Andy Dufresne at Zero Hedge just posted the above chart from StockCharts.com of the 10 Year Treasury Note and S&P index (see his post here). Please note on the chart how the 10 Year (in red) peaks before the market peaks and bottoms before the market bottoms, with a lag of 3 to 4 months. If the 10 Year is now rolling over and the same correlation holds true as the chart shows, the market should bottom in the Fall. The good news is that mortgage rates will drop, since rates are tied to the 10 Year Note.

photo credit: philectric

The ongoing economic turmoil and uncertainty has dominated the news.  There is a fear that this recession could be the next depression, that nobody is quite sure of the way out of it and that government actions will have consequences long after the recession is over.  Or maybe you or a family member, friend or neighbor has lost his or her job or is worrying about losing their job.  The objective of this post, though, is to highlight opportunities amongst the bad news.

There is positive news. Some businesses are doing well.  For example, discount stores are doing well as people want to save money on their everyday shopping items.   Liquidation auctioneers are busy, homes are becoming more affordable, bringing in speculators and bicycle sales are likely doing well.

Let’s take a look at some other changes that are underway and see if there are opportunities.

Adversity necessitates creativity. Entrepreneurship and innovation increase during tough times.  Now, the internet allows anyone to start a website and turn a hobby or passion, an interest or even their drive to succeed into a potential source of income, an outlet from the bad news or a source for other people’s benefit.  And, you can now work virtually, for someone across the globe – you are no longer limited to a job that requires commuting.  If you don’t have a website, think about starting one.  Out of work, learn about social networking to help you find a job.  Examples of social networks include LinkedIn, Facebook and forums or community dependent websites that drawer visitors in to discuss topics that interest you.  Have special expertise, writing or graphic design skills, think about becoming a freelancer.  There are many sites on the web that help freelancers find work.

Libraries are busier. People are spending more time taking advantage of free and inexpensive services.  In addition to the increase in library usage, I suspect that community education programs and local not for profit service organizations will see increased utilization.  Now is the time to volunteer or teach a class to serve your community, enhance your skills and meet people and network.

Value and quality mean more. While people are now being more frugal, they are also more likely to ensure that they purchase items and services that will last and provide longer lasting value.  If you make high quality products or offer exceptional service, now is the time to promote this – but make sure that your prices are competitive and fair.

Savings rate is increasing. People are saving more now because they don’t know what the future holds.  Sure, it is easy to put this money in the bank and earn 1% maybe, but now is the time to educate people on alternative options that will still meet their desire for safety.  Many people don’t know the difference between a money market account and a certificate of deposit or how to find the best rates or the benefits of a credit union over a bank.  Websites and financial professionals should be offering this basic information.

Customer service will be emphasized. Competition for fewer dollars will result in businesses enhancing their customer service.  This should benefit all of us, especially if you are intolerant of poor customer service.  I have often thought of starting a consulting business that would advise local stores on ways to improve the experience of their customers.  If you have expertise in this area, such as having run a successful business in the past, volunteer to participate in community business organizations.  If you own a business, start implementing ways to enhance the experiences of your customers.

Skilled workers and professionals are available. This recession has not left any socio-economic group untouched.  It is an especially good time to hire qualified workers, to look for expert advisers or, if you are a member of a volunteer organization, to reach out to the unemployed and get them involved in your non-profit or advise you on your business.

People will be spending more time close to home. People are more likely to stay near home for vacations, find less expensive forms of entertainment (movie theaters are busy now) and stay at home with their families.  Start offering products and services that will appeal to these stay-at-homers.  For example, create a niche blog about things to do in your area or write on home improvement or gadgets for the home.

Online dating sites are very busy. Nightline ran a short feature on online dating sites last night.  During tough times people are less likely to want to be alone and more likely to try out online dating sites.  Even the requirements that participants include in their ideal date has changed – people are less likely to specify that they are looking for someone with a good job.  If you have ever thought about trying one of these sites out, now is the time.

My goal with this post was not to create an exhaustive list but to encourage you to think differently during this time of adversity – look for opportunities in the ways that people are changing their behavior and spending habits.

