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The emergence of the Internet as a source for signing up to various essential and traditional services is growing by the day. The most common example is online banking, but other industries are also introducing websites that are relevant and useful to their clients.

PIBASure.ie is an example of a website that provides Car Insurance Quotes for the motor vehicle industry in Ireland. Clients can get real-time quotes through the site directly. If a person doesn’t have an insurance broker, the website directs the enquiry to the closest participating agent that can negotiate special rates and discounts. If a person already has a broker, they can refer a quote that they find on the site to their existing agent.

The Internet allows brokers to offer clients real-time quotes 24 hours a day 7 days a week, which provides people with the flexibility to take care of their insurance needs from home or anywhere else with an Internet connection and at anytime. Selling insurance online also lowered the costs associated with processing this type of a transaction, or any other service that is offered online, and the savings can be passed on to the consumers.

The website will also offer home insurance services in the near future which again shows the potential for making traditional services accessible on the web.

The current financial crisis has affected investors worldwide. The common belief is that the US housing meltdown has rippled globally to cause financial institutions to default and a cause the credit crunch.

In response, governments in North America, Europe and Asia have offered rescue bailouts in the billions to these institutions and far-reaching guarantees to consumers. In addition, drastic interest rate cuts have been implemented in an effort to soften the slowing economy. At last, there are encouraging signs that these initiatives in their totality have finally started to show signs of effectiveness.

Although the recession cloud is upon us, there are several signs of a silver lining. Here are the good indicators showing that this recession isn’t likely to be a severe one, let alone a depression.

Indications that credit is starting re-flow:

An active economy is heavily reliant on credit lending, by both large institutions and individuals.  When credit markets froze earlier this year, most businesses started running out of money. That is why it was crucial to reinvigorate the credit system to become as seamless as it was in the past.

• The lending rate that banks use to lend to one another, known as the London Interbank Offer Rate (LIBOR), has decreased from a peak of 6.88% earlier this month to less than 1.3%. The lower rate signifies a higher propensity for lending.
•  The spread between 3-month LIBOR and U.S. Treasuries (the risk-free rate) decreased from a record high 4.65% earlier this month to 2.7%. A narrower spread indicates that banks are more willing to lend to each other.

Better Indications for US Housing:

The housing market represents one of the fundamentals of the economy and house prices correlate directly with good and bad economic times. Clearly the housing market is still volatile but some encouraging news have emerged.

• U.S. fixed-mortgage rates has been decreasing, which helps qualify more borrowers
• Fed rate cuts are causing variable rates to continue decreasing
• Continued Oil and gas price declines result in more affordable heating costs for homeowners as we head into the winter months
• Data from August and September shows a reduction of US home inventory. The 10.6 months supply of homes in August moved down to 9.9 months supply in September. The lower the inventory, the higher the home value
• The FDIC and the U.S. Treasury are working on a proposed plan to prevent additional foreclosures by offering guarantees to lenders and mortgage providers. There is also talk of a rescue plan for the mortgage owners in a form of a stimulus, court intervention in mortgage agreements and other solutions.

There is good reasons to still believe this recession will last beyond 2008, but it’s also important to remember that the equity markets are often leading indicators of the economy. Therefore, good news as provided above, can be seen as a positive start to a credit market recovery and the housing crisis reaching a bottom.

Historically, markets have retracted prior to and in the early stages of recessions. After such a period, the markets tended to rise quickly and subsequently economic recovery ensued. On average, most recessions last between 12 to 16 months, so even if only a third of the recession is behind us it is likely that more signs of recovery will appear in the coming months.

Combine these statistics with a likely fiscal environment that supports deficit spending and additional government investments on a massive scale to grow the economy once again. While the risk-adverse investor might not wish be fully invested in the stock market during a recession that is priced in, it is wise to have at least some of your equity there to benefit from the inevitable climb back to prosperity.

