Gold : prices, facts, figures & research
http://www.galmarley.com/index.htm

TRADING GOLD FUTURES FAQs
http://www.galmarley.com/FAQs_pages/trading_gold_futures_faqs.htm

Learn more…

External links
http://www.galmarley.com/framesets/fs_link_page.htm

Kitco
http://www.kitco.com

Super Adults (65+)

informal online education promoting financial independence for boomers, and women in particular.

short articles with extensive background resource links
online course format - sessions, lessons, community, interaction, discussion, quizzes, assignments, due dates

an alarming number of boomers who are going to be in serious financial trouble that is preventable. They believe that learning about money management is too hard or too time consuming.

info-education - regular articles provide news, commentary and background on personal money matters that will contribute to a sound introduction to personal financial management over time.

services for a fiancial planner may be beyond the budget and financial experience of the target audience,

needs of these boomers and how best to provide background information and guidance for making informed money management decisions.

point, quote/reference, so what, learn more

case studies, scenarios (experience / feeling), networking, discussion (observation / watching), if I were you, best practices (conceptualization / thinking), get personal (experimentation / doing)

\”week\” ? Sun-Sat - something every day - 60-90 minutes - read, discussion, activity
build outline / framework in 5-7 steps + intro + summary

evaulation - current situation, criteria
planning - objectives, goals, needs, wants
strategy - investment policy statement
management - actuals, indicators

Prosper.com
The online marketplace for people-to-people lending
http://www.prosper.com

Ingenious Car Refinancing - Prosper
An interesting story about creative financing - lady pays off car loan that required expensive insurance coverage with a loan through Prosper.com, and saves a bundle.
http://www.pfadvice.com/2006/08/28/ingenious-car-refinancing-prosper/

I had heard about the concept, but hadn’t actually looked at the site before. So I poked around some. The whole idea seems pretty sound. I enjoyed the interesting listings for loans - beyond credit card debt reduction load requests, there were many entrepreneurial ideas looking for funding. I was surprised how little money these folks needed to launch their new ventures. But, hey, that’s the American way. Nice to see these people are requesting loans rather than government hand-outs - that’s refreshing. The lists of bidders and how loans get financed was very clear, but why would you bid $68.40 on a loan? Some of the “groups” were pretty scarey - their pages look like the penny stock promotion emails I get, though. All a matter of taste, I suppose.

Prosper loan performance data
https://www.prosper.com/public/lend/performance.aspx
I checked to see the track record for loan repayment. It will be interesting to see if this changes over time, especially if there are bad times ahead. Traditional financial institutions may not fare well if there are serious delinquencies, defaults and bankruptcys that seem inevidible. Will a creative lending source like Prosper.com prove to be the-next-big-thing when traditional services break and are replaced by a new online opportunity? It could happen.

Good luck, guys.

Morning smile…

Bank to woo customers with ATM roulette game

Japanese banks have long had a reputation for poor service but at least one is trying something new — wooing customers with an opportunity to try their hand at Lady Luck.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060829/od_nm/japan_roulette_dc_1