This is a very different kind of message today. It's really worth a few moments of your undivided attention.

You've been reading about my general bearish tone on various forms of investment for some time, including everything from big-cap stocks to real estate.

The big question I'm asked lately is how are my friends and I making money these days?

In turbulent times like these, my goal, and yours too, should be to preserve capital and make conservative investments with above average returns.

What deals are out there right now:

-- I'm investing in a debenture deal right now that pays me 9% straight income per year. If the Fed raises rates, my return actually increases. If the Fed lowers rates, I still get 9%. I call this a "conservative sleeper" because the debenture is guaranteed by a solid public company with-get this-bank debt equal to only 5% of its assets! I'm getting a few friends and relatives in on this one.

-- Carlo, an old school buddy of mine, put $25,000 into a real estate deal in which I was involved. This wasn't a deal based on rising property prices... it was a very conservative condo conversion deal. Carlo put $25,000 in... he got $50,000 back in one year, a return of 100% in just twelve months.

-- I encouraged Paul and few other acquaintances to invest in a $0.50 stock a few years back. When it hit $6.00 this year, I told Paul to get out. This stock didn't jump overnight-it happened over time. The rate of return averaged about 42% a year. Again, conservative but steady.

-- Then there's another Paul, a lawyer friend of mine. We bought an empty commercial building together. I knew the area and felt we could easily rent out the building. To make a long story short, we multiplied our down payment 2.5 times in less than four years, resulting in a simple return of 62% per annum.

-- Mike, a business acquaintance, called me a few months back about a new company that was trying to get its children's program on a major TV network. I took one of the company's videos home and showed it to my kids-who loved it. Based on my past business success with Mike, I invested $20,000 in seed capital. Today, not only has the company signed-on a major TV Network to air its program, but it's also landed a merchandise agreement with Wal-Mart.

If you look at my deals, you will notice they all have one thing in common: I'm not out for the kill. In fact, I really don't believe there is such a thing in investing. What I'm interested in is a safe and steady rise in the value of my investments.

I've been personally investing my own money in various deals for 22 years. At present, because of my personal exposure in the investment marketplace, I'm always being sent deals to look at. I probably review about 10 to 20 deals a month.

And I'm not greedy. I like to get in and out of a deal, take my profits, and move on to the next opportunity. Remember the $0.50 stock I talked about that Paul bought? He never sold it at $6.00 when I told him to... he got greedy and kept holding on. Today, it's only worth $4.50. Still a good return, but he should have sold instead of being greedy.

I also learned a long time ago that you can't invest with emotion... of which greed often becomes a part. I truly believe patience is the friend of the investor, and the foe of the speculator. And I firmly believe "Money Grows on Trees of Patience." Taking this route has led me to a very successful 22- year investment career.

Here are other deals that fit my investment criteria:

-- In a past PROFIT CONFIDENTIAL, you might have read

about a small building I bought in December and sold this past March for $100,000 gross profit. I practically begged my friend Anthony to come in on this one, but family problems kept him from being focused. (It's okay. He made about $60,000 on the last deal I got him into... with a $10,000 investment... all in 36 months).

-- I'm personally sitting on a stock right now that's never been written about in any Lombardi Financial newsletter because I own so much of it. The stock fell 38% in the recent market sell- off and I'm desperately trying to buy more. I want to tell you why I'm betting millions on this one!

-- I turned every $10,000 I invested into this deal into $36,000... but it took almost four years. It was a safe 65% per annum average simple return. And there's a lot more like this one out there! I'm looking at several right now.

-- I haven't bought into this one yet... but I'm watching it very closely. This company, in conjunction with a major university, has just announced the commencement of phase three trials on a drug I believe will be the biggest thing since polio vaccinations were developed. I've met the president of the company and like what he says... but I'm conservative and won't buy in until the right news is released. This could be a career winner.

By now, I know you are probably reading this e-mail and wondering why I'm writing to you about this today. Well, the reason I'm writing you is because I have a problem: I do not have enough friends to invest with! Why do I like investing with friends and associates? Simply because it enables me to get into more deals... diversify my portfolio... and lower my risk.

And I think you might have already helped me find a resolution to my problem. After so many requests from PROFIT CONFIDENTIAL readers and Lombardi Publishing customers to get into deals with me, we've decided this would be a great opportunity to launch an "invest alongside Michael Lombardi" concept.

Here's how it works:

-- About every two weeks or so, I send you my private "Investing With Michael" alert. Here, you'll read about what I'm personally investing in, what I'm selling.

-- If I'm buying a stock, you'll know what the stock is and what price I'm getting in at. If I'm buying investment real estate, locking in guaranteed high rates of return with my retirement funds, or investing in private deals, you'll know all about them and how to get in.

-- When I'm putting a deal together, which I often do, you'll know first-hand about it and you'll have the opportunity to come along. These are deals with units often starting at only $10,000 or $20,000.

-- The bottom line is that you can invest with me. Heck, we might even be partners!

Unfortunately, because there are only so many units or shares involved in the deals I actually get into, I need to limit the number of friends who get into my deals. Hence, I've decided to restrict the number of participants in "Investing With Michael" to only 100 people.

To be fair, this e-mail is being sent to all our PROFIT CONFIDENTIAL readers. It's basically first come, first serve. I want you to invest with me... I want us to make money together!

Speaking about money, pricing this service wasn't easy. Our CFO had suggested $5,000 as a fee for investors to participate in "Investing with Michael" because of the amount of my personal time that will be taken up. I thought this was too high.

My goals here are to cover the cost of my time and to build relationships so I can do bigger and better deals. Hence, we decided on $1,950, less than the annual cost of a decent weekly lunch for two.

Remember, I'm looking for participants with money to invest. If you don't have at least $10,000 or $20,000, this service will be of no use to you.