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If you don't have an Internet business yet, or if your company is smaller than $1 million then you need something different... something that lets you start off small.

One man I know turned $10 into over $500,000. How's that for starting small!

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- Patrick Coffey

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Should You Dump Your Dollars?

By Andrew Gordon

The dollar surprised everyone in 2005 by rallying just when it appeared to be doomed. But the rally peaked quickly in November. Since then, the dollar has gone nowhere, trading in a narrow range. That suggests it's getting ready to resume its major trend downward.

Here are three ways to protect yourself when the dollar heads south again:

1. Short the dollar.

Until recently, shorting a currency took a lot of skill and some fairly deep pockets. Now, mutual funds like ProFunds' Falling U.S. Dollar (FDPSX) fund and Rydex's Weakening Dollar (RYWBX) fund enable you to profit from a decline in the U.S. dollar.

2. Invest in foreign-bond funds.

As the dollar declines, investors around the world will pull their money out of U.S. Treasuries and put them into foreign bonds ... which will appreciate in value while still paying a nice dividend.

3. Buy gold.

Gold loves a falling dollar, and it's in the middle of a long-term bull run anyway. The easiest way to invest in gold is to buy shares of the GLD exchange-traded fund (ETF).

I'm not interested in playing short-term trends. And I'm not asking you to get in and out of the market every couple of months. When currencies begin to trend up or down, they typically do so for a long time, and the U.S. dollar is no exception. This is a great opportunity to sock up to 5 percent of your savings into an investment that should be good for at least the next 10-12 months. (Even longer, when it comes to gold.)

[Ed. Note: Andrew Gordon, ETR's financial expert, is the editor of our new investment service, The Wealth Advantage. Join now and you'll get a free special report on three companies that have the very real potential of giving you up to 1,000 percent on your investment.]

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"Vice and infamy have their altars and their religion."

 - William Hazlitt

A Too Typical American Story

By Michael Masterson

A Drug Enforcement Agency officer, attempting to demonstrate gun safety to a class of grammar school children, shoots himself in the thigh. The videotape makes its way to the Internet, where it appears as a "top 20 video" on a website called Dumb Cop. Claiming the release of the video clip has damaged his career, he hires a lawyer ... who hires a publicist. And suddenly, he's being interviewed on NBC about a suit he's filing against the school system.

The NBC reporter who interviews him characterizes his career as "exemplary" and admires him for playing down his injury in front of the children. "You must have been in great pain," he says in a commiserating tone. "Was it sheer pride that kept you going?"

In the U.S. today, it seems that there's nothing we won't do for money and fame. Any act or accident, no matter how stupid or disgraceful, has the potential to be transubstantiated into the new, shameless American dream.

America's writers and journalists have always had a fascination with miscreants, losers, and bad guys ... and some of them became widely known. But until recently, it seems to me, such characters were neither paid nor pampered by the press that publicized them.

In the old days of American idolism, a Jesse James or Clyde Barrow might, through a string of evil and illegal actions, become infamous. But he could never hope to enjoy fame. He might benefit temporarily from the money he stole, but he wouldn't expect additional riches for the rest of his life from interview payments, public speaking fees, and publishing royalties.

Until recently, we also always held our antiheroes in contempt. We loved what we knew should be hated. Nowadays, that distinction is fading fast. Making a sufficient fool of yourself on national television - either by failing miserably as an apprentice for Donald Trump or by blurting out your sexual secrets for Jerry Springer - is a virtual guarantee of additional fame and fortune ... including, if you've really been disgraceful, a movie deal.

Lawyers, journalists, publicists, and media executives have discovered what their predecessors either didn't know or didn't want to find out: There is no limit to America's fascination with the seamy side of our culture ... and the fastest way to cash in on this fascination is to aim low.

In today's United States of America, we reward vice and stupidity just as much as virtue and intelligence. The secret to fame and fortune is no longer a subtle algorithm of skill, ambition, and good intent but the simple arithmetic of avarice and excess.

In other words, if you are going to be bad and/or stupid, be really, really bad and/or stupid and who knows ... you may end up on the morning news.

It's sad but it's very true. If you judged America by its most popular television broadcasts (the morning news, afternoon game shows, and evening reality programs), you'd surely conclude that integrity and common sense are passe.