1. eHow – eHow is a mature, highly-ranked, and reputable website that will pay you to write how-to articles for them.  This is, by far, the best simple money-making opportunity that I’ve found.  As a member of eHow’s Writer’s Compensation Program, you’ll have the opportunity to build a significant passive income in no time at all.  I’m averaging about $0.20 per article per day.  If I can maintain that pace, a portfolio of one-thousand articles (of similar quality) would be expected to net $73,000 in a year!
2. Bukisa – Bukisa is a new program that is similar to eHow, but offers even more opportunities for making money.  With Bukisa, not only do you get paid when people view your articles, but you also get paid when people view articles written by ANYBODY in your network.  Bukisa is a very new program, so it still remains to be seen whether they will reliably send payments; nevertheless, many people are already earning BIG with Bukisa, thanks to their referral system.  If they pay out (which I expect they will), a lot of people are going to be really happy.  If you sign up for Bukisa, please use my referral link.
3. CashCrate – CashCrate is a “paid-to-complete-offers” site that actually appears to be pretty good.  Not only will CashCrate pay you for completing surveys and offers, but it will pay you for offers completed by your referrals, too!  You will receive 20% of all money earned by your second-level referrals and 10% of money earned by your third-level referrals.  In addition, CashCrate will credit $3.00 to your account for each referral who earns his or her first $10.00!  You should be able to see, at this point, how this can add up very quickly with a large referral network.  Even if you only do the offers (not the surveys… I hate surveys), there is plenty of money to be made.  “Broke Grad Student” has written about how he has made $100 from CashCrate in a very short period of time.  Try it out.  If you sign up for CashCrate, please use my referral link.  Thanks!

In this post, I’ve tried to focus on some quick, easy ways to make a few bucks.  None of these programs will get you rich.  However, each of them has the potential to provide a full-time income, in the extreme case.  If you are an average user of one or more of these programs, you will be able to build a healthy, supplemental income stream in exchange for very little work.

In addition, these programs all have the benefit of making you money QUICKLY.  On eHow, you’ll start to see earnings in your account almost immediately, if you focus on writing good articles.  Bukisa accounts seem to grow in value even more quickly than eHow.  Finally, CashCrate can earn you $20 or more in the first day, if you complete some offers.

If you are looking for simple money-making ideas, I hope you’ll try these programs out.  I think you’ll be surprised with the results.  If you’d like, contact me for tips on how to build your referral network.  These programs can be very lucrative when you have a large network.  Let me know what you think in the comments!

1. To save space. Okay, this one is obvious.  The more crap you clean out of your closet, the more room you’ll have for other stuff.  You’ll have room for new clothes (maybe some that you actually like), new sports equipment, new books, or maybe just more junk that you just can’t let yourself get rid of yet (like that old X-Box that you never play anymore).  Or, better yet, maybe you just want some extra empty space.  After all, clutter contributes to higher stress levels, and nobody likes stress.
2. To save time. Let me ask you a question.  How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?  Half an hour?  An hour?  Two?  Now, how much of that time is spent picking out a suitable outfit to wear?  If you’re female, this probably takes quite a while (no offense, girls); but even guys can spend a significant chunk of their morning picking out clothes to wear.  My argument is that, by removing old, “obsolete” clothes from your closet, you’ll be able to pick out a suitable outfit much more quickly.  Hey, it worked for me.  Go see for yourself.
3. To save MONEY.  “How,” you may ask, “will this save me money?”  Maybe a little anecdotal evidence will suffice in answering this question.  Today, as I alluded to previously, I removed all of my old, outdated, unwanted clothes from my closet.  I ended up with two garbage bags full!  I then proceeded to transport said garbage bags down to my local used clothing store, where the cashiers sifted through my bags and figured out what pieces they wanted to buy from me.  A half hour later, they called me to the register to quote me a price for the clothes they had picked out… $57.75!  For less than an hour of my time, that wasn’t bad at all.  And let’s not forget about the opportunity cost of leaving these clothes in my closet for months or even years, when they could have returned almost $60 at any time.  For example, if I would have sold the clothes a year ago, I could have invested the money and earned about $3 interest in that time.  It doesn’t sound like much, but compound interest can turn a little bit of money into a lot of money really quickly.

Have you been able to earn a significant chunk of cash from something that was just taking up space in your closet?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments!  Thanks for reading!