(ARA) - The housing market may be keeping you in your current home for awhile and fuel prices are rising, so why not enjoy your outdoor spaces and save money by taking a vacation right in your own backyard?"Investing in small upgrades to your property can add a tremendous amount of value to your home," says Larry Bedosky, director of marketing for Durasol Awnings and an expert on outdoor design. "It can also give you new ways to enjoy your spaces and make it feel like you're on vacation in your backyard."Bedosky recommends adding a retractable awning to allow homeowners to expand living space to the outdoors while providing cool, comfortable shelter from the sun. "A Durasol retractable awning is custom made to enhance the beauty and decor of any home. There are no unsightly support poles and anyone can control the amount of shade provided."What's more, an awning is a cost-effective alternative to more expensive modifications like air-conditioned sunrooms.

HOW TO INVEST ANY MONEY YOU HAVE LEFT OVER

ANOTHER day, more bad news for the stock market. That's been the pattern.

Yesterday it was a surprisingly bad drop in sales of durable goods, plus speculation that giant bank Citigroup might have a frighteningly big loss this quarter.

On Tuesday, the gloom was caused by a collapse in consumer confidence and news that home prices were sliding quickly.

Tomorrow it'll be something else. The day after that, thankfully, will be Saturday - so maybe nothing bad will happen.

It's all enough to make an investor turn tail and run.

But what if you still have some money left after paying the outrageous price of gasoline and filling your bags with overpriced groceries at the supermarket?

What if you still have the nerve to invest in something - anything - even though your house didn't turn out to be the deal you thought it was?

Normally I'd call folks on Wall Street for advice on investing in this environment, but I already know what they'd say - buy stocks and hold them for the long term.

And it is worth real money ."

"In the first purchase of his collection, Sellam Ismail loaded the trunk of his car with old computers he stumbled upon at a flea market for USD 5 apiece. He soon had filled his three-car garage with what others would consider obsolete junk. Years later, his collection of early computers, printers and related parts is piled high across shelves and in chaotic heaps in a 4500-square-foot warehouse near Silicon Valley. And it is worth real money." .

Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 16th Jan 2006 12:55 UTC

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, Micheal Dell was asked what he would do to fix Apple. Dell replied: "What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders." Following Friday's news that Apple had surpassed Dell's value of $71.97 billion, Jobs wrote an email to his staff: "Team, it turned out that Michael Dell wasn't perfect at predicting the future. Based on today's stock market close, Apple is worth more than Dell. Stocks go up and down, and things may be different tomorrow, but I thought it was worth a moment of reflection today." Who said capitalism is humourless? .