Luckily, we have a media that's bigger than network news. Thanks to cable and the Internet, we have hundreds of news and entertainment options. Some of these - not many, but some - are not afraid to call a spade a spade.

You don't need to be an expert in handgun safety to know that:

• Accidentally discharging a weapon in a classroom full of children requires an amazing combination of stupidity and ignorance.

• Anyone who does so should never be allowed to carry a gun again.

• Any publicity that such a person merits should be negative.

• Any money that exchanges hands as a result of such an accident should be from the responsible party (the cop) to the true victims (the children).

I can't do much about television's love affair with ratings, our culture's fascination with crassness, or the increasingly popular practice of legal action as a means of acquiring wealth. And neither can you.

What can we do? We can surround ourselves with people who maintain pre-21st century values and we can try to live by those values ourselves. We can work hard and stay smart and do good and hope that - in the end - if we don't get everything we want, at least we will get everything we deserve.

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Today's Action Plan

What do you think? Why is it that an increasing number of "miscreants, losers, and bad guys" seem to be seeking (and achieving) fame and fortune? Do we blame television? Our culture? The legal system? And is there anything we can do about it? Share your thoughts on Speak Out.

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HDL: The Cholesterol That Protects You From Heart Attack

By Jon Herring

Not a day goes by that you don't hear about the importance of lowering your cholesterol. But it is even more important to raise your cholesterol - your HDL cholesterol, that is. High levels of HDL - the "good" cholesterol - have been shown to be protective against heart attack. (And low levels of HDL - less than 40 mg/dL] - increase the risk.)

In a study performed at the Indiana School of Medicine and published in the American Heart Journal, researchers found that increasing HDL by 10 mg/dL was associated with a 10 percent reduction in the risk of heart disease in the study participants.

Here are some ways to increase your HDL levels:

• Lose weight.

• Exercise (particularly with interval training).

• Eat more monounsaturated fats (such as natural peanut butter, avocados, and extra virgin olive oil).

• Eliminate all hydrogenated oils (trans-fats) from your diet.

• Eat more soluble fiber (from fruits, vegetables, oats, and legumes).

• If you smoke ... STOP.

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Worth Quoting: Michael Masterson on Becoming an Extraordinary Worker...

"To earn significantly higher raises than the average person, you must perform at a significantly higher level than your coworkers. Put differently, so long as your work performance is ordinary, you can't expect anything more than an ordinary salary. But if you change your work habits and contribute substantially more than your fellow workers, you can rightly expect to be paid substantially more than they."

[To get Michael's specific advice on how to dramatically boost your earning power by becoming a superstar employee, order your copy of his new book - Automatic Wealth for Grads ... and Anyone Else Just Starting Out - today.]

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It's Good to Know: Wine Glasses

By Suzanne Richardson

There's a specific wine glass for just about every type of wine. Stemware comes in many different shapes and sizes that affect a wine's taste, bouquet, balance, and finish. The glass can even accentuate or minimize its tannin, acidity, or fruit. While some studies say people can't really taste the difference between a wine sipped from a special glass or from any old goblet, many wine lovers, including Michael Masterson, disagree. In any case, upholding the tradition of choosing the perfect glass to complement the perfect wine makes drinking it that much more enjoyable.

For detailed information on this very complicated subject, check out the Riedel Wine Glass Company's wine and glass guide. But to keep it simple, here's all you really need to know: 

• Drink red wine from large glasses (to ensure proper "breathing"). Straight-lipped stemware - which directs the wine to the center of the tongue - is best for highly tannic reds with moderate acidity. (Think Bordeaux and Cabernet Franc.) Stemware with a slightly flared top lip - which directs the wine to the tip of the tongue - is best for reds with high acidity and moderate tannin. (Think Burgundy and Beaujolais Grand Cru.)

• Drink white wine from medium-sized glasses. Straight-lipped stemware is best for whites with full body and moderate acidity. (Think Chardonnay, White Burgundy, and Pinot Blanc.) Stemware with a slightly flared top lip is best for light, fruity, acidic whites. (Think Pinot Grigio, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc.)

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Word to the Wise: Miscreant

A "miscreant" (MIS-kree-unt) is a villain - a person without scruples. The word is derived from the French "miscroire" ("to disbelieve").

Example (as I used it today): "America's writers and journalists have always had a fascination with miscreants, losers, and bad guys."