Don't Let Your Brokerage Account Get Ripped Off

By Charles Delvalle

Thanks to the convenience of online trading, millions of people check up on their brokerage accounts online, even while on vacation. But if you're trusting public computers to keep your account information secret, think again.

According to the FBI and SEC, criminal rings in Russia and Eastern Europe have stolen tens of millions of dollars by breaking into online trading accounts. They do it by bugging public computers with software that records every keystroke you type.

Once they have your private information, they sell it to others who liquidate your account or send in buy orders for "pump-and-dump" schemes.

To avoid becoming a victim, just follow these five simple steps:

1. Input your account information only on a computer you can trust. Usually, that means your home computer.

2. If you're on any type of public network (airport, Internet cafe, etc.), assume that it's not secure.

3. Regularly look over your financial statements (at home) to make sure nothing fishy has been going on.

4. Change your password frequently.

5. Make sure you've got antivirus protection on your computer.
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"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."

- Oscar Wilde

Monkey See, Monkey Do

By Larry Fredericks

Imitation is the highest form of flattery, right? But that's not all. In the wild, imitation is the way many animals - particularly primates - develop the skills they need to survive. For example, in a study of capuchin monkeys in the jungles of Brazil, juveniles were observed banging rocks to alert the group to the presence of an intruder after they'd watched adult monkeys do the same thing.

Human beings, too, learn by mimicking others - not only to survive but also to prosper. In business, that's what we mean when we say "Why reinvent the wheel?" As Michael Masterson advises, one of the quickest ways to get a new business going is to pattern it after a successful business that's already up and running.

If someone else is doing something that works - just about anything - and you'd like to achieve the same results, just do what they're doing. Copying other successful people can often be the key to becoming successful yourself. And that may be why so many people allow the actions of others to influence their decisions.

But it goes beyond that. Because sometimes people are not even aware that they are being influenced by others. We seem to have an instinctive desire to do what others are doing. And if you understand how powerful that urge is, you can use it to your advantage.

In one study, researchers divided a group of children who were having difficulty socializing, and one-half of the group was shown a video of other children playing with each other and laughing. All of the children in the group that did not watch the video chose to play by themselves. But those in the group that saw the video behaved much differently. Almost 90 percent of them approached other kids and were soon playing together.

This study gives us some insight into why the human instinct to mimic the behavior of others can be a tool that you can use to help change another person's behavior.

Your efforts may need to be more sophisticated when you're dealing with an adult instead of a child. But you can certainly find a way to use the instinct to mimic in order to persuade others to behave in a certain way or get them to buy into your point of view.

Let's say you are a manager and want to get an employee to be more productive. Instead of simply asking her to work more efficiently - say, by taking fewer coffee breaks - you could seat her next to another employee who is already very productive. If you make sure your target employee sees that her efficient neighbor is reaping rewards for his behavior, there's an excellent chance she will adopt the same behavior.

Here are the basic steps for using mimicry to persuade people in all kinds of situations - at work or at home - to change their behavior:

. Identify the behavior you'd like your target to emulate.

. Create a situation where your target will be able to see the desired behavior.

. Make sure your target is clearly able to see the rewards associated with that behavior.

You don't need to be a natural salesman to master the art of persuasion. All you need to do is learn a few of the many proven techniques that are already available.

[Ed. Note: Larry Fredericks is an entrepreneur with a history of successful business dealings in retail, direct mail, the Internet, and real estate.]
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Notes From Michael Masterson's Blog: Get Yourself a Little Life Adventure

I want to recommend a book to you. It's called Sea Venture. It was written by Kieran Doherty, an old friend of mine.

At first glance, Sea Venture is not the sort of book you'd expect me to recommend. It's not about building wealth or improving your health or increasing your personal productivity. It is a book about a group of English adventurers in the early part of the 17th century who risked everything to win a stake in the New World.

But reading this book will improve you. It will remind you of the extraordinary things ordinary people can do if they are willing to endure pain and overcome temporary obstacles.

You will think about the troubles you have overcome, the pain you have endured, the accomplishments you have achieved... and you will compare yourself to the people in this story. If you have the experience I had reading this book, you will come away from it more willing to struggle to reach whatever goals still exist for you.

