payout upon expiry.

50% of your initial deposit goes toward the daily payout, where you will receive 2.6% for 56 business days; the other 50% of your initial deposit will pay 120% after 6 days.

Brent was as honest as we can get in the industry. His last program, 247Shack was an autosurf which didn't run as smoothly as he wished for. Nonetheless, he tried to refund all those who weren't in profit, and I received a partial refund as well. Maybe some naysayers are saying, "He was just trying to get your trust so that you would invest more in his next program". In my opinion, there's always a risk involved in investments. We're engaging in high-yield investment programs; risk is everywhere in this industry. Therefore, when we have someone who shows he at least tries to be different from the crowd, that's a good sign. He could be inexperienced, but at least he has the heart to run an honest program. And an admin of that calibre definitely deserves my support. In the long run, everyone will benefit from it.

All right, moving on to the All-Star and Let-Down of the week.

*Drum rolls*

And the All-Star of the Week is:

MoneyMakers-Group

I think this one has a lot of potential, and this decidedly has put it on this week's spot of All-Star. Most likely won't be the longest-lasting program in the industry, but if you get in early, I see a lot of potential in making a decent profit for yourself.


Whereas the huge Let-Down of the Week is:

WaterInvestment

Despite a strong start in the first few months, WaterInvestment has finally followed the ranks of GeniusFunds, NanoMoneyCorp and GoldNuggetInvest. Just when we thought we could rely on a relatively new high-quality program like WaterInvestment, the admin decides it's time to close shop. I had really high hopes for this one even from the get-go, as WaterInvestment was one of the few that offered relatively high but sustainable interest rates, Ddos protection from BlockDos, dedicated server and a strong advertising campaign, which in turn attracted a large investor base, and that translates directly to more funds. Therefore, cash flow shouldn't be a problem for the site. But then, if cash flow is not a problem, what is?

I would blame it on the industry's climate right now, particularly loss of investor confidence in any program at the moment. Undoubtedly, GeniusFunds', and NanoMoneyCorp's, collapse, the Infallible's demise as I would call it back then, finally wrought on a frantic withdrawal fest amongst investors. As such, deposits dramatically decrease, and withdrawals soar at skyrocket speed. As we are well aware of by now, HYIPs are merely money games based solely on the flow of fresh funds into the program in order to pay off old investors.

Players to Watch:

Hydro-Funds, StaunchFinances, YingYangInvestment

As explained above, Hydro-Funds and StaunchFinances are managed by seasoned players of the industry itself, whereas YingYangInvestment offers something fresh, yet attractive enough to keep investors coming back for more. In my opinion, YingYangInvestment has the right strategy at the moment: slow and steady promotion, hiring services of only the top monitors (ones that bring in referrals and only charge a reasonable rate for their services), and a straightforward-no-bull-shit approach towards the game. Especially with the introduction of the new compounding option, I think many will definitely find interest in this relatively new program offering 1.2% daily forever for merely $10.

Strategy for the upcoming week:

I mentioned last week that I'm focusing more on short-term ones right now, as there are only a handful of long- and mid-term programs worth joining at the moment. Many high-quality" programs (ones that look as if they're here for the long haul) scam after just 2 or 3 weeks, depriving members of any actual opportunity to earn, essentially proving that they are just well-planned quick scams.

As I have confirmed that UmbaFund is having a cash flow problem right now, I've stopped investing in that program, and I advise you to do the same. Several new short-term programs have cropped up during the past week, however, and I am pretty confident they'll last for at least a round or two. The programs are MoneyMakersGroup, TruEarn (well it's not exactly new anymore as it's now about 2 weeks old), and Rags2Richness.

The admin of Cashift, Owen, or more commonly known as USDRoger or Roger of Investimates, rebuked the rumor that he owns MoneyMakersGroup, but I think this doesn't render the program any less outstanding than it already is. I'll prepare a review in a few days, and I really like what I see thus far in the program.

TruEarn has been online for over 2 weeks now, and I've received all my payouts within 3 hours. My last payout was yesterday, and it was processed in under an hour. Judging from the Alexa rank thus far, this program could have enough juice for another cycle. I'm already in profit, so I'm merely reinvesting my profits into the game. Short-term games are highly, highly risky, so you really have to be smart with your investment strategy. Try to recuperate your principal as soon as you can, and only play with your profits from then on to minimize your loss in case things go south. But try not to be a "hit-n-runner" though; which means invest for 1 cycle and move on to the next without reinvesting a single cent back. This only kills the program, and I can't believe so many people actually recommended this method. Yes it's true there are admins who scam after just 1 cycle, but i do know a few who want to let everyone have a fair chance of earning. I assure you that if you follow my blog, I'll let you be the first to know which program to invest and who are you investing with.