Here are some of the top money-related sites that are likely to benefit people like you who are focused on building their wealth:

Social Bookmarking Sites:

Feed The Bull - A site that is targeted for the stock market and investing topics. Notably, there is a Top Site section where a blog or website of interest is featured. Also, there is a tool section where a toolbar and stock ticker widget can be found.

 BizzLo- A website for business and investing. Investors are able to submit stories and investment ideas, make comments on public filings, or form groups that are based on particular investment types. Website users have direct access to analysis on lesser known stocks, devil’s advocate style investment, and international investment ideas.

 PF Buzz- a site that is focused on any financial related topic. The home page list the articles that were submitted and voted up by users. The upcoming buzz section is also interesting. Beyond social bookmarking, the site offers: Random Buzz which allows for easier browsing through articles, BuzzPlanet features financial articles from partner blog sites, and Personal Finance Forums which allows for discussion of financial topics with other registered users.

Tip’d - offers a broad coverage of topics and therefore will appeal to a wide audience. The categories include topics such as entrepreneurship, Green. Tech, and others.

Blogs Aggregators:

PFBlogs.org- one of the most established personal finance blog aggregators. You will find here the latest articles from over 1,000 blogs. Articles can be found by categories such as Real estate and personal finance.

PopTop Ranks(personal Finance)- A site that ranks financial blogs by number of subscribers. Also, the latest blog post is displayed for each entry. The site offers a drill down tool that shows the subscriber historical data, Google PageRank, Alexa Rank, Technorati Rank, and Technorati Authority.

Alltop Personal Finance- similar to a magazine rack, it shows the last 5 headlines from top finance websites and blogs. There is also an Alltop widget that can be embedded on any site.

Portal

Streetread- a financial news browser which aggregates the latest headlines from more than 20 top finance site and your selected stocks. This is accomplished within a single-page, user-friendly interface.

Since many real estate markets are now offering tempting prices for anyone interested in property investing, an expert realtor can truly help in turning a difficult choice into the right one.

Here is a profile of an experienced realty company that can serve as an example for real estate seekers or sellers in any region. DonnaMarshallRealty.com is a realty company with years of experience helping out thousands of buyers move into new homes in Green Valley, Arizona.

Donna Marshall herself has ranked in the top 1% of all Realtors nationally each year since 1998.and in three out of the past five years, she’s ranked in the top ½%. Donna is incharge of an area that spans nine communities and covering seventy five neighborhoods. This region is home to many retirement communities as well as no-age restricted houses. Her total cumulative sales volume has exceeded $100 million.

When looking for a good realtor, just like in the The Green Valley case, make sure the realestate company employs onlys seasoned agents. The agents should follow a solid approach with their customers starting from the basics of listening and responding promptly, to letting buyers know about the pros and cons of the various sub-divisions, making sure a property is fairly valued, that sellers have made all relevant discolosures, repair costs are verified, and taxes and fees are disclosed.

The website also allows users to search the MLS home directory based on their personal preferences. Additionally, buyers can look at the feature homes section to get a general idea of the homes listed for sale.

You can visit the website at DonnaMarshallRealty.com for additional information or to get an idea of what to look for in an established realtor.

Sounds like a good deal, especially when it comes from eBay and Microsoft, neither having a substantial history of giving back money to customers. Microsoft has been promoting a unique advertising tactic for a while now with significant success so we decided to mention it here. Here’s how to take advantage of the opportunity:

First step is to sign up for a Windows Live cashback account, and subsequently search for the product or products that you would like to purchase by using Microsoft’s search engine Live.com. You will see at the top of the search an eBay link that will say ‘Live Search Cashback’ in gold. Then just click the link and complete the purchase with the ‘Buy It Now’ feature and you will get 25% of the purchase for up to $200 total.

Do note that the cashback deal will only be available for 60 days after completing  the purchase and will be deposited into your Paypal account. Also, only US searches will qualify.

The Window Live Search blog also contains more details about this promotion. Additionally, you can check out the Cashback page for information on other offers.

You can use this promotion for your holiday shopping or even to purchase items at lower prices and sell them at a markup to make money. Enjoy!