Sea Venture is a dramatic, psychologically compelling story of 600 men and women who, in 1609, boarded nine ships in England and set sail for America. Their objective was to bring supplies and new life to the colony of Jamestown, which had been ravaged by disease, political mismanagement, and repeated attacks by native Americans.

The expedition's flagship, Sea Venture, was shipwrecked in a hurricane. It wound up in Bermuda, where it was disassembled and rebuilt into two ships that - after more than a year - landed in Virginia. There, Sea Venture's passengers found a town on the verge of extinction. Undaunted, they remade the town charter, established better relationships with the Indians, and replanted the colony's farms and gardens, bringing life and hope for an English presence back to the New World.

One reviewer called this a "fast-paced and colorful blow-by-blow account," and a "swashbuckling tale of adventure in the age of exploration." Another said it was exciting and dramatic. I read it in the first draft and loved it then. "Some publisher is going to buy this," I told Kieran.

The publisher that bought it was St. Martin's Press - one of the most prestigious of the small, private New York houses. Landing a contract with St Martin's is like getting accepted into Harvard or Yale. For someone who has always aspired to be a writer, there is no better standard of accomplishment. And based on early reviews of Sea Venture, St. Martin's has already increased the first-edition print run. I am happy and proud to recommend this good book to you because:

. You will enjoy it.

. It will inspire you.

. It will be a good financial investment.

- Michael Masterson
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Women: Just Say No to Cholesterol Drugs

By Al Sears, MD

Despite spending their money on millions of prescriptions, women continue to die in record numbers from heart disease. And don't expect the American Heart Association to tell you why. Their new guidelines for women sound like they came directly from the drug companies and processed-food manufacturers.

Their advice? Avoid nutritional supplements... take aspirin... eat more low-fat foods... and have your doctor "monitor" your cholesterol. (That's just asking him to hand you a prescription.)

This advice is troubling. For one thing, cholesterol doesn't cause heart disease. New science shows that abnormal inflammation inside blood vessels is the underlying cause of our epidemic of heart disease. This inflammation then acts upon cholesterol to cause diseased arteries and plaque build-up.

Cholesterol is a central part of your metabolism, not the enemy. You need cholesterol to make cell walls, vitamin D, and hormones. Yet, many doctors put their patients on statin cholesterol drugs without even considering the alternatives. This is unwarranted and dangerous - especially for women.

Women have different risk factors for heart disease than men. For them, triglycerides and HDL are far more important than total cholesterol or LDL (bad cholesterol). What's more, there is currently no evidence that lowering cholesterol in women with no history of heart disease has any benefit.

Unfortunately, most doctors still recommend statin drugs when they see a "high" LDL result on a woman's blood test.

HDL is your trump card, especially if you're a woman. Keep that number high to stay out of danger. The best way to raise HDL is with brief, energetic exercises. And if your triglycerides are high, you can drive them down by decreasing your consumption of starchy, hi-carb, and high-glycemic foods.

[Ed. Note: Dr. Sears, a practicing physician and the author of The Doctor's Heart Cure, is a leading authority on longevity, physical fitness, and heart health.]
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It's Fun to Know: About Buying an Island

Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates, has been in the midst of a unique construction boom for the past several years. In an effort to attract tourism and foreign investment, the government has encouraged the creation of several man-made archipelagos off its shores. They are to be the sites of luxury residences, shopping and entertainment facilities, and resorts.

Nakheel Properties is currently developing The World, which will consist of 300 islands (each available for purchase at an average price of $25 million) that form the shape of a world map. They are also developing a trio of palm-tree-shaped islands: The Palm Jumeirah, The Palm Jebel Ali, and The Palm Deira. The first residents have already moved into luxury homes on the first Palm island.

(Source: Wikipedia)
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Word to the Wise: Martinet

A "martinet" (mar-t'n-ET) - for General Jean Martinet, an officer in the French army under Louis XIV - is a strict disciplinarian.

Example (as used by David Quammen in The New York Times): "He is an unmitigated tyrant, a martinet, the sort of man who disapproves of his son's eating the morning oatmeal with sugar - instead of salt, which he himself prefers."

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2044, 05-17-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.