Rags2Richness is another good quality program you should consider adding to your portfolio, especially now that they have a short-term plan in place to further promote the program. The plan is called "Super Plan" and it offers 14% daily for 10 days, essentially raking in 40% net profit in 10 days. Note that the maximum you can invest is only $300, and this offer ends this month.
**If you invest under me right now, I'm offering 85% referral cash back as a gesture of goodwill and confidence in the program**

Following the huge success in my last promotion, I am considering adding another promotion soon. What do you guys think?

And SafeMoneyInvest is finally moving to a new domain with a whole new template and monitoring page finally in place! The move is currently underway, but you shouldn't have problem accessing my blog at BlogSpot as of this writing. Nonetheless, the new domain is http://safemoneyinvest.com and http://safe-money-invest.com. You can get to my new site regardless of which URL you type in, hopefully you can find your way to my new site without a problem.

Well thank you for reading guys! I'll see you tomorrow!

17 April 2010 - SMI Talk™

Hi guys! Welcome to this week's edition of SMI Talk™! If you're unfamiliar with this section of my blog, then please allow me to introduce it.

SMI Talk™ talks about my latest investment strategy, tips and tricks for the upcoming week, hot news going around in the industry, my blog's current promotion etc. Well, it's just jam-packed with informative updates and sometimes even free cash! I try to do it on every Friday, but thus far I've only managed to do it on weekends. Nonetheless, this edition will be published weekly, so be sure to check out my blog especially on weekends!

Anyway, moving to this week's top performing sites, which I like to call All-Star of the Week!

All-Star of the Week: ManorTrust (Reviewed here)

Despite ManorTrust's newborn status in the industry, I like what I've been seeing thus far. Quick payouts, regular updates from admin and profitable yet sustainable payout plans. Now the site's not perfect—only 2 payment processors are accepted at the moment, namely LibertyReserve and PerfectMoney. Nonetheless, that's something I'm willing to overlook at the moment as the admin promises to add several more payment processors in the future. As of this writing, payouts are still manually processed, and they usually take anywhere from 15 minutes - 2 hours. I see a good potential in the site, but the admin needs to capitalize on the site's potential if he wishes to see better growth in the future. Seems like the admin will engage in some serious advertising in the near future, as indicated in his last newsletter to the members. Plus, on the good side, ManorTrust pays 2.4% daily, which would take you only 42 days to break even, and from there on it'll be pure profit. Couple that with your principal returned at the end of term, this is a winner on my book. I foresee more members joining in the near future.

Let-Down of the Week: CredexFinance

CredexFinance had everything going for it: good member support, solid and reliable script in place, good design, and agressive and successful advertising campaign. I talked to the admin few weeks ago regarding the status of his site and what he wishes to achieve in the near future. I still recall that he mentioned that the site's here for the long run. Yet now the site's already moved to Not Paying status on my site. In fact, the ones who post on forum threads are mainly paid posters or monitors. This is clearly the admin's despicable tactic to attract more unsuspecting victims. As much as it enrages me to see an admin employ such a dirty tactic, I'm highly disappointed to see another site go down the drain. I wonder how many bad sites does it take to produce 1 GeniusFund? As the saying goes, "every cloud has a silver lining." Sad to say, we've not seen the silver lining yet.

Programs to Watch: Ying-Yang Investment, CherryShares, and TridentVenture.

YingYangInvestment was launched 13 days ago to a community of skeptical investors. Of course, many didn't believe in the site's potential. Yet after 13 days online, I'm seeing many positive improvements from YingYangInvestment's end. For one, the admin purchased a sticky thread on MMG, which signifies the start of their advertising campaign. Secondly, the admin doesn't come up with bull-load of foRex crap to deceive the members; instead, he is pretty straightforward about the whole program, and I like it. This way everyone's well-aware of what they're getting into, and this is essential in marketing a product such as a HYIP.

