End of Month Stock Roundup

• Following the Federal Reserve slashing of interest rates by a half-percentage point U.S. stocks showed gains on Wednesday, sending indexes up more than 1 percent -- boosted by hopes that the economy would avert a recession.
• New Zealand's sharemarket started out well yesterday but ended up negatively.
• Despite a positive start to the day, Australian shares started a decline at lunch time and continued to edge lower to the end of the session yesterday.
  
• Ahead of the US Federal Reserve interest rate decision Japanese shares lost momentum amid gloomy earnings reports.

A Gold Commodity

As the dollar declines in value commodities, such as gold and platinum, rise to record highs. Prices for cotton and corn are on the rise. Gold is always seen as a good hedge to cash and there is increasing demand in countries such as China and India which may help to support the price of gold.

So what is a commodity? According to Lamonts a commodity is a tangible asset that has a market value. The term normally applies to raw material and foodstuffs and is traded on various exchanges around the world.

Something for you to start the New Year

I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.