Another young site is TridentVenture, which you would probably remember from my last week's post that the site's very ill-managed and has many set backs that would deter members from joining. Well, after talking to the admin again yesterday, I have decided perhaps the admin is really serious about running his program. In fact, he mentioned he will start an aggressive advertising campaign starting next week. It's nice to see admin putting some effort into getting his program out there, but we should take note of, and consider, how would the advertising campaign affect the program's cash flow. It is likely that we will see more of TridentVentures' banners around forums and monitoring sites, but whether or not the site will last remains to be seen. At least for now, I'm pretty happy with the changes the admin has made.

Last, but definitely not least, is CherryShares, which, in contrary to the two young sites mentioned above, is now almost a year old. This means the program has lived past GeniusFund's shadows, and now it's finally having its opportunity to shine. And indeed the admin has taken advantage of the situation, capitalizing on it by improving the site's hosting server, offering better Ddos services and even translation of the site into both German and French. CherryShares currently accepts only 3 payment processors, namely AlertPay, LibertyReserve and PerfectMoney, and also bank wire. Now that there's a void in the market left by NanoMoneyCorp, Verifield and GeniusFunds, it's not hard to imagine that it's anyone's game right now— anyone who can and does step up to the event will claim the throne. And I think CherryShares is definitely in a very good position for that to happen.

My Strategy:

It's back to the basics for me: Diversification. Nonetheless, I'm doing more of short-term and mid-term programs than long-term ones. For one, there are quite a handful of quality short-term programs right now, such as TruEarn and UmbaFund. I spread 30% of my budget to these programs, and even though that might seem a little risky, I think we're starting to see some quality programs coming back. Of course, nothing lasts forever, or in this case, more than 3 weeks. So I'm mostly doing a semi hit-n-run strategy: Invest 80% of total after I receive my first payout, then 50% of total after I receive my 2nd payout and so on. Consider this case: TruEarn pays 116% after 4 days, and if I invest $100 on the first round, I'll get $116 after 4 days. Then I reinvest 80% of it, or $92.8, I'll be risking only $92.8, with a chance of increasing my total profit to $30.85. Then I keep cutting it down until the program dies.

While many may criticize my strategy as too risky, I think this is the best way to keep quality programs up. There are too many hit-n-runners in the industry right now, mostly newbies who are brainwashed with the idea that all programs will scam the moment you reinvest. Although that's true to a certain degree, I've seen several admins who are sincere in running an honest program, only to be shot down by hit-n-runners. We know how these games go, and if there's no funds flowing into the program, how will the program survive? It is a mutual game actually; if we want to have a good, quality program, then we have to support it by rating on monitoring sites, forum threads, and most importantly, inject some of your funds into it, and encouraging your friends to do the same as well. Of course, this only applies to good, quality programs that are worth supporting. There's no clear indication of which program's worthy of your support, but I'll make sure I do everything in my power to bring to you only the best programs in the industry.

This is just my own personal view on how to play the game, so if you feel that the strategy doesn't apply to you, there are always various other ways you can play it.

My blog's promotion ends tomorrow, so if you're still unaware of it, please check it out here:

**Promotion Details**

Promotion 1: For the next week, I will post a random comment in my blog post that starts with "I can't believe SafeMoneyInvest...." for 7 days. Make sure you write down that specific comment for 7 days in a row to get a chance to win $10 straight to your LibertyReserve account. Only 3 will be chosen and only 1 entry is allowed for each reader. Multiple entries will be treated as cheating and the entry from that reader will be disqualified.

Promotion 2: If you're a member of MoneyMakerGroup, Talkgold or DreamTeamMoney, here's a huge opportunity for you to earn free cash! (If you're not a member yet, you can join here:

MoneyMakerGroup

Talkgold

DreamTeamMoney

If you insert my blog's logo as your avatar, AND include my blog's link in your signature, I will award $1 into your LibertyReserve account by the end of the week. Please send me the link to your member profile when you have updated your profile. Note that the link has to be up for at least 5 days to qualify for the free cash :D

Here's the URL for my avatar: http://i45.tinypic.com/21ecbyp.png

Promotion 3: Introduce this blog to your friends and family and ask them to subscribe! If you like the content of this blog, why not share it with your friends and family? If the subscriber count reaches 250 by the end of April, I will organize a small contest which includes free money, free credit in any program of your choice that has been reviewed by SafeMoneyInvest and many more!

That's all for now folks! See you tonight with more news from the industry, reported straight from SafeMoneyInvest!